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Star Wars: The Old Republic (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=204523)

One more good read:

Quote:

Hands-on: Star Wars: The Old Republic

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 4th 2009 at 11:30AM }

There's an unnavigable divide between the world of MMORPGs and the art of good storytelling. Not writing, mind you -- the gang at Blizzard know their way around a word processor -- but rather, the actual sharing of a story. It's not a genre that supports the relaying of intricate plotlines. Most players are in it for the grind, for social status or notoriety. The option to enable "text skipping" doesn't exactly lend itself to plot development. Even if the mass interest was there, all of the game's players are receiving the same storyline. No choice, no branching, no consequences.

Attempting to build a bridge with which to cross this divide would be an extremely ambitious undertaking. Fortunately, Bioware is a studio well versed in ambition -- and, if our brief time with the game is any indication, Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to irrevocably change the way MMOs tell stories.

After both watching the game in action at a LucasArts demo and getting our hands on it shortly thereafter, we were left with a bizarre feeling that what we had just seen was not in fact an MMO, but rather, another offline installment in the KOTOR franchise. The familiar elements were there -- rich storytelling, clever writing and interesting characters. These elements were presented in frequent cutscenes which appear in lieu of scrolling text quest -- a welcome change for the hardcore MMO player with a number of levels notched into their belt.

Here's where the aforementioned ambition comes into play -- each of the game's classes will have its own personal story arc that lasts throughout its entire lifespan. Beneath this umbrella is an epic class-specific story as well as a few serialized mini-arcs which include a ton of tied-together quests and instanced dungeons. Daniel Erickson, The Old Republic's lead writer, explained that the game's quests are so linked to a player's personal story that no one quest will be embarked upon by two different classes.

Or, in other words, two characters from two different classes won't receive any of the same quests. The replay value here is going to be mind-boggling.

Even more mind-boggling is the amount of voicework that's going into this thing. Erickson claimed that the title is on its way to setting a record for most voice work ever put into a single entertainment industry project. We believe it. Each cutscene contains extensive voice work, often from a number of NPCs conversing with the player. Each class has its own voice actor. Multiply that by two to accommodate for genders. You can probably multiply that by a bit more, should the game offer its players a choice of species to play as (we've only seen humans). Then accommodate for conversations that branch off based on decisions each player makes, and you have a hundred thousand billion hours of voice work.

Speaking of branching off, the game's cutscenes feature moral decisions and branching dialogue. As you'd expect, these choices drastically alter the course of the mini-arc in which they occur -- but your larger decisions also effect the grand scope of your character's own personal story.

To non MMOers, these sound like ludological storytelling conventions that have been around for about a decade. In the context of a persistent online RPG, it sounds like straight up witchcraft.

For the hardcore grinders among you, fret not -- there's plenty of stuff here for you lot as well. The combat looks fast-paced paced and complex, and the classes we got a chance to see look varied enough to keep MMO players used to a particular RPG archetype in familiar territory.

The three classes we saw were Bounty Hunters (long range attackers) who implement blasters, flamethrowers, rockets and jetpacks), Sith (damage and aggro sponges with a number of nefarious force powers at their disposal) and the just-revealed Smuggler (rogueish class that uses a really neat -- and unprecedented -- environmental cover system). We didn't get to see the Trooper or Jedi classes, nor could we squeeze from BioWare's tightly squeezed lips what the other classes would be.

However, they did confirm the Hair Stylist class from Star Wars Galaxies wouldn't be making a re-appearance.

The demo we played placed us in the shoes of a level 10 Sith named DARTHAWESOME, who was sieging an Empire-contolled ship in an attempt to dispatch its disobediant captain. Once you reach said captain, you can choose to kill him, and lose his expert advice during the following battle, or spare him, and risk the unkind response from your red-sworded master. Of course, these consequences weren't known before the decision had to be made, as is often the nature of consequences.

(We killed him, of course.)

It looked really great, and the standard conventions of the MMORPG genre will apparently all be in there -- a player-controlled economy, PVP, raiding, guilds, etc. -- but BioWare didn't focus on these elements in their presentation. Why should they? We've seen all that stuff before.

What we haven't seen is an MMORPG with an overarching, class-specific story -- one that the player can contort to fit their own moral code and personal priorities. It'll be a tough act to pull off, but BioWare has wowed us before. If anyone can pull it off, it's them.

Developer vid on the Trooper class: http://www.swtor.com/media/vidcasts/devdispatch003

(Can't get the embed to work for some reason)

This game is already giving me wood....

