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Beta review by Lobotomist - *( non fan point of view )
Lobotomist
Member EpicPosts: 5,980
Intro
{mod edit} I am mmorpg entushiast and long time poster here at mmorpg.com
I have very critical point of view, perhaps jaded. But I have been known to change my mind , and welcome anyone to do it.
I have been very critical of AOC and WAR. But playing open betas changed my mind 100% and I bought them both.
Bioware
I used to be biggest Bioware fanboy. So many times i wrote on this forums about their mystery MMO before SWTOR was announced. I still think NWN1 is the best game of all times (for its modding and internet value) And Baldurs Gate is best RPG of all times for me.
Then came EA deal.
And the company direction changed.
In my oppinion Dragon Age:Origins and Mass Effect I, are last true Bioware games. What we have now is no more the same company ( And in fact their next game will be Command&Conquer - gasp... )
Bioware/EA. Hold none of my respect
Will I eat my hat ?
I have entered long awaited SWTOR open beta , with very low expectations. Which is good. You can never be dissapointed that way.
I have played Jedi Knight ( because i recon this is what most players will play and Bioware invested the most), And Smuggler (because I wanted to play it) - all to lvl 12 (so trough their origin story) + played a bit of Coruscant
And played Esseles flashpoint couple of times ( twice with smuggler , once with Knight ).
If this experience does not represent the game...i dont know what will.
The good , the bad and Ugly
There were some positive suprises here. And some dissapointments.
Combat: Quoted to be major downside and WOW clone. I still quite enjoyed the combat. Especially in Smuggler (hugely overpowered class). Smuggler is actively using cower, and enemy bullets are traced in real time. Hitting the cover actually.
Its very much fun. But this discrapancy between turn based and actual FPS game logic is to mixed up and confusing. Especially because if enemys shoot at cover. They should move to get better vintage point. Not just stand in same spot.
Combat animations are very good. And they help. Especially in Jedi Knight "wack a mole" gameplay.
The gameplay is sadly outdated. And it shows in combat aspects. Like for example "charged" skills. Where instead holding button and charging it (Like in Champions or Rift) you just press and wait for animation to play out.
There is no question that game feels like it should had more action combat. But they went for WOW style, and did it less good.
Quests: I enjoyed them thoroughly. It was first time I turned off the general chat because it disturbed immersion. And left groups because they interfered with my quest enjoyment. The game just felt it is more fun "solo", something i will talk about later.
Voice acting is top notch.
Stories are "Clone Wars" PG14 type , so dont expect anything "deep" ( For that play Witcher ). Still very enjoyable. What shocked me though, is share ammount of voice acted content. With all choices taken in account. It must be mega huge undertaking.
Graphics: I am graphic proffesional. I have M.A Graphic Art education. So I am very qualified to talk about this. Some say they decided on "style" instead of realism, because it makes game more "timeless". This I wholeheartedly agree.
Problem is their "style" is not very good. WOW did the same, but their graphic direction was genius. SWTOR "style" is poor at best.
Textures: We have to talk about this. SWTOR uses low resolution textures. Not much better than WOW. This may not be issue when the game is zoomed out. Problem is in CUTSCENES it zooms in to extreme closeup. And the game looks like something on Wii. This is simply unexcusable for a PC game. Simply shocking.
World Design: Blocky , empty wasteland. Playing on Ord Mantell , is simply shocking. While textures (from far away) are nice "painted" style. The world is so empty and lifeless, there is no excuse for a game released 2011 to be this way.
It could be best compared to WAR world design.
Animations: Mixed bag. While combat animations are top notch. Aswell are cutscenes. But characters are stiff. Even when turning they stand frozen on the floor, sliding instead of moving their legs to turn.
Gameplay: Standard run of the mill. Positive is that game doesnt choke you with million of mobs aggroing on every step.I did enjoy it. But didnt really felt "i want more" when i closed my beta. Its trully run of the mill in every way.Best compared to Champions Online. (but feels bit older)
Customisation: Much was written about it. It simply lacks. From character creation limited options, to much of armors and items looking the same. And often incredibly ugly.
Bugs: Game does not look ready to launch. NPCs pop in and out. Disappear. I had invisible NPCs talking to me in cutscenses. Even a hillarious ant size jedi master sitting on a chair. Crushes , CTDs happen often , and i even had to reset the PC twice because the game froze the system
Props to Bioware: Playing the game I finally understood a great Idea Bioware had. A trully genre moving intention. Its not MMO with 4th story pillar.(as they advertise it) Actually SWTOR is next generation RPG. A true mmoRPG. Evolution of single player RPG , where now you play your RPG but with all other people in it.
