Originally posted by Valeran

Originally posted by Inat_mivea

Originally posted by Karahandras

Originally posted by Inat_mivea

Originally posted by Thunderous

Originally posted by Inat_mivea

Originally posted by Thunderous

SWG is the most dead feeling MMO I have ever played.  It just feels like a corpse every time I log on.  When the music hits it feels good again but when I see the game, the dead world, it all fades quickly.

 

what server? What city?

I did a quick 'census' last night on Starsider ... around 630pm EST. There were 425 non-anonymous players online. I did the same on Chilastra about 15 mins later and there were 367 non-anonymous players online.  . . and I didnt count neutral commandos which are known to be credit-farmers

At least on those servers, it was not dead.

 

I play on Bloodfin, Flurry, and Lowca.  Bloodfin is the server I have played on for the past couple of years when I log on because it is the ONLY one I could find any players on.

I suppose all of these players have been hiding in space this whole time, that must be it.  I haven't spend countless hours looking for them or anything...

Bloodfin is well populated - when I did my lil non-scientific census, both starsider and chilastra were listed as 'medium' as was bria and bloodfin so it probably has around the same population.

 Not sure about Flurry or Lowcra. . .
 

the free vet month ended yesterday so those numbers are very likely to be higher than they otherwise would i did the same sort of thing a week ago and got 200-250 maybe on starsider and either chilistra or chimera

there are 7 servers that can hit medium during peak times eu or us as far as i could tell, of peak they all dropped to light(not sure if any drop to v light).  This time last year there were at least 3 that hit heavy

fyi this is medium by SOE standards and is unlikely to be medium by anyone else' standards. I think it only takes 50-75 ppl to be online to class a server as medium now.

I'll try it tonight to see what I come up with. Sure, weekends are always going to be a little higher.
 

My *guess* is that medium is a minimum of 250 players. Light would be 100 and v.light would be < 100

 

Those numbers are not a glowing endorsment of the game.

Yeah not really. But i think its better than what people give it credit for.

Originally posted by Karahandras

Originally posted by Inat_mivea

Originally posted by Thunderous

Originally posted by Inat_mivea

Originally posted by Thunderous

SWG is the most dead feeling MMO I have ever played.  It just feels like a corpse every time I log on.  When the music hits it feels good again but when I see the game, the dead world, it all fades quickly.

 

what server? What city?

I did a quick 'census' last night on Starsider ... around 630pm EST. There were 425 non-anonymous players online. I did the same on Chilastra about 15 mins later and there were 367 non-anonymous players online.  . . and I didnt count neutral commandos which are known to be credit-farmers

At least on those servers, it was not dead.

 

I play on Bloodfin, Flurry, and Lowca.  Bloodfin is the server I have played on for the past couple of years when I log on because it is the ONLY one I could find any players on.

I suppose all of these players have been hiding in space this whole time, that must be it.  I haven't spend countless hours looking for them or anything...

Bloodfin is well populated - when I did my lil non-scientific census, both starsider and chilastra were listed as 'medium' as was bria and bloodfin so it probably has around the same population.

 Not sure about Flurry or Lowcra. . .
 

the free vet month ended yesterday so those numbers are very likely to be higher than they otherwise would i did the same sort of thing a week ago and got 200-250 maybe on starsider and either chilistra or chimera

there are 7 servers that can hit medium during peak times eu or us as far as i could tell, of peak they all dropped to light(not sure if any drop to v light).  This time last year there were at least 3 that hit heavy

fyi this is medium by SOE standards and is unlikely to be medium by anyone else' standards. I think it only takes 50-75 ppl to be online to class a server as medium now.

I'll try it tonight to see what I come up with. Sure, weekends are always going to be a little higher.
 

My *guess* is that medium is a minimum of 250 players. Light would be 100 and v.light would be < 100

Originally posted by Thunderous

Originally posted by Inat_mivea

Originally posted by Thunderous

SWG is the most dead feeling MMO I have ever played.  It just feels like a corpse every time I log on.  When the music hits it feels good again but when I see the game, the dead world, it all fades quickly.

 

what server? What city?

I did a quick 'census' last night on Starsider ... around 630pm EST. There were 425 non-anonymous players online. I did the same on Chilastra about 15 mins later and there were 367 non-anonymous players online.  . . and I didnt count neutral commandos which are known to be credit-farmers

At least on those servers, it was not dead.

 

I play on Bloodfin, Flurry, and Lowca.  Bloodfin is the server I have played on for the past couple of years when I log on because it is the ONLY one I could find any players on.

I suppose all of these players have been hiding in space this whole time, that must be it.  I haven't spend countless hours looking for them or anything...

