Ya, this is pretty much me... and I agree, it's by far the best MMO I've played in years (at least at the early stages).
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
StarWars:The Old Republic
- Thread starter Huntn
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Queues vary, but keep in mind it's new game. Things will be hectic for a while.
It's ok. Quest/NPC interaction is superb. Makes you wonder how much extra work that is for expansions.
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!
My wife pre-ordered SWTOR for herself for Christmas at the local GameStop. They told her,"it would run on her Mac, no problem".
Found out about this a few days before Christmas.
Me: "What are the system requirements?"
Her: "I don't know"
Me: "Will it run on OS X?"
Her: "I don't know, the guy said it would work on a mac".
Me: - looking it up
Me: "This is for Windows only, and your MacBook may not have powerful enough video..."
So I checked around online, a few people running it okay on MBP's and iMacs using BootCamp and Windows Vista/7, and the 9400M seemed doable... so...
Picked up a copy of W7 Ultimate, I had to erase her Snow Leopard partition (she isn't using Lion yet) after copying everything to my iMac, load W7 in Lion, load the Bootcamp drivers, reinstall Snow Leopard and her account, install SWTOR (took longer than installing Windows!)...
Finally got it up and running, My wife's not tech savvy so it hasn't been easy. She's used to just using browsers, ...that's about it. I have to remind her how to shut down her MacBook because it's always just put to sleep when she's done...
Anyway, she's having fun, it lags sometimes and I can't convince her to try using a mouse instead of a trackpad, but ...she's having fun.
So...
MacBook (late '09), 250 gig, 4 gigs RAM, Nvidia 9400M, Snow Leopard/Lion/Windows 7 Ultimate.
Works.
Found out about this a few days before Christmas.
Me: "What are the system requirements?"
Her: "I don't know"
Me: "Will it run on OS X?"
Her: "I don't know, the guy said it would work on a mac".
Me: - looking it up
Me: "This is for Windows only, and your MacBook may not have powerful enough video..."
So I checked around online, a few people running it okay on MBP's and iMacs using BootCamp and Windows Vista/7, and the 9400M seemed doable... so...
Picked up a copy of W7 Ultimate, I had to erase her Snow Leopard partition (she isn't using Lion yet) after copying everything to my iMac, load W7 in Lion, load the Bootcamp drivers, reinstall Snow Leopard and her account, install SWTOR (took longer than installing Windows!)...
Finally got it up and running, My wife's not tech savvy so it hasn't been easy. She's used to just using browsers, ...that's about it. I have to remind her how to shut down her MacBook because it's always just put to sleep when she's done...
Anyway, she's having fun, it lags sometimes and I can't convince her to try using a mouse instead of a trackpad, but ...she's having fun.
So...
MacBook (late '09), 250 gig, 4 gigs RAM, Nvidia 9400M, Snow Leopard/Lion/Windows 7 Ultimate.
Works.
I was in the last betas running this on a desktop with an i7-920 OC'ed to 3.8 and running under 60c while under load with a 1.8GB GTX 295 and 6GB of RAM. Even in the very last beta before launch, it was horribly unoptimized. Ever time I loaded the game, It would be sooo choppy until I tabbed out and brought it back up from the desktop.
The only way to get it to run smoothly was to pull the resolution down to 1920xwhatever from the 2560x1600 I was running and cut the video options to about smedium. I'm running Rift which looks better at high setting at 2560x1600 and it's running smoothing until you have about 20 people on a boss raid with tons of mobs surrounding you.
That's surprising sense SWTOR looks like WOW with Star Wars textures on it and the graphics aren't very impressive.
Good that you got the game to work for your wife. However I don't see why you force her to shutdown the macbook when it is so much easier to just set it to sleep.
I had no problems installing W7 using bootcamp from SL. Not sure why you had to take the extra tour through Lion...
Ha ha... well it's hard to boot into another OS from sleep.
It's just an example. She just surfs mostly and doesn't know basics, like apple menu items, etc.
Well, it was already dual booting SL and Lion (which she hasn't wanted to migrate to, ...yet). SL was on the first partition, it was easier just to make a backup account on my iMac, wipe the SL partition and leave the single Lion partition that BootCamp insists on and put her account back when it was done loading Win 7.
I just went through the process again on the iMac, though somewhat easier as I had my Lion Restore HD partition on an SD card (after deleting it from the HD using the Debug menu in Disk Utility), and I just used an external HD and Time Machine to backup and re-install my SL partition.
So both machines triple boot. Though, I need to get rid of the hidden Lion Recovery partition on the MacBook and throw it onto a CD or flash drive.
Can't do anything about the EFI partition, and having 5 partitions using Bootcamp is asking for trouble eventually, ...apparently.
There's a good thread on the SWTOR forum for optimizing Win 7 64, I've followed this and it seems to have improved performance on the MacBook considerably.
Wow, I'd love to play this game natively. However I'm not sure about Lion and I imagine it could easily be Lion only or newer...
