Farewell, Star Wars The Old Republic

Since the end of January 2024, I can count with my fingers the number of times I’ve logged into Star Wars The Old Republic. Being busy in the real world aside, I’ve had little desire to log into the game. Recently, now that I’ve had some more time to think about the game and my place in it, I’ve decided that I no longer want anything to do with it. It is long past time for me to unsubscribe and leave the Content Creator Program.

The SWTOR developers in recent years have managed to keep me hanging onto the game by teasing seemingly exciting features and content. Drip feeding nuggets of hope to keep me playing the game just that little bit longer. The main recent examples of this being the PvP Revamp and the new APAC Server. The latter of which as it turns out, was the last straw.

Abandoned

I’ve struggled with motivation to create content for SWTOR for a few years now. I’ve patiently waited for some engaging content to give me that spark of inspiration. Content that excited the developers and my fellow content creators did nothing for me. I thought I was the problem, I thought there was something wrong with me. 

In reality, the game abandoned me and players like me. It left us to rot in boredom subjugated to mindless, broken PvP queues. Leaving numerous issues unacknowledged or unresolved. Trying to hook us in with restrictive seasons systems, presenting them as content while neglecting more and more endgame systems that actually engage players.

The game has entered a second dark age. Those who experienced the KOTFE/KOTET content drought know the feeling all too well. Game Update 6.0 gave me some hope, but it wasn’t long until things began to deteriorate again. The disastrous Game Update 7.0 launch was the beginning of the end that would herald a stark change in focus, with the developers releasing updates with minimal content at an increasingly agonising slow pace.

The truth is I’ve spent far more time playing other MMOs than SWTOR in recent years. They provide more of the content I enjoy and better engage with their communities. These MMOs have issues too but, they provide more value for money and for my time.

My Key Issues with SWTOR

Let’s take a closer look at some of my reasons for leaving SWTOR behind.

• Botched APAC (Shae Vizla) Server Launch
  • 24-hour notice – rushed launch, out of the blue, no time to hype and drum up interest in the server to draw players in.
  • Greater emphasis was placed on the fresh start experience and a healthy server economy rather than sustaining a healthy player population.
  • Character Transfer Restrictions and Limitations for Free Transfers.
  • Ultimately, the developers put too much time into exploring whether they could open a server with little consideration on whether they should. Was the timing right? Was there a major endgame content release?
• Numerous PvP Issues remain unaddressed
  • Cease’s Post on the official SWTOR Forums provides the best, in-depth summary of issues with PvP in the game. But these are the issues I find particularly troublesome.
    • No competitive mode (competitiveness discouraged by developers).
    • Tedious, unintuitive gearing system.
    • Terrible matchmaking (class stacking arenas, no ‘mercy’ rule).
    • Class balancing is practically non-existent. 
  • The PvP Season system is awful, the cosmetic rewards are ugly and gating progression feels awful. It rewards participation more than effort and skill.
• Ignoring the raiding/NIM Community
  • The raiding community waited a long time for the promised NIM R4 Raid only to eventually be told that that NIM R4 isn’t happening. But the community continues to be ignored with no new raid content on the horizon.
• No attempt to address low population on Satele Shan
  • Players have wanted a merge for a long time.
  • Most endgame content is pretty much unplayable outside of peak server time.
• The Story has been dragging on for far too long
  • The current overarching storyline started with 5.10 Jedi Under Siege in 2018. Let that sink in.
  • Story needs to be told in much shorter bursts, spanning no more than 2-3 years, to retain player attention. 

In regards to recent hot topics in the community, such as the prevalence of KOTOR style scenes, I can’t really comment because I haven’t even done the Kessan’s Landing story let alone whatever recently came out with the Spring Event. Even before I completely stopped logging in, I was barely engaging with the newer story content. The last story content I did was the Voss Retreat stuff.   

Farewell, SWTOR

I have nothing bad to say about the developers, all the ones I have interacted with over the years have been lovely people. But it has become quite clear based on the content they are choosing to prioritise and launch, over the past couple of years in particular, that SWTOR is no longer a game for me. Their silence could not be louder. They do not want players like me playing their game.

Is it goodbye forever? We’ll see. I may still write about the game here and there but I won’t be playing it. If they ever release any interesting endgame content I may even install the game and check it out. But I won’t be holding onto the game anymore. Never again. Over 12 years playing this game and this is what it has come to.

Farewell SWTOR, you won’t be missed.

Edit/Correction: Musco did say that NIM R4 isn’t happening. But the raiding community is still being ignored with no new content on the horizon. Thanks Shintar for reminding me!