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sir_grail

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sir_grail

sir_grail

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As another player offered up his negative opinion of the game, I thought I would offer up my positive one:

 

The Old Republic was very much a hyped game. Personally, I didn’t follow the hype, but I was aware of it. I knew that it was going to be based in the Star Wars Universe, set in time earlier than the movies. I knew that Bioware was going to be making it. And I knew that all quests would be voice-acted. Personally, that was all I needed to know to make me want to play it. While I had played the first Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies, a little bit, it had never really held my interest. I was too disconnected from my character, who always felt to me like an insignificant speck in a vast universe. But when I heard that Bioware was making a new Star Wars MMO, I knew I would have to try it. I have been greatly impressed by most of Bioware’s games and I felt confident that they would do an excellent job.

 

As The Old Republic went into Open Beta, I did not sign up for it. I had done Open Beta for several MMO’s before and I really didn’t feel like doing it again. However, a couple friends of mine did sign up for it and got in. About three weeks before the game was to go live, I got to see my friends playing for the first time. They were quite impressed and after showing me a few things, I was impressed as well. Unfortunately, I was rather busy with work in December and so did not have the opportunity to jump into the game right when it opened, but I nonetheless logged on for the first time at the beginning of 2012.

 

Starting off, I made a Jedi Consular and jumped into the game. Right off the bat, the game pulled me in better than any other MMO has before. The Star Wars theme, the scrolling yellow text disappearing into the star field, and then a fully voiced cinematic that introduced my character and why he was there. I’ve made plenty of MMO characters in a variety of genres. Usually, I imagine a basic history and personality as I make the character, but that always existed in my imagination. It wouldn’t really come out in the game as part of interacting with the game itself. But The Old Republic puts it right up there on the screen and I found it to be quite engaging.

 

With all of the voice acting, getting quests became much more interesting. Having the reasons for the quest be spoken rather than a block of text on the screen was much more engaging for me and it made me want to do them more. I found the movements of my character a bit stiff as he moved around, but not terrible. Overall, I found the graphics to be fine. Certainly better than Star Wars Galaxies, but not as detailed as Lord of the Rings Online. The beginning Jedi powers I had made me feel powerful even from level 1. I suppose being able to pick up a boulder telekinetically and send it flying into an enemy’s face will do that. I found that the tutorial was a bit sparse, but I didn’t need it much due to my experience with other MMOs. I have my doubts whether it’s enough for someone new to computer games, but I have no way of knowing.

 

Questing on the beginning planet, Tython, was fun and the Jedi Consular class quest was intriguing to me. Overall, I felt it was a well designed place to try out my beginning abilities and to get the story moving. Moving on to Coruscant, I found the cityscape interesting but I think not as personally appealing as a natural landscape. From there I moved on to Taris and Nar Shaddaa. Each planet provided a different landscape and a different story, which I found quite appealing and fun. I never found my abilities to be sluggish beyond what I’ve experienced in other games, so it didn’t bother me.

 

The addition of Companions for your character I found incredibly fun and made playing solo much more appealing. Each one had their own personality that comes out in their dialogue and during quest conversations. I like that you can control them in combat beyond just “attack this” or “defend me”, that they have their own abilities and that they get more as you level up.

 

I think the overall quest design is exceptional. The writers have taken the usual “kill X enemies” or “click on these objects and return” quests and given them more and varied personality. They’ve given the player options as to how they complete the quest and given the player more opportunities to show off their character’s personality through dialog with the quest-givers. I have yet to find quests boring in The Old Republic, which is not true of other MMOs that I’ve played. I have more of a reason to complete them just so that I can find out how the story plays out.

 

Overall, I have found the writing to be quite good. I’ve seen a bit of all of the Republic class storylines and I found each one to be different and enjoyable, certainly enjoyable enough to want to keep playing so that I can find out what happens next. There is a good amount of humor in some of the dialogue during light-hearted moments, as well as serious choices that are given to the player. I have yet to find an NPC that I’ve talked to to be a copy of another which is quite impressive. Each one seems to have their own personality and goals, which is a really nice change of pace to MMOs. I also like that you are addressed differently depending upon which class you are, or sometimes which gender.

