MMO Vets, What do you think?

[Vecke]

My wife and I have been "MMO vets" for over a decade now. We've played EQ, EQ2, STO, DDO, LOTRO, Vanguard, AoC, DCUO, and CoX.

 

We tried WoW multiple times, just because of its popularity, and we tried to like it, but we simply couldn't get into it. The art style, the constant pop-culture references, and the hostility we found toward new players (and everyone else) just killed any and all immersion for us. That's not to say it isn't a good game. I'm sure it's a very good game. Just not for us.

 

That said, we're both enjoying TOR immensely.

 

I think the reason TOR is having such a polarizing effect on gamers is because they made a creative decision to take the game in a different direction for MMOs. They added full voice-overs, attempted a cinematic story-driven experience, made crafting something unlike any other MMOs, and made companions (pets) have story, personality, and functions beyond what pets normally have in an MMO.

 

They also decided to omit certain MMO features that many people consider necessary, such as cross-server zones, dual specs, etc. Since most of my experience is with MMOs that aren't WoW, I assume most of these features are from WoW specifically, because they've never really been a major part of my gaming experiences.

 

That said, it boils down to this. The people that like the direction BW has taken TOR believe it's a step forward. The people that hate the direction BW has taken TOR believe it's a step backwards.

 

I've no doubt that BW will do what they can to placate all sides of this debate, but at the end of the day, it's going to boil down to whether or not this direction proves successful. And that's something we can never determine here. No matter how many "polls" we take in game, or how many threads we count on the forums, we simply don't have access to the information that would tell us whether or not this is truly a good direction.

 

I certainly hope it is, because I love the direction. At the same time, I understand those that don't.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Vecke

[Ron_Moore]

Thumbs down.

[Roechacca]

[quote+= - No day/night cycle

- No swimming

- No housing

- No Pazaak, Sabacc, Dejarik, races, casino, etc...

- Dumbed down character creation

- No post-creation character customization

- No appearance tab/outfit system

- No high res textures

- No environmental interaction (chairs, walls, doors, etc...)

- Simple combat with static enemies

- Unconvincing and stiff animations

- Empty dead worlds with not enough NPCs moving around

- No collision detection

- No stats on resources

- No crafting customization

- Restriction in choice of starship

- No ship decoration

- Dumbed down space combat

- No multiplayer space combat

- Removal of many races

- No faction change/neutrality

- Restriction and instanced planets by faction

- Less planets than announced

- Planets rated by levels with no reason to go back

- No GM events

- Removal of choice to kill companion

- Removal of possibility to talk to other faction at all times

- No RP tools

- Nothing to do post-story

- Endgame consisting on waiting in fleet

 

best list in a long time. +1 for accuracy.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Roechacca

[Maldach]

 

I think the reason TOR is having such a polarizing effect on gamers is because they made a creative decision to take the game in a different direction for MMOs. They added full voice-overs, attempted a cinematic story-driven experience, made crafting something unlike any other MMOs, and made companions (pets) have story, personality, and functions beyond what pets normally have in an MMO.

 

They made it too much like WoW. That's where they went wrong. Unfortunately, the WoW-features are ingrained at the core, there is no turning back. This is WoW Star Wars.

[KoukosGamer]

People don't want to admit it...because they are huge fans of bioware and star wars......this game we were expecting all these years is just a BAD ripoff of wow in so many ways it hurts my eyes....I played wow since launch and dropped it 1 year ago... after finishing my first 50 character and enjoying the single player aspect of the gameplay...it was like playing a wow mage ( priest) with my sith inquisitor ALL OVER AGAIN..... ok I had a companion...I had great VO....but after you hit 50....its just plain wow.... 2 raids.....even hardcore are a joke...

the commendations grind is the SAME with wow.....either pvp/pve/dailies....but ALOT easier to get than wow....its been two months since launch and ive accomplished what took 1-2 years in wow.... I am not going to pay monthly fees to lvl 7 more alts just to see each story....I thought of doing pvp in between class quests to avoid doing the same side stuff over again..but seriously how many huttballs can a sane person play??? HOW MANY????

