Is The Old Republic worth picking up?

[MazeMinion]

I have a ton of Christmas cash and a $25 Target gift card, and I was wondering if The Old Republic was any good.

I'm looking for a new MMO, and this is somewhat catching my eye since the questing seems to be a breath of fresh air.

However, I've been reading through /v/ and there's a lot of hate for it, saying that there is a lack of endgame and that it's just "WoW in space".

Is that true? Is the game still worth picking up?

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

If you love the same old MMO grind put to a Star Wars theme, then yes! If you are like me though, you would rather watch paint dry.

 

[ThaBenMan]

It is similar to WoW in a lot of ways, but it is better in a lot of ways as well. I like WoW, and kind of had a hankering to play a couple times after I quit. I absolutely love Star Wars, so I think SWTOR is awesome.

The questing is great - objectives like "Kill 20 War Droids" are only ever optional. The quests feel more meaningful - having a fully-voiced conversation with the quest-giver gives it so much more context. And the way the questing areas are laid out always makes for a smooth gameplay flow.

The companion characters are awesome - every class gets them, and they're fully-realized, interesting characters, with quest arcs of their own. Not just "pets" that help you fight. And they do your crafting and a lot of the gathering stuff for you, and can also be sent to sell junk in your inventory so you can keep playing.

Each class also gets a great storyline. I'm playing a bounty hunter, and I always want to keep going to see what happens with my quest line next. It really is like starring in your own Star Wars trilogy.

A total bonus is the space combat - a really fun rail-shooter type mini-game like Starfox. Also totally optional if you don't like it.

I can't speak much to group or PvP stuff - I've only ran one instance. It was fun, though. And there were plenty of group quests I picked up but never ran. Not sure what kind of MMO player you are exactly - solo or social. I can totally say the solo stuff is great.

 

[MazeMinion]

Should I buy it now or wait?

 

[ThaBenMan]

Should I buy it now or wait?

I say go for it!

 

[Korolev]

From what friends have told me, it's a reasonable MMO. Nothing particularly earth-shattering, but it's well made and you can tell that a lot of effort went into it. If you've played and enjoyed WoW, then you should probably enjoy this. It does enough differently to feel interesting, but retains enough of the "Classic" MMO structure to feel familiar to MMOs.

Personally, I've never played an MMO in my life and I never will. If you are really getting burned out on MMOs, know that this game is still an MMO and that you'll find that it feels familiar. It's not "The Next Stage in Social Gaming" - it's just a polished MMO with better writing and reasonable graphics. If that sounds good, go for it. If you still like the idea of an MMO and if you still have fun playing the existing MMOs, this game should be great for you.

On the other hand, if you're just tired of MMOs and if you think that this game will be radically different.... it's not.

You could always give it a shot. They must be offering some free passes or trials, right? If they aren't offering free trials now, wait a few weeks or a month or two because they almost certainly will start offering free 30 day trials (if they're smart that is) and you can see if you'll enjoy it then.

 

[MazeMinion]

Oh, and do I have to get a game time card with the game to activate the subscription, or can I just enter in the code on the box, get my 30-days free, and play?

I do not have a credit card.

 

[Ranorak]

Oh, and do I have to get a game time card with the game to activate the subscription, or can I just enter in the code on the box, get my 30-days free, and play?

I do not have a credit card.

You have to subscribe in advance in order to receive the 30 days free.
So, basicly, no trial period.

But I, for one, love the game.
It's a lot like WoW, but it feels like you're more then just an adventurer.
NPC's act like they have respect for you, like you matter. And the voiced bioware-ish quest conversations definitely feel more alive then the static quest logs in WoW.

It still has a few start-up bugs, as well as a slightly sterile feeling. By that I mean the many planets, while wonderfully crafted, feel empty and lifeless. No critters or other movement besides the mobs, etc.

 

[feather240]

No, it's a terrible game, by a terrible company, with a terrible community.

 

[Endorenna]

Yeah, it's good. As others have said, it's not earth-shattering, but it's enjoyable. The voice acting is good and adds the aspect of giving a damn about what I'm doing at the moment, and I'm enjoying the storylines for the classes I'm trying out. And, to top it off, it's well polished for an MMO that just launched. I've only run into a few bugs, and most of those are just annoyances, not actual issues.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Its a great breath of fresh air as far as I am concerned. Its a lot like WoW, but that's not necessarily a bad thing and unless you're one of those folks who are dead set against MMOs in general, you'll enjoy it.

Also, now would be the best time as most MMO communities are better off at first.

 

[Irridium]

I'd say yes. I'm having fun going through it, and I was never too keen on WoW. Which is odd to me, since they're more or less the same gameplay-wise. Though I guess that's because I never expect Bioware games to have decent gameplay, since... they don't.

But as I said, I'm enjoying myself going through it.

As for the endgame, well I don't know. I'm playing it as a Bioware game. Meaning when you beat your classes storyline, you make a new character and play through that story. And so-on and so-forth. At least, that's what I plan to do.

Playing as an Imperial Agent right now. Great story, long as hell to. Not sure how long I've been playing in all but I'd say it's about 50 hours, and I'm not done with Chapter 1 yet. There's three chapters. And I think every class' stories are this long.

So yeah, it's kind of like 8 Bioware games in one. Story-wise, at least.

 

[Irridium]

Oh, and do I have to get a game time card with the game to activate the subscription, or can I just enter in the code on the box, get my 30-days free, and play?

I do not have a credit card.

You need to subscribe to get your free 30 days.

And I also believe gamestop sells 60-day cards. Or the one near me does, at least.

If not, just buy a pre-paid VISA card or something and use that. Or create a PayPal account and add money to it from that pre-paid card (which is what I'm doing).

And right before your thirty days are up, cancel the subscription if you don't like it, or let it charge money from your paypal/pre-paid card and keep playing.

 

[LetalisK]

Yes, get it. I'm enjoying it quite a lot. I feel sorry for the haters.

 

[Talvrae]

It's a lot of fun. So far most of the critc seem to like it a lot too, And it's probably the MMo who have the more smooth lauch ever...
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/star-wars-the-old-republic

 

[x-machina]

Would you enjoy WoW if it had a fully voiced and engaging story? The gameplay is lacking, but generally gameplay isnt why people pick up MMO's.

 

[XUnsafeNormalX]

If you haven't played WoW yet then it's worth a pickup.

If you have, save your money.

It isn't even a real MMO, the planets and cities are all instanced so you'll rarely see other people. The game will probably be abandoned in a few months due to lack of content and bugs.

 

[thirion1850]

Don't waste your time. Even if you liked WoW, just go out and buy something different and more interesting. There was a Steam sale just yesterday - hope you grabbed some goodies there.

Imo, keep an eye for Guild Wars 2, Planetside 2 and the rest of that goodness - almost guaranteed to be more interesting and fresher experiences than stuff that was made 8 years ago, no matter how updated.

 

[ecoho]

I have a ton of Christmas cash and a $25 Target gift card, and I was wondering if The Old Republic was any good.

I'm looking for a new MMO, and this is somewhat catching my eye since the questing seems to be a breath of fresh air.

However, I've been reading through /v/ and there's a lot of hate for it, saying that there is a lack of endgame and that it's just "WoW in space".

Is that true? Is the game still worth picking up?

it is like what WOW was in terms of controls and gamplay but it has by far the best story ive seen in years and im not just talking about mmos ether. it has a few bugs atm but nothing like wow had (more like what wow has now after patches) its worth the money.