What will SWTOR's end-game be like?

That is the $64,000 question over the past several days after last week's San Diego Comic-Con when James Ohlen responded to an insightful question:

Q: If a player completes their class story, do you think it's likely that they'll restart as another character to experience another story, or focus on end game content?

A: We really hope that players will go play other classes because otherwise that would be a waste of resources

It's been no secret that many people have been very worried about the prospects of this game being closer to that of an RPG than an MMORPG and answers like this do nothing but feed into that fear.  It touched off numerous lengthy threads on the SWTOR forum and to which Bioware never replied to any of them.  By some accounts we're less than a year away from release -- the release of Deceived was delayed until Mar 2010, according to the author, to coincide with the release of the game -- and there is still a majority of the game we've heard virtually nothing about, let alone gotten to the specifics of.  End-game is one of those topics.  Other than a generic statement by Bioware that "there will be an end-game" we know absolutely nothing concrete.  During the San Diego Comic-Con we heard that some of the flash-points may be an hour to two hours long, which may in fact be the first examples of the end-game content we can expect.

If Bioware's developmental plans for end-game include starting new characters whenever you complete a class story, I think that idea will simply lend meat to the fears.  And I think it would be a terrible mistake.  Bioware has touted many times that all the content they've written for SWTOR thus far amount to more than 10 times the amount of content that was found in KOTOR, as if that were to stand as an example of why no one will ever get bored.  They didn't actually say that in so many words, but that's the impression I've gotten over the months when I read those answers.  If Bioware thinks that 300 or 400 hours of content is going to be enough to keep people satisfied, they are woefully mistaken and naive.  That's probably two to three months of play time for most players, although it would probably be several additional months of play time for the most casual of players.  So what do they expect those not so casual players to do in the intervening period before Bioware adds more content?  I can't tell you that, other than I guess create new characters, but I can  tell you what those players will do.  They'll get on the forums and bitch up a storm, and will bitch up a storm on their blogs, and anywhere else available to them.

The moral to this story is that Bioware really needs to understand the expectation of their potential customers.  They'll be varied, but that will include a vibrant PVP aspect that compliments and coincides with the PVE aspects; a strong crafting and gathering element, and most importantly, a design that doesn't force them to essentially start over when they reach the level cap.  Ten Ton Hammmer has a few interesting comments on the matter as well.

Bioware's Comic-Con reveal

Bioware has been teasing for the past several days that there would be a "big reveal" at the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, and during their panel yesterday there was.  Darth Hater provided a concise roundup so it didn't take us long to learn yesterday that the big reveal was the fact that we'll be able to customize and participate in combat with our ships.  Of course there are no details yet about how ship combat will work but it should bring an interesting facet to the game.  Other interesting tidbits revealed were that we'll be able to customize our companions with gear and I imagine skills as well.  Mythic did the same thing in Star Trek Online so I have some experience with this already and think it's a terrific idea.  But the fact that we'll never be able to faction change I think is a mistake.  I think limiting choices in that manner only lessons character development and cheapens the entire moral decisions system so I'm hoping the decision to limit faction changes will get changed at some point in the future.  In any event the panel seems to have served its purpose well and kept the discussion about SWTOR lively for another week.

What is it that disturbs me about SWTOR?

It's been no secret that I've been a bit on the misgiving side regarding SWTOR.  I'm excited by the prospect that a truly great Star Wars franchise is in the offing but have been somewhat tepid regarding the news that has been released about it.  The news that so much instancing would be used in SWTOR threw me off for a bit as what I really have hoped for was a MMORPG that was completely open, featured strong world PVP (though instanced battlegrounds are fine if they are in addition to that as well), strong crafting and gathering, and plenty of PVE content.  We've been getting a clearer picture of the general structure of SWTOR from Bioware over the last several months and I think we finally have a clear enough picture after E3 to understand where they're going with it all.  What we seem to be getting is at least close to what I had hoped, but not as open as I probably had hoped for.  The PVE side of the game will focus on "stories" -- which is to say quest chains and will be heavily instance.

Each player will have an individual class "story" that they will work through and which will be accomplished solo, although companion characters will play various parts in that as well.  As you move through the class "story" you will visit various planets where "planet stories" can also be found.  The planet stories can be mostly solo'd or accomplished in groups if you want to play with others but Bioware has said that you don't absolutely need to group to accomplish most of it.  If you even want to accomplish any of it at all as none of the stories are required.

Aside from the PVE content Bioware has again reassured us that the "open" portion of the game will contain a crafting and gathering system, described as "WoW like" and will also feature PVP.  Thus far we've only heard about PVP taking place in "war zones" however I'm still holding out hope there will be substantial world PVP as well.  How strange would it be to walk by an enemy faction player in a city and not be able to attack them?  I'd be fine with it if there was a way to flag or not flag for PVP as long as there was at least an ability for those of us who wanted to participate in world PVP to actually do so without having to venture into battlegrounds only.

