Star Wars: The Old Republic

I played in one of the beta weekends not too long ago, and that was enough to turn me off of this I think. Before I was even to level 10 I wanted everyone to just shut the **** up. Main story, okay, talk to me. Sidequests? Go **** yourself, I don't care! Combat mechanics seemed flimsy at best, and what I've seen of the space element and PvP from Youtube videos looked like trash.
 
Early access starts in 45 minutes.

EDIT Got my e-mail. Now to get through the rest of the working day ....
 
With the combination of EA Origin's system being ****ing horrendous and Bioware having no idea how to handle, well, anything, I still haven't even been able to activate my account. It keeps saying the code has already been used. I've emailed support, but I am rather displeased by this.
 
Apparently Origin/EA has been canceling pre-orders for no apparent reason and then blaming Bioware.
This entire system is incredibly, appallingly bad.
 
Remember how long it took for Steam friends to work? I've got some patience this time around, haha. Kotick's dick was starting to get flimsy anyways.

Not saying it's excusable but it's a really fun game and shit. I'll have to freeze myself in carbonite until the 20th.
 
BabyHeadCrab said:
it's a really fun game and shit.
Click to expand...

From my first night's experience I'd say I agree. I have played up to level 8 and it's been fun so far. Being able to properly play a role in an MMORPG is more fun than I would have imagined. I'm going Dark Side all the way and it is pretty neat to actually make 'meaningful' choices for your character in stead of just making up some lame RP back story. For the rest it is pretty much World of Starwarscraft, a bit like RIFT in the sense that it is a good clone. Right now I can see myself playing this game until after the first free month, but we'll see in January how that goes. Not committing yet.

Btw my dude, a Jedi Consular who will in time be a healing Sage.

nTleH.jpg
 
It is, at the very least, a fantastic leveling game. Damn you and your early access! I too will be playing a Republic Sage. :]
 
I sure would like to play this. My support ticket still hasn't been addressed. :(
 
BabyHeadCrab said:
Remember how long it took for Steam friends to work?
Click to expand...

Yeah but there's a big difference between "Sometimes stuff happens" and "Electronic Arts half-asses everything because they don't give a **** about their customers." Valve is always very apologetic if they do something wrong. EA just does what they're doing now, which is blaming someone else.

Luckily Bioware support is pretty friendly and has just replied to my email asking for more information, so hopefully I will be able to get in later tonight.
 
Acepilotf14 said:
I like how they take out the choice and just straight tell you if what you're going to say will net you light or dark side points.
Click to expand...
Nope. By default they're only labelled if you hover over/click dialogue options rather than key-press, and you can set in preferences to either have that info never appear or be continuously visible.
 
Eejit said:
Nope. By default they're only labelled if you hover over/click dialogue options rather than key-press, and you can set in preferences to either have that info never appear or be continuously visible.
Click to expand...

Either way, do the options ever really have enough depth to matter? It all seemed like 'generic light side response', 'generic lightside response 2' and 'generic dark side response' in classic Bioware form. Only this time, you had no neutral option, and having a lightsided character arbitrarily keeps you from lightsaber colors for no reason [same how classes are locked into lightsaber styles, they're taking out any real roleplaying in favor of 'give us your money at the end of the month to keep watching drama simulator 2012']
 
There are far more neutral options than dark or light, at least with the class I've been playing. A for the rest, boo hoo it isn't a pen and paper rpg, there are trade offs. Hey why can't we visit 99% of planets in our spaceship? OH NO MY IMMERSION IT'S BLEEDING!!
 
I tried out a couple of other classes tonight and I noticed something ... odd. In MMOs I am usually quite the altoholic, but apparently the story is engaging enough for me to want to go back to my original toon and play with him. I've grown quite fond of my evil Consular and for a large part that it thanks to the focus on storytelling and your involvement with it. Plus not all Light Side / Dark Side choices aren't about good vs. evil. Example, spoilered just in case.

During one mission the light side choice is to rat out a romancing Jedi couple to a Master, while the dark side choice is to keep quiet about them. So basically you're being a prick when you do the 'right' thing.

My Mr. Tubby:

4ws0l.jpg
 
Shakermaker said:
During one mission the light side choice is to rat out a romancing Jedi couple to a Master, while the dark side choice is to keep quiet about them. So basically you're being a prick when you do the 'right' thing.
Click to expand...

I noticed a quest with a similar outcome on a Sith character I was playing in the Beta.

