So after a long wait, I finally got to spend some time testing in the Old Republic
I had the last minute updates downloaded just in time to be unleashed on the servers! I picked “The Fatman” server due to it being East coast PvP and having a name that tickled my schoolboy humour bone… I enjoyed the opening cinematics although it was tinged with a slight disappointment that I’d seen them before in all the media releases.
Character selection is easy and clearly labelled. Here’s my first disappointment though… I’d like to see a wider selection of playable races and more customization of appearance. Keeping in mind the cinematic nature of the story-telling to come, you need to be able to really like your character’s appearance and identify with it. I’m not a roleplayer… In my 2 notable incarnations in MMOs I was both a hardcore crafter/econ guy and then a hardcore PvPer… but I’ve aways enjoyed tweaking their appearance to be able to feel like that little character is an extension of me.
Anyway… As is suggested by the name and following my choice from all the pre-launch info I had read, I opted to make a Human Male Sith Inquisitor.
Story-telling… I love it. Having been what some would call a power-gamer, I really enjoyed the change of pace of not really caring how quickly I was levelling up but just getting into the story. However, I have to admit that by the end of my 2nd day testing, when I had created and started to level up 4 or 5 different classes, I was starting to hit spacebar through the chat just to get on with it! However, when it’s for real at launch, whichever class I choose I will play through the story properly.
Combat… In terms of animation and sound effects I think they’ve done a great job of creating combat that you really feel is action-packed! My saber moves were smooth and the force lightning crackles with satisfying evil. I found the cooldowns on the skills a little clunky and often I would be hitting buttons to activate attacks then look down at my skill bar and it wasn’t clear which one had just fired off as they were all on cooldown.
Actually, I’m going to jump straight to my biggest frustration with this game… and it’s not one they can fix. It’s just too WoW. I appreciate that World of Warcraft is the most commercially successful MMORPG ever released. I agree they did a lot of things that have been proven to work… It’s just not to my taste a lot of the time. I played Star Wars Galaxies for years and would’ve far preferred a little more sandbox and a little less themepark… but hey… I know I’m in the minority so either accept it or move on. For most of the time I tested, the general chat channel was full of people discussing what WoW class they played, what WoW server they were on and whether they would keep up both a SWTOR and WoW account… I wanted to scream “**** WoW… This is Star Wars!” but I have to admit, those who dismiss this game as just a WoW clone with Star Wars IP and some nice acting have a point.
Being such a Star Wars geek though, and in the memory of my great years in SWG, I carried on… As a fellow Sith once said, My resolve has never been stronger!
Companions… This works well I think. However, it is a bit of a let down after getting your awesome new companion to run out of town and see 20 of the same dude running around beside you! I know the companion is tailored to your story and also equipped specifically to support your class as you adventure but it’d be nice to feel a little more unique. The makeover packs you get with them could maybe be a little more extensive…
Crew Skills… I don’t know much about this yet. I picked up salvaging and got that up to about level 80. I had also randomly picked up a couple of other skills and had notice the crew skills mission page but I was too busy following my main story line to bother with that yet.
So, as of today I have a level 17 Sith Assassin. I also played an Imperial Agent up to level 9, a Smuggler to level 7 and both a Bounty Hunter and Jedi Knight up to about level 4. I’m torn about whether to try and experience what the game plays like at higher levels, since I feel that if I play the Assassin up to say level 25-30 then it’ll spoil the chances of enjoying playing that class at launch. As there’s only Monday evening left for me to test this weekend, I think I will spend playing most ever class for the first 4 or 5 levels, just to get a feel for them all and try to decide which I really want to invest my time in when I play for real. I also want to spend a few hours figuring out the crafting side… In SWG I made a name for myself as a Weapon and Armorsmith and would like to try and recreate that as much as is possible.
