I still very much love MMOs... they're likely my favorite game genre. The things I love most about the genre were sadly lacking or unrealized in SWtOR, however.

Agreed. #4 and #6 are especially true in my case. Despite appearing otherwise, the universe is a soulless set of corridors wrapped in fish tank wallpaper and inhabited by stationary life forms.

I unsubscribed a few moments ago... but may hop on a few times throughout the 33 days I have remaining. My decision has nothing to do w/ other/competing games. The decision to unsubscribe was solely made on the merits of SWtoR as a game I could play/enjoy for the long-term. Truth is, I've simply grown disinterested over the past few months. The story is fine, the classes are nice (love my Shadow) and there's quite a bit of unrealized potential. Despite these things, I just can't bring myself to log in anymore- at least not enough to justify a running subscription. I'm not even sure if transfers/merges would be enough to retain me at this time. I suppose I'd give the game another honest look were servers consolidated but, again, am not quite sure any longer. It's a bit heartbreaking... but it would be misleading to say that it was a difficult decision.

Noticed it for the first time last night; caught me by surprise but I think I like it... a TOR curiosity.

+1 Sexy, functional and very much TOR.

What? People entered the black hole... never to be seen again?

Say what you will- BioWare's inaugural TOR April Fool's is great.

@OP, welcome! The low population of my origin server nearly drove me to quit. I had actually unsubscribed after hitting 50, but found renewed joy and enthusiasm in the combination of PVP (where socializing is a must) and rolling an alt on a high population server (the contrast is immense). Now I'm enjoying myself quit a bit. I've got my main progressing through PVE/PVP dailies on Ilum and, in the meantime, have my alt establishing a presence, making friends on the new high-pop server. I'll either transfer my main or, if mergers occur, will stay put and bring over my alt. Either way, the result will be a high-pop home someday. Again, welcome and I hope you enjoy the game. Advice is, of course, to make a home on a thriving server. [Edit] I, too, participated in CB and began my journey w/ the early game access period... so the notion of burnout -- be it TOR or MMOs in general -- is simply objective. There are those who love the game, like the game, don't care, dislike the game, or hate the game. And there are those among these who are heartbroken, hoping for a better future. Don't take anyone's opinion as a generalization- mine included, of course. Your opinion is the only one that matters; be it positive, neutral or negative. You're the one investing time, money and effort, right? Right!

My beloved Shadow's story, purpose is probably too boring so I won't bother... My slave, slime Assassin alt, however, was forced to go through the trials... else face death. Worse yet, she's an alien and, therefore, nothing. So, no, she is not very fond of the Empire... to say the least. She's going along w/ her Master right now while she grows in power until she can fully break the chains binding her. This Assassin seeks knowledge -- both Dark and Light -- and undermines the Empire when possible- the Sith, the warlords but not the enlisted, the civilians, the pawns. A slave no more, she punishes those who transgress against her, against those who seek to subdue the weak, the innocent. She has no allegiance. She bows to no one.

I've leveled my Shadow toward the PVE Upheaval build 2/31/8 and have been using it ever since I hit 50- for both PVE and PVP. Survivability is not a strong point but the spec's strengths lie elsewhere. For one, we make wonderful node defenders, catwalk sweepers, bomb planters/diffusers and player killers, healer slayers. Our stealth, Force Speed and assortment of CCs bring a lot to the each WZ. The DPS should certainly not be underestimated, of course. Finally, make gratuitous use of Mass Mind Control as it -- albeit temporarily -- reduces damage to the allies in your vicinity. If you're using Combat Technique, you should/must further assist by casting Guard on a critical ally (i.e., healer). As for survivability, one must be mindful of their surroundings, use Force Cloak, take advantage of the CC mechanism (name escapes me at the moment) and the defensive CDs at the Shadow's disposal. Never, never, never go into a Rambo mindset- nothing good will ever come of rushing headlong into a pack of Imps. The only time you're taking on the world is when you're forced to solo defend a node until help arrives... and when doing so, priority is to keep the node, not try and slay someone. The longer you survive and keep Imps from capping, the larger the window for delayed reinforcements' arrival. I'm no PVP expert but it's difficult to argue w/ results. There are times when I top the damage chart and there are times when I earn 9-10 badges. There are times, however, when I deal minimal damage or times when I leave with 3-4 badges. It all depends on how the WZ's combat unfolds and the role(s) you play. Defending a turret against minimal force may not result in you standing out on the chart, but the fact that your efforts ensured the turret's focus was on the enemy ship are priceless. At the end of the day, winning the WZ is far more important than big numbers on the chart. As for one-on-one PVP, I honestly have no complaints. I'm no overpowered killing machine and success often comes down to a combination of mistakes made, PVP gear and not losing my head. I'd say I come away the victor as much as I come away the corpse. Yeah, I'm quite happy w/ it all. Love it... though I'm always jealous of the Knight's jump/pull abilities.

