Page 3 of 6

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 28 Nov 2011, 14:47
by Keab42
I got beta access for the stress test this weekend. Managed to get to Level 10 and start the Esselles Flashpoint. We hit the loading animation and they restarted the server on us. On login we were stranded in a mid-mission, empty version of the ship.

Overall it was a lot of fun, good emphasis on the story although a couple of the quests felt a bit grindy it was nowhere near as bad as some of the MMORPGs I've played (I'm looking at you LOTRO).

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 28 Nov 2011, 23:16
by Jillers
I stress tested the Smuggler this weekend just to see the difference between playing a Jedi and a non-Jedi and I really was enjoying the Smuggler a bit better - story wise, I'm way more attached to the idea of getting my bussin' ship back than doing Jedi training malarky (though there was a good moment in the Consular story events that made me want to keep on going and getting more things done).

I'm still very much against needing to group with other players to complete quests, because I am a misanthrope. Trying to find someone to team up for the Esselles mission last time just reminded me how much I thought Guild Wars was brilliant for letting you hire NPCs for those kinds of missions.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 29 Nov 2011, 11:46
by Red Charlie
Jillers wrote:I'm still very much against needing to group with other players to complete quests, because I am a misanthrope.


But then I wonder when people say this is an MMO really what you need from your game?

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 29 Nov 2011, 12:22
by Keab42
Jillers wrote:I'm still very much against needing to group with other players to complete quests, because I am a misanthrope. Trying to find someone to team up for the Esselles mission last time just reminded me how much I thought Guild Wars was brilliant for letting you hire NPCs for those kinds of missions.


At least you technically only need 2 people because you can take your companions with you. I have to say I think my favorite touch in the group event was the way the conversation works. It felt like it really worked, even if I seemed to always come out lowest.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 29 Nov 2011, 14:08
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
Red Charlie wrote:
Jillers wrote:I'm still very much against needing to group with other players to complete quests, because I am a misanthrope.


But then I wonder when people say this is an MMO really what you need from your game?


I'm fond for not *needing* other living people to group with to do content because:
1) 75% of human beings are spawn of evil
2) 25% of human beings are spawn of failure
3) 5% of human beings are more persistent and dedicated than I am at completing content despite wiping 5 billion times.
4) When the player base eventually dies down to a insignificant number, you're not reliant on grouping up with people still. GW1 still has this advantage despite being essentially dead.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 29 Nov 2011, 14:33
by Keab42
I'm glad I'm not the only person who plays a MMORPG entirely by themselves.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 29 Nov 2011, 17:49
by empath
You'll find you're in quite large company. :)

Indeed, IIRC 'Bliztivision' listened to people and made WoW much more solo-compatible...


Heck, BethSoft pretty much has its bread & butter in fulfilling this "MMORPG for one" niche.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 29 Nov 2011, 18:51
by dackwards d
One of my favourite things in GW1 was the fact that if I wanted to play without anyone else I could. I had a few friends that played and when they were on we would occasionally group but for the most part we would continue soloing and just chat while we did so. If one of us had trouble with a particular thing we would jump in and help, but for the most part I would be running about with a team of NPCs. I can't wait for GW2 because they've specifically said that it will be soloable if that is your preference.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 29 Nov 2011, 22:24
by Jillers
Red Charlie wrote:
Jillers wrote:I'm still very much against needing to group with other players to complete quests, because I am a misanthrope.


But then I wonder when people say this is an MMO really what you need from your game?


No. It's not. But I enjoy RPGs. I love Bioware. I am capable of having a lot of fun just exploring a world and grinding. I shouldn't HAVE TO do this with anyone, and I shouldn't be precluded from enjoying a video game because I generally only like playing solo.

Honestly, if this felt like just another MMO, I'd just be like "well... there's another game I'm just going to ignore," but I really want to see the story unfold in TOR. And my friends and I aren't always going to be online at the same time, and I don't like having to rely on strangers to get sometihng done. For example, I had to wait for an hour, typing "LFG Esselles. Lvl 11 Consular, healer.) before one person would join with me (and both of us, plus my companion, totes got our asses handed to us). We failed twice and he quit and found another person to join with, while I waited to do this stupid plot mission, which I never got to finish.

But, the conversation mechanic in the group setting was a lot of fun.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 30 Nov 2011, 02:19
by Dibria
Keab42 wrote:I'm glad I'm not the only person who plays a MMORPG entirely by themselves.


Definitely, I played the beta weekend and loved it a lot - it felt a lot more like KOTOR than I was expecting - but that I had quests that required groups appear on my map irritated me no end. In particular I remember going to talk to a NPC who needed something recovered from his shop, which had been taken over by a gang, and I got through the entire conversation and only afterward did the quest appear as [HEROIC 3+] in my journal. For a game that otherwise felt like a single player game with coop I found this a massive irritation.

Invariably when I bring this kind of thing up people always say things like 'why play an MMO then?' to which I answer 'because it#s a good game.'

I like Halo, never play it online, same for pretty much every game I own with online multiplayer, it's just not for me - does this mean I shouldn't be allowed to play them? No.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 30 Nov 2011, 15:20
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
The argument for solo play is good in MMOs:

Warhammer Online is very much a PvP (RvR) game. Sadly, all PvP(RvR) activity during the night time. In Europe everything stopped at about 10 GMT. It's nice feeling like you can play an MMO at any hour of day. Having playability restricted to only when people are online is frustration.

