Poll: Starwars: the old republic! zero story spoilers, please.

[The Lugz]

So, as everyone and thier family knows starwars beta was out over the weekend for a stress test
and being one of the seemingly few people ( seriously, only about 10 people i know have it.. ) to actually pre-order it i participated

and you know what? once you scrape off all that mmo dust the genre can actually work again

i wont give spoilers, but i will say it's my new personal game of the year just baised on some crashy buggy out of date broken beta.

yes, really even over skyrim.. as much as i love skyrim, the multi-player just seals the deal for an rpg experience you can mess around with friends, and bioware has made the perfect candy-store for you to run around in

( i checked long and hard, this is spoiler free. you don't even see any npc names or quest hubs or zones, just one room )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdgapwvO1bU

with a single room in an obscure ship that you may never see, having content like this the way skyrim does bioware is onto a winner


what i'm wondering is what is the escapist's opinion on starwars, do you even have one?
also, polls! they're fun right.

also, please don't spoiler-ize the story here,
edit:
'waves hand conspicuously'
spoiler-ize the story you will not.

 

[blizzaradragon]

I played it this weekend, and it's safe to say that this is replacing WoW as my MMO of choice one it comes out. I won't give it my GotY(that honor goes to Skyward Sword) but it is a lot better than I was originally giving it credit for. I was not thinking story focus would work on an MMO, but dammit if Bioware didn't prove me wrong.

 

[The Lugz]

SWTOR meanwhile seems to have a lot going for it since the beta weekends and looks like it will get a huge day 1 launch.

totally agree, from what i've seen ( even the overstressed servers ) cope really well with low pings and they're going to need a hell of alot of them, also everyone knows what an mmo is now, how huge they are what to expect how to play them i cant imagine older gen mmo's standing up to the newer ones

the only thing i worry about is company's will launch too quickly and skimp on content and make an 'mmo shooter' type architecture for mmorpg's .. that would be bad for everyone really quickly

i'm definitely impressed with what i've seen of starwars, once i got past 'noob bootcamp' of 1-10 the game was really enjoyable, and proper exploration in an mmo is something we've been sorely lacking for so long
i really wish bioware would leave a few fun bugs in, like getting out of starship geometry and going for space-walks, purely because it's so fun.

also the voiceover!
i thought it would be like 3d, gaming mice and touchscreens, just something cool that you don't care about, but actually it's a game changer for sure.

 

[Sterlon]

I feel the game will do very well at release but will see a fall off in subscriptions after 3-6 months, as it is not nearly deep enough for hardcore MMOers. I have been in beta from last December on and have seen changes both good and bad. My biggest issues are, the amount of content that is repeated, the lack of end game content(only one raid),PvP balance, and the fact that the game is very linear. Also of concern is the crafting system, in it's current state it is lack luster. Don't get me wrong the story lines will keep you busy but unless a large amount of content is add soon after release you will see the non-star wars nuts leave within months of release.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Irridium]

Not pre-ordering, but I'll get it close to release.

Enjoyed what I played, so I'll buy it. The class stories are great. And yeah, gameplay is kind of crap, but damn near every Bioware game has crap gameplay, so whatev's.

 

[The Lugz]

I feel the game will do very well at release but will see a fall off in subscriptions after 3-6 months,
#snip snip#
the non-star wars nuts leave within months of release.

Just my 2 cents.

a totally valid concern, i think we'll definitely see content tourists and contention between other mmo's and people being cajoled into doing what their friends are doing

as to the percentage of people? no idea i'm no analyst.

rooting out the non committed people is a good thing, imo and makes a game stronger but as for content i can only say you're dead wrong there bioware have already stated they want
( and i quote, straight from their devs: )

"we want at-least a hundred plannets"

obviously the question is 'when' but adding a planet is simple compared to some of the complex issues in other mmo's

also, you seen the size of their plannets? like tatooiene
( the highest levelled world i visited )
it's just.. huge.. it's bigger then gta by itself!

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Everyone knows WoW is on the decline. It won't die any time soon, but I seriously believe SWTOR could take over as the largest MMO on the market. I've played 2 beta weekends now, and I am absolutely in love with the game. WoW has become VERY stale this expansion, and SWTOR timed things perfectly to take advantage of that.

Plus, who the fuck cares about Pandas? I mean REALLY? That's how you compete with lightsabers and force lightning? Fucking PANDAS?!? I lost a lot of respect for Blizzard with that move.

 

[sir.rutthed]

Give it six months to a year and a lot of the issues people have pointed out here will be ironed out. Some things you just have to wait for launch volume data in order to fix, and I'd imagine that PVP combat is one of them. That said, I'm stoked about this game. I've preordered, and come December 15 I will retire from the world and start down my path to become Mandalore!


Maybe not, but playing him in my D20 game just isn't enough anymore. A guy can dream right?

