I like the idea of MMOs. In practice? Not so much.

I've tried several of them, including Final Fantasy 11, City of Heroes, Lord of the Rings Online, and World of Warcraft. And my experience always begins the same way: I pick a class that interests me, I start the initial grind of fetch quests and leveling, and I quickly gain new powers. It's fun.

But around hour 20 or so, the same thing always happens. I get bogged down. The questing is harder and more tedious. Enemies are tougher and I die more often. Gear seems more difficult to come by. Progression slows to a crawl. Inevitably, I lose interest. (Especially with that pesky subscription fee.)

I will state for the record here that I'm probably as much to blame as the games themselves, because with my busy schedule and odd hours I rarely manage to play with people I know. So I mostly end up soloing.

This is the part where other gamers would tell me, "Soloing in an MMO = you're doing it wrong." And they probably have a point. Maybe MMOs just aren't for me.

But I still have one last hope: Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I got 15 minutes of hands-on play with the game at PAX this month, taking the role of an Imperial Agent. And while that wasn't a lot of time to form impressions (Bitmob's own Demian Linn probably noticed more in his demo more than a year ago), a few aspects showed me that my hope is not unfounded.

(Not a) Boring Conversation, Anyway

My biggest gripe with MMOs is that I don't care about what I'm doing. By the genre's very nature, scripted storytelling takes a backseat to user interaction. And I get that. But I can only collect so many worg pelts before getting bored. Even in a familiar world like WoW's Azeroth, motivation is hard to come by.

I know The Old Republic won't be immune to this. But add in BioWare's trademark dialogue options and everything changes. I'm not just Voiceless Draenei Shaman Dude getting a fetch quest from Generic Draenei Paladin Guy; I'm a badass Imperial Agent receiving key orders from my Sith superiors.

And I know I'm a badass, because I sound like one -- I didn't think the epic amount of voice acting would help that much, but it definitely does.

He's the Brains, Sweetheart

You won't make those dialogue choices alone, either. This wasn't part of the demo I played, but a video presentation showed that if you're in a party when you get to a scripted plot point, any member of your party might be selected to answer a dialogue option. And yes, that could affect the outcome of the quest.

No more standing around while each party member initiates the same dull flavor text before moving on with the mission? Dynamic multiplayer conversations and storytelling? I'm in favor.

Let the Wookiee Win

Even if you're soloing, you can recruit henchmen with detailed backstories to fight at your side in classic Bioware tradition. This guy speaks (or growls, I guess) for himself. 

Cover Me, Porkins

On the surface, combat in The Old Republic looks similar to other MMOs, with a task bar, health and skill meters, mini-map, and quest tracker (built in, no add-on needed). But the one big difference, especially for my stealthy, ranged-attacking Agent, is the cover system.

When entering combat, as I neared a wall, door, crate or other obstacle, a green silhouette appeared. A quick button press and my Agent snapped to a protected position, emerging as I directed blaster attacks at my foes and ducking back down afterward.

I didn't get too much time to play around with this, but the idea excites me. Using the environment to protect yourself seems like a more enjoyable way to fight than pulling or kiting mobs, or standing toe-to-toe and clicking away.

The Old Republic may still be an MMO, but it has the potential to be unlike any previous game in the genre. Here's hoping the game completes its Jedi training. If it does, I might end up liking MMOs after all.