The Soapbox: A pre-mortem for Star Wars The Old Republic, a game that never knew what it had from Massively.

The core theme seems to be they that never had a unifying gameplan that they stuck with. I'm still a fan, and not going anywhere anytime soon, but the progression from "now we'r giving you 99.9% singleplayer, story content" to "now it's all about end-game group content" etc. has never felt like a well- considered progression, it's felt like -- to quote the article -- "flailing".

Good article. My favorite quote from the author of the article is this one:

"One of the things I noted in WildStar’s post-mortem was that the game fundamentally had a problem with courting an audience that wasn’t interested while ignoring the audience that was. "

This seems so on-base with SWTOR, too.

<<sips from martini>>

Generic, vague, most points well-trodden.

The only unique argument in the article was the idea of player-centric axis of one faction screwing over another and content development following those choices.

A terrible idea for a panoply of reasons. <<needs another sip>>

Dasty

I hate to agree, but as someone who is absurdly shy when it comes to online group activities, I am truly hoping they do not force us to do more group content in order to enjoy what would otherwise be an awesome story content.

I understand being a huge Star Wars fan, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you would play an online multiplayer game if you're super shy about grouping.

And it's not just you, by the way. There's a lot of folks that play SWTOR that really seem to have an aversion towards grouping.

Generic, vague, most points well-trodden.

 

The only unique argument in the article was the idea of player-centric axis of one faction screwing over another and content development following those choices.

 

A terrible idea.

 

Dasty

Can you imagine the state the forums would've been in had that been implemented? I can only dream about the flame wars in regards to playerbase choice percentage being what drives the story going forward. We already had heat with the Arcann romance and the Theron kill option, and those were optional choices.

I understand being a huge Star Wars fan, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you would play an online multiplayer game if you're super shy about grouping.

 

And it's not just you, by the way. There's a lot of folks that play SWTOR that really seem to have an aversion towards grouping.

There is more than enough single player content to keep some solo players occupied, and to be fair SWTOR actively leaned into that with KOTFE / KOTET which were almost exclusively single-player experiences (much to the dismay of players looking for more group-oriented content).

<<sips from martini>>

 

Generic, vague, most points well-trodden.

 

The only unique argument in the article was the idea of player-centric axis of one faction screwing over another and content development following those choices.

 

A terrible idea for a panoply of reasons. <<needs another sip>>

 

Dasty

Looks like Dasty fell off the wagon!

I understand being a huge Star Wars fan, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you would play an online multiplayer game if you're super shy about grouping.

 

And it's not just you, by the way. There's a lot of folks that play SWTOR that really seem to have an aversion towards grouping.

Delete

I understand being a huge Star Wars fan, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you would play an online multiplayer game if you're super shy about grouping.

 

And it's not just you, by the way. There's a lot of folks that play SWTOR that really seem to have an aversion towards grouping.

I play for the story.

If the same stories were available as an offline solo game, i'd be playing the offline solo one and not the MMO version, but there's only the MMO version, so i play what i can play...

I understand being a huge Star Wars fan, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you would play an online multiplayer game if you're super shy about grouping.

 

And it's not just you, by the way. There's a lot of folks that play SWTOR that really seem to have an aversion towards grouping.

I also play for the story, strongholds, scenery on the planets, etc. Not to interact with other people. In fact one of the reasons I started playing SWTOR was because I discovered I wouldn't need to group to play.

<<sips from martini>>

 

Generic, vague, most points well-trodden.

 

The only unique argument in the article was the idea of player-centric axis of one faction screwing over another and content development following those choices.

 

A terrible idea for a panoply of reasons. <<needs another sip>>

 

Dasty

Republic players like myself would never get any story ever in that scenario. Way too many imps here. They would dictate every choice in the game and all the new content we got.

Massively should understand better than most how long you can drag out the death of something that should have been put out to pasture years ago.

oh snap

...as someone who is absurdly shy when it comes to online group activities, I am truly hoping they do not force us to do more group content in order to enjoy what would otherwise be an awesome story content.

Well, I'm that way too, and only one thing will happen if it goes that way. I leave for good. I won't group to experience story...because you can't experience the story that way. There will always be some tud that screams "SPACEBAR!!!!@!

I play solo and I play for story, companions and strongholds.

Crap article. The guy who wrote it has no clue what he's talking about.

Totally fails to write about why TOR really struggles.... It's a massive bla bla bla, totally missing the point.

