The Smuggler Class and Kiting

Georg Zoeller:
“As far as kiting goes, it’s not easy being a Smuggler. Not impossible, but it wouldn’t be my class of choice for that, and here is why:
- Try kiting a Sith Warrior, who can force charge up to 30 meters and can throw their Lightsaber.
- Try kiting a Sith Inquisitor, who has powerful control effects and the ability to enter Force Speed for a few seconds, with greatly increased movement rate.
- Try kiting a Bounty Hunter, who may have the ability to use their jetpack to catch up to you or use a grappling hook as well as good range with their blaster rifle.
- Try kiting Imperial Agents why may have a sniper rifle with long range equal or better than your own.
There’s certainly the option to make use of environment/line of sight and advanced players will find that for example Warriors can be made miserable by a Smuggler dodging around in their dead zone (out of melee range, not yet in Force Charge range), hitting hard with the scatter gun (15m range) – but kiting overall in our game isn’t simple due to the wide range of utility all classes have.”
Next up, writer Jo Berry gives us her two, very valuable credits regarding the Jedi Consular having a Trandoshan companion. If you read our recent guest post by Arnold Triplett on the newly announced Trandoshan companion, Qyzen Fess, you may be eager to hear Berry’s take. If I’m not mistaken, Berry is the person who has written the Jedi Consular story you will be enjoying in SWTOR."

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Endgame Content at Gamescom

With the largest gathering of European gamers less than a week away, the community team for Star Wars: The Old Republic has finally nailed down its plans for Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. As with all other conventions the BioWare developers have attended since Gamescom last year, the origin worlds for each of the classes will be available for visitors to the EA booth (inside Hall 6 of the Koelnmesse). But this year, the focus is on something a bit more high-level: Endgame.

First, chosen members of the community that have applied through the SWTOR forums will fight hands-on in the Alderaan PvP warzone. Also, throughout the weekend, BioWare staff will demonstrate the Eternity Vault raid adding to endgame focus.

Gamescom runs August 17th to the 21st, and the showroom floor opens at 4 a.m. EDT (10 a.m CET) Thursday and Friday, and 3 a.m. EDT (9 a.m. CET) Saturday and Sunday. If you're a SWTOR fan, you don't want to be late!



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The Cover System in PvP

"For the cover specs, cover is very viable in PvP. The ability to entrench grants them immunity from a wide range of effects, including ballistics and makes them impossible to charge. Their superior range means they are guaranteed to get the first shot, which could be a powerful alpha strike, a snare or one of several other options.

An entrenched sniper guarding a choke point like a bridge on the Voidstar or objective in a Warzone is painful for most solo classes to deal with. If you get a sniper or gunslinger with cover spec set up in your flank during a battle and don't do something about it, expect the fight to be over quick.

In our last round of testing, I've seen a single Smuggler guarding a bridge wiping out four attackers trying to swarm him by sending them into the bottomless with a well timed cover pulse. Granted, they weren't exactly smart charging him head on, but these things happen when people get overconfident.

A number of interesting mechanics, such as the powerful Cover Pulse AOE defense and the ability to instant snipe for a short duration after exiting cover allow characters that got surprised to regain control of the situation or transition into an organized retreat.

Of course, cover based classes are not suited for all roles equally (few classes are) and the cover gameplay is surely not for everyone, especially not people who just like to charge into the fray. Playing in our Alderaan Warzone for example, cover based classes are more likely to act as defenders than scouts and that requires patience and tactical movement to be successful. Charging head on into a Lightsaber wielding enemy is a very good way of getting a free speeder ride in these scenarios.

We don't expect them to be as wildly popular as a Jedi Knight or Consular, it is definitely a class that is harder to master than most, but I do think that players who like this kind gameplay will be satisfied with their options here and do well in competitive PvP."

Disabling converstaions will not be an option. (Yet?)

"To answer the original question, no, there is currently no option to completely disable the conversation scenes in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

BioWare is known for creating some of the best story-driven games in the world. Story is a key feature in every game we create. As such, we like to think that's one of the reasons people play our games. We wouldn't automatically give people an option to switch off a key feature.

