Is everyone still waiting on The Old Republic? [Archive]

Warseth

08-10-2010, 05:56 PM

In EQ2 raiding and waiting for SWTOR...I'm probably going to go with the guild in EQ2 to SWTOR though. They have pretty good organization and raiding going.

If you are very bored, I can send you a buddy key for eq2 ... it has more perks than the trial. At the same time I can mentor down to group up in instances.

Pretty much raiding 4 times a week now. http://www.medieval-syndicate.com/forums/

if you are interested just be sure you throw out the name Yookai ...its what I go by there in the misfits of MS guild. Very good group of people. Funny to. Very family oriented funny group.

the PVP is brutal at 90 but they have level 30 bracket and it goes up by 10 increments. Works like scenarios to 6vs6, 12vs12, 24x24 games.

PVE Very rich in content...too much in my opinion ..no way in hell to see it all through every tier. Leveling is pretty good paced to. Lots of solo questing , epic quest lines, and group heroic quest lines.

Vasan

08-11-2010, 01:34 AM

Warseth

08-11-2010, 01:14 PM

EQ 2 had some of the best dungeons around imo, good to know it's still around and seemingly changed and updated to be more solo friendly.

And hopefully at some point they actually added the damn froglocks to the game.

Actually Frogs were unlocked in a world event a very long time ago.

They added Fae , Draconic gator like dudes

Actually its changed a whole lot....its not even the same game anymore from launch.
The city starter thing has revamped more than once .....the new current starter zones are now part of the general continent and way better questing and mingling.

You are going to have to play the trial to see what I mean but it is definitely better and badder than before. Next big update they are making more races neutral and classes... I believe certain classes stay good/evil like Necromancer a nd Shadow knights stay evil as they should.

What I also like about EQ2....new players who buy the current copy get all the previous expansions ...no need to buy them. And there is a lot of them since you last saw it.

Drakhon

08-14-2010, 11:29 AM

I'm actually playing WoW again while waiting for TOR. The other options out there just didn't seem like they were going to work for me and I discovered that a number of RL friends that I don't see very often were playing again/still on Proudmoore. Unfortunately, it's Alliance again, but I can handle that. I also had to buy WotLK since I quit before it came out :(. The game should last me a while, if possibly not all the way until TOR.

Garrock Ironforge

08-15-2010, 07:40 AM

Been a long while since I played an MMO, and am currently in the first stages of a contract in Afghanistan, so I won't be playing anything for awhile, but I really miss the old DAoC community... I do hope something decent & new is on the horizon, and that many of us can re-unite.

I'll keep an eye on this site...

regards

Garrock (a.k.a Arsham Applefinder)

Caere

08-15-2010, 08:26 PM

http://www.riftgame.com/

This appears to be the first real glimmer of hope since Warhammer. Reminds me a lot of DAoC, too bad they didn't opt for three factions.

Garrock Ironforge

08-17-2010, 12:56 AM

This looks promising. Although I do hope for a game that does large scale PvP/realm vs. realm

Drakhon

10-07-2010, 10:02 PM

Daniel Erikson (Lead Writer) posted (http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?t=212170&p=4414944) about how class story, faction story, etc are broken down.

This one can get confusing as there is a great deal of content in the game, all geared for slightly different experiences. So let's get to it, yes?

--There is no repeated content across factions. Easy enough.

--Every Class has a completely unique storyline with their own companion characters and quests that takes them from the very first level through the very last and leads them naturally into the end game content. We call these Class Quests.

Now the questions and ideas that can be harder to get your head around if you haven't yet been one of the few lucky ones to actually play the game.

--"Is all your faction specific content Class Quests?"

Absolutely not. It's a multiplayer game, built for multiplayer storytelling. Which means all classes in a faction will have access to all of the same content except the Class Quests.

--"What is the breakdown between Class Quests and multiplayer quests?"

On the Origin worlds it's about 60% Class Quests, dropping to about 40% on the Capital worlds and then even lower for the rest of the game. The whole idea is to get you into the game, teach you about your class and your story, then get you out there playing with other people. We need to meet Obi-Wan, get our lightsaber and learn about the rest of the galaxy, but then it's time to get the gang together and go to war. We're still going to take breaks and run off to Dagobah but that's now the minority of our story. So the game very purposefully starts with more single player content and then moves strongly towards content that can be played multiplayer.

--"What are all the different types of multiplayer quests?"

