What you're essentially saying is that this, and every game, should be either fully phased or content should then be inaccessible once one person completes it. While I realize that is not directly your statement, it is where your argument is going.

 

I understand the root of your frustration but at the same time it seems naive to an almost ridiculous extent to expect that the game could reflect this. Phasing as a game technology is still relatively new, and while usable is also very resource consumptive. The other option is, of course, ludicrous.

 

However, there's an essential flaw in the rhetoric of repetition of deeds devaluing them. The deed/event is still a challenge that you have, ideally, enjoyed. That experience and the enjoyment of it can only be negated by you. The fact that others have completed the same content in the same game does nothing to you or your achievement. That's their achievement. Not wanting them to have it to make your own unique is dramatically narcissistic and appears willfully ignorant of the reality of games of any kind.

 

I say that because if this is a crisis point for you, it's worth noting that this is not an MMO only problem. At risk of being a snide tool, I hate to tell you that you are not the only one to have played Mass Effect 3 or God of War or whatever other games you have played. Millions of other people have played the same game and done the same things, gotten the same endings. Does that devalue those games? What if you start a new game?

 

I've never posted this before because I believe it's a cop-out and passive aggressive response, but if this is bothering you so much, MMOs and maybe all video games may be the wrong kind of entertainment for you. There's no really feasible way for a company to produce the kind of experience you seem to want. You might also want to consider doing table-top/pen and paper RPGs, as there your deeds can be the only ones that matter and dramatically and visibly shape the universe around you. Unless you have a problem knowing that other people might be playing the same game somewhere, therefore nullifying your efforts.

 

To get back to the original point of the OP, however, I would also point out that this as a problem would make playing in the Rebellion/Galactic Empire Era even worse than feeling this way in TOR. Setting the game in an unknown time or a time that Bioware has themselves helped create allows them to now have to work the players "around" the story. They can let it be the players story and let you be the hero.

 

Referencing other MMOs is always risky, but one good thing to look at might be Lord of the Rings Online. It suffers from this a great deal in many ways; because if you've read the books or seen the movies, you know the real important stuff is being done by others somewhere else. Your efforts are important, and they help, but that feeling that you're just supporting cast never really goes away. At least, not for me. Putting the game in the era of the movies would have been a big mistake and just given them more canon and headaches to work around.

You seem to be assuming a lot about me and what I want from this game.

Actually I accept that the storylines are not epic-I was just pointing that ranting about how Galaxies didn't let you be the hero is an invalid complaint because no MMO lets you be the hero. At least in single-player game the bad guy you killed doesn't get up 2 minutes later so the next player that comes along can kill him. Shepard can be a hero in a Mass Effect playthrough because the game's setting is actually affected by what he/she does. The Grey Warden in Dragon Age can help the elves and not have to fight respawning wolves when returning to the forest.

My Jedi is an unimportant grunt and I accept that. That's why I don't feel some sense of 'I just killed the Emperor' excitement-because he isn't really dead because that would impact the setting too much. Some of the missions and dialogue are interesting-the overall storyline is as meaningless as the one in Warcraft.

Personally I recommend The holochronicles of Gnost-Dural from this website (Holonet link - galactic history) and Drew Karpyshyyns novel "Revan" to those who want to get in touch with the TOR lore. I was surprised how much the novel tells about SWTOR and fits into the universe and the timeline. Part of TOR feels almost like an extension of it. I definitely recommend going thru at least the holonet history lessons.

Before the novel I btw hated Revan thanks to his fanbois moaning that he should be the most powerful forceuser in the universe blah blah. Now I see how he has his place in the big scheme.

Regarding the topic question: I would say that this time and era is perfect for a star wars MMO. I have come to hate the movie era due to oversaturation.

Also there are simple reasons why the era is this, instead of the battle of yavin era: In old republic the empire and republic are basically equal and theres tons of interesting events and characters about. After order 66 the jedi were wiped out, and before that the Sith were very few in number. Theres not much to build on there. Its rather childish idea even to consider about it.

