Star Wars: The Old Republic: Episode II

[Lyanna Stark]

:lol: Solmyr "Sharp corners and sithy things"?

It's made by mostly the same people as WAR.

I actually feel the opposite. That SWTOR is more like Vanilla WoW in space than WAR or LOTRO, but maybe that is because of pacing and tuning? I always felt WAR was quite sluggish and LOTRO was really weirdly tuned. Pretty, but laggy and the group quests were all over the place from very easy to impossible, even within the same instance. It also feels SWTOR has a stronger story element than either of its predecessors. Plsu the addition of companions adds more flavour. And it makes solo levelling not so dull! It feels like a cross between actual grouping and single player RPG groups.

PvP in WAR was....pretty dull as well. It felt slow. SWTOR PVP I quite like. It felt like a cross between Vanilla/TBC WoW and old skool Unreal Tournament (laserz!!!)

What does amuse me is that people are crying about end game pvp and how "better gear makes people stronger and really hard to kill" NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!! Water is also wet and nights are normally dark. I'm sure there are class imbalances (there always are) and that certain classes own certain warzones (they always do), plus bugs with certain abilities (Backblast not always triggering althou my smuggler is behind the target, for instance). Those things exist, and most of the time they get fixed eventually. There was a bug with hunters' pets breaking stealth in wow and it existed how long? Years. I know it cos I exploted it something rotten. Sometimes I wonder if all the people complaining about this sort of things are rerolling DKs from WoW. "I feel entitled to faceroll win, why can't I do it whyyyyyyy???"

Anyways, enough about the grumbling and complaining, :) I got my smuggler up to lvl 14 yesterday and am finding it a bit odd to play as a scoundrel (mirror or operative). It involves so much more movement, positioning swapping from CCing, DPSing to healing that it is a bit overwhelming to try and get it right. That said, it's fun and different and a nice change of pace to solo as a healer hybrid thing. Dunno what spec to level with, I am thinking trying out the DPS trees and just respeccing if I need it for flash points. So far, a good CC rotation and focus fire seem more useful than extra healing oomph since healing is so pitiful anyway.

I also love Coruscant. It's teh pretty and ten times less annoying than Dromund Kaas. Plus it has cooler cantinas. Do republic go to Balmorra? I rarely ever see repubs on Trask Ulgo apart from sometimes on Nar Shaddah. They obviously do exist, I just don't know where. :P

[Shryke]

The problem most people say is endgame PvP gear makes you TOO good. Coming in with almost no PvP gear (which is pretty much inevitable), you are basically useless.

[Lyanna Stark]

The problem most people say is endgame PvP gear makes you TOO good. Coming in with almost no PvP gear (which is pretty much inevitable), you are basically useless.

This has been the case in WoW for ages and ages. I remember being squashed like a bug back in 2006 due to lack of gear. And in every expansion after that too, if my gear was awful. As I said, water is also wet. :P

It's always hard to balance gear scaling since if it's not good enough, people won't spend time and effort getting it. If it's too good, people who don't have it feel discouraged. I'm sure there is tuning work to be done, but it's odd to me that people did not expect it and seem outraged it exists as the whole point of end game is gear scaling and gear progression. Sure you can add in some sparkly pretty titles, custom mounts and what not, but that's extra fluff and not the essentials of pimping your character in leet itemz.

EDIT: I understand Bioware has already taken steps to avoid spawn point camping, for instance. WoW is 7 yrs old and you can STILL Graveyard camp if you really set your mind to it.

[Tyrellius]

Am I the only one that presses his Force Choke Hotkey twenty times harder than all the others (and holds it in during the duration of the choke)?

Okay then... :leaving:

[The Winged Shadow]

Anyways, enough about the grumbling and complaining, :) I got my smuggler up to lvl 14 yesterday and am finding it a bit odd to play as a scoundrel (mirror or operative). It involves so much more movement, positioning swapping from CCing, DPSing to healing that it is a bit overwhelming to try and get it right. That said, it's fun and different and a nice change of pace to solo as a healer hybrid thing. Dunno what spec to level with, I am thinking trying out the DPS trees and just respeccing if I need it for flash points. So far, a good CC rotation and focus fire seem more useful than extra healing oomph since healing is so pitiful anyway.

