Poll - Would You play Star Wars The Old Republic if it didn't have a Star Wars skin.

[Tamyn]

I'm not even a Star Wars fan or a sci-fi fan or an MMO fan. I am a fantasy rpg and BioWare fan.

 

This might be the last game I get from them though.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Tamyn

[Damask_Rose]

I play more for the fully voiced stories than for the IP, which is why the alliance alerts were such a let down. However, I think KotFE/ET went too far down that path. Too much is instanced & the cutscenes are too long without enough player input. I'm still enjoying pre-FE content though, so I'm still playing.

[Monumenta]

No way

[Tsillah]

If it hadn't been Star Wars, I probably wouldn't have started playing it and if I had I probably would've left for good a couple of years ago at the latest.

[eriksarcasm]

I might. I'm a sci-fi fan in general and a Star Wars fan in particular. Admittedly it was the SW IP that attracted me here first, and it being my first MMO and the comfort attached to that has kept he here this long, but if it was Generic Space Opera Online I would almost definitely have checked it out after a time, albeit maybe not stuck with it this long.

 

 

The thing is, even though there are already a few other threads that discuss all the things someone doesn't like about the game, this is going to be derailed to say the exact same things all over again (by the exact same people, usually). Maybe I'm wrong, and the OP did actually want to keep it on topic, but it's looking like another special snowflake wanting their own platform to whine about the game.

 

Play the game, or don't play the game. Paying money just so you can whine about why you don't like the game seems like a sad thing to do, but who am I to judge you. You paid your money, you're entitled to your opinion. Life is short, and if you want to waste your time playing or complaining about a game you don't like, that's on you.

 

So you decided to preemptively derail it with your insults and negativity. That's very proactive of you, thank you for taking a stand and protecting everyone from potential negativity with your own negativity.

Edited December 25, 2016 by eriksarcasm

[Lammia]

Nope.

 

I play only 2 MMOs. Star Wars and Star Trek. Because they are Star Wars and Star Trek. Otherwise I wouldn't touch them.

 

That in fact applies to 99% of games I ever played. Either they are from my fav franchises (add classic Planet of the Apes to it) or I get bored quickly, so I stopped bothering with random games.

[lymphangioma]

As a long-time and fairly hardcore gamer to begin with, I'll give pretty much any game in any genre a memorable whirl if it somehow intrigues me. Even without the "Star Wars Skin", SWTOR would still be an EXTREMELY solid title - although, something else entirely without the allure of this particular brand.

 

Anyhow, the whole Star Wars Universe is what undoubtedly attracted me to this title from the get-go (always adored KOTOR, etc.) Needless to say (and while obviously not a perfect game), The Old Republic has ultimately provided me (and countless others) with the definitive Star Wars experience to revel in.

 

Sheesh, all the incessant negativity on these forums gets toxic after a while and it’s a rare occurrence for anyone to bother commending Bioware with giving us 5 fruitful years of SWTOR goodness.

[omaan]

No, if it wasn't sw i would had already left long time ago.

[Jeweledleah]

I started playing it because it was bioware game. except it barely passes for one nowadays, so no more subscription from me, not continuously. as much as I enjoy Star Wars and I do... I've yet to play and continue to play a game solely because of its IP. kinda why I skipped Star wars galaxies because it didn't sound like my kind of game.

 

that said. I'm reasonably sure that if it wasn't star wars? it would have crashed and burned faster and more spectacularly then wildstar. or no man's sky. bioware or no bioware. this game has been steadily going downhill since Rise of the Hutt Cartel... but that downward spiral has also been getting progressively worse.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Jeweledleah

[DynamiCtagez]

No. And to be honest, I don't think the devs realize this, that's the worst part. Any other game managed with this amount of incompetence and lack of communication would've died years ago. Edited December 26, 2016 by DynamiCtagez

[heythereqt]

Though it does give you the option to play a truly evil character, which is unique in the MMO market, I still think it would be unlikely I would play if it wasn't Star Wars.

 

Generally speaking, IMO, most of the game is messy...poorly developed or abandoned components (Strongholds, PVP, GSF, Space combat missions, events, Crafting), bugs that have existed since launch, the constant balance crusade, etc.

 

At one time in different periods of the game's development they seemed to have certain parts of the game right...combat animations and abilities before the animation trigger move, crafting before 5.0, etc.

 

One step forward, two steps back. The end result seems to be that, though the game improves slowly it seems to be wrought with bad design decisions and almost abandoned features, as well as almost constant core changes, some of which feel unnecessary.

 

It is not the only game on the market that suffers this, but frankly it is one of the few that seems to do it most often.

