Star Wars: The Old Republic

[Amadis]

Anybody planning to play this?

http://www.swtor.com

Coming out in a few months. Guild registration is already open, might be worthwhile for somebody to pick up the Hoss tag ASAP.

I am currently thinking of playing in the PVP server with my current EVE alliance (Pandemic Legion), and as Empire, but will reconsider if I can hang with the Hoss again.

[Lonskils]

Already had someone register Hoss, talk to Wresh. I've done very little research on this.

[Andaas]

Wresh un-registered the guild, I looked into registering one and was faced with choosing a faction. Given that I have no clue what faction we'd want to play, I have put on hold the act of creating Hoss there for now.

[Tenelen]

I LOVE STAR WARS! So yes I have been watching this game like crazy since the early alpha phase.

[Mystrae]

I LOVE STAR WARS! So yes I have been watching this game like crazy since the early alpha phase.

nerd... :D

[Wresh]

Wresh un-registered the guild, I looked into registering one and was faced with choosing a faction. Given that I have no clue what faction we'd want to play, I have put on hold the act of creating Hoss there for now.


You can change it anytime you want once the guild is formed. As well as if we are PvP or PvE, recruiting/not-recruiting, etc.

[Coral]

I LOVE STAR WARS! So yes I have been watching this game like crazy since the early alpha phase.

Funny, I've been playing it since early alpha days.

[Tenelen]

Funny, I've been playing it since early alpha days.

Yeah my contact at Bioware left before I could get my beta invite.

[Bakana]

Register it again Fir!

[Wresh]

/Bump

Got an email today for the start of pre-order. Anyone else getting into this to try it out?

[Tenelen]

I got one too. I am definitely going to be playing this. I am most likely not going to get the collectors edition since it is $150.

[Wresh]

Ya, I heard that. $150 for a game just to get a few things is not worth it.

I have a couple of friends I played SWG with that will be playing this as well. Talking with them now to see if there is a guild we can all join or if we wanted to start our own....

[Tenelen]

Ya, I heard that. $150 for a game just to get a few things is not worth it.

I have a couple of friends I played SWG with that will be playing this as well. Talking with them now to see if there is a guild we can all join or if we wanted to start our own....

I vote for starting our own.

[Wresh]

Wresh:

Thank you for registering your Pre-Order Code. You are now registered for the following items:

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Deluxe Edition Pre-Order
Early game access
Color Stone (Virtual Item)

We will keep you informed about early access to The Old Republic as we get closer to the game's release.



Ready to go when it goes live!! Hope to see some of you all in game!

FYI - To those that may be playing. Pretty sure we are going to the Sith and be on a PvP server this time. Time to be evil in a game!!

[Tenelen]

Wresh:

Thank you for registering your Pre-Order Code. You are now registered for the following items:

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Deluxe Edition Pre-Order
Early game access
Color Stone (Virtual Item)

We will keep you informed about early access to The Old Republic as we get closer to the game's release.



Ready to go when it goes live!! Hope to see some of you all in game!

FYI - To those that may be playing. Pretty sure we are going to the Sith and be on a PvP server this time. Time to be evil in a game!!

Hell yes for Sith! I plan to preorder on my next check.

[Wresh]

Guess the next questions are:

1. Do we go Sith?
2. What guild do we use?
3. PvP Server? or PvE?
4. How many people do we really have that are going to play this? Enough for a good start to a guild?
5. How casual do we want to be? Or do we want to get a guild together that wants to raid and/or massive PvP?
6. What Classes are we going with?



--------------------------

I'll answer those here (for me):

1. Do we go Sith? - I agree with Ten....Hell ya!

2. What guild do we use? - I am open on this...I can talk with my friends to see what their thoughts are and try to get them to join us, or possibly join them??

3. PvP Server? or PvE? - Not sure why, but a PvP server sounds inviting this time and in a game such as this.

4. How many people do we really have that are going to play this? Enough for a good start to a guild? - Hopefully we have enough that we can start our own, but I will leave that up to others that will want to manage a guild and try to recruit people.

5. How casual do we want to be? Or do we want to get a guild together that wants to raid and/or massive PvP? - I personally will want to raid...some. Maybe limit it to 2 days a week, MAYBE 3..tops. Other than that, just have fun doing whatever you want.

6. What Classes are we going with? - Bounty Hunter all the way for me. I want to go hunt down the good jedi in the game. :D

[Tenelen]

1. Do we go Sith? See above
2. What guild do we use? Dont care
3. PvP Server? or PvE? Dont care
4. How many people do we really have that are going to play this? Enough for a good start to a guild? 4-5 to start bare min
5. How casual do we want to be? Or do we want to get a guild together that wants to raid and/or massive PvP? I dont know what my plans are at the moment
6. What Classes are we going with? Sith Inquisitor or Sith Warrior

[Wresh]

Ya, no rush on knowing all of the questions (if we even really care about them??).

We got quite a bit of time before this goes live still.

[Tenelen]

Sad thing is, that the beta is insanely hard to get into from what I hear. I have been trying to get an invite since closed beta.

[Berae]

Wonder how buggy this iteration of their game engine is...

[Tenelen]

Wonder how buggy this iteration of their game engine is...
I have friends that have been in the closed beta for ages and they say its pretty solid. (All of them are industry people FYI so no uneducated opinions.)

[Zeyla]

I will be playing this when it comes out also. Not sure what I am going to play yet.

Besides Hoss folks, I have a bunch of friends wanting to play this when it comes out. Hopefully I can gather everyone on one server.

[Wresh]

Saw this on Youtube. A guy strung together all 3 of the cinematics for the game in time-line order. Although the words he has scrolling go by pretty fast, it gives a good full story of what time period you are in and the events that take place going into the game.

http://youtu.be/JNHLMWIN_rs

[Zephyrae]

Hi folks! Remember me?

My friends and I are recycling an old guild of ours for this game and I wanted to see if any of you were a) interested in joining (not trying to steal anyone, just an open offer) or b) interested in listing a SWTOR Hoss presence as an ally/enemy (depending on faction) for the Pre-launch guild program — we can list friendly/enemy (but we're probably actually friends!) during Phase 2 of the program whenever that starts.

Looking forward to seeing you guys in some form or another :P (P.S. would you guys mind hooking me up with the new Vent/Meebo info? I miss hearing all of your handsome voices ;) hahaha)

Much love,
Zephy

[Tenelen]

Hi folks! Remember me?

My friends and I are recycling an old guild of ours for this game and I wanted to see if any of you were a) interested in joining (not trying to steal anyone, just an open offer) or b) interested in listing a SWTOR Hoss presence as an ally/enemy (depending on faction) for the Pre-launch guild program — we can list friendly/enemy (but we're probably actually friends!) during Phase 2 of the program whenever that starts.

Looking forward to seeing you guys in some form or another :P (P.S. would you guys mind hooking me up with the new Vent/Meebo info? I miss hearing all of your handsome voices ;) hahaha)

Much love,
Zephy

Zeph!

[Andaas]

(P.S. would you guys mind hooking me up with the new Vent/Meebo info? I miss hearing all of your handsome voices ;) hahaha)

We use Mumble now for voice chat in game. Download/setup instructions can be found here (http://forums.hossguild.org/entry.php?5-Setting-up-Mumble).

Server info -
Server Address: mumble.hossguild.net
Port: 4055
Server Password: saadna

[Zephyrae]

Tenelen! Firanja! I miss you both. Firanja's schmexy voice especially. You guys remember when he yelled at us when we (mostly me) were talking too much (off topic) during raid-ness? I was so turned on ^_^

love your hosslings and hoss-folk <3
zeph

[Phaera]

I want to play this game, pending convincing the hubby to buy me a new computer that can actually play it. ;)

[Elkwood]

I want to play this game, pending convincing the hubby to buy me a new computer that can actually play it. ;)

Nothing like that for a excuse to buy a new, shiny, super fast computer !!!

[Wresh]

Nothing like that for a excuse to buy a new, shiny, super fast computer !!!

Can always build one too!! Building VS. buying means you'll save about 40-50% on the cost (and it isn't very hard to build one). I am sure there are enough nerds just on the Hoss forums that can help you out if you need assistance. :)

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Then again that is what she could mean. I will most likely be giving this game a try as well.

[Wresh]

Very interesting way to handle loots in raids. If it goes live, I think it will be a good thing.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/news/read/21377/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Operations-Loot-Containers-for-All.html

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Might be. However I hopes its not sign that means everyone will have the same shit in two weeks time.

[Wresh]

Ya, that could be an issue.

I think BioWare is thinking about that as well and the chances of getting an item in the loot container will probably be a small percent chance so people will have to run things multiple times in order to get the loot they want/need.

I wonder how they will handle duplicates. Will these all be BoP or BoE? Hopefully, they will all be BoP so people don't ruin the game economy early (damn gold sellers!).

It will be interesting to see if it will work in raids. It does work reasonably well in WoW when leveling and getting your loot bag and seeing how they will make the loot you get specific to your class, it has potential. We'll just have to wait and see how they progress in implementing this.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

I just hope there will be things even if not stated that will be specific to the boss that can not drop in a container. Though I think the badges gimp things I was indifferent mostly as those badges while making it easier to gear up etc still did not provide gear exactly equal to the BEST gear in the game. So far how I read it the tokens can be saved to buy the exact same boss gear that exists. So if you did not get the piece of gear in the container and get the token you will be able to use tokens to get the gear. With it being the same gear that is where I get iffy with this system. Since they state you will be able to start raiding in your "story" gear I almost see no reason for tokens to gear up quickly to make raiding more viable for you/guild. If anything I think it may trivialize things to quickly, though I truly am hoping not.

So far I am leaning toward being a Sith Inquisitor.

[Zeyla]

Woot! Got into the SWTOR beta! Come on downloader, go faster! About 30GB of stuff downloaded so far and it is still going....

[Wresh]

Woot! Got into the SWTOR beta! Come on downloader, go faster! About 30GB of stuff downloaded so far and it is still going....

Screen shots man!!

I want the beta, but I won't have my computer back up and running until late Friday or early Saturday morning. Tell us how it is...and have fun!