 

No I am not going back to wow.... yes i am quiting swtor...and hoping that yet another game will be different than wow......or atleast closer to vanila wow....

[grueber]

They made it too much like WoW. That's where they went wrong. Unfortunately, the WoW-features are ingrained at the core, there is no turning back. This is WoW Star Wars.

 

Waiting for my ewoks with lightsabers.

 

It really is too much of a WoW-clone. Yeah people say WoW ripped off from EQ and other predecessors but frankly WoW was such a huge step up in graphics/gameplay when it was released.

 

Not a good sign when I find the forums more entertaining then the actual game.

[greenleef]

Have you ever seen some of the designs people did to the houses? So were artwork and some were museums. I remember one that had all but I believe 3 weapons that were ever in the game.

My own house was how you can take something plain and change it into something that isnt and orignial

 

It gave life to the game, made it feel like it wasnt just placed to take up space. It gave you a reason to explore and visit new areas.

 

But no in this game its a one way rollercoaster with no twists or turns, just a straight line to the end.

 

Houses were far from dollhouses lol it was great using items to make into somthing completely different i knew a guy whose house in rl and in game was the same well here some pics of my old house i wish i could walk back in

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/2.jpg

http://http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/3.jpg

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/3.jpg

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/psychoticjax.jpg

YEA SPINED RANCOR IN HOLO ZOO

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/hydro.jpg

best hydro ever made O the good old days

Edited February 12, 2012 by greenleef

[TonyACT]

Waiting for my ewoks with lightsabers.

 

It really is too much of a WoW-clone. Yeah people say WoW ripped off from EQ and other predecessors but frankly WoW was such a huge step up in graphics/gameplay when it was released.

 

Not a good sign when I find the forums more entertaining then the actual game.

 

I think my forum time /played is ahead of game time /played as well

[Depredator]

Well, WoW kept my attention for years, so there are worse things than having similarities to WoW, imo.

[Depredator]

Houses were far from dollhouses lol it was great using items to make into somthing completely different i knew a guy whose house in rl and in game was the same well here some pics of my old house i wish i could walk back in

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/2.jpg

http://http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/3.jpg

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/3.jpg

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/psychoticjax.jpg

YEA SPINED RANCOR IN HOLO ZOO

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp118/ryanp3855/hydro.jpg

best hydro ever made O the good old days

 

Ha! That's awesome!

[Emeda]

That said, we're both enjoying TOR immensely.

 

I think the reason TOR is having such a polarizing effect on gamers is because they made a creative decision to take the game in a different direction for MMOs.

 

Yeah the dirrection is a single player MMO

 

They added full voice-overs, attempted a cinematic story-driven experience, made crafting something unlike any other MMOs, and made companions (pets) have story, personality, and functions beyond what pets normally have in an MMO.

 

Your right about the crafting in it being completely useless in the game. The companions are there so you dont have to do certain things in the game and also to replace grouping. Again in a MMO.

 

They also decided to omit certain MMO features that many people consider necessary, such as cross-server zones, dual specs, etc. Since most of my experience is with MMOs that aren't WoW, I assume most of these features are from WoW specifically, because they've never really been a major part of my gaming experiences.

 

Many people consider it nexessary but you have never seen it in a MMO that you played.

 

That said, it boils down to this. The people that like the direction BW has taken TOR believe it's a step forward. The people that hate the direction BW has taken TOR believe it's a step backwards.

 

Correction. THe people that hate the direction BW has taken TOR know that it is a huge leap backwards. (say about 8 years backwards).

 

I've no doubt that BW will do what they can to placate all sides of this debate,

 

Your right because all BW cares about is the money and not about the game.

but at the end of the day, it's going to boil down to whether or not this direction proves successful. And that's something we can never determine here. No matter how many "polls" we take in game, or how many threads we count on the forums, we simply don't have access to the information that would tell us whether or not this is truly a good direction.

