SW-The Old Republic-Worth it or not...?

[djnugent 34]

I just finished TSL again (there were lot's of excellent mods out over the last year). While I'm going to play it through again as a female character (haven't played that story line yet), I was looking at the SW:TOR game a lot more closely. I read the novels that were written based on the game and found them interesting. The Darth Malgus stuff especially.

 

There's a lot more content out there, and now it's "Free to Play" up to level 50. Not fully understanding what that means, or at least if that's actually a deal or not, I thought I would ask this community a few questions to help educate me before dropping any amount of $.

 

1. Does level 50 even mean anything as far as progression (story and/or character wise)? Nothing would piss me off more than basically just getting started (like say, just getting off of Telos in TSL) and finding out that NOPE - NOW YOU GOTTA PAY
2. The game is a MMORPG - so... is it single-player enough? I just want to play MY character and get lost in the story. Can you play it like you would KOTOR or TSL? 
3. If I understand right, the subscription basically means that I have to

• A: Pay for any/all expansions (obvious)
• B: Continue to pay just to play a game that I might be happy to purchase outright 

The Subscription thing is currently the largest factor turning me off to this. I loathe the idea of having to continue to pay for a game after already paying $ for it.

 

Motivating factors that MIGHT make it worth it to ME: 

 

- MOST IMPORTANT : Storylines that are at least as good (or at least really complex and interesting) as the ones present in KOTOR and TSL

 

- Enormous galactic map(s) to explore

 

- As "unique" an experience as they promised. Choices are choices, no matter what the outcome (like Light vs Gray vs Dark)

 

- Expansions integrate with the REST of the expansions, allowing for smooth storylines no matter what level and/or point in the story

 

- Gameplay is decent, not super-difficult or complicated, or at least no more than KOTOR & TSL

 

 

It LOOKS really awesome... but everybody seems to still be disappointed enough to continue to MOD and play KOTOR and TSL. Which tells you something right there. I mean, okay, some of the most compelling Star Wars stories to date, but, gameplay and graphically speaking, it's getting more dated every year. 

 

Thank you to anybody taking the time to read it and/or reply. I'm not going to stop playing these awesome mods (I still have to play BOS and BOS:SR !!!) - just looking for some new Star Wars stories to get into.

 

Also - the "motivating factors" are only expressed as the ones that I generally look for first in a game. I'm a sucker for a great story I can get lost in (like Assassins' Creed and L.A. Noir). So, if there happen to be OTHER motivating factors in favor of paying $ for SW:TOR that I haven't considered, please feel free to state them. Might be that it just hadn't occurred to me yet and it may be a really cool reason to play it.

 

[Sith Holocron 2,477]

Why not just try it - preferably using the link on my profile page - and then make a more informed decision?

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

I really enjoy SWTOR, though to get the most out of it, I would subscribe for at least a month. That way you get "preferred" status which unlocks quite a few things.

 

To answer some of your specific questions:

 

1) I think you can get through the main story pretty easy, but Knights of the Fallen Empire requires a level 60 character. Beyond that, I think some of the upper level items might be restricted, but you're pretty powerful by 50 anyways.

 

2) Yes it's single player enough

 

3) As I said subscribe for a month or two and then when that ends you automatically get preferred status.

 

All things considered though, this game is massive and considering all the work they put into it, I find it pretty reasonable to be paying for them to continue to create content. That is just me though

[djnugent 34]

I really enjoy SWTOR, though to get the most out of it, I would subscribe for at least a month. That way you get "preferred" status which unlocks quite a few things.

 

To answer some of your specific questions:

 

1) I think you can get through the main story pretty easy, but Knights of the Fallen Empire requires a level 60 character. Beyond that, I think some of the upper level items might be restricted, but you're pretty powerful by 50 anyways.

 

2) Yes it's single player enough

 

3) As I said subscribe for a month or two and then when that ends you automatically get preferred status.

 

All things considered though, this game is massive and considering all the work they put into it, I find it pretty reasonable to be paying for them to continue to create content. That is just me though

 

Okay - valid point on the "paying to create new content" comment. I guess there would have to be enough new quality content coming out for me to justify it, which judging by the reply it sounds like they are. 

 

So +10 cool points in favor of SW:TOR

 

Knights of the Fallen Empire looks awesome enough to be worth paying for by itself :-)

 

 

Why not just try it - preferably using the link on my profile page - and then make a more informed decision?

