First Impressions: Star Wars The Old Republic

December 22, 2011 Blog One comment

Ok first impression…omg this game is huge! I started my journey by purchasing the Digital Download Edition (the dvd’s were already out of stock) and was suprised that the total download was only about 3-4mb’s. To my surprise once I installed the launcher the actual game itself started to download at a whopping 11+gb. This took me a little over two days on a standard DSL line with only one hang up as my HD ran out of space. After to file moving and cleaning I was able to resume the install and let her rip.

My first impression upon firing the game up was that the opening splash image looked a little like something taken out of a Star Wars comic book that was being drawn be a second hand artist. I was immediately worried this was going to go like every other new mmo I had previously tried.

The opening cinematic…omg. I was in love with the movie sequences. It had traditional Star Wars written all over it. Epic fight sequences and drama all accentuated with Light Sabers!

Once I finally logged in, and started down the path of creating my first character, I felt like a kid with a new toy again. The first time you create a character in a new mmo is always like Christmas. Customizing your avatar, selecting a name, a server, a side. This is one of my favorite parts. Personalizing the game to me.

Grayle, level 1 Sith Inquisitor. Why? Answer: Double edged lightsabers are cooler than sharks with fricken’ laser beams! Once i logged my new avatar in I was pleasantly surprised at how much the storyline was actually tailored to my own character experience in the game. I was able to choose from multiple choice answers to build my personality and shape my own story. Now, the story is most likely not that complex that you get the same endings no matter what you choose, but it is a still a nice touch. The downside, it takes a long time going through the spoken dialogue and cutscenes of each and every new quest. Since they are new, it seems to be ok but we will see how long that lasts once I have been going through them for a week.

The leveling and development process is pretty straight forward. Anytime you step foot into a new online world it can be daunting and overwhelming. New places, people, and scenarios. Another con that may or may not be something I get used to is having to punch the hot keys for every attack. Coming from world of Warcraft you always had an auto-attack option. Once you started attacking your basic attacks were performed automatically and you flourished these with special attacks or abilities that were fired off manually by keypress.

Not having an auto attack is a bit tough to get used to, maybe it will right itself when I am more comfortable with the controls. The UI interface is similar to WoW as we have the hotkey bar at the bottom of the screen that holds your abilities, you can then scroll up and down between hot key bars. I did like having multiple bars visible and available wherever I wanted them in WoW. I have yet to delve into the world of addons (if any) for STOR yet.

So far: I am intrigued by the gameplay and pleased with the graphics. It is a much needed improvement over the first generation failed Star Wars MMO. We will see what comes next…

How long is too long?

December 16, 2011 Blog No comments

In my time as a gamer I have spent more time in MMO’s then I care to recall. I started as a fledgling player with Everquest during it’s first incarnation. It was a horrible game at that time. As the newest of its genre it was very rough and yet very beautiful at the same time. I eventually left due to horrible gameplay with mindless grinding.

I moved on to Asheron’s Call. Microsofts answer to the world of online gaming. It was a halfway decent game with loads of content that kept expanding. You still had the horrible grinding experiences but it was much easier to achieve goals and accomplishments. Eventually you would cap out your level and everything would become too easy. Like someone had magically switched on the “God-Mode”.

I began Beta testing products during this time, trying to soak in as much of the newest technologies as I could. Some games I followed through on and others completely bombed. Sims, Asherons Call 2, Everquest 2, Eve Online, etc etc. None held my interest for any longer then the Beta Programs lasted. I did revisit a small stint on Everquest after the game had been completely revamped and actually enjoyed it for awhile. It too could not stand the test of time.

Finally, Alpha test accepted for World of Warcraft. I was already a first generation Warcraft player and loved the platform. This game even in it’s infancy was light years ahead of the others. It was obvious the developers had done their homework and used that knowledge to create this wonderfully addicting MMO.

I spent my time during Alpha and Beta testing in this game and loved it. You had all the same pitfalls as others. Grinding, painfully tough puzzles and experiences, horrible 25/40 man Raids, and unbalanced classes with skills that even today remain useless. It was eye candy and it was here to stay.

  • November 23rd, 2004 World of Warcraft was released on the Warcraft Franchise 10th Anniversary.
  • January 16th, 2007 saw the release of the first expansion. The Burning Crusade.
  • November 13th 2008 marked the release of the third expansion. The Wrath of the Lich King.
  • December 7th 2010 the fourth expansion, Cataclysm, was released.

2004, wow…have I really been playing this game for 7 years? Seven long years I have been devoting loads of time to game, guild, friends, and whatever to further my characters in this game. At the time I did not think anything of it, now I find it a bit absurd. My son is now eight. To think almost all of his life I have been playing this game, thats what he knows. In the evening daddy sits down and fires up the computer and plays. Fridays and Saturdays daddy raids from 8pm until 1am in the morning, sometimes longer. He stays up late and gets up tired in the morning. It’s all fun and games.

Well not really. My experience as of late with this game has just been one of frustration. The people you encounter just seem to get more annoying then ever, the people you think are your friends from time to time decide to show you otherwise by stealing, lying, and generally making themselves out to be asshats. The game itself seems to have lost a bit of interest for me. Maybe that has something to do with the eight level 85 characters I have and the fact that there is nothing I can’t accomplish if I wish to give up an entire evening or Saturday afternoon. That time seems a bit more precious to me now.

It can’t be all bad though right? Of course not, I have made some lifelong friends as well as companions, soulmates, and connections I will retain for the rest of my life. I am still an eye candy type of person. That being said, WoW is still the best looking game on the market. That may wane when Guild wars 2 comes out but for now I will stick with my firts opinion. I will most likely try other games, but I doubt I will ever get back the connection I had with this one.

So to answer the first question. Seven years seems to be too long.

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