MMOs have had years to learn from each other and really, in this day and age, companies should be able to release the most basic of features with minimal fuss. There's so much competition now as well and all it takes is a few badly timed mistakes to drag a title down, and people will start to look elsewhere.
Bioware is making far too many mistakes in such a short space of time, and the arrogance they have displayed towards a good number of major issues hasn't put them in a good light.
If Bioware were just to accept the game has more wrong with it than they care to acknowledge, and actually do something about it then people would treat it better and there would be less complaining. However all they are doing so far is living in denial, blaming the users, and releaing unimpressive PR videos in an attempt to make people look the other way.
The game could have been something and could still potentially be fixed. With the way Bioware has been acting the past month or so now however, I really don't see that happening anytime in the near future.
@JediSeer I do have to agree on the part regarding FFXIV in your article. However, from playing both games, XIV's current graphic engine runs far more smoothly on my system than SWTOR can ever hope to achieve. Even the load times are vastly superior to SWTOR. The sad part is, while SE got the boot up the ass it deserved and is currently rebuilding everything, especially the graphics engine for v2.0, Bioware is able to get away and tell us we're to blame and our PCs suck?
It's more than just FPS issues. SWTOR's engine has got so much going wrong with it, it's just disgusting. Bioware need to come off their high-horse and get fixing this mess. The recent patches have been nothing more than lolpatches.
@Silverangel For as popular as SWTOR as turned out, I don't like how they still managed to charge so much for the initial box. I paid £45 for the standard edition + £5 for the early access. I've been able to buy Collector's edtions of other MMOs for that price or just £10-20 more.
So I really do not care about any strong box sales as a good chunk of it came from over milking the fanbase. It just leaves a bad taste. Honestly, for that price I would have expected them to include an aunthenticator with every copy of the game, considering how important online account security is these days.
@Lerkero Yep, alot went back to FFXI but are still waiting around to see how v2.0 turns out. I'm hoping it does turn out decently enough because members of my original FFXI social are planning to join back together then. Being in that social was what made my time there extremely special and no other MMO has come close.
@Elranzer If you really find FFXI nowadays hard to solo and hard to level up, you need to seriously consider just giving up MMOs altogether. Even FFXIV is extremely easy to solo to current max level now.
While people may possibly be simply spreading out to lighter traffic servers, it isn't doing the overall populations any good. I made a few characters across a couple of servers incase of lengthy queues, and also decided to conduct some population tallies to get an idea of the population cap for queued servers.
Numerous tests ended up in results of 1800-1900 players hinting at a server population cap at 2000. However over the past number of days these servers have never had a queue which at first led me to believe they raised the cap to get rid of those 5-15min queue times. Sadly I was wrong and a good few more peak time population counts resulted in a new population of around 1200-1300.
I am somewhat enjoying SWTOR to a degree. It has a rich world with plenty to do, however in saying that, it is a very seriously unpolished game. The more I play, the more negative aspects I start to notice which put me off. I still can't believe that the biggest graphical issue I had during the beta was simply masked over by a loading screen for the actual release.
Yet again, the majority of the talkbackers are those who can't do one ounce of proper research before making a comment.
What has been mentioned about the need of additional characters has already been addressed by other comments here. The fact that you can level multiple classes (inc all crafts) on one character which has access to 2 free storage npcs (which can be used to hold money) makes the need for an alt very low. The only real reason anyone would want to create an alt would be to play another race in which there are no differences except cosmetic, and the other reason: to make more money in very little time. This last reason was abused by alot of people since they haven't had to pay for more characters up til now. Plus the RMTs were having a field day with it.
As for the whole going f2p thing, it may or may not happen. The question was actually brought up in an interview whilst Yoshida was traveling around the world last month, giving interviews regarding v2.0. The bottom line of it was they'd keep with how they originally planned to handle billing up until v2.0. After v2.0 is released they will re-assess the situation, so they might possibly move over if v2.0 isn't well received.
Reasons against f2p came down to it being seen as tacky (There are still ALOT of people who depise cash shops) and the other is that there is concern a f2p format only attracts big initial interest and revenue then slowly fades out after a year or two. And considering they want the game to last as long as FFXI, it might not be the best move unless they can generate good constant revenue.
