SW: The Old Republic - Episode VII (J.J. Strikes Back)

[Gorth]

I only ever played one match in GSF (when it was early release for subs)

 

On the other hand, my win/loss record is 100% wins

 

It looks like a slick, polished mini game and I think I actually wanted to like it, despite not being X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter. Based on the their pvp track record, I just didn't believe they could balance it properly to make it fun for all participants. Main joy killer though was the lack of joystick support.

 

Only thing I've done with it since release is using the tutorial as an instant pvp flag removal (when you can't be bothered to wait the 5 minutes)

[majestic]

GSF balance is pretty good. Off here and there maybe, espeially for the Strike Fighter class which only has one viable ship, and that one is a supporter that intentionally sacrifices offensive power for buffs and repairs where the otherwise sub-par combat performance doesn't matter that much - but for a multiplayer PVP game with different classes of ships it works surprisingly well.

 

That's probably because the last thing they have done was toning down the minelayer bomber a year ago, which it sorely needed. Can't break anything if you don't change anything. People still complain in droves about certain things but that is business as usual. Most can't cope with sucking, they sort of expect to be on somewhat equal footing with player who already played thousands of matches, but it really doesn't work that way. Nothing else in SW:TOR prepares you for GSF and the tutorial is somewhat lacking.

 

The biggest problem it has right now is the terrifying skill delta between veterans, newbies and people who will never be good at a gaming mode that requires manual aiming, orientation in three dimensions and has no artifical lock to 40 actions per minute (also known as the 1.5 seconds global cooldown), but that's not something Bioware can fix, at least not without adding cross-server queues which the engine probably can't handle. The difference between players is so huge that a single ace or two can win the game for their team. I even had my very own hate thread growing out of a goodbye message of a player on my server on the German SW:TOR GSF board. It eventually turned into the second longest thread on the forum. /brag

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzq9epS2b1A

 

I look at that and just get pissed off we didn't get KOTOR 3...

 

Avellone as lead of KOTOR3 after leaving Obsidan? They're resurrecting Battlefront so I don't see why they wouldn't bring back another wildly popular franchise.

 

Because KOTOR is Legend material and no new material for that old continuity is going to be produced. Expansions for TOR seem to be the only exception.

 

Battlefront doesn't have the same issue.

 

But if TOR draws upon the same material as KOTOR, wouldn't that not be an issue? I could see them re-branding it, perhaps Old Republic Knights or something, but a multiplatform Star Wars RPG in the vein of Dragon Age seems like it could be a big money maker for EA.

[Fardragon]

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzq9epS2b1A

 

I look at that and just get pissed off we didn't get KOTOR 3...

 

Avellone as lead of KOTOR3 after leaving Obsidan? They're resurrecting Battlefront so I don't see why they wouldn't bring back another wildly popular franchise.

 

Because KOTOR is Legend material and no new material for that old continuity is going to be produced. Expansions for TOR seem to be the only exception.

 

Battlefront doesn't have the same issue.

 

But if TOR draws upon the same material as KOTOR, wouldn't that not be an issue? I could see them re-branding it, perhaps Old Republic Knights or something, but a multiplatform Star Wars RPG in the vein of Dragon Age seems like it could be a big money maker for EA.

 

 

TOR can only continue because it is supporting an EXISTING game. they could no more make TOR2 than they could KOTOR3.

 

That's not to say that another game set in the Star Wars universe thousands of years before the movies could never be made, but I would imagine Disney/Marvel would want to go there with their comics before they let a 3rd party play in their newly cleaned sandbox.

 

 

Bioware are supposed to be working on an action RPG (i.e. Diabolo clone) set between episode VI and VII in the new continuity.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Fardragon

[Gorth]

So, is Malgus returning or not?...

 

Time to dust off my little Darth Malgus statue that I got from my Collectors Edition.

 

He could team up with Kephess and Vitiate to show this upstart emperor who is the  biggest and baddest galactic ruler.

[Gorth]

From Dulfys site:

 

Companions/love interests you are involved with now know if you romance another character and there might be potential for permanent breakups

I can just hear Kiras voice going "Feel my Force!" when that flower vase comes flying in the direction of my Jedi Knight

[majestic]

I wonder if that's retroactive, but somehow I don't think Kalyio would mind that much.

[213374U]

So, is Malgus returning or not?...

