I'm playing, too, if you can call it that when you've got 1500ms on a good day (night, actually).
So far, I'm loving the game for the PvE side of it. It feels like I'm playing Mass Effect set in the Star Wars universe, which is all kinds of awesome. And I like how they did dungeons (or at least the two I've done). The whole cinematic approach with dialogues and cutscenes and whatnot on everything makes it all feel like you're playing a single player game - with other players.
I'd say it's definitely worth the retail price. You get 30 free days with the purchase, which is not nearly enough to experience the entire game, but for the price, it's a cheap game. Remember, there are four primary classes on each side, each with their own storyline and two advanced classes (not to be confused with talent specializations). That's eight storylines total, spanning 50 levels each, that you can go through. Basically, it's eight playthroughs to experience the single player portion of the game. Then add dungeons and PvP and crafting and such.
On top of that, each mission/quest has a different outcome depending on your dialogue choice. It's not like in Rift or WoW where you hand in the quest and done. For instance, I just finished a quest where I was sent to retrieve some stolen items. These items turned out to be slave shock collars, which are illegal in the Republic. As I turn in the quest, I have the option of either handing them over to the corrupt senator who wants to reinstate slavery, or hand them over to a security officer who will destroy them. My choice affects not only me, but also my companion and can change my alignment to a degree where it will change future dialogues.
Also, the graphics are really good. I'm not a fan of cel-shading, which they use, but the physics and sheer amount of crap displayed on your screen is... overwhelming. First time you arrive on Coruscant and look out over the city (well, the planet is a city, so you look anywhere), it's just amazing how much work was put into it.
It's one of the better MMOs I've tried. It's nowhere near the sandbox Star Wars Galaxies was, but much more polished (and grand on a different scale). Alone the fact that I've leveled a Jedi Knight to level 10 four times in a row says something about the game. I'd light my teeth on fire before I'd level any character to 10 four times in a row in WoW or Rift. Why? Because every single quest is identical. You do the quest, you hand it in and proceed. While leveling my Jedi Knight four times, I tried different answers during the various dialogues and the outcome changed each time. Sure, you still get the same amount of experience, but the quest giver, who actually talks to you, reacts differently and my personality shifts ever so slightly.
It's pretty amazing.
As for PvP, I've heard that it's currently unbalanced at a grotesque level, but meh. I've had the game for almost two weeks and I've only just passed level 12 on a character (aforementioned Jedi Knight). Probably the first MMO where I don't WANT to hit level cap. I want to do more missions/quests.
Freaky, right?
If you like the Star Wars universe, don't mind dialogues and don't suffer from compulsive vomiting whenever you see cel-shaded graphics, you'll probably want to spend money on it.
Edit: I should probably mention that the cel-shading isn't bad. It's there, but not in-your-face there. I believe the developers called it stylistic realism or something.
Edited, Jan 9th 2012 7:34am by Mazra
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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
That's just plain weird. Where do you find these things Maz?
