What Keeps You Playing SWTOR?

[Sarova]

Yeah i saw that on Facebook, so i kept posting screenshots of Theron instead of Lana/Vette, and i'm not ashamed

Lana's not one of my fav and Vette's dead anyways as i always save Torian, even if i'd have saved her as well if it has been an option, but it's not so i go save my BH's lover.

 

I love it! Never be ashamed of posting Theron pics

Like you I've almost always saved Torian. Recently I created a super light side Warrior who I forced to save Vette just out of curiosity - I'm still wishing I hadn't. I really detest Vette - it's her voice; so, so irritating to me (but that might be because those high pitch lady-baby voices make my ears hurt). I grown to like Lana (especially as a damage companion) BUT I don't like how in KotFE/KotET/Iokath etc she's pushed on us in scenes where it would make more sense to have our character's romance partner if they've returned to the story. And why on earth is she in our bedroom in the scene before starting the Nathema chapter in KotET? She should only be there for characters who romanced her, however in this male dominated game where Lana is worshipped by the male players and Devs, what did I expect?

Recently i've been mostly replaying various class stories too, latest being SI, SW, male trooper to try the Dorne romance, male IA and DS JK and DS JC to see how it goes, but i don't think i'll keep the DS JK and JC after their respective chapter 3.

I also took advantage of the double xp to start toons on SF but i've pretty much nothing there as i've never played on that server before, so progressing is a bit slow right now.

And i'll keep campaining for my male SW x Quinn romance as i've no interest in either Jaesa or Vette on that character.

We have similar thinking. I play mainly on DM, however I've also been taking advantage of the DXP event to level characters on SF and SS. I'm lucky that years ago before the big server merge, I transferred characters from EU to US servers when the transfers cost 90cc. I'm glad I did as the legacy perks transferred with them which is a huge help.

 

As for a dark-side JK - I created one a long while ago when people started asking for a Scourge romance. When your JK is dark, the Scourge interactions are quite good & the romance fits perfectly. You might want to keep your DS-JK.

 

Back to Ylliarus' original question it's definitely the class stories & romances that keep me playing. My favourites in order:

1. Trooper with Aric romance (even with off-his-head-Forex for a companion )
   
2. Warrior with Quinn romance
   
3. Inquisitor with Andronikos or Theron romance
   
4. Agent with Vector or Theron romance**
   
5. Jedi Knight with Doc romance**
   

 

**

** I like how the Agent's companions interact during their chats and all seem to have something to say about each other. Vector and Lokin are the best two. I have an agent who played double agent for the republic from the point in the class story where you can. She's also a saboteur who I'm hoping will be able to completely switch sides, but as we discussed earlier, this is unlikely to happen due to completely different JuS/Onslaught story outcomes for republic & empire.

I had a couple of JKs but didn't pay that much attention to the story & skipped SoR/Ziost. I just levelled another and am paying much more attention to the whole Emperor vs Knight aspects as so many have said this story makes most sense with kotfe/kotet etc.

 

[DarkTergon]

Been playing 8 years, non stop, have never taken a break from the game, apart from a couple of weeks stay in hospital, but even then I evetually got my laptop brought in

I love playing the GTN, making credits, and giving them away.

I love the class stories, some more than others, I never get bored with (some of) them.

I love decorating my s/h and guild ships.

I enjoy ops, when I have time, and when not, I love getting in to a LO op.

I love the different clothing sets, and collect them, mix and match, and try to get the best outfit I can.

And I love the new CQ, all the fantastic options, the way you can mix and match what you do. It's more open and alt friendly

Some of the great people I've met in game and here in the forum. I may not have made friends with them, but we ran stuff, chatting, debated, etc. I've a lot of respect for some of the great characters in the forum.

 

I'll probably have several other reasons pop in to mind after I post this, but this will do for a start.

Edited June 12, 2020 by DarkTergon

[Ylliarus]

I love the class stories, some more than others, I never get bored with (some of) them.

 

I relate so strongly to this... the class stories are the primary reason why I keep playing the game, alongside that it's Star Wars. The class stories are just amazing and epic. Sure, some class stories are better than others, but I enjoy replaying each. I've created a new Sith Warrior (a male Sith Pureblood again) and I have fallen in love with the character so much!

