Thoughts on GameSpy's Article on SWTOR

Fair enough criticism, respectable honestly.

GW2 has shown however that they have a lot of functionality crammed into a few skills. They also organize it better. Instead of having bars all over your screen for abilities you need to only click on the night of a full moon when its raining and only if there is a red flower in front of you (exaggeration i know heh), they have a bar with 10 buttons.

Add to that a weapon swap that changes the first 5 buttons into another 5 new buttons. This translates to a controller well. Also instead of having three different melee attacks that all do damage, GW2 has weapon chains press 1 do the first strike, press 1 again and you get the second different kind of strike, press it again and get some special effect. Same as the three buttons but streamlined into one button.

It is really something you have to play to understand. I can say that there is enough variety, that leveling is not boring with "the same old skills". Also, most MMOs you have your basic set of skills early on. In WOW my mage had all the abilities i used by like 28 or so for the most part. But level cap was 60 heh,

As for the cash shop, when they announced that it pissed me right off, I immediately thought they were ruining a great game. However arena net has over a decade long history of running cash shop (GW1) and not letting it ever effect game play balance. They have stated that they take it very seriously and that unlike other games no in game power can be bought through the cash shop. Once I understood how it all works, it actually seems quite neat =)

lol, anyone remember the pre-release TOR articles?

"Oh the dialogue brings a whole new dimension to MMOs. I really felt like I was part of the world I was in. Made my whole experience better because of it. I found myself caring about the decisions I make and sympathizing with the npc's! Unlike that other game!"

"Oh look at the combat. The fact that it has no auto-attack puts me in the heat of the action. Its so much more realistic too since the character actually parry blaster fire and clash lightsabers! Unlike that other game which just swings at the air."

"The companions in swtor really bring the interactivity to new depths. They almost feel like another player! They server as your characters moral compass, help you craft, as well as fight. They are more than pets! Unlike that other game!"

5 months after release? Oops!

Yeah, keep buying the hype.

lol, anyone remember the pre-release TOR articles?

"Oh the dialogue brings a whole new dimension to MMOs. I really felt like I was part of the world I was in. Made my whole experience better because of it. I found myself caring about the decisions I make and sympathizing with the npc's! Unlike that other game!"

"Oh look at the combat. The fact that it has no auto-attack puts me in the heat of the action. Its so much more realistic too since the character actually parry blaster fire and clash lightsabers! Unlike that other game which just swings at the air."

"The companions in swtor really bring the interactivity to new depths. They almost feel like another player! They server as your characters moral compass, help you craft, as well as fight. They are more than pets! Unlike that other game!"

5 months after release? Oops!

Yeah, keep buying the hype.

lol, anyone remember the pre-release TOR articles?

"Oh the dialogue brings a whole new dimension to MMOs. I really felt like I was part of the world I was in. Made my whole experience better because of it. I found myself caring about the decisions I make and sympathizing with the npc's! Unlike that other game!"

"Oh look at the combat. The fact that it has no auto-attack puts me in the heat of the action. Its so much more realistic too since the character actually parry blaster fire and clash lightsabers! Unlike that other game which just swings at the air."

"The companions in swtor really bring the interactivity to new depths. They almost feel like another player! They server as your characters moral compass, help you craft, as well as fight. They are more than pets! Unlike that other game!"

5 months after release? Oops!

Yeah, keep buying the hype.

Fast paced action 'twitch' combat, dynamic events, etc.. is what people want, that's why Terra and even elder scrolls online are bringing that as well.

Some of us do think this though.

For me the dialogue and voiced content DO make me care about the character. I think most of everyone likes the class quests....it's the other 'Fetch 10 X' that are annoying.

Combat is what I expected it to be. It's smooth for me though.

Also I do like the companions, it's something no other MMO has or will have and I do like what they have done with them but I think there is a lot more potential there that I hope they expand companion content. Having really hard to obtain companions is going to be cool. Hk-51, maybe a Yoda type companion, and who knows what else...

I think the point is I didn't buy into the hype, I didn't expect this to be a WOW killer. I expected a Themepark MMO based on Star wars made by Bioware...I got what I wanted.

1. Definitely. The cut scenes in GW2 are jarring and uninspired, but I'm confident that the "Work in Progress" stamp above them means they're actively being looked at. That said, I'm not sure GW2 advertises itself as the next big story MMO beyond the fact that you can tailor your questions at character creation.

2. Why can't you and your team work together in GW2's WvW? I assume PvP doesn't appeal to you. Fair enough, but there are raid-like dungeons in GW2 that you can work together to complete. The difference is that GW2 doesn't reserve that gameplay solely for the end game crowd.

3. I'm not sure how you can disagree when BioWare themselves are saying the same thing.

4. No there is plenty of PvE to be had at "end game." Here, I think, ArenaNet needs to do a better job of explaining how they've done away with traditional end game. I know it's difficult to understand on the face of it, but when you see it--and play it--it makes much more sense.