 

Sorry - already created the account, then hesitated before actually going for it. Otherwise, totally would have.

 

 

 

Okay - think I'll give it a shot. I just upgraded my video card and doubled up my RAM, so I'm itching to turn it loose on something Star Wars-y and cool :-)

Thanks for the remarks, they were helpful. Any free advice would be cool, too - like little "Things / gameplay quirks I wish I would have known when I started this game the first time" stuff. Either way, I'll figure it out :-)

[Sith Holocron 2,477]

Which server are you choosing?

[djnugent 34]

Which server are you choosing?

 

I think the Harbinger, probably - seems like that would give me the experience closest to what I'm looking for (according to them).

 

Any opinions or experiences relating to specific pros & cons would be cool. Sounds pretty straight-forward, but there are always "catches". Plus, I never played any games like WoW so I can't speak with an educated opinion 

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

For what it's worth, I'm on Begeren Colony, though I'm not on all that often.

 

As far as tips there are too many to count, but I'll maybe start with this:

 

 

1) Get your subscription ASAP. For subscribing you get a lot of nice beginner stuff that will make things easier to do in general, including the ability to run, a vehicle and cargo access, which is essential

 

2) If you want to do a "Single-Player-esque" playthrough only, don't worry about weekly/daily missions. Instead, focus on Heroics (as they usually give lots of $$ + XP) and Flashpoints. Flashpoints are self-contained missions and you can do them with a group or by yourself in Solo mode.

 

3) You gain more experience when you're in a group

 

4) Once you get to the Republic/Imperial Fleet, you generally will get a package of supplies from someone I think once you choose your specialization class. DON'T THROW THE PACK OF SUPPLIES AWAY

 

That's all I can think of for now

[starwars1234 9]

Always do flashpoints with a group (unless you're lvl 65). And also.... buy Cartel coins, but don't waste them!

[Seikan 22]

I played it for two months, I enjoyed it and then my subscription ended and i didn't bother to renew it, it isn't a bad game per see (though i'm still stingy about the fact it killed prospects for a Kotor 3 and I hate what they did with Revan), but didn't really felt like paying any more, I got a lvl max character finished it's story line,  started many other classes, played all the flashpoints, etc... but at the time (dunno about now) pvp wasn't that balanced and the amount of CC was ridiculous for me, so i just dropped.

 

I could have kept playing F2P but don't know about now but at the time it wasn't all that appealing, reduced XP which changed the base grinding that was already considerable became huge since you'd have to stick to a map where you already exhausted everything to do just to grind your way up to a decent level before being able to move away to some other place, subscribers didn't really get a bonus over f2p since it remained pretty much the same as before they introduced f2p but instead they tried to make the f2p annoying to push people into subscription, and I hate grinding when it's forced upon you and not an option you take, so I just completely dropped it.

 

So I can just hope it's better now, anyways should be less bothersome the first play through, even less if you didn't got to play it the normal way, it's always worse when there's a downgrade than when you start low to begin with, but it would without a doubt be more pleasant to play on a subscription, so i'd consider getting one if I was you as VarisityPuppet said.

[Haveayap 127]

I can sum it up in one word: Awful...

[Mutilator57 140]

I'd love to pitch in on this question. I've played on an off since launch and IMO, it is a pretty good game.

If you are really into the roleplaying/story aspect of the game, it can be very engrossing - especially since the new KotFE storyline.

As for the potential of getting bored, in my experience I have rarely had the time to sink all my efforts into the game and therefore, always have something new to do.

Nevertheless, the game is immeasurably better when playing with a friend/group of friends!

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

I can sum it up in one word: Awful...

 

Like the Internet in New Zealand?

[xander2077 80]

I don’t know if it is worth it or not, I guess if you pay for a subscription then it does provide hours of fun and content that is entertaining, but the fact they keep repeating the same beats over and over kind of cheapens it for me. And I was expecting the old republic to be more like, well the old republic, not a sort of the same thing as the prequel trilogy kind of game. Is it better in quality than SWG, yes, probably so? But it also kind of gives the feel of the animated series.

 

 

 

I’m not trying to be funny or anything, but when Shan and her master arrest the smuggler before she escapes the Sith, and she senses the dark side, I half expected them to break out in some kind of Bollywood music video.