Whew, that one's a big list but I can hit the major stuff. 1) World Quests: One-offs or short chains built for easy pick up and play. Grab a PUG or your friends and have a short adventure together. 2) World Arcs: Epic quest arcs that go from four to ten quests or more and follow a storyline across an entire planet. Big decisions and branching questlines you may have to play multiple times (in different playthroughs, they're not repeatable) to see all the content. Built for long play sessions or a series of short sessions where you and your group want a huge adventure that may stretch over tens of hours. Also very PUGable as long as you're grabbing like minded folks. 3) Flashpoints: Instanced, heavily scripted major story and action pieces built for groups to go in and get the very best of BioWare's multiplayer storytelling. Built to be played in a single sitting.

Now here's the fun part. Our multiplayer content has lines, choices and content that is specific to each class and content that is only there if you're in a group. Did the Jedi Consular really just convince the Sith boss to stand down and not fight us? Did the Bounty Hunter really just shake down the Moff for more money? Did the Smuggler just leave the group with that attractive quest giver? Um...are they coming back? It's fun to replay the game and see all the different content but it's also a blast to play with friends and be completely surprised by what they say. Often you'll find yourself saying "Okay, that clearly was not one of my dialogue options!"

Hope that helps!

Scarr

10-11-2010, 09:34 PM

I got into the Beta for this. I played it over the weekend, two weeks ago. They only offer the beta in stages for certain classes and level ranges. I played a Bounty Hunter on Hutta. The game was pretty good, the BioWare look is obvious with the artwork. A good thing after dealing with so much asian crap over the past two years.

Warseth

10-29-2010, 05:10 PM

Jalec

11-03-2010, 03:36 PM

That's cool you get to test it. I am currently testing a game that is Super heroes/villains themed. NOT BY NC SOFT.
All i can say...it is very very good. Well done to the devs though more to test and add it is looking great.

I am testing that game as well. i agree the degree of polish on this game was astonishing. The fights are fun and the story has been excellent so far.

Drakhon

11-05-2010, 04:25 PM

Information about Warzones (scenarios/battlegrounds) and Crafting from EA's Winter Showcase:
Darth Hater Article (http://darthhater.com/2010/11/05/swtor-pvp-warzones-crafting-revealed/)
Gamespot Article and Video Interview (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/starwarstheoldrepublic/news.html?sid=6283531&mode=previews)

Alderaan Warzone Trailer (http://swtor.com/media/trailers/warzones)
Darth Hater's Dissection (http://darthhater.com/2010/11/05/dissection-and-analysis-of-the-alderaan-warzone-video/) of the trailer

Summary:
The Alderaan Warzone is based around a planetary defense cannon that both sides want. Each side has a ship that functions as their respawn point and they have to use some swoops to get down to the ground. They're not controlled by the player, they're just there to replace the respawn timer with a less "gamey" system. The warzone is capture and hold for what looks like three turrets which are used to damage the enemy ship - destroying that ship is how you win. It seems to essentially be a reverse resource system (the turrets most likely have a regular damage/time held) but is again meant to cover up the "gamey" points system.

Gabe Amatangelo is the lead PvP designer for TOR and was previously the lead designer for WAR's Land of the Dead, but I don't know what his more general job description before and after was for WAR. I think he did pretty well in the interview, but we'll have to see how further Warzones and open world PvP work out.

Crafting is rather different in that it is done by your Companions rather than you as the HERO! picking flowers or sewing a coat. Tasks are divided into Gathering, Crafting and Missions categories. It seems like the Gathering category are things that happen out in the world and are done by the Companion that is with you at the time (Go mine that node for me, Jimmy!). Crafting and Missions are done by your Companions on your ship, can be queued up, happen whether you are online or offline and different Companions are better at different mission types (such as Treasure Hunting for Vette, the Sith Warrior's Twi'lek pirate Companion).

Gisli

11-06-2010, 01:13 AM

I've always liked the dynamic of queued activities that play out even if you are offline. It means you need to regularly monitor the game, but you don't need to devote countless, pointless hours at it to compete. For example, I thought Eve's system for gaining skills was the best ever in any MMO. So applying this idea for crafting is appealing to me.

Drakhon

11-06-2010, 09:26 PM

It'll be interesting to see more specifics about how it works. They mentioned that when you're out with a Companion, you can direct them to Gather for you (instead of your player character actually doing it), but how would this work when you set those on your ship to do it (especially offline)? I doubt they go roam about the world looking for stuff, so is it just that they're "gone" for a while and then show up with stuff? This seems to be what the Missions are, but it doesn't seem like it should be the same for Gathering.

