SWTOR or Star Trek Online --- Willing to venture into one of the two

[BoDEAN]

Played both when they came out. Maxed out my character level in both in about 2 months, haven't touched either game since. Let me subscriptions run out. I see both are free to play now. Not sure if I log back into either, my characters will still be there or not. If you had to pick on, based on how much it has improved since launch, which would you start playing?

Thanks

[BoDEAN]

Guess we don't have users on this board that play either game....

[Luc2k]

Can't speak for either game as I have not played them (or have any interest to), but as a Neverwinter player I can tell you the STO developer is terrible. Neverwinter just got hit with a Auction House exploit that was already fixed a year ago in STO.

[KiHu]

Can't speak for either game as I have not played them (or have any interest to), but as a Neverwinter player I can tell you the STO developer is terrible. Neverwinter just got hit with a Auction House exploit that was already fixed a year ago in STO.

the Auction House exploit was there since the closed beta, it was just now that someone made it more public.

[metal_dragen Veteran]

I have no experience with STO.

However, I've been a SWTOR sub since launch. I think the game is in a fairly good place. Populations on all the servers are high, flashpoint and PvP queues pop frequently.

Since launch, the game has gained a lot of QoL features like group finder, legacy perks, customizable UI, scalable debuffs, and more. The game just recently also added a "barber shop" to that list, but it's all microtransactions.

There is still a good amount of "end-game" content - the game has 3 operations at level 50, and 2 at level 55, along with an instanced "world" boss at level 55, along with all the other world bosses that were pre-existing. They recycled 4 of the leveling flashpoints and re-tuned them for level 55, so it's sorta new doing your daily hard mode.

I've never thought the cartel market has been a bad influence on the game since it launched. The only real "problem" I had with it was that most of the cooler looking armors (in my opinion) came from the market rather than in-game. However, that being said, just about everything that is purchased on the cartel market is not bound permanently (items bind for 36 hours before they "unbind" and can be traded/sold) so you'll often be able to find those things on the in-game auction house or trade chat for sale for in-game credits (including things like unlocks and weekly passes, not just items). I have fun with the "gamble" bag packs that they sell, giving you a random chance at rare items and armor sets.

The new dye system they just implemented is where they finally overstepped, in my opinion. The implementation, while not great, is functional. Gear that can be dyed only has one dye slot. Dye modules are available only in certain combinations, and cannot be combined. You can find primary color only, secondary color only, and primary and secondary color modules. Of course, the "cool" colors (like white/white, white/black, and black/black) are only available from the cartel market. I don't think anyone thought that wouldn't happen, so it's no surprise.

The problem is that the way they sell the dyes on the market is via more gamble bags. So not only are you spending real money on a dye, you're doing it to gamble that you'll get lucky and get the color you want.

Oh, and did I mention that the dyes are consumables? That's right! Once you slot it in a piece of armor, you can never remove it or it will be destroyed.

That's the point I think they overstepped. I'd have no problem with gamble bags if the dyes were removable so they could be slotted in other armor sets. I'd have no problem with dyes being consumable if I could buy the color combination I wanted directly from the market. But both together? No thanks.

Overall though, I still like the game and still have fun playing it. For the most part, you can safely ignore the cartel market. There's nothing on there that's truly necessary to experience the leveling game or story (unless you want to experience end-game content).

[HawkMan]

SWTOR over STO definitely. STO is all about collecting the ships, the ground combat is uninteresting the "exploration" isn't.. once you get bored of cruising the ship you wanted, it's over. heck I played in the start and played untill I finally got my awesome Norway class which is my favorite design(not because of the class name either :p) but once I got it I barely took it out of the dock before I logged off for a year or two, when I logged back in it was free to play, and I still only played a couple of hours if that...

[Island Dog]

I haven't played STO in a while, but after watching the movie I might start it up again just to see how it's progressed.

[dead.cell]

SWTOR is basically the next World of Warcraft for me. It's fun, easily replayable, and something I still happily subscribe to and can play with my brother who doesn't subscribe. It's not perfect, but it's the new baseline for me. :)

[spaceelf]

My friend says SWTOR is more in your face about paying money for everything. He played some of it and went on to playing tons of STO (I literally can't tear him away from it o.O )

I haven't tried STO yet myself.

[spaceelf]

Wow I finally played STO...I think I'll probably give it a bit more time since my friend loves it, but then delete it.

[philcruicks]

I play a fair bit of STO and if you want a good space combat game its great, ground combat is lacking smoothness and quality,

from what I hear SWTOR is the opposite, so I suppose it depends on your likes...personally there are enough ground combat games in this world, space ship flying ones less so...

so I play STO, plus there's been a lot of new content and story lines released but the Romulans recently.

[xWhiplash]

If you like story and like to choose what you become*, you will like SWTOR. That game is more story based than most others.

* = It does not have a real big impact. Apparently, in Alpha it had a much larger impact (you could even kill off your companions from what I heard). Many people complained so they took that out.

STO has really nice space combat. However, I find it gets boring after a while.

[f0rk_b0mb]

Haven't played STO for a while now. Like you said, STO has since went F2P, so your characters should still be there.

[BoDEAN]

Thanks for the advice on each game.

[HawkMan]

I play a fair bit of STO and if you want a good space combat game its great

Eh... You haven't played many space combat games have you ? ;)

[philcruicks]

Eh... You haven't played many space combat games have you ? ;)

OK if your a Star Trek fan and want fairly good space combat...better ;)

[ILikeTobacco]

SWTOR is my personal favorite between the two. It is just more fun to play overall.

[HawkMan]

OK if your a Star Trek fan and want fairly good space combat...better ;)

Not a lot to chose from in that category :)

[Raa]

I've played a bit of STO and enjoyed it.

[Matthew S.]

I haven't played STO in a while, but after watching the movie I might start it up again just to see how it's progressed.

Thats actually what I just did. lol

Actually I kept it installed ever since I pre-ordered it lol played it every few weeks..

[PGHammer]

Guess we don't have users on this board that play either game....

Since both are F2P, why choose?

Seriously - why choose between two F2P titles?

That is the best thing about F2P - you can match the game to your mood. (Basically, you aren't grinding it out, which ALL MMOs devolve into.)

I play both games - however, I also play several other F2P titles, and have since added RIFT to the mix. Between F2P and traditional games, I barely have enough hours in the MONTH as it is.

[spaceelf]

Since both are F2P, why choose?

Seriously - why choose between two F2P titles?

That is the best thing about F2P - you can match the game to your mood. (Basically, you aren't grinding it out, which ALL MMOs devolve into.)

I play both games - however, I also play several other F2P titles, and have since added RIFT to the mix. Between F2P and traditional games, I barely have enough hours in the MONTH as it is.

Asking for opinions usually points to either a lack of time or middling interest. I've asked a few people if STO was really that good and still hadn't tried it for another three months.

[redfish]

The best thing about STO is making custom content, don't know whether or not they have that in SWTOR.