This alone merits buying the game. Which brings me to the following:
P2P ?
SWTOR is excellent single player RPG. (infact as I stated above, other people more disturb the experience than help )And could be reccomended as such to anyone. Problem is, why pay subscription to play single player RPG ?
I think this would be major break point for SWTOR. Huge number of people that would easily go for the game (I know handfull) will not buy it because of subscription.
Bioware should have launched the game B2P. And than simply sell additional content as DLCs
There is simply no reason, need or justification of P2P subscription. And it will be the downfall of the game.
As will be evident in half year or sooner.
There is simply no question that the game will go F2P down the line. And i suspect that was the initial idea at Bioware, but greed changed their minds.
Where did 100+ millions go ?
Question often heared lately.
I think there is ritchness of content , vast sea of branching quests players dont see. It is real commendable and real Kudos to Bioware. Outside of that, the game is in shambles. And no better than WAR for example.
So, who should play the game?
If you dont mind the subscription, and you love Bioware style Quests. Dont mind its basically more of a single player game with extra MMO trappings. And just love Star Wars. Than I can warmly reccomend it.
However If you are MMO player (especially one looking for virtual world) be warned. SWTOR is sub par MMO as MMOs go.
And its in real peril of rapidly dropping population in mater of months of its launch. Until its ultimate but inavoidable F2P conversion.
So will I eat my hat ?
No...
I genuenly enjoyed the game. And I am very thankful for having opportunity to test it.
Because , when I closed it. I really didnt feel compulsion to come back.
Its a good game. But should not be subscription based.
It will see good initial sales. But will lose subscribers quickly.
Ultimately it will be converted to F2P, as it was supposed to be in first place.
Patience, young padawan...
Comments
You summed it up nicely! I feel the exact same way!
It seems they practically put all their money on making everyting with voice overs... and everything else got barely any attention.
And this is going to bite them in the butt very hard.
Right now everyone is in the middle of their storyline and enjoying it (so am I to be honest).
But sooner than later we will pinch through the "voicer over" sugar coating and see the game it really is. Soulless.
I am glad I ordered the standard edition. So I will enjoy the storyline on my jedi shadow for a couple weeks and then probably cancel.
My views of the game where slightly more favourable but I am still tossing up whether its worth buying or not.
Ultimately it comes down to the endgame and what they will offer and unfortunately it seems like this will be a weak part of the game.
Still, beta testing this game was fun and I do hope future MMO's take the good parts of this game and carry them forward.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Well said., I agree wholeheartedly. This is the first AAA mmo in a long time that I didn't feel compelled to go out and preorder after trying out the beta.
lol
Argh
After level 11, there is more of the game... you know, past the intro. Your review is half decent, but incomplete. You didn't ecompass the game as a whole, you based it off of the starter quests like every other reviewer has almost. Did you group up and do an instance? Try your hand at some of the PvP aspects of the game? Should have, especially when trying to determine the worth of a subscription. Very lacking.
Also, when you say that you go into the game expecting the worse, that is actually not a good thing to do. It is called a pre-disposition, and forms bias and ill-perception of the game. Just saying.
Review kind of sucked, but I am sure the WoW hate croud loves it. Hipsters.
Argh
you think people who dislike the notion of a game from the get go have the initiative to actually play the game to make a review? I give him props on at least giving a well thought out review of his exprience through the content he did play although I agree... if you judged gamesm erely by the tutorial... AoC was a WoW killer.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
Hmm. Why all these " i played 4 hours in beta and i have a very super review to show you about how the WHOLE game is" reviews, pop up all the time around the internet? Can you tell us something else? About the flashpoints? The heroic quests? The operations? the open world objectives? how the class and roles fit in individually? The dps/healing animations? the advanced classes? The companion system? The crafting system?
I am in general beta for quite some time. And i can safely say that, YOU DON"T HAVE A CLUE! I started testing the game with really low expectations. I expected it to be just a "good" game only because of Bioware. But i was wrong. It is AWESOME. It is certainly not revolutionary, but just AWESOME. And all my friends that tried it just for a few hours in the open beta weekend, were amazed about how a game could be enjoyable at lvling while all the other games of the same genre were grindfests. And one more thing. People forget about why we pay subscriptions on some MMOrpg games. I personally pay sub because of the customer in-game service. I played B2P games in the past and in most of them, the service was awfull. You open a ticket and noone is responding to you. Or they say, sorry we can do nothing atm. We ll review your matter when we ll have the time. I am not a big fan of WoW anymore but one of the reasons Blizzard has too many customers is for services. Most of the times, you get a response intantly or with-in 5-6 hours. And this was enough to pay the 15 dollars per month. Because there was allways someone online to help me out. I don't want to see my character stuck for 1 week anymore. Or a response on a bugged loot, like "sorry we can do nothing". So, if you like a game, purchase less porn from the internet and save 15 dollars for 24/7 customer support for your online game and ofcourse for often new adds and content patches and not new content every 1-2 years.