 

I suppose there is more depth to it really when you get to the content you read, and I agree I did not like how they handled Revan either, they kind of spoiled the mystery of why Revan and Malak disappeared to the unknown regions and returned as conquering Sith lords, and then left Revan hanging right before K2, and my thought was, if they were going to spoil the first part, why not spoil the second? Or just leave it maybe? I don’t know, I think they tried too hard to tie it in to the space between the movies and KotOR. When they tell the story of the exiled Sith retreating to the unknown regions, and the first Grand Moff dying on the bridge of his star destroyer, it didn’t look different enough from the bridge of one in ESB for me, and KotOR went out of its way to make things different enough yet similar to star wars without copy catting.

 

 

 

[Mutilator57 140]

I don’t know if it is worth it or not, I guess if you pay for a subscription then it does provide hours of fun and content that is entertaining, but the fact they keep repeating the same beats over and over kind of cheapens it for me. And I was expecting the old republic to be more like, well the old republic, not a sort of the same thing as the prequel trilogy kind of game. Is it better in quality than SWG, yes, probably so? But it also kind of gives the feel of the animated series.

 

 

 

I’m not trying to be funny or anything, but when Shan and her master arrest the smuggler before she escapes the Sith, and she senses the dark side, I half expected them to break out in some kind of Bollywood music video.

 

I suppose there is more depth to it really when you get to the content you read, and I agree I did not like how they handled Revan either, they kind of spoiled the mystery of why Revan and Malak disappeared to the unknown regions and returned as conquering Sith lords, and then left Revan hanging right before K2, and my thought was, if they were going to spoil the first part, why not spoil the second? Or just leave it maybe? I don’t know, I think they tried too hard to tie it in to the space between the movies and KotOR. When they tell the story of the exiled Sith retreating to the unknown regions, and the first Grand Moff dying on the bridge of his star destroyer, it didn’t look different enough from the bridge of one in ESB for me, and KotOR went out of its way to make things different enough yet similar to star wars without copy catting.

 

 

 

I don't think you'll be able to find one person on these forums who likes what happened to Revan XD

[xander2077 80]

I don't think you'll be able to find one person on these forums who likes what happened to Revan XD

 

they should have done the Bollywood music video, can't be much worse than the remix of jabba's palace band.

 

I will say though i do like Kiras outfit, since it seems to get as close to the Hyperspace war era old republic style as i always imagined.

[djnugent 34]

Ok... I caved and bought a 2 month subscription. I'm up to level 10 so far. Definitely a learning curve for those of us not used to MMORPG types. Hopefully I'll be able to roll into the meat of the story soon.

 

Thanks for the opinions!

 

Couple More questions:

 

1. What should Cartel Coins be spent on?

 

2. Should armor/weapons be bought from vendors or are there better/easier ways to get them?

          - I bought stuff from one of the weapons vendors outside the academy

 

 

***also... I read the Revan book(s)... and yeah... lame.... or anti-climactic anyways***

[Seikan 22]

***also... I read the Revan book(s)... and yeah... lame.... or anti-climactic anyways***

 

Oh, but it doesn't stop there, they'll stomp him even more in the game itself, after keeping him alive 400 years just to be able to drop him in their mmo to try to bait kotor fans they do a terrible story with him in a flashpoint before changing him in some sort of bipolar Voldemort, but anyways...

 

Concerning Cartel points it depends on personal preference, maybe you want to get the extra races, or maybe you want to get a movement speed boost to move faster on annoyingly large places, but in the end most of the stuff is cosmetic anyways, you can cosplay as more or less any major character of kotor if you wish, old-school kotor republic soldier? done, blingbling old-school kotor sith soldier? possible, Darth nihilus mask? yay, Revan amor? easy, Darth malak? of course, handmaiden outfit? yay! (even as a guy, looks kinda weird...), and well Bastilla, Jolee, Calo Nord, Mira,  Mandalore the preserver (K2 Canderous), Sion, Atton, Visas, really only missing a few... (but some are not avaible at any moment) By themselves, they are cool, i'd totally get them, but it feels weird seeing kotor cosplayers running around every corner x)

[djnugent 34]

Oh, but it doesn't stop there, they'll stomp him even more in the game itself, after keeping him alive 400 years just to be able to drop him in their mmo to try to bait kotor fans they do a terrible story with him in a flashpoint before changing him in some sort of bipolar Voldemort, but anyways...

