TOR is not a 1 player game with MMO elements

[ptwonline]

I have played WoW since launch and I only recently quit. One of my fondest memories of WoW has been the "utilizing chat to find a group and then TRAVELING to the dungeon." Nowadays it's just standing in front of the AH and queuing for dungeon via LFD tool and then instantly getting teleported to said dungeon. That's fun!

In TOR, during these 3 months in beta, I have grouped more times for Heroic quests and Flashpoints than during 5 years of WoW. I'm a solo player mainly, when it comes to questing, but a perfectionist when it comes to completing quests; I MUST complete every quest so obviously I needed a group for some if not most of them. As introverted as I am, I actually enjoyed grouping and made some friends in the process.

I am not against of LFD tool IF it ONLY groups people on the same server and it DOES NOT teleport you to the dungeon instantly. Then I'd be ok with it.

The problem is that WoW has turned dungeons into vending machines. Instead of running them a few times you're now expected to run them dozens of times, and so they recognized a need to make it much more convenient.

I am really hoping that SWTOR Flashpoints don't become like WoW dungeons: merely a means to farm some sort of currency.

[noahjam326]

I'll just repeat something I said in another thread. The beta weekend of 11/11 I played solo till about level 20. This beta weekend I played in a group exclusively up to around level 20. The difference is night and day. I think the SWTOR questing system thrives in a multiplayer setting, and everything was more fun with more people. Even the class quests. Even though I couldn't partake in my partner's conversations; we still had an extremely fun time talking about the choices she made, and just being able to witness it from an outside perspective. It was also cool to see how her story was completely different, even though we shared the same areas. Outside of those small phases, the group dialogue feature is one of my favorites ever. Getting some friends together that all have characters with different personalities is some of the most fun I've had in an MMO in a long time. Even though I had already leveled through Dromund Kass once (on the first weekend) the conversations I had with the same World NPC's were different not just because I was a different class, but my partner would say completely different options; this opened completely new things for my character to say. My character was an ass-hole dark-side Imperial Agent. My partner's was a hard, but kind light-side Bounty Hunter. Even when she won conversation options, it was cool to see the outcome of what my character could say.

We didn't get all the way to 50, but just within the first 20 levels I can already see the difference between grouping and soloing. I think what people are calling the "single player content" is actually more fun in a group then it is actually doing solo. I could even go into detail about how fun the combat was when our characters synchronized. The combat itself felt more satisfying in a group setting. I would roll into cover and take out one of the "minions" with a quick snipe, while my partner was locking down the other one. Then I would knock the main target off his feet with an explosion; while my partner launched rockets into him while he was on the ground. Seeing how the different classes actually play off one another in combat was extremely fun. I think the game actually thrives in a multiplayer setting. The problem is the people that have already made up their minds and will refuse to group just to give themselves an excuse to complain.

[Littleshashi]

...When I started WoW in 2005, I was getting bored by level 17 and was about to quit. Then I ran my first instance, saw how my mage could shoot fireballs at mobs while someone else held their attention, and the entire MMO experience just clicked for me in one instant. I played for five more years.

...This weekend I rolled a Trooper in TOR and because of the deep immersion of voice acting I was already really feeling my class. Then I joined two other troopers for my first group quest, charged in with my blaster firing, and the mob was almost on me when an explosive round sailed over my shoulder and knocked my target into the water, where I finished him off with the a bash to the face.

I felt a glimmer of that same magic that I felt many years ago in WoW. TOR is absolutely an MMO.

[Deleted]

It's just an illusion, people aren't used to so many cutscenes and voiceovers, which happen mostly in single player RPGs.

[Deleted]

I played with people on mumble and we grouped up with randoms for flashpoints etc.

As some others have said you have the choice of playing solo or getting a full MMO experience out of it.

The fact you can all take part in story conversations itself is way more than what WoW gives you.