5. Took them long enough...

The lack of story feels like a regression to the mean for me. I enjoyed the trooper story, in a way that transcends just enjoyable gameplay. The plot twist at the end of ord mantel made me look forward to hunting the traitors down, and the fight on the gauntlet super weapon where all of your companions join you in a shoot out with dozens of imperials was simply epic. In five years I won't be talking about how I rid a farm of cabbage thieves in GW2, but I'll still be talking about my surprise when gearbox strolled out in a freaking at-at.

So how about you give me the ten penny tour of the PvE endgame for GW2 since I've only played the weekends and haven't got that far.

I disagree with the #1, I prefer SWTOR's way and really GW2 VO are horrible.
Yeah SWTOR VO is nice and brings something a little differnt to the game... for a short while before the space barring starts... lets be honest if BW didnt allow the space barring then there would of been a hell of alot more flaming about it on here for sure.. but thankfully even they saw that its life span was short in game.
GW2 VO isnt as polished I agree, but then again its not used in the same way.. its not the pivot around game like SWTOR has tried to makle it (and failed badly imo)
If the VO had proper consequence and attitude relevance then it would of been recieved much better but it doesn't except for a few facial ammendments... so imo VO in general has issues inside an MMO - Until it can be seamlessly integrated into the game and deliver real attitudal consequence.. its money better spent on more important areas of the game.

I disagree with the #2, the public events are confusing and playing alongside other people is not player interactions, it needs communication and organization and it doesn't happen in GW2.
Yes I think any MMO that wants community interaction needs communication and organization.. but I dont see this being any real issue in GW2 and I think this aspect will prove a hit for the game...whereas SWTOR is solo driven and does not encourage players to think that way.... you see any experienced MMO player will crave for something that is unexpected, whether it be a random encounter, a public event or a changing/challenging environment... SWTOR just doesnt provide for any of this not even a basic day night cycle. This is why the immersion is not there and the game feels devoid of any soul. The community issues are not just caused by the low server pops... even on buy servers now the planets still seem lifelless... mobs spawn in the same peghole, they have no scaling based on the grp or solo player, they are always there, always the same, the planets should feel daunting to eplore on your own for fear of something random occuring that is challenging.. instead you can walk thro them undetected (especially with stealth tons).... one way for any MMO to encourage community interaction is by way of its content and explorable areas.... but 1-49 fails in every sense. Even flashpoints and Heroics are just not worth the effort.. and those that do group then rage becasue someone took a Need roll on an item that the other person wanted.. so players wait till they can solo it if they really need anything out of it....

Endgame uses the challenge aspect of the game but by then players have become so used to solo play they dont remember how to group, or lack the motivation to grp.. and without a decent grping tool this problem has been allowed to escalate to the point its mainly organised guild runs that do anything.... PUG LFM's continue being spammed for hours even with the new transfered pops.. the community has been excouraged to ignore and lets face it grinding dalies takes its toll on any players resolve when end game becomes more about having the same gear as everyone else and replacing the credits its cost you to upgrade your gear to look and perform the same as everyone else....

I agree with the #3, it's a problem with TOR mentioned for a long time.
Yip

As for the #4, TOR has both. You can not participate in end-game content and level alts or if you want to, there's an end-game too. I didn't find something special in GW2 except there's no endgame at all.
GW2 concept is different granted.. but what may get added or unleashed may be differnt... SWTOR placed a risk factor in its game.. it encouraged the players to roll ALTS but with a VO sytem that begins to grow old all to quickly and a Legacy system that is nothing more than a credit sync and a F2P foundation waiting to be built on....
But yes SWTOR has some endgame.. or geargame depending on how you see it.. without the gear you wont be able to do certain tiers of the endgame.. so sologame turns into, grindgame turns into geargame to be able to sample endgame... I think GW2 read this scenario pretty well and perhaps thought of other ways to reatin its players as they reach upper echelons of the game... time will tell if its regarded positively or negatively.. except of course its predessor seemed to compete rather well and stood the test of time with a similar format in an MMO industry already moving through raiding cycles...so we will have to wait and see.

I disagree with the #5 and it's completely stupid to compare a game in beta without release date with what happen in a live game, of course, it changes faster for GW2, that always happen for every game when every system is finished, put together and tweaked.

I agree. The class quests in SWTOR are amazing--delicious, even. But that's where BioWare put all the eggs in the basket so for that aspect of the game to be anything less than delicious would be inexcusable.

There is no "end game" in GW2. That's the point. When you get to 80, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from going back and running dungeons all you want--the game will downscale your level to suit the challenge.

Want to go back to the starter area in GW2 and run the dynamic events there? Good news: you can! The game will scale you down to the appropriate level to provide a challenge. The same thing is true of the starter area dungeon (for humans it's in Beetletun).

Want to go back to Black Talon in SWTOR? Bad news: you can, but you'll get nothing out of it. The game doesn't incentivize repeatable content because there isn't any outside of the daily quest grinds, nor does it incentivize you going back to help fellow players level because they'll miss out on experience gain and you'll one-shot everything.

That's why SWTOR needs the tired end game experience found in old titles and GW2 doesn't.