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Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO


Schwaltzvald
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I'd love it to do well (I loved the KOTOR games), but I don't think it will. Ignoring the problems I've read about with SWG, the biggest issue will be class balance. Jedi and sith are cool (and will likely be not all that much different, given stuff that the official site says about both republic and empire force users being able to go light side or dark side), but who will really want to be any other class? How many people are going to want to play a protocol droid, scoundrel, scout, or something else when they can be a force user? Some will, obviously, but unless they work under the assumption that all players are force users with lightsabres that specialize (using the force for stealth, using the force for melee attacks, using force powers to cause ranged damage, and so on), the lore itself doesn't really allow for many non-force users to be more powerful or more significant than the force users.

This one issue alone will probably make the game fail unless Bioware approaches it *very* carefully. They claim that most of the game will be single-player and that PvP will be a big focus. I can't see PvP working with non-force users fighting force users. And making most of it single player or soloable? I really hope they have something in mind that isn't like World of Warcraft: you *can* do a lot of things solo there, but unless you really like questing and levelling characters, you have to form a group and run instances to make playing worthwhile. I honestly don't see the point of an MMO that is almost entirely soloable content anyway; that makes it more like a single-player game fused with an IRC client than an MMO.

I really hope they pull it off well, and have no doubt that the plot arcs will be fantastic, but I'm not convinced. Also, given that companies like Blizzard who have had established server technologies for years have had trouble with World of Warcraft (i.e. with every major patch), I'm skeptical that Bioware will be able to pull off a good user experience with respect to downtime and technical network issues.

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I'd love it to do well (I loved the KOTOR games), but I don't think it will. Ignoring the problems I've read about with SWG, the biggest issue will be class balance. Jedi and sith are cool (and will likely be not all that much different, given stuff that the official site says about both republic and empire force users being able to go light side or dark side), but who will really want to be any other class? How many people are going to want to play a protocol droid, scoundrel, scout, or something else when they can be a force user? Some will, obviously, but unless they work under the assumption that all players are force users with lightsabres that specialize (using the force for stealth, using the force for melee attacks, using force powers to cause ranged damage, and so on), the lore itself doesn't really allow for many non-force users to be more powerful or more significant than the force users.

There are plenty of people in the GFFA that got along just fine without being Force-users, and there plenty of Star Wars fans who are far more into the pilots, scoundrels, and bounty hunters of the universe than the stuffy old Jedi. :P

I'm very excited about this, because I really love the Old Republic Era of Star Wars, and this one is taking place about 3500 BBY, which means it's a relatively unexplored era of the Star Wars timeline, giving them a lot more breathing room in terms of story and design. That means they have plenty of leeway to make non-Jedi classes compelling.

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I loved KOTOR I & II and for the longest time was wondering why there wasn't a third one. Especially with the way the second one ended. I really don't see a need for KOTOR to be an MMO. I guess I've never played an MMO before but it seems like more of a hassle and less smooth gameplay than if I were to put a game in my console and start playing. Furthermore, since my favorite part of those games was always the story, what's the point of having to play with other people? Especially because as was said they're gonna have most of it 'soloable' (I'm not precisely sure what that means in MMO terms).

But that's enough of my complaining.

But by the way, I would TOTALLY play a scoundrel.

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I'd love it to do well (I loved the KOTOR games), but I don't think it will. Ignoring the problems I've read about with SWG, the biggest issue will be class balance. Jedi and sith are cool (and will likely be not all that much different, given stuff that the official site says about both republic and empire force users being able to go light side or dark side), but who will really want to be any other class? How many people are going to want to play a protocol droid, scoundrel, scout, or something else when they can be a force user? Some will, obviously, but unless they work under the assumption that all players are force users with lightsabres that specialize (using the force for stealth, using the force for melee attacks, using force powers to cause ranged damage, and so on), the lore itself doesn't really allow for many non-force users to be more powerful or more significant than the force users.

