SWTOR was my first MMO (other than City of Villians that i played for a couple days when i was younger), and I found that MMO's are my personal genre of choice (With RPG's closely behind). I've been playing it since launch, and haven't really played any other game since I began (I consider myself a HC gamer, and usually stuck to MMO's and console gaming other than the occasion SC2 venture). I have purchased wow, with all expansions (Minus the new MOP expanion) and have it installed, and have the Rift demo, Runes of Magic, and Guild Wars 2 purchased/Installed, and have heard of, but never pursued others such as D&D, LOTRO, STO, EVE, and World of Tanks, City of Heros/Villians, Conan Online, runescape, and Champions online... but havent played any of them yet because I play SWTOR still. I have created toons on all these games, but havent acutally played them at all, but at any time I could jump on and begin.

 

Basically what I'm looking for is either, what makes this game stand out above all its other peers, or, if there are better MMO's than SWTOR, what makes specifically makes great in your opinion that SWTOR would benefit from.. I think SWTOR is an amazing game, and have heard its current #2 number of subscribers, but since I'm new to this genre I don't have any other MMO's to compare it to.

Edited November 27, 2012 by skiibyrd

I dont think we're allowed to talk about other MMOs in this forum :/ Youll get a note saying "please keep discussions related to the old republic" or something Edited November 27, 2012 by DarthWoad

I dont think we're allowed to talk about other MMOs in this forum :/ Youll get a note saying "please keep discussions related to the old republic" or something

 

Well I haven't gotten one yet, and this thread is specifically about SWTOR Vs. is peers.

Some MMOs do certain things better, but SWTOR has most of the basics covered and it's solo questing is way better than it's competition.

Some MMOs do certain things better, but SWTOR has most of the basics covered and it's solo questing is way better than it's competition.

 

Thats one of the things that I've heard though, SWTOR has the BASICS covered, I mean, you level, you fight, and you gear, MAYBE do the occasional space mission, but nothing else. From what I've gathered other MMO's are offering quite a bit to do, for example, you can fish in rift... in GW2 you can play mini games like a soccar type game in the towns against other players, something that I feel SWTOR would greatly benefit from.

Some of the best, and ligit stories I've seen in years in TOR. Imperial Agent and Trooper...just amazing.

 

I played SWG for 3+ years and still to this day I try to understand what story there was supposed to be ohter than "Imperials bad, Rebels good! Shoot them! Oh my some random thing is happening, shoot them!"

 

For Star Trek Online, I've been there since Beta/Headstart - Preorder...they had a good story until JJ made his money and the story had to be scrapped and the cheap cut and paste and glitter was added instead. STO is just insanely boring after 3 years.

 

WoW...only played on a family member's account for a few days...couldn't even deal with the stupidity of that game to even look for waht the story was there haha.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Eillack

I think it's all perception and subjective to each person. Some people define Best as being the one with the most subscribers/players. Some will say small ones are the best, because they offer unique experiences.

in GW2 you can play mini games like a soccar type game in the towns against other players, something that I feel SWTOR would greatly benefit from.

 

I know you're probably referring to mini-games in general, but it's funny you mentioned soccer, since Swtor actually does have it's own version of sports game/soccer (or, more specifically, handball), Huttball

SWTOR is an good "training" MMORPG. You can learn the basics here. Once you have them down, it's prolly best to move on to another more challenging MMORPG and just play SWTOR when you want to relax.

Thats one of the things that I've heard though, SWTOR has the BASICS covered, I mean, you level, you fight, and you gear, MAYBE do the occasional space mission, but nothing else. From what I've gathered other MMO's are offering quite a bit to do, for example, you can fish in rift... in GW2 you can play mini games like a soccar type game in the towns against other players, something that I feel SWTOR would greatly benefit from.

 

 

Thats a valid criticism IMO.

 

in kotor you had swoop racing and pazaak, I honestly cannot understand why these werent included as minigames. Personally I'd find it fun to have a reason to sit in a cantina and play cards. Swoop races would be really fun as well.These could have been implemented as like an ingame Nascar type thing with players competing against each other for rankings and fame.