Though what I think is more important is how deep the actual crafting is. Is it just set recipes and you click the button once you have the mats or do you have options to fill a given material slot? Somewhat closer to SWG and kind of like WAR but, you know, useful. Will there be quality levels or some sort of variance? I'm not expecting SWG-level crafting, but it'd be nice if they shift it further in that direction.

Vasan

11-07-2010, 11:08 AM

Glad to see they are trying something new for crafting, but really they do need to explain more on the nuts and bolts of the crafting system, beyond you sending your minions out to gather items for you. The depth of the SWG crafting system would be nice to see again, just balanced somewhat as to items and without the urban sprawl issues.

Pity still no comment on open world pvp, I could see the assumed off line resource gathering model working with an open world pvp system for immersion. More so if you could use your minions missions and gained resourses to add the general struggle.

Still, these recent updates do seem to refute claims that tor is a hollow shell. Plus leveling and getting items off pvp scenarios you can access during pve is a tried and true system, and it's good to see it's inclusion. Again, they need to explain more and develop their concept of open world pvp, for one are the scenarios server based, cluster based or overall based? Do scenarios influence anything beyond their specific arena? What are the specific plans for pvpve (invasion or otherwise) dungeons, the only strongpoint of the land of the dead?

Drakhon

11-07-2010, 04:58 PM

I don't think the crafting will be anywhere near SWG depth, I just think it might be closer than WoW. There should be at least a little bit more information when they put crafting up on the site, but I'm sure we'll have to wait a while for bigger releases.

I don't see much of a connection between offline gathering and open world PvP for immersion, perhaps you could explain what you mean?

chatie

11-07-2010, 05:53 PM

I'm waiting for Old Replublic, but in meantime, I headed back to Warhammer Online. I know, I know... game that I swore I'd never go back. During Aion, Braik had mentioned about a 2 week free trial going on for returning players, and then when Aion increased the max level, I just didn't feel like going through the grind to get the good gear at higher level after spending so much time just to get decent gear. Warhammer Online on Badlands server has just been amazing with so many people playing. The RvR population feels just like in the beginning when Warhammer Online first opened up. This morning was just a sea of Destruction and Order players battling it out. Game is still easy to get into for some quick RvR skirmish battles. Locating where the RvR action is especially easy with the new menu that shows an overview of where the RvR battles are happening. The final City battles has been simplified and no longer have to spend what felt like an eternity of boredom but still not fun. Nevertheless, what brought me back to Warhammer Online is just the ease in getting into some quick skirmish RvR battles.

I heard the The Old Republic has been delayed. It's now sometime in 2011 instead of Spring 2011.

ellyiana

11-07-2010, 07:10 PM

I just want a game to be fun and be with friends. I feel like we are all split around right now and just waiting for something to big to happen. meanwhile I am just writing essay after essay it seems this year. I really hate writing papers in English. It seems that all my teachers just write red marks on them and tell me what I do wrong. I still getting the same reply from teachers, but it seems they giving me an 80 average on my grades:)

Drakhon

11-07-2010, 07:59 PM

I heard the The Old Republic has been delayed. It's now sometime in 2011 instead of Spring 2011.

Eurogamer recently had an interview with the doctors (the two co-founders of BioWare that are still around as CEO and VP are medical doctors) where they would only confirm 2011 but not even H1 or H2. Most assume this means a delay, though it's also possible that they were just being snarky since, based on the transcripts, the interviewer was being a bit annoying. Theoretically it could also mean an earlier release, but that seems very unlikely.

Vasan

11-07-2010, 11:03 PM

Any delay would be postive in so much as it would allow them to further test and refine system that they are still working on completing. I'd say the two major strengths of early WoW were refinement and content.

I don't see much of a connection between offline gathering and open world PvP for immersion, perhaps you could explain what you mean?

The very vague connection I was going for was a idea off Gislim's post regarding regularly monitoring the game but not devoting hours and hours all the time, in which you could log on briefly, re-adjust your crafting and gathering orders, and view the various open world pvp objectives and battlefields and the status of each.

With the thought that, it would actually be a good idea to abstract crafting grinding if they want to maintain a flow to gameplay, I also meant to suggest, off handly, it would be quite interesting if you could focus your offline gathering, offline crafting and offline support missions to influence current open world pvp objectives. Such as employing your support staff to say gather ore which you could funnel into a guild bank or send directly to bulk up the walls around a battlefield objective.

Simply put I would support an idea to use offline crafting or resource gathering to directly support a objective based open world pvp game. Here your offline crafting or gathering would go to add various bonuses to the objective in question such as better defenses or to some general bonuses or items to assist in taking objectives. It's merely a discussion point and I am sure will have zero relevance in Tor.

