Gaming Star Wars: The Old Republic Preview

such a shame, I had been looking forward to this game for a few years now.
I wanted an MMO that i could have fun in that would remind me of SWG.
Now it seems that this game is going to see the same sort of release as every other failed MMO.
I stopped playing WoW a year ago, and it would take a very good game for me to get back into an MMO, it seems SWTOR isnt going to be it then

 

Think I'm going to Judge this one for myself. I know I'm going to have ~10 friends playing it and I'm sure if we're all interacting, competing and working together it will be fun no matter what Bioware lay down.

 

In SWTOR there's nothing that would set it apart from the very traditional themepark MMO, where you don't actually play a role but only an incarnation of what the developer had in mind for that specific class.

There's very few MMOs where you actually play a role you've chosen yourself, where you write the story of your character yourself. EvE Online would be a good example for a real MMORPG in that regard.

It's no surprise that the most reviews are rather positive about SWTOR, as all these reviews are made from people that are being sponsored by the game-studios. Sites that depend on advertisement for the games thes do review, sites like mmorpg.com or massively.com etc.

For StarWars-fans interested in themepark MMOs SWTOR will actually be a nice change away from WoW or the like, but ti won't keep the masses interested for longer then some few month.

 

And I'm not surprised by B-T preview and generally poor product. I was not surprised also by positive reviews from big volume sellers like GameStop. It is their business. Why would they say that something is c*** when they need title to sell well, because of vast amount of pre-ordered copies. It is not like such big warehouses ordering game on the same day that casual gamers get their hands on it.

Furthermore, reviews from sellers like GameStop are in general useless. They discouraging Independent gaming studios. They are only focused on BIG titles which will sell instantly. And Star Wars name works. Just like Star Trek On-line. I'm mad Trekkie, but thank heavens I did not bought it. Played few times on mate PC. What at rubbish (game not PC ;P).

 

so...
I'm sorry to be the obvious fanboy here...
but I didn't see anything about the profession systems...
only a big rant about how quests are boring...
also... Agent = smugler on the alliance side...
you didn't play the whole game, so stop QQing over a preview!

I completelly agree with jrs77, you're playing a singleplayer story basically, but on an mmo scale... and yes... I want a themepark MMO... and I'm one of those guys that will want to see every story available... AKA... every class available

 

It's crap. What did you expect?
No star wars MMO is going to match the original KOTOR in terms of immersiveness.

 

Weird, most other general gaming sites and fansites have positive things to say about the game. This preview is all about how Bioware can't tell a good story, MMO style quests in an MMO, and empty worlds during a pre-launch test. I understand that not everything can be positive, but it's obvious this reviewer was going with the intent to bash from the start.

My favorite part is when he complains about why lightsabers can’t even cut through un-armoured enemies on a single strike. Oh I don't know maybe balance, ESRB rating, and because it would be downright silly hacking people up into bits all the time. That only happens in the movies during dramatic moments, and it should be like that in the game during important moments of the story.

 

wow, i went through few websites to read pretty much the same preview about bounty hunter questline, and the striking difference is that apart from BT every single one of them was hyping the game to high heavens... i guess they care about future advertising revenues...

we've seen the videos of TOR's gameplay, static combat, empty, uninvolving world, wowish cartoony graphics... yet guys commenting them kept banging on about how cool the game was... errr... no...
BT confirmed that TOR will be a dissapointment, unless they redo it.

BW was justifying that the previewed build journos tested was old and glitchy. Well, if you want people to like your game dont show them a shitty build in the first place.

BW has overstretched itself too much. With three massive franchises on hand, DA2 showed cracks of fatigue already, and although i liked the game it was a bit rushed; will TOR be the one that brings legendary BW to its knees?

well, i dont really care, Witcher 2 is almost upon us, made by guys who know how to keep their integrity and make awesome RPGs...

 

99% of the reviews I read praise the game. These do not only come from retailers who have an interest in promoting the game. Everything I have seen so far leaves me to believe that even if it fails as an MMO, I would still get the equivalent of KOTOR 3-10 (the 8 class storylines), which I would be happy with.

Obviously Bit Tech doesn't like the game, though I think many of you are agreeing a little to quickly. With the enormous amount of positive reviews in relation to the very few negative reviews, let's wait until the game launches before we crucify it. Bit Tech is entitled to comment, as they reviewed the game. The rest of us should be less decisive.

 

I was genuinely looking forward to this title as a strong Star Wars fan. However, both the visuals and gameplay review seem to disappoint.

However, I'm not entirely sure what people were expecting. It's an MMO. The nature of MMO games obviously will restrict the kind of gameplay we can expect with SW:TOR. What will make this boring will make any other MMO boring in the same way.

 

Glad to see a journalist being honest instead of sucking up to Bioware like almost all the other previews based on the 48 hour playtest.

This game looks like an insult to the intelligence of anyone over the age of 11. A simplistic WoW rip-off with tacked-on storyline and easily the blandest graphics I've ever seen in an MMO (which is saying something).

Good call, Bit-Tech. When this game tanks horribly people can come back and look at this review as a nugget of gold swimming in a sea of delusional fanboy hysteria.

 

What a bunch of meaning less crap...

Look if the game is so bad give me hard examples of why it's bad not generalizations....

If you did not expect to kill 5 things in an MMO and return the quest giver WTF have you been? Atleast in this game they read it out loud to your ass!

