Some of us have been looking forward to SWTOR player housing since we first heard about SWTOR. Now that we know it will be coming soon, there is a lot of speculation about what we can expect to see in the actual final version of player housing. We know it’s coming this summer with the release of Galactic Strongholds but we don’t know a lot more about what this will bring. And since it’s coming soon, players have been doing a lot of speculation. We have learned to be cautious when it comes to news from Bioware about future features of the game but with one as highly anticipated as this, it’s hard not to be optimistic. We don’t want to get our hopes up and then bet let down but we are feeling good about some of the things we might see. We were told we would get “prestigious apartments” that…
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Why SWTOR Was a “Failure”
We keep hearing it everywhere- “SWTOR was a failure” and with many new MMORPGs coming out, we hear the claim that it might end up being a failure “Just like SWTOR”. Why all this hatred for the game? First, let’s clear the air and say that we don’t think SWTOR is a failure. And with the numbers they are bringing in financially, the stats don’t say it’s a flop either. But we hear this far too much to just write it off as a handful of trolls. So for this reason, we’re going to entertain this opinion for just a bit and see why some people think the game failed. When we talk about why SWTOR is seen as a failure to some, we have to look at player expectations vs. how SWTOR was hyped. As a standalone game today, most people will agree it’s a pretty decent game, even…
Does the Bolster System Need Fixing?
A lot of SWTOR players are saying the bolster system is broken. Is it really? Let’s take a look at the topic. First, bolster was believed to be a friend of the new PVPer but now that it’s out, many are questioning whether or not this feature is really a positive. While bolster was meant to bring a more even playing field to the PvP aspects of SWTOR, many players feel like it has succeeded only in bring more problems. Some players don’t believe it has leveled the playing field at all. So the idea behind Bolster is a good one- it’s intended introduce and level the playing field in PvP of SWTOR. It could also be a good way to introduce new players to this aspect of the game and its content. And some will say that level 10-54, Bolster is working as intended. But what happens at level…
Does What Your Toon Looks Like Matter in SWTOR?
MMORPGs… there is a culture in this type of gaming that you just don’t find anywhere else. There are things that we just know and associate with certain types of games. That being said, we see many cool new things happening in the MMORPG world. But one thing that has grown over the gaming years and with the industry is the cosmetic side of things. Graphics have come a long, long way since the early days of RPGs and now with nearly every new game that comes out, we have even better aesthetic features. SWTOR is joining the ranks of many other MMORPGs and focusing on things that the players want as much as what they need. Player housing is a great example other this. Another great example is new orange gear. Some people will sit back and say, “Oh that’s dumb” and “Why are you worried about how you…
Will the Competition Be Held off By SWTOR’s 2014 Roadmap?
The plan for the future of 2014 is out. So how will this affect the competition in the MMORPG market? If you ask around the SWTOR community, you will find that people are very split on how they feel about these changes and upcoming plans. Some players are really happy about it while others have their own ideas of how certain aspects of gameplay and other details should go. The diversity is one thing that makes the gaming community so unique and broad and we do know from experience that BioWare listens to what the players have to say about certain things like this. But when we look outside of the community, how can we expect these changes to affect the competition that SWTOR has now and in the future? Elite Monster has done a write-up on this that pretty much echoes my thoughts on the matter. The first point…
Why Do People Talk about SWTOR Like It’s a Failure?
