Have any screenshots/videos of your testing experience, or anything to say about it? Post em here. Also Bioware released a trailer for the Hammer Station flashpoint. 
  
I played through this flashpoint once, and it was pretty fun. Wiped once because the group was kind of stupid.

Combat still looks stiff as a board, however I have a feeling I'm going to spend a good portion of my life in this game.

Played a bit of it last weekend.

Yep....everything i thought about it before is still true even after playing it.

@Gonmog said:

Played a bit of it last weekend.

Yep....everything i thought about it before is still true even after playing it.

What would those thoughts be?

That holo guy in the beginning gave me a serious Malak vibe from KOTOR.

Nothing great...but nothing super bad. it is what it is.

I really hope everyone that gets it really enjoys it.But for me, I do love my mmos, dont get me wrong, but there's this fear in the back of my head....how in the bloody hell are they going to add new quests to this thing? Voice work does not come cheap. How long have the voice actors signed a contract for? Will this come close to making its money back with in a year? Will it just fade out? they are counting on this to be HUGE, if its not, will we see anything more then fix it patchs?

I want my mmos to last a good long time. And i want there to be new stuff added all the time for me when i have gotten to end game. How can this happen if they dont make enough, or if they cant get voice actors back?

Don't anyone tell me that if i want new stuff i should just roll a new char and follow that story line...that's bull.

The voice acting is both the best thing and could be the worst thing for this game.

Other then that...its just a other mmo. After end game, who cares about the story? At that point it becomes getting the ever growing best loot for your char.

This game looks, in its own way, fantastic. I just wish the combat didn't look so World of Warcraft-ish.

I'm going to try it, because hey, its a big and new Star Wars game.

Still, I think I'm going to be let down big time. I watched a stream for a while yesterday and it seemed very basic. The combat is at the very heart of all the things disappointing because combat is the means we have to progress through the story and content. Combat should be visually pleasing as well as engaging for the player, it is neither in this game. Come on, at least the animations should be made more interesting to watch even if the underlying combat system is conventional. There's a lack of intensity and danger to the fights.Two individuals fighting with lightsabers seems like they're rehearsing for a Star Wars school-play where the moves are predictable and robotic so that the sabers clash, and they don't really clash in this game, however an effect and added audio fx is rendered on-top to cloud actual contact but to create the illusion of contact. Another thing is the over-use of particle effects in -everything-, I might have to turn that stuff off if possible.

A digression: Skyrim is a fantastic game. Recommended! Tons of content, exciting combat, lovely graphics, adventure and exploration at its finest.

@Funkydupe said:

I'm going to try it, because hey, its a big and new Star Wars game.

Still, I think I'm going to be let down big time. I watched a stream for a while yesterday and it seemed very basic. The combat is at the very heart of all the things disappointing because combat is the means we have to progress through the story and content. Combat should be visually pleasing as well as engaging for the player, it is neither in this game. Come on, at least the animations should be made more interesting to watch even if the underlying combat system is conventional. There's a lack of intensity and danger to the fights.Two individuals fighting with lightsabers seems like they're rehearsing for a Star Wars school-play where the moves are predictable and robotic so that the sabers clash, and they don't really clash in this game, however an effect and added audio fx is rendered on-top to cloud actual contact but to create the illusion of contact. Another thing is the over-use of particle effects in -everything-, I might have to turn that stuff off if possible.

A digression: Skyrim is a fantastic game. Recommended! Tons of content, exciting combat, lovely graphics, adventure and exploration at its finest.

Years and Years ago, I Oblivion and WoW ended up competing for my time. WoW ended up winning that battle.

Kinda funny to see those guys standing up to lightsaber slashes without any reaction. I guess in this time period, lightsabers are more like wiffle bats.

oh we can post screenshots now, guess i'll toss what i have in here.   I recorded video but i decided to just delete that stuff because i wasn't sure we'd be able to post closed beta footage.

@Delta_Ass said:

Kinda funny to see those guys standing up to lightsaber slashes without any reaction. I guess in this time period, lightsabers are more like wiffle bats.

@Brodehouse said:

@Delta_Ass Most soldiers are wearing cortosis weave, and some animals are hardy enough to take a cut and keep going. But seriously, gameplay and story segregation. Would the game be more fun with one-hit-kill lightsabers and blaster bolts? Don't argue to make a game less fun to play.

Eh. The concessions for a game like this. Kotor had the same problem, but it does bug me when I see a jedi in nothing but robes get hit by several missiles and blaster bolts and keep running (As he does in the Knight progression trailer)

I know it's a necessary evil, but it does seem more striking this time around.

I cancelled my preorder after the shitty support I received when I was having issues running the SWTOR beta. If they don't enough to assist me with my problem then I won't buy your game, simple as that.