EA expected this game to be a WoW killer and after it "failed" to be that they didn't care anymore and they reallocated resources elsewhere and invested minimal money in this game over the years....

The same thing will happen to Anthem if it fails to meet those unrealistic expectations.

All things considered this game is doing pretty well after all these years.. of doom in Europe at least. The population is pretty constant and a lot of people play the game.

Yes, content is slow, we have no idea if we gonna get a 6.0 despite devs confirming it but all this talk about shutting down and doom is annoying me. I am allergic to stupidity.

WHEN it will shut down it will be officially confirmed here by the people running it and until that happens all is just pure speculation.

Instead of worrying about the game's future you should play it and enjoy it while it's here.

The Soapbox: A pre-mortem for Star Wars The Old Republic, a game that never knew what it had from Massively.

 

The core theme seems to be they that never had a unifying gameplan that they stuck with. I'm still a fan, and not going anywhere anytime soon, but the progression from "now we'r giving you 99.9% singleplayer, story content" to "now it's all about end-game group content" etc. has never felt like a well- considered progression, it's felt like -- to quote the article -- "flailing".

The article is rubbish in my opinion. They're talking about "SWTOR pre-mortem" based on a hunch and give little to no credible argumentation in my opinion as to why it would be in a pre-mortem stage. Sure, the game is not doing great, there's a reason I started a revitalization petition. But pre-mortem? Being eased into a shutdown? That's basic, bland and unsupported doom-talking if you ask me with no credibility attached to it.

The devs don't want to give us a roadmap because it's obvious they have a bigger announcement in the wait: the 6.0 expansion announcement. Charles Boyd - in the most recent article about Ossus behind the scenes - stated that he can't tell us much about what's in the works but that he invites everyone to come to the Star Wars Celebration event where SWTOR will be present. That tells me there's going to be an Expansion announcement during the event and they want to keep it special and exciting, so they don't give us a roadmap because it would spoil the "surprise".

If you want to see patterns in something, you'll see them. If you want to see a pre-mortem stage for SWTOR, you'll see it. But that does not mean that it's true, you're only seeing what you want to see. That's usually the problem with conspiracy theories, they selectively choose what they want and don't want to believe and base their way of thinking on incomplete, falsely-interpreted or plainly fake information. The article is no different.

The article is rubbish in my opinion. They're talking about "SWTOR pre-mortem" based on a hunch and give little to no credible argumentation in my opinion as to why it would be in a pre-mortem stage. Sure, the game is not doing great, there's a reason I started a revitalization petition. But pre-mortem? Being eased into a shutdown? That's basic, bland and unsupported doom-talking if you ask me with no credibility attached to it.

 

The devs don't want to give us a roadmap because it's obvious they have a bigger announcement in the wait: the 6.0 expansion announcement. Charles Boyd - in the most recent article about Ossus behind the scenes - stated that he can't tell us much about what's in the works but that he invites everyone to come to the Star Wars Celebration event where SWTOR will be present. That tells me there's going to be an Expansion announcement during the event and they want to keep it special and exciting, so they don't give us a roadmap because it would spoil the "surprise".

 

If you want to see patterns in something, you'll see them. If you want to see a pre-mortem stage for SWTOR, you'll see it. But that does not mean that it's true, you're only seeing what you want to see. That's usually the problem with conspiracy theories, they selectively choose what they want and don't want to believe and base their way of thinking on incomplete, falsely-interpreted or plainly fake information. The article is no different.

/Quote!

Yes, this article was not good. They have been doing lately lot of articles about SWTOR in the way they pick something random from forums and make it a click-bait story with no depth or actually information that would interest SWTOR players. This site used to be good and i read it regularly, now i have given up on it for the low quality of the articles especially related to SWTOR.

Also want to politely answer to people who were wondering why someone who mainly enjoyes solo content plays MMORPG's, from my own point if view. I am such player myself. I play multiple MMORPG's and enjoy them a lot. I have noticed that with many players like me, it is not about not wanting to play with other people people but more like not wanting to participate in organized group content. It is not same thing than wanting to play single player game alone.

Why i don't play single player games is simple: i want to play in world with other people, see them around me, talk to them, help them, trade with them, co-operate with them (not same thing that organized group content), play paraller, learn new things from them, have a laugh with them, look at their transmogs or creations like strongholds and admire and learn from those and in general play in the world effected by other players.