I doubt I'm the first to voice these suggestions... Allow same-Legacy, same-Faction characters to aid you in-game as companions. Implement a true auction house; this may already be incoming w/ 1.2 but I'll state it regardless due to the uncertainty of what the GTM enhancements really are. Add an in-game character appearance vendor (i.e., barbershop); the importance of this will only rise when the Legacy system allows for cross-faction character customizations (i.e., markings). Please replace the current stack-split key combo w/ one that does not result in the item being linked in chat... or let us designate our own key bindings. Implement paid/free server transfers; the sooner the better (I nearly quit due to the low pop on my server and am currently grinding dailies/PvP on my main while having rolled an alt on a more populated server).

I must agree with you, mate. Having casually leveled to 50, smelling the roses and enjoying things the game does well, I found myself losing interest from ~ level 35 to 50. Not because the story got worse, not because the planets/encounters got worse, not because I was tiring of the game. Fact is, I absolutely adore my Shadow and think the story was very interesting w/ quite a bit of lore and other notable eye openers courtesy of the Consular class' inquisitive/diplomatic/seeking nature. No, I was losing interest because it really did start to feel like a single player RPG. The population count was terrible and finding groups for FPs was a painful experience. Sure, max-level guildies could "run" me through my instances but, honestly, where's the fun in that unless you're at the level cap and farming, etc.? The only fun I still had were the Warzones... the only experience that still felt like a MMO. I connected w/ a handful of regular combatants and had a wonderful time losing/winning. I unsubscribed... yet had nearly a month left. Thing is, I enjoyed the game enough, had hope for a bright, long-term future and saw the (as of yet unrealized) potential. I rolled an alt on a high-population server about a week later, following the advice of a friend, and found the experience to be a stark contrast to what I've come to expect on my low-pop home. Now, I really do not want to transfer my main to the high-pop server but will absolutely do so if my hand is forced. I would much rather stay put, keep my name, keep my friends and merge w/ other low/med-pop server(s). Whatever happens, I will either transfer my main to the high-pop or, should BW merge servers, transfer my alt to my main's server. TL;DR Low population server kills the MMO feel, kills my enjoyment, drives me to unsubscribe. High population server revives the MMO feel, revives my joy ten-fold, drives me to resubscribe and cautiously, optimistically hope the game's potential is someday realized.

Neat and clever... ...now add some sort of wagering system (impossible?) and...

+1 Still an active subscriber but... I don't know... as much effort as they put into the dialogues, the world seems equally neglected, static, stale and dead. Although the visuals do appeal -- partially due to aesthetics, partially due to nostalgia -- I find no joy traveling through it. Further disheartening is the world's scale being a lie akin to the wallpaper wrapped around the back of an aquarium. The large areas that do exist, however, appear to exist for the purpose of existing as large areas- there really is nothing worth exploring here. I feel as if they made those areas larger than the rest so as to tell me, "look, we've got large, open areas." Simply put, it's a set of corridors disguised as lush vistas... vistas you really do not get to traverse. The game has potential... lots of it... but... I have to agree w/ Farbod in that it has no soul. So many planets, so much lore and so many unique biomes... Very disheartening.

/Signed