I played SWG from a month after release until just after Publish 10.  I love Star Wars and there are a lot of nice things about SWG, but overall the minuses outweighed the pluses, so I, and most of the friends I played with, quit.  I just read that SOE and LucasArts hired 20 new people to try to accelerate improvements.  I'm not even gonna mention JTL because I never played it and wouldn't buy it unless the ground game was worth going back for.  Here's what they'd have to do to get me back.  (...unless Wish turns out as good as it sounds, and I quit caring about SWG ever getting better...)

1. Content.  Fun things to do and worthwhile rewards for all professions and levels.  Day after day in a variety of places and types of challenges.  Lots more content.
2. Character Variety.  I liked doing a variety of things.  I liked some combat.  I liked some crafting.  I liked some socializing, sightseeing, and general screwing around.  The one character per server per account for non-Jedi is too restrictive given the 250 skill points alloted for combat and non-combat professions combined.  They need to either: (a) make combat and non-combat professions draw from separate skill point pools like they did with piloting; or, (b) allow everyone to have multiple characters on one server with one account.
3. Truly Resolve the Jedi Problem.  No MMORPG should have a character class that is so central, powerful, or sought-after.  It's inherently elitist and makes second-class citizens out of everyone else.  There can be no balance with Jedi in the game.  They need to either:  (a) take them out of the game altogether (maybe have Darth Vader slaughter them all like he did once already); or (b) isolate them in a mini-game where only Jedi can play with each other as Jedi (so unless you are playing a Jedi, you really could not tell they were there, and suffer no competative disadvantage in terms of resources or loot which should be irrelevant to Jedi anyway).  If Jedi remain, they must have a zero economic and combat profile to non-Jedi.  Quit designing for an end-game and make all aspects of SWG a propetual game.

...oops!  I forgot about bug fixes and stopping player item data corruption/disappearance.  Fixing those problems is really the foundation of reliability and to make any further improvements and recovering a respectable reputation.

good suggestions....

I dont want to take anything away from those who like what the game has become. I say that the best solution would be to make new servers with a ruleset that lines up with what you have suggested. As long as player jedi are either completely non existant or picked by a random lottery and only a few.  They would have to severely nerf or remove buffs and armor would need a nerf as well.

Basically set up the game the way it was at launch. Pretty much everyone who played the game from day one agrees that it got worse not better. they need to get back to their roots and what made the game great which was groups and community. People have lost the need to interact with each other because of buffs, uber armor and the jedi grind.

R.I.P "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott.

\m/ You were the best of the best. \m/

I dont agree on many of the points. I like the rpg style sytem, although in combat a first person shooter sytem would be nice. Jedi should be in the game always but make it much harder to become one and once you are one it should be hard to keep one alive although jedi should be amazingly strong but fewer in numbers than they are now.

-For myself to go back to SWG id like to see more things to do in pvp, more in depth uses of Faction points (also make the current items you get from recruiters more practical and buffed, storm trooper armor should be better as well as weapons).

-Id want to see better attention to the races, more unique abilties, better class specializations for each race.

- More teamwork and pvp roles in combat and space combat. Where guilds could manage their own star bases or cruiser classed ships like star destroyers or mon calamari cruisers.

- Id like to see new prfessions like admirals/captains for advanced pvp

- Improved AI for pets and especially troops you purchase.

- Overall more content to make the game more like star wars.

- Id also like to see driods become a playable character so i could be a linguist like cp30, or a bounty hunter like IG-88 ect.

- Combat needs to be more fun to watch and play, and better combat physics.

- Overall excitment/action boost needed for combat in pve/pvp

Out of all of those id want to see the Galactic struggle feel more like star wars with more meaning to ranks, more military organization/communication and conquests. Although i do relaise a lot has changed since i last played and much is improved and much will be relased in the coming months.

I played from day one to March 2005.  I only stayed that long to see the smuggler and combat revamps that never appeared, but were promised for over a year.

SOE needs more focus on fixing the existing problems than adding even more content for the Jedi.  They should have developed a more limiting way to become a Jedi before all of the level grinders unlocked the way to do it, in my opinion there are way too many Jedi.  Its sad that the goal of the game seems to be to only attain this one profession.

I had a Master Pistoleer \ Master Smuggler and still had a hard time contributing to the group kills or have any ability to solo anything bigger than an angry rabbit.

I dont think Ill be back to try the new Wookie Rage expansion - it just looks like more of the same.

I'll come back if i win the contest :P

The only way I will reup my account when it expires is if I see marked improvementover the next month or so.

Ok the first damn thing they would have to do is balance the fricken GAME, seriously. Half the proffesions suck and the other half are completely dominate. Although i disagree their were fun things to do its just that the game is so uneven its annoying and ya that is a little bit restricting skill points they should have a 100 increase and jedi...just completely remove it for real kinds.

Go back to the way it was before the CU and make Jawas playable.
Actually, I'd play if only Jawas were playable, but scrapping the CU would be nice, too.

Sorry to spam with this link, but I just want to make sure people don't miss it :P
http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=1818