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Why is TSW good but SW:TOR is bad?
SpidaFly
Member Posts: 21
Now... I don't have a copy of TSW yet. I've been excited about this game was supposed to be for a long time, but now that it's out I look at these forums and see that the general sentiment seems to be "meh, the game is ok, but it doesn't bring anything new".
One of the things I see mentioned is cutscenes and voice acting. Alright, is it really that good? And if it IS that good, why is it somehow revolutionary wheras SW:TOR's cutscenes/voice acting were thoroughly flamed with great measure on these boards? Is this game not as good as it was supposed to be but the fanbois are too embarassed to admit it and the "honeymoon period" hasn't worn off yet?
Come to think of it, from the discussions on these boards, a lot of things about this game sound lackluster. "Levelless" system still feels pretty much the same as a "level system", combat is clunky, animations are poor, content is lacking (granted, it's a new MMO and this has to be the case).
I don't know - for all the complaints I see, I'm surprised that its score is so high on the rankings. Fill me in?
Comments
I think the big difference is that the cut scenes and voice acting in TSW push the story along whereas in TOR, they are the story. In TSW, you aren't overwhelmed by cutscene and voice overs.
I love the VO in SW and hated them in Swtor. In SW the VO don't tell you go kill 10 rats, instead they tell you the back story and really never mention what they want you to do for them. It is weird but after the VO your quest tracker will tell you what to do but if you just listened to the VO you would have no idea. The stories they tell are great and give you wonderful insight into the world.
In Swtor, it is them just explaining why they want you to kill ten rats, I found that painful. Also when i first started playing swtor the game already felt 5 years old. It was all way too familiar. In SW there are some new ideas and new ways of questing. As much as people complain that all MMMO;s are wow clones the sam people complain when someone tries something different. So you will see people complain about combat cause it is different. I really like it. But then again I am becoming a fanboy cause I really can't believe how much I like this game ( i really didn't expect to just got it to fill up time til GW2, now I cancelled my preorder of GW2)
From what I've seen, the cutscenes in TSW are more unique and different from one another for the most part. While in SWTOR it's the same hand movement and head gesture used over and over and over again. Voice acting wise the quality is similar, at least to me so not a bad thing there. It's pretty good.
The leveling deal seems kinda iffy. Just leveling without the numbers themselves is. . . eh. I haven't played the game though, so I'm not going to knock entirely. The quests do look fun, that I'll give it.
For me personally, I like some of the aspects TSW has. But I can't get connected to it, why I don't know.
You know what's fun about chaos? I do, but I won't tell.
I think you really have to play the game to understand fully why a lot of people enjoy it, or don't enjoy it,imo. Just like any game, TSW is not for everyone.
I'll bite though, and add my thoughts about the game. To me it's all about the atmosphere and the general feeling of the game. Yes the voice acting is excellent, I wouldn't say it's magnitudes better than SWTOR, but it just feels better and the stories in the quests are more interesting to me.
Skill System:
I do have some things to say about the skill system, what I like about it personally is that it feels like you are always advancing. This is a big plus for me. That's because you actually are as you constantly gain skill points and ability points. It never costs more for an ability point or skill point than the start of the game cost. So what that means is you get more and more as you progress to flesh out your character even further. The game does have class "roles" so to speak (Tank,healer, dps or hybrids of the 2 types) but no one is locked into a role, as you can change when you like - because you literally make your own "class" based off the active and passive skills you have equipped. It can be complex, or simple depending on how you make your character, and I really like that freedom.
Content:
Content is going to be lacking for any release MMO if someone just grinds the game quickly into the ground, TSW has plenty of content for a launch title, IMO. What I enjoy about the content is that some of it is actually challenging, and makes you think. Also it's worth noting that Funcom has stated that they will have reguarlly planned ongoig content updates.
Animations :
IMO, the animations that are in the game are mostly good, it's just they need more of a variety of animations in the game. They have started adding these with patches, and also making adjustments to animations people are not happy with.
Combat:
Not sure what someone means by 'clunky' , I enjoy the combat just fine and don't really have any issues with it myself. With the near endless skill combinations due to the skill system, this can make combat fun again. For example, if for some reason you get bored of a certain combat style, just switch it up. Combat is somewhat similiar to Guild Wars 2 combat, they even have dodge.
Conclusion:
Yes I like the game, and these are just my opinions. If it helps at all, I'm an MMO veteran and have played many MMO's. If you are still on the fence about the game wait until someone can give you a buddy key for a day, or until they start having free trials is my best suggestion. Have a good one!
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I think it is more to do with the fact that TOR is too much of a singleplayer experience while TSW have multiplaying as main focus.
TOR is well made but a singleplayer game with some multiplayer stuff added, MMO fans usually tire of that fast.
TSW just seems more interesting...It isn't your story though, it is just back story, TOR tried to make it your story, but it really wasn't much of your story and the choices didn't mean much (I played sorc dark, wife sorc light, and it was 95-99% the same).
