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What am I missing??
Croatoan
Member UncommonPosts: 17
This is not meant to be an inflammatory post at all.
But having read alot of the comments here and there about SWTOR not living up to the hype, being a shit game, etc, I have to wonder - am I not seeing something?
I have read the comments about the engine being bad, yet I play the game with no problems - and not on a muscle-machine CPU either.
I have read about people complaing about the game being basically a single player game with MMO aspects tossed in for merit. Yet I can find a group minutes after logging in.
I know alot of people were expecting a better product. But to me, the game seems ok. What things am I overlooking?
Comments
There's no reason to leave a game you're currently playing for a new one that's just "ok".
You'll need to ignore the complaints about the game running poorly as a vast majority of people are clueless on how to operate a Windows PC properly. That being said, the game does not run as well as it should for the quality (or lack of) graphics. I would say that World of Warcraft Cataclysm (the newest artwork) looks on par with SWTOR graphics and WoW runs better. HOWEVER, WoW did has had a long time to optimize and improve this. SWTOR will likely do the same over the years.
Single Player you say? It does feel like a singleplayer game. Yes you CAN find groups, but you really have to work for it. Top that off with the companions you level up and equip. They provide much of the "grouping" requirements you would need. I think people say it's a lot more like a single player game than multiplayer because of how they designed the world. Unless you're in a main hub you really don't see other people running around very often. I know when I was playing months ago I very rarely every ran by another player.
If you enjoy the game then play it and ignore all the complaining... People still play LOTRO, AoC, DAOC, and many other games because they enjoy them. I personally don't enjoy those games so I don't play them.
Then don't?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
No, you are not missing anything. MMORPG.com is famous (or rather infamous) for the haters and crowd of extremely hard to please MMO players.
That said, I enjoy TOR quite a bit but there are some valid issues people bring up about the game. Mostly regarding endgame and PVP that make sense to me. Most of the rest is rubish.
The hate posts I LOVE the most are the ones that go something like this:
I have leveled 3 characters to 50, done both the OPs, done all the hardmodes and dailies. Invested 100+ hours and I just can't like SWTOR. I wanted too but I can't.
These crack me up. If I do not like a game I don't last an hour playing it. I am done. My time is more valuable to me than the money I plopped down on a game. Also, these folks don't realize the value they just got out of the game if they played this much. WAY more than most other games.
The other thing, and peeps can check my post history if they really want to, I don't post about games I don't like. Now, I will post about things I want to see improved but if I simply don't like a game, drop my sub, etc. I do not have the time and energy to post about them. Especially in MMOs as there are plenty of them I am not fond of.
What you are seeing is the MOB MENTALLITY. The pitchforks are coming out and the peasants are swarming poor old Frankenstien when he is really not the monster they think he is.
I carefully watched TOR in development and knew EXACTYLY what I was expecting and guess what, That is what I got. I enjoy playing with my friends, I am in a great guild and the server(s) I am on have solid populations. The sky is not falling for me. It appears it is the same way for you.
A lot of it has to do with your level of "hype" going in. If you weren't expecting the next coming of perfect MMORPGs, it can be quite fun (if you enjoy story-driven mmos).
The engine isn't perfect, though my performance is good, it does tend to stammer in the fleet at peak hours. PVP is a bit unblanaced, but then again, there's only been a handful of games that have had some sort of balance at PVP (DAOC is the only one i can think of that I've played, I'm sure there are others). The story can be a bit boring (depending on the class), and in my opinion the "good" choices are a bit boring.
The LFG "tool" (I use the term tool loosely) is quite terrible, though one can find groups by spamming chat channels. It's easier to do in some areas than others. I think this is my biggest criticism, but I know they're working on it (it's supposedly coming with 1.2). I honestly think more games need to use a LFG tool a la what is in DDO. If you haven't seen it, you advertise what quest you're doing, and what roles you need. No chat spamming needed (in DDO, because it's a smaller game it works great... it's also global, which is helpful because spamming chat won't get you to everyone's ears). A Global LFG channel might work, but it'll probably turn into GLFF in LotRO, which is a server-wide barrens chat.
