Well I am lvl 40 now. I have to say this has so far been a GREAT experience. I am really addicted. PVP so far is much better then most newly released games. Quest, well the best in any MMO bar none. Classes are very well balanced for bein newly released. No real negatives except the few bugs ive come across. The amount of negative comments on here is really surprising. Then again most people are idiots, what a coincidence....
Even though the gameplay is similar to WoW (which is'nt a bad thing) the game really does not give me a WoW vibe. I never really experienced MMO like this which is really refreshing. Anyways you owe it to yourself to check this game out. The atmosphere is trully great, the voice acting is world class. The group instances are extremley well made. No game has done such a good job on instances ina newly released MMO, ever.
Back to lvling. See you guys there
"Doesnt give you a WoW vibe"?
Gray-Green-Purple-Orange. Serioosly?
Actually it's more like white, green , blue, orange (moddable), purple, some brighter shade of purple....
So umm are any games that use colors for gear now a WoW knock off? Seriously? [mod edit] Is Bioware supposed to not use colors to make a point? -_-
I was on the wall with this one tbh, but the game is amazing, dont get me wrong after a while the missions are just like most mmo qsts, killl 10 of X , collect 5 of X, but the cut sceans telling you why you gota do that dosnt make it feel like a grind like other mmos.
Some of the little extras like the social tab above the chat box shows whos online ect i like. And the world its self looks amazing , love the crafting system the way you can back enginer items and have a chance of finding a better version is cool.
PvP is fun, I spent all day yesterday grinding my lvl 20 armor set in pvp i say grinding but tbh it didnt take that long and my agent looks like an agent now .
So far Im really enjoying the same, and unlike other mmos ive played i dont find the erge to rush to max lvl im enjoying playing at my own pace, and love the proluge when you log in reminds you where you were b4 you last logged out. Ive got a feeling all the people who rushed to 50 and cut all cut sceans will be th ones that will dios the game in a couple of weeks time cus theres no content bla bla bla.
Well I am lvl 40 now. I have to say this has so far been a GREAT experience. I am really addicted. PVP so far is much better then most newly released games. Quest, well the best in any MMO bar none. Classes are very well balanced for bein newly released. No real negatives except the few bugs ive come across. The amount of negative comments on here is really surprising. Then again most people are idiots, what a coincidence....
Even though the gameplay is similar to WoW (which is'nt a bad thing) the game really does not give me a WoW vibe. I never really experienced MMO like this which is really refreshing. Anyways you owe it to yourself to check this game out. The atmosphere is trully great, the voice acting is world class. The group instances are extremley well made. No game has done such a good job on instances ina newly released MMO, ever.
Back to lvling. See you guys there
Can't stress the red part enough. My guess is 75% of detractors would actually have a blast and will be addicts like us once they play it for a week or so.
Demandman: that might be relevant, if this were a bad game, many many people would disagree with you.
Have fun in whatever game you think is fun, we found ours. Just because you hate it, doesn't mean you are "right" and we are "wrong."
Move along now.
Exactly well said! I dunno why people bash the game how bad it is if they don't like it, to each his own :DD
Really? To each his own?
So what do you have to say, then, to the OP calling people idiots if they "make negative comments about it"? Does that sound like "to each his own" to you?
No. It sounds like an intolerant, closed-minded fan insulting anyone with a negative or critical opinion - as usual.
That statement doesn't even support nor extend the OP's opinions of the game. It's a completely gratuitous and arbitrary insult intended to do only two things: 1) Pre-emptively insult any who disagree with them 2) Endear themselves to the other TOR fans.
Are you going to take them to task, or are you going to invoke the typical "double standard" by figuring "well, it's okay 'cause he likes the game" that most everyone else does?
Or how about Angier's completely unnecessary and wholly insulting statement in post #13? Is that an example of "to each his own" to you? Are you okay with that?
If the OP's post had been negative, guaranteed, some of its fans would have swarmed them with:
"Oh, but you didn't play 'til end game, so your opinion doesn't matter", "you didn't say anything about "insert arbitrary topic here", so your opinion doesn't matter", "you havent' experienced the entire storyline yet, so your opinion doesn't matter", and so on...
They'd be picking apart his post finding any little way they could to tear it down, while slinging mud at them for daring to have a negative opinion of their precious TOR. But... since it's a positive post... of course, all is okay and none of that stuff matters. He's on their side, so everything he says is automatically correct and beyond question or qualification.
