I've watched trailers, game play videos, class explination videos, dungeon trailers, etc. I like to think i've watched a majority of whats out there. And as much as I love SWTOR (getting $150 collecters), the fighting seems rather boring, drawl, simply put, boring. Now, this is only my Opinion from videos - that to my knowledge are all early level videos, but there doesn't seem to be much going on
The ranged fighters are just standing back and blasting, there isn't any huge blast, or rain of bombs, there isn't much of anything. the melee is just standing there swinging their lightsaber (which is badass). It all looks fun, but, there just isn't a lot going on. I really hope this is just low level fighting. Granted all our expecations are through the roof, but when it comes down to aspects being better than other aspects, game play should be really flashy and look badass, at this point.
I would have to agree with you, then again I haven't played a single MMO that has interesting combat in it, they are all rather boring, but fortunately I don't rely on visual combat moves to get my kicks, for me it's all about the story and lore.
you need to watch some of the better in game footage then
the sith force users have all kinds of things going on, including a crushing field of force fueled hatred surrounding the tanks causing damage and hate on pve mobs near them, just dmg to people in range in pvp
the trooper has a quake worthy BFG with 10+ special attacks including grenades bomb shots taser blasts ect
the bounty hunter has more tricks then boba fett ever dreamt of
the jedi have saber stances and multiple strikes
you seem to have not put much effort into seeing the in game combat honesty, just watching the youtube video on the animation evolution cycle over the last year shows you tons of the moves in action and their current names
I think the point is that you are doing nothing but standing their and clicking buttons for hours on end. There is more to an MMO then just smoke and mirrors.
It all depends on how watchful the mods are, I've seen enough trolling and flamebaiting anti-TOR posts remain while posts that berated it or countered those arguments got removed for some slight of the RoC or because of people who were quick to report on it.
Anyway, if accounts of people who played in beta isn't right or sufficient, here's the accounts from other people who actually played ingame and not just watched it, from a few hours to tens of hours:
Combat and overall gameplay
Summer/Fall 2010
Not only was combat very fast and seamless, the UI was very snappy and responsive (which for me at least is a make or break deal). You can sit down and feel comfortable right off the bat if your are an experienced WSAD player (Harvest151)
Gameplay wise the first thing that really surprised me was that combat felt very smooth and right/nice. You don't really notice it until you get to play but it's smooth, you're always busy fighting and not just standing still waiting on or casting skills, even with the 3 abilities I had. I think a large part of this is due to the fact several abilities can be fired while moving. Combat felt very dynamic and fluid (Raul)
Combat felt.. more action packed? I mean I had only 3 actual skills at this level but I was still constantly doing something, being able to move and shoot had a big impact on that. Due to the nature of the AOE attacks (like wrist rocket) and fighting multiple enemies you would also manage your targets while moving. Like if one guy had 10% health left and a guy next to him 60% you'd switch target to the 60% guy before firing your wrist rocket because it does (or seemed) to do more damage to the primary target. I can imagine that when acquiring CC skills you will be doing a lot more target managing like this. Fighting multiple opponents was a good move on their side. It makes a lot of difference. Because you are almost always fighting multiple opponents and because you have several AOE attacks the fights become a bit more interactive. Flamethrower for instance is a cone attack channel. So you want to position yourself in a direction so that you hit as many opponents as possible. So even at a low level you are managing several things in each fight rather than pummel one enemy for several seconds (Raul)
All of it feels very natural from the very beginning of play. BioWare has chosen to immediately equip the player with potent powers that are visually satisfying (Jeuxvideo)
Jedi Immersion Day, Dec 2010
The companion combat AI is what sets it apart from the AI exhibited by many MMO pets. Qyzen engaged targets more like a companion in Mass Effect then a pet in World of Warcraft. He appeared to choose weak targets and always disengaged crowd controlled mobs without any input from the player. This last part made it much easier to use the Consular's skill rotation without needing to direct Qyzen to attack specific mobs or worrying about him breaking a Stasis prematurely. Apart from combat, Qyzen was an active part of the early Jedi Consular story and participated in multiple conversations. However, we only noticed him interjecting his opinions on quests that directly related to his story and not during random side quests - Darthhater