Of course if you read the official forums -- and I highly recommend that if you do, you do so only irregularly -- this all points to the end of the world.  I've been giving a lot of thought myself to how things seem to be shaping up and I'm of the vein that I think things could be fine.  What is being described to us in regard to SWTOR game play is much akin to how I play WoW.  I'm primarily a solo player who values achievements and content so the fact that I'd be soloing content in the form of my class story doesn't bother me.  I already do that now, and in fact I think most WoW players do that when they're leveling a character.  Nearly everyone solo's quests and only groups up with others on particularly hard quests.  In SWTOR we'll have our companion characters who will take the place of others as needed in solo content, and can supplement groups on those group content quests in the planet stories.  And as Bioware has said their will be raiding that certainly fills the end-game content requirement I think most of us hold for the game.

Which just leaves PVP and crafting/gathering.  The PVP question has been partly answered and sounds very much like WoW's Wintergrasp or instanced Battlegrounds.  Or similar to WAR's system, but leaves open completely how "world" PVP will be implement -- if at all.  All in all it sounds remarkably like the general implementation found in WoW if you ignore the fact that the class story at least is played in instances.  I don't feed on the mantra that this game will suck because it sounds like WoW so none of this bothers me what so ever.  In fact after a lot of thought throughout E3 I'm beginning to look more forward to SWTOR than I think I was previously and don't think the use of so much instancing throws me as much as it did.  But the devil is always in the details so I need to see what the plans are for the open portions of the game before I can get a real sense whether this game will be something I try out and shelve or whether this is a game I can spend 5 years or more playing.

So what disturbs me about SWTOR?  Less than what disturbed me about it a week ago.

Darthhater Interview with Daniel Erickson

One of the best interviews to come out of E3 in regards to SWTOR this year was had by Darthhater.  It's lengthy at 17 mins but well worth the viewing.

SWTOR moral choices

One of the facets of SWTOR that I've been most excited about are the possibilities behind the moral choices system.  From what I've been able to glean the system that is currently planned is relatively benign and really just a superficial representation of what moral choices really are.  In other words they have no greater impact on game play other than the standard reputation impact.  But what if the moral choices system could be much more than that?  What if the moral choices system were given some teeth?  What if it was given real impact and instead deeply affected game play?


The force and it's light-side and dark-side are central themes to SWTOR and I think a players class and faction choices should be central to how you play.  What I envision for a moral choices system would in fact be a true alignment system and would bring a form of role-playing without forcing players to act and speak in the traditional role play sense.  Currently the plan would accrue light side or dark side points to your character depending on story choices your character makes.  The number of points you accrue over time would effect the characters ability to access certain content and would cause specific NPCs to either really like you or really dislike you.  But instead of this system what I'd like to see are those light side and dark side points actually cause you to change factions and thereby class.  At least for the four Jedi classes this type of system would be most in tune with.

To me, it makes little sense to have a light-side aligned Imperial Spy or Bounty Hunter.  If the classes are being tied to specific factions, as they are in SWTOR, then you have to accept that every player that plays those classes have a like-minded philosophy.  So how can you have a Bounty Hunter that actually believes in the good in things?  How can you have a Imperial Spy that doesn't adhere to the teachings of his faction?  And most importantly how can you possibly have a light-sided Sith Warrior that isn't deeply in tune with the dark side?  It's positively ridiculous in my view.  If a player constantly makes choices in game that increase his light-side alignment then he should, over time, become a Jedi because he most certainly is not a Sith.

This type of dynamic brings about a very deep character development aspect and forces the player to make real choices about their character.  In other words, to act in character instead of the more typical devoid manner in which players usually play in MMOs.  Now wouldn't that be something?

New SWTOR cinematic trailer offers "Hope"

Taking place prior to the "Deceived" trailer, "Hope" is just another fine example of what Bioware can produce to awe us.  This is a stunningly fantastic trailer with glimpses of what I hope are the strengths of the various classes.  The female Jedi (Consular) uses dramatic acrobatic abilities to weave through several Sith Warriors before finally confronting Malgus.  She has fantastic light saber ability but can clearly see she's out-stripped by Malgus when she finally unleashes her best ability -- control of the force.  No mean feats those!  Anyway, enjoy.

