SW: The Old Republic Part 4

[Cantousent]

I never got the email from Spider about the trial, but I gathered that it wouldn't do much to help him anyway and he just genuinely seemed to want folks to try it, so I figured I wouldn't bother him with it again and instead I'm just downloading the trial version from their webpage. I don't know if I'll end up purchasing it or not, but I can play until level 15, so there really appear to be any reason not to give it a shot. If I don't feel the game by then, it's not my cuppa jo anyway.

[Raithe]

The friends trial only gives you a bonus if they then actually take a subscription. And then it's pretty much a fancy speeder.

[Bokishi]

I think it's cool to go back now, I mean I see correllian run is consistently heavy populated

[Calax]

They went through a string of server consolidations and free transfers with Corellian Run being A destination

[Cantousent]

I went through the initial movie and both the dark and light sides. I will observe a few things. First of all, the graphics aren't bad for an MMORPG. I thought the videos looked good and, even though I've always been impressed by the Blizzard attention to polish, I was quite happy with the production quality. Very well done for all three, although I thought that the dark side was a bit monotone. Even so, both the light side and dark side videos did show how non-force users are useful in combat. There won't be any of this idea of standing around as a non jedi or sith while things happen around you. I started both a Republican trooper and the Imperial agent.

 

It's standard MMORPG fare in terms of fighting. As a Havoc soldier, I pretty much wasted everything in my path. I had a couple of BoE items that didn't seem all that impressive, but they were also no more than level 2 anyway. I don't remember seeing any level requirements at all, to be honest, but I'll admit I wasn't looking. I'm one of those overgrown teenagers in that I play females because I would rather look at a female backside than a male for the entire time I play. In that regard, although she was a bit disproportionate, I was satisfied with the toon. It played smoothly and I did see a number of noobs running around like me, shooting at stuff and gathering loot. I was able to run off without training mobs on other players, and there were other players for both the light and dark sides when I played. All good. As the Imperial agent, I only had time to get the first quest and two optional quests. Still, I thought the voice over work sufficed. The contact for the Imperials didn't seem nearly as bad as that wet noodle Lt. on the Republic side, but more on that below. I chose a lighter female build for the Imperial, and her proportions were more 'normal,' although I did rather like the Republican. What can I say, I like big butts and I cannot lie.

 

Here's probably my only real complaint: I played a human female regular grunt and I would have been scared ****less the first time the Lt. opened his mouth and convinced me he was an idiot. He wouldn't have put up with the crap my toon could spew. Nevertheless, I think that's probably true of the other MMORPG games I've played, but it was still jarring. Anyhow, not a big deal.

 

My gut instinct is that I won't continue playing after the trial period, but I was surprisingly impressed by what I played. I think the videos really did get me in the mood to play. I'm not a dark side sort of guy, but I'm going to do a couple of levels as both the Sith Agent and the Republic commando just to get a feel. If it continues to impress, then I'll think about putting in payment info and starting a real account.

[Calax]

I went through the initial movie and both the dark and light sides. I will observe a few things. First of all, the graphics aren't bad for an MMORPG. I thought the videos looked good and, even though I've always been impressed by the Blizzard attention to polish, I was quite happy with the production quality. Very well done for all three, although I thought that the dark side was a bit monotone. Even so, both the light side and dark side videos did show how non-force users are useful in combat. There won't be any of this idea of standing around as a non jedi or sith while things happen around you. I started both a Republican trooper and the Imperial agent.

