Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011)

Time brings entropy to all things but it's far more potent in the MMO space.

Gilded memories of pre-launch hype, PAX 2011 demo lineups and the fever dream launch week are mere echos in memory now. My biased nostalgia aches towards the past and yearns for an alternate timeline where swtor successfully took on the world of warcraft.

Swtor has 4 servers now. Its population, I can only guess (and fear), is sparse. The main hubs still bustle but lower level zones can be unnervingly quiet. Mobs once fought for, stand untouched, looking at their feet. The story and all the veracity it tries to muster is made doubtful by the lack of human presence. Large swaths of communal space, empty. These places were alive once.

I've spoken before how mmorpgs make me feel lonely. Lost in a dopamine drip and belonging nowhere in two worlds at once. This time, the loneliness is from rarefied air.

Canonically, The Old Republic falls. However, only the heroes of that galaxy know its not from Darth Malgus but the inevitable unplugging of a server.

While my memories will remain of swtor, its my youth I worry for. Its now reflected back and time is forcing me apart from it.

Having dipped my toe into the nostalgic whimsy of Everquest, the itch to return to an MMO met a moment of weakness. I reinstalled SWTOR after leaving it in 2015.

Bleary eyed confusion met with glossy nostalgia as I dug through my imperial agents ill gotten gains. I remember having a great time and would certainly do so now if it weren't for the unsettling anxiety of the genre.

I've described in the past how MMOs inevitably leave me feeling lonely and unfulfilled. I am both ashamed of how they 'waste my time' while also obsessively spending as much time as possible in their worlds.

All other games fall to the wayside when I play an MMO. I'm thankful to have the self control to make sure responsibilities do not. That isn't to say I wouldn't think of the game while not playing.

I've felt this emotional rollercoaster before. Time to get off the ride before it starts.

I've logged over 2000 hours into this game, and I don't regret a second of it. There is so much free quality content in this game, I honestly wish other games would adopt this method. The voice acting is stellar and almost everyone involved does a damn good job (and there is a lot of voice overs in this game, so that's saying something). I've played through every class, every expansion, every purple planet arc, every flashpoint and some Warzone PVP. The only mode I cannot comment on is operations, since I've never been able to complete one (long-time Legendary players are dicks to noobs). This is the ultimate Star Wars/sci-fi experience. There is so much to do, explore and uncover in this mmorpg. The class stories themselves are also very well written and feel like nice additions to the Old Republic canon (no i don't care about disney's canon crap, in my heart all kotor content in canon), with the standouts being the Jedi Knight and Imperial Agent's stories. Sith Warrior, Smuggler and the second half of the Jedi Consular are also really well devised. With the low point perhaps being the Republic Trooper, although it starts strong, it eventually loses steam. The bounty hunter and Sith Inquisitor, whilst is a lot of fun to play, is lacking in terms of narrative and story-telling. They do provide some awesome companions though, so there's that.

The soundtrack composed by Mark Griskey is also a standout in this game. The main menu theme is simply awesome and gets me excited every time I hear it. To add, the game also wisely uses cues from the prequel films which may have gone unnoticed in the films (for obvious reasons). This allows John Williams' score to really be acknowledged and admired, outside of the the film universe. Don't believe me? Type in "Anakin is Free" from the phantom menace ultimate soundtrack on YouTube and try to tell, which scene it is from in the film.

Look there's a lot to complain about in this game, but the truth is, the positives vastly outweigh the negatives. Yeah, Revan wasn't treated very well and neither was the Exile. Sometimes missions can feel repetitive and a lot of patches have ruined fundamental elements of the game. Heroics are meant to be attempted with a group, but now they can be done on solo. The same can also be said for certain flashpoints. Leveling is now the easiest thing imaginable, (especially if you're premium/subbed or preferred status), to the point where picking up side quests almost feele pointless, (I actually had to buy a module to slow down my gain of XP). Also many npc questgivers have been removed from certain spots like the imperial and republic fleet. This may not be noticed for some who only play the game occasional, but as a die hard fan, it's noticeable and can make for a jarring experience.

Despite these flaws, I can honestly say that this is one of my favourite games, and easily my favourite MMO of all time. It's sad this game always gets compared to KotOR, a game that is completely different in genre, style and tone to this game. But hey, like the saying goes, no one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans. Despite this, I still feel BioWare should have made a KotOR 3 and made SWTOR a spin-off. Similar to Elder Scrolls: Online. Yet, I can't deny my love for this game. The music, sound design, stellar voice work, graphics (yeah I don't mind the cartoonish look), fun sense of exploration and adventure and the general Star Wars feel of this game (especially in the Knight class) makes this one of, if not the greatest Star Wars video game experience of all time. Oh and did I mention you get a spaceship? Yeah you get a spaceship that you can travel the galaxy with. And a space station/social area (Imp/Pub fleets) where you can dock and kick back with your mates. Then you can take a shuttle to one of two capital ships and pickup flashpoints and ops and other cools things like holocrons and CHRIST THERE'S JUST SO MUCH TO DO IN THIS GAME. Seriously, if you've never played this game and you like Star Wars, download the game for free, and jump in. Don't listen to the whiny naysayers, you won't regret it. LONG LIVE SWTOR!