Star Wars: The Old Republic

[MunterHunter]

The next big release for the MMO world has been announced, late December

I've been following this one for years, and been trying to get information on the beta, so far all the feedback has been quite positive. With the Bioware involvement the game itself takes a more story driven approach (Think Fable and Dragon Age style) - havent seen much information about space combat/ship combat but its supposed to be part of the game. I like the idea of having NPC followers in your group instead of it being just you.

Still some difficulty getting it if you live outside of the EU/US but i dont plan to be in game on day 1 so i'm happy to wait and order it towards the end of the year

http://www.swtor.com/

Anyone else planning on giving this a go?

[negreanu]

Anyone else planning on giving this a go?

Pre-ordered Collectors ediition on 23rd July. Got the early game access code for that same date - However that will work.

[SweRob]

The next big release for the MMO world has been announced, late December

I've been following this one for years, and been trying to get information on the beta, so far all the feedback has been quite positive. With the Bioware involvement the game itself takes a more story driven approach (Think Fable and Dragon Age style) - havent seen much information about space combat/ship combat but its supposed to be part of the game. I like the idea of having NPC followers in your group instead of it being just you

I was quite exited about this game when i found out about it in the beginning of the year, but my exitment quickly dvindeled the more information i found out about it. Its basically a WoW clone in a "Space" setting. As far as gamemechanics go its World of Warcraft all over again. As far as space combat goes, its a "rail shooter", single player one, you follow a predetermined path and shoot things and avoid asteroids etc. No free flight at all.

Having voice overs on NPCs is nice, but i never cared much for the original story in a MMO, i was more focused on gaining levels, attaining gear, endgame raiding and PvP, aswell as the social aspect in the MMO, wich SWTOR seems to be lacking. If i want story i read a book or watch a movie, in a MMO game i want to be entertained, i want progression, i want to impact the game world, i want to kill the enemy faction players.

Having said that i will still try the game, World of Warcraft in space cant be all bad, i never was a WoW hater, i spent several years in that game, but i bet alot of Star Wars die hards will be left dissapointed.

As far as negative reviews, they are out there, alot of information can be had by "beta leaks" both videos, and reviews by beta players, a good site to read up on beta leaks is a site that is called betacake, google it and you will find both ingame videos and beta tester Q&A´s.

[MunterHunter]

Yeah i check Betacake on a regular basis.

How do you mean "WoW clone in space" - from what you are saying that would class all MMO's as "WoW Clones" as they all have the same basic elements, character progression, gear, raiding and PvP.

Sounds disappointing about the space flight/combat, i was hoping it would be a little more Eve like with regard to space.

[SweRob]

Yeah i check Betacake on a regular basis.

How do you mean "WoW clone in space" - from what you are saying that would class all MMO's as "WoW Clones" as they all have the same basic elements, character progression, gear, raiding and PvP.

Sounds disappointing about the space flight/combat, i was hoping it would be a little more Eve like with regard to space.

Sure every mmo has the progression, gear, raiding and PvP factors, but it differs from mmo to mmo how you implement them. Comparing SWTOR to WoW you have the same "Cartoonish" animation style, same user interface, same 3 talent trees to spend talent points in, same instanced battlegrounds for PvP and PvE and so on. As far as gamemechanics and features its an carbon copy of WoW.

Yep its dissapointing with the space flight for sure, this is why i say that many Star Wars diehards that havent read up about the game before purchasing it will be dissapointed, they surely will promote SWTOR with "Space flight" on the box, and all the people will instantly think its an free flight space option, when in reality its an "Rail Shooter single player Arcade mode".

[MunterHunter]

Sure every mmo has the progression, gear, raiding and PvP factors, but it differs from mmo to mmo how you implement them. Comparing SWTOR to WoW you have the same "Cartoonish" animation style, same user interface, same 3 talent trees to spend talent points in, same instanced battlegrounds for PvP and PvE and so on. As far as gamemechanics and features its an carbon copy of WoW.

What would you propose as a different model? I've been playing MMO's since the days of EverQuest (v1) and they all follow the same basic model. Some have talents/skills that differ but they are all much of the same...

Not trying to argue or discredit, just curious what you would like to see as a "WoW breaker"

[MunterHunter]

There is a huge Beta Stress test this weekend, if you already signed up for beta testing prior to 11th Nov then you are automatically accepted (and should get an email inviting you to test/play) Otherwise there are lots of 'beta keys' out there on fan sites etc.