Why i don't prefer to do organized group content, many reasons:

• I generally prefer open world where i can play as long or as short time i wish (instances usually take a certain time you have to have to do them and i don't like having to commit certain time for certain activity, i am impulsive that way).
  
• I don't like to wait for forming the group, for example waiting in queue adds to time i need to commit to the said instance. I want to be free to go where i wish and also free to step of the pc to hug the puppy, make coffee or open the door when the bell rings without having to unconvience people that would be groupped with me.
  
• I am not competitive player and i don't get enjoyment from defeating hard encounters again and again.
  
• I don't like to micromanage my playing using parses, following my dps and optimizing my rotation. I do it on level that makes my own gameplay enjoyable but don't have time or enjoyment for doing so on the level needed for harder content. I don't want to let group players down because of my lack of interest on this area.
  
• While most players are always nice there is little bit too often such an players in organized group content i don't want to spend my time with.
  

So all that being said, it comes to how the game is made too. I play GW2 a lot and in there most of my time is spent on doing group content while i hardly ever join organized group (except for sometimes giant squads where you join just by clicking a button not needing invite). This is because group content is in mostly in open world with open tags, anyone can just walk in and participate without even being in group. Everyone can give as much effort as they can, experienced players (including me) advice the new ones, athmosphere is very welcoming and super easy to get in. So solo players are not necassarily against group play but against organized group play that is done purely in exclusive groups.

The article is rubbish in my opinion. They're talking about "SWTOR pre-mortem" based on a hunch and give little to no credible argumentation in my opinion as to why it would be in a pre-mortem stage. Sure, the game is not doing great, there's a reason I started a revitalization petition. But pre-mortem? Being eased into a shutdown? That's basic, bland and unsupported doom-talking if you ask me with no credibility attached to it.

 

The devs don't want to give us a roadmap because it's obvious they have a bigger announcement in the wait: the 6.0 expansion announcement. Charles Boyd - in the most recent article about Ossus behind the scenes - stated that he can't tell us much about what's in the works but that he invites everyone to come to the Star Wars Celebration event where SWTOR will be present. That tells me there's going to be an Expansion announcement during the event and they want to keep it special and exciting, so they don't give us a roadmap because it would spoil the "surprise".

 

If you want to see patterns in something, you'll see them. If you want to see a pre-mortem stage for SWTOR, you'll see it. But that does not mean that it's true, you're only seeing what you want to see. That's usually the problem with conspiracy theories, they selectively choose what they want and don't want to believe and base their way of thinking on incomplete, falsely-interpreted or plainly fake information. The article is no different.

/thread, seriously though very well spoken. This article is just another doom-and-gloom one, and I thought the forums would be support of it we things here are usually pretty grim... great to see people calling this, excuse the term, BS out on its logic. And as Dasty mentioned let's not even entertain his idea of flashpoint/story progression.

based on their reading numbers, it would be more likely Massively shutdown prior to SWTOR

Destruction 100

/Quote!

Here you go, Charles Boyd quoted from the article which you can easily find yourself on the main SWTOR page, mind you

Last question Charles, what are you most excited for with SWTOR in 2019?

 

Mostly stuff I can’t talk about yet ;-) Ask me again at our Community Cantina at Celebration in Chicago in April!

 

- Charles Boyd, A Look Behind the Scenes with Ossus

The article is rubbish in my opinion. They're talking about "SWTOR pre-mortem" based on a hunch and give little to no credible argumentation in my opinion as to why it would be in a pre-mortem stage. Sure, the game is not doing great, there's a reason I started a revitalization petition. But pre-mortem? Being eased into a shutdown? That's basic, bland and unsupported doom-talking if you ask me with no credibility attached to it.

 

The devs don't want to give us a roadmap because it's obvious they have a bigger announcement in the wait: the 6.0 expansion announcement. Charles Boyd - in the most recent article about Ossus behind the scenes - stated that he can't tell us much about what's in the works but that he invites everyone to come to the Star Wars Celebration event where SWTOR will be present. That tells me there's going to be an Expansion announcement during the event and they want to keep it special and exciting, so they don't give us a roadmap because it would spoil the "surprise".

 

If you want to see patterns in something, you'll see them. If you want to see a pre-mortem stage for SWTOR, you'll see it. But that does not mean that it's true, you're only seeing what you want to see. That's usually the problem with conspiracy theories, they selectively choose what they want and don't want to believe and base their way of thinking on incomplete, falsely-interpreted or plainly fake information. The article is no different.

This.