Update: Here I am in 2024 still playing this game. It is still receiving new content. As a wise emperor once said, DO IT

I've completed all 8 class stories prior to SWTOR's launch on Steam and I love this game. If you're a Star Wars fan especially, but if you're looking for a fun immersive MMO with good voice acting and music there's no better time than the launch on Steam to give it a shot.

The Good:

+ Bioware style of dialogue choices. You can make light or dark sided choices as both Republic and Sith aligned characters, making it possible to play a cruel merciless Jedi or a compassionate restrained Sith. If you've played other Bioware games such as KOTOR or Mass Effect, you are familiar with this mechanic.

+ Varied and unique planets including many familiar names from the movie universe, each with it's own unique story arc independent of your character's main story line.

+ Eight independent character stories, some better than others but all worth playing. Beginners should start with Jedi Knight or Sith Warrior for the most "quintessential" Star Wars experience, but I highly recommend Imperial Agent's story.

+ Ability to customize colors of armor to match, and a wide variety of titles to personalize your character. If you’ve got a piece of armor or weapon and you like how it looks, you can purchase/find armor and weapon mods to scale the stats up to keep it from being obsolete.

+ Much of the content is available to experience for F2P. A one time subscription will move your account to preferred status which will permanently unlock all current expansions.

+ Subscribing gives you a monthly gift of Cartel Cash, the games premium currency, to spend on unlocking various perks and purchasing items in the Cartel Market such as armor sets, lightsaber crystals, mounts, etc.

+ Low amount of challenge for one just looking to play though stories (can be a pro or con depending on your playstyle). The game will scale your level/stats up or down according to the location's recommended level to attempt to help the player experience the content at it's intended difficulty regardless of your level (once again could be a pro or con depending on your playstyle)

+ Legacy system allows you continue to gain experience so to speak past the traditional exp cap to share perks you've earned on one character on all your characters, and continues to provide loot crate style rewards for "leveling up" past the level cap.

+ BitRaider is gone from the Steam version. If you know, you know.

The Bad/Annoying:

- In my opinion, if you really want to get in to SWTOR, you pretty much have to subscribe. Subscribing unlocks a lot of quality of life things that F2P misses out on, such as removal of credit earning caps, restricted action bars, using titles you've earned for your character such as Master/Darth, and quick travel buttons to return quickly to your ship or main faction hub. While a lot of the story is available to you, it can be less smooth to progress your character as a F2P having played both ways. If you are a casual player or just giving the game a try, F2P may work for you.

- A lot of the good Legacy perks are not available for F2P

- General chat on more populated planets can be toxic, as other reviewers have said /ignore is your friend.

- This game used to have a pretty low but dedicated playerbase, but I'm hoping the Steam release will help that out!

Update: Here I am in 2024 still playing this game. It is still receiving new content. As a wise emperor once said, DO IT I've completed all 8 class stories prior to SWTOR's launch on Steam and I love this game. If you're a Star Wars fan especially, but if you're looking for a fun immersive MMO with good voice acting and music there's no better time than the launch on Steam to give it a shot. The Good: + Bioware style of dialogue choices. You can make light or dark sided choices as both Republic and Sith aligned characters, making it possible to play a cruel merciless Jedi or a compassionate restrained Sith. If you've played other Bioware games such as KOTOR or Mass Effect, you are familiar with this mechanic. + Varied and unique planets including many familiar names from the movie universe, each with it's own unique story arc independent of your character's main story line. + Eight independent character stories, some better than others but all worth playing. Beginners should start with Jedi Knight or Sith Warrior for the most "quintessential" Star Wars experience, but I highly recommend Imperial Agent's story. + Ability to customize colors of armor to match, and a wide variety of titles to personalize your character. If you’ve got a piece of armor or weapon and you like how it looks, you can purchase/find armor and weapon mods to scale the stats up to keep it from being obsolete. + Much of the content is available to experience for F2P. A one time subscription will move your account to preferred status which will permanently unlock all current expansions. + Subscribing gives you a monthly gift of Cartel Cash, the games premium currency, to spend on unlocking various perks and purchasing items in the Cartel Market such as armor sets, lightsaber crystals, mounts, etc. + Low amount of challenge for one just looking to play though stories (can be a pro or con depending on your playstyle). The game will scale your level/stats up or down according to the location's recommended level to attempt to help the player experience the content at it's intended difficulty regardless of your level (once again could be a pro or con depending on your playstyle) + Legacy system allows you continue to gain experience so to speak past the traditional exp cap to share perks you've earned on one character on all your characters, and continues to provide loot crate style rewards for "leveling up" past the level cap. + BitRaider is gone from the Steam version. If you know, you know. The Bad/Annoying: - In my opinion, if you really want to get in to SWTOR, you pretty much have to subscribe. Subscribing unlocks a lot of quality of life things that F2P misses out on, such as removal of credit earning caps, restricted action bars, using titles you've earned for your character such as Master/Darth, and quick travel buttons to return quickly to your ship or main faction hub. While a lot of the story is available to you, it can be less smooth to progress your character as a F2P having played both ways. If you are a casual player or just giving the game a try, F2P may work for you. - A lot of the good Legacy perks are not available for F2P - General chat on more populated planets can be toxic, as other reviewers have said /ignore is your friend. - This game used to have a pretty low but dedicated playerbase, but I'm hoping the Steam release will help that out!