Star wars: The old republic

[Nicho]

Hey guys been playing the old republic beta for the last couple if days and have to say im liking it. The story for each class really gets me hooked plus im having so much fun electrocuting people to death lol.

Anyone else been playing it? Got any thoughts about it?

[Korgan]

It Looks great from what I've seen from it for the moment, hop end game will be as cool!

[Voss]

I've been playing. Packed almost 30 hours of play time in the last 2 days,which is rather excessive, but holidays are useful things.

The stories are largely good, the voice acting is excellent, and the game play is quite fun. Bit faster paced than WoW, and challenging at times (which WoW hasnt been for a while).

Few glitches and bugs here and there, but that is the point of a beta test. Mostly minor stuff so far, though I just realized I lost access to a skill. But no disconnects or crashes at all in 30 hours, which is very nice.

There are a few things I'd really like to see- particularly key binding and being able to keep the look of an outfit I actually like (which LotR online does), but I am overall I am very impressed by the game, even in a beta state.


Sigh. Keybinding exists (which is fantastic, as it was my one major complaint). The 'tab' just wasn't where I expected it to be. Never seen a tab interface at the bottom of the display rather than the top...

[GuardsmenHawke]

I love it to death so much better than WoW. I enjoy playing as my Bounty Hunter. I two manned the Sith Black Talon cause my Companion is a healer lol

[Gaz]

I'm not sure how many hours I managed to cram in over the beta weekend, but I'll definately be getting the game. I rolled a Jedi sentinel as I thought "This is the class Im least likely to play"...I wish I hadn't, it was great fun and now I want to play one when the game goes live

[bosstroll]

Played a trooper over the weekend, and I must say that SW:ToR beats my expectations. I was thinking of a weak SW:G clone, but thank The Force it isn't. Definatly made my to-buy list.

[Yodhrin]

Nope. Call me when I can play a Sith-hybrid race Inquisitor who uses a one-handed lightaber, or when I can play through the "secretive, manipulative, artifact hunting" storyline which Bioware have limited to the Inquisitor with a Warrior.

I'm getting pretty sick of this whole "cinematic storytelling" trend; the whole point of an RPG is to experience a story from the perspective of your character, not whatever preset the developer has assigned you. SWTOR doesn't even let you choose what weapon you use.

[Ozorik]

I managed to mong my beta application so I missed out. I have been looking at some gameplay videos though and so far I'm not overly impressed. It looks very much like a more wordy WoW with light sabres.

[Voss]

The style is similar to WoW, but the combat is faster paced (and you generally face 3-4 enemies at once), and the storylines make a _huge_ difference. Some of them need some work (like the counselor- the first part of the story is fine, but the second part relies on the player forming an emotional attachment to the mentor, who is little more than a glorified quest-giver that you barely interact with), but for the most part they are quite interesting.

You also don't have to wait for the mid to late game for interesting abilities. Stuns, AoE attacks and the like come early and are usable nearly every combat (sometimes you can blow through several fights in a row and not have your 30 sec cooldown quite ready for every one)

It of course isn't for everyone, but I ended up spending about 40 hours in this weekend and had a blast. Poked at pretty much every class except the jedi knight, got the warrior and counselor up to 12 and the bounty hunter up to 25 (and on to the 5th planet by skipping a lot of sidequests on the 3rd and 4th planets).

Was very stable the whole time, with few exceptions (found a rare crafting recipe that crashed the game), but for the most part I had few problems, mostly graphical glitches, but none worse than what skyrim had on release.

My only real concern is for future expansions. They really need to add more low and mid level content (as well as end game stuff) to keep repeated playthroughs from getting dull. At the moment you do go through planets in a set order (you are seemingly offered a choice of two at times, but one is lower level than the other), and while the story quests differ for each class, you will be going through the same side quests repeatedly.


@Yodhrin- Inquisitor can take a one handed lightsaber (take the Sorcerer advanced class). And the Sith race is by definition a hybrid. Consider yourself called.

[Ozorik]

I'll probably buy it and play it for the free month but I doubt that it will hold my interest. The Secret World on the other hand.....

[SPYDER68]

Inquisitor does use a 1 hand lightsaber... and on top of that.. can fill every role.. Sorc = DPS or heals Assasin = Tank or DPS..


Anywho, ive been in Closed beta for awhile now.

So far the game is very very nice.

Lowbie zones seemed at first a bit resticted in zone size. but..

I went to Hoth the other day, and all i can say is wow...


Classes i have, 42 Jugger, 42 Jedi Shadow, 20 Consular, 20 Bounty Hunter, and pretty much all the others from 10-15.

Game has yet to get old for me or even close.

The game runs smoothe, ive had Zero lag, even on Beta weekend.

The instances are alot of fun.. Now.. the first two.. are easymode.. it was designed that way.

The first instance used to be tough for 4 people, but alot dont realize it was rebalanced for 2 players and companions.


