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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Game Update from SyndCon
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
During the recent Syndcon, MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh had the opportunity to check in with Bioware devs and Star Wars: THe Old Republic. Carolyn has a full report on what she learned at Syndcon that you won't want to miss. Read on!
The game will look as good as it possibly can, but the voice-acting will make the most impact. It is costly, but effective and used mostly in other MMOs as for special flavor perhaps, for important quests. One of the questions often asked of BioWare is how difficult the voice-acting and files was to manage, but for a company that’s used to the process, the voice-acting, we are told, is the simplest part of the game. It is scripted first in text of course, but with games like Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age behind them, piece of cake!
Read more of Carolyn Koh's Star Wars: The Old Republic - Game Update from SyndCon.
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Comments
The game is looking great, and I for one can't wait. I am hoping that while grouping, the choices that others make doesn't screw with my own game choices to much though, that's my main fear with grouping.
“Companion characters will not be able to die,” said Jeff, “we try not to let players do things that will hurt themselves. Companions can, however, be hurt, be captured, and not be able to adventure with your for a while.”
This is what makes me wanna cry. I don't want a game where my father will hold my hand... If I do stupid things I should be hurt, if I jump off a cliff I should die.
Whats up with the handholding?
Their goal is millions of players, not thousands of players. Things like killing your character are counter to that goal. It's a game, not a virtual world.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Let me play it allready!!!
I don't talk about perma death or even item loss. But the fact that a player can't do bad choices and somehow suffer for it is a bit childish. It's Star Wars, not Winnie the Pooh.
I think they mean doing things that will ruin your overall gameplay (losing companions), not things that temporarily set you back. Jumping off a cliff just means a respawn, losing a companion permanently could derail your personal story and/or invalidate all the energy/credits/whatever you've poured into said companion.
But this is a themepark, and there is a bit of hand-holding in all of those.
I'm sure the idea is to prevent players from feeling like they have to reroll in order to be effective after such a choice. That would probably drive more people to quit than it would people to reroll.
Player selects "jump off cliff"
Player jumps off cliff.
Player's character dies instantly.
Riveting choice chap!
I must say I get annoyed being punished for my curiosity of what a choice would bring. Instant deaths are just cheap. I don't mind if a choice may gives me a disadvantage combat wise, but selecting a 'kill me' button doesn't sound like fun.
-Azure Prower
http://www.youtube.com/AzurePrower
I think it would be more akin to, being a Warlock in wow, and suddenly and permanently losing your ability to summon your main dps pet while soloing. Its a permanent handicap on the player.
Its sounding better and better the more I hear... And oddly enough I'm looking forward to the space battle mini-game, and more than ever being able to get quality gear through the social system.
Oh, has it ever been said if there will be an achievement system built in at launch? I love to run around and earn those things...it gives me so many additional things to do and its fun!
Of course you could take it literally, but that wasn't my point. You seem like a bright chap, you figure it out!
Good information, thanks. Can't wait to play.
Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."
I wasn't referring to permadeath or anything of the kind. You asked what was up with the hand holding. They want millions of players. You get millions of players by making the game casual - holding the players hands (binding the players hands) for some things.
I'm sure you'll be able to kill yourself just fine, you just won't do it by accidentally walking off a platform in a sky city.
** edit **
I've strayed a bit from the topic I think. The general idea still holds though. The hand holding is there because there are more people who want to play games than there are people who want to live in virtual worlds. Bioware is appealing to the people who want to play games.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Yeah and I was sort of referring to a bit more then killing myself. Sorry, should have been super clear on that point, reading between lines is a forgotten art.
I fear that we can't experience any major failures in this game which will remove the sense of accomplishment. But I do understand your reasoning and I know that this is the way for MMOs, I'm just dissapointed thats all.
I`m guessing the vast majority of bashers never played KOTOR so they can't wrap their heads around the concept that this game is ment to be KOTOR 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. all in one massive bundle.
I was skeptical at first too, but then I realized this approach is very suited to my casual gameplay, and I embraced it.
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
they haven't talked about an achievement system as of yet that i know of. i believe its one of those things that gets met with "we aren't talking about that right now." however they have mentioned things they think would make good achievements in the past, such playing through the game with out a companion. so wouldn't suprised me if there was however nothings been said yet.
although i can tell you that it appears there will not be an achievement for first to lvl cap.
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7081254#post7081254
GeorgZoeller
Joined: May 2010
06.28.2011 , 01:39 PM
I don't think we have talked about this topic at all, so this thread is based on a guess, I suppose.