Classic hypocrisy and double standards on the TOR forums. Business as usual.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Can't stress the red part enough. My guess is 75% of detractors would actually have a blast and will be addicts like us once they play it for a week or so.
Simply a damn good game.
I never get tired of this,
in my world, you can play a game and have a blast perfectly fine while at the same time have a critical opinion towards it.
My main is now level 28 and I've sunk already 70-ish hours into the game.
Does that distract me from the fact that the game is just not the cream of the crops? FX-Engine performance bad/not customizable, character/gear appearance customization lacking, no RP/socializing features (housing, cosmetic, etc), heavy instancing, practically uncustomizable, clunky UI.
Those things are just there, I can see them, they are flaws, and as much fun as I have slicing through my opponent in the excellent PvP or meaningful PvE it will not blind me.
The game is not a 90%+ title. There are too many things not there or not working to the extent you'd expect from an AAA themepark title to justify a rating this high.
M
EDIT: And no, there's not the usual "me wants sandbox" agenda hidden behind this opinion. I'm judging this game on the basis of what can you expect from an AAA themepark title in context of recent releases, former failures and technical requirements; And for example not being able to set shadow or object draw distance in a brand new high budget game is no agenda, no opinion, no taste, its hard as nails just an integral feature not existing when it should be right there.
Really .... It is nothing special. I had higher hopes for a lot of the game mechanics and graphics.
With that said. I am having a blast. It is fun, don't get me wrong. The story is one of the best I've seen in an MMO. It is very very polished and has stayed true to the "Old Republic" IP.
I'm judging this game on the basis of what can you expect from an AAA themepark title in context of recent releases
And you believe your expectations are not as subjective as opinions with hidden agenda?
Well at least I try - in offline discussions and vent discussions - to maintain a certain level of "step back and think". I wouldn't for example be as bold as demanding open world conquerable terrain and guild driven supremacy (like in EvE) because I realize its not what can be expected feom and what was intended with SWTOR.
But I do think a fully customizable UI or at least basic customization like fading hotkey bars or general scaling are something to be expected from an AAA title. Any other MMO of this magnitude released during the last 6 years had this, even vanilla WoW. I'd consider it not being there hardly a matter of taste but a solid shortcoming of the game itself. That's just an example though, there are more things, mainly concerning mechanical deficits but all contributing to TOR not being up there in the 90+ league.
I'd gladly chime in when people put it right there at 85% with Rift for example.
M
EDIT: The perfect counterexample btw is AIon. I grew sick and tired of this POS after about 7 days, but if i had to rate it theres not a single thing i could imagine that would pull it down from somewhere above 9 out of 10. It ran like melting butter on my ages old rig, was thoroughly streamlined, had exciting combat, engaging PvP, sieges, raids, beatiful landscape, interesting lore... I just hated it...
Some people like the game and some ppl dont. Some ppl like the game are playing it. The people that arent playing it come here to put down the game and other players down because they somehow think thier opinon is better than others.
***raises plunge rin salute to Sith Inquisitor Storyline!***
All my opinions are just that..opinions. If you like my opinions..coolness.If you dont like my opinion....I really dont care. Playing: ESO, WOT, Smite, and Marvel Heroes
So you still think that you can reasonably argue that gear appearance customization, housing, cosmetics, and absence of instancing is what an "AAA title" should have included at launch?
Your expectations are probably less stretched but you are doing basically the same as people demanding territory warfare.
It is still the same My expectations vs Actual Game.
I do not doubt your effort to be objective, but this way of thinking simply does not work. Evaluate the game as it is, no more no less.
There will be things you like or dislike about the game and the game will either work for you or not.
Classic hypocrisy and double standards on the TOR forums. Business as usual.
Why didn't you "call out" post 2, of any of the dozens of similar posts daily, I wonder. Tu Quoque?
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.
So you still think that you can reasonably argue that gear appearance customization, housing, cosmetics, and absence of instancing is what an "AAA title" should have included at launch?
Your expectations are probably less stretched but you are doing basically the same as people demanding territory warfare.
It is still the same My expectations vs Actual Game.
I do not doubt your effort to be objective, but this way of thinking simply does not work. Evaluate the game as it is, no more no less.
There will be things you like or dislike about the game and the game will either work for you or not.