This came across my email. There's an article about the game with an announcement of a new character class, the smuggler.

http://www.gamerzines.com/downloading-mmozine_13.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by chasedude (Post 5886294)

This came across my email. There's an article about the game with an announcement of a new character class, the smuggler.

http://www.gamerzines.com/downloading-mmozine_13.html

WHEEEEE!!!!!:rockon:

I been MMO'ing for years now, if this game can be some fun with some difficutly and not like WOW aka Idiocrascy the movie, then i will be in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcxiv (Post 5886393)

I been MMO'ing for years now, if this game can be some fun with some difficutly and not like WOW aka Idiocrascy the movie, then i will be in.

If it weren't Bio Ware I'd be concerned, but KOTOR is just a ****ing classic. Great story, LOTS of replay value, and this MMO seems like it could be a never ending version with an actual, living galaxy that gets shaped and twisted by every player involved.

If successful and worthy, it could go on for a long time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raised On Riots (Post 5886435)

Yep, i played EQ from 2001-2007. I loved raiding in MMO's I am not much for leveling up, but get me to max level and let me take down monsters with about 20-50 other folks and i have a blast doing it.

I hate hate hate EA, but if Bioware can pull it off, i am going to be in it to win it. I will be back representing my guild www.halcyonaffinity.org rar lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC Fish (Post 5824881)

This game is already giving me wood....

Amen

I watched this yesterday; damned impressive.

On a side note:

I will pwn you all when this game is released!

Some info from comic-con:

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SDCC 2009: Behind the Scenes - Star Wars: The Old Republic

By Gerald Villoria | Jul 25, 2009

We sat in on the Behind the Scenes - Star Wars: The Old Republic panel and bring you these choice excerpts from the discussion.

BioWare is at Comic-Con, promoting its forthcoming Star Wars MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. We sat in on the Behind the Scenes - Star Wars: The Old Republic panel and bring you these choice excerpts from the discussion. Read on to learn about working on BioWare's first MMO, the development of The Old Republic's classes, as well as details on the story taking place at this point in time in the Star Wars universe. Be sure to check back soon for an exclusive interview with members of the teams at LucasArts and BioWare.

The Heroes of Our Tale:

The Behind the Scenes - Star Wars: The Old Republic panel featured Jake Neri (Producer, LucasArts) moderating a lively discussion that included Hall Hood (Senior Writer, BioWare), Alexander Freed (Managing Editor, BioWare), Dallas Dickinson (Senior Content Producer, BioWare), and Jeff Dobson (Art Director, BioWare).

On reactions to the game being announced:

"When we made the announcement, we got a tremendous response from folks. We had some expectations, some idea of what the interest was going to be in this project. And then, at E3, we showed some of what we were actually doing, and the response overwhelmed our expectations. I think we're all very humbled by what people are looking for and what people expect to see in a massively multiplayer, BioWare-created game, set in the Star Wars universe. It's both exciting and I would say humbling."

"I was reading some forum somewhere, and I'm not sure if we had officially announced it yet, and the post said, "If this is real, I will eat my tattoos."

On the challenges involved in keeping a cohesive vision:

"The one unifying goal of the art team is bringing the concept art to life. It's really easy when you have a 3D animator or an artist do something, and you can just put it next to the concept art and see if it matches up."

"We work very closely with the writing, because we want the art to tell a story as well. It's what we do at BioWare and what we do well."

"There's times where we'll draw something, that wasn't necessarily what they had in mind, but they'll take that, and say "That's cool, we'll rewrite it to fit that."

"Of course, the moral of the story, by the art talent, is that's something WE [the writers] have to do."

On Dallas Dickinson coming into the project after it had started:

"I came to it with an MMO background, I've been an MMOs person for the last 8-10 years, so I had preconceived notions about how this type of game plays. When I started at BioWare, my first task was to read through the entire design document, and call out things that I thought were risky, that I thought were crazy, and that I thought were impossible.

So I had a list. There was no way we should be doing full voice-over in a massively multiplayer game, there was no way we should be doing multiplayer dialogue, I didn't even know what that means! There was no way we should be adding unique stories for all of our classes? This was all crazy talk! So I had a whole list, and these were the dumb things you were doing, and I'm going to save the day by fixing everything!

Then I played what was already there, I played an early prototype version of the game, and I shut up, which is hard to get me to do, if you ask these guys. I do not cease to find out that I'm wrong, ever.

I played the game, with the full voice over, and honestly I can't imagine doing an RPG without them. It changes how we view a game, it changes your character, it changes everything about the story, the interaction. The fact that we have every class with a unique story is something that's not just new for MMOs, it's new for RPGs. In RPGs, you usually have just one story that has to fit the class you choose. Here we don't have that constraint. We have a smuggler story that's 100% different from our bounty hunter story."

