Eurogamer re-reviews SWTOR

[Slowpokeking]

The biggest portion of the game is the leveling experience in story. The story is pretty much entirely a solo experience. Sure, they got some multiplayer components with the flashpoints and end game. Those components dont make it an MMO. Those components make it a single player game with tacked on multiplayer features. Still, multiplayer features dont make it an MMO. You simply cannot partake in someone else story... that makes it single player right there. The multiplayer components is more of an agrivational tack on then a true MMO.

 

Hey guys lets quest together... sure lets go... hold on dudes, I got a story quest to finish up.

 

No, you can take your friends in to your story quest, they will just enter in ghost mode.

[Fornix]

You realize that almost every MMO site has this game ranked poor right? Are we suppose to believe that a few fans have it right and all the review sites as well as 3/4 of the people that tried ToR are wrong? Hey, its ok to like the game but realize that you are a minority and you should be mindful in your slander of people that dont like it. You are no better then they.

 

Actually, most of them have it ranked pretty high on their ratings:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/star-wars-the-old-republic/critic-reviews

 

Additionally, the user meta score has actually slowly been increasing. It used to be on 5.2 roughly a month ago when I last saw it, now it's on 5.7. Guess the blind 10 votes began outvoting the blind 0 votes.

 

Thing is, little of that all matters, as what currently still stands is that even though all the doom & gloom SWTOR remains one of the most actively played MMO's if going by xfire and raptr charts. Added to that, the subscriber count remained stable according to the last financial call, indicating it maintained at well above the half a million mark. So regardless of what some believe, there's still plenty of others who do enjoy it.

 

Similar as to World of Warcraft, millions cry crap, the metacritic user score is a 4.4 for MoP, yet Blizzard is still enjoying their millions running in every month.

[wrmrstacrdwower]

Oh wow, I must have missed where he said that his whole point of reviewing the game was to take a specific look at the F2P model... oh wait... he never said that and you just completely made it up. That entire sentence, the entire point of your post is completely contrived. At no point does he say "I'm looking specifically at f2p to see if it's a more viable product."

 

And IF that IS the case, why does he spend over half the article talking about nothing related to F2P?

 

What's more likely the case is: you don't want to admit that comparing something free to something you pay for is an unfair comparison and things should be compared to like things. When this is done the SWTOR f2p model invariably looks like a much more valuable and viable product, it's only when you compare apples to oranges... compare a free game to one you have to pay $180/yr to play... that SWTORF2P looks like crap.

 

And if you want to draw an accurate comparison to the F2P models of Tera and SWTOR then by all means please do so. But sticking some condescending language in there while moving the goal posts and supplying NO evidence for your side is less of an argument and more of a non-sequiter.

"Now, not even a year later, with the game recently turned free-to-play, going back to explore its worlds feels like archeology. Sometimes palaeontology. And the story that BioWare hoped to tell is unlikely to have a happy ending."

First Paragraph second sentence. Now You may not be literate enough to understand formal writing techniques, whoever, a review or review column is essentially a critical essay written to discuss a specific topic. But this final sentence struck is whats called a Thesis Statement. Its whats used to define the nature and point the writer is making as well as to create the understanding of what the topic is about.

 

Now, the author spends time talking about what SWTOR was at launch in the first body paragraph. Or more precisely what the writers belives was a key issue and launch for SWTOR. And carrying on into the second body paragraph we see the compassion and contrast between the nature of the SWTOR at launch and its rivals in the market. Coupled by a very satirical comment about the true nature of SWTORs story elements.

 

Typically in writing this would be presented as one complete paragraph. However it is the internet and the division of the two ideas present and what they culminate into with the third paragraph are written in a manner that allows for the opposing forms to differentiate and allow for the paragraphs to be separate. And we see the first attention saving picture inserted into the article.

 

Again in the thrid, foruth, and fith paragraphs the author does the standard comparison however this is where we begin to see the authors true voice come through. No longer bound by using whats on the market to compare SWTOR against he shifts to what has been added. The Free-tp-Play elements. highlighted through all three paragraphs in this section culminating with the PoV from the author in the second paragraph to stipulate the opinion of the arcticle and again the Thesis statement, which is then lead into the third and final paragraph in this section. Which in suit with the first section leads into the next and continues to do through the article.

 

And again another attention saving picture is introduced.

 

Now we have a fairly long section of the reviewers article. But again following basic written form it follows the same procedure of comparision, Thesis Statement reinforcement and another satirical comment on the state of the game. And as with the first two sections again a highlight is given to the free-to -play or freemium service of SWTOR. Finally, this section ends with another lead in to the next section and another attention saving picture.