 

Definitely a couple missed opportunities, which absolutely boggle me that they could have been forgotten about.

 

I sure hope they dont decide to offer us fishing and leave these off the table. I had years upon years to fish till Im blue in the face with Everquest and WoW, I dont want that.

Edited November 27, 2012 by RichT

Basically what I'm looking for is either, what makes this game stand out above all its other peers, or, if there are better MMO's than SWTOR, what makes specifically makes great in your opinion that SWTOR would benefit from.. I think SWTOR is an amazing game, and have heard its current #2 number of subscribers, but since I'm new to this genre I don't have any other MMO's to compare it to.

 

No MMO stands out above all others.

 

Why? Because different people like different things, and no MMO is all things to all People.

 

You must find your own answer to your question, because it depends on what you want and what you enjoy. What others want and enjoy is their opinion and is just as likely to be different then your wants/enjoyment as similar.

 

Pesonally, this is my favorite MMO at the moment. I play 4 different ones right now, but this one gets most of my attention right now because I like it and I enjoy it more then the others. But I am not you, so your results may be different.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Andryah

Is SWTOR the best MMO on the Market for MMO's? No. Not even close. It has far above normal its share of issues that exist because of the game engine used and its launch state. It does do something very well but the majority of things outside of an enjoyment of the Star Wars universe it offers very little for actual enjoyment.

 

Story line class quests for example are one of he highly touted reasons SWTOR has seen any success at all. And for good reason mind you; however, the over feel of them often if you are like me annoying. Constantly being Jesus Christ Superstar is debilitating when you look at both the setting and tone of SWTOR. The fact that all classes end up on being the same facsimile of keep up with the Superman stereotype in the end does take away from the total effect of any stories that are told. But that doesn't mean that the stories aren't interesting none the less. It is very easy to become engaged with the story and want to experience it to its full end. Now that's not to say that other MMOs in the past such as Age of Conan weren't able to bring the same level of "Main Story questing" to the table. But one thing that SWTOR does bring over AoC is Voice Acting which is for the most part, once you get past all the same voice as that guy three quests prior, and hey its captain looks like that dude two quests ago just with a different hair selection, really does maintain a fair level of its own charm and charisma that is only offered in few Triple A single player RPGs.

 

But for SWTOR the primary goal of having an engaging story seems to be all that it really offers. Its combat system is the standard same old, same old that comes with most MMOs. Sadly that can be said for most if not all of the systems in SWTOR. The Auction House which was a late add, high REs Texture Pack issue, lack of functional combat log (still a lack of a functional combat log), the Crew Skills, Space Combat Missions, PvP, PvE End Game and even what you spend that majority of time doing in SWTOR - leveling - are all very bland and boring designs and concepts. And in some cases as with the Auction House those elements of the game were initially horrifically designed.

 

So is it the best MMO no not even close, even though by now I am sure fanboys have been preening about how great SWTOR is and its better then everything else. But its also not the Worst.

 

Star Trek Online is the worst.

Edited November 27, 2012 by wrmrstacrdwower

I think it's all perception and subjective to each person. Some people define Best as being the one with the most subscribers/players. Some will say small ones are the best, because they offer unique experiences.

 

Agree, but swtor seems to get a horrible wrap from its player base, but everytime i play it, i think its a great game. so.. in my mind, that would make me assume that there must be certain things that swtor doesnt have, that significantly makes other MMO's better, or for some reason that its almost missing some big things in people's opinion.

To me there is no Best MMO as every MMO I've seen has great strengths and weaknesses, things you wish other games would adopt as well as elements it needs to adopt from others.

 

A few examples of what keeps me interested or moving away from given MMOs:

 

1.WoW--

 

Why Not there? Grew very stale around WoTLK, the pop culture *wink-winks* were just getting far too prevalent and the growing non fantasy geegaws such as the chopper turned me off.

 

Why consider? Vanilla leveling was fantastic with 2-3 zones for every given level range you could take multiple alts through while hardly ever repeating the same quests, classes were interesting and nostalgia of 'first mmo' still hits.

