I have replied earlier (quote below)... This is just to confirm my gratitude to the "Magic Doctors" and simply remind all whiners out there that this game delivers Day1 what other games managed after 1-2 expansions. The massive queues are not the best experience but I am willing to be patient, as this confirms the mass success of the launch of the game and I will be happy if the companies involved (BW mainly, Lucas & EA after) are compensated for their work so that they continue to improve and enhance our SW experience in the future! THANK YOU and KEEP UP!

It was sometime around 1983 when I saw for the first time a Star Wars movie: Return of the Jedi. I was 10 and will never forget the countless times fighting with my brothers, weaving our (wooden) light sabers and making their strange noise effect with our voices… We also played with our wannabe-Jedi Playmobil (no license at the time) and was soooo jealous of my American – Greek friend that had a huge Lego SW collection in his room… However I was never hooked up to the universe (like I was/am feeling towards the world of Tolkien for example). Over the years, I played most of the games (working for 6 years in the video games distribution industry) and have to admit that I was always intrigued by the force (in both its light and dark sides ). It was not until 1998 that I was TOTALLY amazed by a new PC game: it had dungeons & dragons (moreover licensed ), hobbits, parties, sneaking and backstabbing. My little hobbit was alive thanks to a company that I was not aware before that game, a company that I have loved ever since and purchased ALL its Collectors Editions. KOTOR was one of the steps that I believe gave them the idea to work on the SWTOR project. Also at E3 2005, I had a quick one to one meeting with Dr. Ray Muzyka (/respect) discussing the newly launched Jade Empire (also have an autographed counter standee of the game :sul_cool:). The company in question is no other than Bioware – to my humble opinion- the BEST studio out there today. However, if you look at their releases today, it seems as if that all the games they made were just a little rock towards the creation of the “castle” they have delivered. In late 80s, early 90s I “met” yet another company that followed and supported as a customer over the years, playing the legendary Loom, Monkey Island series and numerous SW games (published by Activision – reason for change of publisher to EA is probably their contract with Blizzard & WoW to my opinion). Lucasarts was the final little ingredient that was necessary (due to license) to bring to life the below mention game (yap, this is just the intro, so buckle up ). And now we got THIS! After decades of know-how, millions of code lines, thousands of working hours by people with passion, all the above were put in a “shaker and served a cocktail” that we will be discussing for many years to come! Where do I start? The game “smells and tastes” SW from the very first second… You get the possibility to create the character you always cherished or were intrigued by, when watching the movies: would it be a Luke-look alike, the Emperor during his “high-school years”, the nephew of the legendary hunter Boba Fett, the Dark-force crazy Sith warrior or one of these troopers that die by the tens during the battles (not so easy to kill in the game though )? The choice is yours and the possibilities limitless… Each class has its own unique FANTASTIC story, decorated by beautiful cinematics and in-depth quests that takes you around level 15-18 (didn’t finish it with any of the 4 class that I played). The evolution of the character is amazing and I couldn’t ask for more (“casual” gamer, remember? ). The battles are thriving with SW moves, colors, bolts and sabers coming right from the movies, characters that depict the universe to the smallest details (gotta love that band in the filthy Hutt’s palace bar). Being an RPer for decades, the game gave me the possibility to create the character and literally go under his/her skin… The quests? Balance between go there – get that, go there – kill that or go there, find this, use it in that & deliver… To the complainers out there: guys, there cannot exist more options than those delivered by BW! That’s the way it is! Those are the options! Loved the optional quests, their difficulty the timing required… BUT, most of all the possibility to deliver a quest through the hologram option! You found a gap and filled it: a group of people, doing quests and then run all around the map to deliver? NOT in this game! You can just split and deliver the common quests without having to be there actually through the use of a hologram! The fantastic system that allows you to “group-talk” to the NPCs gave a yet extra breathe of change to the game… You can actually feel your fellow characters real nature, their beliefs and opinions: they come to life! Cinematics everywhere: from the intro of each character to the obtaining or delivery of every quest, to the character-only videos? WITH FULL VOICE OVER???????? Oh my! I almost cried with satisfaction! Then, around level 8 I got my first companion… Bioware has been working with the companion-system in numerous games: KOTOR, ME, DA (not going back to BG, ID & NWN series as they were handled differently) so they kept the best of all the already tested systems… Excellent work! Easy to use and especially combined with the crafting skill(s)! Absolutely FANTASTIC: you send him/ her to do all the “dirty” work and eventually (when you have several of them) create a small “factory” in your spaceship! Last but not least, they function as a “complimentary ability to yours”, thus creating a balance between classes: you are a healer, you get a tank, you are a fighter you get a healer etc… Modifications: great system that actually enables us to stick to our favorite weapon/armor for a long time… We just need to modify it with big upgrades until we change it. Even better, modifications are not lost! We can dismount them and use them to another part of our equipment. Moving around: great “taxi” system , later at 15 ability to sprint, even later our own spaceship… modified and capable to fight battle-missions. Now imagine all this great universe within our grip and eventually make a guild meeting in that little filthy canteen/bar in Tatooine picturing a small fleet of guild member parking at the port… Endless RP possibilities. PvP: balanced, fun, creative… Killed and got killed, adrenaline in full. The BGs were great (some more preferable than others) sure to be accompanied with quests in the final version… No further comment! Talking Tech: lots of complains by people for the graphics… Small price to pay for such a result to my opinion. Anyways, I play in my notebook and didn’t expect/ wanted much as I do not intend to change it in the near future. Had only 5-10 freezes and crashes which is logical. Only request: PLEASE add bubble text for RP purposes!!! PLEASE! To wrap this up, as a casual player, I LOVED it, have already pre-ordered it (did it in August – minimum commitment to Bioware for their contribution to my hobby all these years) and hope to see you all in less than a week in a Galaxy Far, Far, Away… BRAVO GUYS!!! /bow /respect /salute /thank you! PS: during the 2 days of the beta weekend, I played almost 17-20 hours creating the following characters: Bounty Hunter lvl 14, - my favorite!!! Imperial Agent lvl 8, Trooper lvl 6, Sith Warrior lvl 7 Looking forward to starting the real character sometime soon now!