After only 4 months SWTOR has seen a staggering array of changes, both good and bad. And while some events have sent fan boys raging, others have brought frustrated players back into the fold smiling. So it’s time to take a look at those changes and how they have affected the game.
We’ll discuss everything, but you’re going to have to click Continue Reading to find out!
The Bad News
BioWare has made their share of mistakes. Some of the more notable ones include:
- Ilum failed so terribly that it’s been made obsolete so they can redesign it from the ground up.
- The Legacy system promotes cross faction play which in turn tears guilds apart without sister guild support.
- The game was released before it was ready missing basic features expected in any AAA MMO release.
SWTOR’s failures are not inconsequential, but with BioWare being brand new to the MMO industry what did you expect? Without experience they’re going to stumble and fall a few times before they get their feet under them.
The Good News
BioWare is obviously working very hard to make SWTOR an amazing game. The Fansite Summit, Guild Summit, and their community interaction with players on the forums demonstrates a dedication to building a strong relationship with their players.
And while it can be exceedingly frustrating for fans who get disappointed by the game’s shortcomings, it’s time to stop and look at how far the game has come in only 4 short months. Some of the more notable examples include:
- Graphics and FPS have improved dramatically. Which also means the game runs better on not just fast systems, but slow systems as well.
- Bugs that caused arguably game breaking issues have been addressed and countless other fixes to make the game run smoother have been implemented.
- BioWare actively responds to player feedback on things that have to change, such as the armor artwork for Tier sets.
- 2 Content Patches have released in only 4 months. Some MMO’s have gone more than 6 months without 1 Content Patch.
SWTOR Today
SWTOR is still missing basic features that should have been in at release if we’re being honest. Cross server queues, LFG Finder tools, and UI customizations that are still missing are just a few. But with a steady stream of content being added to the game it’s a guarantee that these features will be coming down the pipeline.
SWTOR Tomorrow
At their current rate of improvements to the game, SWTOR will be a top notch MMO with all of the bells and whistles within another 4-6 months (based off of their recent content releases).
Combined with their Dev Team’s active communication and responses with the player base, it seems very likely that SWTOR will grow with the players’ needs and desires.
The Big Picture
SWTOR launched missing core MMO features, tons of bugs and issues, and failed on several levels with end game PvP and PvE content. But in just 4 short months they have made massive strides in fixing their game while delivering content and fixes to the players.
They have also succeeded in changing the scope of the current day MMO space with their innovations in story and voice acting. And with the example of giving a free month subscription to their player base who have been actively playing the game, it’s obvious that they understand that their game exists because of the people playing it.
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