Tomorrow ends another cycle in the SWTOR mass beta weekend testing. Sadly, not much has changed.
The FPS issues within the game are still present, although this weekend was far better than the last one I was in. I can only get about 12 FPS, tops, on either faction, on any server. They don’t have central time zone servers! WTF is up with that?! I sure as hell hope that’s not the case come release because if it is, my stay in SWTOR will be short.
Character customization is still lacking, it’s probably one of the most bitched about things in the game right now, aside from the FPS issues. Hardly any customization options.
SWTOR will be space flavored WoW, for anyone who’s wondering. That’s it in a nutshell. Bioware have introduced nothing revolutionary in any sense, other than the fancy Star Wars banner. So, if you are tired of Orcish flavored WoW, you can opt for space flavored.
I won’t get into anything else other than my own personal conclusions.
My stay in SWTOR will be painfully short. Probably not because I want it to be that way, but because if I wanted to play WoW, I’d remain subbed to WoW and be logged into it right now. The FPS issues, I don’t hold a lot of faith in Bioware to fix them. It seems to me they were more worried about voice acting and Lucas sackriding than they were about making sure the game was playable.
Yes, yes, it’s beta, that’s no excuse. After seeing the last 10 years in MMOs, BW has had 6 of those to improve on things. They were worried about aesthetics, not playability.
I forsee them doing some more “big name sackriding” and brown nosing the WoW fanboys more by adding third party addon support (something I am vehemently opposed to and will affect whether I stay subbed or not) and global LFG finders. Both of those things destroyed the community in WoW. Even more than it was destroyed by the fact that Blizzard allows things they shouldn’t. The WoW community, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. SWTOR will have the same problem upon adding third party addon support and LFG finders.
SWTOR will be small niche. Same as LOTRO. They have the Star Wars name, but that’s all they have. They don’t have enough to overtake WoW, nor should they be trying. SWTOR is not the next WoW.
One of my original questions was, will SWTOR be able to beat EVE Online plus DUST 514 for immersion. Answer? No. They never will be able to. There is no realism in SWTOR, just a cartoon Star Wars game. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I’ll get tired of looking at it very quickly. As will most who are in the market for “not WoW’.
I’ll only be purchasing the standard digital download. I refuse to pay premium price for something that is only half finished and could have been so much more.