SWTOR in the Life of a Casual

[ChristienB]

What a great thread to come across today! Such a change from the doom and gloom, and seeing so many people who play the way I tend to. And, another Shadowlander here, so hello to all!!

 

I tend to be that solo person too. I have been lurking around since the beta weekends, taken a break for several months a few years back, but always find my way back here. SWTOR just seems to be my gaming home. I have gone through phases of wanting group content, joined some guilds when I was in that mood, given it a shot, and just found that I always seem to be the one holding people up since, like others here, I like to take in the scenery so to speak, and that first "HIT THE SPACE BAR" instantly turns me off.

 

I have done KOTFE a few times, and KOTET on 2. I love both stories, but since it's no longer all separate class missions, I just can't bring myself to do it over, and over again, back-to-back all at once. I WILL bring all my alts through it at some point, but with breaks going back to the original game and story lines.

 

Anyway, my point in posting, a friend and I have a guild on Shadowlands that is just the two of us. It's there just to park our alts in, get a little XP bonus, and have the guild bank. I know, we are HARDCORE! LOL If anyone would like to join just to have a spot, there no requirements, and never will be. Well, I take that back, there will always be one requirement: Be nice to each other. We are Mischief and Mayhem on Pub side and More Mischief and Mayhem on the Imp side. I do not post here to recruit to grow the guild, it's just been us (with 2 friend's alts) for a very long time. But, to offer fellow casuals and slow-buffers a place if you'd like it.

 

What I tend to do, when I hit the mood for group content is move 1 character into a guild just for that purpose, leaving the bulk of my toons in the quiet guild.

 

Anyway, thanks for a thread that made me smile today! Enjoy gaming on!

[ChristienB]

Have any of you solo players run in Galactic Starfighter's missions? I actually haven't. I've done the very first of the space missions that we access aboard our ship, and I'll admit that on my three-monitor setup, it was immersive! I never did more than those two, though, so I'm not sure how the rest compare.

 

Oh, someone mentioned immersion as part of their SWTOR experience, and I'm with them.

 

Tossing out there one long-awaited treat: If I could get anything, it'd be day and night cycles on the various planets. I enjoyed that element in my WOW days, for sure. Improved environmental conditions would be nice in this same regard, actually. Rain, snow, that sort of thing wouldn't go unappreciated by me.

 

But to get around on some of those planets after nightfall? That'd be great!

 

I loaded into it once, but I am not sure I even finished. I may give it another go, but at the time it was very jarring the difference between the main game and launching into that. Now that I've done more of the original game, I may give it another look.

[ChristienB]

*Wave from the Shadowlands* Hi!

 

 

 

lol I see them too! I'm like ''Eeek! No buff! I give you one..hey! Stay put!'' LOL then I have to run after them . *facepalm*..Let's hope none think I'm stalking them

 

LOL! I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this. It's like... noooo wait, come back...

[Edyn]

Getting back to why I've never felt interested in bringing one of my characters (or all) over to KOTFE/KOTET: I think the primary reason is because the characters I've developed relationships with in each class story are, for all intents and purposes as far as I understand it, removed from the game with no tangible evidence of when they will return— and certainly by no choice on my part.

 

If choices matter, then my choice has been to treat KOTFE, and now KOTET, as a separate game from Classic SWTOR.

 

This is actually what I've decided to do for two reasons:

 

1. I absolutely hate the fact that my favorite characters (companions) have been written out of the story in KOTFE/ET. It really breaks the game for me. Not only have I lost my favorite companions, they have been replaced with an obscene amount of additional companions and most of whom only feel like combat zombies. They have no personality, no history, no backstory, no interaction with my character, and so I have no vested interest in them.

 

Every time I board my ship and see it empty, I'm saddened and reminded that my favorite characters are no longer around in the story and there's no explanation of where they've been and why they haven't contacted my character. It simply doesn't make sense from a writing perspective.

 

2. I played my main through KOTFE/ET and flat out refuse to take any of my alts through it. In my opinion, every bit of KOTFE/ET is a mere shadow of what of classic SWTOR is, due to:

 

 

- The lack of class stories

 

- There aren't very many unique class choices available in dialogues. My Wrath, oops - sorry, they don't call her that anymore... or Darth, or even Lord for that matter... I meant Outlander/Alliance Commander has been forced to do some pretty out of character stuff to advance the plot in the sole direction in which the writers wanted it to go.

