Will SWTOR be able to compete with upcoming MMOs?

[NSix]

there are people still playing Aion

 

so im not saying SWTOR will become a ghost town. im saying it will be unsuccessful relative to it's ambitions and budget

 

i dont think BW wants this game to just be another mmo, they wanted it to be special and do well above average (which is why I bring up Aion)

[lacoffee]

Tera is garbage but GW II will most likely kill it pretty good. I know I am going GW for the esport aspect and the fact that gw pvp is always competitive.

[dprijadi]

Tera is garbage but GW II will most likely kill it pretty good. I know I am going GW for the esport aspect and the fact that gw pvp is always competitive.

 

for those who want a detailed description on Tera, please read Phandy's detailed review

 

http://keenandgraev.com/forums/index.php?topic=4330.0

 

TLDR Version :

 

I went into the beta with an open mind. I had literally read nothing about the game prior. The only advance knowledge I had was that the combat system was supposed to be “Awesome!!!” so I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, I was utterly bored after the first 10 levels. Between the simple combat system, the non-engaging storyline, repetitive quests and npcs I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’ve done all this before and could not see a reason why I should keep playing the game. In fact, it made me want to play Kingdoms of Amalur more. An MMO making me want to play a RPG? What is going on here?

 

 

FULL Version :

 

I thought I’d post some initial impressions on TERA since I know some on us were interested in it. I didn’t take any screen shots since you can find streams, videos, etc all over the internet.

 

[Disclaimer]

This is my opinion. I realize some people will like features that I don’t. Additionally, thus far I have played to level 10. Please realize that there might be some small errors in here. I was jotting notes as I played but the reality is I still only have 5 hours and 10 levels invested. I do plan on trying to hit the cap (Level 22) before the end of the test.

 

 

Servers came up at 4pm and there was an immediate queue. There were only two PvE servers and one of them was down so everyone was trying to cram on one server. One neat feature that they had is that if you stayed in queue longer then 10 minutes, you got a buff in game that increased your experience by +10% for every minute in the queue. I had a buff of 23 minutes so I would assume I was in the queue that long. Simple, yet eloquent, way of rewarding poor souls trapped in a long line. Why don’t more games do this?

 

 

The character creation was typical for a Korean based game (think Aion). There were 7 playable races: Amani – look like dark elves, Baraka – giant humanoid bears, Castanics – demonish humanoids (have horns), Elins – 12 year old school girls (I’m not kidding), High Elves, Humans and Popori – little animal like midgets. Customization was fairly typical. I think it was fairly normal for a Korean game although for some reason I expected more. I chose a Popori so some of these might be slightly different for other races. You can chose from 20 presets or chose one of 12 options each from: Faces, Tails, Adornments (tattoos, etc), Fine Details, Outfit and Voice. Overall the customization was fine. Nothing earth shattering or innovative but certainly better then we have seen from games like SWTOR or even Aion.

 

TERA Online -- Character Creator

 

There are 8 different classes:

 

Warrior – Evasion Tank / DPS

Lancer – Absorption Tank

Slayer – Burst DPS (Leather Armor)

Berserker – Burst DPS (Metal Armor)

Archer – Ranged Sustained DPS

Sorcerer – Ranged Burst DPS

Priest – Primary Healer

Mystic – Support Healer

 

Clearly the “holy trinity” is alive and well in TERA. For my time in the Beta I chose to be a Sorcerer.

 

Once in game I was greeted by a typical starting area filled with tutorial pop ups and random trolls spamming general chat about random nonsense. I’ll try to break up various gameplay features so this is easier to follow.

 

UI/Controls/Combat

 

The first few minutes in TERA are awkward. The control scheme is completely different then most people are used to. The game does not have auto attack or sticky target. In fact, the mouse is completely disabled as a method to interact with objects. The only time the mouse will become active is when you enter the Menu screens by hitting ESC. Other then that the mouse is used to control the camera angle and hot key attacks. In order to interact with objects you have to press “F”. It takes a few minutes to get used to but is not that hard to adjust to. Those of you who have played Darkfall, the control system is fairly similar.

 

The rest of the UI is very basic. You have hotkey skill slots on the bottom center similar to any other game. These include hotkeys for mouse button 1 & 2 and tab (No tab targeting remember!!!). There is no flash here… just very simplistic. The screen layout is also similar to your average MMO. Character information is in the top left corner including Class, Level, Health, Mana and various group options. The MiniMap (includes mob locations and resource nodes) is found in the top right corner and also has the Battleground queue, Personal Shop and various buffs. The bottom left is where the chat is found and it is very customizable. Actually one of the better chat windows I have seen. Finally there is a map HUD in the middle right that shows your location relative to the rest of the world.