[Zeyla]

Well, so far so good. Went with a Republic Trooper to start with. Oddly enough she looks and sounds very much like my female commander shepard character from Mass Effect. It must be the same voice actor, which is a good thing ;)

The quests seem to flow pretty well and from what I can tell, each class gets their own starting area/story arc. ALL quest info is spoken and there are a lot of dialogue choice by your character which effect the quest rewards and light/dark bonus you can earn. It looks like you can be an "evil" republic character or a "good" empire char if you so choose. I'm sure the light/dark rating has an effect on future quests and such (much like Mass Effect). The quests follow the story arc fairly well, and it doesn't seem like there are many filler quests. The standard WoW-esque "go kill 10 of those" is just rolled into a new area when you go, you get bonus xp for killing so many of a certain unit, which you pretty much do anyway as you are passing through.

Gear seems to follow the same quality/coloring conventions of WoW, which is fine. Vendors actually sell "green" and "blue" quality stuff, but you do get some dropped from mobs and from quest rewards. It is nice for standard vendors to have actual useful equipment.

Trooper class is pretty fun so far. I am still low level but they seem to be a tank or healer/tank hybrid, depending on what specialization you choose (at lvl 10 I believe). I plan on leveling up this char a bit before I try one of the others.

Graphics/gameplay seem pretty solid so far. Graphics are good and the game runs pretty well on my AMD 6850/Intel Core I7 system. It definitely requires more horsepower than WoW no doubt, although I bet it is playable at the lower settings if you have older hardware. No major bugs and the game runs well with little lag. A few things are missing from the game menus and there are a few minor graphical bugs, but overall it is pretty polished.

So far this is definitely a game I will want to play when it comes out. More info/observations to come later
6946

[Maegwin]

Wow, very minimalistic default HUD. Is the UI configurable with addons like WoW?

[Wresh]

Thanks for the update Z!! I hope the overall gameplay you mentioned stays throughout your adventures and doesn't stop to go barren at lvl 20 like Conan did.

If they have a decent end game raiding system (currently 8?? raid operations) and PvP, it could be a game people will flock over to......can it withstand the test of time to keep people though? That has always been the question.


***** Edit

Hey Z, it just might be a graphics issue, but why does your female toon have a package? lol

[Wresh]

Wow, very minimalistic default HUD. Is the UI configurable with addons like WoW?

If they follow Rift's UI guideline, you'll be able to do a full customization right from the game itself.

Rift may be dying already, but their UI setup was really nice.

[Tenelen]

Zey I hate you now! I want into the beta!!!

[Zeyla]

Wow, very minimalistic default HUD. Is the UI configurable with addons like WoW?

I haven't heard anything definite about addon support yet. There were some polls and discussion from the devs on the SWTOR forum, it "looks" like they may be allowing addons from what I could tell on the forums, but we'll see... Not all of the menu and UI components are in place yet, there are still a few placeholders. There are bars for the bottom, left and right sides. You can tweak the size and such of the chat pane and quest tracker. The default frames are pretty good/mimimal. I haven't partied/raided yet so I don't know what those are like.


***** Edit Hey Z, it just might be a graphics issue, but why does your female toon have a package? lol

Yeah, she has a bit of a lump... The character models are a little odd in a few places. The butt and groin areas in particular. I guess in the old republic really really tight clothes were the norm ;)


Zey I hate you now! I want into the beta!!!

*Hugs*

[Wresh]

Any new updates Z?

Try out a different class yet?

[Zeyla]

Didn't get to play as much as I had hoped this weekend, but I got my Trooper up to level 13 and got off of the starting area/planet to Coruscant. From what I can tell the story quests keeps going through each area you go to. It is nice having a common theme/thread throughout the play. The story quests (and even most of the side-quests) are of Bioware quality, no question. It is never difficult finding secondary quest givers, so things flow nicely from area to area without too much running around needed. I also did my first "dungeon", called Flashpoints in the game. Again, there was lots of voiced quests and such throughout, and it had a really nice flow to it. (It looked like you could skip the dialogue on future run-through's of the same Flashpoint, which is good)

The Light/Dark bonus system effects special gear that you can buy. I only have one piece of gear on my Trooper that required a certain "Light" level, but I would imagine that towards the end-game there are whole armor sets that fit your Light or Dark persona.

Today I started a Sith Inquisitor character and it is a much different experience on the Dark side. You really have to be an asshole to get the best "Dark" bonuses, killing people, ratting them out, and just generally being a selfish ass. Such is the dark side I suppose ;) But, like I said before you can chose to be a "Light" Sith, just like you can be a "Dark" Jedi if you wanted. There are gear sets no matter which path you go, light/dark for Empire or Republic. However, you need to make a choice from the get-go, you can't start going light then decide to go dark later, it keeps a total of your light/dark points and your net value is your total, so once you pick a path you have to stick with it (I tested it tonight on my Sith to see how it worked).

One cool thing about the companion you pick up around level 10 (which every class gets I believe) is you can send them off to sell all your junk items from anywhere, then they come back in a minute. Pretty nice when you are out questing.

Other than that the standard stuff all seems to be there. Many mailboxes around towns. "Hearths" that can be set at various locations. Vendors that buy your junk (and actually sell useful gear for a change).

The voice acting is superb and I recognize a few of the voices from various TV shows and other Bioware games. The guy that plays detective Lassiter on Psyche is one of the main guys in my Trooper missions, who eventually became my companion.

Oh and make sure you make a good looking character, because you will have to see their face A LOT with all of the dialogue with quests and such!

That's all for now... Stay tuned for more

[Wresh]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81fwEmP2CKY&feature=player_embedded

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81fwEmP2CKY&feature=player_embedded)

[Zeyla]

Got my Sith Inquisitor up to level 10 and made it to the Empire capital city. Had the same opportunity to do a Flashpoint on the way there (just like I did on my Trooper). The Empire capital had a completely different look/feel to it.

Dug into the gear a bit more too, lots of different ways to get it from standard vendors, token/badge vendors, PvP vendors, and "social" vendors (from doing group quests/Flashpoints). Also, the gear is very much dependent on various sockets to give it bonuses. For example my Troopers rifle has four different components that give it bonuses (Barrel, Trigger, Power Cell, color cartridge). Other weapons and armor pieces work sort of the same way.

I haven't dug into the professions yet but you can have a total of three with one of those being a production profession. My guess is that you will need two different types of resources you need to gather for your production.

Going to keep working on my trooper so I can get my spaceship in a few levels.

Here are some more screenshots: (I like the name of the NPC on the 2nd screenshot ;) )
69486949695069516952

[Zeyla]

Couple more screenshots:
69536954

[Zeyla]

Do you guys want me to keep posting info/observations/screenshots? I know a lot of this info is probably available on other websites and such.

Lemme know.

[Wresh]

Do you guys want me to keep posting info/observations/screenshots? I know a lot of this info is probably available on other websites and such.

Lemme know.

Great screenshots!!!

I think the more more top end info you give us the better (like what you went into with the gear and bonuses). Anything else might be a little too much for some and they may feel it to be spoilers, but like you asked....let them all decide.

I think just basic info would be the best (for me anyway), since I am looking forward to learning the game as I go.....anyone else have thoughts on this??

[Loniel Bonewalker]

really cant wait to play my inquisitor.

[Allara]

Keep the posts coming!

[Peotr]

Do you guys want me to keep posting info/observations/screenshots?

Your account name and password would be helpful.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Your account name and password would be helpful.

Agreed, along with a link or a ftp top the game files.

[Zeyla]

Cool, I'll keep the general info coming then and I'll try not to delve into the story too much. I plan on going farther on my Trooper to see how things progress as you get well past the starting areas.

I actually had some other friends asking to use my account as well, I would just be too nervous about them kicking me out of the program for sharing the info. Although I know it is fairly unlikely I'm just to scared to take that chance ;)

[Wresh]

New video for Huttball....Now that will be fun.

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/huttball

[Zeyla]

OK, so have had a bit of time here and there to go a little further in SWTOR. A few things that I thought would be good to share.

Group Questing - some quests MUST be done with a group, they are tuned to pretty much require it. The quest will tell you how many people it recommends, from two to four (four is a full group BTW). The quests are about what you would expect, they are fairly challenging (even the early ones you get). The rewards are typically really good for these too. A nice thing about quest rewards is that you get a choice, but if you have a better piece of gear in that slot there is always an option to get a token instead (Each world has its own token/reward vendor with gear that matches the level of the quests of that world). By the end of my questing on Coruscant I had a decent set of gear from questing and vendors.

Companions - Your companion(s) are almost like a sub-character instead of just a "pet". You have to keep them geared up just as you would your own character (weapons, armor, etc). They have a wider range of skills than a typical MMO "pet", which level up as you do. And following the Bioware theme, your dialogue choices effect the "affection" level of your companion. Good companions like it when you do goody goody things and evil ones are the opposite of course. The AI that controls your companion is pretty good, they target-assist you typically and support you without too much manual control (although you can manually control all of their abils if you want). You can pick up non-combat companions as well, they will just reside in your ship. I looks like you will pick up several companions throughout the course of the game.

Space combat - You get a ship as part of your story quests. When you have your ship you can then travel around the galaxy to different worlds in Mass Effect style (sort of). There are also space missions and battles that you can take part in. The space battles I have done are pretty fun, and fairly hard from what I have seen so far. They are kind of an on-rails-ish shooter section, but there is a lot going on. The space missions have their own rewards/tokens, which you can use to beef up your ship more. I thought I heard somewhere that you can get different ships later in the game.

Tradeskills - at first it seemed like every other MMO, where you have a production skill and a gathering skill. But there is a "research"-type skill for each production skill as well for a total of three tradeskills (called Crew Skills in the game). You can gather stuff from resource nodes around the world like a typical MMO. The biggest difference is the actual crafting. Your companion(s) do all of the crafting, you can queue up for them to make several items at a time, and they get sent off when they are working on it. Also, for the non-production trade skills you can send your companion off on missions, where they will bring back various materials, some of which can only be obtained through these missions. Also, a nice carry over from Rift, you can take apart things you have crafted to get some of the materials back. New crafting recipes can be looted or you can discover them when you are "taking apart" items you can craft.

