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Veterans Impression of SWTOR
Sindorin
Member Posts: 17
I started playing Star Wars: The Old Republic back in December of 2010, and continued for regular periods over a few closed testing phases throughout the following year, leading up to launch. I got in on the second day of Head Start and I have maintained an active subscription (minus a week or two where something came up 
) since then. I have two top-tier PvP geared level 50's and several mid level characters. I have played both Imperial and Republic.
When I first started playing, I noticed that a lot of people had already hit 50 within a week or two of launch. This surprised me, as many people were already complaining about the lack of end game content. At that point, they had a legitimate reason to complain, as there weren't a whole lot of raids to choose from and there also weren't a great many 50's either. On the flip side, they also don't have anyone to blame but themselves. Part of this game's shine is the aspect of story. It's much more entertaining than World of WArcraft or any other mainstream MMO out there. It's fluid, interactive and down right fun (like when my smuggler said her callsign would be Crackerjack). When you rush through to hit level 50, because you think "the game starts at fifty", you're missing the game itself. If you ddon't like it, then I think you need to re-examine what you expect from this game.
Combat in SWTOR is different than most MMO's in that is does not have an auto-attack feature. Furthermore the resolve system adds depth to the stun and mez scenario and while you can still be rooted, many classes get advantages (like the Pyro spec'd Merc, who vents heat whenever he's stunned, rooted or mez'd). Combat is fluid, and intuitive, and after a few levels you'll start to wear your class like a glove. In SWTOR, players need to understand their class, as some spec's are cheesed specs while others take a great deal of control, knowledge and experience to play. Most people complain about certain spec's, however many of them have their own advantages. The Advanced Class System is an excellent addition to the game that also gives a choice after your initial class selection.
Player versus Player content in this game is a mixed bag. On the one hand, spontaneous open world fights are rare, but when they do occur (and I mean groups of several geared 50's having at it on illum or Tatooine) the fights are often vicious, quick and all to cruel in leaving the combatants begging for more carnage. Where you can mete out justice on behalf of the Empire or the Repbulic, is the Warzone System. Players queue up for Warzones either solo, in a group or as a part of a Ranked Group, where pre-set teams battle it out for stature on the global warzone stage for prestige and honor. I found that PvP in the game was fluid, balanced (after 1.2 hotfixes, given). Most clasess had their advantages and disadvantages and many people at the top levels of gameplay knew their classes very well. This lead to balanced fights, despite the numerical superiority of the Sith overr the Republic on most servers.
Players earn commendations, and can complete daily quests for tokens and commendations which can be traded in for specialized PvP gear specific to your class. Where things get a little more interesting, is that you can purchase non combat items (like speeders) for commendations as well, and you rank up in Valor (similar to honor in WoW) and gain titles as you break through the ranks for your faction, slaying heaps and gobs of enemyy players.
Raiding in this game, with the expansion to include a couple new raids, is fun and engaging. One of the raids (that came out with the Rakghoul content patch) is challenging and well tuned. Most people in a geared, competent group can complete a raid in SWTOr in under an hour on normal mode and within two or three on hard mode depending on how good the group is. Generally, raiding is the same as most other MMOs and there isn't a whole lot aside from the story that is innovative about it. But the concept itself is fun and engaging, so it's still good to see it included. I myself have downed EV, KP and all of the major world bosses prior to Patch 1.3. Each instance was a blast, and was made more enjoyable from story.
In short, there are still issues with the game, and many people have their own beefs. I'll list some of my own personal pro's and con's here:
Pro's
It's Star Wars!
Fun, engaging storyline on all levels.
Combat and PvP is fast, fluid and fun.
Raids aren't too difficult to complete but are tuned enough to provide a challenge for those looking for it.
Con's
Server populations can sometimes be a drag if you're on a low population server.
A lack of RvR or similar open world PvP mechanic is sorely missing; OW pvp is rare.
Warzones can be a grind at times.
Space is fun as a diversion, but it's often neglected.
Overall Score: 7.5/10
Comments
I subscribed for 5 months post launch and played in the last few Betas. I would score the game a Solid 5/10.
Pros:
Star Wars IP
Cons:
Clunky animations
Fleetpoint HUBs and Flashpoints remove players from the planets and makes the game feel arcade and mini game like because everywhere you go you feel alone and NOT in an MMO environment.
Space Combat is a joke
Crafting is mostly pointless at 50
Arrogant developers
Uber Gestapo on official forums
Dragnon - Guildmaster - Albion Central Bank in Albion Online
www.albioncentralbank.enjin.com
Early game pro and cons IMO:
Pros
Choreographed combat
Star Wars
Ability to sell off junk loot in the field
Visual appeal of environment
Some of the specials are fun to use
Some of the storyline is interesting and entertaining
Cons
Little to no replayability...almost no sandbox features.
Lack of feeling like a part of the world.
World seems fake...no sitting, no swimming, no social gatherings, no day/night changes, little to no weather.
Too much kill/loot/repeat.
Combat is clunky and counter-intuitive. Some classes flow well in early combat, others are horrible.
Armor design is abysmal.
Cartoony style to characters seems a bit dated
Lack of customization options in creation and early game for characters.
Transition from starter world to space station is foolish and creates issues.
Too much WoW cut and paste. Classes are too similar to WoW classes in Star Wars clothing.
Class choices are anemic. No crimial faction. Bounty Hunters and Smugglers that choose sides. No Republic officers or Imperial Troopers. Silly premise, silly excuses, foolish move for a modern game in a market with plenty of choices.
you have to go back to SWG and remember the focus group SOE and LucasArts did and them saying that people wanted to play Iconic Characters from the movies and not be unique, thus the NGE came about which pigeon holed you into a profession based on Iconic Characters from the movies... It seems they continued this philosophy into designing SWTOR... Huge mistake IMO, people play MMO's to make themselves feel more unique not be a cut and paste clone of everyone else who plays the same profession.
The sad thing is SWG had it right to begin with, unfortunately it was before its time and for whatever reason people preferred simplicity over depth and flocked to WoW... Even tho SWG had solid subscription numbers SOE and LucasArts wanted a part of the golden goose that was WoW and tried to copy it which ended in a disaster..
Sad thing is this focus group was made of up of NON-GAMERS and the questions were posed like " would you prefer to be a moisture vapor farmer or Luke Skywalker"...
Lets all be honest, SWTOR is WoW with Bioware story telling tacked on... Don't get me wrong I love the stories in SWTOR and is pretty much the only reason I'm still playing, i Have two more Classes to do and I'll finish all the story content in the game, once this is done I'll probably quit unless they release a lot more story content...
I highly recommend this game for anyone who enjoys Bioware story telling..... but as far as the MMO side of it goes, it's pretty basic MMO Design 101, another words boring... Post 50 is so extremely boring...