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[Giolon]

I got into the beta this week, and while I can't really say anything about the game b/c of NDA, I think I can say I stayed up until 4AM Saturday night playing it.

 

[bjaelke]

Came across two previews from PC Gamer worth a read. They don't contain anything new for the people who has followed the game intensely, but definitely a good substitute if you didn't get into the beta!

17 Hours with the Bounty Hunter
17 hours with the Agent

 

[Fonds]

At the moment you can in fact skip through lines of dialogue like ME using the spacebar for both class and multiplayer conversations : ).

How does that work? You just have to wait until the other people in the party have heard the dialogue? Or are you screwing party members by skipping the dialogue?

I wanna get into this beta so bad

 

[BattleMonkey]

How does that work? You just have to wait until the other people in the party have heard the dialogue? Or are you screwing party members by skipping the dialogue?

I wanna get into this beta so bad

In groups you most likely have to wait till someone else makes a decision since you watch the conversation happen and actively have to make choices in the dialogue to get credit in light/dark side points.

 

[Fonds]

In groups you most likely have to wait till someone else makes a decision since you watch the conversation happen and actively have to make choices in the dialogue to get credit in light/dark side points.

So that means there isn't really a way to skip converstation as speculator speculated before

 

[gillty]

How can you people say this game is WoW reskinned? TOR is so complete. It has a huge story for every class, cinematics, fucking LIGHTSABERS. Of course it'll have some WoW elements. It's a MMORPG for fucks sake.

Have you watched any combat? Its so goddamn boring and clunky, I'm tired to developers playing off the same goddamn mediocre rpglite gameplay thats been in mmos since eq1.

After watching that Tatooine gameplay video, hype -9999999...

All I ask is developers try something new, because for all the problems that DCUO and Korean TERA have, at the very least the combat is somewhat fresh for the mmo genre.

 

[bjaelke]

So that means there isn't really a way to skip converstation as speculator speculated before

There is indeed:

You can skip lines of dialog by pressing space bar (essentially opting to not vote), but it will only move on after the vote timer has expired or everyone else has skipped, in which case a default choice is assumed.

You cannot skip entire dialogs in Flashpoints - they are an integral part of the experience and the choices made in them define the way the Flashpoint unfolds.

 

[BattleMonkey]

So that means there isn't really a way to skip converstation as speculator speculated before

When playing single player content yes, but not sure how it works in MP. Assume you still have to sit and wait to get your dialogue choice credit, unless you can outright skip out of a conversation somehow.

 

[Fonds]

Have you watched any combat? Its so goddamn boring and clunky, I'm tired to developers playing off the same goddamn mediocre rpglite gameplay thats been in mmos since eq1.

After watching that Tatooine gameplay video, hype -9999999...

All I ask is developers try something new, because for all the problems that DCUO and Korean TERA have, at the very least the combat is somewhat fresh for the mmo genre.

I have to disagree. For some reason the people playing SWTOR in most of the demo videos are complete retards.

Marauder on Tatooine This guys seems to know what he's doing and the combat looks about 10 times better for it already.

 

[Lebron]

Came across two previews from PC Gamer worth a read. They don't contain anything new for the people who has followed the game intensely, but definitely a good substitute if you didn't get into the beta!

17 Hours with the Bounty Hunter

So no Boba Fett for me then


Still, thanks for the read

 

[Blackface]

Came across two previews from PC Gamer worth a read. They don't contain anything new for the people who has followed the game intensely, but definitely a good substitute if you didn't get into the beta!

17 Hours with the Bounty Hunter
17 hours with the Agent

I can't go into detail, but I want to point something out.

They played literally nothing of the game. The equivalent of making it to cross roads if WoW had a level 200 cap.

The story I am going through right now, is the most epic, awesome flat out "adventure" I have ever had in a game. I have sunk more time into this so far, then I have into any console game since the PS1 JRPG days. By that I mean, I can't think of a console game I would not have been finished quite a long time ago by this point (hours spent playing).

What I just went through for the equivalent of a "long chain" in WoW, was insane. Thinking about the set pieces in other MMO's compared to this, makes me realize Bioware has done something special.

