| Knights of the Old Republic MMORPG? | |
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Kenyon - Lord of the Dance  |
Update: Virtue has been so kind as to establish a guild. It can be found here: http://www.swtor.com/guilds/18182/jedi-academy
Got this rumor from Wikipedia: Quote: On April 25th, 2007, a rumor came about that BioWare was secretly in development on a Knights of the Old Republic MMORPG. Stemming from the latest issue of EGM, the rumor contained little information to support the claim. However, investigation into the matter reveals that there is more to the rumor than EGM's single suggestion. In early 2006 BioWare opened an Austin branch to develop an unnamed MMORPG. This alone confirmed an inevitable BioWare MMO, but the choice of Richard Vogel as a leader of the project is what largely suggest that the currently unnamed MMO is set in the KOTOR universe. Vogel was one of the project leaders behind the sci-fi MMO Star Wars Galaxies. SWG was held down by being set in a universe where continuity prevented any true story development (such as seen in WoW) and SOE assuming creative control eventually caused the removal of the things that had kept SWG's hardcore fanbase playing among them the skill tree system, which allowed for more customizable characters and drastic changes to the game's combat and character profession selection.
SOE has been confirmed to have lost the Star Wars license, though there has been no confirmation that BioWare will be producing a KotOR MMORPG. This post was edited by Kenyon on Mar 23 2011 05:48pm. |
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Masta - Jedi Council 
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Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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R2D2 - Staff 
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Quote: @Maher: Although I do not value the gameplay in any regard, I do admit that tor is not without merit: The cutscenes, storytelling, bioware-esque dialogue systems and the various places you can explore are compelling features that I would not mind experiencing at some point. The problem I have is that the game does not deserve the very steep price tag it currently has, even just for the subscription-free month that you get. So maybe someday if they reduce it to 10€ or so I might consider getting it for the free month. Thanks for the offer and kind words though!
If you want an experience similar to what KOTOR 3 could have been, I suggest looking into playing Jedi Knight during your free month. The Jedi Knight story is related quite closely to the events of the novel, Revan. There are also a few flashpoints that tie in with the novel. _______________ "Do or do not, there is no try" Jedi Master Yoda Dual Saberist |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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Thanks Laz, your comment is very much appreciated. It is indeed true that I do not intend to insult anyone who plays the game, but on the other hand it is not altogether unexpected for people to become defensive in one way or another if you attack something they value. I must admit fault here too, for some of my posts were clearly less than constructive - I have since ceased to write in such a way though.
As for SC2, yeah sure - check up with me on IRC anytime you like! @Maher: Although I do not value the gameplay in any regard, I do admit that tor is not without merit: The cutscenes, storytelling, bioware-esque dialogue systems and the various places you can explore are compelling features that I would not mind experiencing at some point. The problem I have is that the game does not deserve the very steep price tag it currently has, even just for the subscription-free month that you get. So maybe someday if they reduce it to 10€ or so I might consider getting it for the free month. Thanks for the offer and kind words though! _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Laziana - Jedi Instructor 
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I personally enjoy the game for various reasons, while it is still far from the "thing that every star wars fan and gamer was waiting for" (for other various reasons).
Furthermore I sense that some people seem hurt or offended by the fact that Masta doesn't like the game. Or at least feel the need to defend the game - or actually more defending themselves for playing the game. May I state that Masta never offended anyone directly, but just stated his opinions - albeit of negative majority - of the game? I for one enjoy this form of antipathy, as it simply keeps the feet in the community on the ground and our minds fresh to think and talk about what we are actually doing with our money and free time. Imagine no one had anything bad to say about SWTOR - we would have fanboyism (and fangirlism of crouse) without end and would swallow ANYthing that Bioware & EA toss us. While I find it sad to miss out on a - for me - very enjoyable gaming experience with a longtime established and highly respected member of our community, I rather have it this way than to see anyone spending their free time with things they do not enjoy. On that account: Masta, I found my SC2 disc and I even remembered my battle.net account mail address. So once I am all set with that I am looking forward to some different quality online time  _______________ Proud owner of Buster Senatu's 200th & 300th, Muro's 370th, Maher's 2100th, Henkes' 1639th, Johauna's 400th, 666th and 900th, Sho Koon's 2000th and Kain Sol's 600th comment Download Laziana's lightsaber here! Glory to Arstozka! This comment was edited by Laziana on Jan 02 2012 10:59am. |
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Maher - Jedi Knight 
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Quote: I've written enough about it and will not repeat all of my arguments once again.