 

The article carries on through the remaining sections following suit of all the rest speaking about the Freemium service, its flaws and faults and ends in the reviewers final opinion of SWTOR.

 

"As a top-tier MMO though, The Old Republic is done. Many games are said to have their day. The Old Republic's initial blaze of glory took that rather more literally than most, and this year's big releases have left it in the dust. Consider it on life support - and not the cool Darth Vader kind. The NHS kind. Surrounded by nurses who won't shut up about BUPA."

 

SO, back to the original point. The reviewer speaks about the value that the F2P model of SWTOR and what it brings to the game. Is it more viable? Does it improve the game?

 

Thank you for reading. This has been a basic English lesson brought to you by SWTOR and EA.

[Soluss]

No, you can take your friends in to your story quest, they will just enter in ghost mode.

 

Yeah, they can come in and watch. Big deal. I want my friends to be able to partake in the story. That would make it multiplayer. Watching someones cut scene is not multiplayer.

[GalaxyStrong]

And with that, any shred of credibility Eurogamer had left, is thrown out of the window. Something you prior rated an 8, which in essence remained the same with several endgame additions and an extended trial for those who do not wish to subscribe, doesn't suddenly become a 4 unless you're completely incompetent as a reviewer. Eurogamer already strongly leaned towards incompetence, and now they've begun making it more obvious apparently.

 

This ^^^^^^ ....... BIG TIME!!!

[Soluss]

Actually, most of them have it ranked pretty high on their ratings:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/star-wars-the-old-republic/critic-reviews

 

Additionally, the user meta score has actually slowly been increasing. It used to be on 5.2 roughly a month ago when I last saw it, now it's on 5.7. Guess the blind 10 votes began outvoting the blind 0 votes.

 

Thing is, little of that all matters, as what currently still stands is that even though all the doom & gloom SWTOR remains one of the most actively played MMO's if going by xfire and raptr charts. Added to that, the subscriber count remained stable according to the last financial call, indicating it maintained at well above the half a million mark. So regardless of what some believe, there's still plenty of others who do enjoy it.

 

Similar as to World of Warcraft, millions cry crap, the metacritic user score is a 4.4 for MoP, yet Blizzard is still enjoying their millions running in every month.

 

Perhaps you should actually read your link. Not only are 90% of those reviews from ****** sources like G4TV, but almost all of them were made either at launch or within the first 2 months. None of that pertains to now.

[Fornix]

Perhaps you should actually read your link. Not only are 90% of those reviews from ****** sources like G4TV, but almost all of them were made either at launch or within the first 2 months. None of that pertains to now.

 

Well duh captain obvious, but with rare exception gaming sites don't change their ratings.

[Soluss]

They can fight in the story for you.

 

So you are asking for something that even WOW could no do? Or can you give me some MMO that could make everybody partake in every story?

 

I think TOR got many problems, but its class story is not something to criticize.

 

You are neglecting my point. My point is that is exactly what makes it feel single player. Would it be so hard for them to have multiplayer story? I dont think so, they do it in Black Talon. They do it in every single heroic quest.

 

This is suppose to be a multiplayer game, not an online single player game.

[Soluss]

Well duh captain obvious, but with rare exception gaming sites don't change their ratings.

 

Really? I think the thread disproves you. Reall gaming sites do re-review games. Especially after a big change. The companies that dont are not real review sites. They are companies like PCGamer and G4TV that are there for money, not for gamers.

[Slowpokeking]

You are neglecting my point. My point is that is exactly what makes it feel single player. Would it be so hard for them to have multiplayer story? I dont think so, they do it in Black Talon. They do it in every single heroic quest.

 

This is suppose to be a multiplayer game, not an online single player game.

Come on, think about it .

 

FP and other planet quests' story pretty much end after 1 quest or at most after the planet. They are not going to affect the consequence of a big long chain, plus the other players got nothing to do with the previous stories you have. It will feel very weird since the other characters either didn't know what happened or they already did this part, nor should those NPC bother to ask them rather than the center of the story, YOU.

 

Such as I already killed Baras as the Emperor's Wrath, then I come to help my friend's SW, if I get involved in the story what should I say, how should the NPC react? It makes no sense at all.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Slowpokeking

[wrmrstacrdwower]

You are neglecting my point. My point is that is exactly what makes it feel single player. Would it be so hard for them to have multiplayer story? I dont think so, they do it in Black Talon. They do it in every single heroic quest.

