SWTOR - Will it Live or Die?

[Voodooi]

When SWTOR first released, it turned out to be an incredible MMO. I've tried every MMO since WoW and this was my ultimate favourite. Questing and story lines are exceptional and the classes extremely fun to play.

A month or two later, we reach end-game content. This is what lead to the downfall of SWTOR. During its peek, it was said that the game reached almost 3 million. Now it's down to 1.3 million as of March 31st and once the free month of gametime expires, it's expected that the game will continue to decline.

As many of you who currently play the game have experienced, the game has been slowly dying for months now.

Since 1.2 hit and their rated Warzone's were delayed, Bioware gave free 30-days to only level 50's. The community outraged and Bioware ended up giving it to the majority of players with an active subscription (players who earned 50 later and those with multiple low level characters that reached a combined level 6 legacy).

Even this free month wasn't enough incentive for players to return. Instead, they're playing TERA beta, preparing for D3 / GW2.

The majority of servers are ghost towns, with imperial fleets (major city) reaching only 20-30 during peek hours. Finding an instance group is next to impossible and PvP queues are 20-30 minutes during peek and non-existent throughout the morning/late night (only 1 is active in the afternoon).

What is Bioware/EA doing to fix this?

North American Server Pop:
- "Normal" servers contain up to 250/250 on each side.
- There are currently only 3 "Heavy" servers during peek hours.
- Majority of servers are "Light"

In 1.3, free server transfers are supposed to happen according to Bioware, but this isn't until "early summer". By then, there won't be anyone left to play with.

People are saying the reason they will not merge the servers is because they want to avoid spreading fear/panic that the game is dying and it would have a negative effect with their investors.

---

How do you feel about SWTOR?

I can only play during peek hours 7-11PM or else I'm stuck playing alone on a dead server.

[Getawayfrommelucas]

Those losses were apparently from the trial accounts expiring, not actual subs. But to answer your question, no; it will not die completely. There will always be a player base for it.

IMO, MMO players who aren't playing WoW are typically looking for the next WoW and are just wasting time with betas and other MMO's. There won't be an MMO with the player base like WoW for sometime, it will take WoW "Killing itself" in order for that happen

[troyguitar]

I like the game and will resubscribe and play it at some point but right now I just plain don't have time to play. I didn't even make it to lvl 25 yet... Been too busy with work and now plan to play D3 for a month or so, then maybe get to SWTOR later in the summer.

[M11xDude]

I got it at launch and I played it for a while. Got 3 toons up to about mid level 30's then realized it's the same grind as WoW to max level but with lightsabers. The novelty of the cutscenes and storylines wore off and I just moved on I guess.

[funky monk]

Those losses were apparently from the trial accounts expiring, not actual subs. But to answer your question, no; it will not die completely. There will always be a player base for it.

IMO, MMO players who aren't playing WoW are typically looking for the next WoW and are just wasting time with betas and other MMO's. There won't be an MMO with the player base like WoW for sometime, it will take WoW "Killing itself" in order for that happen

GW2 looks to be a serious rival. They invested in what they thought would be overkill in terms of servers for the open beta and even then they essentially DDOS'd themselves offline.

[KernalPanic]

Oh come on... there is no grind in WoW or SWtoR.
You practically wake up max level when you roll a new toon.
It is a wonder they make you level at all.

The biggest complaint is that SWtoR isn't really an MMO... its a single player game with a chat room. You do not need anyone else ever. The stories are fun the first time through, but once you have experienced them, there is no point in playing anymore once you max out.

The game's survival depends on new content. Without it, it will die.
WoW has done new races, new content, new equipment, separated pvp and pve equipment, overpowered class1, then overpowered class2... repeat...

[troyguitar]

Oh come on... there is no grind in WoW or SWtoR.
You practically wake up max level when you roll a new toon.
It is a wonder they make you level at all.

This. I guess most people never played EQ or even the original WoW. Some levels in EQ took over a day straight of grinding, each. You could play for months without reaching max level.

[baiii]

Why no 1 mention MS when talk about grind and leveling :P?

imo SWTOR is not gonna "die" , when some people invest time and effort, they wont abandon them instantly.
same hold true for LOTRO or DDO. There will always some people stays.

[d2c]

I got it at launch and I played it for a while. Got 3 toons up to about mid level 30's then realized it's the same grind as WoW to max level but with lightsabers. The novelty of the cutscenes and storylines wore off and I just moved on I guess.

couldnt agree more. The characters and races are the same for both side, but with very little differences. the random events are too few, and not exciting enough. On top of that the worlds are bland, the dialogue is repetative, and it doesnt offer that awe inspiring feeling that a star wars mmo should have. IMO the star wars universe if just too big for a mmo, the games have to be narrow or die hard fans get pissed off if something is missing. I dont blame bioware for everything as the galaxy far, far away is just too complex and diverse to make a game that encompasses whole planets. Before i forget the servers are dead, it's like a ghost town in most of them. these are the reasons why i had to leave, and couldnt "force" myself to pay the subscription fee.

[troyguitar]

I regret never playing SWG, it seemed to me to be the best Star Wars game possible.