-My- own problems with the game.

[RSCNyx]

I'm a 3 year vet on WoW, and I'm still subbed to that and am playing this at the same time. It's impossible, I know.

 

Anyway, [FANBOY SHIELD ACTIVE DISCLAIMER] I enjoy this game. I feel that it's a Mass Effect Online with Star Wars tagged on, but since I love Mass Effect, that's fine with me. I'm enjoying the stories and the fact that I have to play with other people in order to get anywhere in the game at points. [FANBOY SHIELD REMAINS IN EFFECT BUT DISCLAIMER ENDS]

 

I don't think the shield will work. Worth a shot.

 

Now, just for Bioware's own benefit, I'm going to list the biggest problem I've ran into thus far.

 

Really, the only problem I have is THE USER INTERFACE. It is BAD. It is clunky and awkward and urrrghhh. And, sadly, this is an important part of an MMO. If the UI is clunky, then many other actions become clunky as well.

 

Why is it bad? First, it just feels non-responsive at points. I tell the game to do something from the UI, and it just won't do it. Yes, I'd love to move that ability to that point. So I click on it, drag it across, try to place it down, and...it won't do it.

 

Few more clicks, and SLIGHTLY better positioning, and it works. I liked it better in WoW where you just had to drag an ability into a specific area, bam. It's done, and the detection is extremely friendly on where you put the ability.

 

Second, it's buggy. I drag my Biochem, Bioanalysis, and Diplomacy icons out from the Crew Menu to my side bar for convinience. Randomly, and I have no idea why, the icons disappear. I don't know how, I don't know why, and it's annoying as all getout.

 

Third, the positioning of the extra action bars, and their size. WoW has five action bars total: The main one that's always on screen, one above the bottom-left of the HUD, another one to the bottom-right, and two to the right of the screen. Seeing how the bars are closer to the screen where one will look, it makes it easier to judge when something is not on cooldown and is ready for use.

 

TOR, however, throws only two extra bars at you, for three total. One to the left of the screen, high above the bottom of the HUD as possible, and one to the right in the same position. Why? It's so out of the way and I have to look away from my main abilities to see if anything else of use is off of cooldown.

 

And, while I'm not 50 yet, I don't know if I'll get enough abilities to fill up both of those bars, but I have a feeling there will be, and I will be STRESSING for room.

 

Fourth: The UI in battle. It's the worst. First, there's no threat meters, or any accurate way to judge threat. Either they're hitting you, or they're not. This is a problem, because as a tank class, if you can't tell if you have threat or not, you're not going to be able to respond in time to taunt something off a healer.

 

Target markers are small, translucent, and usually ignored by parties I've been in thus far. This can pose for huge problems if things in the game get to the point where CC must be used.

 

And finally, some of the shopping interfaces. The lack of a confirmation when buying things with Commendations or anything of importance is a HUGE setback. This means you could accidently buy the wrong thing, and you're stuffed. You can only resell that item for credits.

 

The skill menus, too, could use some work. I'll be damned if I know if I'll get a skill-up crafting something or not.

 

I've only heard stories of the legendary Auction House interface. I haven't encountered it yet, but I'm not really looking forward to it.

 

Other than that, I find the game pretty fun. None of the quests really feel tedious (unless you're going for Bonuses, which have you fight 90% of the world's population, and then a mini-boss/boss), there's many ways to quickly get around, the communication and social options are fun to go through with other people...I haven't tried PvP yet, but I'll get back to you on that one.

 

However, the fact that the UI is such garbage REALLLY makes me wince. It makes me feel like I'm fighting with it at points, and losing. Why wasn't this brought up by the beta testers?

 

That's really all I got. Just the UI. Sadly, it's an important part. Maybe more issues will arise, but overall, as I said, I enjoy the game.

 

Thank you for reading through the wall o' text, Bioware, and the community of TOR.

Edited December 24, 2011 by RSCNyx

[Shadysketchy]

A valid list of complaints, that will unfortunately be met with mostly something resembling:

 

"Go back to WoW, if you want a fun, functional game"

Edited December 24, 2011 by Shadysketchy