So as I'm approaching level 50 with my first toon, I must say I'm disappointed with the level of "Star Warsyness" of this game. I would assume that BW and EA were willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a game is the huge base of people out there who are Star Wars fans. Any by "Star Wars fans", I mean people who watched & liked the original trilogy.

 

For example, why does this Darth Malgus character show up all over the place? How many more people would play this game if it was Darth Vader?

 

So far, the only planets I've really liked are Tatooine and Hoth, and Alderaan. Before playing this game, I had never heard of Taris, or Nar Shadda, or Belsavis, or any of those other planets.

 

Okay, I sort of remember the Twi'lek dancers, so that's kind of cool. But who are the Mirakula, or whatever they're called? And those Chiss, or the Sith?

 

I'm sure lots of people who are familiar with the "Extended Universe" get all excited for references to Darth Revan, but the average person doesn't. Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

Kay I'm a huge star wars fan, so I'll tell you Nar shada is a big piece in star wars lore even in origional trilogy era, In the books, comics and games based then which expanded the story, chiss = grand admiral thawn huge bad guy in universe nearly beats rebels, sith are well emperor and darth vader and are one of the biggest pieces of lore. Taris are key parts of the KotOR story. For the darth malagus point, well anakin skywalker (darth vader) is a long way from being born yet.

For the point of it being better in film era my view would be it would suck. Because it would be star wars battlefront. You could have no jedi, maybe an odd sith but in reality you would only have spys, soldiers and smugglers/bounty hunters. Because it is some years after the return of the jedi luke reestablishes the jedi order, and vader and the emperor train very few sith, those that are trained usually die quickly.

The rule of two is the perfect explanation as to why this era was a good choice. The rule of two was implemented by Darth Bane after the Battle of Ruusan when he tricked all the other sith lords into destroying themselves with the thought bomb. The rule of two states that there should never be more than two sith at any one time. One to hold the power, and one to crave it. So, how would players get to be sith in an era when there are only allowed to be two sith? This is one of the reasons why they picked this era to make the game take place in... that and also because this is supposed to be KoTOR 3, 4, and 5 all rolled into one if I remember correctly from one of the videos they posted back before the game ever even hit the beta testing stage. If you never played Knights of the Old Republic (1 and 2), I would suggest you try them out. You'll understand more of the storyline for this game if you do.

To be fair if you set it after the Yuzan Vong war the new sith order removes the rule of two.

So as I'm approaching level 50 with my first toon, I must say I'm disappointed with the level of "Star Warsyness" of this game. I would assume that BW and EA were willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a game is the huge base of people out there who are Star Wars fans. Any by "Star Wars fans", I mean people who watched & liked the original trilogy.

 

For example, why does this Darth Malgus character show up all over the place? How many more people would play this game if it was Darth Vader?

 

So far, the only planets I've really liked are Tatooine and Hoth, and Alderaan. Before playing this game, I had never heard of Taris, or Nar Shadda, or Belsavis, or any of those other planets.

 

Okay, I sort of remember the Twi'lek dancers, so that's kind of cool. But who are the Mirakula, or whatever they're called? And those Chiss, or the Sith?

 

I'm sure lots of people who are familiar with the "Extended Universe" get all excited for references to Darth Revan, but the average person doesn't. Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

I don't think you're going to find many people agreeing with you on this one. To a lot of people, including myself, Star Wars is not solely encapsulated in the original trilogy. It's a whole universe that has a history with endless possibilites. What makes it 'Star Warsey' to most is not the inclusion of specific characters, but the over all feel of the universe. In capturing that, I think BW did a decent job. Your gripe seems to be that the game is not set in a very specfic place in time in the SW universe. The main problem would be that it would severely limit the story that can be told due to the established canon of that time. About the only time they could have set this that would work out would be between the two trilogies, though that would pose problems for anybody wanting to be a Jedi as there really aren't supposed to be any during that time period.

