As many of you know I’ve been spending alot of my gaming time on the Vaiken Dock Spacestation.  It’s been fun in the sense of “Learning a new game” Fun.  Which of course means sometimes it’s a real grind.  Now that I’ve leveled to 50 twice and gotten the end game under my belt I want to make some comparisons about SWToR and WoW.

I’ll try to keep my comparison broad.

In general I’d compare the two like restaurants.  WoW is the neighborhood hang out.  You’ve been going there for years, the food’s great and you’ll see your crew there any time of the day.  SWToR is the new joint in town.  It sparkles like only a new restaurant can and it has a menu that is to die for.

After a few weeks of heavy indulgance at the SWToR bistro you find that everything is not running at 100% capacity.  An example would be when the server tells you that you can’t order the Roasted Chicken Wrap w/o onions.  You think to yourself, ” the WoW Diner lets me order things just how I want.”  All the good feelings about WoW rush back.  “Tomorrow I”m going to have lunch at the WoW Diner!”  Arriving you instantly feel at home.  You order your favorite dish, just how you love it, enjoying the whole experience.  Just when you start to think about not going back to the SWToR Bistro you remember how amazing the live entertainment is…

Is there room for both of these establishments in your dining out routine?

I know the answer is yes, but players enjoyment will vary.

My 2 biggest 3 complaints about SWToR are:

1)  No Flash Point Finder.  Come on Bio Ware, trolling for groups in General Chat is mind numbing.  If  you want to build a server community let the Finder only pull from that server.

2)  Gear that can be modified should truly be modifiable.  Looking like a Space Biker with exhaust pipes sticking out of my armor is not appealing to me.  Like wise a Sith Lord doesnt need to look like a cyborg space ninja on steroids.  Now many players will love the look, but it needs to be Mod-able.  In (Bio Ware’s defense this change is coming in patch 1.2)

3)  After the first two a distant third is the Credit Cost of your Trainable Skills.  Not to mention the archaic mechanic that you have to train multiple levels of said skill.  I must have spent close to 750,000 credits to level my skills.  On the same note, it costs around 25K to rip out mods and place them in the gear you want.  So when patch 1.2 drops it will cost 75k to rip one piece of armor down.  An entire set would cost 375,000 credits.  Add 150,000 more if you’ve scrounged up Belts and Bracers that you can mod.  It’s a gold sink I know, but it’s extreme for the player that just can’t spend the time to farm all those credits.

With that said, by 3 biggest complaints about WoW are:

1)  The Trash Mobs in WoW are Fodder.  Yes they will kill you if not delt with, but the mobs in SWToR are sneaky.  The lone weak enemy sniping you from behind a pillar will ruin your day if not handled by smart dps.  Given, the trash in the 4.3 WoW dungeons are light years ahead of their previous siblings.

2)  DPS in WoW doesn’t  have to be on their toes in Dungeons.  The tank aggros everything and the DPS burns them down.  In SWToR the Tank can not aggro everything.  It’s just not going to work.  The tank aggros the biggest bad, and the DPS have to handle the rest.  If the DPS doesn’t deal with the other Mobs they will target the next highest aggro player, and that would be your healer.  “Healing with Hate” never means more than it does when I have 4 Weak Level mobs ripping through my Plasteel armor like a can peas because the noob Marauder dressed like a clown cyborg won’t peel off the tank target.  This might sound like a complaint, but DPS players really shine in the 4 Man Flash Points.  Playing as a Tank or Healer you will fill a static roll.  DPS players are calling down orbital strikes and twirling twin sabers all around you.  A smart DPS player means more in your FP than a geared tank.

3)  Healers only heal in WoW.  Until you out gear the instance played, a Healer is going to heal and that’s it.  When running SWToR FPs a Healer that realizes his dps is needed has alot of fun.  Managing Healing Cooldowns, Instants, and DPS attacks is very dynamic play style.  I consider the BH skill “Death from Above” is a healing Cooldown!

The Featured Image is Amanda Lucas.  George Lucas’ daughter.  Go figure?