 

Pretty spot-on here.

 

It's a great game that provides great story and cutscenes, but the single thing that's kept it alive and strong for this long is the Star Wars IP. For every great change made to the game, there are multiple failures introduced as well. All of the great side projects that had tons of potential (strongholds, events not related to DvL, GSF, PvE space) have either been completely abandoned or moved to the Cartel Market where they will slowly become useless (decorations). Crafting in this game can be summed up as: "feel free to do it if you enjoy it, but other than that it's useless."

 

I really love this game for the story and immersion, but there is no way I'd still be playing if it wasn't a Star Wars game. I might not ever have picked it up in the first place.

[Edyn]

Someone mentioned this on a site comments under an article talking about the GXP changes. Got me thinking, would I? The answer is no I wouldn't, the Star Wars IP is the only thing that makes this game appealing to me as the game itself is only mediocre and the dev team have no idea how to make it better or successful.

 

Was wondering what others think.

 

Strawpoll Link

 

http://www.strawpoll.me/11953874/r

 

Hard to say. As someone who loves books, it would be dependent on the writing and how it was implemented. For example, I was in beta and on release, I played a BH as my first character. Unfortunately, I found that I never really connected with the BH character, the story, or the companions, and so I quit the game thinking that all classes would be as "meh" to me. I returned a few years later and tried a new story out (SW) and found that I not only liked the gameplay, but the story and especially the companions got my attention. Any character that can cause so much grey-area controversy as Quinn is definitely a well-written character.

 

Basically, give me good writing: a good story, good characters, and most importantly, good execution and I'll play anything. I'll take Quinn, Scourge, Baras, Jadus and Vowrawn over the Keeping up with the Valkorians clan and day of the week, yet they are both "Star Wars."

Edited December 25, 2016 by Edyn

[Jujubon]

As a long-time and fairly hardcore gamer to begin with, I'll give pretty much any game in any genre a memorable whirl if it somehow intrigues me. Even without the "Star Wars Skin", SWTOR would still be an EXTREMELY solid title - although, something else entirely without the allure of this particular brand.

 

Anyhow, the whole Star Wars Universe is what undoubtedly attracted me to this title from the get-go (always adored KOTOR, etc.) Needless to say (and while obviously not a perfect game), The Old Republic has ultimately provided me (and countless others) with the definitive Star Wars experience to revel in.

 

Sheesh, all the incessant negativity on these forums gets toxic after a while and it’s a rare occurrence for anyone to bother commending Bioware with giving us 5 fruitful years of SWTOR goodness.

 

Criticism is not necessarily negativity. Commendation should be given for it being earned not because something lasted a while. Games with few flaws/bugs, good game-play, good design among other aspect in a combination that makes the overall package stand out from its peers tends to get the developers commended as does proper response to customer feedback, just look at the likes of CD Projekt Red. They get showered with praise and rightly so they not only produce games which are for the most part excellent but they also take community feedback seriously as evidenced by the numerous changes and additions in things like the Witcher 2 Enhanced addition, compare this to ME3 ending debacle and you can see a clear difference in the approach and response between the companies.

 

Yes SWTOR is not a bad game, it has fully voiced stories which is unheard of in an MMO to my knowledge, they are good stories, good characters, nice graphics. But focusing only on these positives while obvious flaws, bad design decisions and bugs are all there will a) never get them fixed and b) never result in the product getting better.

[Vaerah]

I have played up to 2014 because this was an amazing MMO, not because of Star Wars.

 

I came back for expansion 5.0 because of the Star Wars "alike" cinematics and story and not because of the MMO, which now is starving for content and direction since a while.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Vaerah

[Thurenost]

Lol no. I'm sure Bioware and EA are aware of this fact.

[Clarian]

If it was still a Bioware game with 8 different stories...yes.

 

I think Dragon Age is a rather uninteresting, generic fantasy IP, but despite that, Origins is still one of my favorite games of all time. The depth of the world, and way the story was told, and the characters, etc., hooked me even though I thought the 'mythology' was bland.

[TheKilltech]

i wouldn't consider playing any MMORPG if it wasn't for BioWare. never was much into SW until playing KotOR actually.

 

problem with MMORPGs and their gameplay/mechanics is that they are from the stone age of online gaming and therefore feel really outdated in comparison to modern games. due to the stupid success of WoW this genre was so much focused on cloning that it missed all the technical evolution. it's weird that the rigid mechanics that arose from technical limitations of a time long ago now more or less became the defining element of the genre, lol. hmm... actually it's sad.

