Player Review: Now That "The Shiny" has Worn Off

[DarkoDon]

No, WoW is pretty much the # 1 mmo. EVERY mmo now a days rips most of it's design right from WoW. From the UI, to the in game interface, to the arbitrary token systems and dailies.

 

Was WoW the first MMO? No. But it WAS the first CASUAL mmo, which is what pretty much every MMO since WoW has been.

 

Go back to your old days of AC, EQ, DAoC and you won't find **** like an ingame map, giant !/?'s ovre quest givers heads, useful tooltips, etc etc. WoW pioneered the MMO scene and anyone who thinks otherwise is completely and totally clueless.

 

Not to get it twisted, I'm not saying WoW started MMO's or WoW is the grandfather of MMO's. I'm saying that while WoW took from a ******** of MMO's and their other Blizzard games and built upon it, MMO's now a days take WoW and reskin it to their liking with 1 or 2 "defining" features for the game. SW:TOR is different in that it reskinned WoW and added 5 or 6 "defining" features for the game. Which was basically just mash KOTOR, ME and WoW together.

 

 

How can opinion be wrong. Also, your post is so adhd, it's hard to understand what your saying. You literally went against your own words three times in your rambling.

 

Also, WoW is nowhere near an mmo pioneer. Though, you did say it was, then corrected yourself, then said it again. I'm confused....

 

Again, saying any of the games are #1 is only an opinion, which was my point. Just cause you feel it's #1, doesn't make it so.

 

Want to post a fact? ....then say it's #1 in paying subs. Atleast for it's genre.

[Cameirus]

If you think WoW is #1, your sadly mistaken. Not sure what you take into account as making a mmo better than the next. WoW might have more subs, but other games have better gameplay, or better communities, or be f2p and have waaaaay more people playing it than WoW ever had. There is no #1 mmo, it's all opinion based.

 

Understand that.

 

popularity is the only thing that matters. you can make the best game ever but if no one plays it who cares?

 

Better gameplay is subjective, better community is subjective, better XYZ is subjective. The only true hard fact you can use to measure sucess is sub numbers, and if you think BW or their shareholders give a flying **** about anything else, wake up and join us in the real world.

[Darka]

Some people like it, some people don't.

 

We've established this.

 

Yet people dont understand it, or accept the fact that they are the ones that dont like it

[Ituhata]

A very decent review. One of the few I could bother to read as it wasn't shrouded in paragraphs of nerd rage.

 

Personally, even though the outcome of the quests don't change much, I can see myself going back to even play the same class again to try different responses. Its enough for me to know my character is a different person based on how he or she chooses to respond to situations. I feel this game will have plenty of replay value for me until Bioware can reinforce it with the first big patch.

[drakefist]

Thanks for giving your input, but you unfortunately invalidated it all with this statement. You're expecting a brand new MMO (not even actually a week old yet as far as official release is concerned) from people who are doing an MMO for the first time to have the gameplay or UI customization of games that have been out for years. It's sort of like getting upset at a kindergartner's first drawing because it wasn't of the same quality as comic book artist Stjepan Sejic.

 

The goal here was to get a playable game out, not hold on to it for so long that it becomes vaporware just because they wanted to be competitive with the masters of the genre right out of the box. The key to an MMO is longevity, not a huge initial flash followed by apathy. From BioWare's perspective, they want people continuing to come into this game, they don't just want it to dwindle to the crowd who are playing because it's the only Star Wars MMO available right now.

 

With their press release on the front page, I'd say they're well on their way to that goal.

 

I have every confidence that a lot of things people are asking for will eventually be implemented, but development resources for any game design studio are limited, and have to be prioritized. Right now I'd rather see their priorities going to regularly updating content, fixing a few graphical glitches (I'm tired of seeing the back of my Marauder glow green long after Quinn is done healing me), and adjusting some classes (casters are quite powerful, but Jedi Sentinels/Sith Marauders are leaving a lot to be desired in output even for just baseline questing once you're approaching 30).

 

Once those things are taken care of, I have no personal issue if they want to give us a customizable UI (within reason; keep in mind that LucasArts gets a say in this game, and aesthetics are really important to George to maintain that "Star Wars feel") or even a group finding tool (though I hope it stays same-realm and doesn't go cross-realm, so people at least attempt to behave to avoid getting blacklisted on their server).