Off topic but back to reality, Tor does seem to be supporting the idea that a few really well though out pvp scenarios are better than a whole bunch of terrible ones. Someone learned something from warhammer prehaps.

Voh

11-08-2010, 12:55 PM

More interested in GW2 and Rift then TOR. But who knows.

In the meantime Aion is a blast right now... impossible you say? Asmo took Divine last week and have been defending it well since. Am in a guild called Force Majeure. They are very good at RvR and anytime you are on and they go RvR you Must attend. If anyone is interested in something like that and wants to engage in Aion once again let me know (Ool). Oh know one thing, they are Not RP. Can't have everything I suppose. :alien:

--------------------
Ool :sorcerer: in these times.

Drakhon

11-08-2010, 02:22 PM

Any delay would be postive in so much as it would allow them to further test and refine system that they are still working on completing. I'd say the two major strengths of early WoW were refinement and content.

Certainly, but we can still be annoyed by the delay when we're in MMO limbo waiting for TOR (or one of the others) to come out. ;)

...Stuff about crafting and PvP...

I see what you mean now. Interesting ideas, though I can see some problems like "more alts = more influence" if you don't limit Companion activities to one player character per account at any given time like EVE does with their skill system.

More interested in GW2 and Rift then TOR. But who knows.

While Rift has some cool stuff going on especially on the class variety front (56 possible class ["Soul"] combinations for each Calling and that's before spending any points), I'm not super excited about it. It does have the benefit of being the first of what I think of as 2011's "big 4" to release based on the dates that are available. Though I saw a dev play of a mid level character and they had a crazy amount of abilities on the bars. :/

I'm very excited about GW2, though. Probably equal to TOR or even a bit more depending on what the full range of TOR's "elder gameplay" looks like.

Drakhon

11-11-2010, 03:50 PM

A bit more specific information about Crafting that's summarized from a Daniel Erikson interview:
http://swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=224504

Similar interview by Darth Hater:
http://darthhater.com/2010/11/12/daniel-erickson-on-crew-skills/

Vasan

11-12-2010, 07:14 PM

Wonder if there will an out of game display regarding your off-line crafting, much like some games display current open world pvp objectives. A twenty four hour timer is short, considering you might have to cycle through a large number of crafting alts (at least six to have access to all crafting). Being able to set your crafting and gathering from a user account page would be a great time saver, but I suppose would defeat their intent. Be interesting to see if they add shared storage or other in game material transfer.

Is there some undercurrent in star wars that supports the use of combat enhancing narcotics? Odd but swg and tor both have or plan to have drug crafting. Suppose it's just a way to make a high tech potion.

Drakhon

11-12-2010, 07:44 PM

Annnnnd... official Crew Skills section (http://swtor.com/info/systems/crew-skills) of the website with more information and a handy video.

As for chemical stuff, yeah, it's pretty much how you have a non-magic-based equivalent to potions.

More comments from Damion Shubert, lead systems guy (which includes crafting):

To be more precise, players can have up to three crew skills but only one of those can be a crafting skill. The fictional reason is that you only can have room for one crafting table on your ship, but the real reason is that we don't want all players to be self-sufficient.

We call the system Crew Skills because they are skills possessed by your amorphous crew as a whole. If your crew can go treasure hunting, you can order any of your crew members to run treasure hunting missions. Vette may have a bonus to treasure hunting (being a native treasure hunter and all), but to be honest we currently have these bonuses set to be relatively mild - we don't want people to choose NOT to take their favorite companion out on the field with them because the economic bonus to keeping them on the ship is that much greater.

Apparently some people still couldn't get it, so:

You can have three gathering skills, or three mission skills, or one of each. Or two gathering and a craft. The only limit (right now) is you can only have one crafting skill, and you can only have three as a whole.

You can unlearn skills. If you relearn it later, you must progress it up again. (You will not lose your schematics for crafting skills, but they are inaccesssible until you reach the proper skill level).

