but why is it that the more I research MMO's the more I am turned off to the idea? Everyone I research has these vast communities that make getting started feel like such a chore.
If you knew nothing about PCs, never owned one or really used one and your first ever experience was having a friend show you a site like AT and reading about them you may think that they were very unfriendly towards those without extensive experience. Same sort of thing with MMOs. You have die hards who study every bit of lore and are well versed in it, but they are the fringe minority even amongst very dedicated players. You have people who will take a toon from new to top level in a week, sometimes less, because they need one of that class for something and don't have a decent one available, but again, they are a fringe minority.
And I hate the idea that most involve grinding and "guilding" to really take advantage of the experience.
Grinding is becoming less and less of a factor recently outside of a few of the 'hardcore' MMOs. SWTOR isnt' supposed to have much of it at all. Guilding, well, as someone who used to think it was a foolish idea, now it's probably the thing that keeps me most interested in playing. At first you are just focused on getting stuff done and having fun doing it, but you end up talking to people, normally quite slowly at first, and before you know it you get to know some people you really can't stand, and a few that you may really enjoy running with. Getting in with a group of people you can relate to and have fun playing with is really what keeps people playing the games as much as they do.
Oh yeah, for your original question- KOTOR I>>>>>KOTOR II. I place gameplay at a significantly higher place then storylines in games, but if the stories were nearly as good and related as much to the core gameplay as KOTOR I'd be willing to change that stance. I really enjoyed KOTOR II as a stand alone game, but it honestly wasn't in the same league as KOTOR I.