I resubbed for a month and cancelled

A few weeks ago I renewed my subcription for one simple reason - player transfers.  It had nothing to do with improvements to the game.  It was worth $15 to me to transfer my toons during a 'free transfer' time and not wait until paid transfers when I'd probably need to pay $25 per character.  This was an easy decision.   One thing it has allowed me is to post on the SWTOR forums and while I initially tried to stay positive, playing the game for a few levels on my alliance toon reminded me of the many fatal flaws in the game.  here's a few of my posts.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4471973#post4471973
05.26.2012 , 08:54 AM | #116
I'd be surprised if their release isn't in mid to late June. Keep in mind that they server two masters - the playerbase and their shareholders. They want to make sure the patch is ready but they want their subscription numbers to look as positive as possible when the quarter ends.

This patch doesn't have a lot of content additions so as long as the LFG system is working it should be good to go. I doubt it stays in beta for very long as there are really only a few things to test and the playerbase isn't really that helpful.
I'm sure they want to release the patch around June 20th in hopes that people that have left the game will come back and resub so their numbers spike. That will allow them to report to the investment community that the game is stabilizing and with the things they are adding in the future they expect it to grow from here. Despite what they've said publically this will also have a huge impact on their share price and that will help them convince EA to continue investing in the game. That's really the only road to long term success.

EA / Bioware's actions are so easy to predict it isn't funny.  The finance guys have been running the release schedule for a long time.  This was my response to a thread today that was complaining the game was being released too early.

1.3 going live has nothing to do with it being ready.  I predicted weeks ago that it would go live before the end of June for one reason only - they want to be able to attract as many people back with a new patch and things like 'free 7 days' for former subscribers by the end of the quarter.  That will allow them to give out higher subscriber counts and hide the true number from investors.  Their stock has already taken a beating and they want to make sure the subscriber number is as high as possible to avoid it going lower. 

This patch is being released early for the same reason the game was launched early - to maximize EA's stock price.  This game is too important to EAs share price to simply be released, 'when it is done'.  If you doubt that, consider that they releasing  an internal patch that will never hit the PTS.  The furor that occurs when the bugs that we all see every day on the PTS  will be frustrating to watch as it could have been avoided if they were able to take their time and  listen to feedback.

I've already unsubbed again and wait for the day that Bioware has the freedom to make the game better.  Until then my feeling from the day I resubbed remains. 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4611041#post4611041
06.12.2012 , 03:16 PM | #143 EDIT REPORT POST QUOTEI re-upped 5 minutes ago. My anger towards EA/Bioware for rushing the game out hasn't abated but I'm willing to give them another $15 as my toons are on a server that can transfer. I'm also anxious to get into the test server and take a look at the LFG and see how it affects the game.
I could stay mad at them and refuse to re-up but who am I hurting? My $15 isn't going to make or break them and like all of us, I really wanted this game to succeed. If I think the game has improved and grouping will be viable then $15 is a small price to pay to find out.

I'm ever hopeful and will return if it ever happens.

Just for grins this is two other posts Ive made in the last month.  The first is what happened when I tranferred and it was my luck that my destination server for my Empire toons was the same as my Republic server (there's only 8 slots and 8 classes on each side.

06.13.2012 , 04:10 PM | #43 EDIT REPORT POST QUOTE
At launch I picked Keller's Void for my 8 Empire toons and Jedi Covenant for my 8 Republic toons. My thought was if they gave us 8 slots and each side had 8 classes this would be the best option. 

Fast forward 6 months and after playing all the classes through the first planet (and 8 through chapter 2 with 3 of them level 50) I find out that Keller's Void is moving to Jedi Covenant. I spent an agonizing afternoon yesterday figuring out which Republic toons to delete. It wasn't the end of the world as I've spent a lot more time on my Empire toons but it still was a bit frustrating. The only positive was since I used the same names on both I didn't lose that in the transfer. 

I'd love to have a few more slots though.

The last post is my ultimate feeling about the game in response to a well thought out post that detailed the lack of cohesivenss in the game and the fact much of it was subbed out due to Bioware's lack of expertise.

When I am feeling pessimistic about the game my thinking is similar to what you state in your post. It feels like sometime last year the SWTOR team made a status presentation to senior management who realized that there was little integration between the teams. To fix the issues would have taken another year and they couldn't do that. Investors had already assumed that SWTORs 2012 cash flows would prop up EA's already dismal profits and the delay would have killed them (worse than is happening now). They had to patch things together to make the system work and sold it knowing we'd buy it.

I'm just hoping that EA/Bioare keeps the faith with those of us that have continued to pay our monthly subs. If not then I hope Lucas pulls the property and gives it to someone who can develop something worthy of its fans..

I think that pretty much sums it up.