Couple Question from a Potential Buyer

[handledofstormreaverus]

From the first few posts in this thread alone, I know I'm going to love this game.

Less hand holding. Learn from Blizzard's mistakes & let the game function as an MMO experience. WoW started dying with having portals everywhere, name changes, race changes, server transfers, and gear handed out with little to no effort. WoW went from being an established MMO community, with things left to be desired (this is important), to a cluster f**k of anonymity & homogenization.

SWTOR has the potential to be great. If you still really enjoy WoW at this stage, you're crazy - the game is crap as of 4.3, and everyone knows it. It could be so great, yet they continue to let it fall from grace.

I miss TBC

[Wozarib]

If money isn't a huge worry for you, take the plunge and buy the game and play through the free 30 days. Get a good feel for it yourself and don't go solely on what others tell you, or even partially. After that 30 days you're in a much better position to decide, and the only loss is the cost of the game. For me, it's a case of a) will I enjoy the first 30 days and b) the commitment that BioWare put into the game. As long as BioWare deliver based on my expectations, it's then just a case of will I like the game. Assuming I do, and I want to raid, it's then just a case of is the content challenging enough, and rewarding enough.

I think that the game will last quite some time. LA are probably keen to see the game live up to its name, so BioWare are probably just as eager to please them in that capacity.

I can't comment on the raiding side of it, at the moment that's not a huge interest; I am far more interested in the story that goes with it (being a starwars fan, it's nice to pick up bits I didn't know).

TL;DR

Buy it, experience it yourself, and enjoy it for what it is. Or don't enjoy it. The most you'll lose is the cost of the game.

[Eroginous]

I honestly don't know how to sell this game to people but I can give you an honest review from my perspective as someone who's been playing RPGs and MMOs for the majority of his gaming career (20+ years). I will be rating everything on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being absolutely terrible compared with today's standards, and 10 being excellent compared with today's standards (today's standards being what has become well known or expected within a genre).


1. Story - yes, there is a story. There are multiple stories, in fact. Each class gets their own individual story. The stories are very lengthy and involved, delivered through voice acted cut scenes. There is the general over arching character story, then smaller side stories. You are required to finish the main character story on each world to advance onward to other planets.

In my opinion the story isn't very compelling or entertaining. It lacks a lot of excitement and plot. There are a lot of cut scenes and it gets to the point where it's better to just skip through it all and get to the questing. The entire story reminds me of filler episodes that you see now and again on TV, where the content isn't really meaningful and has nothing to do with the setting it takes place in.

I'd give the story a 5 out of 10.


2. Questing - like other MMOs, the main method of character progression is questing. There are a lot of individual quests and most of them are no different than the traditional 'kill X bad guy, gather Y item, travel to Z location.' The questing in this game carries the story in a rather linear fashion, you don't get to really deviate from the story of your character at all. You are given what appear to be choices at first glance, then upon further inspection are really just options on how you want your character tor respond vocally to what is going on. The outcome is generally the same, except for when you have a light side/dark side choice.

In my opinion, they over used the voice acting and cut scenes (they are literally on every quest in the game) and it really makes what amounts to be the typical quest experience, annoying and cumbersome.

I'd give the questing a 6 out of 10.


3. Artwork/graphics - the overall look of the game is actually pretty good. Viewed from a distance (3rd person perspective) the characters fit seamlessly with their environments, maintaining a very distinct Star Wars look and feel. However, in cut scenes when you have a close up portrait of the characters, the models look very 'barbie-ish' in terms of features and animations. Some models definitely look better than others but the close ups detract from the overall quality of the look and feel of the art/graphics, even with all options turned up to full on a nice system.

In my opinion, they could have done a better job with some of the elements. It's entirely too difficult to see enemies in some parts of the game, as they blend in a little too well. A good example of this is Dromund Kaas. While the area itself is dark, the enemies found there are also dark colored, making them difficult to distinguish from the environment if you are trying to be careful about accidental pulls.

I'd give the artwork/graphics a 7 out of 10.


4. Character creation/personalization - At the beginning of the game you choose your race and faction alignment, along with your class and appearance, just like most other games. The act of choosing these things is pretty standard, nothing really spectacular about it. The depth of customization is pretty good in comparison to older titles, which might be a breath of fresh air for those that really enjoy creating a unique look to their character. However, the options for character creation are literally all humanoid of roughly the same size and body type. It really feels like an arbitrary process once you have looked through all the options.