 

The question is one of "when" rather than "if", I think. Also, no Malgus armor in the CM yet, I wonder what's up with that. Hmm.

 

He's a far more interesting character than cardboard Marr, that's for sure.

[Gromnir]

 

And I think Gorth may be interested to know that character transfers are 90% off (90CC)

I think I got around 18 character transfers lined up (of which i might have gone through with 2 or 3 at full price)

 

Leaving a few toons behind to play with old friends, but the bulk is moving to the pve servers (mostly harbinger and shadowlands). Bastards still wont let me transfer toons to Red Eclipse.

 

haven't played for many months, but we got a few characters on harbinger.  am mostly jedi covenant.

 

might play a bit... at least until white march arrives for poe.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Azure79]

I have 8 characters on The Bastion. One character for each class. All are pretty low level except for my Agent who is 50 something. I mostly play for the storyline, but can't seem to finish any of them. The only one I enjoyed was Imperial Agent, though I've tried all of them. I did like trolling Darth Baras a lot. 

 

I usually play for the first two or three planets, get bored by the side content and stop playing. I liked Agent because I could sneak through 90% of the content to get to the good stuff. 

[Gorth]

haven't played for many months, but we got a few characters on harbinger.  am mostly jedi covenant.

 

might play a bit... at least until white march arrives for poe.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Dang, the only reason i picked Shadowlands over Jedi Covenant was a coin flip (no kidding, quite literally a coin flip), as i had little knowledge of the east coast servers. They looked very similar community and size wise when checking out the server forums. Most important thing for me was that the time zone difference was 3 hours less bad than the west coast. Harbinger made sense since my old Aussie friends all relocated there. Usually spend a couple of hours in the weekends doing stuff together there, in the small window of opportunity where we are all awake.

 

All I Got is a few level 10's on JC. I could of course ship some of the Shadowlands toons there is anyone is interested in hooking up for a few runs of something. If anyone is interested in getting in touch on Harbinger, send Macroth (imp side) or Xantrailles (pub side) a message.

 

Edit:

I usually play for the first two or three planets, get bored by the side content and stop playing. I liked Agent because I could sneak through 90% of the content to get to the good stuff.

In my experience since my first toon, levels 40-50 are the "hardest" to get through motivation wise.

 

Edit2: If anyone wants to exchange holo frequencies on Red Eclipse, drop Wyldric (pub side) or Catharine (imp side) a line...

[Hurlshort]

I think you can actually skip a bunch of the side quests if you take advantage of the xp boosts or a double weekend.  I hope they streamline the leveling process up to 50 someday soon, like they did in WoW.  

 

My jedi knight is almost done with the Hutt Cartel storyline.  It is ok, but I imagine I will enjoy the Revan expansion a good deal more. 

[Raithe]

I think you can actually skip a bunch of the side quests if you take advantage of the xp boosts or a double weekend.  I hope they streamline the leveling process up to 50 someday soon, like they did in WoW.  

 

My jedi knight is almost done with the Hutt Cartel storyline.  It is ok, but I imagine I will enjoy the Revan expansion a good deal more. 

 

I have to say I found the Republic side of the Hutt Cartel to just drag. The Sith side just seems to run smoother and take less time to grind through.

[213374U]

I think you can actually skip a bunch of the side quests if you take advantage of the xp boosts or a double weekend.  I hope they streamline the leveling process up to 50 someday soon, like they did in WoW.  

 

It's my understanding that they still have the 12x Class Story XP bonus thing going for subscribers? At least until the expansion is released, too. You can avoid all sidequests thanks to that... avoiding trash mobs populating the instances is another thing, though.

 

After leveling an Operative and a Shadow, I don't think I could go back to non-stealth classes.

Edited July 23, 2015 by 213374U

[Gromnir]

 

I think you can actually skip a bunch of the side quests if you take advantage of the xp boosts or a double weekend.  I hope they streamline the leveling process up to 50 someday soon, like they did in WoW.  

 

It's my understanding that they still have the 12x Class Story XP bonus thing going for subscribers? At least until the expansion is released, too. You can avoid all sidequests thanks to that... avoiding trash mobs populating the instances is another thing, though.

 

After leveling an Operative and a Shadow, I don't think I could go back to non-stealth classes.

 

for the heck o' it, we took a couple hours and created a jug on harbinger.  required a few hours to get off korriban.  however, with the subscriber xp boost, we were level 15 when we left the planet... almost 16.

