More info from the beta.

Last weekend was the last massive stress test for beta.  There were about 50 servers, filled to the brim.  Many disconnects, corrupt characters, failed connections.  Exactly what a beta is supposed to find but still concerning at this point in the game.  A high level server was supposed to be launched on the 16th, it finally did on the 25th with no notice.  90% of the people can’t access it.  The game is getting another big patch today, what I expect to be the final one since early access starts in 2 weeks.

I’ll put more thoughts up later but for now a quick rundown of the various systems.

Crafting

A tad more complicated than what we see in other games due to the ability to deconstruct items and learn better version.  You have collection skills and mission skills which also collect items but for the rarer recipes.  And one crafting skill per player.  As simple as the system is, it’s inherently broken in that none of the items are currently upgrades to anyone playing the game up until the mid 30s and then stop being useful at final levels.  One particular skill, Slicing, allows you to pull cash out of boxes in the wild – with zero other use.  It’s essentially an ATM skill – so a requirement if you want to be rich.

Combat

If not for the fact that they send 3-4 enemies against you at once, this would be the same as any other game.  The downside to this is that there are only 2 types of enemies throughout the entire game – humanoids and droids.  They look the same at level 1 as they do at level 50, so it’s insanely boring after you’ve killed a few thousand (by level 15, easily).   The feel is the same as all other games, click a button, watch something happen, click another button.  Also, there is a fair amount of skill bloat, where by level 30 you’ll have 2 bars (at least) full of abilities.  That’s crazy.

Class Balance

Melee classes are insanely gimped.  Since there are always 3 enemies to fight, you need to move between them while the ranged folk just stand there.  Really bad for melee tanks.  So out of 8 possible advanced classes, 3 are an a huge disadvantage. Since TOR is keeping the holy trinity (tank, healer, dps) and keeping group sizes at 4, there is a massive lack of healers in the game.  Theoretically, there should be enough but healers don’t level as fast as tanks, let alone DPS, so good luck finding one.  Classes that fill roles are fairly well balanced between themselves but time will tell which are better, especially in longer lasting fights where Force users are at a disadvantage.

Story

This part is well done.  There are a lot of options, though rarely do they have any impact other than light or dark side points.  Still, it’s fun to see what your actions have as consequences.  Light/Dark side only impact appearance, which is unfortunate.  From 1-20 you’ll have a lot of fun with your class quests.  Past that point, those quests are rare as heck.  If you play another character on the same faction, expect to replay a good 95% of the content and story.

Companions

At first they were horribly broken, now it’s only a little broken.  Tanks no longer have armor so lose their value in the 30s and healers pick up the pace.  Having to equip no only yourself but your companion means that you can’t easily swap companions – they will be heavily undergeared.  It’s a very odd thought. You can give them gifts to get small quests but all of them that I’ve see so far as just clicking text boxes.

Interface

Looks and feels Star Wars.  Clean too.  You can’t modify anything, which is VERY odd and some of the basic UI items such as macros, assists, target of target and mouseovers do not exist.  This currently makes healing about 10x as hard as it should be since DPS can’t help the tank and you need to manually click people to heal – so no moving while healing.   No looking for group feature or dual spec either – the latter of which is again making finding healers a pain.

Overall

If you’ve played a themepark MMO before (WoW, Rift, LOTRO, DDO, EQ, etc..) and are happy with what’s there, stay there.  If the story is old, then moving over could work.  If you dislike the mechanics of your themepark, you will be even more disappointed here.  If you’re looking for depth or polish, come back in 6 months.  Many of the systems that have been refined in the past have been reverted to horrible states or are simply broken.  With next to no developer input on the forums, it doesn’t help.

If you’re somewhat casual or new to the MMO sphere, then there’s stuff to see here and you should have fun for a while.

The game will sell piles of boxes and have a subscriber drop of 50% or more after 6 months.  I do expect it to be profitable but nowhere near what EA and BioWare are hoping for.

So the NDA lifted last week and I said I’d put up my thoughts on the game, here we are.

First impressions are simple enough, it’s a themepark.  If you’ve played WoW or Rift, then the game will be intimately familiar.  If you like either of those, there really isn’t a valid reason to swap over.  If you’re tired of the setting but not the mechanics, then a swap makes sense.

From a core mechanics perspective – combat, equipment, groups – the game is as you expect.  Decently balanced with variety across all classes.  There is a significant hindrance to all melee characters (of which 3 of the 8 advanced classes belong) since the majority of the game is played at a distance and against multiple enemies.  Each character, due to the good story and diverse skill set, plays somewhat uniquely and as you would expect from Star Wars canon.  Sith Sorcerers shoot lightning, Troopers use big guns, Smugglers dual wield blasters.  Each advanced class (except 2) offer dual roles.  They all DPS but some can tank or heal.  This makes it a lot easier to play through the game without having to create a new character.  The single role characters are a thing of the past and I expect those 2 other classes to swap to something else in short order – especially the pure DPS melee one.

The planets and visuals are spot on.  You feel like you’re in a Star Wars setting.  Enemies are cool looking but there are about 10 types total through the game and 95% of your combat is against humans or droids.  That does dull it up somewhat.  Groups work well together and there are a lot of group quests.  You can also get into dungeons, of which there should be 15 at launch and all of them available again at 50 at an expert difficulty.  Some of the more basic group UI elements are missing though, such as Target of Target, Focus, Mouseover (for heals) and an Assist option.  This isn’t such an issue at first but on harder difficulty, where control is important, it begins to show.  Still no Looking for Group tool, which is a bummer.  All but 2 of the dungeons are accessible from the same location – away from the planets – making it for an odd choice to actually find a group to do them.  Your only option now is to sit in that zone, twiddle your thumbs and hopefully find a group.

Crafting, as the system currently stands, is for lack of a better term, broken.  Nearly nothing you create has any practical use since your quest rewards will always be better.  One particular skill, Slicing, it essentially an ATM skill providing money out of thin air.  All characters will be using this to supplement their income.  Speaking of which, money means next to nothing aside from paying for skill upgrades and a mount.  Unless you’re giving it away by the bucketfull, you’ll reach max level with close to a million credits and nothing to do with it.  I’m sure that will change with time.

Finally, the story.  A  lot has been said about this aspect and Bioware does it well – better than Dragon Age 2, that’s for sure.  Every mission has a voice over and some options, though some of those options aren’t clear cut.  Personal missions (for your class) provide a unique backdrop to your progress and make you develop an interest in what’s going on around you.  You can replay as a different class and see different class quests but the zone quests (per planet) will always remain the same.  And those account for 80% of all quests, so replayability is questionable unless you play the opposing faction.  Still, better than other games out there.

Overall, the game is simple and fun and will keep people playing to see through the entire story at least once, so perhaps 2 months total of play.  There are some serious questions about advanced systems and mechanics but those don’t begin to apply until you’re at level 50 and there has been a total of 1 week of testing at that level – lots of missing details.  Since this is the first MMO for Bioware, and the experience thusfar as been mixed, I won’t hold my breath that launch + 2 months will be smooth.  I do expect the game to be a flash in the pan with spiked sales and under 1 million subs for the long run.  Still, if you can play with some friends, it’s not a bad way to spend 2 months.