 

- The lack of interactions of your character with your companions. No more private conversations in a cantina or on your ship.

 

- There are no actual planets to explore like classic, just instances on each world. So there's no side quests, easter eggs, etc.

 

- Even the new story as a whole is lackluster to me. A predictable plot with characters I can't relate to and a Saturday morning cartoon villainess that I can't remotely take seriously as the main antagonist.

 

To me, KOTFE/ET feels not only like a completely different game when compared to SWTOR, it feels like a lesser quality game.

 

 

 

So, you're right in that choices matter: I've chosen to pretend like KOTFE doesn't exist and return to just doing classic content in the game; however it's kind of rough to play it like classic when I can no longer save up tokens for Companion Gifts and gear for vanity and/or stats. I'm getting really good at right-click > disintegrate.

[Galahard]

What a nice thread as a change of tone on the forums, thank you for posting this.

I can sympathize a lot with what has been written, solo player, casual, though playing a lot lately.

Also group content was mostly exciting, but also tedious for me, I don't like keeping people from achieving their goals as soon as possible (NOW!) and it's also very tiring to get to people's personal lives, when they have to take out a dog or go for a cigarette, not to speak about the interruptions in my own life, I sure don't want to bore or entertain other people with it. Probably, if I was a teen sitting in my room and doing nothing else but playing, probably, but it doesn't hurt to go outside sometimes, there is where you can meet people.

In game, it's more zen time for me, and other people are breaking my immersion.

Anyway, not wanting to turn into a rant, I am glad there are a lot of other people who enjoy the single player story aspect of the game, as I do too. It's a wonderful world filled with wonderful stories, I will play it until it's shut down.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Galahard

[Tanuk]

This has been a pleasant thread to read through. Thank you for that. Also, I think "Slow-buffing Altaholics" would make an excellent guild name lol.

[Corvibean]

 

Anyway, my point in posting, a friend and I have a guild on Shadowlands that is just the two of us. It's there just to park our alts in, get a little XP bonus, and have the guild bank. I know, we are HARDCORE! LOL If anyone would like to join just to have a spot, there no requirements, and never will be. Well, I take that back, there will always be one requirement: Be nice to each other. We are Mischief and Mayhem on Pub side and More Mischief and Mayhem on the Imp side. I do not post here to recruit to grow the guild, it's just been us (with 2 friend's alts) for a very long time. But, to offer fellow casuals and slow-buffers a place if you'd like it.

 

 

As the friend mentioned in this thread I also send out my invitation to anyone who wishes it. We are indeed very laid back. I have been playing games of one sort or another since the days of BALLEY.. beat that!! HAH! lol That was before Atari days. I have played several MMO's but this is the one I always come back to. My friend here introduced it to me a year and a half ago and while I have cursed him several times for it, he knows I don't mean it. LOL I also love the Classic play and have several alts in various stages of completion. I have, I regret to admit, only finished two types, I keep getting distracted and then making new ones instead of just finishing the ones I have halfway done. LOL

 

We enjoy teaming up and doing the classic story together, each of us on a different type of character. It makes for some fun shenanigans. LOL BTW, if you've never done a fully DARK toon on the PUB side, you really need to try it.. it's HILARIOUS! or doing a fully LIGHT toon on Imp side... "wait... you mean you're NOT going to kill me??!"

 

Thankyou so much for this thread, it's refreshing to read something that is not all "grrgrrhatehatehate"

[ENVISIONocity]

In game, it's more zen time for me...

 

Thank you for describing it that way, because that's something I can relate to. SWTOR in the evening, slip on the headphones, turn down the lights, and surround video. And just decompress from a real-life day before settling down with my missus— whom I have tried and tried to convince to come play with me in-game, that it would be awesome to rule the galaxy together. What's not to like about that??!

 

...and other people are breaking my immersion.

 

I've had the rare aggravation from other players out in the field. Blind guild invites are an instant ignore for me, as well. And I'll report the one or two spam mails that land in my mailbox, whether it does any good or not. Nothing special.