That said, the feature's been discussed. There may be some benefit for people who are playing a class over again, for example. As of right now though, it's not an option that's in the game.

As has been mentioned, while in a conversation you have the option to press space bar and skip a line of dialogue. You can go through and pick your conversation choices much more rapidly that way if you wish."

SWTOR: The WoW Killer?

There have been numerous reports and accusations that SWTOR is a WoW-killer. For many, it will be a good thing if it is. Some are tired of WoW and tired of WoW-clones. They’re looking for something new, something to make a big splash in the MMO scene and SWTOR claims to be it.

This article on Product-Reviews.net takes a look at this notion and whether or not SWTOR will really be a WoW-killer.

“Most gamers will agree that the notion of any such game being able to topple the might of Blizzard’s WoW will be like saying; the Mega Drive can compete with the PS3’s graphics. However, SWTOR has so much more to give gamers, more in fact than Wow, but there is still much more to consider. Gamerzitch has now weighed in on the argument saying that BioWare has developed a game that makes you feel important, but is that really enough to topple the fan base of Blizzard’s MMO?”

I don’t know. If any game could do it, I would think a story-driven Star Wars themed MMORPG by BioWare would be the very game to achieve such a feat. I’m not a WoW-hater. I’ve played since beta. I have a guild still actively seeking Firelands progression but a good lot of us are just waiting on SWTOR. We have our guild registered, our members signed up and most have pre-ordered the game already. To say we are ready is an understatement.

Will SWTOR achieve what it promises or will it let us down? The reviews goes more in depth on the claims:

“The reason we say this is because World of Warcraft currently has a user base of 13 million, this cult following will be tough to follow and even if those on the side of SWTOR must agree that it is a battle that will not be won. This is a shame; because The Old Republic has a lot more to give its users, the 1,000 hours of story is proof of this. No one will be able to say that BioWare has a pointless game here, as it is far from it.

It does not matter how much Star Wars: The Old Republic has to offer in way of gameplay, storyline or how differently it reacts when playing as a smuggler or Jedi, it will always come down to reach. But let’s think about this for one moment, as there is room for both. It does not matter if you want SWTOR because it is more for a single player or WoW because it excels in multiplayer, there will be times when you want the option for the two.”

I, personally HATE the term "WoW Killer".  It's been associated with almost every single MMORPG that's been made in the past 5 years.  The term has even been used an advertising gimmick. (Yes Rift, I'm looking at you) 

Anyway, onto my point.....

SWTOR doesnt need to "kill" WoW to succeed.  The two can coexist in the same online world just fine.  From what I can gather, BioWare understands this.  What TOR's creators have done is provide with a much different experience than WoW while still borrowing some of the standards WoW has set. I'll explain this in list format.

1. The World: The Galaxy Far Far Away is nothing like Azeroth. Not only for cosmetic and technological reasons either. Not to pick on Rift again but...let's be honest here. My time in spent questing in Telara felt just like questing in a less immerse, watered down Azeroth. The point being: We've already had Azeroth, Telara was nothing new (RIFT invasions being the exception)

 

2. The Combat:  From what I can gather, (using Flashpoint videos as a reference) Combat inside instances looks entirely different than in WoW's.  The mob-aggro is managed differently than what you'd typically see (Tank holds all aggro) Whereas in TOR almost every role (aside from the healer) takes turns aggroing certain things. Going more off of that, even the healing roles jump into the offensive combat and attack. Healing in  WoW (for PVE) ALMOST NEVER requires you to use offensive abilities.  

-The Cover System- I'll admit, I'm a bit skeptical about the cover system, I haven't tried it myself but it is something new, thus providing for different strategies and game-play options. 

3: The Advanced Class System: I still find myself asking a lot of questions when looking over information about this, but from what I can gather, it's pretty different from your average talent point leveling system, and in a good way.

4: Questing: I really don't feel like I need to explain this.  Questing in WoW and questing in SWTOR are like night and day.  Fully voiced, multiple outcomes (no longer just Failed or Completed) and....

 

5: Dark and Light side points: Not quite sure how these are going to work, but we've seen the decisions in videos such as "The Esseles Walkthrough" that award them.  Again, something new that we haven't seen before.

