The Old Republic: Dabbling in the Dunes of Tatooine

Oh Star Wars.

Star Wars The Old Republic had, for quite a long time, been that special project I kept an eye on while tackling boss fights in the World of Warcraft. Vanquishing foes with a lightsaber, over one of the metallic flavour, has been a longtime childhood fantasy. So SWTOR finally releases and I get my chance to dabble in the Force.

And for the most part I found the earlier questing areas forgetable. Not to say that I didn't have some fun, but gameplay wise it's quite familiar and nothing altogether new. I'll certainly admit that the crafting within SWTOR is refreshing. Being able to send your companions off to do your creation and gathering is welcome, as you can set this up parallel to your own questing. But in essence, if you are after a Star Wars themed World of Warcraft, then this may be the game for you.

However, this isn't the real reason for my posting. What I wanted to share with you, was my experience on first exploring and roaming around the planet Tatooine. An iconic planet, where many scenes play out in the films, full of sand, Jawas, Sand-People and Cantinas. While there are many quests to fulfill in the area, I found the most fun in just travelling around the areas on my vehicle and looking to locations in the distance. A far off Sand Crawler, or a cave in the distance. Heck even, just standing on the top of a sand dune and seeing the two suns in the background.

It's quite beautiful. Each screenshot I took looked prettier then the last, in fact I might actually make one of these a backdrop to my desktop. While I have certainly experienced other planets, this the first one that I actually look forward to spending more time in. 

This is perhaps one of the draws for me in an MMO. Sure it's great to have people along for the ride, but it's just as fun to explore an expansive desolate world and perhaps stumble across something less discovered by the rest of the population, if only by accident.

Do you have any fun exploration tales to tell, from SWTOR or any other MMO? I'm very interested in hearing about the less seen locations, places and areas out there.