 

But one thing I do, if I come into an area that has another player carrying out a planetary mission: I'll either run counterclockwise or just wait for them to get through because I'm rarely in any sort of rush.

 

And I still thrill when I realize I'm working on the last mission, which means I will get to leave whatever forsaken planet I happen to be on at the moment.

 

And I still get impatient as I progress to that satisfying moment in every class story where you get that ship, because I know that is the point where my adventure really begins and I just want to get out into it.

[djungelvraaal]

As the friend mentioned in this thread I also send out my invitation to anyone who wishes it. We are indeed very laid back. I have been playing games of one sort or another since the days of BALLEY.. beat that!! HAH! lol That was before Atari days. I have played several MMO's but this is the one I always come back to. My friend here introduced it to me a year and a half ago and while I have cursed him several times for it, he knows I don't mean it. LOL I also love the Classic play and have several alts in various stages of completion. I have, I regret to admit, only finished two types, I keep getting distracted and then making new ones instead of just finishing the ones I have halfway done. LOL

 

We enjoy teaming up and doing the classic story together, each of us on a different type of character. It makes for some fun shenanigans. LOL BTW, if you've never done a fully DARK toon on the PUB side, you really need to try it.. it's HILARIOUS! or doing a fully LIGHT toon on Imp side... "wait... you mean you're NOT going to kill me??!"

 

Thankyou so much for this thread, it's refreshing to read something that is not all "grrgrrhatehatehate"

 

I am indeed guilty of doing the same thing when it comes to alts,start one, get a bit on the way with the story, get distracted, create a new one, I've lost count on how many times I've done that, on the other hand, since the classic class stories are what I enjoy best, I really don't mind being easily distracted!

 

And, if you're the friend( I understood it as you being that friend) of the guy who just posted about the guild with just two people, I like your guild names!

[ENVISIONocity]

Every time I board my ship and see it empty, I'm saddened and reminded that my favorite characters are no longer around in the story and there's no explanation of where they've been and why they haven't contacted my character. It simply doesn't make sense from a writing perspective.

 

My feelings, too, and that alone keeps me from crossing over to that dark side.

 

Oh, and you mentioned that there's no more companion missions, for example. I forgot about that, but yeah, I would want to be sure I did every companion storyline, too, before I ever crossed an alt over into GC mode.

 

See? I'll never get everything done! lol

[Corvibean]

And, if you're the friend( I understood it as you being that friend) of the guy who just posted about the guild with just two people, I like your guild names!

 

I am the friend yep! LOL it's just the two of us and our multitudes of alts. I'm glad you like our guild names! We figured it suited our personalities pretty well. chuckles

[Galahard]

 

Just as an example: I work to make sure each of my alts has their own unique look and will often opt to stay with an underpowered piece of armor to maintain the character's or companion's look rather than have the better one, stats-wise, I just RNG'd.

 

Forgot to post on this: you're aware there is an outfit designer, aren't you?

Edited December 10, 2016 by Galahard

[ENVISIONocity]

Forgot to post on this: you're aware there is an outfit designer, aren't you?

 

Sure, although I never use it, even after I paid for some extra tabs.

[ENVISIONocity]

I am indeed guilty of doing the same thing when it comes to alts,start one, get a bit on the way with the story, get distracted, create a new one, I've lost count on how many times I've done that, on the other hand, since the classic class stories are what I enjoy best, I really don't mind being easily distracted!

 

+1 this one, because I'm guilty of it, too, although I have completed every class mission and have played through to GC. The worst part is when I go back to play that character some time later, and I've forgotten who they are and how I was playing their storyline. Talk about awkward.

 

Or (and didn't some say something like this earlier?) so much time will pass since I played that class, that I have to restart the class just to reacquaint myself again! lol How bad is that?

 

Bioware, in its infinite wisdom, saw fit to cap me on my addiction, however, and 40 max it is.

 

So if you see a character standing at a vendor dressed down to their unmentionables, that's probably me about to start a new character. I'm just collecting some credits to send off to one of my alts that's the CFO for my Legacy before typing DELETE below.

 

Have you found any class stories in particular that have you chasing after a different squirrel?

[Deewe]

SWTOR in the Life of a Casual

Allow me to warp it up for the more lazy readers:

 

I am a single clicky player. Since launch I grouped less times than you have toes your feet, never did an OP and stays away from PVP too.

 

While I admire people doing so I can't get rotations, even less manage procs accordingly.

 

I certainly love the story elements and maxed out the # alts on my server and stays away from the last 2 XPacks as I want to keep my companions.

 

I enjoy the CM for the convenience perks.

 

Now that the basis are set: you are a particular breed of casual player in the way you don't group. In fact you are exactly the player BioWare is aiming at now. People willing to pay $15 a month for A KOTOR with DRM.

 

At some point one might think you are a BioWare MKT manager in disguise

Edited December 10, 2016 by Deewe

[eriksarcasm]

Have any of you solo players run in Galactic Starfighter's missions? I actually haven't. I've done the very first of the space missions that we access aboard our ship, and I'll admit that on my three-monitor setup, it was immersive! I never did more than those two, though, so I'm not sure how the rest compare.

 

Oh, someone mentioned immersion as part of their SWTOR experience, and I'm with them.

 

Tossing out there one long-awaited treat: If I could get anything, it'd be day and night cycles on the various planets. I enjoyed that element in my WOW days, for sure. Improved environmental conditions would be nice in this same regard, actually. Rain, snow, that sort of thing wouldn't go unappreciated by me.

 

But to get around on some of those planets after nightfall? That'd be great!

 

To me, Starfighter is the most and least appealing of all gameplay. Most because I love the old space shooter games (X-wing, TIE Fighter, Wing Commander etc. ) but least because it's the most frustratingly difficult. I call it the Exploding Simulator because that's all I seem to do. But I've queued for it several times. The other night I just hit 70 and startyed GC, and it was the bonus activity for the day, so I queued up a few matches. I actually got a kill!

[djungelvraaal]

+1 this one, because I'm guilty of it, too, although I have completed every class mission and have played through to GC. The worst part is when I go back to play that character some time later, and I've forgotten who they are and how I was playing their storyline. Talk about awkward.

 

Or (and didn't some say something like this earlier?) so much time will pass since I played that class, that I have to restart the class just to reacquaint myself again! lol How bad is that?

 

Bioware, in its infinite wisdom, saw fit to cap me on my addiction, however, and 40 max it is.

 

So if you see a character standing at a vendor dressed down to their unmentionables, that's probably me about to start a new character. I'm just collecting some credits to send off to one of my alts that's the CFO for my Legacy before typing DELETE below.

 

Have you found any class stories in particular that have you chasing after a different squirrel?

 

I've finished all the class stories too, and the class that always has me looking for something else... more , different, less melee;) squirrels, are the jedi knights and the sith warriors, but not so much because of the stories, as much as it is the fact that melee so isn't my thing, that being said, for some reason, in general, I've found the imperial class stories most appealing to me personally, although, what that might say about me, I'd rather not think about:/

And I think my favourite storyline is the one for the sith inquisitors, not sure why though.

[djungelvraaal]

To me, Starfighter is the most and least appealing of all gameplay. Most because I love the old space shooter games (X-wing, TIE Fighter, Wing Commander etc. ) but least because it's the most frustratingly difficult. I call it the Exploding Simulator because that's all I seem to do. But I've queued for it several times. The other night I just hit 70 and startyed GC, and it was the bonus activity for the day, so I queued up a few matches. I actually got a kill!

 

I like that! Exploding simulator" sounds like me, and I'm aware that there are a lot of people at the moment, doing exploding simulators( hope you don't mind me borrowing your expression) and exploding on purpose, I'm most certainly not that kind of person, but I just don't quite understand how it works, I'm trying! Well, til something distracts me... another alt or so..

[JennyFlynn]

I've finished all the class stories too, and the class that always has me looking for something else... more , different, less melee;) squirrels, are the jedi knights and the sith warriors, but not so much because of the stories, as much as it is the fact that melee so isn't my thing, that being said, for some reason, in general, I've found the imperial class stories most appealing to me personally, although, what that might say about me, I'd rather not think about:/

And I think my favourite storyline is the one for the sith inquisitors, not sure why though.