 

Space combat turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I know a lot of people seem to take exception to it being on rails, that the player doesn’t have the freedom to fly anywhere at any time. I can certainly understand that. One of my favorite games has been TIE Fighter, the space combat sim. I loved the total freedom you had as you flew around. But the space combat in The Old Republic gave me moments that I would have never gotten in an open space sim. The best example being escorting a shuttle and feeling in the clear right before a star destroyer warped in almost right on top of us, turrets blazing. Excellent!

 

One area that I think is lacking right now is the feeling of a living breathing world in the game. NPCs don’t move around much, if at all. There is very little non-aggressive flora and fauna and they hardly move at all. There also seems to be a lack of players wherever you go. I think that’s probably due to there being so many places you can be that everyone is too spread out, combined with low server populations due to the high number of possible servers. The Old Republic has far more game servers than I have yet seen on another MMO. That may be good in the long run, but it seems excessive to me at this point. There is also no weather or day/night cycle on the planets. This is an area that Bioware could improve upon, I’m sure.

 

I have nothing to say about the endgame, as I haven’t gotten there yet. Personally, the endgame has never been a particular draw for me. The only MMO I ever got a character to max level in was DC Universe Online. So, I generally don’t care about the endgame as I have yet to experience it in most MMOs. The experience getting there has always been more important to me.

 

I would recommend this game highly. I’ve been having a blast playing it and I’ve still got so much to see that I don’t see that ending any time soon.

 

tl;dr I am quite pleased with the Old Republic and you should buy it.

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MadCuzBad

MadCuzBad

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As another player offered up his negative opinion of the game, I thought I would offer up my positive one:

 

The Old Republic was very much a hyped game. Personally, I didn’t follow the hype, but I was aware of it. I knew that it was going to be based in the Star Wars Universe, set in time earlier than the movies. I knew that Bioware was going to be making it. And I knew that all quests would be voice-acted. Personally, that was all I needed to know to make me want to play it. While I had played the first Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies, a little bit, it had never really held my interest. I was too disconnected from my character, who always felt to me like an insignificant speck in a vast universe. But when I heard that Bioware was making a new Star Wars MMO, I knew I would have to try it. I have been greatly impressed by most of Bioware’s games and I felt confident that they would do an excellent job.

 

As The Old Republic went into Open Beta, I did not sign up for it. I had done Open Beta for several MMO’s before and I really didn’t feel like doing it again. However, a couple friends of mine did sign up for it and got in. About three weeks before the game was to go live, I got to see my friends playing for the first time. They were quite impressed and after showing me a few things, I was impressed as well. Unfortunately, I was rather busy with work in December and so did not have the opportunity to jump into the game right when it opened, but I nonetheless logged on for the first time at the beginning of 2012.

 

Starting off, I made a Jedi Consular and jumped into the game. Right off the bat, the game pulled me in better than any other MMO has before. The Star Wars theme, the scrolling yellow text disappearing into the star field, and then a fully voiced cinematic that introduced my character and why he was there. I’ve made plenty of MMO characters in a variety of genres. Usually, I imagine a basic history and personality as I make the character, but that always existed in my imagination. It wouldn’t really come out in the game as part of interacting with the game itself. But The Old Republic puts it right up there on the screen and I found it to be quite engaging.

 

With all of the voice acting, getting quests became much more interesting. Having the reasons for the quest be spoken rather than a block of text on the screen was much more engaging for me and it made me want to do them more. I found the movements of my character a bit stiff as he moved around, but not terrible. Overall, I found the graphics to be fine. Certainly better than Star Wars Galaxies, but not as detailed as Lord of the Rings Online. The beginning Jedi powers I had made me feel powerful even from level 1. I suppose being able to pick up a boulder telekinetically and send it flying into an enemy’s face will do that. I found that the tutorial was a bit sparse, but I didn’t need it much due to my experience with other MMOs. I have my doubts whether it’s enough for someone new to computer games, but I have no way of knowing.