I don't see us rewarding people for rushing through the story either.
this was in response to someone asking about server first to cap
"There was more to the Companion system that I asked about, but they were saving it for a big reveal at PAX Prime in a couple of weeks. Will you be there?"
question: was it the change to a more dragon age type system that you asked about? because i would be excited to hear more about that at pax.
edit: lol when i saw jeff vogel i was wondering if rich had a brother at bioware but it seems stephen reid corrected you. ;P
The good news here is from the space battle quote.
The space game is a real-time tactical shooter and the team is working on better integration into the world story as well as making it more complex yet intuitive. It’s not a part of the game that’s equivalent in scope to the planet based game and will remain that way at launch, in short, it is a mini-game. “A very advanced mini-game,” Rich noted. But when I asked if a full-featured space game was something they have on their long term, future plans for TOR, I was told it wasn’t off the table.
This is huge. Absolutely huge. One of the biggest knocks on this game was the fact that full space combat was NOT part of the initial design. It really hurt the buzz and gave a lot of people a HELL of a lot of pause. I think any SW fan wants open dogfights. Its going to be wild if they actually impliment it. It also shows they're listening. They want to get the game off the ground and maybe change space combat in an expansion. When the NDA gets lifted i'm going to be very intrested to hear more than the grumblings.
"Item progression is being reviewed and they are tweaking and changing how some item progression work. “Getting enough looks” was how Rich termed the change of how armor and equipment look as players level from one to 50. They are currently also streamlining the mod system to make it easier to understand. Mods will be their own class of items. On the one hand, there’s the diversity of looks so achievement is visible, on the other, the mod system will allow players who wish to, adhere to an iconic look from level one to 50. Yes, you can totally look like Obiwan Kenobi, with the humble un-dyed linen garb and brown wool cloak look. Crafting will also allow players to change the color of their blaster blasts and light sabers."
Yes. Thank you.
I actually think the shooter-on-rails space combat is perfect for a MMO setting. I hope they don't make it free form simulator-like combat. Ever.
Why?
I played all the X-Wing/Tie-Fighter etc. games, loved em. Grew up on them.
I don't really see it fitting into a MMO. In fact, I think it was absolutely horrible in SWG. Part of that may have been the poor SOE implementation, but you just can't mix skill/reflex based twitch flight-sim combat with RPG progression elements.
I'd much rather lobby for a revival of the flight sim genre then tack it onto my MMOs, thanks.
They could do a lot to expand and add to the current space game, the possibilities are awesome. I don't think turning it into a sim is the right choice for this game, and thankfully I don't think they ever will do so.
Perfect for an MMO setting? Not in my experience. EVE online is STILL very popular for a reason. Jumpgate was HIGHLY successful for a reason. JGE could be a blockbuster if it gets off the ground.
On rails combat limits pvp a LOT one of the biggest parts of starwars was the space combat. Right now its a Minigame. Not a fully developed component. TOR players initially thought we were going to have that kind of combat. Which is one of the biggest components of the SW universe. All the epic battles that werent Jedi/sith were space battles. This is a key part of the lore that cant afford to be overlooked.
The way I see it -
All of the space battles in Star Wars were a lot more then just random furballs.
They were major battles, dramatic chase scenes... in fact every space combat scene in all 6 movies is either a major battle or dramatic chase scene...
To stick to the lore, you wouldn't have "random dogfight that doesn't mean anything."
You'd have highly scripted, story driven events - which is exactly what Bioware is giving us with space combat in TOR.
You make a good point there. But my point is the need for space sim. This was what a lot of people wanted. And i fully agree someone needs to revive that genre. That I LOVED colony wars and i love that kind of game. This was in my eyes one of the best chances to see it happen. I hope it does at some point.
I too would love to see another full space sim game.
But not as an add-on to a story driven MMO.
I'd like to see a more open-ended "fly around the galaxy" kind of system in TOR, yes, but just for exploration and adventure/travel.
Keeping the combat to scripted scenes or more Starfox like PvP maybe (or space battle in Halo:Reach) instead of flight sim I think could def. work for TOR.
I too would love to see another full space sim game.
But not as an add-on to a story driven MMO.
I'd like to see a more open-ended "fly around the galaxy" kind of system in TOR, yes, but just for exploration and adventure/travel.
Keeping the combat to scripted scenes or more Starfox like PvP maybe (or space battle in Halo:Reach) instead of flight sim I think could def. work for TOR.
Technically, you can just fly around the galaxy to different planets. You just won't be steering the ship. You'll pick a destination, hit a warp gate and you'll be there.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.