 

That's pretty interesting. I'm normally not much of a melee player either (tend to go for casters and hunters/ranged classes in most MMO's) but in SWTOR the Jedi Knight is my absolute favorite. I love the class story itself, it's by far my favorite one but I also enjoy the epic feel of launching myself into combat and slicing away at my enemies with my lightsaber. For that same reason, the Sith Warrior is my second favorite. Third is the Agent, I think their story is very interesting though I would have LOVED the possibility of properly defecting at the end and joining the SIS. SI comes fourth for me.

[Tippor]

I'm not from Shadowlands, but hello from a fellow casual player who has the same basic idea of SWTOR and play it almost exactly as you have written here. I could have written this post myself, in fact.

[djungelvraaal]

That's pretty interesting. I'm normally not much of a melee player either (tend to go for casters and hunters/ranged classes in most MMO's) but in SWTOR the Jedi Knight is my absolute favorite. I love the class story itself, it's by far my favorite one but I also enjoy the epic feel of launching myself into combat and slicing away at my enemies with my lightsaber. For that same reason, the Sith Warrior is my second favorite. Third is the Agent, I think their story is very interesting though I would have LOVED the possibility of properly defecting at the end and joining the SIS. SI comes fourth for me.

 

I completely agree with you that,there should have been a possibility for the agent to actually defect at the end!

As for melee, for some reason, even if I'm not all that great with melee in any game, like WoW for example, I seem to be so much worse with them in this game, same with healing, I mained a healer in WoW, and I've been playing Swtor for a long time, and only recently leveled my first healer, and now, I'm sitting here dreading dragging that same healer through KotET.

 

And,Hi Tippor, buff away! but, do it slowly lol

[Tippor]

That's pretty interesting. I'm normally not much of a melee player either (tend to go for casters and hunters/ranged classes in most MMO's) but in SWTOR the Jedi Knight is my absolute favorite. I love the class story itself, it's by far my favorite one but I also enjoy the epic feel of launching myself into combat and slicing away at my enemies with my lightsaber. For that same reason, the Sith Warrior is my second favorite. Third is the Agent, I think their story is very interesting though I would have LOVED the possibility of properly defecting at the end and joining the SIS. SI comes fourth for me.

 

My fav storyline is the bounty hunter. Second would be IA and I also was pretty sad that there was not a proper defect scenario at the end. I have 2 IAs, one "defected", one went rogue. I don't do well with melee and am far better on a ranged class. I think my least fav for that reason are the SW and JK classes. I do LOVE my stealthies too.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Tippor

[ImmortalLowlife]

Shadowlands casual player here!

 

I'm lol'ing a LOT reading this thread. I play swtor like it's Kotor 3. I've never done an OP, I somehow managed to get valor 5 & a lot of achievements in one match of PvP with my lightning sorc , managed to get "eternal lvl" during the DvL event, and also have at least one of each class somewhere in the KotFE story. Won't touch GSF because I can't use a controller (I know I know... I'm a filthy console peasant at heart ) and finally...I'm the leader of a guild of some of my alts on the imp side called "Imperial Order 66". I keep it because I like the name, and there's enough non active members to give me both guild bonuses. If I ever get and extra 50mil (ROFLMAO.... it'll never happen. I'm to busy financing alts and buying armor) I'll buy a star destroyer just because I want one.

 

Anyway.... if you see a bt3 black character with long hair and white eyes (all my male human characters look exactly the same) of the "Immortal Legacy" it's probably me!

Edited December 11, 2016 by ImmortalLowlife

[ChristienB]

Seeing even more people posting here warms my heart, what little of it is left.

 

Thanks OP for starting a very pleasant thread that allowed us all to meet each other in the virtual world of the forums! Pleasure to have read all your posts here everyone, and maybe we'll all bump into each other in the game!

 

Now...Off I go to spread Mischief and Mayhem throughout Shadowlands, and maybe a little glitter. I can haz Unicorn mount?

[ChristienB]

 

I'm lol'ing a LOT reading this thread. I play swtor like it's Kotor 3. I've never done an OP, I somehow managed to get valor 5 & a lot of achievements in one match of PvP with my lightning sorc ,

 

My first PvP match I was all sorts of proud of myself that I got a bunch of achievements (also on a sorc). Still not sure if it was the button mashing, or I sneezed and hit the right ability by accident without knowing it.