Swtor

[Gogan]

New xpac announced today:

http://www.swtor.com/shadow-of-revan

[Gogan]

I realize nobody is probably playing this anymore, but if you've been thinking about it, now is actually a pretty good time. If you pre-order the upcoming xpac ($20, release date Dec 9), you get the previous xpac free as well as the new Class XP Boost which lets you level from 1-55 doing just your class missions -- effectively a full level per mission.

The Class Experience Boost is immediately effective for all players with an active subscription status and who have also pre-ordered the Shadow of Revan Digital Expansion during the pre-order period ending December 1, 2014. Players receive a boost to the amount of XP gained from Class missions, allowing them to advance to Level 55 at an expedited rate while enjoying their Class story missions (the exact multiplier is 12.32).

This makes me happy since I've always wanted to play the other classes for their storylines, but never wanted to grind through all the other questing required.

[Gronthor]

I might re sub at some point. It was a decent game, but as with most MMORPGs if you are not in a active guild at end level, interest is lost after a few weeks.

[Gogan]

For sure. My interest was always slightly there since the class storylines were always pretty good and I never got through them all. And now with housing and dungeon/raid finders (with easy storymodes) I think there's plenty there for a casual player to experience without the need of a guild.

[Gogan]

The upcoming expansion actually looks pretty interesting. Sounds like major changes coming. Might need to revisit SWTOR. Haven't played the last couple patches worth of story.

http://massivelyop.com/2015/06/16/hy...ing-expansion/

Some interesting speculation in the comments:

What I've been reading so far has all suggested to me that they're moving SWTOR away from a traditional theme park MMORPG towards a non-isolated single player RPG with optional multiplayer content.

They might just be completely moving away from raiding as pinnacle endgame content towards something more reflective of the tastes of modern gamers (more solo and small group oriented content). That would make sense as it would be much more sustainable and able to be updated more quickly than the "raid or GTFO" design that WoW brought us and everyone has copied ever since.

[Gronthor]

I know i am that is for sure. I am re upping my sub here soon to start playing again, finishing up the Agent and creating another Sorc.

[Gogan]

Sounds like some really great changes to flashpoints and operations to keep them relevant regardless of level:

http://www.swtor.com/blog/operations...-fallen-empire

I really liked how FFXIV level-sync'd you when entering low-level dungeons, but SWTOR seems to be taking it a step further by providing level-appropriate loot too. And the solo mode versions of instances sounds pretty neat too. This is the kind of stuff WoW should've been doing years ago. Now they're just getting left in the dust by more innovative teams.

[Gogan]

I know there probably isn't anyone still playing MMOs these days (except maybe Gron). You're all busy getting married, having kids, playing shuffleboard with the other members of your assisted living community, etc. But...

The next xpac for SWTOR looks pretty great. They're moving the whole leveling process to be a lot more focused on the core class stories. No more filler quests. Sweeping changes/improvements to crafting, gathering, companions, itemization -- basically everything in the game. Lots of quality of life improvements too. The whole community seems really excited about it all.

Final Fantasy and SWTOR seem to be really killing it lately on the MMO front.

[Yooxra]

Good to see some people still playing or trying. Few of us are still playing PoE and other things. Seems so hard to find time.

[Gronthor]

As mentioned i am still around! I only play Diablo and SWTOR now. I am waiting for the XP to dive more into SWTOR. It seems more stable and smoother graphically since they did the improvement patch.