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[General Article] Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan - Final Thoughts
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
On December 2nd, early purchasers of the Shadow of Revan expansion were granted access to two things: the new content that was being added for the $20 purchase of the expansion pack, and the new skills and streamlined combat systems. For people who have played SWTOR in the past and are just curious about the new discipline system, I’d recommend just logging in and trying it for yourself. There is also a lot of information (and opinion) on forums and in the blogosphere about how successful or not those changes were. For this portion (part three of a three parter: 1,2) of the review, I’d like to focus on the content that was added specifically for the expansion.
Read more of Pete Schwab's Star Wars: The Old Republic - Shadow of Revan Final Thoughts.
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The tasks may be repetitive, but at least the scenery is pleasant.
Comments
"Another important issue has plagued my server (The Shadowlands) on and off since the upgrade to version 3.0: there have been frame rate issues which have varied from being relatively minor to game breaking. I mention the specific server because it’s the only one I’ve seen identified by Bioware as having problems, and it happens to be the one my characters are on so I got to experience the problems first hand. If any one on different servers has seen similar issues please post in the comments and let your fellow players know."
Prophecy of the Five has the same issues.
I played SWTOR, for a few months when it first launched and really haven't been back since. I played WOW's WOD, but grew bored of it and decided to give SWTOR another shot, and I'm very happy I did.
I'm only level 15 ATM, so can't comment directly on this article, or end game, but what I've found at the lower levels is pretty great! I currently play Pub side on the Harbinger server.
Right off the bat, the population is much better than I would have thought based on "doom and gloom" forums. I've been able to get groups for all heroic missions within 2-3 minutes, and got into the first 2 flash points within 5 minutes. Overall the community is very friendly and helpful. Sure, there are the occasional general-chat trolls, but by and large the people I've met have been great. Just yesterday I got my first Stronghold (player housing in TOR) and my first impression is I like it better than Garrisons in WOW. The sheer amount of decorations you can put in your house is awesome! I was so disappointed in WOW's garrisons the minute I went to someone else's garrison and realized it looked just like mine. That's not the case in TOR.
If you're bored of theme parks there is nothing I, or anyone else, can say that will make you want to try TOR, however if you can still find enjoyment in this type of game, I highly recommend giving TOR a try. I'm currently a preferred, free-to-play player and the experience has been great. I'm having so much fun I am planning to subscribe, and will likely buy the expansion when I get closer to level 50.
The one negative I have is there does seem to be a lot of lag. I'm not sure if it's the same issue the article mentions, but I hear people in chat saying it started with 3.0. Right now I'm dealing with it and expect Bioware to fix it. However, if it doesn't get resolved I can see it becoming a turn off eventually.
Give it a shot! The game is free. Can't hurt!
Me Grimlock King!
Is the expansion worth the money. For me the answer, it was. The pre expansion bonus was the best ever.
Not like wow get your lvl 90 boost in the shop, no bw did give us the bonus xp on class missions.
I had 3 chars on empire at lvl 50 when I stopped. Because of the bonus xp on class missions I now have all 8 class stories finished, and chars on lvl 55. Bit burned out, but it was worth it.
So thank you BW for the story mission bonus xp.
But for new players if would say the money for the story missions is still worth it, but less then before.
I may go back tot his game and it does look interesting. But the way they handled making people repay for skills they learned bothered me. Such as flying, the way I understand it.
I honestly think they did not believe that was a problem, until the community rose up and complained. Which is scary for me personally that they would not be able to see it coming well before the problem.
Did they get rid of paying for skills? Yes, but only after people crapped in the cereal. That should be been thought of far into the past. Makes me question the game direction.
I enjoyed paying for the subscription, but I do not think people get enough for it. That's another problem. But it does look interesting, no doubt and I am sure I will go back after awhile.
WoD is pretty boring, and Blizzard fumbled. I'll try my hand at ESO again after the update, if that is a swing in a miss, I'll try Neverwinter again (because I'm stupidly a hero of the north) and if that fails. I'll be in TOR again.
SWTOR is really under-appreciated. It is a very fun leveling experience which can be done largely solo or has plenty of reasons for grouping up. Either way I find a lot of great opportunities for socializing.
I enjoy the RP servers and the RP-PVP server.
Highly recommended if you are burned out on the others or just want more storyline.
Expansion is only necessary for higher levels so do not worry about needing to buy it right away if you are not 50+.
I agree the expansion is fun but short. It has little replay value, definitely less than Makeb, because the Empire and Republic stories are pretty much the same this time. (There are some slight differences in the dialogue though that are worth seeing.) I also agree the story is much better than in Makeb, and I was more engaged while I was playing. It also has pretty much nothing new to do at level 60 (since I don't raid), just restart the gear grind.
The thing I'm grinding most right now are companion legacy weapons. I can get a good piece of offhand gear once a day, and a new mainhand weapon once a week. So I'm finally putting gear on companions I never used. It's mostly grinding just to grind though.
There is a new class story, but it's pitifully short. So far I've done them for two classes, and each quest took about 10 minutes, including conversation and travel time. Talk to someone, go get something, talk to them again. It was great to see those class NPCs again, but so short. I hope EA keeps releasing new stories, though, even if they're snippets like this.
