Well, to each their own of course. But GW2 hasn't really revolutionized any formula. They've definitely done them well--no arguments from me there. And many systems are new enough for it not to be so bad. For instance, questing in GW2 is about 87% old school. Just now the quests are consolidated into one master node, and you can complete it with a variety of objective ratios. But you still have escort quests, still defend nodes, still gather stuff, still kill x mobs.
Even the events are mostly just typical MMO fare. You just have a time limit and they're random.
And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Just that I'm a little burned out on it right now.
Thinking more about TOR and why I think it was far easier for me to get into it, it's because of the way they managed the story. It was much, much better than in GW2. As it should be--it's development costs were astronomical and it was produced by a studio known for their writing.
Thing with TOR is that you are deeply connected, from the get-go, with the central plot lines of the galaxy as well as your characters' personal plot line. That's just not the case in GW2. It's a LOT more like typical MMOs in that area, where you spend your time doing "newb" tasks and working your way up to the actual challenges. As a level 5 Sylvari you're going to be playing with some puppies, gathering firefly something or others, fighting some undead, and getting your introduction to the Nightmare Court. Asura will be testing inventions, fighting Inquest, and killing local fauna. Humans pretty much just fight spiders and bandits, with occasional centaurs.
Which is fine. I'm just craving something more--I'm craving what TOR gave me. As a level 5 Trooper? You're working as part of an elite tactical unit sent to a war-torn planet to help put down an Imperial-funded Seperatist Movement, and the first 10 levels give you some pretty great character and plot development for your personal story on top of all that. You feel like a rookie next to the elite badasses of the military, sure, but you're already a highly trained professional and your missions reflect that. Even the typical "Help, we lost the medicine!" quest sends you right into an active war zone. The Jedi Knight quest? Congratulations, you're fighting darksiders in the form of both Dark Jedi and Force-Sensitive primitives, as well as trying to negotiate peace with a local tribe of Twi'leks, all while completing your trials to become a Jedi Knight. It was like playing KOTOR all over again, but with even more awesome. ETC.
Playing the first 10 levels of TOR really introduces you to the gameworld AND your personal story in a meaningful way. You learn about internal squabbles and the larger picture, you learn about your place in the mess, and it sets up a plot arc that will be fully relevant for the next 20 levels, at least.
I'm seriously not saying this to put down GW2, at all. I'm not trying to do a "which is better" evaluation here. I'm just trying to explain why I connected to TOR in a way I'm having trouble connecting to GW2. Because it's not like story doesn't exist in this game. It has a decent overall story, and I like the world a lot. And they go well and beyond what most of the competition does in terms of personal stories. It's just still TOO MMO for me to really want to dive right in.
[EDIT]
I also want to be completely fair here--TOR has the serious advantage of having a huge IP already established for it. 40 years and an avid market of nerds. GW2 only has one previous game and some books to its name. That just can't hold a candle to the dozens of SW books, the 6 movies, 2 television series and all the SW games (including the 2 KOTOR games that directly precede TOR). So TOR has a set stage that's very strongly in its favor in a way GW2 doesn't.
I think GW2 has done a great job working with what it has. And maybe it's actually done the best it possibly could--TOR may have just spoiled me.
Edited, Oct 2nd 2012 10:43am by idiggory