 

This is suppose to be a multiplayer game, not an online single player game.

The difficulty with that though is designing it in a way that allows for the Star Wars lore to remain intact without adding or creating a new super hero mythos. With the way the Class quests are designed you basically replace the main icon that the specific Class Quest is based on. Essentially making it so that without that single player component Bioware would have no way of creating the Jedi or Sith mythos that determines or makes the player feel empowered. Which ultimately is the biggest flaw in the Class Quest design.

[Slowpokeking]

The difficulty with that though is designing it in a way that allows for the Star Wars lore to remain intact without adding or creating a new super hero mythos. With the way the Class quests are designed you basically replace the main icon that the specific Class Quest is based on. Essentially making it so that without that single player component Bioware would have no way of creating the Jedi or Sith mythos that determines or makes the player feel empowered. Which ultimately is the biggest flaw in the Class Quest design.

 

I didn't play pub but only Sith Inquistor is like that on the Empire side.

[Soluss]

Come on, think about it .

 

FP and other planet quests' story pretty much end after 1 quest or at most after the planet. They are not going to affect the consequence of a big long chain, plus the other players got nothing to do with the previous stories you have. It will feel very weird since the other characters either didn't know what happened or they already did this part, nor should those NPC bother to ask them rather than the center of the story, YOU.

 

Such as I already killed Baras as the Emperor's Wrath, then I come to help my friend's SW, if I get involved in the story what should I say, how should the NPC react? It makes no sense at all.

 

Still neglects my point, which is that it feels like a single player game.

[DarthMaulUK]

The only reason why this scored 8 with Eurogamer and other so called leading gaming sites is because EA purchased huge chunks of advertising space, which in turns increases the score for the game. Throw in EA's pure marketing muscle to a game that simply wont be allowed to have a poor metacritic score then you have our current situation.

 

The game at launch best deserved a 5 and is probably worth a 4 because it is not free to play. Free to play is something like Guild Wars 2, where there are hardly any/if any limitations in playing the actual game.

 

SWTOR could and should have really kicked the MMO genre in to gear but failed with a huge drop in subs in record time and the recent departures of those that lead the failure says it all.

 

Personally, I wish that EA would just stop farting around and turn this free to play with the shop to purchase customisation kits, armour, other goodies instead of having this 3 tier 'have and have nots' system.

[BadOrb]

You are neglecting my point. My point is that is exactly what makes it feel single player. Would it be so hard for them to have multiplayer story? I dont think so, they do it in Black Talon. They do it in every single heroic quest.

 

This is suppose to be a multiplayer game, not an online single player game.

 

The side quests are multi-player , totally and think on this for a moment imagine two jedi knights in a party and two troopers. So they go into the first jedi knights class quests and thus the second jedi knight , after being involved fully with the cut scenes , then has to do it all again and the other jedi also , it wouldn't work. It barely works now when we have to repeat the class story of our group. The same with the two troopers.

 

Really? I think the thread disproves you. Reall gaming sites do re-review games. Especially after a big change. The companies that dont are not real review sites. They are companies like PCGamer and G4TV that are there for money, not for gamers.

 

So you think adding F2P and Preferred changed the subbed game so much ( never mind all the other updates since they reviewed it first ) to warrant it going from 8/10 to 4/10 ? Yeah oooook then. Did he mention mod removal is now about 10% of what it used to be , or the fact subs get 6 quick bars , or the fact we can now get our speeders at level 15, or even that subs now get 500 CC per month to do what they want with. All the FP's and OP's etc etc. no he didn't his review is absolute rubbish and there is no denying it.

 

Cheers,

 

BadOrb.

Edited November 26, 2012 by BadOrb

[Soluss]

The side quests are multi-player , totally and think on this for a moment imagine two jedi knights in a party and two troopers. So they go into the first jedi knights class quests and thus the second jedi knight , after being involved fully with the cut scenes , then has to do it all again and the other jedi also , it wouldn't work. It barely works now when we have to repeat the class story of our group. The same with the two troopers.

 

So you agree, there is a major problem in this design.

 

 

So you think adding F2P and Preferred changed the subbed game so much ( never mind all the other updates since they reviewed it first ) to warrant it going from 8/10 to 4/10 ? Yeah oooook then. Did he mention mod removal is now about 10% of what it used to be , or the fact subs get 6 quick bars , or the fact we can now get our speeders at level 15, or even that subs now get 500 CC per month to do what they want with. All the FP's and OP's etc etc. no he didn't his review is absolute rubbish and there is no denying it.