So just to throw a couple more stray thoughts about our philosophy.
- No, you the player cannot craft currently - which is to say you cannot choose to watch the progress bar fill up yourself. That being said, to us, watching a progress bar has always been the least interesting part of crafting in other MMOs. The part of being a crafter that is interesting to us is things like finding rare schematics, finding hard-to-find components, and the social game of finding customers and suppliers. We really wanted devoted crafters to be able to focus on these aspects of crafting, and not so much on the 'watch a progress bar go forward' part of things. Crafting should be a social thing - staring at a progress bar is not.
- No, you don't see companions running missions out 'in the real world'. While I laugh at the idea of a stream of companion characters filing into the palace on Alderaan, it's unfeasible for a lot of reasons.
- The real test of the value of crafting is less about whether companions or players are swinging the hammer and tongs, and more about how the itemization of crafting is balanced in a way that the gear is useful. Crafting is important to the systems team, and we're devoted to ensuring that crafted gear has a place in the economy, especially at the endgame, and doubly especially for the devoted crafters.
- It's worth noting that we really want the system to support the casual crafter (the guy who is taking crafting largely to outfit himself while levelling up) and the devoted crafter (the guy who wants to be known as the best Armormech in the galaxy). Supporting the former means making the system accessible and easy. Supporting the latter means ensuring that hard work can allow you to provide goods and services that almost no one in the galaxy can. The systems design team is striving to satisfy both groups of people.
- My own personal goal is that some crafters can get so good that players all over the server seek them out. My problem being a crafter in most other MMOs is that you tend to become a guild's pet at some point, and you're expected to do all of the work for free. We want those devoted crafters to be exceptional enough that they can actually demand a price, and that people will actually break out of the guild in order to pursue those goods and services. The system isn't there yet, but we have plans...

Vasan

12-02-2010, 05:10 PM

ToR is still officially set for a 2011 release but, as evidenced by a recent gamestar article and dev posts, still has alot of work to be done. Hoping for a later 2011 release so the game has a higher level of polish.

The devs keep stating there is more to ToR pvp than warzones but hesitate to comment further. At some point they need to announce pvpe based dungeons, and then answer if there is MORE pvp than warzones and pvpe dungeons.

Still pleased to see continued fan pressure on ToR devs to have meaningful open world pvp.

Gisli

12-02-2010, 08:06 PM

Bolting open world PvP onto what is essentially a PvE game isn't going to add up to RvR. Building an RvR game is hard to do, I think. Besides the PvP system, it needs deep motivational infrastructure to get "everyone" involved, and it needs the proper communications support (and I mean "communication" in a very broad way, far more is involved than talk channels) to make large-scale organization work. The only game I know of with satisfying RvR is DAOC (Warhammer and AION deserve recognition for trying, but they didn't quite make it in my opinion). Since DAOC was built with the purpose of delivering an RvR game, I have no reason to expect success from an "add on" approach.

Drakhon

12-02-2010, 11:30 PM

Open world PvP has definitely been confirmed, it's just that no specifics have been released.

To be fair, the lack of released detail itself does not imply an "add on" approach - BioWare is notoriously closed-mouthed about games in development, possibly rivaling Blizzard in this respect - and I think open world PvP will be well designed, well integrated and make use of many of the key features of good RvR. That said, I don't expect TOR to be the return to "glorious RvR" that many of us hoped for from WAR and Aion. I think that if there was the kind of focus necessary for that, they would be using it as a key marketing point much like Story (though to a lesser degree) by now.

I suppose there is a very small chance that they could be waiting to drop a huge finalized system on us in the future, though. Perhaps to avoid harping on RvR and drawing comparisons to WAR's development and marketing?

Vasan

12-03-2010, 11:16 AM

Speaking of small chances, Tor could also announce several servers are perma pvp flagged and thus considered open world pvp servers.

Seriously though, I do believe any other sorts of pvp in Tor is still in development and the devs are considering how to properly "bolt on" open world rvr elements without scaring off the non-pvp game base. My underlying view is that many developers consider rvr/pvp a side issue (like wow used to deal with it) and hopefully fan support will lead to more robust open rvr elements in the future. Still pve is fairly well trodden ground, while I would agree pvp and rvr are indeed harder to design and much more fluid in action.

I also do agree with tacked on pvp not being rvr and Tor not being a return to glorious RvR, but let's hope Tor will sneak some meaningful large scale pvp in there some place. If not, there are other future games that more fully address rvr gameplay, thought prehaps not as aggressively as some would like.

(Just to be clear I have no idea how wow handles pvp today, haven't played for years, but I am sure whatever they are doing will be relentlessly copied for future pvp style game, much to their detriment)

Vasan

12-17-2010, 10:00 AM

How do you make decisions about what kind of PvP will occur on a planet, like "this should be more of an open PvP area with this objective versus something more controlled like a Warzone?" when you are working with the writers and world designers?

"Keeping in mind this isn't specific to Star Wars: The Old Republic features, but speaking generally to how we come to a decision in a MMO whether you want to offer PvP (in an area)... it depends on if there is a server rule set and what the players opted into versus what they haven't opted into. It also has to do with making sure that you have a population involved that is acquainted with the game, their characters, etc. and if they are ready to be exposed to that type of stuff.

