StampyIRL

Well, I went into last weekend expecting a lot out of the story and voice-acting, and not much else.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much fun the combat is, and I was blown away by the low-level flashpoints. Both had one fairly tricky (but not overly difficult) encounter. Group dialog decisions had a huge effect on the overall run.

The sound overall is fantastic - not just the voice acting, but the sound effects and music as well. The game is very linear, but so were KoTOR/Mass Effect. It's not a bad thing, in my book. BioWare does linear very, very well.

The only thing that really irked me were a lack of UI options. The UI they have isn't bad, but I would really like to have some more options to set things up for my own screen and eyes.

I have not tried space combat.

Personally, I find that never knowing when you might get ganked adds a great sense of immersion. That extra sense of danger on PvP servers makes a game feel more like an adventure. It's easier to stay in character when I'm not just steamrolling through scripted content without really interacting with other players.

I'm not much of an RPer. I've dabbled, but that's it. However, some of the best world PvP I've ever experienced involved heavy roleplay on both sides. It adds a whole other dimension to a player-driven battle when the characters actually have good reasons for wanting to slaughter each other.

For myself, I'm not interested in "regular" RP. Standing around and emoting at other players just doesn't appeal to me. RP-PvP is an entirely different thing. It's what makes me want to stay in character. Just my 2 credits.

I had my fun with WoW and Blizzard has enough of my money. Healing monk is kind of a neat idea, but I'm not terribly enthusiastic about this. To be fair, it would have had to be pretty mind-blowing to draw me back at this point, after having lost interest a couple of years ago.

I was discussing this with a non-MMO-playing friend - just how silly it looks. They said they were actually interested in it, and that this is the kind of thing that might get them playing WoW. I was pretty shocked to hear it. Who knows? They might get some new players out of this. Angry Birds types.

@hereafter

Well said. Hollywood and TV both have decades of success to back that up. Passive can be quite enjoyable, if it's well-done.

@Acidbaron

I suspect that TOR's major contribution to MMOs will be a big, fresh batch of gamers who are brand new to the genre.

I agree with Rubi that certain of the BioWare devs come off as arrogant. But, to be fair, you've taken that quote completely out of context.

"One of the most common things we’re already hearing is that people seem to find it hard to go back to other MMOs once they play The Old Republic; because there’s a real sense of purpose to everything."

This is a statement of fact. They are, in fact, getting that exact feedback from quite a few players. Of course there are also players who hate it, but who in their right mind would focus on that? Would you consider a standard resume to have an arrogant tone?

Here are some more quotes from the same article:

"Well we always, in terms of feedback, take it very seriously. One of our core values, as an organisation, is humility."

"We know people complained a little, but I think if they try it I think they’ll be blown away."

Not to come off like a BioWare apologist, but I really wish you'd at least bother to read an article before ranting on it. All of this "writhing around in ecstasy" talk... it's sensationalist nonsense.

Finally got around to listening... I have to respectfully disagree about TOR and GW2. They can be different games and still directly compete with each other.

Using myself as an example, I stopped playing Rift because I had more fun with Battlefield. I only have a limited amount of gaming time, so I'm going to spend it on what's most fun. I'm excited about both GW2 and TOR for completely different reasons, but who knows what I'll end up sinking my time into? Either one could totally hook me, or maybe something else will come out of left field.

I know I'm not the only gamer who enjoys more than one genre.

@Bolongo

I wouldn't say that our technology has advanced on any sort of neat curve. There have been all sorts of major breakthroughs and regressions throughout history. War, poverty, and politics all play a major role. How many brilliant ideas would have been scrapped or hidden in the middle ages due to fear of a superstitious populace?

We live in a time where inventors are allowed to invent, and enough problems exist that they actually have something to solve. There is no guarantee that such a situation will continue indefinitely.

@KvanCetre
That's pretty much how I always saw it. Cycles of repression and freedom could see it grow in fits and starts.

And besides, the hyperdrive is a Rakata invention - the Rakata who are no longer around to invent anything else. It may be tens of thousands of years more before humans reach a level where they could actually advance such a thing.

Even though my opinion completely agrees with many of those posted here, I also think Wada's assessment was apt.

I'm an old-timer to the series, having picked it with the original 8-bit version. I thought that with IV, VI, and VII, the series showed massive, continual improvement with every title. FFVII is the reason I bought a PlayStation when they were still fairly new and expensive. FFXI actually introduced me to MMOs, and I thought it was great, if somewhat grindy.

When Hironobu Sakaguchi took a less direct role, the series lost much of it's soul. (I believe he got promoted and didn't "hands-on" produce VIII - please correct me if I'm wrong). After the big merger with Enix Corporation, the games became linear and totally lost what had attracted me to the series in the first place.

BUT - did it damage the franchise? I don't think so. Those games aren't my cup of tea, but they're still obviously well-made, decent games.

FFXIV on the other hand... to have become such a costly and public train wreck, which the entire internet watched in gruesome fascination. Yeah, that's some real damage there.

Wada is absolutely right, and it's good that he's willing to publicly state it. Now we'll have to see if he can actually fix the damn thing!

@Space Cobra

Nah, you're right. I mostly just wanted to point out some of Tad Williams' spot-on predictions. So far, he's not too far off with where the world is headed.

Anyway, I'm just a huge sci-fi nerd who is into all of this stuff. These weren't my favourite books, but they're definitely worth a read.