Class Advancement - Now that my Trooper is a bit higher I am noticing the Advanced classes start to differ more and more. As I mentioned before each class gets to choose from two Advanced Classes, which I don't believe you can ever change. I know you can pay to re-assign all of your skills, but I haven't seen if you can ever have multiple "specs" (my guess is that you can do that once you are higher level). Once you have your advanced class chosen you get three skill trees to spend your points on, each tree with a different focus. From what I have seen this looks to provide a good amount of class diversity and should more than make up for the seemingly small number of classes to choose from.

OMG SO MUCH DIALOGUE!! - This is very very much a Story-Based MMO, no doubt about that at all. Questing solo, doing "dungeons", group quests, etc... the dialogue is everywhere. However, it is all very well done and interesting for the most part. Thankfully though you can skip it if you are in a hurry. If you don't like Bioware RPG's, then this is probably not the game for you.

Overall I am really digging it so far. It is nice to play an MMO that isn't fantasy themed for a change :). It borrows some conventions from other games, but I think it has enough to set it apart. I think I said the same thing about Rift as well, heh heh. The end-game experience typically makes or breaks an MMO, but I honestly think this one has more appeal on subsequent playthroughs. The story arc for each class is somewhat unique, so you get a slightly different experience with each main character type. And I am pretty sure the Empire and Republic story lines are completely different. Hopefully the endgame is fun and compelling, if not then playing other characters might be a fun diversion.

Even if it ends up only being fun for a few months, that is just OK with me too, it will be a fun few months!

[Zeyla]

A few more screens from Coruscant
6974697569766977

[Wresh]

Trying to log into my account, but it keeps kicking me out saying my password is invalid. Anyone else having this issue?

Hopefully hackers haven't gotten to them already...

[Zeyla]

Did you get in to the beta Wresh?!

I just checked my account, still working fine for me.

[Wresh]

No beta :(

I got back into my account....Very odd. I tried logging in through I.E, Firefox and Chrome....none worked. Cleared my cookies in Firefox and got right in.

[Wresh]

Don't watch this if you don't want to see "some" spoilers...

This is a 25 minute long video of the Sith Warrior starting area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebUMuuS1AZs&feature=youtu.be

[Wresh]

PC Gamer article on raids and loot.....I kinda like it, will have to wait and see how well it works when it goes live. (posting, but i am not sure if this has been already put on here or not...sorry if it has been).

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/08/18/star-wars-the-old-republics-accessible-raids-rewards-for-all-no-gear-grinding-required/

[Zeyla]

Don't watch this if you don't want to see "some" spoilers...

This is a 25 minute long video of the Sith Warrior starting area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebUMuuS1AZs&feature=youtu.be

My Sith Inquisitor had the same starting area. There appear to be a total of four starting areas total, shared by two classes each. Two for Republic, two for Empire.

[Zeyla]

PC Gamer article on raids and loot.....I kinda like it, will have to wait and see how well it works when it goes live. (posting, but i am not sure if this has been already put on here or not...sorry if it has been).

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/08/18/star-wars-the-old-republics-accessible-raids-rewards-for-all-no-gear-grinding-required/

And I am also very interested in this type of loot scheme and the ease of drop-out/drop-in raiding. Being able to raid without allotting 3-4 hours at a stretch will be nice (for me at least).

[Lonskils]

Not so sure about those models. They've had how long to get this looking good? Geez

[Wresh]

Not so sure about those models. They've had how long to get this looking good? Geez

Ya, they could be better....they could be worse.

WoW never had great graphics and it is/was successful. I think as long as the content is good (which so far from what Z has posted it does look good), people will ignore the graphics.

[Zeyla]

Ya, they could be better....they could be worse.

WoW never had great graphics and it is/was successful. I think as long as the content is good (which so far from what Z has posted it does look good), people will ignore the graphics.

The graphic options aren't completely implemented in-game yet, some options are grayed out in the options section. One I remember for sure was the AA option wasn't implemented yet, so some texture edges are a bit jaggy still. Overall the graphics are very good. Model and Texture quality are solid and the draw distance is pretty impressive. I mean it isn't Crysis 2 level stuff, but it is still pretty good.

[Wresh]

More spoilers (if you don't want to see PvP that is). A 15 minute video of PvP watching a Trooper.

Gamescom Coverage : The Old Republic PvP - Trooper gameplay (Shoutcast-style)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luKynXnf378&feature=youtu.be

[Lonskils]

Ya, they could be better....they could be worse.

WoW never had great graphics and it is/was successful. I think as long as the content is good (which so far from what Z has posted it does look good), people will ignore the graphics.

WoW was more artistic, never meant to look "real" if what Zeyla says is true, hopefully this won't look like Everquest... which it sorta does right now.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

WoW was more artistic, never meant to look "real" if what Zeyla says is true, hopefully this won't look like Everquest... which it sorta does right now.

Cant say I think it looks like Everquest. Though I hope what Zeyla says is true, I cant say I am completely disappointed with it graphically at the moment.

[Andaas]

New race?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtgtMQwr3Ko

[Bakana]

hahahaha

[Loniel Bonewalker]

So will we be setting up together in SWTOR or what? I mean, I think that was sort of the reason of the post on page one at least I think.

[Zeyla]

There is a guild setup thing on the SWTOR site. I searched on there and there are two guild going by Hoss, but I didn't recognize the names on either of them, so I'm not sure if they have any affiliation with us. Do we want to start one up? The SWTOR has some guild management stuff built in, recruitment applications, roster, forums, etc. It might be good to get it setup and get our roster going for those that are going to play (even if we don't use all the other tools).

I can get it setup if you guys want, I just need to know what we want our focus to be. I have some other gaming friends that are going to be playing on a PvE west coast server, Republic side. That sounds about perfect to me as I am leaning towards Republic. Although I will probably end up playing an Empire character on the same server eventually too.

For those that are going to play this game, do you have an idea of the server type and faction you want to play? I'd like to get as many of us together as we can.

P.S. - Andy - I would play a light saber wielding cat if I could ;)

[Wresh]

Rumors are that everyone that signed up for beta should be getting an invite this week or next week (for stress tests I am sure), so watch your email!!

[Wresh]

There is a guild setup thing on the SWTOR site. I searched on there and there are two guild going by Hoss, but I didn't recognize the names on either of them, so I'm not sure if they have any affiliation with us. Do we want to start one up? The SWTOR has some guild management stuff built in, recruitment applications, roster, forums, etc. It might be good to get it setup and get our roster going for those that are going to play (even if we don't use all the other tools).

I can get it setup if you guys want, I just need to know what we want our focus to be. I have some other gaming friends that are going to be playing on a PvE west coast server, Republic side. That sounds about perfect to me as I am leaning towards Republic. Although I will probably end up playing an Empire character on the same server eventually too.

For those that are going to play this game, do you have an idea of the server type and faction you want to play? I'd like to get as many of us together as we can.

P.S. - Andy - I would play a light saber wielding cat if I could ;)

I'd would say that someone set it up. You can always change the guilds faction and PvE/PvP status later when it is finally decided.

Remember that P2 of the guild creation will allow guilds to choose who they play with in other guilds too. So if you have friends that will have their own guild, you can request to join them on the same server.

[Wresh]

Release date interview.....but no confirmed date yet. :(

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/317275/old-republic-release-date-is-definitely-tied-to-the-beta/

[Loniel Bonewalker]

There is a guild setup thing on the SWTOR site. I searched on there and there are two guild going by Hoss, but I didn't recognize the names on either of them, so I'm not sure if they have any affiliation with us. Do we want to start one up? The SWTOR has some guild management stuff built in, recruitment applications, roster, forums, etc. It might be good to get it setup and get our roster going for those that are going to play (even if we don't use all the other tools).

I can get it setup if you guys want, I just need to know what we want our focus to be. I have some other gaming friends that are going to be playing on a PvE west coast server, Republic side. That sounds about perfect to me as I am leaning towards Republic. Although I will probably end up playing an Empire character on the same server eventually too.

For those that are going to play this game, do you have an idea of the server type and faction you want to play? I'd like to get as many of us together as we can.

P.S. - Andy - I would play a light saber wielding cat if I could ;)

I am leaning toward Empire, server type i have less pref. on. I usually prefer a pvp server but honestly it does not matter as much to me as the faction would.

[Bakana]

WTB an East Coast Server

[Sheep]

I may be coming back to gaming for this. Looks pretty sweet and I love star wars. Gonna rock me a Storm Trooper. Pvp server for sureeee

[Zeyla]

This beta phase wrapped up over the weekend. I didn't get to play much over the last week, been too damn busy, but I did get a bit more time in with the game.

I have already shared a bunch and don't really have a lot more to add at this point. It is a Story-based MMO, that is an evolution of MMO's from the past. The true test of it, like any MMO, will be can they keep the end-game interesting... Time will tell I suppose. I know I am going to play it. I have already reserved my copy ;)

I didn't get a chance to do the guild setup thing on the SWTOR site, a friend had invited me to a guild already on the site. Apparently you can setup multiple guilds, but I wasn't able to spend the time to figure it out. Plus it isn't like we don't already have a guild website ;)

Hopefully those that can play can gather on a server or two (east/west coast or something like that)

Z

[Zeyla]

Got an email from Bioware over the weekend, I guess the reason this phase ended is that a completely new game build is coming out this week. It looks like the current testers will get in to the next phase. I don't know if they are expanding the testing at all with more invitations (it didn't say anything about that).

[Wresh]

Ya Z, the only reason to setup a guild now would be a couple of things.

When phase 2 of the guild process starts, people will be able to choose guilds you wish to play with on the same server as well as against.

If you make a guild during this time, you get two things.
That guild is auto-created when the game starts on the server you choose or is assigned.
Anyone that starts a toon with the same name as the toon in the guild on the website will be automatically added into the guild once they create that toon on that server. Not sure if they said it yet, but I would have to also guess that once all of the servers have been "assigned" to guilds that the name you have chosen will be reserved for you in game (haven't seen anything on this....so just guessing at this point).

[Zeyla]

I have setup a HOSS presence on the SWTOR forum, if you have an account on that site request access and I'll get you setup.

http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hoss

If someone wants to write up a better "Guild Summary" feel free! I'll change it if needed.

