Oh I don't know.....instead of working on "Fremium" they instead fix Ilum (how long has Ilum been shut down?), balance the classes (you know, the ones everyone asks for when making a ranked PvP WZ group) and a few other major complaints people had about the game.  It would probably get more people back to paying subs rather than figuring out how to play the game for free.  Or, it could just be beyond the capability of the developers to fix the actual game so they have to go this route.

Oh well.  Bioware fails on it's first MMO.  The stories were good, the rest of the game was meh.

I think the future for MMO's over the next 5 years is rather bleak.

First, we have seen several very expensive MMO games fail miserably from a financial point of view.  Some of those games would be DCUO and SWTOR. A company that makes a lot of MMOs (Funcom) just had to make massive layoffs to stay afloat after sales of TSW didn't meet expectations.

Overall, to make a "AAA" MMO, the costs seem to be skyrocketing and the likelihood of success seems to be shrinking.  Furthermore, it is rumored that even WoW is beginning to see its subscribers decline.  The only bright spot for MMO's appears to be GW2, but that isn't a subscription model.  Other MMOs are successful as free to play with real cash upgrades. According to industry executives, about 2% of the players in those games actually pay cash for items. 

In other words, when an executive looks at the cost of making an MMO plus the amount of time they require and the amount of risk involved (given how many have failed financially), it really isn't a surprise that we're likely to see far fewer MMO games.

In my opinion, we have already seen the wave of WoW clones, which failed. Any company looking at trying to make the money WoW did will also have to now consider why so many WoW clones failed. Which is to say they'll have to be innovative games, which probably just increases the risk of the game.  SWTOR tried it with voice acting and failed. 

Furthermore, what players expect in an MMO has also increased.  It is no longer acceptable to release a half-developed game with lots of bugs at launch. It is no longer acceptable to have only a few end-game dungeons at launch with the promise to eventually develop more. It is no longer acceptable to have PvP as an afterthought in a game. It is no longer acceptable for the graphic engine to faulter when 60 players are in the same location, and yet still deliver high quality graphics. 

Lastly, hardware is changing.  Tablets are becomming much more popular, but doing an MMO on a tablet seems strange. 

In my opinion, a developer needs to thread the needle between sandbox endgame with a meaningful impact (for longevity and community aspects) and themepark leveling (for casual gaming).  While I'd love to see DAOC 2, the reality of the failures of SWTOR and WAR are unlikely to allow EA/Bioware to make another MMO game in the near future.

I quit for the following reasons:

1) Open world PvP was missing.   Not just Ilum, which was a disaster, but even open world PvP on PvP servers was practically non-existent.  Furthermore, open world PvP never had an impact on anything....

2) Persistant class imbalances for PvP.  Every ranked warzone has powertechs and marauders for DPS....nothing else is wanted.  Might be a clue as to what is overpowered and what is underpowered....yet developers continue to ignore it.

3) Played the same 4 warzones too many times.  Wish there was some variety, since there isn't any open world PvP.

4) Themepark PvE to the extreme.  I don't mind themepark per se, but this was too extreme.  You HAD to do the class quests, and light side and dark side choices had no impact other than graphics, which you could turn off.  What a joke.  Why even put in light-side and dark side options?

5) It's a single-player game at its heart because of the companions.  This was just too much like the previous console versions that was shoved into an MMO, which was a mistake.

Frustrated to say the least.  I played for a long time, but just couldn't take it anymore without fixing Ilum, class balances and adding more warzones.

Originally posted by Zecktorin

Even tho they did server mergers remember these servers hold MANY MANY more players than the old ones use to. 

Do you really believe that statement?  Did server hardware just drastically change in the last year and I miss the announcement?  Oh wait, you want to think that EA/Bioware first used really old servers that were made back in 2000 for the game launch, and now they upgraded to the 2012 servers......Seriously?  Obviously they used top-line servers at launch.  

Yeah, you keep the faith that the game population hasn't dropped by at least 75%.  That whole massive layoff thing at EA/Bioware, totally unrelated I'm sure.....laugh.

Glad you are taking your time doing a review of MMO games, rather than the 1-2 days of playing a few hours and giving it an 8.0-8.5 rating.   It was rather pathetic how it used to be done here.   

I'm hesitant to buy the game because all I want to do is W v W v W PvP, but I'm not willing to sit in a 1-3 hour que to do it.   I thought it was supposed to be zerg versus zerg and to have a que for a zerg is just a bit surprising.  I guess it's to keep frame rates at an acceptable level and to keep some amount of skill and strategy involved rather than who has the larger zerg.  Once the ques get fixed, I'll probably buy the game.

Why I wont play TSW:  Because of the epic failure of AoC.   Simple as that.   Funcom will NEVER get another dime from me every again.  There is a very good reason LOTS of people refer to them as FAILCOM.   My entire guild and many others I know outside my guild (mostly PvP players) will never buy a Funcom MMO.  It is simply too risky because previews and what's on the box may or may not be in the final game.

You reap what you sow Failcom.

Trying to find answers to a few questions about the game.  I hope you enlightened folks don't mind answering it.

