Old mechanics in a great wrapping.
There, that's out of the way.
As a AAA mmoRPG focusing heavily on storytelling, both personal and the wider scope of things it can't quite deliver on both at top notch quality.
On the MMO side of things it comes down largely to functionality, UI and tried but true yet outdated mechanics.
Right now there is no real incentive for crafting as the cost for discovering and crafting higher quality gear is much higher than their market value. The auction house system is hard to navigate as you need to select and search very specific categories. The ability to do so is great but here it's required.
Aside from the obvious UI bugs there are certain design decisions that are either counter intuitive or downright hampering. While you can send non-active companions on missions, sending your active companion away doesn't let you summon another to your side for the duration of the mission.
There is no UI scaling and many windows will overlap, sometimes in a quite intrusive way. Other times the "wrong window" will close and you will have to manually close the window you want gone instead of opening a third, closing the first automatically.
Combat in this game will be quite familiar to most MMORPG players. Tab target, click skills, some have cast times. There's the holy trinity of Healer/DPS/Tank but the diversity in resource management and playstyle is quite good.
You have the classic "wow-style" talent trees where you get certain signature abilities for your spec along with passive enhancements on your way to the top.
It's really nothing new and exciting. It works and it doesn't get in the way of immersion.
Yes, Immersion! This is the first MMO where spoilers are an issue. The personal story is engaging and offers many different flavours depending on your class choice. You WILL start to see a lot of repeat lines as you get to higher levels though. Flashpoints and world story arcs are great - the first time through. Repeating content can be cumbersome and with no new and exciting story to draw you in you just have the gameplay to lean on -- and it's not awesome.
I am thoroughly enjoying my time in the game despite the problems but i am slightly worried about the MMO aspect. The economy is highly unstable right now, there is no real incentive to take up crafting other than Biochem and the endgame just doesnt have me convinced.
I WANT this game to be great -- no, perfect. I'm loving it and it's fun but there is so much falling short of my expectations.
I hope that as time passes things will improve and Bioware will be able to step up to the great challenge that is running a MMORPG long term.
I am giving SWTOR a 9 because it's simply the most fun i've had in a game for a long long time - This, however ignoring longevity and stability issues as it is too soon to tell.