I also love Coruscant. It's teh pretty and ten times less annoying than Dromund Kaas. Plus it has cooler cantinas. Do republic go to Balmorra? I rarely ever see repubs on Trask Ulgo apart from sometimes on Nar Shaddah. They obviously do exist, I just don't know where. :P

My Scoundrel combat is definitely more interesting than my Assassin and Mercenery (seriously OP'd!). It feels more natural to me as I play Rogue on WoW. If you want to go some sort of mixed build for leveling, you can pretty much stay Scrapper but make sure to pick up "Exploratory Surgery" from Sawbones tree. It will make healing a whole lot easier and its on the first tier so should be easy to get. It is particularly helpful for those pesky 4man heroic quests, though I was able to heal it without that talent point.

I am going back to my Scoundrel today so the BH and Inquisitor can get some rested exp. I did miss the combat, even though my dissapointment with the end of Act 1 is still lingering. I did finally get another companion though, so that was nice.

[paddington]

I quite enjoyed Warhammer open world pvp, I was never keen on their scenarios. The one with the frigging lava pits was a nightmare. However alot of the skills feel very warhammer, aoe taunts that debuff damage, guard, short duration snares.

Loving my shield specced powertech in pvp atm, I don't do a whole lot of damage, but I sure am annyoing to kill.

Also could use some advice regarding passing in huttball, just can't seem to get it to work well.

[Lyanna Stark]

Also could use some advice regarding passing in huttball, just can't seem to get it to work well.

There seems to be a bit of a delay with it. I dunno, it looks like an AoE fire thing, and you target someone who happens to stand there, click and hope for the best, sort of thing? Maybe there is supposed to be a short "grace" period of 2 seconds or some such before the new player actually gets labelled as "ball carrier"? I don't know.

I know that the comparable WoW feature (drop flag, pick it up) in Warsong Gulch has some delay i you did a drop/pickup cycle (you could not target and toss), but it's a bit faster than Huttball. It's also more obvious since the person gets equipped with a big, glowy flag, while in Huttball it's a purple or yellow beam of light that you may or may not clearly see from the angle you're standing.

I tried to pass it to someone within reach at high health once I reached 30% or so HP myself. Pref. someone who stood a little behind enemy lines if possible (not always possible) so that they'd still focus fire on my, while the ball carrier could run off.

It actually makes me want to log on and check it myself. :)

[Arakasi]

There is some people over at Bioware here from Mythic, so yes there is some Warhammer influence. But there is a lot of people from other places as well. I feel like Lyanna that the game has an old school WoW feel (minus nice things like customizable UI) mixed with Mass Effect story elements.

[HP Loveshaft]

There seems to be a bit of a delay with it. I dunno, it looks like an AoE fire thing, and you target someone who happens to stand there, click and hope for the best, sort of thing? Maybe there is supposed to be a short "grace" period of 2 seconds or some such before the new player actually gets labelled as "ball carrier"? I don't know.

I know that the comparable WoW feature (drop flag, pick it up) in Warsong Gulch has some delay i you did a drop/pickup cycle (you could not target and toss), but it's a bit faster than Huttball. It's also more obvious since the person gets equipped with a big, glowy flag, while in Huttball it's a purple or yellow beam of light that you may or may not clearly see from the angle you're standing.

I tried to pass it to someone within reach at high health once I reached 30% or so HP myself. Pref. someone who stood a little behind enemy lines if possible (not always possible) so that they'd still focus fire on my, while the ball carrier could run off.

Tried Huttball for the first time yesterday. Seems like it's best played like Rugby, kind of like Lyanna is saying. Run forward as the ball carrier, once everyone focus fires on you throw it back to someone else. I have never gotten a long pass off, only short ones. Seems like it could get really strategic via throwing up to the platforms.

[Solmyr]

Spend the last 2 days (and nights) theorcrafting better sniper pve specs, rotations and stats. The result: 25% increase in dps, from ~1350 to ~1650. But my rotation is now so much more complicated I fear the human mistake factor on nightmare boss fights (tests on a dummy are less stressful :)).

But you probably don't give a rat's ass for all that so here's the latest love-letter from Jaesa :D

Being your wife is a thrill, my lord. But what good is marriage if I can't rub it in the faces of my enemies? I couldn't resist sending word of our union to House Organa. The Jedi Council, too.

House Organa was not pleased, but their reactions paled to the despair the news elicited from the Jedi Council. Imagine, their prized Padawan is now wife to the most powerful Sith in the galaxy. Pity Nomen Karr wasn't able to attend the ceremony.

