I would like to blame my lack of writing on SW:TOR.  Just saying.  That game has its hooks in me right now.  So much so that I can happily say that without space bar skipping, I’ve already got my bounty hunter to level 50, and my Jedi knight and Sith inquisitor well into their chapter 1 story lines.  The game has just been really enjoyable, and I like doing different things in different playthroughs.  My professional bounty hunter didn’t do nearly as much sadistic crap as my inquisitor has, and sure as hell didn’t flirt as much.

I can’t say the experience has been downright fantastic though.  It has made me miss some things like the Dungeon Finder, a tool that I honestly never really had many problems with.  But the fact is that in my time playing several characters in TOR, I pretty much always run the Black Talon or the Esseles, and that’s pretty much it for flashpoints.  For me, it’s just not worth sitting around in the fleet and looking for a group for some of these things.  The only other time I’ve run a flashpoint was when I stumbled on a group for Hammer Station that just happened to be looking for a tank the same time I was meandering toward the space station on Balmorra.  While the comparisons of a single player game with a chatbox tacked on are usually meant to be insulting, I honestly found that mentality much more enjoyable.  Because honestly, looking for a group right now has SUUUUUCKED.  Maybe it’s just my server.  Who knows, when I wander over to the server my Inquisitor is on (Space Slug) there are a LOT of people looking for groups…  for Level 50 hardmodes.  And ONLY hard modes by the way.  I don’t think I’ve seen anyone looking for a group for regular False Emperor or Battle for Ilum.  Hopefully, this will change as people continue to push toward max level and I know Bioware is exploring options for a more robust LFG tool (or at least I hope so. They said they were working on one.)

Either way, my card has been charged and I’ve got my founder title.  Now Bioware has six months before I decide what I’ll be doing next.  In that time, you can bet I’ll be leveling a ton of alts and hopefully making friends in new guilds.  I hope at least.  I have almost as much of a hard time socializing on the internet as I do in real life.  Which means I have a hard time /whispering people I’ve never met before.  So finding a guild is hopefully my chance to meet some people to actually do stuff like flashpoints with.  (Speaking of which, if anyone is on Begeren Colony or Space Slug and knows of a friendly casual guild that I can enlist with, let me know.  I’m trying to keep with West coast servers.)

But overall, looking back from level 50, I really enjoyed my bounty hunter.  The end of Chapter One was immensely satisfying.  Like ‘Beat the Lich King’ satisfying.  Chapter Two felt a bit meh, as most middles do.  It mostly spent time setting up the Second Act Turning Point that launched me into Chapter Three.  The bounty hunter story definitely took some settling into though.  At first I honestly didn’t ‘get it’.  I just rode around space. Caught some dude. Rinse and repeat.  It wasn’t till someone on the SWTOR forums mentioned that the story isn’t about capturing bounties – it’s about THE HUNT.  That made it all click.  The class missions became much more enjoyable as I learned to appreciate the tactics of hunting prey.  I had honestly expected something a bit more like Hutta on every world.  Collecting lots of bounties for warlords, hutts, the Empire… whoever.  But as I settled in, I really enjoyed the long drawn out hunts and luring them out.  This especially becomes prevalent during Chapter Two when you reach Taris.  I’m not going to spoil it for you, but prepare for some Predator stuff.

The other thing I really enjoyed was how my reputation as a bounty hunter grew throughout the galaxy as the story progressed.  I land on Hutta as just some merc looking to make some creds.  At the end of the prologue, you start to see people recognizing you. “Oh you’re that bounty hunter.” and what not.  This becomes really noticeable on Nar Shadaa where you really feel your reputation grow as you get passed around from Imperial officer to Imperial officer around the massive city.  By the time you get into Chapter Two, you are a freakin’ VIP.  That’s not an exaggeration.  You literally get called a VIP by one of the Imperial troops.  You work your way up to becoming the Empire’s “go to” bounty hunter by the end of the story.  Which, really, is up to you how to proceed with that.  Personally, I blew off the Empire. I’m no one’s lackey.  You want me, you can hire me.

Overall, the game is a blast thus far.  Time will tell how fun it stays. But I don’t regret putting my money down for six months of game time.  Can’t wait to see what the Legacy system brings in March!