Star Wars: The Old Republic

**Major Robert Dump** · 01-02-2012, 20:01

A Zabrak should have aim and agility bonuses. A Trandoshan should have mad hitpoints and strength. A human and twi lek shlould get diplomacy bonuses.

I'm just saying.

speaking of, I cant deal with the forums, there are like 5 new threads every 10 minutes..... can someone please explain to me how stat point allocations work? do you pick stats to start or as you level? wassup?

**econ21** · 01-03-2012, 16:58

Originally Posted by Major Robert Dump

A Zabrak should have aim and agility bonuses. A Trandoshan should have mad hitpoints and strength. A human and twi lek shlould get diplomacy bonuses.

I'm just saying.

That's very sensible from a "world simulation" point of view, but I am not sure it works for an MMO. Powergaming is quite important in an MMO, whether competitively in PvP or "cooperatively" in raiding (being the best tank/healer/dps you can etc). What you suggest would put pressure on, for example, all Sith Warrior tanks to be Trandoshans. Either you succumb to this pressure to play something other than you want, or you feel aggrieved for being gimped for playing the race you want. I've played MMOs where my chosen race (Elf in LOTOR, for example) is the worst suited for my chosen class (guardian ie tank) and it's not fun. TOR may have gone too far in making race just cosmetic, but any racial bonuses probably should just be "flavour" things rather than have a marked effect on your power.

speaking of, I cant deal with the forums, there are like 5 new threads every 10 minutes..... can someone please explain to me how stat point allocations work? do you pick stats to start or as you level? wassup?

You pick your talents as you level. You don't directly pick your stats. Those come from your class and, especially, from your gear. It's very much following the WOW model: your gear is everything. You can customise much of your gear to get the stats you want (e.g. a guardian can put might (strength heavy) mods or more defensive ones in their heavy armor depending on whether they are following a dps or tanking build).

GC: you can't be a Wookie or a Trandoshan (or a droid). You are limited to very human-like races: Twileks and Zabraks (Darth Maul types) are perhaps the most distinctive; many others seems merely blue/green/grey/blind ugly-looking humans. However, smugglers get a Wookie companion; BHs get a Jawa; JGs an R2-D2 type droid; JCs get a Trandoshan etc.

**Monk** · 01-04-2012, 18:34

Originally Posted by econ21

GC: you can't be a Wookie or a Trandoshan (or a droid). You are limited to very human-like races: Twileks and Zabraks (Darth Maul types) are perhaps the most distinctive; many others seems merely blue/green/grey/blind ugly-looking humans.

I'm still holding out hope that when the legacy system finally gets introduced we'll see extra race options being unlockables. Nothing ridiculous, but i'd love to have a bit more variety.

And don't knock Miraluka! Come on man.

**Beskar** · 01-05-2012, 16:19

The game initial start-up cost is a big no for me. I don't simply have that money and it is almost twice the price I paid for Skyrim on release.

**Major Robert Dump** · 01-05-2012, 21:31

The race thing is a mistake. The bonuses could be so small that they are almost negligible, but a human or sullistan should be a better crafter than a lizard man. It would actually add to variety if you provided a manner in which to balance, such as opposing penalties implemented through stats or gear limitations. for example, a wookie has more HP but gets very little armor. A twilek cant wear a full helm. etc etc

Not looking at it from a real world stand point, I just don't like cookie cutter. I dont like when I can tell exactly what a class, build and gear loadout is the first few actions of the fight based on sparkly animations and sounds.

Still bought the game though, but gonna hold out on any leveling past 10for a couple months in hopes they add melee weapons

this is of course if I can ever get it downloaded..... still trucking along

**econ21** · 01-06-2012, 00:54

Originally Posted by Tiaexz

The game initial start-up cost is a big no for me. I don't simply have that money and it is almost twice the price I paid for Skyrim on release.

