(Reposting from my old blog Jaliyah's Journeys - original post date 10/20/11)
Going through all the new SWTOR articles after the embargo drop, I kept seeing the same question in the comments: "Why should I pay $15 a month for essentially a single player game?"
Simply, for a persistent world. Even if you play it mostly single player there is still something to be gained just from it being a persistent world. It can stop being just a game and start to feel like a real RPG where your character matters to you. Even if you decide not to participate in any group content, you will still have experiences with other characters who are not NPCs. This brings a certain level of unpredictability into the game that is just not possible with actual single player games. You can find a social guild and meet other people to share your experiences with even if you choose not to PVP or raid. People who can help you find that last elusive datacron, or suggest a fun path for your next alt.
Speaking of alts, due to this persistent world all your characters exist at the same time. This means that they can help each other out. You can create a whole crafting business by yourself, allowing you to become self-sufficient. An advantage SWTOR has over other MMOs is that your companions on one character can continue their crafting missions while you play another, which I assume will lead to less downtime. You can also transfer funds in between characters which is extremely helpful in most MMOs.
And then, of course, there is the patches. Tell me, pessimistic commenter, can you play KOTOR for 10+ hours a week for a year straight? If you can I would be very surprised. You aren't just paying a sub for the persistent world but also for the almost endless amount of content (at least if they end up with near the amount of content WoW has). Even playing mostly single player you will have so much to do and so many options it should keep you busy for a while. I have never been a raider or a PVPer. Most of my enjoyment in MMOs comes from exploring and collecting. I managed to enjoy WoW for years without ever stepping foot into a current raid (although I did participate in non-raid dungeons and old raids). I have seen no indication that SWTOR should be any different, in fact it seems even more solo friendly.
Most video games are going to run you between $20-50. Lets pretend you normally get a new game every other month. Now let's say that instead of purchasing these games you play SWTOR for 6 months. Total cost of SWTOR: $138 (including the cost of the standard edition + 6 month sub). Total you would have payed otherwise: $120- 300. So at best you save over half your money and at worse you spend an extra $18. So you see, there is really no reason you should let the sub cost keep you from playing.
