Patch 1.3

[Minvaren]

Looks like this is scheduled to roll out to the PTS Real Soon Now(tm).  Darth Hater is compiling a list of changes that are expected to be in the new patch.

It's also rumored that character transfers will be in for or before 1.3...

Me myself, I was disappointed to read that all of the "coming soon" Legacy unlocks will be per-character instead of global.     On the other hand, being able to augment existing gear, and being able to craft orange wrist and belt pieces are fairly cool.

[Lantyssa]

I like the item additions.  Nothing else about it really excites me much.

[Fordel]

Man if they are per character, then I hope they are way cheaper then the current ones.

Even *I* might not be able to afford it then 

[Nevermore]

It wouldn't really make any sense for the Advancement ones to be account wide since they're supposed to be there to help 'individualize' how different characters level.  Would be nice if the other three categories were for your whole legacy, though.

[koro]

Oh for fuck's sake.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/21/star-wars-the-old-republics-13-patch-revealed

IGN: The group finder has been a requested feature since The Old Republic’s launch, though there seemed to be some initial resistance against the idea because it would disrupt the flow of exploration. Why is now the right time to implement it? And does it support cross-server play?

Daniel Erickson: In the early days post-launch we wanted players to be discovering the game for the first time and forming natural social groups. A huge wave of players come in all at once in the beginning and finding a group is never really a problem for the bulk of players. Now players have spread all across the leveling curve and the Legacy system is causing players to roll new characters like never before which means we need a simple, flexible system to put players together with other players in their level band. We still want to respect the communities that have developed on servers so it does not support cross-server play.

 

[Paelos]

 

It's like they want the game to fail. What in the hell are they thinking?

[koro]

And considering they're only doing merges for "select servers" (What the hell does that mean? Only a few extra-dead servers get transfers off to other servers? How will that work; will they just have a bunch of dead servers siphon their players to another dead server, or to a more populated one?) instead of the mergers-and-closures they really need to do instead, not having a cross-server anything is madness.

If servers are dead, then there are no communities for you to impact, you fucking goons!

[Ingmar]

We've known for a while that the first iteration of the group finder wasn't going to be cross-server, this isn't news. I'm sure the next one will be.

[Evildrider]

Most likely the free transfers are gonna be the same as what they did in WAR.  Where they'll take a few low pop servers and give them the option to transfer to 1-2 particular servers.  Meaning you aren't going to be able to transfer where ever you want.

If the server transfers are successful I don't see the "no cross server" group finder being too huge a deal.  It's more that they need bigger incentives to do flashpoints in the first place.  It takes as long to do a Flashpoint as it does running normal EV and you get way more loot in EV.

[koro]

We've known for a while that the first iteration of the group finder wasn't going to be cross-server, this isn't news. I'm sure the next one will be.

I've only been sporadically keeping up with dev chatter, so I apparently missed that. All I'd seen on the topic was dodging, hedging, and roundabout answers and not a definitive "No cross-server".

[Ingmar]

There's definitely no doubt that the 'respecting server communities' thing is BS. I have a definite feeling they're just waiting for their merge/transfer solution thing before they mess with cross-server.

[Evildrider]

I have no problem with the "respecting server community" angle.  I've made more new friends in SWTOR in 6 months then I did in the time I played WoW.  I understand what they are trying to do, it's nice having a community where you can recognize people when you get into warzones and raids and know what most of them are capable of.  I definitely prefer this over the anonymous douchebaggery that WoW's systems brought in.  Mind you, if after the merges, there are still problems with grouping then they should go cross-server.

[Ingmar]

Sure, it works fine if you lucked into a populated server. Shien seems fine as well. I have to imagine though from the looks of the login screen that there are plenty of servers where it just won't help to have an in-server-only tool, unless their transfer/merge thing is really successful.

[koro]

The server I'm on (Giradda, Republic) is pretty dead too. Typically only 300-500 people on Republic at peak time, which is pretty bad.

Better than some servers, though.

[tazelbain]

No way a company can rely something as fickle as player populations to determine if a core feature is functional.

[Rokal]

There's definitely no doubt that the 'respecting server communities' thing is BS. I have a definite feeling they're just waiting for their merge/transfer solution thing before they mess with cross-server.