[Goreshaga]

This is one of the things we passionately agree on! Soon my new male Sith PB Warrior will be leaving Dromund Kaas for Balmorra and I can't stop sighing at the fact how badly I wish Quinn was a romance option for male Warriors...

Yup.

I'd be really disappointed if they don't open his romance for male SW as well, especially after opening so many of the class romances to both genders.

 

I love it! Never be ashamed of posting Theron pics

Like you I've almost always saved Torian. Recently I created a super light side Warrior who I forced to save Vette just out of curiosity - I'm still wishing I hadn't. I really detest Vette - it's her voice; so, so irritating to me (but that might be because those high pitch lady-baby voices make my ears hurt). I grown to like Lana (especially as a damage companion) BUT I don't like how in KotFE/KotET/Iokath etc she's pushed on us in scenes where it would make more sense to have our character's romance partner if they've returned to the story. And why on earth is she in our bedroom in the scene before starting the Nathema chapter in KotET? She should only be there for characters who romanced her, however in this male dominated game where Lana is worshipped by the male players and Devs, what did I expect?

 

I'll never be ashamed of that, he's to good to look at.

And i'll keep showing that not everyone is in love with Lana but also like other LIs

 

I've only saved her once on a SW alt, to see the difference, but i know i'll always save Torian now. Not that i dislike her, but i just like Torian more.

 

As for Lana, the way they handled her during KOTFEET/traitor arc was what made me start to dislike her actually. She was good during SoR, but like you i disliked that she was constantly there, even when our character's LI would make more sense if they're present, like the bedroom scene.

And the sunset walk in the woods at the begining of JUS, it should've been there for characters who romanced her and it should've been with our character's LI if not romancing her.

It got slightly better during Onslaught, so let's hope they continue like this and not the KOTFEET way.

I was sliglty annoyed though, that my JK used "tu" (the more friendly "you" in french) with Lana who she's not romancing while continuing to use "vous" the more formal "you" with Theron who she's engaged to. I'd rather have my character using "tu" for both than being all familiar with Lana, while being all formal with Theron...

 

 

We have similar thinking. I play mainly on DM, however I've also been taking advantage of the DXP event to level characters on SF and SS. I'm lucky that years ago before the big server merge, I transferred characters from EU to US servers when the transfers cost 90cc. I'm glad I did as the legacy perks transferred with them which is a huge help.

I play mainly on The Leviathan, but used my free transfer to send one of my characters on DM so there i've pretty much everything unlocked and i also have a set of the DvL xp armor, which helps while making new toons. I've made clones of my mains on DM, but they're quite low lvl for now.

 

As for a dark-side JK - I created one a long while ago when people started asking for a Scourge romance. When your JK is dark, the Scourge interactions are quite good & the romance fits perfectly. You might want to keep your DS-JK.

I'll probably try the Scourge romance with this ones then.

I'd really love to be able to romance Scourge with my Nox at some point in the future though.

 

Back to Ylliarus' original question it's definitely the class stories & romances that keep me playing. My favourites in order:

1. Trooper with Aric romance (even with off-his-head-Forex for a companion )
   
2. Warrior with Quinn romance
   
3. Inquisitor with Andronikos or Theron romance
   
4. Agent with Vector or Theron romance**
   
5. Jedi Knight with Doc romance**
   

 

**

** I like how the Agent's companions interact during their chats and all seem to have something to say about each other. Vector and Lokin are the best two. I have an agent who played double agent for the republic from the point in the class story where you can. She's also a saboteur who I'm hoping will be able to completely switch sides, but as we discussed earlier, this is unlikely to happen due to completely different JuS/Onslaught story outcomes for republic & empire.

I had a couple of JKs but didn't pay that much attention to the story & skipped SoR/Ziost. I just levelled another and am paying much more attention to the whole Emperor vs Knight aspects as so many have said this story makes most sense with kotfe/kotet etc.