So generally speaking, the opted-in for the general population, the opted-in performance and saying, "hey, this is kind of a nice secluded area from other aspects" and then we'll make sure they don't disturb other players from doing that. So it might come naturally. It might just come from the ground up, and intentionally designed that way. It really depends on the situation."

PvP Lead Gabe Amatangelo

An evasive, rambling answer, but ones that does seem (arguably) to support my view that open world pvp might be on pvp rule set servers, or confined to small zones wow style. I suspect old republic is not wanting to scare off players who fear pvp and rvr, despite solid open world rvr being one of the most requested game features. Still lot of quesswork and theorycraft till they announce their plans for non scenario based pvp. And if it turns out that the old republic doesn't have alot of pvp/rvr style gameplay, there is always guild wars 2 and a host of other games that will, so no real hassle.

Drakhon

12-17-2010, 11:24 PM

It's kind of hilarious how people try to pry out information that they're not ready to give by asking oblique questions and then complain that they get an evasive answer. Not that you're complaining, I'm just sure others out there are.

Vasan

12-18-2010, 10:42 AM

Heh, I would view it more as a leading biased question.

To re-phrase it a bit liberally "So how is that open world pvp with objectivies going? It will be open pvp in every zone right designed from the ground up right? Tell me more of this awesome open world pvp you have clearly stated you will not be talking about till it's done and have given no indication that will actually feature open world objectives."

The three bits of information I got from that answer is that pvp is designed to be voluntary, another mention of server rule sets in response to pvp and that people really like to ask about objective based open world pvp play. The rest of the interview mentioned you could level off scenario play and I also believe receive gear from tokens gained via scenario victory. Further the skill set of jedi's looks well defined and interesting, so there is that.

Drakhon

12-18-2010, 10:03 PM

From the Q&A in this week's Fan Friday (http://swtor.com/news/news-article/20101217) (just the PvP related questions):

Will a player be able to level up just playing PvP? (asked by metaspy)
Yes you will. We’re big fans of multiple gameplay paths – we don’t want to force you to do one thing to advance. That means you’ll level up whether you’re playing PvE or PvP.

Will there be different server types, as in PvE servers and PvP servers? (asked by Fruskov)
There will be several different types of server, including PvP servers and PvE servers.

Will the battlegrounds be story driven to the same extent as questing and character progression in PvE will be? (asked by Svarteryttaren)
Not quite as much. We want Warzones both to make sense and to be repeatable, which means that they can't be as deep as the class and world missions in the PvE game. That said, they each tell their own exciting Star Wars story. We want them to feel like movie moments, like the best battle sequences of the movies - and to do that, you have to have compelling story.

Are we going to hear about the direction of endgame before launch? (asked by Crazy_Person)
Definitely - I can give you the high-level direction already, but the details will have to wait a little longer. For those who want to continue to play their main character, we’ll have Raids, Warzones and other PvP choices, as well as heroic Flashpoints. For those who enjoyed the journey to maximum level, we have one of the most compelling class replayability in the history of MMORPGs.

Technically the first answer doesn't confirm leveling in non-Warzone PvP, but I'd say it's implied. Definite confirmation of PvE/PvP rulesets, though I can't remember if we already had that.

Vasan

12-19-2010, 11:45 AM

It was the first real confimation I've seen of pve, pvp servers and unnamed "other" servers, thought they have been hinted at previously.

Thought cynics might state that perm flagged pvp servers represent the sole open world pvp, I suspect (or prehaps hope is the better word) that they will announce pvpe dungeons and also larger team pvp at some point in the next six months. ("we’ll have Raids, Warzones and other PvP choices, as well as heroic Flashpoints.")

Warzones (not scenarios) seem to have interesting rule sets however, I would have preferred a specific question about balancing the different levels of characters in them, more so since you don't seem to lose access to individual war zones as you level. I assume pvp warzone leveling balancing is "still being worked on".

Drakhon

12-20-2010, 02:28 PM

Well, they could do it the "traditional" way by having level ranges (WoW, WAR, etc).

Alternatively, I could see a queuing system that starts by trying to set up matches of equal level players and then gradually widens the scope (within limits) over time until the quantity and class distribution meet the requirements. Very complex, but also potentially significantly better than the traditional, I think.

Drakhon

02-01-2011, 09:11 PM

EA Q3 earnings call was today. No particularly useful info about TOR, sadly, but I wasn't expecting much.

