SWTOR's loyal customers?

Patch 1.2 hit yesterday and after I started playing I went into a funk.  It was cool to finally move the screen around, nice to easily make my gear match my chestpiece design, and fun to play around with my legacy.  After that I started to play the game again and realized that while that was nice it did little to impact the core of the game and the issues with quest design came rushing back.  

SWTOR's key selling point since launch has been the class stories and right now I've got my agent through the whole thing with my warrior, inquisitor, and bounty hunter sitting between chapter 2 and the ending.  This has been the sole reason I've been playing for a while but suddenly it just didn't seem worth it anymore.  As I was questing I saw someone mention that we get a free pet so I went on the forums to check it out and this is what I found:

We appreciate the support of our community throughout the development of the Legacy game update. As a ‘Thank You’ gift, we are giving all active subscribers (as of April 12, 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT or April 21, 12:00PM CDT, 5:00PM GMT) the in-game Legacy reward: the Legacy Tauntaun Ram Pet*, sure to be your new best friend!

If I stopped reading there I would have been happy but this next section upset me to no end:

A SPECIAL GIFT FOR OUR LEVEL 50 PLAYERS – 30 DAYS OF PLAY TIME ON US!
As a thanks for being one of our most valued players, every active account with a Level 50 character as of April 12th, 2012 at 12:00PM CDT / 5:00PM GMT, will receive thirty (30) days of game time** in appreciation for your support and loyalty.

This struck and nerve with me as I currently have 8 Imperial toons on my main server level 48, 48, 44, 43, 37, 34, 33, 22 not to mention the 4 Republic toons on my alt server all over level 10.  I also spent quite a bit of time leveling a character on the test server to level 21 to help Bioware improve the game.

I really don't care about the money but the implication that somehow I'm less loyal because I don't have a level 50 makes me mad.  Is the money the level 50s spent the last 4 months somehow better than mine?  As normal I went to the forums so see if others shared my feelings and saw that many others have the same complaint.  Quite a few of us easily could have gotten to 50 if we had even a days warning that we'd get a free month by doing so.  But that's not the point.  People that only have 1 toon at level 23 but have payed their subscription every month is doing as much to support the game as anyone.  This is my first comment on the forum:

This free month thing really has upset me. I know I've got more game hours than 99% of players out there I just decided to start an alt when I finished my character's story. I currently have 2 48s, 1 44, 1 43 and a bunch of lower level alts. I have leveled every profession to 400 as well

Once I heard about the legacy rewards I set a goal of getting the 1 of each of the 4 classes to the end of the 2nd chapter so I would have all the buffs. I've also spent a ton of time on the test server in the last month that I could have spent leveling but decided to spent time there instead as it would help the game.

I have been waiting for this game for years and I really want to like it. I actively avoided getting to 50 because the forums were filled with complaints that after hitting 50 the game became intolerable to play. Now because I stopped a few levels short of 50 I'm being told indirectly that I'm not a valued customer?

 I know this isn't rational because we are only talking about $15 but I feel disrespected. I'd like to think I can get over it because like I said earlier I really want to like this game. The sad thing is there is no doubt in my mind that some will quit over this and it's just another example in a long string of Bioware's mistakes that I'm trying to ignore.

After stewing on it a little more I decided to look up my subscription and saw that I was signed up through April 23rd.  This surprised me as I thought I had a 6 month subscription.  With my frustrations in SWTOR and Diablo 3, The Secret World, and TERA on the horizon for the first time, I'm actually thinking of quitting.  This prompted this comment on the forums: 

I'm surprised this has upset me as much as it has and it actually caused me to look at my subscription for the first time since I signed up in December. I found it ends in 11 days and automatically renews unless I change it. Right now I'm planning on cancelling before then unless Bioware responds in proactively to this matter.

After spending months defending a game that was obviously released early and is still missing many key features I was willing to be patient until this. It just shows again that the people in charge are out of their depth and further proof this game will never be what we all hope. Please prove me wrong.

Of course the trolls are out in force betlittling the comments of the people that are angry about it.  I chose one in particular to respond:

i can feel simpathy with the people that just started playing for like a week or 2 a 3 that they dont get the free month but i dont feel simpathy for the ones that are here from dat one or even earlyer u guys had WAY enuf time to get 50 so stop complaining

I'm happy that you made it to 50 before the deadline. I have two characters at 48 who finished the 3rd chapter and didn't bother leveling them further because of the well known issues at end game. Instead I chose to play how Bioware suggested by focusing on my legacy and right now the total level of my characters on my server is 303 (an average of level 37.9). In addition, I've got every profession leveled to 400. In other words, it would be difficult for anyone to have played more than I have and not hit 50.

Like most, the $15 doesn't bother me. It's the implication that somehow people that chose to focus on their legacy are somehow less loyal than people that focused on one character. People say things like "I don't feel SYMPATHY for people that didn't hit 50" are missing the point. This game has been hemorrhaging players for months and can ill afford PR snafu's like this. If you want a better game, you should hope for increased subscriptions not mock those that are considering leaving. After all, WoW didn't add things like LFG, rated battlegrounds, and guild banks just because it improved the game. They did it because they had a huge playerbase and those revenues meant they could afford to try to make the game better.

I was hoping to get into operations after 1.2 hits but this is making me reconsider. My server is already low population and this isn't going to help. I'm going to give it a week and if Bioware's response isn't good enough I'm planning to leave. I hate it because I love the Star Wars universe but there comes a point when change is necessary. I don't expect anyone to care but once thousands of other people like me leave perhaps you'll understand why it matters.

 Sadly this is my feeling right now and it will spell the short lived career of this blog.  I hope Bioware surprises me.