Z

[Wresh]

Q: What incentives will there be for players to focus on targets outside of the typical “gank the healer” strategy; and how will factors such as burst damage, crowd control and “PvP tanking” play a role in accomplishing this? – Marsobot
A: Winning will be the incentive. Attacking the healer will be the right decision sometimes, but not always. A key contributor in ensuring this is the tanks’ Guard and Taunt abilities. Guard will redirect half of the damage through the Tank’s mitigation and avoidance. A taunted target will deliver less damage to everyone but the tauntee.

Finally a game that will allow tanks to be useful in PvP!!

The "ranged" class tanks like Powertech will have a huge advantage in PvP to do this. Then you can also have a jedi/sith tank in with the melee taunting and supporting them as well. This will for sure make PVP very interesting.

[Wresh]

Phase 2 has officially started.... You can now choose your guild allies and adversaries.

[Coral]

I have setup a HOSS presence on the SWTOR forum, if you have an account on that site request access and I'll get you setup.

http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hoss

If someone wants to write up a better "Guild Summary" feel free! I'll change it if needed.

Z

I thought Hoss was going Sith.

I don't know we ever met, Zeyla, but I tossed in a join to that guild.

[Bakana]

I agree go Sith and a pvp server!

[Mystrae]

I signed up..

[Jalynfane]

Hey all.

Phank is going into SW:ToR pretty well. We already have tons of pre-order folk on the roster, and the phase 2 of guild management just popped. We'd like to make sure we are on the same server as you all, esp since we have several old HoSS folk in Phank already (Zobb, Elidroth, Thuggo).

Our main direction is Sith PvE but I can push for PvP if need be.

Is it known who is heading up the Sith HoSS guild so I can get a hold of them?

Thanks all


Jalynfane

EDIT: the Phank tag did not show up in brackets, fixed. Doh!

[Tenelen]

Zeyla has started the guild.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

I thought Hoss was going Sith.

I don't know we ever met, Zeyla, but I tossed in a join to that guild.

Same here on thinking Hoss was going Sith. Sith is the direction I will be going, who knows perhaps we can have a Empire hoss, and a Republic hoss.

[Tenelen]

BAhhh we already discussed this!!!!!!

[Loniel Bonewalker]

I am being a Sith Inquisitor and nothing is stopping me!

[Tenelen]

I signed up..

Are you even back yet I need to plan a trip to Austin.

[Zeyla]

Hey guys, just catching up (been gone camping for a week). I thought the consensus was Republic/PvE so that is what I went with. I can change it to Sith/PvP if that is the consensus though. With the old-Hoss Phank guys forming up also, I think it would be a good idea to be on the same server, even if we do end up with one guild on each side/faction (Phank as Empire, Hoss as Republic, or something like that). I think that would be pretty cool.

I'd prefer a PvE server, but it doesn't make a huge difference to me.

I just started it so we had a Hoss presence on the SWTOR site, I don't know how much time I'll have to sink in to running everything once the game goes live. So if there is someone else who would like to run it, let me know.

Zey

[Bakana]

Sith PvP! Also hit up a Central server instead of Pacific us East coast folk get owned by the infamous ping!

[Jalynfane]

Here is Phank Dark Side, http://www.swtor.com/guilds/108815/phank with the HoSS Light side guild, please mark as "adversary" and we will do the same.

Then have some one create a Dark Side HoSS too, and list us as "Ally" then list the Hoss Light side as "Adversary"

We are making a Light side too, but the name is hung up.

Also, if you don't have 4+ pre-ordered accounts listed on the website guild as members, the guild will not transfer to live.

If this does not happen this way, we will make sure to communicate with you guys and gals where we end up.

[Andaas]

So I tried creating a dark side Hoss... but then it wouldn't let me apply to the light side Hoss. So I killed dark side Hoss, and applied to light side; but like, let's go dark side anyway or something.

[Allara]

So what's the current thinking on this game. Great? WoW-killer? Just another way to waste more time? Gonna pull a Rift?

[Andaas]

Too far out to tell (imo).

[Widespreadd Panic]

Star Wars was always my favorite growing up. Glad i was the perfect age to play with all the original toys and grow up with the original trilogy. Good always represented true good and well the dark side is pretty sickly evil past a game level in my head. I cant allow myself to touch evil such as this in my mind, so I will be republic for sure where ever I end up playing.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

I don't think it will be a bomb or a killer , but different. In that it will keep starwars geeks regardless. From what I can tell its got a strong ability to enjoy solo so it may captivate those types. I do not know if I predict 20 million subs, but i believe it will do well. I suppose I can create the dark side hoss, Andy??

[Andaas]

I'll just make another account. Hehe.

[Wresh]

So what's the current thinking on this game. Great? WoW-killer? Just another way to waste more time? Gonna pull a Rift?

Not sure either, but this game is really gaining some momentum now. I love the new video on companions....I've never seen anything like this in a MMO.

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/companion-characters

[Maegwin]

Dark side, yes.

[Maegwin]

Not sure either, but this game is really gaining some momentum now. I love the new video on companions....I've never seen anything like this in a MMO.

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/companion-characters

Very cool!

[Wresh]

12-20-2011 is the offical release date. :)

[Bakana]

Like fir said darkside!!!

[Andaas]

12-20-2011 is the offical release date. :)

<s>You sure about that? I've heard it had slipped to 2012.</s>

Oops, guess I should read news sites first. :)

[Zeyla]

I added everyone that has applied to the Republic Hoss. I also added in Phank as our Adversaries (Empire side) and Allies (Republic side).

I looked in the guild administration and there is no way to change the alignment once a guild is setup. You can change everything else, just not that. So we will have to setup a separate Hoss presence for the Empire side.

I align more with the Republic side (like WSP), so I'll probably spend the majority of my time there. But I will play some on the Empire side as well.

I think the biggest draw to this game, besides just being in the SW universe, is the story. The companions really add a lot of that to the game too, as is shown in that video that Wresh shared. You really do end up caring for them (much like other Bioware games). I really do hope they can keep the story going with frequent updates and it doesn't just completely devolve into the same end-game grind as every other MMO.

If the end-game does get a little boring I think there is sufficient draw to play through the game with different characters, not only do you get a different story/experience, but you get a completely different set of companions with each class. So it does have that going for it.

Rift was fun for a couple months, but in the end it was just too similar to past games (despite some cool additions to the formula). I think SWTOR will keep me going for longer.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Cant wait. Anyhow let me know when the Empire side is created.

[Wresh]

So what's the current thinking on this game. Great? WoW-killer? Just another way to waste more time? Gonna pull a Rift?

To analize the numbers versus Cataclysm (not really fair....should be judged against Vanilla WoW imo), but Cata had about 550k pre-orders vs. SWToR's 413k around this time of the year. I think that the pre-sale for SWToR will jump big time over the next few weeks now that the date is set.

[Lonskils]

Can't judge the vanilla wow stats vs games coming out today. When WoW entered there was no WoW to compete with. Come see me in 3 months with the number of subs that the game still has. That has been where everyone just falls off the map verses WoW.

[Allara]

Yeah it doesn't matter how many preorders there are, it's more about how the end game plays out. I like Star Wars but I just don't see it making a good game. I'll wait to hear what you all think once it launches.

[Zeyla]

The next round of the beta has started. The game seems to run smoother with less graphical glitches this time around.

One thing I did discover this time is that the classes are very similar on the two factions. I started a Bounty Hunter on the Empire side and the abilities mirror those of my old Republic Trooper from the last build. The abilities all look different, but they do the same thing essentially. For example, the Trooper has a cone-area-of-effect blaster attack and the Bounty Hunter has the same thing except it is a flame thrower. So far all of the abilities have been like this, so playing the two classes feels similar. I'll be curious to see what the skill trees look like for the Bounty Hunter.

I'm going with the "evil-as-shit" path on my Bounty Hunter and man do I have a hard time with those choices... One side-quest example (spoiler alert!): I am given a quest by a frantic mother wanting her child back so she can send him off to Sith training. I meet the father and he is trying to save his son from the horrible fate of Sith training (i.e. you fail at any point = death). The good option, let the man take his son away (nets you "Light-Side points"). The evil option, kill the father and take his son (nets you "Dark-Side points"). The middle option didn't net you any points light or dark. I don't know what it is but I have such a hard time picking the "dick" option in games, I feel like I have to be the paragon of virtue... heh heh

I guess regardless of which path you choose, Light, Dark or Neutral there will be gear/rewards for each. And if you pick dialogue or quest choices that your companions don't like, you can still buy their affection with gifts :)

[Tenelen]

I vote for this to be our guild banner.

7000

[Tenelen]

Hey Zey I thought we were going Sith but the guild page says we are aligned with the Republic. Whats up with that!

[Zeyla]

My mistake, when I created the guild page I thought the consensus was to go Republic. And once it is created you can't change sides so we'll just have a separate Republic Hoss and Empire Hoss (on the same server as the Phank people). I'll keep the Republic side going, I don't know if we have an Empire-side Hoss setup yet.

[Bakana]

What kind of a server did you pick Zeyla

[Widespreadd Panic]

Andass made a darkside, i saw it when i searched hoss

[Andaas]

Andass made a darkside, i saw it when i searched hoss

Nobody joined in like 5 days so I cancelled it...... slackers.

[Zeyla]

What kind of a server did you pick Zeyla

Same as Phank, PvE, US West. Jalynfane from Phank mentioned that if there was enough interest they could switch to a PvP server (then we could too). As I understand it a good portion of the Phank people are old Hoss folks so the goal was to be on the same server as them.

[Torrid]

Oh sure, NOW you guys roll evil

[Bakana]

Fir Redo it so I can join it! and make it a Central server at least, DAMN YOU WEST COASTERS!

[Andaas]

There are no Central servers, only PST / EST.

[Bakana]

Est it is!!!

[Berae]

Oh sure, NOW you guys roll evil
Pfft, Hoss has always been evil :)

[Coral]

I "joined" the hoss that's Sith on the list. Hope it's what we're all in, but we can figure it out later, really.

I am enjoying the beta more than I thought I would. There's lets of janky graphical things in it, but playing my first real big group flashpoint was pretty awesome.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Pfft, Hoss has always been evil :)

Yes, waking sleepers, steeling primal, and whatever it is you will nerdrage about coming to a server near you!

[Loniel Bonewalker]

I "joined" the hoss that's Sith on the list. Hope it's what we're all in, but we can figure it out later, really.

