The Old Republic Review

This wont be a traditional review about Star Wars The old Republic for the simple fact that I have just started to play it. After all this time I was curious what this game is like and my experience on MMOs was limited to the few years that I have played Star Trek Online.

I think this is a good way to express my first opinions on the game and make updates to this review as soon I have more information and more experience with it.

My experience with the game didn't start well.
I created an account on the official website and downloaded the installer just to recognize that this installer ran for a few seconds and then automatically closed without doing the game installation.
Even disabling my Antivir and my Firewall didnt help to get the game installation started.
In the end I managed find a few extracted files in the Temp folder of my Windows user profile. One rar file did contain the game launcher which I manually extracted and run.
This at least allowed me to download the game files then.

After launching the game I was a bit shocked by the graphics, which were looking terrible. At this point I wasnt sure if this is normal since... well... its and older game meanwhile.
For gods sake I found the game settings and put the graphics on ultra.
My very first impression of the game was wrong. It looks very nice.

Gameplay wise it reminds me very much on Knights of the old Republic... which is good. I loved that game back then.
I noticed an extreme amount of similarities with stuff that I already know from Star Trek Online. But everything is in The Old Republic seems to be bigger, better and more polished.
The game runs fluid... with cut scenes, pretty good animations, very good voice overs (in mulitple languages) and story has a big focus in the beginning. I really like what I have seen so far.
But after just one day (I am level 21 now) it is hard to judge about it so maybe later in this review I will change my opinion (or not).

There is ground combat, there is space combat... singleplayer storyline... multiplayer PVE content (with up to 4? players) and PVP.
I have tested everything once but cant really give an objective insight yet.
What I can tell so far is that everything is bigger than STO. If thats good or bad... time will tell.

When comparing this game with Star Trek Online I also need to mention something that I would consider a very big difference.
The Subscription model.... and the Free to Play elements.
Star Trek Online is a Free to Play game... and most of the game really is free to play.
There is nearly nothing you cant get in the game as F2P member. The benefits of a subscription are minimal.

In Star Wars The old Republic you also can play for Free... but you are much more limited.
You earn less XP... you have less character slots, less races, even the user interface is limited in F2P. You can not write messages, you have no access to content above certain levels, you have no access to addons etc.
You can play the game for free... thats out of question. But if you can enjoy it is a different question.
I guess it depends on what you want to play.
If you want to play the character stories alone or with a friend that F2P is enough.
If you want the full scale experience then you should think about a subscription.

Between F2P and subscription is a 3rd mode called "prefered player".
Subscribers which cancel their subscription (or only have a timed subscription that ran out) become prefered players.
They keep access to many but not all subscription features.
e.g. they keep access to available expansions
UI support and less limits in the game.
In my eyes if you dont want to get a full subscription for the game (13€ per month) you should at least consider to subscribe for just one month and then cancel your subscription in order to become a "prefered player" and keep some of the subscrition benefits this way.

You can find a good overview between F2P, prefered player and subscription at the following reddit link.
f2p - swtor

yes of course
but since I dont know how to quick travel between regions i can only show a bit of coruscant

there is also space combat but I am pretty bad at it.
I first have to learn how its done

the T3-4M server
which is the name of a lovely droid in Kotor

dunno if switching server is possible

Edit by

ok transfers are possible
but the ping is terrible on harbinger

its generally interesting how much KOTOR stuff is in the game
I stumbled over many references and also some characters in this short time.

Classes:

The game has two factions, the Republic and the Sith Empire.
Each faction has four main classes, which have 2 sub-classes.
So effectively the game has 8 classes and thus 8 ways to play the game.
The classes on Republic and Empire have different names and different appearances but are mirrored so no faction has has an advantage.
All the 8 classes seem to come with about 60 hours story content which is alot for a MMO.
In the end you have almost 500 hours story content just from the class specific storylines.
Additionally to that there are story missions that are not related to the classes.
So far Ive only played one of these "foundation" missions and while I was expecting a 15mins short story (before I went to sleep) I ended up in a 90mins ride through a well done mission with lots of information, full voice overs, tons of combat and multiple new locations to explore.

Like already mentioned tha game also has team PVE and PVP that adds up to the experience.
When I was lvl 18 I ended up in a lvl 70 team PVE mission. I took the secure way and simply tried to do what the other players were doing but a lvl 18 vs lvl 70 enemies are clearly not a good idea.
However, despite all problems the mission was done (after a long time) and I got pretty good loot.

