Having just played now for a couple hours, this is very clearly WoW in space. That's both a good thing and a bad thing for someone like myself who has put 1000+ hours into WoW. It's a good thing in that it's very easy to settle into for someone who's familiar with WoW. It's a bad thing because it does almost nothing better or different enough to differentiate itself from the current market-king to pull ahead like EA needs it to. Will I play more of the beta and play once it comes out? Absolutely; but as a distraction from WoW until Mists of Pandaria comes out, nothing more.

If anything, it's Guild Wars 2 that poses the biggest, long-term threat to WoW as an MMO competitor. It being a different-enough game as well as lacking the subscription fee, along with people's fond memories of the original might just be the perfect storm to steal a good percentage of WoW's subscription base, if nothing more, for a bit.

I've been playing the beta this weekend and have been really impressed. It's alot like WOW but makes some meaningful improvements to the things WOW does and has it's own unique traits; specifically the dialog system and companions. I'm also WAY more into sci-fi than fantasy so thematically it's munch more interesting to me. I don't think it's going to kill WOW; nothing will but WOW 2 and even that's debateable (I mean Everquest 2 failed while EQ1 lives on) but I'm definitely feeling that MMO addiction and am really itching to play more to see where it goes.

I found the Jedi insanely boring to play as, but I think that's because you're very much forced into the standard peace keeping role, with few options to deviate without resorting to the typical comic book villainy.

I started playing as a trooper this time though, and found it to be a lot more engaging, I love their story, it sets up everything really well, with some great twists and they're just generally a lot more fun to play as.

I have a lot of issues with the gameplay, but it's certainly not bad for a typical MMO, it's easily better than anything else currently on the market. If it weren't for the monthly fee, I'd be on board.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

Besides the game randomly shutting down my pc I am madly in love. The prologue is a little long but I just got my ship (did space missions, awesome!) and I thought but one thing. Mass Effect Online. I played Trooper and I'm hooked, the combat is really diverse with all the different skills and my moves feel real good to execute on enemies, healing is done very well too for as far as I could tell. Nice mix of doing damage and healing, not just running behind the group healing them while they do all the fun work.

Yeah this game is very GPU/CPU intensive but it seems like your card is overheating. You should look into cleaning the dust out of your GPU...it's never a good thing when your PC gets shut down.

Also enjoying this game too. level 14 bounty hunter and really kept me intrigued in the storyline.

People that want one-shot-kill lightsabers make me die a little on the inside.

If you like running from point A to B and being rewarded with a cut-scene then you'll love this game. Really, it is great for anyone who is into either a.) Star Wars lore, or b.) Likes a good story and doesn't mind bland gameplay to get it. As for me, the gameplay isn't compelling enough to merit anything longer than a single class playthrough. Once I do that, I doubt I will return to the game. I just felt the game held my hand way too much. I felt badass in combat due to the animations and the fact it was Star Wars, but under the hood, it just doesn't do a lot. I hit level 20 in the beta so I definitely put in some good time with the game. That said, it just feels so bland unless you're in an overly-long cut-scene. I guess this game just isn't for me, but I really wanted to like it...

@FilipHolm said:

Enjoying it so far.I'm still on the "Prologe" though... I hope the planets are bigger than this...

I leveled a Sith Warrior to 20 and generally had a fun time.  They put a ton of content into the game that differentiates itself from WoW in a good way.

I think it is fun, but I don't know if it will be enough to even come close to toppling WoW.

I'm going to switch because as an altaholic in mmos I really love all of the Bioware singleplayer stuff that has bled into this game.