 

[The Lugz]

I'd imagine that PVP combat is one of them.

i'm not a huge pvp'er myself i rarely pvp'ed in any mmo except wow and i have to say the fights i had ( sorc vs warrior and sorc vs agent ) felt really well designed, and i think i know why
the class design principle seems to have been

'what does EVERYONE need' - list of things
'what does x class need' - list of things

the 'everyone has a stun / interupt' system works. well.
there is no counter-class rubbish, and customisation in the class is damage oriented, ie you do the same damage, just a slightly different way that compliments your role's abilities
they obviously wanted pvp to be a core part of game-play from the outset and it shows
the main problem is gear, levels, battlegrounds
that for sure will be a mess, it's just how business works in those instances
but the core class mechanics are there and reasonably polished even at beta, whereas aoc, wow and eve had zero balance between races
and rift's balance issues were legendary.
( seriously, make a missile-ship in eve online Face rollll isn't in it. )

 

[Jedoro]

I played WoW for years until I got sick of it, and now I'm loving TOR's beta. I don't think I'll get it, though, because full-time college and a full-time job don't leave much time for an MMO.

 

[The Lugz]

Ever since Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard doesn't seem like it's even trying. Now it seems there putting all the attention on Diablo III.

blizzard are putting all their resources into world of starcraft
they rebooted the starcraft franchise and are making an mmo shooter that i earnestly hope goes the way of tabula rasa.
it is such a bad idea to combine those genres..

it will cause so many problems, purely because it's target audience is everyone

 

[Kimarous]

I'm not going to get it. Don't get me wrong, it looks great and I've heard a lot of good things about it. That said, I have neither the funds nor the will to spend those funds on a monthly fee for a game I've already paid full price for. Furthermore, I often need to leave my computer for one reason or another; if I can't pause, and I never can in an MMO, then I'm screwing over both my character and anyone else in my party... and no, "brb" messages don't cut it.

 

[JaredXE]

I loved being in the Beta for TOR and cannot wait for Early Access when my Finals are over. I played both Sith Warrior and Jedi Consular to their teens and finished the first Act with Consular. The stories are pretty good, par for the course for Bioware. There's tons of fiddly bits to explore and play with, and companion characters that allow you to solo most of the game are freakin awesome! I don't wish for WoW's downfall however, I just want TOR to do better.

Also, I wanted Pandarens in WoW before BC. Instead we got space goats and seriouslymakesnofuckingsense Blood Elves. Pandarens made sense lore-wise....space goats not at all. And Elves joining the Horde? No fucking way.

 

[The Lugz]

I'm not going to get it. Don't get me wrong, it looks great and I've heard a lot of good things about it. That said, I have neither the funds nor the will to spend those funds on a monthly fee for a game I've already paid full price for. Furthermore, I often need to leave my computer for one reason or another; if I can't pause, and I never can in an MMO, then I'm screwing over both my character and anyone else in my party... and no, "brb" messages don't cut it.

i agree on the pricing, it's over the top, fortunately i can afford it myself.. just
as to the 'brb' issue, you totally can do that in starwars, it has features built in that will let you do that, from sending your companions on resource gathering, making them guard you while you're away ect the game is very fleshed out in features that help you game in the real world

i do often feel that way myself about raids, though
i get bored after 2 hours of wiping on a raid, among other things.

i suggest Bethesda titles for you though, if you don't already have them!

And Elves joining the Horde? No fucking way.

well, that is lore accurate from warcraft 3 the alliance trod on the elves freedoms and power until they left and the horde seduced them so.. yer..
sucks but it's how the story goes.

 

[OriginalLadders]

If it will work on WINE as well as Champions Online does, then I'll definitely get it. Or at least I would if it weren't subscription based.

 

[The Lugz]

I seem to remember TE getting a bit excited about MMOs like Warhammer Online, Age of Conan and even Aion, I'm holding off on my judgement.

yep, the smart money is always on the fence plus you get to wait for patches bug-fixes and optimisations if you decide to plunge

i got burned on rift, i knew what i was getting and liked it but the balance issues and the fact 0 of my friends joined me was a huge issue for me. totally blew a ton of cash on that
the talent system rift had was awesome though, shame it made some classes stupid..
<3 my mage tank, it was special.

if tor is the same endgame then ive blown even more cash on that :S
well i have a cool maly statue and awesome story experience either way

 

[Vidi Kitty]

( seriously, make a missile-ship in eve online Face rollll isn't in it. )

See you say that... but you have never encountered a cloaky T3 or an interdictor... or if you stay far away from your target, my 8 gunned sniper maelstrom would like to have a chat with you.

OT: I have played all of about 10 minutes of the beta, and I am going to pick it up on the release day. Soon as I heard my character talk... with a real voice... I was sold.