Hey duders,

My GF and I are looking for a game to play together, and we're both pretty into Star Wars (We're watching Mando S2 every night at the moment!!)

Has anyone checked in with TOR recently? Is the F2P stuff still viable? Is it fun to play in a party?

I'm basically looking for any info out there!

Been about... maybe a year since I last dipped in for a few weeks of Star Warsing.

From what I recall the F2P stuff was pretty frustrating. Granted I dont have a lot of free time so for my situation I was more then happy to pay the 15 bucks or whatever it was for a month of game time and access to all the "non-essential" features that I find essential like all the fast travel stuff and the armor transmog.

Free to Play can get you all the way to level 60, through the original game, Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Reven. This is pretty much all of the main story content before Knights of the Fallen Empire and the time skip when the story makes some major changes. It also means you can't get to the latest group content, which is where a lot of players spend their time.

The limitations of F2P, outside of the level cap and expansions, are annoying, but not unsurmountable.

*You only get to have 1 million credits, which can limit your ability to buy the best stuff on the Auction House, but that won't really be a problem unless you play at endgame or really like some specific glamours or furniture.

*You only get 4 characters, but again, that's not a huge deal.

*You don't get the bank right away in your ship, you have to unlock it by leveling up and spending money. (This one sucks)

*Chat limitations. Generally can only say one thing per minute in the "General" chat channel.

*Only one crafting skill.

*Can't send mail

*Only 10 space missions and PvP missions per week. (You can keep doing PvP, but no rewards.)

It's not great, but its totally doable. However, not to upsell you, but if you subscribe even for a month, you get access to everything up to the current expansion forever and when you stop subscribing you are a "preferred member" which gives you a lot of advantages over a F2P. Preferred members can do pretty much everything subscribers can do. I highly recommend it. They can't access the highest quality endgame gear and don't get the bonus XP and Credits subscribers have, but honestly? Who wants to play endgame?

The game itself is still very fun I think, though its pretty much just a WoW-type MMO. The story stuff that is the main draw for lots of folks is still there. Its like a Mass Effect light sort of story, and it's different for every class. Sure there isn't much "actual choice" to them, but there is some, even if the results are mostly minor in the grand scheme of things. There are some great Star Wars narratives in here.

Mando season 2 got me and some of my friends inspired to play this again as well. We played for a few months. I will say that if you're going to play, you will want to subscribe. Preferred status (which you get if you've ever previously subbed) is noticeably better than just the free status, and sub status is noticeably better than preferred. There is the benefit of subscribers getting 500 Cartel Coins (the premium currency) per month.

You should both get the phone-based account authenticator. It's good for account security, it's free, and you get 100 Cartel Coins for each month you have the authenticator active on your account.

I didn't get through all of the added content, but I did start a couple characters and I got my main character level 75 (from the previous max of 50).

If you're into player housing, there's a feature called "Strongholds." Lots of options for cosmetics. My friends and I had some fun decorating for a bit.

There are some fun monthly events that they've added to the game. Of course, these are repeatable and the goal is to get various cosmetic upgrades. There's a racing event which I never did. But the rakghoul event is fun. I personally really like the cosmetic rewards for the rakghoul event. Basically, a rakghoul infestation breaks out on a planet, and for a week there's daily repeatable quests where you can gain faction points to unlock items. What's great about these monthly events is that the majority of the quests can be done solo.

I fell off the game again after a few months, but that's how I play MMOs these days. SWTOR has some infuriating design decisions for those who don't subscribe and the cost of a lot of cosmetics in the shop is ridiculous. But the game also has a lot of content, and it tells a series of really engaging stories in the Star Wars universe. You and your GF should definitely check it out! Have fun!

You will absolutely love it if you're into Star Wars and wanna play co-op and just go through the stories. If you want more MMORPG, it's best to subscribe/get preferred status.

The class stories are all great and will take up a good chunk of hours. One of you could be a Sith Warrior and the other a Sith Inquisitor, and then you could group up pretty much straight away. You can both watch each other's stories and decisions. Even if you don't start on the same starter planet it's no big deal, just gotta get a transport to where the other person is, but you'll have to do the first starter planet, move onto the 2nd starter planet, and then your journeys will be in sync after that.

You can do most group content with 2 players also, because both of you will each have a companion character as well. I very much enjoyed it playing with friends. Especially if you're into KOTOR/Old Republic lore.

I'd recommend paying for a one month sub while you play. It's like $5, and the perks are worth it, trust me. TOR likes to waste your time even when you're paying, so long-term it's better to reduce that frustration as much as possible.

And as to what to persue, to start there's eight classes divded between two factions, but each faction's classes are exactly the same, except for aesthetic differences. Each class has its own, unique class story, and can persue their faction's planetary stories as they proceed. So long as you're in the same faction as your partner, the only thing you can't do in co-op, IIRC, is your class stories so it doesn't really matter if you both choose the same one. (Though if you're the same class and the same gender their voices will be the same which can be really distracting!)

I've completed all class stories except for the Trooper's, and while the class stories vary a lot in quality, they deliver the nostalgia you want so just choose the ones you like the idea of the most. Only one I'd give a special shout out is Imperial Agent's, which is the best stuff in the game by a country mile; but if there's a class that appeals to you more aesthetically, go for it instead because that really makes the game.

Also, it's important to note that class stories were original content, ranging from 1-50. The stuff beyond was added later, and is way more budget; there's a lot but honestly I'd just restart as a new class if you still want more story out of TOR. 51-59 stories are a meaningless new planetary story, a miserable series of dungeons and a raid, and then 60+ is Knights of the Fallen Empire, a sort of KotOR-throwback sidestory that basically jettisons the class and faction stories and is a massive grind to progress in. It's where I always fell off playing.

Hope that helps!