SW: The Old Republic Part 3

[Gfted1]

I think Cant describes it pretty well. For me, end game raiding in WoW is to fight the hardest bosses and acquire the best gear. And Im a good treadmill rat and even like when xpac's come out so I get start working on the next new bling.

[Malcador]

 

 

If anyone still cares

Edited April 4, 2012 by Malcador

[Nepenthe]

 

 

If anyone still cares

Somewhat, I'm probably starting again in a week or two, even if I need to get my grossly misshapen body back into the lean mean killing machine I was.

[Raithe]

I'm still pushing along. Although Belsavis is a bit of a drag to push through with my Smuggler. I like the concept, but something about that planet doesn't really click right for me.

[Azure79]

So are the class stories good enough by themselves to warrant a play through? I'm not interested in raiding or other mmo activities. I just want a good story in the SW universe. Can your choices affect the outcome of the story? For example a Jedi knight making evil choices will eventually fall to the dark side or vice versa with a sith.

 

 

[Baeus]

So are the class stories good enough by themselves to warrant a play through? I'm not interested in raiding or other mmo activities. I just want a good story in the SW universe. Can your choices affect the outcome of the story? For example a Jedi knight making evil choices will eventually fall to the dark side or vice versa with a sith.

 

It depends on the class you're playing, their plots were written by different people who put varying levels of effort into the choice and consequence part. The Imperial Agent and Sith Warrior stories are pretty good with regards to that, although they never reach the level of say Witcher 2... and those two classes aren't really all that fun to play solo in my opinion. Like most rpgs you're still going down the same path with slightly different dialogue. You don't swap factions by being a dark jedi or a light sith or anything, but there are references to your alignment (especially in the jedi knight ending) and cutscenes and fights can be different or even skippable depending on choices.

 

The class story is only a fairly small part of the game though. Most of your time will be spent dealing with common quests open to every class in your faction, and those have rather less reactivity.

 

Still, if you want to treat it as a single player game that just happens to have a bunch of other people in it messing with your quests, I'd still consider it worth a try.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Baeus

[Baeus]

Doubleposted for some silly reason.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Baeus

[Humanoid]

There are choices unlike other MMOs, but the consequences are immediate and pretty much just a number in your light/dark meter - e.g. a quest has you deliver an item to NPC A, then NPC B gives you an alternate offer for delivering the same item to him instead. In the 15 levels I've played, none of those decisions came back in any way (no idea if they might later on given I only played for the trial weekend but if feels unlikely). That's about as extreme as the C&C got in my time with it, and they were exceptions - mostly the choices were just Mass Effect-esque nice vs jerk response as you complete the quests.

 

That's not to say it's not a reasonable motivator - as a smuggler the class questline drove the character pretty well with trying to get your ship back and get back at the guy who stole it (who naturally has cutscene immunity every time you encounter him).

 

That said, I also found the combat unsatisfying and generally a chore - mowing down pack after pack of three-to-four generic thugs to get to a generic computer console to click on - repeat ad nauseam. The Gunslinger subclass feels like trying to shoehorn cover-based combat into an engine utterly unsuited to it, and the scoundrel felt like a melee class who only used guns instead of melee weapons because the silly Star Wars setting isn't accommodating to melee classes who aren't force users.

 

Didn't have the energy to try another class during the trial - I made the mistake of spreading my effort back in WoW into sampling basically every class - but if I ever got the full game it'd be with something else that feels less awkward.

[Baeus]

To be fair, the first 15 levels go really fast and don't get you far in the game or story, they're just the prologue, like most MMOs, you get the first 10 levels faster than the last 1. Some of your early choices do come back later though.

 

Agree about the non-force melee classes though. To shoehorn melee and other MMO conventions into the game, they handwave silly stuff like guns that can suddenly only shoot 10 yards when they could shoot 30 with the last attack, or making backhanding someone with your fist somehow do more damage than stabbing them with your lightsaber.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Baeus

[Raithe]

One of the ways they've tried balancing it is giving each class a different form of hm, "energy" or whathave you to actually use their attacks. It does tend to be more mood/atmospheric then really game system difference..

 

Every class has one basic attack that doesn't "cost" anything.

But Jedi Knights and Sith Warriors need to build up "force" by using certain attacks, which then let them use more "impressive" abilities which use up that force.

Sith Inquisitors and Jedi Consulars have a regenerating pool of Force points that get drained by their use.

Bounty Hunters build up "heat" as they use their attacks, and then have to vent it off if it gets too high before they can use abilities again..

Smugglers have an energy pool that gets used up..

 

But I'd certainly say the atmosphere and playstyle of the class stories can feel quite different. Sure the world quests are the same, but the dialogue and style of responses from people during them are toned to recognise the classes and react a wee bit differently. Sith Assassin tends to be dark and surrounded by treachery , not so much happiness and joy... The Smuggler has that general light-hearted swashbuckleryness to it all (and is amazingly flirt-tastic)... The Jedi Knight tries for that ..zen Paladin adventurer approach (but I've only done a little of that storyline so far so I can't really say).. and the Bounty Hunter starts off with a competitive revenge streak going..

[Humanoid]

I have to admit TOR has somewhat of an unfair handicap when I compare it to its competitors in that I actively dislike the Star Wars setting, and issues like the above "lightsabres or bust" approach do nothing to help that perception. In the end, the game would have to end up the best option despite the setting for me to even consider picking it up, and there's no real sign of that happening.

 

Not having fun with my preferred CRPG class equivalent because of the setting's conventions is one of the first nails in the coffin for me, not insurmountable an issue, but then I look at the alternatives - unless I want to play a Jedi/Sith (which I absolutely do not want to do), I don't see anything else worth trying even if the trial weren't time restricted.