I am enjoying the beta more than I thought I would. There's lets of janky graphical things in it, but playing my first real big group flashpoint was pretty awesome.

I do not believe that is the right hoss, I almost joined them as well. Sorry for the double posts.

[Andaas]

Ok, re-made the Sith/Hoss. You'll note that the leader name is 'AndaasHoss'.

[Wresh]

So join both then? Or is everyone swapping over to Sith Hoss?

[Bakana]

Sith for the win!

[Wresh]

17 planets in the game at the start...

Zeyla might be able to shed some light on how big each planet is, but it seems that it will be quite a large universe to play around in.

[Bakana]

I joined the Darkside with Fir!

[Andaas]

You can join both; it's not possible to have 2 guilds of the same name on the same realm. So basically, if Hoss & Phank have both Light/Dark guilds created and allied to one another -- we should end up on the same servers on both sides (both Darks being on one; both Lights being on another).

[Zeyla]

So join both then? Or is everyone swapping over to Sith Hoss?

I believe the only benefit to joining a guild on the SWTOR forum before the game comes out is to get the guild pre-created when the game goes live, if I recall (there may be more to it, I don't remember). So up to you I suppose. I believe you can join multiple guilds on the SWTOR forums (I just know I can't because I created the Republic-side Hoss, and that's why Andy had to create a new account to setup Empire-side Hoss)


17 planets in the game at the start...

Zeyla might be able to shed some light on how big each planet is, but it seems that it will be quite a large universe to play around in.

I have only seen the first few planets so far on Republic and Empire so I can't say what all of the planets are like, but the ones I have seen are pretty good size. Each planet has a distinct feel, no doubt. Good variety from what I have seen so far.

Another cool thing they have is world instancing, so say you are on Tatooine for example and it is too crowded and solo questing is a pain you can switch over to Tatoonie (2). I just noticed this feature the other day, so I'm not sure if it is a recent addition. So far even questing in busy areas isn't too bad, respawn rates seem pretty good and quest items don't have to recharge between each player that uses them. It could be when the game goes live there will be a LOT more players so maybe having the different world instances will help, I dunno.

[Coral]

Another cool thing they have is world instancing, so say you are on Tatooine for example and it is too crowded and solo questing is a pain you can switch over to Tatoonie (2). I just noticed this feature the other day, so I'm not sure if it is a recent addition. So far even questing in busy areas isn't too bad, respawn rates seem pretty good and quest items don't have to recharge between each player that uses them. It could be when the game goes live there will be a LOT more players so maybe having the different world instances will help, I dunno.

Yeah, this works pretty well, and other MMOs have done it.

The big thing is be aware when you join a group you may not be in the same phase/world instance. If not, you'll have to wait 15-20 seconds while you load over.

[Aindayen]

If only Hailie found horde WoW appealing :(

[Torrid]

Another cool thing they have is world instancing,

Sure. If by cool you mean lame. It 'works well' from an engineering standpoint only. If you want a game where players actually interact with other players, it's a terrible idea. I never would have met Coral, Phoenix, or HOSS if I had just played around with my old Starcraft buddies (who I've long since stopped communicating with) in our little bubbles while running around Splitpaw, Unrest, CT, outside of guk, etc. I never would have even known who the badasses on my server were if I had never seen the gigantic Heroes of the Seven Suns name tag floating around. I suppose now a days you can check websites to determine that. Good luck getting to know them, though. Send in that resume... I mean guild application. Hopefully you won't end up hating your guildmates after you get to know them after getting the guild tag.

[Lonskils]

It worked with EQ. With WoW and the shear number of people playing, I guess you have to do this crap to keep the server from blowing up. I've no idea how many folks are playing SW at this time, but after the total lame Rift experience I may have to give this the 3 months or so wait to see if it is worth playing should folks stay. Rift was a major let down.

[Zeyla]

Yeah, I can see your point Torrid. I honestly will probably not use the instancing much (or I'll just stick with the instance with the most people), by default you are put in the first one and I think most people will stay in that one. I wonder how many people actually use that feature in other MMO's that had it. Didn't Rift have it? How about Warhammer and/or Conan?

[Allara]

I know Guild Wars has it and probably a lot of others.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

I know Perfect World tends to use it, such as with Battle of the Immortals having only a few servers but each having 8 realms. It works in that game for nothing more then getting away from the population for awhile. One realm being the dominate realm on most servers. i am sure it will be the same with SWTOR. Only way I could see "realms" being useful in SWTOR is if it everyone is on the same main server and if certain populations of players were to have a affinity for a specific realm. Perhaps certain instances will have certain quests, mobs, or some situation that another realms does not have. I could see this working in their favor as far as a progressive story without doing the instancing with one area being different depending on what part of quest/step of the story you are on.

[Jalynfane]

Is my guild* guaranteed to be transferred into the game and what are the criteria our guild needs to meet for the transfer?

All* guilds that meet the following criteria will get transferred into the game: 1) At the beginning of Phase 3, the guild leader must log in to the website and verify that their guild remains active and wants to be imported; and 2) The guild has at least four members who have pre-ordered the game and redeemed their Pre-Order Codes at the Code Redemption Center by the time we initiate the import.

Visit the Pre-Order page for more details about The Old Republic pre-order program.

[Jalynfane]

If the pre-launch thing falls through, we can just communicate which server we land on or something

[Zeyla]

Sounds like a plan.

[Zeyla]

Game Informer has a nice article about SWToR. Much of the stuff in the article we have discussed here, but this sums it up pretty well so far:

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/star_wars_the_old_republic/b/pc/archive/2011/10/21/ten-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-old-republic.aspx?PostPageIndex=1

I know I will be getting the game and playing it at launch. I'm a bit of a Star Wars and Bioware junkie, so I have no doubt I will enjoy it (at least for a while). At this point I really am not looking for an MMO to play for years and years, if it is fun for a few months, that is OK with me. The new WoW expansion leaves much to be desired so it will either be SWToR or Guild Wars 2 that has that something different that I am looking for.

Z

[Wresh]

Great article Z.

I'm still not quite sure what class to try out 1st. It will be hard to level up alts right away with all of the story to watch while questing, so choosing the right class to start off will be important. I think I read someplace they estimate about 200 hours of game play to reach level 50?? If you don't skip through all of the cut scenes that is.

[Zeyla]

I'm going to be rolling a Trooper most likely. Still undecided on my specialization though. I can see there being a fair amount of game play to get to lvl 50, especially if you do all the side quests you come across. 200 hours seems a bit high to me though, but it probably isn't too far off especially when you factor in all of the companion side-quests as well.

Additional play through's on alt characters wouldn't take quite as long as you could skip the dialogue in non-story quests that you have already done for that faction (Republic/Empire).

[Wresh]

Nice, a trooper does look like fun. I like the smuggler's ability to do nut shots. That will have to be fun in PvP....lol.

I am still leaning towards Jedi Sentinel, but going full dark path. I read that if you do this, over time your facial features change into looking pretty much evil. If I don't go Jedi I am pretty sure Smuggler will be where I will be heading.

[Coral]

I miss beta.

Anyway, I'm probably doing the Sith Inquisitor/Assassin route. Aka, rogue. I had a great time with that character as my 3rd char in beta, and I'm eager to see where the storyline goes.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

All the reading I have done, I am most likely going with Inquistor/sorceror. Don't know if I could see myself actually enjoying the others.

[Wresh]

Not sure if someone posted anything on this yet, but I found a really good site to explain the crew skills for SWTOR.

http://www.starwarsmmolevelingguide.com/crafting-guide/

Also attaching two pictures on suggestions of how each class should look at going in crafting/mission skills. Zeyla might be able to shed more light on this, but it does seem pretty well thought out and that the crew will keep you busy.

[Zephyrae]

I'm torn between all the healer possibilities. Bounty Hunter armor looks awesome, but I love the Imperial Agent's ship and techy look. Inquisitor Sorcerer would be fun too — I mean, c'mon, who doesn't like glowsticks?! <3 you guys... -zephy

[Zephyrae]

If I was going to attempt to ally/adversary (hopefully the former) which Hoss would I shoot an invitation to? XOXO

[Tenelen]

None for you Zeph!!!!!!

[Zeyla]

Zephy, We have a Republic Hoss guild created on the SWToR boards (http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hos (http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hoss). You can join there if you want. I know Fir had created a Empire Hoss guild, but I don't think they have enough people to get the guild pre-formed (you need at least four people with pre-orders confirmed). Phank has a bunch of old Hoss people and they will have a larger Empire-side presence, so that is prob where we will go for Empire side characters.

We have met the pre-requisites to get our Republic guild pre-created and assigned to the same server with our Ally and Adversary guilds (hopefully). They don't guarantee that we will all be on the same server, so we might have to do a little shuffling when the game is released.

-Zey

P.S. - The next phase of the beta has started and the game is looking much more polished. I'm getting excited for the launch! One cool new feature they added, which I haven't seen in any MMO, is your "Hearth" location (called Quick Travel in SW) works with any location you have discovered on a particular planet. So you aren't tied to one specific location at a time. Each planet has 5-7 locations typically. I thought that was pretty handy.

[Zeyla]

Not sure if someone posted anything on this yet, but I found a really good site to explain the crew skills for SWTOR.

http://www.starwarsmmolevelingguide.com/crafting-guide/

Also attaching two pictures on suggestions of how each class should look at going in crafting/mission skills. Zeyla might be able to shed more light on this, but it does seem pretty well thought out and that the crew will keep you busy.

That is a pretty good overview/explanation of the crafting system based on what I have seen in-game.

With the latest build of the game Slicing was changed quite a bit. It was a huge money maker before, in a game imbalancing kind of way. Now they have made it generate less money and more items that can be sold to other crafters. Once you get a few companions you will pretty much be sending them off on crafting/gathering missions constantly. They vary in time from a few minutes to 10-15 minutes (where your crew member is off on the mission). You can summon them back at any time if needed (this is more of an issue early in the game where you only have one or two companions).

So far I like the crafting system in this game, nice not having to sit in town and craft-craft-craft.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Hopefully a few more who have pre-ordered join the empire side. At the moment it says two, my guess is me and Coral.