Choosing a specific race has no merits other than having different body features (horns vs tentacles vs cyborg implants). In my opinion they should have offered a much wider spectrum of playable races to people creating a character. People who were looking forward to creating a Wookie jedi or a Jawa bounty hunter will be disappointed, since those are not options.

I'd give the character creation/personalization a 7 out of 10.


5. Companions - Once you reach a certain point with each class, you gain access to a companion that fulfills a variety of roles. You can use them in combat, use them for professions, send them on missions, and even vendor trash items with them. You companions constantly evaluate your actions, and you build favor with them (reputation) as you do quests. Certain actions and choices will determine if your summoned companion approves or disapproves of you, raising and lowering your approval with him accordingly.

The companions themselves add depth to what might otherwise be solo game play, as well as giving you the ability to participate in extra activities without actually devoting play time in them. However, many of the enemies you find in the world are balanced around you having the companion, which makes having a companion with you in combat almost mandatory most of the time. Pet management isn't something that some people may prefer and all classes get companions.

In my opinion, the companions are really good for some things and it's nice to have them around. However, managing them can become pretty tedious and it would be great if they were developed a little bit differently. Each companion you get is determined by the class you choose. They are set according to that and nothing else. You don't get to choose which companions you get or if you get one at all, which can be a bad thing, if you are annoyed by a particular companion your class gets.

I would give the companions system a solid 6 out of 10.


6. Combat/controls - This is an area that has been very controversial for many players. The movement and controls are relatively responsive for movement and targeting, but when it comes to using combat abilities, there is a delay caused by the animations of things that prevents you fluidly queuing abilities together for smooth combat. This is most noticeable when you have instant abilities mixed with cast time abilities or channeled abilities. No matter what, abilities you cast will not go off until the animation for the previous ability finishes.

This causes problems for players that are used to being able to chain abilities together using the GCD and cast timers. In pve it's not so bad because you're never really in situations where pressure can easily overwhelm you. However, in pvp, this tends to break the game. In my opinion, they could have done a lot better with making the combat more fluid.

There's also another issue that I have noticed, particularly with some classes. The animations for a class tend to be variations of the same visual effect. A good example is the Sith Inquisitor Sorceress. Every single damage/CC ability is purple lightning. Sure, they are animated a bit differently but it becomes difficult to distinguish different Sith Inquisitor abilities during combat, especially when you aren't particularly familiar with the class. My question tends to be 'how many ways can you animate a particular effect, before abilities start running together?'

In my opinion, between the combat fluidity and the animations, they could have done a lot more to streamline and diversify combat, especially with some classes. Otherwise, the controls are setup nearly identical to Wow, and really easy to get used to.

I'd give the combat a 6 out of 10.


7. Game systems/UI - The game systems and UI is for the most part pretty standard MMO material. The usual UI elements are there and typically where you'd expect to find them, as are the game systems themselves. Anyone who played Wow will recognize the systems almost immediately and be able to use them with relative ease. When it comes to the design of some of the systems, many of them are lifted straight from Wow, but not the current version of wow, from past versions. Many of the systems (talents, ability training, professions) seem dated because of this.

The UI is a very monotonous shade of indigo blue, and lacks options to customize it's appearance/location. You can change the size scaling of the UI, but that's about it. In my opinion, they could have done a lot better with the UI customization and systems. There is generally a reason why Wow moved away from the systems they used, so when I come to SWTOR and see things that I haven't seen in (sometimes) years, it's kind of questionable why a game that is coming out in the tail end of 2011, would choose to use them.

I'd give the UI/game systems a 5 out of 10.


8. Content - Naturally, the game hosts a plethora of content for both solo and group play. All of it seems pretty standard MMO material, with nothing really standing out as exceptional or better than other games. You have flash points (dungeons), heroic areas (group quests), Warzones (battlegrounds), operations (raids), and of course, quests.

Warzones tend to suffer quite a bit due to the way combat was implemented and the way they handle group pvp in general. Players of all levels are placed into the same games and their stats are normalized around the base stats that a level 50 player would have. The bad part of this system is that it doesn't account for abilities, talents, and gear. An end game raider will have gear stats that completely cripple the stats of the average leveler's gear, especially when the person is level 20ish. In addition, the level 50 player has all his talents unlocked as well as all the abilities he can learn at level 50.