 

In other words just shut up and give it time and if it fails then O well. Instead of telling them what we think is wrong with the game and hoping they fix the issues so the game doesnt fail and we dont have to spend another 60 bucks on a game that will have the same issues and the same people that say give it time to fail before you fix anything.

 

I certainly hope it is, because I love the direction. At the same time, I understand those that don't.

 

We know you enjoy the game because you are making up excuses for it and telling anyone who doesnt like it to just give it time.

[TonyACT]

Well, WoW kept my attention for years, so there are worse things than having similarities to WoW, imo.

 

I think the problem is that many of us have had more than enough of WoW and are looking for something that feels different.

[grueber]

Well, WoW kept my attention for years, so there are worse things than having similarities to WoW, imo.

 

The problem is that too many people have played WoW and it really does not introduce any major changes from WoW with the exception of the class storylines. I suspect it's part of the reason why some people are growing bored of swtor two months after release.

[Depredator]

I think the problem is that many of us have had more than enough of WoW and are looking for something that feels different.

 

Yeah, that's understandable. Pretty sure that was my primary motivation for checking out other titles even though they couldn't capture my attention for long.

 

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I'm most certainly not a WoW fanboi. I have to point out the reality that the game did have staying power for me personally, so I'm not too terribly offended when I find similarities in swtor.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Depredator

[CommonKnowledge]

Apart from DCUO and EVE I haven't lost interest in an MMO as fast as this one. Other than having a reasonably engaging story (although the Troopers betrayal revenge is quite predictable) it lacks in almost every aspect. Some exceptions and things I actually like about the game include the crafting system, classes themselves (but not the mirroring of classes) and the overall Star Wars aesthetics.

 

However the negative aspects are much more frequent so I'll just arrange them into categories that kept cropping up when playing this game.

 

Questing

As much as I've seen people deny this fact questing has moved on a lot from the old days of spending hours twating basilisks for a one in seventeen drop chance. Whilst Star Wars isn't plagued with low drop chance mobs it's almost as basic because all quests boil down to one of three things:

 

1. Kill some mobs

 

2. Collect some stuff

 

3. Click on a panel

 

Other games have made a lot of innovation of the years to break up the monotony of the above. Such as:

 

1. Public open group quests that anyone can join.

 

2. Quest phasing. Rather than having anything important sealed off in an instance your actions actually do something to alter the world.

 

3. Large scale quests. In other games like WoW smaller quests often lead up to something much bigger, e.g. killing some pirates, looting some of their stuff, taking out their leaders and before you know it Booty Bay is under attack from a fleet of pirate ships. It gives quest meaning when they build to a climax rather than just existing for the sake of filler.

 

4. Vehicles. Not something everyone enjoys I know but they do break up the game with alternative things. Star Wars had a lot of potential in this regard, bombing enemy encampments in a fighter bomber, taking out fortified positions in a walker or just repelling enemy forces with an entrenched heavy gun. Space combat is as close as it gets but it's hardly questing and by the time the missions shamelessly began to be copy poaste jobs I stopped bothering.

 

There's probably other things I've missed but these were the ones which really stuck out for me when playing the game. Not to mention that questing itself also becomes very predictable. Oh look, a gold mob with two standard mobs next to him in a story area, I wonder if I'm going to fight them as I have done with every quest prior to this.

 

PvP

It sucks. The mere fact that players who haven't even learned to sprint are matched against players with access to their 41 point talent tree abilities is mind meltingly pathetic. But what's even more incredible is that it actually gets worse at 50 where you average battle resembles a 10-19 Warsong Gulch of twinks vs non-twinks.

 

The battlegrounds themselves are bland, lifeless and devoid of any lasting appeal. Huttball scoops the prize for being the worst battleground I've ever played, even managing the previously thought impossible and making Isle of Conquest look fun. The one requiring you to plant bombs is ok but never seems to crop up for me. The other is about the same, functional but devoid of anything resembling fun.

