SW:TOR Beta Weekend

[Sixcess]

Well, if all goes according to schedule, I and a whole lot of other people will be getting their first hands-on experience of The Old Republic today. With tens of thousands of beta invites spammed out via the MMO sites last week I expect they'll get all the numbers they need for their stress testing.

I have very mixed feelings about TOR thus far. I've been following its development for years, since the initial jaw dropping cgi trailer back in... 08, I think, and in that time I've went from being intrigued by the idea of it, to concern that if it bombed it would take half the industry's future with it (such a high profile, expensive, prestige project - potential investors would be terrified if it went down) then to indifference (it's taking to long), and downright hostility (when EA or Bioware bigwigs would clamber onto their soap boxes and talk about 'story' as if no other MMO had ever had such a thing.)

I play or have played several MMOs (though not SWG. I'm an originsl trilogy and that's it sort of fan) and according to some puff piece a month or so ago I may be at risk of finding it hard to go back to my other games once I've played TOR. Well, we shall see.

At the moment, before I've ever so much as logged in, the overwhelming feeling I still get from it is that it's simply too much of a single player game to be a 'proper' MMO. I'm surprised I feel that way since soloability is something I've frequently craved in the MMOs I do play. Just feels that Bioware have taken it just a bit too far.

So... anyone else taking their first steps into the game this weekend? If so, what do you think? Does it live up, or down, to the expectations that 3 years of furious hype have built up?

 

[Evil Top Hat]

I originally preordered it, but cancelled the preorder about a month ago. It'll be interesting to see whether or not I made the right choice. Hopefully I'll be able to get quite a bit of play time in this weekend.

I originally preordered on the idea that it would be a whle star wars galaxy full of explorable, MMORPG goodness to travel and traverse with my character of choice. However, over time I saw that TOR was more like KOTOR 3, and "exploration" wasn't really an existing factor. I always knew there would be an emphasis on story and characters, but I didn't think the game's structure would turn out to be as strict and linear as it has turned out to be. The game's environments are more like a series of corridors than open worlds, and that was enough for me to cancel my preorder.

I don't think the game will be "bad", it looks functional enough, PvP is suitably flashy and the end game looks pretty cool as well, it just isn't what I wanted it to be. I don't understand why they felt the need to make it into an MMO really, it just places limitations and barriers on what could have been a totally phenomonal single player experience, whilst restricting the multiplayer aspects so that exploration and interaction are also no longer major parts of the game.

Again, it looks quite fun, but by trying to add in heavy amounts of linear story and an MMO open world they've crippled both aspects.

 

[Fredvdp]

I'm in general testing so to me the beta weekend is that time when the servers are full and I have to get in queue. It's definitely a great game but the stress test is not really representative of how fun the experience can be. There are trolls in the chats and some quests that require interaction with an item can be difficult because there are ten people waiting to use that item.

 

[Sixcess]

I'm in general testing so to me the beta weekend is that time when the servers are full and I have to get in queue. It's definitely a great game but the stress test is not really representative of how fun the experience can be. There are trolls in the chats and some quests that require interaction with an item can be difficult because there are ten people waiting to use that item.

Trolls in chat and queues to use open world quest items? Sounds exactly like an MMO experience.

Ah well, 3 hours in and... it does feel very linear, but that's pretty much par for the course for MMO start zones these days, so I'm trying to keep an open mind. Conversations are well up to Bioware's usual high standards and have been the high point so far, though some of the secondary quests don't really seem to deserve the luxury of a fully voiced cut scene since they are just the good old kill 10 rats sort of thing.

Still, if I'm not feeling the love for it yet, it has at least made a better initial impression than Rift, Champions, Warhammer or DC Universe, by which I mean I'm still playing it.

 

[Corven]

It was fun to get a brief taste of what the game will be in the coming weeks, its mainly what I expected, a single player game with multiplayer capabilities that has a standard mmo control scheme.