This provides a very real advantage over players who aren't level 50.

I'd give content a 6 out of 10.


9. Macros/addons - There simply aren't any. No plans have been discussed to implement support for either feature in the game. This means that elements of the game, such as UI customization and combat, are going to stay the way they are as far as we can tell.

I'd give Macros/addons a 0, naturally.



To conclude, this game really has a lot of potential. It has a great IP to draw material from and really has big shoes to fill in terms of gaming experience. As it stands, the game generally feels about 60-70% finished (in terms of existing content) and could stand quite a bit more development/support in many areas. The basic character development process doesn't really afford a compelling and exciting experience, particularly because there are still so many things that should be done.

My verdict? I'd wait 6 months to see how they handle the transition from release to additional content development, particularly when it comes to fixing the issues I have talked about here. I can see how a player would have fun playing this game casually every now and again, though I don't think that a serious player would do more than play until the initial 30 days is up.

I don't see myself subbing for this game, and I actually kind of wish I had refrained from buying it. If you have any friends who own the game, you might see if they will let you play it for a bit to get an idea or what you're getting yourself into.

Overall - 5.33.

[KCguy]

The game isn't mind blowing by any means, but I will say that leveling can be challenging at times and it actually takes time. With WoW, you can fly through it. With this game? It's going to take some solid playing to reach max level. If you don't play often, I would say a few months. And even longer if you don't skip all the dialogue and cut scenes, but quite frankly it gets pretty boring after awhile. Neat concept though.

[Quaade]

If you are burnt out from WoW you will probably enjoy TOR up untill the point where you find out it is exactly like WoW, only lacking in comparison with regards to basic gameplay.

The quests you will do troughout the game is 99% the same 3 ones, kill things, get things or talk to someone and you do them the same way over and over again, it is very rare you get a gimmick that breaks the tedium.

The graphics are okay, nothing amazing, which is good if you want it to run on the most common pc setups. The world designs on the other hand are mindblowingly lacking in immersion and life. Nothing happens just for the sake of happening, you will get a field/forest/desert/ice plain and you will see the exact same 2-4 mobs standing around in groups and just waiting to be killed and that's all they do. One might walk back and forth a bit else they just stand there, looking into space.
Many of the npcs that inhabits cities and town zones are noninteractable, you can't even click them, so they just feel like a part of the background. Some of them will do a little skit, and they will do so over and over again and due to the limited sound channels in the game you will hear their conversation even if you race to the other side of the map.

The story is okay, the main class story that is, most of the sidequests are "go and kill 10 boars" only with boars replaced by imperials most often. However, the story as it is told have one major flaw, at least to me, it's all "why show it when we could just tell it?" I have really come to appreciate Phasing, as WoW do it, as a means of storytelling because I can see what impact my actions have and it feels hollow to me now that you have these lenghty cutscenes where you get told how awesome you are and then you go out into the world and nothing has changed.

Combat: plenty of people have allready elaborated on the issues with it, and I'll agree with them in that regard, it's clunky, nonintuitive and nonresponsive.

Bottomline, TOR would had been new and amazing if it had been released as it is in 2004 in straight competition with WoW, in 2012 it just feels old and out of touch.

[Deleted]

Hey All,

My Wife and I play WoW, and at the moment we're pretty burnt out from the game. I'm constantly thinking about the days of Vanilla I miss so much... and for some reason I can't stop thinking about Naxxramas 40man and how much I loved it compared to the lazy garbage that is Dragon Soul... sigh...

but anyway, let's not start a thread about that nonsense. We're considering getting SWTOR either as a WoW replacement or simply as another thing to spend time on now and then. I ihad a couple questions about the game, hopefully some of you who are already playing can answer:

1. What are you general thoughts on how long the game will "last" (i.e. be relevant)? Is this something that an average gamer will play about 2-3 months, or does it have enough quality to merit years of playing? Basically, given the current knowledge, do you see this being like WoW, or flaming out rather quickly like Age of Conan?
The game will last. It is a bit buggy, but thats how it is at launch, the game has a lot of potential and thats a good thing
2. How fun is the game's equivalent of raiding? My understanding was that it's 8 players for a raid. Is this the largest available? Opinions on boss fights (difficulty + fun)?
Cant tell yet but the flashpoints (instances) are really cool, some having multiple dialogues and choices (wich affect the instance, for example if you kill the captain in the first Empire flashpoint, you get to face a diffrent boss in a diffrent part of the instance than if you spare him.
3. Considering how similar that I've heard it is to WoW, is the game going to be enough to get excited about if WoW is already seeming unbelievably dull and stale? i.e. If you're sick and tired of WoW, is this the kind of game that you can login to and feel refreshed and excited to play?
The combat system might resemble wow, but it has a bit more punch, you feel your abilityes have effect, not like wow when you Pyroblast someone and he isnt even blown out. In SWTOR missiles actually make enemyes fly backwards.

