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Post by Rycus on Oct 5, 2011 14:48:29 GMT -8
I was done downloading within an hour and a half at most. And yeah 30 gigs is a bit much to download especially when ToR and WoW take up 1/2 my used space and the other 13 games take up the rest.
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Post by Dee on Oct 5, 2011 19:57:44 GMT -8
Took me something like an hour and a half too, Rycus.. And they only had the progress bar for what's currently downloading, not the overall progress.
Problem about expansions or updates is that they can't really do it without having a ton more dialog recorded for every character... so they can't bring new stuff as often as other MMOs, it'll take several months only for gameplay/story updates.
And Val, I hope I don't have to redownload that again... My ISP is going to kill me already with everything I download, I can't afford another 30gb xD
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Post by Valaro on Oct 6, 2011 5:30:43 GMT -8
Certainly hope Bioware got in touch with ISP's or else alot of people will be internetless for a while lol
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Rassy - Rsy
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Captain of HvCFT Cheetah
Posts: 161
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Post by Rassy - Rsy on Oct 6, 2011 11:04:22 GMT -8
early game acces, i'm sure half off all users get that. I bet it's only so that the servers won't be overloaded with all the players downloading 30gb at the same time lol Any updates... pics??? anything yet?
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Post by Rycus on Oct 7, 2011 14:46:39 GMT -8
Well opening cinematics look good. Long one for choosing which side you're gonna be on as well as the opening one. So once they are finished I'll actually be able to create a character hopefully lol
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Post by Rycus on Oct 7, 2011 15:16:52 GMT -8
The graphics look like WoW in the Star Wars universe honestly. Took me 30 minutes to dislike it. maybe if i try another class or faction it will be better but i'm not holding out any hope.
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Post by Rycus on Oct 7, 2011 17:54:31 GMT -8
Well I'm trying out the bounty hunter and the pace of the game is much faster and I like it more then the Trooper class.
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Post by Rycus on Oct 8, 2011 0:50:01 GMT -8
Ok latest thinking on the game. Have been playing the smuggler class and it's fun. Thinking that just the trooper sucks class wise. Once i get off of Ord Mantell I'll have some more stuff to post.
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Rassy - Rsy
Pride Member
Captain of HvCFT Cheetah
Posts: 161
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Post by Rassy - Rsy on Oct 8, 2011 1:51:53 GMT -8
Tnx for the updates Rycus. I'm in doubt about joining in when the time comes...
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Post by Dee on Oct 9, 2011 22:10:51 GMT -8
All right, time for a little review of what I've seen so far.
Gameplay TOR's gameplay is probably the weakest part of the experience. Not because it is necessarily bad, but because it doesn't bring much new to the table. Almost everything here has been seen before. Although the use of instances is a welcomed addition, it's still not enough to control the crowds of players that will interfere in your questing. With missions like "Deactivate 6 bombs" in a public area, you'll find dozens of other players doing the same thing as you, making it very hard to find active bombs.
The game works in a way that you have public areas - where anyone can go at anytime, which is the majority of the maps - and group/story areas. These areas are only accessible when your quests allow it, and it drops you into an instance on your own (or with your group) so that the story can progress without other players interfering. Which is good, and it opens a lot of possibilities.
The combat itself is pretty MMO basic. Sometimes you'll feel awesome tearing through enemy armies with your friends, especially in flashpoints, but most of the time it feels like a chore. Especially since enemies take very little time to respawn, making it so sometimes you have to defeat the same enemies you just defeated a minute ago.
Visuals The game looks good. Not modern realistic good, but cartoony star warsy good. At first the graphics are distracting, but you quickly get used to it and love it. The character design are good, the environment looks good, and some planets look really impressive, such as Coruscant, which is immense and will give you that feeling of vertigo when travelling in a speeder.
Although some armors are just textures painted over shirt, or some animations being clumsy and awkward, most of the game looks very sweet and attractive.
Story This is the main point of the game; the story. The story in TOR is really engaging so far, and is why I keep playing. They did a good thing with putting an emphasis on it, because it really pushes you to keep going forward. The class I played the most is Jedi Knight, and it really makes you feel like you're actually engaged into the universe. Although I heard some of the classes are pants-on retarded (like the counsular, apparently), the Knight and the Trooper both succeed in the story aspect, from what I've seen.
But there is one problem with that. Not counting the starter planet, the classes storylines are about 7% of all the missions/dialogs/quests you will encounter in the game. The rest of the game is a story that every class on one side will go through. What I mean is that aside from 7% or so of the quests, every Republic character will have the same story, and every Empire character will have the same story. Going through the same thing 8 times in order to see each character's storyline already looks like something painful to do. Coruscant is the second planet every Republic character goes to, and I'm already cringing at the idea of running through it again.