At lvl 20 Ive bought my first "fortress" which seems to deal as player home where you can also invite other players. You can decorate everything (if you have access to decorations). The more decorations the more influence you get which in the end has impact on other stats in the game (If I understand it correctly, also on your crew stats).

Generally I like how the crew stuff is handled in the game.
From Star Trek Online I only knew the crew as bridge officers which you could train and customize, but not as people you can really interact with.
In Star Wars The old Republic you have to gain their trust and increase your influence on them. Your decisions during missions take influence on how they think about you (similar to the KOTOR games or Mass Effect).
You can also "bribe" them with gifts (while it depends on the person which gift is effictively working; Warriors like to get weapons and peaceful crew members get more influence bonus from non-violent gifts).

My main problem right now is that I am not really good at playing this game. I still have to figure out how to use targeting more effectively and how to attack the right enemies.
Melee combat is not that easy as you always have to get close to the target.
Maybe for me personally it would have been better to play as soldier or smuggler and use blasters from the distance. But on the other side... I like lightsabers.

That leads me back to the 8 classes.
They tell you have to play the game.
Each class has a different style gameplay.
You can be a Jedi Knight who does alot of damage or a Jedi with two light sabers... or one with double light saber which fill a more tanky role. You also can be a Jedi who relies more on force powers to use heals.
Or you could simply be not a Jedi. You can be a smuggler or soldier.
Your decision at the character creation highly influence how you play the game. They to a degree also restrict you a bit. e.g. As Jedi I can not use medium or heavy armor. I can also not use blasters.
Maybe I can learn that later but atm I simply cant make use of such items.

I most likely wont use this token

Next part of my ongoing review.

My Jedi Shadow Consular meanwhile has reached level 48 and I got my first million credits.
So far Ive spent most time with following the class specific story on Tythion, Coruscant, Taris and Nar Shaddaa.
Most certain I would have made faster progress if I focused more on the main story but while I was on these planets I decided to explore every tiny bit of them and also accepted every side mission that was available.

I suppose that the offered "+2 Heroic" misions are meant to be optional team missions but so far I got them done playing alone. Two of them were really tricky eventhough my level is higher than the recommended mission level.
Most of these Heroic missions have a relative simple structure.
You go into the mission area... kill a few targets, destroy something and then you face a end-boss.
There are exceptions which contain a bit interesting story.

After exploring these 4 planets I am somewhat overwhelmed by the size of the game. The game offers large maps that are connected with each other by taxi stations or simple corridors. You can travel to these different maps seamlessly (no loading screens) and even the switch between public instances and your private story instances happens without any loading screens or interuption.
This causes the world of the game to appear very natural. Everything fits together and story elements are direct part of the environment.
Exploring the world can be at times confusing.
Nar Shaddaa has an industrial district which consists of many many smaller maps that are all somehow connected through corridors, ramps, elevators, etc.
Its relative confusing to find the right way.
Different areas are filled with respawning enemies ... and then all of a sudden you are in an area with friendly NPCs again.
In the end I believe that my exploration went a bit too far and I managed to enter the area where imperial players actually do their quests. These maps looked different and at least for me there was nothing to do there.
Most likely thats the design of the game for PVP purpose... to separate republic and imperial player a bit, give them their own territory so they can do quests without constantly getting attacked.

While playing I ran into a major problem.
I dont know where to store all my loot.
After completing the storyline on Coruscant I got rewarded with my own ship and have already unlocked a few cargo bays, which filled rapidly with crafting materials, crew gifts and equipment.
Selling all that junk would certainly be an option. But I have no idea what I might need later.
*Sigh* decisions.

I already have used all crew gifts that increased my influence on my current crew... a hunter repile and protocol droid.
Until I get more crew members I keep the other crew gifts store.
Do I need crafting materials?
I have no idea... I have no idea how crafting works... I dont even really know how exactly I can manage my crew and their abilities.
Whatever decision I make... is the wrong decision.
So what about the equipment?
Keep it? Sell it? Fuck!
I meanwhile understood that orange/gold equipment is different from other quality levels (green, blue, purple).
In Star Trek Online gold equipment was EPIC stuff with the best stats you could get but in Star Wars The old Republic the gold equipment is empty equipment.
With empty I mean that these weapons and armor pieces are items that have no stats. They get their stats only if you are modifying them.
When I understood this nice little feature I went shopping.
Gold quality Jedi Robe, gold gloves, gold boots, gold lightsaber, gold force focus... etc. Everything gold!
And then I started to buy modifications which add the stats to these gold items.
This increased my stats by 100 % compared to the stuff that I previously used.
Of course... I dont have the money to put in high quality modifications. I used the cheap green stuff that I got from the ordinary vendors... but still. Its an improvement.
But what do I do with the old equipment now?
Sell it?
Keep it and give it to new crew members (IF I get new crew members)?
Fuck.... decisions!

