Beta has come to an end for me *sigh*. So now it is time to sit back, and anxiously await for the start of the game.  Yes, I AM going to play this one.  What I want to discuss here are some of the pros and cons discussed by others and my own impressions on the subject. 

1. "This game is just another WOW clone!"

Ok, first off, lets be fair.  WOW was nothing new when it came out.  It used many of the same game mechanics that were being used in MMO's long before it was a twinkle in Blizzard's eye.  I personally played WOW for quite a few years and loved the game.  Blizzard did not come up with some revolutionary new concept in gaming.  What they DID do was take an existing genre and market it beautifully.  WOW showed that you did not have to reinvent the wheel.

So if it isn't broken, don't fix it.  SWTOR is using similar game mechanics because THEY WORK.  Many recent MMO's have failed because they have tried so hard to be different with their game mechanics and UI's that they have lost a huge percentage of the audience that has become familiar (and comfortable) with the mainstream UI that they have seen from WOW.  What they are doing differently, however, is bringing us a story that most of us want to be a part of, and bringing something back that I haven't seen in a while in an MMO....immersion.  Which brings me to point two.

2. "The story dialoge is annoying, and makes gameplay a pain."

First I will play along with this complaint for a moment.  I have to admit that when it comes to side questing, I can do without the converstation I have to sit through.  I would be perfectly happy if the old man and his wife would just say, "go grab me some power cores and I'll pay you".  Or better yet, if I can hit "esc" and skip the conversation and just click yes or no to accept the quest.

When it comes to the main storyline however, I really like the concept.  Going through the conversations gives me a feeling of a connection with the characters I am working with or for.  Immersion is something that I always look for when choosing an MMO.  I don't like playing an MMO where I feel like I am far and away from what is happening.  I like to feel like I "am" that character, not just controlling it.  Hence the RPG part of MMORPG.  You know "role playing"..... I am not much of a role player, but it is nice to at least feel like you have some sort of investment in your charcter.

3. "Its a single player game with multiplayer aspects, like flashpoints, thrown in."

In almost any MMO I have ever played, that is the case to a point.  Who the hell is teaming up with anyone at level 5 to go kill 10 boars? SWTOR actually gives you flashpoints (instances) at a much lower level than many other MMO's.  The first one in SWTOR is around level 9-10.  So I can't really see how this is a valid complaint at any angle.

4. "Character classes are poorly defined and repetitive."

Ok ok, this is my own complaint.  The one gripe I have so far is looking at skill trees when I turn level 10 and going, "What the hell good are any of these?"  A bounty hunter can do damage or tank as a powertech, or do damage and heal as a marksmen.  An agent can snipe or be an operative, who can heal.  Inquisitor along the same lines....  We can say the same for the Republic side since classes are esentially the same on both sides with different names.

It seems that too many classes can do too many things.  Not that it is necessarily a bad thing in some peoples eyes, but I could go for a little more definition myself.  I have gone well into the teens on a few characters and then thought "this isn't what I wanted in a character". This is one of the main issues that sent my digital bags packing when it came to Rift.  There were TOO MANY choices.  I personally want better class definition. 

So these are a few things I have been noticing so far...I am sure that folks can add a ton of other things, both good and bad.  To be honest I have been enjoying the game so much that I tend to overlook a lot of smaller things, but I suppose that speaks to the positive.