Starts at Friday 10am CET (11pm Thailand time) and runs until Monday (either mid-day or midnight, i don't remember)

I have my invite, i've accepted and i've downloaded the client already (its big, really big... almost 20gb!) - i will be on Saturday morning, kicking some Jedi Scum ass!

[negreanu]

Not sure I like it. Really not sure. It feels like WOW with lightsabers and blaster rifles and does not really bring anything new to the genre.

Will continue to play it until the test weekend ends. Then make the decision cancel the pre-order or not. Although it does need more time only level 8.

[MunterHunter]

I enjoyed it, i played quite a bit over the weekend. I played Sith and followed the story but then chose to try a Jedi Knight and skipped most of the story as i didn't want to spend half my playtime reading/listening to all the story line.

The Game seems fairly solid right now, quite a bit of running around but it didn't feel too bad. I hear what you are saying about "WoW with Light-sabers" but to be honest, that is the genre so thing wont really change much (every MMO since before WoW and after WoW is the same, WoW didnt 'invent' that style of game-play!). At least SWTOR has a lot more in-depth storyline and is visually more appealing. Couldn't figure out how to do the crafting but then i wasn't going to do a lot of crafting anyway during the beta weekend.

I was a bit disappointed with some of the skills, and felt you got a bit too much too soon, would have been better to spread them out over the levels a bit more to give you more chance to 'learn' how to use them effectively. I found leveling up to feel quite slow around the 11-15 levels, but i admit i didn't do many of the group quests and sometimes didn't bother picking up solo quests as i wanted to drive the storyline quest a bit more.

The Companion system seemed good, i only had one companion to chose from but i can see it getting very good later when you have 3-4 different ones to choose from, depending on the situation, and have them kitted out and working how you want. I didn't really see much way to control the companion much, Would be nice if you had more of the 'Dragon Age' style control where you can set up specific triggers (heal me when i get to 75% health, Always taunt when the skill is available - etc) maybe that comes a little later.

I didnt get to my own ship, stopped before i got near those levels, so i didnt get chance to try that out. For me i was using this beta weekend to try it out and see how the game felt. Ran a comfortable 90-100fps on my Alienware laptop, few pauses for loading some fo the cut scenes or longer narratives but overall it ran very well on my laptop.

Overall i liked it, i don't know if its a 'WoW Killer' and my concern is the game will fill up with kiddies, but i enjoyed playing it this weekend and will defiantly be buying the game on release (i have it pre-ordered already)

[negreanu]

Ran a comfortable 90-100fps on my Alienware laptop

Which model was that out of interest of alienware laptop? I notice that there is a alienware up for sale in the classifieds at a fraction of the price it is available for in Thailand.

Is that you selling it as I note the seller talks about SWTOR?

[MunterHunter]

I bought an upgraded M18x (the new one) and no i'm not selling unless you offer me 20% more than RRP

Just looked at the advert in question, that's the 11" screen... wow, i mean my work laptop has a 13" screen and that's not enough screen for me... your mileage may vary.

Plus you can buy that model brand new directly from Dell for $899 (29k) - agreed its the basic model and you would need to spend a little extra upgrading it. For shipping its not that expensive if you use a re-shipping company (PM me and i will give you the link to the one i use) - so all-in-all that laptop is not that great a deal in my opinion If your impatient and want it *right now* then get it, otherwise wait and order something the same/better for similar money... for gaming you need a big monitor in my opinion

[negreanu]

Actually I checked it, it's a pretty good deal of you live here in Thailand. The spec for the one for sale is around $1300 new from dell.

I use shipto.com in the USA and looking at the weight and box dimensions it would be $100 to ship here.

Then there is vat and duty here so that will run $300+. Reckon new price to ship here minimum would be $1700.

I have seen one of the guys play WOW at work on a m11x at 100fps. Guess the beauty of it is the portability and build quality as well as tw performance. M18x is nice but god couldnt travel with that monster

[MunterHunter]

I agree the m18x is a beast and not easy to travel with it - I'm still hunting around for a decent backpack so i *can* take it somewhere!

I paid 1,000b import duty on my m18x when i shipped it here using Shipito.com but it did take a while to get to me (i labeled it as a factory repaired $500 laptop hehe).