 

It's standard MMORPG fare in terms of fighting. As a Havoc soldier, I pretty much wasted everything in my path. I had a couple of BoE items that didn't seem all that impressive, but they were also no more than level 2 anyway. I don't remember seeing any level requirements at all, to be honest, but I'll admit I wasn't looking. I'm one of those overgrown teenagers in that I play females because I would rather look at a female backside than a male for the entire time I play. In that regard, although she was a bit disproportionate, I was satisfied with the toon. It played smoothly and I did see a number of noobs running around like me, shooting at stuff and gathering loot. I was able to run off without training mobs on other players, and there were other players for both the light and dark sides when I played. All good. As the Imperial agent, I only had time to get the first quest and two optional quests. Still, I thought the voice over work sufficed. The contact for the Imperials didn't seem nearly as bad as that wet noodle Lt. on the Republic side, but more on that below. I chose a lighter female build for the Imperial, and her proportions were more 'normal,' although I did rather like the Republican. What can I say, I like big butts and I cannot lie.

 

Here's probably my only real complaint: I played a human female regular grunt and I would have been scared ****less the first time the Lt. opened his mouth and convinced me he was an idiot. He wouldn't have put up with the crap my toon could spew. Nevertheless, I think that's probably true of the other MMORPG games I've played, but it was still jarring. Anyhow, not a big deal.

 

My gut instinct is that I won't continue playing after the trial period, but I was surprisingly impressed by what I played. I think the videos really did get me in the mood to play. I'm not a dark side sort of guy, but I'm going to do a couple of levels as both the Sith Agent and the Republic commando just to get a feel. If it continues to impress, then I'll think about putting in payment info and starting a real account.

 

Up until about level 25-30 almost everything will be a breeze. After that point, things start to become much rougher to play. Personally, one of the funner experiances has been a Sith Sorcerer because you have your tanking companion from the get go, and have all the delight of Sith Politics (although it does start to slow down later).

 

Consular is also good, but is a TERRIBLE story for act 1.

[Nepenthe]

Up until about level 25-30 almost everything will be a breeze. After that point, things start to become much rougher to play. Personally, one of the funner experiances has been a Sith Sorcerer because you have your tanking companion from the get go, and have all the delight of Sith Politics (although it does start to slow down later).

 

Consular is also good, but is a TERRIBLE story for act 1.

Eh, couldn't disagree more. I've made it to lvl 40 (ok, granted, just the one char - secondary parenthesis, I refuse to subscribe to wow neologisms and call them anything else ) and I haven't noticed a change in the difficulty of the game. There have been occasional difficulty bumps, in class quests of all things, but general gameplay has been pretty smooth. I keep a constant 3-4 levels over the recommended, though.

[Malcador]

In a way I regret over-leveling zones. Facerolling through some zones was rather boring - except for Quesh, silly zone.

[Humanoid]

As a scoundrel, all I remember was being steamrollered by elites whether at level 1 or at level 40, so I can't say the difficulty changed any. If I changed from my tank companion, elites were flat out unbeatable - and yes, I tried both the burst damage ASAP and the spam heal companion (with zero points in any healing skills) methods. Was neither overlevelled or underlevelled for the most part, though probably undergeared as my WoW mentality told me to ignore wasting time with gear management until the level cap. Went double for companion gear - the only gear they got was when all the rewards for a given quest were restricted to companion use only.

 

I think beating the guy to get my ship back at level 15 took 15+ tries....

 

 

EDIT: Only after reading the above discussion on the cinematics do I realise: the guy on the box cover is the guy who dies in the intro? Huh?

Edited August 13, 2012 by Humanoid

[Calax]

Up until about level 25-30 almost everything will be a breeze. After that point, things start to become much rougher to play. Personally, one of the funner experiances has been a Sith Sorcerer because you have your tanking companion from the get go, and have all the delight of Sith Politics (although it does start to slow down later).

 

Consular is also good, but is a TERRIBLE story for act 1.

Eh, couldn't disagree more. I've made it to lvl 40 (ok, granted, just the one char - secondary parenthesis, I refuse to subscribe to wow neologisms and call them anything else ) and I haven't noticed a change in the difficulty of the game. There have been occasional difficulty bumps, in class quests of all things, but general gameplay has been pretty smooth. I keep a constant 3-4 levels over the recommended, though.