I think the game is getting better, to me I think combat is pretty interesting. Most of the companions are interesting (though I really am annoyed by some of them... Trando pet, I'm lookin at you). The storylines are somewhat well done for the most part. Space combat is an interesting diversion, but not much more than a minigame (I'd like to see more minigames like this added though, maybe some gambling or..shudder.. pod racing even).
I just think many were expecting Pre-CU SWG, or a game that had as much content/polish as other games that have been out for quite some time.
I also think many forget that this is Bioware's first MMO.
You are on MMORPG.com..that should tell you something about constant negativity that surrounds every MMO here. TSW community is the smartest since they are close knit people, they decided not to post on mmorpg.com and even if they do keep it to the minimum. best decision they ever made.
What your missing is the url of this site. A better place for overwhelming negativity I have yet to find. Trust me, a month after GW2 comes out it'll be getting flamed too.
People on these boards seems to come here just to criticize.
I personally like SWTOR, it may not the "wow-killer" I had hoped it'd be, and there's a lot I'd change, but it's a fun game. (And as we all know, WoW has already been killing itself for the last 2 years and its finally starting to show.)
the biggest problem with TOR is exactly that: it's ok, nothing more.
with the IP of Star Wars and the money that was sunk into it the majority of people were expecting something big, innovative, fresh, epic, something better then the current AAA titles already out there. something that would raise the bar.
it didn't', it's mildly entertaining at best, with many flaws, shalow content, repetitive gameplay. it does most things decently but doesnt exel at almost anything. it leaves a lot to be desired. the main feature of the game, voice overs, was for the most a miss. most people found them annoying and boring. everything else was sub par.
so yea, it's ok, nothing more. it's not horrible, not wanderful, it's actually quite generic.
this is a good video of some issues people have with this game.. i prefer video examples over some written review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnPxP9Xsc94&context=C36e51f5ADOEgsToPDskIzhsPABQ3SnkG7JrM87xTa
also this review doesn't even talk about PVP which is a big issue with many people
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
There's really no problems with SW:TOR at all.
SW:TOR is the smoking hot babe you picked up at the bar, who turned out to be a 6 when you sobered up a little and got her under proper lighting.
It's a fine game, just nothing close to what it was being sold as.
I've gotten my money's worth.
You won't run into problems until you try Ilum, or even in WZ where ability lag can be pretty noticable. They fixed the ability issues a little bit but you might still notice it with channelled abilities. I experience more problems as a melee than friends who play ranged. For example, there is an ability called Ravage. This ability animation will go off but not actually do anything. This has happened to me 3 times in a row multiple times. I wouldn't say it's a single player game, but all the instancing can make it feel a bit like one.
You will also just run into issues that might seem minor at first, but after having the same problems over and over you will probably get really annoyed with it. For example, I can't count the number of times I, or others I am playing with, have got stuck in a rock. Quests not showing up on the map. Character turning invisible (just 2 light sabers walking around, happens to me multiple times a day). Character can't stop walking backwards (hasn't happened to me but is a constant issue for my BH friend). Not being able to click on anything in the UI without pressing CTRL + U twice. Not being able to rez in a WZ (hasn't happened to me, but always happens to a Sorc friend). Mouse used to keep disappearing, hasn't happened in a long time, though.
there's negativity for this game on every single gaming forum I have read through not just here... official forums are covered in negative threads although many get removed. Only other big release MMOs i ever seen get this much negative feedback were games that were released unfinished or not working at all.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
The game runs fine and is fun to play. I haven't had problem finding a group at all yet. Running Heroics in the game are pretty easy since most people on the same planet need them as well so forming a group for them is quite simple.
There are a lot of Nay-Sayers on this forum and well... on just about every forum there is. You just need to seperate yourself just enough that you can see the facts that seperate from the fiction of the random persons opinion.
If the people who show so much hate and displayed so much of their time and efforts to trash talking and finding how whatever game/game company slighted them would place their efforts in a much more constructive purpose we would have a golden age all the time. But remember it's not just here in the game forums, it's everywhere now a days. Hell you can get flamed on the "insert random fastfood restaurant" forums because that place could be the "Destroyer of the Freeworld" with it's marketing tactics. It's natural for many people to over exagerate to prove their point.