Any hope that they'd manage to lend the fluidity of lightsaber battles seen in, oh I dunno, Jedi Knight 2, to an MMO is totally dashed.

Stiff as a board is right. Someone needs to inform Bioware that dramatic does not mean big.

How far do you have to go into the game to get your starship? I played for a weekend when I had time and made it off the start planet and onto coruscant but the missions were too hard there so I had to go back and grind a bit before I could proceed. What I wanted to do was get to a point where the game world was open to me and I could just move around as I pleased on my starship.

When does this happen?

I play tested it early this summer...was not impressed. They invited me back a few times but I never accepted.

@Grilledcheez said:

I play tested it early this summer...was not impressed. They invited me back a few times but I never accepted.

Same here.

Not a good game.

@Kaiji said:

@Grilledcheez said:

I play tested it early this summer...was not impressed. They invited me back a few times but I never accepted.

Same here.

Not a good game.

I felt "zawa zawa" while playing the beta.

I liked it.

@Grilledcheez said:

I play tested it early this summer...was not impressed. They invited me back a few times but I never accepted.

Same here.

Not a good game.

The new build is just awful. The game feels slow, unresponsive and just generally worse than it was a month ago. Ugh.

screenshots gooo

@Artemesia said:

The new build is just awful. The game feels slow, unresponsive and just generally worse than it was a month ago. Ugh.

This, this, this. It runs terribly on my computer and it shouldn't. Graphical glitches, hitches, and general awfulness all around , at least for me.

@Skald said:

This game looks, in its own way, fantastic. I just wish the combat didn't look so World of Warcraft-ish.

If you enjoyed KOTOR, I don't think this game will disappoint you. Unfortunately BioWare has had to cater to two masters for this project: the MMORPG fans, and the KOTOR fans, and they certainly seem to demand two entirely juxtaposed things.

With that said, the solitary questing experience with your companion and story is very Knights of the Old Republic. Large portions of the game (at least on the first two planets) have you entering entirely-instanced dungeons. When I walked into a hidden base beneath this massive statue around level 12 as my Inquisitor with my own dungeon to explore, with my decisions to make, and my own companion at hand, I knew I was playing a KOTOR game. Walking down that first hall with 3 Sith warriors at the end, and having all 3 of them light up their red lightsabers and engage in a 2v3 epic battle... it just felt like KOTOR. And I think the animations end up looking a lot nicer when you aren't asking the game to tackle full-scale group encounters. In either case, my dungeon exploration ended with a satisfying boss fight and an excellent decision to make. It's KOTOR, so those decisions are far less grey than BioWare's more recent efforts. But I would have it no other way.

I'm sort of annoyed at all the negative reception that this game is undeservingly receiving. I, for one, don't understand it. Either a lot of people hate MMORPGs, hate Star Wars, or hate BioWare. This game has the same calibre of MMO polish as Rift (which launched fantastically well)--if not more; it has a handful of truly innovative new features that mix up the formula enough to be compelling; and it feels like a wonderful BioWare experience. What else could you ask for?

@Artemesia said:

The new build is just awful. The game feels slow, unresponsive and just generally worse than it was a month ago. Ugh.

While I love the game dearly, I also agree with this point. My biggest problem with the game is that was initially too easy (which I can deal with), and they've slammed their balancing-hammer down real hard. I literally had to grind to a more comfortable level to simply advance my story at one point. I mean, I have a bunch of MMORPG experience, and this game was kicking my ass while solo-questing soloable quests. It's too hard, simply put. But those are just damage and health values. They can change on a whim, and it's a very minor complaint. The core design of this game is outstanding, and I think BioWare has crafted a formula that will hopefully make a compelling, successful experience in this bloated MMORPG market.

@CL60 said:

@Kaiji said:

@Grilledcheez said:

I play tested it early this summer...was not impressed. They invited me back a few times but I never accepted.

Same here.

Not a good game.

It's funny how all of your posts are just bashing the game over the course of months.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Not really.

You find that funny? Then I guess you're easily amused.

I genuinely think TOR is not a good game and is doomed to failure. Sorry if that bothers you.

@project343: So is it Kotor3 or an mmo? Why would i want to play 2/3 of the game instanced solo?

@Beaudacious said:

@project343: So is it Kotor3 or an mmo? Why would i want to play 2/3 of the game instanced solo?

When and how I played it, it felt a fair bit more like KOTOR3 than an MMO. Well, maybe that's not entirely fair. The game has taken a lot of what BioWare has learned and improved-upon over the years and rolled it into the KOTOR formula. I would say that it feels like Dragon Age, plays like World of Warcraft, has Mass Effect's conversation system, and takes place in the KOTOR universe.

