My SW:TOR Review Of What I've Seen So Far

[TygerDarkstorm]

I know not everyone here plans to play SW:TOR when it comes out, but I thought I would give my review of the game from what I've experienced so far (I've only gotten to level 13).

First off I'll start with the storyline. For the first time in my brief MMO career, I actually have a vested interest in the things my character is doing and why I should be doing them. Yes, I'm one of those people in WoW and CoH that just clicks accept blindly and goes off to do whatever it is I need to be doing. The only quest text from WoW I can remember actively reading and being interested in is the Silverpine questlines and the Quel'dalar one. Now, I attribute my being interested in the SW:TOR storylines mainly to there being no quest text whatsoever. For me this is a huge plus. The game is fully voice acted so I get the pleasure of actually watching my character converse with the quest giver as they tell me their story and why they need me to go do whatever it is they want me to do.

Occasionally within the player options you're given, I sometimes wish there were more than 2-3 options because the next choice I'm given isn't really one I wanted to pick, but, overall, I think they've done a really good job with the selection choices and you can always esc key out of the dialogue and restart it if it didn't go the way you wanted it to. While you're questing, some of your options will also earn you light side or dark side points (regardless of whether you're Republic or Empire). A couple of quick examples of things that earned me dark side points were bringing one man's head to his wife because she encouraged him to betray a Hutt, and one quest had me kill a boy's father so the mother could get her son back and send him to Sith training school.

The only thing I dislike about the alignment system so far is that it seems to be a bad thing to be neutral (which my current bounty hunter so happens to be because my morals keep getting in the way of making her a bad person >_>). By choosing either light or dark side, you get to earn specialty gear and such later on down the road and I'm not sure yet if there are equivalents for weirdos like me that happen to be neutral. Granted, I have done very little research on the game and haven't gotten past level 13 yet so...yeah.

There's a whole thread over on MMO-C nitpicking the UI (really wish I could find a way to make my screenshots from the game show up =/). I don't want to get into it too much--it's a beta and from what I've seen, they plan to make it more customizable at launch. My main gripe is that there's not a scale slider and that, at default, it's pretty large and a little clunky at times. I'd also like to see the addition of target of target, actual health values displayed on my bar, a macro system as clicking and healing isn't all that efficient, a better (or maybe more intuitive) way to monitor buffs/debuffs and DoTs, and perhaps the ability to shrink my map some. I like that the map turns transparent when I start running with it open, but it's still large and still takes up a ton of screen real estate, especially if I need to stop for any reason. I dunno, I'm just one of those people that tends to have their map open as they're traveling and in WoW, I like how it shrinks down to a manageable size (same with CoH) so I can still have it open as I travel about.

Next: Flashpoints! Flashpoints are 4 man dungeons in the game and I don't think I've ever had so much fun in a dungeon. Your entire party needs to be engaged to complete Flashpoints as there is a developing story/reason for why you're there. It's pretty neat to see everyone in the party taking part in the conversations with the NPCs (even if most of the answers/choices are, essentially, the same). I'm not entirely sure what the replay value of these more than a couple of times becomes, however, as we only did the initial Flashpoint twice last night. One thing that I also found kind of neat about the Flashpoint the boyfriend, myself, and one of our RL friends did was that since we couldn't get ahold of our friend who had a sith sorcerer (a healer), we used my companion as the fourth person in our group and had her heal while I off-healed on my mercenary (DPS bounty hunters have some healing capacity so we're like off-healers).

The combat in SW:TOR feels very smooth as well which is surprising since there's no auto-attack. CoH has no auto-attack either and there's points, especially at low levels, where the fighting feels very clunky as you sit around waiting for abilities to come off CD. SW:TOR doesn't seem to suffer from this, or, at least, not on the bounty hunter. You get a couple of quick recharging, spammable abilities that don't make you really notice the lack of an auto-attack. It helps, somewhat, that right-clicking an enemy auto-fires my number 1 key ability. The only problem with this is that I then think I'm auto-attacking and occasionally forget to start queueing my other abilities. >_> But that's just a stupid problem with myself moreso than the way the game works, I think. I also love that I can fire any of my abilities that don't have cast times while I'm on the run. One other side thing that I also kind of like is that if I happen to aggro something as I'm running through a zone, my character pulls out her blaster and starts aiming at whatever she's pissed off. CoH does something similar where it auto turns you to face the enemy you're currently attacking--I've found that overall it's both a blessing and a curse if you like to move your camera around, but it keeps pivoting you to face the enemy. SW:TOR doesn't seem to do this though (at least from what I've noticed) and I've had my character staring at me (so to speak) while she shoots an enemy.

