# With the NDA lifted I can finally talk about The Old Republic MMO



## Rahl Windsong (Nov 21, 2011)

I have been in beta for TOR for a few weeks now and I wanted to come here and let you folks know a few things...

First of all I want to say what a great job Bioware has done with adding a first rate cinematic storyline to the MMO genre, it is absolutely amazing to do qroup quests and have all the members of your party take part in the cinematic conversations. Your first flashpoint, well I won't say too much because I don't want to spoil it for you, but you WILL be completely blown away by what Bioware has accomplished in terms of multiplayer cinematics. The storyline aspects of this MMO are astonishing.

I will talk about the Smuggler class because that is the class I have the most experience with, my smuggler is level 17 now and that is the highest level character I have. I also have a dual wielding Jedi Sentinel that is level 13.

The Smuggler:

She heals, so getting groups is easy for me, she has a buff called Lucky Shots that, at this level, increase critical shots/strikes by 5% and people really love that about the Smuggler, and also that they can heal. Healing has quite a range but the areas are so vast that in some battles your party might get out of your range. Healing is done with Tech in TOR for the Smuggler, other classes do it with the Force and Tech.

The Smuggler can also pick the Gunslinger advanced class and that class does not have stealth or healing instead they have skills that help a dual wielding blaster type. I don't know too much about the gunslinger so I won't be saying much about it.

The Scoundrel Smuggler advance class gets the healing and Stealth and it is really fun to play, you get to pick your advance (level 10 or 11 can't remember exactly) class once you make it to the space port that takes you to the first planet after you complete your trials (training missions) and I really do suggest you complete them all before moving on because your first flashpoint has some fairly difficult boss fights, a mandalorion and the Dark Jedi at the end...of that FP

The thing about this game is I have never really been in an item hunt or rushing to level because I was so captivated by the storyline that all of the regular things you do in MMO's seem to just happen as the story unfolds.

If you like to play MMO's, The Old Republic is one that you simply have to play because this will be the MMO that will set the new standard in MMO's. WoW at top spot in the MMO market is about to end very soon after TOR launches, I can garantee that...



I also like the way she speaks it is very "Hans Solo'ish" if you can imagine...hehe

I will post more info later, right now I need to go play TOR again...be warned once you play it, all your other games don't seem so great anymore and you won't want to play them much. I expect that will wear off but so far I can't seem to stop playing this game because I am part of this amazing Star Wars story and I have to find out what happens next. Recently I just got my ship back, which was stolen in the opening flashpoint scene. I won't say anything more about that because I don't want to spoil the story for anyone....

I will post more about the Smuggler class later and if anyone else has info about the game please add it to this thread...


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## Winters_Sorrow (Nov 28, 2011)

Rahl Windsong said:


> If you like to play MMO's, The Old Republic is one that you simply have to play because this will be the MMO that will set the new standard in MMO's. WoW at top spot in the MMO market is about to end very soon after TOR launches, I can garantee that...



I don't know about that, but I agree with Rahl's statements about the quality of the game which Bioware will shortly be putting out.

I have been playing the Beta as well and think that if people want an MMORPG which isn't a WoW clone, then they could do worse than give this a shot.

I've had a little go on all the starting areas and classes and love how they've managed to make the game feel like it's "your journey" from the very beginning. As you progress through your main class quest, there are lots of other ones to get involved as well, but the class quest in unique to each of the 8 classes (4 on each faction, light & dark side) and I must say it's very immersive.

One of the things I'm most liking about the game so far is probably something which will put off some people; all of the quests and interactions with NPCs are voiced. Consider that for a moment. Every quest and quest giver will have a (sometimes long!) conversation with you about what it is they're wanting you to do and you get the opportunity to tailor your responses to their pleas as you decide. It really helps suck you into the world much more than reading a wall of text.

I'm playing the Jedi Sage class (level 19) at the moment, which is ranged damage & healer and I've just picked up my ship and my second companion. Participated in a couple of Space Battles (yes they're 'on rails' but you will still have a big smile on your face as you do a straffing run on a space station and take out it's turrets & hanger bay) and some PvP battlegrounds - Huttball is hilariously manic and enjoyable.

I've also got a Bounty Hunter character & Imperial Agent on the Dark side, which are great fun and contain some suitably heartless options which become available during your early quests.

I'm throughly enjoying this game and would recommend to any Star Wars fan and any fan of MMOs in general to give it a try and see what you think.

Already pre-ordered my copy


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## Cayal (Nov 28, 2011)

I got into the beta for TOR but for some reason the graphics stuffed up (despite having the correct specs for it) and I couldn't do much more than create my character.

Shame because I really want to get this game.


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## Rahl Windsong (Nov 29, 2011)

The thing I have noticed more then anything else is that in all MMO's before this I have always felt the need to get to the max level and the only thing that mattered was leveling and getting better gear. In TOR not once have I wanted to play to get to the next level or to find better gear, that just happens, the thing that makes me want to play is my character is a part of this fantastic Star Wars storyline and I have to find out what happens next.

