It was not necessarily a lack of interest in the game that caused me
to unsub after a year or so; any time a subscription fee is involved,
it's also a matter of budget, time available, etc. I was initially
nonplussed with the manner in which it went free-to-play, every dialog
box seemed eager to remind me I wasn't paying them for conveniences
recinded. Time passed and I didn't give it much attention. Guild Wars 2
sated the MMO craving for a while, which was a great bargain given the
lack of sub fee there.
Once Bioware actually started
releasing real honest to goodness expansions for SWTOR, that caught my
eye. It seems they really did want to make up for the lack of new
content during the first year of uptime. Publications started
mentioning SWTOR again, calling it a "comeback", subs back up, making
the game profitable for them again. It was enough to make me consider
going back.
The current pricing scheme makes so much more
sense. Less greedy than before, all it takes now to unlock the three
digital expansions permanently is to sub in for at least one month. Too
good a deal to turn down, I took the dive and am glad I did.
Some
may not be familiar with the SWTOR premise, I didn't push the game as
hard in my circle as I wanted to since I didn't suspect I'd get much response from
pushing another MMO. We've all played WoW, been down that road before.
With SWTOR, BioWare made the assertion that the storyline does matter, and the players should be allowed to participate in it. I'll cover the main bullet points briefly.
The
Old Republic returns to the much beloved KOTOR setting, a time in the
galaxy (around 3600 BBY) when both Jedi and Sith were numerous, and open
war between the Republic and Empire divided the galaxy. The 8
character classes, 4 per faction, each play pivotal roles in the
conflict with a unique solo storyline for each. Each of these splits
into two 'advanced classes' which represent the mechanically different
playstyles an MMO would need, while allowing Star Wars fans to live out
specific power fantasies. The 8 ACs are mirrored mechanically between
the factions, with naming and cosmetic differences for abilities.
Most
of the quests feature interactive dialogue with voice acted audio,
making SWTOR the most voiced game in video game history. For group
content, it also featured the world's first multiplayer dialogue system.
Instanced 'flashpoints' (dungeons) and 'operations' (raids) are also
built around portions of metaplot or self-contained storylines. Players
can make light/dark choices in dialogue that have impact, in MP only
your choice affects your character alignment, even if a different choice
wins the roll.
The game itself plays in a way familiar to
anyone who's played an MMO in the last decade, though with a number of
quality-of-life streamlining decisions, making the progression much less
a chore. Hotbars of attacks that chain into each other. The trinity
of tank/healer/damage. Genre staples that ain't broke, don't need
fixin'.
The real question, and I don't exactly know how
to answer this, is what is it that makes The Old Republic special? I
can name more than one online world I would be totally fine never seeing
again, but this one called me back. Is the Star Wars IP alone enough
to keep a hardcore fan interested? Maintaining creative control over
the KOTOR setting was a slick move, it enables them to tell their own
stories on that stage without stepping on the toes of the films. Is it
just that it's space wizards with laser swords? Maybe.
I
suppose it doesn't matter if the reasoning is quantifiable or not. I
love this game. It's gotten a lot of new content, still top shelf
production values, no shortage of eye candy and things to do. F2P gains
access to the core content, giving a player time to discover that it's
worth paying for (again). Contrary to the vocal detractors, we don't
really need a standalone KOTOR 3. Far as I'm concerned, it's all right
here.