"Since I called those things out and was told I was wrong, I just sit around and drink. A lot."

On building Knights of the Old Republic-length narratives that all work together:

"Look at the original Knights of the Old Republic. That entire game would be a Jedi story. And we've got Jedi stories. And we've got smuggler stories, and bounty hunter stories, and so forth. So we've got a whole bunch of game-length narratives, all running in parallel, all that have to work together and not contradict one another. It's all taking place in the same universe, it's all part of the great story of the Old Republic.

But each story has to be self-contained and be entertaining in its own right, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The way we do that is make sure that each class has its own role within the universe. If you want to know the story of the underworld during the Old Republic, then you're going to play a smuggler, or a bounty hunter. If you want to know the role of the military, and what it's like to be on the front lines, and to deal with the hierarchy within the Republic, and generally carry a big gun, then you've got the trooper."

"If you took all of our stories, and stitched them together like a movie, the closest comparison would be like Pulp Fiction. You'd play a little bit, and be like, "what was that all about?" and 40 hours later you'd be like, "Ohhhh, that's what that was all about!"

"It would be like the G-rated Pulp Fiction, of course."

On making the smuggler class as exciting as the Jedi and Sith:

"Let's make something clear: smugglers are not normal people. They're the best shots in the galaxy, they have lightning fast reflexes, and you never see them coming until it's too late. Han Solo snuck up on Darth Vader in a star freighter, and Vader was all like, "What?"

Han shot Vader three times on Bespin! OK, sure, it didn't do anything, but still! Three times! I like to believe that Vader didn't kill Han because he understood that Han was awesome.

Han was so awesome that he needed to be preserved in carbonite! That's my version of the Empire Strikes Back."

"Smuggler stories are unique because smugglers don't consult the Jedi council. They don't get their orders from Republic High Command. They don't sit in on Senate meetings. They're creatures of the underground. They're dealing with crime lords, and bounty hunters, and slavers, and the worst scum and villainy in the galaxy.

And yes, they're going to fight the empire, and the Sith, and Jedi, if they want to go that way. The common thread to all their villains is that they are very powerful people, larger than life characters that take themselves too seriously. And then a smuggler comes in, and takes them down several notches, and makes fun of them, gets the girl (or guy), and the credits, and then leaves. The End."

"There's another version of that story that you're going to have to go and write."

On creating the smuggler and the bounty hunter:

"It's simple. Bounty Hunter is Boba Fett, and smuggler is Han Solo. That's the core inspiration, that's where it starts."

"They're similar classes, they're both gunmen, but they approach the use of those guns very differently. The smuggler is going to be quicker, lighter, he's the cowboy, he's the gunslinger, and he's going to be gone before you shoot back."

"There are other bounty hunters in the galaxy, other smugglers in the movies and fiction that we try to tap. Lando was a smuggler too, so we try to do some stuff that really speaks to the idea of a Lando fantasy."

"Which is a great one! To own your own planet? That's pretty darned cool."

"And wear a cape."

"If you want to go more Lando, then there's going to be a path for you, and you can end up with the super pimped-out cape."

On the Sith Empire in the Old Republic:

"Our Sith Empire traces its origins to the very start of the Sith. It's not the same Sith Empire as Dark Revan's from KotOR, it's not the same Empire as Palpatine's in the movies, but it connects both of them. It bridges the two in a certain sense. They have their own traditions, their own way of doing things.

As you play the game, you're going to see the entire empire and how it works. You're going to see the underclass: the slaves, the conquered species, the planets that have surrendered to them for one reason or another. You're going to see the middle class of the Imperial aristocracy: the military, the families who are doing about as well as anyone who's not a proper Sith can do.

And then above them there are the Sith: the guys with the lightsabers who can force choke you to death if you look at them wrong. And you can't argue, because this is the Sith Empire, not the regular empire, not the slave empire, but this is the empire that is entirely oriented towards the Sith and looking at them as the powerful, rightful rulers of the galaxy.

There are some tensions there, and there are some people who utterly, passionately believe that this is the right way for the galaxy to be run. That the force-sensitive people have power because they were the right people."

On neutrality and the light side/dark side system:

"Regardless of what your class choice is, you get to make decisions that either drive you further light or further dark. You can be playing the nicest Sith on the block, and it'll actually change your gameplay experience in a number of ways. It'll change the way that your companions interact with you, it'll change the way that NPCs interact with you, it'll actually give you powers that are only available to the "light side" version of that class. Same is true of the dark side, and the same is true of someone that wants to walk the line."