Personal space ships and instanced PVP for SWTOR

E3 has started and new information about some of our most anticipated games is starting to trickle out.  I was eagerly awaiting new information about SWTOR and we've gotten two bits of information.  The first that there will be "player housing" in SWTOR in the form of a personal space ship.  But for me more importantly I was eagerly awaiting information about PVP.  Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed as I got to 1:20 in the video and heard that battles occur in warzones.  Which most likely means no, or extremely limited open world PVP.

I hate to use SWG as an example of anything but my fondest memories of that game are always about the PVP that was had in it.  Even with the debilitating lag that large battles caused the mid to small scale was fantastic.  Even the large scale battles were great in the sense of what you eventually could accomplish.  Being able to "claim" territory by placing and defending bases was a central focus of the warfare and I had hoped something similar would be brought to SWTOR.  If nothing else being able to change alignment of towns and quest hubs that would in turn offer bonuses and additional content to the controlling side.  While we have very scant information to go from the specific words of "In the Old Republic players battle it out in war zones" does not evoke the sense with me Bioware must have hoped it would.  I'm still waiting to hear how this game is an MMO and the announcement of instanced PVP certainly doesn't tell me that.

[edit]
Bioware later clarified the situation through additional interviews to say that the warzones are "zones" but that decisions about how players will access them hasn't yet been made.  Specifics about what is actually meant by zone wasn't given so it's not known whether they are "zones" like the WoW battlegrounds which are instanced, or more akin to Wintergrasp.

I am really that old

Not only did I see The Empire Strikes Back when it originally hit the theaters, but I also saw the Star Wars when it hit the theaters in 1977 as well.  To commemorate me being that old Bioware is bringing Hoth to a SWTOR near you!

Latest developer blog highlights combat in SWTOR

Last week Bioware released a surprise developer video showcasing information about combat in SWTOR. The video included scenes we’ve seen previously but it did include a handful of scenes that we hadn’t yet seen, including one of a Sith Warrior fighting two Jedi and using an explosive Force Push to propel the two Jedi off a ledge. That was truly magnificent and made me laugh as visuals swam through my mind of Shaman and Druids using the same sort of mechanics to propel attackers and defenders alike off the cliff in AB and off the land bridge in EoTS in WoW. I can see how that might be a very fun ability in SWTOR as well. While much of the developer video illustrates information we already knew it was still interesting to hear them discuss the ideals behind the combat system and then see a few select scenes highlighting specific abilities of the classes.

Of course my favorite was the scene with the Sith Inquisitor using a devastating Force Lightning area attack to kill three attackers. But next on my list was a dervish ability used by a Jedi Counselor to ward off attacks by two Sith Warriors. That looked truly amazing and made me realize all the more there is still so much about the classes that we don’t know. Bioware has said they want to veer away from the holy trinity of classes and we’ve now seen several instances of classes using specific abilities that lends some credence to them having done exactly that. In typical MMOs the holy trinity of healer, tank, and dps classes creates relationships between the classes as no one class can do everything. Players are thusly encouraged (required) to group and play with others for mutual benefit. But that works best in a more open, traditional MMO whereas SWTOR is expected to be more attuned to individual game play and will be highly instanced.

Healers are highly defensive in the sense they can heal themselves or shield themselves from damage but generally have limited offensive abilities. They’re primarily responsible for healing others in a group. Tanks are highly defensive in the sense their abilities are generally aligned to reduce or shield themselves from damage, but have limited offensive abilities and usually have no or limited means to heal themselves. DPS classes are typically all about offense and have limited defensive capabilities and either no, or limited means to heal themselves. Many MMOs have what are called hybrid classes, which do not fit any one of the typical roles in the holy trinity, but rather have abilities pulled from two or all three of the roles. Balance is maintained (arguably) by limiting the abilities to some level shy of a corresponding ability in a pure class. Blizzard calls it the “hybrid tax” in WoW. Bioware appears to be developing classes to be all hybrids, which really isn’t as much of a stretch in MMO development as many people took their statement to believe, not realizing there really isn’t anything new under the sun in terms of class role creation. When you shear away all the fluff from a class there truly is only three things you can do with it. Tank (absorb damage and shield others from it), Heal (self explanatory), or DPS (also self-explanatory).

Hybrid classes are terrific in enabling a more solo-istic game play style, and removes many of the requirements that force group or cooperative play. It’s a theme we’re seeing more and more often in recent MMOs as developers are coming to grips with the real desires of those playing MMOs. Players, by and large, want a world where they can group with others and play cooperatively, but do not want to be hobbled and required to do so at all times. Bioware is simply following the trend. I’d expect content to be the determinant in regards to group cooperative play being required or not. The class story will probably be mostly solo-able as will much of the planet and other story-arcs. But there will be content that you will need to group for.

