TOR Torn

There is this new MMO coming out called The Old Republic and it is based on a franchise you may have heard of ... Star Wars. There is a lot of buzz out there about this MMO and how it might be the next World of Warcraft. It is being released just in time for Christmas on 12/20/11. As it states in the title to this post, I am torn. I want to play it but there are several things holding me back; both financially and technologically.

Can I play another MMO? Well the answer is yes, but should I is a better question. As you may have guessed from my previous posts I cannot afford to pay multiple 15 dollar monthly subscriptions to feed my video game addiction. In truth, I'm trying to adjust my play to have EVE support itself monetarily. Unfortunately, I'm a little too new to be making that sort of ISK just yet. So if I was to start playing TOR I would have to pay 2 monthly subscriptions. I cannot afford 30 dollars a month for MMOs.

Secondly, I have always wanted to experience the launch of an MMO. I came into WoW around 4 years into the game. I have just joined EVE in its 7th year. When I joined FFXI it was in it's 8th or 9th year I think. I have never played a MMO at launch. I have always experienced the game as many players are leveling their alts and experiencing the content for the 3rd or 4th time. These is famed to be an excitement and electricity around when people are experiencing the game for the first time. I want to be a part of something like that, but is this the game? Is this my time to experience an epic launch?

But, The Old Republic cannot be played on a Mac OSX. Now there is a way around this, but dual booting into Windows on my Macbook Pro. Or I could try to run parallels, but that is going to be expensive as well. If you are interested in the technical aspect of running TOR on a Mac, here is a link to a thread that talks about playing TOR on a Mac. So this puts me in another finical pickle; I have to either get a PC capable of running TOR or I need to pay for Windows (and possibly Parallels) for my Macbook Pro. This is in addition to the cost of the game and another monthly subscription. I but you're saying "don't do it Chuck, it's too much money" and you are probably right. But it is Star Wars and it is a MMO launch.

In conclusion, I want to play TOR but probably for the wrong reasons. I love the Star Wars franchise and I'm interested in playing a Jedi but I don't have a need to play this game. I want to experience the launch, but I just want to be able to say that 'I was there'. Usually I take the approach of waiting until a game is reduced in value and the developer has had time to make some improvements to the UI. Is it worth the extra buck (and technical difficulties) to be there are launch? What do you think?