SWTOR has been an ever changing chameleon
From the moment you first log in, Star Wars: The Old Republic puts you in the mindset of a star-hopping badass. The opening cinematic, where the Sith appear out of nowhere and reclaim Korriban, introduces you to the conflict between the Empire and the Republic. Then you choose which faction you're going to play for, and another cinematic sets the tone of your alignment. For Empire players, the focus is on power, control, and anger. The Republic cinematic portrays a need to take back what's lost through planning and tenacity. The cinematics are spectacularly compelling and make me wish Blur, the creators, were contracted to do a feature-length film. For the past two years, the new status quo has felt like "find out what people on the forums are asking about most, and make that." That's resulted in free expansions like Galactic Starfighter, which introduced PVP fighter combat, and Galactic Strongholds, which introduced player housing, along with smaller content updates that gave us new and easy role-neutral dungeons. The two free expansions were not quite what people wanted; Starfighter combat is esoteric and difficult to grasp; the player housing is not free form in any meaningful way and instead mostly just serves as very large trophy cases.
Companions play a key role in the game, more so than any other MMOG I’ve seen. Not only can you outfit them with custom gear, they are also the center of all harvesting and crafting. Each companion also has a unique set of abilities; some heal, some engage in ranged DPS, some melee, some tank, etc. At this point, a player can have a maximum of 6 active companions by the time they reach end-game, and while only one can accompany you at a time, you can send the other companions out on missions while you’re playing, or while you are offline. There are two additional companions a character can acquire (outside of the storyline): Treek, the Ewok healer (through legacy or cartel coins), and HK-51, the killer DPS companion. Once the core of either companion is unlocked, they can be used by any other account character (for an additional unlock price). A guide to obtaining HK-51 can be found here. A player can also acquire different skins for their companion. My favorite is the “darth” look for Treek, the Ewok.
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Star Wars: The Old Republic has been an ever-changing chameleon since its inception, continually trading off features and mechanics with its jump to free-to-play powerhouse and subsequent release of the feature-rich Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion. Even though the focus of each additional chunk of content has shifted, the sentiment remains the same: exploring the Star Wars universe in new and unique ways should make you feel like a badass. Galactic Starfighter endeavors to make you feel just that, strapping you into the cockpit of your very own strike fighter and thrusting you into battle. If running down Sith fighters while engaging your turbo engines in a hail of blaster fire sounds like your idea of a party, this meaty experience is tailor-made for you.
None of this has changed. What has, though, is that story is no longer an exciting novelty, while World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World have all surpassed The Old Republic's stilted dialogue, basic cinematography and forgettable characters. In Pandaria, phasing and scripting comes together for a more dynamic experience with a good sense of humour. Guild Wars 2 remembers that an MMO is expected to be a multiplayer experience first, layering its plotting and single-player content on top far more skilfully. The Secret World offers infinitely better writing. Yes, they all have issues, especially with pacing. They still trounce The Old Republic's attempts, rendering it drier than moondust.
As a top-tier MMO though, The Old Republic is done. Many games are said to have their day. The Old Republic's initial blaze of glory took that rather more literally than most, and this year's big releases have left it in the dust. Consider it on life support - and not the cool Darth Vader kind. The NHS kind. Surrounded by nurses who won't shut up about BUPA.