In the case of the video we see a DPS class (Sith Warrior) using a decidedly defensive ability that I can only assume will have some kind of stun or root mechanic appended to it. When coupled with the known force rush ability and strong offensive attack abilities can be used to effectively deal with multiple attackers quickly. The class also has defensive capabilities like parry and dodge that are MMO combat mechanic staples and can only assume the class will have other niche abilities. And we can assume the Jedi has the same abilities, though perhaps presented differently. What isn’t known yet is the level to which each class can heal itself.

In the case of the Jedi Inquisitor, we see what has been called a ranged/support class, use a strong defensive melee ability (dervish). In another scenes we also see a Jedi Counselor use a force push ability to debilitate an attacker by raising him in the air and slamming him back to the ground. If we assume the Counselor and the Inquisitor are roughly analogous to each other we have two support classes that have a bevy of defensive and offensive abilities available to them but we have not yet seen their healing abilities though Bioware has indicated they will have them. The classes are primarily ranged so you’d expect these classes to be standing in the back either attacking or healing their party members.

Much the same for the remaining four classes – Imperial Agent, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, and Republic Trooper. Each has been shown to have a bevy of offensive and defensive abilities but information on their individual ability to heal themselves is yet to be known.

Right now is a very trying time in the MMO development cycle. The marketing machine is in full swing, creating hype everywhere it can get its message out to; the “community” is in overdrive attempting to find out more about the game and in discussing the pros and cons of various game elements; and the developers are still working on key aspects of the game and will be able to release details only slowly. We’re still undoubtedly about a year away from release, so the beta period probably won’t even begin until some time this Summer when we could expect to start hearing a little more about abilities, mechanics, and game play.

WoW, Cataclysm and the continuity factor

It's beginning to be that time in WoW where we annually lament the affect the good weather has on the end-game.  By that I speak of the "Doldrums".  I'm not entirely prepared to say the Doldrums are beginning this year or that they're in the immediate offing, but last year they started extremely early and the current state of raiding in WoW has me wondering if they might not start as early this year too.  We've been having problems with sporadic raid attendance again lately which has caused a few raid cancellations over the past few weeks.  I'm not entirely sure that even if we hadn't had to cancel those raids we'd be any further along in our progression though.  We're still 7/12 and working on Putricide.

The pervasive progression problems (never finished Ulduar on regular mode or accomplished any of the second half hard-modes, and never finished Heroic TOC-10, and didn't get past the first boss in Heroic TOC-25) has me contemplating my future in WoW at the moment.  I haven't accomplished all my current goals on my two main characters (Paladin and Druid) but I'm mostly biding my time by leveling my Horde Druid.  I'm not sure I have much more in mind with him other than to PVP and do the occasional raid so I fully expect that even pushing forward full bore with him I'll be back in my current state of mind again later in the Summer.  At the end of the day raiding is really the reason why I'm still playing WoW, and as I've come to expect little in that regard I've been casting about longingly looking for alternatives to WoW.  Unfortunately for me none of the others I've tried in the recent past have met my satisfaction.  I've been looking at Age of Conan but I'm not certain I like the combat techniques and given that reticence I haven't been willing to even give it a shot.  Which just leaves SWTOR at this point and that isn't expected until some point next year.  Ignoring all the open questions I and others still have about it.

Factoring into all this is the news trickling out about Cataclysm.  I'm looking forward to Cataclysm and trying to imagine what play will feel like them.  Hard in that we have so few real details but one thing I know I'm definitely worried about is the state healing will be in.  I don't have enough to go on right now, but various comments Ghostcrawler has made about healing have me wondering if healing will actually become factually harder than it is today.  Ghostcrawler has indicated Blizzard wants mana to become an issue for healers and wants to introduce some level of thought into the process.  As tanks will generally have more health and heals will generally do less healing than they do today I'm guessing Blizzard expects some level of coordination amongst the healers in how they heal in a raid environment.  I'm just not seeing how Blizzard will make that easier or alleviate the concerns healers have today - they play an all together different game called whack-a-mole.  As I really enjoy healing, and particularly in PVP, its one of the aspects I'm most interested in.

Most people dislike change, and myself in particularly, but another aspect of consideration is the appearance I've spoken about often regarding Blizzard's lack of long-term planning.  Every two years the game changes drastically.  Core mechanics are added and removed; classes are almost completely redesigned, or at the very least are modified to great extent that it's almost like playing a completely new game.  I understand that developers need to adapt to changing circumstances but from my vantage point what we're seeing is chaos.  Blizzard is purposely developing for Cataclysm in direct opposition to the development they completed for WotLK.  Ghostcrawler couches replies to this sort of question as "changing their minds", but I'm not as certain that what we're seeing is a change of mind so much as what we're seeing is a complete rethinking entirely.

