![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/swimming-696x229.jpg)
One of the big brouhahas that arose back in Star Wars: The Old Republic’s development was the game’s lack of any type of swimming. No swimming? We might as well roleplay in a desert! Oh, the humanity!
Obviously, I do not have a deep vested interest in whether or not an MMO has swimming. The swimming skill in Anarchy Online was a joke stat, the much-vaunted underwater combat in Guild Wars 2 ended up keeping me on dry land, and I am generally pleased that my WildStar hoverboard works on water (take that, McFly) so that I don’t have to get wet. You know what’s the opposite of fun? When you’re swimming and you can’t find a place to leave the water, so you have to dog-paddle slowly around until you find a ramp somewhere.
Is swimming in MMOs really that important of a game feature? If so, what does it add to the experience for you?
![](https://massivelyop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/swipe_morningmo.png)