A lot of people keep talking about SWTOR like it’s a failure but that’s really not the truth. So why do so many people seem to have this perception about SWTOR? As I explained in my recent post, SWTOR’s Cartel Market Rakes in $139 Million Dollars in 2013, one reason for this is that many people mistakenly associate a game going from sub to F2P as a sign that it is failing. But that’s not always the case. It really just means that a different pay model was needed and now that they have it, BioWare seems to be doing very well with SWTOR financially. If you spend any time around the gaming communities, you will notice people talking about how SWTOR is a failure or making reference to how some other game is going to be a failure “Just like SWTOR” but no one can give you any real proof of…
How to Keep SWTOR Servers Loaded in 2014
Do you like having a full server of people to play with on SWTOR? Since server mergers last year, most servers are on heavy now, which is great for fans who want to have plenty of people to play with. But the new year means new games and some people worry about what this might do to SWTOR population. With many new games coming out in 2014, how can SWTOR keep the servers busy and loaded? Here are some ideas of what they could do to help keep the servers heavy: Build a new planet to explore Create an expansion and add 5 more levels to the level cap Create cross-server gameplay Explain PvP Create more Operations and harder Operations Build some minigames such as cantina games or good old-fashioned pod racing Add more ship quests/games Build a housing system or expand player ships to be more customizable like a…
My WoW experience and how it makes me appreciate SWTOR more
I started playing WoW back in 2005. I played an enhancement shaman almost the entire time until I stopped playing about a year ago. I’ve seen what started as a really terrible, unfocused class spec dramatically improve, get tweaked, and finish off into mediocrity. Coming from that experience I’ve been very pleased with SWTOR ‘s handling of classes, specs, and especially PVP. This is a brain First, my WoW experience. Back in classic WoW, enhancement shaman had two active abilities. I would use one, use the other, then wait for the cooldown to end. In a group my job was to cast a buff or two and keep it up. Our spec was shit. All shaman had to be healers if you were in a serious raid. There was no gear itemized for my class and my class sets were useless. Of course I didn’t know any better and I…
Discussion: Improving SWTOR PvP
PvP in SWTOR has long been a controversial topic. There are some who love it, there are some who hate it and everything in between. A recent post in the forums talked about how to improve PvP and it was written by a self-confessed old WoW PvPer. As someone who has also played hardcore World of Warcraft PvP, I can see a lot of their points as valid. However, SWTOR is a different game and I try to avoid any comparisons between two different games since it’s really different playing fields here. It’s apples and oranges- so comparing WoW PvP to SWTOR PvP just doesn’t stack up for me. However… there are some things that you can learn from doing PvP in another MMORPG, such as WoW that you can take with you into new games that you play like SWTOR. So with the spirit of that in mind, let’s…
Will Warzones Die When Arenas Go Live?
With the new PvP arenas coming to SWTOR, some players have questions about what will happen to current warzones once the arenas go live. As many players already know, in current warzones, there are usually several people who run around killing, rather than doing the objective on the warzone. Such is always the case in objective-based PvP in MMORPGs. Now obviously we know that as soon as arenas go live, people are all going to want to sign up for them. But does this mean warzones will completely die off? What about the players who like the current traditional warzones? The good news is that there are several reasons why warzones will not die off when arenas go live. There are actually two different options you get when you queue: Regular: you will get the same old 8v8 warzones you’ve seen since launch or arenas. Your rating will not be affected by wins/losses in…
Free to Play Isn’t Play for Free
Many industry experts said that SWTOR could be setting the stage for a new F2P model for MMORPGs. Other said it would be the last subscription-based MMORPG and that they expect future games of the same caliber to be based around F2P models. That hasn’t exactly happened yet. While there are more free to play MMORPGs than ever before, there are still games coming out with subs, at least for now. And this brings up a great conversation about free to play MMOs. While a game may be labeled “free to play”, this doesn’t make it play for free. You still may end up needing to pay for certain features or items you want in the game. And you might have to pay for features that subscribing members don’t have to pay for. The upside is that you only have to pay for the features you want and you can…
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR PvP Rant 2013
Are you a fan of PvP in SWTOR? If you are, then you might have a rebuttal for this SWTOR PvP rant from Hyperspace Beacon. Or maybe you’re none too pleased with SWTOR PvP and you agree with what they have to say. I agree that they make some good and valid points but overall, I enjoy PvP in SWTOR and I don’t agree with the rant. Also, they begin the piece that blasts into SWTOR PvP with the lines “I will not pretend that I see the whole picture. All I can see is the situation presented to me. And from my perspective, PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic is broken.” Honestly, this opens the doors largely to criticism of this review because it’s little more than an opinion-based rant of one person’s limited point of view of an aspect of the game. That being said, without the opinions of…
SWTOR Mid-term Report Card