On role-playing and downtime socializing:

"This is an MMO. We're going to make sure that we are competitive with AAA MMOs and will have those secondary activities that are not just your current class story, that are not just your combat and progression. There will be crafting, there will be trading, there will be all sorts of those things. We call them secondary systems, but they're built for the downtime. We want to make sure that we support guilds. We want to make sure that we support all of those things that actually make this a social experience, that don't make this just about your single-player play experience.

Many of us who play MMOs know that a lot of the time you do play by yourself, you do play solo, so we're making sure to support that, we're making sure that you can play through this content, you can play it by yourself. But if you want to get into more advanced portions of the game, then yeah, we will absolutely be having those systems."

On accessibility:

"How easy is it going to be? It's going to be so easy."

"One of the things I'm really proud of, is the hook is really short. With BioWare games, I usually sort of slog through the first two or three hours until I'm immersed in the story. I found that all the storylines that we've done so far have a really short hook. Twenty, thirty minutes and you're in. You know everything that's going on with your story and you're ready to sit there and play one of those seven- or eight-hour sessions all night long and be late to work in the morning."

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 5824834)

One more good read:

I am sorry that sounds good in theory, but text/voice skipping is a must.. YOU WILL do the same quests multiple times no matter what they say about having different quest lines..

Nothing is more infuriating then sitting through the same sequence multiple times.. Do what all good MMO's do and allow us to skip the damn content IF we want..

Quote:

But each story has to be self-contained and be entertaining in its own right, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

How can an MMO have an end? That's against the game mechanic. Are they just going to extend the story through patches and/or expansion packs?

I've missed it if they've said they won't have voice skipping at all. Every previous bioware game has. Or at least every recent one.

As for MMOs having an end, I think they were talking about class arcs, not the game itself.

People need to stop thinking about this game in terms of EQ or WoW, maybe. That's thinking too small. If they start with everything they're advertising, they're going to be several magnitudes larger than any MMO has been at release to this point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 5929529)

I've missed it if they've said they won't have voice skipping at all. Every previous bioware game has. Or at least every recent one.

As for MMOs having an end, I think they were talking about class arcs, not the game itself.

People need to stop thinking about this game in terms of EQ or WoW, maybe. That's thinking too small. If they start with everything they're advertising, they're going to be several magnitudes larger than any MMO has been at release to this point.

Yessss!:D

Everything Bioware touches turns to gold, and the only other company that is comparable is Blizzard, I'm sure Bioware will pull this off.

Developer gameplay walkthrough from Gamescom:

<embed src='http://videomedia.ign.com/ev/ev.swf' flashvars='object_ID=816935&downloadURL=http://pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/article/101/1016934/gcom09_oldrepublic_spc1_082109_flvlowwide.flv&allownetworking="all%"' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='433' height='360'></embed><div style='width:433;'><a href='http://pc.ign.com/objects/816/816935.html'>More Star Wars: The Old Republic Info</a></div>

<embed src='http://videomedia.ign.com/ev/ev.swf' flashvars='object_ID=816935&downloadURL=http://pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/article/101/1016934/gcom09_oldrepublic_spc2_082109_flvlowwide.flv&allownetworking="all%"' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='433' height='360'></embed><div style='width:433;'><a href='http://pc.ign.com/objects/816/816935.html'>More Star Wars: The Old Republic Info</a></div>

<embed src='http://videomedia.ign.com/ev/ev.swf' flashvars='object_ID=816935&downloadURL=http://pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/article/101/1016934/gcom09_oldrepublic_spc3_082109_flvlowwide.flv&allownetworking="all%"' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='433' height='360'></embed><div style='width:433;'><a href='http://pc.ign.com/objects/816/816935.html'>Star Wars: The Old Republic at IGN.com</a></div>

<embed src='http://videomedia.ign.com/ev/ev.swf' flashvars='object_ID=816935&downloadURL=http://pcmovies.ign.com/pc/video/article/101/1016934/gcom09_oldrepublic_spc4_082109_flvlowwide.flv&allownetworking="all%"' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='433' height='360'></embed><div style='width:433;'><a href='http://pc.ign.com/objects/816/816935.html'>More Star Wars: The Old Republic Info</a></div>

Yep, watched that yesterday. They've got the Deus Ex-like interaction going on for this game.

Is there anything Deus Ex can't make better? No. No there is not.

So I hadn't watched those videos before posting them.

My initial reaction is holy shit.