I have complaints, I won't list them here. But those complaints do not compare to how damn good the game is so far.

Makes Mass Effect seem last generation.

I don't think that broke any of the NDA, but if it does, let me know, I will yanki t.

 

[syoaran]

I can't go into detail, but I want to point something out.

They played literally nothing of the game. The equivalent of making it to cross roads if WoW had a level 200 cap.

The story I am going through right now, is the most epic, awesome flat out "adventure" I have ever had in a game. I have sunk more time into this so far, then I have into any console game since the PS1 JRPG days. By that I mean, I can't think of a console game I would not have been finished quite a long time ago by this point (hours spent playing).

What I just went through for the equivalent of a "long chain" in WoW, was insane. Thinking about the set pieces in other MMO's compared to this, makes me realize Bioware has done something special.

I have complaints, I won't list them here. But those complaints do not compare to how damn good the game is so far.

Makes Mass Effect seem last generation.

I don't think that broke any of the NDA, but if it does, let me know, I will yanki t.

Out of Bioware games, I would agree. Its easily their best story to date (but I'm leaving judgement until ME3 comes out). I think those that say that players will not care about the story misjudge how deep it is. You could technically play this game as a 200+ KOTOR sequel with social elements.

 

[PaNaMa]

Signed up over a year ago. No email yet. Pretty high end system too.
Want to join GAF Empire!!

 

[Blackface]

Out of Bioware games, I would agree. Its easily their best story to date (but I'm leaving judgement until ME3 comes out). I think those that say that players will not care about the story misjudge how deep it is. You could technically play this game as a 200+ KOTOR sequel with social elements.

The thing is, I feel this way, and like I said, im not far in (but further then the PC gamer guys). What I should did, felt like the end of any other game, but it's not even mid-way in this one.

ME3 can't top this IMO. Simply because a big reason it's so epic is the huge, open planets, and set pieces. People around, flash points etc.,

 

[Draft]

I can't go into detail, but I want to point something out.

They played literally nothing of the game. The equivalent of making it to cross roads if WoW had a level 200 cap.

The story I am going through right now, is the most epic, awesome flat out "adventure" I have ever had in a game. I have sunk more time into this so far, then I have into any console game since the PS1 JRPG days. By that I mean, I can't think of a console game I would not have been finished quite a long time ago by this point (hours spent playing).

What I just went through for the equivalent of a "long chain" in WoW, was insane. Thinking about the set pieces in other MMO's compared to this, makes me realize Bioware has done something special.

I have complaints, I won't list them here. But those complaints do not compare to how damn good the game is so far.

Makes Mass Effect seem last generation.

I don't think that broke any of the NDA, but if it does, let me know, I will yanki t.

I'm probably going to end up copping this and playing for a month just to get a KOTOR like experience.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Just found this thread, how hard is it to get a beta key? What do I need to do? Thanks!

 

[xDEKOIx]

Just found this thread, how hard is it to get a beta key? What do I need to do? Thanks!

Go sign up for beta testing. However, the chances you'll get in are pretty slim right now it seems. :\
http://www.swtor.com/tester

 

[Jackl]

I can't go into detail, but I want to point something out.

They played literally nothing of the game. The equivalent of making it to cross roads if WoW had a level 200 cap.

The story I am going through right now, is the most epic, awesome flat out "adventure" I have ever had in a game. I have sunk more time into this so far, then I have into any console game since the PS1 JRPG days. By that I mean, I can't think of a console game I would not have been finished quite a long time ago by this point (hours spent playing).

What I just went through for the equivalent of a "long chain" in WoW, was insane. Thinking about the set pieces in other MMO's compared to this, makes me realize Bioware has done something special.

I have complaints, I won't list them here. But those complaints do not compare to how damn good the game is so far.

Makes Mass Effect seem last generation.

I don't think that broke any of the NDA, but if it does, let me know, I will yanki t.

Dems some bold statements.


I'd like to think recent BW games have been dodgy in content because TOR has been taxing resources.(In before DIFFERENT TEAMS BLAH BLAH SEPARATE PROJECTS DON'T SHARE RESOURCES) If true I'll be delighted. If not hope the first month is free.