My favourite romances in order would be :

1/ JK with Theron (I'm really, really not into Doc, so she stayed single untill she met Theron who is perfect for her)

2/ Trooper with Jorgan (I like his evolution during the romance and he really has the best reunion so far)

3/ IA with Vector

4/ BH with Torian

 

I'd probably put Quinn in that list if he was romanceable on a male SW, and i'd probably put Arcann too if there was more to the romance than 2 short cutscenes. I'd probably put SI with Cytharat too if he didn't just vanish, never to be seen again after Makeb...

As for romances i'd like to see added : Scourge for everyone (would be nice with my Nox), Arn (would be nice with my male JC), and Senya, now that Valkorion has been dead for a while (would be nice for my male JK who is around Satele / Senya's age, so not into young Padawan)

 

Same i really like how Vector and Lokin interact with each other.

Clones of my main JK are pretty much the only characters i still play SoR/Ziost with nowadays

 

[Hadsil]

The stories. It's Star Wars. That's enough. The dialogue, the plots, the acting, it's all good. I can easily forget it's animation, at least until the characters use the same programmed animated movements over and over like rolling their arms during an explanation scene and putting hands on swaying hips shaking their head with their face down when delivering bad news or regretting something. The overall graphics are cool, though. I play on a personal computer which has a different look than on tv consoles. It's beautiful to watch.

 

I seriously enjoy this game more than the Disney trilogy.

[Kiesu]

Nostalgia

The BW stories keeps an RP nerd like me coming back to check the newest... But if there isn't any story updates, honestly its just nostalgia I'm subbing for few times a year. I mostly just do random FPs and a few WZ, maybe grab a raid. Especially if I'm playing mainly singleplayer games, I want an MMO on the side for social stuff. What MMO I'm playing tends to change a lot though

[McSomething]

Finally getting around to finishing all the class stories, for starters. >.>

[NorthernYahoo]

In general, I keep coming back periodically due to the production values of the game.

 

The graphics are generally very good.

The music is literally the best in terms of mmos (I mean some of the pieces are by John Williams how awesome is that!)

The availability of same-sex romance. I left initially because there wasn't any in the base game. So yes, it matters.

The stories are numerous and well written, so you can always experience or re-experience great stories!

The voice acting is amazing.

[Ylliarus]

The availability of same-sex romance. I left initially because there wasn't any in the base game. So yes, it matters.

 

I agree with all the points you made, but I especially wanted to highlight this one.

 

A representation of diversity is very important and I believe that the game became much more progressive and inclusive when they finally introduced same-gender romances, with Cytharat being one of the first. It's why I am still very saddened by the fact that Cytharat was treated the way he was, because he would have been an excellent new companion and full-fledged romance option.

 

But yes, same-gender romances was a huge step forward in my opinion in regard to overall storytelling. I highly appreciated it when it was first introduced and I will always praise Bioware in how they include more and more same-gender romance options into the game's story!

[steveerkcanjerk]

No other motivations or reasons? of course, just because it's Star Wars is enough of a reason to keep playing it.

 

This is probably the biggest reason tbh. Nostalgia, star wars, some friends here, and very established in the mmo. But outside of that tor doesn't do much as an mmo. Like lets go over some things.

 

Crafting - other mmo's do this so much better.

pvp- meta gets stale, lack of new maps and modes, also hero engine

wpvp - none to very little

pve- solid content but does not come out at the pace of other mmos;

population - its more in other places

ranked - can't be taken seriously until cross server ques are a thing.

 

And it goes on and on. Outside of story which content doesn't drop frequently enough, there is very little tor does better then other mmos. I also know alot more people where tor is like there little star wars fix mmo and they go back to the other one that comes out with new raids and expansions. And sorry tor hasn't had an expansion since revan. I can't be BoA or shadowbringers in an afternoon like you can with tor. And i am not talking gear grind, because the expansion added a raid to get gear thats it rest of it is back to the old content that we been doing since 2011.

 

But with that said here cause star wars.

[Gokkus]

The vanilla story at the moment...it's just so good. It is my 23th alt and the original (class) stories never dissapoint me. Edited June 15, 2020 by Gokkus

[Sarova]

The vanilla story at the moment...it's just so good. It is my 23th alt and the original (class) stories never dissapoint me.

