SWTOR launch impressions

Hey guys,

I finally found a way to buy a copy of this game digitally in my country, so now I'm wondering if it's really worth all that money... Could some of you take your time and share your impressions of the game?

Is it really the "next big thing" or just the same as any other MMO these days - everyone races to the max lvl at the first two weeks, experiances big portion of end game during the other two and then sub numbers start to decline after the first "free" month?

How is it from visual stand-point, because looking at the screens and videos even Rift sometimes seems more eye-candy -ish.

Lags? Queues?

For those who'll bother answering - thank you for your time!

What you're saying is all true, except for the subs declining. I just don't think that will happen, for some reason. But mostly everyone is 50 now.

Sooooo pretty sometimes, but obviously VERY stylized. Compare this to how I was almost NEVER impressed with rifts visuals.

Yes, and yes. Not so much an issue on the server Boon rolled on (glorious bastards all of ye, screw you requiring 4 day a week raid attendance!) as on the others, but it was frequent that Warzones would kick you out of the game, leaving you with 1-2h queues on mine. Which was kinda... eh. ^^

Good luck! Go buy it!

I haven't played it but I think some people who played it for kotor 3 will unsubscribe not to pay every month but there will also be those who will stay for other content or for guild and friends. Still early to see how many of those who are going to quit out there.

That's what worries me - if you go through the good stuff in a month, what's there left to do after the first month? same PVP and raid grind? I've had enough of that in WoW and Rift, ty. And I'm not really sure if I want to spend that kind of money only on "kotor 3", i mean I love bioware's stories, but I ain't much of a SW fan, so the game should have some other selling points for me aswell :S

What about the FFA open world PvP zone? That's where I'll hang out, once I finish all my grindan'.

Either way, I was about as un-hyped for this game as anyone could possibly be, but it just feels complete. I'm not lacking anything, it doesn't have any flaws that bother me and the PvP is as engaging as wowclone pvp can be. I've even heard that the PvE is legit complicated at higher levels, if that's your thing. Despite your worries I'd still suggest buying the game and trying it, because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I have been asking the same question myself, "should I try it".

So I read loads and watched videos and came up cold. It's hard to put my finger on what it is exactly that is turning me off about SWTOR, but I really don't warm to any of the content seen in videos so far.

One thing that would definitely annoy me is the sound. I am not a big fan of LAZORS and the constant grating sound of them would drive me insane, it is just too sharp a sound to listen to for hours. The music too, too big, too crashing, too noisy. Now I know these can be turned down or off, but i Like music and sounds in game to add to the ambience and immersion.

Character models and movement don't seem "natural". Now that is probably a dumb thing to say about pretend people in a pretend world, but again there is something I can't quite put my finger on that just makes me feel distanced from the dudes on the screen.

Monsters, I like a good monster I do, and a good monster should put a bit of the fear in you. So far I think on the videos I saw too many that looked uninspiring or very much the same, like the pet that Jabba kept.

Just a few impressions from someone having the same thoughts, but for me, I am going to wait for GW2, sexy armor, long legs, big fucking dragons.

This is not the 'next big thing' in that it is not the new standard for MMO's. It's essentially a revamped WoW - but a very stylish revamped WoW. The full voice-acting will set the standard for the next years, because it makes sure exactly why you care about slaughtering 10 boars. The level of immersion in this game is, even as a non-Star Wars-adept, immense. If you care to, of course - you could skip the dialogue and immersion quests and rush to 50. So far, there are only a few who have taken this route, most players enjoy the story and the game itself. And the story is quite good.

What I also like is that there are some "mini-games" that can take your mind off of questing: The companion system is quite decent, the warzones are great fun (read: way better than WoW BG's; and pvp is much more active/involving) and for those inclined to do so, there are arcade-style spaceship missions.

I do however think that indeed, the fatigue will set in with many players after the first few months.

Some worlds are stunning but it's not a very eye-candy-ish game. Also, optimalization is lacking. The worlds' views in the distance are beautiful, but up close, nothing really special.

No lag, about 40 minute queues on our server at peak times.

To conclude: I am very much enjoying myself, but you should realize before trying that this is not the most original game. But a game does not have to be original, it has to be fun. And fun, I have.

Also, the dialogue options and light/dark side options make you think about what character you are playing. Well, not consciously, but you will gradually get a feeling for what your character is like. For instance, I am a bounty hunter. I want to make as much money as possible without killing people. Sounds weird? It's possible! The level of moral immersion is much larger than any other MMO I have played.

Everyone bar about 10-15 of us have rushed to 50.

Play how you want to play, but I certainally won't be rushing to catch up. I'm just hoping it's not the officers belief that they did it in a normal speed because, fuck me, how anyone found so much time to play around shopping, work, wife, kids, family, eating, drinking, parties etc at this time of year is baffling.

Took 4 days off from gaming cause I was at my GF's parents place for xmas, and suddenly almost whole guild is lvl 50

Well the amount of non-50's online at any time of the day still surpasses that of the 50's. For instance, currently there's 7 50's on and 17 <50's.

Best mmo I have played since wow

Tbh I'm tired of advocating for this game just ask those that used to be haters and are loving the game right now. I'm not even going to recommend it any more

Buy it if you want, don't if you do not feel like it.

I don't care anymore, I'm having a blast and the people in the guild have been awesome.

hit the nail on the head with the first two comments. Jumping on a mount and then getting dismounted when I move annoys the crap out of me. And I imagine we've all encountered the second glitch, can be a real annoyance.

As for load times, it's not just you, I've definitly had the same issue, exactly the same as you described. Can't be machine capability at all because I'm running a monster.

Despite all this, it's a great game and I look forward to many many fun times. the few small negatives don't take much away from the overall good.

As for load times.
I'm on my 'bad' pc right now.
Some planets take up to 3 minutes to load (hi page file, I hate you).

However..! on my newer pc (that has a 2 year old SSD) the longest loadtime I've seen sofar is about 10 seconds.

Load times are not that horrible for me

a lot of people have issues with load times tbh.

Either way, along everything else I've said, if you absolutely LOATHE wow and similar mmos then this game might not be for you. Even then you might still like it, because you can be a space cowboy.

You can check TBs, Jesses and Intricacies podcast expressing their opinion on the game so far. Note its 3 hours long.

If TB says that you should buy it - you friking buy the game. Thanks for the pod cast, helped me make up my mind.

He basically said what everyone else in this thread said, there's the story and at the moment, there's 1 "raid" at end game? Unfortunately, im not a Star Wars fan, and I didn't enjoy playing the game in beta, so I don't think there's any point of me buying it at the moment. If it shows any promise and it improves then I may buy it, but at the moment I think ill save my money and hope GW2 will be better.