P.S And don't forget. This weekend is a STRESS test and i don't know which build of the beta they applied for it. The game is not bug free yet, but some bugs i saw, i never have seen them in general test for all the time i am playing. The game is not perfect and it is not for everyone 's tastes. But before you want to critisize an MMO-RPG "PLAY" it first. So this review is NOT a review. Move along, nothing to see here....
As I said in oppening.
AOC and WAR convinced me and changed my mind by playing open beta.
SWTOR did not.
As for judging game from lvl 1-11 content. Accurate reflection of the gameplay should be there.
Except for raids. And end content (obviously). I didnt comment on those.
If company fails to grab player by first impressions. Than they do not have much buisness sense.
Since that is what reviewers will review anyway.
As for not playing PVP
I did not have impression SWTOR is PVP focused game ?
If PVP is SWTOR redeeming quality. Than I appoligise.
It is weird how the first MMO to actually add a good RPG element gets flack for it... I also came into this game saying "Do I really want to blow 60 bucks and the time and effort to max out a character (Because I only do one per MMO) when GW2 is right around the corner. 12 hours in the first day and Bioware kicked my balls into my throat and stole my money, I've been in love ever since and I'm also 100% sure I'll be maxing out 2 characters one on each faction on 2 different PvP servers.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
Good point that. People (mmorpg vets) should know better than to dismiss or glorify a mmorpg after just a couple of hours / a few days of play time (of a beta, even). Sure, anyone can give his or her first impression, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. In that sense I only value what long term testers have to say (also the negative ones).
My brand new bloggity blog.
+1
This is exactly how I felt.
I'm now allowing my hardcore WoW son onto my beta account, he has been watching over my shoulder the whole time and begging tp play it.
The moment I saw you had purchased WAR and AOC after doing the beta test I disregarded your review, regardless of the fact that I have played it and have it on pre order.
Mr Reviewer mentioned the quests are best to solo. I don't believe they are actually. Me and a guild mate quested the smuggler/trooper planet completely together. Took us about 5 hours worth of play and enriched the experience completely. I felt my guild mates character had a true persona beyond being his avatar.
Often I would select one option but my guild mate would select another. It was nice that the quests didn't develop exactly as I wanted them to, it gave them some unpredictability.
Ohh and claiming your education in graphic art gives you the knowledge to judge how good a games graphics are is pretty bigheaded. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, next time you review a game and mention its graphics, explain it is your opinion which dictates your words, not some education.
I enjoyed your review till you started looking through your crystal ball. But since we are here do you really think world will end in 2012?
In Lobotomist's defense, if the game isn't enjoyable from the outset, why would anyone feel inclined to play all the way through?
As he states, it's CRITICAL that the game feels good immediately, not several hours/days of play down the line. I personally don't have the time for games like that when there are immediately fun games out there and if my xp of SWTOR is the same, I won't continue to play it past beta.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating and for most players, the 'eating' begins as soon as you hit 'Create New Character'.
Aryas
Playing: Ableton Live 8
~ ragequitcancelsubdeletegamesmashcomputerkillself ~
You have a good son, he'll be able to experience an evolution of the genre for the better. It may not be perfect to everyone but no game is and this game is definately a step above most. I can't wait to see how this game evolves over time and how the genre itself evolves because of this game. Especially if peopel asking for Dynamic Events gets through or even Public quests, both features would be a great addition.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
I spent the first half hour watching the intros, another walking aroud and exploring and another HOUR sitting in the Cantina while eating a sub with my toon set on /dance. Initially it didn't really grab me right away. After a while I started to quest and kill and really enjoyed the whole actual ROLE PLAYING aspect where you would choose your actions. It almost seems like I'm being graded on staying with the attitude pace that I've set for myself. In any case its fun so far. I guess I've been through so many MMOs that its hard just to get past those first few levels to really start to appreciate it.
(o'')-O Vs Q('' Q)
Just a couple of points I want to touch on....
"SWTOR "style" is poor at best." - Opinion. Mine differs. I kinda liked the style. When I first saw the game during development, I wasn't impressed, but, having played several beta weekends now, it's grown on me and I like it.
The "bugs" you speak of.....I had none. No CTD's...EVER! Never froze. I'm wondering if you had your graphics turned up too high and your system couldn't take it? I've played for about 20 hours this weekend and have yet to crash. There was a bit of lag at times, but to be expected on a stress test weekend.