Indeed. I created yet another Sorcerer at the weekend (I have 14 sorcs in my 58 alts) and came across story dialogue and outcomes I had no idea existed for the sorcerer during the Alderaan part of story. It's similar with all the class stories, which is probably why I have so many alts. I live in hope that there will be a return to this level of story telling in the future. I find I can really immerse myself in the class stories, something which has been lost from everything that came later.

[Bxvx]

I played vanilla up to like Makeb I believe and then life grabbed ahold of me and I had to do other things. But now nearly 7 years later I've come back. Just by chance I saw a ad for SWTOR on facebook, and was like if I can remember my password I'll come back.

 

I have to say the stories are great, I even restarted fresh some of the classes I already had. Mainly cause it was like a new game to me I vaguely remembered how to play so I wanted to level fresh and relearn it. And then I did it with all the classes to get the Legendary achiev I was missing.

 

I've only finished the main story on 2 Imperial toons, but soon I'm going to do it on my shadow. Just to see the Republic "light side" aspect of the game. But the nostalgia and stories and seeing how they all interact with each other. Trying not to say much don't want to spoil anything but they did a really good job on the stories. Now I can't wait for the next part, it can't come soon enough!

[Lhancelot]

That moment when you realize the best part of SWTOR is all the parts that were created before launch.

[TonyTricicolo]

What keeps me playing? Taking breaks from time to time.

[BuzzyJr]

because star wars.

 

...ditto...

[Gokkus]

Indeed. I created yet another Sorcerer at the weekend (I have 14 sorcs in my 58 alts) and came across story dialogue and outcomes I had no idea existed for the sorcerer during the Alderaan part of story. It's similar with all the class stories, which is probably why I have so many alts. I live in hope that there will be a return to this level of story telling in the future. I find I can really immerse myself in the class stories, something which has been lost from everything that came later.

 

Yeah, there is something about those original planets...I think it is the fact that there is so much going on that is not directly related to the main story. Most worlds after Corellia feel very deliberate. Everything has a function and a reason. That makes the worlds less...real.

 

On a planet with 8 class stories, 2 main stories, multiple bonus series and a whole lot of sidequests and heroics, it feels vibrant and alive. Exactly because a single character doesn't have to go everywhere and do everything.

 

Example of this on Tatooine: I remember wondering why there was a burning sandcrawler with war droids far out into the desert on my smuggler. Replaying a consular I found out (again) that it was part of her class story.

 

Worlds where too little is going on besides the main story can feel more claustrophobic and less immersive. That is even worse when doing railroadstories (KotFE KoTET ). The story can be immersive, but the worlds don't feel real. I want to go out into a world and find quests left and right, wonder why stuff is there and feel I get more info on the planet and people because of these side quests.

 

Also, open spaces like on Tatooine, Balmorra and Alderaan make the world more real to me.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Gokkus

[Lhancelot]

That moment when you realize the best part of SWTOR is all the parts that were created before launch.

 

Yeah, there is something about those original planets...I think it is the fact that there is so much going on.

 

 

 

The work done on this game prior to launch was nothing but stellar and cutting edge they probably didn’t even aim for the realm they landed in when they first created SWTOR the MMO.

 

There will never be a MMO that centers it’s gist on character development and voice acting not to the level SWTOR has it. Luckily the amount of work the original devs did on the game was massive! All the original chapters and companions are truly a marvel in my eyes. What else came with that early development was a robust, nuanced, detailed environment that really adds a level of substance to the game. It really gives SWTOR It’s soul imo.

 

It’s pretty crazy to think of the amount of resources that was used on the game, only to see for years after launch the game to be deserted essentially, starved for cutting edge development work that it once was given. Point is it showcases the quality of work or lack thereof, since launch. Everything both new and old players LOVE about the game was developed before launch when it comes to content.

 

Now, I won’t sit here and pretend that every piece of work added by the devs over the years has been bad. But when you look at actual playable content and actual gameplay, the game really has sputtered and probably even crept backwards when it comes to quality of writing, game design, and gameplay.

