Star Wars: tOR, is it really a single player MMORPG?

Myrr Disparo · Post by **Myrr Disparo** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:08 am

So, when tOR was in development, and people decried that they were being cheated out of a perfectly good single player franchise, there were those that said that tOR was KotOR parts IV, V, VI and VII. Well, I was pretty sceptical about that, but maybe I was wrong. So, to those that have already played the game, is it really a single player game? Can it be played completely solo?
Because if it isn't, I'm out, and I'm calling shenanigans on those who said this was KotOR the next. If it is, well, I guess I'm eating crow and buying another Bioware game, yet again. So, which is it, folks? Game or no game?

Nymie_the_Pooh · Post by **Nymie_the_Pooh** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 4:04 pm

You can play completely solo while leveling. All of the group quests are marked such and there are enough solo quests to where you never have to do the group quests if you don't want to. Some of the group quests are even soloable for all classes and pretty much every Heroic 2+ quest (intended for two or more players) can be completed after getting a couple of levels above the quest if you really want to do it.

I'm not sure at this point how much gameplay there is while trying to solo once you have capped your character however. Also, you don't earn any social points without grouping which can be used to buy gear, but the social gear I've seen tends to be mostly a cosmetic difference when compared to gear had in other ways. Group content also tends to have better end rewards, but so far if you have the appropriate crafting skill you can make similar items and you can use commendations to buy better gear.

Sith Dog reborn · Post by **Sith Dog reborn** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:43 pm

Well since this is an MMO do you have to pay a monthly fee of some sort or is it a buy the game end all. I'm not interested in it if I have to pay something every month instead of just buying the game. I loved the first two games to death, but when I heard the followup was an MMO, I was quite upset and haven't really followed it too much.

Thylein · Post by **Thylein** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 4:24 pm

You can play it 30 days for free after you bought it but after that you have to pay monthly.

And if you are looking for the new Kotor you will be disapointed. Although it has some nice story telling it cant hold up to a real singleplayer rpg like Kotor, Dragon Age: Origins or Baldur's Gate.

It has its good moments but those often can't be achieved alone and require a group and for many people on this forum that's a no-go.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 3:17 am

Yes, it's a singleplayer MMO. If you buy the game with the idea in the back of your head that it is an MMO, you won't be disappointed, on the contrary. Do pick an RP server, they tend to have a less typical MMO population. (I.e., most can approximate correct spelling, and your mom's ancestry will generally not be involved in discussions.)

Sith Dog reborn · Post by **Sith Dog reborn** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 10:46 am

Thylein wrote:You can play it 30 days for free after you bought it but after that you have to pay monthly.

And if you are looking for the new Kotor you will be disapointed. Although it has some nice story telling it cant hold up to a real singleplayer rpg like Kotor, Dragon Age: Origins or Baldur's Gate.

It has its good moments but those often can't be achieved alone and require a group and for many people on this forum that's a no-go.

Boo, well that's a bummer. You think it will eventually be offered without the monthly fee?

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 12:09 pm

No, not in the foreseeable future, unless things turn bad for the game.

Ares2382 · Post by **Ares2382** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:03 pm

GawainBS wrote:No, not in the foreseeable future, unless things turn bad for the game.

And even then not likely, just look at Warhammer, turned bad a long time ago, but EA is still keeping it as a sub game

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 3:32 am

Wow. This game must be really easy with a party.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:14 am

Well, you always have a companion, so that makes most things soloable, and barring some exceptions, most MMO's are easy to level solo, no?

Thylein · Post by **Thylein** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 4:25 pm

The only things you cant do solo are Groupquests (some can be done alone but then only without bonuses), flashpoints (ToR-Version of Groupinstanzes), operations (ToR's raids) and pvp.

Myrr Disparo · Post by **Myrr Disparo** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:03 pm

Thylein wrote:The only things you cant do solo are Groupquests (some can be done alone but then only without bonuses), flashpoints (ToR-Version of Groupinstanzes), operations (ToR's raids) and pvp.

