• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

BioWare doing “anything and everything” to keep players logging in to SW:TOR

They turned him into a genocidal maniac. Literally.

He wasn't a maniac,
he knew what he was doing, and it was to take on a burden to save the galaxy. It's a repeat of his original story of his crusade against the Mandalorians. He was neither light or dark anymore, he saw himself as neutral as he would do what was required and what other Jedi would not do. He was willing to destroy the Sith race to save the galaxy, as no Jedi would have. He sacrificed himself already for 300 years to protect the republic, and now he was going to sacrifice himself to the dark side to destroy the Sith
 
It's a sub based game, so keeping people playing and trying to draw in subs is important. Desperate sounding? Perhaps, but they have to do whatever they can to make bank.
A free months across the board to people who are still playing is not making bank. They should be already in line to stay another month. It should have been a return to SWTOR reward for a chance they pay for succeeding months. The fact that everyone who met the level requirements got it means they are desperate, period. Sounds like they saw too many "cancel at the end of the period" account statuses that's delaying the inevitable.
 

Darklord

Banned
He wasn't a maniac,
he knew what he was doing, and it was to take on a burden to save the galaxy. It's a repeat of his original story of his crusade against the Mandalorians. He was neither light or dark anymore, he saw himself as neutral as he would do what was required and what other Jedi would not do. He was willing to destroy the Sith race to save the galaxy, as no Jedi would have. He sacrificed himself already for 300 years to protect the republic, and now he was going to sacrifice himself to the dark side to destroy the Sith

Killing billions because they have a tiny bit of DNA sounds pretty dark sided to me.
 
A free months across the board to people who are still playing is not making bank. There's no guarantee they will stay another month. It should have been a return to SWTOR reward to get them to pay. The fact that everyone got it means they are desperate, period.

Doesn't cost them anything to give away free game time, it's all just marketing. Not everyone got free game time either, you had to have invested enough time in, or you had to have an active sub currently and they were advertising this like crazy over the weekend to get people to sub before sunday which would give them a free month extra and the freebie pet.

Returning promos are no doubt also going to come out. Desperate? Again... of course, they have to get people playing and trying to retain subs. If other games are taking away players, of course they will need to be desperate to make more sales.

Killing billions because they have a tiny bit of DNA sounds pretty dark sided to me.

Because it is.
Revan and the Exile pretty much say this also in the game, and from the novel background that is kind of the point. Hes neutral in that he can touch both sides of the force and doesn't follow either the Jedi order or Sith anymore. Hes assuming the dark path to try and save the galaxy. He considers it his sacrifice to go to the dark side to destroy the Sith for the greater good. A pure light jedi will not do what he believes is needed to end the threat of the Sith and it's emperor.
 

Moaradin

Member
I lose brain cells every time there is a TOR thread on these forums. It turns into a 4chan post out of nowhere. No logic to be found.
 

Lilsnubby

Member
At the risk of injecting a little optimism into this thread, I'm actually liking aspects of the game. I'm having a lot of fun with the <50 pvp. The games are all really close, not a lot of blowouts. I just start pvping at level 10 with any class and right away I'm having fun. PVP in WoW was always a series of total blowouts against pre-mades but I'm not finding that to be the case in SWTOR. At first I didn't really get Huttball but now I love it. I want more Huttball arenas. How about arenas with progression? An AV type big battle? PVP Space would be the thing that could really improve the game. Was "Jump to Lightspeed" or the Star Trek space combat any good?
 

DTKT

Member
A free months across the board to people who are still playing is not making bank. They should be already in line to stay another month. It should have been a return to SWTOR reward for a chance they pay for succeeding months. The fact that everyone who met the level requirements got it means they are desperate, period. Sounds like they saw too many "cancel at the end of the period" account statuses that's delaying the inevitable.

Well, if you have a bunch of content coming soon, you actually want the players to stick around in order to actually see the new stuff.

Still, a free month is quite major. It's 15mil that you Bioware will not see.
 
I don't know I just did everything I could and I got it, I don't know what to tell you guys.

Did you import a ME1 or ME2 save? I'm gonna assume maybe some decisions there made a difference.

The fact remains, you can't get 5000+ GR without playing facebook, the iOS game, or multiplayer so Bioware can go fuck themselves.

This is probably up for debate in terms of "optimal, complete ending", but in my opinion, they lied about the galactic readiness because you can't achieve the best outcomes only in single-player.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/8481789/1

It is important to note that the system is entirely optional and just another way players can have control over your game experience – it is still possible to achieve the optimal, complete ending of the game in Mass Effect 3 through single-player alone.
 

Randdalf

Member
This makes me dread the inevitable Mass Effect MMO. If it was actually Mass Effect, with actual Mass Effect gameplay, I'd be all over it. I just fear it'll turn into some kind of "stand still whilst clicking icons" MMO.
 