If I'd remained a Jedi, none of these pleasures would be mine. Thank you, my lord, my husband

I think Vette will win the wife-wars.

[Lannes]

I bought SWTOR last week after taking a year off from MMOs- basically a burnt out WoW vet-

Vanilla, BC, WOTLK and Cata (a month of Cata was the straw that broke that particular camel's back- done and deleted) with a smattering of other MMOs- LOTRO, AOC, STO, Champions Online, etc. Never stayed more than a couple of months with any of those- all played while taking breaks from WoW.

I'm finding SWTOR engaging and fun, like I did WoW in the beginning. I'm an altoholic no matter the MMO, so I am levelling toons until they leave their first planets to get a taste of what each has to offer.

So far, I've gotten a Inquisitor, a BH, and a Sith Warrior past level 10. Next up is a Trooper.

While I miss the more open continent feel that WoW had when I was levelling, the story lines are making up for that.

I'm on The Shadowlands server, btw.

[Relic]

Spend the last 2 days (and nights) theorcrafting better sniper pve specs, rotations and stats. The result: 25% increase in dps, from ~1350 to ~1650. But my rotation is now so much more complicated I fear the human mistake factor on nightmare boss fights (tests on a dummy are less stressful :)).

How are you guaging the dps?

[Solmyr]

Nar shaddar world boss. Dps for 2mins (normal sustainable rotation, all cooldowns allowed). (Boss' max hp - boss' current hp)/120 = dps.

[Lyanna Stark]

:lol: I am loving the latest instalment of the Solmyr Sith Warrior soap!

Please let me know what you think of Sniper DPS rotations once you get a good grip on it. :) I hope to be doing some PvE myself once I reach 50 (which with current occupation levels, kid and other things feels like it is going to happen some time 2017 :P )

Re Huttball,

Rugby is actually not a bad comparison. I think key will be to know when to pass the ball on and when to keep going, plus of course positioning of both yourself and the team. Which basically makes it LAEL as far as pugs go, but whatevah, it's still good fun. :P

[Solmyr]

Please let me know what you think of Sniper DPS rotations once you get a good grip on it. :) I hope to be doing some PvE myself once I reach 50 (which with current occupation levels, kid and other things feels like it is going to happen some time 2017 :P )

I have 1 more spec to test, but I think it will be either on par or below my current. So I can already draw some conclusions:

Pure marksman may feel very nice cuz you see big crits and all, and you can change targets easily, but for raid bosses a hybrid spec outdmgs pure specs by a lot. I'm currently 2/16/23 with Razor Rounds and Imperial Methology (only mentioning those talents cuz the rest should be obvious). The goal is to have to use abilities from 2 trees, but also have the energy to use them on cooldown.

As you may imagine the rotation is complicated as shit even on a target dummy, I'm gonna test it on a real raid boss in 10mins when raid starts, without addons it's very hard to keep track of your dots and we have 2 snipers and 1 operative in raid, so there are 2-3 of the same debuff on the target and you can't tell which is yours.

In a nutshell, when you reach 50 and start doing hard mode flashpoints, pure marksman is a good spec, it allows you to switch targets easily and still deliver enough dmg to kill bosses before enrage. But if you go raiding you should try a hybrid spec - raid bosses often enrage especially if your gear isn't great yet.

[Relic]

Solmyr, have you done any nightmare ops?

[Tobin]

Yahtzee reviewed TOR and I daresay he sorta enjoyed it? :stunned:

[Solmyr]

Solmyr, have you done any nightmare ops?

Tonight we cleared Nightmare Karagga's palace. Wasn't easy but we did it all in 3-4h. Tomorrow we go nightmare EV, if Soa isn't buggier than usual we should be fine.

[Arakasi]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=34756560#post34756560

1.7 million subscribers.

2+ million box sales.

1 million players a day.

Avg 4 hour play time.

Pretty good numbers, they just need to build on that by fixing the bugs, improving the UI and adding some unique and interesting content.

[Lyanna Stark]

Nice numbers. I am surprised they managed more than 1 million at start, and more towards 2 than 1. It's also the currently best selling PC game in Sweden so they may be getting more subs as time goes by.

I'm quite pleased with the game myself, altho I'd love a moddable UI and less travel times (orbital space stations with several levels are FTL). Overall tho, good stuff. And I am so glad the crybabies weren't correct either. :) I think SWTOR deserves success.