An interesting thread over at Reddit about GSF......

ToFN has pretty short queues (total PUG), and I really enjoy GSF (especially now that they added fleet Commendations to rewards).
I only played few games with joystick, and I never felt like I would need it in GSF, the controls on KB/M are really easy. The tutorial provides enough practice with these said controls. Sure, it does not prepare you for the real deal, but there is also no tutorial that would prepare you for ground PvP, as human players are simply too unpredictable.
I agree that there is a noticeable gear gap, when new ships (I do play on several characters, because I use GSF to level new alts) cannot do anything against upgraded players, however, that is the case with ground PvP as well. Possibly some form of Bolster for Space might be created, but no sure how effective it would be, because if you cannot fly, you get destroyed regardless of gear.

I think that GSF needs more maps to keep it varied, and maybe some sort of bolster to lower the gear gap between new ships and upgraded ships. Getting upgrades (and becoming "better") would e then a bit easier.
It definitely does not need joystick control or some other stuff.

I'm more or less a supporter of this game. I try to be optimistic and encourage optimism in others.

This time last year I first learned about the "super secret space project" and was extremely excited about it.

When I learned about GSF I immediately resubbed.

I tried to play GSF. I really wanted it to be good. But I just didn't find it to be fun. I just could not enjoy it.

PvP is for some people. But not me. Part of what I dislike is the constant dying. I'm a role player at heart and getting killed really spoils immersion for me. Seeing my ship explode makes me feel obligated to log out...my character died, so the story is over, right? Respawning feels like a gross violation of plot continuity. At least that's how I play.

This game has such rich atmosphere. It's packed with amazing artwork. I love to explore my environment and admire the scenery...but that's a totally unacceptable activity during pvp. GSF doesn't permit you to wander around, study your surrounding, or "get in character" as a pilot...and for me, that was the biggest bummer. Imagination was clearly not allowed. So it ended up feeling like a mini game.

I don't like being ungrateful, but the honest truth is that I didn't feel much gratitude for GSF.

The most popular choice, by a wide margin if I remember correctly was actually a BF2 style shooter. That also seemed to be the most popular request in the thread itself.

The point is the current feature, if they were aiming for Bf2, fell short in that it relies too much on gear, the reticule is too large for precise control of ship movement and joystick support, there are too many specials (compared to the simple attacks for BF2), there is no "on foot" combat portion, with landing on capital ships, attacking or defending control points and turret play.

Naturally one could add the lack of PVE, but if they at least had the above IMO, or something very close to it it would have been popular, even with the casual crowd IMO. Without those elements, however I feel it was not going to gain popularity inside the current playerbase, never mind outside the game like it should have.

So I come and go to SWTOR alot (Just resubbed last night actually!) and the last time I played for 1 day and it was to try GSF, it made me quit the game completely for the next 4 months lol.

I don't know if I am just bad or what, but I thought the biggest problem was the freaking controls, I couldn't keep my dang ship straight much less fly it where I wanted it to go. Let's not even talk about trying to target and attack other people, I just wanted to fly without my ship being upside down.

That was my biggest turn off and the reason I probably will never play GSF.

If they ever fix the controls so I don't feel like a bar of soap on an ice sheet then perhaps I would give it another chance.

If you need for some reason to readjust to the "artificial horizon", just press "V" key. It will slowly rotate you to the default position (so it is better to level manually and then let it correct). However, I am not sure why would you want that, as flying around and dodging target locks usually requires a lot of moving around...

If you do not like moving around, play Bomber or Gunship, those roles are pretty stationary and do not really engage in "dogfighting".

So, how does sitting ontop of a cliff in a gunship, or cruising around a cap point in a bomber take flying skill again? Please, I'm just *dying* to hear your explanation of what constitutes as skill.

I'd say:

1. Too complex for non sim fans and too dumb for others
2. Totally different than the PvE part.
3. Eventually too different than X-Wing series

.
Other parts are just hindering the appeal but not that much of a deal breaker.

Would the space sim be a multiplayer X-Wing like game, even without PvP, it would be good enough.
Then adding PvP, joystick support, good tutorial, PVE/Turret Play/On foot combat/Capital ship control points would help but not be a deal breaker.

When they unveiled the tunnel shooter, we told them while it might look good on paper and in vids, soon enough people would want more and find it annoying in the end, as having very few replay value.

Then we also told them adding a multiplayer, especially a PvP one, would be totally different, meaning you'll need to build and maintain two different system added to the fact players would have to learn two different game play.

And they did not listen...

They did the same with the mods, the companions, the PvP, the companions customisation and roles etc down to lately the housing.

The tutorial was horrible and it was PvP only, haven't played it in months and won't unless they introduce a PvE version. Hell, just let me fly around the galaxy and explore without getting blown up and getting called every bad word possible by teammates just because I suck.

I think I would have been ok with it if it had been in the game at launch. It wasnt though and I think it was idiotic to implement it - and perhaps even create it (although I'm suspecting that it was scheduled back when **** hadnt hit the fan) - as the population was declining. It's too niched.
Even if you consider yourself a PvE'er you're always able to jump into a warzone and quickly get a hang of things. Controls are the same and with the exception of a few things(group aggro for shadows and whatnot) abilities are too. GSF is a game of its' own, there's a new learning curve and the "gear disparity" is worse than it ever has been in ground PvP. It's something you have to invest in and to be able to do that you really need to enjoy it and foremost enjoy it more than the other niches in the game, or you'll just stick to those instead.

This is also the reason to why I'm against other projects, such as pod-racing. I was never excited about GSF but I could see myself enjoying pod-racing. That said, you have to be realistic and with pod-racing potentially becoming a hit you're killing other parts of the game, branches that already are struggling in terms of queue times and whatnot. The focus should be on the main game, ground combat (PvE and PvP) and not a bunch of other stuff.

I think it's a given that PvP is also for the few and so I wouldn't consider it 'the main game' either. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=750289

I welcome more and varied mini-games tbh.