 

Questing on the beginning planet, Tython, was fun and the Jedi Consular class quest was intriguing to me. Overall, I felt it was a well designed place to try out my beginning abilities and to get the story moving. Moving on to Coruscant, I found the cityscape interesting but I think not as personally appealing as a natural landscape. From there I moved on to Taris and Nar Shaddaa. Each planet provided a different landscape and a different story, which I found quite appealing and fun. I never found my abilities to be sluggish beyond what I’ve experienced in other games, so it didn’t bother me.

 

The addition of Companions for your character I found incredibly fun and made playing solo much more appealing. Each one had their own personality that comes out in their dialogue and during quest conversations. I like that you can control them in combat beyond just “attack this” or “defend me”, that they have their own abilities and that they get more as you level up.

 

I think the overall quest design is exceptional. The writers have taken the usual “kill X enemies” or “click on these objects and return” quests and given them more and varied personality. They’ve given the player options as to how they complete the quest and given the player more opportunities to show off their character’s personality through dialog with the quest-givers. I have yet to find quests boring in The Old Republic, which is not true of other MMOs that I’ve played. I have more of a reason to complete them just so that I can find out how the story plays out.

 

Overall, I have found the writing to be quite good. I’ve seen a bit of all of the Republic class storylines and I found each one to be different and enjoyable, certainly enjoyable enough to want to keep playing so that I can find out what happens next. There is a good amount of humor in some of the dialogue during light-hearted moments, as well as serious choices that are given to the player. I have yet to find an NPC that I’ve talked to to be a copy of another which is quite impressive. Each one seems to have their own personality and goals, which is a really nice change of pace to MMOs. I also like that you are addressed differently depending upon which class you are, or sometimes which gender.

 

Space combat turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I know a lot of people seem to take exception to it being on rails, that the player doesn’t have the freedom to fly anywhere at any time. I can certainly understand that. One of my favorite games has been TIE Fighter, the space combat sim. I loved the total freedom you had as you flew around. But the space combat in The Old Republic gave me moments that I would have never gotten in an open space sim. The best example being escorting a shuttle and feeling in the clear right before a star destroyer warped in almost right on top of us, turrets blazing. Excellent!

 

One area that I think is lacking right now is the feeling of a living breathing world in the game. NPCs don’t move around much, if at all. There is very little non-aggressive flora and fauna and they hardly move at all. There also seems to be a lack of players wherever you go. I think that’s probably due to there being so many places you can be that everyone is too spread out, combined with low server populations due to the high number of possible servers. The Old Republic has far more game servers than I have yet seen on another MMO. That may be good in the long run, but it seems excessive to me at this point. There is also no weather or day/night cycle on the planets. This is an area that Bioware could improve upon, I’m sure.

 

I have nothing to say about the endgame, as I haven’t gotten there yet. Personally, the endgame has never been a particular draw for me. The only MMO I ever got a character to max level in was DC Universe Online. So, I generally don’t care about the endgame as I have yet to experience it in most MMOs. The experience getting there has always been more important to me.

 

I would recommend this game highly. I’ve been having a blast playing it and I’ve still got so much to see that I don’t see that ending any time soon.

 

tl;dr I am quite pleased with the Old Republic and you should buy it.

 

notsureifserious

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Kanshan

Kanshan

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I am also pleased with the game, I understand adding to the game takes time and what not I find the questing very in-depth and the companions to be awesome in adding into the quest line of the game and I do enjoy the PvP however off balance people say it is I have a blast healing with my trooper and dpsing with my Jedi Knight
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sir_grail

sir_grail

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LOL! I didn't even see that... At least we know his attention span for leveling up = 2-3 days. :p

 

Ouch. That's a bit harsh. Anyway, I generally don't get a lot of time to play games. It has taken me about 4 weeks playing to get one character to level 27, two to level 11 and one to level 4.

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sir_grail

sir_grail

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Credibility = lost

 

I'm sorry that you feel that way. DCUO had the least amount of grind that I have experienced getting up to max level. Usually, it seems that about two-thirds through most MMOs, you hit a grind to get to max, and that has always been a big turn-off for me.