Not only that but my actions have consequences and not only in if I recieve DS points or LS points but also in how Some NPC's in the game react and treat me. For instance I just travelled to Alderan as I had a quest to meet the ruling Noble House there. My character flirted with the noble to gain an advantage, what I do with that advantage remains to be seen however from my past experiences with this game I can garantee that my flirting will either help or hinder me.

And don't worry that scene starts out with a male and a female noble so I assume what ever your PC's gender is you have the option of flirting with the noble.

Anyway the servers are down right now and the message is that they should be back up some time this week for testers...I am now in withdrawl...lol

That is what keeps me coming back I need to find out what happens next...that is an amazing accomplishment in the evolution of the MMO and I really do believe they will take the top spot from WoW..give them 7 years and see what TOR looks like then that is how long WoW has had.


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## TheTomG (Nov 29, 2011)

Sounds awesome! Sadly life has got so busy that I am quitting my game time, so I will be unable to sample what sounds like the first MMORPG that could bring back more of a focus on the RPG part of that moniker.

Not to be sad though as some of that time will be invested in being creative so I don't mind games taking a back seat for a bit! Life will eventually ease up and TOR will be second on my list to dive into (first will be returning to Skyrim to finish that) - meantime I will live vicariously through the experiences of others in the game, so keep sharing!


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## Winters_Sorrow (Feb 24, 2012)

TheTomG said:


> meantime I will live vicariously through the experiences of others in the game, so keep sharing!



Well, since you asked Tom I'll let you know about some of what's gone on so far in SWTOR.

Shortly after launch there was the familiar issues with some bugs still being present (including some real progression-killers) and queuing to get into servers as demand crippled supply. It certainly put off some of my friends who were playing and have subsequently departed.

That said, it's now coming on 2 full months since it was released on 23rd December and a lot of those bugs have been fixed and the first load of new content (a new dungeon and expanded raid, amongst other things) was brought out a few weeks ago, and another large patch is due in March with some additional features planned there as well.

I've turned to the Dark Side and I'm now playing an Imperial Agent on the Scepter of Ragnos server and hit max level (50) in January. Since then I've been gearing myself up in the heroic/hard mode dungeons and raids with my guild and generally having a good time.  

Pros: Imperial Agent class-driven storyline was immense, loved it. It's also a genuine reason to level alts as each class has it's own backstory. I have a Sith Marauder, Sith Sorcerer and Bounty Hunter on the go, as well as a few Jedi characters and their stories are _all _different. Impressive & enjoyable.

Huttball - like marmite; you'll either love this take on pvp or hate it, but it's markedly different from any other pvp game I've played on MMOs which have all been variants of "Capture the Flag", "King of the Hill" or "Base attack/defend". This has the added quirk of being playable as Empire vs Jedi, Empire vs Empire or Jedi vs Jedi which is a nice twist, if somewhat cosmetic as there's really no difference bar naming between the two factions.

Star Wars - it's annoying that all of the playable races are 'Human...but' and you can't change your customisations in-game once you're playing, that said you're still in the Star Wars universe and some of the music and locations are great.

Cons:
There's not really anything dramatically new here, bar the storyline quest chains - and even that is arguably done before, like with the Death Knight's starting zone in WoW. Indeed it's similarity to a lot of MMOs in structure (kill X, collect A) is really good as people can get to grips with it quickly but mostly bad as people wind up comparing it to games like WoW which are 7 years old and have a much more established user base and 4 expansions worth of content.

Addons - if you use them and can't imagine life without them, you're going to hate the lack of a threat meter, damage meter or customisable interfaces. That said, I quite like the idea of everyone being on the same level and not having some macro'd addon freak faceroll you with 2 mouse button clicks as all his items and procs destroy you. I have difficulty in finding how that is any better than cheating to be honest. But it's a big gripe amongst those whiners so I thought I'd mention it.

End-game content - this is a concern, though with a game only 2 months old it's hard to get as upset about it as others but there is very little variety in the end game currently. You have hard mode versions of all the dungeons you've already played while levelling as well as the 8-man raids - which are fun, I'll admit. Once you've done those it's grind the same 3 pvp arenas over and over again or do some daily quests on a horrible pvp world called Ilum, which merits it's own post on just how bad it is, but I'll spare you.

Overall; I've enjoyed this game and was happy to switch over having been bored with WoW after playing it for 3 years or so. There's a great variety of MMOs out there these days, but you could do worse than give this one a shot.


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## Chaoticheart (Feb 24, 2012)

Endgame isn't really an issue. If you look at the leaked notes for the next few months patches there are a lot of new operations coming out. As well, there are a number of new warzones and open world pvp zones in the works.

I'm enjoying TOR as a casual MMO, but personally I'm looking forward to an English ArcheAge release. All the sandbox aspects look great (also go check out the kraken video. I was like ":O ME WANT!" as soon as I saw it )


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