 

Concerning Cartel points it depends on personal preference, maybe you want to get the extra races, or maybe you want to get a movement speed boost to move faster on annoyingly large places, but in the end most of the stuff is cosmetic anyways, you can cosplay as more or less any major character of kotor if you wish, old-school kotor republic soldier? done, blingbling old-school kotor sith soldier? possible, Darth nihilus mask? yay, Revan amor? easy, Darth malak? of course, handmaiden outfit? yay! (even as a guy, looks kinda weird...), and well Bastilla, Jolee, Calo Nord, Mira,  Mandalore the preserver (K2 Canderous), Sion, Atton, Visas, really only missing a few... (but some are not avaible at any moment) By themselves, they are cool, i'd totally get them, but it feels weird seeing kotor cosplayers running around every corner x)

 

Yikes... I heard somewhere in the wind that the Revan story was BS... I went out of my way to NOT read any of it just to keep it "fresh" to me... *sigh*

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

1. What should Cartel Coins be spent on?

I would spend Cartel Coins on inventory or cargo unlocks, plus any other things that you might lose access to, pending your transition from "Subscribed" to "Preferred" status.

Also try to keep an eye out for armors or items that you're really into, but before you do that, let me go into my next point...

 

2. Should armor/weapons be bought from vendors or are there better/easier ways to get them?

          - I bought stuff from one of the weapons vendors outside the academy

I've found you get a pretty good loadout of items as you do missions (Heroic/Story/Class/Flashpoint). If you want to specifically go for higher-end weapons, I recommend seeking out the Galactic Trade Network (it's in the Republic Fleet in the top right semi-circle I think).

 

Being that you're level 10, I would probably not too much work into buying equipment from vendors on Tython. Collect up your money and you'll have access to better gear soon enough.

[Sith Holocron 2,477]

I think the Harbinger, probably - seems like that would give me the experience closest to what I'm looking for (according to them).

 

 

Oh, that's too bad. If you were on the Jedi Covenant server, I probably could've donated some stuff to you.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

Oh, that's too bad. If you were on the Jedi Covenant server, I probably could've donated some stuff to you.

 

Boooooo, Begeren Colony is where it's at!

 

How did we end on so many different servers? I feel like we probably could have coordinated on this a little better :/

 

Is there a DeadlyStream guild btw?

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

I tried to start this F2P last year, but it kept crashing my computer, so I gave up. At Christmastime, though, I fixed all the crashing problems with the other games I have, so I might try this again at some point...

 

So I was wondering: of those here who play TOR (at least some of the time), what server do you play on? I chose one back when I started, but I was only able to get through maybe 15 minutes, so I could still switch. It will partly depend on what type the server is, of course, but I might want to join one that folks here are on as well.

 

I'm not planning to ever spend any money on this, though. I already had enough of a look at the options on their website back when I was first considering trying it to decide that subscribing isn't worth it for me.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

I tried to start this F2P last year, but it kept crashing my computer, so I gave up. At Christmastime, though, I fixed all the crashing problems with the other games I have, so I might try this again at some point...

 

So I was wondering: of those here who play TOR (at least some of the time), what server do you play on? I chose one back when I started, but I was only able to get through maybe 15 minutes, so I could still switch. It will partly depend on what type the server is, of course, but I might want to join one that folks here are on as well.

 

I'm not planning to ever spend any money on this, though. I already had enough of a look at the options on their website back when I was first considering trying it to decide that subscribing isn't worth it for me.

 

Well, so far there's 3 of us on 3 different servers.

Begeren Colony, The Harbinger, Jedi Covenant, and I think there were quite a few on Red Eclipse back in the day.

[Sith Holocron 2,477]

Just check out the "Let's See Your Characters!" thread and you'll have an idea where folks have/had their characters. (Why not post yours too while you're look at it?)

[LiliArch 115]

I'm on Red Eclipse, and Progenitor. Planning to try some other server too, though. There seems to be no rule against playing on multiple servers.

 

It's totally F2P-playable, as long as you don't hit a game-breaking issue that requires the help of customer service. I finished my Smuggler and Jedi Knight as F2P just fine. Sith Warrior and Imperial Agent are a bit picky, if your computer happens to be one of those unlucky ones that hit an issue where holoterminal conversation doesn't progress (I recently got a response from customer service that listed 1 mission for Sith Warrior and 4 missions for Imperial Agent where that happens). Totally computer-dependant, apparently, though, so you may get lucky. Or just avoid playing those two classes. If you spend no money for it, you can get only two characters at a time, anyway.