And a quick note on the AH. Yes, the market wards are getting AH functionality in the upcoming 1.20 patch due around the 15th.
While the FFXIV may seem not right to a good number of people I'll still be paying it. It may not be as good a discount as we would have hoped but it still is at least something, and the 6 month sub option works out at less than £5 a month. Come next year I'll have paid for 9-10 months, get v2.0 for free, and then get 3 months of free playtime of the FFXIV that should have been. I've grown to like the game to at least pay something towards it as it's something I now happen to enjoy, and that's all that matters, no matter what anyone else says.
Something else that needs to be addressed is the hate of the current game. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this dead horse has been dead for more than a year, and people are still kicking it. v2.0 was annouced in October and everyone knows that come October next year, the current game will be scrapped (except character data ofcourse) and v2.0 will take its place. So yeah, you are all having a go at a version of the game that will be gone in less than a year now.
(And to those wondering why they didn't just shutdown the current game they've already stated that as long as people are playing, no matter how many, they'll support it.)
oh and I'm not some white knight FF fanboy. While I did like FF7-9 I never found much enjoyment in the series after that except for FFXI however that was more due to the great online friends I met whilst playing. Most of them moved onto FFXIV to try it out at launch and I did too, however they quickly left and I followed due to them leaving and the frustration caused by the launch version of the game. I tried to force myself to enjoy it over the following months but I couldn't. I left it for a few months and eventually came back with an online friend, and while it took about a month, it started to grow on me to the point I was decently enjoying it. Even to the point I found myself wanting to play it over more recent f2p MMOs.
I'm still looking forward to GW2 though and am going to be picking up SWTOR to play alongside some friends despite issues I had with the beta (I like the game but it really has graphic and gameplay issues that need addressed. Not to mention the dialogue system isn't as deep as it looks).
Everyone, again, is entitled to their own opinions but I do wish they could at least do some research first before they make a comment. I'd rather they do that instead of just quickly reading the headline and grabbing their pitchforks like some tabloid newspaper reader.
Final Fantasy XIV adds direct subscription options
Jan 26th 2012 10:40AM (Massively)Also the problem wasn't just with Crysta, but with many peoples' reluctance to pay for a continuous subscription via Click n Buy.
Electronic Arts stock drops because of SWTOR fumbles
Jan 19th 2012 7:50PM (Massively)Bioware is making far too many mistakes in such a short space of time, and the arrogance they have displayed towards a good number of major issues hasn't put them in a good light.
If Bioware were just to accept the game has more wrong with it than they care to acknowledge, and actually do something about it then people would treat it better and there would be less complaining. However all they are doing so far is living in denial, blaming the users, and releaing unimpressive PR videos in an attempt to make people look the other way.
The game could have been something and could still potentially be fixed. With the way Bioware has been acting the past month or so now however, I really don't see that happening anytime in the near future.
BioWare responds to The Old Republic performance issues
Jan 10th 2012 9:30PM (Massively)It's more than just FPS issues. SWTOR's engine has got so much going wrong with it, it's just disgusting. Bioware need to come off their high-horse and get fixing this mess. The recent patches have been nothing more than lolpatches.
Analyst claims that Star Wars: The Old Republic points to a healthy MMO market
Dec 28th 2011 1:07PM (Massively)So I really do not care about any strong box sales as a good chunk of it came from over milking the fanbase. It just leaves a bad taste. Honestly, for that price I would have expected them to include an aunthenticator with every copy of the game, considering how important online account security is these days.
2009 class-action lawsuit over Final Fantasy XI fees dismissed
Dec 27th 2011 4:04PM (Joystiq)@Elranzer If you really find FFXI nowadays hard to solo and hard to level up, you need to seriously consider just giving up MMOs altogether. Even FFXIV is extremely easy to solo to current max level now.