Now companions.. This is a great addition, Solo players can do alot more solo with them, or fill a spot in a group if needed.

I believe you get 5 companions by level 50. (Bounty hunter gets his very own Jawa Companion btw)

PvP servers, from what i can tell, you dont have a chance of being ganked till usually around level 18, the 3rd Zone you go to.

Crafting/Gathering. The best thing ive seen an mmo do in a long time.

You do not "have to" (even though you can) gather your mats. You open companion screen, select companion, and send them on a gathering mission.

Same with crafting.

(5 companions gathering at a time at 50 will be nice)

Every Class can be DPS.

The class balance is very much in the correct direction.

Example.

Bounty Hunter - Trooper

Both get identicle abilities, they are named different, and have completely different animations.

This is the same for their advance classes.

Now, i played Mercinary and Commando to 20. They have Identicle skills and damage.

I hate Commando.. but i loved Merc... They felt like completly different classes. (even though the same skills)

For the jedOr lovers..

Inquisitor/Consular

Sage/Sorc - 1 hand saber
Shadow/Assasin - Double Blade Saber


Jedi Knight/Sith Warrior

Sentinal/Marauder - 2x 1 hand sabers
Jugger/Guardian - 1x 1 hand saber


Bounty Hunter -
Mercinary - 2x Pistols
Powertech 1x Pistol

Trooper
Commando - Assault Cannot (Big friggen Gun)
Vanguard - Blaster Rifle.

Imperial Agent
Sniper - Sniper rifle
Operative - Blaster Rifle.

Smuggler
Gunslinger 2x Pistol
Scoundral - 1x Pistol

NDA is gone.

So if anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

[Nicho]

You think casual gamers will enjoy the game?

[nedsta]

I started downloading this on Friday and was quite sad when it had only done a few gigs in a few hours, especially as I was away on Sat/Sun, but when I got back the download went at an almighty speed and I found myself playing all day yesterday, got myself upto level 16 as a Jedi Knight and generally had a good time, no CTD, a fair bit of lag though but not enough to make the game totally unplayable.

I totally agree about the crafting aspect of the game and the fact your companions can scoot off to find/make items, very much considering getting this game and leaving WOW for my missus to play on (well at least until 40K online comes out)

[SPYDER68]

You think casual gamers will enjoy the game?

I would say so yes.

You can do content that is a bit harder then you could do normally due to a companion.

Different companions do different things.

DPS
Heals
Tanks

They arent as good as players, but they get the job done, you can give them gear and all that good stuff.

For KOTOR players, $60 for the game, and you can play a class on Empire side, and then a class on Republic side have 2x different stores and side quests that are 100% different.

Then on top of that you could do the same side quests with a 100% different and unique Class specific story for 8 Main Classes (the sub classes all share the same as their main (Commando/Vanguard etc)

[Voss]

You think casual gamers will enjoy the game?

Oh yes. Even beyond the idea that casual gamers will enjoy whatever garbage they're fed, the game is very casual friendly. You don't have to grind for good gear while leveling (each planet has commendations that can be chosen as quest rewards, and those can be exchanged for blue gear, for example).

There will probably be some whining that some fights/quests are too hard, but grabbing even a single buddy tends to solve that problem.

I started downloading this on Friday and was quite sad when it had only done a few gigs in a few hours, especially as I was away on Sat/Sun, but when I got back the download went at an almighty speed and I found myself playing all day yesterday, got myself upto level 16 as a Jedi Knight and generally had a good time, no CTD, a fair bit of lag though but not enough to make the game totally unplayable.

Hmm. I had almost no lag at all the entire weekend. Given the download problem and your lag, it may be local problem with your ISP.

[Nicho]

i may have to get this in the end, will save me money on other games in the long run lol


Oh and do any of you know how to get into the early access from the 15th?

[Voss]

i may have to get this in the end, will save me money on other games in the long run lol


Oh and do any of you know how to get into the early access from the 15th?

If you preorder a copy, you get a code that you register on the SW:TOR website. Make sure you ask about the code before you actually buy; some retailers are apparently being clueless about it. If you buy from Amazon, they'll email you a code (I did this just last night after finishing my experience with the stress test. I wasn't going to buy until I either did a lot of research or had a good amount of hands on experience. The preorder code came via email after about 5 minutes)

Keep in mind two things, however. At this point, you may not get in on the 15th, since preorders have been up for months, and early access is based on when you registered the code. At this stage, I wouldn't expect access earlier than the 16th or 17th. Second, to play the game early you'll have to download the whole thing from their website (and they will probably give access to the download client a couple days prior to the 15th).

[SPYDER68]

As Voss Said, they are going to do a Staggered pre Release access.

First so many Pre orders Start the 15th.
Next batch the 16th.

and i agree with the assumption that 16th/17th will be the latest you have to worry about.

[Nicho]

cheers just found my preorder code i got from game though im thinking i might get the game of origin now instead

[SPYDER68]

Be sure to link your pre order code to your SWTOR account to get the early access.