6: Companions: In WoW certain classes do have Companions (pets, minions, gouls) that assist in combat. In TOR, your companions are far more developed with dialogue, personalities, and romantic tendencies.

7: Your own spaceship (no explanation necessary)

8: Space Combat: WoW does have vehicular combat in questing and PVP, but it's not nearly as developed as in TOR.  This is another area that could use some elaboration, but again, something fresh.

These are just a few examples, feel free to add your own and elaborate on  things that I may have not been the most knowledgeable on (Dark side/light side, the cover system, space combat, ect...)

PS: Before I get flamed: I have been a WoW player myself for 4 years.I love the game and how it's designed  I plan on playing both WoW and SWTOR. The above are comparisons, not criticisms. What WoW does, it does well.  I am merely trying to demonstrate that both games provide different experiences.

 

PSS: I apologize to any Rift players I may have offended. I didn't enjoy the game.  Opinions are opinions. Try to stay on topic....

PvP to be at GamesCom

As you probably know, Star Wars: The Old Republic will be appearing at this year's GamesCom show in Cologne.

"As an added bonus to those members of the The Old Republic community, we will be housing a special area within the stand where you can play Warzone PvP.

This area is designed to allow members of the community to play Warzone matches in a slightly more relaxed environment, away from the rest of the hustle and bustle of the show floor. The room itself holds 16 players at any time, where 8 Republic players will battle against 8 Imperial combatants in the Alderaan Civil War.

If you (and maybe members of your guild) are attending GamesCom and want to get involved, send us an email to events@SWTOR.com telling us:

- Your name
- OPTIONAL: the names of up to 3 of your friends or guild mates who also want to play
- The day you'd like to play (Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday)

The final date and time for signups will be Monday 8th August at 1600 CET (1500 GMT). After that time, we will be selecting names randomly, and assigning people to days and time slots.

If you are chosen, you will receive an email detailing your assigned time and date, to which you will need to reply to confirm the slot.

While we will do our best to accommodate everyone's requests with regards to signups, slots will be given out randomly, as long as the application was received before the cut off date. The decision of the BioWare team is final and as such, we retain the right to refuse entry to the room for any reason. Due to the volume of signups we receive, if you miss your allotted time slot at the show, we can not guarantee that you will be able to attend another session at a later time.

We look forward to seeing you all in Cologne!"

More Dev Comments On Initial Launch Limitations

"Hello all. Apologies for the delay in posting; post-Comic-Con we rolled straight into prep for GamesCom and PAX, and that's kept me busy.

I realize many of you are hoping for a definitive 'answer' to the question of "Why are we limiting the initial launch for The Old Republic". I'm afraid you already have your answer in the very first post of this thread. It was a decision made to ensure the highest quality of game service.

There have been other key questions, and we've tried to answer them for you. There are no plans to 'region lock' or 'IP block' players from the game. You may experience some latency issues if you're not playing in a launch region. In addition, we'll accept credit card payments for subscriptions. These seem to be the key questions for those who choose to potentially import the game, and hopefully we've answered those.

Many of you are also interested to know the timeframe for release of The Old Republic outside of the initial launch countries, but unfortunately we cannot give you a definitive timeframe right now. As we get closer to our initial launch, hopefully that will change and we'll be able to give you more details.

We've also been compiling some other questions and answers regarding Early Game Access and similar topics, and will be posting those in the next couple of days."  -Stephen Reid

Introducing....CHRIS COLLINS!

"Hi everyone!

This is a pretty exciting post for me to write, as I finally get the chance to introduce myself! My name's Chris Collins and I'm the European Community Manager here at BioWare.

As the European Community Manager, it's my job to work closely with TonyMoreno and the rest of the EU community team, to ensure every last bit of feedback from the European community is understood and given to the right people here at BioWare. Being based at the BioWare Ireland office in Galway, I'll be working directly with Stephen and the rest of the community team, but with the advantage of being closer to the centre of the action (although as I write this, I'm actually in the Austin studio, trying to absorb as much of the latest information as I can, as well as meet everyone).

At the same time, it's also my job to make sure that players on this side of the pond get access to all the latest info and news that the developers are itching to tell - and from what I've been seeing over the last few weeks while I've been here in Austin, there's a lot of awesome stuff to come!