Bloodfin is well populated - when I did my lil non-scientific census, both starsider and chilastra were listed as 'medium' as was bria and bloodfin so it probably has around the same population.

 Not sure about Flurry or Lowcra. . .
 

Originally posted by Warmaker

Originally posted by Inat_mivea

Originally posted by PreCU

 

---

Originally posted by Inat_mivea
 
group sizes are the same, you just roll with 3 groups of eight.

---

 

huh?

 

meaning, you still have the massive groups, they're jsut divided into 8 man groups now instead of a single 20 person group

 

Massive groups?  I don't think so.  Not in the early days of the NGE when I left.

Definitely not today when I watched my sister play this past holiday weekend.

it all depends on the server. Again, I'm surprised that all the vets here happened to have played on the servers that lost their populations. Can't wait for SOE to debut the free server transfers. . .

Originally posted by Thunderous

SWG is the most dead feeling MMO I have ever played.  It just feels like a corpse every time I log on.  When the music hits it feels good again but when I see the game, the dead world, it all fades quickly.

what server? What city?

I did a quick 'census' last night on Starsider ... around 630pm EST. There were 425 non-anonymous players online. I did the same on Chilastra about 15 mins later and there were 367 non-anonymous players online.  . . and I didnt count neutral commandos which are known to be credit-farmers

At least on those servers, it was not dead.

Originally posted by Zinzan

Just started the trial myself, i was one of the many former beta testers who quit around the NGE update but i went back with the intention of taking the game as i found it rather than comparing it to how it used to be and i have to say, im loving it :)

this is the key to it. you gotta go into it as if it were a new game b/c essentially, it IS a new game compared to what it was in before Nov. 05. Can you believe its been over three years since the NGE came out? Its outlasted both the pre-cu and the cu now... unbelievable.

I just recently started a new character...something I haven't done since the NGE. I gotta say, its fun

Originally posted by PreCU

 

---

Originally posted by Inat_mivea
 
group sizes are the same, you just roll with 3 groups of eight.

---

 

huh?

meaning, you still have the massive groups, they're jsut divided into 8 man groups now instead of a single 20 person group

glad to hear you enjoy the game. It REALLY isn't as bad as some say it is. Its all subjective.

Originally posted by Warmaker

Looking at the old Pre-CU UI  and the massive party sizes was a sight to behold.

But it's gone now.  All gone.

group sizes are the same, you just roll with 3 groups of eight. On poplated servers, its nothing to have 3-4 groups on each side pvping

MMORPGs try to emlulate real life as closely as possible. I mean, if you are an IT guy and then tomorrow, thrown into a real life battle situation with an arsenal of tanks, carbines, grenades, etc. you are going to SUCK with all those weapons until you use them enough to gain experience using those weapons. Games should be the same way... you cant start as the best of the best. There are game out there if you want to do that...COD4, BF2, Halo2, etc.

Now with that said, there is something to be said with HIDING levels. I was always impressed with SWG (pre-nge) where is was all skill based rather than level based. No one could tell what your skills were. You could be an architect with a big gun... but they thought you were a gunslinger. . . good times...

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

Originally posted by BarCrow

Its a trading card game. Trading card. You may be paying a monthly service to SWG...but you opt to play the TCG. And just like regular trading cards..people dump shitloads of money into many packs or boxes of packs...in hopes to get that one rookie card or hologram that they want.  Its not gambling...other wise the various lottery commissions would be all over Fleer or Topps or whoever makes TCs these days. Cause we all know what price some of those rare card-types can fetch. Not to mention the same for other TCG like Magic the gathering. 

 

 

Its also funny how a "dead" game has so much life on the forums.

 

Comparing the loot card lottery to other trading card game misses some important differences.  The most obvious is that the loot cards aren't actually part of the trading card game.  They are dangled perks for the MMO.  SOE dangles them, and people who play the MMO are enticed to gamble for them.  There's nothing like this in the trading card games you mention. 

Also, people are already paying a subscription fee for the MMO, but now they need to gamble for loot cards to get the fastest vehicle, or to obtain additional buffs to combat statistics.  So, even though they're paying a subscription fee, they become less competitive and cannot obtain collectibles without playing the lottery.

Also, these are virtual, not actual, cards.  So you pay money to gamble for them, and even if you win, you actually own--nothing.  Furthermore the rarity of desirable "cards" can be manipulated by SOE at any time, at their sole discretion.

These issues don't apply to the actual trading card games on the market today.  SOE is charting new territory here in a number of ways.

