Orc getting punched made me lol.

I've been following this game since Oct. 2008.

I remember giggling like a girl during my first battle with my training saber. I loved it. I thought, "This is it... the game I've been waiting for." As a new player, you will be swinging the training saber for several hours. As you find more powerful training sabers, you start to feel even more anticipation for that glowing lightsaber you will eventually have - a major goal, IMO.

I finally obtain my lightsaber. I nearly fall out of my seat when I hear the iconic blade activate and swing. It was fantastic - especially during your first 200-500 fights. However, after the hype died down, I felt like I had no goal to look forward to. The story was nice, but it began to get tiring. I started to feel that I had zero control. I did what I was told to do the entire time. The game felt way too linear.

The negative aura hit me hard when I got to Tattooine. The more I ran around Tattooine, the more I started realize that there is nothing to do other than what you are told.

My review:

Combat & Animations: The combat is extremely crisp. It's probably the best combat I've ever experienced in any MMO. The animations are much more fluid with a hands-on experience.

Story: The story / leveling was extremely entertaining. It was like watching a great movie to be honest. There was, however, an element of individuality that was missing. I never felt like I got to think for myself. It's pretty much the same "collect bear claws" type quests that we've experienced in every other game. The scripted voice work and anticipation of, "what's going to happen next" did make it a bit more exciting, though.

Companions: I've always hated pet classes. However, they did a great job with companions. They performed to the point where you thought an actual player was playing them. They never got caught up on anything, did what you told them to do, and were very powerful when compared to "pets" from other MMOs.

Character Creation: Probably the worst I've seen to be honest. It's much like WoW's creation system, but with options that are so over the top and silly that it REALLY makes any realistic choice more narrow.

Warzones: Certainly the worst I've seen. At the beginning of the round or upon revive, you are in a protective area. This is where players buff up, hop on the flight-path speeders, and then listen to the scripted voice work in the background while they fly you to your little battleground arena. After the first few rounds, I already felt the fatigue from the endless / redundant Battlegrounds from WoW. PvP was exactly as I imagined it: people traveling in groups, throwing snares, and spamming their best attacks in order. It was so predictable - everything about it. I logged off after a few rounds. There was no element of surprise. It felt like an extremely dumbed down version of Counter-Strike - one I would have to pay monthly for.

As I started before, I've been following this game since 2008 (when they announced). I remember Fridays being especially cool, as those were the days for the small reveals. However, most of everything being revealed was about their epic story and iconic functioning. I always thought, "Yes! We know it has fantastic story. But what else do you offer?".

After experiencing SWTOR, I now realize why story was their main point of interest: SWTOR offers very little innovation outside of story. I find it to be a MUCH more linear version of WoW.

I personally can't imagine paying monthly for it past 2 months. This is my honest take on the game.

Originally posted by Wiezard

Take a deep breathe and understand that first and formost it is a video game and it is supposed to entertain you. And same goes for any other game out there. And i see in no way how an optional PVP mini game reduces over all depth of a game. But then i am not bothered by trivial things.

 You are browsing the auction house. You notice another player who is wearing the most badass set of clothing or armor. You ask him what quest he had to do to get it.

He replies, "HuttBall".

HuttBall? And to think that this game couldn't get anymore kiddy-play.

I'm not looking for a SWG 2.0. I'm simply looking for some type of virtual depth. This game has none of it. This game is for kids.

YOU'RE ALL GETTING THE LIMITED EDITION

Limited Race/Class Selection

Limited by Linear Story

Limited by Tunnel-Shooter StarFox Space

Limited by Lightsaber Type

Limited by Battleground Gear Incentive

Limited by a Simplistic Battleground System

Limited by Starship Selection

Limited by HOLD-MY-HAND Mentality

Limited by the Console Mentality of Young Developers

 Limited by Cash-Target Pre-Teen/Teen Audience

Limited by the stupidity of HuttBall

Originally posted by Xondar123

Originally posted by maskedweasel

Originally posted by depain

Looks cool. However, how cool is this really going to be after playing through the same senario 10,000 times?

If you play through it 10,000 times it must be really, really cool.

I don't see why you'd have to run it 10,000 times. From what I understand Bioware is working rto reduce grind, i.e. you pick up emblems or some sort of items to trade for the loot you want rather than doing to event over and over again to get rthe right loot.

 

 Yes. And how do you get emblems? By doing the same raids and Warzones over and over and over.

The looks good. However, it doesn't seem to have any sustain. Just redundant gameplay. This is why Theme Park games should have additional and optional elements.

Originally posted by maskedweasel

Originally posted by depain

Looks cool. However, how cool is this really going to be after playing through the same senario 10,000 times?

If you play through it 10,000 times it must be really, really cool.

 

 Who would do that without having to?

I played Battlegrounds over and over for pvp gear. I hated every second of it.

Looks cool. However, how cool is this really going to be after playing through the same senario 10,000 times?

