A confession: I have little experience in the world of online role-playing games. I did not fall under the spell of World of Warcraft, nor did I ever play Star Wars Galaxies. These games have spawned their own vocabulary, rules and in some cases etiquette. I understand none of it. (Though I'm learning.)

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It took the BioWare name and the Star Wars license to get me to install and play an MMO, and I have a feeling I won't be the only one coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic as a newcomer to the genre when it is released Tuesday. During my pre-release access, I spent the first 12 character levels trying to do something radical: Play a massive multiplayer online role-playing game as if it were a single-player title. I simply don't have enough extra time in each week to become an MMO fiend – but group gameplay turned out to be hard to resist.

A Single-Player MMO? ——————–

This approach isn't as crazy an idea as it sounds; BioWare has told me in the past that The Old Republic contains multiple sequels to its well-loved RPG Knights of the Old Republic, since each class contains its own story and characters. Those are what I wanted to get at – the story, the voice acting, and the fun of a BioWare RPG – rather than the work of joining a guild, gaining arcane knowledge about MMORPGs, and dealing with other people.

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I had plenty of mental adjustments to make. I couldn't pause the game for any reason, and progress gets saved to the server, meaning I couldn't do something and then reload a save game to try something else. Players ran about everywhere, even though the game was still a week away from release. Listening to a character talk about a secret mission while surrounded by a large group of people also going after the same quest proved jarring.

Unlike Knights of the Old Republic, combat happens in real time and consists of clicking on an enemy, using a skill, and repeating the process until they're dead. Forget stepping away from the action to plan your attacks in safety; once the bad guys pick a fight with you, it's difficult to escape combat. Every now and again another player would jump into a fight where I was overwhelmed, although there was no advantage for them to do so. I learned how to make sure my character was always buffed with skills and stim-packs to give myself temporary boosts in stats, which helped. I also began to help other players once I gained a few levels. It was only fair.

Using the minimap to find each new quest was simple. While some of them did seem to be of the "fetch this for me" variety, I was pleasantly surprised that everything tied into my character's story. (I had created a Sith Warrior and was trying to play him as a light side character to see how well that worked.) The structure of the quests feels rather stock, but talking to people resulted in interesting dialog and some surprisingly hard decisions.

One of my favorite quests allowed me to deal with three prisoners and decide the punishment appropriate for each one. Some characters agreed with my actions, while others did not. Some seemed baffled by my insistence on doing what I considered to be the "right" thing, and one Jedi even claimed that if things had been a little different, I might have found myself on their side. The story has a very slow burn, with few large events even though I'm around 15 hours in, but there was always a new character beat or satisfying moment to keep up my interest.

The early hours spent in combat were challenging, but only a few times did I find myself drowning. One character who seemed to be of the mini-boss variety beat me handily, so I left the area, killed a series of bad guys just to gain another level, bought some more healing items, and won on my second attempt. Soon I was given a companion in the game and was delighted to find that fighting alongside her meant I was much more capable on the battlefield. She could also go on missions without me to bring back loot, or even sell my useless items and bring me back some credits. An NPC to do my grunt work? I love it.

The game consists of large areas that swarm with other players, but once you select a mission and enter the green entryways that start quests, you're in area where it's just you and your party. Since I was trying to avoid the need to coordinate with other players, that meant the missions were performed just by me and my companion, which worked well. Even though I still couldn't pause, it felt like I was playing a single-player game, complete with impressive dialog and character progression.

The game tells you when your actions will result in a move toward the light or dark side, though it's not always clear which course of action is the best one. After I unlocked the skill tree, the game told me I could pay to adjust my skill points if I'd like – but that every time I did so, the price for changing my character's build would go up. While the game is friendly, the stakes do seem higher than you'd find in an offline RPG.

I can't imagine an outcome that doesn't involve a spray of assorted droid parts.

Image: Electronic Arts

The game tells you when you're going to need more people in your party. For instance, when I opened a Heroic quest, the game suggested I play with at least one other person. In another area, a character told me there are two paths to move forward, one of which is better for single players while the other all but requires a party of adventurers. All this information is given in a way that makes internal sense, so the fourth wall is never broken. You may have to skip some content if you're going to play by yourself, but the game will also let you know the best way forward if going solo.

Even though I wasn't being very social, the game has clearly been designed to include people who want to play alone, and it has options at every point to make that possible. I never felt like the game was hobbled by my decision not to partner with other people, but it turned out that some compelling multiplayer features make group play rewarding enough to entice even someone like me.

