The Old Republic

[LochnarITB]

I'm on Uphrades, and it would be nice to do the lvl 10 flashpoint together, but it doesn't have to be there.

Edit: Haven't heard back so I'm heading to Bonder Crystal, I assume Sith, but could you advise, Loch? On a Bounty Hunter named Ogre.

Took me a while to get started - seemed to be locking up but it was really my firewall blocking it and the game not allowing me to page out to discover that. When I got on, it showed my toon from the last weekend but it won't let me play it. I grabbed a jedi knight but had not done anything yet so I'll make another inquisitor on Bondar Crystal - about 100 in the queue right now.


[edit] Bondar Crystal - sith inquisitor lochnar

[Kevin]

I'll make a Sith something on Bondar Crystal here in a bit, I'm in queue and reheating some leftovers so I figure I'll make the toon while I'm eating.

I've still not done much of anything other than like 2 quests with a republic trooper.

I'll edit in toon name when I get that far.

Edit:
Random popped up Ellienka it seemed to fit so I stuck with it.

[Wiccan]

i am getting into this the weekend beat test was fine so far i am loving the sith bounty hunters, the stealth is fun i havent bought the game as of yet but from what i am seeing this comp will have to be getting new card for it and a new power supply then i can run that and d3 when they come out i haven't decided if i want to subscribe to it before wow i drop wow.{ 7 years of playing it} i have to make sure before i start getting addicted to another mmo, but we'll see what happens.

so far i like it but as said i dont know yet.

[Mirajj]

I have to say, this was pretty well played by Bioware. I got a weekend beta invite, and before that the game was barely on my radar. Now, having played it...I'm very sorely tempted to pick it up.

[Quark]

Duoing is a blast. Get Meg to join in, Mirajj!

[Tuftears]

The voice acting and individual storylines really make the game, IMO! The only question is how the endgame's going to play out.

[Lissa]

The voice acting and individual storylines really make the game, IMO! The only question is how the endgame's going to play out.

I'll tell you soon as I hit 50 Friday night and am finishing up the storyline now (have a date with Darth Thanaton before the Dark Council... ). Overall, getting to level cap will take between 60 hours (if pushing it and know where to go) and 100 hours (if you decide to play around with other aspects of the game like the Warzones, doing more Flash Points, Space Combat, Exploring for Holocrons, and working on crew skills).

I did have someone out of the blue ask me last night, around 2 am my time, if I wanted to go on Infinity Vault (the first Operation). As it stands right now, there are maybe 30 or so level 50 toons on Levithan.

[Kevin]

The voice acting and individual storylines really make the game, IMO! The only question is how the endgame's going to play out.

They did something I've thought MMO's should do for awhile. They slapped a single player game into an MMO. Like I said the engine and story telling mechanisms remind me a lot of the Mass Effect games, and those were good story telling games.

You slap that in your MMO, you add in group stuff and there you go.

They realized that 80-90% of MMO time is still spent playing solo or maybe in a duo with a spouse/roomate/child/sibling. Voice acting the story arc and giving you dialog options keeps you involved in the arc, other MMO's you just hit accept look at the summary/map pointers and drive on, soon you have mostly lost the story unless you want to keep it in mind and things become stale much faster.

It's a better game than WoW, or course so is Rift. The difference here is that Rift is WoW with better game engine tech, but not a lot of other changes. It didn't have a large enough hook to break the inertia that WoW has on a lot of people. SWTOR with putting in a solid single player game that is worth the initial purchase price is adding something new.

The combat, while still chunky cooldown stand around MMO combat still feels different. Playing an Imperial agent and actually rolling under cover launching an explosive drone then lining up a sniper shot to smash up a bigger enemy is not the same as rolling into cover in ME, throwing a grenade then firing a sniper shot by any means because it's still chunky MMO combat, but it is something that WoW and Rift just don't offer. It's a nice feel.

As mentioned the conversation options let you make your character feel more alive and involved in the world, it adds a bit of the R back into the MMO. Or at least changes it from "Raiding" back into Role. Of course I'm still only like L9 and still playing with tweaking the interface and such and only still putzing around on Hutta.

Of course I'm going to have to play my Republic trooper more because she is voiced by female Sheppard and female Sheppard rocks.

[Ashock]

It's a better game than WoW, or course so is Rift.

I'm sorry to say that that part of this statement automatically makes your subsequent comments irrelevant.

