Bioware insider blames fans for SWTORs woes

An anonymous Bioware insider writes; “I know many won’t believe me. but, I work at Bioware”, I won’t tell you much and I don’t care if you believe me. So here is “what’s” going on were I work......

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[Godmars290]

They could have made a more comprehensive, single player experience, probably could have made several, but instead just had to have an MMO for the constant revenue stream, and NOW someone wants to blame the fan base they were trying to sell to in the first place.

Classy...

Edit:
the article refuses to load.

[Amazingmrbrock]

The guy in this articles just whining. It's an easy fix from my perspective, don't listen to your fans and make the game you want to make. Obviously people are going to say we want this and we want that. There have been so many games ruined this way.

The problem with all that is that the dev studios share relatively little about the games with us. Then they listen to people who know little about the games, who may not have even played the games. The only way listening to fans works is if your devoloping in a transparent fashion. If your company has an NDA then the creative director has to have some back bone and just go for their creative vision.

No risks no rewards.

[Tzuno]

true but their arrogance is to big.

[Godmars290]

Had to say that the one place you might be wrong is that the devs likely didn't make the game they wanted regardless. The publisher wanted it out at a certain date, it was put out on a that date. there are too many instances where that happens and the then incomplete game is so buggy its broken.

ME3 may not have been that bad, but still there's evidence in missed conversation options and how missions are handled which suggest it may as well have had program bugs. That it should have been released when it was actually finished, not when EA wanted it so they could report sales figures to the stockholders for a specific finical quarter.

[pompombrum]

Sorry but the line "but it was fan feedback from the day we opened the forums that encouraged us to design it for the fans the way it is and that included making it more like Kotor then an MMO like Wow." tells me this is probably fake.

BW arrogantly said from the start that they are making the game the way they want to. Further more, they arrogantly ignored so much of the beta feedback. Fans didn't kill this game, a release before it was ready and developer arrogance killed it.

[mafiahajeri]

Aren't " read more at source" comments not allowed? Or is only for some people?

[Mainsqueeze]

This is most likely fake but if it isn't, my god the team that made Swtor had their heads way farther up their a**** than i thought.
"but it was fan feedback from the day we opened the forums that encouraged us to design it for the fans the way it is and that included making it more like Kotor then an MMO like Wow." Thats the problem right there dummys you did try to make it too much like WOW and not enough like KOTOR and the worst thing about it is that thing things that they did try to take from wow they did it alot worse. I played SWTOR for about 2 months and got 2 characters up to level 50 and then got completely bored with endgame and unsubed. I haven't gone back other than the free weekends, so that i can c what they have changed. Other than the voice acting, the entire rest of the game is so uninspired its not even funny. I don't hate on games very often and when i do its when i have given them a fare try and am completely disappointed, this is one of those cases.

[Canary]

Funny, just like how the fans forced Bioware to make Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 into shitty games.

[Godmars290]

Never understood what seems to be a standard EA error of not allowing enough production time or a quick turnaround with a release deadline.

You have a recognized well known, well selling title like Ultima. The team needs one or two years to do the next one right, but it just HAS to be put out in the next three.

The only thing worse than a practice which they've been doing for years, is that fans have only justified it all this time.

[Kamikaze135]

It's not our fault that they blatantly copied WoW, focused too much on the solo experience, and didn't include much to differentiate itself from other MMO games.

[Amazingmrbrock]

They should have had the balls to make it gameplay wise like jedi outcast. There's enough anti jedi tech in the star wars universe to balance it all out.

[DeadlyFire]

Its the one thing LA never pushes is how to kill a jedi without another jedi.

Although some games that don't even have jedi as main focus are most popular like Battlefront, Republic Commando. So if they made a game with jedi combat like Jedi Outcast/Academy lightsaber combat with balanced class like system.

I still say the Attribute system for JA Mod Moviebattles 2 is probably the best thing ever invented for a Star Wars game. It has classes, Jedi/sith are not invincible. Gameplay is typically balanced and fun. Although it needs an engine upgrade. Only thing that holds it back.

[batbatz]

yeah its a shame, plus no end game reason to play

[joab777]

It's pretty obvious why it wasn't going to make it. The crazy thing is that many really smart people were convinced otherwise. They had to know that mmos right now are near where fps games are, they need a giant step forward. The sp could have worked in conjunction with something fresh. Also endgame content is a must. And if u want to compete with wow, please launch with all the amenities of your competition. Don't play catch up after launch. They thought that if they created a wow clone in the star wars universe with good storytelling that they would need nothing more. They were wrong. Well u still have mass effects universe to screw up...or maybe, u bring in some new people with fresh ideas and create a new type of mmo. Their are so many untapped ideas but people are too scared to take a risk.