Basically, as I've already said, we're just burnt out at the moment, and I really want to have that invigorating feeling of fun again from a video game. I'm wondering if SWTOR is a potential cure, or if I need to wait for another MMO.

Thanks, and feel free to give any other input regarding the game as well!

Answers in black.

[Pyrostemplar]

After playing WoW since vanilla, I am burned out of the game - to the point of not logging in for months despite an active sub. During the time I played WOW I also played LOTRO (great community, played for six months or so before going back to wow), AOC (never bothered going past level 25) and tried out a couple other, but WoW always felt to me as a superior game. Recently I was playing no MMO until I bought TOR. Currently I having tons of fun in this game - the game is actually being more fun than my initial impression and the feeling of vanilla WoW is back.
Personally, I think that TOR is better than WOW for me. Greater focus on the RPG part, better storytelling and a refreshing approach to some chores.
Currently it is less polished than wow, but after years of damage meters epeening and (more recently) gearscore addicts, I dont think it is a bad thing. Cannot comment on end game as I havent reach it yet, and pvp is not my thing both in wow and in tor (for that I prefer FPS and guild wars).

Your millleage may vary, but If you are a player that enjoys storytelling and rpg char development, this may be a good game for you. If levelling is something to be done as fast as possible, the story irrelevant and end game raiding is your focus, then TOR currently is probably not the game for you.

[Deleted]

SWTOR is much more fun than wow for me, feels fresh and is very fun to play with alot of time sinks and interesting things to build up over time. i cancelled my wow sub yesterday as i dont have time for 2 and since playing TOR i cba with wow, definitely a gold star from me and im sure this will be a massive success story

[Jakexe]

There's a few issues but for me the game is bug free, my biggest issue is the terrible UI I've gotten use to it but I still don't like it. I'm not sure about other class's but as a Jedi Sentinel the combat is really fluid, doesn't look clunky at all. The end game 'raids' tbh are pretty lackluster but the 'dungeons' are great.I have a feeling the game will really develop into the biggest wow competitor.

Basically, if you liked wow and have even a mild interest in star wars the admission fee for the one month is worth it.

[mirodin]

1. The game has lasting potential but that all depends on Bioware from the rate they do patches i'd say it will last for a long time.
2. I have yet to do any raids but from what my guild is telling me they are fun. They shouldn't be taken as the next tier of raiding after DS, after all they are the entry tier of a new MMO. The largest size is 16 and there are 3 modes: Normal (LFR in WoW), Hard (Normal in WoW) and Nightmare(Heroic in WoW).
3. Well i was tired of WoW when i quitted back in August, after i read a few things about the game i got excited and after i did the betas i knew this was the game for me. All i can say is the leveling is different and entertaining, if you like story and like to feel a part of the game not just the guy that collects apples then you will like the leveling. As for things at max lvl, there are the standard stuff (pvp, raiding, heroics) you can also go around searching for datacrons (if you don't use the various sites to give you the exact coordinates and the ways to get them).

Various things to note. There are space missions, these are a nice way to get xp if you are bored of questing or just need to take a brake. It's a rail shooter nothing to fancy but a nice way to pass time. You can only do them solo.

[Honkeymagoo]

My initial thoughts on the game.. (having only leveled up a couple toons to low levels)

When making my toon I found that pretty much every female hairstyle is terrible, there were like 2 in the bunch that would pass as normal hair. There also seems to be a weird obsession with ugly distorted faces and baldness.

On my first character I found that I usually didn't know wtf the dialogue was about. If you don't pay attention you'll be lost mid conversation half the time. Also, sometimes the responses you're given the choice to make feel like they were only put there to make it interactive without making any sense. It's hard to explain, but if you play you'll see what I mean, it feels forced sometimes. Also, sometimes the choices you're given are horribly ambiguous. You think your toon is gonna say something sassy when you pick the response but she winds up acting all subservient. While I do prefer the dialogue umpteen amounts more than the text most rpgs use for questing, it can be confusing and sometimes frustrating. I'd encourage you to pay attention to the dialogue of your class quests, but don't waste your time listening to every sob story of the other quest givers.

