SW: The Old Republic - Episode VI (The Old Menace)

[Raithe]

Heh.

 

So the latest "big" announcement.. is Strongholds. Oh, and Guild Starships. 

 

 

Galactic Strongholds will allow players to live on multiple planets and own multiple Strongholds, which they can customize to express their personal style and use to compete for ranking in the Stronghold directory. Players will also be able to launch Guild Flagships, allowing for team strategizing.

 

The expansion will be available for everyone in August. Players who subscribe to the game by May 11 will receive early access on June 24, along with a Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace with three unlocked rooms. Preferred Status Players gain early access on July 29.

In celebration of the expansion, subscribers as of April 2 will receive 500 bonus Cartel Coins and all subscribers as of May 4 will receive 1,000 bonus Cartel Coins.

[Hassat Hunter]

I say "meh"... but apparently the entire community is riled up about it. What's wrong with the ship? Why not allow us to swap/modify/upgrade that instead?
You probably use it more than some home on some planet.

 

Oh well, more wasted fluff than thought out stuff, just like the MMO-crowd likes it apparently, until they start complaining and wanting more.

 

Atleast it has legacy guildbanks, only good it seems to do.

[Spider]

The expansion also includes NiM mode for Dread Palace, so there'll be something for the more casual crowd (the people that spends money in the cartel market) as well as something for the more hardcore.

 

For the inbetweeners, I suppose we'll have to wait and see. They should implement quests for trophies and such (like the seeker droid quest line), but if they've thought of that remains to be seen I suppose.

 

I would also have liked customizable ships better, but it could be an engine limitation with how those areas are initially designed. But we'll see. For player housing to be useful as a resting point, it really needs a priority travel terminal.

 

I do look forward to see what they're doing with the guild capital ships though.

[Gromnir]

 For player housing to be useful as a resting point, it really needs a priority travel terminal.

 

 

 

for Gromnir, priority travel would be having far less significance than possible access to fleet gen chat-- perhaps this issue has already been addressed, but we only saw little swtor trailer and not the more detailed info drops at various fan sites. also, our biggest questions is regarding legacy bank. with exception o' bank, strongholds appear to be little more than an additional cartel coin sink.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Raithe]

It's one of those things that appeals to a certain aspect of the mmo crowd.

 

Personal "House". That you can decorate. That you can spend in-game credits on finding stuff for, that you can have yet another reason to run flashpoints/ops for so that drops happen, that you can get crafting schematics to churn out décor for your personal interior design style....

 

I'm with the crowd that would say it would have made more sense to provide some ability to make your starship more personalised rather then some completely new area.. but ah well.

[Spider]

It's definitely a cc/credit sink, but the game does need more credit sinks.

 

As for fleet general chat, I didn't think of that, mostly because I rarely care. I meant to replace the personal ship for me.

[Hassat Hunter]

I care most about operations...

 

But that means hanging around on the fleet. Yeah, no... then I can play some other game.

 

Would be great if they solved that, but I don't see it happen anytime soon...

[Gorth]

The main reason for hanging out on my ship is to avoid general chat on fleet... Not sure I would set up shop in a house anywhere (who am I kidding, my curiosity will compel me to try it on at least one character).

 

Legacy guild bank... now we are talking. That alone would be worth an expansion for me (playing waaay too many characters).

 

Had a fun Athiss HM run on my Sith Warrior (DPS Juggernaut) a few days ago. Tank was an **** with no intention of doing the FP and thought wasting other peoples time a perfectly good idea, so after less than 60 seconds he told us, "btw. I have to do our regularly scheduled guild ops, kthxbye" and quit (idiot could just have hit decline and left us in the queue until getting a guy who intended to actually participate). After waiting for more than an hour in the queue, none of us were particularly impressed with that guys lack of decency. So, passing the next 5 minutes with killing a few trash mobs (and anger management), the other 2 guys (both operatives) decided we could do this 3 man. 1 of them had a well geared Treek and I switched to Soresu stance and grabbed the shield I had in my inventory (didn't have a complete tank gear, only just started collecting).

 

We wiped once against beast of Vodal (because we forgot the little furball would taunt the beast away, halfway towards the cave) and twice against the end boss, because treek and one of the operatives managed to get caught by the pillars of flame early on. Apart from that, it went smoothly. Me doing the bulk of the tanking (in dps specs and mostly dps gear) and treek doing off tanking, off healing). Was quite an interesting experience in hindsight. Even if I thought they were a bit crazy to suggest such a thing in the beginning

 

My sorcerer turned 55 and my Jedi shadow tank is now level 47. I figured I would get him leveled up to 55 over the weekend if possible and become the 7th one, leaving me with a jedi knight to do (for completions sake). Also managed to catch up on the class stories for some of those old toons that have been way over leveled for their place in the story line(s)

[Gorth]

I'm such a consumer!...

