I keep reading doom and gloom for SWTOR. Which is really sad for me because I was hoping for at least a decent Star Wars MMO ever since SWG's demise. 

Do you all really think it's going down that bad? Does anyone actually think it will survive much longer? Reason I ask is because I'd actually like to resub at some point but don't know if it's really worth it now. I never got to play much when it came out, due to bad timing for me, and so never got very far, but I enjoyed what little I did get to play.

I'd like to play more, but is there any reason? Seems like all you see about this game on MMORPG.com is that it has failed... but I remember at release everyone was praising it... what gives?

Well, the free server transfers (unforced mergers really) went down this week and the destination servers

are all packed.   However some servers are still waiting till next week.

So if lack of population was a problem for you, it wont be once your characters are transferred.

FB

Hah! That's interesting. Well if it's really the case that there are some populated servers, that sounds like a plus, because I'd probably jus make all new characters anyway since it's been so long.

A lot of people left because they were on servers where there just weren't enough people to play with any more, that problem is fixed for the most part now, with the transfers. I also believe they raised the population cap for the destination servers, as there seem to be more people on the fleet than at any time before (even launch).

If your reason for leaving was your server being empty, now or 1.3 would be a good time to come back.

If your reason for leaving was that you simply got tired of what the game has to offer, nothing will change with the next patch.

If you liked the story and could see your self rolling/re-rolling just to see the rest. Then yes it is money in the bank.

Beyond that.. Not to sure but i asume a good guild could make it worth while. As for the "being around" part, with EA as a publisher it is very hard to say... They have a bad track record of dropping support for older games as soon as a new shiney pops up (just look at any online service for a EA game or what happend to poor WAR)

Don't believe what you read.  Every game that's come out in the last 5 years or so, has been doomed and failed according to this forum lol.  I guess it's the cool thing to do today, so everyone is doing it.  If you notice there's about maybe 100 people on the forums spout out all this hate and such...100 vs how many people are playing now (and don't lie to anyone, WE DON'T KNOW).  If you liked the story, gameplay, and such, you'd probably still like it.  It hasn't changed much, just a few balances and bugs fixed.  The only real major thing that has been done (as previously mentioned) is server transfers.  Right now there's 287 people in Republic Fleet 1 and 68 in Republic Fleet 2 on The Harbinger.

Not a bad game to play just for the leveling game / class story. To me, the leveling part of the game is noticably better than that of most MMOs out there, but the endgame feels pretty much akin to hitting a wall of mediocre same-old. 

So, if you didn't get to play the class stories when you played the game, my recommendation would be to do so: Pick a class you like the story, character and voice acting of and do the story to the end. It's worth a month's sub, if you ask me.

Though if you see MMOs where you don't put in at least 3 months (and have long term goals) as a waste of time, you'll probably be quite disappointed.

I only left 'cause I didn't have the time to play it at all, hah. I'd really like to play it more eventually, so to me it sounds like it's not doing so bad. Except for the fact that they had to merge servers at all in the first place, but I think that is Bioware's over-optimistic fault... I do remember wondering why the heck they had so many servers at launch.

Originally posted by SeanSPS

I keep reading doom and gloom for SWTOR. Which is really sad for me because I was hoping for at least a decent Star Wars MMO ever since SWG's demise. 

Do you all really think it's going down that bad? Does anyone actually think it will survive much longer? Reason I ask is because I'd actually like to resub at some point but don't know if it's really worth it now. I never got to play much when it came out, due to bad timing for me, and so never got very far, but I enjoyed what little I did get to play.

I'd like to play more, but is there any reason? Seems like all you see about this game on MMORPG.com is that it has failed... but I remember at release everyone was praising it... what gives?

People played it, went through the content, got bored and disappointed with the game decisions after going through the game to the end and left.

tack on the  extreme hype that the game had no chance of living up to and you got  this mess.

outside of that,  the game is solid and meets the common MMO qualifications.

and of course, the problem with that  is that it  meets the common MMO qualifications while missing some along the way.

To the point,  SWTOR is a game worth playing if  your in to starwars, the stories are workable. but  outside of that,  Bioware wasnt able to overcome the obstacle of  longevity for their game. 

Play the game 2 months as best or its worth, if you hit 50 on your first or two characters and  you dont like it , you wont be missing a whole lot. 

Originally posted by SeanSPS

I only left 'cause I didn't have the time to play it at all, hah. I'd really like to play it more eventually, so to me it sounds like it's not doing so bad. Except for the fact that they had to merge servers at all in the first place, but I think that is Bioware's over-optimistic fault... I do remember wondering why the heck they had so many servers at launch.

Because of complaints from customers who were stuck in 8 hour+ queues every evening :)

Originally posted by Fdzzaigl

Originally posted by SeanSPS

I only left 'cause I didn't have the time to play it at all, hah. I'd really like to play it more eventually, so to me it sounds like it's not doing so bad. Except for the fact that they had to merge servers at all in the first place, but I think that is Bioware's over-optimistic fault... I do remember wondering why the heck they had so many servers at launch.

Because of complaints from customers who were stuck in 8 hour+ queues every evening :)

Haha, makes sense.

But thanks for the responses. I'm a MMO "Tourist" anyway. So it seems like to me it'd be worth it just sub for the purpose of completing the story... and then hang around if I see a reason to. Haha

The population is probably better on a bunch of servers than they have been in quite some time due to the transfers. Bugs are (probably) fewer as well, so might be a good time to resub if you didnt have any serious issues with the game overall.