For the people worried that SWTOR is going to be all talking and no fighting, stop worrying. Combat itself was very satisfying - Royce, Massively
In many MMO’s death only tends to happen when you accidentally aggro another mob while your leveling up. In TOR you have no choice but to take on multiple enemies at a time, so you can’t just sit there with one target, pressing a pattern of keys. You have to adapt and think on your feet, otherwise you will be as good as a pile of steaming bantha poodoo. Let me highlight a combat scenario that stuck out and you will get a better feel for how important using the right abilities at the right time is in The Old Republic. I remember seeing two Seeker Droids (more info on them here) near an entrance I wanted to go through. I thought to myself “heh.. these guys don’t stand a chance!” pulled out my training blade and charged in. I used “Stasis Field” on the enemy on the right, which lifted him into the air (ala mass effect) and unable to do anything. Then I switched my gaze to the other one who was already blasting away at me. Before I could do anything else, three more Seeker droids turned off their cloaking devices and suddenly I found myself dealing, not with two targets, but five. That was the “uh oh, time to spit out the coffee and lift myself off my chair” moment. They surrounded me quickly and as the droid who I was holding back with rocks and debris finally closed in on me, that’s when I decided to use “Force Wave,” which threw all of them away and down to the ground in separate directions. This massive shockwave was enough to weaken them all and even kill the droid who had been enduring the rubble I was tossing at him with Telekenetic Throw. While they were getting off the ground I realized the droid who I had sent floating up in the air earlier was probably about to get back into the mix. I hurled the boulder at him as he floated in the air, doing enough damage to nearly kill him off. From that point on I used my saber to clean up the mess and kept them at bay with my Telekenetic Throw ability when needed. That encounter was not any form of a special raid encounter, that was just me as a Jedi in the wilderness coming across what you might call “the common mob,” at level five. These kinds of things happened all the time, and I have never been so tense in an MMO at this low of a level. I caught myself saying “phew” several times out loud after barely surviving a difficult moment - Branden, Torocast
At this point I was well on my way to constructing my lightsaber. There was one last obstacle in my way before arriving at the forge, a big Flesh Raider boss. He was no push over, and the odds were stacked against me. It was me, my companion and him. I sent my companion in for the first strike and though he was temporarily distracted by that, it didn’t take long for aggro to transfer over to me. I had to walk a tight line of keeping him at bay and keeping him from killing my companion who was trailing behind him doing damage as I slowed him down with Telekenetic Throw. It was not an easy fight, and it really proved to me that they can make the one on one battles feel heroic too. At one point I charged towards him and used my “Force Wave” ability in the hopes of pushing him back and down to the ground, but at the same time he stomped on the ground! The result was my companion, him, and I, all hurling back in opposite directions just like Obi-Wan and Anakin in their duel on Mustafar. I eventually took him out, but not before getting down to around five percent health even after using a stim pack during the fight - Branden, Torocast
PAX East 2011
In fact, the animations for all the spells and effects were fantastic. When I watched videos of the game prior to playing it, I was severely underwhelmed. But playing the title and experiencing the combat makes a world of difference. It’s still fairly traditional stuff, but it’s fun (William Murphy, mmorpg.com)
Again I want to point out the speed of the game which has improved drastically since the last build we saw. The light saber fighting flowed much faster and felt more like an action RPG (Garrett Fuller, mmorpg.com)
Overall the team I was with worked very well and the classes definitely had to support each other to get to the base. No one was bored by any means (Garrett Fuller, mmorpg.com)