I re-read your, Kain and R2D2's arguments and they all are true. I just hope that you could change your approach method towards SWTOR and come to play with us! Because what's a JA guild without Masta 
I would even start a new char to play through the game content together with you and at the same we could chatter on basics of Zen! - Maher Senatu _______________ Still here | My Lightsaber |
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Masta - Jedi Council 
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I've written enough about it and will not repeat all of my arguments once again. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Maher - Jedi Knight
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Quote: I gave it a chance and ended up hating it even more.
Come on, Masta... You could take off your cloak of misguided hate and actually look objectively to the game? Starting off as listing pros and cons! here are my +/- +Story line +So much content! +The Actual Dialogue System with NPC +Flashpoint missions +Warzone +Heroic Missions +/- Space Flights, eventhought I actually like starfox system, I would still prefer a sandbox space system. +/- Game Mechanics +/- Subcription -The class system, I would still prefer to starting on zero point as not choosing a class straight away. _______________ Still here | My Lightsaber |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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I gave it a chance and ended up hating it even more. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Maher - Jedi Knight
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Quote: Funnily enough I hated the idea at first. Then I gave it a chance!
^This... SWTOR is an awesome game! _______________ Still here | My Lightsaber |
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Alex Dkana - Staff 
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Funnily enough I hated the idea at first. Then I gave it a chance! _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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Eica - Student 
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Quote:
Quote:
This thread was made in the summer of 2007 - and now we're playing the game in December 2011. Wow. I hated the idea ever since the rumours started. Now my nightmare has become a reality. gg it's almost as if you're predisposed to hating the game without even playing it. Surely not  _______________ Former padawan of RoseRed |
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SaZ - Student 
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Quote: lets hope for groundbreaking mmo with new system etc then ;/
july 18, 2008. ha. _______________ playing jk3 since 30th of january (2005), member since 1st of february. [Unofficial Master to Vision and Z�diac ] If you can make a fool of yourself infront of 300 people you can do anything - Jaiko D'kana |
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Masta - Jedi Council
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Quote: This thread was made in the summer of 2007 - and now we're playing the game in December 2011. Wow. I hated the idea ever since the rumours started. Now my nightmare has become a reality. gg _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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planK - Jedi Council 
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This thread was made in the summer of 2007 - and now we're playing the game in December 2011. Wow. |
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JK13 /// jaws. - Student 
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The xp thing could be related to the well known convention in the MMO industry to adjust the game balance for demos and beta in order to make the game easier. Fastest way to give people a negative impression of the game is to have them take numerous dirtnaps and level very slowly.
Meanwhile I think that Kain's post contained an unbiased look at the sorts of pros and cons I was expecting from this game. Given this information, I only anticipate Guild Wars 2 even more. _______________ It's a false hologram, it IS artificial... |
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Alex Dkana - Staff
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Quote: Joined really late in the match, not sure why! That happened to me a couple of times, kinda disorientating. Glad to hear they have altered the XP levels, although by half might be a bit much, not sure. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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R2D2 - Staff 
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Quote: They lowered the xp considerably earlier in the week. They did grant too much xp, but I feel like they were lowered a little too much.