I saw this thread and had to post.

I have nothing against this ERA of time. But with me saying that it makes me annoyed that it was set so far back as it proves that this galaxy far far away is filled with idiots.

In 50 years we gone from computers the size could fill up an entire 3 bedroom house to something we carry around in our pockets. There is a natural scale of inovation that occurs naturally except in the StarWars Universe.

So very little has changed from TOR to the Prequals to the One and only True Trilogy . I just dont understand how Nothing appeared to change. Because I am sure that in the year 5012 earth will be exactly the same as it is today. Cars will still run on non existant oil, and they wont fly either. We still would not have sent anyone to Mars, and USA will still be #1 ... Oh please dont make me laugh.

Otherwise I love the story but found it best to try and play a group of characters at once to get the bigger picture makes it far more entertaining.

Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Galaxies

Yeah that didn't work out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Galaxies

 

Yeah that didn't work out.

oddly enough it didn't go f2p until it was ready to close-a sign of things to come?

So as I'm approaching level 50 with my first toon, I must say I'm disappointed with the level of "Star Warsyness" of this game. I would assume that BW and EA were willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a game is the huge base of people out there who are Star Wars fans. Any by "Star Wars fans", I mean people who watched & liked the original trilogy.

 

For example, why does this Darth Malgus character show up all over the place? How many more people would play this game if it was Darth Vader?

 

So far, the only planets I've really liked are Tatooine and Hoth, and Alderaan. Before playing this game, I had never heard of Taris, or Nar Shadda, or Belsavis, or any of those other planets.

 

Okay, I sort of remember the Twi'lek dancers, so that's kind of cool. But who are the Mirakula, or whatever they're called? And those Chiss, or the Sith?

 

I'm sure lots of people who are familiar with the "Extended Universe" get all excited for references to Darth Revan, but the average person doesn't. Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

so much wrong. first off, if it were set in movie time era, we would be regulated to faceless members of our respective faction. I got more than enough of that in WoW. Second, the mere thought of BW breaking movie lore would cause many more fans to be angry and quit playing than a movie era mmo would bring in. in short, they picked the perfect era, bc they could make the lore up and not fubar the movie/expanded universe lore and cause all the sw fanboys/girls to foam at the mouth

Admittedly, if someone knows Star Wars only from the movies there are very few things that would ring a bell.

However, if you're into the Expanded Universe there are a lot of things that are cool. There are places like, say, Korriban, Corellia, Ord Mantell and Nar Shaddaa that I've always wanted to see (and we have visited some of them already through the KOTOR games), the Chiss, IMO, are in the game as a homage to the Thrawn books, the early history of the Sith is expanded and explained and so on. This may not mean much to the more... casual fans of the movies but it's awesome for the diehard geeks.

Sure, the game doesn't have the starpower of the characters and the settings of the movies but that doesn't mean that it has a bad setting. On the contrary, it contains much more of a surprise factor because you see and learn new things about the fictional universe you love. I prefer this over the possibility to fight the Clone Wars or the Civil War - we've been there and we've seen that.

So as I'm approaching level 50 with my first toon, I must say I'm disappointed with the level of "Star Warsyness" of this game. I would assume that BW and EA were willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a game is the huge base of people out there who are Star Wars fans. Any by "Star Wars fans", I mean people who watched & liked the original trilogy.

 

For example, why does this Darth Malgus character show up all over the place? How many more people would play this game if it was Darth Vader?

 

So far, the only planets I've really liked are Tatooine and Hoth, and Alderaan. Before playing this game, I had never heard of Taris, or Nar Shadda, or Belsavis, or any of those other planets.

 

Okay, I sort of remember the Twi'lek dancers, so that's kind of cool. But who are the Mirakula, or whatever they're called? And those Chiss, or the Sith?