 

I've got a fairly powerful machine that can handle much more detailed graphics than this game presents, but it doesn't mean I want a graphical upgrade. For those who prioritize graphics, there are plenty of games out there: Aion or Age of Conan if you want MMOs, or Skyrim if you want single player. But I recognize that you can sidestep having cutting-edge graphics by having stylized graphics, and you then let more people play your game, which results in more revenue, which results in more resources for improving the game. I realize the people running with 32 GB of RAM, a quad-core processor with a fan large enough to propel an airplane and bridged 2 GB video cards want a lot from their games. It doesn't mean that every game coming out has to cater to them. If it did, the video game industry would collapse under the weight of no sales to justify high costs: they'd be a niche industry for the people who chose to spend $3,000 on the kinds of computers that Pixar uses to render their movies.

 

Great if you can afford those machines, but the players who can't also want to play The Old Republic, and BioWare was smart to think of those people too. At the end of the day, for all the people complaining that TOR "wasn't ready for launch" or that BioWare should have "done <insert thing here> to be competitive", I say this: found your own game design studio, design your own game (if you can get the funding), and make the game the way you think it can be made.

 

For those who are able, I congratulate them. The majority of players posting complaints on these forums and sounding like petulant 12 year-olds, however, aren't capable of that. We're end users, and there's nothing wrong with that until we start thinking that designing from the end user perspective instead of designing to define the end user perspective is a valid design process.

 

Great read! You hit the nail on the button. It's funny how the OP bashing is basically every last MMO that has come out. I for one love SWTOR and love the story driven quest. Haters gonna hate!

[DarkoDon]

popularity is the only thing that matters. you can make the best game ever but if no one plays it who cares?

 

Better gameplay is subjective, better community is subjective, better XYZ is subjective. The only true hard fact you can use to measure sucess is sub numbers, and if you think BW or their shareholders give a flying **** about anything else, wake up and join us in the real world.

 

Again, measure of success is only in the eye of the beholder. You want lots o money and you get it, you would be considered successful. You want lots of players and get em, successful and so on and so on.

 

And to say that WoW is the most popular mmo is pure wrong. There are games out there that have more people playing it than WoW does. WoW just charges monthly.

 

I'll post another fact....WoW is NOT the most popular mmo.

[Cavadus]

OP forgot to mention the absolute joke BioWare calls "space combat" and the complete lack of "soul" in the game.

 

I knew things in TOR were going to be merely "meh" when I never saw a single animated walker on Ord Mantell; just static models that do nothing.

[SnoggyMack]

Its your standard MMO affair.

 

This is what I don't get. You beta tested the game for four months, knowing that it was like this, and knowing that the game was being billed as an MMORPG.

 

Why did you buy the game after finding out it wasn't going to be anything like the kind of game you wanted to play?

 

What was the point?

[justdodd]

...for $100,000,000+ dollars that has been spent on this game...

 

I wish you had put this at the very front of your post so I could have stopped reading there.

[zepfya]

The graphics are only simplified because your computer is bad, the graphics maxed out look amazing for me.

[Vaegaknight]

Best graphics in an MMO yet? Guild Wars 2

 

Good (hopefully excellent on release) gameplay and extremely innovative combat (can block, dodge, combine with other classes for additional affect or even enviroment elements)? Guild Wars 2

 

Decent UI on release? Guild Wars 2

 

Comlete innovation in PvE enviroment (voice acted, no text AND no collect 5 quests, 1500+ quests of full player interaction with enviroment and other players)? Guild Wars 2

 

Epic WvWvW PvP and a real competitive arena PvP too? Guild Wars 2

 

 

 

What's the problem, OP?

 

Are you from the future?

[Meharial]

The graphics are only simplified because your computer is bad, the graphics maxed out look amazing for me.

 

I guess they would look amazing if you are either deliberating ignoring or just not paying attention to the low res textures and blobby shadows.

[owenthorn]

Again, measure of success is only in the eye of the beholder. You want lots o money and you get it, you would be considered successful. You want lots of players and get em, successful and so on and so on.

 

And to say that WoW is the most popular mmo is pure wrong. There are games out there that have more people playing it than WoW does. WoW just charges monthly.

 

I'll post another fact....WoW is NOT the most popular mmo.

 

 

soo wrong not even funny, over 10 million subs and makeing over 120 million A MONTH, completely says your an idiot, wow IS THE NUMBER 1 MMO, accept it and move on, not talking games, talking MMO'S you know this game....

 

more people play solitary, does that mean solitary is a better game than wow or swtor?????.....logic is lacking, the fail is great with this one.....

