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Review from a skeptic
DerWotan
Member Posts: 1,012
{mod edit}
1. Character Editor
Its a joke. This game is coming out in 2011 and yet it just passes minimalistic editors such as those from World of Warcraft or Warhammer Online (both horrendous). I have tried to make a strong Sith with the proportions I would have liked, but no chance at all.
For whatever reason size and bodyform are linked with each other so there is no possible way of making a small, tiny but strong looking character. This brings me to the head options simplle they aren't there, you can decide some preset faceoptions but thats as far as it goes.
Skipped haircutts and chose a glace for my character, cause really it seems like most of the haircutts are Afro, Asian (but not mangastyle 
) (both races don't exist in the SW IP) or some mixture nothing really preferable.
Let my gf try creating a nice looking Sithgirl but again, no way. She wanted to create a tiny girl with even smaller hands but long legs, couldn't cause the Editor is extremely limited. After starting the game I knew, I would see lots of people looking exactly like us -->invasion of the clones...Like I said, for a game coming out in 2011 I'm expecting more from a Character Editor something like Aion, Vanguard, Everquest 2, Age of Conan and heck even the crap Champions Online had a much better one. Seems to me they ran out of time, so they had to cut some things really short which is a shame, cause lets face it, players are going to look at their characters for hours and hours and hours...
2. User Interface
I've seen a lot of good and bad interfaces and clearly TOR is in the later category. Somehow I could deal with -not- moveable actionbars but why for christs sake can't you move the character and targetframe?! They are locked onto your hotbar and especially as a healer (Sith sorcerer) keeping check of your own health and manabar turns into multitasking. At least make another option like Aion, so you can move some things to the top instead of bottom.
Also I can't help it looks like you constantly looking through a helmet. Personally tried my best to turn off the top center frame with all the icons but no option, there, instead of moving it into a popupmenu when pressing "ESC" like mostgames seem to do, its there and you can't do anything about it.
Needless to say I couldn't even move or scale the world-map, quest-log and stuff like that. Sure, most people might have seen all the videos and BW blogs about their UI and if thats the best they could've come up with...I must admit not good enough it needs a ton of work to be considered a 2011 User Interface.
3. Combat System
I'm sure everyone read about their PR claims such as "heroic feeling" well to be honest, at first killing hords of mobs is fun, but after a while it gets boring fast. Reasin being the animations suck and the AI has to be one of the worst I've ever seen in a game. Every damn fight is exactly the same "jump in there, use your might and you win" your opponent don't react to you, cause the aggro range simple isn't there or at least as low as it can possible become.
Played till level 13 and no matter if I did heroic or usual quests mobs just didn't react or move around. So it turned into a hack and slay type of gameplay fast and believe neither me or my gf didn't feel heroic.
As a sidenote if you want to play a healer BW has to do some work, cause after completing your so called advanced class task you are left with only 1!! - let me repeat – one healing ability which doesn't even heal that much...ask some highlevel healers and they've told me well next one at 14...
4. Can an open world be limited?
Answer oh hell yes, it can. At first I couldn't even believe it, left Korriban and moved on to Dromund Kaas thought "oh well now I will see a seemless, breathening world" but really its the opposite. Sure the planets are big, but they're sliced into many pieces filled with entrance barriers [red walls (only certain classes may enter), not climbable mountains and water (yes you cant swim in this game lol)].
Since the world is sliced into so many pieces there are loading screens they aren't as bad as in STO or other games, though thanks to the linearic guiding you will see them a lot and its really annoying, destroy immersion fast. Another thing, the world really isn't that filled with life. More often than not you will see NPCs just standing there doing absolutely nothing, sometime Druids are going to do some pathing but hardly anything noticeable so everything seems limited and very stale.
5. Graphics
Basically it goes the same way as the UI (see #2), not 2011 like. Bioware can talk all day about their stylized graphics and how it should run on every crappy machine but speaking the truth the game is extremely hardware hungry for the way it actually looks. Even with everything at max settings it looks bland and spongy.
They really should have used at least Mass Effect or KOTOR 1 like graphics {mod edit}
6. Voice Overs and Story
I think at this point everyone knows, that this game has VO and is storydriven, so in my mind:
I've tried it out the first levels and it became really annoying fast, just like every damn quest and be it the task to do something useless (FedEx type quests) are made to stand still and listen to the crap this "heroic" NPC has to say. Around level 6 I've skipped the parts and all I did was "space – space – space – space – 1 (at the end this option will be the one to accept the quest if its not a light or darkside point decission). As much as I loved the depth it offered in KOTOR 1 you have to keep in mind, that SRPGS are a different beast. I can't help but think some of the limitations in this game are due running out of time or money because they've invisted so much into the VO.
7. Crafting
Didn't try it and refuse calling it crafting since you can't do anything its just some NPCS doing your work, very MMORPG like I know...
8. Skilltrees
´Like I've written earlier (see #3), they are limited. So if you want the "top ability" you basically have to skill from bottom to top, you are then left with a small amount of abilities so going hybrid isn't an option, which is a shame.
Looking some like this ( - = top ability / - - - - - = bottom, - # = number of talents you need for the next "stage of the tree" ).
- (1)
- - (2)
- - - (3)
- - - - (4)
- - - - - - (5)
so if you don't spend 14 points you want have access to the 15 ability. Notice this is not exactly the number of abilites in the game just goes to show how its basically working.
Since there are no alternative abilities, custom stats or anything for that matter you're stucked with very linearic skilltrees not much room for freedom.
