Duke Togo

It's not about what computers are capable of; it's about not punishing those who are at a disadvantage because of their connection. What you are advocating for is what is known as "action based" or "twitch based" combat--this does not work in a large MMO environment because of the disparity in the latency among users.

Dual-specs are coming, just not at launch. If SWTOR was an "instanced" game world, it would essentially be a single-player game. There is no way around that. I don't play MMO's to play by myself in a world devoid of other players.

Ok, maybe I missed this, but what happened to the rest of the Thundercats? Are our band of brave adventures the only ones to survive a genocide? There was a huge city teaming with cats, and they all seem to be gone. I have a feeling I missed something about them being taken for slave labor or escaping into the hills. Or maybe they'll all just dead?

I win: I was getting 9 FPS during the dance off! If there was one thing 6 years of WoW has taught me, no class remains the same for long.

What is somewhat bothersome are those who didn't play this weekend chiming in on the forums saying, "Well, my hardware is 'X', and I was getting 100+ FPS." When you ask them if it was this weekend, they always say no. I have yet to see a single person with capable hardware post they were getting the numbers we had seen previously during the final beta this past weekend. Passing along a rumor: someone stated that Bioware re-enabled the in-game AA this weekend. I didn't see an option for it, but considering the issues they had in the past with it, I would not be surprised. However, I had AA enabled through CCC, and that would have overridden any in-game setting--meaning I *should* have been immune if that was the cause.

Bioware is actively investigating the issue.

This beta build they have us testing (on 6 NA servers) has some serious performance issues. Where previously I was seeing 90-110 FPS (unnecessary, obviously), I now average around 30-50--and never above 70. At times I dip as low as 20 FPS.I had to turn on vsync to correct some other graphic issues that have cropped up, so I'm capped at 60 now, anyway. This is very disappointing, to say the least. I have the hardware to run this game at max, and then some. I do hope they resolve this in the next few weeks. Edit: Bioware created what is a quickly growing thread on the tester forums because of this issue (currently at 26 pages). Servers are currently down and a new patch was rolled out; hopefully this fixes it.

Seems I've been invited, along with small group of testers (some of who are in regular beta), to test a new build of SWTOR starting tomorrow. No end date was given.

Though I can't really disagree with Shane, from my point of view his approach and how he handled it (and himself) was complete out of line--up until Sophia walked out of that barn. Totally changed how that entire episode looked.

No, you offered up some examples of concepts it contains that are like all MMO's (except for Guild Wars, apparently), and then you made some rather lazy and uninformed comments about its combat system and how it looks. Nevermind this flies in the face of all the other feedback given in this thread (or that can be found online, for that matter). You want to talk about GW2 and how awesome it looks, more power to you; create a thread and have at it. What would I consider legitimate and valid criticisms of SWTOR? The character creator needs to be more robust, the UI needs more customization options, lack of addon support (I'm 50/50 on this one, actually), lack of macro support, lack of "Target of Target" window. I can't speak to CoH, but WoW definitely does not have a system like this.

I completely understand what you mean, but if you see how Blizzard is backpeddling on flying mounts now, you can understand why. Being able to fly over the landscape and drop into mission areas trivializes the design of the world. Land-kill mobs--take off; rinse, repeat. It's not something I really missed, and it makes the game world seem more alive because it is populated.

Lots and lots. Speaking of, I STRONGLY recommend you read about the Smuggler's Den on Tatooine and the 24-hour a day active warzone on Illum. A PvPer's dream.

Well, it is an MMO. If you want to play it solo, certainly you can. You will be missing out on chunks of content. I know MMO's aren't for everyone, and I noticed much of what you played leaned toward the "sandbox" style of play (I put a chunk of time into EVE, so I can definitely dig that) which is very solo-friendly. I won't try to sell you on a game that might not be a fit for you. What I can tell you is that there are 8 distinct storylines in this game for 8 classes, and each one is probably longer than the total story in KotOR.