I really don't like the UI. I'm sure this has something to do with being used to WoW's UI though, so don't have much to say that isn't pure bias.

I feel like there could have been a lot more tutorial type stuff. I still feel lost on multiple levels.

I tried my hand at pvp some, it felt very hack and slash. I was playing an operative as my first character and felt like my role was very ill defined with my limited lower level abilities. I did like how the health and such was normalized, I think that's a great starting point, but it's quite obvious there is a lot of polishing to be done.

Honestly though, I think the game will get better as I get more knowledge. My experience is very limited as I don't have a lot of play time. At this point I don't see myself playing past the first month, but that may change with time. Going from a game where you know tons of info about every class and spec as well as having fine tuned your performance in pvp and pve to a game where you feel like a damn nub is frustrating. I think I was expecting to switch and perform at a similar level too quickly, I'll give the game more time though. Throwing in the towel now would almost be as silly as quitting wow b/c of low level instances and pvp. I'll make my decision when I get a max level toon.

[Deleted]

1. im not so sure, i think people are already leaving seeing less and less people on, no more queues

Which can only be a good thing. The people already leaving would have had a poor outlook on the game if they'd kept playing, pushed that outlook on others, and ultimately caused un-needed drama in game. The game is far from perfect, granted, but leaving already shows a lack of patience.

The game will last purely based on the franchise. Whether it keeps the prosperity WoW did for many years remains to be seen, but if Bioware keep on top of updates as they are now, the future looks bright.

You can have 16 man raids, in 3 difficulties similar to WoW's. Normal = LFR Heroic = Normal WoW Nightmare = Heroic WoW

I'm not certain as to how many guilds have cleared all the content yet, but Irae AOD, a former, if not existing WoW top 10-20 guild have said nightmare was very difficult, no mistakes raiding. If they can pull this off with the first raid things look good.

In my opinion, buy it. You won't regret it, especially if you're burnt out on WoW. Even levelling at level 3 feels epic. You feel integral to the story, a force to be reckoned with. Killing wolves for fur is not your thing.

[ghostprotocol]

made by bioware, big story franchise and big game company. it will last

endgame is not comparable to wow

I don't consider it a wow clone to be honest with you

[Lord Kristivas]

Unfortunately, what you asked are loaded questions, even a cursory glance through this sub section will have you notice there's three distinct types of posters..

1: The Star Wars "enthusiasts" (apparently the 'f' word is frowned upon) who will find absolutely nothing wrong with the game when it launched, even when the glaring omissions or 'quality of life' staples you'd expect from a modern MMO are missing or not yet implemented, disagree with these 'enthusiasts and be prepared to wear your flame retardant underwear

I'm a Star Wars "enthusiast", and I've found bugs. The BH Class Quest at the end of Act 3 was screwed up, so that you couldn't get the quest to go to Ilum until they patched it. Guild's are lacking. While I don't want cross-server LFG, I want an easier way to find a group for Flashpoints. I want my UI adjustable, and a combat log. I don't wear rose-tinted glasses.

However, missing a lot of the "quality of life" staples has so far turned out to actually be a good thing for the game. No flying mounts, for one.. I never thought I'd like a game without it, but it's made SWTOR so much better. A new player might like not having all the conveniences of other MMOs.

2: The long term MMO player who plays or has played most of the MMO's that have launched over the years, treats each game with an open mind and plays it for what it is, either storyline, engaging combat, end game raiding, PvP etc...these are mostly the people who are on the fence right now, after all the hype that was put out during the past two years, a few or a lot feel the game hasn't lived up to that hype

Again, upon launch, missing a lot of the staple 'norms' they expect from a AAA release, be it a combat log, be it a flexible UI..the list goes on....some of these people when expressing their concerns are also pounched upon by the number 1 brigade who find no fault at all and if you bring up any issue, you're a troll

All this "enthusiast" can tell you, is give it a shot. While I agree that there are a lot of things that we'd like to have, we currently have what's necessary to play and have an awesome time. A lot of these things are supposed to be coming, and since launch JUST happened, true "enthusiasts" will be patient in waiting. :P

As for the OP.