 

They have added many great features like the outfit designer after launch, much of the QOL changes have proven smartly done, etc, of course many of these QOL changes have been heavily panned, too. Mailbox and other immersion-breaking graphical additions that are lime green and are ugly as ****, anyone?

 

Just a small example of BW ignoring what EVERY player has requested to be changed back, and a good example how the “community Management” team responds to requests and/or complaints about changes to the game the players do not like.

 

This game will be remembered for it’s unheard of game design with the most focus on voice acting a game could ever have, and probably the best character development of all MMOs.

 

It will also be remembered for its awful communication and lack of transparency when it comes to game design changes as well as a total lack of awareness when it comes to what actually succeeded on the game and what did not.

 

BW have removed and gutted so many good features in the game only to remove or replace them with just utterly awful game changes, some even causing the game to lose a massive amount of subs over the years.

[JediJoy]

The work done on this game prior to launch was nothing but stellar and cutting edge they probably didn’t even aim for the realm they landed in when they first created SWTOR the MMO.

 

There will never be a MMO that centers it’s gist on character development and voice acting not to the level SWTOR has it. Luckily the amount of work the original devs did on the game was massive! All the original chapters and companions are truly a marvel in my eyes. What else came with that early development was a robust, nuanced, detailed environment that really adds a level of substance to the game. It really gives SWTOR It’s soul imo.

 

It’s pretty crazy to think of the amount of resources that was used on the game, only to see for years after launch the game to be deserted essentially, starved for cutting edge development work that it once was given. Point is it showcases the quality of work or lack thereof, since launch. Everything both new and old players LOVE about the game was developed before launch when it comes to content.

 

Now, I won’t sit here and pretend that every piece of work added by the devs over the years has been bad. But when you look at actual playable content and actual gameplay, the game really has sputtered and probably even crept backwards when it comes to quality of writing, game design, and gameplay.

 

They have added many great features like the outfit designer after launch, much of the QOL changes have proven smartly done, etc, of course many of these QOL changes have been heavily panned, too. Mailbox and other immersion-breaking graphical additions that are lime green and are ugly as ****, anyone?

 

Just a small example of BW ignoring what EVERY player has requested to be changed back, and a good example how the “community Management” team responds to requests and/or complaints about changes to the game the players do not like.

 

This game will be remembered for it’s unheard of game design with the most focus on voice acting a game could ever have, and probably the best character development of all MMOs.

 

It will also be remembered for its awful communication and lack of transparency when it comes to game design changes as well as a total lack of awareness when it comes to what actually succeeded on the game and what did not.

 

BW have removed and gutted so many good features in the game only to remove or replace them with just utterly awful game changes, some even causing the game to lose a massive amount of subs over the years.

 

Very well said Lhancelot! I just wanted to add that I really enjoyed up to the Revan expac. For me, that's when things really started shifting downwards. There is sooo much potential for swtor to knock all other mmo's out of the water but they keep sabotaging themselves with every new expac.

 

The QOL changes were nice but not great enough to keep the subs going after they kept revamping things that weren't broken in the first place.

 

The voice acting, character choices and progression are the top contenders for bringing me back to the game.

[DarkTergon]

Very well said Lhancelot! I just wanted to add that I really enjoyed up to the Revan expac. For me, that's when things really started shifting downwards. There is sooo much potential for swtor to knock all other mmo's out of the water but they keep sabotaging themselves with every new expac.

 

The QOL changes were nice but not great enough to keep the subs going after they kept revamping things that weren't broken in the first place.

 

The voice acting, character choices and progression are the top contenders for bringing me back to the game.

 

the new stuff, 'seems' to be going back to the basics, and are enjoyable enough (could definately use more), so hopefully this is a step in the right direction. Some of the Qol chaanges are fantastic, but yup, don't make up for others that were removed. The new CQ is fantastic, and is the feature that most of the people (who have spoken) actully stand behind. I don't think it'll ever reach the popularity it was before, but it does seem to be improving, possibly I'm just more positive, have glass full, or maybe just naive...lol But there seems to be a lot more possitivity around these days

 

 

Yes, I used *seems* a lot, but that's how I've percieved it, I don't have any facts or figures (or statistics), just what people say here, and in game.