 

[bjaelke]

They have hinted at a free month, but nothing concrete has been discussed on that matter. I think it's fair to assume that it'll be packed in.

I can't go into detail, but I want to point something out.

They played literally nothing of the game. The equivalent of making it to cross roads if WoW had a level 200 cap.

The story I am going through right now, is the most epic, awesome flat out "adventure" I have ever had in a game. I have sunk more time into this so far, then I have into any console game since the PS1 JRPG days. By that I mean, I can't think of a console game I would not have been finished quite a long time ago by this point (hours spent playing).

What I just went through for the equivalent of a "long chain" in WoW, was insane. Thinking about the set pieces in other MMO's compared to this, makes me realize Bioware has done something special.

I have complaints, I won't list them here. But those complaints do not compare to how damn good the game is so far.

Makes Mass Effect seem last generation.

I don't think that broke any of the NDA, but if it does, let me know, I will yanki t.

And still it's one of the most extensive previews when it comes to amount of playtime! They said at E3 that the game is the equivalent of KOTOR 3-10. I'd show you the videos but EA removed them from youtube (I guess they weren't supposed to be shown to the public yet).

Signed up over a year ago. No email yet. Pretty high end system too.
Want to join GAF Empire!!

Your system specs shouldn't matter. They've taken the Blizzard approach and are trying to make the game playable on as many setups as possible.

 

[Jarmel]

Ugh, I really need to forget this game exists for awhile

 

[Yasae]

At the moment you can in fact skip through lines of dialogue like ME using the spacebar for both class and multiplayer conversations : ).

Who's doing the skipping? Is there a vote on every line of dialogue? It seems a little easy to either see too much or too little. I felt that way in Guild Wars, playing through the main campaign for the first time and having most of the cutscenes (though relatively insignificant in that game) skipped.

 

[LowParry]

Ugh, I really need to forget this game exists for awhile

I've actually gone back to playing WoW for a bit but we're playing very chill with just rolling on 10 man runs. First run we did a full clear of Blackwing. Then the next two bosses in Bastion. Shit is so easy in 10 man. And they're going to nerf the normal modes. lol - At least Firelands is coming very soon.

 

[CzarTim]

I was playing the Rift free trial to pass the time. Talk about generic.

 

[bjaelke]

LORTO here :/ At least it's free.

 

[Rflagg]

LORTO here :/ At least it's free.

Yeah I need to update it. I jumped in to see what it was about when it first went ftp, but haven't touched since that first week or so. All these E3 Swtor game play videos have me very much in the mood to play a mmorpg.

 

[antonz]

Been playing World of Tanks here. So close to getting a Tiger Tank. The only thing that can stop me now is TOR Beta

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

Holy shit. This game. This fucking game.

It's very hard to convey my feelings about this game without breaking the NDA so I'll put it like this: I cannot believe this game exists, with all its scope and detail, all its content and features. I can't even begin to imagine the resources that had to go into it, or the balls it took to even imagine it. I don't know much about what's been said about the finances, but I have no doubt that this must be the most expensive game in history.

When I consider the fact that EA actually greenlighted this and bankrolled it, the only explanation I can come up with is that they really want to take Kotick's lunch money. And after playing it, all I can say is that I hope they get it. They deserve it.

Any complaint I can come up with is trivial, even at this phase. It's only closed beta and already it's consuming my life. It is life ending. I am afraid to play the retail product. The real world may never see me again.

 

[Jarmel]

Holy shit. This game. This fucking game.

It's very hard to convey my feelings about this game without breaking the NDA so I'll put it like this: I cannot believe this game exists, with all its scope and detail, all its content and features. I can't even begin to imagine the resources that had to go into it, or the balls it took to even imagine it. I don't know much about what's been said about the finances, but I have no doubt that this must be the most expensive game in history.

When I consider the fact that EA actually greenlighted this and bankrolled it, the only explanation I can come up with is that they really want to take Kotick's lunch money. And after playing it, all I can say is that I hope they get it. They deserve it.

Any complaint I can come up with is trivial, even at this phase. It's only closed beta and already it's consuming my life. It is life ending. I am afraid to play the retail product. The real world may never see me again.