Which cost them money by the way... way more than putting some quest text into a box. What was the last time you were walking around and NPC's were having conversations on their own that you could hear on other mmo's. And I'm not talking about conversations like Topper McNab in Stormwind City.

How interactive do you want these NPC's to be...and seriously 50 people on a whole server... and it felt empty to you?

I suppose you want the world FLOOODED with NPC's would that make you happy? No cause you said they can't compare to the real thing right? LOL wow.

To all the retards saying that other sites who give this game a good review are biased because they are paid by EA or Bioware or it is in their best interest to advertise the game... Game Companies Sell Games!

If a game is truly bad there will be enough negative reviews to back it up. Don't talk to me about video game companies getting their hands in on sites.... I'm watching an add for DARKSPORE right now on this site....

DARKSPORE really? And this is the site that is supposed to provide me with content I can trust regarding this game...

Once again DARKSPORE ... aka WTF IN SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111

//end nerd rage

 

This preview is a rather honest subjective POV and not a paid promotion-article. That's the difference here.

 

I recognise why the lightsabers don't cut through anything, I merely question why Bioware hasn't reconciled that need for balance with the overall design. They could have altered the design to compensate (say, by not letting you play as Jedi or Sith) or, more simply, altered the combat animation and fiction to explain it (having foes wear armour made of lightsaber resistant materials, such as Cortosis or Mandalore Iron). Not doing either creates an obvious gap in the game.

 

Firstly, you lucky you guys to get to play this!

I've been following the development of this game for what feels like forever now in eager anticipation. I check the dev tracker at least twice a day just to try and keep up to date and incase something juicy crops up.

I love BW games as much as the next person, but they aren't all that great. They've been hyped as the 'story tellers' but in all honesty, generally their stories are very cliche and predictable.

I have had and still to some point do have high hopes that this will be my next MMO to sink a fair few hundred hours of my life into, but I also get the feeling I won't be very impressed - maybe at the least statisfied.

Tbh, its nice to see someone being seemingly honest about it. I can't go near the SWTOR forums as it gives me a headache - just utter fanboys (no offence because I know a few will read this) and people praising Bioware constantly to try and increase their chance for a beta key.

You are getting a bit of heat btw Joe over on the SWTOR forums, although you probably may have already browsed through it.

I expect we may get a few more 1 post wonders!

I also wonder if BW will ever invite you back? I'll take your place next time if you like...

 

When did Gamestop do a review on swtor? Get a clue dude, there is a big difference between a website like Gamespot and a retailer like Gamestop.

 

I like MMO's but I run quite a simple avoid system:

If the game starts with you pressing "1" to attack, and your first ability is on "2" (and has a cooldown of approx 5-20 seconds). I'll give it a miss, since pretty much every MMO seems to be like WoW, but with 1 bit made slightly better, but missing 50% of the other features.

Hell, Darkspore is like Diablo 2, but missing the good bits, and that game is what 15 years old?! Bitmap Brothers interview hit the nail on the head, nobody wants to risk originality anymore.

 

Not everyone in-game needs an actor, perhaps just a dozen or so very important ones, and they could just do a scheduled appearance a certain amount of times per week. Only the most important characters, rulers of planets, faction leaders, etc. From my experience, these characters in MMOs are always extremely boring. I played the WoW trial for the ten days or whatever.. That's my MMO experience. The supposed really important characters didn't really do anything at all, it would add a lot to the depth of the game if important people actually did important things! They could lead battles, make speeches, whatever.

A game like WoW could surely afford a dozen or so dedicated RPers per server.

I really don't know much about MMOs, not a huge fan of the genre, so my suggestion could be completely unrealistic.

 

I agree with you.

The whole review really sounds like Mr. Martin is tired of MMOs period, and that it's apparent that this guy is a Star Wars fan. It seems he went in thinking that this MMO was a new WoW - a new slate for MMOs in which they were going to set a completely different set of gameplay standards. At least it seems he thought this right before his hopes were dashed that TOR follows in the footsteps of WoW. He even says "It’s both exactly the same as every other MMO we've played, but at the same time so much worse because it promises so much more.

Hype is important (obviously) but you can't talk dirty about a game just because it isn't what YOU think it should be, especially when you've clearly developed an almost vendetta-like approach to your review. The game deserves a play, which, at the end you subtley say;
“Maybe that will change in the mid- and late-game stages. Maybe the caveats of previewing an MMO in such a way unfairly prevent us from being able to assess The Old Republic’s strengths.”

It isn’t released, sir, I’m sure this is the case. But then you assume that every Star Wars fan (myself included, very much so sir) won't find comfort in TOR because you didn't. You basically just didn't preview it, but attempted to condemn it.

I respect your opinion the same as anyone, but you really made it hard to see past your dislike of the game. It really seems as though you don’t like MMOs, and for you to have previewed it, well, that ruined the preview for this MMORPGer.

 

I was just wondering Joe:

a) Have you played many MMOs/Do you normally play MMOs?

b) Are you a "fan" of Star Wars or do you just accept it as another Universe?

c) How much interest did you have in the game before you playtested it?

d) Did you get to play any other classes? Or was it just the Bounty Hunter.

e) You mentioned that the Cover and Melee classes seemed more interesting, did you actually get to play them? Or is this just from seeing other people play them? (This is kinda linked to the above question i guess).

Just curious as to what sort of background you're coming from since it's rather clear that the positive previews are from Star Wars fans, but this is the first negative preview i've read.

Thanks =]