The only bug we encountered was trying to use the holograph option during conversations. It was a mixed bag, but easily remedied.
I have no idea why people still claim this is a single player RPG. My husband and I have had a blast teaming up with others to do epics and leveling together. People who claim this obviously didn't try too hard to enjoy the group content that Bioware offered.
Overall, not a bad review. A bit biased. SWTOR does have some issues to work out before launch, but none of the bugs you mentioned. The game played smoothly. I loved the voice-acting and the RPG style of the game. The social interactions in groups while in conversations were enjoyable too, if a bit confusing at first.
I wasn't a "fan" of the game, but after playing in beta, I pre-ordered the collectors edition and have yet to regret it.
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating and for most players, the 'eating' begins as soon as you hit 'Create New Character'."
I like that^^^.
(o'')-O Vs Q('' Q)
Then he could name the post "First planet review" or "first few testing hours" and tell us just how he think the game is shortly after the Log-in. But to have a full review and say "the game does not worth the sub" when you only have seen the 1% of what a game has to offer you, is just ridiculous. If he were working on a magazine he would have been fired. The game is not for everyone. Some ppl will like it and some ppl won't. But before you express an opinion for a specific matter, you have to HAVE an opinion. It is just like you are about to test a new car, you sit in the driver's seat and before you start the engine you say " ah this car sux. Does not worth the money".
And thumbs up for the comment about the soloing above. The lvl up system is extremely group friendly. I tried it both solo and group and i had much more fun doing quests with my friends and it took me less time.
I hear all the opinions with respect generally. But i want to hear real opinions. Not guesses. Play the game, see what it has to offer and then we can safely critisize it.
Graphically speaking the art was okay. But NOT ANYWHERE NEAR up to par with what it should be these days. If I have my settings on 1080p, there shouldn't be one damn grain of pixelation on my screen. Even WoW's overly cartoony style is still more vibrant and sharp in comparison to SWTOR. Its just that this game is supposed to be their "Big Thing" and since it is a Star Wars title, the visuals should recieve the same treatment as their movies in the respects that it was always visually breathtaking for its time. Like I said. I'm enjoying the game but I agree that the graphics could have/SHOULD have been way better.
(o'')-O Vs Q('' Q)
http://www.youtube.com/user/logun24x7#p/u/3/OskRij8AYaU
... people are so ... Graphically if Aion and AoC are the mmo power choices... it's now the best. Your opinion of WoW in any shape looking better than swtor is completely insane. Wow legitmately looks 2004-2008 (newer zones)
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
Well it was not the first to add rpg as LOTRO was however SWTRO does it much better. The quest chains all make sense the class stories make sense and make you want to do the next step before you log which makes you want to do the next one and so forth. I have doen the starter areas bothways solo and also as a group. Both are fun The game does start to open up once you leave the starter areas. The first Flashpint is fun and does require a group. What is nice is even runnign through it you felt you were part of a story it was not just run into a dungeon fight to a boss kill and loot it. Here, there is an actual reason for what you are doing and it makes sense. The light dark choices are interesting to say the least. Do you resuce the murderous pirate because he has info the republic needs or do you kill him to protect innocent people he will ravage. The choices have effect Your light or dark affliction can open or close quests for you. Certian compaions will react differently to your quest choices which also has an effect.
To be honest it is this RPG feal that will either attract or push away people. If you are the type who wants to rush to max lvl to raid you would problably not enjoy this game as much as the person who enjoys the journey as they lvl.
As for bugs they are there but the game keeps getting more polished. The build beign used thsi week if fair supprior to the one used just 2 weeks ago. They have patched it twice just since Friday fixing errors.
I found the graphics interesting having first tested it using a 250 then changing to a 560ti i was shocked at how much better the game looked. Just like in wow at first the anima look is odd but after a bit you adjust to it.
Magic is impressive, but now Minsc leads! Swords for everyone!
I was discussing the "style" of the game, not the graphics. Note I didn't quote that part of his review. The graphics could be better, but they aren't bad. And they don't sway my opinion to cancel my pre-order.
Not a suprising so called review by the OP, and laugable one at that. The game gets alot better, but I m not going to try and explain to someone that never gave the game a shot in the first place. I was very sceptacle when I first tried beta, only to be very suprised how good it was.
This was months ago, and I actually played past the starter area. AOC and WAR, really, you re comparing it to those. To each their own, but WAR was great in the first few levels, then hit the turd wall, AOC never felt good to me. Then again I ve played all 3 past the starter area.