 

This is the best image I could find of the UI/Screen layout:

 

 

 

The combat in this game was one of the main reasons I wanted to try it out. On paper, it was something different for a theme park game and I was hoping it would provide some engaging combat. Having just been playing hours of Kingdoms of Amalur, I thought I had a good idea of how it would play out. To reiterate, the combat system does not have an auto attack or a sticky target. Instead you are given a crosshair similar to an FPS game. When a target is in range of the crosshair, a circle will enclose it advising you that you can hit your target. Sounds great on paper right? Have visions of engaging combat where you are circle strafing your enemies? Unfortunately, this isn’t how it plays out. PvE wise, the npc AI is so bad, that they literally just run at you in a straight line. I never had to adjust my crosshairs at all.

 

Additionally, the game has auto-face. I don’t understand why a game who removed sticky target kept auto-facing in. Even kiting mobs is a snooze fest since you literally just run from the, rotate your camera so the crosshairs target the mob and then activate your ability. To put it in perspective I found the KoA combat to be a lot more fun then TERA. After about 5 levels of this I was completely bored of the combat. Now, having said that, clearly this will be different in PvP with players actively strafing and potentially high level mobs will as well. But PvP is apparently not available until level 40 and I can’t see how I could stay engage in the combat long enough to want to reach it. This was a huge disappointment to me.

 

Questing

 

Questing is an absolute snooze fest. I guess I should have expected this but I was hoping for some more engaging quests that actually drew me into the game. Instead I was met with “go here and collect X twigs” and “go here and kill Y bears”. Ignoring the tutorial quests, the story quests line was completely uninteresting and I found myself confused as to which quest was even for the main story line at points. They were all so basic and barely told anything resembling a story.

 

Another thing that infuriated me was the necessity to constantly send me back to the same areas after I completed a quest. I would go out and kill 10 Deer, come back and turn in the quest, only to be sent back out to kill the same 10 Deer or to gather something in the exact same area. Why couldn't I do them both at the same time? Why do games continue to put in this crap?

 

Once again this is only the starter island. Maybe everything changes once I head out into the “real world”. Personally, I find this unacceptable. If a game is trying to draw players in based on their initial experiences then this stuff doesn’t fly. I highly doubt things suddenly change at higher levels.

 

There are cut scenes at points. However I didn’t find these at all interesting. I felt like I was watching a Japanese movie that was dubbed in English. None of the voices seemed to match the characters that were speaking. It just seemed odd. However this kind of stuff is fluff to me so I didn’t really care too much but I thought I would share.

 

Visuals/Graphics/World Design

 

Visually, the world of TERA is absolutely breathtaking. There was one point where I stood atop a peak and looked out at the horizon and said “wow” aloud. It was gorgeous.

 

The character models are of a personal preference. I dislike the anime-ish theme and I could see myself becoming annoyed with it long term. Specifically with the speech of my character. When the Popori gathered a resource node he would giggle and clap when he finished. Really? I mean, really? However I concede that people do love this kind of stuff so it may be their cup of tea. The models themselves are well done and match the world around them as far as being first class.

 

Combat animations are ok. I expected more over-the-top visuals but they pleasantly surprised me in that they were pretty normal and not overly flamboyant.

 

NPC models are well done. Unfortunately these are rehashed over and over. I would kill a deer in one area, head to the next, only to fight another dear (with a different name!) that was one level higher. I think there were literally 7-8 different models in the whole opening zone.

 

 

Conlusion

 

I went into the beta with an open mind. I had literally read nothing about the game prior. The only advance knowledge I had was that the combat system was supposed to be “Awesome!!!” so I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, I was utterly bored after the first 10 levels. Between the simple combat system, the non-engaging storyline, repetitive quests and npcs I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’ve done all this before and could not see a reason why I should keep playing the game. In fact, it made me want to play Kingdoms of Amalur more. An MMO making me want to play a RPG? What is going on here?

 

Now as I said, I play on playing until level 22. If anything changes I will be the first person to say I was wrong. My initial impressions, however, are not very good.

 

 

ADDITIONAL REVIEW (After hitting lv22)

 

Some further thoughts now that I have hit level 20.

 

The questing is still completely boring. The same issues I mentioned above still plague the quests after the newbie zone. Lots more of “kill x creature” and “gather x items”.