Just look at the Druid and Paladin classes as examples of this.  In Vanilla Druids were essentially healers only.  In BC they became amazing and as healers they were given the terrific new spell Lifebloom.  Lifebloom and Rejuvenation were the primary healing tools used on 5-man runs and raids alike, with Regrowth filling the role of primary go-to heal but also using Healing Touch to some extent.  However Blizzard completely neutered that healing style by nerfing Lifebloom and then greatly increasing it's mana cost so that it could no longer be used as it had during the whole of BC.  Until now it's used only as a niche tool and mostly in PVP.  During WotLK Resto Druids heal primarily through Rejuv and Wildgrowth and using Regrowth or Nourish as the primary heal and never using Healing Touch at all.  With the odd additional spell like Nourish or Regrowth, the tools are largely the same but the way you use them are as different in WotLK as it was in BC when compared to Vanilla.  Now we're being lead to believe that the way Resto Druids will heal in Cataclysm will be completely different again.  There's very little continuity between the expansions and it's just not the one class that this can be said about.  Paladins are in the same boat, but so are most other classes as well.

Ignoring the class continuity issues you can look at the emphasis of the game in general and say the same things.  Blizzard has continuously experimented with end-game development throughout the entirety of WotLK so that the raiding experience has not been the same for more than one tier of content.  As we haven't gotten any detail of how they intend to handle end-game content in Cataclysm we're left to wonder if we can expect the same treatment in Cataclysm or whether we'll actually settle down into a predictable experience.  A lot of people are complaining about the lack of challenge in the current end-game content (clearly they aren't talking to the vast majority of guilds that are seeing that challenge) which has me wondering how Blizzard will address the issue.  Blizzard addressed the mass complaints about end-game raiding in Vanilla by developing content in BC that was somewhat more accessible at the initial stages but then went further by removing key requirements and by eventually developing content in WotLK that is immediately accessible to all and introducing the hard modes/heroic raids as the "real challenge".  I'm seeing as much complaining about the current state of end-game raiding as I was in earlier years.  What a dilemma!  Makes me really pine for some sand-box elements like being able to plop down a fort, take territory, and attack/defend.

And I think that is really what I'm hoping SWTOR will be like.  In WoW you have either instanced PVP (or Arena) and raiding as the end-game content and little else.  If you are like me -- beating your head against content and getting precious little progression to show for it - then you might wish there were other options to waste some hours on.  In WoW there simply isn't and I go through cycles where I become motivated to finish quests I've haven't completed yet or run more dailies or do nothing but PVP.  But on the opposite side of those cycles I sit look for something else to do that simply isn't present.  In SWTOR I'm hoping there is end-game raiding, PVP and a system of world-PVP where we can conquer territory.  Players need a system of progression.  In the case of WoW that is a stark option between PVP tiers or from end-game raiding.  As I'm in that part of my cycle where I'm not getting that and not really motivated to do anything else I can't but wonder if I want to continue on into Cataclysm or whether I seriously need to find something else to do.  SWTOR needs to hurry up and get here!

The Gearscore arguement has already hit the SWTOR forum

I've been spending a little more time in the SWTOR forum these days, which I guess is why I noticed the recent argument about "gear score" that took place there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myQErCJDTg

Just listen to this narrator, he makes me want to throw up. Sadly this is how far WoW has sunk. This is exactly what we don't need in TOR! It destroys the community, excludes certain players(whom they deem not worthy enough) from in game content, and makes you only a number. Worst addon and MMO community ever!

As you can guess the thread spawned many pages of comments for and against the sentiment. One of which was:

I don't see the big problem. When I played WoW back in BC it was the SAME THING people would inspect you and say w/e. Also in BC guilds wouldn't recruit you if you didn't have the hand of A'dal title or the other title. It's just people assumming since they don't gem/enchant your gear(for optimal dps/tanking/healing) they don't know how to play their class. Most of the time thats true(from all the pugs I was in).

To which I replied:

No, it isn't a big deal. Or, more accurately, it's only a big deal to the kind-hearted souls that don't want people to have self-esteem issues. The kind that don't want winners and losers in little league games because then someone will feel bad about themselves for losing. The kind that doesn't want dodge ball to be played at school, because some poor person will have to be singled out and beaned in the head with a ball.

I can understand where these people are coming from. But I know we live in a world where we're all judged every day in innumerable ways. I'm okay with that. I'm prepared for it and can deal with it either way. I guess, I'm just strong enough to not let what someone else thinks determine how I feel, or what I think.

The reality of the situation is that whether in a game, or not, you will be judged. Some how and in some way. You do not have an option to not be judged. The sooner people come to realize that, the better they'll be for it. Until that happens we'll continue to have these little conversations.

