After months of buying game time cards for SWTOR, Scooter and I finally just subbed directly just after Christmas. (Yes, I know it's been over two weeks.) Despite its flaws, I enjoy story mode at least, and they've made it very easy to play the game for that. Amazing how if BioWare hadn't been so hidebound about which companions did what, they could have made stronger stories in the first place.
So the commitment is real. We'll be getting the HK rewards, and unless something catastrophic happens, playing as HK-55 come August.
One "downside"—if you can call it that—of having my lovely bride as a gaming partner is that I have become less social in games. Back when I first joined the World of Warcraft community, I was recruited by a RL friend, who then introduced me to his guild. I had an instant circle of friends. Sort of. You see, because of work changes, he ended up not playing at the same times as me, and then less and less altogether. I haven't even heard from him in years. Eventually, because my ties to that guild were tenuous at best, I ended up leaving the group and finding another, thanks to a friend I had met online. I've never stayed with a guild in a game for super long, though the ones based on external friendships, like fellow bloggers I have met through Twitter, etc., have lasted longer.
Having a ready partner for gaming means that I don't need to be sociable in order to accomplish my goals. At least not sociable with anyone but Scooter. We both fall into our natural introversion and just play the games our way. It helps that I got off the gear treadmill of raiding a long time ago. If it were otherwise, I am sure we'd be involved.
But I do miss the social factor. We had a pretty good thing going in TSW for a while, both with the Knights of Mercy and Beyond the Veil. We joined a SWTOR guild a couple months ago that I thought Belghast was involved with, but Scooter and I are almost always the only ones on. Which gives me guild wanderlust.
Ultimately, I am lazy. My lack of rock hard abs and dearth of recent posts on this blog are evidence enough of that. Would the benefits of a guild outweigh the energy costs? With increasingly elaborate setups (and interludes) for quests, both voice and even typed chat are a distraction I can do without. Scooter is an excellent gaming partner, and we tear through content—or not—at our own pace. But I still kinda miss having that external social element in my gaming.
One "downside"—if you can call it that—of having my lovely bride as a gaming partner is that I have become less social in games. Back when I first joined the World of Warcraft community, I was recruited by a RL friend, who then introduced me to his guild. I had an instant circle of friends. Sort of. You see, because of work changes, he ended up not playing at the same times as me, and then less and less altogether. I haven't even heard from him in years. Eventually, because my ties to that guild were tenuous at best, I ended up leaving the group and finding another, thanks to a friend I had met online. I've never stayed with a guild in a game for super long, though the ones based on external friendships, like fellow bloggers I have met through Twitter, etc., have lasted longer.
Having a ready partner for gaming means that I don't need to be sociable in order to accomplish my goals. At least not sociable with anyone but Scooter. We both fall into our natural introversion and just play the games our way. It helps that I got off the gear treadmill of raiding a long time ago. If it were otherwise, I am sure we'd be involved.
Ultimately, I am lazy. My lack of rock hard abs and dearth of recent posts on this blog are evidence enough of that. Would the benefits of a guild outweigh the energy costs? With increasingly elaborate setups (and interludes) for quests, both voice and even typed chat are a distraction I can do without. Scooter is an excellent gaming partner, and we tear through content—or not—at our own pace. But I still kinda miss having that external social element in my gaming.
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I relate on the guild thing. I join guilds primarily for the social side and not for the do-stuff side, which means I'm not really ideal guild material (apparently).
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have also been part of a guild, the same through about 8 different games, since 2000. The guild is still going strong and I love them so much I moved to live next door to the leaders (WAY less creepy than I make it sound. Honest. /evil_grin).
Unfortunately, BioWare killed the desire to play of the founders of the Republic Mercy Corps and it's Imperial counterpart. The guilds still technically exist, but hardly anyone is ever online. I haven't been very good at maintaining guild relationships over time. Most of my online friends are scattered across multiple MMOs, and we only interact through venues like Twitter and blog comments.
DeleteI am confused about the story mode - I thought it was removed? (The only minor desire I have to play SWTOR right now is the story mode, but I read that was removed..)
ReplyDeleteI always felt it was a GREAT single player game platform =)
Depends on what you mean by "story mode." 12xXP is over, meaning you can't only do story. But if anything, BioWare has doubled down on story at the expense of traditional MMO elements like PvP and Raids. But the class stories are very much intact, flowing into a single thread for the recent expansions, especially KotFE.
DeleteIsey I think what you may have heard has to do with the new max level characters you can purchase. If you go in and buy that max level character, you will start out on the most recent expansion storyline, and you will not be able to go back and play through the main storyline that was originally available to that character.
DeleteI'm tempted to come back on again. I had planned to sub up for HK, but then read that you had to complete the new expansion content to receive him, so the free gift became a free treadmill. No thanks, think I'll keep playing for free for the time being. :-p
I think I have most of your character names on my friends list. I'm not on often but if I see your name pop up, I will say hello!
My characters?
DeleteBTW, I would not consider any of the Chapterwork of KotFE to be treadmill, until you get to the alliance building at the end. We've barely done any of that, so I guess see how it affects Chapter X when it drops.
DeleteYes, sorry. Changed pronoun direction midstream. First paragraph was directed at Isey, last two at you!
ReplyDeleteAlso, whatever was preventing me from posting comments here seems to have cleared up, for which I am thankful!
Me, too. Add "Baldrvar" to your Republic list. What are some of your character names?
Delete