So, the extra couple of months Star Wars The Old Republic bought with the delay of Legacy of the Sith really fixed all the extant issues with the expansion, right? All the things players complained about in January in regard to solo play rewards, gearing changes, random weekly content, ability pruning, and combat alterations – those all got fixed, right? You can conjure up the appropriate Anakin-and-Padme meme right here, I’m sure.
No, unfortunately, most of the issues the game’s January build presented appear to still be present now that Legacy of the Sith has actually arrived. The main protest here is focused on what players perceive as a shift away from solo play, which has traditionally been a core component of the game, to raiding and endgame content, which now holds most of the best rewards. That’s meant the forums and especially the subreddit have filled up with complaints and memes and point by point explainers on what BioWare got wrong.
Interestingly, quite a lot of folks are upset over the user interface, including the inventory and icons (people are real, real mad about the icons, wow) and lack of customization. (This particular thread about the UI has accrued multiple awards; it outlines how the UI was borrowed from more minimalist non-MMOs.) Other players are distraught because they feel as if their character builds have been “gutted.”
There’s also plenty of confusion over what exactly was accomplished during the delay; some gamers are even begging BioWare to revert and start over. “Everything in 7.0 is a complete downgrade,” one thread says. Still another is questioning the use of the word “expansion” to characterize the content, calling on BioWare to be more honest about the size and scope of its efforts on SWTOR going forward. And of course, the people who pointed out this was happening back in January and were shouted down are now able to pull out their told-you-so.
Over on the official forums, players are grumpy over what they’re saying amounts to two hours of content, making it smaller than Onslaught. One large thread calls it a “pure disaster.”
Not everyone is hopping mad, of course; there are multiple gamers arguing it’s not as bad as the current wave of anger would indicate, and here’s one offering sympathy hugs to the UI designers, who he’s sure didn’t want to implement a UI that looks as this one does.
Either way, BioWare appears to have a situation on its hands as this is… not how reception to the game’s first expansion in two years should be going.