 

Cheers,

 

BadOrb.

 

No, what I think is after a years time, with every thing that happend from launch.... on top of the illusion and new shiney wearing off after the first month or two... it deserved to be changed.

[Slowpokeking]

So you agree, there is a major problem in this design.

So you want something like text-do it, the story chain are the same for all classes/races?

[Soluss]

Then WOW, the most successful MMO is also like a single player game? You have no conversation, just get the text in vanilla and do it.

 

You are keep saying it's a single game but could not give a better example. The FP and non class story quests have all the conversation, you also said you have to do the class story first before group with others, which is nonsense.

 

You dont need to have conversation in order for an MMO to feel like an MMO. If anything, because of design, the conversations make it feel less like an MMO.

 

When did I say you had to do the class story before grouping with others? Dont put words in my mouth. If you want to argue something then argue it, but dont put words in my mouth.

 

This game encourages you to solo for 50 levels then tells you that you have to group to continue on. Thats just poor design through and through. I dont need to provide examples to what is obvious.

[wrmrstacrdwower]

I didn't play pub but only Sith Inquistor is like that on the Empire side.

I may be mistaken but I beleive the Bounty Hunter, IA and SW all follow a similar template. I really only remember the SW story the most other then the SI, but I know that its Based on Baras. Its not a direct relation to the story as what the SI story presents but it is a similar issue for the SW class. But I actually don't know where the Baras story line ends or begins so .....

Edited November 26, 2012 by wrmrstacrdwower

[Soluss]

So you want something like text-do it, the story chain are the same for all classes/races?

 

No, I wanted an MMO period This is not an MMO, its a single player ME3 with tacked on multiplayer options.

[Angedechu]

As people have brought it foward during the bêta, there was serious concerns about if MMO players actually wanted story. in the way Bioware thought it.

 

Because, if I want story in SW, I can buy books. They tell stories more complex and with better characters and more credible setup. Except if written by Traviss.

[Arkerus]

So you agree, there is a major problem in this design.

 

 

 

 

No, what I think is after a years time, with every thing that happend from launch.... on top of the illusion and new shiney wearing off after the first month or two... it deserved to be changed.

 

Problem is...if you combine all of your statements, you don't even know what you want.

 

What exactly is a strictly multiplayer MMO? We have multiplayer, in many, many aspects of the game. But for efficiency reasons (and story reasons) the level content is mostly single player driven. That's how the product is DESIGNED.

 

If you don't like it, you aren't playing the right thing for you.

 

Heck, even in Firefall...which is supposed to be open world, mass multiplayer...people just run around by themselves looking for something to do.

 

If you don't like the product, go play soemthing else. Its that simple. Don't like chocolate ice cream? Don't eat it.

[Slowpokeking]

You dont need to have conversation in order for an MMO to feel like an MMO. If anything, because of design, the conversations make it feel less like an MMO.

 

Then what's wrong with the class quests? Your teammates can go with you, they can fight the enemy for you. They just can't have any conversation or affect your story.

 

When did I say you had to do the class story before grouping with others? Dont put words in my mouth. If you want to argue something then argue it, but dont put words in my mouth.

 

Hey guys lets quest together... sure lets go... hold on dudes, I got a story quest to finish up.

 

You said this right?

 

This game encourages you to solo for 50 levels then tells you that you have to group to continue on. Thats just poor design through and through. I dont need to provide examples to what is obvious.

 

No, it just let you be able to solo it and with good fun like a single game. Even in WOW vanilla I can pretty much solo the character to 60, that's one of the biggest improvement WOW did to EQ.

[Arkerus]

No, I wanted an MMO period This is not an MMO, its a single player ME3 with tacked on multiplayer options.

 

Which is an MMO. There is no hard definition for what defines an MMO. The only thing that is typically considered is a persistent world in which people interact together. How they do that is defined by the product. There is NO strict definition of an MMO. Holding on to such silly ideas is just....sad.

[Slowpokeking]

As people have brought it foward during the bêta, there was serious concerns about if MMO players actually wanted story. in the way Bioware thought it.

 

Because, if I want story in SW, I can buy books. They tell stories more complex and with better characters and more credible setup. Except if written by Traviss.

 

Well think about it, story is the best part of this game and that's what Bio is the best at. So it's reasonable for them to make it good to get some players' love.

 

It's not like Bio would do better on other things without the story, actually it would only be worse, at least I would not even play one char to 50 without the story.