Official [H] Star Wars:The Old Republic Thread

i played all weekend and it's better than I thought, it definitely picks up once you leave the newbie world. Probably won't buy it because I don't have time for MMOs but I will be very surprised if this game doesn't do well. All the similarities to WoW are inevitable when you are trying to appeal to people who have been engrained in a particular system for years. The vocal minority here says they want something completely different (and I agree with you), but I fear most people don't want the wheel re-invented at this point.
 
Playing the beta a bit more this weekend, it definitely is the best competition against WoW, and should do pretty well, compared to the other "WoW killers" :rolleyes: Over the last few years I have tried the other WoW wannabes, and none of them felt this polished and deep and well designed in beta, a month before release as SW;ToR, I have played WarHammer Online...LoTR Online...AoC...D&D Online...Aeon...all of these MMO's were supposed to be big blockbusters and take on WoW, but all failed, except maybe LoTR which has a devoted fan base. Not one of those even came close to one million subscribers at it's height, which is crazy with WoW's highest being at 12 million.

Bottom line is SW;ToR will be the best MMO released since WoW, and do very well. Now lets see what Guild Wars 2 has in store for us next year :cool:
 
shiznit said:
... All the similarities to WoW are inevitable when you are trying to appeal to people who have been engrained in a particular system for years. The vocal minority here says they want something completely different (and I agree with you), but I fear most people don't want the wheel re-invented at this point.
Click to expand...

Final Fantasy XIV tried to be different and that backfired at launch. Now they're reverting job names to traditional Final Fantasy job names, controls are getting revamped, and later on graphics engine will be overhauled. It's going to be that niche MMORPG that no more than 100,000 devoted players will be playing it. The game, to me, is still a work in progress.

The problem with being similar to WoW is if you played it before, you've played it already. You wonder when games will finally innovate and try to be different without alienating players, but at the same time be both enjoyable and engaging to play. It can be both good and bad depending on how you see it

People in regards to MMOs tend to be hypocritical though:
They expect the controls and gameplay to be like WoW, but criticize it for being [too much] like WoW.​

You can't have both. You can try to be different but risk losing your playerbase (e.g. FFXIV) or you can try to be the same and keep your playerbase (e.g. Rift, Allods Online, similar).

I've played and tested dozens of MMORPGs for nearly a decade, so many games become too familiar to you after a while. "Hey, I've played this before," is something that comes to mind especially when I play some cutsie Korean F2P MMO. I play Rift and I found that more fun than WoW, but at its basic core it's still similar to WoW while still trying something a bit different. SW-TOR is not much different than that.

The fully voiced NPC dialogs and listening to your main character actually say something instead of being a remote-controlled doll is very different from the traditional MMO fare. Diablo III is doing the same thing as well. It makes you feel like your character is involved with the story and the plot at hand like I've said before. It's that difference that tips the scales towards SW-TOR against WoW and its derivatives.

It's just begs to ask, "When will the wheel be re-invented?" This isn't a car per se but you can only go so far by copying another.

It'll eventually boil down to which story is better, engaging, and worth seeing it through. Having your character talk and using an established, interesting history and storyline is what will make SW TOR better than WoW in the long run in my opinion. You just have to ignore the fact that the gameplay is too much like WoW especially in the controls. They don't want to alienate people coming from there, right?
 
octoberasian said:
Final Fantasy XIV tried to be different and that backfired at launch.
Click to expand...

FFXIV didn't backfire because it was trying to be different. It backfired because it was just bad.

As far as TOR goes, I think they should have gone the way of DDO instead of the way of complete open world. This is basically a co-op Bioware game, and they should have gone all the way with that. Every quest an instance would have been great and would have opened up the classes to play more like KotOR instead of the standard fare.
 
octoberasian said:
The problem with being similar to WoW is if you played it before, you've played it already. You wonder when games will finally innovate and try to be different without alienating players, but at the same time be both enjoyable and engaging to play. It can be both good and bad depending on how you see it
Click to expand...