I'm out. I can't keep reading these comments. It's pissing me off too much.

 

[bjaelke]

Holy shit. This game. This fucking game.

It's very hard to convey my feelings about this game without breaking the NDA so I'll put it like this: I cannot believe this game exists, with all its scope and detail, all its content and features. I can't even begin to imagine the resources that had to go into it, or the balls it took to even imagine it. I don't know much about what's been said about the finances, but I have no doubt that this must be the most expensive game in history.

When I consider the fact that EA actually greenlighted this and bankrolled it, the only explanation I can come up with is that they really want to take Kotick's lunch money. And after playing it, all I can say is that I hope they get it. They deserve it.

Any complaint I can come up with is trivial, even at this phase. It's only closed beta and already it's consuming my life. It is life ending. I am afraid to play the retail product. The real world may never see me again.

Glad to hear the positive feedback!

EA and LucasArts are really being generous when it comes to finances and time. Daniel Erickson recently talked about how they sent 2 demos to EA and LucasArts. One of them contained no voice overs for the player characters. The other contained all 8 voice tracks and a note stating the extra time and price it would involve to make it happen. Both parties immediately said that they had to do the second option

 

[Dresden]

Holy shit. This game. This fucking game.

It's very hard to convey my feelings about this game without breaking the NDA so I'll put it like this: I cannot believe this game exists, with all its scope and detail, all its content and features. I can't even begin to imagine the resources that had to go into it, or the balls it took to even imagine it. I don't know much about what's been said about the finances, but I have no doubt that this must be the most expensive game in history.

When I consider the fact that EA actually greenlighted this and bankrolled it, the only explanation I can come up with is that they really want to take Kotick's lunch money. And after playing it, all I can say is that I hope they get it. They deserve it.

Any complaint I can come up with is trivial, even at this phase. It's only closed beta and already it's consuming my life. It is life ending. I am afraid to play the retail product. The real world may never see me again.

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

Glad to hear the positive feedback!

EA and LucasArts are really being generous when it comes to finances and time. Daniel Erickson recently talked about how they sent 2 demos to EA and LucasArts. One of them contained no voice overs for the player characters. The other contained all 8 voice tracks and a note stating the extra time and price it would involve to make it happen. Both parties immediately said that they had to do the second option

It's great to hear that they're setting quality as the top priority. It really shows.

Now I'm going to go play some more. Later!

 

[Fonds]

It's great to hear that they're setting quality as the top priority. It really shows.

Now I'm going to go play some more. Later!

I hate you

I was playing the Rift free trial to pass the time. Talk about generic.

Yeh I played that as well. And you're right in every possible way. That game was generic, no better word for it.

 

[Skirn]

Holy shit. This game. This fucking game.

It's very hard to convey my feelings about this game without breaking the NDA so I'll put it like this: I cannot believe this game exists, with all its scope and detail, all its content and features. I can't even begin to imagine the resources that had to go into it, or the balls it took to even imagine it. I don't know much about what's been said about the finances, but I have no doubt that this must be the most expensive game in history.

When I consider the fact that EA actually greenlighted this and bankrolled it, the only explanation I can come up with is that they really want to take Kotick's lunch money. And after playing it, all I can say is that I hope they get it. They deserve it.

Any complaint I can come up with is trivial, even at this phase. It's only closed beta and already it's consuming my life. It is life ending. I am afraid to play the retail product. The real world may never see me again.

This game will be disastrous to my grades and college projects, my God. A part of me really hope this gets pushed to a late-spring 2012 release. :lol

Has there been any word of a Euro beta? Sorry if that's been asked a million times already.

EDIT: Looks like the European beta testing hasn't started yet (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=311671), but it's "imminent"

 

[Fonds]

Anyone of the European swtor gaffers feel like starting up a guild? I thought I saw quite a bit of interest, but no guilds have been made yet on this side of the pond.

If you feel like joining up with an EU swtor Gaf guild please say so Also if you like being a guildmaster you can add that. I tend to be more of a behind the curtains organizer.