[owenthorn]

The graphics are only simplified because your computer is bad, the graphics maxed out look amazing for me.

 

I guess you dont visit the CS forums, the graphic options are bugged HIGH isnt a real option right now, there seem to be no high res textures in the game working, seems we stuck at medium-low levels......

[DarkSeverance]

There are only 4 body types for men, and they are each varying degrees of awful to meh. Theres Shape 1, which is Justin Beiber (and what is used for "kids") Shape 2 which is your average Bruce Lee build, theres Shape 3 which is Big Mc Large Huge and Shape 4 which is Lord Lard ***. Shape 4 is absolutely awful, and for Sith Warriors, is the shape of your Master, which, if you look at his Wiki, is not how he should look at all. It makes no sense.

As opposed to what? WoW where everyone has 1 body type, 6 choices for hair, 6 choices for color and a beard or jewelry option.

 

It seems to me that with Body Type 1 alone I have 40+ different combinations when you add in hair styles, cybernetics/tattoos/jewelry (racial), hair colors, eye colors, scars, complexion, skin color, heads. Now we got o Body Type 2, another 40+ different combinations and the same is for Body Type 3 or 4. You may not like Body Type 4 but some people do. I don't but there are some people that do.

 

it does not come close to the graphics of AOC

Really? So the graphics don't come close to AOC. You mean this:

http://l3cdn.funcom.com/aoc/screenshots/conan4-800x600.jpg

 

is better than:

http://cdn-www.swtor.com//sites/all/files/en/inhabitants/Rattataki/ss57/ss_rattataki3_full.jpg

 

Or that these are better:

http://www.shiftx3.com/showthread.php?81-SWTOR-Graphics-Comparisons

[Proto]

This is what I don't get. You beta tested the game for four months, knowing that it was like this, and knowing that the game was being billed as an MMORPG.

 

Why did you buy the game after finding out it wasn't going to be anything like the kind of game you wanted to play?

 

What was the point?

 

Simple, because I knew that for the 2 weeks prior to launch they were shutting the beta servers down to do massive work on finishing touches. I also knew that in betas you are usually 1 or 2 builds behind production. I had greatly hoped that two things would occur within the first 30 days of release:

 

1) We would see major changes from the last beta build to release (we did, some good, some bad).

 

2) We would at least hear about some really "concrete" things that would be coming in the pipeline in regards to patches / updates. All we got was fuzzy-math.

 

I haven't seen this yet. The patch notes I saw recently from BioWare would make the work-a-holic devs at Trion Worlds roll over in Rift's grave at how abominable and disconnected they are in relation to what the players are screaming to get fixed. *Special characters no longer display incorrectly in the French credits.* Just one of the many nonsensical changes in our 1.0.1 patch on Testlive.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Proto

[Kentpet]

Really? So the graphics don't come close to AOC. You mean this:

http://l3cdn.funcom.com/aoc/screenshots/conan4-800x600.jpg

 

is better than:

http://cdn-www.swtor.com//sites/all/files/en/inhabitants/Rattataki/ss57/ss_rattataki3_full.jpg

 

Or that these are better:

http://www.shiftx3.com/showthread.php?81-SWTOR-Graphics-Comparisons

 

 

You mean this :

 

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5995/razielpicture003.png

 

Looks worse than

 

http://i.imgur.com/pS5Gc.jpg

 

You might want to visit an optician, don't want your sight to get any worse.

 

Also next time if you're going to be biased, at least do it right. You did a good job with comparing tor to WoW which was completely irrelevant to the whole AoC vs tor argument, but you might want to get different screens next time.

[DarkSeverance]

Looks worse than

http://i.imgur.com/pS5Gc.jpg.

Um that sure doesn't look like the SWtOR that I play at all... unless your playing with all the graphic options on low or something.

[Kentpet]

Um that sure doesn't look like the SWtOR that I play at all... unless your playing with all the graphic options on low or something.

 

http://l3cdn.funcom.com/aoc/screenshots/conan4-800x600.jpg

 

And this sure as hell doesn't look like the AoC I've played. Unless you play it on lowest settings on a CRT monitor in the year 2007 when it was in alpha.

 

You're pretty oblivious to what I'm trying to say so I'll stop now. Don't want to derail anymore.

[Nemmar]

This review is a joke. It resembles in everything what haters been saying ever since the open beta weekend. I think the "shiny" never came to you OP.

 

Stop focusing on the flaws that arent there and try to play a game without having to think how every little detail that isnt in your perfect dream game classifies this one as bad.