Tested it just now. Got about half of what I got before, 20k exp to 10k exp (both were PvP wins, with me doing mediocre). I earned about 1.5k credits in that PvP warzone match. Joined really late in the match, not sure why! _______________ "Do or do not, there is no try" Jedi Master Yoda Dual Saberist This comment was edited by R2D2 on Nov 28 2011 01:49am. |
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Tallepyon - Student 
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They lowered the xp considerably earlier in the week. They did grant too much xp, but I feel like they were lowered a little too much. |
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Alex Dkana - Staff 
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Really? I last played on Tuesday - was a new build rolled out for the weekend? It still seemed pretty hefty, although maybe that's in part because I was such a low level at the time. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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R2D2 - Staff
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Quote: One thing with warzones is currently the xp granted for even losing one is quite high. You can level quite happily through warzone play. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not, it could get lowered a bit for release maybe.
Actually, I heard the exp took a huge reduction recently in this latest build. I'm going to test out PvP today on my Vanguard to verify this change. Previously, I was getting almost 20k exp per successful warzone and perhaps half of that when losing. On top of that, I was even getting 5k creds, which is quite amazing at these lower levels _______________ "Do or do not, there is no try" Jedi Master Yoda Dual Saberist |
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Alex Dkana - Staff
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For what it's worth I haven't pvp'd much in MMOs since SWG but thought I'd try out TOR's early. I played my first Warzone at level 12 and had a good time! As R2 says the stat bolstering means you aren't insta-killed by the other players, but your lack of skills and gear still puts you in the slightly inferior position your lower level warrants. It certainly makes it more of a challenge, but because the warzone is so team orientated it can be quite fun being handicapped as such.
There are three out there and all three have different objectives. They have some issues but it looks to be a strong start and if they build off that beginning to add warzones similar to how LotRO adds skirmishes then I can see it being popular. One thing with warzones is currently the xp granted for even losing one is quite high. You can level quite happily through warzone play. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not, it could get lowered a bit for release maybe. Oh and I kind of agree with Kain that the skill tree things were a bit uninspiring, but it's not an aspect of RPGs I have ever really gotten into much. As R2 says you still get the signature 'moves' of your specialisation though. _______________ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield | Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken | Rhaiko D'kana - SWTOR EU Guild Co-Founder | Is it what the teacher, teaches? Or what the student learns? A Dkana |
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R2D2 - Staff
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Quote:
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Have you played PvP? What are your opinions on exploration options? Crew skills? I'm curious
Nah, I didn't bother with the 1x level PvP - I didn't think it would be very balanced. From my mmo experience there isn't much care for non-max level PvP balance, as it would be a colossal amount of effort and coordination to ensure that every class growth was 'even' throughout each class spec journey to level 50. I respect that, but I didn't want my first PvP experience to be something silly that might leave me feeling jaded. You should try Warzone PvP. Bioware has implemented a way to scale your stats to be within 10% of the highest level player in the warzone (it is called stat "bolstering" ). So, you will be able to keep up with the high level players. The real disadvantage at lower levels is the lack of skills at your disposal, especially if you aren't far in your AC. However, if you PvP starting in your mid to upper teens, I expect you'd be able to do mediocre at least. My Imperial Agent Operative, at level 17, was able to be in the middle of the pack consistently for PvP score. One nice thing about PvP also is that you'll earn rewards based on DPS, tanking, and/or healing. My Vanguard rarely gets the last hit in PvP, but my ability to redirect damage and guard other players is how I earn my points. _______________ "Do or do not, there is no try" Jedi Master Yoda Dual Saberist This comment was edited by R2D2 on Nov 27 2011 03:54pm. |
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Kainz00r - Jedi Knight 
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Quote: Have you played PvP? What are your opinions on exploration options? Crew skills? I'm curious