I just hope they have more servers at launch because waiting in queue for 4 hours is not an enjoyable experience.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

the beta i played a few backs, basically exceeded all of my expectations (except for those damn queue's!)

granted i didn't go in with very high optimism, but i will say i was hooked and really enjoying the bioware take on it, so i'll probably get it within the first month it is out, or unless a surprise relative gets it for me for christmas.

and this is coming from someone who played the WoW trial+free at friends, and it never holded my interest for more than a half hour at a time, so for everyone saying it's just like WoW...

not to me it isn't.

 

[SushiJaguar]

I'm pretty excited for four PM tomorrow, considering I've been quite excited at the prospect of a Star Wars MMO ever since I stole half of my dad's measure of whisky after watching the first three movies and then passed out at my desk from too much WoW.

Yes, I was a rather pathetic pre-teen.

Anyway, SWTOR looks to be pretty good fun, if it can manage not to be too singleplayer-y as the OP fears. I'll also be interested to see how 8v8 PvP will match up to the slightly sparse games of WoW's tired old PvP maps.

I also really really want to see customisation that doesn't get over-shadowed by the eternal need to get better, mismatched-looking gear and colour-schemes. C'mon, is it so much to ask that you program not NEW armour, but sets you pick at the start and just add little items to? Sort of like Dark Cloud but without stupid durability systems.

EDIT: Apparently I'm so excited I accidentally my whole grammar

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Being an SWG veteran and a big KoToR fan I am very interested in this game. I did get invited and I'm currently downloading the game. Only 17 more gigs to go, yea!

I don't believe that its going to be traditionally MMO. The way they develop the story seems to be more of Knights of the Old Republic: Online. I'm fine with that, I generally hate MMOs. They have lousy half ass stories and generally I spend all my tip gathering 20 snowbear claws or something stupid like that. I am prepared for the grind, but I'm hoping since Bioware is behind it that it will have a damn good story.

And besides I miss Galaxies... they absolutely destroyed it at the end and I've always felt like a friend died. Maybe this can fill that hole.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I don't believe that its going to be traditionally MMO.

Well, the best answer to this is that it is, and it isn't. The base mechanics of the game are very, very traditional. Bioware isn't re-inventing the wheel for MMOs with TOR. I'd go so far as to call the game "conservative", with the disclaimer that I'd level that charge at 90% of the MMOs in the post WoW era. You've got your tanks, and your DPS, and your healers, and it's all going to be a pretty familiar boot to slip into.

Packing the whole thing into the Bioware Formula For Storytelling (TM), though? That IS unusual. It feels and plays very much like a single player game, if you want it to. Only there's a bunch of bunny hopping idiots shooting at your mobs. I'd say the storytelling elements Bioware has brought to the table actually ARE a pretty big deal, in terms of changing how the game FEELS to play. Whether or not that will be enough to make it the next big thing remains to be seen. MMO's are sort of pointless to review until roughly the 100 hour mark, anyway.

 

[Soundchekz]

I don't have high hopes for this game. Sure it could be the next KotOR, but it could also be the next Force Unleashed 2.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Bah, I got the invite for this weekend a few weeks ago when they did they invited everyone who'd signed up to beta test and I hoped they wouldn't be doing it this weekend. I'm out of town and don't have access to the rig I'll be playing it on. My poor laptop can't handle games very well so I have to miss out. Which aggravates me to no end considering I've been waiting to get into beta ever since a friend of mine got into general beta and never played it. (selfish bastard won't even let me use his account, oh to think of that juicy beta access going to waste. He's had it since the summer to T_T)

I honestly thought they'd have picked a weekend when most people wouldn't be out of town, like say last weekend.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Oh I'm sorry to have taken those seconds from your clearly important life; who knows, maybe you could have written more asinine remarks to people comments, comments which you didn't even fully read.

Are you going to do that or would reading and remarking on the entire comment be too time consuming for someone which such a busy schedule as yourself?

It's cool. My default reaction to criticism is also to have a snit fit and act like I couldn't possibly have done anything wrong.

Here, I'll make it up to you. What illuminating statement was it that I omitted when I trimmed the extra 28 words from your original post that you feel have been unjustly overlooked? Your two word assertion that "it's awful"? Your snide prediction it would be free to play in 8 months? I mean, my goodness, if I was looking for information on the game, I would be positively beggared by the amount of objective insight you've provided.