 

[bjaelke]

This game will be disastrous to my grades and college projects, my God. A part of me really hope this gets pushed to a late-spring 2012 release. :lol

Has there been any word of a Euro beta? Sorry if that's been asked a million times already.

EDIT: Looks like the European beta testing hasn't started yet (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=311671), but it's "imminent"

Stephen Reid said a few days ago on Twitter that it "had not fully begun yet". A lot of good stuff gets posted on Twitter without ever featuring on the dev tracker. He was in Ireland not long ago to set up the European support center. Maybe they were also setting up servers...

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Holy shit. This game. This fucking game.

It's very hard to convey my feelings about this game without breaking the NDA so I'll put it like this: I cannot believe this game exists, with all its scope and detail, all its content and features. I can't even begin to imagine the resources that had to go into it, or the balls it took to even imagine it. I don't know much about what's been said about the finances, but I have no doubt that this must be the most expensive game in history.

When I consider the fact that EA actually greenlighted this and bankrolled it, the only explanation I can come up with is that they really want to take Kotick's lunch money. And after playing it, all I can say is that I hope they get it. They deserve it.

Any complaint I can come up with is trivial, even at this phase. It's only closed beta and already it's consuming my life. It is life ending. I am afraid to play the retail product. The real world may never see me again.

1) What's your history with MMOs?

2) What's your political standing on sandbox versus themepark MMOs?

3) Are you looking for WoW in Space or an alternative to current MMORPGs, or are you sick and fed up with current MMORPG conventions(quest, grinding, looking for groups like a bitch and son on...)?



The reason I ask, is that there has been quite some negativity coming out of e3.

"If BioWare are at all nervous about their approach to making story work in an MMO, it’s not showing. They invited me to play it not for an hour, or an afternoon, but for two days.

As it turns out, the answer to the big question is easy. How do they make personal stories coherent for thousands of people at once? They don’t."

"Rather than run between my story and Josh’s Imperial Agent one, it made more sense to team up with a fellow Bounty Hunter. I say it made sense, it made no sense. The plot hinges on the fact that Nemro can only endorse one aspiring hunter in this competition, so the idea that we’d help each other earn his favour is a complete contradiction of our characters."

"It’s a lot like playing Knights of the Old Republic in co-op – not like playing a specially made co-op version of that game, just literally having another player there in the singleplayer story."

"Where it gets slightly awkward is the combat: that room has three extremely tough bosses in it, ones who completely trounced me on my own. I needed help. You can choose to join someone’s instance even if you can’t join in with their plot, which Andy did to help me with the fight. It meant he went through the whole emotional confrontation with the daughter all over again, the daughter he also had as an inventory item frozen in carbonite. BioWare would be wise to avoid putting challenging fights in plot instances, because grouping up to defeat them makes for some awkward story moments."

"Even if you play alone, your character always has company. You acquire companion characters throughout the game, your first after just a few levels, and you always have one with you from then on. Mine was Mako, an Asianlooking human tech expert. Andy’s was Mako, an Asian-looking human tech expert. You can see where this gets weird – same class, same plot, same companions. Since we didn’t get to create our own characters, Andy and I looked almost identical ourselves, so the four of us trundling around together started to freak people out."

"It makes grouping up awkward – if you play different classes, you can’t both make story progress together. If you play the same class, the story makes less sense and you have clone companions. But if BioWare had sacrificed the story-driven aspect of their game, there wouldn’t be much reason to play The Old Republic. Other MMOs have better combat models and more impressive worlds."

Snippits from the pcgamer.com preview from e3.







Massively; http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/13/e3-2011-hands-on-impressions-of-star-wars-the-old-republic/


and from gameindustry.biz; http://furiousfanboys.com/2011/06/analyst-firm-unimpressed-with-the-old-republic/

“Despite promises from EA/Bioware that the title represents a major step forward in MMO design, what we saw was essentially a World of Warcraft clone with Star Wars character skins and the Bioware RPG nice/nasty dialogue tree mechanism bolted on for non-player character conversations.”

Creutz also described the PC game’s visuals as “competent but hardly breathtaking,” but makes allowances for the landscape in which the demo was set. “Granted, we were playing in a desert area, so other areas may be more impressive-looking… on the other hand wequestion why EA chose a desert level to showcase the title.”