Graphics, animation, etc: I personally think the graphics look pretty damn amazing. Being a beta, everything's still a little buggy though so things like lips not always moving, or teeth clipping through lips still happens during cut scenes. The game's also not fond of tabbing in and out as it seems to cause it to have to reload/re-render everything around me when I do. The animations for the game also feel pretty smooth, although watching my Chiss run and jump looks a little odd on occasion, but I attribute that having spent a lot of time watching the broken runs of WoW's poor models. Also, this is the first MMO where I absolutely love having the music playing in the background. I hate leaving WoW's music on as I find it too distracting (especially since I tend to have music/movies/TV running in the background as I'm playing anyway), but due to the nature of SW:TOR, I don't think I'll be doing this. I was muting vent constantly yesterday just so I could hear what my quest givers were saying. XD

I'm sure I've missed something in there, but I have to start getting ready for work. Overall I was pretty skeptical of the game and wasn't sure I would quit WoW for it, but after only about a day and a half of playing (I've been in 2 beta weekends but haven't actually had the time to fully enjoy both weekends), I'm totally hooked. I haven't really been playing much of WoW recently anyway, and this just sort of confirms my boredom for it.

[TygerDarkstorm]

So one huge thing that I forgot to mention is the professions system (aka Crew Skills)! I can't believe I forgot to touch on this because I love the system so much. XD

http://www.starwarsmmolevelingguide.com ... ing-skills

Now, I don't really know how to explain the system other then that you get to pick 3 professions total--one crafting, one mission, and one gathering. Your gathering and mission professions feed into your crafting profession. In WoW, I absolutely HATE leveling my professions. I despise anything that resembles farming and find the process of leveling professions incredibly tedious. In SW:TOR, however, your companions do the majority of your profession leveling for you (thus them being called Crew Skills ). I freaking LOVE this feature and have gotten my bf jealous because yesterday was the most time I had spent in my beta invites and I had gotten my Armormech crafting skill up to 48. Granted, it cost me a fair chunk of credits to do so. Why? Because one of the ways you gather mats is to send your companion out on missions; these missions cost money (mine are either 95 credits or 290 credits atm) so if you're not careful about spending your money, you can easily go broke. If you're out questing and running dungeons though, your credits should start to equate themselves out--I could definitely tell a difference in my funds when I was actively doing stuff while making Mako go do my bidding versus me idling around in Kaas while she ran off to fetch stuff.

[Kalliope]

Solid review. Covers what's been kicking around my head, really. The real question is whether BioWare will be able to maintain this level of quality once people hit the end game level.

*sigh* I wasn't expecting to get so attached immediately. It IS because your character gets to make all those dialogue choices. It's a passive sort of RP that bonds you to your character, and that's my sort of RP. Once I got around the limitations in terms of race choices (I understand why they need to be humanoid), I got into the variations.

Also, I was stunned that smuggler healing didn't feel weird. I decided to try it because I couldn't imagine how it would work and not feel goofy and was instantly hooked. The limited resource thing is definitely something to get used to, but I essentially got divine plea (minus the healing reduction) the level after, which will definitely help regen. The coolest part is dpsing while healing, especially on that char. I'm kind of anticipating that monks will work in a similar sort of fashion, but I could be wrong.

Course, nothing can replace the amazing ability to play a ranged Jedi. And since every character gets a companion, every class feels a bit like a WoW hunter.

I will not rave too much about the battlegrounds....suffice to say that I still love lowbie bg healing. Plus a lot of the downsides of WoW bgs are eliminated. Both sides have identical sides, most races overlap between the two factions (not that racial abilities are a big deal anyway). Most importantly, you're guarding objectives that aren't flags; they fit into the story seemlessly.

Obviously, I'm not going anywhere for the time being; I'm just sad that I can't do both this and WoW.

[cowmuflage]

I might try this out but personally I'm more of a "classic" Star wars fan XD I'd rather be a Stormtrooper to a fancy Jedi anyday even if I can't aim for poop! Cos you know Stormtroopers can't aim....



Now if they made a GOOD Classic Star wars MMO I'd be really happy. But that proberly will never happen :S

[Rhyela]

I wasn't going to pick this up right away, but this review may make me change my mind. My husband is definitely getting it when it comes out, and I was just going to try it out on his account before buying it. The reason being is that the last two MMOs I've bought after WoW, I ended up only playing for maybe a month or so. Rift I would still play if my computer could handle it better, and Aion just couldn't hold me long enough. It was fun and all, but the world seemed so small.

But, perhaps SW:ToR will be different......

[Silivren]

All of what Tyger said is true and its unbelievably fun. Throughout my Sith Inquisitor storyline I was wanting to STRANGLE and I mean FORCE CHOKE THROUGH A WALL two characters. I was able to be my smart alec self in a video game ;D I like putting rude characters in their place and I absolutely love my companion character Khem Val. I've played all weekend and been in beta once before this time as well. What I will add is BioWare is putting romances into the game. That is to say one of your companion characters will be a romantic interest for your character and this can progress any way you lke. They arent in game as of now but I do know they have confirmed they will be putting same sex relationship options into game as well. Its a neat little bonus that makes the game feel more real imo.

