No A generic & casual clone.

Quick poll to see what FPS range people run in while playing this game! Please give also provide a summary of your computer specs. (EXAMPLE BELOW) I want to see if I'm running in the "normal" range. Something feels wrong... I can be over 100+ FPS in any other game but when I log on SWTOR, no matter what settings I choose for graphics, I'm always spiking between 20-60 fps in Fleet and between 10-30 in warzones. It's very choppy trying to play when its spiking like this. Computer reformatted recently and everything is up to date! (System Specs) Motherboard: Asus Rampage III Extreme X58 Processor: i7-990X @ 3.46GHz Processor Cooling: Liquid Cooled Memory: 12GB Patriot Viper II DDR3- 1600 Enhanced Latency (3x4GB) GPU: 2x EVGA GTX 580 Superclocked 3.0GBGDDR5 in SLi Power Supply: 1.2KW Silverstone Zeus Modular HDB1: 256GB Crucial RealSSD C300 SATA 6G HDB2: 2.0TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 7200rpm 64MB Cache OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit CPU / RAM usage while playing SWTOR CPU Usage: 14% Ram Usage: 3.95 GB HEAT while playing SWTOR CPU: 35-40 Celsius (90-110F) GPU: 58-72 Celsius (130-170F) FPS @ FLEET in SWTOR 20-45 FPS (Fleet) FPS @ WARZONE in SWTOR 10-30 FPS (Warzone) How about you guys?

It's not a bad game, it's just not very imaginative. People were attracted to that shiny exterior and of course the Star Wars IP, which I'm a fan of myself.

Darn, you have quite the keen eye! I was hoping no one would notice in the post, where I stated several times, that these are just rough estimations and in no way reflect what the real numbers are. Do you have anything to add to the actual topic or is that it?

I've been checking out Tor Status recently because I wanted to get a grasp of how my server was doing. Lately, it has felt like a ghost town. As I was looking through I couldn't help but notice "total" population for both US and EU and this is what I found. US - 85 servers @ standard EU - 59 servers @ standard I'm not sure how accurate torstatus is but I'm gonna do some quick calculations. We'll do 2 tests, since there is no way of knowing what the census for "standard" is, on the low end 1500 and on the high end 2500 per server? This is just a rough estimate and in no way 100% accurate but I just want to see how many people are still playing this MMO. LOW END US - 85 * 1500 = 127'500 EU - 59 * 1500 = 88'500 ~ 216'000 total population on all servers US & EU for low end. HIGH END US - 85 * 2500 = 212'500 EU - 59 * 2500 = 147'500 ~ 360'000 total population on all servers US & EU for high end. - - - - - - Still something feels off about these numbers, because I play on the highest populated server in EU and there are around 150-200 people @ the fleet for dominant side (Sith) during primetime and I'm guessing around 100-150 for the Republic. Maybe everyone is busy leveling alts? If I were to guess total population Sith Side during prime time on Tomb of Freedon Nadd I'd say there are around 800~ people total, 1000 altogether during off-hours cause not everyone plays at the same time. If I were to guess I'd say there are under 150'000 people still actively playing ToR, so my question is... How many people do you feel still ACTIVELY play the game? I'm not talking about total subscription base, because there might still be million + subs but I'm not seeing those numbers in game or on tor status and the population has pretty much balanced out for the last few weeks. As for me, I'm sticking around (because of buddies play this game) till greener pastures roll around and once I reach there I'll realize that the grass is just as dead on the other side. Let me give a quick analogy, you have the CoD series and random CoD mimic series (Homefront etc.) and all these little companies keep copying CoD because of it's success instead of trying to reach out and be unique (Battlefield). So which do you think would last longer? CoD or some random CoD clone? Battlefield or some random Battlefield clone? Unless they improve upon what's already there, then wouldn't the originals always outlast the clones? I know shooters are a bad example since there isn't much you can really add to that. Take WoW for instance, does ToR improve upon WoW in any way? If so, what is really unique about ToR that hasn't been done before? Voice-overs? Sure those are great the first few levels, but then you notice how repetitive it all becomes and I can't really blame Bioware because when you're releasing so much story content it's bound to be repetitive. I'm not a fan of WoW, if I was I'd still be playing that game. I enjoyed it for a while but got tired of chasing the never ending gear hamster wheel. Now I play MMOs to experience something different, be it combat or end game and I'm sure there are a plethora of people who feel the same way. Gets boring doing the same thing over and over again. Sorry about the wall of text but I'm interested to know how everyone feels on the subject, I know it's uneasy ground to walk on but it's good to talk about it so that the developers get an insight of what people are looking for! There are a lot of good aspects from various MMOs that are never properly implemented but instead they just strive to mimic what the most "successful" does in hopes of getting a quick buck. Sad thing is ToR was vastly successful and has made it's money back tenfold and what did they provide us? Shiny exterior with the same rotting bones underneath. Cheers.

