Star Wars: The Old Republic Subscription Numbers Drop

News
By Catherine Cai
published

EA's reported SW: TOR's most recent subscription numbers and they don't look good...

For a game that some thought would be a World of Warcraft killer, it seems like The Old Republic isn't doing so hot.

Electronic Arts made public the number of active subscribers for SW: TOR. Subscription numbers have tanked by 400,000 since February, when the number was at 1.7 million. 1.3 million subscribers is still a respectable number and nothing to scoff at, but considering that the game only launched in January, this doesn't bode well.

Part of SW: TOR's draw is also its bane. Having fully-voiced content and deep storytelling in a MMO is difficult to continue churning, especially at a rate that would upkeep player interest.

Catherine Cai
72 Comments Comment from the forums
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    Part of SW: TOR's draw is also its bane. Having fully-voiced content and deep storytelling in a MMO is difficult to continue churning, especially at a rate that would upkeep player interest.

    Should've just made KOTOR 3 instead.
    Reply
  • neoverdugo
    Yeah! We're still waiting for Kotor III, Lucasarts/Bioware!!! For how long will you keep us waiting for it?
    Reply
  • dudewitbow
    neoverdugoYeah! We're still waiting for Kotor III, Lucasarts/Bioware!!! For how long will you keep us waiting for it?After news of Lucas Arts canceling Battlefront III, I'm not to sure where they are headed afterwords
    Reply
  • ben850
    It wasn't nicknamed "Tortanic" several months ago for no reason..
    Reply
  • Raidur
    It's a vicious cycle, certain servers are dying so people get frustrated and drop out.

    They've released some awesome new content/fixes/changes recently (1.2) so it drew some people back.

    Once they allow server transfers for US to US servers, along with server merges, we'll likely see quite an increase.

    The game rocks, once they get an awesome open PVP system figured out I'd expect it to be rocking.

    It's always a rough road in the first year for MMOs, then it's make or break. I don't see this game breaking any time soon.
    Reply
  • the only huge problem they have imho is server population , on many servers there's nothing massive , and on others now there is nothing even online anymore! oh... and servers with huge population resulted in huge queing times !so that means bad , non-scalable arhitecture! everybody is wainting for transfers or for server merges.... so we cand really play something massive and online!( other communities are heading towards GW2 , unfortunately that haeppens around me too , so if i would have to play a game with my local community i would have to jump in the GW2 ship...)
    Reply
  • Davil
    I quit because at it's core, the game play is nearly the same as WoW. If I wanted to play a game LIKE WoW I would just play WoW. The only real difference is in the way the quests are received and crafting is done. Other than that it's just not a very engaging game. 7 years with WoW's combat system is enough. By now you'd think a new way to play rather than just electronic larping would be available.
    Reply
  • The game is dying. It's boring once you reach max level. You can farm instances/raids for a bit for gear, but after that, nada. Well, unless you like grinding pvp a lot.

    Server transfers won't do a lot because people will want to transfer to the highest pop servers and Bioware won't allow that.....merges will help some.

    However, the issue is the population imbalance between factions on a lot of servers. Merging a server with a 2:1 sith:pub ratio with another 2:1 sith:pub ratio server will just continue the issues.

    Bioware KNEW there would be problems with content at max level and they KNEW people who play MMOs try and level pretty quickly. They were totally unprepared.
    Reply
  • zippyzion
    DavilI quit because at it's core, the game play is nearly the same as WoW. If I wanted to play a game LIKE WoW I would just play WoW. The only real difference is in the way the quests are received and crafting is done. Other than that it's just not a very engaging game. 7 years with WoW's combat system is enough. By now you'd think a new way to play rather than just electronic larping would be available.What I just read was that you want an MMORPG that isn't a MMORPG. Good luck with that.

    My theory : TOR is more marketed towards the older crowd. Its very Star Wars as well. Both those things shrink customer base. Where as WoW is marketed towards kids (and plays like a kids game) and for all intents and purposes is a generic fantasy game. (Go ahead and flame me. WoW is meant for kids. Then again I came from EVE so most MMO games seem to be made for kids to me.)
    Reply
  • mpdugas
    This game has so many subtle twists and turns that I never tire of it; I played WoW for 7 years and it is no match for content.

    I'm constantly surprised at the way the plot changes for different characters doing similar quest lines; the companions make the solo game compelling. I think that is SWTOR's biggest draw: you can play it solo and have an interesting and deep game.

    I am very glad that it is not focused on add-ons and numbers (like the i-level). At its core, it is a story.

    I think that the only real change needed is higher server populations. It has a huge server array, and the player numbers on each one is small.

    I would like to see them consider population consolidation as a temporary adjustment.
    Reply