 

Try enjoying it. We dont need your "infinite wisdom" to tell us if the game is bad. The fact is it isnt. Its fun, enjoyable and a great experience. If you actually try to enjoy it, you might find yourself having fun.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Nemmar

[DarkSeverance]

And this sure as hell doesn't look like the AoC I've played. Unless you play it on lowest settings on a CRT monitor in the year 2007 when it was in alpha.

The screenshots was from their websites.

[wifeaggro]

Simple, because I knew that for the 2 weeks prior to launch they were shutting the beta servers down to do massive work on finishing touches. I also knew that in betas you are usually 1 or 2 builds behind production. I had greatly hoped that two things would occur within the first 30 days of release:

 

1) We would see major changes from the last beta build to release (we did, some good, some bad).

 

2) We would at least hear about some really "concrete" things that would be coming in the pipeline in regards to patches / updates. All we got was fuzzy-math.

 

I haven't seen this yet. The patch notes I saw recently from BioWare would make the work-a-holic devs at Trion Worlds roll over in Rift's grave at how abominable and disconnected they are in relation to what the players are screaming to get fixed. *Special characters no longer display incorrectly in the French credits.* Just one of the many nonsensical changes in our 1.0.1 patch on Testlive.

 

I do agree on one point though your making trion is probably the only devolper BW should consider emulating at this point. That game has had the most vigorous patch cycles and content up dates in 9 months then most games do in a year and a half. Rift is a top shelf MMO , that game is definately wortt 15 bucks a month. What im curious to see is if bioware can match them. Scott hartsman is an absloute genoious in game planning and devolpment if they want to emulate anyone it should be them.

[TheWounded]

"I understand that many will not like this review but you need to look at this without being subjective. I'm saying that for $100,000,000+ dollars that has been spent on this game it does not come close to the graphics of AOC, the gameplay of WOW, the UI of RIFT, the customization of WOWs UI, the innovation of EVE, the PVP of Shadowbane or DAOC, and the story of LOTRO."

 

 

Hmmm i would have accepted your opinion to that point, but with that paragraph you lost any credit.

 

You can not cherry pick parts of your favourite games and decide this game is a failure because it foesnt fit your dream game requirement list.

 

The game has its flaws but the good far outweights the bad.

 

To the person that wants SWG back....seriously? ...

 

I'd take SWG back if they went pre CU/NGE. I just love games where you gotta figure out things yourself and are sandboxes.

 

Doesnt mean I dont like this game, its fun but its all linear and bound by rules/area limits

 

(And i miss having a house where you can put furniture and guns on the wall etc.)

 

I can agree to some of the OP's points but yeah its new could get a lot better still

[Lancs]

I will say the graphics in this game are 150% better than AoC. AoC was a piece of s*** game.

 

Even to this day I still think the graphics in AOC are beautiful. Beautiful scenery, attention to detail, etc.

 

No MMORPG has come close in my eyes.

[Rethan]

Graphics are something that can't be compared with simple pictures.

 

Single player games and MMO's also cannot be compared, because Skyrim cannot be ran as MMO. Such amount of rendering performed for 100 points of view, registering constant movement and actions in that particular area, just will not work.

 

Wow has rather simplified, drawn graphics and textures. Some say it's simple, but even the toughest machines are kicked in the groins and have their performance dropped like a rock in crowded, open and large city. Looks do not equal performance.

 

Graphics and amount of rendering needs to be at level that can satisfy consumer machines, and have potential for large amounts of players involved in heavy activity and action at the same area. That is what MMO must aim for.

 

Swtor has amazing views and environments. AoC, Wow - you can't compare these. They have their own style. Modern SWTOR has loads of lightning, effects and structural details that are a must. WoW nor AoC have no such things. Go look around Coruscant or even the starting planets of SWTOR. The Skybox and vivid lightning, envinroment and overal graphical style and magnitude cannot be compared. Characters and such are more simpler, for the reason to make it playable and yet have uniquely pleasing looks. Textures are also something that can be worked on, and highres textures and settings are being worked on, that is quite obvious.

 

Point being, graphics never make the game. They are essential element in complimenting it's features. Give feedback, report bugs and suggest improvements. This game has had both bigger, better and smoother launch than WoW ever had, since people are so keen to compare. AoC was horrible in the first months. There is no program or game that does not have bugs, and SWTOR has fairly few that truly would bother the gaming.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Rethan