I found TOR to be ok for the free month, and got my money worth, just didn't feel like a mmo and to be honest, the story probably did help me get my money worth, as I didn't care too much for their other content, but it wasn't worth a replay on a different class, as it was all too similar...So worth buying, not staying.
I will have to see how TSW is later, but for now, I like it...It isn't my perfect mmo, but they are working on more content, and more varieties of content, so we will see....That was what turned me off of TOR, as I didn't care for their content, so more of the same wasn't going to do much for me.
TORs crafting was horrible and too easy, TSW's seems not that great either, havent really done much, but I like the aspect of harvesting, common, rare, and ultra rare type nodes, and such, like in Vanguard...So doubt it will ever be great for my style of play...
I will be playing TSW longer than I did TOR, as at this point, I was forcing myself to log into TOR, and once I hit 50 and my story was over, so was me playing.....We will see though, but for $35 that I paid for TSW, which is considerably lower than what I paid for TOR, I have easily gotten my money worth so far.
I enjoy both TSW and TOR and this is something I can't really agree with. TSW is just as much of a single player or rather solo experience as TOR. I haven't really ran into anything yet that would suggest otherwise. If anything I've grouped less in TSW compared to TOR but they both seem to be about on par in terms of solo and group content so far.
TSW is currently the highest rated released game on MMORPG, and many players on this website say its the best MMO currently out.
Exactly how did you come to the conclusion the general sentiment is 'meh'?
Anyways, to answer your question, SWTOR both have cutscenes and story, but thats about where their similarites end.
You do not make good/bad choices in TSW, you just experience the story. The dialog, characters, and stories themselves are a great deal more mature and overall better and better presented than in SWTOR. You will never be desiring to 'hit the space bar' and skip anything. Furthermore, its required you DONT skip anything in TSW. If you do, you'll miss out on important information and may not be able to complete your quests.
(Re: Loke's post)
Interesting comment, as my experience of TSW so far (QL3/4 Savage Coast) has been solely single player.
Would really like a better dungeon finder implmented in TSW (with dungeons being locked out for you until certains quests have been completed).
I didnt play SWTOR but am interested in where this thread goes.
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I think this sums up my feelings on the matter. The VO in The Secret World really are just a story being told through one persons eyes, that person being the NPC you're talking to. TOR was all about explaining what you're supposed to be doing and why, it was the wall of text from other MMO's that nobody bothered reading, just with a voice over. The depth of the voice overs in The Secret World are light years ahead of TOR.
There's one NPC in the Blue Mountains, he gives the dungeon quest there, an old indian man. I can't stress how amazing the voice acting on his scenes are, I got completely sucked in at one point while listening that I had to snap myself out of it, I just grinned at the way the scenes were affecting me. They're a whole different level compared to TOR's voice overs.
Perhaps it's because the voice overs in The Secret World aren't so prolific that they could put more work into them, make them something special, whereas TOR's it's just another cutscene in a world of cutscenes.
SWTOR has more players, so IMO it is better. I didn't play SWTOR. What I mean is SWTOR came out a year ago and still has more players than TSW that came out one month ago. So no duh, SWTOR is better or more popular. in subscription games popularity wins.
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Thanks, guys. I think I understand where people are coming from now.
Wish I was brave enough to drop that much money on a brand new game though.
So your saying that it doesn't matter how much $ they put into the development, but only subs count? Oo
The number of subs doesn't show the rentability, the investment has to correspond with the number of active (paying) subs.
you sure don't work in the economy.
There are what double or triple the servers on Swtor and TSW only 7 I believe. In TSW to get more of the wheel done you will grind the same quests over and over and over. You can get a Q6 weapon before you leave Kingsmouth. The highest is a Q10. And when they some day put in the Auction house what will you sell? A weapon , talismans or drinks? What better looking clothes? Its off to the CASH SHOP. Which gets items all the time and the game? Lol yeah none.
Swtor is a way better game than TSW to me.
First off the overwhelming hype of this game is amazing as evident by the highest released rating on the front page and countless gaming critics proclaiming the game a remarkable success. Never take the word of forum posters here on MMORPG.com for granted, we are a very critical bunch.
With that being said I enjoyed the level up with SWTOR to a degree but the game truely was a WoW clone with story tacked on. With TSW not only do I get amazing story but I also get interactive combat, amazing or dare I say the best questing system in MMO's to date, a superb classless system and jsut enough freedom to wonder off the beaten path and rewarded for my exploration. None of which SWTOR had.