Well,
concerning gear appearance customization. LotRo hat dyes from day 1, cosmetic appearance 4 months into the game, Aion had it from start, Warhammer had dyes right off the bat, Everquest 2 has it now, Rift at least has dyes. So I fully expected at least customizable dyes. Given the context its far from an unreasonable demand.
Housing. I agree, it's no longer standard but I had hoped for it. Thats probably more subjecitve
cosmetics in the sense of thorough character customization, at least in the form of a ingame barber for hairstyles, is now implemented in every AAA MMORPG I can think of, even AoC. Is it unreasonable to expect this from a newly released high budged game?
Instancing is nowadays no longer considered an objective flaw, but generally, massive zones are considered a plus, instancing a minus.
Customizable UI though is prevalent in any AAA MMORPG I can think of, why should it go uncommented in SWTOR?
The graphics engine does not include AA, draw distances, specularity distances, grass render distances, basic things that are there in any game expect very low req games like WoW. It can hardly be called "stretched" if I expect to be able to set shadow resolution beyond "there" and "not there".
So I'm not really asking for special gaming features like dynamic world events, or open world pvp, RvR or anything. All I'm asking is that the game provides the features any half-way decent competetor has.
If judging a game "as is" completely torn off context or anything to compare it to, how can you argue then. Judged by "its own standards" anything is always good... And telling you that I'm having fun doesn't tell anybody anything about the game.
No, SWTOR is not an incredibly well made game. It's a decent game, it's fun for a lot of people, but it is nowhere near an "incredible" game.
I keep re-writting the objective reasons why SWTOR, although not a bad game, is nowhere close to the quality many of it's fans claim:
1. Linear progression. Only one zone per level range seriously hampers the replayability of the game; sure, class quests are different but those are only like 25% of the leveling content. Even if I level a different class I will still be doing most of the exact same content.
2. Awful character creation/customization. 2008 games had better character creation systems, and the fact that there is no way to customize your gear aside from orange items is mindboggling. Also, no way to alter appearance after character creation.
3. Over sharding of zones. It was a good idea because nobody like fighting for quest kills but they took to an extreme, you barely see any other players.
4. Lack of ambience. No ambient sound, mobs and NPCs are rarely animated/pathed outside of cutscenes, lack of day/night cycles. All of this (plus #3) results in lifeless zones that seem more like a movie set peppered with props rather than a living world (you know that little thing MMOs are known for?).
5. Subpar graphics and animation. Characters are stiffly animated, high res textures are note even available.
6. Terrible optimization. Even people with monster computers get sttuters, shaders kill performance, PvP zones cause massive performance drops for many players (even with good computers).
7. Lack of competitive PvP. No Group vs Group warzones or ranked PvP modes = nothing but casual PvP.
8. Outdated quest mechanics. Sure, they voice quest text but it doesn´t hide the fact that all non-class quests are "Kill X, Fetch Y". Pathetic considering WoW had more quest variety than this in 2007.
9. Subpar UI with no customizability. Galactic Trade, nuff said.
10. No addons or macros. MMO staples since early 2000´s
11. Boring combat. No real strategy required, just stand still and unload your skills while your opponent does the same. Kiting is as deep as it gets.
12. No real LFG tools. Having fun sitting in the Fleet spamming instead of actually playing the game.
13. Lack of guild features. No point in having a guild, it´s jsut a second friends list.
If BioWareAustin fixes these issues then SWTOR will be a great game. As it is though, SWTOR lacks some basic, core features of modern MMO's.
P.S. Before someone says "well I don't have a problem with anyone of those", let me say that some people find some of these issues to be a problem and that is enough reason for BioWare to fix them.
I'm enjoying myself with this game more than I thought possible.
The beta / early access experience started out, being not too impressed. It was okay, but nothing special. However, once you leave Coruscant this game came together for me in a very real way. The game opened up, and I found myself multi tasking between crafting, questing, world bosses, pvping(which I love in this game. It's more like WAR, than WoW which is great) and space missions(which I find fun in small bursts. Upgrading your starship is pretty well done, and some of the missions are pretty interestingly designed and challenging. It's not Ikugara, but it's better than a lot of other stuff).
I don't have time to write anymore(queue is under 20) but this is the best MMORPG I've played in years. I'm going to play GW2 next to this, but I see myself playing this for a very long time!