Good point, my beef with SW;ToR being like WoW, is I don't think I have the energy to grind all the way to end game again :rolleyes: With WoW I have my four favorite Level 85's, and a bunch at Level 60-80, but am so sick of collecting 10 of this, and return with 20 of that. There is no way in WoW I would ever start a Level 1 and go all the way to 85 again, just gets boring. And with SW;ToR being so similar in questing and leveling, with quests like kill this, go out and get that, rinse and repeat for 50 levels, I just can't get into that anymore, feels like a chore and a job.

I am ready for a truly fresh approach to leveling in MMO's, at least with Guild Wars 2 having those "world events" at low levels, feeling like epic raids right off the start is a good start to something different. WarHammer Online had some great ideas too, with the PvP lake areas and castle sieges even at low level for XP was cool, and Public Quest idea was fresh. But if SW;ToR is just run quests from Level 1 - 50, and the quest type of collection and kills, no thanks.
 
EQ2 tried really hard with their class progression system, which I enjoyed to an extent. The only problem is players aren't going to attempt these new systems if they can't have their character set up exactly like everyone else.

I believe WoW would have worked 3 classes, one tank, one dps and one healer. Not one of these masses cares about being unique, they just don't want to somehow be inferior to the next person.

Honestly I just want a game to come out that doesn't suck but also doesn't cater to the masses like WoW did (and ruin it).
 
I've been playing non-stop since thanksgiving and it's pretty awesome. Just a second ago after getting tired of a crappy server I stopped playing and looked at the net for a while. Then, holy crap, I noticed the single player functionality. D: awesome
 
You have to cater to the masses or else, according to Zorachus, the game is a fail. Its funny to watch these forums because of that issue there. If a game comes out that pleases only a select group, like hardcore, and only like 5% like it, then its considered a fail game, and even by the people that wanted it like that, due to the low population servers, they won't play it. You have to cater to the masses so you can have a diverse group and a populated server so its not fail, all the while supplying enough material for the hardcore and medium core, while not giving them too much more than the casuals. I think the real problem here is that you can never get that first MMO love out of your system, kinda like a girl, and you will often compare anything new to that one first love...
 
To all the people out there who are ignorant. SWToR is being made by EA. Its a big company with fat pockets so this is not that small, world changing Eve online type MMO that you been hoping for no go and that being said this is a MMO i'd expect million of people playing this not going F2P within the first year of release.

This game right now is better then WoW in every aspect and it still in beta.
 
xSteathx said:
To all the people out there who are ignorant. SWToR is being made by EA. Its a big company with fat pockets so this is not that small, world changing Eve online type MMO that you been hoping for no go and that being said this is a MMO i'd expect million of people playing this not going F2P within the first year of release.

This game right now is better then WoW in every aspect and it still in beta.
Click to expand...

Bioware is developing this. EA is publishing it.

Yes, millions will play it. Just as there are millions of fans behind Warcraft's history and games, there are just as many for Star Wars.

You will have to also consider people coming from Star Wars Galaxies since that's closing down soon.
 
The gameplay is fun. The graphics aren't that bad once you get past the cartoonish character models. Lots of missing features in this beta for it to be about 3 weeks until launch.

My biggest pet peeve so far is the dialog. I keep calling all these females "sir" and it's driving me nuts.
 
While roaming around in my ship I came upon Nar Shaddaa and holy freaking shit that place is amazing! :eek:
 
Beta finally finished downloading. I'm now at work. I don't suppose the "beta weekend" has turned into a "beta week" by any chance, has it?
 
Skizzy said:
I think we're playing different games, because leveling to max never sucked ass. I don't even know how you could be okay with a game sucking for 80 levels just to start the "real game".

I played the beta a few months ago, and loved it. Had to stop myself from playing so I wouldn't spoil the story upon release. The game should have only gotten better since then so this is still a day one purchase for me. Two of my friends have been playing in beta together for a night or two and they're still having a blast.
Click to expand...

Gotta say I disagree with you. I played world of warcraft for over 7 years (i was even in Vanilla closed beta).