Ok, I really want to say again how awesome group cutscenes are, especially when you get people together who would handle the situation differently. Basically, the cutscene/conversation works like Bioware one's typically do, except everbody in the party can pick their own response. A roll is done (internally, by the game), and the winner of the roll is the one whose response is "played." One of my favorite beta memories is being in a group and just mercilessly choosing to murder the person the group was talking to (I had won the roll), and one of the members (jokingly) commented how sadistic I was. We all had a good laugh (and a good time). Oh, yeah, this game is not exactly kid friendly. It's not AoC, by any means, but it can be brutal, violent, and filled with sex (ok, the screen fades out when you hook up, but you get the idea).

Heroic missions (group missions) will murder you in the face. Hard. They might not seem like it the first few you do, but they can be extremely challenging. You will not be soloing them. You could certainly skip all of that content, but you'd miss out on a chunk of the story, a chunk of missions, and a chunk of missions rewards. Plus you miss out on the awesomeness that is group cutscenes.

You mean staples of every MMO going back over a decade? Your fixation on WoW and calling it a "WoW clone" (and your talking up of Guild Wars) is starting to make you sound like a troll. I personally have nothing again GW, and I know GW2 is generating a lot of buzz, but I've seen these types of posts before from people who have little or no time played in SWTOR, and they are always trolling.

Another thought: not to be a prick, but stop comparing it to KotOR. KotOR is fairly dated at this point, from a game mechanics point of view. I mean, it's 8 years old. SWTOR doesn't play like KotOR, at all. Not in the least. If KotOR 3 was made today and it played like the previous two, I'd be very disappointed. The Old Republic world is there. The strong story and characterization are there. Hell, most of the KotOR voice actors are there. It's also a blast to play, and it is NOT a WoW clone. I'll be there, and I think you should be too. I think if it was something you finally decided to try a year after launch, you'd be kicking yourself for letting that year go by without playing it. For the record, the game has a few issues, many of which the devs have talked about addressing sometime in the first six months after release. Some of the others, well, we'll see. They won't break the game, though. I find your ignorance of MMO history disturbing. The MMO didn't start with WoW, and it's not going to end with it. You are also VERY wrong about a lot of "just you and your companion missions." I assume you never got past level 10-15. I can assure you, by the time you are in you're 20's, you are swamped with group missions. WoW never came close to having this much group content during leveling. Hell, the interactive group cutscenes are a blast and one of my favorite features. The combat looks and feels very different to me. SWTOR, to me (and countless others) is significantly different.

I think you just answered your own question. Warcraft takes place in space. Just sayin'. Secondly, comparing SWTOR to WoW is a lazy comparison, at best. I've said it before and I'll say it again: SWTOR feels familiar in the way all MMO's over the past decade would to someone has played just one of them. It's not a WoW clone, or anywhere close to it. Zor Primus has pretty much agreed with my assessment of the game, and he has much more time in beta than I. I have friends in my guild who have MMO experience going back to UO. Some of them have extensive time spent in SWG, and all of them have a ton of time sunk into WoW; the general opinion among them all is the game is a lot of fun and seems fresh to them. With one exception, none of them play WoW anymore, and are frankly tired of it and uninterested in ever playing it again. They would not play a WoW clone.

I'm talking about the entire game. If you think both games using a resource system make them the same, then every MMO ever made is just like WoW (Nevermind that many of them predate it). I've got years in WoW and dozens of hours into SWTOR beta, and I am telling you, they are not alike.

It's an MMO; KotOR is single player. There is no comparison. Having spent 6 years in WoW (on and off), I can definitely refute Eugimon's take of "it's like WoW with lightsabers;" it's not at all like WoW. It feels familiar when compared to all MMO's that have come out in the last decade--what I find to be a comfortable familiarity. Though it's clearly not "different" in the sense that EVE Online is different, playing it just gives you a whole different feel; SWTOR has a different style of presentation than WoW does.

So, come on new testers, what do you guys think?

WTF, Panthro's arms?!?!?

This has been an ongoing problem since the word go.

Movie that didn't deserve a sequel. I'll probably check it out on Netflix just for the nostalgia factor.

The NDA has been lifted.