[Qrphe]

Everyone jump ship!

[DivineAssault]

Ya? & i blame bioware for not making this for MAC even though they said theyd like to make it last year

[Ramas]

i told long before starwars mmo was released that it will fail misurably and all people disagreed with me. Now suck it up.
p.s. waiting for new starwars 1313 or something,the one that was shown in E3. that title looks promising.

[Ravenor]

Any retail, subscription based MMO will fail.

It being a licensed Star Wars MMO, just added to the delusion that what an MMO offers would be enough.

So grats on your "prediction".

[DeadlyFire]

How long did galaxies last before they decided to shoot it down because they were to lazy to make KOTOR 3 and just went with Kotor MMO WoW cookie cutter theme. Galaxies while having its own problems lasted a very long time as a subscription MMO. 2003-2011. About 8 years. So they can last.

Economy is drying up and people only want to pay for what is worth the money.

[Ramas]

prdiction was based not on that, like you say all mmo fails sooner or later. But when i see how bad game, looks, gameplay and observed closely and tried beta i said this game wount last even a year till it will go free to play or stay like it is now but with 90% of players not playing it anymore.
And all were like NO WAY! this game will kick a*s!!! i was like no it wount, it will fail misurably :)

[Mainsqueeze]

Subscription fees is not why this game failed. Most people who play mmos don't mind them. The reason why this game is failing is because first and formost, other than the story and voice, its not a good game. They tried to copy a game that has been around for like 8 years and they did half as good of a job at it.

[kevnb]

The problem is that once you complete the story you are done with it. Its actually a really fun game, but it won't keep you playing for years or even more than a few months.

[mopground]

got 1 char to 50 played 2 weeks after that, got so boring, pvp was equally as boring especially as a tank. sp story was pretty good but kinda long tedious.Also nothing really special about it

[Aggesan]

Bioware should stop making games and go back to being doctors.

[fossilfern]

Should of just made KOTOR 3.

[nofallouthero]

kotor 3 would have been nice

[MacDonagh]

You know what really killed The Old Republic? Bioware killed it. Blame the fans all you want, but if your MMO can't even match WOW; your MMO is destined for failure. Besides, no-one that I know wanted an MMO experience. All they wanted was KOTOR 3.

[ChunkyLover53]

Seems like a lot of people share my sentiment, they should have straight up made a KOTOR 3. I wanted to finish that story and find out what the heck happened to Reven. I don't own a PC and had no interest in a PC MMO. Had it been on consoles as well, I probably would have at least tried it out.

Seems like there is really only a few MMO's that can keep up a steady group of players.

[Hooby]

Hahaha. They listened to people on the forums? 90% of the people on the swtor forums are complete utter morons who have no idea what makes a game good. They are people who deny innovative and important features because they'll actually have to learn to play and won't be able to faceroll. They won't be able to press random buttons and "beat" the game, so all their suggestions are for bullshit that no one actually needs and will lead the game to ruin.

Swtor was doomed from the onset though. They decided to make a really crappy version of WoW with lightsabers. Once the initial excitement of "ooo! lightsabers!" wears off, there is absolutely no reason to play this severely lacking game.

I expect people to argue that "wow had 7 years to get where it is, you can't hate swtor for not having that much content". That's not the point. The point is that we can't go back in time. It has to stand against WoW as it exists NOW, regardless of any disadvantages that may bring. Sure it's "fine" to not have anywhere near as much content as WoW. That doesn't mean it will be successful.

[mochachino]

When you make changes according to "fans" complaining on forums you're going to run into trouble because they're often the minority opinion. The rest of the fanbase is probably playing and enjoying the game.

[aliengmr]

The majority don't care enough to voice an opinion. So you have to go by the feedback you get. How can you determine what features the "silent" majority likes and dislikes?

Its not entirely accurate either that the vast majority are happy all the time. Different people have different issues in which they choose voice their opinions.

[aliengmr]

Then why was the space portion of a "Star Wars" game just an "on rails" minigame. SWG may have had its flaws, but it did get the space portion right.

The number 1 reason I didn't give SWTOR a go was the lack of a space combat sim like SWG had.

EA/BioWare wanted to compete with WoW, that's as clear as day.

[mananimal]

If they would have listened to the fans , they would have made KOTOR3, not an MMO.