I still haven't been able to get my account sorted. All the good names will be taken by the time I do. All hail JarJarYoricks. :(
 
Trooper it's interesting because light/dark choices cover various different axes, such as corruption, loyalty to the republic, playing by the rules, following orders, and giving people second chances. It keeps things pretty fresh.
 
I am in a queue right now (just 20 mins, some servers are on plus two hours atm) so I thought I'd share some of my impressions after ten to fifteen hours of playing. To get that out of the way first: I have been very skeptical about this game. I got the idea that Bioware was making a glorified co-op game. As it turns out I was wrong. Well, not entirely, but I'll get to that later.

SWTOR is a proper MMO. The WoW is strong in this one, but in the areas where you would expect it. Gameplay, UI, mechanics; the resemblances are apparent in some places. The big added feature though is full voicing and so far I'd have to say it makes a difference. My toon isn't just a dude with stats, but a real character with particular traits. After about fifteen levels I have grown quite fond of his boorish obnoxiousness. What I also enjoy a lot (and was very critical about before I played the game) were the multiplayer convos. They are awesome. So far all people I have grouped with are Light Side while I am Dark Side. Getting 'your' answers in is so much fun.

Gameplay-wise SWTOR really does nothing new. Except for no auto-attack the fighting feels a lot like WoW and other MMOs along that vein. One significant thing that is different though are mob groups. In stead of one or two regular mobs you usually get two or three easy ones and one or two tougher one. Crowd control comes in very handy a lot of the time and managing the hectic fights can be a lot of fun. Crowd control comes in handy a lot of the time, something that WoW threw out of the window around Cataclysm.

Another non-WoW feature are the companions. I quite like them. I would wish they were more customizable, but I can understand that would be hard for all the animated stuff. From a gameplay perspective they work well. I like how I can go full healer and still be able to play solo without worrying about my DPS. I think companions will be especially helpful for people who are new to the genre. In that sense SWTOR could very well be the gateway drugs to MMOs like WoW was five, six years ago. You can play most of this game entirely solo and if you turn the chat window off it is basically a singleplayer game.

I still don't know if I will subscribe after my free month, but the odds are getting better each time I play it.
 
So, does TOR have Bioware's signature elaborate story? I've heard it has a "main storyline" and that there are two separate ones for Imperial and Republic. Basically, does this have a feel of a Bioware game? I'm sure they had to make concessions to fit in the MMO space, but if the core experience is similar to their previous stuff I might try it out.
 
Mirage said:
So, does TOR have Bioware's signature elaborate story? I've heard it has a "main storyline" and that there are two separate ones for Imperial and Republic. Basically, does this have a feel of a Bioware game? I'm sure they had to make concessions to fit in the MMO space, but if the core experience is similar to their previous stuff I might try it out.
Click to expand...

I haven't played a ton, so I'm not sure how long it continues for, but at this moment I am saying yes. Each of the classes seems to have a pretty distinct beginning, at least as far as I've played. For instance, as a Bounty Hunter you get roped into working with a 3-person crew, two of whom quickly get assassinated, and it goes on from there. While as a Sith Inquisitor you're an acolyte just beginning your training, competing with other acolytes to be taken under a Lord's wing as an apprentice.

Dialogue options seem interesting, and like Shaker was saying, having the voice acting to back it up really adds something to it. There seems to be a degree of difference in what race you are as well. My Inquisitor (Now a Sorcerer) is a Twi'lek, so the Sith have been giving me shit the entire time for being a former slave.

I'm sure at some point the storyline degrades to "Everyone does the same thing", but at least early on not every class even starts on the same planet.

Shakermaker said:
Gameplay-wise SWTOR really does nothing new. Except for no auto-attack the fighting feels a lot like WoW and other MMOs along that vein. One significant thing that is different though are mob groups. In stead of one or two regular mobs you usually get two or three easy ones and one or two tougher one. Crowd control comes in very handy a lot of the time and managing the hectic fights can be a lot of fun. Crowd control comes in handy a lot of the time, something that WoW threw out of the window around Cataclysm.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the larger groups definitely makes this seem cooler than WoW. As far as there being nothing new, I haven't played a character yet that has it, but the "cover" system seemed pretty different / interesting.

Shakermaker said:
Another non-WoW feature are the companions. I quite like them. I would wish they were more customizable, but I can understand that would be hard for all the animated stuff. From a gameplay perspective they work well. I like how I can go full healer and still be able to play solo without worrying about my DPS. I think companions will be especially helpful for people who are new to the genre. In that sense SWTOR could very well be the gateway drugs to MMOs like WoW was five, six years ago. You can play most of this game entirely solo and if you turn the chat window off it is basically a singleplayer game.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The other thing that I love about the companions is that they do all of the gathering and crafting. It's not like WoW in that with TOR you don't have to piss your entire goddamn life away raising your mining / blacksmithing.