 

Open world PvP is virtually non-existant due to lifeless, heavily instanced worlds.

 

The Story

Not usually something I look for in an MMO but it certainly gets touted around enough as though it's a shining beacon of excellence. The Troopers story was the one I experienced and it was ok I guess, not enthralling but it drove the game well enough.

 

My problem with the story itself is rather more generic and reminds me of AoC. For all the hype around it the mere fact that ultimately whatever gets accomplished is meaningless because it's an MMO with millions of other people doing it as well is inescapeable. Whilst having a good story isn't a bad thing in an MMO I need more than that to remain interested. If I'm going to spend hours blasting droids then the process should be fun rather than just there being a carrot on the end of a stick.

 

Crafting

I said earlier that I like crafting, and whilst that's true my complaint about it is that creating gear takes too long. It makes sense that I can send my companions off to gather metals from distant worlds or the black market. However I should be the one using those materials to craft stuff and it shouldn't take 18 minutes to make one single belt.

 

I also find it annoying how missions generally say "level 2 metal" but when you get the metal it's the wrong kind of level 2. Make specific missions for specific metals and stop being so stingy with rare metals.

 

Voice acting

Should have left it to the story quests because there's too much of it. I don't care what gormless Republic Sergeant #32904 ate for breakfast or how my asking politely makes the slightest bit of difference. This is an MMO, just tell me how many you want dead and what needs to be looted.

 

Even the story quests seem to overdo it with voice acting so I just spacebar my way through hoping something interesting might happen rather than more Granny Garza waffling on about space politics. Also if you can't implement quest items appearing on screen when you hand them over don't make it look like somethings being handed over just below screen. Always makes me think my Troopers giving them a ******* when something goes on out of shot at crotch level.

 

That droid needs to shut up. He doesn't deserve a voice. The only way he could be made less annoying would be if Brian Blessed did the voice acting and spouted Blake 7 quotes whilst headbutting Tanno for saying Flash Gordon sucked.

 

The world

Too sharded, lifeless, spaceports, samey, spaceports, small, spaceports, corridors, spaceports and more damn spaceports. There's too many worlds and they're all too small. The only ones that actually feel like a world are Hoth and Tatooine, but even that's just an illusion of scale because it's all background.

 

Should have been fewer, larger worlds broken down into multiple zones in my opinion. Zones that are actuall attached in a meaningful sense rather than requiring a space taxi to get around in.

 

Your ship

There's no need for it. All it does is drag out getting around from planet to planet by constantly running through spaceports. Why not have an inter-planetary transport service that I can access by talking to someone standing just inside the spaceport? Then I don't have to run around so much.

 

The only thing that your ship does is space combat. But again, why not have a few NPCs at the spaceports offering missions in which you get given a fighter craft?

 

 

Overall this game feels flat and very lifeless, but for more reasons than I could put into a single forum post. It doesn't do anything of any consequence new, it rejects genuine innovation made by other MMOs and certainly doesn't do any one thing so well that it eclipses its flaws.

 

TLDR: Star Wars, I am disappoint

[TonyACT]

Yeah, that's understandable. Pretty sure that was my primary motivation for checking out other titles even though they couldn't capture my attention for long.

 

As noted in another thread I am back in EQ2 atm. F2P now, and an F2P model that you can really get to cap without spending money, and enough new content since I last played to keep me and the kids happy for some time.

 

Maybe TOR will have enough new stuff for us to check it out again when we tire of EQ2.

[KoukosGamer]

Well, WoW kept my attention for years, so there are worse things than having similarities to WoW, imo.

 

dont you find disturbing the fact that people say its better than wow 7 years ago?.. its a bad rippof in terms it probably took most of what sux in wow and very few of what made it a good game the past years....

1) Some difficult stuff for hardcore players.

