Is Star Wars: The Old Republic Killing Itself with Kindness?

One of the biggest disappointments I heard this year was that Star Wars: The Old Republic will not have a reason to ever do raid that involves more than eight people. That is to say, there will not be any added incentives in the near future that will include having bonus rewards, exclusive drops, or specialized tier gear that will give people a reason to do the available 16-man raids.

For a game that is in desperate need of more players, Star Wars seems to be extremely easy going when it comes to having too many servers and lots of small guilds. Why even bother offering the larger raids at all? The community is spread thin and smaller guilds are isolating players more so than any larger guilds would. Of course, this is my opinion. I tend to look at it as that having larger guilds means more people in the community just as having larger raids means that more people are playing at the same time. 

The opposite can also be argued, that larger guilds are in fact bad for the community. That they discriminant against more causal players who might not have the time or skills to keep up with the hardcore players. Apparently, the folks down at BioWare share this opinion, but it seems to be backfiring on them. While keeping the combat log and DPS meters out of the game, those who intended on playing the MMO daily have a lack of reason to do so.

The competitive edge that many players enjoy in MMORPG's is gone. Players can gain armor just as well, if not also easier and faster, in 8-man raids like they can in 16-man.  Star Wars may take the moral high-ground, but MMORPG games are not about satisfying the need for warm and fuzzy feelings. They are about friendly (or not so friendly) interaction between players, who are playing for both fun and bragging rights. I've always been a firm believer that large guilds who manage to keep their shit together, even with so many other people, and still accomplish their goal are groups to look up too.

Sure, they might be full of elite jerks, but there are always jerks on the internet. It's not limited to MMO's. Blatantly refusing to add common features to a game all because someone out there might get their feelings hurts seems not only unreasonable, but also like the company is scared of its own shadow. Here's to hoping that someone will get the memo that players are tougher than we look. Don't worry, some of us might cry that our DPS sucks and we can't raid, while others will be high-fiving each other after downing a boss on nightmare mode in 16-man for the very first time.