In this day and age, everyone feels they have an opinion that is far more important than everyone elses and if must be heard by everyone, everywhere. We are in the Wild West of the information age and sometimes you just need to say to yourself that a person is a dumbass and treat them accordingly. Just because their list of 50-100 Facebook friends Liked their "insert random opinion or stance on subject" that they are empowered to share that opinion with those they feel less deserving of their perceived brilliance.
If you enjoy the game, enjoy it and have fun. Simple as that.
If you're having fun, then you're not missing a thing.
Game taste is a very personal thing. Someone can like one game and hate the next one for no apparent reason. Personally, I am fairly easy to please. I try to play every MMO that comes out just because I am a big fan of the genre. There are some I have enjoyed more than others (some due to the fact I played with a more lively crowd...not any indication of how "good" the game was..after all, it's all subjective anyways).
I have been playing this since beta and am enjoying every minute of it. I have almost created one of each class on the Republic side and switch between characters frequently based on my mood. I enjoy the story depth and voiceovers paired with them. I really like the whole companion thing and find it brings another level to the experience.
I had pretty darn high expectations for this game and although there are a number of things I wished were different, I feel in the end Bioware listens and will change the game for the better. It's good at what it is: an MMO.
If you like Star Wars and you like MMOs, you really can't go wrong.
edit: Also, realize that the nay'sayers and fanbois tend to be the vocal minority. This sort of game-bashing is typical after an MMO releases, don't think it's anything to fret about (if you don't believe me, check the other game forums near after first release. Even the darling "WoW" had naysayers as well).
For pc issues wise, when you have no problem doesn't mean others dont have.
Example playing war, my fren which have a much lower spec than mine have no issues and playing very smoothly , yet i keep crashing, lag, rubber banding with it.
For tor i've no problem, yet i understand if others have.
For grouping, gratz to you, if you are able to consistently find a group for heroics and fp, than you are on a very high pop server. I've struggle to find quest for search and rescue and even 2man heroic down the hole, have to spam about half a day and finally get a group going....
Different people have different expectations regarding a game. To me this game is just too linear, too much traveling down the corridor. If ive feel war and aion are bad, this game makes it even worst.
Crafting is rubbish, and world is way too small. Too many v.o for simple kill 10 quest and too much time wasting traveling to your ship...
Some things i think bw need to streamline it more and others expand upon it. But i dont think they can...
RIP Orc Choppa
You aren't missing anything outside of the fact that many were hoping for something better than just 'ok'.
Really up to the individual though far as what they get out of this game or think of it.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
All themepark style games are linear by nature. And that AAA sandbox release you are waiting for? Not going to happen. That's a thing of the past.
I, personally, enjoyed Aion. I played about 9 months. WAR I did not care for at all. That being said, this is much better than both.
I'm enoying this about the same, if not more, than I was enjoying LOTRO when it launched. And I hold LOTRO in high regards.
good for you.
I've try to like LOTR, but same small zone ive feel towards it, loading screen when taking the npc mount ride? haiz...
Just not my game.
Have a level 39 glad in aion, will check it out again once it f2p start.
But now im worried about gw2 zoning...
RIP Orc Choppa
I seriously don't know why I come here anymore to be honet. MMORPG is reknown for it's haters and complainers. As soon as a new game is coming out, you see the "Hater" bandwagon shift gears to start hating on another game. ATM Tera has been getting it. The next big MMO will get it after that.
I'm really enjoying SWTOR. Everytime I see someone bring up a list of supposed faults, I honestly don't know where they get 99% of it. After playing a Vangaurd to 50 and a Juggernaut to 50, I'm still just as excited leveling my Operative (lvl19) through the contest for the 3rd time. I'm able to go a slightly different route, enough to keep everything fresh. But keep in mind, I love stories so this mmo-RPG is more than fun for me. I leveled my Vanguaurd almosty soley grouping and like you said, only took me a few minutes to find a group whenever I wanted one.
"Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it."
The biggest problem is that the world is so empty. I play on a PvP server and running into someone from the opposite faction is a rarity, running into someone from the same faction sadly is also. I'm heading for my 4th 50 now and if i didn't have a mate on vent still playing this game i'd probably be gone by now. The stories are great the worlds also look great but there's no life to any of them unless visiting the fleet and to a lesser extent Ilum.
When the game first came out it wasn't so noticable as plenty of other players were around, now that there isn't it's hard to miss just how lifeless it all is.
Sounds to me that you are not really asking but rather telling us that there is nothing wrong with the game but what the heck, I will bite.
Game is too much focused on class quests which are mostly instanced and can be done solo. This I would say is the number one feature of the game and as such is both instanced and easily done solo. Now if you want your game to be an MMORPG where people interact with each other, this is a major design flaw. You have everyone living in their own personal bubble, where they are the saviour/conqueror of the galaxy, which makes little sense in an MMORPG where you are supposed to share the world with others.
Dark/Light side. This is the core of Star Wars, yet in this game all this does is your physicial appearance (if you go dark) and what gear you can use. Seriously, that is all they could do with the core element of Star Wars?
The game is extremely linear, more so than your regular ThemePark, and once you are done with a planet you have little to no reason to return to it. This, instead of creating a galaxy/world feel, instead creates a static life less galaxy which is on rails rather a living breathing world.
Lack of open world activities. Seriously, is there anything in this game which is just out there in the world and where you can bump into other players trying to do? It feels that almost everything you do in this game is done in some kind of instance, shielding you from other people.
PvP in this game is horribly done. Warzones are designed so bad that having some kind of tactics and formations is all but impossible and almost all fights degenerate into a messy free for all. In WAR the scenarios were designed in such a way that you could create tactics and formation with healers and nukers at the back and melee and tanks in the front, in this game it is all but impossible to hold the ranks.
Open world PvP is horrible and non existant. There are no rewards and no objectives and the quest lines are designed in such a way to separate people as much as possible. This makes the PvP servers pointless.
Ilum is broken. I dont think you can find many who disagrees with this. It is just poorly designed with boring objectives.
Crafting is boring to the extent that they simply just are peddling this on the NPC companions. Also the end game items are worthless which makes the whole thing just a waste of time.
Mirrored classes. For me this makes no sense, lorewise. Yoda said: A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defence, never to attack. This should somehow reflect the different ways of Jedi and Sith using the Force, yet in this game they are exact mirrors of each other. A cop-out, for the sake of balancing, if you ask me.
Gfx are sub-par. I dont have a monster machine and I dont get any performance issues but even on the highest setting this game does not hold a candle to other modern MMOs out there. And this is tech-wise, not the artistic side which is quite well done.
And these are just from the top of my head, I could go on and on about how very average this game is.
My gaming blog
Its of my opinion that most of the MMORPG.COM community are extremist. I will compare MMORPG to Faux News and BSNBC all on the same site. I believe that MMORPG should be a resource of information. But instead you get ppl bashing one anothers POV. Ppl rep games like, gang memebers rep their local city. The trend on this website is to hype games under development and once its released the bashing onslaught begins.
Never choose someone's else pov over your own. If you want to see what the game is about buy it and play it. If it doesn't fit your sytle of play quit the game. If its a money issue wait the the 2 week trial kicks in and at that time make a decision. I know what I was getting into before the game was released. SWTOR delivered what I expected it too. A great story I can enjoy.
The Gaming Community Can Kiss My Arse
The real question is why some get so defensive or upset simply because everyone else doesn't share their views about this or whatever other game is the topic of discussion one way or the other. Far as bandwagoneers go, you could use that rationale for both sides that go to the extreme. One is no better or less annoying than the other far as I'm concerned.
Rather amusing though if you don't take things so seriously which unfortunately a lot of posters seem to have a problem doing.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
some good points.. thing is people who love this game could care less if you give them 1 million examples of issues and show them video of each and every issue. They come back with "well none of this bothers me" then come here and wonder why so many people start threads about issues they have with the game.
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg