Star Wars the Old Republic

While I have been in every Beta for the Old Republic for a few months now and the NDA has been removed for a few weeks. I wanted to see the final product of this game before I gave my opinion. Now that the early access is open, and I have a few days of play in the game I will give my opinion of the game.
Let me start off by saying MMO’s are a strange beast. Gameplay changes as you level, gain skills, and create friends. So my opinion of the game will be based off the first 20 levels of a Bounty Hunter. Anyone who knows me personally knows I am a bit of a Star Wars fan. I always have been, and Star Wars has literally been a part of my life since I was 3. I am lucky enough to say I used to work for Lucas Arts, and I helped with a tiny game created by them and Sony Online called Star Wars Galaxies. I personally played Galaxies from launch till Sony started changing things, and in my opinion destroyed the game.
OK enough about me, on to the game. The Old republic or (TOR) is a beautiful example of what Bio Ware can do. The game has fantastic graphics, Game play is easy to understand, and quests are clearly marked with small personal areas that allow for dynamic gameplay, while still allowing you to have boss battles and finish quests without worrying about someone coming and kill stealing your mob. One of the nicest features I have seen thus far is the looting feature. When you kill a mob a light appears shining into the sky from the creature. This light will change color based on what type of loot is on the mob. So if the creature has a green item, the light will be green. In the options menu you have 2 really cool options. One is auto loot all. When you right click a mob you will collect all the loot on the mob automatically. The second option is area loot. This option allows you to loot multiple dead mobs at once instead of having to click on every single mob one at a time. Both of these options are great time savers and I applaud Bio Ware for including them in the game. I must say thus far I am really enjoying the game, and I can’t wait to pick up my collector’s edition on the 20th.
I do have a few concerns. I played DC universe online last year. That game was fun but didn’t really have a lot to keep you playing the game. The quests became repetitive, and even a casual gamer such as myself was able to max level within a month. Now I know TOR isn’t the same as DCUO in many ways it feels the same. The big question here is the end game. Will it hold enough to keep people playing? Or will it fall short like DCUO. I for one am hoping it hold true to Bio Wares quality, and has a great end game. My other concern is server usage. So far my server hasn’t had a ton of players. But the areas in TOR can be small and even though there isn’t a ton of players yet, some of the common areas can tend to fill up a lot and competing for certain mobs can be a little frustrating. I will keep you informed as the game progresses on how I feel these concerns are working out.