How do I choose? I need to choose fast.

[Moirae]

Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO just entered pre-order. As in... two hours ago. I need to choose FAST what I want to get. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, always have been. Heck, I even have a lightsaber sitting on a shelf in my living room on display (its one that lights up and makes noises based on your movement). I love Star Wars, go to cons, and have even considered making a costume to wear at them.

That being said the standard (no bonuses) edition of this game is $59.99. About $20 more than any other MMO ever released. And whats worse... the collectors edition (the only way you can get the bonuses) is $149.99. About twice the amount that most MMO's charge on release for collectors edition.

I don't know what to do. I'd say I have maybe an hour before they're all sold out. I need to choose NOW.

Opinions please? Would you consider that amount worth it?

[Amina516]

Whats all included for the CE's?

I usually buy the WOW xpac CEs but theyre like $80. $150 is alot, IMO. Depends on how much of a fan you are and if you got the $$.

[Cat]

Tough call.

Practical Cat says so not buy the special...as it is a good deal of $$. It does depend how much you love it/if you have the money. Will you have buyers remorse? (As I am prone to). Also, there will be other bonuses in the future.

Crazy Cat however, is tempted to get a 3DS, only to get the Ocarina 3D, because I am a HUGE Zelda fan...even though the 3D makes me ill. (I am NOT going to buy it, just tempted, hell, I'm feeling remorse over a $16 adorable bungalow bag)

[Moirae]

Ok, I got the collectors. I couldn't NOT do it. I just love Star Wars. Heck, Carrie Fisher is supposed to be at Dragon Con this year and I'm so excited you wouldn't believe. But I'll probably have what happened to me when Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner happen to me again. I turned into a blithering idiot. I couldn't move and could barely talk. My husband asked me if I wanted to meet them when they were signing autographs and I actually screamed no in horror at the thought. I don't get star struck like that so it was as much a surprise to me as to him.

Check out the bonuses...

Bonus!

Bonus Item
Early Access
Color Stone to change your weapon effect
Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue
Star Wars: The Old Republic game disks in collectible metal case
The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural annotated by Satele Shan
The Old Republic galaxy map
Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD
High-quality Collector's Edition box
Includes 7 additional Digital Items:
Flare Gun: Fire flares into the air
Training Droid: Hovers at your side for combat assistance
HoloDancer: Project your own holographic dancer
HoloCam: Keep visual records of in-game adventures
STAP: Sleek and unique in-game vehicle
Exclusive Mouse Droid: Spunky Droid to join your adventures
Exclusive Collector's Edition Store: Unique in-game vendor with an assortment of items

[Amina516]

Holy crap. Thats ALOT of extras.

To be honest, I probably mightve shelled out for the collectors. And you know, once the game is released theyll probably sell for double that on eBay.

[Moirae]

Yeah, usually its like... one or two in game items and early access. Thats why it was so hard to pass up. What I was thinking is that even if the game sucks and bombs, it will be worth a fortune later.

[Cat]

I like the idea of the Holo dance and mouse droid

[Salted Grump]

There's a reason I've (already) Preordered the GW2 CE. When it comes to the worlds/stories you like, you will spring for the CE as a bragging right.

I just have no idea why people are now fighting over what'll be the better game, GW2 or TOR. Far as I'm concerned, the only market overlap is the one between Star Wars fans and fans of High Fantasy that's had its bolts rattled loose.

[AdminAssistant]

Guild Wars 2 is already out for pre-order?

[Moirae]

I didn't know GW2 was out for preorder. It actually looks interesting, but I'm much more excited for TOR.

Honestly, I don't think either are going to redefine the genre. That won't happen until the devs finally decide to solve the problems the genre has instead of trying for quick fixes that don't fix anything anyway.

[AdminAssistant]

Fiance and I are pretty excited about Guild Wars 2. We started playing WoW again, but not very many of our friends play anymore. I'm okay with that, but he really likes to do dungeons and stuff, and that's more fun with a group that you know. He doesn't know anyone else who still plays Final Fantasy XI, and Final Fantasy XIV is still just....broke. They release patch notes periodically, and they finally put out a patch, but he doesn't think it'll be playable any time soon.