The game is not fun leveling up, cause when you level up you realize that everyone is max level and doing instances, raiding, or pvp. To me and ALOT of other people, an MMORPG game really doesnt start until you max your level and you start raiding or pvping or crafting or small 4 mans.

They dont sell an MMORPG and keep customers paying, on people just leveling up. They have to keep people playing once they max out there level.

Now once everyone max's out in SWTOR, and IF there is not enough to do once you max level, thats when customers start leaving. Take Conan the Barbarian, and Rift. Both games were great, but went down hill as soon as people realized (damn what do we do now since im maxed level).

This is something SWTOR cannot do if it wants to keep a successful MMORPG last a long time.

That is Business sense.
 
Played more this weekend as a different class (trooper) hoping my experience would be different. Went from 0-10 in PvE, because you have to, then 11-16 through PvP only. PvP is better than my initial impression. They added a new map (Arathi Basin rules) which I enjoyed. PvP still feels very deathmatchy

Sadly, character development is still awful. The skills are redundant and bland. Here's a perfect example: at level 10, I got a skill "Medical Probe" which is your typical ~2 sec cast heal. At 16, I was excited to get a new heal skill "Advanced Medical Probe" which is exactly the same, except roughly ~1.5 seconds to cast (instead of 2), slightly less healing and a 9 sec cooldown. Those are the only 2 base heals the commando gets in the entire game and they are practically identical. ugh.
 
Banko said:
Let me know how you feel when you get to the HEROIC trouble in deed quest.
Click to expand...

LOL, I ran into that quest on my level 15 Jedi Guardian. Grouped with someone at the entrance and 2-manned that. Had 3 or 4 deaths on the trash mostly due to the lack of CC and moronic companions. The boss was the most epic fight I had in years. It went for over 5 minutes, both our companions died, so I ended up tanking and the other person threw very weak and rare heals.

Another comparably epic was Heroic Firestart I did on Imperial Agent. 3-manned to the boss, then the tank died and I ended up tanking the boss. Was less epic, but pretty long too.
 
Cliffs:
Played beta
Had fun
Want to play more
Game is what I expected (WoW with jedi)
Moar holo strippers

So I played the beta last night. Pretty entertaining, I'm more enamored by it being Star Wars than anything else though.

Some thoughts:

Yes, its like WoW BC. Clunky UI, not enough action slots, not enough trainers, same old quests (outside of the main story line quests), little grouping outside of heroic areas, etc.

The reason for that is the WoW formula works! I can't believe how much complaining there was in general about how similar to WoW the game is. Sigh. What do people think its going to be?

Gameplay it solid. I think its a bit clunky, I don't like the lack of auto attack. I guess you kill shit fast but clicking/hitting a hotkey gets old. I'm sure there is a way to turn it on, I only played to level 5 so I didn't spend time tweaking.

Abilities:

Jedi Consular throw large object ability is fun. The Force Nova move is cool. The channel throw rocks is stupid looking. I'm sure the saber moves look better with a saber vs your stick.

Imperial Agent has much more interesting moves. Snipe, grenades, drones, stabbing shit.... all decent. Not sure how I feel about cover, I bet it makes for interesting evasion tactics in pvp (running from cover to cover).

My Jedi Consular story is meh so far. Should have guessed that much. The Imperial Agent line is a little more interesting. Still, I was expecting more after reading up on this game in that department.

It does play like a bioware RPG. Damn radial dialogue menu, lots of talking (the voice acting is great, and gets old quick), lots of running and talking to this guy and that girl.

The heroic zones are kinda fun. I only did one, people are their usual antisocial loot whoring selves, but the idea is sound. Reminds me of vanilla wow's zones full of elites. The heroic zones are def soloable though.

The whole race thing is stupid. So is the Dark vs Light side shit. There should be a lot more to those choices outside of gear (quests, instances, vendors, i dunno). Maybe there will be. I guess what annoys me is that the game puts such an emphasis on it, but it just alters the gear choices? Which I'm sure are cosmetic differences (which is fine).