I can't wait to play this. One thing that bugs me is the way keep touting how this is the "largest voice over project EVER!!!" Does anyone really give a damn about that? If it wasn't for BioWare's stellar track record, I would be concerned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cankerskull (Post 6001453)

I like the attention to detail. It shows me that Bioware is concerned with pushing the genre and delivering a superior product.

I don't know. Right now, it just looks like a console multiplayer game that you play on the PC.

Will they have PvP? Battlegrounds? Large scale war? That's what I want out of a SW MMO.

YOu cant have Dark Side and the good side and not have pvp. If it didnt, whats the damned point?

I just know me and my mmo crew that i been gaming with for about 8 years now are going to tear it up. Well, as long as it keeps looking good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcxiv (Post 6001702)

I can't ****ing wait for this shit. I've got two mad video game skills in this life:

"Lightsabers or Light Cycles; your ass is MINE". :fire:

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcxiv (Post 6001702)

YOu cant have Dark Side and the good side and not have pvp. If it didnt, whats the damned point?

Apparently you can accrue dark and light side points whether you're sith or republic, which itself will be a new concept in MMOs. Meaning you can play a redeemed sith or a fallen jedi, and your skills or jedi abilities will somehow reflect that. Which could make faction-based PvP a little difficult.

(at least I think that's what they're planning...)

But if the whole game is like what they're showing, I'm going to have to pass. I want to see a sense of scale, not running around doing dinky missions until I hit the level cap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silock (Post 6002169)

But if the whole game is like what they're showing, I'm going to have to pass. I want to see a sense of scale, not running around doing dinky missions until I hit the level cap.

Everything we've seen in demos is from early-on in the game. Although they are not targetting hardcore gamers and say most of the 200 hours of scripted content per character can be soloed.

PvP and raiding have both been confirmed, however.

Well, that's good. I'd still like to see it in action before I make a final decision, though.

Hopefully I can get the wife in on the ground floor with this one. She just recently started playing WoW with me, and it's been a chore since I know everything about it and she doesn't.

Has any one seen the new gameplay from Gamescon on IGN the game is looking very nice for such an early build.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silock (Post 6002169)

But if the whole game is like what they're showing, I'm going to have to pass. I want to see a sense of scale, not running around doing dinky missions until I hit the level cap.

I think that is because most endgame will be pvp battles.. Well at least I hope so.. The good thing is they can come up with new villains/heroes by doing old republic..

I just want to see large scale battles (80-100 people) in man on man, vehicle, and space battles

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valiant (Post 6004126)

I hope not, because I have zero interest in pvp. I'd like to have something to do once I hit the level cap.

Oh, speaking of space battles, they apparently are working towards having space in the game, but I don't know how.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6004965)

They said there will be raid's but they also said there will be no true healer/tank class in the game so how raid's will work is anybody's guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oaklandhater (Post 6005641)

They said there will be raid's but they also said there will be no true healer/tank class in the game so how raid's will work is anybody's guess.

I don't know about how they'd address healing, but the Sith Warrior class revealed in the ign video from gamescom seemed awfully tank-like to me. Melee combat, aoe enrage ability, and apparently can trait to defend your group from blaster fire.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6005701)

I wondered how they were going to keep everyone from wanting to play a jedi. Now I see how: they've made the Jedi class very boring in combat, imo. It just doesn't look that exciting to play, to me. The sith warrior seemed to use the exact same attacks over and over. The fast-close ability, then slash slash slash with the saber.

Low-level toon I think. I don't know of any MMO that has real exciting varied skills until you get a lot of levels under you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6004965)

The problem with the lore is the villains or bosses would have to be people.. It is not like other mmo where the boss is 50ft tall and everyone can see him.. If the raid bosses are jedi/sith they would get lost with 20+ raiders all attacking..

And I do not think there will be healing classes in the game..

The game is hard to describe as a traditional mmo because of this, maybe eve online is the closest to it..

Will be fun to see how they develop this game..

This game looks like it will be KOTOR with real-time combat.

Video from PAX this weekend. Same demo as gamescom, but they show a female toon for the first time, and at the flash point, they go with the light side option of not killing the captain.

<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cne_flash/production/media_player/proteus/one/skins/gamespot.png&paramsURI=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamespot.com%2Fpages%2Fvideo_player%2Fxml.php%3Fid%3D6216906 %26mode%3Dembedded%26width%3D432%26height%3D362%2F" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cne_flash/production/media_player/proteus/one/proteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>

Until they come out with a console game count me out. I don't want to play star wars with you. MMOs suck and I can't understand why these asshat companies keep pushing only that option.

/rant over

Wasn't the Force Unleashed a console game?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco (Post 6046044)

Until they come out with a console game count me out. I don't want to play star wars with you. MMOs suck and I can't understand why these asshat companies keep pushing only that option.