TL;DR - Game clicked for me after 35-40 hours. In a big f**king way. Have fun!
it makes me laugh when people tries to protect the mmo they play as if they are their children, it's like they are not playing it to have fun, they just want that game entertain everybody else, come on grow up.
The game is not a 90%+ title. There are too many things not there or not working to the extent you'd expect from an AAA themepark title to justify a rating this high.
The question is: whats more important? Having a full set of polished features or having an engaing game play and world experience. Ill take SWTOR over anything thats come out in the last 5 years because its by far more engaging.
I do agree its not a 90% title, but then I dont think weve ever seen a 90%+ title. I think even with the missing features SWTOR is easily the best MMO release since 2004. It gets it right where it counts. The combat is fun, there is actually an element to the RP aspect of the genre, and there is more group content than anything released in the WoW era.
it makes me laugh when people tries to protect the mmo they play as if they are their children, it's like they are not playing it to have fun, they just want that game entertain everybody else, come on grow up.
People tries?
People are not trying to protect the game like it's their children, they are reacting to all the misinformation many are purveying about the game.
No, SWTOR is not an incredibly well made game. It's a decent game, it's fun for a lot of people, but it is nowhere near an "incredible" game.
I keep re-writting the objective reasons why SWTOR, although not a bad game, is nowhere close to the quality many of it's fans claim:
1. Linear progression. Only one zone per level range seriously hampers the replayability of the game; sure, class quests are different but those are only like 25% of the leveling content. Even if I level a different class I will still be doing most of the exact same content.
While there are enough quests to mostly support two playthroughs per side (there is more than enough experience to go around) I do agree.
2. Awful character creation/customization. 2008 games had better character creation systems, and the fact that there is no way to customize your gear aside from orange items is mindboggling. Also, no way to alter appearance after character creation
Its the standard cusomitzation. Its certainly no worse than WoW or Rift. Most games dont launch with appearance slots, the orange gear is farther than most games take it at launch. I can make a fully decked out slave girl or pilot outfit. theres stuff out there.
3. Over sharding of zones. It was a good idea because nobody like fighting for quest kills but they took to an extreme, you barely see any other players.
I cant remember the last game I played with more than 200 people in a zone outside of a few rare cases in Rift and WoW, which were just world events. This is a talking point anti-SWTOR people use because it sounds worse than it is.
4. Lack of ambience. No ambient sound, mobs and NPCs are rarely animated/pathed outside of cutscenes, lack of day/night cycles. All of this (plus #3) results in lifeless zones that seem more like a movie set peppered with props rather than a living world (you know that little thing MMOs are known for?).
Agree. Sadly, this is pretty par for the course for the genre.
5. Subpar graphics and animation. Characters are stiffly animated, high res textures are note even available.
Game still looks good though. This is another common talking point amongst SWTOR haters. WoW has already proven that technically great graphics are not important
6. Terrible optimization. Even people with monster computers get sttuters, shaders kill performance, PvP zones cause massive performance drops for many players (even with good computers).
Agreed, but still better than SoE games and several others
7. Lack of competitive PvP. No Group vs Group warzones or ranked PvP modes = nothing but casual PvP.
I see no issue with this. SWTOR isnt meant to be an esport.
8. Outdated quest mechanics. Sure, they voice quest text but it doesn´t hide the fact that all non-class quests are "Kill X, Fetch Y". Pathetic considering WoW had more quest variety than this in 2007.
No it did not. Unless you count digging through animal turds as some amazing form of questing. At least SWTOR mostly fixes the annoyance of going to the same area and back 4 different times. And ive gotten bonus quest chains from just running through an area which is a pretty cool. not saying the questing is amazing, but its certainly not a step back from any of the competition.
9. Subpar UI with no customizability. Galactic Trade, nuff said.
True, but I had less issues with galactic trade than I did with Rift's AH
10. No addons or macros. MMO staples since early 2000´s
MAcros missing is quite odd. Addons are hardly a staple.
11. Boring combat. No real strategy required, just stand still and unload your skills while your opponent does the same. Kiting is as deep as it gets.
Same as it ever was. EQ1 was the last MMO that had a lot of strategy involved. i would lvoe to see the industry advance here, but Im still waiting. At least its less mindless than Rift.
12. No real LFG tools. Having fun sitting in the Fleet spamming instead of actually playing the game.
Since when is a LFG option not a real tool? After seeing what LFD did to both WoW and Rift: Do Not Want
13. Lack of guild features. No point in having a guild, it´s jsut a second friends list.
While I agree with the point, your take on what it means is absurd. You miss the point completely of guilds it seems. i guess that explains your complaint 12, you arent in the game to socialize and work as a team.
