via – Got GameMMORPG. Maybe you’ve heard the acronym before. If you haven’t, just know that it’s a bunch of people playing a video game in the same world, fighting all manner of beasties and fighting each other, while gallivanting around the virtual world gathering weird objects for non-playable characters. Star Wars: The Old Republic is no different. Well, maybe it is a little different. Most MMOs have you reading dialogue, watching your avatar stand there, expressionless, as it interacts with the characters around it, and puts you in a story that everyone else pretty much experiences…verbatim. Oh, and most MMO’s aren’t set against the backdrop of what could be considered one of the greatest Scifi franchises in history.
Star Wars: The Old Republic (aka SWTOR) came out in 2011 to acclaim, fandom, and positive reviews. There was a lot of love for the potential this Massively Online Roleplaying game had. Gamers were excited to jump back into the world of the Knights of the Old Republic, a game lauded as the best Star Wars game created. And as a result, people knew there was the promise of an excellent story, the ability to make choices for your character in that story, and the chance to follow the path of the Light or Dark side. And as if that weren’t enough, you had the chance to play as a Jedi or Sith. It was easy to see why this game was so popular and had so many jumping in to swing that Lightsaber or dual wield some blasters. How could this game possibly lose?
Fast forward a year and a half later. SWTOR was seeing a drop in subscriptions and servers were emptying out. People found it hard pressed to stay around when end game content was sparse, and the game mechanic was something they’ve seen on every other MMO. The Star Wars name wasn’t enough to fight off the juggernaut known as World of Warcraft or the subscription free Guild Wars. STWOR was in trouble, and it needed to find a way to crawl out of the gutter and bring in new blood. It took a chance, and it might have paid off.
EA and Bioware rolled the dice and reworked the game in a Free to Play model. No subscription required. You get the chance to play the main game in its entirety, but with drastic limitations. But, if you were so bold, you could pay a monthly fee and enjoy the game restriction free. In the end though, for me, it was the Free to Play option that got me started. It was a chance to try out the game and see if it was worth paying fifteen bucks a month. I figured, I did so with World of Warcraft for ages, if SWTOR was up to par, it deserved my cash. So I left WoW with it’s latest expansion oversimplifying everything, and an overall experience that was getting dull, and I wanted to try something new, yet something similar to WoW. As a result I downloaded SWTOR the day it became Free to Play, and I found that I liked it…then loved it.
There’s just something about playing an MMO with a Star Wars paint job. I got to fight Mandalorians, swing a lightsaber, fly a starship, and follow a story where I get to choose (for the most part) what I say or do in the main story. And that story, I find, is well written. There’s deep lore, surprising twists, and call backs to the previous games that are clever and at times, jaw dropping. Then you have the voice acting that was well done, believable, and had scope and depth that you’d expect from a Star Wars title. Compare that to WoW, where I didn’t have the patience to read every dialogue box that appeared, so I never knew what was happening. I just followed the quest arrow. In the end, I came for the talent trees and robes, but stayed for the immersive plot and interesting characters.
SWTOR also does some things that I hadn’t seen in other MMOs that I’ve played, and I’ve honestly, only played a handful. The Legacy mechanic is fascinating, as it encourages the player to have more than one character to play. Adding too and growing your legacy gained power ups and unlock extras you normally wouldn’t get just playing a single character. Then there was the introduction of Companions. I think this was a genius idea, as it allowed players flexibility on how to play. If you prefer to play solo, you have the option to have your companion by your side and fight your way through the story. These Companions aren’t there just to help you on the battlefield either. Your Companions can help you gather resources for crafting and even craft the items you and your Legacy need. Also, this is a beautiful game. Well, when it comes to the character models and armor, as well as the weapons and accessories your carry. There’s so much variety and detail for an MMO that fit so well in into the Star Wars universe, you’ll find yourself spending an hour putting together gear that both looks and feels good. Unfortunately, the NPCs get a little less polish and the environments are bland. With the vast desserts of Tatooine and the empty ice plains of Hoth, you get very few photo opporunities and even fewer breathtaking vistas. But, it sticks to the Star Wars style, as really, Star Wars wasn’t known for its aesthetic beauty. Despite the fun and familiar gameplay, the Star Wars Universe, and the involving story, what sold me on this game, and what got me to switch over to becoming a subscriber, was the community.