The Companions, though, are actually my single complaint with the game thus far, simply because of an annoying glitch. I'm playing a Sorcerer, as I've said, and I'm around level 12. And I have the biology gathering skill. If I tell my companion to gather, he'll try to do it from wherever he's standing, even if that's on the other side of the goddamn planet, and obviously if he's out of range it won't work, so he just stands there like a statue. And then that seems to bug everything up, and I have to get into combat for him to even follow me again.
 
Yorick said:
I haven't played a ton, so I'm not sure how long it continues for, but at this moment I am saying yes. Each of the classes seems to have a pretty distinct beginning, at least as far as I've played. For instance, as a Bounty Hunter you get roped into working with a 3-person crew, two of whom quickly get assassinated, and it goes on from there. While as a Sith Inquisitor you're an acolyte just beginning your training, competing with other acolytes to be taken under a Lord's wing as an apprentice.

Dialogue options seem interesting, and like Shaker was saying, having the voice acting to back it up really adds something to it. There seems to be a degree of difference in what race you are as well. My Inquisitor (Now a Sorcerer) is a Twi'lek, so the Sith have been giving me shit the entire time for being a former slave.

I'm sure at some point the storyline degrades to "Everyone does the same thing", but at least early on not every class even starts on the same planet.
Click to expand...


Cool, yeah I'm not expecting completely distinct story content among the classes, the Imperial/Jedi separate storylines should provide enough replay value in themselves. Interesting that race factors into the dialogue options as well. Anyway, as long as the story/plot/characters are relatively on par with their other games I'm still interested. Glad to hear it's all voice acted, that really helps in being absorbed into the world.

Oh, and that Sith Inquisitor beginning seems to heavily resemble the Lotus Assassin Fortress in Jade Empire, as far as premise. But, that's not a bad thing.
 
Shakermaker said:
Crowd control comes in handy a lot of the time, something that WoW threw out of the window around Cataclysm.
Click to expand...

Actually, crowd control mattered much more in Cataclysm than it did in Lich King. Not quite as much as it did in Burning Crusade, but then nothing matters as much as it did back then.
 
I've parked my Jedi Sage in Anchorhead so I could level an Imperial Agent. Best decision ever. The IA questline is awesome. You are basically an evil James Bond. Great voice acting too.
 
He is not. Almost all of his videos are complete shit with him thinking he's way too ****ing funny and if I knew his address in this country of mine I would break into his apartment and I would cut him.

But to each his own, I guess, maybe I am just cranky from being tired.:v
 
Not suspicious -- it takes ****ing forever to properly review an MMO. ToR is the most massive to date in terms of sheer narrated questing and SP type content, so there's a literal ****-ton to assess, particularly in the case of an embargo (don't know if ToR had one).
 
So who has this? How do they find it? I read some impressions a page or two back but I have some questions:

1. How is the overall combat? Is it typical MMO fare? I'm looking for something a little more dynamic than WoW's static affair.
2. Is exploration fun and interesting? I found just riding through Azeroth a bunch of fun, or is it fairly restricted due to the planet system?
3. Is there 50 billion Jedi and Sith running around with a sprinkling of the other classes?
4. How's the story?

Or just any impressions really.
 
It's World of Sabercraft, so yes the combat is basically WoW but a little bit more manic, which I consider a good thing.

The exploration is fun, the worlds are beautiful -- and there's a "datacron" sub game for traversing tough terrain. It's like finding joker trophies, etc but delivering good bouts of story. Often times, though, environments seem more static--this is due to more instancing than WoW and corridor type maps. The game loads between zones and they aren't strictly connected--you must use your ship or a shuttle. In some ways it's more fun--but a little tedious here and there.

You'd be surprised how many non-jedi and sith players are there. The class diversification is much better than WoW even. People love blasters and the stories of those characters are equally awesome. Think Han Solo, Lt. Veers, etc.

The stories are mostly excellent. Here's the highlight of the game--it's very much Bioware and the class quests are engrossing and consistent. The game has a consistency that makes your character in particular seem powerful and intriguing. There's more dialogue options and voice acting than any other BW game, it's very apparent that their best talent worked on this aspect of the game. It's quite appropriate for a Bioware game.