So, basicly, you can solo as much as in any other MMO. Yeah, that won't do. That won't do at all, I'm afraid. Pity, I do miss KotOR

Sith Dog reborn · Post by **Sith Dog reborn** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 8:16 pm

Myrr Disparo wrote:So, basicly, you can solo as much as in any other MMO. Yeah, that won't do. That won't do at all, I'm afraid. Pity, I do miss KotOR

We all do... we all do....

I wonder what the likely-hood of a KOTOR III still. I mean surely they realize not everyone is going to enjoy as much as the KOTOR series.

Nymie_the_Pooh · Post by **Nymie_the_Pooh** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:37 am

Myrr Disparo wrote:So, basicly, you can solo as much as in any other MMO. Yeah, that won't do. That won't do at all, I'm afraid. Pity, I do miss KotOR

I don't understand this statement. The ability to solo in an MMO varies drastically, and that can include different times within the lifetime of the same game. DDO for example is much easier to solo since they added dungeon scaling, but it's still far from easy to solo. EQII (unlike the first Everquest outside of maybe the Monk class) has always been a game that was fairly easy to solo on the other hand. SWtoR sort of does the opposite of what LotRO did at launch. Take the books from LotRO and make them soloable instead of requiring a group as you get further along in each book and it might give some idea of what soloing in SWtoR is like.

Everything listed by Thylein outside of group quests you have to leave the leveling areas to get to. Group quests are in the leveling areas, but off to the side a bit so you don't have to pass through them and you still out level a zone without doing them. There is no reason to interact with other players at all if you don't want to and you won't have to worry about people trying to group after leaving the starting areas as those that want to group will be in those areas with designated group content. The ability to solo is comparable to that in the MMO City of Heroes for anybody that has played that game.

I won't lie. This is not KotOR III so if that is what you are looking for then you will be disappointed. I want KotOR III as well, but I wasn't expecting KotOR III going into SWtoR and that helped in my case. It's sort of like watching a movie after reading a book. If one can disassociate the two then they tend to enjoy the movie more than if they go into it expecting the book they loved.

The closest I think I can describe SWtoR is take Dragon Age: Origins and imagine the origin quest you get at the start stretching throughout the game alongside all the side quests (including companion quests) and the main quest to stop the Blight, and replace the dialog system with Mass Effect's dialog wheel. It's not exactly that, but that is the closest I think I can manage in one run on sentence. To expand, there is multiplayer content, but for the most part it is completely separate from the rest of the game aside from some challenge quests on each planet which you may or may not be able to solo but were designed for cooperative play.

SWtoR is not the deepest gameplay imaginable. You get more into strategy as you go along as you need to manage your interrupts so it's not all about dealing, reducing, or healing damage. The stories are good. True, the stories could be better, but they are still better than quite a few single player games and with all the stories I have come across so far the worst I can say about any I have done at this point is that a particular story here or there was mediocre and some of the darkside/lightside choices are a little odd on the surface. I'm not a huge fan of dialog wheels, but I am liking it better than I did with Mass Effect or Alpha Protocol. It's still basically the same thing however.

I have fun with it. There is no one thing I can point at and say that aspect makes it fun. It's a combination of many features spread out. It honestly is not a very deep game. I do wonder about the long term, but for now I enjoy it too much to worry about how I'll feel about it two months from now. It's easy to get bogged down trying to figure out whether the glass is half-full or half-empty as the water evaporates. I am enjoying drinking the water for now and that is what matters to me in the end.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:17 am

Nymie explained it very well. To situate the quality of the stories: they are beter written & presented and have more content than the average Bethesda RPG. They approach KotOR even in quality, but they have, of course, MMO gameplay at heart. (Skillsystem, crafting, etc.)

andyoume · Post by **andyoume** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:13 am

Yes ,it is a sigleplayer MMO

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:12 am

The main reason I avoid Flashpoints is because I've grown tired of "LFG xyz" after my first year of WoW.