We were just at the Swan and the views aren't very clear cut. At most resorts you basically know exactly what you are getting based on what it says. Standard view seems to be basically a view of some part of the hotel, most likely the front entrance, parking lot, or a little bit of roof. Some of the standard view rooms have quite nice views, while others leave a little bit to be desired. We stayed at the Dolphin twice with a standard view and the first time we had just a view of a roof, and the second time we got a view of the bus stop and the main entrance.
The next category is lake view. This gives you a view of the lake or off to the side to the canal to MGM and the Boardwalk. Lastly are resort views, which I think may be a view of the Dolphin, a view of little courtyard-like garden areas where you see across to other rooms, or possibly a view of the pool- some part of the hotel.
I would book the standard view at the Swan because I really didn't see any possibly awful standard views. The rooms themselves would easily make up for a bad view. Or you could always pay a little extra and upgrade to a lake view like we did on our last trip