 

the thing is, we typical level a character/toon by completing nothing save story and flashpoints.  this approach keeps us geared okie dokie.  sending mods bought with basic comms by our host o' other characters is tedious and is nothing save a chore. however, we may need simple accept that flashpoints will be unnecessary and resign self to the fact that we is gonna be playing with gear +5 levels behind the curve. the ultra-fast leveling is nifty and all, but am suspecting we will need consider a few gear issues if we wanna level a couple characters at this time.

 

as for stealth, am embarrassed to admit we have level'd one o' every advanced class and am kinda ambivalent regarding stealth. we do indeed much enjoy dps scoundrel/operative gameplay, particular in pvp.  even so, while we like being able to complete a few o' the heroics via a solo stealth character, for the most part, is not as if we save much time or effort by stealthing as 'posed to simple roll-stomping whatever mobs is in our path.  however, there is moments when stealth at least feels invaluable.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[213374U]

Edit2: If anyone wants to exchange holo frequencies on Red Eclipse, drop Wyldric (pub side) or Catharine (imp side) a line...

Catharine, huh? The handle sounds familiar. I think I may have run into you, or thought you were insane due to your GTN asking prices, or something...

 

Will drop you a line if I reactivate my sub (which I'll probably do to check the expansion out, maybe sooner).

[Gorth]

 

Edit2: If anyone wants to exchange holo frequencies on Red Eclipse, drop Wyldric (pub side) or Catharine (imp side) a line...

Catharine, huh? The handle sounds familiar. I think I may have run into you, or thought you were insane due to your GTN asking prices, or something...

 

Yes, my Cathar merc girl. I actually did sell the contents of a hypercrate (although I split that duty between her and Malpractise, my healer) within the last couple of months. May have been the one before the current release. Got good credits overall for the content too

[Gromnir]

 

 

Edit2: If anyone wants to exchange holo frequencies on Red Eclipse, drop Wyldric (pub side) or Catharine (imp side) a line...

Catharine, huh? The handle sounds familiar. I think I may have run into you, or thought you were insane due to your GTN asking prices, or something...

 

Yes, my Cathar merc girl. I actually did sell the contents of a hypercrate (although I split that duty between her and Malpractise, my healer) within the last couple of months. May have been the one before the current release. Got good credits overall for the content too

 

the good thing about not having played for months is that we have something like 9000 cartel coins saved up from the subscriber + security key allowances.  am s'posing we can purchase and sell a hypercrate?  dunno.  have never actual checked the prices o' such. in the past, when running a little low on funds, we actual has been tempted to sell our czerka crate o-matic.  on the bad side, we were using our mail for purposes o' storing extra 1007 and all such stuff has long since disappeared, so am not certain how much we functional "lost."  none o' it were real, so we can't manage to be all that concerned 'bout the loss, but we did allow our self a moment's regretful sigh as we realized that we had consigned millions o' credits worth o' crafting supplies and gear into the digital void simple 'cause we couldn't be bothered to log-in and do a little maintenance.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Hurlshort]

I waste all my coins on furniture and famcy clothes, because I am weird.

[majestic]

I waste all my coins on furniture and famcy clothes, because I am weird.

 

I wasted tens upon tens of millions of credits and thousands of cartel coinds on finishing collections back when I still played all the time. That's not weird, that just makes you part of the target audience for free-to-play games.

[Gromnir]

I waste all my coins on furniture and famcy clothes, because I am weird.

based on what little we has gleaned from two days o' playing a bit at 12x story xp rate, we are gonna be spending a fair bit o' coin on leveling our crafting skills.  more specific, is the resource gathering skills that is gonna languish.  

 

we got a 55 guardian, 50 bounty hunter, and 50 sorc on harbinger and a bunch o' lower level characters.  gonna see how quick we can get the three aforementioned  to 60 while also leveling a jugg, sage and commando... send legacy gear back and forth so we need actual only maintain gear for 3 characters.  if am feeling particularly ambitious, we will add a scoundrel and operative.  guardian and sage + jugg and sorc is a nice combo as we got tank, heals, melee dps and ranged dps all covered on both pub and imp side with those four.

 

unfortunately, 'til we finish with our leveling (if we don't run outta steam in a week or so,) am gonna be outfitted in a motley o' legacy gear, so spending credits on fancy clothes will need wait.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gorth]

legacy gear

Took me way too long to appreciate legacy gear. I mostly used it to "ship" mods and augments between alts. Only discovered lately, with the new appearance designer, the beauty of having pvp legacy gear that can be shared between factions and save a tonne of commendations and credits.