Well. I was thinking more in terms of the fact that mob density and strong/elite mobs show up a lot more once you're past those first few planets. On the intro, capital and first two act 1 planets, usually you can just jump in to your opponents and throw out your one AOE attack and kill them. Later you need an attack pattern and to ensure that your underlings are geared enough to do damage (same with your own gear)

[Calax]

Just gonna say this. Aesthetically, I'd have probably swapped Taris and Corellia. Or at least given Taris the feel of Corellia based on the fact that Taris was supposed to be a city-world that rose wayyy up into the sky before Malak said "HAI GUISE!" Corellia was sort of "Space Earth" in terms of how it's been described in the rest of the EU, but it feels like a warhammer hiveworld that's in a civil war.

[Nepenthe]

Well. I was thinking more in terms of the fact that mob density and strong/elite mobs show up a lot more once you're past those first few planets. On the intro, capital and first two act 1 planets, usually you can just jump in to your opponents and throw out your one AOE attack and kill them. Later you need an attack pattern and to ensure that your underlings are geared enough to do damage (same with your own gear)

Oh, ok, I see your point. Happily working artifice towards 400 has pretty much kept my knight and kira well-geared so far.

[Cantousent]

I've tried the smuggler/scoundrel, bounty hunter, and Jedi Consular classes. The game really isn't half bad, and I still intend to get someone to level 10, but right now I can't help but fell like it's the same ol' grind I've found in other MMORPGs. Frankly, although I've spent the most time grinding WoW, my favorite of the MMORPGs is probably City of Heroes. It was great fun and the players tended to be friendlier. Still, I'm going to play up to level 10 somewhere along the line to give the game a fair shake. I can definitely see why a hard core Star Wars fan would love the game. No way in hell would I say that anything reaches the level of either KotOR game in terms of fun factor or story. On the other hand, I never expected an online grinder would compete on the same playing field. The cinematics are pretty damned good, though.

[Calax]

I've tried the smuggler/scoundrel, bounty hunter, and Jedi Consular classes. The game really isn't half bad, and I still intend to get someone to level 10, but right now I can't help but fell like it's the same ol' grind I've found in other MMORPGs. Frankly, although I've spent the most time grinding WoW, my favorite of the MMORPGs is probably City of Heroes. It was great fun and the players tended to be friendlier. Still, I'm going to play up to level 10 somewhere along the line to give the game a fair shake. I can definitely see why a hard core Star Wars fan would love the game. No way in hell would I say that anything reaches the level of either KotOR game in terms of fun factor or story. On the other hand, I never expected an online grinder would compete on the same playing field. The cinematics are pretty damned good, though.

 

The game doesn't really open up until you're about 16 or so (end of your capital planet) as that's when they unleash you on the Galaxy. At 10 is also when your gameplay starts to adjust because you get your talents and advanced class.

[Cantousent]

Okay, Cal, I'll give it to level 16 then. Any suggestions on the class I should play to level 16 considering I'm a boring light side sort of guy who's open to any of the classes? I mean, if the dark side character is cool enough, I might enjoy it, but I tend to prefer being light side. I did notice very early with the... agent, think? I got light side points.

[Calax]

You can do light/dark with either side (empire or Republic).

 

Personally, I'm a melee kinda guy so I've been sticking to Jedi Knight/Sith Warrior as my highest characters, but a Sith Inquisitor>Sorc is a really good combo to bum rush because you get your tank minion right off the bat.

[Raithe]

Dark side does have some fun options at times, but there can be a few "stupid evil" routes. Even with my Sith Warrior who I intend to push Dark gets a bunch of light options because they make more sense (in-game, as it were) for some long term goals or if you're actually wanting the best results for the Empire...

 

Still getting into chapter 2 with my Sith Warrior, but I have to agree with Calax that it has some damn good writing. Moved my Bounty Hunter along to Voss now, and having a pause with my Jedi Knight since I don't want to run Republic Belsavis so soon after having done it on the Imperial side with my BH.

