![]() ![]() I feel like it's tragic, almost, because almost nothing that I like about TOR benefits from it being an MMO, and the MMO mechanics actually detract from the RPG side of it. But you can tell that TOR is the result of BioWare doing what they know they're good at (party-based RPG, quirky characters, fun dialogue) and then being very follow-the-leader in copying other MMOs (because they don't have enough experience to successfully innovate in that realm), and it never quite fits together. They weren't going to do anything radical. That's understandable, since BioWare have never made an MMO before. BioWare made an RPG that's basically KotOR done cheaply with ME dialogue trees, and then they also made a very conservative MMO. In a way, TOR is exactly the game I would have expected BioWare to make. It does a few neat things, it does a few things that don't really work, but its mechanical design is so standard and so unambitious that it's hard to get excited about it. ![]() It's hard to say that the MMO bit is bad, as such there's just nothing that really makes it stand out. The problem is just that all of this is bolted on to a very standard, very boring MMO structure. I don't think BioWare would ever otherwise have made a story entirely about being a smuggler, or being a Sith mystic, or an Imperial spy, or whatever else, so TOR's breadth there really helped. While the RPG half is reasonably good and has all the usual flair, and has the substantial benefit that instead of telling one generic story, it can tell eight different stories based on Star Wars archetypes. TOR is a very standard BioWare RPG bolted on to a WoW clone. My sense of the game is that it's pulled in two directions, and that's basically where it goes wrong. I played Jedi Consular to the end of SoR, and Bounty Hunter about halfway through vanilla. I played it up until the end of Shadow of Revan, but skipped out on Knights of the Fallen Empire or whatever it was. If I am playing in mid level gear, I am nowhere near as strong as the guy in level fifty gear, despite our levels being equalized. Your stats are all equalized, but that only really brings out the question of equipment even more. Space battles are corridor shooters, and decently good at it. Crew skills makes a degree of sense, and allows you to go through the stories without having to take hours out of the way to craft gear. Story: The story can be really hit or miss, depending on your tastes, and the way that they have done the dialog trees makes me chafe a bit, especially as I have been doing more real roleplaying in recent years. ![]() When I am focusing on my ability rotations, I am not focusing on everything else, and the everything else is what makes the game fun. It has some cool elements, but the issue of abilities makes all of that somewhat moot. ![]() Of course, it is attached to an MMO unfortunately. The Cold War style of the setting makes it perfect for the adventuring group. Unlike the Rebellion period, the two sides are at least relatively equal, broadening the storytelling opportunities. Unlike the Clone Wars, it has the potential for really big campaigns. Sometimes they fail in executing their worlds, but they make good worlds. If you took away the MMO aspects and turned the thing into a published setting with its own mechanics, it would stand on its own very well. Setting: As a Star Wars setting, it is amazing. Is it a game where you can hop on with a couple of friends, voice chat, and have a lot of fun, yes. ![]()
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