PvP
Like most other MMOs, The Old Republic has an actual PvP system where players can face off against each other. You can find details about what the different PvP warfronts, or games are like online. They're basically a "capture the flag", a "attack & defend" type and a "take over bases" types of games available right now.
One thing I liked about this was the level scaling system for PvP, allowing people from all levels to play on a level playing field. What I remembered from WoW PvP was simply getting out there then getting smashed by a character designed specifically for PvP at exactly the level cap for it. It wasn't fun being a level 16 trying to figure things out getting totally smashed by a level 19.
On the other hand, TOR scales all players up to level 50 and lets them play on an even field. You won't have all the abilities that a higher level player will have, but you can at least fight evenly. This leads to a new level 13 Commando being able to pull off a bunch of kills and medals!
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| Medals, MVP votes and more |
Starships
As part of the storyline, everyone gets their own ship. Supposedly this happens around level 16 or 17, but with all the PvPing I'd been doing (about 4 matches) and running flashpoints (twice on Ascy) I was level 19 by the time I was assigned my own ship.
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| FINALLY! A place to sit down! |
You can also go onboard other people's ships and run around... It's like the Normandy in the Mass Effect games. Your companions will be around the ship and you can talk to them. What's funniest, in my opinion, is that if you are onboard someone else's ship while they start one of the space combat missions, you can't simply disembark through the airlock. You have to use the escape pod to bail out xD
Crafting
I've never actually gotten into crafting in any MMO. The big reason for this is that it's an activity that takes away from the fun parts of the game -- In both WoW & FFXI, you have to sit still and do the craft. WoW makes it easier since you can just queue up repeats of one craft and let your character work through the stack of materials.
In TOR, crafting can be done at any time, while running around or in flashpoint. Since your companions do the crafting for you, you just have to give them instructions on what to do. This is especially true when grouping up with others since chances are you won't be using your companions anyway. It's nice to be running through a flashpoint and getting money at the same time!
Crafting also takes off later as you get more companions. Each companion can be sent out to do crafts for you, so you can be doing up to 5 crafting things at the same time.
FFXI on the back burner
I'm officially putting FFXI on the back burner now. Similar to when I explored WoW a couple of years ago, I'll probably only pop into FFXI for major events that actually need me -- mainly Voidwatch since that event is lacking for manpower. There's really nothing to look forward in XI except grinding for gear. What's worse is that FFXI is really devolving into using pure Skinner Box techniques. All FFXI events are skinner boxes to a degree, but normally they try to hide it with a fight or task. The latest "event" known as the "Gobbie Mystery Box" is a pure skinner box. You can get a random reward, from anything from junk to a Novio Earring for simply logging in and checking. That's the very definition of a skinner box... and it's a literal box! I'll let Kelhor tell those interested about the relic99 trials!
I'm still curious to see what else SE does... I'll keep my XI subscription going until I reach level 50 on 1-2 chars on TOR and see what happens then!
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