Re. life on the forums, SOE seems to have a way of managing this game that goes from one controversy to the next.  From a broken and dissappointing release, to a number of unwanted revamps, to allegations of bait and switch and massive refunds, to a loot card lottery system, SOE has taken an internationally known IP and dragged it through the mud for years.  This seems to hold people's attention.  Also, many former players have had the progress and game they enjoyed removed or altered beyond recognition.  All that remains is to discuss the latest scandal and ponder what might have been.

nah, there is lots of discussion on the forums outside of the usual SOE bashing. No, its not cool to like SWG and people pretend to not like it while playing every day. Its funny, tbh :)

Originally posted by Karahandras

Originally posted by Agricola1

Originally posted by Dahlifyr

Fu*k me then, couse im still here after 2 month, and i love it. and fu*c me sideways, does it feel good to NOT play a fantasy mmog wow clone? Fu*k yeah it does! In what way is swg NOT a WOW clone?????? dont know enough about wow to comment

Do i fint many people online? Sure as hell! sir you must be blind Depends on the server. Many have a hundreds online during prime time.

Do i fint the game empty, the SWG forums Empty? Fu*k no i dont. no it's not completely empty SWG forums represent a small fraction of the actual community.

Am i FU*king tired of the igonarent and bitter SWG haters out there that think that  they know what the status of the game is? i left the game 7 months ago after a year of gameplay and went back for the free time this week it is a badly done wow clone made by ppl who could give a rats a**e about the ppl playing it with 5k or under players left Current estimate is between 25k-30k active players across all SWG servers.  The devs have come a LONG way over the past couple years in terms of listening to the community. They made  a mistake with the NGE and realize that.

Bloody fu*king hell iam!

Will SWG still be around when Crap of the old Republic comse out? Hell yeah it will. it will be around until SOE has squezzed the last red cent out of its customers SWTOR will be cool but i dont think its going to provide the depth of play that many are expecting. Contrary to what many think, SWG is probably still the most 'sandboxy' of games on the market

Before any vet comes in and UUUUUUh you have only been around for 2 month you know nothing...uuuuh. I have been around for over 2 years, but compared to the regular wow clone, SWG actually has a learning curve. what exactly is your definition of a learning curve?For better or for worse, SWG is NOT directed gameplay. You pretty mch have to learn things on your own or from the community.

Ihave been to lazy too try and learn everything there is, but this time i took the time. And damn it is worth it. the vast majority of people would disagree with you and they'd be right to do so SWG just isn't worth what SOE charges Depends on where you ask. SWG offers A LOT of options - pve, pvp, RP, crafting (hell of a lot more robust than wow), space (unprecedented space action), card game, collections, badge collecting, beast master, player BH system, etc. etc. Lots of depth still in SWG

 

Sir I postrate myself at the feet of the NGE taget audience! 

 I'm guessing they aren't paying their marketers as much any more

no, i am not a paid marketer :) SOE has always sucked at marketing SWG

Originally posted by Dahlifyr

Fu*k me then, couse im still here after 2 month, and i love it. and fu*c me sideways, does it feel good to NOT play a fantasy mmog wow clone? Fu*k yeah it does!

Do i fint many people online? Sure as hell!

Do i fint the game empty, the SWG forums Empty? Fu*k no i dont.

Am i FU*king tired of the igonarent and bitter SWG haters out there that think that  they know what the status of the game is?

Bloody fu*king hell iam!

Will SWG still be around when Crap of the old Republic comse out? Hell yeah it will.

Before any vet comes in and UUUUUUh you have only been around for 2 month you know nothing...uuuuh. I have been around for over 2 years, but compared to the regular wow clone, SWG actually has a learning curve.

Ihave been to lazy too try and learn everything there is, but this time i took the time. And damn it is worth it.

interesting way to put it :)

But yeah, so often when vets come back, they are looking at the game through biased eyes and don't always take the time to do the necessary things to make it work better. The best example is the crap targeting system that debuted with the NGE. It was TERRIBLE! But they learned the lesson and put in the option to turn that crap system off...

Population on some servers is abysmal, true. But not on all of them - I'm always amazed that all the vets here happen to come from low pop servers so when they DO go try to go back, all the have to report is that they could find NO OTHER PLAYERS

If people would just come back and play the game as a new game, rather than comparing it to what they knew over three years ago, they would have a mch better experience

Originally posted by Obraik

Originally posted by FikusOfAhazi

Originally posted by Obraik

Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by Obraik 

It's nothing like gambling and everything like promotions you see every day in stores.  Right now on the Coke bottle I'm drinking from I have the chance to win another free Coke bottle.  Unfortunately for me, the underneath of the cap says "Not a winner".   Keeping with the Coke example, previous promotions have included the chance to win one of the Ford Falcon's that the All Blacks drive - again, none of my bottles ended up winning. 
 