And I consider that the bottom line. Whether you want it or no, there is and always will be an undercurrent of competitiveness in a progression based game. And there will always be subjective judgments made about you whether its in a game, or in real life. You either deal with it or not, and those who complain about this sort of thing are the sort that want option #3 -- not to have to deal with it at all.

Reassuring words from Bioware

It's no secret that I've been a bit worried about SWTOR. I've discussed at great length my impression of SWTOR as an RPG with coop play, and despite the prior admission from various developers that MMO elements would be added later I grew even more worried by the interviews that took place during GDC10 that indicated those elements as not even being finalized, let along finished in development. So it's with some satisfaction that I saw for the first time today, someone at the highest level of development, stating in unequivocal terms that missing MMO elements are not only being worked on, but are considered downright essential. Today's blog post gives me much hope that things will begin to look better over the Summer and Fall.

Freedom is a true part of the magic of MMOs, and artificial constraints and mechanics can undermine the fiction and the sense that you are living in the virtual world – and when you have a brand as rich and textured as Star Wars™, the last thing you want to do is undermine it. Even worse, the depth and visual splendor of Star Wars™: The Old Republic would be completely lost if players couldn’t jump off the rails and just live in the space from time to time.

Blizzard strokes the EPEN But Bioware unleashes the Sarlaac!

Now you really can stroke your EPEEN in WoW. But not to be outdone, Bioware announces today you can play the ultimate class in SWTOR! The Sarlaac! From the "it's April 1st" stack.

SWTOR classes will have sub-specialties

Either this is completely new information or I had missed it recently. But as I was perusing the SWTOR forum last night I came across information on the Sith Inquistor board that the class will have sub-specializations. There wasn’t enough information to infer whether actual sub-classes were being referred to or whether it was a matter of talent specialization. But the article did state that at some point in the characters progression you’d be able to specialize into an acrobatic, melee-centric fighter, or further branch into a ranged force power fighter. According to developer interviews the class is envisioned to be something of an amalgam of a “Darth Sidious” type and “Darth Maul” type so either specialization seemingly makes sense. However, I’m struggling with the “Darth Maul” aspect to the class.

“The Sith Inquisitor is the more agile rogue character: he doesn’t wear heavy armour, he’s much quicker, and when he gets to a certain level, he has to choose between two different paths. One path is more like Darth Maul, where you have the dual-bladed lightsaber and you’re all about acrobatic lightsaber moves. Or you can choose to do another path which is more of a ranged path, and more of a Emperor Palpatine path. You’re less about the lightsaber, more about the range and force powers.”

What are the real differences between the Sith Inquistor and the Sith Warrior then? As the Sith Warrior has been described as a “Darth Vader” type of fighter, are they saying the only essential differences between the two would be the athleticism aspect? Sith Inquistor is an amalgam of Rogue with some ranged attacks and Ranged DPS with some melee attacks. And Sith Warrior is an amalgam of Warrior and something else?

I do like the idea of each class being well rounded and I can only assume, though I don’t know this for a fact, that every class will have similar specializations and that the Jedi class will specialize in the same way the Sith Warrior does and the Jedi Counselor will specialize in the same way the Sith Inquistor does. Unknown to me is how the other classes will specialize. How would the Bounty Hunter and the Sith Agent specialize? But along that vein it does seem that the classes are being homogenized to some great degree and I'm really hoping that decision doesn't lead even greater credence to the impression the game will heavily favor an RPG versus an MMO.

If I could make SWTOR

With all this talk about SWTOR lately I've been spending a lot of time considering just what I would like to see in it. As virtually no real information has been released yet it serves as an interesting topic to consider. Right now I'm building SWTOR in my mind!

Overall I'd like to see SWTOR function as a "theme-park" with a traditional “end-game”, although with some sand-box elements as well. I wouldn't be looking to develop my SWTOR as a breakout MMO, but rather would seek to stay within the traditional space. I think the selling point of SWTOR should be the IP itself and good game design. Fun. In my SWTOR the central theme would be about character development, which I would express in terms of "progression" and the "moral decision making" I've mentioned previously I was intrigued with. In my version however I'd choose to construct a passive system that tracked my morale decisions in some way creating an "alignment" for the character over time. The alignment would affect my character in game in various ways but I'd want to make sure that the system was thought out sufficiently and that it reflected as best as possible, the true play style of the player. I wouldn't want an alignment system that caused players to play in artificial ways as that would be counter-productive and serve as a brake on progression and long term gamer satisfaction.

