Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Comparisons

When RIFT came out, I got in the beta, and I wasn’t impressed. It all looked like “a better version of WoW”, though I’m not sure it really was actually better. Granted, I didn't play for long, but there was nothing that made me go : "Wow, I want to play this game!" And the fact that their add said “You’re not in Azeroth anymore” was a huge turn-off for me. It sounded condescending. Like being in Azeroth was wrong, or lame. Well fuck you dude, WoW has been in my life for years, and I love Azeroth, so you’re gonna have to do better than that to impress me. But I’ve never really heard about RIFT since then, and I kinda just forgot it even existed. There must be thousands, if not millions, of people that enjoy RIFT and that’s fine. And I won’t say they made the wrong choice or that their game is lame, or that WoW is better. I chose WoW, I don’t really care what others do. Just don’t shit all over my toy.

Now Swtor doesn’t seem to want to beat other games to the ground. It’s almost as if games could co-exist and be successful without having to compare themselves to other games! So I can just discover the game, learn the mechanics, and explore this new world without constantly being reminded that it isn’t Azeroth and that some things are different? No way!

I do compare though, even if I try not to. There are some things I always wanted in WoW that are in Swtor, (Everyone can rez? Really?!? And I can heal myself between each pull, and I don’t need to buy food?! o.O) some stuff that I wish Swtor had that WoW has (I miss addons and UI customization a lot. And I strangely miss fishing and cooking, but I'm sure most of you don't), and some stuff I never even thought of asking for; like being able to look at the map AND walk at the same time without running into mobs! Companions that actually farm for you? Yes please! And the voice acting really rocks my world right now. I never thought I’d ever have so much fun questing! 

I'm not sure where I was going with this, but Swtor is amazing, and I'm glad I decided to play it. I still enjoy WoW, to an extent, and maybe it's just that Swtor is the shiny new toy and all, but I love playing both games right now, for different things. WoW for the raid finder mostly, and Swtor for the leveling experience and the story. Things change, and WoW isn't what it used to be. I most likely won't be buying the next expansion, because I'm less than thrilled about Pandaland, so I'm really grateful to have Swtor. 

2 comments:

  1. I am 100% with you on the RIFT thing. I was extremely turned off by the blatant WoW-bashing they did. As someone who enjoys WoW, that alone kept me from giving RIFT a chance.

    I really do like that SWTOR doesn't give me that vibe. That they seem to want to be successful in their own way and not just be a "WoW clone but better :D!!"

    I'm also enjoying SWTOR for some of the same reasons you listed (though i also miss some of my more silly side professions like cooking). It's a nice change of pace. And yes. No pandaland. I'm still kinda like... waffling on that one. One the one hand, I love WoW and I love my characters but on the other hand... sentient panda-beings. What?

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  2. Glad to see I'm not the only one! =D

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