http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/21/star-wars-the-old-republics-13-patch-revealed 

Following up on the sizeable 1.2 Legacy content update, BioWare has revealed plans for the version 1.3 patch, called Allies. The highlight here is a much requested group finder feature, giving you an automated way to link up with others to quest and head into Flashpoints and Operations.

Though BioWare is working on new content for companion quests as well as world quests that aren’t tied to dungeons, that type of thing won’t be ready for 1.3. You will get the ability to transfer between servers, though, as well as changes to gear customization and crafting. Considering the recent news that Star Wars: The Old Republic lost 400,000 subscribers, it should be interesting to see the reaction once 1.3 goes live, as well as BioWare’s plans for 1.4 and beyond.

For more detail on 1.3, check out the answers provided by BioWare lead game designer Daniel Erickson. [/quote][/quote]fff

Reading Daniel Erickson's comments it's obvious that is trying to spin 1.2 as a success. In reality, there was an uptick due to people trying out 1.2 but also because they introduced the Rakgoul plague at the same time. Once the Rakgoul even ended is when the numbers went down again. The server merges will be a welcome change as will the group finder feature, but I don't think anything else is going to get people checking the game out.

First of many things that this game misses is finaly getting implemented... But I think it's a little bit too late for this now...

I think the sub numbers will continue to drop until something drastic changes with how they're treating patches... So far they've introduced something small every patch, they need either something big or many small things at once which are important to this game and it still lacks them.

Originally posted by korent1991

First of many things that this game misses is finaly getting implemented... But I think it's a little bit too late for this now...

I think the sub numbers will continue to drop until something drastic changes with how they're treating patches... So far they've introduced something small every patch, they need either something big or many small things at once which are important to this game and it still lacks them.

and again a lot of this was said during beta all this stuff should have been in the game at launch... looking at the scope and size of the project they had. One big concern was they would be spending the first year mostly playing catchup on basic features instead of actually expanding the game. So now subs are dropping and many because lack of content yet now 1.3 is going to be a feature catchup patch and people have to wait till probably winter or later for 1.4 and  more content... just horrible planning all around

And still no word on Ranked Warzones...

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

and again a lot of this was said during beta all this stuff should have been in the game at launch... looking at the scope and size of the project they had. One big concern was they would be spending the first year mostly playing catchup on basic features instead of actually expanding the game.

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You know, development capacity is limited. They stuff the game with "basic features" and you will cry that there is lack of content, they drop on "basic features" and focus on content and you will cry there is a lack of "basic features"...

Seems like you want to eat one's cake and have it too.

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Originally posted by Gdemami

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

and again a lot of this was said during beta all this stuff should have been in the game at launch... looking at the scope and size of the project they had. One big concern was they would be spending the first year mostly playing catchup on basic features instead of actually expanding the game.

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You know, development capacity is limited. They stuff the game with "basic features" and you will cry that there is lack of content, they drop on "basic features" and focus on content and you will cry there is a lack of "basic features"...

Seems like you want to eat one's cake and have it too.

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Originally posted by observer

And still no word on Ranked Warzones...

They won't really change anything. We'll still have the same 4 warzones and everyone other than fresh 50's (probably even them) will just queue for the ranked, it will just be the same matches other than earning different commendations.

I am generally not a fan of co called "dungeon finders" but in this case it should have been in from launch.

It is a good start but TOR needs to focus more on the social aspects of the game, it is the games Achilles heel.

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

and again a lot of this was said during beta all this stuff should have been in the game at launch... looking at the scope and size of the project they had. One big concern was they would be spending the first year mostly playing catchup on basic features instead of actually expanding the game.

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You know, development capacity is limited. They stuff the game with "basic features" and you will cry that there is lack of content, they drop on "basic features" and focus on content and you will cry there is a lack of "basic features"...

 

Seems like you want to eat one's cake and have it too.

strange Rift didn't have this issue at launch and when im talking basic stuff i mean stuff most F2P games have not to mention the big patches they are releasing a lot is nothing more than fixing or reworking completely broken stuff already in the game

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

You know, development capacity is limited. They stuff the game with "basic features" and you will cry that there is lack of content, they drop on "basic features" and focus on content and you will cry there is a lack of "basic features"...

 

Seems like you want to eat one's cake and have it too.

 Amazing how you call others out for making assumptions yet have no problem doing it yourself to further your viewpoint.

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

strange Rift didn't have this issue at launch and when im talking basic stuff i mean stuff most F2P games have not to mention the big patches they are releasing a lot is nothing more than fixing or reworking completely broken stuff already in the game

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Well, Rift also have a quality of F2P content too so no wonder they got resources to put some "basic features" in.

Or are you seriously implying that cautiously crafted, well narrated and designed world of SWTOR is somehow comparable to utter most generic content provided in Rift? I hope not...

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

strange Rift didn't have this issue at launch and when im talking basic stuff i mean stuff most F2P games have not to mention the big patches they are releasing a lot is nothing more than fixing or reworking completely broken stuff already in the game

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Well, Rift also have a quality of F2P content too so no wonder they got resources to put some "basic features" in.