/rant over

Consoles made gaming reeruned. Any reputable game that an adult would play gets ported to that bullshit.

Just as Satan intended.:p

When does this drop? Looks pretty sweet

So far all I've heard is "2010". No word even of beta at this point.

I think this is the full presentation from PAX, 42-minutes long:

<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cne_flash/production/media_player/proteus/one/skins/gamespot.png&paramsURI=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamespot.com%2Fpages%2Fvideo_player%2Fxml.php%3Fid%3D6216995 %26mode%3Dembedded%26width%3D432%26height%3D362" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cne_flash/production/media_player/proteus/one/proteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>

embiggened version here: http://pax.gamespot.com/video/621699...opslot;title;1

FWIW, the original KOTOR was released on Steam this week for 9.99

Just To let you guys know They started takeing in beta sign up's

http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20090929_001

Thank you for visiting www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com. We are making adjustments to the site due to the overwhelming response to the testing announcement. Please be patient and check back later. We estimate that the site will be back up in the next few hours

that didn't take long.......

Sweet, I'll have to sign up once I'm home (so they can scan my computer). They must be further along than I realized. I was thinking Holiday 2010 release.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6123891)

Sweet, I'll have to sign up once I'm home (so they can scan my computer). They must be further along than I realized. I was thinking Holiday 2010 release.

Good luck getting in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raised On Riots (Post 6123923)

Good luck getting in.

Yeah, it's going to take a huge dose of luck. Although I've made a few betas (SWG, WoW, Tabula Rasa). Best chance is probably the stress tests in the months leading up to release.

Play Aion in the meantime guys, its actually kinda fun.

And I'm not going back to WoW until they fix the priest class and nerf paladins

Weird, I got in at work all the way to the pc scan, but it's been down for an hour since I got home. grr

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Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6123965)

Yeah, it's going to take a huge dose of luck. Although I've made a few betas (SWG, WoW, Tabula Rasa). Best chance is probably the stress tests in the months leading up to release.

Yea I made it in to (Tabula rasa Planetside and Champions online its all based on if you have the comp to run it and luck)

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Originally Posted by kcpasco (Post 6124136)

Play Aion in the meantime guys, its actually kinda fun.

And I'm not going back to WoW until they fix the priest class and nerf paladins

The grind in Aion is insane.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcpasco (Post 6124136)

Play Aion in the meantime guys, its actually kinda fun.

I have 5 60s and a couple of 30s in Lord of the Rings online, and they have an expansion coming on December first that will open up two more character slots. I think that fills my dance card for the time being, along with Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 (and Bioshock which I haven't started, and Fallout 3 which I haven't finished and the Witcher which i haven't finished. christ).

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Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6124156)

Weird, I got in at work all the way to the pc scan, but it's been down for an hour since I got home. grr

Same here. Even worse, each time I try to sign up it kicks me outta Chiefs Planet.

Got in and registered, scanned and the request was sent.

Of course there is not a womprat's chance on Hoth of me being chosen.

It's still the same for me as it was last night before bed: website's up, but I can't log in.

Okay, it looks like firefox was the problem with logging in. Got through and signed-up via IE.

For those of you dong Beta I wish you the best of luck. I tried it once, and it's just not for me (beta testing that is, not KoTR). However, if you can pass on what the experience is like without breaking the NDA, it would be much appreciated.

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Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6125402)

Okay, it looks like firefox was the problem with logging in. Got through and signed-up via IE.

good luck to you keg here is hopeing some one from Cp will get in.

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Originally Posted by oaklandhater (Post 6129299)

good luck to you keg here is hopeing some one from Cp will get in.

I think there's a decent chance because they're apparently doing it in a tiered fashion, instead of the way it's normally done (i.e.you get in beta and stay in until release):

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When each testing session ends, will the chosen players be able to test again?

Our approach is to have new testers for each testing session. That said,players who give excellent feedback or find and report good bugs may be considered for additional testing sessions.

I'm assuming it will be that way until open beta and stress testing near release.

ah If I get in to the beta for this + get Dragon age and mass effect 2 I would never be bored again.

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Originally Posted by Raised On Riots (Post 6046084)

Consoles made gaming reeruned. Any reputable game that an adult would play gets ported to that bullshit.

Just as Satan intended.:p

Consoles have been around longer than any mainstream PC game.

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Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco (Post 6130316)

Consoles have been around longer than any mainstream PC game.

Pong was a console.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco (Post 6130316)

Consoles have been around longer than any mainstream PC game.