2) Guild stuff.....this game has nothing for Guilds...UNBELIEVABLE .

3) Phases...would make the rp in the game alot better...choices would count... even wow with no rpg elements had phasing parts of the game that you need to complete to change the area....here you have choices..that DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

4) Summon group/raid....really need to spend 1 hour to gather 8 people to try a world boss.......no comment.

 

its too late to write alot more....my biggest complain as an xwing/tie fighter fan....CANT BELIEVE Star Wars MMO in 2012...has this type of space combat to offer...and im sure im not the only one...

[Kalfear]

I have to agree that BW has set a new standard for mmo's, at least with regard to storylines. The way they've crafted their class stories is most certainly a powerful hook. My concern is that they may have bitten off more than they can chew. Once you hit max level, is there really a way to continue with the excellent story telling? If they find a way to answer that question in a positive manner, then perhaps all will be well. If they don't, then I think that the sudden jarring change from a story driven game to an all to familiar end-game gear grind will be a bit much for many folks.

 

Ultimately, I think they have a chance to create a long lasting title, so I must disagree with your opinion about the potential longevity of this game. Sure, if BW leaves the game "as is" and expands it in a fashion similar to its current state then they will have a problem in a couple of years; however, I think that things can be done in a specific way in order to increase the power of this game's hook.

 

I believe that there is a possibility that this game will grow into a magnificent mmo. It's not terrible right now, but it has to grow into something more than what it is in order to have some real staying power.

 

Well Longeviety I speak of comes from two things Dep.

 

1) Its not in place at retail launch and it should have been!

Im not talking end game either (though thats easy to fix, just doesnt sound like they plan to, to be honest). Im talking journey upwards. 2 weeks to max for a hardcore player? Thats beyond stupid. It shoudl take the hardest of hardcore player at least 6-8 weeks to max out if they went 24/7 for the 6-8 weeks.

 

When you give away the journey, you put unneeded pressure on the end game and you make the journey meaningless. Of all the games out there, this games journey should not be meaningless. Its the most detailed and thought out journey and then Bioware just allows players to zoom through and forget about it. LOL honestly if I was a writer for TOR, id be insulted my work was treated with such disrespect. No joke.

 

2) You only have 1 chance to make a good first impression. Bioware blew theirs so a good portion of the retail potential longeviety subscribers have left or decideing to leave already and nothing Bioware ever does will get them back to retry. They will move on, find something new to be passionate about, and forget all about TOR. Thats not even a TOR thing, thats just common practice for any product. You need to hook them from the get go.

 

As for the rest

 

As for advancing story when you hit end game, the problem is less then two months after release were talking about end game. We shouldnt be. We should be talking about our anticipation for when we reach end game, how we going play our character, what role he/she will fill. No one but the hardest of hardcore players should be at end game yet.

 

But advanceing story easy, you just write new stand alone chapters that take a player from 50-60, ect.

 

Closing:

 

I think the Star Wars IP (combined with no realistic competition in the MMORPG dept coming out in forseeable future) will artificially lenghten TORs subscription base life but honestly, I think writing on the wall already and nothing can change it now.

 

Bioware could put in all the mechanics that should have been in game at the start (DAoC RVR, Paazaak, swoop Bike Racing, housing, public grouping (ala Rift), slower advancement curves, ect) and it wouldnt change this games out come now as a subscription based game.

 

They lost their window of oppertunity

 

Greg posted that he thinks Bioware simply doesnt know what a MMORPG is and I agree, I think they have no clue what they doing and its all a corperate suckup behind the scenes.

 

This game should have been a home run of epic proportions from day 1.

After the failure of SWG, Star wars fans wanted a home that would last.

The writing was on the wall for this game to do amazingly well in grand fashion.

 

And as a MMORPG it simply doesnt deliver and to be honest, many of the issues I sent feedback to them in beta forwarning them about. These were obvious problems to anyone with MMORPG experience.