One of the nice parts about combat is that it's far more forgiving than the usual holy trinity model -- taunts are present, but the loss of aggro doesn't equal party death. Things are a bit more bouncy and frantic, and it looks like most classes have tools to get out of trouble when necessary. There was a slightly loose feel to combat here, with a number of things happening without becoming overwhelming. Having an ironclad hold on enemy attention wasn't nearly as important as keeping awareness of the battlefield, and it's nice to see that the small party size is being used to push players toward a greater variety of roles (Eliot Lefebvre, Massively)
Gameplay ranged (appropriately) from simple to complex and never too much in one direction. [Taral V] was an enjoyable challenge though, and it was one that encouraged us to try out different tactics and strategies each time, to varying degrees of success (Grant, desktopreview)
While the group cut a swath through the initial mobs, with a nicely coordinated effort between the Scoundrel, Sage, Jedi Guardian (which was a scrapper) and Republic Trooper (which was a tank), it still felt satisfying and logical. When the group faced off against a boss and his pet, the group ran into trouble. The boss’ pet was felled once, but the group was still wiped each time. It only made the group more diligent, rather than frustrated. There was a freshness and style to the combat that hasn’t been felt in a long time, partly because the game’s futuristic setting and the familiar archetypes, and partly because the game feels really well-designed (Falcon, tmrzoo)
Once in the thick of things, the action didn't stop. Powers and abilities are varied and go from visceral thrusts of the light saber to massive bursts of force knocking back entire groups of enemies. A leap in and stun would allow my Commando and Consular to beat up on the enemies easily while the Smuggler kept me at full health. It's a team-work game, and from conversation afterwords it is very easy to have crazy amounts of fun in any role. Action was fast and responsive, powers are cool visuals to watch, and darn it, it never got old leaping 30 feet and slashing down at an enemy (Siegel, Newsarama)
It was fun, it was tough, it took team work and individual play; it was everything you want out of an RPG, and you were playing side-by-side with actual people (Siegel, Newsarama)
Other than these gripes, the game played extraordinarily well. There were a lot of really interesting abilities I barely had the opportunity to explore, and the group dynamic was great, even with half my group being complete strangers (Newman, PikiGeek)
[the fighting] feels good. It’s not groundbreaking MMO combat, but it sure plays well. It’s fast paced. It actually plays a lot like Knights of the Old Republic. It may not change a whole lot, but it changed enough to make it noticeable and have it be enjoyable to play (Bedivere, Fronttowardsgamer)
All classes had crowd control capabilities as well as buttons to recover quickly in between combat sessions, several ways to damage enemies, and more (Buckland, AtomicGamer)
I mentioned earlier I felt right at home here, which is because the combat is very WoW-like. You know, that standard MMO battling that we’ve all come to know and love throughout the Everquest and World of Warcraft years of domination. Not that it wasn’t fun and exciting, mind you, but it was standard. I honestly don’t think this is where The Old Republic will shine or stand out in any way, other than the fact that you’re swinging around lightsabers and such. I have to admit, that’s pretty cool! (Chad, Dualshockers)
With that said gameplay felt good. Real good. Don't fear not having an auto attack the specials chain together very nicely. It's a little different, not a lot different. (Hardradi)
combat was fluid, responsive and fast paced. There was no auto attack and that seemed to make the combat more immersive for me. All my attack sounds seem to fit their attack. I thought I noticed the music score changing to become more ominous when we got close to the boss near the end of the fight (Hardradi)
The gameplay was incredibly fluid thru this part. As a side note, I was amazed at how much crowd control that we had at our disposal. (Hengist)
Combat feels pretty satisfying, the abilities have great animations, and so do the enemies when they are taking damage.(ErnieVega)
The pace of combat is fast, and you have a lot of things going on all at once. I was more concentrated on my bar, trying to remember what abilities did what, then the actual fights. You get swamped with mobs in many of the encounters and so trying to pick them up, and maintain aggro is a little hard. (Engrey)
UK Community Event 2011
Combat dynamics were quite similar to wow in some ways, but its early level content so I'm sure with progress through the game the differences will become apparent. However, you do feel the sense of an 'epic fight' right from the get go as the developers have spoken about, whereby you're fighting 3-5 mobs at a time. A feature you certainly don't experience in wow in the origin phases of the game (rapidity)