I know, I had one when I was a kid. And so did other kids. Console games are comprised of a bunch of goofy kid-shit like Zelda and Mario etc.

The Story of the Sith Warrior

Think back to when you first watched Star Wars™: A New Hope™ — to the moment when Darth Vader enters the besieged Republic ship, surveying the carnage, single-mindedly hunting his target, Princess Leia. If you were like me, your eyes bulged and you thought, “I wanna be that guy.”

Now, maybe I was alone in that visceral response. Maybe it reveals something disturbing about me, I don’t know. On subsequent screenings, I seem to recall hearing a chorus of hisses and boos when Vader emerges. So maybe most of the Star Wars™ fan community are Luke lovers, or Solo sycophants . But something tells me there are more of me out there. And all these years, like me, you’ve been waiting for the opportunity to express your inner Vader.

Well, I’m here to tell you, our time has come.

Get ready, my friends, Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is going to be our coming out party. It’s time to ignite your red lightsaber and grind the galaxy under your steel platform boot.

The Sith Warrior is about domination and control, as he seeks to utterly annihilate his enemies. No one wields a lightsaber with more devastating effect as he brings ferocity and all his rage to bear on every strike. He is feared, he is a melee master, and he can choke you to death without even touching you.

NPCs that give a bounty hunter attitude cower and wet themselves when the Sith Warrior walks into the room. The Warrior glares and Jedi—even Masters—tremble and feel their devout beliefs weaken within them. The Warrior wades into a battalion of Republic soldiers and leaves a pile of steaming parts behind.

You begin the Sith Warrior story as the apprentice of one of the most powerful Sith Lords in the Empire. Yes, you serve him, as Vader served the Emperor, but he knows that you are at your best and most powerful the more you can flex your muscles. As long as your master’s ultimate directives are met, you are encouraged to entertain your every impulse and do as you please.

Unbound and unleashed on the galaxy, you wage war against the Jedi, relentlessly hunting and neutralizing their most powerful and important players. You can leave an indelible darkness on every planet you visit or find less wanton routes to your goals, as you eliminate rivals, acquire your own minions and build your personal power base.

The enemies of the Sith quickly realize that you are the real threat that cannot be ignored. Other Sith you encounter and confront come to revere and revile you, as much as—if not more than—your master. And eventually, the Emperor himself may take notice of your exploits.

Where is this all leading? That’s up to you. You can serve dutifully and pound away by the letter of your master’s law, or you can risk plotting to someday destroy him and grab his power (as Vader reveals in his plea for Luke to join him). You can even have secret designs to redeem yourself, embrace the light and destabilize the Empire from within.

If this excites you, if you’re like me and already have Darth Vader’s theme music playing in the background of your mind 24-7, then crank up the volume to 11 and point those internal speakers out the window. Don’t get caught up in the debate over who shot first. Don’t be tied down by the Jedi Code. Embrace the darkness within you! Revel in your emotions, grab for glory and bend the galaxy to your will.

Neil Pollner
Writer

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Originally Posted by Raised On Riots (Post 6131054)

I know, I had one when I was a kid. And so did other kids. Console games are comprised of a bunch of goofy kid-shit like Zelda and Mario etc.

Pong was really the first mainstream game and it was console. PAC-MAN was the second game craz and every adult wanted to play it on the Atari at home. The console market is also bigger. The advantage is that you can have a system that you know will run the game. I don't mind a PC game, but damn...I might have to spend an additional 5 hundred just to run it.

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Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 6130435)

Pong was a console.

Missed your post. Good memory

Latest class reveal: Jedi Knight

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Q&A - The Jedi Knight

By Staff, GameSpotPosted Oct 30, 2009 10:25 am PT

Get the details on the Jedi knight profession in this upcoming massively multiplayer game that will take place in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a massively multiplayer game that lets you play as one of many classic Star Wars archetypes from the earlier time period BioWare introduced in its single-player Knights of the Old Republic game. One of the professions you can play is the Jedi knight, a character aligned with the light side of the Force and the peace-loving Republic. We have the details from BioWare's director of production Dallas Dickinson and senior game designer William Wallace.

GameSpot: We're pleased to be able to reveal the early details on the Jedi knight profession. This is obviously an iconic character class represented by some of the most famous characters in Star Wars fiction. Give us an overview of this profession.

Dallas Dickinson: The Jedi knight is based very much on [Samuel L. Jackson's] Mace Windu archetype [from the Phantom Menace motion picture]. He is a powerful, force-wielding warrior who will be called on to protect the galaxy from a great evil. Players should expect to be involved in a bit of intrigue but mostly to be focused on hunting down and combating the Sith and their representatives throughout the galaxy.