DTKT

Member
This makes me dread the inevitable Mass Effect MMO. If it was actually Mass Effect, with actual Mass Effect gameplay, I'd be all over it. I just fear it'll turn into some kind of "stand still whilst clicking icons" MMO.

I have yet to see a "working" TPS mechanic within an MMO.
 
Doesn't cost them anything to give away free game time, it's all just marketing. Not everyone got free game time either, you had to have invested enough time in, or you had to have an active sub currently and they were advertising this like crazy over the weekend to get people to sub before sunday which would give them a free month extra and the freebie pet.

Returning promos are no doubt also going to come out. Desperate? Again... of course, they have to get people playing and trying to retain subs. If other games are taking away players, of course they will need to be desperate to make more sales.
... Not getting 1 month of income from your most active/important players is quite a cost of money. No company does that kind of marketing unless you recruit someone else to increase income.

Giving a free month to people un-subbed in hopes of them paying for a 2nd+ however isn't a cost of income.

Which is why this is pretty unprecedented and a bleak outlook for the future of the game.
 

Lothars

Member
Did you import a ME1 or ME2 save? I'm gonna assume maybe some decisions there made a difference.

The fact remains, you can't get 5000+ GR without playing facebook, the iOS game, or multiplayer so Bioware can go fuck themselves.

This is probably up for debate in terms of "optimal, complete ending", but in my opinion, they lied about the galactic readiness because you can't achieve the best outcomes only in single-player.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/8481789/1
Yes I imported a save that had a complete ME1 and ME2.
 

DTKT

Member
What is the point?

The point was that the SP was advertised as being standalone. A player could enjoy the complete experience without touching the MP. That's currently not the case. The fact that there are ways to "circumvent" the issue do not make the problem disappear.

That's all.
 

Emitan

Member
You don't have to play with other people in order to get the "complete experience". You can solo on bronze.


Maybe I'm being stupid, but I don't see why this is a problem. You don't have to play a single competitive game to get the necessary war score; you don't even have to play with other people. You can play one game, on bronze, in exactly the same engine/experience as Shepard's story and get the required WS to see her breathe at the end.

Dunno, it just seemed completely bizarre to be up in arms about.

Do you need XBL to play multiplayer by yourself?
 

theBishop

Banned
Will never happen. How are you going to fit dozens of skills on a controller? You might be able to get away with playing a Merc/Commando on a controller but not much else.

Some combination of d-pad + action buttons perhaps? You could cue up 16 functions that way. 32 if you count diagonals.

I don't know if it's realistic, but I won't play otherwise.
 
Do you need XBL to play multiplayer by yourself?

Good question.

You need an online pass to play multiplayer so I don't know how that works for XBL. If you bought the game used too, your gonna need for over cash for the online pass to get the complete endings for that GR if you can't play horde mode solo.
 

Emitan

Member
Good question.

You need an online pass to play multiplayer so I don't know how that works for XBL. If you bought the game used too, your gonna need for over cash for the online pass to get the complete endings for that GR if you can't play horde mode solo.

So you need an internet connection to get the not shit ending?
 

the madman

Neo Member
For awhile after I hit full Rakata gear on my Operative healer, I quit playing except raids to help my guild. With the advent of patch 1.2, though, I find myself playing a lot more.
 

Scirrocco

Member
Yup :(

I would like the game if I didn't need to spend months of my life to finish 1/8 of it.

TOR's story is kind of a double edge isn't it? Yeah, it makes you want to keep playing your character to fifty, but when you get to fifty, rather then feel satisfied the game still feels incomplete. Kind of sucks for bioware.

What could they have done to fix it though? Maybe a legacy exp increase? It might still be coming; the legacy system isn't complete yet.

Because it is.
Revan and the Exile pretty much say this also in the game, and from the novel background that is kind of the point. Hes neutral in that he can touch both sides of the force and doesn't follow either the Jedi order or Sith anymore. Hes assuming the dark path to try and save the galaxy. He considers it his sacrifice to go to the dark side to destroy the Sith for the greater good. A pure light jedi will not do what he believes is needed to end the threat of the Sith and it's emperor.

Except thats kind of insane. You'd think he would know better.
Killing off all the Sith solves the immediate problem of the sith empire, but isn't much of a long term solution. Genocide isn't going to make the dark side go away. It won't make galactic crime go away. The galaxy would be a more peaceful place without the hutts, should he turn the machines on them next? You're not helping the Republic by proving the best way to solve your problems is murder.

Whats the end goal worth killing so many innocent people for? You'd think he'd remember what his old friend Jolee Bindo said: " Don't think this war is important just because you're in it." There's always going to be a next war.

TOR's Revan isn't dark side general, or light side redeemer, he's just a freaking lunatic. That's why he sucks.
 

Hero

Member
This is what I said before the game launched. First month sales are ALWAYS touted by PR for selling X copies in such a short amount of time. In terms of MMO games, nobody gives a fuck about the first month sales. What's important is the subscriber count six months in. If people buy your MMO and only play for the initial free month you're going to lose money.