 

 

What SWTOR Could stand to steal: The # of quests per level range ratio, having multiple options never hurt

 

 

Secret World--

 

Why Not There? Combat is clunky and non-fluid with the severe limitation of equipped abilities leading to unimaginative 3-4 button combos 90%+ of the time. Certain feel of polish just not there

 

Why consider? The setting/atmosphere is fantastic, knocking down zombies in an MMO with a shotgun... yeah. The ability wheel is an interesting twist away from the traditional skill tree. Equipment being purely cosmetic with stats coming from non visual items is nice. Voiceovers from NPCs only, not player itself is a logical way to get that immersion while reducing expense.

 

What could SWTOR Steal: Having NPC's handle future dialog while reducing player response would considerably reduce the development load going forward.

 

 

GW2:

 

Why Not? Limited ability bars feel very restricting and while the performance is much better, there's still a certain fluidity that feels missing.

 

Why Consider: WvWvW idea for pvp gives a great depth and scope to the pvp aspect. Quest chain idea gives a bit of a different feel from the traditional.

 

What SWTOR could steal: Giving depth and breadth to the pvp environment, potentially allowing a post-50 third faction to arc out for the purposes of this new emphasis.

 

 

 

LOTRO:

 

Why Not: The Cash shop evolution evolved into far too much requirement out of a subscription (+10 stat tomes, scrolls to essentially re-spec your weapon, etc.), character models were very unimpressive and limited species/race options (makes sense for lore reasons but still limits variety). Combat with skill queueing can feel a bit slow paced for some. Virtue grinding was an obnoxious time sink.

 

Why: Until the isengarde expansion tipped the scales, the basic F2P format was far more thought out, great cosmetic system with wardrobe, dye, cosmetic slots, etc. Good depth of story

 

What SWTOR could steal-- The cosmetic system that allows immense freedom and variety. Makes development easier as you can cosmetically equip existing greens/blues thus immediately expanding the options. Free two play system of buying lump-chunks of content instead of micro rent-a-content makes much more sense.

 

 

 

 

As to SWTOR itself? What keeps my sub here instead of elsewhere?

 

1.Class design-- This is the most interesting variety of class design I've seen thus far, the only game where I've had an interest in working on every single class and not just for story reasons. Beyond the different classes I've also never enjoyed spending time in a variety of different skill trees within each given class as well.

 

2.Story-- The class stories were among the most interesting/immersing storyline content I've encountered in an MMO and I still have a few left to see (warrior just finished act II, Bounty hunter all but first 2 planets,

 

3.Aesthetic-- I know some purists hate that its not 100% true to the film iterations but I like the overall stylization, not to say I don't think some of the endgame set designs were terrible (pvp/BH/campaign knights anyone?) but overall I enjoy the general look/feel.

 

4.Sci-Fi Fantasy in one-- Being able to draw from both ends of the pool as the SW universe does makes it fun and interesting. A sword and a blaster somehow feels less out of place then a sword and a boomstick a la WOW.

 

 

It has its own flaws nothings perfect such as...

 

1.While armoring set bonuses help, cosmetic system is still a bit limited

 

2.My performance isn't bad, but it is still a bit low compared to the hardware running it and what is being shown on the screen

 

3.Making flashpoints 4 man I think was a major limitation to content design as it reduces the mechanics you can employ in a flashpoint and also reduces future class design as you can't have secondary roles (i.e. so many classes have strong CC because you can't justify a fight-control type class with 4 man content, likewise a force-multiplier also looses a spot as well. See Lotro's Loremaster and Captain as representatives of these roles).

Edited November 27, 2012 by paul_preib

I think it's all perception and subjective to each person. Some people define Best as being the one with the most subscribers/players. Some will say small ones are the best, because they offer unique experiences.

 

They are all small.

 

If TOR were a TV show, it would be cancelled after an episode. Even WoW would lose its timeslot to "Amish Doomsday Traders" on NatGeo.

 

MMO's are not, never have been, and never will be "mainstream entertainment". The sooner they give up on this pipedream, the better.

