And this is part of being an MMO. Grinding is tradition. Why? I don't know. But it's there, and will always be there. In KOTOR the side quests were precisely that...quests that you could do on the side while pushing the main story. In TOR you can spend HOURS doing side missions without even touching the main story. I like the freedom, but not at the expense of story telling.

Precisely.

I wished that for several years. In a way, the rushed product of KOTOR II really got us where we are today. If II had a real endgame methinks there would have been more of a desire for III. Color me less than thrilled that this is where the KOTOR story went.

I've had that urge a time or two!

The game does reek of writing by committee, even though that's the only way it can be done. Naturally, some stories will be stronger/more interesting than others.

This is a great point. There has to be something that keeps the story immersive even when you know it like the back of your hand. At this point, I don't know what it is for TOR.

I have to admit that I enjoyed DA2 more than DA:O. As far as ME2, the best writing was the Lair of the Shadowbroker DLC.

And that's great. Seriously, I'm glad that the immersion is there for you. But few things pull me out of a game, or any form of entertainment for that matter, more quickly than poor characterization.

Mike, I'm not saying that things won't change/be added to the game. That isn't the issue. I'm just expressing some disappointment in Bioware's lack of characterization for this game. Had it been any other developer, this caliber of writing would likely be above what anyone expected. However, Bioware has a reputation for brilliant writing and characterization. This just isn't at the top of that list.

I think many in the community would take umbrage with that sentiment. 10 minutes on the forums shows that most people don't need anything dumbed down.

It's amazing how quickly things fly off page 1... Bump.

I've been enjoying TOR. I find the story engaging, the combat varied enough to provide enough choice to make me happy, and the setting to be top notch. But, is TOR really KOTOR 3-10 like the development team says? In a word, no. But up until a few nights ago, I was unable to put my finger on why even though this game is set in the Old Republic, it is not KOTOR. I was running around on Alderaan doing a quest for one of the houses when I had to go speak with one of the representatives of that house. He gave me his sob story and explained how there was nothing he could do and asked if I could be so kind as to help him. The whole time I was sitting there and I honestly didn't care what he had to say. Then it dawned on me. Not only did I not care about what he was saying, I didn't care about him as a character. And then I realized I hadn't cared about any of the characters in the game at all. I think, for me, that more than the bugs, and more than the performance problems, this is the biggest issue. Thinking back to KOTOR 1 and 2, what stood out the most was the writing. And not just the writing of the story. The dialogue and the interactions between other characters was thought out and top notch. Whether I despised the person, like Atris, admired them, like Canderous, or absolutely loved them, like HK-47, each character had their unique personality. Even quest givers and random characters had enough personality that I felt compelled to help them or hurt them. In TOR, I just don't find this to be the case. I have no connection to my companions, who are little more than pets, and quest givers come across as people who are either too lazy or too weak to do it themselves. Finally, interaction with my superiors is too sparse to be meaningful and I tend to lose sense of what it is I'm supposed to be doing. Perhaps that has something to do with the pacing. KOTOR puts you in the driver's seat straight away and keeps you there for 20 hours. With TOR, I feel like I'm sitting comfortably in the back seat merely enjoying the ride. More quests are needed, so more characters are written to give these quests. And, as more characters are written, less time is spent on each one and they become less complex. I understand the desire to make the planets "characters" in a sense, and highlighting the problems of its citizens is important; but if you don't make me CARE about them, then as a writer, your job hasn't been 100% successful. Sure, every character is voice acted, but if I don't care about what comes out of their mouths, so what? In fact, the times I do care about what is going on are during flashpoints when I have other real people making choices on their end during conversations as we work toward a common goal. In reality it's the players that give TOR depth, not the characters who were already there; TOR is butter spread over too much bread. The game's replay value is inherent. With eight different classes, there are eight different stories. However, the enjoyment just isn't as high as with KOTOR, especially 2. The little changes such as gender, romance, influence, moral choice, made KOTOR 1 and 2 worth replaying because there was a sense that the little things had huge consequences. TOR just isn't like that. I've spent close to 100 hours in-game. That still doesn't touch the amount of time I spent playing and replaying KOTOR 1 and 2. In the end, TOR is massive, but not epic, long, but not deep, and is most definitely not KOTOR 3-10.

Lower settings, sure, but I can run the game in 1600x900 and 20 fps, and there really isn't much jitteriness. The important thing? It runs until I get a new rig.

Is it really? Wow. I mean, I guess it shouldn't surprise me. God, I love that game. I wish Team Gizka had finished the Restoration Project. Thanks, Dashus.

False. I can run the game with a lower end CPU and those other specs.

LucasArts forced Obsidian to do the same thing for KOTOR II. Remember how that worked? We got a brilliantly written game with absolutely NO resolution.

That's exactly the problem. Less than stellar graphics performance doesn't help.

Meh. I am upset that apparently all of the pre-gamerelease topics were removed? And is that search function working yet?

Gave up going after datacrons on Nar Shaddaa. The platforming controls were just too *****. If Bioware want us to pull off moves like the Prince of Persia, give us controls we can actually use.

^ This. Also, make sure you interrupt her self-heal. Mind Snap is great because of its low CD and if you can time it right, Force Wave is just as good. Judicious use of your stun and Channel the Force is also necessary.

I'm pretty sure I'm just wasting a post here asking why some of you are also wasting posts, but I've got a few minutes... What's the point of replying if all you are going to do is laugh at somebody who has a low end PC or provide no help/insight whatsoever? Not everyone can afford the newest system or has the money to upgrade the system they have, but still want to enjoy this game to the best of their ability. We might not be experiencing it how you do, but that's our predicament, and we're trying to both give and get help for it. And a high-end PC isn't any sort of status symbol. You never hear some dude at a bar saying, "Hey baby, I've got the latest i-7 processor with that sweet new GTX card from NVIDIA all displayed on a glorious LCD HD monitor. Wanna come over and I can RAM my 250GB SSD up your optical drive?" We're talking about MMOs and system specs. Once upon a time we were all on the same nerd playing field. Either grow up, or blow it out your ***. Oh, and the obligatory, "I'm not a nerd, I'm 6'2", 200 lbs of pure muscle" response isn't necessary. You're hiding behind a keyboard and no one really cares. You are the result of 4 billion years of evolutionary success. Freaking act like it.

Shortwave, did you find anything that helped for your computer? I have the same lappy and would like to know.