Is everyone still waiting on The Old Republic?

[Caere]

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]

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

[Drakhon]

Daniel Erikson (Lead Writer) posted 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]

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]

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.

[Jalec]

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]

Information about Warzones (scenarios/battlegrounds) and Crafting from EA's Winter Showcase:
Darth Hater Article
Gamespot Article and Video Interview

Alderaan Warzone Trailer
Darth Hater's Dissection 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]

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]

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]

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?