PvP: Act 1; Scene 2

Our next world PvP planet is Tatooine.

There are two safe zones on Tatooine. Anchorhead is the space port and Republic safe zone. Mos Ila is the space port for the Imperial side. Everything in between is PvP. There is even a small area that you can go free-for-all called Outlaw’s Den.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed. First, I play Republic, and on a PvP server. As I roam the sands of Tatooine, I see very few Imperial players. I am not sure if it’s just how the quests are spread out, but as I leveled on this planet, and coming back for a visit to refresh my memory, I saw very few Imperial players. Continue Reading »

Well, well, well…. I’m back.

It’s been some time since my last post. The holiday season handed me a few challenges which all took my time away from everything web-related. I’m glad to say that these challenges are somewhat behind me now and I now have time (at long last) to focus on TOR again.

I was going to start my return post with a rant about the imbalance of the class system, but I will put that off for another time.

Today I will walk you through a simple and easy-to-follow macro set-up I’m playing around with in-game. It’s by no means perfect, but it does help to simplify key binds and the fast-paced combat which we all have come to expect in TOR.

The minimum requirement is a 3-button mouse. Better still is a programmable mouse with extra buttons, but this can be bypassed with a program like Auto-Hotkey which will work just as well.

The reason I call this a 1-2-3 macro is the simple fact that is that you will use 1, 2 and 3 as you main macro set-up. You could use 8, 9, 0 and free up your lower keys for easy use, but it still works out that all skills will be grouped into sets of 3.

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Players who have played since launch already know the order of the planets near the beginning of your epic adventure. The Empire starts out either on Hutta (Imperial Agent and Bounty Hunter) or on Korriban (Sith Warrior and Sith Inquisitor) then moves on to the capital planet of Dromund Kaas. The Republic starts out on either Ord Mantell (Smuggler and Trooper) or on Tython (Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular) then moves on to the capital planet of Coruscant. These are the sanctuary planets. The opposing faction can’t visit these locations. So where does PvP start? Continue Reading »

So, I have been trying PvP in pretty much all its formats since launch. I have to say that I am happy with it overall. Continue Reading »

SWTOR Launched officially on December 20th, 2012.  No shit right?  You literally have to either have your head so far up BF3/CoD’s ass that all you see is cross-hairs and snipers in every window, or give less of a shit about video games than a common rat-turd, in which case THIS IS NOT THE ARTICLE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.  MOVE ALONG.

The launch was far and away one of the smoothest I have ever experienced, including WoW, Aion, Warhammer, Galaxies, Global Agenda, Matrix online, and a plethora of other that stuttered, fell, and bled to death right in front of our eyes on launch day (WoW and Aion excluded).  Now all the juicy tidbits come out.

Here is my naughty and nice list for SWTOR.  Pro’s and cons, salt and pepper, The Doctor and the Daleks.

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Part 1 can be found here

I’ll start off from where I left off. Just remember these are all just my personal preferences. You may find another way to do things, so consider this just a heads up.

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With the NDA lifted in TOR, I decided to take a big hit for the team and amassed around 70 hours of play time in the past week to get a good feel for the solo game-play.

First things first. Playing solo, or mostly solo, works very well. You will be faced with challenges that will need more than one player, yet these tend to be outside your story quest lines and, as such, can be bypassed.

Also, some content can only be completed solo when you gain your first companion at around  level 8 or 9. For those wishing to be companion-free and still play solo, you are going to have a real hard time at this game. Each companion is tailored for your class needs, and as such, will hit you hard if you try and play without them by your side.

I played solo on every class apart from the Imperial Agent. I had major concerns about the cover system on both the IA and on the Smuggler. After playing the smuggler, however, I have to admit I enjoyed it greatly. Its not all about sneaking up from behind cover. You have some good AOE skills early on that makes it play different from what I expected.

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Like in other games, once you hit a certain level of crafting in SWTOR, you’ll go to your nearest Crew Skill Trainer and learn a number of new recipes.  In this regard, crafting in SWTOR hasn’t broken any new ground, but BioWare has an ace up their sleeve in this department.  Crafting has undergone a number of iterations throughout Beta, but one aspect that has crafters excited is the ability to reverse engineer our goods. There have been changes made to this mechanic as well, to expand its role in how crafters will approach their trades.

Do we have your attention yet?  Excellent.  Now here comes the fun part.

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James Ohlen (updated)

Hey Everyone,

This build has our first iteration of the Legacy System! At its core the Legacy system is about allowing players to create a family tree of characters. Family is pretty important to the Star Wars universe, with the Skywalker family having one of the most interesting dynamics in movie history. This version is just the foundational components that we will use to build upon in the future. Here are the features of this iteration:

• Once your character has completed their Chapter 1 storyline, they will be able to choose a Legacy Last Name. This Legacy Last Name must be unique and is shared across all characters on that server – so choose carefully!
• Once you have unlocked your Legacy, any and all characters on that server will now contribute to that player’s Legacy Experience Points. Much like normal experience points, when you reach certain Legacy thresholds, you will increase your Legacy Level.

We already have plans for how we will expand the functionality of the Legacy System in one of our major post-ship patches. This will include being able to shape your Legacy’s family tree, and give you a reward for all those Legacy Levels.

We look forward to reading your feedback on the Legacy System!

–James

 

So announced today is a Legacy System. This system is going to allow you to choose a legacy name for your character, once they complete chapter 1.  Now up to this point we have heard that last names will not be available in game. I get the feeling this particular feature has been on and off the table so many times that saying it is not going to happen is the safest route, cause then if it does it is a bonus. Continue Reading »

Server types have been announced and explained. We have PvE, PvP, RP-PvE and RP-PvP, so all the classics we have come to expect from our MMOs are present. Still, the question remains, how will they be named? This is an important decision for the community. Not many would want to be on a server named “Snugglypuff” or “Jar-Jar,” especially among those in the PvP Community, I suspect.
In games I have played in the past, server types were given names. In LotRO, the server names correspond to locations within the books and games. EVE Online only has one server. World of Warcraft and Rift are a mixture of NPC names and locations. So, what sort of names should be used for SWTOR servers? And, should those names have different themes based on the server type?

My suggestion is to use ship types, vehicle types and locations for PvE Servers. Imagine playing on the “Kessel Run,” the “Void Star” or even the “Phantom.” How about famous character names for PvP Servers? “Revan,” “HK-47,” “Vader,” etc. And planet names for RP servers? “Alderaan,” “Belsavis,” “Dagobagh,” etc.
Any thoughts or suggestions? Is it a good idea to have a different theme for different server types? Or not? What about RP-PvP vs RP-PvE? Should they have different themes? Or should they all share a single theme?

Should Bioware even release such a list ahead of the game starting? As Stephen Reid said, “Early server list con: massive population imbalance on servers that people think don’t sound ‘cool’. That’s the biggest.” Not everyone will agree on what constitutes “Cool,” and you can’t make fifty, a hundred, or even more servers, all with “equally cool” names. Sure, you can weed out the “Jar-Jar” names… but there are only so many “Vader,” “Void Star” and “Kessel Run” names to be had.

*Daelda and Rosie contributed to this article.

You can follow Rosie on Twitter at @Dawnsrose. You can also contact her directly via email at swtor.rosie@gmail.com.