Once again, the exclusions have nothing to do with the loot cards and the TCG's (minor) intergration with SWG - they determine who are allowed to enter in the TCG Tournaments and Sprints that allow people to win Promo cards if they rank well. 

All of the promotions you mention are no purchase necessary. 

Not that I have much to contribute to the legal status of the card game.

 

I can't win the Ford Falcon or the free Coke without buying the original Coke bottle.  Just like I can't get the free loot card without the Booster pack.

 

Yes you can. It's no purchase necessary. You write in to enter. Or it would be gambling. They also give you the odds. I can't believe your defending this. When does it become too rediculous for you?

I don't know what the laws are in the US but no, competitions here in NZ are not required to make it "no purchase necessary" to avoid it being a lottery.  To win the Coke prizes, to continue the example) you have to buy the Coke bottle and then you have to provide them the winning Coke bottle cap for them grant you your prize.  In other Coke competitions you have to send in a txt code that you can only get to by drinking enough that you can see it through the bottle or ripping the lable off.  This is the norm with pretty much any promotions here, from cereal brands to department stores.

crazy oceanics :)
 

Originally posted by skeaser

Looks nice. As long as I can roll a bounty hunter, I'm in.

can't wait til they relaease profession info. I enjoyed my jedi days but I'm enjoying the underworld too much now :)

Hope its 'similar' to original SWG where you had to make the decision to work towards jedi and then train in jedi from nothing...

Originally posted by sookster54

You'll like pvp if:

you play a spy and blow up every passing speeder you see.
you have 100's of buffs 24/7.
you're a BH and like to bottom feed.
you stand in Restuss starport trash talking at every person that comes in.
you like waiting 30 some minutes for people to finish buffing and calling in reinforcements so they can come in and gank you.
you like to lag with 10 other people around you.

The list goes on... SWG's pvp is among the worst of any MMO right now, it used to be pretty good in the old days though.

pvp can get a little boring, especially when you have to wait for people to buff up. that's not the game's fault though. they did recently male a change that allows medics to buff everyone in the group within range at the same time. Nice change... now they just need to do something about entertainer buffs. I've made it on many entertainer 'kill lists' for suggesting that rather than the entertainer pick the buff upon your request, the interface allows YOU to pick the buffs you want. That way multiple people can get bffed at the same time.

Not everyone depends on tons of buffs. I often just roll with with standard profession buffs and foods.

i still couldn't read the names... i guess mother was right, video games DO ruin your vision :)

Originally posted by Obraik

I've been on Chilly since July 03 (month after launch) and I can't say I remember those names (except for Cobe in one of the later pics) but I never really mingled with Rebels :)  Maybe Inat will remember.

i simply can't read the names... i was looking at the dantooine map since i've lived there for 4.75 years to see where they lived but jst couldnt read it, maybe i need a new monitor? :)

Originally posted by levsix

Thanks for the information. If they let us go to Bloodfin from Valcyn, I'd possibly do that. I like a lot of the instances, PvE, crafting, etc. but am also a big PvP person. I had a good time in Bloodfin about 3-4 months ago. I did not want to pay to transfer and leveled up a medic. I think I got to about 40th level before I realize the lower to mid content was far too familiar for me to enjoy any longer.

I will probably take your advice and scout out some more before I do the move. I would be more than willing to pay for a month or two if I knew I wouldn't be the only person on my server! I'll keep an eye on SWG in early 2009. While I am like a lot of people who think the pre-cu experience was superior, and SOE was cheeseball in their handling of the game, I feel there are still things in this game worth enjoying. That's just me, tho. 

you know, i havent done it yet but they came out with the Meatlump themepark for mid level characters. you should give that a try. Plus many of  the collections, however boring, grant a decent amount of XP.
 

Originally posted by levsix

Just curious, didn't it cost you 50 dollars per a character to transfer? I find this fee to be utterly outrageous and unprecedented in the industry. I am one of those who bailed out when the NGE hit. I went back 2 1/2 years ago and played for a few months. It was OK but not as good, there were still a lot of people around. During free time, a vet return even thing, I could not find *one* person on Valcyn. I would probably even sub for one month just for the heck of it if I wasn't on a dead server but there is no way in the world I would pay 100 dollars to transfer 2 characters. That is so outrageous to me.

 

I've heard whisper of a one time free server migration option, please let me know if there is any way to do this without forking out 100 dollars. I would definitely drop in if it didn't cost so much to do so. If you are currently playing, you are welcome to send me a private message here as well w/ any info.

in early 2009, SOE is going to offer free character transfers from low population servers to higher population servers. No one really knows how its going to work but the guess is that they will have a specific list of servers to which people can transfer. If I was in your situation, I would come back and scout some servers to see where you would like to play.