Gameplay wise, everything felt really smooth, I was pleased by the character movement, jumping was fine (if a little clunky) rolling to cover looked nice (even if it felt a bit unwieldy sometimes) and combat felt pretty good, this is important, I always felt that once NGE came in combat in SWG was really 'light' feeling, here there's meaty effects, you really feel like you're shooting something and making it die/explode, it just felt right (Saigo)
the combat was smooth and satisfying. I had my doubts before playing as to whether or not bioware could pull off saber combat that is true to the star wars universe, but they proved unfounded. it works really well (wintersweater)
Overall the combat was incredibly responsive, I really could not tell I was playing with 200ms, the only moments of lag were when the 1k ms spikes came, honestly I can tell in WoW when I have 200ms, and this game felt way, way more responsive at 200ms then WoW ever did. My attacks linked really well and I had a blast, the combat was reasonably difficult aswell... I also want to say that I would be happy with rerolling alts all the time for this game, but I did want to state my raid experience [extensive WoW raider in a Top 10 in the World guild] earlier so hopefully you can feel "something" when I say that the combat was really fun and responsive, even at an early level (Kandycane)
It wasn't complex combat by any means, but it was more interesting than half the classes of WoW at max level, the cover mechanic really adds a big dynamic to the fight and I can only imagine what it will be like when you throw companions and advanced classes into the mix (Kandycane)
One of the buttons came up with a message "Your target does not have a target". So I guess there is a way of selecting your target's target - very handy (MEHColeman)
I came accross 3 types of mobs while I played. "Normal", "Strong" & "ELITE". Normal mobs go down very quickly, 3-4 shots each mobs. Strong mobs are a little tougher. you can manage 2 of these bad boys but you will need to use cover and maybe a medpack for any more than that... You really need to highlight each mob before you fight anyone. you need to check if they are normal, strong or elites as each fight is unique. you cant just go running in guns firing or your dead. you have to treat each fight as a unique encounter. At level 3, having to do this is awesome and shows you need brains to play (PugNoobie)
The combat was fun, and I mean FUN. The attacks and blocks seemed flawlessly choreographed, for instance the mob would recoil when hit and the combat seemed alot more significant (Vixone)
There were some fairly challenging encounters on Korriban, more challenging than I'd typically expect during the starting levels of an MMO. I had a few "oh crap, oh crap" moments in fights where my HP was dangerously close to zero. This was a nice surprise, given that most MMO's from WoW onwards have made things overly easy for the solo player in my opinion (Helderash)
Sure, like with every game or MMO or anything else, for everyone who likes something you'll find someone who dislike it. However, the majority of the people that played SWTOR seemed to enjoy the combat gameplay in SWTOR.
The trend seems to be this one: if you hate/dislike themepark MMO's and have grown burnt out or completely sick of themepark gameplay and the currrent MMO combat, then you'll also be indifferent about combat in SWTOR or dislike it. If you can still enjoy themepark based combat and gameplay and have nothing against it, then you'll merit SWTOR's combat on its own values.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I really do hope they avoid flashy, over-the-top combat.
Sure, you may have different shots with a blaster, but it's a blaster... it really only does one thing - shoot stuff.
How many particle effects and such do you really need?
As long as the game feels right, and looks like star wars, I'll be happy if every time I use a blaster abiliity, the exact same particle effect/animations play.
That's Star Wars.
It's all about the environment, the story, the characters. This isn't some Eastern fantasy MMO where every time your weapon moves it's accompanied by some glowing trail of light and flashy effects and whatever else trippy siezure inducing light show crap most MMOs have.
Comments
I would have to agree with you, then again I haven't played a single MMO that has interesting combat in it, they are all rather boring, but fortunately I don't rely on visual combat moves to get my kicks, for me it's all about the story and lore.
Not anymore there isn't.
(as far as new MMO's go that is)
It all depends on how watchful the mods are, I've seen enough trolling and flamebaiting anti-TOR posts remain while posts that berated it or countered those arguments got removed for some slight of the RoC or because of people who were quick to report on it.
