Star Wars: The Old Republic

[Vladimir]

If I had to guess, his point is you should be into dead things.

Yea, the whole evil dark motif.

A good friend of mine is playing a hot Imperial agent. Yes, the person playing her is a guy.

[Veho Nex]

Yea, the whole evil dark motif.

A good friend of mine is playing a hot Imperial agent. Yes, the person playing her is a guy.

My BH is a lady. Truth be told I prefer to stare at a girls butt even if its fake over that of a guys. Also, just because I'm sith doesnt mean i like dead stuff. Sith really isnt the whole evil dark motif, but one about power. Whats the point of being all powerful if you kill all your subjects.

[tibilicus]

Sitting firmly on the fence with this game. Going to see how it plays out.

[econ21]

I posted my first impressions based on the open beta here:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...ta-impressions

Right now, I have a level 37 Jedi Guardian and am very happy with the game. I've been effectively playing it as a Kotor3, single player game, focussing on levelling. The story is pretty good and none of the quest dialogues I feel like space-baring through (except when it is non-English speaking aliens talking). The settings are quite varied and the quests, while they are conventional, are well motivated. I like the levelling system - a new talent point and typically a new skill each level, makes it rewarding. I like the system of having moddable gear, so you can customise your look and keep starter gear from being obsolete. Overall, I think the game works as a Kotor3. It is much longer than Kotor1 or Kotor2. The mechanics maybe better (the combat is more interactive). The companions are less of a feature (they were very pronounced in kotor1 and 2 as it was a single player game), although I like my Guardian's companions and am enjoying an ellicit romance, waiting to see if it will bring dark side points for being verboten.

I've not done much playing with other players. There are heroic 2 or 4 player quests, but I find they disrupt the flow of the story while levelling. There are "flashpoints", instanced 4 man dungeons, between planets but I tend to skip them as they are even more disruptive. There is no "looking for dungeon" tool like WoW has, so you have to hang around the fleet trying to form a group. Healers seem to be scarce. There are, if anything, too many tanks (my guardian is a tank). The community (I am on an EU RP server) seems decent: people persevere in groups and don't ragequit, unlike WoW. I have not tried PvP yet but my son likes it as a Bounty Hunter tank.

I am not sure how it will turn out. Worst best outcome, it will be a very nice atmospheric levelling experience - rather like Lord of the Rings online, but better. Whether it sustains a strong end game like WoW, is a tougher question, but the underlying mechanics (almost a clone of WoW) are solid so it has potential.

A big attraction is the difference of the class quests. It's kind of what Dragon Age Origins promised but failed to deliver: very different experiences for each class. It means that levelling an alt is attractive to me, whereas in a WoW type game, it would merely be a repetitive grind. I am not sure what my first alt will be. Playing a subversive light side Sith Warrior was immense fun in the beta. I've heard the Imperial Agent has a great "James Bond" style story arc. But I am not sure I could stomach serving the Empire for 50 levels - they are evil, in an unambiguous "destroy a planet of a billion souls" kind of way.

[Major Robert Dump]

I have around 90 minutes of uninterrupted free time a day, assuming my convoys dont get into fights and I dont get rocketed in the hooch which means I have to go count heads. So I bought the digital download, which with my big 30k connection, should take me onlu 9 more days to download haha, been going for 4 now.

Since my connection is slow and my attention is limited, I will probably play a few toons up to level 10, since I dont have the time for more advanced stuff and I dont want to have to make important decisions. Plus, the specialites will be nerfed and tweeked and I am waiting to see what comes in the next couple of months.

I have a pretty good idea of what I would like to do and with what, but I am a little put off because from my research and trolling I am gleaning that there are no non-saber melee weapons to be used by non jedi. I was really hpoing to make a melee BH. I know there are melee attacks that can be used in conjunction with other weapons, but I was really wanting to hack stuff as default attack, and I dont want to play a jedi.

I like what I see with the crafting and talents, but I am not a huge fan of the 10 points in x to get skill y type trees. I know this is the norm, I just dont like it.

I also think the class skills that come automatically from leveling are too many, and would prefer if you had to spend points to get those instead.

I was also hoping for race specific traits.

@Veho Nex: I was wanting to play republic, and probably still will, but I will come to your server and join your guild as a sith because I owe you one for sending me MB POP. Just don't expect much out of me with this slow bandwidth, I won't be back in the states until summer, and my power gaming days are over

[econ21]

I was really hpoing to make a melee BH. I know there are melee attacks that can be used in conjunction with other weapons, but I was really wanting to hack stuff as default attack, and I dont want to play a jedi.

My son levelled a BH to 50. He was also initially frustrated with the restriction to pistols (he wanted a carbine). But he was very happy with the class in power, gameplay and story.

but I am not a huge fan of the 10 points in x to get skill y type trees. I know this is the norm, I just dont like it.

Yes, it works out as "pick almost all the talents in your tree to get the ultimate talent; choose 10 from another tree" and thus provides very little actual choice or customisation. On the plus side, levelling is rewarding, getting a talent every level.

I also think the class skills that come automatically from leveling are too many,

They come fast up to about level 20, but those levels also go quite fast. Thereafter, you don't get many skills. Playing a Jedi Guardian (L41 now), I don't feel I have too many skills. It's very close to a WoW warrior and one of the things I liked about WoW warriors is having a full tool box of abilities you can use when the moment is ripe. I am using almost 36 buttons on my naga mouse though (12 + shift/ctrl versions).

I was also hoping for race specific traits.

Races are very bland, but at least you aren't forced to play race X to maximise your power. The Sith are racists, so it might be fun to play a non-human/non-Sith if you go Empire. Most Republic players seem to be human, as I am, and race never seems to matter.

[Monk]

Races are very bland, but at least you aren't forced to play race X to maximise your power. The Sith are racists, so it might be fun to play a non-human/non-Sith if you go Empire. Most Republic players seem to be human, as I am, and race never seems to matter.

There's only one, maybe two parts in the game where race is ever mentioned in the dialogue. Class choice is mentioned constantly, people react a bit differently to you if you're a Jedi as opposed to a Smuggler, for instance. Feels like a deliberate design choice to make race matter very little other than the obvious aesthetics.

Yes, it works out as "pick almost all the talents in your tree to get the ultimate talent; choose 10 from another tree" and thus provides very little actual choice or customisation. On the plus side, levelling is rewarding, getting a talent every level.

Surprisingly there are a few classes that can hybridize effectively. There's a popular mercenary build making the rounds that splits 25 points in heals and the rest in Arsenal, which some pvpers are using to top healing AND damage meters of the same game. Its quite interesting. Unfortunately not every class has that freedom.