In terms of being worth $20, it depends. Right now there are holiday sales, so I could get full games for the same money, instead of a fairly short expansion. However, the experience is good while it lasts, so it's worth playing if I don't think about what I could get instead. For me the expansion was worth it because I also got the preorder experience boost, which let me see the rest of the original class stories.
Also the expansion is buggy and laggy, so there's really no harm in waiting to buy the expansion until those problems are fixed.
I will be able to tell more after approx 1 month of gameplay, so far at same time I'm happily enjoying expansion and currently my 2nd (for some time even 1st) game of all times but I can already say I'm as big fan terribly disappointed with removal of trademark of SWTOR, separate class quests and fully voiced ALL quests. Money or not. In past I used to be subscribed even when not playing for long, so much I loved and enjoyed SEPARATE class quests, now removed. I had all possible combinations (rep and empire) mainly because of this, because I could not wait to discover how will every separate story end. Only game where I have nearly never skipped none of voiced quest presentations even when doing it for 8th time.
Now all my rep alts are cannibal captains in Rishi. Meh. Disappointed, terribly. I could even swallow down about side quests not being voiced but not this. Thanks EA, you succeed to ruin any game you get close to.
Also I do not like dumbing down of game via new "talent" system like Wow's.
Still like game and when i play I play only as sub (same in Wow or any game I play) but they can already count they lost one of fans. And will not happen again me paying sub from love to game even when not playing.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Can you get a subscription with Cartel coins?
thanks
No, you cannot. Hope that helps.
I was happy to discover this last month how much this game has improved. I had some pretty serious performance issues during the months i tested the game leading up to launch which were not resolved even after launch. Now it plays very smoothly and has had some graphical improvements it seems. The UI is fully customizable as well which was nice. If I have one gripe it is with one or two on the F2P limitations which can only be bypassed with a subscription like the credit cap and mail limitations.
I doubt SWTOR will ever be a game I could dedicate my full attention too but it certainly is worth a slow burn. The content is overall above average for your typical themepark. While I have yet to experience this newest expansion, every indication is that it is well worth the $20
The game is well made, the classes are cool the story is epic the action looks phenomenal. But for me personally the excessive hotbar rotations was a bit too much for me. I don't like having to pay too much attention to the hotbar while I am playing looking for cool downs and procs of this and points of that. I hear it's more specifically a sentinel problem, but I thought that class was the coolest so it kinda bummed me out. I did try a couple other classes and didn't find them any better personally.
I also couldn't get too into the companion thing myself. I don't like having an NPC with me everywhere I go. If they were completely customizable including name I might have found them a little less immersion breaking.
Neverwinter did companions a little better where at least they were generic versions of something you could name. More specifically you could use something like an elemental or a wolf. It didn't have to be "Bob the gunslinger" when every other Mage also has "bob the gunslinger" following them around.
Just a couple of my issues but other than that it was and is a well polished game with amazing story that will suck you in. Ironically, the one companion story sucked me in pretty hardcore on my Sith alt that I was getting people to help me to do stuff too high a level for me so I could continue her story lol. I started feeling for her and wanted to know...
for me the expensjon was great
the story was amazing, right now my guild is trying to do progress raid and i feel like this is maybe the most fun i had raiding in swtor in a long time 
overal great expensjon abit short
thats it 
The 2 new planets looks great, other than that there's nothing great about the expansion imo.
The story is ok I guess, I just don't like that it's Revan we have to fight.. again...
Also the story is kinda short. Especially considering it's build just like forged alliance where the 2 factions gets more or less the exact same quests.
Rishi is ok in size I guess, it's not a huge planet, but it'll do. Yavin 4 feels like an Oricon type planet. Too small and scattered with dayli quests.
Compared to RotHc I had expected more content. With only 1 storyline I had hoped for a planet story. Not like there's not plenty of lore connected with Yavin 4
If you don't care about endgame don't bother imo.
At 55 you have 7 tactical Flashpoints in groupfinder, at level 60 you have 2.
At 55 you have 6 heroic Flashpoints in groupfinder, at level 60 you have 4.
At 55 you have old content in groupfinder, ex level 50 heroic FP's, not at level 60 (will most likely get added at least the 55 content)
At 55 you have the same amount of warzones as you do at level 60.
Only problem might be not enough level 55's to play with as most people level onwards to 60, but then again if you play mostly to play the different class and companion stories, then you probably don't spend that much time at max level but most of your time levelling.
If you don't yet have RotHc then by all means buy SoR. Buying SoR will grant you RotHc free of charge and by adding that content it's excellent value for money imo. Then again if you plan on subscribing you might aswell wait and see. Subscribers also get RotHc for free.
Dreamo, stop reading my mind. You are starting to freak me out! :P
Seriously, you summed up the game almost perfectly for me as well. You nailed the gripes I have with SWTOR -- "Nailed it!"
If SWTOR had action-based combat similar to Neverwinter, rather than the hotbar, tab-targeting crap, I'd be in Heaven! Also, I too prefer how Neverwinter did companions for the reasons you mentioned. However, I believe SWTOR could remedy the companion situation and it's negative impact on immersion simply by providing a crap-ton more companion costumes...renames would help, but would have an impact on the cut-scenes.
Other than that I agree with you on SWTOR's pluses: "The game is well made, the classes are cool the story is epic the action looks phenomenal."
If they could only implement action combat similar to Neverwinter, SWTOR would be just about the perfect MMO for me.