I thought I would focus on the "It's just World of Warcraft in a different setting" remark, because it's A) so fresh, B) so accurate, and C) properly sheds light on the astonishing fact that two games sharing a genre have several generic similarities. I was letting the cream rise to the top, if you will. I would think you'd be happy.

 

[SushiJaguar]

I think Guppy got you whipped, Kiddo.

 

[Arina Love]

blast it) i was second waved my turn comes today at 20:00 (Moscow time) it's gonna be my first time with game too! massively exited)

 

[SushiJaguar]

You could always admit your comment was largely similar to the regular knee-jerk "GAH I DID NOT LIKE THIS SO I WILL CONTINUE TO SPEW UNTIL ALL OPINIONS FALL IN LINE WITH MY OWN AND CRY SIEG HEIL"

 

[SushiJaguar]

I didn't say I wasn't enjoying it. I just think in this particular instance you aren't really going to score many points against someone quite so stubborn as Guppy.

Feel free to continue arguing with him, but neither of you are really going to get anywhere with it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Fantastic, another conceited internet tough-guy. Because the world needs another one of those...

The comment about the gameplay seems kind of relevant does it not?

"The same mindless NPCs doing wash rinse repeat attacks with, to be charitable, lacklustre graphics."

Or let me guess; you've pre-ordered it and nothing will make your $60 investment unwise.

The game has the same NPC set up, the SAME ROLES (tank, healer, DPS), raids, the same damn icon near enough for elite characters, same "press 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 1, 4, 1, 2 ad infinitum" gameplay with the same moronic AI and I could keep on going on.
And the graphics are shit.

Generic similarities? That's just you giving devs an excuse as to why they don't have to be creative. Compare WoW to EVE; both MMO's and both utterly different. So how about you come down from your self proclaimed throne and actually address what I said maturely without omitting parts at your whim.

I'm actually not clear what exactly I said that screamed "tough guy" to you. Were you imagining me flexing menacingly while I typed? It's all very confusing.

Well, no, your "comment" about the game play does not seem relevant, because it was the typical useless one-shot sound byte that offers no depth of analysis or objective insight whatsoever. It's as useful as saying "It's wonderful! Best thing I ever played!" It's a pointless contribution to a discussion. Just because you HAVE an opinion doesn't mean everyone needs to HEAR it. You need to first ask yourself, what is my opinion contributing?

"I played a first person shooter the other day. It had a bunch guys attacking me, using the same old guns in the same old settings. It was the same left click, left click, left click to shoot at them. Same moronic AI. And I could go on and on! But I won't, because I don't know how! PS, all shooters are shit." - Quality Review Guy

It's nice that you hate a genre, but you hating the genre means your input on that genre is less than useless. You know what I hate? Country Music. You know what job that makes me completely unqualified for? Country Music reviewer.

EVE is definitely an outlier when it comes to MMO design, as was Ultima Online, as was Shadowbane. Do I wish MMOs would be a little braver and break away from the loot/level paradigm that started with Everquest and was popularized with WoW? Yes. Does that mean all those games are exactly the same, and we should hand wave their differences, and completely dismiss the entire sub-genre (the DOMINANT sub genre) as useless? No, it really doesn't.

I appreciate that you're expanding on your position, though. I now know, for example, that part of the reason you dislike The Old Republic is you're frustrated by a lack of core level innovation in MMO design. That gives context to your opinion. I can read that and think "Do I share those concerns? Do I also require X level of innovation in a MMO? How could they have done this differently?".

When I am presented with "It's awful" and "It shares elements with Other Popular Game in Same Genre", I get no such benefit. It's a useless comment, with zero insight and zero context. Perhaps YOU can address that "maturely" and rectify it in the future.

I think guppy is a kid with a bad attitude rather then sensible ideas or comments that are anything other then conceited, snide remarks. The guy clearly is going to argue SWTOR is going to be the new MMO messiah even if he was given a steaming pile of shit.

Although if this is any indication, I find it unlikely.