GS: We understand that Jedi knights find themselves in a precarious political position in the world of The Old Republic. The Jedi Order--facing a growing threat from the combined forces of the Sith--has retreated to the world of Tython, which hasn't made it popular among Republic senators. What kind of political and faction-related challenges will Jedi knight characters need to be aware of?

DD: Without giving away too much of the story, all the tensions you outlined will be at play. Many political players in the Republic's hierarchy have negative views of the Jedi and some of them are mistrustful because they feel the Jedi Order has abandoned them. Add this to direct [opposition from] the Sith Empire and you have a class (and a story) that is fraught with challenges.

GS: How will the political position of the Jedi Order affect the experience of a Jedi knight player? What sort of missions will these characters undertake? For instance, in addition to defending the Republic against the Sith, will knight characters have bodyguard or diplomatic missions, like the characters in the Episode 1 film?

DD: Without going into specifics, this is absolutely the kind of work that the Jedi knight is cut out for. There are powerful and important members of the Republic's political hierarchy, and the Jedi are often sent to protect these individuals--especially when those individuals are threatened by the Sith. That said, you can expect a wide variety of mission types as a Jedi knight.

GS: The Jedi knight class seems to closely resemble the guardian profession from the Knights of the Old Republic games, possessing such powers as Force push and saber throw. Is it fair to make the comparison between the professions? What kind of player will want to play as a Jedi knight?

William Wallace: It's fair to make that comparison. Besides Force push and saber throw, the Jedi Knight gets some abilities similar to the guardian's "Force valor" that give various benefits to both Jedi knights and their entire party, as well as the ability to wield two lightsabers at once. The guardian profession was definitely a major influence on the concept and design of the Jedi knight.

At its core, the Jedi knight is about getting into battle as quickly as possible, dominating the fight and protecting allies. Players who enjoy fast melee combat will identify with this class--there's no passive auto-attack combat here. The Jedi knight has a smorgasbord of lightsaber abilities to choose from as the situation dictates and must continue to evaluate the battle to see whether he should strike hard at one or two targets or swing widely to keep a whole cluster of enemies at bay. Sometimes it's more advantageous to simply push them all back with the Force, take a second to breathe, and then leap back into the fray with both lightsabers drawn. Players who enjoy that kind of tactical decision making in combat will find a lot to like in the Jedi knight.

GS: Tell us about the role of the Jedi knight in battle. How do these characters support their comrades when the going gets tough?

WW: The Jedi knight can fill a couple of roles in combat. In one-on-one combat, the Jedi knight is practically unmatched in melee power. He excels in getting into the fight very quickly by charging into a group of enemies and then has a number of strong single and double lightsaber attacks to damage his enemies and keep them from damaging him. In group combat, the Jedi knight excels at staying at the forefront of the fight and has a number of ways to keep the battle focused on him, letting his allies concentrate on what they do best and also keeping any Sith lightsabers away from unarmored targets. Even if the Jedi knight isn't leading the group, the character is still a valuable asset to his comrades by virtue of his wide range of melee abilities and his ability to augment the party's strength with Force abilities and auras.

GS: And tell us about the role of the Jedi knight outside of battle. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo, for instance, we witnessed the first showing of The Old Republic's group dialogue system. How will having a Jedi knight in your party be a different experience from playing without? Will knights have a Force persuade power, for instance? How differently will other characters think of and treat parties that include a Jedi knight or two?

DD: Many non-player characters react differently, depending on the class of player character talking with them. Some NPCs are impressed by Jedi, while some don't trust them. You will have some different experiences than if you were to play as a smuggler, for example, when talking to seedy underworld characters. And, as with previous BioWare games, there will also be some abilities that players can use to change their dialogue (and story) options.

GS: Thanks, gentlemen.

The Jedi page is up at the official site:

http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/classes/jedi-knight

Another class reveal: Imperial Agent.

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Originally Posted by kcpasco (Post 6124136)

Play Aion in the meantime guys, its actually kinda fun.

And I'm not going back to WoW until they fix the priest class and nerf paladins

Uhh Priests are badass.. Paladin's you just have to be the right class to fight, which unfortunately is three..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco (Post 6130316)

Consoles have been around longer than any mainstream PC game.

Consoles are PC's now..

Last two classes have been revealed, although no official information has been released yet. They are the Jedi Consular and the Sith Inquisitor.

So the final class list is as follows:

Bounty Hunter
Imperial Agent
Jedi Consular
Jedi Knight
Sith Inquisitor
Sith Warrior
Smuggler
Trooper