[Rhyela]

All of what Tyger said is true and its unbelievably fun. Throughout my Sith Inquisitor storyline I was wanting to STRANGLE and I mean FORCE CHOKE THROUGH A WALL two characters. I was able to be my smart alec self in a video game ;D I like putting rude characters in their place and I absolutely love my companion character Khem Val. I've played all weekend and been in beta once before this time as well. What I will add is BioWare is putting romances into the game. That is to say one of your companion characters will be a romantic interest for your character and this can progress any way you lke. They arent in game as of now but I do know they have confirmed they will be putting same sex relationship options into game as well. Its a neat little bonus that makes the game feel more real imo.

:O Seriously? I can be a total girl sometimes (I'm typically rather tomboyish), and I have an obsession with romance storylines in RPGs. I really get into them for some reason. They don't have to be all ZOMGSEXYTIME, I just like how the characters develop and interact with one another. If they put that into this MMO, I will probably buy it, just for that reason. (Yes, romance storylines mean that much to me.)

[TygerDarkstorm]

I know a few of the female characters have options to be flirtatious in their conversation dialogues to get their way.

[Moonlost]

I'm very much the same way Rhyela. XD I'm a total sucker for romantic subplots. And they're most certainly in ToR, from what I've read, although I've not had the pleasure of playing through one in the beta yet. Then again, it's a Bioware game,I'd be surprised if they hadn't included them.

Tyger, your summary was excellent and hit all the right points. I was actually really surprised to see that you have light-side and dark-side dialogue options for both the Republic and the Sith. I was not expecting that, and the idea of playing a more moral sith or a more corrupt jedi intrigues me.
It's not perfect. There are still a number of boring fetch quests and I've had a few disconcerting bugs happen to me. But it's shaping up to be a very, very solid game and you would be missing out if you don't at least give it a try. I'm sure they'll have a trial system in place after release for those not willing to be picking it up.

[TygerDarkstorm]

They were discussing "Light side" sith the other day in general chat and I really like the description someone gave. They described a "Light side" sith as being a warrior who wants to do good, but just so happens to work for the Empire. Another thing worth mentioning about earning Dark side points (I think), is that the more dark you are, the more corrupted your character starts to look (I believe Saturo has hit a certain scaling of this on her character).

There are definitely still little filler fetch quests and you get "Kill x many of y mob" as bonus quests to your current objective, but as someone who spends a back-breaking amount of time questing in WoW, I don't find the SWTOR versions to be that boring, probably because it's all voice acted out and I have more of a vested interest as to why I'm doing that particular fetch quest. It could simply be that the change in scenery from WoW to SWTOR is what draws me in and makes me feel less dull about it as well.

Of course, this is all opinion and everyone's going to feel differently about different aspects of every game. ^_^ Also, I can't imagine them not putting a trial out shortly after release--it seems to be relatively standard for MMOs to have trials anymore.

[Silivren]

Here is an article on the starter characters for each class. Vette is my favorite from how she is in game http://www.swtor.com/info/systems/companions and here is a video where they discuss them and the romance aspect is included for you Rhyela http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/com ... characters

[Rhyela]

Here is an article on the starter characters for each class. Vette is my favorite from how she is in game http://www.swtor.com/info/systems/companions and here is a video where they discuss them and the romance aspect is included for you Rhyela http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/com ... characters

Oooooo! Bioware, you know how hard it is for me to resist your games! Why must you put something so shiny in your MMO? /sigh, I'm so going to end up buying this game, I just know it. x_x

[Worba]

The only thing I dislike about the alignment system so far is that it seems to be a bad thing to be neutral (which my current bounty hunter so happens to be because my morals keep getting in the way of making her a bad person >_>). By choosing either light or dark side, you get to earn specialty gear and such later on down the road and I'm not sure yet if there are equivalents for weirdos like me that happen to be neutral.

That actually sounds like a positive to me - back when I used to play D&D I recall everyone wanted to be neutral, neutral-good, etc. and they'd just take the shortest path between A and B, making it feel rather robotic and opportunistic. Or else they'd roll good or evil, but still play as if they were neutral. Etc. And I fell into that rut myself, frequently...

Then I played Everquest, which had alignment, but as I recall it was really your faction that determined which NPCs you could talk to, which quests you could do, etc - so alignment was just a pretty much meaningless stat in that game.

Glad to see they're using a more integrated approach in SWTOR.