Help Is Close At Hand ———————-

There is no tutorial in Old Republic, although the first section of the game isn't that difficult, and an explanatory text box pops up every time you encounter a new concept. Adjusting to the online style of gameplay wasn't hard, and I was happy to learn that I didn't have to alter my play style in any major way.

A chat box sits in the upper-left portion of the screen, and when I began to see people sharing spoilers about where to find items and what happens during quests, I quickly turned it off. Then, as I had questions, I began to use it to talk to people who had clearly been playing longer than I had. The community so far has been incredibly open and friendly. Veterans tell me this is normal in the early days of online games, especially when you've been given pre-release access.

When the doors open for everyone and people max out their levels and decide there is a "right" way to do things, the friendliness might fade, but in my three or four sessions so far I've been pleasantly surprised at how helpful other players have been about what must have been my maddeningly simple questions. Most people were using lingo that originated in past online games, so I began Googling terms from World of Warcraft so I could understand what people were telling me.

As I began to make life-and-death decisions about characters in the game, they began to correspond with me via the in-game mailboxes. If I had treated them well in the past, they might also send me useful items. It's a neat touch, as if friends and enemies have become pen pals and are keeping me up to date on their actions since we met. In some cases, my decisions in the game had strong consequences for my story, and so far I've been very happy with BioWare's ability to make my personal journey feel like it's exactly that. To my surprise and delight, it seems like being a single person tackling the game is not only possible, but enjoyable.

RPGs with great stories and gameplay can really get into your head. I soon found myself chatting with other players about this or that, and offering advice and help to those who were just starting. I sold a friend on the game during one late-night conversation, and he was shocked to find me talking in MMO terms and describing which missions were possible without other human players.

It was all going so well on my own —- until I encountered my first flashpoint.

The Dark Side is so tempting. They get the best lightsabers, for instance.

Image: Electronic Arts

The Lure of the Dark Side

A flashpoint is an instanced area of the game designed to be played with a group, and it promises all the good stuff: story, challenge, and reward. I noted in one chat that I had the choice between the instance and taking an easier path that was designed for those of us playing alone.

"No, don't do the other path," a player told me. "You want the loot from this flashpoint, trust me. I'll join you." Then a party invitation popped onto my screen. This is what I had been trying to avoid. This is what I didn't want to happen. Why play with other people? Why play with other people who play MMOs? I may be playing an MMO, sure, but I'm slumming it. This isn't my world, and it's not a world I feel comfortable inhabiting. On the other hand ... loot. I accepted the request, he invited another player, and off we went.

Playing the game with a group changes the experience dramatically. When we're in a conversation with an NPC, each player picks the thing they'd like to say, the game rolls some virtual dice, and the winner gets to say that thing. It begins to feel oddly collaborative, and you never really know what's going to happen next. The battles were more intense with four players, and when we had to make a life and death decision about an NPC, I chose to let the character live, but another player won the dice roll and thus ended the life of the NPC. Happily, the game gave me light side points instead of throwing me into the dark side, since I did pick the "right" path.

The group leader chooses how loot is distributed, and you can either select "first come, first served," you can choose to have loot go to alternating players so that everyone has a chance to get something, or you can initiate rolls for the good stuff. When this happens, each player can see the item and then choose to pass on it or put it on a "need" or "greed" footing. If you need an item, that's weighted in the final roll. If you select "greed," you're given a lower chance to grab it.

In this flashpoint, one of the "bosses" was a padawan, and when we killed her she dropped a lightsaber. I'm not sure how easy it is to get lightsabers later in the game – at this point I'm still only level 12 – but I had just chosen to specialize as a Sith Marauder and I could dual-wield. I wanted that lightsaber badly. I chose "need," won the dice roll, and was soon twirling twin lightsabers. It was a thrilling moment, and addicting. But I wasn't looking for a new addiction.

My group disbanded after the flashpoint and I found myself in a brand new area, the second lightsaber in my hand. I was still curious about what the game would be like in the later levels if I stuck to playing by myself, and I couldn't wait to continue the storyline to see what happened next. Then I saw another mission pop up. The game let me know that I would need to bring some friends along. I sighed with resignation. My experiment in solo play would be a failure.

I opened the chat window. "Looking for group," I typed, as I fell into the dark side of gaming.