The companions are also a very very cool addition. It puts the little Bioware touch in the game, and adds a lot of fun. Your companion can accompany you on your missions to give you a hand, or you can send them to craft, gather intel or resources, etc. So even if they're back on the ship, they don't feel useless. The companions you get fit with what kind of character you play. If you're a tank, you'll get mostly damagers, healers or dps companions. If you're a healer, than you'll get companions that get fight and pull agro, so you're not ganked by enemy NPCs every time you enter a fight. You can also customize your companions, like what they're wearing, or even how they look.
Whether you're playing Republic or Empire, you will have the choice during your story to play either a good guy or a bad guy. There are light side and dark side choices in conversations, and that will shape the way people and companions react to you. So you can be a kind hearted bounty hunter, or a cold hearted trooper. Not sure if you can actually fall to the darkside while being a Jedi, but with the way that system works, I wouldn't be surprised if it's possible.
Sound
The music is what you would expect from Star Wars. Nothing really to say about it, except that it's good, and it does the job of immersing you just fine.
The voice acting on the other hand is usually top-notch. Although some minor characters I met had clumsy voice acting, most of the characters are professionally done. Renowned voice actors such as David Hayter and Jennifer Hale are also in the game, so it makes it almost impossible to be bad.
Overall
TOR looks promising in some aspects, but as I said, these aspects may affect the replay value in the long run. This game would've been better if it was made as a single-player game. As an MMO? We'll see. I give points to Bioware for the storylines, they are very fun to play through. But are they going to be fun the second, third and forth times?
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Post by Ceege on Oct 9, 2011 23:16:23 GMT -8
Cheers for the reviews, my internet has just come back after being down all weekend, gutted! :-(
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Post by Rycus on Oct 10, 2011 3:05:43 GMT -8
Good hearted bounty hunter? I wonder where you got that from heeheehee. I do agree that it feels more like a single player game and on my bh the only time I have trouble with anything are when I'm doing heroics (quest areas recommended for 2 or more players) with just mako (my companion) by my side.
Probably the highlight of the game so far is a conversation at the end of a bh story line quest. Have a bounty on a republic noble and I track him down and he's with an imperial noble posing as her brother when in fact the are lovers. I bring up that they don't look like each other, and he comes back with a messed up response that shows they aren't brother and sister. Then Mako comes back with well when you are dating your brother things are bound to go wrong eventually. Just that made playing this game worth it.
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Post by Rycus on Oct 10, 2011 3:06:50 GMT -8
Cheers for the reviews, my internet has just come back after being down all weekend, gutted! :-( Well still got 18 hours to test bud.
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Post by Valaro on Oct 10, 2011 5:14:24 GMT -8
Dee I loved that because now i cant complain at you any more for saying you've never played it Ok well If we think to ourselves did we really expect it to be the best ever? I would say no. Did I expect it to have the 100% separate storyline for every player, I really want to say that that is what I wanted, but alas even 4 years isn't enough time to do it on that scale, so maybe as the DLC comes out in future with expansions etc well see more of that? From what you've said there isn't too much that surprises me. You cant get it right all of the time and I think what Bioware have done from your review is make the best Bioware game they can while still keeping it an MMO. Those are two separate things that have never came together but this game isn't a "Once its released well do one DLC pack and call it a day" game, this is a game that they seem to take A LOT of feedback from and they seem to have a solid plan in place post release in order to try and make it the game everyone wants it to be including themselves. Lets not forget there's only so much you can do for the release, after that the worlds your oyster IF you players give you the chance. Bioware will succeed for me for 2 reasons. 1. There Bioware. They love games and money but they love games more. They don't make the same mistake certain other companies make like NGE for example. They give the players what they want. Story, Fun, Immersion. 2. This is Star Wars. And that universe is possibly bigger than Tolkien's universe. There is no limit to who can add to that universe. And for that reason it WILL succeed, and everyone here knows that's true lol So I know I'm going to enjoy this game immensely! I know that when its released Ill be disappointed but very happy all at the same time and safe in the knowledge that there is so much more to come! Let me know your thoughts on my opinion (Also you cannot switch sides Dee. Ie Jedi to Sith. Very very disappointed with this and i hope its something they will look at in future as its a CORE mechanic to the Force Orders!) Plus David Hayter? Seriously! I think I have just... Yeah need to clean myself up. Talk later y'all!
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Post by Dee on Oct 10, 2011 6:48:26 GMT -8
Yeah David Hayter voices the male Jedi Knight lol. Was pretty awesome when I first heard him.
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