1) My primary focus is PvP, particularly large-scale open world "zerg" PvP.  I was really excited about hearing the WvWvW thing ala DAOC style.  However, I then read about ques (long ques) to get into WvWvW.  So I'm wondering: how many people are allowed in WvWvW at a time?  Is it zergy (which for me is fun), or is it small man teams roaming around?  

2) How are the seige battles?   Is it primarily focusing on doors or is there some additional strategy?  Are most forts well defended or do people just go from one objective to the next?  The worst example would be say SWTOR where objectives could be taken in Ilum by 1 person in about 10 seconds.  The best example would be classic DAOC defended relic keeps.  

3) How is the lag in WvWvW?  

4) Does anyone have a link to minimum computer specs?  Couldn't find it.  

Thanks in advance.  

Where's the open world PvP?   Yeah, the group finder is like, something that should have been in at launch.   The ranked warzones can't be done unless you have a group of 8, and you can't take a group of 8 into a non-ranked warzone (so you can't really practice together). 

Overall, it's clearl a step in the right direction but I would have to say this is getting closer to where it should be. A lot of people have returned to the game with the patch, but not sure how long they will stay when they realize that besides the LFG tool and the full servers, not much else really has changed besides cosmetic.

I think the game deserves to flop.  It failed to have many basic MMO elements players take for granted at launch, some of the worst open-world PvP I've ever seen in an MMO, and lots of money spent on voiceacting that most folks skip.  

Oh well, on to the next Themepark MMO disaster.

Just tell them those employees to "use skill" just like you did after the "see hidden" patch in DAOC Sonya!  

Can MMORPG actually get someone who likes to PvP to report on PvP?  I can't even bother to read a summary of the PvP action by someone who isn't a full-time dedicated PvP player.   

It's Funcom.....you have to wait until launch to know what is and isn't in the game.   Previews, statements on the box, demos, are all just potential games.    Until it goes live, who knows what you'll get in the game or what it will be like.

Seriously, previews about any Funcom game is really pointless.

Originally posted by Blackrayn

Originally posted by Arthearius

Originally posted by Falcomith

Originally posted by Blackrayn

 Stephen Reid said this on twitter last night.

Rockjaw: Digital orders for #SWTOR from origin will be emailed Game Codes starting December 16, 2011."

Actually, they should already be doing that. I got mine the same day I preordered from Origin and that was on July 27th. I applied the code to the SWTOR account and it has it as a preorder retail copy with the bonus color stone game item.

If you are looking to go digital, at least Origin should be sending you the key within 24 hours unless something has changed.

Thats merely a pre-order code.  You will still need to input your game code when you recieve it.  If you don't your access to the game will be suspended at 12:01am 12/20.

 That is how I was viewing it as well. I entered the pre-order code and got the early access and color stone accpetance part. But, it was my understanding that was just for pre-order confirmation. And that on the 16th or after is when I will be getting the acutal CD game key to be able to play after early access is done?

Yeah.  It is a seperate code from the Pre-order code.   This code will be emailed to you if you went with the digital copy prior to Dec. 20.  If you went with the physical copy, it is the code on the DvDs inside the box. Amazon is delivering mine on Dec. 20, so I have to stop playing early morning and wait for my box.

There is a lot of confusion between pre-order codes and product codes by many posters so you have to be super clear.

The only way is to just buy the digital version of the game.  They will email you product key code prior to the Dec. 20 launch date so you can keep playing.

I never heard of a retailer emailing you the CD key then shipping you the CDs, since they would have to open the box to get the code on the CDs.

I don't think it's too late.  I ordered from Amazon a standard edition and got my pre-order code the same day.  However, you are unlikely to get 5-7 days of early access at this point, probably more like 3 days of early access as the access is granted in waves based upon when you redeem your code.  So, if 3 days of early access is worth it, then yes, pre-order.

If you go the physical copy route, make sure you get delivery for Dec. 20 or earlier, as there is no grace period.  As a result, if you cannot get delivery for Dec. 20, you may want to try a retail store like Gamestop.   I would advise against Wal-Mart as they accidently deleted all pre-orders a few days ago.

I will never believe any pre-game hype about a Funcom product.  What is supposedly in the game, shown on demos, etc. will not make it in the final retail launch.  Just a fact of Funcom.

I read the review and from my experience I'd say it's pretty much spot on.  I have a few things I thought should be added about it.

As far as lack of adventure/exploration, it's somewhat related to the game's massive quest system that sends you here and there.  Since you do a lot of quests, it reduces exploration since you feel like the game is forcing you to spots.  If you chose not to do quests (except the class quest), there would be a bit more exploration involved.  It seems like Bioware chose massive # of quests over exploration.

The other issues like Character Creation, guild management, etc., most of these can be done post-launch except for character creation.  I was very dissappointed with character creation but I could live with it.  I do hope the other things can be fixed over time as none of them are really critical to the game early on.

The one aspect that just seems "weird" is that here you are, a Jedi/Sith and you're having to repeatedly hit a basic NPC to kill them.  It does seem strange that it takes a bunch of lightsaber attacks to kill something.  I know it has to be balanced for a game, but you can't escape how weird it looks when you think about the movies and lightsabers killing folks instantly when they actually land.  

"It hasn’t yet gone to F2P, which actually surprises me as someone who has returned to the game here and there over the years while testing F2P waters elsewhere. "

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