Definitely CY11 and FY12, which means April - December.
Further guidance in May, which would be the Q4 earnings call. Doesn't indicate if that guidance would be pre- or post-launch, however.
500k subs would be profitable but not something they would be too excited about, 1 mil+ would be very profitable.
A lot of chuckle-worthy speculation by gaming blogs about how much they've spent on the game (vastly overestimating)
Beta of scale in the coming months

Vasan

02-11-2011, 09:29 AM

Think it's to be later rather than sooner, but the trade off is that they really seem to be focusing on class balance and, hopefully, decent pvp.

stroadt

02-17-2011, 02:06 PM

I didn't really care much for Rift when I first tried it in beta 5. My complaints about the game still stand. But, I warmed up to it and have now pre-ordered it. I will be leaving WoW for RIFT and hoping that lasts until Guild Wars 2. GW2 seems like the saving throw for MMOs.

SWTOR just doesn't look like something I'll be interested in even though I'm a hardcore Star Wars nerd. I don't like the talk about the companion system, the hokey cover combat mechanic, the linear story-driven design (I prefer more sandbox type MMOs), etc. And, the lack of any details regarding open world or a dedicated non-instanced meaningful pvp zone just turns me off the game. I wasn't crazy about the KOTOR games, and I have no faith in any studio that has EA as a parent company. I hope it surprises me and it turns out to be the messiah of MMOs, but I don't see it happening.

Drakhon

02-17-2011, 02:51 PM

Well, the way I'm looking at it is that, if nothing else, it'll be a quality single player (really co-op) BioWare RPG along the lines of ME or DA, but much longer. Any "MMO stuff" that they also do well (hopefully PvP!) will just make it better and keep me around longer.

I'm also really excited about GW2 and probably looking forward to it more than TOR, but at this point it seems unlikely it'll be out this year.

Drakhon

04-12-2011, 12:23 PM

Back in March, the CFO of EA said, in reference to TOR:

So we said it's going to launch sometime in calendar, but not within Fiscal '11. So that basically pens down between you know, April 1st and December 31st of this calendar year. It is also reasonable to infer that it's not in our Q1 guidance. We gave Q1 Fiscal 11, Fiscal 12 non-GAAP revenue guidance, minus 39 minus 44 cents and I think it's not unreasonable to infer that it's not included in that 90 day period.

So we now have a release window of July 1 - December 31.

Drakhon

04-27-2011, 12:51 PM

Compilation of info from two articles covering a recent BW two-day press event:
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=306052

From PC Gamer:

"The RPG side of TOR reminds me of Dragon Age: Origins... and the game's PvP system feels like an upgraded version of Warhammer Onlines"
Depending on how it is upgraded, that certainly sounds good.

Another handy note with info from the Buffed.de article:

Some planets will have contested areas where both factions will fight for control. The article doesn't say what or if you gain something for controlling such an area.

Vasan

04-27-2011, 07:31 PM

Let us hope tanks do not actually mitigate 50 percent of pvp damage for team mates. Ha! Also hope the commend system is removed, sounds rather easy to abuse with a pre made. No player collision, ah memories of war hammer.

Anti cc resolute bar seems like a good plan, also hear they are really testing the small scale pvp, not just kicking it out the door and hoping. Contested areas sounds good too, sure we will hear more closer to release.

Drakhon

04-27-2011, 08:30 PM

Let us hope tanks do not actually mitigate 50 percent of pvp damage for team mates. Ha!

It sounds like WAR Guard, to me.

Edit: O.o http://www.askajedi.com/2011/04/27/jeff-hickman-joins-bioware-austin-as-executive-producer-live-services/

Vasan

04-28-2011, 09:05 AM

There was very little that might sour me on old republic. Having this pompous, arrogance, beyond stupid waste of a man helming any part of the game almost alone makes it a pass. This was the man who single handedly alienated the player base with the ignore the weak, buff the fire wizards classes. Time and time gain he ignored any issues while spouting how useless and minor any player concerns are.

Why do new online games fail? Because the same wasted up, diseased minds are trotted from game to game on the "strength" of their previous resume. First devs from class balance in rift, and now this ... person.. in a major position. Jeff Hickmans only asset is getting hired and kissing ass, and his past history with warhammer was running it into the group. He freely admitted how badly he alienated the player base in old republic.

Good hire bioware! Way to take pity on some mildly retarded villain.

Vasan

04-28-2011, 09:19 AM

Posted this on the old republic site, made me feel all better what with the airing of concerns and the light of hope at the end. Here is hoping having the Hickman on board just means the servers crash alot and there is never a gm when you need one:

A big part of why warhammer failed is Jeff Hickman.