If BioWareAustin fixes these issues then SWTOR will be a great game. As it is though, SWTOR lacks some basic, core features of modern MMO's.
Some of them will be fixed, some of them shouldnt be messed with, and most of the list is the norm for launched MMORPGs. Rift launched with 8.5 of these 13 issues. WoW launched with 9 (and one of the ones they are both getting credit for is the shard thing, which after the first week there is never 200 players in a zone)
P.S. Before someone says "well I don't have a problem with anyone of those", let me say that some people find some of these issues to be a problem and that is enough reason for BioWare to fix them.
I agree that some should be fixed. But some are stuff that doesnt exist in the MMORPG world, and some are things that many dont want in SWTOR. the important thing is a lot of this stuff can be fixed. They got the more important stuff right.
Comments
Actually it's more like white, green , blue, orange (moddable), purple, some brighter shade of purple....
So umm are any games that use colors for gear now a WoW knock off? Seriously? [mod edit] Is Bioware supposed to not use colors to make a point? -_-
Exactly well said! I dunno why people bash the game how bad it is if they don't like it, to each his own :DD
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." - Sun Tzu, Art of War
I was on the wall with this one tbh, but the game is amazing, dont get me wrong after a while the missions are just like most mmo qsts, killl 10 of X , collect 5 of X, but the cut sceans telling you why you gota do that dosnt make it feel like a grind like other mmos.
Some of the little extras like the social tab above the chat box shows whos online ect i like. And the world its self looks amazing , love the crafting system the way you can back enginer items and have a chance of finding a better version is cool.
PvP is fun, I spent all day yesterday grinding my lvl 20 armor set in pvp i say grinding but tbh it didnt take that long and my agent looks like an agent now .
So far Im really enjoying the same, and unlike other mmos ive played i dont find the erge to rush to max lvl im enjoying playing at my own pace, and love the proluge when you log in reminds you where you were b4 you last logged out. Ive got a feeling all the people who rushed to 50 and cut all cut sceans will be th ones that will dios the game in a couple of weeks time cus theres no content bla bla bla.
Can't stress the red part enough. My guess is 75% of detractors would actually have a blast and will be addicts like us once they play it for a week or so.
Simply a damn good game.
My brand new bloggity blog.
Really? To each his own?
So what do you have to say, then, to the OP calling people idiots if they "make negative comments about it"? Does that sound like "to each his own" to you?
No. It sounds like an intolerant, closed-minded fan insulting anyone with a negative or critical opinion - as usual.
That statement doesn't even support nor extend the OP's opinions of the game. It's a completely gratuitous and arbitrary insult intended to do only two things: 1) Pre-emptively insult any who disagree with them 2) Endear themselves to the other TOR fans.
Are you going to take them to task, or are you going to invoke the typical "double standard" by figuring "well, it's okay 'cause he likes the game" that most everyone else does?
Or how about Angier's completely unnecessary and wholly insulting statement in post #13? Is that an example of "to each his own" to you? Are you okay with that?
If the OP's post had been negative, guaranteed, some of its fans would have swarmed them with:
"Oh, but you didn't play 'til end game, so your opinion doesn't matter", "you didn't say anything about "insert arbitrary topic here", so your opinion doesn't matter", "you havent' experienced the entire storyline yet, so your opinion doesn't matter", and so on...
They'd be picking apart his post finding any little way they could to tear it down, while slinging mud at them for daring to have a negative opinion of their precious TOR. But... since it's a positive post... of course, all is okay and none of that stuff matters. He's on their side, so everything he says is automatically correct and beyond question or qualification.
Classic hypocrisy and double standards on the TOR forums. Business as usual.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Saying you don't like a game is fair, saying the game is bad/sucks w/e just because you did not like it is indeed stupid...
I never get tired of this,
in my world, you can play a game and have a blast perfectly fine while at the same time have a critical opinion towards it.
My main is now level 28 and I've sunk already 70-ish hours into the game.
Does that distract me from the fact that the game is just not the cream of the crops? FX-Engine performance bad/not customizable, character/gear appearance customization lacking, no RP/socializing features (housing, cosmetic, etc), heavy instancing, practically uncustomizable, clunky UI.