Nah, I didn't bother with the 1x level PvP - I didn't think it would be very balanced. From my mmo experience there isn't much care for non-max level PvP balance, as it would be a colossal amount of effort and coordination to ensure that every class growth was 'even' throughout each class spec journey to level 50. I respect that, but I didn't want my first PvP experience to be something silly that might leave me feeling jaded. I was more concerned about making sure I would enjoy the PvE gameplay of my intended class for the early launch we have coming soon with this beta, which I'm fairly confident I'm happy with. I've only tried sith inquisitor (assassin) and imperial agent (sniper), enjoyed the tools with both. The staff saber is oddly growing on me quite fast, but I'll always be a single saberist at heart. Above all however I bow to aesthetics, so it was always going to be inquisitor over warrior for me. Crew skills I haven't played with yet, although my friend who was playing simultaneously did give it a go. Sounded pretty cool actually, another tool which makes you feel your companions are more 'real'. With regards to your response on my comments about talent trees, my point is that it's a step backwards compared to WoW's developments. Sure, you still get new skills simply for becoming an assassin or sorcerer as you level, but you don't get the cool talent tree specific ones until way, way later. Often the gaining of these skills in mmo can redefine your rotation or combat potential. WoW recognised this, and now gives you such skills at level 10 the moment you choose a tree. I was hoping swtor would do the same, but unfortunately not. It's not a huge deal, more of a minor criticism. No reason that the low level experience should be missing 'core' abilities of the intended path they're walking for levelling. _______________ Fervent supporter of duelling - leave a message if you would like to battle! Married to Masta. |
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R2D2 - Staff
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Quote: There is tons of grind in this game. You can't go two quests without someone asking you to slay x amount of y, or collect a amount of b. Not that I mind this, it's what I have come to expect of an mmo - but as we know it's not everyone's cup of tea. Artoo is correct in that a lot of these are optional, or appear as 'bonus' objectives, but the truth is that if you avoid these you're both skipping content of the game you're paying to experience and 'slowing' your pace down compared to peers, and missing out on loot and experience, the two fundamentals of levelling in an mmo alongside story.
Grind, to me, is when you have to go out of your way to slaughter mobs in order to level up or earn required achievements (ex. traits in LOTRO). These bonus quests, when designed correctly, will finish on your way to the main objectives without you needing to go out of your way to decimate mobs. There are still some bonus objectives that have too high of a mob count and could use some adjustment, but overall, I really don't feel like I'm ever grinding. Quote: Which brings me to my next point, it's wonderfully refreshing to experience the voice acting from all npcs - it really helps bring the world to life. However, I can't say any of the dialogue hasn't been anything but predictable so far... the kind sith gets the rough end of things, the rude one ends up being your rival, 'good and evil' a la light and dark side are not moral dilemmas, but more 'be kind or be an ass'. The Sith choices are so far disappointing in dialogue, often being either mundane, predictable demands for respect, disregard for authority or the slaying of weaklings. Speaking of which, they really, REALLY love their force lightning with the Sith. Interrogation? Fry 'em. Killing off a lesser being? Fry 'em. Someone back talking? ... yeah, fry 'em. Tasked with opening a datacron in an ancient Sith tomb that no one has been able to pry loose or open for 1,000 years? Yeah... bzzt...
Lightning is fun and all, but it is very overused. I'm guessing you played Sith Inquisitor? I find the Sith stories to be predictable, and there is an overuse of lightning for the SI that I don't really care about. The dialogue options themselves do become predictable. I found the other Empire classes to have better options, but they also sometimes recycle similar phrases, which gets annoying. Some of the stories (my experience with the Trooper for example) have a generic soldier story with amazing twists. Romancing is always fun though, along with most companion interactions. Quote: Back on the topic of dialogue and voice acting etc however, I do enjoy that we often get to add our input to dialogue. This is especially interesting in a group where you roll for the decision of what to do - I find it rather interesting to discover how other people would approach the situations. This is a very sharp, double edged sword though when it takes place in a 'flashpoint', the swtor equivalent of your standard mmo dungeon. Yes, these dialogues occur and yes, you have to go through them every. single. time. you go there, experienced flashpoint veterans or no. And it may be a result of the 'stress test' numbers that the servers are currently being hammered by, but the dialogue lags waiting for people to load to the choice point. I don't know why, as you can't opt to skip or speed it up as far as I'm aware, which you can opt to do when playing solo.