Anyway, if accounts of people who played in beta isn't right or sufficient, here's the accounts from other people who actually played ingame and not just watched it, from a few hours to tens of hours:
Combat and overall gameplay
Summer/Fall 2010
Not only was combat very fast and seamless, the UI was very snappy and responsive (which for me at least is a make or break deal). You can sit down and feel comfortable right off the bat if your are an experienced WSAD player (Harvest151)
Gameplay wise the first thing that really surprised me was that combat felt very smooth and right/nice. You don't really notice it until you get to play but it's smooth, you're always busy fighting and not just standing still waiting on or casting skills, even with the 3 abilities I had. I think a large part of this is due to the fact several abilities can be fired while moving. Combat felt very dynamic and fluid (Raul)
Combat felt.. more action packed? I mean I had only 3 actual skills at this level but I was still constantly doing something, being able to move and shoot had a big impact on that. Due to the nature of the AOE attacks (like wrist rocket) and fighting multiple enemies you would also manage your targets while moving. Like if one guy had 10% health left and a guy next to him 60% you'd switch target to the 60% guy before firing your wrist rocket because it does (or seemed) to do more damage to the primary target. I can imagine that when acquiring CC skills you will be doing a lot more target managing like this. Fighting multiple opponents was a good move on their side. It makes a lot of difference. Because you are almost always fighting multiple opponents and because you have several AOE attacks the fights become a bit more interactive. Flamethrower for instance is a cone attack channel. So you want to position yourself in a direction so that you hit as many opponents as possible. So even at a low level you are managing several things in each fight rather than pummel one enemy for several seconds (Raul)
All of it feels very natural from the very beginning of play. BioWare has chosen to immediately equip the player with potent powers that are visually satisfying (Jeuxvideo)
Jedi Immersion Day, Dec 2010
The companion combat AI is what sets it apart from the AI exhibited by many MMO pets. Qyzen engaged targets more like a companion in Mass Effect then a pet in World of Warcraft. He appeared to choose weak targets and always disengaged crowd controlled mobs without any input from the player. This last part made it much easier to use the Consular's skill rotation without needing to direct Qyzen to attack specific mobs or worrying about him breaking a Stasis prematurely. Apart from combat, Qyzen was an active part of the early Jedi Consular story and participated in multiple conversations. However, we only noticed him interjecting his opinions on quests that directly related to his story and not during random side quests - Darthhater
For the people worried that SWTOR is going to be all talking and no fighting, stop worrying. Combat itself was very satisfying - Royce, Massively
In many MMO’s death only tends to happen when you accidentally aggro another mob while your leveling up. In TOR you have no choice but to take on multiple enemies at a time, so you can’t just sit there with one target, pressing a pattern of keys. You have to adapt and think on your feet, otherwise you will be as good as a pile of steaming bantha poodoo. Let me highlight a combat scenario that stuck out and you will get a better feel for how important using the right abilities at the right time is in The Old Republic. I remember seeing two Seeker Droids (more info on them here) near an entrance I wanted to go through. I thought to myself “heh.. these guys don’t stand a chance!” pulled out my training blade and charged in. I used “Stasis Field” on the enemy on the right, which lifted him into the air (ala mass effect) and unable to do anything. Then I switched my gaze to the other one who was already blasting away at me. Before I could do anything else, three more Seeker droids turned off their cloaking devices and suddenly I found myself dealing, not with two targets, but five. That was the “uh oh, time to spit out the coffee and lift myself off my chair” moment. They surrounded me quickly and as the droid who I was holding back with rocks and debris finally closed in on me, that’s when I decided to use “Force Wave,” which threw all of them away and down to the ground in separate directions. This massive shockwave was enough to weaken them all and even kill the droid who had been enduring the rubble I was tossing at him with Telekenetic Throw. While they were getting off the ground I realized the droid who I had sent floating up in the air earlier was probably about to get back into the mix. I hurled the boulder at him as he floated in the air, doing enough damage to nearly kill him off. From that point on I used my saber to clean up the mess and kept them at bay with my Telekenetic Throw ability when needed. That encounter was not any form of a special raid encounter, that was just me as a Jedi in the wilderness coming across what you might call “the common mob,” at level five. These kinds of things happened all the time, and I have never been so tense in an MMO at this low of a level. I caught myself saying “phew” several times out loud after barely surviving a difficult moment - Branden, Torocast
