GW2 or Sw:tor?

[ro9ue]

GW2 if you want sandboxy stuff.
SWTOR if you want themeparky stuff.

My personal recommendation is GW2.

[Bigbazz]

Guild Wars 2 is like a microtransaction shopping mall, that you have to pay for upfront. SWTOR is like a microtransaction shopping mall that you don't have to pay for upfront but you will eventually be annoyed into subscribing to in order to bypass all the silly limitations.

Which is the best game? It depends what you want, Guild Wars 2 for me was an open-ended adventure game with a "so-so" storyline and a slightly "no hand holding" experience that mostly relied on other players being around, when I levelled there were a lot of players and in order for the game to work that really was a requirement, due to all the open world events.

Honestly though I actually ran out of things to do before hitting max level, and I was 100% clearing zones for all achievements before I started traveling about trying to find something to do until I got bored and stopped playing, before hitting max level. The PVP was mostly aimless lagfest tugowars in the open world, like Ashran in WOW... The BG type PVP was just simplified stereotypical MMO PVP, using mostly tried and tested game types that originated in FPS games (just like wow). Guild Wars 2 was not for me, I wanted to like it and I kept telling myself I would go back and play it, a clearly beautifully designed world with cities that could take your breath away (the PVP island before it was perma changed!)... But every time I went back I found myself aimlessly wandering about and being ultimately bored of the game and its simple combat mechanics. I can't speak for end-game because I did not do it, while I was playing there was the general opinion that there was no real endgame, but that could be different now.

SWTOR - It's a more traditional MMO similar to WoW but much more story driven, infact the class stories make for a great single player game that is only spoiled by the excessive amount of filler they had to add to make it work as an MMO (something that from may 4th may actually not be an issue at all, you could probably skip most of the filler). The areas in SWTOR are not open-ended and you can feel like you're being sent through a giant corridor at times, with only a little effort made to create the illusion that you might be in a large open area. What you have really is a bunch of instanced zones that you travel around to in your ship (which you earn at level 10-12 ish).

As for gearing though, it's a pure typical number climbing system just like in WoW. You may start with your first lightsabre and use that all the way through the game, only upgrading the mods, which will be for example "Strength Mod 1" and then the numbers/stats/level requirement on the mods will increase as you level.. meaning the base item is for visual effect only, how that works now that they have a transmog system I don't know, but originally I guess it was their early version of choosing visuals and stats separately.

PVP for what little I've done of it in SWTOR is not fantastic, plagued from the start by slight lag issues and ability animations that were tied to spell usage (so the usage of some spells could overwrite damage from a previous spell as it would break the animation of the previous spell, the spell damage done was tied not to your ability press but to the actual animation, meaning it had a short delay. So you could say the combat does not feel as solid or as instant and connecting as it does in WoW.. I found this to be a pain in the ass in PVP, but not gamebreaking. With that said, the last time I played PVP in this game was nearly a year ago and so I'm not really qualified to talk about it.

I think the games are too different from each other to really compare, but I do recommend SWTOR if only to play the class quests.


Edit : To finish with a pointer, I don't actually think either of these games will give you what you're looking for, you're going to get bored pretty quickly with either option most likely.

[Baconeggcheese]

so, all in all, does GW2 and/or Sw:tor offer end-game content/activities to do that isn't tied into the gear grind?
like, when I hit max level and have the end-game gear I wont find myself just doing the same content/activities i grinded to get the gear again and again and again because there isn't anything else to do after that point.

GW2 plays more like a dungeon crawler than it does an mmorpg. So what you do at the beginning of the game is what you'll be doing forever, it has no endgame. If you're the kind of person in wow who likes questing but doesn't care about raiding then gw2 is a great game to just go around and do all that.

Swtor is a wow clone with waaaaayyyy the fuck better storytelling(bioware) and questing. But ultimately it ends up being the same thing as wow. *I haven't played swtor since before they went free to play though so I'm not sure how the game has progressed since then.

Both are really fun games that I enjoyed a lot for what they did well. But neither one really had lasting power for me because I like to raid competitively.

[pateuvasiliu]

SWTOR is not pay to win. It's just a normal sub based game with a demo version. Or one of the worst F2P systems out there, choose what you like.

A player that buys the game can get higher levels and better gear than a f2p player.

It -is- pay to win.

[Baconeggcheese]

A player that buys the game can get higher levels and better gear than a f2p player.

It -is- pay to win.

It's basically just an unlimited trial, its about as pay 2 win as wow would be if you consider that if you don't sub you can't get anywhere.

[Bigbazz]

A player that buys the game can get higher levels and better gear than a f2p player.

It -is- pay to win.

That's like saying the same about the WOW starter account though, my SWTOR account is limited to 55 too and I have subscriber status.. Because I haven't bought the expansion, it doesn't make it pay to win. All the stuff you buy is mostly cosmetic rubbish, and even some of the limitations that are put in for non-subscribers can be overwritten permanently with cartel coins, which you can get quite a decent ammount of from achievements, even at lower levels.

[Sunseeker]

If you're not interested in the gear grind, you'll likely enjoy the more free-form experience in GW2.