[TygerDarkstorm]

I don't really want my bounty hunter to be neutral. Honestly, she's supposed to be a pretty big, dark bitch. >_> I just let myself get so wrapped up in the storyline that I kept making choices that followed my own sense of morals moreso than hers so she is exactly neutral with 600 light side points and 600 dark side points. >_<

The only bad thing about making her "evil" is that her companion is a goody two-shoes which means if I don't want to lose favor with Mako all the time, I'll probably have to restart my conversations and make sure that I send her off to go do some menial task while I make a mean decision. XD

[Kalliope]

I don't really want my bounty hunter to be neutral. Honestly, she's supposed to be a pretty big, dark bitch. >_> I just let myself get so wrapped up in the storyline that I kept making choices that followed my own sense of morals moreso than hers so she is exactly neutral with 600 light side points and 600 dark side points. >_<

The only bad thing about making her "evil" is that her companion is a goody two-shoes which means if I don't want to lose favor with Mako all the time, I'll probably have to restart my conversations and make sure that I send her off to go do some menial task while I make a mean decision. XD

Errrrrrrg, yes, THIS. I have that sort of problem all the time in BioWare games, ha! Which is why, even though it may get to be a bit one note, I play characters that lean toward the light. I had great difficulty with my dark-leaning Knight being mean to T7. >_<

I once had to ditch my companion on my counselor in order to make what I considered a moral choice that hit him for -30!

If you take diplomacy as a crew profession, you can always send your companion(s) out for "alignment fixes."

[GormanGhaste]

To this day I still refuse to play paladins, even in WoW, because I didn't want to play a lawful good character in D&D. I never had a problem being in campaigns with mostly neutral characters, it always seemed more natural than trying to be Good! or Evil!

[TygerDarkstorm]

I don't really want my bounty hunter to be neutral. Honestly, she's supposed to be a pretty big, dark bitch. >_> I just let myself get so wrapped up in the storyline that I kept making choices that followed my own sense of morals moreso than hers so she is exactly neutral with 600 light side points and 600 dark side points. >_<

The only bad thing about making her "evil" is that her companion is a goody two-shoes which means if I don't want to lose favor with Mako all the time, I'll probably have to restart my conversations and make sure that I send her off to go do some menial task while I make a mean decision. XD

Errrrrrrg, yes, THIS. I have that sort of problem all the time in BioWare games, ha! Which is why, even though it may get to be a bit one note, I play characters that lean toward the light. I had great difficulty with my dark-leaning Knight being mean to T7. >_<

I once had to ditch my companion on my counselor in order to make what I considered a moral choice that hit him for -30!

If you take diplomacy as a crew profession, you can always send your companion(s) out for "alignment fixes."

Thank god for the escape key and being able to redo conversations! XD And I didn't know that about the Diplomacy profession so that's good to keep in mind.

It's really funny how much actual emotion the companions can evoke from you as well. I made a Bounty Hunter and Jedi Consular during my time in beta and each of their companions make me feel differently. Like, Mako kind of annoys the crap out of me, but I have a deep seated respect for Qyzen.

[Magli]

What you're describing is a long-standing feature of Bioforge games--both that "evil" pretty much boils down to "be a petty jerk" and that their alignment system discourages neutrality and rewards extremism.

Which is a pity--nobody's 100% good or 100% evil. Even in the source material, Luke force-chokes and mind-controls his way into Jabba's stronghold, and didn't seem to lose any Light Side Points for doing so.

[Kalliope]

Hee, yes, Qy is a cool guy! I went into the beta totally cold, so I kept waiting for my own T7, since my friend had him - never thinking that I'd actually get Qy! Added joy bonus.

*nods to Magli* It's a downside of the system for sure, but I can imagine how complicated things would get if that gray area was truly explored....and gosh, the two sided system alone is already complicated enough!

(Luke actually did get pretty close to the Dark Side in RotJ, but he had better self-control than his father and brought himself back from the edge. So he actually did lose Light Side points, we just didn't see it! )

[TygerDarkstorm]

Honestly, I kind of like the choices given. For my consular I'm going full light side on her and doing my best to make her a morally good character, and I feel like the conversation choices I'm given reflect that, especially since your character doesn't repeat exactly what the choice says--they say something that applies appropriately to the situation.

My bounty hunter doesn't just feel like a "petty jerk". She's out to get into the great hunt and doing whatever it takes to do so. I've warned the leading Hutt on Hutta that even though I've done services for him to earn his favor, his attempts to double cross me won't go unpunished. I've delivered the head of a husband to his wife for betrayal. And I often do things just because they'll earn me money; including backstabbing people because the person they wanted me to take out offered a better price.

I dunno, I guess the system isn't bad enough or anything to make me not like the game and not find it enjoyable. Playing in the beta has really gotten me to see how I want my bounty hunter to be in live (she won't be so good damn it! XD). Of the two characters I played and really got into, neither one of them were ever intended from creation to be neutral, I just let my personal bias get in the way of my character's development.

Gah, I can't wait til the game goes live. The suspense is killing me!