I think the graphics are fine, and while great eye candy helps in attracting new players it doesn't keep them. SWTOR does not suffer from attracting new players, because it's been hyped so much, but what I think it will suffer from is player retention, and better graphics won't help. I think the quests are actually fairly entertaining, and I say this as someone who doesn't enjoy PvE generally. I think this is a minor issue. Yes, they could be better but again, it's not going to help player retention. Again, there is so much content provided for each class whilst levelling, I think Bioware's efforts would be better focused on providing additional content at end game rather than additional classes. At least for the first year of the game. Agreed. Much better to provide players with a bit of flexibility, given the dual nature of the game (pvp vs pve).

I haven't really played "the other game" (I tried it but it didn't really appeal to me), but so far I prefer SWTOR. This is because I see the multiplayer functionality in SWTOR as a sort of addon that allows you to play a Bioware single player RPG with friends. Fun as the game is, however, I don't think that translates to long-term player subscriptions. In order to retain players they need to provide a different kind of end-game than that provided by "the other game." This means not repeatedly raiding for gear, or pvping for points. Probably the easiest thing they could do is some kind of territory control. Maybe with the following benefits/consequences: Taking control points unlocks new storyline quests. The server counts the decisions that players make overall, and as a result causes slightly different storyline arcs to become available on that particular server. However, this would probably not work without drastic measures taken to balance the faction population, or setting up the control points in such a way that the population imbalance doesn't matter.

daily bump to grab some more responses

6.5/10 It's pretty much what I was expecting. Not my kind of game, but the storyline is fun, and I am enjoying it so far.

bump (for all the good it does ><)

Getting on a speeder and realising it actually flies you over the terrain on a speeder instead of just transporting you and pretending you travelled. Being told over and over again that I'm going to fail at the Sith Academy. Getting my first dark points for a choice I made in a quest. It was one of these moments, I can't remember which was first.

I would rather see better UI customisation and no add-on support. The primary reason for this is the grids addon in wow. I admit I've never used it but the concept is horrible. As an example of what I mean, see this video of using grids. Now compare it to healing in guild wars with no addons. In the first video the main focus is on the grid UI. In the second video the healer is more active and focused on the actual fight. This isn't supposed to represent good or bad pvp, just show the way addons encourage the player to engage in pvp in a way that's less immersive. The more you focus on the UI, the more it becomes a game of pushing coloured boxes. The UI should enhance your gameplay, not replace it.

Yes that would work. In two other games I saw this happening (WAR and Perpetuum) they made it so you couldn't heal them.

If he put his pvp flag on, duelled you or moved to a pvp server then he would lose his chance to grief you without consequences. By swearing at him and calling him names you probably made his day. He may well have taken a screenshot of the chatlog and proudly showed it to all his guildies. However, the fact that he can heal your mobs is a flawed game mechanic. Should have been fixed in beta. The best counter is to take a healer and repeatedly heal Republic NPCs that imperials are trying to kill, causing them to generate enough complaints and hatemail that BW fix the problem. Although you may get banned in the process, but hey, you will have made a valuable contribution to the development of the game!

Is this the same Ruin that trashed Dark Crag in WAR? I would not like to see this implemented in SWTOR. I hope they try something a bit more innovative with world pvp. Capture points, maybe...but adding PvE bosses into PvP is one of the worst game mechanics I've ever seen. What should be fun, exciting, fast paced combat gets reduced to standing in a raid group watching a very large hp bar slowly whittled away. YAWN. Moreover it forces people to pvp in the unholy trinity of tank-dps-healer instead of trying something a bit more creative. Bioware will never be insane enough to even consider this. Nice try.

*Other It's a Bioware RPG.

I set up a poll for dual speccing. Edit: still can't link results, will update them here.

No, the concept is not unique, but from what I've seen SWTOR has a better story than you would expect to find in an MMO, not to mention the voice acting and extensive CGI cut scenes. This is the identity that Bioware have given their MMO. I can't talk about the quality of character storylines in other MMOs - I never played EQ or FFXI - but it's the strongest selling point for SWTOR, yet at the same time the biggest potential flaw.

When I first started playing MMOs I couldn't help imagining what my characters were like. Although I didn't roleplay, I did have some idea of their personalities and backgrounds. As I graduated away from theme-parks to sandbox-style MMOs my characters became me. The friendships, enemies, rivalries and adventures were mostly player-driven and player-created, not provided by the devs. I enjoyed reading your OP, though, because I think that's what Bioware set out to deliver. In many other theme-park MMOs you have to roleplay over the top of the actual game, whereas in SWTOR you are roleplaying purely by following your character questline. I always think a game that causes you to roleplay simply by engaging with the game mechanics is better than one where you have to create roleplay for yourself in spite of the game, rather than because of it.

This poll is now closed. Thanks to everyone for completing it. Here are the final results. Question: Do you want to see dual speccing implemented in SWTOR? Note: this means having the option of switching between two different skill trees, not switching your advanced class. Answers: Total responses: 1025 Yes: 726 (69.94%) Don't mind/not sure: 53 (5.11%) No: 259 (24.95%) Estimated margin of error ±4.5% Link to final results of the poll here. Email sent to Bioware on 17 January 2012

The storyline content in this game is great (what I've seen so far anyway). But...the reason people are highlighting the single player RPG-ness as a flaw is because it may not be sustainable. In order to make SWTOR stand out and be successful, Bioware are going to have to keep creating storyline content for as long as the game is alive. They will need a lot of subscribers to be able to provide, continually, the kind of content to which we wish to become accustomed. Edit: I like the graphics, and I like the level design I've seen so far.

I think this is the worrying bit. We all want the experience we have while levelling to extend once we reach the max level. We're expecting expansions with new storylines. But it's a fantastic amount of work - can Bioware really create content fast enough to keep players happy? The problems is that it's all developer-created content, which is very resource-heavy. I don't play WoW, but from what I hear it's all about grinding different kinds of points, and the developers try to dress the grind up in cosmetic fluff to make it seem desirable or interesting. That's a lot easier than writing masses of RPG story, scripting it, employing voice actors and animating CGI scenes to make things interesting. The whole "you are amazing" "you are destined for great things" BS is really annoying. I liked starting at the sith academy and being told I was a miserable unworthy slave who was bound to fail.

I don't think that polls will help give feedback all. The majority of player created polls are horribly biased. e.g. Do you agree that operatives should get a nerf? a) Yes of course! b) *** are you talking about? Buff them! c) No, I play an operative and I think we are fine! c) I like jam But I still vote to have them cos they're fun.

I read through the OP and I agree with it. While I haven't levelled very far, and don't have much experience of the multiplayer systems, I'm not playing this game because it's an MMO. I bought it because it's a Bioware RPG, and I am playing it purely because of the storyline. I expect that once I've reached the maximum level/end of story content I'll lose interest, and either try a different class or find a new game until Bioware comes out with some more story. Theme-park MMOs just aren't my kind of thing, and I would normally avoid WoW clones like the plague. But if I pretend this game is a single player RPG with a bit of multiplayer functionality tacked on then it's pretty enjoyable. I like to see companies trying to break away from the WoW model, because it's the only way the MMO genre is going to evolve. I think Bioware have tried to change the model by using their RPG expertise, but imo it's the wrong approach for an MMO. I think Guild Wars 2 will do it better, but let's wait and see.