The entire STWOR game can be played alone without having to interact with another player. If you’re willing to play for free and do this, great. But there are missions with greater reward, stronger villains, and a more challenging experience, that need more than one person to complete. At first I avoided all of this, remembering the trolls from World of Warcraft, but I knew I wanted to play these areas at some point. I’ve largely ignored the big blue chat window, jaded by previous games, but figured I needed to take the plunge eventually. And I was pleasantly surprised. I found that the other players were uncharacteristically nice and extremely helpful. Those who’ve played WoW know that people can be ruthless, mocking, and argumentative over irrelevant subjects just to mess with other players. There was also the constant pestering to join a guild or buy gold. With SWTOR, there’s so little of that noise, and such a loud contingency of helpful players, that it’s actually a joy to interact with the people in this game. People went out of their way to give useful information, help new players, and engage in conversation about lore and plot points. That was the final sign I needed. I knew that this game…needed to take my money.
Now I am seven months into the world of the Old Republic, and I haven’t gotten bored yet (sort of, as I’ll explain later). But that isn’t to say that its all Ewoks and rainbows. With the influx of new, free players, and the adjustment to the new Free to Play model, there’s been an emphasis on SWTOR’s in-game market, the Cartel Market and less on expanding the game and universe. I get it though, these companies need to make money for this game to keep bringing out new expansions and worthwhile patches in order to help keep this game interesting and fun. Sadly, this emphasis on the Cartel Market has soured the game for me, as a paying subscriber.
With the latest patch, we are introduced to a new race, the Cathar, and the ability to modify armor to whatever color scheme our hearts desire, for a price. This brings into light the in-game economy, where people who are willing to fork over the real world cash to buy Cartel Coins and in turn Cartel Market items can then put up said items on the Galactic Trade Network (which is this game’s auction house) for in-game credits. It’s a pretty sweet deal as millions of credits are spent every day to get the much sought after Cartel Market items. I can appreciate that. It’s when you can’t access features like the armor color mods and the new playable race without spending real world money, that rubs me the wrong way.
As a paid subscriber you get an allowance of Cartel Coins every month, which is nice, because you’re already paying a monthly fee, it’s cool to get a few bones thrown our way in Cartel Coins. But then, when new features are introduced, you still need Cartel Coins to unlock them and for subscribers, at a discounted rate. I’m already paying a monthly fee. EA and Bioware are already getting my money. I don’t see a reason why they need to take more of it. I realize it’s all cosmetic, but I feel that they’re taking advantage of those who are willing to pay the subscription. Personally, I think the best way to correct this is to provide a larger stipend of Cartel Coins to offset the high prices for these items, but…again, they’re mostly cosmetic and don’t really add or subtract from the game. It’s just the principal. If you’re a free to play gamer, great. Pay the extra cash, because you’re more or less getting all the same content, for free, and because there are no ads, these companies need to make the money somewhere. But if you’re all in, like I am, there shouldn’t be these limitations.
Then, there’s the boredom factor. I mentioned earlier that I’m not yet bored of this game, but really, there’s not that much for you to do in game. I really liked the WoW factor of being able to fish and craft and cook, because it was something to do other than kill, kill, kill. Sure there are the space battles, which I personally like, but I feel like there should be more. Granted, I’m not whining that I can’t farm for things, because it’s AWESOME that my crew gets to do all the heavy lifting, but it would be nice to be able to play a card game for credits, or hunt for stuff, or have some podracing or even expand on the space battles. Anything other than the usual kill, kill, kill. That’s honestly my biggest complaint. You can have big dungeons to fight in or PVP maps to run around and gank people in, but that’s it. Nothing mundane and cute to do, no pet raising, no starship interiors to upgrade and customize, to make it your home. Just fighting. Now, though I have the latest expansion, I haven’t played through it yet, so I don’t know if there are a ton of things to do in Makeb. But it would be nice to see some variety to add to the longevity of the game.
Star Wars the Old Republic is a fun game that hooks you with deep story telling and an entire galaxy to roam, but this is by no means a perfect game. It’s hard not to love that it’s the Star Wars universe with the ability to shoot lightning out of your fingers, wield a lightsaber, brandish some blasters in each hand, like a cowboy, and pepper unsuspecting foes with a barrage of missles. That is just plain fun. But there is still the lack of variety of things to do and a spotty in game economy. Luckily it is off set by an immense story, companions with fun and varied personalities, fighting animation that looks almost choreographed, and a supportive and friendly community. So if you love Star Wars and are looking for a good MMO, it’s hard to go wrong traveling to a long time ago, in a galaxy far away.
