Bioware's SWTOR isn't a Blizzard game. Warcraft, even Pre-WOTLK, doesn't come close.

Are you seriously suggesting that traditional crafting mechanics are challenging? Crafting is a meaningless bore in every MMO.

8) Warzones - I love Huttball and I don't think anyone hates it.

I love how they manage to put every individual player in the centre even though its a mmo and how they really managed to produce a involving story for each class. Heck, every time you log on you are reminded about your part in the story and why you are special.

I don't entirely disagree with you on that. The crafting being a rote process in a lot of games isn't at all desirable. I could wish for it being a good bit more interesting all around, instead of click a button, wait 30 seconds, get your microwaved eggs and chow down, but I'm not going to say that TOR is an improvement in terms of what I'd like, just a removal of some of the bother.

A game that is very ambitious in its attempt to change the genre in its own big way and I'll try to explain. SWTOR is not something I would compare to WOW because the game has done so much more to push the envelope and take risks that other developers wouldn't have dared try in an MMO. Don't believe me just take a look at Trion's clone disaster: Rift.

For example:

1) Companions - the customization of having a class within a class, (and several of them) that you can gear up, send on missions, craft for you, accompany you, defend or heal you, is unheard of in an MMO besides a mindless pet beast of some sort.

2) Your own housing (starship) right at launch. I'm sure we'll be able to add or modify the inside of our ships at a later date but you can only get done what you can get done on a schedule and budget for launch. Not only that but this "home" has a crew in your companions that come with you throughout your storyline. You also get expanded storage, access to fast inter-galactic travel, shooter mission terminal, etc. Very innovative for an MMO.

3) FPS Shooter built-in to an MMO!? - Yea, that is pretty original. To be able to use your player housing (your ship) as a battle tool for missions and be able to customize your ship with upgrades is fantastic. Never seen it before in any other game.

4) Crew skills - totally different way of crafting and one that doesn't involve me wasting time to gather and craft so I can have fun doing other things is very unique. I never liked crafting in other MMOs until this one came about.

5) Moddable gear - I can use the same light saber I got at level 10 all the way through the game if I want by constantly upgrading it. It is excellent from a lore standpoint and very creative in how they tied all that together with the crafting system.

6) Traveling and binds - Big improvement here. No longer necessary to bind anywhere as in all other MMOs. Here we can simply learn a checkpoint and refer to it within the zone whenever we want. The other speeder/flying travel routes are numerous enough so you never feel you are wasting a huge amount of time walking if you're forced to.

7) Voiceover - there is no need to explain here as this is the only MMO we've seen beyond Age of Conan that has been so nicely voiced over post level 20 Tortage! If you consider how much rich story is in each class for both sides Republic and Empire, only then can you really appreciate how much work has gone into bringing the player into the Star Wars universe and story. Even if this is something you'll only enjoy the first time through, its still wonderfully different and enveloping.

8) Warzones - very different and unique way of doing PVP in an MMO. I love Huttball and I don't think anyone hates it. Bioware can only get better with making changes in the future to this and the other cool warzones out there. Its not your same old "go get a flag or go stand on this spot" like other MMOs. These are like storylines built in to the maps. Destroy a ship, guard a base, plant explosives, etc. Very fun concepts for PVP.

9) Character action consequence - while we all should understand that our character's actions should not permanently change the game world as that would not make sense for all other players, it is nice that we can at least change OUR characters based on the light/dark choices we make. Even visually, we can see as our characters become more evil, etc. This in turn gives us access to different gear based on our alignment. Again, original and I love it.

10) No factions - thank god I can't tell you how happy I am about seeing an MMO with zero faction grinding. One of the WORST developments in MMOs I have ever seen and again I can't begin to explain how pleased I am to see its not in SWTOR!


There are many other great things about this game and of course, the problems. Server queues.... well, you know that they are forced caps to make the impatient leave and spread the population to other servers, right? Its temporary and necessary. The UI? The UI is a disaster, I know. I hope they listen to the community and make changes to it fast. Other than that I have to say its a smooth game, smooth launch, great fun, and very polished for being just released.

So far this game is extremely ambitious for an MMO and I honestly doubt we'll ever see anything come close to this in the near future considering how much time and money was spent on this software. It really is history-making for the gaming industry in this genre.