End of an Icon
I've seen pros/cons to the change but I believe what overall people are arguing about is that it doesn't fall to a "game experience may change due to online play" but more of a "game will change cause we want to make this like the other games people are leaving to go to". The next big issue people are having is because this is the second change to the combat system within the space of 6 months, what makes it worse is that SOE launched the first combat change while working on this one. Many have taken the fact that this was in the works for over a year but not mentioned till after the launch of the third expansion as a serious betrayal in trust and a total lack of respect to their playerbase.
Enough of the rant but I will give my pros/cons and reasons about the change to the game.
9 Iconic Professions: CON - this will go back to the uniqueness that the game originally had. in the beginning you had 32 professions that you could mix match or twist to your gaming style. if you liked to craft and participate in combat you could do that until the first combat revamp which made the entire game level based and put a serious handicap on anybody wanting to do both. now you can chose 1 profession and you are stuck with it, no chance to change if you decide you are tired of your current character build. uniqueness changed to mundane. also several of the professions were either eliminated totally or merged with other professions. the merging of some honestly could qualify as a PRO.
Combat Style: CON - in all the years ive been playing RPG's of any type they ARE turn based. with this NGE turned based is turned into live action effectively. If this were a total console type game, probably wouldn't be too bad but if your playing with keyboard/mouse, it's worse than your fastest FPS with trying to keep yourself on target. the special attacks, formerly controled by function keys but now right click, now throw the movement out of whack. if they were to put movement on mouse with right click move.... maybe be worth something.
Crafting: PRO - except for making crafting professions whatever you wanted (example i had a shipwright and tailor combo) they are now a set mix but overall the crafting PROCESS is still the same and dare i use this word again UNIQUE. another good thing is that now crafters are not attacked in the wilds unless they attack something first.
Player-vs-Player: PRO - this is one of the new aspects i totally love. what once was an almost forced issue depending on your faction or profession is now optional. one of the things i was always upset about was the fact that i must participate in PVP because one of my characters was a jedi. many have harped that player bounties were taken away, that is actually a valid complaint but something i've seen concerning this was any jedi character could be a target just for engaging in a gaming community (isnt that what a mmo is for?). I will give a CON on this due to the fact that if they want to be able to do player contracts let them but also those that do not want to PVP, don't make them.
Jedi a starting profession: PRO - I've seen the arguments and the main question WHY??? as an earned jedi character I must say I agree with this move. a friend and I were discussing a theoretical SWG2 concept a while back, I mentioned that this would be a good move, most people want a jedi character because that is the epitome of the star wars universe to them. some want them because they think it will make the PVP supermen. the main argument against this is because of the time and effort we all put into becoming jedi and now they are handed out and the class made a novelty, in a way I do agree with them I earned my saber through the holocron professions and later the village but honestly this is really not an issue with me personally.
Game is really buggy: DUH! - this isn't a pro or con or even worth calling it either. with about a week or so of open testing then push to live, what do you expect? oh I totally agree the timing of the testing/live release was really botched but even with testing for (just to throw out a time frame) 2 months plus there will still be bugs, some will get fixed but there will always be bugs. welcome to the online gaming world.
and finally, SOE's claim of customer service: CON - this mainly reflects my feelings based on trust I personally lost with SOE over the release of an expansion, news of certain profession upgrades and total about face of combat system press release. we had been hearing for X weeks about the new expansion, we were happy. we were told one of our most looked over professions (ranger to be exact) was going to get some much needed TLC, rangers were happy (so was I, I did ranger once major snorefest). we were told some of our major issues/bugs were being fixed, again much rejoicing. Finally! D-DAY (download day) for the new expansion! everyone rushes to mustafar and begins exploring and doing quests. D-Day +1 press release from lucasarts..... total combat system change.... game style being remade.... professions tossed out (including the one slated for TLC)... the player base had been wanting this change.......... wait a sec....I pay for a RPG, this is a FPS.... of course there is outrage, but in fairness I didn't rush to click cancel subscription, actually gave it a shot. still in all fairness and concern to their customer base, SOE and LA toted and advertised this expansion while hiding their dirty little secret. we did deserve more than a day after the expansion warning and that was a major deathblow to the community trust they so espouse.
So in conclusion, I do not recommend this game to anyone. I did hit the cancel subscription button but not because it was buggy as I've seen a lot of these reviews mention. I cancelled because I subscribed to a MMORPG not a MMOFPS with a little star wars RPG content. In all honesty, get a xbox and battlefront 2 and play online, it will be cheaper in the long run and less overall game problems.