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Star Wars the Old Republic: Limited Pre-order is now available.
TMRNetShark:
--- Quote from: Stsin on July 22, 2011, 11:48:05 PM ---I'm no Star Wars fan. Gave up on the movies after Jar Jar Binks and other muppets. Never played Kotor nor the recent SW games.
But from the little I played, this game is immersive. With full animation and speech and having to make decisions effecting the game forces you into the story. Unlike the other MMOs, I don't find myself skipping the text and picking out the number of critters to kill or items to collect. This is for the main storyline quests, differing at times by your class. The less meaningful quests just pops up automatically. Say when you kill a random mob, it automatically gives bonus xp for killing a certain amount. No having to turn in the quest or find it from some NPC. Or can just skip without any extra interaction. Makes leveling go smoothly as they pop up while doing whatever you want, and doesn't distract from the main storyline that happens with other MMOs.
Making decisions is not just about dark/light points for yourself. You may be more worried about how it effects your companion. This makes your companion more alive than some mob that you've summoned. You'll get attached to him/her/it as you send it off to do missions, gathering herbs that you've come across, while fighting along side yourself.
No auto attack, even for melee. You'll come across many group quests that seem epic...then realize that it was without entering an instance.
I've tried many other betas, while playing WoW since beta. For me not being a Star Wars fan, this game is quite interesting. As a Jedi Consular, it felt great sending big objects at the enemy knocking them back as you run in, deflecting range shots with my saber, and AOE knock backs when they get close. For fun, I found myself unneedlessly using a force hold on the final enemy so I can gain some extra force for a bigger finisher, lol. Underneath much is like WoW, but the SW setting and actions feels like a different game. For Star Wars fans, it's a dream come true. They are sure to keep playing after the first subscription.
--- End quote ---
This.
So you've played the game at PAX? I've only seen the gameplay footage, but I'm totally excited for it. I mean, you said it well... it plays like a normal MMO but has the story element that does affect how you feel about the setting and the interaction. Like, WoW was good grinding fun turn out quest after quest... but it got lonely and I felt isolated when questing and not in instances or raids. Raids are mad fun, and that's why I'm glad they added that in there for top level end game players.
--- Quote from: AceHigh on July 22, 2011, 05:52:32 PM ---
--- Quote from: TMRNetShark on July 22, 2011, 05:37:14 PM ---So by that logic... Call of Duty is the only successful videogame and everything else has overwhelmingly failed compared to that game.
Come on, strike three. :P
--- End quote ---
Call of Duty is not MMO and does not have the same criteria for being referred to as failed or successful. Try providing a valid argument before counting your strikes. ::)
Then again why bother trying to reason with a bunch of Star wars nerds?
--- End quote ---
Uh-huh... change the criteria of the argument to fit your position.... have you seen how many MMOs (some of them really good) are out there? Here, I'll leave you this link here and you can see for yourself just how many good and successful MMOs are out there (albeit, F2P and cash shop... but hey, AAA MMOs are few and far between because of WoW's overwhelming success). :P
Ixarku:
--- Quote from: AceHigh on July 22, 2011, 06:20:51 PM ---Some interesting points about microtransactions:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3689-Microtransactions
--- End quote ---
That was actually pretty interesting. The author there seems to have a pretty good grasp of the psychology of mmo players. Another thing I personally like about the microtransaction model is that I wouldn't feel compelled to play a lot to get my money's worth out of a game. It works with my need to manage my free time effectively and only play when I feel like having fun, rather than playing because I don't want to feel like I'm wasting my sub fee by NOT logging in.
My roommate has played the SWTOR beta, and one observation he made to me the other day was that the enhanced story elements actually makes the game much more interesting for solo play than soloing in other mmos, so the game may be worth getting for that reason alone. However, I don’t think that SWTOR will bring anything radically new to the mmo genre, and as long as there are no major new innovations in mmo gameplay, I think the only thing that will kill WoW is time – eventually, people are going to get bored with WoW altogether, technology will leave the game behind, and most subscribers will move on to something else. The Star Wars property may have a huge fanbase, enough to ensure that SWTOR’s launch will be a success, and enough to keep the game going for a few years, but the game’s not going to change the industry, not by a longshot.
TMRNetShark:
--- Quote from: Ixarku on July 23, 2011, 11:59:23 AM ---
--- Quote from: AceHigh on July 22, 2011, 06:20:51 PM ---Some interesting points about microtransactions:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3689-Microtransactions
--- End quote ---
That was actually pretty interesting. The author there seems to have a pretty good grasp of the psychology of mmo players. Another thing I personally like about the microtransaction model is that I wouldn't feel compelled to play a lot to get my money's worth out of a game. It works with my need to manage my free time effectively and only play when I feel like having fun, rather than playing because I don't want to feel like I'm wasting my sub fee by NOT logging in.
My roommate has played the SWTOR beta, and one observation he made to me the other day was that the enhanced story elements actually makes the game much more interesting for solo play than soloing in other mmos, so the game may be worth getting for that reason alone. However, I don’t think that SWTOR will bring anything radically new to the mmo genre, and as long as there are no major new innovations in mmo gameplay, I think the only thing that will kill WoW is time – eventually, people are going to get bored with WoW altogether, technology will leave the game behind, and most subscribers will move on to something else. The Star Wars property may have a huge fanbase, enough to ensure that SWTOR’s launch will be a success, and enough to keep the game going for a few years, but the game’s not going to change the industry, not by a longshot.