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senshi

senshi

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Also having a blast and can honestly say this is the most fun I have had during a launch of an MMO, I see a bright future ahead. They seem to be fixing things at a pretty good pace and the posts detailing what is in store has me very excited.
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Blunth

Blunth

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I played some EQ1, EQ2 and have been playing WoW since the EU release (11th feb 2005), tried numerous other MMO's (Age of Conan, Aion etc) in pursuit of something that would rival the peak feeling I had with WoW.

 

Ever since I started playing WoW I've felt the need of an MMO, cause frankly I just really enjoy having a good one to turn to when I get bored. I wasn't hyped about SWTOR, cause I thought it would be just another mmo thrown out on the market - needless to say my expectations were low.

 

SWTOR is great, I've been hooked since I started, and I've levelled 3 characters to 50 since it came out. I'm not too harsh on the verdict cause I believe it's still in an establishment phase and I won't complain all that much about unpolished aspects, bugs and lack of convenient UI tweaks and whatnot (for instance the LFG-tool, seasonal events and so forth from WoW).

 

I still suspect that the reason I like it so much, and haven't touched WoW since it launched, basically been playing it as my main MMO since then; is because I like the single-player aspects a lot. I've always been a major fan of bioware works, writing and the ability to choose sides, have impact on outcomes of missions and shaping my characters story. I love the companion system, the fact that dialogues are voiced and with options. It feels a lot less like braindead redundant leveling. I'm getting these awesome single-player experiences whilst still getting some of the MMO feeding I crave for. The social aspects, group activities and the PvP situations. The problem is that I feel these aren't as good as they could be. It needs a lot more work still. I'm willing to wait for it while I have my hands full making new characters each time I finish one of them, but I hope the end-game X factor is going to come around at some point.

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Hodap

Hodap

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It has taken me about 4 weeks playing to get one character to level 27, two to level 11 and one to level 4.

So basically all the stuff people are complaining about you haven't had a chance to experience yet.

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TheBBP

TheBBP

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Ouch. That's a bit harsh. Anyway, I generally don't get a lot of time to play games. It has taken me about 4 weeks playing to get one character to level 27, two to level 11 and one to level 4.

 

This is good to go. Glad you are enjoying it.

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Nymaeria

Nymaeria

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SWTOR is great. . . It feels a lot less like braindead redundant leveling. . .

 

I'm glad you're enjoying SWTOR and if you think the game is great, that's awesome. The above statement irks me a bit though. It seems like everybody likes to complain about how other games don't have a story and leveling is just a boring grind - go here to collect/kill/interact with X of Y. If you'd take a minute to look at the questing in SWTOR you'd see that it's still EXACTLY the same - go here to collect/kill/interact with X of Y. The only difference is instead of getting text you can ignore and hit accept, you get 2-6 minutes of the game talking to you. If people would take the same amount of time (or probably even less as most people can read faster than they can talk) to READ the quests in other games, they might feel like it's less of a boring grind.

 

/rant

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sir_grail

sir_grail

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So basically all the stuff people are complaining about you haven't had a chance to experience yet.

 

Not at all. I will admit that there is plenty about the end game that I have seen complaints about and clearly I have not experienced that yet. However, I have also seen complaints about the quest system, space combat, sluggish abilities and the story line. Those I have experienced and what I'm trying to say is that not only do I not have a problem with them, but that I rather like it. (well, not so much the sluggish abilities. It's just that the abilities don't seem any more sluggish that other games I've played so I don't really see what the big deal is.)

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sir_grail

sir_grail

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So, and correct me if I got this wrong, you liked the story of the game as presented through the voiced dialogues. You have not hit lvl50 yet and you have very limited experience with the mmo genre. Ok.

 

Correct on the first two points, but I wouldn't agree about the third. I've played quite a few MMOs, going back to Ultima Online and The Realm. I've just not played almost any of them to max level. I got pretty far into Everquest 2, City of Heroes, Dungeons & Dragons Online, Champions Online and Lord of the Rings Online. I just never got all the way to the end in them. I suppose it depends on how you define 'experience'.

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Enako

Enako

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Credibility = lost

 

so ?

 

does having not played other games change the fact that someone can enjoy from this game ?

 

i have played EVERY major mmo out there, and i was there in the early access of most of their launches.

 

i enjoy this game.

 

so ?

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