Yep. A cross-server LFG tool is undoubtedly a lot harder to create with a lot more required back-end. LOTRO's LFG tool is in a similar state: the devs have said they want it to be cross-server, but the technology just isn't there yet. Better to release the single-server version first to aid in forming groups at least somewhat and to get some feedback.

The SWTOR approach also has the side effect of silencing players that would say "they should have tried single-server LFG first, server communities are now meaningless". Rift did exactly this and there weren't many detractors when cross-server LFG finally did launch. It was obvious to everyone at that point that the tool just doesn't work without a large pool of players to pull from.

[luckton]

Once again proving that some people just don't learn a lesson until they themselves drive face first into the wall of reality.

I was hoping it would have been cross-server.  I feel slightly remorseful for getting a CE box and only playing a few months, but the combination of Blizzard both pulling their heads out of their asses with MoP and giving me Diablo 3 for free has made me feel better.

We're done here.  Shall we start placing bets for how long it takes for this forum to reach the graveyard? 

[Shatter]

Thank god D3 came out and saved me from this cluster f*ck.  D3 is still more fun even after I got hacked :P

[Sky]

We're done here. 

Please.

[Crumbs]

They should just cut all of the "gameplay" out of the game and keep only the cutscenes.  Subs would probably stay right around where they are.

[Sky]

Oh, there you are. Did you bring Lankov?

[Crumbs]

Is it trolling?  Is it hating?  Or is it being legitimately disappointed by a company ruining my favorite IP once again?  It takes great restraint not to post a thousand times a day on this subject. 

There was anticipation, I spent good money, and viola, a pile of crap.  The internet generally holds consequences for such things. 

[Falconeer]

Plus, without any hate, this IS dead. Graveyard in a couple of patches. We know it's inevitable. And sad. What a waste.

[Fabricated]

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=462269

From the other thread; yeah we're in graveyard territory.

I'm still playing, but not much. Not enough GOOD content, crappy client, lack of features everyone expects day one from MMOs.

[Nebu]

What a waste.

This.

[Ingmar]

Let's not pretend that going to the graveyard here makes a game 'dead'. Rift still seems to be doing fine, LOTRO has been thriving and in the graveyard for years, GW1 has had tons of players, CoX/V went there long before they lost a lot of numbers, etc.

[koro]

Not 1.3, but still related to possible future content, and posted on GAF:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bw6sp6dpJKRcaDdKTHFnQlp6Wjg/edit?pli=1

The tl;dr is that it's a survey (that looks legit) about what appears to be a new story zone... which would be sold at a minimum of $10. It would feature a level cap increase, and possibly Cathar as a new Legacy race.

I'll say now that if they release their first major content update as paid DLC, the remaining playerbase will evaporate.

[Fabricated]

lol, I fucking dare them to do that.

[Evildrider]

that does not look legit at all lol

[koro]

It looks like any given focus group survey to me.

[Riggswolfe]

It's hard to tell if it is legit but frankly, an Ewok companion as one of the offerings make me think it is a fake. The only thing more hated than Ewoks is Gungans and I just don't see them offering that as a selling point.

Still, it almost sounds like a mini-expansion though one new planet of quests would be consumed in a weekend by alot of players.

[Nevermore]

I'll be honest, the stuff from the first page for $10?  I'd probably buy that mostly because of the 3 character slots.  Every other game that has offered more character slots for sale have charged $9.99 per slot.  But all those other options would be suicide for the game.  $20+ for one planet?  Yeah, good luck with that.

[Fabricated]

Expansions are (typically) enough content to warrant a new box purchase and offer an experience in length on par with the original releases.

This would work for a F2P title, but for a sub you're paying $15 to have the privilege to pay another $10 for access to more content. That dog won't hunt, not with this audience.

[Evildrider]

Unless Lucas is letting them say fuck all Canon then that is fake.. because Ewoks haven't been discovered yet. 

[Ingmar]

I'll be honest, the stuff from the first page for $10?  I'd probably buy that mostly because of the 3 character slots.  Every other game that has offered more character slots for sale have charged $9.99 per slot.  But all those other options would be suicide for the game.  $20+ for one planet?  Yeah, good luck with that.

This is more or less how I feel, yeah.