Well, Skyrim is very good value for money but TOR is no rip-off. The game is massive. Each class has their own class quest chain - i.e. the main quest chain - lasting throughout the 50 levels (class quests maybe around 1/5 of all questing time). Republic and Empire don't share side quests. If you were to have a month of vacation or something, you'd be hard put to beat TOR for value for money for that month. I've had it for three weeks, have only one character (who is now level 44) and have played well over the advertised amount of playtime in Baldur's Gate, for example.

Of course, the initial start-up cost may be very small relative to what you have to pay for subscription fees. But even then, when I look at my WoW playtime relative to the financial cost, it compares well with even the old school RPGs like BG1. I'm not sure I will stick with TOR like I have stuck with WoW. The end-game is currently underdeveloped. But if the game earns enough money, there is potential. I'd say it's a safe buy for someone who wants a Kotor3 (or even eight Kotor3s). Whether it is for someone who wants a WoW 2.0 is yet to be proven.

**Lemur** · 01-09-2012, 21:21

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube

this looks like an MMO that is favorable for casual players

That perked my ears up. I gave up on MMOs because I could not compete with people who did not have jobs, families, etc. If BioWare has cracked the code of offering a competitive experience for those of us who have lives, ergo limited gaming time ...

**johnhughthom** · 01-23-2012, 18:36

Anybody any advice on how to find out if latency fluctuation is a problem on my end and how to fix it? I'm a bit of an MMO noob. Been playing since Wednesday and it was fine until yesterday, usually around 50 ms. Since yesterday it has starting jumping between 50 and around 600, with occasional jumps to silly numbers like 30,000. I'd like to check if it's a problem with my comp or connection before I bug customer service. Nobody else on the server seems to be having any problems.

Really enjoying the game, currently level 25 with a Jedi Consular. I've heard it's probably the weakest storyline, but I'm finding it okay as gaming storylines go. I'm playing it as a singleplayer RPG with multi-player elements, only done one 2 player heroic and one 4 player heroic, and to be honest I think it's more than value for money on that basis. Not sure I'll keep playiing (and paying) once I play through the storylines though.

**Monk** · 01-23-2012, 18:47

Sometimes you will time out from the servers - during which your ping will jump to insane amounts (like 50k) while your connection is attempting to reset. Your ping isn't really that high, its just the game trying to deal with the fact its lost connection to the server and estimating that as a new ping rate.

As a rule, http://pingtest.net/ is a good place to start for figuring out the stability and speed of your line. If the problem is more than just random disconnects and persists to the point it hinders your enjoyment, giving CS a ring is probably a good idea. Just be prepared - Bioware CS for swtor is not that good..

**econ21** · 01-30-2012, 01:21

Sorry, GC - I am on a different server, Euro side. And I would not party with dastardly Sith anyway!

How are you finding your juggernaut? I have not been brave enough to take my JK tank into many instances but just finished my class quest today and was very satisfied with the levelling experience. I really like soloing as a tank - especially now that I have taken to bringing the healer as my companion. It feels quite balletic and fast paced. However, I can envisage it being a challenge in an instance to keep aggro and to stay alive.

**econ21** · 01-30-2012, 08:33

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube

If I was gonna play on the Republic side, it'd be a toss-up between Trooper (I like the idea of being part of a special-forces-in-space thing) or I'd make a Jedi Knight since i'm already quite comfortable with the Sith Warrior mechanics (exactly the same as the Jedi Knight, just different names for the skills).

I have a similar dilemma. I can say that the Jedi Knight story is excellent imo, if you want a fairly straightforward epic "saving the galaxy" experience. If you try it, at least play until the second planet (Coruscant) as it was one of the best whereas the starter planet was among the weakest.

My son really liked the Bounty Hunter mechanics (as well as story) though, so I may go for a trooper next. I also like the trooper premise, although the JK was much more military-oriented than I expected. One thing I missed from the JK story is when the war breaks out - apparently, the trooper story is the clearest in showing that transition.

My limited taste of the Sith Warrior was very tantalising though - playing a light side role in such a dark setting was delicious and felt wonderfully subversive, but I don't know how far I could get without feeling morally compromised (I am not a fan of playing evil characters in RPGs).