The population drop might even have slowed down considerably: it might be down to "the core" by now, or at least much closer to it.

The game isn't dying, going to die, or be shut down anytime soon. If games like WAR are still around kicking you can bet SWTOR will be. I honestly see it taking the LotRO route it'll be P2P for awhile then switch to a F2P down the road.

Originally posted by ktanner3
Never use these forums as a yardstick for what you should be playing because youll be left lurking the area and hating everything. If you enjoyed it when you played it then you still will when you return.

Very true, haha. Agreed.

No, fare from.

Originally posted by Gravarg

Don't believe what you read.  Every game that's come out in the last 5 years or so, has been doomed and failed according to this forum lol.  I guess it's the cool thing to do today, so everyone is doing it.  If you notice there's about maybe 100 people on the forums spout out all this hate and such...100 vs how many people are playing now (and don't lie to anyone, WE DON'T KNOW).  If you liked the story, gameplay, and such, you'd probably still like it.  It hasn't changed much, just a few balances and bugs fixed.  The only real major thing that has been done (as previously mentioned) is server transfers.  Right now there's 287 people in Republic Fleet 1 and 68 in Republic Fleet 2 on The Harbinger.

STO.  APB.   Fallen Earth.  Warhammer.   AoC.   Aion.   Tera (Asia).  Rift.   I'm sure there are more...  All have gone through massive contractions.   All went through huge sever mergers (when applicable)....   And while they're continuing on, they're Free to Play/desperate with very small customer bases.

If history is any indication, I'm sure the whole "Warhammer" approach will be taken.  They'll, once the 'free voluntary transfer' period is up, they'll do something like with Warhammer when they shut down 63 servers (via Gamesutra) and made everyone who hadn't transferred, transfer:

Warhammer Online developer Mythic is to close a total of 63 servers for the massively multiplayer online game, with 43 to go in North America and Oceania and another 20 in Europe.

The closures are part of an ongoing effort to consolidate the game’s online population, which started some months ago with a free transfer offer to more popular servers. The now-compulsory moves have been completed this week and the empty servers are set to close.

Mythic was recently forced to confirm layoffs in its customer support and QA teams, although the developer insisted this was not unusual for a post-launch massively multiplayer online game.

Although Warhammer Online attracted 500,000 registrations in its launch week, current subscriber levels are now at 300,000. Both Mythic and publisher Electronic Arts have indicated they remain committed to the game

See what they did?  Does it sound familiar?   They're going to 'remain committed to the game.'   And those layoffs?  They were 'routine and customary..."   And those transfers to 'populated servers' were voluntary, until they became mandatory. 

And after that round...   A few more rounds and now, they're down to TWO servers last I read (Joystiq):

For those of you keeping score at home, this brings Warhammer Online's total operational servers to a whopping two. Players with characters on either server can transfer them to the remaining servers via the Mythic Account Center, though at the rate things are going, there may not be any servers left soon enough

But EA is standing behind the game...   Just like they're standing behind SWTOR.   And Tiger Woods golf...   Though I suspect they stand behind Tiger Wood golf more...   Since they can easily churn that franchise, whereas SWTOR they can't.  :)   

Originally posted by Fdzzaigl

Originally posted by SeanSPS

I only left 'cause I didn't have the time to play it at all, hah. I'd really like to play it more eventually, so to me it sounds like it's not doing so bad. Except for the fact that they had to merge servers at all in the first place, but I think that is Bioware's over-optimistic fault... I do remember wondering why the heck they had so many servers at launch.

Because of complaints from customers who were stuck in 8 hour+ queues every evening :)

No.   That's not even close.   It's just a myth started by people who didn't want to accept the game is crashing and dying for other reasons.

Full servers with 890K purchases.   Now a 10-to-1, or so, server merger with 2.34 million purchases.  

If the game was good, those servers would still be full.   You can't increase servers by 45%, increase units sold by 262% and have empty servers unless there is a problem with the game.   It just defies logic to conclude otherwise.

The reason they added servers was because they correctly forcasted sales growth.  From EGA to the end of December, they added another 800K gamers.   From the end of EGA to the end of January, they added 1.3 million gamers.    That was more than enough to fill all those servers and demand even more being opened.

Yet we have 90% of servers are ghost towns (pre-transfer).  The reason there are so many empty servers is because the game, for what appears to the be the vast majority of purchasers, wasn't worth sticking around for...

Originally posted by MosesZD

Originally posted by Gravarg

Don't believe what you read.  Every game that's come out in the last 5 years or so, has been doomed and failed according to this forum lol.  I guess it's the cool thing to do today, so everyone is doing it.  If you notice there's about maybe 100 people on the forums spout out all this hate and such...100 vs how many people are playing now (and don't lie to anyone, WE DON'T KNOW).  If you liked the story, gameplay, and such, you'd probably still like it.  It hasn't changed much, just a few balances and bugs fixed.  The only real major thing that has been done (as previously mentioned) is server transfers.  Right now there's 287 people in Republic Fleet 1 and 68 in Republic Fleet 2 on The Harbinger.

 

STO.  APB.   Fallen Earth.  Warhammer.   AoC.   Aion.   Tera (Asia).  Rift.   I'm sure there are more...  All have gone through massive contractions.   All went through huge sever mergers (when applicable)....   And while they're continuing on, they're Free to Play/desperate with very small customer bases.

 

 

  

It has Star Wars in the name is a reason.