WTF is my problem....?

[Rooflesstoofless]

So I'll preface this right now and say I am not attempting to troll or flame anyone; just asking for advice. You can look through my post history as I've tried to be constructive to those asking for help and tried to keep the trollish misinformation campaigns in check.
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I can't help but feel like I am hitting a wall with the game...and I'm still leveling. I've been looking forward to this game coming out for so long and it hasn't even lasted me two full weeks to start feeling this way. I was in the camp that thought it being a WoW clone would have been a great thing, but to me the game feels A LOT more like leveling in Rift. In other words, its grindy as hell. I know those are kind of vague terms, but I remember the same feeling with WoW not too long after Cata was released and simply walking away from the game with zero ambition to ever go back.

For starters, I've long since turned the subtitles on and the sound off. I can read a lot faster than these voice overs talk and as I am a 'get to the point' kind of person. Having my character paraphrase my actual response and sometimes not even coming close the response I chose after hitting the button feels like I'm talking in circles with a person; and that annoys me. I am someone who loves the spoken word and loves good story telling (90% of my audio enjoyment comes from talk radio, podcasts like NYCRadiolab/This American Life/WTF/The Moth/The Instance/etc) but the only two stories I've found remotely interesting are the Trooper and the BH although I haven't leveled either of those very far. Aside from that, I really do like the sound of the sabers, blasters, explosions, music, etc in the game...so I will turn the sound back on while I am out questing. I know, everyone is different and one man's allergy is another man's bed of roses.

Secondly, the planet variation on the Republic side while leveling is tedious and I start to feel like I am playing a Blade Runner MMO...not a SW game. I went from starter planet....then to city planet (Courescant)...then to former city planet (Taris)...then to Tokyo/Vegas fusion city planet (Nar Shaddaa). When you do finally get to Tatooine its like a breath of fresh desert air. I don't know why it bothers me, but I remember standing in line for some of the original SW movies and looking forward to seeing the wonderful and exotic alien planets; not wondering if there will be enough 'urban scenes' in the movies.

Last, there is lots of group content while to do while leveling which is a lot of fun and something I seek out since I'm limited in how long I can commit to the game in a single sitting, but when you are off questing solo content the quests feel stagnate. I think this is something that perhaps TOR could have learned/copied from WoW. There is really no variation...just kill x, right click on slightly blue-ish colored objective y, then report to z. I would have thought there would be at least one quest with vehicles or one of those fun quests that you happen along everyone once in a while in WoW that you tell your guildies about and that help make the usual form of questing a little easier to bare. Once again, this feels very Rift-like to me.

There are other small issues which I am sure will be ironed out in the coming weeks or months and I wont bring up here.


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TL;DR:
What do you do when you feel like your hitting a wall? What do you do about the leveling blues? The amount that I play is minimal compared to my guildies and others I've met in the game but I feel like I am coming down with WoW-itis (see: apathy toward the game) so soon after getting my hands on it and it bothers me a little. I still love gaming, I still love what BW has done with the SW universe...I still love the idea of TOR, but the actual application has me looking for what's next.

[vizzle]

I feel like this at the end of every other day. I feel like the game is bad and I don't ever want to play again, and I want to uninstall it. But then I just let it wallow for a day; I stop playing for a day and by the next day, I'm missing it and wanna log on as soon as I wake up.

Just don't overplay, it's an easy way to get sick of anything.

[Grable]

Classic example of MMORPG burnout. It's not an uncommon thing these days, where all the major MMORPGs out there are generic theme park hotkey combat WoW (EQ, whatever) clones.

[Waylander]

First of all: Please chose a better thread title next time.

The leveling-process is grindy because 50 is the max-level at the moment and Bioware wants us to spend a lot of time with it.

I agree with the blade runner part though. I expected a bit more open world feel and beautiful SW-locations. So far it feels like wandering around in linear levels (not worlds) and endless corridors. :-/

[Deleted]

I'm enjoying the game at the moment, just started yesterday and to me the game it feels most like is Rift.

[Kisho]

You're probably just bored of MMOs in general. Either that, or you're playing for too long in one session. I find that I used to be able to play the same game for an entire day without getting bored: now, I can only last a couple of hours, then I need a break. Could be a symptom of getting older.

Essentially, your problems are either personal opinion (I really like the city planets, for example), or they're just part and parcel of the MMO genre. It's what MMOs are about. If you don't like it, then you don't like MMOs.

[conscript]

Secondly, the planet variation on the Republic side while leveling is tedious and I start to feel like I am playing a Blade Runner MMO...not a SW game. I went from starter planet....then to city planet (Courescant)...then to former city planet (Taris)...then to Tokyo/Vegas fusion city planet (Nar Shaddaa). When you do finally get to Tatooine its like a breath of fresh desert air. I don't know why it bothers me, but I remember standing in line for some of the original SW movies and looking forward to seeing the wonderful and exotic alien planets; not wondering if there will be enough 'urban scenes' in the movies.