Next, in this day and age, you have to be able to compete with WoW by matching it feature for feature. A lot of people like to say shit like "Well it has more stuff than WoW did when it launched." News flash, people buying your MMO today don't give a fuck about what WoW was like when it launched but what WoW offers today does matter. Launching without guild banks, looking for group/dungeon, etc is a total fuck-up. One of the most difficult things to do is steal a customer from WoW or any other MMO they're already playing. Why should they leave their environment where they have established friends, guilds, economies, etc. to come play your game? You not only have to get player Y but convince them to either leave their friends behind or get them to come along, neither of which happens as often as they need.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
When I play games designed around F2P all I see is the game design centered around pushing the players to spend money. The best F2P games are the ones that were once P2P and they just added on a F2P system as a kind of demo for getting people to pay a monthly fee. I'd much rather play a game that is focused on being an actual good game to keep me playing, rather than a game focused on getting me to spend money.

Edit: Or the Guild Wars model, which is buy a boxed copy and hope that players still like it enough to buy the expansion, that is a solid model also. Not sure if people consider that F2P or not. I'm talking about the micro transaction bullshit like Age of Empires online.

I would much rather play a game that's free and lets you pay for stuff you want as it comes along, than play a game where you pay 15 bucks a month whether the developer is improving the game/adding content or not.

If you choose not to pay more money in a F2P game, you still get to play the game. If you choose not to pay money in a subscription game, the dev goes "fuck you, i don't care how much money you spent on this so far, you aren't playing any more."
 

Vamphuntr

Member
Man, Bioware can't catch a break. Backlash for DAII, Backlash for ME3 ending and "disappointing" performance for SWTOR. You can also feel they are really nervous to unveil DA3 too. They are even asking for fans' feedback before showing the damn game.

I wonder how many subs and for how long they need them to make profits from the game. Wasn't this in development for a long time.
 

mxgt

Banned
It's a bad MMO, I only got to level 32.

And in those 32 levels I never once saw a player of the opposing faction.
 

WallJump

Banned
I notice from the article their priorities seems to be in things that make the MMO easier to play, like guild banks, a better LFG system, etc. That's all well and good if the game is fun and interesting. Now, when you're on Alderaan and the mission structure is exactly the same as the first 5 planets with just a fresh coat of grass green... well, the grind is definitely a grind. I got bored with it before I hit level 50 and having a guild bank isn't exactly the type of thing that'll get me to come back. They desperately need some variety in the gameplay other than just choosing different classes. All the voice acting in the world can't fix that.
 
It's a bad MMO, I only got to level 32.

And in those 32 levels I never once saw a player of the opposing faction.
One of the main reasons i unsubbed. I love world pvp, and this game is pretty lacking in it. That combined with my general mmo burn-out...
 

hamchan

Member
They gave out a free month to some people? That seems a bit crazy.

I'd probably jump back in and finish off my 2nd character if they actually gave it to me, even though the game is kinda boring and bad.
 

KorrZ

Member
Why do I have to watch countless loading screens and walk across vast empty areas just to change planets? They thought this was a great idea?

It's sad to see the amazing SW license wasted yet again.

This was terrible. I mean having to walk across zones was nothing new, but when you have to hit 4 loading screens to get to another planet...and some of the loads for SWTOR were fucking terrible. Certain planets take easily 5 minutes to load sometimes (maybe slight exaggeration) but it's certainly noticeable.

There were some really smart ideas in that game (Sending your crew to craft for you) but it just loses steam. I personally burned out @ 41 on Hoth. God that planet was just a barren wasteland of boring and the levels started taking far too long.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
It doesn't even need to be free. I'd gladly pay for the one-time fee for the client, guild wars-style.
 
The game was a huge disappointment for me. Really, the only thing that is good about it is story, but it requires so much boring grind to get through. The combat is worse than what it is trying to copy, and I don't like the art direction of the game. It also does not have the feeling of an MMO.

They really should have just made single player games with the amount of resources pooled in to this failure. Maybe the game would have been good then, without the badly done MMO fluff and subscription for what feels like a single player game.

Can't wait for Guild Wars 2. If that disappoints, I will probably give up on MMOs, but its looking great, much better than SWTOR so far.
 

Zertez

Member
Reading the thread title, I dont think this is a bad thing. Every company should be doing everything and anything to keep their customers. In a subscription model, the company had better being doing everything in their power to keep people paying. If Bioware wasnt working as hard on the game until people left, then shame on them and they deserve to lose players.
 

Arcteryx

Member
It's a bad MMO, I only got to level 32.

And in those 32 levels I never once saw a player of the opposing faction.

I played on one of the top population US servers, and on my main, I can recount seeing 4 enemy players up until Hoth, whereupon I saw a decent amount (at least 2-3 every quest outting). The way they structured the game is beyond silly.
 
Top Bottom