1. What are you general thoughts on how long the game will "last" (i.e. be relevant)? Is this something that an average gamer will play about 2-3 months, or does it have enough quality to merit years of playing? Basically, given the current knowledge, do you see this being like WoW, or flaming out rather quickly like Age of Conan?

I think it will last for a good long while. I plan to play quite awhile, as does everyone that I know who is currently playing.

2. How fun is the game's equivalent of raiding? My understanding was that it's 8 players for a raid. Is this the largest available? Opinions on boss fights (difficulty + fun)?

I haven't been able to raid yet. However, I did a level 48 dungeon called Directive 7 the other day that had a boss fight or two that rivaled the mechanics of some raid bosses in other games. A friend of mine who pugged in EV said it was great. You can also youtube "Soa, the Infernal One" and see a really awesome raid boss fight.

3. Considering how similar that I've heard it is to WoW, is the game going to be enough to get excited about if WoW is already seeming unbelievably dull and stale? i.e. If you're sick and tired of WoW, is this the kind of game that you can login to and feel refreshed and excited to play?

I was tired of doing laps around Org, waiting for raids that I was also getting tired of going to. Having been 50 for over a week, there's still quite a lot to do, and quite a lot I'm excited about doing.

Thanks, and feel free to give any other input regarding the game as well!

There's a lot in the game for a variety of players. If you like to group, you can group through the whole game, and not suffer an exp penalty. In fact, you get more exp if you group up.

You have Flashpoints (dungeons), which are well-designed and very fun. You'll be surprised just how awesome the dungeons are. Remember how awesome Scholomance was the first time you stepped in there? It's like that level of good. BioWare never fails to disappoint on dungeons.

PvP interest you? I haven't been more than a casual PvPer in other games, but I'm already nearing Rank 40.

There's also side activities. Space Combat, a mini game, is a good example.

Datacron Hunting. Even with a guide on telling you where to go and how to get there, there are some frustratingly awesome Datacrons out there. If you like exploring and going off the beaten path, there are secrets out there that reward you for doing so.

Already, their first major patch notes have been released, adding a lot of new content and working to fix their bugs. Within a month of release is like Rift-level content release and to me, that's awesome. All I can suggest is to give it a try and see for yourself. What's the worst that happens? You end up back in WoW in a month?

[Ragnarocket]

From what I've experienced as a Mercenary Bounty Hunter all the way up to level 50 is that this game is really solid. There are a few points where you start to feel a bit of a grind (especially in the 40s) but all in all the times tend not to last and I feel that was probably me more eager to hit 50 than anything else.

I think that the game it going to last fairly well, Bioware seems to be doing a good job of patching thus far and this next patch is supposed to include 4 new raid bosses along with some PvP improvements that people have been asking for. All in all it's nice to not only see an inclusion of new content so quickly but also changes that the community itself is asking for.

I haven't actually done raiding yet...we're still waiting on 2 of our members in the guild to level up to 50 so we can meet the 8 man requirement, but if the HM Flashpoints are any indication of how things are going then I'm fairly interested to see where they develop raiding. People may say that bosses have no thought put into them or that only Blizzard (I'm sorry I brought it up but it's the common complaint) can make decent dungeon/raid content. I have seen some very interesting HM fights in my time playing them. Directive 7 is one of the most amazing group of some unique (AND tough) encounters that I've ever encountered in a dungeon. I actually mentioned to my friends that it felt like a mini-raid just with the scope of some of the stuff we were fighting. Aside from that one there are plenty of other interesting Flashpoints at that level and I know I personally found fights in Foundry, Boarding Party, and False Emperor specifically to be quite good.

I left WoW thinking it was dull and stale and this has captivated me, I don't know WHY talking to someone about why I should go kill 10 droids makes it better but...somehow it just makes it better! Bioware was right when they said story was important and you can tell where they focused on it.

That all said, if you give the game a try I have a feeling you will enjoy it and I hope that you will if you decide to give it a try

[Semihage]

1. If you are playing with your wife.. This game will be a blast.. The game is really fun when playing with someone.. Whether an MMO will last always depend on developer's content update rate and it's still too early to tell since the game is only out for only 3 weeks) So far Bioware is doing a pretty good job IMO.
2. Largest raid size is 16.. All instances are 4.. you can do lower level instanced with just 2 (with companions out).
3. It really depends on what you are so sick and tired about WoW, the game adds something by actually making you talk to your NPC and pick the conversation choice you want (and they do matter.. they do affect the encounters later on despite what all other trolls claim).