 

As far as the combat goes, I am beginning to see the potential in the system. Unfortunately the mobs AI is still so poor that it rarely makes a difference. I have found 3 mobs that actively dodge in a way that makes me react. Other mobs dodge as well, but not in a noticeable manner that makes me have to constantly adjust my target. Additionally, the game has become an absolute AoE spamfest for my class. It hardly matters where I target when I have such a large margin of error while casting AoEs. If only the mobs had decent AIs… the system could be so much fun.

 

The inventory system kind of sucks. It is fairly similar to Aion. One pet peeve is that quest items going into your normal inventory space. Pretty annoying at low levels when bag space is still limited. I got used to these items having their own inventory system like in SWTOR.

 

The game has a weird campfire/stamina system. You have a stamina bar that signifies what % of stamina you are at (0-120%). You get a buff to your HP & MP when you are over your normal Stamina range and get a penalty when you are bellow. I’m not sure of the exact ranges but you always want to stay above 100%, When you fight mobs, your stamina drains. If it gets low, you need to go to a campfire found in the world and let it regenerate (you can also use a Pot). When you are by the fire and at or above 100% stamina, you can use these buff scrolls to get you increased attributes. I am not sure what to make of the system other then that it has been barely relevant so far.

 

You receive a free mount at level 11 which is nice. Low level traveling is also so bad.

 

Resource gathering is much the same as was found in Aion. You have a chance to fail while gathering a resource (annoying) but get experience when you are successful (bonus!).

 

The game world continues to really impress me. The capital city was breathtaking.

Edited March 19, 2012 by dprijadi

[defiantlegacy]

GW1 is the worst MMO that I have ever played

 

It should be illegal to post such ridiculous garbage

[defiantlegacy]

Tera is garbage but GW II will most likely kill it pretty good. I know I am going GW for the esport aspect and the fact that gw pvp is always competitive.

 

More importantly, the GW2 team actually know what they're doing.

Thats a major advantage over this dev team before they even start coding

[stineo]

see, there arent any orc's in tera, you guys haven't even given it a look over.. and its not a korean grind fest.. most of their mmo's are, but this isnt the case.

 

Killing pandas and cutesy mobs with anime style toons in mini-shirts is a grind-fest for me. Aion and Final Fastasy online made sure I would NEVER waste my money on any game that is from Asia. Especially when it's developed and patched outside of the US.

[Reico]

More importantly, the GW2 team actually know what they're doing.

Thats a major advantage over this dev team before they even start coding

 

It should be illegal to post such ridiculous garbage

 

 

I agree.

[stineo]

I signed up for that beta and eager to try it. Althought IMO tera is the best MMO i've played to date, but I can't say too much because I haven't played that much, but in that time frame its pretty good. I'll try anything, I just want to find an mmo that I can grow with and enjoy. I'm tired of hanging around the imperial fleet waiting for tuesday to roll around so i can raid. I'm not an altoholic, the story isnt that engaging and the characters are unique.. everyone is a carbon copy and all humanoid looking just to please their game engine that isn't very forgiving.

 

Tera is best MMO to date yet you are trolling on the SWTOR forums. Tera must really be that good for you eh? I know if I were enjoying another MMO, I would never waste my time trolling on another MMO's forum.

 

 

Surprise this thread has not been closed yet, as it's seems pretty obvious your purpose of this thread is just to promote your current "FoTM" MMO.

[ConradLionhart]

I'm not sure how other MMOs can have more content than SW:TOR at launch that will keep people playing.

 

The dynamic events in Rift were a nice novelty, but it didn't keep people playing. No matter how dynamic they are, in the end once done enough times, won't it feel the the same?

[Nitewolfe]

Tera is best MMO to date yet you are trolling on the SWTOR forums. Tera must really be that good for you eh? I know if I were enjoying another MMO, I would never waste my time trolling on another MMO's forum.

 

 

Surprise this thread has not been closed yet, as it's seems pretty obvious your purpose of this thread is just to promote your current "FoTM" MMO.

 

 

Tera doesnt have a chance in hades to make it big here in the states.

Lack of hard targeting (actually being able to target some thing) along with the only way to play being keybinds (clicking abilities is impossible) will insure it stays a niche market game.

[Romiz]

Looked at the new MMOs set to release in 2012 and none are killers.

[Bobinator]

TERAdrones are pretty much kids that dont know that TERA already bombed in Asia...and had to be dumbed down for them to play it and not throw a fit.

 

 

Yea...no its a korean grindfest mmo...you're only playing it for the females in less armor than a frying pan...or you pedophiles drooling over Elin.

[Phenyr]

More importantly, the GW2 team actually know what they're doing.