This one issue alone will probably make the game fail unless Bioware approaches it *very* carefully. They claim that most of the game will be single-player and that PvP will be a big focus. I can't see PvP working with non-force users fighting force users. And making most of it single player or soloable? I really hope they have something in mind that isn't like World of Warcraft: you *can* do a lot of things solo there, but unless you really like questing and levelling characters, you have to form a group and run instances to make playing worthwhile. I honestly don't see the point of an MMO that is almost entirely soloable content anyway; that makes it more like a single-player game fused with an IRC client than an MMO.

I really hope they pull it off well, and have no doubt that the plot arcs will be fantastic, but I'm not convinced. Also, given that companies like Blizzard who have had established server technologies for years have had trouble with World of Warcraft (i.e. with every major patch), I'm skeptical that Bioware will be able to pull off a good user experience with respect to downtime and technical network issues.

Class balance will likely be determined in part by population. I fully expect to see server limits on both jedi and sith forces.

And by the by? I LOVED the fighter class in the original KOTOR.

I dont expect to see droids playable (they are property after all) But i will not be surprised to see a true balance struck (Especially if they do the smart thing and make the non jedi classes the only people that can pilot ships capable of hauling passengers) Bioware games have not let me down often i dont expect this one to.

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Nah. Does everyone play one class in WoW? No way. People like variety and not everyone's gonna be interested in playing as a Jedi.

Nope. I've got four. :D I might have to check this MMO out though, depending on if it's got a trial or not.

I hope it's a great game, but I'm only going to keep my fingers crossed so long (cause that stuff hurts man).

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Nah. Does everyone play one class in WoW? No way. People like variety and not everyone's gonna be interested in playing as a Jedi.

I hope it brings back the fantastic Dancer class.

I can't wait to do me some dirty dancing, Wookie style! :<

Seriously though if it does an actual good job entertaining as well as keeping itself varied, it may actually be good...

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But i will not be surprised to see a true balance struck (Especially if they do the smart thing and make the non jedi classes the only people that can pilot ships capable of hauling passengers) Bioware games have not let me down often i dont expect this one to.

Pilots are the only one who can haul passengers? That won't work, I don't think. Ever played a mage in WoW? Ever had people spamming you for water or food or portals somewhere? Being the only class to haul passengers would be significantly worse.

Nah. Does everyone play one class in WoW? No way. People like variety and not everyone's gonna be interested in playing as a Jedi.

Yeah, there's no way that everyone would want to play a Jedi, or at least play only a Jedi. I'm just somewhat skeptical that there will be enough of a compelling reason to play each non-Jedi class they introduce. I really hope it is balanced, but based on KOTOR, I didn't feel it was. I played both light side and dark side for both KOTOR games and found that making someone a Jedi, even if they kept their original skillset (Atton Rand in KOTOR 2 sticking to pistols and rifles and such) made the characters more viable.

I don't know, my concern isn't that much with Bioware as it is with the existing mythos of Jedi and Sith being far superior to the ordinary person. The only times in the Star Wars movies I can think of where a Jedi or Sith is overwhelmed by non-force users is when there's sheer numbers, like the arena scene on Geonosis in episode II. Presumably, the Jedi can't concentrate on everything coming at them. Other than that type of situation though, Jedi generally outdo regular people. This is a lore issue, and not one that Bioware can just ignore, which makes balancing classes much harder.

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Personally, I think playing characters besides the Jedi could be quite compelling. I imagine some type of pilot class that's a mix of the engineer profession and the hunter class from WoW, where you can create and level your own machinery and brute force your way past any Force powers. I think it would be awesome. I'd be far more likely to play that than any Jedi.

Thing is, the use of the Force in a videogame doesn't mean it has to be the be all end all of the entire universe. Because this is, y'know, FICTION, in a FICTIONAL universe, the force is subject to balancing just like every other attribute in the game. The power it holds in any situation is entirely up to the writers, cuz it ISN'T REAL.

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  • 1 month later...

so, has anyone seen some of the info about this? it's looking amazing.

there's a good chance that i'll get in on it if i can. i've played every star wars game ever written, read over a hundred books on star wars...i'm a serious nerd. haven't been into it as much in the last few years as when New Jedi Order first came out, but still.

so, what's your thoughts?

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