From what I've read and watched, SW:ToR did not impress me. Mind you I have not tested the game. I'm also a semifan of Star Wars, atleast the games connected to it (Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy were brilliant).
Anyway, SW:ToR might have a storyline and a few funky features, but in it's core it's still the same old same old select target spam hotkey combat, with raiding/gearing up your char as endgame and meaningless PvP... I have played countless MMOs like this... countless. It just seems way too generic to me, SW:ToR doesn't actually bring anything new to the table.
It might be OK if you're looking for a WoW-type generic game with a sci-fi Star Wars setting, but other than that... you're better off waiting for something else.
I'm much more excited about TERA (even though it's a bit too azn for my taste) or even GW2.
Aye, I've argued with countless players with the same critique over TOR on its own forums, but here I shall break part of my NDA to shed some light (Hopefully) upon what TOR brings us.
If you have played Mass Effect or Baldur's Gate, you'll eventually find out that the same rich storyline and companions are going to be inside TOR, and does it not bring anything new to the table?
My answer is:
Understand that the battle and system are, indeed, somewhat similar to WoW, but what interests me and many other BioWare fans are not the battle system or end game operations or whatever. It is the compelling storytelling and companionship and choices that are rather
not a bonus to the game, but what
defines the game itself.
TOR offers 8 classes, and stories often left my eyes wide open in awe as I could have never expected what my choices would leave me to. (Damn you, beta testing! It's such a irresistible spoiler!)
Ex: Imperial Agents change their voices whenever under cover and progressing through the story, your Jedi Knight can fall in love and become a dark Jedi, and so on..
As you stated: "SW:ToR might have a storyline and a few funky features, but in it's core it's still the same old same old select target spam hotkey combat, with raiding/gearing up your char as endgame and meaningless PvP..."
I disagree, as I perceive it the other way around, TOR offered us countless features that other MMOs do not have, and the combat system or gearing up your character for endgame is not the main focus of this game.
Yet it depends from person to person, since you have mentioned Jedi Outcast/Academy inside a M&B mod forum, I can only guess you value player skills more than player-character skills, which is fine with me.
I value storytelling and RP that often left me a warm-fuzzy feel inside my stomach over any gameplay system.