At this point I was well on my way to constructing my lightsaber. There was one last obstacle in my way before arriving at the forge, a big Flesh Raider boss. He was no push over, and the odds were stacked against me. It was me, my companion and him. I sent my companion in for the first strike and though he was temporarily distracted by that, it didn’t take long for aggro to transfer over to me. I had to walk a tight line of keeping him at bay and keeping him from killing my companion who was trailing behind him doing damage as I slowed him down with Telekenetic Throw. It was not an easy fight, and it really proved to me that they can make the one on one battles feel heroic too. At one point I charged towards him and used my “Force Wave” ability in the hopes of pushing him back and down to the ground, but at the same time he stomped on the ground! The result was my companion, him, and I, all hurling back in opposite directions just like Obi-Wan and Anakin in their duel on Mustafar. I eventually took him out, but not before getting down to around five percent health even after using a stim pack during the fight - Branden, Torocast
PAX East 2011
In fact, the animations for all the spells and effects were fantastic. When I watched videos of the game prior to playing it, I was severely underwhelmed. But playing the title and experiencing the combat makes a world of difference. It’s still fairly traditional stuff, but it’s fun (William Murphy, mmorpg.com)
Again I want to point out the speed of the game which has improved drastically since the last build we saw. The light saber fighting flowed much faster and felt more like an action RPG (Garrett Fuller, mmorpg.com)
Overall the team I was with worked very well and the classes definitely had to support each other to get to the base. No one was bored by any means (Garrett Fuller, mmorpg.com)
One of the nice parts about combat is that it's far more forgiving than the usual holy trinity model -- taunts are present, but the loss of aggro doesn't equal party death. Things are a bit more bouncy and frantic, and it looks like most classes have tools to get out of trouble when necessary. There was a slightly loose feel to combat here, with a number of things happening without becoming overwhelming. Having an ironclad hold on enemy attention wasn't nearly as important as keeping awareness of the battlefield, and it's nice to see that the small party size is being used to push players toward a greater variety of roles (Eliot Lefebvre, Massively)
Gameplay ranged (appropriately) from simple to complex and never too much in one direction. [Taral V] was an enjoyable challenge though, and it was one that encouraged us to try out different tactics and strategies each time, to varying degrees of success (Grant, desktopreview)
While the group cut a swath through the initial mobs, with a nicely coordinated effort between the Scoundrel, Sage, Jedi Guardian (which was a scrapper) and Republic Trooper (which was a tank), it still felt satisfying and logical. When the group faced off against a boss and his pet, the group ran into trouble. The boss’ pet was felled once, but the group was still wiped each time. It only made the group more diligent, rather than frustrated. There was a freshness and style to the combat that hasn’t been felt in a long time, partly because the game’s futuristic setting and the familiar archetypes, and partly because the game feels really well-designed (Falcon, tmrzoo)
Once in the thick of things, the action didn't stop. Powers and abilities are varied and go from visceral thrusts of the light saber to massive bursts of force knocking back entire groups of enemies. A leap in and stun would allow my Commando and Consular to beat up on the enemies easily while the Smuggler kept me at full health. It's a team-work game, and from conversation afterwords it is very easy to have crazy amounts of fun in any role. Action was fast and responsive, powers are cool visuals to watch, and darn it, it never got old leaping 30 feet and slashing down at an enemy (Siegel, Newsarama)
It was fun, it was tough, it took team work and individual play; it was everything you want out of an RPG, and you were playing side-by-side with actual people (Siegel, Newsarama)
Other than these gripes, the game played extraordinarily well. There were a lot of really interesting abilities I barely had the opportunity to explore, and the group dynamic was great, even with half my group being complete strangers (Newman, PikiGeek)
[the fighting] feels good. It’s not groundbreaking MMO combat, but it sure plays well. It’s fast paced. It actually plays a lot like Knights of the Old Republic. It may not change a whole lot, but it changed enough to make it noticeable and have it be enjoyable to play (Bedivere, Fronttowardsgamer)
All classes had crowd control capabilities as well as buttons to recover quickly in between combat sessions, several ways to damage enemies, and more (Buckland, AtomicGamer)
I mentioned earlier I felt right at home here, which is because the combat is very WoW-like. You know, that standard MMO battling that we’ve all come to know and love throughout the Everquest and World of Warcraft years of domination. Not that it wasn’t fun and exciting, mind you, but it was standard. I honestly don’t think this is where The Old Republic will shine or stand out in any way, other than the fact that you’re swinging around lightsabers and such. I have to admit, that’s pretty cool! (Chad, Dualshockers)
With that said gameplay felt good. Real good. Don't fear not having an auto attack the specials chain together very nicely. It's a little different, not a lot different. (Hardradi)