PvP, Balance, animations and combat is still what looks iffy to me. I really have my doubts about the quality of this product

 

[BattleMonkey]

PvP, Balance, animations and combat is still what looks iffy to me. I really have my doubts about the quality of this product

Perhaps you should just wait and try it out for yourself. You have been for months just cherry picking quotes that sound negative even in articles that are generally positive. All your concerns really are not going to be known till the game is out and in your hands in "final" form. All MMO's that have been around for years, even the "big one" constantly have to patch and deal with balance, pvp, and combat issues.

I mean seriously, complaining about story issues when playing single player content with another person?

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Perhaps you should just wait and try it out for yourself. You have been for months just cherry picking quotes that sound negative even in articles that are generally positive. All your concerns really are not going to be known till the game is out and in your hands in "final" form. All MMO's that have been around for years, even the "big one" constantly have to patch and deal with balance, pvp, and combat issues.

I mean seriously, complaining about story issues when playing single player content with another person?

The guy is certifiably insane, pay him no mind.

 

[TimHortons]

From the Agent writeup in PCGamer is a feature I didn't know about

I found a “solo conversation” mode which lets you enter conversation modes alone, even while grouped, which lets control freaks like me always get the final word in our own story.

I was worried about just that in the game with people rolling for dialog choices and choosing items I would not pick myself.

 

[CzarTim]

Them BioWare dudes think of everything. No wonder they all make $3 million a year.

 

[Fonds]

From the Agent writeup in PCGamer is a feature I didn't know about

"I found a “solo conversation” mode which lets you enter conversation modes alone, even while grouped, which lets control freaks like me always get the final word in our own story."

I was worried about just that in the game with people rolling for dialog choices and choosing items I would not pick myself.

Sweet. That answers a lot of questions on that end

 

[bjaelke]

It looks like more people will get into the beta soon. EA just finished their growth stock conference and Riccitello said, that they will start the high-scale beta by the end of June

 

[fierrotlepou]

It looks like more people will get into the beta soon. EA just finished their growth stock conference and Riccitello said, that they will start the high-scale beta by the end of June

That's great news. Fingers crossed

 

[CzarTim]

That's great news. Fingers crossed

If it comes down between you and me... I hope I get it.

Spoiler

(Sorry)

 

[Trouble]

It looks like more people will get into the beta soon. EA just finished their growth stock conference and Riccitello said, that they will start the high-scale beta by the end of June

Let me in dammit!

 

[Nolimit_SS]

Anyone of the European swtor gaffers feel like starting up a guild? I thought I saw quite a bit of interest, but no guilds have been made yet on this side of the pond.

If you feel like joining up with an EU swtor Gaf guild please say so Also if you like being a guildmaster you can add that. I tend to be more of a behind the curtains organizer.

Empire or Republic?

 

[syoaran]

Empire or Republic?

I want republic!!

And as for the negative press coming out of E3.... Ok, I can see where they are coming from. TOR is a MMO based on the same MMO formula that all good MMO's are built on. It's not graphically the best (although probably the most varied outside of WoW after its expansion packs), nor does it revolutionise MMO's so you don't have to kill mobs, do fetch quests etc.

What it does do is provide the largest, most involving and most competent MMO at launch by a huge margin (too many "mosts" but you get the drift). If you compare TOR, WoW, Aion, Tera, Warhammer etc at launch, TOR is easily the better game. If you have played WoW for six years as I have (and four years of MMO's previously) and expect to play an MMO where you don't grind/quest/raid for items, then my advice is check your expectations.

 

[Jarmel]

It looks like more people will get into the beta soon. EA just finished their growth stock conference and Riccitello said, that they will start the high-scale beta by the end of June

By that he means instead of 1k, they will let 3k in.

 

[Rflagg]

It looks like more people will get into the beta soon. EA just finished their growth stock conference and Riccitello said, that they will start the high-scale beta by the end of June

This is good news on more then one level.

 

[Yasae]

If it comes down between you and me... I hope I get it.

Spoiler

(Sorry)

You'll get it because I sure won't.