Hey Spooky! Long time! Yes you can pwn noobs. They also opened up and OPEN PVP zone with NO rules. Anyone can be here and get owned. To encourage peeps there is a vendor (Killable) who sells both epic and blue loot, and there are random chest drops with blue/purple loot in them and to top it off all of the harvest nodes here have max value drop plus bonus raid type harvestables. Oh the killing will be glorious!


By the way the BH and sniper are some of the best pvp classes, enjoy.


On that note, I played WoW on Venture Co server, raided for 2years, left prior to cataclysm and then went to EQ2 for 3 years, raided up to this point. Yes the mechanics are identical to WoW but the game has something in it that draws you in. I played to 22 on Leviathan as an Operative, what a rush! The force users need more in either taunts or dps but they are also very fun to play!

 

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Once they get through the initial mass nerf/overhaul phase I'll play a BH or sniper type. All I want to do is kill other players.

 

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The game has the same awesome hand/eye coordination than WoW has, unlike Rift, WAR and the other failures released these last years. Unlike LOTRO, too. No skill queue, no delay, combat is dynamic and immediate.
This alone makes it a better "theme park" game than everything else released since WoW in 2004.
And the gameplay is great, the voice overs really add to immersion.

For me so far, the game is a keeper, and BlizTard should start to worry a bit in my opinion.

EDIT: oh, and also... the game is surprisingly polished and stable for a stress test. No lag, no crashes, smooth as silk despite the heavy server load.

 

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It was lag-free and played smoothly. I've discovered what I don't like though. Like WoW and Rift, the combat is immediate. You push a button and something happens. Unlike WoW and Rift, there is little to no strategy during combat though. LOS, kiting and having it matter which spell/move you use all seem less important to non-existent in SWTOR.

I played as a BH (bounty hunter) and all my moves seemed to do the same damage/time. Visually they were different and some were AE but the rest just visually looked different. Granted I only had 2 hotbars full of moves by the end of my beta weekends. Maybe there are some cool things unlocked in the later levels...

Combat seemed very easy or simplistic. Even the quests would lead you into a square room to kill the end guy. BH class can't even take cover like other classes so that made it even more simplistic for me. It may be my self diagnosed attention deficit issues but I'm really not liking the simpleness of games nowadays. I like to have at least once class that is complex. I need to feel the ability to play something better than my 8 year old son. There needs to be complexity for me. This game's combat is as simplistic as WoW is becoming if not more.

Many will play it because it is a "Star Wars" game and there is nothing wrong with that. It is no next generation MMO though. Literally the only thing different is voice instead of text. I can tell you exactly what the forums/reviews will say about it a month or two after release. I've played games for less time and more money though. It wouldn't be your worst purchase I'm sure Should make a good time killer over the holidays for many players.

 

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Out of curiosity, up to what level did you play it?
I'm level 12 Jedi Consular, and I can tell you there's at least as much strategy (in my opinion, more) than in WoW in each fight. Many fights are setup so that if you run in like a retard, you will die. Unless you are 5 level higher than the intended level of course.

 

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I was 10 or 11 BH. It might be a class thing I've never tried Jedis. Mine was stand there in wide open rooms and push random buttons until the quest guys died. Some moves did more damage but they took more time. Over the course of a fight I could hit any order of moves and get the same result.

Granted level 10 or 11 is not "end game" so there is hope passed that. Enough hope that I will check the forums after 1 or 2 months to see how I feel about joining the fray.

edit: I actually got another beta invite for this weekend I think but it wanted me to download the whole game again. I just cancelled the download and left it at that.

 

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Well I came, I saw, and I guffawed.

The Sith quest lines are so over the top its like a parody. Any homicidal group like that would have run out of people by now whereas the Jedi would as soon as not reproduce.

That being said, the initial levels can be summarized as run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run

Lots of stupid bugs, like having the world map not show interest points, not being able to loot unless you log, and such. All typical of lack of testing. While pretty at times its really obnoxious the amount of travel you have to do. Far too many group only quests early on which really is annoying. Save them for later in the game when people know their characters.

Overall it was interesting but I really see no point in playing it. Three warzones? Really is that all they can offer? Then top it off with a cluster F of abilities which only make your action bar crowded. Same problem WOW has, characters have just too many abilities to make managing them/using them fun.

Only kudos I will give it : The voice acting is very nice to see and the companion's missions are a nice touch. Overall though it is not even as polished as RIFT was and the graphics are painful for the system requirements.


No crashes btw. I did have to F4 to log out a few times. I run it on my iMac, 2.66 Quad-Core i5, 8g memory, 4850m with 512mb. Ran it at 2560x1440 averaging 20-30fps. Everyone has to turn that shadow setting to low, its amazing how bad their graphics engine is when a simple choice or two can halve your fps. This game is heavily CPU bound as 1024x768 was less than 5fps extra

 

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Zero that pretty much sums up my opinonfor the most part as well in many cases. I enjoy the game as a single player game, but the mmo aspects of it not so much. Also the crafting sucks all sorts of censored terminology you wish to insert. If only the combat and how some of the other game mechanics were different than it would be an excellent game, right now I say it is a good game, the last one of the current MMO model.

Core i5 2400 3.1 ghz, 8 gigs DDR3, GTX 560 ti, everthing in game maxe at 1080p, 60-100 fps.

 

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It kinda comes down to how much of a Star War's geek you are...

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Also, I linked it a few other places, but I posted my thoughts on my blog.

http://zsprawl.com/wp/2011/11/star-wars-the-old-republic-beta-first-impressions/

 

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You have to be strong with the Force to like it more than a little. Amazing the lack of polish and features considering how late in the MMO world it is.


Cannot believe the lack of customization to the interface... and healing looks really dorky/stupid/obnoxious with some classes

 

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