Hey gamers,

I’m going on a rant today about Star Wars The Old Republic.

What on earth is taking so long for the 1.2 patch!! They said early march in february, early april in march, and now it’s the middle of april and still no patch. Not even a single comment since the beginning of may on what is taking so long.

Personally, I’m really excited about the changes to come and haven’t recently played the game much in anticipation of the changes to come (for more details on patch 1.2 check my earlier blogs). I’m mostly angry at the fact that I could have literally saved 15 dollars by not paying for this month that I bought specifically for patch 1.2 that never ended up coming out. Which makes me think their postponing this because they want to string along as many players as possible before releasing what, in my opinion, should have been in the game from the start. I feel like Bioware is steeling my money and it honestly makes me never want to give them my business ever again.

****UPDATE: This is embarrasseing… They released the update the day after I wrote this blog. Oops. Still though. It took way too long.

Hey gamers,

There’s been a lot of hype around the upcoming 11GB update for SWTOR. The update’s going to deal with a ton of issues, increase the graphic capability for high-end machines, and even add a bunch of new flashpoints and operations. They’re even adding this thing called a Legacy family tree where you can make your characters related to each other. What does this mean? To make a long story short, if your dad was a jedi character, and your a smuggler, you may be a smuggler that can use the force. This new option has never been done in an MMO and I’m super excited to try it out.

The update is set to release some time in april, but if you can’t wait or just even want to see it for yourself, it’s been released on the Public Test Realm. If you do this be sure to leave yourself a big chunk of time because it requires an 11GB download and install. To do this simply click the gear in the bottow left corner of the log in screen (not in game) and check the Public Test Realm option. then after you log in, click the splitting arrow icon in thebottom left and click Public Test Realm again.

Because I didn’t have a character on the PBR already I had to start a new game so all I was able to test was the graphic changes and let me tell you, It looks a looooot better. Better textures, better draw distance, and more fluid movement, make for a better game. I’m very excited for this new update and if you try it out before it’s released, let me know what you think!

Sorry for the rant here but this needs to be said.

After playing a substantial amount of Star Wars: The Old Republic, One thing became all too clear. SWTOR is World of Warcraft. Yes, there are many differences but in the end it is the same exact game. Most people’s retaliation is, “Oh well its an MMORPG how different can they get?” Sorry guys, but MMORPG simply means an online RPG game. Since when did that definition change to: Copy WoW? Now if you’re thinking I’m here to bash SWTOR, keep reading, because that is completely unture. I will however bash WoW. Not because I think it’s a bad game at all, but because it is so ridiculously outdated (2004 was when it was released) yet remains to be what every developer considers the only MMORPG and the model for every MMORPG to come. THIS NEEDS TO STOP! There are logically thousands of different ways to make an online RPG, please end this vicious cycle! I’m so sick of playing the same exact game with a different setting! Although, not sick enough to stop playing SWTOR.

Now that I got that off my chest… Here’s what I think about SWTOR:

As contradictory as it may seem, I love / can’t stop playing this game. It sounds pretty ridiculous after what I previously said but it is true. I fell into the trap. But my reasoning is sound and fairly simple. This game is the what I wanted WoW to be when I first played it. It’s a WoW that I actually care about. I’m not running around doing quests anymore simply to level up, There is an actual story with characters I care about, In a setting that is both familiar and fresh. I grew up with Star Wars. It’s a franchise I’ve adored before I can remember. So even though the game play is nothing original at all, I love it because it is Star Wars themed and because it stays true to that theme.

Get it or Skip it?

Get it. If you are a Star Wars fan you’ll love this game. There are what seems to be an endless number of planets to explore, and Bioware doesn’t plan to stop making new ones. Even If you aren’t a fan of the game play style (like me) you will have a blast simply exploring and getting wrapped up in this Star Wars alternate reality.

FYI to broke gamers like me!! SWTOR will be available free-to-play this weekend only starting Thursday at 12 am and ending monday. If you’ve been dying to play this game but simply haven’t had the large amount of money needed to invest in this game, Now’s your chance to try it out!

This was a good move by Bio-ware in my opinion because the only reason I haven’t bought it was because I didn’t want spend 60 dollars on a game then 12 dollars a month for a subscription. Now I can at least see if I like it before wasting all my money. ; )