Multiplayer dialogue gives an interesting dynamic to grouping. The whole waiting for party member bit happens when you have other members with slower loading times or slow response times when choosing their choice. I recommend doing a "full" run listening to everything on your first flashpoint run, and if you decide to repeat it later on, see if others in your group will agree to a "fast" run, involving all members skipping the dialogue. I really don't mind waiting. There's a timer on the making choices, so you really don't have to wait more than 30 seconds or less. The choices in flashpoints really can drive the direction of the flashpoint. There tend to be multiple paths you can take (personified by the Kill or Spare the Captain on the Black Talon), which add to replayability. Quote: Which brings me neatly to companions - these guys are awesome. They help fill a role you may not necessarily be able to function without when solo'ing. You could be a healer lacking DPS, so you bring your DPS companion, or a DPS with no tank to soak up the damage, bring your tank companion. Mechanics aside though, this backfires if you don't happen to like the particular companion who fills that gap. Still, such is life. They seem to have really fleshed out the companions, allowing you to equip and upgrade their equipment, change their look 'style', talk to them privately and develop your relationship with them as well as bring them with you everywhere you go (except, of course, into a full flashpoint group or battleground). All in all, I think the companion system is great and enhances the gamer's experience, building on a good foundation that guild wars introduced with it's hirelings. It's not perfect but it's a strong plus for the game.
Companions aren't really influenced by GW at all, more like how KOTOR treated them. As for the companion comments, I agree with it being a fun system that adds a lot to the game. Regarding companion roles, your first companion usually complements you well (SW and JK are a little different imo). Either way, you will get each type of companion role by the time you reach 50. These roles are melee tank, melee dps, ranged tank, ranged dps, and healer/support. These are their main roles, but there tends to be a secondary role too which you can switch to by placing your companion into that respective mode. The first trooper companion has a sniper mode which is good for DPS, and he also has a more tanky mode as well. Quote: Combat and animations are very meh. I wasn't impressed, but then I did not expect to be. I had seen previous footage of the game and whilst some things have improved it's still very basic. The characters run akin to an awkward jog involving the precarious balance of haste and constipation. Two of the four 'body types' for males are ridiculous too, with one being unhealthily and ridiculously obese, and the other looking almost fourteen years old, and somewhat malnourished. This was a big let down for me, as I'm a huge fan of in depth character design but your scope for creativity is narrow here. The facial presets are pretty good at least, but don't expect several sliders for your various body appendages.
Animations really depend on your class. As for running animations, maybe I don't pay attention to it that much, or perhaps I play classes that look fine... never really saw anything that stood out to me. Maybe you are more critical than me when it comes to these animations. As for combat, if you want something rather unique, try a cover class. I found the melee classes to be just like most MMOs out there, but the cover classes are quite a different story. Utilizing cover and cover-specific abilities requires some careful setup and tactical preparation. Character customization I do find lacking and little weird. Some people like the obese look, but I never go with that. The anemic look fits with a few classes, but it still looks odd. Some customization options are still lacking. Bioware has done shown quite a few iterations of customization options throughout the builds I've been part of. I wonder if a new set of options will be there at launch or not. Quote: When I finally reached level 10, I was disappointed with my class talent specialisation skill trees. For the early half of the game, you'll spend talent points getting rather unexciting passive buffs to your skills or character as a sith assassin. Quite the opposite of exciting, and to make matters worse the cool new moves are either halfway up the tree or at the very end of them. This is a problem that makes low level gameplay less involving and exciting compared to that of a higher level (but still not max level) character.
