I really enjoy not playing with anyone else in Star Wars: The Old Republic, which seems like a horrible thing to say given it’s a massively-multiplayer online game, but it’s what I’ve always done. It’s not that I hate other people, or that I’m zealously role-playing a Sith Lord who hates people (though I am a Sith Lord who hates people), it’s just I want to be the only hero in my Star Wars story, thank you. Everyone else can chuff off, and I love that Star Wars: The Old Republic gets that.
SWTOR has always understood a good chunk of people want to play it because they want a Knights of the Old Republic experience, not because they’re mad keen on grouping up with a load of strangers. That is why SWTOR has always included long, winding storylines for each character class right from the beginning of the game. Single-player story experiences within a massively multiplayer world – a kind of dual-aspect game. And these single-player segments are voiced, have cutscenes and dialogue choices, companions and romances. They were impressive at launch in 2011 and are even more so now.
They really took off in recent expansions Knights of the Fallen Empire (2015) and Knights of the Eternal Throne (2016). They told a combined story of an immortal Sith Lord called Valkorion, and his lackeys, who inevitably needed stopping. Valkorion remains one of the best Star Wars baddies I’ve come across and I’m saying this as someone who’s plunged into a few of the books as well as the games and films. He’s nuanced, incredibly powerful and he takes the story to places much deeper than simply evil you need to cauterise with your lightsaber. I wrote more about both Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne when they came out. In some respects they’re really good, a lot like playing independent games in their own right.