Those things are just there, I can see them, they are flaws, and as much fun as I have slicing through my opponent in the excellent PvP or meaningful PvE it will not blind me.
The game is not a 90%+ title. There are too many things not there or not working to the extent you'd expect from an AAA themepark title to justify a rating this high.
M
EDIT: And no, there's not the usual "me wants sandbox" agenda hidden behind this opinion. I'm judging this game on the basis of what can you expect from an AAA themepark title in context of recent releases, former failures and technical requirements; And for example not being able to set shadow or object draw distance in a brand new high budget game is no agenda, no opinion, no taste, its hard as nails just an integral feature not existing when it should be right there.
And you believe your expectations are not as subjective as opinions with hidden agenda?
Really .... It is nothing special. I had higher hopes for a lot of the game mechanics and graphics.
With that said. I am having a blast. It is fun, don't get me wrong. The story is one of the best I've seen in an MMO. It is very very polished and has stayed true to the "Old Republic" IP.
Well at least I try - in offline discussions and vent discussions - to maintain a certain level of "step back and think". I wouldn't for example be as bold as demanding open world conquerable terrain and guild driven supremacy (like in EvE) because I realize its not what can be expected feom and what was intended with SWTOR.
But I do think a fully customizable UI or at least basic customization like fading hotkey bars or general scaling are something to be expected from an AAA title. Any other MMO of this magnitude released during the last 6 years had this, even vanilla WoW. I'd consider it not being there hardly a matter of taste but a solid shortcoming of the game itself. That's just an example though, there are more things, mainly concerning mechanical deficits but all contributing to TOR not being up there in the 90+ league.
I'd gladly chime in when people put it right there at 85% with Rift for example.
M
EDIT: The perfect counterexample btw is AIon. I grew sick and tired of this POS after about 7 days, but if i had to rate it theres not a single thing i could imagine that would pull it down from somewhere above 9 out of 10. It ran like melting butter on my ages old rig, was thoroughly streamlined, had exciting combat, engaging PvP, sieges, raids, beatiful landscape, interesting lore... I just hated it...
Some people like the game and some ppl dont. Some ppl like the game are playing it. The people that arent playing it come here to put down the game and other players down because they somehow think thier opinon is better than others.
***raises plunge rin salute to Sith Inquisitor Storyline!***
All my opinions are just that..opinions. If you like my opinions..coolness.If you dont like my opinion....I really dont care.
Playing: ESO, WOT, Smite, and Marvel Heroes
indeed it is
So you still think that you can reasonably argue that gear appearance customization, housing, cosmetics, and absence of instancing is what an "AAA title" should have included at launch?
Your expectations are probably less stretched but you are doing basically the same as people demanding territory warfare.
It is still the same My expectations vs Actual Game.
I do not doubt your effort to be objective, but this way of thinking simply does not work. Evaluate the game as it is, no more no less.
There will be things you like or dislike about the game and the game will either work for you or not.
Why didn't you "call out" post 2, of any of the dozens of similar posts daily, I wonder. Tu Quoque?
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.
Well,
concerning gear appearance customization. LotRo hat dyes from day 1, cosmetic appearance 4 months into the game, Aion had it from start, Warhammer had dyes right off the bat, Everquest 2 has it now, Rift at least has dyes. So I fully expected at least customizable dyes. Given the context its far from an unreasonable demand.
Housing. I agree, it's no longer standard but I had hoped for it. Thats probably more subjecitve
cosmetics in the sense of thorough character customization, at least in the form of a ingame barber for hairstyles, is now implemented in every AAA MMORPG I can think of, even AoC. Is it unreasonable to expect this from a newly released high budged game?
Instancing is nowadays no longer considered an objective flaw, but generally, massive zones are considered a plus, instancing a minus.
Customizable UI though is prevalent in any AAA MMORPG I can think of, why should it go uncommented in SWTOR?
The graphics engine does not include AA, draw distances, specularity distances, grass render distances, basic things that are there in any game expect very low req games like WoW. It can hardly be called "stretched" if I expect to be able to set shadow resolution beyond "there" and "not there".
So I'm not really asking for special gaming features like dynamic world events, or open world pvp, RvR or anything. All I'm asking is that the game provides the features any half-way decent competetor has.
If judging a game "as is" completely torn off context or anything to compare it to, how can you argue then. Judged by "its own standards" anything is always good... And telling you that I'm having fun doesn't tell anybody anything about the game.