That is essentially a different universe than the one you are playing in now. In the Old Republic storyline, Taris is a big deal. It was a major offensive strike by the Imperials to destroy an entire civilized planet. Coruscant is the capital city of the Republic so of course it was going to be featured. Nar Shadda also played a big role in Kotor 2 so of course it was going to be featured. Trust me, the open spaces and vast environments come out. Your story starts within the confines of the majorly settled and well known parts of the universe and you expand out into the more wild environments like Tat, Alderaan, Hoth, Belsalvis, Ilum, etc. You pretty much have one more mental "wall" planet to get through with Balmorra which is pretty generally despised. All of the other second half of the game planets are pretty amazing, especially Belsalvis even though the first half of its story makes no damn sense at all.

[Tehfred]

It feels grindy because you're doing 50 levels in the amount of time it takes WoW players to do 85 levels (honestly could be longer). I'm referencing WoW because I'm assuming you're a former (or current) WoW player from your post. You're not gaining number levels as fast, and the planet to mission ratio is really low. I finished Taris last night on my Inquisitor and I felt like I had just finished a huge grind. But when I think about it, the game has only been out for like two weeks and I'm already 35. I compare that to the month and a half it took me to get 60 in Vanilla WoW and things don't look so bleak. Take breaks when you need them. The game will still be there when you get back.

[Gaboon]

Tbh, I personally think this is the worst TOR can do in terms of the way planets are setup, and the "worst" really isn't very bad. I agree that the leveling is a little too linear for my taste. I can handle with going to planets in a set order, but it'd be nice to have more freedom in your quest order. Anyway, I still find the game to be very fun, and I would suggest you stick with it. I'm sure in a few patches when they add more planets we will start to see a lot more sandbox type planets (like Ilum currently is for the builk of it). Hopefully some of those planets will will not be restricted to level 50's, and hopefully they will also add more areas to existing areas with different level ranges.

[Vexies]

Personally I love the city planets with Nar Shadaa being one of my all time Fav's.. but then I love blade runner as well and that is a HUGE part of why I love that planet. The huge city scapes with flowing hover car traffic.. I dont know but I just find it super cool. I guess to each his own. Personally I find it nice to have such stark contrasts between open worlds and closed in grimy crime ridden cities. People complain that they feel closed it.. but thats exactly how such a environ is supposed to feel.

As for your use of quest text I guess thats just a personal preference but the cut scenes and voice overs is part of what I most look forward to while questing and is probably what is contributing to the grindy bland nature of questing for you. I mean lets face it with out the cut scenes and voice overs to give it emotion and meaning it becomes questing just like in any mmo and I hate that but LOVE questing in SWTOR.

As a older gamer myself I used to be able to go for huge long stints of play in one sitting but now I find Its best to do a couple hours, take a break and come back to it in a bit. Sure it takes longer to quest but I enjoy it so in this game and it helps keep it fresh and the game new and exciting.

[Shadylol]

I have the same problem. It started around level 30, but I just gritted my teeth, and kept grinding. But by level 40, I was starting to hate the game. Nevertheless, I grinded the rest of it, to 50, but I haven't really done anything since then. The first couple days, I was like "Let's see how many other 50s are on, maybe I can get something done!"; but there's less 50s online, everytime I check. I think most people are quitting or re-rolling before they ever reach 50, and will never reach 50 with the current leveling grind, and most 50s, are like me - uninterested, due to lack of other 50s. And because of that, I think that SWTOR will unfortunately not be a success for long

[Tehfred]

I have the same problem. It started around level 30, but I just gritted my teeth, and kept grinding. But by level 40, I was starting to hate the game. Nevertheless, I grinded the rest of it, to 50, but I haven't really done anything since then. The first couple days, I was like "Let's see how many other 50s are on, maybe I can get something done!"; but there's less 50s online, everytime I check. I think most people are quitting or re-rolling before they ever reach 50, and will never reach 50 with the current leveling grind, and most 50s, are like me - uninterested, due to lack of other 50s. And because of that, I think that SWTOR will unfortunately not be a success for long

I think it's more that the average player is not going to hit 50 a couple weeks after release. They're essentially gating content with a longer leveling process.

[Deleted]

If you are a "get to the point" person, do NOT, under any circumstances play Republic.

Play a sith inquisitor, they can have short dialogues (istead of long interogations) by either saying "I dont care" Or by simply shocking the other person.

[Grable]

I have the same problem. It started around level 30, but I just gritted my teeth, and kept grinding. But by level 40, I was starting to hate the game. Nevertheless, I grinded the rest of it, to 50, but I haven't really done anything since then. The first couple days, I was like "Let's see how many other 50s are on, maybe I can get something done!"; but there's less 50s online, everytime I check. I think most people are quitting or re-rolling before they ever reach 50, and will never reach 50 with the current leveling grind, and most 50s, are like me - uninterested, due to lack of other 50s. And because of that, I think that SWTOR will unfortunately not be a success for long

I doubt SWToR will not be a success just because a select few decided to grind through the game in the first two weeks.