[Jalynfane]

I see that Phank sith side and Hoss Light side are both "ready for deployment". Once we are up and running we will be making a Light side guild for alts and thems that like Jedi. I am assuming the same will occur on Hoss stuff.

In order to be ready for pre-deployment, the guild has to have 4 people in it that have pre-ordered. With a bunch doing a "wait and see" (which I don't blame them, i've been burned by tons of new mmo's) it should be easy to get up and connected on release.


EDIT: Hoss empire side needs two more folks pre-ordered to be created for pre-release.

[Zephyrae]

Zephy, We have a Republic Hoss guild created on the SWToR boards (http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hos (http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hoss). You can join there if you want. I know Fir had created a Empire Hoss guild, but I don't think they have enough people to get the guild pre-formed (you need at least four people with pre-orders confirmed). Phank has a bunch of old Hoss people and they will have a larger Empire-side presence, so that is prob where we will go for Empire side characters.

We have met the pre-requisites to get our Republic guild pre-created and assigned to the same server with our Ally and Adversary guilds (hopefully). They don't guarantee that we will all be on the same server, so we might have to do a little shuffling when the game is released.

-Zey

P.S. - The next phase of the beta has started and the game is looking much more polished. I'm getting excited for the launch! One cool new feature they added, which I haven't seen in any MMO, is your "Hearth" location (called Quick Travel in SW) works with any location you have discovered on a particular planet. So you aren't tied to one specific location at a time. Each planet has 5-7 locations typically. I thought that was pretty handy.

Hey Zeyla,

I'll adversary the Republic side Hoss guild and ally the Empire one. Look for an invite to ally/adversary from the guild Atrum Latus -- this was what was leftover from my DCUO league/guild and who I've been active with most recently. Hopefully all of the groups (Good Hoss, Bad Hoss, Phank, mine, etc...) can all get pulled onto the same server/planet!

Happy hunting <3
Zephy

[Coral]

Hopefully a few more who have pre-ordered join the empire side. At the moment it says two, my guess is me and Coral.

Correct.

[Zeyla]

Quick note on how they handle zone instancing, it seems to happen automatically if one instance gets too many people in it you get put into another instance of the same zone. However the General chat channel goes across all instances, and if you need to group up with some people to do a quest, you can switch to their instance or vice versa. It seems to work pretty well and keeps the questing areas less crowded.

[Coral]

Quick note on how they handle zone instancing, it seems to happen automatically if one instance gets too many people in it you get put into another instance of the same zone. However the General chat channel goes across all instances, and if you need to group up with some people to do a quest, you can switch to their instance or vice versa. It seems to work pretty well and keeps the questing areas less crowded.

Yeah, though remember that switching a zone instance does drop you to your bind point in the 2nd (or whatever) instance. You wont teleport across instances to where you are.

[Coral]

TOR announced today the head-start for preorder players will begin as early as December 15th - five days early.

The exact number of days apparently is variable for each player, based on how early you pre-ordered the game.

[Andaas]

And with supposedly a ~2-day leveling curve, there will be people bored and quitting before the official launch date?

[Coral]

And with supposedly a ~2-day leveling curve, there will be people bored and quitting before the official launch date?

Heh. No idea. I mean, the hardest of hard core playing with the diapers on could get to cap in 5 days played? Probably, but that's true of every MMO these days, isn't it?

When playing the beta reasonably often (5 hours a night), I was level 20 in 4 days. That wasn't rushing though, I was playing all of the instances (flashpoints), though I wasn't doing any PvP.

[Andaas]

Ah I dunno, that was just something I had heard that "normal" players were hitting max level in 4-5 days.

[Zeyla]

Yeah, though remember that switching a zone instance does drop you to your bind point in the 2nd (or whatever) instance. You wont teleport across instances to where you are.

Actually I just did this the yesterday, when I switched instances I was at the exact same spot when i changed to the new zone/instance. So they must have recently changed how this works. And I believe with the new teleport system you are no longer bound to a specific point.

[Zeyla]

Heh. No idea. I mean, the hardest of hard core playing with the diapers on could get to cap in 5 days played? Probably, but that's true of every MMO these days, isn't it?

When playing the beta reasonably often (5 hours a night), I was level 20 in 4 days. That wasn't rushing though, I was playing all of the instances (flashpoints), though I wasn't doing any PvP.

I have had about the same experience with leveling speed in the beta. I've been doing all the quests for each area, flashpoints as they are available. I am going slightly faster this time as I'm skipping some of the dialogue I have heard before, but it feels about right to me.

[Wresh]

Hey Z...

Just got into this weekend's beta (w00t!!), so hopefully my n00b char will run into you somewhere... :)

[Syana]

Ah I dunno, that was just something I had heard that "normal" players were hitting max level in 4-5 days.

Max level in 4-5 days? Sounds like another wow clone(or rift clone if you prefer) that caters to Star Wars fans.

The question is: Pandas or Ewoks?

Oy... tough choice.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Max level in 4-5 days? Sounds like another wow clone(or rift clone if you prefer) that caters to Star Wars fans.

The question is: Pandas or Ewoks?

Oy... tough choice.

"Yub Yub" makes this a clear choice.

[Lonskils]

Max level 4 to 5 days? Geezus. That's even easier than WoW when it went live if regular people with jobs can do that in 5 days.

[Coral]

Max level 4 to 5 days? Geezus. That's even easier than WoW when it went live if regular people with jobs can do that in 5 days.

Um, I dont think they can? Not in my beta experience anyway.

[Coral]

Appears that Hoss sith won't form. We have 3 members who preordered (assuming we allow my gf who preordered to stand in), and of the 5 total people that expressed an allegiance, only 2 others have pre-ordered.

Is there any more interest of Hoss EQ or Hoss WoW, or do we look to play with another guild?

[Andaas]

I would say look toward Phank for now; the deadline for pre-orders is growing near and we simply haven't had enough buy in.

[Wresh]

Zeyla and I talked about some stuff in PM's about the guild situation...

If the Republic side of Hoss doesn't have enough people to fully start up a guild (or if you'd like more people to play with), my "main" account is with a guild called Templars of Xionics (XCS) (currently, we have 23 people in the guild....all with per-ordered accounts). This is guild I was with throughout my time in SWG and we are re-forming it in this game (our allies and adversaries are from the Shadowfire server from SWG as well, so there will be a ton of people who know each other). The group is very laid back with the average age of everyone being in their mid-30's. Some want to PvP, some will want to raid and some will be playing to be with friends and do things when they have time to be online. If you look up the guild it will say hardcore, but don't worry about that. If you want a Republic side home, you'll have one....in the event enough Hoss people join XCS and want to splinter off and form Hoss on that server, please feel free to do so.

Zeyla also has some old friends he mentioned to me that will also have a guild in game, so maybe that can potentially be another home for Republic side of Hoss as well.

For the Sith side, I agree that Phank might be a good choice. Zeyla and I also talked about any XCS members that wish to play Sith side may want to look into Phank so both sides would have a home for whatever side they choose to play on, but w/o talking to the leaders of Phank....I do not want to speak to XCS about the potential for that until that discussion happens.

[Zeyla]

Update on this, Hoss does have enough people to get the guild pre-deployed. We are allied with Phank Republic and Enemies with Phank Empire. I believe that Phank Empire has enough pre-orders to get deployed. Republic Hoss is also allied with my board gaming friends from Idaho, called "Idaho Squad". I think they have enough to be pre-deployed as well. So as it sits now hopefully we will all be put on the same server, although Bioware says there are no guarantees when it comes to server pre-placement.

I would try to ally Republic Hoss with XCS as well, but the last I checked you could only have two Ally guilds. I'd say we just go with what we have at launch. If we don't have enough then we could look at possibly moving to other guilds/servers. My goal through all this is to make it to a server with as many guildmates and friends as possible.

Jalynfane, since Empire Hoss does not have enough people to deploy, would Phank be cool with letting Hoss people in who want to play Empire side?

[Zeyla]

Like Coral said, unless they drastically change something, I don't see any normal players getting to max level in 5 days, no way. From my experience in beta I see it taking 2-3 weeks for normal play of a few hours a day (my rough estimate, YMMV). For reference, in the current beta build it took me about a week to get to level 17, playing 2-3 hours on "most" weekdays and 5-6 hours on Sat/Sun. And that is going a bit faster than my first playthrough on earlier beta builds since I am skipping most of the dialogue options I heard before.

Wresh, I am on the beta server "The Leviathan", Zeyd Republic-side Trooper/Commando (I still have not decided on Tanky-Vanguard or Healy-Commando for release)

[Wresh]

Wresh, I am on the beta server "The Leviathan", Zeyd Republic-side Trooper/Commando (I still have not decided on Tanky-Vanguard or Healy-Commando for release)

Cool, I will look for you. Not sure if I want to try out a smuggler or Jedi 1st.

[Lonskils]

I remember it took me 7 months to hit max level in EQ. lol

[Peotr]

I remember it took me 7 months to hit max level in EQ. lol

Yeah, but you were a wizard. You lose a lot of time standing around on the bridges of Upper Guk saying, "Wizard, LFG"

[Jalynfane]

I am posting this on our site for 24 hour consideration and then we can do it. I don't see any glaring issues with the idea. The benefits of coordination from the get go will be better.

Any that need a home for Sith stuff just app to the guild on the SWTOR site. I will approve all of the apps after 11pm pst on the 10th.

http://www.swtor.com/guilds/108815/phank

[Lonskils]

Yeah, but you were a wizard. You lose a lot of time standing around on the bridges of Upper Guk saying, "Wizard, LFG"

I actually only went to Guk like 5 times total leveling up. I just didn't have a lot of experience with MMO's when I started and didn't know the ins and outs of leveling until reaching Hoss levels. I'm pretty sure I still have some of the highest AA Totals of anyone on Druzzil tho!

[Lonskils]

I am posting this on our site for 24 hour consideration and then we can do it. I don't see any glaring issues with the idea. The benefits of coordination from the get go will be better.

Any that need a home for Sith stuff just app to the guild on the SWTOR site. I will approve all of the apps after 11pm pst on the 10th.

http://www.swtor.com/guilds/108815/phank

Might wanta go edit that Jalyn as the &quot; is showing :(

[Wresh]

I am posting this on our site for 24 hour consideration and then we can do it. I don't see any glaring issues with the idea. The benefits of coordination from the get go will be better.

