opinion

An Open Letter to the Creators of the SWTOR Cartel Packs

Hyperspace Beacon has a few things to say to BioWare. Actually, they have a bit of a bone to pick with the SWTOR team. And he’s not alone in this one. There are many people out there who agree, as the comment section will show and I have to say that while I am a fan of the game and have been since the beginning, he makes very valid points on this one. There are some seriously annoying flaws with Cartel Packs and while this isn’t the first time it’s been said, the points are presented rather well. So what’s the beef? Well, here’s part of it: “I am disappointed by the execution of the latest cartel packs on many, many levels. It was difficult enough for me to accept these lottery boxes in the first place. It concerns me that the best looking and most desired items in the…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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