Thats a major advantage over this dev team before they even start coding

 

Dont get me wrong but same thing its keep happeing all over again with every new mmorpg which were release in a WoW post era. They got hyped too much by some players and same players that hype those on different forums of other mmorpg bash the game in the end.

 

Aion, Rift, Swtor just few names or at least the bigest names. Never been on Rift or Aion forums but I can get the picture, pretty much like here.

 

These players that migrate between each new release mmorpg and keep hyping the 'comming soon' ones and then bash them, dont know doesnt look right to me.

 

Swtor isnt a bad or good game, I myself im a bit bored and have my things that I dont like about it but maybe im not that that picky.

[noodlehaus]

NDA has been lifted on the pandas. Looks promising. So...

 

SWTOR

 

vs

 

MoP

GW2

D3

[AJediKnight]

NDA has been lifted on the pandas. Looks promising. So...

 

SWTOR

 

vs

 

MoP

GW2

D3

 

MoP is going to be the dagger for TOR. You can make fun of the Pandas all you want (why does it not bother people that the folks in WoW were already playing as anthropomorphic cows, wolves and goats? o.O), but that game is like a swiss watch compared to TOR's knockoff, Manhattan street vendor's $5 Timex.

[flyersfan]

SW:TOR is made by BioWare and has lightsabres. It is my first MMO for this reason. SW:TOR has my money until a Mass Effect MMO comes out and ruins ME for me where SW:TOR ruined KotOR.

[Mezla]

Better question is: Will upcoming MMOs be able to compete with SWTOR?

[Tyranoc]

I've beta tested Secret World and it's still under NDA but I can say it has a LOT of work left to do on it. Certainly has promise but I do think it's only going to have a niche market due to it's unconventional design. Sort of like Age Of Conan was really.

 

TERA did not seem like a grind fest at all to me and I've played AION, which cetainly was. It's the least grind orientated Korean MMO I've played actually. I think it's merely the perception of such Korean games that all now get labelled as being 'grindy'.

 

Really?

 

Im disapointed to hear that The Secret World is a bit disapointing. I have been waiting for it for so very long

[AJediKnight]

Better question is: Will upcoming MMOs be able to compete with SWTOR?

 

Really? Really?

 

Is that really the 'better question?'

[Darka]

GW2 Devs will be ripped to shreds like any other MMO Dev. They will be painted as Kitten Punching Nazi loving fools who have no idea what they are doing.

[flyersfan]

Really? Really?

 

Is that really the 'better question?'

 

After careful analysis and a few experiments in the lab, I'd say yes. It is, in fact, the "better question."

[ademnus]

Will swtor lose alot of player base to mmo's that are coming out soon, TERA may 1st, and GW2 around dec? After playing TERA over beta weekend it seems like a very developed and quality MMO that has all the things an MMO'ers heart can desire. These mmo's didn't give the excuses that they are a new MMO and need to develop after launch.. they are delivering everything we expect in a modern day MMO on release.. How will swtor hold up to the competition is the question?

 

I'm not seeing any interesting upcoming MMos.

Edited March 19, 2012 by ademnus

[ademnus]

Really? Really?

 

Is that really the 'better question?'

 

yes really that is really the better question. really.

 

Hope that cleared up your confusion.

[ZORG]

Tera is a grind fest, boring, and korean made...enough said. GW2 doesn't appeal to me at all, neither did WoW...guess I can picture myself holding a lightsaber better than being some ugly orc.

 

South Korean or North? I wouldnt give money to a country who is bent on KILLING us.

[WayCoolJr]

First off I'm not a Swtor fanboy,But I do think that Swtor will stay competitive for a long time to come.Swtor is a great game for the laid back casual players and first time Mmo players.With that said,I also believe that it will eventually go without subscriptions to stay competitive in this market.

 

Now let's look at ArenaNet

 

Gw2 is a completely different beast.It's main focus is on competitive PvP/E-Sports/WvW with Questing,Dungeons,Exploration and Crafting there just to fill in your play time.

ArenaNet has stated that they are looking in to broadcasting tools like spectator mod and matchmaking for tournaments.This can be interpreted that they are looking at what's going on in Europe and Asia with titles like League of Legends and StarCraft.

 

Conclusion

 

Anybody who thinks that Gw2 will kill off Swtor/WoW is kidding himself(And I'm a Gw2 fanboy).Gw2 has no big raiding/end game content at all(believe it or not people do like to raid).There will be a drop of player at first but the pve/raiders will come back to Swtor.

 

So good luck and have fun:)