Yes. I'm extremely sick of the simplicity of two factions.

My ideal MMO would have 5 major warring factions with the option to remain neutral amung them. Players should be able to influence the success of these factions, e.g., being able to build player colonies within and outside of the main static city. If you wish to build within one of the major 5 city factions, you will be taxed. If your guild starts a small colony (shops, etc) within the main city, you will be taxed harder.

Neutral colonies or those who reside in the wilderness will not be taxed. However, they don't have the security of the city walls / combat towers.

All 5 cities hate each other.

But hey... this is too complex for MMOs....  according to post-WoW developers.

Originally posted by Khrymson

Well, its pretty obvious that all of those titles were not even 1/1000ths as successfull as WoW turned out to be.  If something isn't good, then why would it retain any value.  SWG and Vanguard could have been, and maybe even EQII, but they all share a very common negative ~ SOE!

 Really???!??

....

I remember it like it was yesterday...

It's 2005. I'm browsing my local GameStop. I see three factory sealed copies of World of Warcraft: Collector's Edition. They we're priced at around 70 bucks each. I though, "Hmm. Maybe I should buy those up. Hmm. Nah. This game won't amount to anything."

The game sells today on eBay for around $2500.00.

/FACEPALM

HOWEVER, I did manage to purchase the Collector's Edition for the following games. Let's take a look at their value:

Vanguard: Sage of Heroes: I paid $70ish. Here is a "Buy it Now" for $22.00

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures: I paid $70ish. Here is a "Buy it Now" for $69.99

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning: I paid 80ish. Here is an auction for $20.00 no bids with less than 1 day left.

EverQuest II: I paid $60ish. Here is a "Buy it Now" for $39.99.

Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided: I paid 60ish. The game will not exist post 2011. What's the point.

/FACEPALM

MMOs were so much better before they hit mainstream. While profit is clearly important, so was the player's experience.

These days? It's all profit. 100%.

Originally posted by Yuui

Originally posted by depain

What kind of rewards will be distributed through battlegrounds, or how will players use battleground points?















With the points earned from the battleground players will be able to buy various items (mounts, pets, armors, etc).















 

Battlegrounds and their damn incentive programs. It makes me feel forced to participate.

This game had a lot going for it, too. This ruins it for me.

 

 

BGs so far in AA are like biig instanced tutorials/training_grounds for non-instanced things like castle sieges, enviroinment use in pvp and other things like that. IMO its only normal that htose doing tutorials get rewarded for them :)

 

 Why? A professional boxer doesn't get rewarded for a tutorial fight against Glass Joe.

I think it's funny how people think SWTOR will offer them the same type of sustain that SWG did.

This is my guess as to what will happen:

SWTOR launches. You are so excited. The game is amazing. You play your character through the entire story. You might even play another character through the entire story. However, you start to look at your character and think, "what now? battlegrounds for another 3 hours?" "Do I raid for the next 3 hours?" Nah...   I'll go hang out at my shop...  oh wait. Hmm. I'll go hang out at the guild house.... oh wait... Hmm. I'll go hang out in the cantina...   oh wait...   I'll go decorate my house.... oh wait.

OH WAIT... this game was made for WoW fan$$$

What kind of rewards will be distributed through battlegrounds, or how will players use battleground points?



With the points earned from the battleground players will be able to buy various items (mounts, pets, armors, etc).



 

Battlegrounds and their damn incentive programs. It makes me feel forced to participate.

This game had a lot going for it, too. This ruins it for me.

I think they need to make more than 1 monster.

Originally posted by syntax42

Your wife shows interest in things you enjoy and you just laugh at her?  When is the divorce?  Is she hot?

We've been together for 12 years. She doesn't like Star Wars. She knows that I know this. She was mildly making fun of the genre when she asked.

In fact, she thought I was even more nerdy when I started laughing.

We were both just joking around.

And yes... she is hot.

I said...

HahAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahhaAHAaHAhAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahaahahaha

I'm happy to see the game is doing better.

Well, I voted for Diablo 3 - because I'm a fan of the genre. A selfish vote.

However, including standard RPGs would cause unneeded confusion.

I come to this website for the MMO news. I like that everything I see is in regards to MMOs. If I to sift through to discern RPG from MMO, then the simplicity has been removed. I'll honestly probably start looking for a different site that offers nothing but MMO news.

Originally posted by Distopia

Originally posted by Ysharros

 

I just hope that works out in practice. Most really good MMO improvements tend to be incremental anyway, so this is a start - if it works.

I think this is something many gamers overlook they seem to expect large strides in innovation, when that doesn't even happen in the less risky or expensive single player realm. Baby steps are just safer, when you're banking other peoples money on a game, you can't be careless, you have to think in a practicle manner.

 

 Playing it safe didn't do much for AoC, WAR, LoTRO, STO, etc.

It's all the same piece of WoW steak... but with slightly different seasoning. Sometimes I want ribs.