Having been a Star Wars fanatic for years (yes, I own my own movie quality replica Darth Vader costume), words can't describe how eager I've been to say hello. I look forward to getting to know you all and, of course, take it easy on me while I'm still the new guy"

Developer Quotes Regaurding The Advance Class System

Originally Posted by Daniel Erickson

"The advanced class system exists because we’re already making the game story-wise bigger than every other game we’ve done put together. We pretty topped out at eight. It’s already huge and ridiculous, but for an MMOG, we wanted more classes than that for a variety of gameplay. Each of the advanced classes is basically a full class that we would have done."

Originally Posted by Daniel Erickson

"We had alot of internal debate whether to release the advanced classes, and people need to understand they are "works in progress". We have a very complicated class system. The advanced classes are TOTAL class systems by themselves. You can't think of other games where you have little offshoots.

Obviously, the ideal is that people don't ever need to respec their Advanced Class. There are additional measures we are putting in place to improve the communication about that choice to the player before it happens. Ideally, we would also allow you to 'test drive' the AC , but that's fairly expensive and unlikely to happen. It's more likely that we stick with a short period (a few levels) during which you can change your AC class for a credit cost before it locks in. We might attach other limiters than just credits (e.g completely disable the option past level 20 instead of a very high cost of credits.). That's what testing will determine."

 

A few things from our point of view (the devs):

"Your Advanced Class choice very much defines how your character plays from the moment you choose it. Their impact is more akin to that of a different class in other MMOs than that of a different 'spec'. A Sith Sorcerer is very, very different from a Sith Assassin.


As mentioned before, the ability to respec your skills is definitely in the game. At this point, it costs credits but has no other requirements or limitations. The exact cost will be fine tuned, probably until ship, in conjunction with the rest of the economy - so giving precise numbers at this point isn't helpful.


We haven't made up our mind yet about the availability of an Advanced Class respec. We are evaluating all options (no Advanced Class respec, fixed cost respec, respec cost increasing with level, etc.).
A lot of thought currently goes into the consequences of Advanced Class respec - if we allow it, it will require players to relearn their entire approach to combat (which they learned over many many hours before) and replace the majority of their equipment, so it's not a thing we would want the player to do lightly, or just out of curiosity.

Ultimately, testing will tell us what we'll go with for launch, but even then - MMOs change, new content is added, player preferences emerge and change, so this is likely one of those topics we will be frequently discussing even after launch to ensure the design matches the expectations of our players and does not introduce unwelcome side effects.

With all this said - thank you very much for your continued feedback and thoughts on the topic. We are actively reading and discussing the topic frequently."

Heroic Questing to be featured.

Dev Quote-James Ohlen: "Grouping will be the fastest way to level. For example, if you are in a party with one other person you will gain 60% XP on mob kills each (this number is changing through testing and not definitive) even though it is 60% of normal XP gain you will be, in theory, killing mobs and completing quests twice as fast. Also, there are heroic quests and other group content that yield good XP that cannot be done solo and only in a group."

Developer Zoeller comments on blaster animations.

"There are multiple things that can change blaster colors on all classes, from the 'cell mechanic' on the Trooper to the ability to slot found or crafted color cartridges into your weapon via the mod system.

On top of that, you can find weapons with rare and unique weapon effects as well (e.g. some of the rare assault cannons have very unique sound and weapon signatures, people will turn their heads when you start unloading with them )"

Even the littlest details in SWTOR are being taken into extra consideration.  : )

Star Wars: The Old Republic breaks EA pre-order record.

Unfortunately, the wait is not actually over...but it is really reassuring to see so many people excited for the game.  Recently, EA announced that SWTOR has broken the pre-order record (previously held by Battlefield 3) 

Why this is so important: The size of the community in an MMORPG is extremely vital.  Without a large number of active players, core game-features such as Flashpoints, and PVP just don't thrive.  I have personally been very impressed by the large number of people already preparing for the game.

Not to mention, Bioware has offered some great bonuses for pre-order, including early game access.

(See the full list of preorder bonuses by clicking the link) 

Pre-order now!