I may give it a month or so, a lot depends on the community. I'm not sure if SW nerds are going to be that much better than WoW nerds or if its just going to be more of the same.
 
I never seem to get time to play the betas I'm invited to, especially on a busy holiday weekend. I'm not sure what Bioware is trying to pull but it doesn't make much sense to do it on weekends only. A 7-day period would be preferable since this the 2nd time its happened to me... >_<
 
I feel you crimson every weekend I've been invited to ends up being my weekend off. I usually do stuff with family and friends.
 
Testing ends tonight at 11:59 central so you guys still have a little time to check it out.
 
skytripa said:
Edited to correct

As of September 30, 2008, WAR had sold 1.2 million copies and had 800,000 registered users.

So even though they sold 1.2 million copies they only had 800k subs
Click to expand...

400,000 bought the Collector's Edition in hopes of turning a profit at a later date.
 
ChuckLogan said:
Clearly you are not destined to be playing MMOs. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was really into wow and raiding for quite a long time. But if the story and stuff is as good as people say in this game I think I could just play casual. I just have no desire to get into it hardcore anymore...
 
Superfly3176 said:
Yeah, I was really into wow and raiding for quite a long time. But if the story and stuff is as good as people say in this game I think I could just play casual. I just have no desire to get into it hardcore anymore...
Click to expand...

The story's pretty good actually. Atleast from what I experienced in the Beta. I don't think I'll be one of the hardcore gamers either, mostly just grouping with friends when needed.
 
As much as I criticize the game for being a lot like WoW in terms of gameplay, the story is more engaging and interesting to play through. And, I was having more fun playing it over the time I've played WoW. You really did feel like you were part of the story. Most especially when you see your name when the game loads, and that familiar text scrolling intro when the game starts. It's that one factor, for me, that it has going for it over previous MMOs I've played before, and what will make it successful.

I'll probably pre-order it in the next few weeks before launch, but like a couple others, I'll play it rather casually.
 
octoberasian said:
As much as I criticize the game for being a lot like WoW in terms of gameplay, the story is more engaging and interesting to play through. And, I was having more fun playing it over the time I've played WoW. You really did feel like you were part of the story. Most especially when you see your name when the game loads, and that familiar text scrolling intro when the game starts. It's that one factor, for me, that it has going for it over previous MMOs I've played before, and what will make it successful.

I'll probably pre-order it in the next few weeks before launch, but like a couple others, I'll play it rather casually.
Click to expand...

I like how the loading screen will give you a brief update on the story so far. Nice having a reminder if you haven't played in a few days.
 
I'm hooked after playing the beta this weekend. The story line is pretty good. It feels like KOTOR3 + MMO without being able to pause combat. I played around with a smuggler/gunslinger and the connections to what happened in KOTOR was awesome (the story took me to Taris, 300 years after the Sith bombardment).
 
Tiberius said:
I'm hooked after playing the beta this weekend. The story line is pretty good. It feels like KOTOR3 + MMO without being able to pause combat. I played around with a smuggler/gunslinger and the connections to what happened in KOTOR was awesome (the story took me to Taris, 300 years after the Sith bombardment).
Click to expand...

WOW now that is fucking badass...i kept playing an agent, but damn that would be so cool story wise!
 
yeah, you get involved with the Republic's efforts to rebuild Taris. Visually, the destroyed Taris looks amazing. You even see the crash site of the Endar Spire....good stuff. I per-ordered yesterday so I can get in the early access. I also played a bit with a Siyth warrior and did somethings in Korriban.
 
Tiberius said:
yeah, you get involved with the Republic's efforts to rebuild Taris. Visually, the destroyed Taris looks amazing. You even see the crash site of the Endar Spire....good stuff. I per-ordered yesterday so I can get in the early access. I also played a bit with a Siyth warrior and did somethings in Korriban.
Click to expand...

Don't think you will be getting in to early if you just pre-ordered. I read somewhere the people that get the full 5 days are those that pre-ordered july21-aug21. From there the days go down but could be wrong
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top