Some very interesting reads, thank you guys. I noticed there is a trend when it comes to certain MMOs, people all feel similar towards them. i.e., too grindy, no endgame, clone etc.

Ah the Sorcerer, I had many good moments with that class in DAoC. One my best DAoC moments was years ago, but it still burns clearly in my mind. I had just finished buffing my mind-controlled green pet, one of the Celts near Bold Keep, and was running around solo in front of the passage of conflict dungeon when I saw them. A full group (8) of Hibs were headed straight at me and I knew I would never be able to outrun them with my weaker speed. So I put my jail face on and was fortunate enough to catch them all in a blanket area mesmerize. I sent my pet after their bard and started casting my damage spells. They quickly tried to recover from my mesmerize with purge but by that time I had already killed three of the eight and was working on the fourth. The shock they received of seeing so many of them already dead gave me a couple seconds to send my pet after their first druid and cast a quick area root on them all, locking them into place. Three of them had managed to get around the root with charge and were coming at me full tilt and I knew that when they reached me I would not be able to cast. In DAoC you cannot cast at all if anyone touches you, so you have to position and utilize your abilities to keep them at bay. I morphed my pet into ml9 enrage, making him a massive lumbering hulk, and sent it after their last druid. I was unable to cast myself because of the three attacking me so I popped my mastery of concentration, realm ability, and started to life tap them to stay alive. In a few seconds the three that had been attacking me lay dead at my feet and my pet had killed the last druid and was working on their warden. But before my pet had managed to kill their last druid died he had gotten off an egg of youth and resurrected their entire group but I quickly covered them with another blanket of mesmerize and finished them all of one by one. It's easier the second time around because they are buff-less and suffering from resurrection illness. Once they were all dead, time returned to normal, and the adrenaline wore off. I noticed I was sweating and my heart was beating at 100 miles a minute. The entire thing had lasted less than 20 seconds! DAoC was the only MMO that could give me this feeling of euphoria and rush after defeating opponents. In any other MMO it feels like a chore and repetitive but in DAoC every single PvP encounter was different. Has any else ever received that feeling of adrenaline and euphoria while playing an MMO?

DAoC is only good if you got a good 8 man - but its definitely not a solo game. I hope in Guild Wars 2 the areas can support large numbers of people in the area. If it's laggy/choppy like Ilum I'm going to /wrist.

Why not incorporate all the GOOD aspects from previous MMOs? For example, DAoC PvP / Crafting system was great - WoW PvE + controls are good - Aion Rifting is a great idea... etc. Lots of good ideas out there but instead they spend millions of dollars on voice acting and being another generic clone which some people enjoy and power to you guys if you're having fun. I enjoy MMOs which are unique or have the elements which I enjoy. (PvP / no gear hamster wheel) On a side note - Guild Wars 2 looks like my dream MMO but I have been disappointed before.