Shocking she would not use a mouse. Tell her for me, she's playing with a huge handy cap, which a newb does not need. (newb to a new game). I mean how does she right click for gosh sakes??
Shocking she would not use a mouse. Tell her for me, she's playing with a huge handy cap, which a newb does not need. (newb to a new game). I mean how does she right click for gosh sakes??
two finger tap of course.
What is hard to get is the "press left + right mouse button to run forward" function. Not sure if that is in SWTOR. Lineage 2 has click to move, easy to use with touchpad... not that I would ever play without mouse
I've got my Sith Sorcerer on Dromund Kaas and up to level 14 whoohoo! Most of my guild members have streaked a head of me, ehh. I got a life too you know? Although I followed this game into retail, I am not yet committed to it. The class story is good and right now that is what is keeping me going. I wonder what will happen when the class story ends? The sad thing is I'm torn between this and Skyrim...I get much more of a sense of immersion in Skyrim.
Although I followed this game into retail, I am not yet committed to it. The class story is good and right now that is what is keeping me going. I wonder what will happen when the class story ends? The sad thing is I'm torn between this and Skyrim...I get much more of a sense of immersion in Skyrim.
It's the social aspects of a game like this that really make it. So, that either works for you, or it doesn't.I've got my Sith Sorcerer on Dromund Kaas and up to level 14 whoohoo! Most of my guild members have streaked a head of me, ehh. I got a life too you know?
That's surprising sense SWTOR looks like WOW with Star Wars textures on it and the graphics aren't very impressive.[/QUOTE]
Not on a decent machine mate.
admittedly they should have higher texture detail and res for people running above 1080p but its a far shout ahead of WOW for sure
Not on a decent machine mate.
admittedly they should have higher texture detail and res for people running above 1080p but its a far shout ahead of WOW for sure
For perspective, I played WoW for 2.5 years total and it sucked me in hard. Maybe I have matured since then, but I'm just not feeling special vibes, just going through the motions until Planetside2 comes along.
ya, you and I are in the same boat... Well, except the Planetside 2 part.For perspective, I played WoW for 2.5 years total and it sucked me in hard. Maybe I have matured since then, but I'm just not feeling special vibes, just going through the motions until Planetside2 comes along.
Planetside 2 could also turn into a been-there-done-that situation. It's just been a long time since I've driven a tank and figure I could entertain myself doing that for a while.
For perspective, I played WoW for 2.5 years total and it sucked me in hard. Maybe I have matured since then, but I'm just not feeling special vibes, just going through the motions until Planetside2 comes along.
So, are the two of you telling us readers that you are maintaining a productive/active lifestyle outside the game - and still enjoying it?
I ask because my last foray into the MMO genre (during High School) reduced me to a fiending, decrepit addict of sorts.
Incidentally, I too consider myself to be far more mature than I was during that short stretch of time. Certainly, I would love to get into this casually.
Is the gameplay and immersion anything like KOTOR?
It feels like KOTOR in some ways. I think it is possible to play MMOs casually. You must set limits and you control the game, don't let it control you. But in some cases and as you know, that is easier said then done. You'll just have to judge. I'm not anticipating playing this beyond the 1st month. I'd rather spend my available time playing Skyrim.
Wanna hear something stupid? I'm officially retired from SWTOR. I reluctantly came into retail from beta. Ultimately it was not the game for me. I disliked the first two Jedi Planets, hated Coruscant, I had no affinity for any of the 3 character types I played during beta both Jedi and Sith, felt like I was just going through the motions and dreaded the prospect of the end game.
Not saying all of this to start anything. It's a worthy game, a lot of time and effort has been put into it. If you like MMOs, it's definitely worth checking out. I heard comments all the time in-game about how great it is. If you are still adventuring in SWTOR, may the force be with you! Now back to Skyrim...
Not saying all of this to start anything. It's a worthy game, a lot of time and effort has been put into it. If you like MMOs, it's definitely worth checking out. I heard comments all the time in-game about how great it is. If you are still adventuring in SWTOR, may the force be with you! Now back to Skyrim...
Wanna hear something stupid? I'm officially retired from SWTOR. I reluctantly came into retail from beta. Ultimately it was not the game for me. I disliked the first two Jedi Planets, hated Coruscant, I had no affinity for any of the 3 character types I played during beta both Jedi and Sith, felt like I was just going through the motions and dreaded the prospect of the end game.
Not saying all of this to start anything. It's a worthy game, a lot of time and effort has been put into it. If you like MMOs, it's definitely worth checking out. I heard comments all the time in-game about how great it is. If you are still adventuring in SWTOR, may the force be with you! Now back to Skyrim...
now you see im quite enjoying the plannets, i know what you mean though. i find the missions are a little more enjoyable than say warcraft missions. but i guess everyone enjoys things differently. i initially preordered as i thought ahhh i get to try the beta for £5 lol better than buying it like i did star trek online to find its crap.
but when it was released i was straight down to get my copy!