combat was fluid, responsive and fast paced. There was no auto attack and that seemed to make the combat more immersive for me. All my attack sounds seem to fit their attack. I thought I noticed the music score changing to become more ominous when we got close to the boss near the end of the fight (Hardradi)
The gameplay was incredibly fluid thru this part. As a side note, I was amazed at how much crowd control that we had at our disposal. (Hengist)
Combat feels pretty satisfying, the abilities have great animations, and so do the enemies when they are taking damage.(ErnieVega)
The pace of combat is fast, and you have a lot of things going on all at once. I was more concentrated on my bar, trying to remember what abilities did what, then the actual fights. You get swamped with mobs in many of the encounters and so trying to pick them up, and maintain aggro is a little hard. (Engrey)
UK Community Event 2011
Combat dynamics were quite similar to wow in some ways, but its early level content so I'm sure with progress through the game the differences will become apparent. However, you do feel the sense of an 'epic fight' right from the get go as the developers have spoken about, whereby you're fighting 3-5 mobs at a time. A feature you certainly don't experience in wow in the origin phases of the game (rapidity)
Gameplay wise, everything felt really smooth, I was pleased by the character movement, jumping was fine (if a little clunky) rolling to cover looked nice (even if it felt a bit unwieldy sometimes) and combat felt pretty good, this is important, I always felt that once NGE came in combat in SWG was really 'light' feeling, here there's meaty effects, you really feel like you're shooting something and making it die/explode, it just felt right (Saigo)
the combat was smooth and satisfying. I had my doubts before playing as to whether or not bioware could pull off saber combat that is true to the star wars universe, but they proved unfounded. it works really well (wintersweater)
Overall the combat was incredibly responsive, I really could not tell I was playing with 200ms, the only moments of lag were when the 1k ms spikes came, honestly I can tell in WoW when I have 200ms, and this game felt way, way more responsive at 200ms then WoW ever did. My attacks linked really well and I had a blast, the combat was reasonably difficult aswell... I also want to say that I would be happy with rerolling alts all the time for this game, but I did want to state my raid experience [extensive WoW raider in a Top 10 in the World guild] earlier so hopefully you can feel "something" when I say that the combat was really fun and responsive, even at an early level (Kandycane)
It wasn't complex combat by any means, but it was more interesting than half the classes of WoW at max level, the cover mechanic really adds a big dynamic to the fight and I can only imagine what it will be like when you throw companions and advanced classes into the mix (Kandycane)
One of the buttons came up with a message "Your target does not have a target". So I guess there is a way of selecting your target's target - very handy (MEHColeman)
I came accross 3 types of mobs while I played. "Normal", "Strong" & "ELITE". Normal mobs go down very quickly, 3-4 shots each mobs. Strong mobs are a little tougher. you can manage 2 of these bad boys but you will need to use cover and maybe a medpack for any more than that... You really need to highlight each mob before you fight anyone. you need to check if they are normal, strong or elites as each fight is unique. you cant just go running in guns firing or your dead. you have to treat each fight as a unique encounter. At level 3, having to do this is awesome and shows you need brains to play (PugNoobie)
The combat was fun, and I mean FUN. The attacks and blocks seemed flawlessly choreographed, for instance the mob would recoil when hit and the combat seemed alot more significant (Vixone)
There were some fairly challenging encounters on Korriban, more challenging than I'd typically expect during the starting levels of an MMO. I had a few "oh crap, oh crap" moments in fights where my HP was dangerously close to zero. This was a nice surprise, given that most MMO's from WoW onwards have made things overly easy for the solo player in my opinion (Helderash)
Sure, like with every game or MMO or anything else, for everyone who likes something you'll find someone who dislike it. However, the majority of the people that played SWTOR seemed to enjoy the combat gameplay in SWTOR.
The trend seems to be this one: if you hate/dislike themepark MMO's and have grown burnt out or completely sick of themepark gameplay and the currrent MMO combat, then you'll also be indifferent about combat in SWTOR or dislike it. If you can still enjoy themepark based combat and gameplay and have nothing against it, then you'll merit SWTOR's combat on its own values.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I really do hope they avoid flashy, over-the-top combat.
Sure, you may have different shots with a blaster, but it's a blaster... it really only does one thing - shoot stuff.
How many particle effects and such do you really need?
As long as the game feels right, and looks like star wars, I'll be happy if every time I use a blaster abiliity, the exact same particle effect/animations play.
That's Star Wars.
It's all about the environment, the story, the characters. This isn't some Eastern fantasy MMO where every time your weapon moves it's accompanied by some glowing trail of light and flashy effects and whatever else trippy siezure inducing light show crap most MMOs have.