That said, early on is, maybe, 1/6th instanced. The instancing is separated by these green barriers that other players cannot enter, and it seamlessly sets you into your own unique phase without loading. But this is also a fully-featured MMORPG. If you want to, you can run dungeons or PVP 'till your hearts content, and never see any of that story content. Hell, you can even enter those barriers with other players if you invite them to your group.

The dungeons themselves are really fantastic. They have a pacing not-unlike one of Mass Effect 2's missions. You enter, there's a fair bit of setup story (about 5 minutes), then you're thrusted into dungeon with 3-4 bosses. About half-way through the dungeon you'll encounter more story, make an important decision, and that decision (at least for the initial dungeon) will affect the rest of the dungeon. After the last boss, you'll see the cumulation of your group's decisions unfold via a final story sequence, and you'll walk away with loot and experience in-hand. I think the narrative does a fantastic job at propelling you forward, and works well to mix the pacing up. This reminds me most of Mass Effect 2 because the sequence is a quick burst of gameplay and the story is kept very separate from the action (insofar as you're not feeling like dialogue sequences are interrupting your boss kills).

I could see a theme-park MMORPG-lover enjoying this game as a solid alternative to WoW with better presentation, and more narrative context to his actions. And I can also see a KOTOR fan enjoying this game as a fantastic BioWare Star Wars RPG with some interesting social/multiplayer options. It does voice acting, story and character design on-par with--if not better than--BioWare's catalogue (at least from the Sith Inquisitor's perspective). And it seems to do all those other MMORPG bits with a fantastic amount of polish (like I've said, it feels just as polished as Rift was when it launched).

TL;DR - I think it'll please both KOTOR and MMORPG fans.

@project343: The level of theme-park is what made me quit the beta, the world felt like s MassEffect level, not just the dungeons. The one thing i wanted out of my next mmo was less theme park, more world pvp, capital city raids, guild battles in low lvl area's newbies suffering the wrath of high lvl aoe, open world raids. Unfortunately i think this type of sandbox mmo is dead in the eyes of AAA developers, and since you seem to have a good understanding of where swtor currently stands i'd like to ask you two more questions.

-How is class disparity? Are 50% of players jedi/sith warriors? 30% Consular's/Inquisitor's? and the remaining classes. ( I couldn't really get a good idea during my beta time)

-How is balance between classes so far? Reading all the skills tree's has given me a lot of ideas for op builds. Especially considering the inquisitor being a Dics Priest/Affliction lock combination. Pretty much all healer/dps classes creating opportunities for overly powerful characters, since none of the healing tree's seems to really boost healing with deep talents other then add utility skills.

@Beaudacious: I don't think it's as bad as you would suspect. Smugglers and Bounty Hunters are also pretty popular. But yes, everyone sort of wants a lightsaber. I'll be honest and say that I'm not a big PVP player. And sadly admit that I never once tried out PVP, so I can't really comment on balance. Community seems to argue that the Marauder and Sentinel are falling behind (dual-wielding Jedi-types).

And I completely respect your opinion on the theme-park business. I specifically went out of my way to say that theme-park MMO fans would enjoy the game because I think sandbox players would hate it. It's terribly linear and offers zero open-world madness that exist in games like EVE Online or Star Wars Galaxies. I think that this fact is pretty obvious right out of the gate, though. I mean, you're getting a narrative-focused, fully voice-acted MMORPG pseudo sequel to KOTOR, with BioWare developing it. No part of that says 'sandbox.' And I think KOTOR fans would immediately be put off of a sandbox MMO, mostly because KOTOR itself was incredibly linear.

I'm only interested in this for the theme park elements. A world crafted by players sounds shitty indeed because the majority of all players are shitty. I haven't bought into crowd sourcing game content.

First thing I'm going to do is close the chat window until I need something. Or I'll mute everyone but my friends until I'm planning on running an instance. The thing that ruins most multiplayer games are other people.

I'm only interested in this for the theme park elements. A world crafted by players sounds shitty indeed because the majority of all players are shitty. I haven't bought into crowd sourcing game content. First thing I'm going to do is close the chat window until I need something. Or I'll mute everyone but my friends until I'm planning on running an instance. The thing that ruins most multiplayer games are other people.

I'll just wait for the game to go free to play in a few months or a year at most.

@Brodehouse: I completely respect that view, but then my question is:Why is this an mmo? It sounds like most people want to treat this as Kotor 3 with drop in co-op,. That's a completely valid desire, but then why bother making this a subscription based, massive server infrastructure mmo. My worry is simply that a lack of sandbox makes for a poor mmo world, and community.

So I am invited for my first beta test this weekend. I still will get it. Pre-ordered the cheapest version on amazon, which seems the way to go. The expectations for this title are so low, it can't hardly disappoint. Its BioWare after all.