BioWare is gaining a reputation for being a company willing to submit to the whims of its consumers and alter its products to meet popular demand. This can be dangerous ground to tread in terms of innovation, but in the case of Star Wars: The Old Republic, changes are definitely creating a positive outcome.
When The Old Republic launched last December the positive public response was overwhelming BioWare’s servers, and people demanded more realms to combat long queue times. BioWare obliged, but when 400 thousand players abandoned the game, taking its active subscription base to 1.3 million, the new servers became ghost towns.
On Darth Bandon, a server that had 15-minute queue times at launch and multiple instances of nearly 300 players in the Imperial Fleet, the population grew so small that at peak hours only around 50 players would be in the Imperial Fleet searching for groups. Queuing for warzones was a hopeless cause that took over an hour to find a match. I, like many others, quit playing out of frustration.
However, BioWare reeled me back in by responding to demands of higher player populations via server merges with a clever method. Shortly before patch 1.3 launched in June, players were offered free character transfers from one designated server to another. The transfers worked splendidly, taking mere seconds once the process began, and now during peak server hours the population on destination servers is abundant.
However, a few stragglers persist on their original, now dead servers. As an incentive, anyone who transfers using the free service until July 31 will receive free in game swag: a new pet and 25 Black Hole commendations. The State Press reached out to BioWare about what it plans to do with the dead servers, but haven’t heard back yet.
When patch 1.3 launched in June, BioWare finally delivered the group finder tool, a request fans posted on the forums since the beta. The group finder system works fairly well, and due to higher server populations waiting for groups doesn’t take too long, but it still needs tweaking.
Any class that can fulfill two roles automatically has both options designated when queuing for groups, which can cause frustration if it isn’t caught.
Another relatively simple option that would be good to see is a ready check. Randomized groups often contain inexperienced players, or people easily distracted, which can cause messy scenarios on more challenging flashpoints and operations.
Alongside the group finder tool is the new inclusion to augment any piece of customizable gear, which essentially allows players to participate in end-game content wearing awesome looking social gear instead of the often drab clothing raids offer. Also, Legacy perks are now flushed out, offering fun traits and abilities for player’s main characters and alts.
The bonus leveling perks are really nice, and significantly speed up the often-daunting task of leveling a second or third character. Furthermore, on July 10, BioWare is making the game free to play for anyone up to level 15.
With the recent modifications and additions, along with more new content on the horizon, including level cap increases and a new planet to explore, The Old Republic seems to be on track successfully strive forward and continue to enthrall its user base.
Reach the reporter at tdmcknig@asu.edu