Still using my Sith Inquisitor and Smuggler now and then to run dailies and crew missions to gather and craft. Plus the odd spot of high level pvp'ing...

 

The Smuggler storyline has a fairly good feel through the Prologue and Chapter 1 - big emotional payoff when you get your ship, and then later when you manage to deal with the guy who stole it. The Jedi Knight is a big.. wandering over the place. Doesn't quite have the same coherent feel as a lot of the other class storylines.

The Bounty Hunter starts with a mix of competition and vengeance at the start, moves onto "proving yourself" to the big boys, and then seems to slide into some pseudo-conspiracy/hunted thriller for chapter 3.

I think I have to say the SI and SW have the most enjoyable storylines so far, although I was a little disapointed with the Inquisitor in how unsubtle and non-political / manipulative you got to be. Still, the Inquisitor's attempts to undermine a cult and then grow your own on Nar Shaddaa was certainly interesting.

[Nepenthe]

... Meanwhile, I hit level 41 with my main.

 

Planning on finishing the storyline with it (I'll probably hit 50 a lot before that), and then alternating between my inquisitor (probably gonna go tank assassin) and some light endgame stuff. Republic Act 2 has been mostly fun so far, but Hoth does have a slight look of probably being overlong (again).

[Calax]

Dark side does have some fun options at times, but there can be a few "stupid evil" routes. Even with my Sith Warrior who I intend to push Dark gets a bunch of light options because they make more sense (in-game, as it were) for some long term goals or if you're actually wanting the best results for the Empire...

 

Still getting into chapter 2 with my Sith Warrior, but I have to agree with Calax that it has some damn good writing. Moved my Bounty Hunter along to Voss now, and having a pause with my Jedi Knight since I don't want to run Republic Belsavis so soon after having done it on the Imperial side with my BH.

Still using my Sith Inquisitor and Smuggler now and then to run dailies and crew missions to gather and craft. Plus the odd spot of high level pvp'ing...

 

The Smuggler storyline has a fairly good feel through the Prologue and Chapter 1 - big emotional payoff when you get your ship, and then later when you manage to deal with the guy who stole it. The Jedi Knight is a big.. wandering over the place. Doesn't quite have the same coherent feel as a lot of the other class storylines.

The Bounty Hunter starts with a mix of competition and vengeance at the start, moves onto "proving yourself" to the big boys, and then seems to slide into some pseudo-conspiracy/hunted thriller for chapter 3.

I think I have to say the SI and SW have the most enjoyable storylines so far, although I was a little disapointed with the Inquisitor in how unsubtle and non-political / manipulative you got to be. Still, the Inquisitor's attempts to undermine a cult and then grow your own on Nar Shaddaa was certainly interesting.

 

Its been strange to me that the Warrior story line feels more politicky and backstabby than the Inquisitor storyline. And I am laughing at the number of times my trooper is supposed to "sneak" around places.

[Raithe]

Its been strange to me that the Warrior story line feels more politicky and backstabby than the Inquisitor storyline. And I am laughing at the number of times my trooper is supposed to "sneak" around places.

 

The Inquisitor seems to fall more into the betrayal/treacherous nature of the Sith, and the Apprentice/Master relationship. Although it tends to slide more into the fallout of those events more then the actual elements themselves.

 

With the Sith Warrior, it certainly turns more towards the "grand orchestration" of plans. Darth Baras' whole "super spy network" does feel like something you'd expect from an Inquisitor more, but I can see how a Warrior can turn towards that. More the working precisely and taking out vital support points rather then just thundering around wildly and causing mass destruction.

 

Edit: Well, to be fair, the Trooper is meant to be special forces type, and thus sneaking isn't quite so out of character.