 

I love this game, but not as a MMORPG.

 

Personally I want Bioware to go full mulyplayer now and give me that 2nd companion to travel with solo.

 

I personally have stopped trying now to build a community in game as the game just doesnt support it or promote it.

 

I treat this game like a multiplayer game, I log on, talk to friends, group with friends, and there may as well be no one else in game for how often you see any sort of chatter on general or in groups when playing.

 

This just didnt deliver the experience desired from the opening day and now there is simply to much missing to patch it up quick enough.

 

Seriously, someone explain to me how a MMORPG based on KotOR launchs with out Paazaak and Swoop Racing? I suck at swoop racing but thats not the point, how does this franchise launch with out it?

 

And yet here we are 2 months after release and we still dont have it despite them saying in beta they were working on it.

 

I mean thats a no brainer.

RVR? You working with Mythic for crying out loud, how do you not put DAoC RVR in this game? One of the first posts in the forum in '08 was about how DAoC RVR fit perfectly into TOR setting and it got a huge favorable responce. So Bioware cant claim it wasnt mentioned in time on this one.

Housing? I really dont get Troin and Bioware and the no housing crap. Its been a well designed and requested staple for so many years now you gotta be pretty arrogent to assume you know better and with out it. (Again, Im not a big house decorator but this isnt about me)

Leveling speed? I loved RIFT conceptually but one of the most common exit complaints going in the first 3 months was game was to simple and easy and thus everyone got bored. So how do you look at that, look at Blizzard who has admitted now if they redo WOW they will make a deeper leveling curve as their players ate up content to fast. How do you see that stuff and still make this game with this leveling speed?

 

I could go on and on but its all the same. Everything points to Bioware heads saying "we know whats best for everyone and dont argue with facts to muddle the issues".

 

Again, I love the new concepts and innovation, those are home runs for me.

Its the established MMORPG mechanics TOR fails on and honestly, I see no indication from Bioware that thats ever going to change. Ever since the EA take over Bioware has been tuning out its established fan base and only listening to the yes men fanbois, and that appears to be happening again here.

 

The problems are fixable of course, im just not convinced it will make a difference now unless it happens tommorrow. Say they fix at the 1 year mark, how many have left by then?

 

Anyways, kinda went on rant but.

Im still playing (though less and less every week it seems).

Ill still stick around for my 6 month sub and after that might even go month to month till ive done everything with my friend.

But I just dont see me staying long term anymore.

And lets be fair, this is a title I came into stating upfront I wanted this to be my home for 3+ years. So not like I entered looking to be disappointed (like some out there). Looking back, I wanted to like this so much I even convinced myself some issues were not issues at the time.

 

Bioware just came up short on the MMORPG part of this game.

 

PS: If and when they go F2P, I will gladly reup and play like a D&D group setting were me and 3 friends log in 2 times a week to run Flash Points and Heroics and what not and maybe even buy some content updates.

[Depredator]

...

 

its too late to write alot more....my biggest complain as an xwing/tie fighter fan....CANT BELIEVE Star Wars MMO in 2012...has this type of space combat to offer...and im sure im not the only one...

 

Heh, yeah. I posted earlier that I hope to see a more "sandboxy" type of feel for the space aspect of the game.

 

The rails mini-game was entertaining for a little while, but it can't compare to free-form spaceship action.

 

Maybe we'll get a "Jump to Lightspeed" expansion. Hope so, anyway.

[Depredator]

Well Longeviety I speak of comes from two things Dep.

 

1) Its not in place at retail launch and it should have been!

Im not talking end game either (though thats easy to fix, just doesnt sound like they plan to, to be honest). Im talking journey upwards. 2 weeks to max for a hardcore player? Thats beyond stupid. It shoudl take the hardest of hardcore player at least 6-8 weeks to max out if they went 24/7 for the 6-8 weeks.