I'd also stick with the class-based game design, though I'd probably tie the alignment system into it in some way so that alignment affected classes, faction, and perhaps even class bonuses. I don’t like the traditional system of class usage that limits healing to a specific set of classes, creating a symbiotic relationship between the “tanking” and “damage dealing” classes and the “healing” classes. This lack of healing has been the bane of many DPS classes in that they have “down time” in between fights while they regenerate. And on the opposite side of the spectrum are healers who can heal but typically have limited damage capabilities. Instead I like the idea of all the classes having an ability to heal themselves to one extent or another and having damage abilities to one extent or another as well. In group content this would mean that each player could heal themselves, but could also be healed by others. And it would mean that all players could contribute to the successful completion of the content in a direct way instead of the more traditional way of the “tank” holding agro, while the DPS players kill it and the “healer” keeping everyone alive. In my SWTOR all characters would potentially be a “tank”, “DPS” or “healer”, though I think there are obvious factors that need to be taken into account. A ranged class like the Imperial Scout would not, in my view, make for a good “tank” in a melee centric fight but could possibly be a good “tank” in a ranged-centric fight. This would tend to encourage a broad group composition. Otherwise I think we’d only see Sith Warriors/Inquistors and Jedi/Counselors.

I like the idea of the game having a solid questing system with regularly updated content as I think WoW has shown fairly convincingly that games constructed thus can have wide appeal. I am not opposed to the "fourth leg" that Bioware has focused on as the selling point to SWTOR, though I would choose to keep it in its traditional sphere in that it would be used as a means to level to end-game. And at the end-game would be used to further develop the character. Again, I like very much the though of the alignment system, and I can see a vast sea of ways to tap into that at the highest levels in the game. Including epic (and I mean truly epic, as in requiring months to complete) story-arcs – both character and class specific, but also factional specific quest chains that also earn the character something tangible in-game.

I think the "phasing" technology that Blizzard began using in WotLK could be used to great effect in SWTOR as well. Think of how many “mini-games” could be had by leveraging phasing technology. Everything from love interests to vendettas and everything in-between could be created and tapped through the use of phasing.

At the “end-game” I would implement a diverse array of content. My SWTOR would encourage far-reaching world PVP. I like the idea of players being able to plop down factional assets (bases, etc) and those becoming central elements in world PVP. I' definitely thinking Star Wars Galaxies, though long term readers will know I stopped playing SWG the day CU was unleashed on the game in March 2005. So however factional warfare changed post-CU is unknown to me. But in my day bases were the focus of PVP and factional warfare and I would very much like to see something akin to that in my SWTOR, even if it were not exactly identical. World-PVP would have to encourage hard-core and casual alike, as healthy world PVP relies on high population. But I would also likely institute a series of "pvp zones" like Wintergrasp in WoW right now. Perhaps a single zone on each planet, or a small number of planets, with the zone becoming active on a rolling basis. Winning the battle would grant some faction-wide bonus and also grant a more specific bonus of some kind to that planet. Tie that into the world PVP and I think you'd have a terrific basis for sustained world PVP.

Lastly I'd love to see the ultimate in world PVP being factional raiding. Make the Jedi Master and Sith Emperor targets. Killing either should grant bonuses to the opposite faction and simultaneously grant debuffs to the other. Obviously world PVP and especially factional raiding would be affected by factional population balance/imbalance so either scaling would have to be carefully implemented along with the system, or some other means to enforce equalization would have to be put into place.

In addition to the world PVP I would want to see a deep system of raiding. Perhaps not in the 10 or 25-man level variety, but 5 or 10-man group content would be great. Perhaps even enable content scaling so that it could accommodate those 25-man groups. The imagination is the limit for this type of small-scale group content, ranging from space-based fights, to ship boardings, base defense, and chance encounters. Integrate these "raids" with the epic quest chains and character develop I spoke about earlier and I can't but see this as anything but a huge hit.

Overall I'd want combat to be fluid and fast paced but afford players opportunity to be able to counter attacks in some regard. I'd want to see players able to unleash devastating attacks but certainly wouldn't want individual fights to be over in mere seconds. If all things are equal I'd envision individual combat taking something like 30 seconds and more to occur. And above all, balanced. I'd make it a point to ensure that no class has a clear cut advantage over others, though that is something all together difficult to do. After all, how many MMOs have said this and failed? Too often we see melee classes being able to dominate ranged classes because ranged classes have limited melee abilities. And vice versa, we see ranged classes dominating at time as they're given buffs to counteract those melee classes. The key is to give all classes a little of both worlds. There wouldn't be a strict ranged class or a strict melee class in my SWTOR. In my SWTOR every class would favor one or the other type of combat, but would have some array of the other as well. Ranged would not be able to kite melee classes forever, and melee would not be able to close and pummel ranged classes completely either. All classes should be tailored and expected to have to fight at disadvantage some times.