 

I'm sure lots of people who are familiar with the "Extended Universe" get all excited for references to Darth Revan, but the average person doesn't. Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

Real star wars fans would've played KOTOR and/or read the books/comics and would've known about all of these planets. Revan is worth an MMO considering most of the events that happen in this game are somehow related to his actions. Putting it in this era gives Bioware plenty of wiggle room to work with their own stories that meet GL's standards and they can do whatever without butting heads with the big wig himself.

Real star wars fans would've played KOTOR and/or read the books/comics and would've known about all of these planets. Revan is worth an MMO considering most of the events that happen in this game are somehow related to his actions. Putting it in this era gives Bioware plenty of wiggle room to work with their own stories that meet GL's standards and they can do whatever without butting heads with the big wig himself.

I did not know Lucas had standards. He seems have this if I think it will make money I will ok it attitude.

I saw this thread and had to post.

 

I have nothing against this ERA of time. But with me saying that it makes me annoyed that it was set so far back as it proves that this galaxy far far away is filled with idiots.

 

In 50 years we gone from computers the size could fill up an entire 3 bedroom house to something we carry around in our pockets. There is a natural scale of inovation that occurs naturally except in the StarWars Universe.

 

So very little has changed from TOR to the Prequals to the One and only True Trilogy . I just dont understand how Nothing appeared to change. Because I am sure that in the year 5012 earth will be exactly the same as it is today. Cars will still run on non existant oil, and they wont fly either. We still would not have sent anyone to Mars, and USA will still be #1 ... Oh please dont make me laugh.

 

Otherwise I love the story but found it best to try and play a group of characters at once to get the bigger picture makes it far more entertaining.

I have to say, this is something I noticed wrong with star wars as well. However its inevitable, if technology did increase at such fast pace, Luke Skywalker probably would have used a computer program to destroy the death star than fly in their (not to mention x-wing's would be automated). You could also say that at some point, technology started to slow down because we have discovered everything we where capable of discovering.

I'd also advise u play Force Unleashed - they do a gd job of 'modernizing' the empire era.

And about this era mistake thing, i think old republic is great, definitely more enjoyable than if it was in a empire era. Because taking orders from Darth Vader rather than Malgus just wouldn't seem 'real'. I'd be thinking 'your not really vader just some copy' cause vader can only seem real in the movies, just like old republic seems real in the game

Yes, I've been paying attention to the story in this game. But my point is that none of these things are in the original trilogy. And if the whole point in throwing a bunch of money at an established franchise - and then making it F2P to attract casual gamers - is to appeal to the casual players and casual fans, none of whom know or care who Darth Malgus is.

 

And pretty much every comment I've seen about Darth Malgus on on-gaming sites is "Who is this guy? He looks like Darth Vader, except without a mask. How lame."

Please explain to me why the story has to be in tune with the original trilogy?

Also where is your proof that casual gamers don't know who Darth Malgus is? The fact is both KOTOR 1 and KOTOR 2 where set in a particular timeline and this game followed on from that. Furthermore, I think it is safe to say that those gamers who love anything to do with the STARWARS universe will take the time to research all the info they can so they can enhance their enjoyment. So in conclusion there is nothing wrong with this time frame and I for one am incredibly pleased that it's different from the ordinal trilogy.

Are you kidding? He was in every single cinematic leading up to the game's release.

 

He kills Satele Shan's Master, Kao Den Darach. He kills Darth Vindican, his own Master. He leads the assault on the Jedi Temple and destroys it. He kills Master Ven Zallow, the leader of the Temple. He's there in the assault of Alderaan. He nearly kills Satele Shan AND Jace Malcolm by himself!

 

He orchestrates everything the Empire does. Every single flashpoint is a single stroke of his master plan. He has the players go to Hammer Station in order to obtain the Advocent technology. He has the players go attack Clan Varad in order to gain an allegiance of a competing Mandalorian Clan. He has players track down and kill Darth Revan so he can control the Foundry. He has the players perform in the Colicoid War games to have access to their weaponry. He has the players assault the Red Reaper and kill his Master's master, Darth Ikoral, to ensure that the Pureblood Hegemony will not return to the Empire.