Hmm, I disagree here. The talent points build you up to those nice class-tree specific skills, but your AC itself gets unique skills and passives. As an example, Trooper can go Vanguard (Tank/DPS) or Commando (Heals/DPS). Vanguard can use shields as their main passive initially. Commandos can use assault cannons. Within the first 10 levels in either AC, you'll learn AC-specific skills that are the foundation of your AC. I'm quite familiar with Vanguard, so I can give examples. Vanguard gets "Guard" (protect an ally / reduce threat), "Ion Cell" (tanking stance / ammo), "Ion Pulse" (reduces mob damage), "Reactive Shield" (25% dmg reduction for a limited time), and "Neural Jolt" (taunt). The skill trees give additional capability to these skills or passives (as you mentioned). Working your way up the skill tree will unlock additional skills, roughly 3 or 4 new skills. I think you are missing the fact that you are indeed unlocking AC-specific skills throughout your progression. Quote: Oh yeah, you have a force alignment, even as a non force sensitive character. It affects what outfits you can wear, and is decided by your dialogue decisions. You have to be a jackass more often than a sly, sinister mastermind to wear your sith lord robes o' pwn. Sucks, but Bioware aren't famous for morally conflicting choices in their alignment systems so again this shouldn't be a shocker to anyone. Interestingly enough however, you can end up as a light sided sith and vice versa for dark sided jedi. I still expect people will be annoyed that they have to artifically choose their dialogue options rather than play out their story if they're concerned with what gear options are available to them.
There will be some neutral gear eventually. I've been in the beta long enough to see how the gear has been evolving. At first, only the high alignment tier gear had the nice open mod slots in them. You can easily get equivalent equipment through other means in the game. You are NOT forced into going one way or the other. Right now, there is no neutral gear, so picking one direction seems like the only way. I believe that will change once that gear is added in. Basically, the appearance is different, but that's about it. Really don't see why people complain so much about this, perhaps lack of experience with the game. I'm glad to see you are giving the game a chance. It's the best MMO experience I've had. I really found no reason to play other classes in other MMOs since you go through the same exact content and some exact story. SWTOR is different. Some of the content overlaps but the class story is totally unique. I found the class story and world arcs to be well-written. Have you played PvP? What are your opinions on exploration options? Crew skills? I'm curious _______________ "Do or do not, there is no try" Jedi Master Yoda Dual Saberist |
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Kainz00r - Jedi Knight
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My impression after an introductory hands on with swtor this weekend;
There is tons of grind in this game. You can't go two quests without someone asking you to slay x amount of y, or collect a amount of b. Not that I mind this, it's what I have come to expect of an mmo - but as we know it's not everyone's cup of tea. Artoo is correct in that a lot of these are optional, or appear as 'bonus' objectives, but the truth is that if you avoid these you're both skipping content of the game you're paying to experience and 'slowing' your pace down compared to peers, and missing out on loot and experience, the two fundamentals of levelling in an mmo alongside story. Which brings me to my next point, it's wonderfully refreshing to experience the voice acting from all npcs - it really helps bring the world to life. However, I can't say any of the dialogue hasn't been anything but predictable so far... the kind sith gets the rough end of things, the rude one ends up being your rival, 'good and evil' a la light and dark side are not moral dilemmas, but more 'be kind or be an ass'. The Sith choices are so far disappointing in dialogue, often being either mundane, predictable demands for respect, disregard for authority or the slaying of weaklings. Speaking of which, they really, REALLY love their force lightning with the Sith. Interrogation? Fry 'em. Killing off a lesser being? Fry 'em. Someone back talking? ... yeah, fry 'em. Tasked with opening a datacron in an ancient Sith tomb that no one has been able to pry loose or open for 1,000 years? Yeah... bzzt... Lightning is fun and all, but it is very overused. Back on the topic of dialogue and voice acting etc however, I do enjoy that we often get to add our input to dialogue. This is especially interesting in a group where you roll for the decision of what to do - I find it rather interesting to discover how other people would approach the situations. This is a very sharp, double edged sword though