I mean, just ask him directly, he would freely admit he alienated the player base in warhammer by ignoring their concerns, thus running the game into the ground.

As much as I like giving people second chances, Hickman stands for unbalanced classes, laggy servers, and broken gameplay. He represent the passing of bad talent from failed online game from failed online game.

Why I understand he has little input on the game so far, his "talents" bode very poorly for the game as it develops live and should highlight any fears players have about the direction the old republic is taking.

However, we can only hope he will deal only with customer service, as the above poster suggested, leaving any game elements to people without such hideous records of failure.

Drakhon

04-28-2011, 08:42 PM

Stephen Reid:

I'd like to address a few of the misconceptions in this thread.

Jeff Hickman’s role as Executive Producer, Live Services, does not put him in charge of BioWare Austin, or the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The job description quoted in this thread is not for Jeff’s position. He is ultimately in charge of all teams that interact and interface with customers in the live game. That does not include, at any point, direct decisions about the game’s development itself. Game development is still ultimately handled by Rich Vogel’s team, with James Ohlen as Lead Designer.

BioWare Austin is made up of a huge and diverse mix of development staff, from all across the games industry. We’re proud of just how many MMO veterans we have on staff; many senior developers here have shipped multiple MMOs, which is a rarity. That collective experience is going to help us ensure that The Old Republic boasts a level of service that’s up to the standard you expect from Star Wars and BioWare.

Vasan

04-29-2011, 02:34 PM

I like this Stephen Reid. It takes a strong sort to bluff having devs from SWG and Warhammer on your team as being a postive.

Joking aside, looks they are preparing for the final stretch, discussing live teams and also what features will and won't be around for launch and near launch.

I suppose I should rant about not having guilds have guild levels and advancement for launch, but I am finding myself curiously ok with that. I blame rift's grindly mcguild leveling for that.

Glad to be hearing that old republic core combat is much improved and people are enjoying how the various classes play. Was someone concerned that all classes will be wow super simple style, but understand that different classes have different levels of compexity. Be interesting to see what, how and if they re-make the cover gameplay idea for the agent and smuggler.

Looking forward to a game with somewhat tested pve and pvp based on less classes, and not rifts massive game alternating pvp patches spawning a new fotm every patch.

ellyiana

04-29-2011, 10:08 PM

Hey Everyone!
I just finish school. My 2 year course completed. Yay!!! Anyway what is going on now. Do we have any certain game? Is rift the game for now?

Vasan

04-30-2011, 08:17 AM

Hey Everyone!
I just finish school. My 2 year course completed. Yay!!! Anyway what is going on now. Do we have any certain game? Is rift the game for now?

Yes, yay indeed. Someone correct me if wrong, but I understand the bulk of the old daoc community is currently on sun rest, a pvp rp server in rift. While there is no ravens guild in name, many players have joined a few old guilds there.

ellyiana

04-30-2011, 09:32 PM

okay hmmm got to see to get the game then see how much money I can now make to make up from being in school:)

Rardac

05-04-2011, 02:17 PM

congrats, and welcome to the so-called 'real world'! <yark!>

Drakhon

07-03-2011, 01:40 PM

Interesting segment of a beta leak (http://betacake.blogspot.com/2011/07/star-wars-old-republic-sith-warrior.html) (also has the Juggernaut trees for those interested):

First I want to discuss the weapon upgrade in this game. Your first blue weapon you acquire at the end of your first planet will have 3 slots in this. Standard blue weapons after tend to have 4. You can keep that weapon and upgrade it until you get an epic weapon.

You can acquire new upgraded parts from each planet with special badges rewarded from quests, actual quest reward upgrade items, or drops, both badges and upgrade parts. Your weapon, be it a blaster or lightsaber or vibrosword has no base stats. When you install a new power crystal to your lightsaber, let’s say the power crystal has a minimum level requirement of 16, then the lightsaber will now have a minimum level requirement of 16, unless something else is installed at a higher level. Basically you can keep 1 lightsaber or rifle or pistols for a long time, and just upgrade it.

You can also make new items, crystals, power cells, etc. through professions. I will not discuss them because frankly, I think this is something that is best left a mystery because the system is truly, truly amazing.

I love this weapon upgrade profession revolutionary because it doesn’t pigeon hole you into using an ugly lightsaber or blaster rifle because you don’t want to. In other MMO games, you’d have an incredibly sexy looking sword, axe, hammer, gun, bow, whatever that you had to get rid of when you found something better. In this? Keep the same weapon and install those sexy new upgrades. I have not seen a purple lightsaber or blaster yet so I do not know what the difference is, if it gets a 5th slot or what.