[Frag]

It's a better game than WoW, or course so is Rift.

I'm sorry to say that that part of this statement automatically makes your subsequent comments irrelevant.

Besides the fact that he's right, what crawled up your ass and died?

[Lissa]

Of course I'm going to have to play my Republic trooper more because she is voiced by female Sheppard and female Sheppard rocks.

Female Sith Inquisitor is voiced by Female Hawke for those that have played Dragon Age 2.

Male Trooper is voiced by the same voice actor that did Jet Spike in Cowboy Bepop (and is also the voice for one of the SI's companions - Andronikus Revel).

There's a list in the beta forums that actually lists who does which character.

The Female Imperial Operative also has a good voice actress behind it.

Anthony Daniels also has quite a number of NPCs he does, sometimes it's difficult to tell it's him, but his trademark pitch will kick in and you'll realize it's him. (One of the Imperial Quest givers during the Taris bonus series is actually Anthony, at first you're like, is that him and then the character says something and you realize it is Anthony Daniels as his pitch kicks in.)

[Kevin]

It's a better game than WoW, or course so is Rift.

I'm sorry to say that that part of this statement automatically makes your subsequent comments irrelevant.

I'm sorry to say that people who dismiss everything because of one thing they don't agree with should be classified as ignorant. I see crap like this online all the time. I don't like one minor thing you say, therefor everything you say is crap. That is ignorance and it's a good way to remain ignorant and get yourself ignored as well because it indicates you aren't willing to have an intelligent discussion.

I don't understand how folks who have played both can say WoW is better, except that WoW has more people they know who play it and since the basic game is the same it's not compelling enough for them to leave all the time they have invested in the inferior game. In fact you are the first person out of a dozen or so that holds the opinion you have, from folks I've talked with.

Rift has MUCH better battlegrounds, the classes are more flexible and and customizable. There is significantly less grind in the game. It has better graphics. They release new content for it faster. Public quests are a good thing (unless you are completely anti social and everything has to be ME ME ME). The leveling instances are a wash. Crafting is a wash. World PvP was more enjoyable but since the population was not the same level as WoW I could see complaints there.

So why do you think Rift is so much worse than WoW that you decide to jerkishly ignore everything else I had to say. I mean in order for you to be so offended you must feel pretty strongly about this. I'd like to know why, especially since it's an opinion I've not seen frequently. Again I'm aware of WoW's inertia being a reason that people like it better, they have established communities and don't want to form a new one in Rift, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the game, that is the quality of the people that play the game.

[Mirajj]

They did something I've thought MMO's should do for awhile. They slapped a single player game into an MMO.

Got to say that I agree with you here, GG. This is something I'm finding very compelling about SWTOR in the first place. I feel involved, and like I am the important person everyone else in the game is claiming me to be. I like that there are story phases and things like that which make it so that you are talking to the questgiver/storymover yourself.

I really like the little gold ellipse 'chatbox' that appears on someone when they are busy talking to someone else about something else.

I like some of how the map works, in that it gives you a general 'ping' for the rough area where whatever you are looking for is.

While I find the CD combat style a little irksome, I'm still finding combat interesting as a melee.

I REALLY like the "Area loot" option. Oh, god, YES!

I really only have 2 complaints so far. I want a sprint, or to be able to move faster around the large starting areas. The binding point is an interesting system, but maybe bring the CD for that down to 15 minutes, instead of 30.

The other gripe is one that I'm not sure is a good gripe. I don't like the lag. I'm put very much in mind of the early days of Ironforge. It's bad enough (which, I realize, it's a stress test beta, after all, ffs, yes, yes...) But it's bad enough that I can't run around the main areas (Academy, etc) without running into walls all the time.

I like the Companion system, too. They did some very good work on the Companion AI.

I have a feeling I'll be picking this one up when it comes out, and will probably enjoy it for a good year or so. I don't intend to let it consume me like WoW did, for sure.

[Lissa]

I really only have 2 complaints so far. I want a sprint, or to be able to move faster around the large starting areas. The binding point is an interesting system, but maybe bring the CD for that down to 15 minutes, instead of 30.

Fear not, you get that at 14. So you get an always on when not in combat speed increase and then you can buy speeder skill (mount) at 25 for 44k total (40k for the skill, 4k for the speeder) which is easily doable by 25 unless you go nuts running crew missions.