[DarthDymond]

For me, having an underlying IP I'm interested in is a necessary part of getting me to invest in an MMO - and Star Wars fits that bill very nicely - but even so, it wouldn't be sufficient on its own.

 

I tried SWG and just could not get into it, instead I played WoW (the Warcraft IP is another one I had already enjoyed before starting the MMO) for about 8 years. It was only when this game, which gave me a better version of the things I enjoyed about WoW and the Star Wars IP rolled into one, came along that I cancelled my WoW subscription - I was never willing to do that for SWG and probably wouldn't have for any other SW MMO either if it wasn't for BioWare's "Story as the Fourth Pillar" approach to this game.

Edited December 25, 2016 by DarthDymond

[Transcendent]

constant core changes, some of which feel unnecessary.

 

This is something that imo detracts from the game itself. Players get used to a certain routine of things outside of combat changes (which we expect to see), but some of the broad sweeping changes made since 3.0 have only really hastened my distaste for the game overall.

 

It's now, with 5.0, I'm at the stage where I'm happy to let my sub lapse and take a peek at this game at a later stage to see if they've addressed the outstanding lack of polish the game has accumulated with abandoned features, consistent bugs and just general lack of developing new content I want to play on a repeatable basis.

 

I like the idea of Uprisings and the whole DvL thing they gave in 5.0, I dislike the whole GCC gearing concept they also came with. Star Wars or not, that fundamentally breaks something in the game for me, far above any of the other changes preceding it in 3.0 and 4.0.

 

I can find other games to play, they don't have to be Star Wars, but they do have to be fairly well polished with a good insight from the developers into what the players actually want.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Transcendent

[Kyuuu]

Simple put , NO

[Zhedzaban]

Yes, I'm more a Bioware fan than Star Wars fan although I do have a love of Star Wars (original trilogy only). I still would of played and loved this game if it had an unknown IP.

[LordArtemis]

This is something that imo detracts from the game itself. Players get used to a certain routine of things outside of combat changes (which we expect to see), but some of the broad sweeping changes made since 3.0 have only really hastened my distaste for the game overall.

 

It's now, with 5.0, I'm at the stage where I'm happy to let my sub lapse and take a peek at this game at a later stage to see if they've addressed the outstanding lack of polish the game has accumulated with abandoned features, consistent bugs and just general lack of developing new content I want to play on a repeatable basis.

 

I like the idea of Uprisings and the whole DvL thing they gave in 5.0, I dislike the whole GCC gearing concept they also came with. Star Wars or not, that fundamentally breaks something in the game for me, far above any of the other changes preceding it in 3.0 and 4.0.

 

I can find other games to play, they don't have to be Star Wars, but they do have to be fairly well polished with a good insight from the developers into what the players actually want.

 

I agree with you generally...I think when you make major sweeping changes so close together, you create a kind of malaise with respect to playing, and make it much easier to justify long absences....

 

After all, why continue to subscribe when I could just walk away for a while and just catch up then....instead of pulling my hair out every month or so.

[Kyuuu]

If it was still a Bioware game with 8 different stories...yes.

 

I think Dragon Age is a rather uninteresting, generic fantasy IP, but despite that, Origins is still one of my favorite games of all time. The depth of the world, and way the story was told, and the characters, etc., hooked me even though I thought the 'mythology' was bland.

 

Origins was best of ALL the DA game and had the BEST battle system. I absolutely despise real time battle battles in RPG's cause at that point it hack n slash game, and I saw both DA2 and DA:I as hack n slash

 

Im Old school fan of RPGS which mean turn based, which very few still do that

 

Mass effect series is shooter to me I played them all and i cant bring my self to finish any of them.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Kyuuu

[Kilikaa]

Without Star Wars attached I would probably have left four years ago. This game was mediocre when it launched and has slowly degraded due to the poor decisions by the development team. I barely play it now as it is and I am seriously considering ending my sub when it runs out in February. This game had potential five years ago but BWA failed to live up to any of it. This studio sucks at making and running a mmorpg.

 

I stay for the stories, but honestly, if they weren't called STAR WARS stories I would not be here at all. IF another Star Wars MMO is ever made it needs to be more like SWG, nothing like SWTOR and BWA (BioWare Austin) should not be allowed within 1,000 miles of it.Everyone who has ever worked on SWTOR should be banned from touching another MMORPG.

[DanNV]

As the game stands now, not a chance. But then I purchased ESO yesterday, so even the Star Wars brand isn't going to save it for me anymore. Only the devs pulling their collective heads out might save it. If I could find a deal a guildie did, 180 day game card for $17, I might redeem the code and pop in periodically. But for $12.99 or more a month, nope. Not worth it anymore.