 

It's not like I like any of the other attempted MMO settings either - Warcraft, Star Trek, LoTR, Conan - my opinion of them ranges from apathy at best to mild condecension, but it's a handicap nonetheless.

[Baeus]

I will say this though, sometimes we have to blame ourselves when it comes to a lack of C&C. In the beta builds, one of the companions would betray a certain class during their story (gonna be vague here to avoid spoilers). You had the option to get rid of them for that betrayal. Of course, players whined that they were then deprived of that companion's (rather useful) set of abilities. Companions don't play a part in pvp or endgame pve which are the parts where balance is important, but Bioware still gave in to the whining, removed the options to dismiss/kill them and forced us to take said companion back after they've betrayed you to a hated enemy and tried to kill you, even if you're playing the most evil or unforgiving character imaginable.

[Humanoid]

More elegant possibly would be having to choose companions in the first place instead of everyone of a given class getting the identical set of 5 cloned companions. Not a fan of that whole mechanic in general but I can see the design reasoning for it, allows a lot of shortcuts in balancing content. Would I prefer everything be soloable lone wolf style? Sure, but it's a hard thing to do.

[Gfted1]

So are the class stories good enough by themselves to warrant a play through? I'm not interested in raiding or other mmo activities. I just want a good story in the SW universe. Can your choices affect the outcome of the story? For example a Jedi knight making evil choices will eventually fall to the dark side or vice versa with a sith.

 

I played a Sith Inquisitor and it was worth the ride. C & C is pretty much an illusion used to change your physical appearance but you do need to focus on being "evil" or "good" to get the best gear respectively. Theres no way to break the game or affect an outcome as far as I saw. The same companions will join you regardless of your actions or how you treat them specifically. The calss story is "ok" but you will need the grindy parts of an MMO to get to the end.

 

 

Im still pissed off the dark council guy took my kill at the end after I chased that mofo across the universe.

 

[Hurlshort]

I started a new character on an RP-PVP server last night. It was a very active server, with what seems like a good community. It is still too early to tell, but I think this might help me stay more engaged in the game.

 

I do think that buying the game and playing for a month just to experience the story is worth it. I recommend the Sith Inquisitor and the Republican Trooper, myself.

[Raithe]

I just spent the last half hour troubleshooting some troubles my sister was having with the game. So I looked across and asked her "so, I take it you're still enjoying the game?"

 

Her response was to narrow her eyes and bite out "it's like the freaking Tardis! It's sucking my life away because I sit down to play a little and suddenly hours have disapeared"

[Malcador]

Sounds like this is her first MMOG.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Malcador

[Ice9]

C&C doesn't really exist outside of flashpoints, and even within them it is rather limited. Most of the time it is "Okay, i did this thing so I get to skip these enemies and have this different boss fight instead." Otherwise, it is simply go all dark or all light so you can use the higher level items that require a certain dark or light score.

[Hurlshort]

C&C doesn't really exist outside of flashpoints, and even within them it is rather limited. Most of the time it is "Okay, i did this thing so I get to skip these enemies and have this different boss fight instead." Otherwise, it is simply go all dark or all light so you can use the higher level items that require a certain dark or light score.

 

I disagree, C&C makes a huge difference in the personal story that you are going through. It may not be as reactive as a single player game, that is unrealistic, but on a personal level I continue to be impressed at the tough choices my character has to make. Last night I played through the early levels with a Jedi, and decided to not rat out the two Jedi lovers. I was pleased to see that I could even refuse their bribe.

[Emperor's Wrath]

Bioware EA is now using this game to make only money, Bioware used to be very good until EA spread there shadow, this would be there best game yet, not until now, recently an EA Louse member posted this about the game http://www.1up.com/news/ea-louse-blows-lid-old-republic-budget-warhammer-failure, this is why i came here. why not have Obsidian Make the Expensions for Star Wars: The Old Republic so that LucasArts can breake their contract with BiowareEA, they may safe this game from the road it's on now, we all have seen that Obsidian is atleast as good as Bioware in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, hopefully George Lucas will realize this before it is to late. who is with me?!

 

this game had so many potentials, Obsidian may forefill them...

[Gfted1]

^That article is 16 months old.

[Hurlshort]

^and it was written by someone who didn't work at Bioware at any point. It's mostly speculation.

 

The truth is TOR is a very good game. It is light years ahead of what Warhammer Online was when it was released. It also clearly is not going to be one of the greatest failures in MMO history. It remains to be seen what sort of long term success it will find, but it sold fantastic out of the gate and seems to be maintaining a healthy enough player base at this time.

 

I'm very aware of the flaws of TOR, but I played WAR, and that game was a wreck.

[Emperor's Wrath]

i know all this but it seems that EA like Activision is only here fore the Money, Bioware is very good, and still is, but EA is spoiling that, i know this article is old, but it seems that we need a devolper that isn't part of any big money sucking company. so why not have obsidian correct the flaws? *spoiler* they made some grate charcters like Darth Malgus, but they killed him, also they took HK-47 my fav SW charcter ever and have him killed to, and fore some reason Canderous his skull apears in the game with a hole in it, with any background story of his dead, this holes it the plot need to be fixed, am i right?

 

i play TOR and i like it, i don't care what people say about it i'm only afraid for the future, thats all i don't want it to end like WoW (i never played that)

[Calax]

How can you say "I don't want it to end like WoW" when WoW hasn't ended?

 

And MMO costs a lot of time and money and manpower to create and operate. If bioware were to magically hand off the entire thing to another crew, that other crew would be lost on any other project.

 

You do realize that the game takes place like 200 years after KOTOR right?

[Gfted1]

IIRC, HK-47 is in one of the instances and hes hard as hell to kill.