I play MMOs to socialise via chat not to be forced to play with another human being 24/7. Like IRL everyone needs solo time, you need solo time in MMOs. Besides, solo content allows for a stronger and more dynamic story. WoW was static for years because it was a multiplayer game. As a result some parts of the content felt shallow because you the hero felt like you achieved nothing apart from bigger numbers.


I'm deeply excited for SWTOR.Skyrim still sustains me but I need an alternative game to play. HoN enrages and you can only play so much. And I don't think I actually enjoy the Assassin's Creed series as much as I thought I would.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 07 Dec 2011, 12:50
by Red Charlie
I keep thinking about streaming my play sessions after Kilvan suggested himself doing it. Then I will never have a decent looking stream so I will probably not do any research into it :p

On top of that my ISP isn't exactly the greatest when it comes to upload speeds at peak times.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 09 Dec 2011, 05:29
by Dibria
Well I enjoyed the beta but canceling my preorder, whatever persuaded me to believe I could £45 in the middle of December right after losing my job?

Have fun guys, and please keep your subscriptions running, this is one MMO I want to still be running in six months when I have the opportunity to play again :P

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 09 Dec 2011, 13:43
by Fenrir
Going to have to likely cancel my preorder as well. Turns out I'll most likely need the money I put into ordering the game this month after all. Go figure.

Still, got plenty of other games to keep me occupied for the moment. If it still seems interesting enough in a couple of months I'll most likely pick it up again.

Hope y'all have fun though and post loads about it!

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 09 Dec 2011, 15:38
by Keab42
I'd love to own it but it's just too expensive.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 10 Dec 2011, 03:37
by Dibria
Keab42 wrote:I'd love to own it but it's just too expensive.


Exactly, £45 is an expensive xbox or PS3 game these days, PC games tend to be much cheaper; my preorder of Skyrim was £30 and I picked up Deus Ex: Human Revolution not long after launch also at £30.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that they need to price to the market and I think £45 is more people expect to pay for a standard edition of a PC game these days.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 10 Dec 2011, 12:57
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
I paid for it. I don't buy games often so I can afford £45 on one game. I pay premium prices for games if I'm confident in my interest in the title (had years of experience of disappointment when a teen).

Currently pre-downloading. On download section #2. 100kb/s is ghay. Ah well. Tuesday is when theoretically I can start playing anyway. I have a jobseeker's sign in day then so, extra time.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 10 Dec 2011, 14:56
by Keab42
Dibria wrote:
Keab42 wrote:I'd love to own it but it's just too expensive.


Exactly, £45 is an expensive xbox or PS3 game these days, PC games tend to be much cheaper; my preorder of Skyrim was £30 and I picked up Deus Ex: Human Revolution not long after launch also at £30.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that they need to price to the market and I think £45 is more people expect to pay for a standard edition of a PC game these days.


I can't even justify buying Skyrim right now...

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 10 Dec 2011, 15:23
by Dibria
@keab42 - neither could I to be honest, but at that point I still had an income.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 11 Dec 2011, 09:03
by Red Charlie
So I've concluded I will be going healer to start with since there seemed to be an exceptionally low presence during beta of any healing classes.

I've been trying to decide who might be the best class to go heal with and since I wish to play Republic side first I am currently exploring the healing classes on their side.

So far these are the builds I've come up with and I've been reviewing their abilities, sadly the Darth Hater DB does not actual healing info available on it so I cannot judge which class is which but something concerning has come out of all the builds which is critical heals. I hate critical heals because you don't know when they'll land so you'll usually over heal as a result which generates too much aggression against the healer conducting it.

Anyway I was exploring the talent trees with a goal towards, stable, heals with an emphasis on self protection for the healer. What do you think with the same amount of information that I have?

Trooper Commando:

http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/tro ... cfe5f7ef10:

http://db.darthhater.com/abilities/clas ... =7;6004=15

Smuggler:

http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/smu ... 3df5dfef22:

http://db.darthhater.com/abilities/clas ... =5;6004=14

Sage:

http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/jed ... def4ce9fe7:

http://db.darthhater.com/abilities/clas ... ular/sage/

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 11 Dec 2011, 09:24
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
http://www.forceheal.com/

will be the community for healing related theorycraft.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 11 Dec 2011, 10:19
by Red Charlie
Merrymaker_Mortalis wrote:http://www.forceheal.com/

will be the community for healing related theorycraft.


Ah ha! Thank ye

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 12 Dec 2011, 03:47
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
NP, just a shameless plug for my friend's website :>
He was a healing theorcraft nut in WoW and is geekily awaiting SWTOR to get his mits in it.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 15 Dec 2011, 08:15
by rustak
I just got in via early access yesterday. I must say, playing Imperial-side is a lot more fun than Republic. The latter is a little too cutesy, and seemed to go overboard trying to throw star wars references at you; Imperial side you get to be unashamedly evil :)

I'm on Veela as Khem; if anyone starts a character there, drop me a note.

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted: 15 Dec 2011, 12:11
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
I'm having epic fun on SWTOR. Shame if I try to log on in European evening, my server has an hour (1k place) wait... It's early access too...

It has a heavy UK player base so it amuses the irony of the wait queue. We are *known* for our skill at queuing.

I keep trying to press F5 to quick save.