 

When you give away the journey, you put unneeded pressure on the end game and you make the journey meaningless. Of all the games out there, this games journey should not be meaningless. Its the most detailed and thought out journey and then Bioware just allows players to zoom through and forget about it. LOL honestly if I was a writer for TOR, id be insulted my work was treated with such disrespect. No joke.

 

2) You only have 1 chance to make a good first impression. Bioware blew theirs so a good portion of the retail potential longeviety subscribers have left or decideing to leave already and nothing Bioware ever does will get them back to retry. They will move on, find something new to be passionate about, and forget all about TOR. Thats not even a TOR thing, thats just common practice for any product. You need to hook them from the get go.

 

As for the rest

 

As for advancing story when you hit end game, the problem is less then two months after release were talking about end game. We shouldnt be. We should be talking about our anticipation for when we reach end game, how we going play our character, what role he/she will fill. No one but the hardest of hardcore players should be at end game yet.

 

But advanceing story easy, you just write new stand alone chapters that take a player from 50-60, ect.

 

Closing:

 

I think the Star Wars IP (combined with no realistic competition in the MMORPG dept coming out in forseeable future) will artificially lenghten TORs subscription base life but honestly, I think writing on the wall already and nothing can change it now.

 

Bioware could put in all the mechanics that should have been in game at the start (DAoC RVR, Paazaak, swoop Bike Racing, housing, public grouping (ala Rift), slower advancement curves, ect) and it wouldnt change this games out come now as a subscription based game.

 

They lost their window of oppertunity

 

Greg posted that he thinks Bioware simply doesnt know what a MMORPG is and I agree, I think they have no clue what they doing and its all a corperate suckup behind the scenes.

 

This game should have been a home run of epic proportions from day 1.

After the failure of SWG, Star wars fans wanted a home that would last.

The writing was on the wall for this game to do amazingly well in grand fashion.

 

And as a MMORPG it simply doesnt deliver and to be honest, many of the issues I sent feedback to them in beta forwarning them about. These were obvious problems to anyone with MMORPG experience.

 

I love this game, but not as a MMORPG.

 

Personally I want Bioware to go full mulyplayer now and give me that 2nd companion to travel with solo.

 

I personally have stopped trying now to build a community in game as the game just doesnt support it or promote it.

 

I treat this game like a multiplayer game, I log on, talk to friends, group with friends, and there may as well be no one else in game for how often you see any sort of chatter on general or in groups when playing.

 

This just didnt deliver the experience desired from the opening day and now there is simply to much missing to patch it up quick enough.

 

Seriously, someone explain to me how a MMORPG based on KotOR launchs with out Paazaak and Swoop Racing? I suck at swoop racing but thats not the point, how does this franchise launch with out it?

 

And yet here we are 2 months after release and we still dont have it despite them saying in beta they were working on it.

 

I mean thats a no brainer.

RVR? You working with Mythic for crying out loud, how do you not put DAoC RVR in this game? One of the first posts in the forum in '08 was about how DAoC RVR fit perfectly into TOR setting and it got a huge favorable responce. So Bioware cant claim it wasnt mentioned in time on this one.

Housing? I really dont get Troin and Bioware and the no housing crap. Its been a well designed and requested staple for so many years now you gotta be pretty arrogent to assume you know better and with out it. (Again, Im not a big house decorator but this isnt about me)

Leveling speed? I loved RIFT conceptually but one of the most common exit complaints going in the first 3 months was game was to simple and easy and thus everyone got bored. So how do you look at that, look at Blizzard who has admitted now if they redo WOW they will make a deeper leveling curve as their players ate up content to fast. How do you see that stuff and still make this game with this leveling speed?

 

I could go on and on but its all the same. Everything points to Bioware heads saying "we know whats best for everyone and dont argue with facts to muddle the issues".

 

Again, I love the new concepts and innovation, those are home runs for me.