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Me take it you havent researched TSW's innovative single server technology. I would almost guarentee TSW has twice the subs or more of SWTOR. http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/blog_single_server_technology_in_the_secret_world
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TSW is less instanced , less solo friendly....
in my opinion only pvp is beter in TOR
for VA & cut scenes I don't care in mmorpg,both game waste of time with that
SWTOR isn't bad as the title says, it's just much inferior to TSW imho. I think that SWTOR absolutely failed creating a SW atmosphere and their story telling is also quite bland. These are aspects where TSW truly shines and you need them both in an RPG. SWTOR is a good example that money and IP don't make a good game but passion and creativity.
i think its a good game, nothing great. the voice acting and story is top notch, the combat, bottom end. i did enjoy the challenging aspect of the quests, it made it a little less mind numbing than your traditional mmo. i did however find myself quickly growing bored with the actual combat.
i see a lot of people praising this game for the lack of a level and class system, but that isnt really the truth. as you start getting into the game youll hear people talking about "decks" which are basically builds for your character, basically making them a class. they even name them after traditional classes in other games, like ninja, monk, ect. personally, i dont feel that the system they use allows for as much freedom as people claim.
all that said, i still feel tsw is a very good game. the story and world are more immersive than your usual fare and that sets the game apart from the competition in many ways.
Guys relax.
Secret world has better graphics better atmosphere better voice overs and the game is more mature than swtor.
Additionally secet world does not have stupid companions.
Both games swtor and diablo 3 that failed have companions following you all over the place...not only that they never die in combat just die for some mins...pure joke.Furthermore both stupid games diablo 3 and swtor have made the game unable to complete without a companion which sucks big time.
Diablo 2 on the other hand has made companions very nicely implemented.
To me, SW:TOR has no atmosphere at all. Nil, nada, zilch. It has a great deal of content, but I found the quality of that heap of content very average. SW:TOR is technically a good game, I just found it bland. Perhaps if I was a huge starwars fan, or a KOTOR fan, the setting would have been more engrossing. Instead, I felt that the game was trying much too hard to be EPIC.
Starwars at it's hart is a fairy tale. It's Good vs Evil, writ large. The good guys are very good, and the bad guys are very bad. It's riddled with cliche's from start to end. SW:TOR is the game that LucasArts tried to turn SWG into. It's "iconic" and "starwarsy" and "epic" through and through. If that's what you want from a game, you'll love it. I found it all rather plastic and unconvincing.
I love TSW because the atmosphere in game is the best I've ever experienced in an MMO. It totally draws me in on all levels. It feels "real". Right from the start, my character is just an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. I'm not told "I'm the ONE" who will save the world. In fact, I'm pretty much told that I'm a n00b. I have special "powers", but that on it's own is no guarantee of anything.
In TSW, I have complete control over all aspects of my character development. I decide which skills and weapons I will use, and when. I can dress pretty much as I please, because what I'm wearing does not affect my stats. So in TSW, I play MY story, not the one the game has created for me.
OK
The world is more alive, it actually has day / night cycles - SHOCK HORROR. mobs wander about, mobs fight each other etc.. the things in the world are real, feel real and often have out of game things about them - e.g. the buses in london are real busses.
Its not all in corridors or mountain ranges or whatever that are a cunningly disguised corridors
It doesnt fell like your playing CoD or BF3 the mmo - corridor - cutscene - corridor - coridor - cutscene
90% the time you are around or near other players. 90% of the time in swtor you are on your own
Its different, its not a watered down wow in space, its not "world of cthuhucraft"
The combat is better. The combat is good, its not as good as GW2 combat, but its definetly better than wow type MMO combat.
You have to think, you dont have your hand held, not just investigation quests, but planning your build, rearanging your builds to suit an encounter, finding stuff for regular quests etc.. Its not a pick up a shopping list of 20 quests then follow the Xs on the map mmo.
The PVP is maginally better, although both have poor PVP. TSW could have good PVP, it was good in CB when people did it for fun rather than to chase carrots.
I dont talk in an american accent (im british)
The dungeons are better, they also arent rehashes of earlier dungeons.
Swtor has nicer looking videos though
to the OP, i dont get the SWTOR / TSW comparision anyway, they both have story, thats it really. If anything TSW has more in common with GW2 beta than it does SWTOR - inverse power curve, freedom to build how you want, not hub based, missions and events are like mini adventures in their own right, squashed "leveling", no raids etc.. Also GW2 has the story thing too, although its more like SWTOR than TSW in that regards with the epic "you are the chosen one" style setup.
Personally I like both games. Both bring a bigger emphasis on the story than past games did . It's not for everybody and for some reason this pisses some posters off. There are plenty of games out there without voiceovers, cutscenes and an emphasis on an actual purpose to questing. The concept of "Not every game is vor eveyrone" just hasn't sunk in to some people.
Far as why TOR gets more hate than TSW I think it just has to do with the IP . Star Wars has been around forever and there is a segment of their fanbase that can best be described as fanatical. They all have their idea of what Star Wars should be and some even think their smarter than George Lucas. SWG was ripped the entire time it existed and the same will happen to TOR. If another Star Wars MMO comes out, it will be ripped as well regardless of what type of game it is. That fanbase has gotten worse than the Trekkies. They will never be happy with anything new that Star Wars does so it's best not to even bother with them anymore.
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There are many many reason TSW is better then SWTOR but as it's only strength is it's one storyline, give it 2-3 months and people will be bored by it like with SWTOR.
I will not play a game with a cash shop ever again. A dev job should be to make the game better not make me pay so it sucks less.