Despite my previous ranting about the half-assed free-2-play model Bioware implemented, I still often find myself wanting to play SWTOR. Usually that ends the moment I log in and immediately start to feel so constricted that I lose the motivation to play. When I see screenshots, news articles and Larry Everett’s blog posts I start to feel the urge to play again. Larry Everett’s geek enthusiasm is often quite contagious.
I think another point that makes logging into SWTOR difficult is that so many of my friends that use to play are so annoyed and upset about the bad implementation of the free-2-play model that I’m the only one that would play. A majority of the reason I play any MMO is to hang with my friends. Logging in to an empty friends list or guild just wipes out any desire to play.
I’ve thought about just starting a new toon (since I am a preferred member, as of the patch 1.6 I should have additional slots). Perhaps if I start a new toon and level up then I can better acclimate to the restrictions. Granted that still doesn’t resolve the issue of the lack of friends also playing the game.
Issue 59: Happy New Year Gamers! Welcome to 2013! I hope all of you had a safe and splendid Christmas and New Years. I’m sure many of you probably killed off a few brain cells and hopefully you recovered well and with no guilt.
I never thought I would be on a tirade about Bioware’s design decision for SWTOR. I was a huge supporter for nearly a year. I tried to think of their decisions from the developers perspective to combat the negativity and bad press the game was getting. I was really hoping that their decision to finally go Free-2-Play would resolve a lot of the harsh criticism. Instead it’s made it worse; even I am pretty peeved.