Its the established MMORPG mechanics TOR fails on and honestly, I see no indication from Bioware that thats ever going to change. Ever since the EA take over Bioware has been tuning out its established fan base and only listening to the yes men fanbois, and that appears to be happening again here.

 

The problems are fixable of course, im just not convinced it will make a difference now unless it happens tommorrow. Say they fix at the 1 year mark, how many have left by then?

 

Anyways, kinda went on rant but.

Im still playing (though less and less every week it seems).

Ill still stick around for my 6 month sub and after that might even go month to month till ive done everything with my friend.

But I just dont see me staying long term anymore.

And lets be fair, this is a title I came into stating upfront I wanted this to be my home for 3+ years. So not like I entered looking to be disappointed (like some out there). Looking back, I wanted to like this so much I even convinced myself some issues were not issues at the time.

 

Bioware just came up short on the MMORPG part of this game.

 

PS: If and when they go F2P, I will gladly reup and play like a D&D group setting were me and 3 friends log in 2 times a week to run Flash Points and Heroics and what not and maybe even buy some content updates.

Well, I won't argue with that. There are points that I do disagree with; however, I understand where you're coming from. Your statements seem perfectly reasonable to me.

 

For me, I think that I've put some of my hopes into future expansions. I recognize the power of the "first impression", but I also think that this specific IP will grant some leeway that other games will never have.

 

I don't think it's a terrible game. I am enjoying myself; however, I admit that there are things that must change and/or be improved.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Depredator

[MarcosAguila]

Lets see, speaking very generally.

 

Good stuff:

Game does pretty good with story.

Love the huge worlds.

I like the visuals and scenematics.

Lots of armor variations.

good sized lists of craftables.

Difficulty, easy to moderate but offers hard mode sans companion.

Great game trailors.

Lots of planets

player housing/ship could use more choices.

Group sizes work for the gameplay.

50 complete levels of gameplay

 

Bad stuff:

Game lacks a little on the freedom side.

Lacks in character customization at creation, needs size sliders, more textures, more races, more hair options.

Classes need more flashy, eye catching animations added to abilities. some animations lack flare.

Have never really liked that there are only really 4 classes, mirrored then dressed a little differently. Could use more classes, less trees. should probably condense trees into main classes and roll out at least 2 more classes.

Group sizes need increased by 1 or 2.

Too many restrictions, armor has heavy,medium,light, weapons restricted way too much within classes, not good.

Node gathering sucks and pretty much ruins the crafting experience.

Contrary to what some may say, companions, are never "extensions" of your character. NPC companions are the biggest pile of dung ever pushed on the mmorpg playerbase and not just by Bioware.

Lacks social elements and social gameplay, cantinas are dead, no swoop/pod racing, lacks some social gameplay.

Space combat should be scrapped.

needs 30 more levels added to cap to compete in longrun with other matured mmos.

lacks a crafting dedicated class.

 

That said, im on the fence. Im not complaining just being honest.

Edited February 13, 2012 by MarcosAguila

[badseed]

i think once TOR gives us bigger planets and a reason to go out and fight over the crap on those planets (pvp,gathering, just farming in general , world bosses..etc) we wil be in good shape .

[LordSatoh]

This is just a bad game. It really is.

People that think otherwise are either still on hype mode, love SW or new to MMOs.

[badseed]

This is just a bad game. It really is.

People that think otherwise are either still on hype mode, love SW or new to MMOs.

 

 

people who think people are other wise hype mode still either are Trolls .

[KhealThar]

This game is way, waaaay harder than WoW. You can auto attack your way to level 60 in wow. You never die while leveling because everything does little to no damage.

 

How many times have you seen people asking for help on quests in WoW? How many in swtor ?

 

People die A LOT while questing in SWTOR.

 

I don't think anyone in this thread has played wow in the past 4 years if you think SWTOR is easier.

 

Maybe operations might be easier, but that's just numbers tuning and wow has certainly had it's share of snoozefest raids that could be cleared easily before they even brought in hard modes. (naxx, toc, ICC)