IF I sell the stuff... how do I do it?
Sell it at a vendor or try to sell it a the galactic market?
Ive to figure out how the galactic market is working... players usually pay more for higher quality items then vendors do.

OR

Do I invest another 400.000 credits and simply buy another cargo bay?

As you can see I am in the middle of the procedure to figure out how everything is working.
Since I lack knowledge in pretty much all all areas, decisions are hard to make.
Maybe I shouldnt think too much about it and do all the mistakes... afterall its just a game.

*sigh*

I need to figure out how the skill tree is actually working.

The question from the image gallery if there are pod racers can be answered by this:
[xattach=8295][/xattach]

junk isnt the problem.... white/grey quality items by default get sold by my crew
I just need to figure out what to do with the rest
and i am not going to use cartel coins until I really know what i need later

the skill tree is a bit unusual
since there is not just one tree but three specializations
i havent figured out what I want
so far the skills I have seen are relative underwhelming
this game has a very large amount of different attack options but (so far) not many buffs/debuff
Ive so far counted 6 different light saber attacks and half of them are impractical in most situations.
One is only working if I am cloaked (so its working exactly once)... the other is only working when I am behind an enemy (which nearly never happens as opposing to this attack the other ability generate high threat)... somehow the skills dont fit well together. I personally would have prefered a higher amount of active buff... or some noteworthy debuffs that help in combat.

But maybe this changes at higher levels... i noticed that some skills that I had at the beginning of the game got completely replaced by something else.

I know about the passives eventhough im concinved that not all skill tree abilities are passives.
And I also know how to use and combine them... actually im pretty good at such stuff since its not different than in STO.

But the amount of different attacks is what bothers me. Most of them are impracticable, especially if you are tanking.
Buffs and debuffs would fit alot better than attack abilities that I will never use (and I mean never).

However, i stumbled over something odd.
Orange/gold items are supposed to have no stats.
Exception are lightsabers. They have +60 force power by default (at least the double lightsabers).
I was comparing the stats of a few dozen empty versions on the market and noticed that when I empty the lightsaber from the storyline it still has 4 additional stats on it (without any modifications).
With other words the one you got at the very beginning of the game always will be better than all others.
Im really wondering if this is intentional and why.

After meanwhile 2 weeks in this game Ive reached lvl 58.
Surprisingly I am still in chapter 1 of the class specific storyline.
Each class has 3 chapters + a prologue. Then further story chapters which are shared between the classes can be played.
Overall Ive to say that this game has alot of content.
I only visited a fraction of the available worlds... actually only the worlds that I was sent to during the story.
I did the planets main story there, the side quests and the class specific story chain on these planets. But that still alot stuff.
Aside from my initial tests when I started playing the only other thing Ive done was searching for the Datacrons on these planets.
Getting the Datacrons on the different planets is tricky and very often frustrating. Its sooooo difficult sometimes. There was one on Nar Shaddaa which took me well over 50 tries. You need alot of patience if you try to get them.

My lack of inventory space easily got resolved by getting the legacy cargohold and... reading a little line on the item descriptions which tells that companions do not benefit from the stats of an item.
Items are just visuals when given to your companions.... so it all of a sudden didnt make any sense to keep specific items stored any longer.

Ive started trading on the galactic market which works similar to STOs exchange and made good profit.
Ive earned my first millions while also being able to buy some new stuff and do nice upgrades to my equipment.
Meanwhile Ive started active trading on the market to improve my financial situation. I did the same on STO to make billions of energy credits and it seems to work pretty good in star wars aswell.

What Ive had to learn is that it is very hard to be a special snowflake at the beginning.
I thought I got some nice items and outfits for my char just for somebody else with exactly the same stuff to appear right next to me.
Ive to go shopping again.

yes, gameplay is a bit different but you can find many similarities to kotor in it
e.g. the differnt fighting styles.. also many of the abilities that were known in kotor... and of course all the places and characters

gameplay wise I had to adapt
I wasnt used to this kind of ability management with so many different attack abilities
Ive spent some good time to figure out what I want, what I need and how to make use of it without clicking around.
Now I have a new UI layout which puts alot of info in only a very few places so I can focus on combat.
On kotor you had this little attack menu where you could select the type of attack you want to do next.... I have managed to get a similar functionality without loosing the complex attacks that are new to the game.
But all this took me some time to get done and think about how to improve it bit by bit throughout the progressing levels.