 

Bought the Collectors Edition Boxed Set on amazon. In a few weeks time, I should have my own little Darth Malgus status

[Janmanden]

I guess I am too, but in a different way. I consumed all classes in one breathtaking moment, lasting three months, six months ago - I got big lungs - and as soon as all life had been completely consumed, I sat and shat and cancelled my subscription and I haven't touched it since. What's left are just snacks and I am on a diet.. besides I am slightly behind on my work schedule and it was driving my wife crazy too.

[Gorth]

Poor wife

 

Package arrived, I got my little Darth Malgus effigy.

 

Getting close to finish the 8th and last class story (jedi warrior, currently halfway through Voss).

 

I must say, not all class stories were created equal and companions vary wildly in quality. If "Doc" is what is offered the female half of the population, I could understand if they left in protest.

 

Only real gripe with the Jedi experience to far though is Lord Scourge. Not so much the character concept or integration into class story (Gault still takes rock bottom place there), but the casting of the voice actor. Here is this 300+ year old expression of the emperors "justice" (his executioner), supposedly an imposing and menacing character... and he sounds like an insecure 17 your old straining his voice trying to sound like a mature 25 year old. Utterly and completely wrong voice for the role, they needed somebody with a commanding and "authoritative" voice.

[NOK222]

He is pretty soft spoken. I wouldn't want him being too "edgy and angry" though. 

 

We all know Skadge is the best companion. 

Edited April 16, 2014 by NKKKK

[Gorth]

I'm sure Christopher Lee would have been a better fit

[213374U]

Poor wife

 

Package arrived, I got my little Darth Malgus effigy.

 

Getting close to finish the 8th and last class story (jedi warrior, currently halfway through Voss).

 

I must say, not all class stories were created equal and companions vary wildly in quality. If "Doc" is what is offered the female half of the population, I could understand if they left in protest.

 

Only real gripe with the Jedi experience to far though is Lord Scourge. Not so much the character concept or integration into class story (Gault still takes rock bottom place there), but the casting of the voice actor. Here is this 300+ year old expression of the emperors "justice" (his executioner), supposedly an imposing and menacing character... and he sounds like an insecure 17 your old straining his voice trying to sound like a mature 25 year old. Utterly and completely wrong voice for the role, they needed somebody with a commanding and "authoritative" voice.

 

Wow, that's some stamina you have. I couldn't bring myself to go through the planetary chains more than twice per side.

 

As for Scourge, my opinion is the exact opposite, heh. I hated the character concept and integration (the mother****ing Emperor's Wrath? Sure, let him tag along, what could ever go wrong?), but I didn't feel the voice was a problem. Out of place at first, maybe, but not every Sith Lord needs to be Malgus. Some of my favorite Sith characters in TOR are Darth Jadus and Darth Gravus, arguably because of the voice direction too...

 

And Gault was awesome.

Edited April 17, 2014 by 213374U

[Hassat Hunter]

And Gault was awesome.

You mean the guy you were tasked to kill on Tatooine, who was really made up to be super-loathed, and then suddenly was FORCED to join your party in what must be the worst writing in any RPG to date (of which there are a lot of examples, so it was a very big feat).

 

I hope the means you're joking...

[213374U]

Oh, sure. The way he was forced down your throat was terrible. But by that point I was kinda used to the game doing that sort of thing. I just love his interjections and ship dialogue.

[Gorth]

Yeah, I didn't really mind Gault's personality, it was the way you got stuck with him that made me want to shove him out the airlock (together with Doc and Kaliyo). At least Skadge is just boring. My bounty hunter mostly use Mako and Blizz (when respecced and geared for dps) anyway.

[ShadySands]

Producer Letter – Galactic Strongholds

 

Hi everyone!

For the past year, we've made it our goal to share updates and information on what’s happening in the studio and our upcoming plans for the game. We got the message that you appreciate transparency and want to know what we are working on. With that in mind, we wanted to share a change in plans to our most recently announced digital expansion, Galactic Strongholds.