 

Then when all of this is complete, he performs a coup d'etat, using every single element of all the previous flashpoints as his own tools to become the New Emperor so he could make the Sith Empire more like the Republic.

All this. I have to really tie my LS imperials into RP knots to explain why they don't join him. Hope that's an option in future,or we get more reason not to. I have to focus on the loss of imperial lives and weakening the empire at a time of war, but it's not easy and it doesn't hold water very well. They have way more in common with him than the emperor.

As to the era, it's a very good thing it's not in the movie era. There's be wailing and flailing over every single solitary little detail.

While you are correct about the popularity of the original films, OP, you may have missed the words "Old Republic" in the title of the game. The Knights of the Old Republic was Bioware's breakout success in the RPG genre, and it won nearly every gaming award for nearly every category in every major gaming awards contest. It's a massively successful franchise that gives Bioware the complete freedom to explore what the Republic, Jedi, and Sith might have been like before the future that we all knew from the movies.

It's not that a present-day Star Wars game wouldn't be popular, per se, but It would be impractical as an MMO; that story is already told, and it has no room in it for a half million galactic heroes like you and me.

So as I'm approaching level 50 with my first toon, I must say I'm disappointed with the level of "Star Warsyness" of this game. I would assume that BW and EA were willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a game is the huge base of people out there who are Star Wars fans. Any by "Star Wars fans", I mean people who watched & liked the original trilogy.

 

For example, why does this Darth Malgus character show up all over the place? How many more people would play this game if it was Darth Vader?

 

So far, the only planets I've really liked are Tatooine and Hoth, and Alderaan. Before playing this game, I had never heard of Taris, or Nar Shadda, or Belsavis, or any of those other planets.

 

Okay, I sort of remember the Twi'lek dancers, so that's kind of cool. But who are the Mirakula, or whatever they're called? And those Chiss, or the Sith?

 

I'm sure lots of people who are familiar with the "Extended Universe" get all excited for references to Darth Revan, but the average person doesn't. Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

Yes my dad is like, "Kelli, don't you think that that game should be in the time around the movie?" And my boyfriend was just like, (Facepalm: 50th time he said that:D) I like the story and the era or whatever and the stuff that isn't around in the movies. Btw episode 1-3 where just fail.

So as I'm approaching level 50 with my first toon, I must say I'm disappointed with the level of "Star Warsyness" of this game. I would assume that BW and EA were willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a game is the huge base of people out there who are Star Wars fans. Any by "Star Wars fans", I mean people who watched & liked the original trilogy.

 

For example, why does this Darth Malgus character show up all over the place? How many more people would play this game if it was Darth Vader?

 

So far, the only planets I've really liked are Tatooine and Hoth, and Alderaan. Before playing this game, I had never heard of Taris, or Nar Shadda, or Belsavis, or any of those other planets.

 

Okay, I sort of remember the Twi'lek dancers, so that's kind of cool. But who are the Mirakula, or whatever they're called? And those Chiss, or the Sith?

 

I'm sure lots of people who are familiar with the "Extended Universe" get all excited for references to Darth Revan, but the average person doesn't. Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

Problem is, you'd only have about 4 maybe 5 classes TOTAL. Sith and Jedi...gone. Can't have them without totally re-writing the OT and well know how that goes...oh wait it doesn't.

So on the imperial side, you'd have IA and BH. That's about it. On the Rebel side, smuggler and Trooper, but the armor would completely different. You'd have basically the Essles/Talon 17A/Commando style armors and that's about it.

Boy sounds like a REAL fun game. Also Alderaan is gone, Hoth, well guess you could do the evacuation of Hoth, Endor i guess you could do the final battle. Oh wait already sounds like a game I've played. BATTLEFRONT II.

Sorry OP, putting this in the OT movies, there would be so LITTLE to do, it would be BORING.