Any that need a home for Sith stuff just app to the guild on the SWTOR site. I will approve all of the apps after 11pm pst on the 10th.

http://www.swtor.com/guilds/108815/phank

Cool.. :)

I posted the same on our forums. I told them to look for any app's from people who are in Hoss or Phank and to accept them into the guild. I also posted and told them if they choose to app there to put XCS into the app so you know where we are coming from.

http://www.swtor.com/guilds/108037/templars-xionics

I think Republic side of Hoss will still try to make it a go since they do have enough people to start with the pre-orders, but this is just so you all have another place to call home on the Republic side. XCS will be recruiting more once the game goes live, so I would expect our numbers to start growing soon after that.

[Rhedd]

So ya. hi!

[Andaas]

So I got into the beta for this weekend, but the installer doesn't appear to work.

I downloaded "SWTOR_setup.exe" and run it, which extracts setup files into a temp folder; but nothing happens after that. Even manually going into the temp folder and running Setup.exe or Installer.exe does nothing.

Any of you have this issue and know of a possible fix?

[Zeyla]

Andaas, for me I have had the setup program take a while before it loaded and actually started installing, but it always worked eventually. I did a quick check on the Tester forums and this was the only thing I found: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=597287. From what I read the weekend testers should have access to the tester forum area of the SWToR site now.

[Wresh]

I had no issues with dloading the client, but I did mine Tuesday night as soon as I saw the email. They may have had too many people trying at once and it crashed something??

[Andaas]

Yeah... I'm not even getting the launcher to install that I can tell. The pre-install works (temp install files extract into temp folder); the actual launcher install never starts/completes.

Basically, what's happening to me is the same as what is happening to people in this thread - http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=596663

[Wresh]

When I get home, I will see how big the initial dload was for the installer. If it isn't too large (or if Zelya wants to check) maybe we can email the file to you.

[Andaas]

It was 25MB, so fairly small.

[Tenelen]

It was 25MB, so fairly small.

Thats the correct size the installer is small then it patches the other 19gb.

[Jalynfane]

No hiccups on the open guilding for peeps that need a dark side home. I am a bit non-democratic on kicking people that are PITA, so I just want to through out a fairly generic "dont be a douche or I boot you" caveat.

Looking forward to lauch, here's to the old folks home. /cheers

[Phaera]

So ya. hi!

Hi fuckface! Quit hiding from me! I even went dorf in WOW, just for you. And you still aren't here!

[Wresh]

It was 25MB, so fairly small.

PM me with your email and I will get it to you.

[Andaas]

A workaround was posted in the thread I linked; so all is now working.

[Rhedd]

I'm all hot and bothered by that news Phaera. Unfortunantly, I must now wield a light saber and defend the universe against people like Coral =D

[Widespreadd Panic]

<3 Rhedd

[Phaera]

Total letdown.

[Rhedd]

You will play SWOTOR with Rhedd *does the wavy hand thing*

[Phaera]

Nien. I can't run it anyways.

[Rhedd]

If SWOTOR doesn't float my boat, I'll come and join you on draenor how does that sound!

[Rennys]

Phae is totally overrated.

[Syana]

If SWOTOR doesn't float my boat, I'll come and join you on draenor how does that sound!

oh god .. more dwarves....... just what we need.

[Rhedd]

The world would be a dark and horrible place without the great dwarf!

[Coral]

I'm all hot and bothered by that news Phaera. Unfortunantly, I must now wield a light saber and defend the universe against people like Coral =D

Rebel Scum.

[Lonskils]

Hey Rhedd!

[Beelzebubs]

Greetings Beelzebubs,

Your account has been selected to participate in an upcoming Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Beta Weekend Test. If you have previously tested or are currently participating in an ongoing test, you will be invited again. Additional details for this upcoming test will be announced soon.

Booya!

[Lonskils]

grrrr

[Beelzebubs]

Zephy, We have a Republic Hoss guild created on the SWToR boards (http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hos (http://www.swtor.com/guilds/188104/hoss). You can join there if you want. I know Fir had created a Empire Hoss guild, but I don't think they have enough people to get the guild pre-formed (you need at least four people with pre-orders confirmed). Phank has a bunch of old Hoss people and they will have a larger Empire-side presence, so that is prob where we will go for Empire side characters.

We have met the pre-requisites to get our Republic guild pre-created and assigned to the same server with our Ally and Adversary guilds (hopefully). They don't guarantee that we will all be on the same server, so we might have to do a little shuffling when the game is released.

-Zey

P.S. - The next phase of the beta has started and the game is looking much more polished. I'm getting excited for the launch! One cool new feature they added, which I haven't seen in any MMO, is your "Hearth" location (called Quick Travel in SW) works with any location you have discovered on a particular planet. So you aren't tied to one specific location at a time. Each planet has 5-7 locations typically. I thought that was pretty handy.

I applied so you can create the guild :p

[Rhedd]

Hey lons!

[Zeyla]

Added Bubs and Rhedd to Republic Hoss. Thanks to you guys for putting us at the requisite pre-order number!

[Wresh]

The Leviathan server has way too long of a Que time, so I am on the Sith Mediatation Sphere server right now to play around.

Started a Trooper named Darcaine.

[Zeyla]

Man, they went nuts with the weekend beta tester invites, every single server on the list shows full right now. Hopefully they are getting good data from the stress test. Logging in to The Leviathan, i'll be in eventually...

[Allara]

Yeah they invited me too, but I didn't bite.

[Beelzebubs]

You just need to do the Ryan trick. Go on the US servers at UK times and vice versa :p

[Wresh]

Played a ton this weekend and I really enjoy this game. Played a Jedi Knight/Trooper up to level 10, also played a little Smuggler, Inquisitor and Counselor (just to get the feel for the classes).

I like all of them and after playing this weekend I think the Trooper/Smuggler and Counselor are actually my favorites right now. Not sure how I will feel about them at level 50, but the beginning levels were really fun with them.

I dueled a couple of friends to see a taste of the PvP in this game, and I must admit I like it. Unlike other games, when you have a player targeted you have to move with that target to keep them in front of you to keep attacking......this game doesn't have that. The stupid players that like to hop around and run all around you will not have advantage in this game....run hop all you want...my toon will auto-follow you until you are dead. :)

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Played a ton this weekend and I really enjoy this game. Played a Jedi Knight/Trooper up to level 10, also played a little Smuggler, Inquisitor and Counselor (just to get the feel for the classes).

I like all of them and after playing this weekend I think the Trooper/Smuggler and Counselor are actually my favorites right now. Not sure how I will feel about them at level 50, but the beginning levels were really fun with them.


I dueled a couple of friends to see a taste of the PvP in this game, and I must admit I like it. Unlike other games, when you have a player targeted you have to move with that target to keep them in front of you to keep attacking......this game doesn't have that. The stupid players that like to hop around and run all around you will not have advantage in this game....run hop all you want...my toon will auto-follow you until you are dead. :)

AKA.. remove skill from pvp and let bads have a chance. Honestly I wont care if I can at least turn off the auto-face.

[Lonskils]

AKA.. remove skill from pvp and let bads have a chance.

lol, there is skill in pvp now really? Seriously?

[Loniel Bonewalker]

lol, there is skill in pvp now really? Seriously?

Saying there is no skill in pvp is the same as saying anyone can pve as good as the next person. In which case that is false. Collision detection is whats needed not auto-facing. moving around = makes sense, however running through someone is plain stupid.

[Wresh]

Saying there is no skill in pvp is the same as saying anyone can pve as good as the next person. In which case that is false. Collision detection is whats needed not auto-facing. moving around = makes sense, however running through someone is plain stupid.

I agree with the collision detection....Every game should have it.

The idea of jumping and running (mostly the jumping) around simply to throw off the target's view of you has bothered me since Quake. Every single 1st person shooter and MMO has these people and it can affect the PvP outcome by lagging "some" players up just enough to beat them. "Glitching" to win is not skill and this is where you an I will certainly disagree. I completely understand your point of view on this, but for me I will enjoy this type of PvP'ing much more. Will it become who can hit their buttons in the right order faster? Possibly....but I will wait and see as the game goes further along.

[Syana]

Nothing new.

Daoc had auto "sticking"

[Maegwin]

Remove the Jump button. Or make it so that every time you jump your accuracy is reduced or some shit like that. And yeah, collision detection.

[Syana]

Yes, I agree.

We play video games for the realism. Wait.. no.

As far as auto follow/sticking, I'll just make my cast sequence macro and put it in auto hotkey and I'm good to go. I just need to click on my target and let it fly!

You could even do that in wow now, to an extent. Not having to pay attention to keep up with your target is, well, retarded.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

The realism comments are always so funny. As if running around with a lightsaber or a blaster is somehow realistic. Syana just hit the nail on the head with the problem with auto-face. Make a hotkey and let it fly because you do not have to keep track of your target. Like I stated earlier, I hope that I can at least turn it off. There are times even in pvp I do not want to be annoyed with it automatically facing me toward my target especially in a world/battleground pvp setting.

I do love when people argue how everyone who moves around is glitching to get a advantage. Obviously moving around when your fighting someone gives a advantage as it should. It is only more advantageous when you face those who do not feel they should have to follow, counter, and predict movement. Does glitching happen, yes sure not to the amount that people bitch about though unless they are maybe on dial up or something. I tend to feel that being able to move around etc while still able to keep track and play accurately is a skill advantage not some glitch/cheating.

Perhaps remove all stealth for pvp purposes, isn't that a bigger advantage then those who move around while pvping? Or is stealth somehow ok and less "annoying"? But regardless longs I can play and run the game this particular issue will not ruin the whole game for me, just will diminish a part of the game I potentially saw myself enjoying. In no way does it outright kill it, though.

[Wresh]

Does anyone know if you got in the weekend beta for last weekend if you are in the next one as well? Or do we wait and see if we get an email to notify us of getting in the next too?

I'll be honest in saying I didn't really see anything on the forums on it, but I didn't look all that hard either.

[Tenelen]

One of my coworkers who has been in Beta for months has been saying that weekend players have recently been re-invited to following weekends.

[Lonskils]

Fine for me, if you don't want collision detection then let all the damage spells not require LOS so when I have to cast a 3 sec spell the guy can't simply run through my body to get out of it. Realism doesn't matter for that, shouldn't matter for having to face your attacker to cast a spell on them!