Shocking she would not use a mouse. Tell her for me, she's playing with a huge handy cap, which a newb does not need. (newb to a new game). I mean how does she right click for gosh sakes??
I know right? Though, there is a right click on the pad.
I bought her a Razer Naga, as well as 8 gb of RAM to (hopefully) ameliorate the lag.
Here's the problem, I'm just a casual gamer, just FPS (FTW!) though I'm not at all familiar with MMO's, I'm used to using a mouse (Expert Mouse Trackball) to steer. It seems that in MMO's (SWTOR anyway) that if you try to steer with the mouse, the camera view pivots so drastically, it's almost useless...
So, she has a Naga, but is still steering with arrow keys until we can figure out how to configure preferences in the game and tweak the Naga.
What is hard to get is the "press left + right mouse button to run forward" function. Not sure if that is in SWTOR. Lineage 2 has click to move, easy to use with touchpad... not that I would ever play without mouse
Mouse steering is proving to be buggy as hell on SWTOR, it's unusable for her as the camera view goes nuts and makes her dizzy...
Anybody have some clue as to how to set this up so it's usable?
I loved the game until i hit endgame.
I'm really thinking of letting my subscription run out now.
Leveling was fun, with good quest stories, diverse environments and fun space ship missions.
I've been 50 for a week now and I've done PvP and Hardmodes.
First off PvP is a zergfest and several of the war zones are problematic with ability lag and low FPS. I can run the game at 100 fps outside in the world at max settings, but once i enter a war zone I get 30 fps, and sometimes lower.
I turned settings to lowest and same happens. BioWare suddenly decided to remove the vendors with lvl 50 blue php gear and you now have to rely on the random drop from buying bags at php vendor.
Instances are very buggy. I've done HM Boarding Party, where two of 3 bosses had bugged chests and we got no loot, last boss is also hard, but doable. Black Talon HM was ok tho, although ridiculously easy, i think we wiped twice when it was our first HM, the same day we dinged 50.
The fallen emperor is great fun, it's perfectly balanced, and it feels like challenge without being too easy or too hard.
Battle off ileum on the other hand is stupid. The 3rd boss is just painful and we always play with a melee dps since we're friends playing together and it's just not doable with our setup. Even now we have pretty much half our gear epic and are sitting on VT/skype together.
I'm also missing the possibility to make macros (which would healing be a lot easier) and a combat log to actually see what happened in a boss fight wipe.
I don't know how others are doing, but I consider all of us very good players that have played MMOs for years and are all used to playing together and have good knowledge about their class and mechanics like interrupting and cool down usages.
I'm really thinking of letting my subscription run out now.
Leveling was fun, with good quest stories, diverse environments and fun space ship missions.
I've been 50 for a week now and I've done PvP and Hardmodes.
First off PvP is a zergfest and several of the war zones are problematic with ability lag and low FPS. I can run the game at 100 fps outside in the world at max settings, but once i enter a war zone I get 30 fps, and sometimes lower.
I turned settings to lowest and same happens. BioWare suddenly decided to remove the vendors with lvl 50 blue php gear and you now have to rely on the random drop from buying bags at php vendor.
Instances are very buggy. I've done HM Boarding Party, where two of 3 bosses had bugged chests and we got no loot, last boss is also hard, but doable. Black Talon HM was ok tho, although ridiculously easy, i think we wiped twice when it was our first HM, the same day we dinged 50.
The fallen emperor is great fun, it's perfectly balanced, and it feels like challenge without being too easy or too hard.
Battle off ileum on the other hand is stupid. The 3rd boss is just painful and we always play with a melee dps since we're friends playing together and it's just not doable with our setup. Even now we have pretty much half our gear epic and are sitting on VT/skype together.
I'm also missing the possibility to make macros (which would healing be a lot easier) and a combat log to actually see what happened in a boss fight wipe.
I don't know how others are doing, but I consider all of us very good players that have played MMOs for years and are all used to playing together and have good knowledge about their class and mechanics like interrupting and cool down usages.
Hmm. I'm using a Naga. I much prefer trackballs, but you won't find one with as many buttons as the Naga. I use the AD buttons to turn (not for moving sideways) , WS for forward and back, and the mouse to control camera angle. The WSAD position on the keyboard is better IMO because you can use other buttons around them. Not so for the arrow keys. So I use the Q to autorun, the spacebar to jump and others. Sometimes the camera angle will get off but is corrected (as I recall) by holding both the left and right mouse button and moving up or down.
Huntn, I think you're really missing out.
You could be right, but I've got a lot of experience with MMOs and know how I'm feeling. Thanks though.
The next 3 months will tell a lot as far as SWTOR holding on to its subscription base. I hope it suceeds. As I said its a quality game and deserves a fair trial. I played it a total of 3 months before reaching my conclusion.
Can't wait for the Mac client. I'll probably BootCamp this beforehand, but to still have an official Mac client will be awesome.
Got my 16GB Ram and my Razer Mamba 2012 ready to go
Got my 16GB Ram and my Razer Mamba 2012 ready to go