when it takes place in a 'flashpoint', the swtor equivalent of your standard mmo dungeon. Yes, these dialogues occur and yes, you have to go through them every. single. time. you go there, experienced flashpoint veterans or no. And it may be a result of the 'stress test' numbers that the servers are currently being hammered by, but the dialogue lags waiting for people to load to the choice point. I don't know why, as you can't opt to skip or speed it up as far as I'm aware, which you can opt to do when playing solo. The game gives you a heads up as to whether a choice is the arse response, or the messiah response. Although this tends to be obvious, there are non-alignment altering dialogue junctions that instead affect your companion's opinion of you. Which brings me neatly to companions - these guys are awesome. They help fill a role you may not necessarily be able to function without when solo'ing. You could be a healer lacking DPS, so you bring your DPS companion, or a DPS with no tank to soak up the damage, bring your tank companion. Mechanics aside though, this backfires if you don't happen to like the particular companion who fills that gap. Still, such is life. They seem to have really fleshed out the companions, allowing you to equip and upgrade their equipment, change their look 'style', talk to them privately and develop your relationship with them as well as bring them with you everywhere you go (except, of course, into a full flashpoint group or battleground). All in all, I think the companion system is great and enhances the gamer's experience, building on a good foundation that guild wars introduced with it's hirelings. It's not perfect but it's a strong plus for the game. Combat and animations are very meh. I wasn't impressed, but then I did not expect to be. I had seen previous footage of the game and whilst some things have improved it's still very basic. The characters run akin to an awkward jog involving the precarious balance of haste and constipation. Two of the four 'body types' for males are ridiculous too, with one being unhealthily and ridiculously obese, and the other looking almost fourteen years old, and somewhat malnourished. This was a big let down for me, as I'm a huge fan of in depth character design but your scope for creativity is narrow here. The facial presets are pretty good at least, but don't expect several sliders for your various body appendages. When I finally reached level 10, I was disappointed with my class talent specialisation skill trees. For the early half of the game, you'll spend talent points getting rather unexciting passive buffs to your skills or character as a sith assassin. Quite the opposite of exciting, and to make matters worse the cool new moves are either halfway up the tree or at the very end of them. This is a problem that makes low level gameplay less involving and exciting compared to that of a higher level (but still not max level) character. World of Warcraft fixed this by forcing you to choose one of your three talent trees and being unable to branch out to your other two until you spend a certain amount in your chosen primary tree - as a reward, you got given your tree's trademark skill, which instantly fixed the gap in 'fun' between a level 10 levelling character and a level 50 one, which had always been a problem. This is now a problem swtor will return to us, which is a shame, and I can only hope they update their levelling system at some point to adjust for this problem. Oh yeah, you have a force alignment, even as a non force sensitive character. It affects what outfits you can wear, and is decided by your dialogue decisions. You have to be a jackass more often than a sly, sinister mastermind to wear your sith lord robes o' pwn. Sucks, but Bioware aren't famous for morally conflicting choices in their alignment systems so again this shouldn't be a shocker to anyone. Interestingly enough however, you can end up as a light sided sith and vice versa for dark sided jedi. I still expect people will be annoyed that they have to artifically choose their dialogue options rather than play out their story if they're concerned with what gear options are available to them. All in all, swtor on first impression hasn't blown me away but it also hasn't disappointed me. I've got what I expected, more or less, and best of all no major glitches or bugs halted my gaming experience, which is pretty awesome for a freshly launching mmo. Then again, I did only reach the teens of the levels in a game that's been in closed beta for some time too, so take that praise with a pinch of salt I suppose. Looking forward to my month's game time that I've pre ordered still, as it's obvious the more enjoyable content of the game will be restricted to the high levels. _______________ Fervent supporter of duelling - leave a message if you would like to battle! Married to Masta. |
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