I wanted to the take to write up a brief post on the current status of the SWTOR community, how it affects the future of the game, and what you can do to help it thrive. I’m going to segment this into two parts: New players and Veteran players.
New Players
First and foremost – welcome. SWTOR is a game highly based around story with a strong focus on people who love to play multiple characters. So while you’re leveling, take your time and enjoy the cutscenes, the scenery, etc. If leveling seems like a chore to you, I would probably reconsider investing time into the game. As a new player, there are probably going to be many mechanics that are foreign to you. Please don’t hesitate to ask someone for help – however do this in a manner that doesn’t scream, “SOMEBODY HALP ME.” Simply ask in general chat if someone could please answer a couple questions and to send you a tell – You should have at least a couple responses. Once you start asking for high level players to run you through instances or give you stuff – you’re going to start feeding the trolls and put a negative light on the community.
Once you reach max level, my first recommendation is to read up on your class and what role you’d like to fill, then start doing flashpoints, dailies, and start progressing towards operations or PvP if that’s your cup of tea.
Sendoff message: Join a guild, make friends, help others and simply enjoy the hell out of the game. Community is what makes this game great and it caters to playing together.
Veteran Players
First off, you’ve been through a lot with this game – so thank you. This game simply does not cater to a hardcore schedule putting 30+ hours / week into it. So if I can make one recommendation, it would be to take the casual route and play another game alongside SWTOR. I promise you will enjoy the game more if you do this and aren’t just doing laps around the Fleet. Secondly, please please please please please have patience with the new players. We have to understand there are going to be a lot of younger players with the introduction of the F2P model.
However, what we all need to understand is that the F2P players are the future of the game. These are the people that have the potential to invest into the game, become subscribers, and keep the game thriving. So please do your best to have patience with them, help them when you can in any way you see fit. Whether it’s doing a giveaway on the Fleet, answering someone’s question, running around with your “Founder” tag for people to know you’re available to help – it’s up to you. But I promise you – something that may seem trivial to you, could make a huge difference in how a new player sees the game.
Sendoff message: Set aside some time to simply help someone out each day. Be nice to people and the community will thrive because of it. Encourage others to do the same and the quality of players will continue to improve. But most of all – have patience.
Conclusion
Well that’s really it. I just wanted to take the time to communicate those thoughts and I do hope some of you take it to heart, as this game does have potential to last. However, I promise you the development team can not make it thrive on their own. It’s our responsibility as the community to help new players feel welcome. So please take the time to be kind to each other and make playing this game a pleasant experience for everyone. Another option is to keep in touch outside of the game via your server forums – start posting! If anyone has any questions, you can either contact me via email, Twitter, or in-game on The Harbinger, Republic (Accomp). Thanks all!