--- End quote ---
Come on, we all knew that. The basic MMO model is made and relatively set in stone.. all we will have is new settings, new stories, and new type of toons to play. SWTOR is just the merging of the Star Wars name and brand (along with some cool Star Wars locales), a Star Wars sized story (200 hours of gameplay for each class without side/non-story quests), and the gameplay of WoW.
Sakubo:
--- Quote from: Stsin on July 22, 2011, 11:48:05 PM ---I'm still surprised that they sold out the Collector's Edition at $149.99 at their own Origin site and most retailers within 24 hours. If it was a ploy by EA, it's a costly one. WoW CE's didn't have such shortages.
--- End quote ---
The reason the collectors sold out so fast is there was a limited number. The number is based on the Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue that is included with it. The figure itself is valued at about 80 bucks and because of the statue there is a limited number of the collectors. I suppose with the response being as high as it was they might try and make some more before release but who knows if they will really want to do that.
vicious796:
--- Quote from: xfreidax on July 22, 2011, 06:25:08 PM ---
--- Quote from: vicious796 on July 22, 2011, 05:40:42 PM ---Snip
--- End quote ---
Which server did you play on vicious? I have a 50 rogue on Dayblind and a 50 mage Briarcliff, both defiant. All things considered, Rift is actually doing quite well. There's at least 6-7 servers that are packed to the max and we are approaching the 5 month mark here. It's a pretty good wow clone but with just enough difference to make it stand out I reckon. The soul system is a winner.
--- End quote ---
I had a mage on Briarcliff, actually and a rogue on... Sunrest? I can't recall. The second-made RP PvP server. Like I said - it's successful for a MMO as is/was Aion. However, both were buffed as the "WoW Killer" and none will ever be, SWTOR is no exception. I believe it will be a "success" as defined by the general market but there are many, not so much here but abroad, that have moved to the SWTOR will kill the beast.
--- Quote ---@ TMRnetShark
There is a reason why I generalise mmo gamers into a certain type. You are right in that there is a diversity of interests when it comes to mmo's. But in general things like story/art/mood etc while important and adds to the immersion factor, they aren't the real reasons why people stay subbed to a game. It's the game play that matters over everything else at the end of the day. You can have the most engaging story, flashiest graphics, emotive voice acting etc etc, but if the game play sucks people will leave in droves after the initial month.
Take me as an example. I have major problems getting immersed in a mmo the way I get immersed in a single player game. The very existence of other players in the game world breaks that immersion for me (It may have to do with the inexplicable compulsion for players to jump for no reason :P). So I play mmo's very differently from how I would play a single player game. I usually race to level cap so I'm ahead of the curve and then have a couple months of fun owning newbies. Once I'm tired of that, I move on. And judging by my experiences over 10 years mmo gaming and dozens of games, I'm quite typical within the pvp subset of mmo gamers. =P
--- End quote ---
Which is what I expect out of SWTOR - what I expect from every major MMO that's been launched in the past few years. It will have a giant boom at first and die out over 6 months to a more manageable handful of active servers.
--- Quote from: stsin ---I'm no Star Wars fan. Gave up on the movies after Jar Jar Binks and other muppets. Never played Kotor nor the recent SW games.
But from the little I played, this game is immersive. With full animation and speech and having to make decisions effecting the game forces you into the story. Unlike the other MMOs, I don't find myself skipping the text and picking out the number of critters to kill or items to collect. This is for the main storyline quests, differing at times by your class. The less meaningful quests just pops up automatically. Say when you kill a random mob, it automatically gives bonus xp for killing a certain amount. No having to turn in the quest or find it from some NPC. Or can just skip without any extra interaction. Makes leveling go smoothly as they pop up while doing whatever you want, and doesn't distract from the main storyline that happens with other MMOs.
Making decisions is not just about dark/light points for yourself. You may be more worried about how it effects your companion. This makes your companion more alive than some mob that you've summoned. You'll get attached to him/her/it as you send it off to do missions, gathering herbs that you've come across, while fighting along side yourself.
No auto attack, even for melee. You'll come across many group quests that seem epic...then realize that it was without entering an instance.
I've tried many other betas, while playing WoW since beta. For me not being a Star Wars fan, this game is quite interesting. As a Jedi Consular, it felt great sending big objects at the enemy knocking them back as you run in, deflecting range shots with my saber, and AOE knock backs when they get close. For fun, I found myself unneedlessly using a force hold on the final enemy so I can gain some extra force for a bigger finisher, lol. Underneath much is like WoW, but the SW setting and actions feels like a different game. For Star Wars fans, it's a dream come true. They are sure to keep playing after the first subscription.
--- End quote ---
The no auto attack is part of what excites and confuses me. It's one of the features that almost makes me want to buy the game. Unlike you, I am a Star Wars fan and I will admit to excitement when this title was announced. Not enough excitement to warrant 150 dollars (or even 80) but enough that when the inevitable free trial comes out I'll probably play it.
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