That is a very good question, LOL. I think it's time to step back and reflect on why I'm still playing SWTOR... Jokes aside, I play with RL friends and have for almost 10 years. We log in, do some warzones and log off. I'd have quit long ago if it wasn't for them. *Shakes fist*

Make a list of MMO's that you've played and how long you've played them for! If possible provide two reasons (1good/1bad) why you left or play the said MMO. I'll start from first to last! 1) DAoC - 3+ years GOOD- PvP BAD- Game ruined by bad dev. decisions. Summary: One of my all-time favorite MMOs that I've played on/off for years and one of the few MMOs that provides me with the "adrenaline" rush feeling of going into a great 8vX. (X being number of opponents ranging from 8 to 40) I still have fun playing this game to this day when I'm waiting between MMOs and I doubt I will ever really stop playing it unless they take down the servers. Ruinous decisions by game devs. drastically dropped sub numbers and the game almost died but today its got about 3-4k players on there only server (clustered). Game is amazing but feels dated (controls/graphics) and has a real steep learning curve. To thoroughly enjoy the game you need 8 people to do 8vX with! Plus your not chasing gear! 2) WoW - 4+ years GOOD- Streamlined and simple BAD- Too homogenized Summary: Played it because friend's played it but I never really enjoyed myself. Felt like hamster on a wheel chasing gear over and over again. I did like the class mechanics and the smooth gameplay but everything else was a turn off. 3) AoC - 3+ months GOOD- Unique BAD- Lacked endgame Summary: I really enjoyed this MMO while it was out, it felt different from the rest and had its own little thing going but poor game mechanics and virtually no endgame ruined it for me. 4) Warhammer - 3+ months GOOD- PvP-Leveling System BAD- Everything else Summary: This is one of those games I was really anticipating but Mythic let me down (again). I really loved the leveling system, I did virtually no questing or grinding but instead just did PvP battlegrounds to level up was really fun. Too bad Mythic didn't incorporate the GOOD aspects of DAoC but instead made the game a hamster wheel. 5)Aion - 3+ months GOOD - Rifting! BAD- G-r-i-n-d Summary: I really really hated this game when I was leveling up, do a handful of quests and then kill 1.4 trillion mobs each level... Really... Really?! Who enjoys doing that? Its not hardcore or a challenge its just a massive time sink, and bad for your wrists. My brain almost turned to mush playing this game but I managed to hit 50 because I don't want to judge a book by its cover... and discovered the Abyss. Somehow I learned about "Rifting" (going through portals to enemy realm and killing them for RP) - this completely changed the game for me, I absolutely loved this system it was always exciting to find a new rift, enter it and spend hours upon hours killing enemies (not griefing or killing lowbies, but killing ppl in groups who are equivalent or higher lvl) I wouldn't even attack lowbies unless they attacked me because there was no challenge to that. Kill enough people and eventually you were marked with a "bounty" your character would show up on the map as a tiny blip and you'd be hunted down by killing squads. Most fun I've had since DAoC, thank you NCsoft... I guess there is a soul behind all the grinding if you look hard enough. 6)Rift- 1+ months GOOD - Streamlined BAD- Soulless Hamster Wheel Clone Summary: Never liked this game from day 1, felt like I've been there - done that. I tried hard to find a reason to like the game, from pvp to pve but just couldn't force myself to play it. When you look past that shiny exterior you see the same old bones used by other "streamlined" MMOs. 7) SWTOR - 3+ months and playing GOOD- Streamlined BAD- Soulless Hamster Wheel Clone Summary: Log in -> do dailies -> log off. I can't find another reason to be online, I know some people enjoy the hamster wheel, but I'm tired of it. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP COPYING! @!#(*@!(#*! --- *Takes a deep breath to calm himself* ...Filler game until better MMO games out. That's my list, how about you guys?

2560 _ 1600 need a 30' inch monitor

Certain Marauder tree's are too convoluted, way too many unnecessary abilities that could be merged together. It's not exactly complex to play but a bit messy or "unfinished" as a class. Also there is no real incentive to play a "pure" dps class (sniper/marauder) as hybrids can do equivalent, if not higher, damage and also have the bonus utility of healing or guarding.

@Sathid - Thanks, I still have a long way to go before I master the class but you take one step at a time. @Wrath - Thank you for your words of wisdom, appreciate it.

Ah well I run with a premade and usually never die in BGs, got a merc / sorc / warr / and me. Hope this answers your question.