I recently penned a piece confessing some of my biggest MMO shames, which included the fact I’d never finished all of the class stories in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Aiming to knock one of those off of my list, I’ve returned to the game once again and while I’m enjoying playing my character(s) and continuing the story, there are some things that continue to bug me about the game to this day.
The Game is Way Too Easy
This isn’t some elitist take over difficulty. Playing through the story content is just way, way too easy. Companions are overpowered, less so than they used to be, but still so overpowered that I often feel like dismissing mine so that I have a chance to actually do something in combat. The game is so easy, in fact, that running damage-over-time specializations while leveling is generally discouraged since most enemies will die before you can even apply your DoTs.
This applies to both enemies in the overworld and within story missions. I don’t know if BioWare should just retune enemies globally to bring in some additional challenge or offer a way for players to scale difficulty in the game world and origin story content, but I feel like something should be done. It’s not only a problem in the sense that it’s personally unchallenging, but it makes it hard for me to make the case to suggest playing the game co-op with a friend. If encounters in the world are a snooze with just a single person, imagine how things would go with more.
Cosmetics Gripes
I’m going to beat a dead horse here and say that I’m still amazed that BioWare hasn’t implemented some sort of hood toggle at this point in the game’s life. Players currently work around hoods by playing certain species such as Twi’lek or Togruta who aren’t able to wear them or use specific headbands or other gear that will cancel out a hood. If there’s a way to force hoods off this way, then why not just give us the option?
Beyond that, there are the usual issues with clipping, but by the far the worst offender is the fact that some cosmetic items don’t dye properly or even consistently. Some items won’t use a secondary dye or have weird discoloration across different parts of the item when dyed. It just looks sloppy. I can understand this to some extent for gear that was made before SWTOR went F2P and thus not a Cartel Market item, but there’s no excuse for this when it comes to for pay items on the CM.
Awkward Class Design
This is another dead horse of mine and one that will never change, but I’m clearly in a complaining mood, so here goes. I’ve never liked the fact that the Vanguard and Powertech play in basically melee range. This is admittedly less so of an issue on the Powertech, since equipment such as flamethrowers make sense there, but it’s just awkward on a Vanguard to have to fight within 10m of an enemy using a blaster rifle. The Vanguard being the mirror of the Powertech gets its own version of flamethrowers and the like, but I’ve never been sold on the fantasy it tries to mirror from the Powertech’s side of things. It’s so awkward that I actually just play my Trooper as a Commando using a blaster rifle, even if that means I can’t use some abilities. And no, I don’t bring him into group content, so I’m not burdening anyone with my suboptimal personal handicap.
I also dislike that the Imperial Agent’s Operative advanced class uses a blaster rifle as it kind of clashes with the class fantasy of being a stealth agent. Why not switch the rifle and pistol between the Powertech and Operative? Now that we select our advanced class at character creation, I think this wouldn’t be as much of an issue. Or at least give players the option to use either based on preference.
Finally, I can’t stand stat sticks. This is true for some of the aforementioned classes such as the Powertech/Vanguard and the Operative, but it’s also true for the Sorcerer and Sage. For the Powertech/Vanguard and Operative, weapon use should be a larger part of their gameplay regardless of specialization, though to be fair the Operative at least has the Lethality specialization for that. For the Sorcerer and Sage who realistically never use the lightsabers at all other than to deflect blaster fire, I don’t much see the need. We should be able to visibly wield a focus or just nothing at all.
What are some of your complaints about your favorite MMOs? Share ‘em in the comments below!