Edited August 14, 2012 by Raithe

[Calax]

Its been strange to me that the Warrior story line feels more politicky and backstabby than the Inquisitor storyline. And I am laughing at the number of times my trooper is supposed to "sneak" around places.

 

The Inquisitor seems to fall more into the betrayal/treacherous nature of the Sith, and the Apprentice/Master relationship. Although it tends to slide more into the fallout of those events more then the actual elements themselves.

 

With the Sith Warrior, it certainly turns more towards the "grand orchestration" of plans. Darth Baras' whole "super spy network" does feel like something you'd expect from an Inquisitor more, but I can see how a Warrior can turn towards that. More the working precisely and taking out vital support points rather then just thundering around wildly and causing mass destruction.

See... that's the thing though, the archtypes are flipped. It should be the Inquisitor that does the surgical and intelligence strikes to wipe out the opponents (both internal and external) with their master teaching them about the ways of the force, while the warrior should be leading the fights with as much brutality and bullheaded-ness as possible.

 

As to the trooper, he may be spec-ops but "sneaking" doesn't exactly work when his armor is built around the clone trooper/storm trooper image and is all shiny and white. Again, it's kind of a thematic thing, but the trooper strikes me as the type that never goes and hacks points to gain entry to a hotel... instead he makes his way to the roof, repells down the wall and smashes through the window guns blazing. Although IMO he does have by FAAAAR the best companion (who you get on Nar Shadda) in Fourex. It's a droid who you get on Nar Shadda

 

Him being hilarious!

[Raithe]

]See... that's the thing though, the archtypes are flipped. It should be the Inquisitor that does the surgical and intelligence strikes to wipe out the opponents (both internal and external) with their master teaching them about the ways of the force, while the warrior should be leading the fights with as much brutality and bullheaded-ness as possible.

 

That I can certainly agree with to a certain level. Although the Inquisitor tries to push some of the more "force secrets / mysticism" elements as behind the betrayals and wotnot. But yes, it does feel like the expected themes have been switched between the two.

 

Either way, they still seem to come across as some of the better written - at least in regards to coherency between prologue and three chapters.

[Calax]

]See... that's the thing though, the archtypes are flipped. It should be the Inquisitor that does the surgical and intelligence strikes to wipe out the opponents (both internal and external) with their master teaching them about the ways of the force, while the warrior should be leading the fights with as much brutality and bullheaded-ness as possible.

 

That I can certainly agree with to a certain level. Although the Inquisitor tries to push some of the more "force secrets / mysticism" elements as behind the betrayals and wotnot. But yes, it does feel like the expected themes have been switched between the two.

 

Either way, they still seem to come across as some of the better written - at least in regards to coherency between prologue and three chapters.

True that. They're the only two I've gotten to act two on, but the Consular is probably the least impressive segeway between prologue and act 1. Oh Noes! fallen Jedi! *Redeems* Oh Noes! Master is sick! *cured* Oh Noes! Political unrest and missing te-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz *solved and found*

[Raithe]

The Smuggler has a good Prologue and Chapter 1, they tie together nicely and hit the theme of rogue and pushes the emotional buttons. Chapter 2 isn't quite as connected but is fairly decent, but Chapter 3 certainly looses it's way.

 

The Bounty Hunter is again, very three seperate parts. Prologue and Chapter 1 being that combination of vengeance-seeking and competion for the Grand Hunt. Then Chapters 2 and 3 take swerves away. Both work, but they don't really feel as connected or hung-together.

 

The Jedi Knight actually seems to connect Chapter 2 and 3 together fairly well, but Chapter 1 is very much a collection of random "find and deal with x on planet y".

[Nepenthe]

The Jedi Knight actually seems to connect Chapter 2 and 3 together fairly well, but Chapter 1 is very much a collection of random "find and deal with x on planet y".

Obviously not at 3 yet, but 2 has been less of a slog than 1... And then I got to Hoth!

 

Well, at least the event's on so I have something to break the monotony.