The other gripe is one that I'm not sure is a good gripe. I don't like the lag. I'm put very much in mind of the early days of Ironforge. It's bad enough (which, I realize, it's a stress test beta, after all, ffs, yes, yes...) But it's bad enough that I can't run around the main areas (Academy, etc) without running into walls all the time.

That might be a system issue. The only issues I've run into lag, even on the stress test weekends, has been to server side code on certain planets (hello Tatooine) and something that appears to be with their switches or some other aspect where there are 30s spikes where you can't do anything and have to hope you and your companion are still alive when the lag clears (if you companion is a healing one, good chance you'll both be alive or if you are not getting beat on by a strong and an elite or a pair of strongs or pair of elites).

[Ashock]

It's a better game than WoW, or course so is Rift.

I'm sorry to say that that part of this statement automatically makes your subsequent comments irrelevant.

I'm sorry to say that people who dismiss everything because of one thing they don't agree with should be classified as ignorant. I see crap like this online all the time. I don't like one minor thing you say, therefor everything you say is crap. That is ignorance and it's a good way to remain ignorant and get yourself ignored as well because it indicates you aren't willing to have an intelligent discussion.

I don't understand how folks who have played both can say WoW is better, except that WoW has more people they know who play it and since the basic game is the same it's not compelling enough for them to leave all the time they have invested in the inferior game. In fact you are the first person out of a dozen or so that holds the opinion you have, from folks I've talked with.

Rift has MUCH better battlegrounds, the classes are more flexible and and customizable. There is significantly less grind in the game. It has better graphics. They release new content for it faster. Public quests are a good thing (unless you are completely anti social and everything has to be ME ME ME). The leveling instances are a wash. Crafting is a wash. World PvP was more enjoyable but since the population was not the same level as WoW I could see complaints there.

So why do you think Rift is so much worse than WoW that you decide to jerkishly ignore everything else I had to say. I mean in order for you to be so offended you must feel pretty strongly about this. I'd like to know why, especially since it's an opinion I've not seen frequently. Again I'm aware of WoW's inertia being a reason that people like it better, they have established communities and don't want to form a new one in Rift, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the game, that is the quality of the people that play the game.

It's very simple, really... and you don't have to take my word for it. WOW has been wildly successful for 7 years now, and is still the king of MMOs, even though it is slowly dying. Look at the number of subscribers. If you want to say that the masses are asses, well that might be true, but among those masses, there are many ppl who are not.

OTOH, Rift is either already dead or will be very soon. I tried it for 2 days, BTW, and found it to be basically a Warhammer clone, which I played for about a month during one of my WOW breaks, with no direction, no purpose, sloppy play, extremely linear progression, mindnumbing questing and simplistic plot. Oh wait, actually no plot. As far as BGs, those alone will only take you so far in a game, and that's coming from a person who spent 75% of his 6 years of playing WOW, doing one type of PVP or another. I guarantee that Rift servers will be deserted in 6 months, at most.

The reason that I said what I said, is that your statement sounded too much like something that was said just to be contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.

Oh and BTW, I did enjoy my two TOR beta weekends, quite a bit. It won't kill WOW, but it will help to eventually lay it gently into the ground.
Rift will by then be a forgotten memory.

[Quark]

OTOH, Rift is either already dead or will be very soon.

I won't even begin to bother with your other points, because you don't even bother backing up your own statements, you just list a bunch of complaints and wish we'll believe you. I'll just say I enjoyed Rift's gameplay more than WoW's, and community being equal I'd go back to Rift first. (I'm going back to neither!)

However, this point is just freaking dumb. Rift has actually been very profitable for Trion.

http://www.gamebynight.com/?p=3035

[mistique]

I've had a great time, played a sith War, Trooper and Operative.....1st and last into the early teens, and last did BT before the end.
I've had a lot of fun, i would have liked dual specs as i see being one or the other in some classes problematic, my OP could be either DPS only or Dps with healing.
Though i never tried the healing side of the character or tanks either i was impressed by the fact that BT was doable with only 2 character with their companions, with neither being tanks or healers, OP was Dps and Sith Inquisitor was dps also.
Had a hard time with the Jedi, but once i worked out the thing to avoid it was a lot easier, though i burned up a lot of credits on repairs....ouch.
Loved the individual story lines, great voice acting and interesting quests / assignments, and you really do feel you are the main character.
I really liked one of the SW story parts that you had to decide the fate of 3 prisoners, and what you did actually made a difference, really cool.
Strangely i found my OP doing a lot of Light side decisions, which is great, makes you feel like the character actually has character, and is not some mindless evil killing machine.
I'm really looking forward to the early release....so much lamenting was going on on the server as the test wond down.

