Conversations with IrishPride Episode 13

I'm Still Here!
 
Hello everybody and welcome to episode 13 of Conversations with IrishPride.  I realize it has been well over a month since my last installment, but I'm back and ready to talk Star Wars: The Old Republic!  First off, I hope all of you out there had a great holiday season filled with family, fun and of course video games.  Also, I hope you have a fantastic 2012! 
 
One main reason that I have not been keeping up with CwIP is because of SWTOR and how I've been absolutely addicted to it.  I've been eagerly awaiting the release for The Old Republic for awhile now and even anointed it my Best of E3 winner.  Luckily, I pre-orderd the fancy Collector's Edition way back in July when they first announced it, so I had no problem getting into the early access that started on December 13th. 
 
This is not going to be a review of the game because that literally could take up to five pages to complete and I don't want to bore you with a wall of text.  Instead, I'm just going to tell you my initial impressions, just in case if you're on the fence about playing it.
 
If you are one of those individuals that are on the fence, GET OFF THE FENCE!  I may be a bit biased since I love MMO's and love Bioware, but if you're a fan of MMO's, Bioware, Star Wars or great storytelling, do yourself a favor and buy SWTOR.  If you know anything about MMO's, you know you really don't pay attention to the story because it's either non existent or non engrossing.  You run around doing quests, not reading what the questgiver tells you, and kill 6 boars.  Return with 6 boar skulls, collect your reward and move onto the next quest.  Well, SWTOR has all the same questing elements, but there is actually a story you will want to follow and it's easy to follow since everything, I mean EVERYTHING, is voice acted and brilliantly done so I might add.  You'll feel like you are fighting for a bigger cause when you're completing these quests becuase of the great storytelling and your choices.  If you played the KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) games, you will be pleased to see that your choices will effect your character with light and dark side decisions.  Every class, of which there is eight to choose from, has their own unique story line that you follow.  Sure, they all will have the same side quests, but the unique story lines more than make up for the repeatable side quests.
 
Okay, I'm going to have to be careful, because I just want this to be my quick, initial impression.  But there is so much I want to talk about that this could easily transform into a wall of text.  I'll save that for the review.  Let me just say this.  I've already put well over 70+ hours into SWTOR and I've no where even scratched the surface of the game.  Sure, I may be level 38 and level cap is 50, but there is still so much that I want to see and do.  I'm also an alt-aholic and want to see the different stories so I'll be checking them out too.
 
I know there will be people out there that will complain that you have to pay $15/month, but I look atBest class, imo. this way.  I get a whole lot of entertainment a month for just $15.  Instead of going to a 2 hour movie and spending $15, I would much rather play as my Bounty Hunter and earn some extra credits assassinating a specific target.
 
It has been a long wait for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but thankfully the wait was well worth it; one of the cleanest MMO launches in history.  If you are a fan of MMO's, Star Wars, Bioware or the popular Star Wars The Knights of the Old Repblic series, do yourself a favor and jump into a universe where the storytelling is so superb that only the fine folks at Bioware can deliever. 
 
This is IrishPride signing out and until next time, may the force be with you.
 
~IrishPride