Have you been playing SWTOR since the beginning? Those of us early adopters, beta testers and long time fans have seen a lot of changes over the years and months. While there were some bumps along the way, they’ve really shaped up with a lot of new content and features. Massively took a review-style look at where SWTOR is today. Massively’s Larry Everett writes: Well, we are about six months into the second year of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The first year was fraught with high expectations and slow delivery. Many failed attempts at greatness made the first year of SWTOR a bit of a downer. However, in this second year, in light of the ever-changing market of MMORPGs, the Star Wars MMO took steps to put itself on a better path. Using the Bartle Test as my litmus test, I will break down and grade this year’s performance so far. He…
SWTOR Lack of “Real” Game Updates
We’ve been writing here about Game Update 2.2 as well as the news that more features and additions are coming in the summer for SWTOR but there are many complaints coming in from players who are just not happy with the content BioWare is pushing out. The argument is that these “updates” don’t really contain any quality new game content and most consist of bug fixes and cosmetic changes here and there. In an article on Just Push Start, there is the argument that BioWare is not putting out any good, quality game updates and therefore, are disappointing their fans. Here’s a piece of that story: The release of SWTOR Game Update 2.1 a couple of weeks ago wasn’t well received by a lot of people due to the implementation of the appearance designer through the use of Cartel Coins. If you’re expecting a much better game update with 2.2…
Summer of SWTOR – By The Numbers
Are you wondering more about the future of SWTOR? We recently told you about what is expected to come in summer for SWTOR but a lot of players are complaining that BioWare is not giving us any GaddockTeeg took to Reddit to share some thoughts about Here is part of what he had to say: I don’t understand why people are upset about a large portion of the community being upset about the recently released plans for SWTOR’s Summer updates. I have been playing this game since the first day of prelaunch and have dedicated a lot of time to a game that I find incredible fun. I have seen the many, many highs and lows that swtor has endured and stuck with it because I saw great potential. Now, in a time of great prosperity I feel like this potential is being wasted. Let’s compare the lowest of low…
SWTOR New Dyes- Random Packs is a Crapshoot
If you’ve had any experience in the new SWTOR armor dyes found in the Cartel Market, then you might already know there are some issues with getting the colors you want. The dye modules are preset combinations, for one thing, and you have to be lucky and get the colors you’re looking for, or you have to keep buying until you get what you want. There’s a real gamble to get the Primary/Secondary/Third color settings that you want, especially on the first go at it and some players are not happy about it at all. They feel it’s a ploy from BioWare to get more money. Why, when people are already willing to spend real cash in the Cartel Market, don’t they just make it possible to buy what you want when you want it? Some players are flat-out boycotting the dye kits in the Cartel Market for this very…
Should You Do the SWTOR Bonus Series?
We wrote about this before in the past- those bonus series of quests on each planet. Just when you think you are finished with all there is to do, there is another quest that leads to a whole chain of more missions. So what do you do? Do you do them or do you skip them and move on to the next planet? That is the magic question, after all! Well, of course it is your personal decision as a player- some people like getting all the content completed where others just want to blow through to that level cap. But let’s explore the pros and cons of doing the bonus series quests and you can make a decision for yourself. Rewards- Well first, there are rewards for doing these quests and there are some differences in these rewards from regular rewards. While you will get the same credits and…
The Problem with Gamers Today – An Entitled Generation
I have been gaming since I was old enough to pick up a controller. I was a child of the 80s- the Nintendo generation- but once I got my first computer and discovered PC games, I knew that would be my favorite platform. We own one of every console but I still play PC games with the most frequency. One thing that has changed a great deal about video games today is the sheer volume of options we have. There is a game for everyone and everything. Another thing that has changed in the gaming community is the overall attitude of many gamers. We have become an entitled generation of video gamers. Of course, this does not apply to everyone but I use “we” in the collective sense. Gamers today are selfish and impatient. They want what they want and they don’t want to wait for it. Many successful games…
5 Reasons You Should Be a SWTOR Subscriber
If you’re still holding back on the decision to become a SWTOR subscriber, it might be a good time to go ahead and take the plunge. When you look at all the benefits that come with a sub, you just might ask yourself why you didn’t do it earlier. Honestly, if you’re really into the game and play on a regular basis, it just makes sense to subscribe. Here are five reasons you should be a SWTOR subscriber: Subscriber Benefits in the Cartel Market: Another reason you should be a subscriber is for the Cartel Market benefits. You get access to all 6 quick bars, a minimum of 500 Cartel Coins per month to spend, 10 additional character slots per server, unlimited access to all warzones, flashpoints, space combat and operations, earlier access to sprint and speeder piloting, ability to queue your crafting items and much more. You Get 50%…
Giant Crazy Wishlist for SWTOR- What Would You Wish For?