My shipping cost was around $150 if i remember correctly... so your estimate is about right (for top end of the scale) but could be $200 cheaper or so

I didnt see the extended spec, so yeah its a fair deal i guess

[wary]

How did you go about getting the preorder? I prefer to use steam and my paypal account but when I got CoD I was told I couldn't do it from my region and had to VPN to the UK to get it. I'm registered in Canada. 5 days before if you preorder with a 20th release date? that's like 2 weeks!

[wary]

I too will run this on a laptop with a Sager Nvidia GTX 260m duo 2 P9600 2.66Ghz so I shouldnt' have a problem judging by the looks (2.5yr old laptop)! Always have to use single thread layering command on most newer games now.

[negreanu]

[How did you go about getting the preorder? /quote]

Amazon.com collectors edition with early game access code emailed to you.

[wary]

but it's not available for download off of amazon? and origin's website says it's not available in Thailand. and it's not available on steam either.

[negreanu]

the client will be available to download for preorders from amazon.com

[MunterHunter]

I pre-ordered the standard edition from Amazon, got a pre-order code and have applied that to my account... this will get me 5 days 'head start' and the ability to download the client.

I guess after that its a case of 'wait' for the box to arrive, then plug in the full retail code. Amazon are usually quite good with their deliveries, and in the past when i have pre-ordered something, it gets shipped to me a day or two before offical release and ends up arriving either on the day of release or a day or two after release (depending on my shipping option)

As Amazon already charge you the estimated import tax on taxable goods, stuff tends to fly through customs very quickly as well... not the cheapest of options when all things are considered, but as we cannot get a digital download option right now, i didnt see any other real choice.

[wary]

they dont' take paypal

[SweRob]

Get a girlfriend instead of this shit, thats coming from someone who played WoW 3´+ years.

[MunterHunter]

I've been playing MMO's for nearly 15 years, Started with EQ1. I've got a good job, a girlfriend whom i will marry in 12 months time (she plays MMO's sometimes too), cats, dogs, a car, a house and a healthy social life...

... Whats your point?

Not all MMO players are sad, anti-social spotty over weight kids who spend 23hrs a day stuck in front of the computer in darkened room

[negreanu]

Level 18 now on early access.

Wasn't sure in Beta, now thoroughly enjoying it! Haven't enjoyed any MMO since EQ1 as much. Can't stop playing it.....GF going nuts.

Highly recommend it. Don't forget the Datacrons.

[MunterHunter]

I just got my Early access last night, but was at my works Xmas party so i couldnt log in... will get on tonight.

On the plus side, i also got an Email from Amazon this morning, saying my copy of the game has shipped and to expect delivery on the 20th. I know Bioware sent Amazon the packs early so they could get them out to players in time for release. awesome!

If anyone is interested, I have a small group of Thailand based players on the "Bergeren Colony" server, ping me for Character names, we are playing Empire side.

[StarryVortrex]

MunterHunter, now that you've played for a few days mind sharing some of your experiences to us people looking for a new mmo to play

[negreanu]

I would say its the best MMO ever produced on comparison to WOW for quality.

[StarryVortrex]

Well that's heartening to hear , Have you been through the endgame content yet and how's pvp (especially the huttball mode)?

[Phuketman]

So if Order it through amazon do i get the option of downloading it direclty from their server or do i need to wait for the box to arrive?

[Phuketman]

Just got an american friend to buy me the game from origin website USA (digital version). Does anyone know if I will be able to download the game from Thailand or do i need to use a proxy?

Ideally if someone could lend me the installation disc just for installation purposes (I have my own login code). Anyopne living in Phuket who would be so kind?

Thanks in advance guys.

[MunterHunter]

^

Shame i didn't see your post before, i was in Phuket for New Years and had a copy on my laptop... never-mind, you should be able to simply download the client from their site (should be a link in the account settings somewhere if you have registered your code already)

MunterHunter, now that you've played for a few days mind sharing some of your experiences to us people looking for a new mmo to play

Its pretty darn good... i love the Story and voice overs, pretty good gfx, smooth game play, very little lag for Thailand (avg 250ms) - I've subscribed for 6mths straight off, i can see this game holding my interest for at least that long.

Well worth it, and i recommend the game to anyone who enjoys Dragon Age/Fable style story-line driven games or is just looking for something a little bit different to your average MMO