9. Challenge
Maybe they'll push up the degree of difficulty in this game before release but if not, even the game which shall not be named will look challenging against this one, it really feels like a hack and slay without much thinking.
There is no death penalty and you can even revive at the same point after you've died, so people won't learn to become better players.
10. Community
What can I say I'm shocked, I mean, yes shocked. General channel has been filled with fanboys from the game which shall not be named and other players using stupid chokes, talking about offtopic stuff and horrendous spelling. My prediction this community will be as bad as the one we all despise.
11. Personal
Would have prefered KOTOR 3 so much more but I'm sure EA had something to say about it and now there will never be one, **** that.
We need a MMORPG Cataclysm asap, finish the dark age of MMORPGS now!
"Everything you're bitching about is wrong. People don't have the time to invest in corpse runs, impossible zones, or long winded quests. Sometimes, they just want to pop on and play."
"Then maybe MMORPGs aren't for you."
Comments
Are you a sith ? wanting us to read all that and comment lol
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1651869499.png
Wat?
Wat?
p.s. Would be nice if you could state at the beginning of the "review" which classes you've played, to which levels and how much general beta time you had on your hands.
My brand new bloggity blog.
@ its Dark pony wtf and then there is a horse running towards a damsel whos sayingf wooo its dark pony faint or something like that.... your the same guy lol
I think it was on the rift forums you had that sig ?
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1651869499.png
Whenever I read one of these threads the first thing that comes to mind is "Did this guy make four of the best RPG games ever for PC's like Bioware did?" Cause if not I guess I would rather trust the people who did.
you only played till level 13, your review really doesnt matter
That must have been right here. That was my sig two sigs ago. But cool that you remember;
Please excuse the offtopicness. It's not every day that I encounter a fan
My brand new bloggity blog.
Lol Its cause your sigs are unique, you put a lot of effort into them and they original.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1651869499.png
These are the reviews(previews)i wanne see keep them comming!
I already knew this even before you showed up with this preview and ive not even played the damn game(its not a review btw, game is not even launched yet lol) but read every word of it i love negative rpeviews about game that even more dumb down the genre lol.
Companys like Bioware have millions to spent and they come up with cheap crap like this, can you believe it?
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
So where's the positive? Not that I expected any from someone who has blasted the game from the get go, but just figured I'd ask because the opposite always comes up when there's a positive review.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
First, we really don't need any more personal reviews. Anyone who was really interested to see how the game is had the chance at that huge open-beta weekend. Personally experience >> anything else.
So I only comment on the part I actually read. So you are shocked that the game channel is filled with fanboys ? Are you serious ? Where do you expect them when not there ?
Anyway, you admit yousrelf you are preferring a KOTOR3 anyway, so I recommend you actually look for a single player game.
I agree, the review is unfair.
I don't have the best view of SWTOR, but at least I recognize that it does succeed at a lot of things. When all a "review" does is trash a game, then it loses its credibility.
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
"Since the world is sliced into so many pieces there are loading screens they aren't as bad as in STO or other games, though thanks to the linearic guiding you will see them a lot and its really annoying, destroy immersion fast. "
See them a lot? That is just an outright lie. I have gone through 6h+ sessions wihtout a single loading screen. Only time when I saw a black screen (not loading screen either) was when using quick travel ability.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
This thread space is probably best used to discuss more of Pony's signatures ...
Yes Yes this is a good idea, anything than hearing about people that hate the star wars fans
Star wars is awesome lol its all I havei n my head at the moment, its amazing how quickly the days to relaease are going down and what is hhelping so much is the dialy release of a mp3 track from the game that is not included in the collector edition.
Every day a new Star Wars Tune to listen too
Now 4 days have passed just like that and only 10 more days to go till the climax 
STAR
WARS
!!!!!!!
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1651869499.png
well he stated his opinion, wont matter to the millions that love the game, just move on...
Useless forum thingy, cant even put the large text right lol
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1651869499.png
You need to add a few extra linebreaks for big type
My brand new bloggity blog.
I agree. I stopped reading after the first paragraph. Nothing really credible here.
There Is Always Hope!
Yeah a "review" is meant to weigh the good against the bad and offer like-minded people an idea of whether or not they may enjoy the game. If he had simply titled his post my opinions of TOR, there really wouldn't be anything to say on my end, but calling his personal list of gripes a review is at the very least disingenuous.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I tried that but it didnt seem to make any difference
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1651869499.png
Personally, I'm wondering what the heck they're going to do without these "reviews" to lean on, in a couple of weeks.
The old TOR forum is going to feel pretty lonely once they all get tired of making speeches.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
Of course it matters. 13 levels is more than ample to appraise your initial feelings on a game.
I'm not saying I agree with the OP's very negative review of the game, but at least he made an attempt to be constructive and state reasons why he felt the way he did.
{mod edit}
There is one point he made that I feel the need to argue on...
If you didn'ty try it then how can you so assuredly state it's not crafting? It still requires your input and it'd really be little different from any MMO that just has click to complete.
.
As for the game, I'll probably play it eventually. It seems less buggy than other MMOs I've tried in beta or at launch. Felt more like a single player game to me. Would have preferred better looking graphics. I anticipate playing it 3 - 6 months to run a couple toons through the main story line and different sides, but I don't think this game appeals to me as a long-term commitment. It is a solid theme park game with well-executed features of it's MMO predecessors. I don't think it's particularly original or a game-changer for the genre.
Trust me played Rift for long enough to know the speeches never end trust me. Just deal with it or ignore the forums.
Of course you're right, since the same routine has happened to virtually every game released, since at least 2004.
I guess they could go back to their own games, but that solution seems too simple somehow.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.