I think whether you are going to stick around or not.. The game most definitely worth 60 bucks (the first month is included)

Another factor I am sticking around is the potential of space combat.. BW say they have some secret project and they say eventually there will be guild capital ship.. If space combat evolves into FreeLancer type of gameplay set in an MMO universe.. I will be playing this game for a looonnngg time.

[Deleted]

I would advise trying it for yourself.

Its only like 80 bucks? for 2 copies for yourself and the missus? and youll certainly know whether or not you like it before your free month is up

that said i found it too similar to other mmo's to get into it. nothing really new or interesting in it after the initial joy of it being star wars. I was bored with wow too, and was hoping for something better in swtor but found it to be the same underling ancient game from years ago. But you could see that from the beta


but stay positive and you'll have a better chance at having fun. especially if you have a friend. ie your wife.

[Jeina]

'

1. im not so sure, i think people are already leaving seeing less and less people on, no more queues

People are back at work/school and they increased the server caps. That's generally why you're seeing less people and no queues.

[Jaingo]

Hey All,

My Wife and I play WoW, and at the moment we're pretty burnt out from the game. I'm constantly thinking about the days of Vanilla I miss so much... and for some reason I can't stop thinking about Naxxramas 40man and how much I loved it compared to the lazy garbage that is Dragon Soul... sigh...

but anyway, let's not start a thread about that nonsense. We're considering getting SWTOR either as a WoW replacement or simply as another thing to spend time on now and then. I had a couple questions about the game, hopefully some of you who are already playing can answer:

1. What are you general thoughts on how long the game will "last" (i.e. be relevant)? Is this something that an average gamer will play about 2-3 months, or does it have enough quality to merit years of playing? Basically, given the current knowledge, do you see this being like WoW, or flaming out rather quickly like Age of Conan?

2. How fun is the game's equivalent of raiding? My understanding was that it's 8 players for a raid. Is this the largest available? Opinions on boss fights (difficulty + fun)?

3. Considering how similar that I've heard it is to WoW, is the game going to be enough to get excited about if WoW is already seeming unbelievably dull and stale? i.e. If you're sick and tired of WoW, is this the kind of game that you can login to and feel refreshed and excited to play?

Basically, as I've already said, we're just burnt out at the moment, and I really want to have that invigorating feeling of fun again from a video game. I'm wondering if SWTOR is a potential cure, or if I need to wait for another MMO.

Thanks, and feel free to give any other input regarding the game as well!

My wife and I have played together in WoW since Day 1. So I am in your shoes. We have raided all content, and we both participate in all world events. We run a small guild, and we continue raiding to this day.

We started SW on Day 1, and I have really tried to like it as a true fanboy. It simply is NOT group friendly at this point in its life. The vast majority of all quests are solo oriented, unless the 2 of you roll the identical class. And honestly, who in their right mind does that?

Quests are very consuming and engaging with the NPCs that interact based on your feedback. Again, unless you laboriously work on syncing your quests together, AFTER level10, you will be playing solo. And a word of advice.....spacebar is your friend.

My question for you is simple. Do you enjoy actually "playing" with your wife doing quests and instances in WoW? If you do, this game is not for the 2 of you.

[Deleted]

My take.

My husband and I play together. We managed to take on all group content just the two of us with the use of smart CCing and taking it easy up to about level 35ish. We managed to duo all instaces up to Colicoid War Games and had a ton of fun doing so! Did take more time than what the xp was worth, but it sure was fun.

Saying that SW is not group friendly is mind blowing to me. I've never grouped more in an MMO than here in SW to finish all the content.

I hit level 50 early (had vacation and early access), and I still have not tried any raid content. Why? There has simply been so much other stuff for me to do first, that I am not ready for raiding yet (gear wise). We just finished hardmode Directive 7 and it felt like old TBC heroic instances difficulty = FUN!! Maybe our group just sucks after having had our mind fried by WoW instance content for so long, but we did spend several hours on this instance until we cleared all of it.

I have to say though, that if raiding is the ONLY thing you like about an MMO, you will probably never like a brand new MMO coming out as there will always be shortcomings in the raid department in the beginning.