We have been listening to what you, our players, were hoping to see from the Galactic Strongholds expansion. When playing early builds of Galactic Strongholds it became that clear that our June Early Access date was simply not enough. For this to truly feel like an expansion, it needs to include the full set of features, including those originally coming later in the year. So what does this mean? We are moving the start date for Subscriber Early Access from June 24th to August 19th in order to deliver to you the most features at the highest level of quality. The result will be a far more compelling experience, including additional features such as the ability to place your vehicles and pets in your Stronghold and for Guilds to conquer planets . To conquer a planet, Guilds must complete weekly Conquest events earning points to place at the top of the Guild Leaderboards. Conquering a planet gives the Guild special perks and rewards. This means that Subscribers will be the first to play the full slate of expansion features (everything!) at the start of Subscriber Early Access, a month before everyone else.

This additional time allows us to add:

Conquest Events: use the power of your Stronghold to dominate these events and earn rewards
Guild Flagships will now offer expanded functionality for Guilds:
Provide powerful buffs to Guild members from orbit
Transport entire groups to your personal coordinates instantaneously
Compete in Conquest Events to conquer entire planets
New Stronghold: Tatooine Homestead
Vehicles, Mounts, Pets, and Companion Characters can be placed as decorations in Strongholds
Combine that with the original feature list…

3 unique Player Strongholds, one on each Capital World plus the Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace
2 faction-specific Guild Flagships (Valor-class Cruiser for the Republic and Harrower-class Dreadnaught for the Empire)
Legacy Stronghold Storage
Ability to gain Prestige tracked on Prestige Leaderboards
Hundreds of Decorations to discover and collect
…and the result is an expansion that’s worth waiting for!

The additional features and time shift means some adjustments in other parts of our plan:

May 4th remains the Subscriber deadline for Bonus Cartel Coins Grant to the sweet tune of 1000 Cartel Coins!

May 11th is no longer the deadline for Strongholds Early Access rewards but as a thank you to all of our Subscribers as of this date, we are giving you the following rewards:

Exclusive Subteroth minipet (delivered in Update 2.7.2)
Two Character Titles “The Intrepid” (delivered in Update 2.7.2) and “The Illustrious” (delivered in Game Update 2.9)
A sprawling Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace with five additional rooms unlocked
Stronghold Name "Galactic Stronghold"
July 15th is our new deadline for Subscriber Rewards for Early Access, and you must be a Subscriber by this date to claim the Subscriber Early Access Rewards:

The luxurious Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace with three additional rooms unlocked
Stronghold Name "Galactic Stronghold"
Character Title "The Illustrious" (delivered in Game Update 2.9)
August 19th is Game Update 2.9: Galactic Strongholds Digital Expansion Subscriber Early Access!

Preferred Early Access and the Official Launch will follow in September and October. Be sure to visit www.swtor.com/galactic-strongholds for more specific dates and details.

Our goal is to keep you informed, so stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for an update on the summer roadmap, including Game Update 2.8. For all of us working on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, we appreciate your support. We’re extremely excited about Galactic Strongholds and can’t wait to share it with you. Keep the feedback coming! See you in-game!

Bruce Maclean
Senior Producer

 

[Gorth]

Nice (I don't mind waiting a few more months)

 

The planetary conquest things sounds suspiciously like the game mechanic of the Realm vs. Realm fight in Warhammer Online.

[Hassat Hunter]

Thing still sounds super-meh to me... "Housing... yay!"

Ehm, yeah... I already got that, it's called my spaceship. Next x-pack please?

 

Seriously the only thing is legacy storage... and too bored with TOR now to get exited over that...

[Gorth]

Thing still sounds super-meh to me... "Housing... yay!"

Ehm, yeah... I already got that, it's called my spaceship. Next x-pack please?

 

Seriously the only thing is legacy storage... and too bored with TOR now to get exited over that...

 

With 16+ toons, legacy storage is one of those things I've been pining for since... well, since I created my second toon I suppose

 

Now if they could just get rid of unmoddable armour (lots of cool looking stuff gets sold to stim vendor because it's outdated pretty fast) and stuff that is bound on pickup (make stuff bound to legacy instead), I could save a gazillion credits by not having to use legacy armour/guns to ship stuff around between toons.

[Gromnir]

 

Thing still sounds super-meh to me... "Housing... yay!"

Ehm, yeah... I already got that, it's called my spaceship. Next x-pack please?

 

Seriously the only thing is legacy storage... and too bored with TOR now to get exited over that...

 

With 16+ toons, legacy storage is one of those things I've been pining for since... well, since I created my second toon I suppose

 

Now if they could just get rid of unmoddable armour (lots of cool looking stuff gets sold to stim vendor because it's outdated pretty fast) and stuff that is bound on pickup (make stuff bound to legacy instead), I could save a gazillion credits by not having to use legacy armour/guns to ship stuff around between toons.