The implentation of a moral system that isn't polarized by Sith or Jedi / Emp or Repub allegiance is cool. You can be a Dark Jedi or a "light" Sith. There's "party" conversations with rolls on dialogue options which makes for interesting social interaction--especially playing with real life friends in story guided dungeons (aka Flashpoints) and certain quests. Technically, all conversations aside from a few main quest ones can be participated in by parties. It's a cool feature.

So yes, ToR brings a lot of new to the MMO table--but don't let that lead you to believe you aren't playing what is essentially another formulaic and grind'y MMO.

You might be more compelled to click the glowing object or kill 5 rats--but it's still mindless chores gameplay wise.

Overall it has brought enough to be the most feature complete and compelling MMO to the market--and it's a great digression from WoW--but only time, ongoing support and new content will reveal if this diamond in the rough rivals Blizzard's ten-ton gorilla.

Sweet narration and a comfortable, nostalgic setting can only carry the game for a few months, it's really about the direction Bioware takes folks in terms of end game content and new features.
 
I despise pay to play, otherwise I'd check this out myself. Even if there's a supplemental trial period, it's still basically a dosage of cocaine trying to get you addicted. I'd rather pay for my drugs once and have them forever. But it still saddens me to hear that it's basically just WoW in space; though I suppose that could be enough for some like Skyrim with guns ~ Fallout.
 
BabyHeadCrab said:
It's World of Sabercraft, so yes the combat is basically WoW but a little bit more manic, which I consider a good thing.

The exploration is fun, the worlds are beautiful -- and there's a "datacron" sub game for traversing tough terrain. It's like finding joker trophies, etc but delivering good bouts of story. Often times, though, environments seem more static--this is due to more instancing than WoW and corridor type maps. The game loads between zones and they aren't strictly connected--you must use your ship or a shuttle. In some ways it's more fun--but a little tedious here and there.

You'd be surprised how many non-jedi and sith players are there. The class diversification is much better than WoW even. People love blasters and the stories of those characters are equally awesome. Think Han Solo, Lt. Veers, etc.

The stories are mostly excellent. Here's the highlight of the game--it's very much Bioware and the class quests are engrossing and consistent. The game has a consistency that makes your character in particular seem powerful and intriguing. There's more dialogue options and voice acting than any other BW game, it's very apparent that their best talent worked on this aspect of the game. It's quite appropriate for a Bioware game.

The implentation of a moral system that isn't polarized by Sith or Jedi / Emp or Repub allegiance is cool. You can be a Dark Jedi or a "light" Sith. There's collective conversations with rolls on dialogue options.

So yes, ToR brings a lot of new to the MMO table--but don't let that lead you to believe you aren't playing what is essentially another formulaic and grind'y MMO.

You might be more compelled to click the glowing object or kill 5 rats--but it's still mindless chores gameplay wise.

Overall it has brought enough to be the most feature complete and compelling MMO to the market--and it's a great digression from WoW--but only time, ongoing support and new content will reveal if this diamond in the rough rivals Blizzard's ten-ton gorilla.

Sweet narration and a comfortable, nostalgic setting can only carry the game for a few months, it's really about the direction Bioware takes folks in terms of end game content and new features.
Click to expand...

Thank you muchly. My friends do have it but I tend to think they may be more interested in the grind rather than anything related to the story (I watched him play for a bit and he skipped all the dialogue and basically played roulette with the options he was given; I was flabbergasted), so your opinion is greatly appreciated. I think I'm willing to put down 60 bucks for it but putting down 60 bucks for anything gives me a great deal of hesitation.
 
BabyHeadCrab said:
The implentation of a moral system that isn't polarized by Sith or Jedi / Emp or Repub allegiance is cool. You can be a Dark Jedi or a "light" Sith. There's collective conversations with rolls on dialogue options.
.
Click to expand...


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
 
Hey now, man. I like my Sith Juggernaut "Snuggles", he crushes the Republic with his benevolent passion for peacefully euthanizing his foes. Neutral evil, ya know?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Krynn72
Call of Duty: Star Wars: The Movies
Replies
3
Views
3K
Eejit
Eejit
Lobster
2014: Year of the Space Combat Sim.
Replies
3
Views
20K
Lobster
Lobster
Warped Dan
Star Wars: The Old Republic Going Free-to-Play
Replies
11
Views
2K
Eejit
Eejit
Mogi67
Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Replies
1
Views
1K
Krynn72
Krynn72
Shakermaker
This is what is wrong with The Old Republic
Replies
19
Views
1K
Jintor
Jintor
Back
Top