If you could have any features you wanted in SWTOR, what would they be? What features would you be willing to pay for if they added them to the game? Some SWTOR Reddit users have a nice thread going on about their SWTOR wishes. Everything from the practical to the ridiculous is coming out in this thread and Here are some things being mentioned in the conversation: A legacy-wide companion menu for crew skill maintenance. A legacy-wide bank. Twice as many missions available inside the crew skill selection. A way to have one companion designated for conversations while another companion is physically summoned. I’d like to be able to watch huttball while I’m queued for warzones. Legacy companion summoning. Generate a companion with the same class, items, and name as another character in your legacy with a default set of abilities associated to that class. LEGACY IGNORE. If I put…
SWTOR PvP Imbalance and Possible Solutions
There is a lot of talk about PvP imbalance in SWTOR and the truth of the matter is it does seem to exist. Despite how hard a developer tries to prevent it, there will almost always be some imbalance amongst the classes. The real trick is to reduce this imbalance as much as possible. Some players believe SWTOR is struggling with that. Depending on who you ask, certain classes need to be nerfed and others need to be buffed and it’s the age-old battle with PvP in an MMORPG. The difference being that in SWTOR, some players have some pretty solid evidence on imbalance. Check out this screen shot for example: The fact that anyone, especially AOE, can hit for that hard in pretty outrageous. There definitely need to be some adjustments to the classes and to the types of damage but just what those adjustments are will vary according…
How Much Do You Love SWTOR: Enough to Get a Tattoo?
How much do you love your game? Star Wars fans are notorious for going to extremes to show their love and support for Star Wars and SWTOR is no exception. While some will call the game a failure, there are others who put their heart and soul into building and creating the game and still others who were just really big fans. Some loved the game so much they got SWTOR tattoos. While a video game might not be permanent, a tattoo is so what will become of these people who love the game so much, they got a permanent reminder of it on their bodies? Let’s explore this thought for a minute. We know the BioWare doctors got launch tattoos for SWTOR and there were many other members of the BioWare Austin team who did the same. They worked hard on this project and it’s not surprising that they…
Are UI Mods Killing MMORPGS?
In the world of MMORPGs, there are many tools designed to help us advance in the game more quickly and enjoy the game more. Mods and addons allow us to do this and often take on a life of their own with the many things they allow you to do in the game. UI mods are especially popular, changing the look of the user interface and allowing you to personalize your game like never before. I have been playing WoW since beta and long before the days of mods that currently rule the game. GameSpy has a really interesting piece about World of Warcraft mods and how they are affecting the game which has me thinking about how they affect MMORPGs in general and how we see them. Have we become dependent on these addons to enjoy our games fully? While I’ve been one to enjoy my fair share of…
Is 1.3 Worth Returning to SWTOR For?
Some players have given up on SWTOR. Now will 1.3 be enough to relight their fires and bring them back to the game? Bioware certainly hopes so but what are the players saying? Well, the overall atmosphere is pretty positive. With server transfers solving the problem of no one to play with and all the other additions and updates, SWTOR is a new game. Some say it is finally the game it should have been at launch. Maybe BioWare was too rushed to launch it fully complete but whatever the reason, players are now saying they’re happy with the outcome of the game. Ranked warzones, new gear, looking for group finders and more mean the game is now more accessible than ever before. When you add to this that there will be more updates, more new content and free play up to 15 levels, you can see why the interest…