29 May 2013

SW:TOR // Overview

When I started playing back in January 2012, I originally created characters on three different European English-speaking servers: one RP-PvE server for my Empire characters and one RP-PvE server for my Republic characters. Additionally, I chose one “normal” PvE server to play with my brother-in-law. I picked Zellviren’s server for that purpose seeing it would be beneficial to at least know (of) another competent (raiding) player along the road. But, alas, plans change and as far as I know Zellviren has quit SW:TOR for good and personally, I am no longer interested in the raiding game.

After multiple waves of server consolidations, all my characters suddenly found themselves on a grand total of two servers: the RP-PvE server The Progenitor, which was, in fact, the server where I created my first (long-term, playable) character, a Sith Pureblood Sorcerer and the PvE server The Red Eclipse where I initially had no characters at all.

At first I was not very pleased with having both my Legacies combined, but eventually I have come to appreciate it, if only due to crafting benefits. Currently, The Progenitor houses twelve characters and I am pondering buying four additional character slots so that I can have all 16 Advanced Classes covered. Seven of those twelve characters are level 50 and have completed their respective story. The only class I still need to finish is the Smuggler. My Scoundrel is level 43 and I level her as a Healer primarily via Warzones, Flashpoints and class missions because I seriously dislike the combat mechanics – a mid-range melee class without lightsaber! No thanks!

I have one character on The Red Eclipse at this time – a level 33 Chiss Operative, also a Healer. This was the character I used to play with my brother-in-law, who unfortunately returned to WoW. It did not really come as a surprise to me because the real life has kept me very busy and I simply did not find any time to play with him regularly. Maybe we can continue our adventures now that the game is F2P.

The digital mini-expansion Rise of the Hutt Cartel offers virtually nothing of interest to me and I honestly do not know if I should purchase it at all. The direction the game is taking and the way paying customers are treated seem more and more like a cruel joke to me and I am actively considering cancelling my subscription. I have more than enough Cartel Coins and in-game credits to buy any unlocks that I might need and frankly I am not sure how long I can justify paying a recurring subscription.

In contrast to what certain people seem to think, Star Wars: The Old Republic is not a crappy game and its shortcomings most certainly do not lie in voice-acting or story-driven content. Bad performance, atrocious customer service and many lost opportunities may very well be responsible for a loss of subscribers. I will explore those points a bit closer in the future.

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