Here's looking to see you all in game soon.

My the Force. or a strong Blaster, be with you.

[Crusader]

Anyone playing a Bounty Hunter? I'm not in the beta sadly. I was wondering how they playas I had my mind set on playing one. I also heard you have to pick from two specializations, healer (huh?) or tank. I envisioned Bounty hunters being about dps. How do they play out? What are the specializations like?

[Frag]

My 'main', if you will, was a Bounty Hunter. First thing about them is their conversations and storyline, imo, is the best part of them and better than everyone else (played all 8 classes through their prologue). Bounty Hunter conversations, decisions, and options are just as perfect as J.K. Simmons as J. J. Jameson in Spiderman. Their gameplay out in the the world (as plain BH or Powertech, didn't go Mercenary) is fairly amazing. They have the best (or only?) dual-triple aoe abilities on short or no cooldowns, and thus they can gather and slaughter groups of enemies faster than anyone else. Against single targets they have tons of CC's for weaker enemies and medium single dps and high defense to take them down.

In an instance, as dps, I was just a master of destruction. As a tank, I felt seriously weak. I don't think we've played together before Crusader, but those who know me know I don't like to waste time during instances and usually keep things moving at a high pace, but the class defunct at it because it's just way too easy to get over heated when trying to hold aggro against aggressive Assassins and Marauders. This leads you to being unable to being unable to tank. I heard similar issues from Mercenary's trying to heal. I didn't make it back into the first instance against after picking up your defensive stance, which probably would make holding aggro easy enough to rotate in your free attack and keep your heat from spiraling out of control.

[Lissa]

I've had a great time, played a sith War, Trooper and Operative.....1st and last into the early teens, and last did BT before the end.
I've had a lot of fun, i would have liked dual specs as i see being one or the other in some classes problematic, my OP could be either DPS only or Dps with healing.
Though i never tried the healing side of the character or tanks either i was impressed by the fact that BT was doable with only 2 character with their companions, with neither being tanks or healers, OP was Dps and Sith Inquisitor was dps also.
Had a hard time with the Jedi, but once i worked out the thing to avoid it was a lot easier, though i burned up a lot of credits on repairs....ouch.
Loved the individual story lines, great voice acting and interesting quests / assignments, and you really do feel you are the main character.
I really liked one of the SW story parts that you had to decide the fate of 3 prisoners, and what you did actually made a difference, really cool.
Strangely i found my OP doing a lot of Light side decisions, which is great, makes you feel like the character actually has character, and is not some mindless evil killing machine.
I'm really looking forward to the early release....so much lamenting was going on on the server as the test wond down.

Here's looking to see you all in game soon.

My the Force. or a strong Blaster, be with you.

Dual spec is coming after launch, but it is something they are going to do.

I just hope they allow mouseover healing cause right now you have to target who you heal. They haven't said anything on which way they're going to go, but mouseover allows you to be much more proactive in healing where as targetted healing tends to be more reactive, which is problematic. I know I and other full time beta testers have been pushing for it (along with a good number of weekenders that have got in and tried it).

Overall, Bioware is listening and they are planning to do sensible things the community suggests fairly quickly (whereas Blizzard tended to drag their feet until numerous mods came out for what the community asked for before instituting those aspects into the basic UI).

---

Right now, Mercenary/Trooper version (can't remember the name) is one of the strongest healers early on. Think of them as a cross between Paladins and Druids for healing initially (heavy armor, HoTs and direct heals). Overall, they're strong early and average out with the other healers later one (Sorcerer/Sage and Operative/Smuggler version, again, can't remember the name).

Overall, most people agree that the best storyline overall (both factions) goes to the Imperial Agent (Operative/Sniper). Bounty Hunter is also fairly good along with Sith Warrior. I like the Sith Inquisitor, but a number of people don't. On the Republic side, I've heard that the Consular storyline is very weak, the Knight isn't bad, the Trooper is pretty good, and the Smuggler is fun, but there are some sore thumbs that stick out in its storyline.