(MMO) More Future Thoughts

So from some E3 videos, I've seen some "mid-level" TOR gameplay in a more open environment. It looked very... basic MMO-ish. Now I've heard some more detail about the story aspects that make it, at least, more interesting.


A pair of articles have come out from a couple people who logged 17 hours or so over the course of two days playing the game from the start. Those seem to provide more insight into the early game and the story aspects. One played an Imperial agent and has nary a bad thing to say. The other played a bounty hunter and was more critical, though not really negative. It sounds like, if nothing else, the game will have appeal as a Knights of the Old Republic game (or up to eight of them, given the class-specific differences) with some optional PVP and co-op play.

The criticisms in the second article center mostly around how clunky the story becomes when you include multiple players. In what the author played, there was very little overlap in goals between classes - both started on the same world, but hunter and agent only grouped up a couple times that are mentioned. And grouping together with someone of the same class puts you on the same path, but an example of that awkwardness was the bounty hunter fighting alongside another for sponsorship from a hutt who, according to the narrative, can only sponsor one individual. So... if you're willing to overlook that sort of thing, it could certainly be interesting to play through a Bioware story with one or more friends. With such an emphasis on story, I can't help but think repeatable content like flashpoints and operations would feel out of place.

It sounds like a game that's worth play time, but is that really enough for an MMORPG? Well... probably, and yet probably not for me. I try to compare it to WoW and I can't actually see any major failings, yet I have trouble seeing myself giving up one for the other. I think that's because I already feel much more heavily invested in WoW. WoW's endgame shifts away from story (and I say that with full acknowledgment that the story there isn't as strong as what TOR is pitching) to accomplishment. Story is relevant only about the first time you down a boss/complete an instance, successive runs are about doing things and getting stuff. There's really nothing stopping TOR from using the same formula, though it does seem like it would be much more jarring to make that shift from such thick storytelling.

I sort of experienced that in GW. I finished the campaigns and felt done. I'm expecting similar from GW2. They're making a big pitch about the "personal story," which sounds a bit deeper than the original's campaigns, with individualization similar to TOR is some ways, but I doubt they'll measure up to the stories Bioware's cooked up. And then... well, they have "random" world events. That is something more (and sounds conceptually similar to Rifts' rifts, albeit more specific), but it remains to be seen what that adds to the game. Because they're uncertainly-timed and repeating, it seems they could very easily become "oh this again" situations or so rare you'll never see them if you try. What does that leave to do for an endgame group that gets together once a week or so? Should we wander around and hope an event spawns?

Precise details of the future are still uncertain, of course. I'm starting to feel a little broken-record-y, though, in saying that both games look like they might be worth playing, but I doubt they'll fully unseat WoW from my schedule. GW2 is, at least, being friendly to that without a monthly subscription. TOR will be a bit trickier. One month? Two? More? I still think WoW will only be replaced for me by death of the game or departure of guild/friends...