By doing it 3000 years in the past, there is so much that had been unwritten, it was an open canvas, and guess what, jedi and sith galore.

Sorry I don't want to basically have a re-hash of battlefront as an MMO. That would just be plain BORING.

Hearing that this was going to be set in the old republic era is what originally got me interested in this game, and it gives them so much more freedom to explore the star wars universe.

While if it was set in the OT it would be far too limiting and restricting.

I am happy that Star Wars: The Old Republic is set during the Old Republic Era.

I would honestly be confused if it weren't.

I'm a casual star wars fan. I love episodes 4, 5, and 6, I've been watching them since I was a small child in the late 80s. I grew up with Star Wars in the VCR and able to quote the original trilogy word for word for as long as I can remember. I do not like the new prequels.

I also played KOTOR and KOTOR II. I played SWG a little bit. The only other Star Wars game I played was Rogue Squadron and some silly pod-racing mario kart ripoff.

I like The Old Republic era best. I like that this game is set in the old republic. I like that it's a sequel to KOTOR, one of my favorite RPGs of ALL TIME. I remember reading about KOTOR III, and then learning it was cancelled and I was so bummed. Learned about SWTOR and practically did cartwheels.

OP, speak for yourself. I'm a casual fan. I didn't even know *** a chiss was, or a mirialan, or nautolan. I also know that I want to play Sith and Jedi, and in the movie era I CAN'T, it would be ludicrous and wouldn't make sense. I like that the game is set in a timeline that leaves Bioware plenty of time to grow and develop the game without being constrained to a short time period or working within a tight set of boundaries without contradicting the movies.

I love the old trilogy, but I also love the old republic. Unlike you most other people I know who are casual star wars fans--that is, we've seen the movies and played a few videogames--don't feel that just because it wasn't part of a movie produced in the 70s/80s it isn't canon or any good. Most of us agree that the prequels were bad, but mostly because they were poorly written, cast, and directed. Everybody who's played KOTOR liked the setting, and I have a hunch they'd enjoy SWTOR too.

I like Malgus. I really, really do. Thanks to the prequels Darth Vader is an angsty emo whiny brat. So far nobody's ruined Malgus for me, though.

Boy sounds like a REAL fun game. Also Alderaan is gone, Hoth, well guess you could do the evacuation of Hoth, Endor i guess you could do the final battle. Oh wait already sounds like a game I've played. BATTLEFRONT II.

I lol'd.

The Original Star Wars MMO sold over 2M+ as a Pre-Warcrap game and yet managed to be very fun and enjoyable. Your lack of creativity is hilarious.

Any by "Star Wars fans", I mean people who watched & liked the original trilogy.

Then you could have tried the incredibly annoying SWG. Being locked into a story with the original trilogy characters was hardly fun. You literally couldn't make a dent in the direction of the universe.

How many more people would play this game if it was Darth Vader?

Darth Vader is a ponce.

So far, the only planets I've really liked are Tatooine and Hoth, and Alderaan. Before playing this game, I had never heard of Taris, or Nar Shadda, or Belsavis, or any of those other planets.

This game is a sequel to Knights of the Old Republic. Taris and Nar Shadda featured prominently. Oddly enough, I detested Tatooine and Hoth. Alderaan and Balmorra were entertaining to me.

But who are the Mirakula, or whatever they're called? And those Chiss, or the Sith?

Who are the Sith and Chiss?!?! Mirakula, I do understand they are hardly heavyweights in the SW universe, but the Chiss and Sith are referenced heavily in the extended universe.

I'm sure lots of people who are familiar with the "Extended Universe" get all excited for references to Darth Revan, but the average person doesn't. Darth Revan wasn't worth a $100 million MMORPG. Darth Vader would be.

Errrr... And what exactly would you accomplish with Darth Vader? Considering you know exactly how he dies?

As for Revan, he is barely in the game and as a sequel to Knights of the Old Republic he HAD to be referenced somewhat.

- Arcada