Disappointment in Star Wars: The Old Republic

It was a sad day yesterday. It was the day when I found something very wrong about SWTOR, and something that made me feel incredibly annoyed. It's to do with PvP and how unfair it is.

So, yesterday I started up my laptop ready to play a bit of SWTOR and to perhaps get my starship back...finally. I logged on, prepared to fight some foul enemies and level my character up as I had progressed through the quest to get my ship back, but was now too low a level to get past a certain gang that were keeping Skavak from me. In order to annihilate them I had to level, and levelling meant killing a load of creepy people in order to gain some XP and credits (which I sorely needed).

PvP was so intense that even Mikal needed a rest.

As I was wandering around the RP server I play on, chatting with some other characters, talking about how sexy cyborgs are and so on, a player was telling me about the warzone they had just entered. Intrigued, I asked more about these warzones (I didn't bother reading the 'welcome to level 10 email SWTOR sent me) and how I could get there. The guy told me how to enter and I was quick to do so - the desire to earn XP was strong.

I had to queue for quite a while, but that didn't really bother me as I could kill whilst I waited. Yes, my cyborg is a killing machine. Eventually, I was asked to join the warzone and I accepted the invitation, wondering what could be waiting for me on the other side of the loading screen.

It seemed quite cool at first. The aim of the game is to get to the ball in the middle and capture it before the enemy does and to do so within the allotted time. It seemed like quite a cool concept. A load of NPC's sit around you in a sort of Colosseum as you battle each other. I was excited and couldn't wait until I was allowed in. As soon as it began I raced out and began to make my way to the ball in the middle. Then, I was stopped in my tracks. In front of me was a level 50 and a level 44, lightsabers in hand as they prepared to slaughter me. I was only level 12, it wasn't fair. I did what any decent gunslinger does, I ran.  I ran and I hid. I took a moment to scan over my team and saw that I was the lowest level there. It turns out that SWTOR had decided not to make PvP fair and so let any level battle in a warzone. It was wrong, very wrong. Incredibly unfair too. I had no enjoyment in that warzone. I fought as much as I could and died more often than I would have liked. The Sith won on the end, no surprise there considering they had nothing lower than level 40. As the window showing damage done etc came up, I was surprised to find that I was the fourth biggest damage dealer in the whole match. I had to look again as it couldn't possibly be correct - I hid for most of the match. The higher levels ended up dealing the least damage...it was strange indeed.

As I spent the PvP match hiding and running I got not screens...but Mikal wanted to dance for you all...

Anyway, this has to be the biggest fault in SWTOR. I was really annoyed and I won't be participating in PvP for some time. Creators of SWTOR, please sort this out as it has really irritated me.

- Valhalla

Not so long ago, on a laptop not too far away...

...Was a Gamer by the name of Valhalla who was interested in a new MMORPG. Whilst stacking shelves at work, he came across a case that interested him, one by the name of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Excited, he asked his colleagues about it until one, by the name of Dave, was able to tell him more. This is where the adventure begins, the adventure through the galaxies...

It was on December 20th that Dave and I planned to buy SWTOR and play it together that night. However, tragedy decided to take a lead role and destroy my plans - my card went missing. Without my debit card I could do nothing. Distraught, I was unable to buy the game and play the glorious thing that is SWTOR. Depressed, I spent the evening imagining what I could be missing, and the day after I was able to venture into work and pick up what was rightfully mine. Finally, I had what I wanted most.

I spent the whole night exploring the game, getting the feel for my character and messing around, generally killing some bad guys. I have to say, I was pretty damn impressed by the graphics and character customisation. When I started the game my jaw literally hit the floor when the cinematic started. I mean, seriously, it was just fantastic. I was overcome with joy that my hard-earned money had not been wasted. It took me a moment to recover from the sheer fantastical-ness that was the opening, but when I was over it I was right on my character. I decided to be a good-guy Smuggler (and plan to turn to the Dark Side), and went with the best 'race' - Cyborg. Yeah, I look freaking awesome and there is nothing you can say to disprove that. Nothing. The character editing was top notch, almost on par with Skyrim. I could edit face shape, tone, detail, scarring, hair style, markings, Cyborg parts...it is just so vast. It took me quite some time to decide on the perfect character, but I think Mikal turned out just right (as I've already pointed out). Take a look.

"I'll be back"

After an awesome classic Star Wars intro (music and slanted writing included) I was thrown into a new world filled with top graphics. In fact, it was only today that I turned the graphics up to high. Mind blown, once again. I did a few starter quests, getting used to my new UI (which is very similar to WoW), getting a feel for the way gameplay worked and what not. It was kinda irritating that my ship was nicked at the very beginning of the game. I mean honestly, that's MY ship. I even named it. So, once I stopped chuckling at the way my little Cyborg moved I got more serious and started getting my head into the game. It was surprisingly easy to do. The thing is, when you enter cinematic mode (which is pretty much every time you talk to a quest giver or receiver) you are able to choose how your character responds to the NPC. They can be rude, polite, flirtatious, indifferent, you name it and your character can probably turn down that path.

Dark Side points (or Light Side if you're going that way) are there to demonstrate how far you're going towards one side of the force. In my case it's Dark side because I'm actually kinda evil. To protect a woman I didn't really like I slaughtered a load of men that were supposed to be my allies. Why? well, because I could. That act earned me 50 Dark Side points and I was only level 3. Talk about rebellious, soon I'll be going against my whole faction.

The only downside is the respawn. If you want to be revived where you died you may have to wait for over ten minutes, depending on how many times you've been revived beforehand. either way, it's a pain in the backside, especially when your respawn point is quite far away.

I'm still exploring the game really, getting to grips with the whole thing, but I'm determined to find my starship and save it from the bastard that stole her. I really loved that ship. So far, I'm really enjoying SWTOR, and it's going to be a struggle to pay for both this and WoW, but I tell you it will be worth it. I assure you.

Keep watching for more SWTOR updates, for as I get further through the game, the more adventure updates you'll be getting from me.

Happy New Year!

- Valhalla