SWTOR - Friend Invites

[Melbosa]

$15/Month, more if you buy more months.

[Mr. Analog]

Jeebus that's pricey...

I know they're trying to get their revenue back for dev costs but more than $5 a month in a time where so many Free To Play games are around, kinda nuts.

I'd play it if it were FTP.

[Melbosa]

$15/Month, more if you buy more months.

er... I meant more savings if you buy more months.

Yeah they are competing with WoW which is still subscriber based at the same price point.  I agree they probably would make more money if they went micro-transaction, but it is still cheaper than buying 1 xbox game a month.

[Mr. Analog]

$15/Month, more if you buy more months.

er... I meant more savings if you buy more months.

Yeah they are competing with WoW which is still subscriber based at the same price point.  I agree they probably would make more money if they went micro-transaction, but it is still cheaper than buying 1 xbox game a month.

I guess... I buy like 5 games a year, and usually on Steam sales hahahah

If I could do a $5 commission a month to pay for it I'd probably get in on it, so far I'm really liking the way the story stuff unfolds (we'll see how combat looks tonight maybe). It's a very pretty game for sure, but for $15/m I better be playing a lot of it and I just don't see that happening... I'm way to casual to make it worth my while I guess.

Firefall is looking a lot more attractive at the moment heh

[Mr. Analog]

Well, I tried to get on last night and ended up in some kind of login queue so I quit, I'm finding this a very frustrating experience so far...

[Melbosa]

Yeah that is the only downfall to my server.  The queue.  You have a bonus of having a lot of people to group with, fight against and overall good populace base.  But it come with a price of a queue.

You can play on other servers if you are looking to just get a feel for the game and play through it.

I admit the queue itself is frustrating to me as well.  But what is just as frustraiting is being on a low populated server without anyone around to group or fight.

Most MMOs run the queue problem in the first 6 months on populated servers - CoH, WoW, LOTRO, Champions Online, DC Universe Online, DDO, etc... I've experienced it on everyone one.  I just hope Bioware fixes it sooner than the 6 month mark that seems to take every other MMO.

So if you want we could run a set of toons on another server... just pick one and let me know when you want to play!

[Mr. Analog]

The frustrating bit is I REALLY want to play now after having gone through storyline cutscenes... I have an attachment now to this character dammit but at every turn the game has been making it tough

1. The UI was absolutely microscopic when I first launched it, much smaller looking than some of the "Let's Play" videos I'd seen previously, through the SWTOR forums I found that it was because many people thought the default UI was too large. I realize this is Blind People Problems, but jesus it instantly reminded me of how much my eyes do indeed suck (this is also why Adobe can go @%&# themselves, Photoshop CS3 is the last version with text that adheres to Windows Large Font settings and their own font scaling is a JOKE... but I digress).

2. The beginners tutorial, oh excuse me, the LACK of a beginners tutorial, it took me 10 mins to figure out how the @%&#ing map worked (once I scaled the UI so I could actually see the icons). I had to go to the SWTOR wiki to actually find all the key bindings. Fun fact: you don't have to click foes, you can actually cycle through them with tab, you can also set preferences on auto selection but that's not easy to figure out when you first jump in (and it's not actually on the official website under the controls section!)

3. The Queue, it's a beta I know but yeesh, get some more hardware EA I know you have the money...

4. The map, once I figured out that marked waypoints don't show up on your radar until AFTER you leave a building I was lost in the starting bar area trying to figure out where to go and how to get the @%&# out

5. The controls are a little err, twitchy, and the way the camera zooms in is a bit jarring sometimes

6. Not being able to pick any race at the start is lame.

@%&# I LIKE

I love the character models and the art assets and damn it's a beautiful game. I can run it at nearly 100% "ultra" settings which kind of took me by surprise, very smooth! (Like all EA games VSYNC is disabled by default which was dumb)

The cutscenes are AWESOME and the dialogue wheel is BRILLIANT, I actually feel invested in the character, having easy access and lots of fun responses really win

The voice acting so far is pretty well done!

The missions actually have some sense to them (well as much as go to point A and beat up some fools can be anyway), I feel like I'm doin' stuff

Anyway, I'm pretty grumpy about not getting to play last night...

[Melbosa]

So the trick to the queue is Log in when you get home... go make some dinner and eat... and check after.  seen queues as long as 50min since the last patch.  The time listed is pretty good give or take 5 minutes.

Hopefully you can get on to check it out more!

[Mr. Analog]

I'll try tonight, I'm working from home I'm sure I can get on there at 5-ish

Just pisses me off is all, also I just want to @%&# around alone for a while first, that's one thing I really liked about GuildWars you could get to lvl 20 by playing with yourself (LOL)

[Melbosa]

If you don't want to play Flash Points (Group Instance Stories) or Heroic Areas (Group Areas) you can solo almost your whole leveling to 50.  Your class story chapter finales may need some help but otherwise yes it is a very solo-able game.

[Mr. Analog]

No worries, I'm into group play I just need to figure out everything first so I have fun instead of stress. lol

[Darren Dirt]

(this is also why Adobe can go @%&# themselves, Photoshop CS3 is the last version with text that adheres to Windows Large Font settings and their own font scaling is a JOKE... but I digress).

http://www.google.com/search?q=free+alternative+to+photoshop
"Paint.net" is almost always mentioned in "Top 10 Free..." lists (as is GIMP).
And "Pixlr" = web based so obviously limited functionality but it seems to be frequently mentioned as well (a quick tool to have in your kit I guess) and since it's on the web prolly does proper font size scaling .

[Mr. Analog]

The problem I have with other tools is two fold:

1. Not all the features of Photoshop are in any one tool or work as well
2. Most free alternatives have @%&# UI (have you even tried GIMP, jesus)

I also paid for the upgrade path like an idiot thinking they would comply with Windows UI standards (as they had done for years) NO DICE

I contacted their support staff when I get to the beta for CS4 AND later CS5 with a comment about their lack of Large Font support and they didn't understand at all what the problem was either time, so to hell with them.

To hell with any software publisher in this day and age who can't make a customizable UI.

[Mr. Analog]

The queue times are RIDICULOUS

I've been in queue for an HOUR

[Lazybones]

The queue times are RIDICULOUS

I've been in queue for an HOUR

How quickly we forget the launch queues for MMOs