SWTOR = The 'Just Cause' of MMOs
BioWare: SWTOR is 'one of the greatest and most ambitious achievements in video game history'
Dec 27th 2011 5:37AM (Massively)BioWare: SWTOR is 'one of the greatest and most ambitious achievements in video game history'
Dec 27th 2011 5:35AM (Massively)Numerous tests ended up in results of 1800-1900 players hinting at a server population cap at 2000. However over the past number of days these servers have never had a queue which at first led me to believe they raised the cap to get rid of those 5-15min queue times. Sadly I was wrong and a good few more peak time population counts resulted in a new population of around 1200-1300.
I am somewhat enjoying SWTOR to a degree. It has a rich world with plenty to do, however in saying that, it is a very seriously unpolished game. The more I play, the more negative aspects I start to notice which put me off. I still can't believe that the biggest graphical issue I had during the beta was simply masked over by a loading screen for the actual release.
Diablo III's opening cinematic revealed
Dec 11th 2011 5:56PM (Massively)*Proceeds to play the Mortal Kombat theme music*
Square-Enix preparing for Final Fantasy XIV recurring billing
Dec 6th 2011 4:17PM (Massively)What has been mentioned about the need of additional characters has already been addressed by other comments here. The fact that you can level multiple classes (inc all crafts) on one character which has access to 2 free storage npcs (which can be used to hold money) makes the need for an alt very low. The only real reason anyone would want to create an alt would be to play another race in which there are no differences except cosmetic, and the other reason: to make more money in very little time. This last reason was abused by alot of people since they haven't had to pay for more characters up til now. Plus the RMTs were having a field day with it.
As for the whole going f2p thing, it may or may not happen. The question was actually brought up in an interview whilst Yoshida was traveling around the world last month, giving interviews regarding v2.0. The bottom line of it was they'd keep with how they originally planned to handle billing up until v2.0. After v2.0 is released they will re-assess the situation, so they might possibly move over if v2.0 isn't well received.
Reasons against f2p came down to it being seen as tacky (There are still ALOT of people who depise cash shops) and the other is that there is concern a f2p format only attracts big initial interest and revenue then slowly fades out after a year or two. And considering they want the game to last as long as FFXI, it might not be the best move unless they can generate good constant revenue.
And a quick note on the AH. Yes, the market wards are getting AH functionality in the upcoming 1.20 patch due around the 15th.
While the FFXIV may seem not right to a good number of people I'll still be paying it. It may not be as good a discount as we would have hoped but it still is at least something, and the 6 month sub option works out at less than £5 a month. Come next year I'll have paid for 9-10 months, get v2.0 for free, and then get 3 months of free playtime of the FFXIV that should have been. I've grown to like the game to at least pay something towards it as it's something I now happen to enjoy, and that's all that matters, no matter what anyone else says.
Something else that needs to be addressed is the hate of the current game. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this dead horse has been dead for more than a year, and people are still kicking it. v2.0 was annouced in October and everyone knows that come October next year, the current game will be scrapped (except character data ofcourse) and v2.0 will take its place. So yeah, you are all having a go at a version of the game that will be gone in less than a year now.
(And to those wondering why they didn't just shutdown the current game they've already stated that as long as people are playing, no matter how many, they'll support it.)
oh and I'm not some white knight FF fanboy. While I did like FF7-9 I never found much enjoyment in the series after that except for FFXI however that was more due to the great online friends I met whilst playing. Most of them moved onto FFXIV to try it out at launch and I did too, however they quickly left and I followed due to them leaving and the frustration caused by the launch version of the game. I tried to force myself to enjoy it over the following months but I couldn't. I left it for a few months and eventually came back with an online friend, and while it took about a month, it started to grow on me to the point I was decently enjoying it. Even to the point I found myself wanting to play it over more recent f2p MMOs.
I'm still looking forward to GW2 though and am going to be picking up SWTOR to play alongside some friends despite issues I had with the beta (I like the game but it really has graphic and gameplay issues that need addressed. Not to mention the dialogue system isn't as deep as it looks).
Everyone, again, is entitled to their own opinions but I do wish they could at least do some research first before they make a comment. I'd rather they do that instead of just quickly reading the headline and grabbing their pitchforks like some tabloid newspaper reader.