[Chaz]

 

 

That's weird, I've been playing KotOR 3 off and on for the last few years.  

 

I think you have some extra letters there.

 

 

Well, Alanschu (if you remember him) worked QA for SWTOR and back before the game was released, he said that content-wise the game was effectively KotOR 3, 4, 5 and 6. Having completed all stories, it's hard to disagree with that, it's just that the content was presented in the typical MMO soul-crushing grind format. Now with the (more or less) perpetual 12x XP bonus for subscribers and as the gear kinks have been ironed out, it's possible to play through the story and ignore all multiplayer content, the boring planetary quest lines, and PVP, making it for all intents and purposes a single player experience.

 

Hi,

 

I wanted to clarify something regarding this point, I'm a big swtor fan, I have several max lvl characters, but most importantly I've been following this game since 2009-2010, and the Whole "SWTOR = KOTOR 3, 4, 5, 6..."   line was something pretty much cooked up by Bioware marketing and was parroted by many devs like Daniel Erickson leading up to launch.

 

This is not to say that SWTOR is bad or anything, but that line in particular is pure marketing talk by folks who just want to sell you the game and repeated by the fans. If you want a more honest opinion, you should listen to what Drew Karpyshyn had to say about SWTOR a couple of years after launch. He described SWTOR as a "spiritual succesor" to KOTOR but clarified that it was not a continuation of "The Revan Saga", in fact he pointed out that if people wanted a conclussion to that saga and wanted to learn the fates of Revan, The Exile and their companions, they should read the Revan tie-in novel.

 

So in short:

Revan novel = Kotor 3 and the conclusion to the trilogy.

SWTOR, Jedi Knight Story = Kotor 4

 

The other class stories, while they stand on their own, they are not even related to KOTOR 1 & 2 as far as I can tell, for example the Bounty Hunter mingles with the mandalorians a lot, is there any mention of Canderous/Mandalore the Preserver? Not that I've heard of. Yes, most of the stories are pretty good, and they are set in the same era, but the Jedi Knight story is, for the most part, the one that carries on the plot of KOTOR. Sith Warrior and Consular touch on that plot a little bit, but Jedi Knight is the true continuation of the Revan novel.

 

So I understand when Kotor fans are upset that they never actually got Kotor 3, they only got a novel. Someone gave me that example of wacthing "Empire Strikes" back and being really excited for how the story is going to end, but the next movie actually takes place 300 years later when Luke, Leia and Han are dead but Sidious is still alive, and if you really want to know what happened with Luke you should go read the "Return fo the Jedi"  tie-in novel, of course people are going to feel cheated out of the story they were expecting.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Chaz

[Hurlshort]

But what about the Revan expansion?

[Chaz]

But what about the Revan expansion?

Shadow of Revan is in no way KOTOR 3, in order to elaborate I gotta go into a bit of spoiler territory, so keep reading at your own risk.

 

Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer for KOTOR 1, was brought in mid way through swtor development to tie some of the plot of SWTOR to KOTOR 1, his biggest contributions were to the Jedi Knight Story chapter 2 & 3, and that's the reason it is considered the actual continuation of the KOTOR saga (including the novel).

 

He also wrote two Flashpoints (basically dungeons) one for republic where you free Revan from a stasis prison and a second one where you play as Empire, trying to stop Revan master plan to basically mass genocide 90% of the Imperial population, at the end of that Flashpoint, Revan dies apparently.

 

And wrote a small quest chain in one of the early planets, where you find something called The Order of Revan, a small cult to worship Revan when he was a Sith Lord, and infiltrate it.

 

As far as I know that's where Drew Karpyshyn contributions to SWTOR ended, fast forward a few years and Charles Boyd, new lead writer for swtor, picks up the small, secretive Order of Revan and turns it into a full blown faction capable of rivaling The Empire and The Republic, they are being led Revan "reborn", who apparently was able to dodge death in the flashpoint where you kill him a few years back.

 

So yes, that expansion deals with Revan, but it's in no way a continuation of the KOTOR story, it's no KOTOR 3, if anything it follows on the plots of the Jedi Knight story, the two Flashpoints, and the Oder of Revan stories that were explored in vanilla SWTOR.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Chaz