[Torrid]

Do me a favor and roll on a PvP server in December

[Zeyla]

Does anyone know if you got in the weekend beta for last weekend if you are in the next one as well? Or do we wait and see if we get an email to notify us of getting in the next too?

I'll be honest in saying I didn't really see anything on the forums on it, but I didn't look all that hard either.

Here is a nice "current issues" thread that talks about a lot of different things.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=620556

From this thread and a couple others I looked at it sounds like there is going to be an "All in" weekend where everyone who applied to the beta prior to Nov 11th, will get in. They way they make it sound is that everyone will be in on this event (from how I read it at least):

http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20111111-0

There is a new build of the game client coming out this week and it will not wipe existing characters for the regular testers. I don't know about weekend tester characters though, but there is a chance that your characters may still be there for the next weekend test.

[Andaas]

There are also several hundred thousand beta keys up for grabs on most of the gaming related websites out there (Curse, etc.).

[Syana]

Fine for me, if you don't want collision detection then let all the damage spells not require LOS so when I have to cast a 3 sec spell the guy can't simply run through my body to get out of it. Realism doesn't matter for that, shouldn't matter for having to face your attacker to cast a spell on them!

Trying to cast a 3 second spell while a warrior is beating your face in is a skill issue, or lack thereof.

There are spells that do not require line of sight to cast, namely dots and heals.

Line of sight is a balance issue, not a realism issue. If you want to be able to just stand and cast shoot at targets, play duck hunter.

[Rennys]

The idea of jumping and running (mostly the jumping) around simply to throw off the target's view of you has bothered me since Quake. Every single 1st person shooter and MMO has these people and it can affect the PvP outcome by lagging "some" players up just enough to beat them. "Glitching" to win is not skill and this is where you an I will certainly disagree. I completely understand your point of view on this, but for me I will enjoy this type of PvP'ing much more. Will it become who can hit their buttons in the right order faster? Possibly....but I will wait and see as the game goes further along.

"Lagging" will always be an issue in any FPS/MMO where combat is reaction based as opposed to turn based. It's just a fact of life. If you don't see the lag in your positioning, you'll see it when casting. You get killed half a second faster because of "lag". The issue is still there, just masked.

With respect to FPS games, they've practically never glitches as long as there wasn't some massive latency issue cropping up. Jumping was a valid method to disrupt aim. The world runs in 3 dimensions, how is jumping "glitching"? It's always been a valid way of dodging. More recent FPS have adapted by making running/jumping disrupt your aim.

Specifically for WoW, it is glitching due to the way Blizzard wrote the movement code. Since the servers don't actually register your position until you touch the ground, jumping caused glitching since you could jump as someone was charging and they would charge to your old position since the server doesn't know your current position until you touch the ground. Supposedly, they've fixed this issue, but we'll see how much warriors complain about it.

Auto sticking came out all the way back in the Asheron's Call days. It didn't come out with the game and was a separate patch. The issue it introduced was that melee became disproportionately powerful due to the sticking ability. Basically, if you were a caster/archer, you were totally screwed since the melee was going to be on your ass until you died or you killed them. Of course, it was skewed a bit by the fact that characters could dodge (most) spells and arrows in the game. More powerful spells took longer to cast and travelled more slowly (i.e. trivial to dodge).

I think the problem with sticky melee combat is that it's a poor solution to the problem of ranged dominating melee. Basically, it screams "hey, we've got a pvp issue, but we're just going to band-aid it and hope people don't notice".

[Lonskils]

Trying to cast a 3 second spell while a warrior is beating your face in is a skill issue, or lack thereof.

There are spells that do not require line of sight to cast, namely dots and heals.

Line of sight is a balance issue, not a realism issue. If you want to be able to just stand and cast shoot at targets, play duck hunter.

Balance issue? It's a lame mechanic, one that EQ didn't have except on bolt spells. The longer any MMO goes on the more mechanics there are given to melee to stay on and destroy a caster and the less the caster is given to get away. Just because 4% of the population can twich a mage well enough to compete with a facerolling hunter, warrior, et al that was bought yesterday from ebay naked, doesn't mean it's all hunky dorey now. When you can do in 1.5 sec the damage it takes a 5 second cast spell things aren't balanced. They just play out the way you like them to now. I'm not talking LOS go behind a wall either... I'm talking LOS run through someone.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

Fine for me, if you don't want collision detection then let all the damage spells not require LOS so when I have to cast a 3 sec spell the guy can't simply run through my body to get out of it. Realism doesn't matter for that, shouldn't matter for having to face your attacker to cast a spell on them!

Collision detection is absolutely needed as I said previously so I am going to assume that comment was toward another. you should be used to it by now Lons. Casters are not supposed to win unless we have a huge gear advantage or we face a dimwit melee who has no clue. Which is why auto-stick is crazy when there is no collision detection. I see it as those with fast attacks running through those who have to cast while casters will sit there and get beat on, because moving is negligible. Game is not live yet so I suppose the complaining is pointless.

I am curious though if these features pertain to duels in the 1v1 setting and not in a larger scale? Like I said I have no real clue just not a feature i'm crazy about. But not something I can see stressing about.

[Syana]

Balance issue? It's a lame mechanic, one that EQ didn't have except on bolt spells. The longer any MMO goes on the more mechanics there are given to melee to stay on and destroy a caster and the less the caster is given to get away. Just because 4% of the population can twich a mage well enough to compete with a facerolling hunter, warrior, et al that was bought yesterday from ebay naked, doesn't mean it's all hunky dorey now. When you can do in 1.5 sec the damage it takes a 5 second cast spell things aren't balanced. They just play out the way you like them to now. I'm not talking LOS go behind a wall either... I'm talking LOS run through someone.

That's like saying you shouldn't be able to run away from the melee. I mean, really, how does a frail mage physically outrun a warrior? Or how can a mage just stand there and cast a 3 second spell with a warrior beating your ass with a huge two handed axe? Even if you put the collision in, it doesn't stop the warrior from circle strafing. And how exactly does a mage continue casting while turning to keep the target in front.

Wait wait.. let's take this one step further. Why do melee need to be in melee range to hit you with their weapon? Why do melee need to have YOU in front to hit you? The no collision in wow works both ways. You can quickly run through the warrior and they wouldn't be able to hit you with their auto attack (thus wasting their auto attack time).

That is just the way Blizzard has pvp set up right now. If you think you have a better option, go suggest it to them or the next MMO developer, instead of just complaining about how all the pvp mechanics are against mages/casters. It just makes you look biased. I'm sure most melee players will agree that an auto follow/sticking option will make it stupid easy to play melee vs caster/range. That doesn't make it very compelling gameplay though.

On the subject of collision, there are MMOs out there with it. I think Age of Conan was one of them. To be honest, the gameplay felt clunky and not fun. And yes, I did play AoC briefly. I've also played a mage and warrior/rogue in wow pvp. In both occasion, I find the gameplay to be more smooth and enjoyable. Mage had its weaknesses but so do almost every other class.

[Syana]

Back to Star Wars discussion:

One thing that does intrigue me is the space combat. That would be an interesting pvp aspect.

I guess I should look for a beta key. :o

[Loniel Bonewalker]

/
Back to Star Wars discussion:

One thing that does intrigue me is the space combat. That would be an interesting pvp aspect.

I guess I should look for a beta key. :o

Yea I was excited for space combat as well. However from what I can tell it is on rails, so i do not know how much that may diminish the fun it may have been. Perhaps they may add non-railed pvp space combat at some point, at least something I can hope for.

[Syana]

I'm thinking Wing Commander / Descent type space combat. Or is that too much to hope for? :o

[Loniel Bonewalker]

I'm thinking Wing Commander / Descent type space combat. Or is that too much to hope for? :o

I "think" its more starfox, at least I think. I am not a 100% sure though, but I do believe that is at least what it will be similar to at launch. I know there was some talk that space travel and combat would be expanded upon but I do not believe it is something being focused on right now though I could be wrong.

I was hoping for something like where you could be flying along in your ship to your destination and could encounter a incursion/boarding party on your ship. I was thinking that could at least make space travel a tad interesting while also being easy to implement and not to game changing. But then again I could be all wrong and space combat could not be as I believe it will be.

[Wresh]

I "think" its more starfox, at least I think. I am not a 100% sure though, but I do believe that is at least what it will be similar to at launch. I know there was some talk that space travel and combat would be expanded upon but I do not believe it is something being focused on right now though I could be wrong.

I was hoping for something like where you could be flying along in your ship to your destination and could encounter a incursion/boarding party on your ship. I was thinking that could at least make space travel a tad interesting while also being easy to implement and not to game changing. But then again I could be all wrong and space combat could not be as I believe it will be.

I've heard a lot of people calling it similar to starfox...

Space Combat is VERY important in a Star Wars game (like...duh, right?), but SWG didn't have anything in space until they released a full expansion for it. If I were to guess....they put this space combat system into the game for the release and will most likely release some full scale space expansion....at least that is what I am hoping for!!

There have been a ton of rumors floating around out there...One I saw was - guilds getting Capital Ships later on (expansion or major patch??) in which it is not only a guild hall, but you can take into combat missions. I would think this would be some MAJOR programming, but if they could pull it off, it would be fun.

[Aindayen]

I loved wing commander

[Zeyla]

The SWToR space combat is actually pretty fun as it is now. It is a starfox-style shooting gallery mostly. It is just a fun diversion, side-quest kind of thing. Open space combat would be much much cooler though, no doubt. I recall reading a developer post or note somewhere that said they do want to expand on the space combat and make it more open. It sounded like they were going to leave the space combat as-is for now, then look at expanding on it later. It might have been a chat with one of the developers at a recent conference where I saw it.

I hadn't heard about the guild capital ship thing, that would be awesome! If they could bring back some semblance of the gameplay from those old X-Wing/Tie Fighter PC games, that would rock!

[Wresh]

Full scale beta this weekend for major stress testing...
Anyone that signed up for it before 11/11/11 will get in (I think they said that was the cutoff date). If you didn't get an invite through email(some people are stating they never got one), but you signed up go to http://www.swtor.com/tester while signed into the website and you should be able to dload the client.