[Deleted]

Well, Swtor is free to try. Although the f2p restrictions are crap, at least you'll be able to find out if you like it or not.

gw2 is also ok, but I would wait for the next sale. It's not worth full price

[Puupi]

Two pages and nobody mentioned TESO (or Wildstar) yet. Have you considered those options, OP?

[Eremiel]

Neither, get Secret World.

If you absolutely must try one of the above two, I'd argue for SW:ToR.

[Bigbazz]

Two pages and nobody mentioned TESO (or Wildstar) yet. Have you considered those options, OP?

Nobody mentioned them because he didn't ask about them. But since we're at it, Wildstar is for the hardcore oldschool MMO player and the grindfest is nothing that current WoW can even begin to compare with, combine that with a mindnumbingly shit and boring leveling experience and you see why it has failed to hold ground. And TESO, they are begging people to play their game and I get emails all the time from them about how they have upgraded my account to this and that for certain time periods, and I never even bought the game.

I played TESO beta for quite a bit and I thought it was an abomination of an inbred that tried to combine Skyrim with an MMO and failed miserably with what was a painfully boring and compromised gaming experience for the sake of being an MMO. I decided not to buy it based on that late beta experience, they may well have fixed the game now after that clusterfuck of a launch but it was not something I'd want to spend my time doing, certainly not recommend others do so.

[ro9ue]

Two pages and nobody mentioned TESO (or Wildstar) yet. Have you considered those options, OP?

Sounded like he was just choosing between SWTOR and GW2.

IMO ESO is amazing right now but it's definitely not for everyone. If you're into the math min/maxing of WoW and playing to burn through content to get the most powerful gear, you probably won't find ESO enjoyable. If you like great scenery, a lively world, good lore and take your time and read quests and explore... ESO is the best MMO on the market right now.

[Alvito]

SWTOR is completely free if you want to just take a look at it. GW2 might be more of what you are looking for, but I dont know why you wouldn't check out the free one 1st or at the very least at all.

[ravenmoon]

OP notice how very few peopel are actually talking about the quality of the game, touting GW2 for being completely free, or lambasting SWTOR because they don't like their free to play option - which is nothing to do with how much you will enjoy the game, the way it plays, the feeling and atmosphere, the adventure, the systems, etc etc,

you need to interject to get the information you want, or they'll go off on tangent filling your head with their prejudices against one title over the other or x,y feature that really bugs them and they've obviously focused down on and then blown up by moaning on the forum so much so, the one tiny issue has dominated their view of the whole game and poisoned their experience and thus unable to provide you with any useful information.

[kenn9530]

A player that buys the game can get higher levels and better gear than a f2p player.

It -is- pay to win.

SWTOR is no where near pay to win, you can unlock everything with credits if you wish although it will take a little longer to do everything, f2p is mainly a trial to try the game out so if you wanted to play the game properly you have to subscribe, you cant say a game is pay to win when you cant actually buy things in SWTOR with real money that actually makes your character stronger. If you want to play the game properly then you should subscribe and the only thing you would need to buy is the expansion to reach max level which is really cheap and by the time you get to that point you know if you want to play the game further or not.

GW2 on the other hand you can pay real money for gems which then you can get the best weapons and armour, although the best stuff is not too far stronger than exotics but every little helps, GW 2 is mostly about your character, making it look good or having fun exploring the world and whatever the world has to offer.

Both are good games and cheap to play them so can try out both and see what you prefer.

[Valeron]

GW2 on the other hand you can pay real money for gems which then you can get the best weapons and armour, although the best stuff is not too far stronger than exotics but every little helps,

actually you can't buy them, you have to craft them (for ascended armor and weapons), they are account bound as soon as you make them

[Essem]

SWTOR, first playthrough is amazing, specially if you are into star wars story. Worth to play just for the class stories imo.

[Deleted]

actually you can't buy them, you have to craft them (for ascended armor and weapons), they are account bound as soon as you make them

They probably hinting at legendaries, which you can buy the pre-cursor with real money, also aren`t all but one or two of the mat`s also able to buy with real cash via the AH too from what I recall. Ascended/Legendaries have higher stat`s then orange/yellow etc, also legendaries have the ability to swap your stat`s on them, making them also stop the grind for mat`s every time the dev`s decide to change the meta, where as everyone else has to start the grind all over again.

Guessing it`ll be the same once leg end armours get in game too.

[iceberg265]

A player that buys the game can get higher levels and better gear than a f2p player.

It -is- pay to win.

Then WoW is pay to win as well, since you have to buy expansions to level higher and get better gear in WoW too.

[Valeron]

They probably hinting at legendaries, which you can buy the pre-cursor with real money, also aren`t all but one or two of the mat`s also able to buy with real cash via the AH too from what I recall. Ascended/Legendaries have higher stat`s then orange/yellow etc, also legendaries have the ability to swap your stat`s on them, making them also stop the grind for mat`s every time the dev`s decide to change the meta, where as everyone else has to start the grind all over again.

Guessing it`ll be the same once leg end armours get in game too.

The new legendaries will be account bound when you craft them.

You could theoretically bypass it as you said by purchasing the mats. You still have to have max skill level crafting to make them though.

I've never heard of anyone actually doing that but I guess it is possible in an indirect way.