Buuuutttt....we got an X-Box 360 in the mail today. Happy return to console gaming!

[Moirae]

I don't think the final release date has been announced yet. Most people seem to think it will be Jan or Feb. We'll see. I'm even fine if they need to put it off longer to get it right. Better than releasing too early like they usually do. I just hope they actually listened to the beta testers and actually fixed or changed what needed to be fixed or changed BEFORE release.

[Elspeth]

I looked at the CE edition but I couldn't justify that price. I went with the Digital Deluxe edition. I was a very sad panda when they screwed up Galaxies beyond all reason.

I am so excited about this. One of my friends on another site has been in beta and he loves it. I played it at PAX last year and loved it.

And there is not a release date yet but people are talking by the end of the year.

I am interested in Guild Wars 2.

[Moirae]

I'm on an MMO website. Its called The Forge, and they want to eventually release an MMO. Right now, they are trying to talk to players and think of ways to fix the current industries problems.

One of the posters said he beta'd TOR and he said it was meh. "Just like every other MMO" is how he put it. And that made me cringe. I hope I didn't waste my money.

Then again, I just love Star Wars. I actually consider it better than Star Trek though only by a bit.

[Salted Grump]

In regards to the GW2 Preorder; It's available for Preorder at every gaming store where I live, don't know about other places, but, with the release date as TBA, It just means I get to fidget and squirm at all the cool stuff the devs are showing off.

As for fixing the problems of MMOGs, well, GW1 pointed out the big one; When the devs are getting Paid for doing nothing (See: Monthly fees for continued play) then they won't work to IMPROVE the game.

GW2, thankfully, is getting rid of the Tank/Heal/DPS tinity, by making every class self-sufficient; All of the 8 classes (7 announced, and one virtually promised to be the Mesmer) will have powerful Self/Ally heals, and the skillbar changes as per your location, what you have on hand, what you're weilding, and how it works with your class. For example, a Longbow-wielding warrior uses high-arc area-of-effect attacks, While a ranger with a longbow gets the 10-arrow shotgun-like spread shot. In comparison, both classes can also use Greatswords, which warriors use to knock enemies flying, while rangers fight more defensively, using their agility and lighter armour to cause conditions like bleeds and deep wounds.

Also; another paradigm GW2 wants to upend is the classic 'Talk to Farmer Joe, give him 20 Bear assess that only drop once every ten bears, return to farmer joe, get a few coins for an hour's worh of killing.' The more-dynamic events showcased in GW2 look far more impressive (such as creating an impromptu bucket brigade to prevent bandits from burning a farmer's fields, while fighting off the bandits) and scale based on how many people are actively helping.

Later-game dungeons are also interesting; you go in once for the story, then an additional 4 times with different paths, depending on which NPC hero you talk to, in order to Unfuck what you've fucked up. For example, in the Ascalon Catacombs, the story has you accidentally unsealing the ghosts of the armies of Ascalon that were created in the FoeFire incident of 1090 AE (Current GW1 timeline is 1079 AE) in order to find the cursed flaming sword Magader, which created the Flames in the first place. Afterwards, you have to go back in and figure out how to Stop the ghosts from overwhelming thew countryside.

Finally, no Killstealing, or ninja looting. If you take a potshot at an enemy, even if it's just running by on your own mission, everyone involved in the fight gets full Exp and loot.

So, I think it's safe to say that GW2, even if it doesn't reach the 'lofty heights' of shattering the glass ceiling of MMOs, will do its utmost of putting a hell of a lot of holes in the established paradigms.

In regards to the Old Republic, I have high hopes, but A: It's bioware's first MMO, which means they'll be obliged to 'play it safe' overall, B: despite the good scriptwriting and quests Bioware has, most of their work is fairly derivative (How many times did we have to find all the wotsits in a Bioware game?), and C: There's a good chance it'll fall into the same trap of KOTR and (Obsidian-Developed, Lucasarts-Rushed) KOTR2, which was to have impressive cutscenes and storylines, but the actual Fighting mechanics felt flat due to using behind-the-scenes Dicerolling based on D&D 3.5's mechanics.