I think SWToR supports casual players quite well. This is the first time I'm not rushing an MMO, I'm waiting for all the dialogue voices to play out, taking it easy and you know what, it feels great.

[Mothhive]

Yeah, I've hit the wall too. Haven't logged in since before Christmas now, and I was only at level 33. Might try and play more today, but it's hard to motivate myself to want to.

[Anjerith]

OP, what your experiencing is simply the realization that many are having that SWToR is not some fantastic new type of MMO, nor is it so similar to WoW that you are comfortable in switching for the few new things it does offer.

The target audience for a BioWare game is always going to be a Bioware-gamer. That's a player that enjoys the long-RP, the multiple options for progression and generally plodding through a game that is *in reality* only as deep and meaningful as the player wants it to be. There is never an exception to these rules in Bioware titles, if your goal is Point A to Point Z with no points in between, your going to feel cheated at the end. If your willing/happy to devote your time to doing every single thing then you are in for a treat.

I am not saying your wrong for not playing their games this way. Everyone plays what they feel they enjoy the most (usually). I do believe that SWToR was unfairly marketed (by EA) at people who have never played a Bioware title and who had no idea what type of game Bioware makes.

[Necrolepsy]

I consider myself a good player ( realm 2nd 80 and realm first 85 on my warlock), but this game does take a long time to level if you want to see all it's content. So far it's been worth it but I've experienced some leveling burnout also. I'm 44.5 right now, so not long to go but the quests really are immersive.

[-aiko-]

As others have mentioned, don't just push through the leveling process. I was one of the first 50s on my server and regret it pretty heavily. It was fun, and I enjoyed the storylines I followed while leveling, but I'm completely burned out. This, coupled together with a lot of huge bugs I've encountered (one game-breaking) have made it harder and harder to bring myself to log back in.

[Vexies]

I just have to scratch my head at everyone who power lvl'd to 50 and are now confusled by the fact that the vast majority of the player base is NOT 50 and somehow translate that to - oh there is nothing to do in game now and its a bad game..

What did you expect? Its not WoW. You cant just power lvl to 50 and expect there to be a ton of folks waitin there saying Whoo! welcome to the club now lets go raid and pvp!! It will happen.. it will, despite you saying "OMG I power lvl'd to 50 and hardly anyone else did so now the game will surely failz!!" If your in a guild.. perhaps you should of lvl'd with them? We are pacing ourselves so that we all hit 50 aroundish the same time period so we dont have exactly this issue. We aren't pushing ourselves to be OMG LETS GET TO 50 NOWZZ! cause we know.. there is no point and we want to enjoy the game. with in the next couple of weeks we will be though and be enjoying the end game together.

There is so much to do along the way: crafting ( yes I like it ), space combat, flash points, pvp.. I actually have to make myself stop lvl'n to make sure I experience these things along the way because.. its fun!! remember? If all you do is grind, grind, grind with no goal in mind except to get to 50 then your seriously gimping your experience and ignoring a lot of what the game has to offer.

[Drek]

I just have to scratch my head at everyone who power lvl'd to 50 and are now confusled by the fact that the vast majority of the player base is NOT 50 and somehow translate that to - oh there is nothing to do in game now and its a bad game..

What did you expect? Its not WoW. You cant just power lvl to 50 and expect there to be a ton of folks waitin there saying Whoo! welcome to the club now lets go raid and pvp!! It will happen.. it will, despite you saying "OMG I power lvl'd to 50 and hardly anyone else did so now the game will surely failz!!" If your in a guild.. perhaps you should of lvl'd with them? We are pacing ourselves so that we all hit 50 aroundish the same time period so we dont have exactly this issue. We aren't pushing ourselves to be OMG LETS GET TO 50 NOWZZ! cause we know.. there is no point and we want to enjoy the game. with in the next couple of weeks we will be though and be enjoying the end game together.

There is so much to do along the way: crafting ( yes I like it ), space combat, flash points, pvp.. I actually have to make myself stop lvl'n to make sure I experience these things along the way because.. its fun!! remember? If all you do is grind, grind, grind with no goal in mind except to get to 50 then your seriously gimping your experience and ignoring a lot of what the game has to offer.

I think the OP is talking about good old fashion mmorpg burnout. Every mmorpg is kill this, collect that, click this. They're all the same and nowadays they're all very linear. Look at cataclym. You do a straight line from 80-85 never needing to have more than 3-5 quests in your quest log.

But as far as people that got to 50 the first week or during early access, that's kinda crazy. In comparsion, that's like doing 1-60 in classic wow(before all the xp changes and nerfs when there were world elites) in 1 week. Swtor leveling is slow. Once you're in the 20s it's a couple hours to level questing nonstop. Even if I had the free time I dont think I'd want to do that much that quickly.