Week in Review: Smuggle this

@Ordegar

You'd be surprised how many people I have seen in the SWTOR beta who has never played a MMO or even beta tested one, I'd say at least 10% or the current beta testers.

I didn't think that many people don't favor MMO's because of the news they receive, be it television or other people. But people are sheep and follow what the masses do, be it good for them or not.

I'd say SWTOR will bring a ton of people out of the wood works and into MMOs.

@DotCom I have to agree. Most of my XBL friends list stay away from MMOs like the plague but with the exception of one console purist they're all planning to check out SWTOR. Mention WoW, Guild Wars, Everquest or... well, any other well known MMO and they're not in the least bit interested.

@Ordegar

Wise words. Good comment.

Thanks

@DotCom
I am betting that number is way way higher from how dumbed down Tor has become. Bioware needs to stop looking at blizzard and look at themselves dragging there feet. They are about to release a game that doesn't even have the fundamentals features of a mmo today.

@MrGutts Whoa whoa whoa, you mean a hugely hyped MMO is going to release without even being more feature-rich, or learning from or surpassing it's predecessors. That has *never* happened.

Well except for following (in chronological order):
Asheron's Call 2 - 2002
EQ2 - 2004
LoTRO - 2007
Tabula Rasa - 2007
Warhammer - 2008
FFXIV - 2010
DCUO - 2011
Rift - 2011

So yea, MMO hype is no different than celebrity news. Build it up, tear it down, and go back to the same ol' same ol': Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

@MrGutts

And what "fundamental features" is TOR missing?

@Ren54 Rift is definitely a good game. It has a lot of features. But did it slay the dragon? Did it really live up to the claim "we're not in Azeroth anymore". I played it, got a character to 50. But in the end, the iconic elements of the game, Rifts and Invasions ending up being an irrelevant afterthought to meaningful gameplay. Maybe things have changed since I stepped out in May, but at 50 no one runs rifts/invasions anymore unless they are raid/experts.

The dungeon/pvp scenarios are basically carbon copies of WoW with even simpler scripting mechanics, and post-release was same server only meaning 2-3 hour queues for DPS during non-peak hours. The combat system was so mundane that most classes post single button macros to the forums to do optimal DPS/Threat (http://forums.riftgame.com/rift-general-discussions/classes-telara/cleric-discussion/161548-cleric-leveling-guide-aoe-grinding-builds-macros-step-step.html). Check that link, it has 1 button macros for single target cleric tanking, AoE tanking, and melee builds. I'm sorry, but even WoW's combat isn't that simple. Show me a 1 button macro that does optimal DPS for *any* class in WoW...

Rift could have a bright future ahead of it if the devs keep pumping out meaningful content, and making the systems more engaging. But we'll see. So far, I don't think it's a stretch to say that it has not lived fully up to it's expectations. There was a time not long ago where ever Rift article had 100+ comments which is exactly the place TOR has taken over. Sound familiar?

@Ordegar Yep I have to chime in here too, I've seen many people in the SWTOR community that are brand new to the genre or have very little exposure. It's cool to see new faces with fresh perspectives and that new excitement.
What might be great about TOR is not that it might just be a fun game BEFORE it's a fun MMO, and honestly I think it's about time we had that. I may be wrong of course but that's the general feel I get so far.

@Cendres I meant to say that IS the cool thing about it! lol WTB edit button.

@Ren54

You obviously have no clue about what you speak. EQ did not have even a 10th of the players at its peak that WoW had within a couple of weeks of release. Most of the players who flocked to WoW never even heard of an mmo at the time it released.