Or are you seriously implying that cautiously crafted, well narrated and designed world of SWTOR is somehow comparable to utter most generic content provided in Rift? I hope not...

actually even more so because overall i find Rift to be 100x the MMO swtor is.. IPs do amazing things for sales and blind following.. all my opinion of course

The server transfers will probably be the biggest thing to affect people in the game. So long as they are free and automated, it should be a hit with existing players.

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

IPs do amazing things for sales and blind following.. all my opinion of course

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Seems like Trion marketing can deliver no less!

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

IPs do amazing things for sales and blind following.. all my opinion of course

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Seems like Trion marketing can deliver no less!

what marketing? don't really remember ever seeing hardly anything for Rift at launch.. haven't played in many months though so maybe they stepped it up with all the competition now. Either way as an MMO Rift outshines SWTOR in so many levels it's not even funny considering the budget each played with.

Originally posted by ktanner3

Following up on the sizeable 1.2 Legacy content update, BioWare has revealed plans for the version 1.3 patch, called Allies. The highlight here is a much requested group finder feature, giving you an automated way to link up with others to quest and head into Flashpoints and Operations.

That should have been in the game on release.  I absolutely would have subbed for at least a month if they had a working group finder with reasonable wait times.  I think four mans will quickly become a nightmare for group finding though.  If they had learned from WOW they would have made Flashpoints for 6 people (4 DPS).

At least they are adding in features that they need.  But it's definitely too late to get me back just for that.  Even multiplayer space combat is looking less likely to win me back, even if they remove the sub fee.  I'd rather keep playing D3 and when that becomes boring reward Arena Net for their B2P model. 

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

and again a lot of this was said during beta all this stuff should have been in the game at launch... looking at the scope and size of the project they had. One big concern was they would be spending the first year mostly playing catchup on basic features instead of actually expanding the game.

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You know, development capacity is limited. They stuff the game with "basic features" and you will cry that there is lack of content, they drop on "basic features" and focus on content and you will cry there is a lack of "basic features"...

 

Seems like you want to eat one's cake and have it too.

So with the biggest MMO budget in history the " basic " features were left out in place of other content? Maybe I misunderstood your post.

Seems to me the so called " content" consists of VO in 3 different languages. Maybe a better idea would have been to drop the dialogue for the generic " kill x and return" quests and focus on the features that actually enhance the game. I do like the VO for the main story. But did we really need 5 minutes of poorly done VO for every freaking generic quest there is?

Originally posted by Aerowyn

Originally posted by korent1991

First of many things that this game misses is finaly getting implemented... But I think it's a little bit too late for this now...

I think the sub numbers will continue to drop until something drastic changes with how they're treating patches... So far they've introduced something small every patch, they need either something big or many small things at once which are important to this game and it still lacks them.

and again a lot of this was said during beta all this stuff should have been in the game at launch... looking at the scope and size of the project they had. One big concern was they would be spending the first year mostly playing catchup on basic features instead of actually expanding the game. So now subs are dropping and many because lack of content yet now 1.3 is going to be a feature catchup patch and people have to wait till probably winter or later for 1.4 and  more content... just horrible planning all around

That's why it's a sinking ship. They will play forever catch up with an ever dwindling playerbase.

It's just really sad to see yet another SW game go down in flames due to mismanagment!

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Originally posted by jdnewell

So with the biggest MMO budget in history the " basic " features were left out in place of other content? Maybe I misunderstood your post.

Seems to me the so called " content" consists of VO in 3 different languages. Maybe a better idea would have been to drop the dialogue for the generic " kill x and return" quests and focus on the features that actually enhance the game. I do like the VO for the main story. But did we really need 5 minutes of poorly done VO for every freaking generic quest there is?

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Yes, you seem to understand it right. The development capacity is limited, you cannot have "everything" in at launch. You have to prioritize your development somehow.

It is not VO only, it is the whole game design. The game world is very, very well crafted and skillfully narrated to support maximum focus on story telling.

There is a reason SWTOR is even by haters labeled as single player game and they are right. The quest and world quality is as close as possible to offline games, something you cannot say about many MMO where same attributes are very generic and lacking.

I do not know who is this "we" you talk about but I acknowledge the effort and desire to make even those "generic" quest to feel not so much generic via use of VO and animation.

Like with everything, this effort will work for some and won't work for others alas no game is for everyone.

Originally posted by jdnewell

Originally posted by Gdemami

 

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Originally posted by Aerowyn

and again a lot of this was said during beta all this stuff should have been in the game at launch... looking at the scope and size of the project they had. One big concern was they would be spending the first year mostly playing catchup on basic features instead of actually expanding the game.

---

 

You know, development capacity is limited. They stuff the game with "basic features" and you will cry that there is lack of content, they drop on "basic features" and focus on content and you will cry there is a lack of "basic features"...

 

Seems like you want to eat one's cake and have it too.

So with the biggest MMO budget in history the " basic " features were left out in place of other content? Maybe I misunderstood your post.

Seems to me the so called " content" consists of VO in 3 different languages. Maybe a better idea would have been to drop the dialogue for the generic " kill x and return" quests and focus on the features that actually enhance the game. I do like the VO for the main story. But did we really need 5 minutes of poorly done VO for every freaking generic quest there is?

I thinik voice over and dialogue choices for the class story and world quests would have been enough. The side quests could be something they throw on the mission or bounty boards and not require much development.