Well OP your thread is entirely subjective, everyone is going to have a different answer based on their taste. SWTOR has a lot going for it, as far as personal questing, the voice acting, and personal companions, but has a lot of problems and limitations. Only a fraction here would call it the best (the people that are big Bio-ware fans). Personally I actually have a big soft spot for your former game City of Heroes/ Villains. That was a game that did a lot things really well etc. In my heart I tend to give that game 1st, and this one second after playing lots of different MMos since the days of Asheron's Call April 2000 till the present.

Some MMO games are more detailed with setting, lore, social, exploration, crafting or have more RPG content, but I think SWTOR has the best combat gameplay and stories. Edited November 27, 2012 by MorgonKara

I like playing SWTOR the most out of all the MMOs I've tried. Sadly, just about all of the original programmers are gone and each subsequent patch breaks as much as it fixes.

I actually think LOTRO is the best MMO made, or at least it would be if the combat gameplay was better. I know WOW is the most popular but it has too many bad pop culture references and it's too cartoon-y to be taken seriously as a RPG. LOTRO does almost everything better except the combat, which unfortunately is a major setback. People gripe about responsiveness or whatever but SWTOR has the best combat of any MMO I've seen. Edited November 27, 2012 by MorgonKara

SWG was by far the best MMO ever (the most sandbox) yes, NGE final publish was good, atmospheric flight, guild wars, open planets, open space flight, city pve/p invasions, player housing which could be decorated, open pvp....the list goes on Edited November 27, 2012 by BraaxusKun

I actually think LOTRO is the best MMO made, or at least it would be if the combat gameplay was better. I know WOW is the most popular but it has too many bad pop culture references and it's too cartoon-y to be taken seriously as a RPG. LOTRO does almost everything better except the combat, which unfortunately is a major setback. People gripe about responsiveness or whatever but SWTOR has the best combat of any MMO I've seen.

 

As the MMO I played for a year prior to SWTOR I do think rather fondly of Lotro, but I think post Mirkwood they really started losing themselves in terms of the best elements as Isengarde just lacked soul to me and the emphasis on the Turbine store that I felt was well handled initially finally reached breaking point.

As the MMO I played for a year prior to SWTOR I do think rather fondly of Lotro, but I think post Mirkwood they really started losing themselves in terms of the best elements as Isengarde just lacked soul to me and the emphasis on the Turbine store that I felt was well handled initially finally reached breaking point.

 

It's true, but you could say the same about TOR and it isn't even a year old yet. The cartel store is sucking the soul out of TOR imho.

 

It's like Turbine held on to their principals for a long time and really believe in their product whereas Bioware caved before SWTOR even launched, basically.

Edited November 27, 2012 by MorgonKara

As everyone has said, the answer is purely subjective. I'd actually like to thank all the responders so far (honestly). I really expected a major flame-fest to have started by now.

 

That said, the games that hold my current interest are:

 

World of Warcraft

Star Wars: The Old Republic

DC Universe Online

 

Why? Well, there's really no benefit to answering that. WoW offers a free trial to level 20 as a taste, you obviously play SWTOR, and DCUO has a F2P model as well. Take any of them for a test run. See what strikes you and what doesn't.

I've tried GW2 and played it for a week, but I got pretty bored with it. Mainly because the story was not interesting and I didn't feel anything for my character. It was just an empty shell which I used to kill stuff. SWTOR's characters have personality, I like that.

It's true, but you could say the same about TOR and it isn't even a year old yet. The cartel store is sucking the soul out of TOR imho.

 

It's like Turbine held on to their principals for a long time and really believe in their product whereas Bioware caved before SWTOR even launched, basically.

 

I personally feel the opposite about the Cartel market, since its been added, I look forward to aquiring the exciting new cosmetic content they have released, and plan to release in the future. The only complaint I have at this time would be that all content in the cartel market should be items subscribers can aquire in-game, without buying off the marketplace or people WTS... like everything else was up to that point, and the items that can be crafted, especially color crystals, should have schamtics for crafting (this would of added a nice benefit for artifice on my main finally).