M
No, SWTOR is not an incredibly well made game. It's a decent game, it's fun for a lot of people, but it is nowhere near an "incredible" game.
I keep re-writting the objective reasons why SWTOR, although not a bad game, is nowhere close to the quality many of it's fans claim:
1. Linear progression. Only one zone per level range seriously hampers the replayability of the game; sure, class quests are different but those are only like 25% of the leveling content. Even if I level a different class I will still be doing most of the exact same content.
2. Awful character creation/customization. 2008 games had better character creation systems, and the fact that there is no way to customize your gear aside from orange items is mindboggling. Also, no way to alter appearance after character creation.
3. Over sharding of zones. It was a good idea because nobody like fighting for quest kills but they took to an extreme, you barely see any other players.
4. Lack of ambience. No ambient sound, mobs and NPCs are rarely animated/pathed outside of cutscenes, lack of day/night cycles. All of this (plus #3) results in lifeless zones that seem more like a movie set peppered with props rather than a living world (you know that little thing MMOs are known for?).
5. Subpar graphics and animation. Characters are stiffly animated, high res textures are note even available.
6. Terrible optimization. Even people with monster computers get sttuters, shaders kill performance, PvP zones cause massive performance drops for many players (even with good computers).
7. Lack of competitive PvP. No Group vs Group warzones or ranked PvP modes = nothing but casual PvP.
8. Outdated quest mechanics. Sure, they voice quest text but it doesn´t hide the fact that all non-class quests are "Kill X, Fetch Y". Pathetic considering WoW had more quest variety than this in 2007.
9. Subpar UI with no customizability. Galactic Trade, nuff said.
10. No addons or macros. MMO staples since early 2000´s
11. Boring combat. No real strategy required, just stand still and unload your skills while your opponent does the same. Kiting is as deep as it gets.
12. No real LFG tools. Having fun sitting in the Fleet spamming instead of actually playing the game.
13. Lack of guild features. No point in having a guild, it´s jsut a second friends list.
If BioWareAustin fixes these issues then SWTOR will be a great game. As it is though, SWTOR lacks some basic, core features of modern MMO's.
P.S. Before someone says "well I don't have a problem with anyone of those", let me say that some people find some of these issues to be a problem and that is enough reason for BioWare to fix them.
Dead on arrival.
Most MMO's would be. I remember back in 2004: "This game is meh, I'm only playing it because its warcraft"
Played - M59, EQOA, EQ, EQ2, PS, SWG[Favorite], DAoC, UO, RS, MXO, CoH/CoV, TR, FFXI, FoM, WoW, Eve, Rift, SWTOR, TSW.
Playing - PS2, AoW, GW2
I lol'd that was pretty good.
It is almost like deja vu from when right after WAR and AoC was released.
My gaming blog
I'm enjoying myself with this game more than I thought possible.
The beta / early access experience started out, being not too impressed. It was okay, but nothing special. However, once you leave Coruscant this game came together for me in a very real way. The game opened up, and I found myself multi tasking between crafting, questing, world bosses, pvping(which I love in this game. It's more like WAR, than WoW which is great) and space missions(which I find fun in small bursts. Upgrading your starship is pretty well done, and some of the missions are pretty interestingly designed and challenging. It's not Ikugara, but it's better than a lot of other stuff).
I don't have time to write anymore(queue is under 20) but this is the best MMORPG I've played in years. I'm going to play GW2 next to this, but I see myself playing this for a very long time!
TL;DR - Game clicked for me after 35-40 hours. In a big f**king way.
Have fun!
it makes me laugh when people tries to protect the mmo they play as if they are their children, it's like they are not playing it to have fun, they just want that game entertain everybody else, come on grow up.
The question is: whats more important? Having a full set of polished features or having an engaing game play and world experience. Ill take SWTOR over anything thats come out in the last 5 years because its by far more engaging.
I do agree its not a 90% title, but then I dont think weve ever seen a 90%+ title. I think even with the missing features SWTOR is easily the best MMO release since 2004. It gets it right where it counts. The combat is fun, there is actually an element to the RP aspect of the genre, and there is more group content than anything released in the WoW era.
My main complaint is that its too linear.
Don't pvp until you can handle the tougher players. It isn't like we can one shot you.
People tries?
People are not trying to protect the game like it's their children, they are reacting to all the misinformation many are purveying about the game.