 

we played wildstar over the weekend-- free beta. as fun as the game were (despite being buggy as louisiana swamp in august) am thinking that the thing that bothered us most were the lack of easily moddable gear such as swtor orange shells. is amazing that something that doesn't impact gameplay in any genuine fashion (pun intended) would be something that would disturb us. am recognizing that wildstar has some kinda "costume" feature, but it is far less user-friendly than swtor moddable shells.

 

having to pay 3 gold to join a 5-man heroic were also kinda disturbing. took us 2 days o gameplay to get 8 gold total, and we needs to use 3 to do a mission that might end in complete failure?  

 

still, am seriously considering taking a closer look at wildstar.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Spider]

Nice (I don't mind waiting a few more months)

 

The planetary conquest things sounds suspiciously like the game mechanic of the Realm vs. Realm fight in Warhammer Online.

 

The planetary conquests are all done in PvE quests, so no fighting other players involved. They've been a bit vague about it, but I think guilds rack up points for doing quests and at some point the guild with the most points get control (and bonuses and stuff).

[Gorth]

Ah, so more like a reputation thing?

 

Has anyone tried the server character transfer recently? Just curious if it works better than when it was introduced, when all apac customers got screwed over royally in more ways than one (not just Bioware ninjaing/hijacking all player names for their testing and not selling for hard cash releasing until a year later, but also completely messed up achievements etc.).

 

Got 2 level 55 characters I would like to transfer to Harbinger, but still a bit apprehensive after those 2nd degree burns from the first involuntary experience.

 

Finished leveling op my operative healer "girl". Agent story was fun enough to play a second time. Leveling up a healer as a healer spec is bloody hard work. Hats off to those who have more than one of those for their persistence. I sure missed the resilience of my tank characters and the damage dealing of the rest. Companion AI is just not good enough to make relying on them a fun experience. They (companions) *seriously* need something you can chose to make them avoid circles on ground and leave stunned/cc'ed opponents as their least preferred target in their target priority list (rather than the preferred target).

 

Speaking of companions and targets... an option where you can disable Ashara and Nadias tendency to suddenly run off half the map length and charge a peaceful mob half a kilometer away and then refuse to leave combat (because you can't select passive when they have run away from you) is a bit annoying.

 

Ah well, my assassin is now level 49 and almost halfway through Corellia. I did sort of enjoy the Inquisitor story quite a bit the second time through too. Jedi Consular is probably the only story I truly dread having to do a second time.

 

@Gromnir: I've heard some of the guys mentioning Wildstar in passing in chat (and ESO), but never really knew what it was. Went to their website now and checked out a bit of info and the trailer. I liked the visual style very much, but I guess I would have to follow it a lot more closely to have the faintest clue how the game plays mechanically.

[Gromnir]

 

 

@Gromnir: I've heard some of the guys mentioning Wildstar in passing in chat (and ESO), but never really knew what it was. Went to their website now and checked out a bit of info and the trailer. I liked the visual style very much, but I guess I would have to follow it a lot more closely to have the faintest clue how the game plays mechanically.

due to some nerve damage, Gromnir has extreme limited use of his left hand.  this is why we avoids capitalization in most posts. as such we were very much concerned that without the auto-targeting feature available in games such as swtor, we would be unable to play wildstar. our fears were largely unnecessary as combat, as 'posed to the rest o' the game, is relative intuitive and streamlined. there is movement controls that require some familiarization, but wildstar limits players to using a max 8 abilities at any given time.  the intention behind this being the rather naive hope that more plausible/viable builds will be available for each class.  from a practical pov, we foresee no real change from any game wherein a Best build is discovered and exploited by most players... the only difference with wildstar is that in every Raid a small number o' folks will be asked to embrace non-optimal support builds to helps better buff everybody around them. 

 

in any event, we played the open beta weekend with a rather vanilla dps warrior. we only played it to level 17, but it played similar enough to our dps guardian/juggernaut characters from swtor. we joined a single 5-man group instance. according to the rankings displayed at the end, we were second best dps and 1st best survivability in spite o' the fact that we were literally disabled, had no idea what we were doing, and were the lowest level character in the group. 

 

if there is another free weekend before launch in june, we would recommend. alternative: if we does subscribe (unlikely at this point) we will pm you to get you a free week invite. subscribers get 3 guest passes.

 

HA! Good Fun!