Playing an MMOG doesn't mean you have to be part of some 'group' or be in constant social contact with other players. My opinion is that in an MMOG, especially and specifically an MMO
RPG, any gameplay style is valid. If you're happy with engaging the in-game world almost entirelly by yourself, role-playing a lone-hero/hermit/criminal/whatever, by all means have at it. Part of the appeal of MMO gaming is that you get to interact with all sorts of players doing their own thing, knowing that there are others around you that wishes to not fit into the same mold, and not just those partaking in the same routine as everyone else.
Anyway I think TOR may do fairly well for the first couple of months, as the novelty of a brand new MMO from a reputable studio would be too much for many to resist. There will be veteran MMOers, SW fans, casuals, and various other segments of the gaming population eyeing for a piece of the action. But a year or two after release, I expect the picture to be very different. A good percentage will have left, with only diehard fans staying behind. Why would they leave? In short, the game doesn't offer much in the way of compelling social interaction as some other MMOs do. About the only thing it does have, at least does rather well, compared to the rest of them, and something very
very many fans like to repeat ad nauseum, is that the game will focus on the "storyline", and that it will be great because NPCs will have actual "voice-overs" rather than simple text.
Now from the perspective of a relative newbie, TOR may well be a new kind of awesome. It appears fresh, graphics are very decent, plot appears very interesting, and so on and so forth. But to those familiar with the games made by the company, as well as MMOs in general, TOR represents something else entirely - a step backwards.
Looking at the game, one notices several major consistencies with the company's other game KOTOR. Is that a good or bad thing? Let's see. One example, TOR is primarily focused on combat & the like. While this is fun for many folks, fighting is not everyone's cup of tea. As previous MMOs like SWG, UO & perhaps even WOW have shown, there is a large demographic content with simply doing mundane peaceful things, things like owning homes, decorating them, creating a fashion trend, being a professional crafter, etc... TOR unfortunately offers none of that. It may not sound cool to have these types of folks running around, but in order for any MMO to truly become the "next big thing", you will need to attract almost everyone to your game. And it is exactly those things that is needed in order to attract that demographic to make it come true.
Another example is the gameplay aspect, currently the only way to play the game with any chance of development, is through missions. Now missions aren't necessarily a bad thing, it's fun to do things in a structured way every once in a while. The problem with TOR, and some other MMOs, is that they rely too much on missions/quests to keep players engaged. They do this because the game offers nothing else in the way of content. A much better way to go about it, in my opinion, is to allow players themselves to create the content themselves. Not in the way as a GM with god-like powers would, but something approaching what happens in real-life. Rather than basing it on some generic mission/quest template, player-generated content can take on any number of forms. It is determined entirely by the players themselves, in whatever ways they see fit. SWG & UO did this exceptionally well. WoW & some other quest-centric MMOs however approach it a little differently. Some are open to player adjustment, while others are somewhat template-based.
TOR however takes a rather antiquated approach. Players choose their mission, and are subsequently taken for a joy ride. The part of the map where the mission takes place will be instanced off from the rest of the universe. Players will witness things, and complete a set number of tasks, all along a pre-determined one-way path. NPCs and/or actual players can tag along to form a group, although with the number of scripted cutscenes taking place within the mission template, it's unlikely they'll get much social interaction. If all this sounds familiar, it should. The whole thing is based on the mission system from KOTOR, right down to the much repeated "voice-over" gimmick. Initially it may feel fresh, but eventually you will tire of the same monotonous canned phrases repeated throughout, as well as the same generic missions. From that perspective, TOR is in many ways, a multiplayer version of KOTOR.
The advancing storyline element is certainly to be commended. Without this, MMOs would become stale & boring. But then again, this is something to be expected for any decently sized MMO. UO had it more than a decade back, and so did WoW. So on the whole, TOR offers a similar level of gameplay experience compared to other MMOs, but on the other hand it also takes away some rather large pluses that makes it engaging. Without a niche or outlet for casuals & other gameplay modes to fit in, as well as the lack of gameplay styles besides that of missions, TOR will not succeed in taking the crown from WoW, nor any other MMO for any respectable amount of time.
What is needed in the market is an MMO designed with open-endedness in mind. A large-scale sand-box based MMOG capable of supporting any and all gameplay styles (
preferably without a steeeeeeep learning curve). Were such a game to be released, it will absolutely demolish WoW and any other MMO with a vengeance. It's actually quite sad to see how far we've
not come in terms of MMOs. UO was the first to popularize the MMO genre, and was also the first sand-box MMO of its kind. Many loved it for that reason as you could do almost anything you wanted. Unfortunately the stain known as EQ came out & forever marred the MMO landscape. After a few developers from UO moved on to create SWG, it was supposed to become the next great sand-box MMO. Once again it was lauded by players for its immersiveness and depth, allowing anyone to do almost anything within the confines of its universe. But for whatever reason, the parent company of EQ decided it was too advanced for its own good and decided to destroy it. Now all we have are ashes. Ashes & a whole barrage of EQ-clones flooding the market with the same trite level-based quest/group-centric gameplay, whose sole collective purpose is to print money by putting players in a massive, futile, and ultimately pointless time-sink.
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