I spoke about wanting to see sand-box elements included earlier. Those elements would include a player controlled economy and crafting system. Craftable items should include weapon and armor upgrades and replaceable modules that degrade over time, as well as consumables (food, stimulants, etc). I wouldn't want to see strictly crafting or business classes, however I'd institute professions and professional capabilities through skill points. And as with the previous topics I've already mentioned, I'd very much would like to tie acquisition of skill points and capabilities into story-arcs/questing/character development. Everyone should start with an ability to use the auction facilities for instance, but you should be able to increase your capabilities over time. Like-wise everyone should start with some limited ability to create some basic consumables and should have some limited gathering ability but those should abilities that can be increased over time as well.

Bring the war in Star Wars to the MMO, and enable deep character development that isn't solely based on questing alone and that is a game I would love to play.

Official Bioware SWTOR forum is the place where logic just doesn't exist

I don’t often visit the official SWTOR forums, though I did over the weekend. I’ve said in the past how I felt it being actually being counter-productive for developers to build “community” on games 2-3 years out from release. But it is particularly so when there is an expectation that takes hold that said game will be released in the given year, then it’s discovered through a quarterly investors meeting that the anticipated date is not even on the table. Leads to a grumpy community. In any event I visit the official forums only infrequently because to be honest, the real news from Bioware is very infrequent. And that largely relegated to the beginning experiences of the game. So far all we’ve seen or heard is about the PVE story-lines, touching on the limited grouping that can take place in regard to the larger group story-arcs. And we’ve seen brief glimpses of limited game-play during those beginning experiences.

Yet if you were to visit the official forums right now you’d find boards full of posts from hundreds (or thousands) of potential players who proclaim the game the best to have ever been released. Despite the fact it hasn’t been released and despite the fact that we virtually know nothing of the game at all. I’ve mentioned this all before. But it still strikes me how anyone can become this attached to a game that for all intents and purposes, has even yet to be made. Recent interviews with Bioware at the Game Developer Conference 2010 (GDC10) are very clear that much of the game has yet to be finalized, and you can read between lines that a lot of typical MMO components are still in the consideration phase.

Those who mention sticky little problems like that on the forums are usually castigated as WoW fanbois and ignored. There simply is no point in trying to speak in logical terms to a bunch of people who are bent upon SWTOR being the best game ever, no matter what. Not that I don’t want it to be too. I’m just a little too jaded to take anything at this point, for granted. I wish there was one location where you could go (you mean, like the Bioware SWTOR website??) where all the available information on the game were available without all the headache of the horde of player zombies to muddle up the information. Because if there were, I'd probably visit it regularly.

More SWTOR info from GDC

I'd blogged about my single greatest fear in regard to SWTOR -- that being it is really only an RPG in MMO guise. This week's Bioware's Friday special includes links to several articles about SWTOR from the GDC including several that have some very insightful comments about the fabled story-driven aspect Bioware has been talking up. First, I really can not say enough how I loathe buzzwords. And Bioware is trying to create their own with this "story-driven" "fourth leg" non-sense. "Story-driven" is nothing more than questing and I wish they'd just stick with that. Compare apples to apples, and don't try and make people think what you are really doing is comparing your Orange to Blizzard's Apple. But then again if I were under the gun and had to ensure I was drawing in and keeping 2 million subscribers, perhaps I'd feel compelled to cheat the language a bit too.

Don't get me wrong, I like PVE as much as the next person does. But I'm not sure that a game that has it's very back-bone built upon such an in-depth PVE questing system with interactive discussions and voice-overs, will feel as much like an MMO as people expect their MMOs to feel. I don't want to be constrained within a questing system when Bioware knows well that what I really want is the end-game. Lets face it, despite what anyone says to the contrary, we all want the "end-game". I don't want to have to spend weeks of questing and desiring nothing more than to wring some NPCs neck while he forces me to entertain his interactive chat. Instead I'd prefer a more traditional questing system with clear-cut objectives. I'm intrigued by the "moral decision making", but then again I'd be just as happy with that if that were a passive part of the game that tracked the things I did while I traipse through it. Such as killing critters making me darker, or stopping to help vagabonds making me not so dark. I very much like the idea of my "alignment" being determined over time but Bioware has that wrapped up in the interactive chat system and I already know I'm not going to like it.

How do I know I'm not going to like something before I try it? I guess I'm just that good. I guess I just know my gaming interests and what I typically find to be fun, and what I typically find to not be so fun. And I already know from all the MMOs I've already played that I haven't the slightest interest in having to read quests that are books. And having to sit and listen to a discussion that I can't even skim is going to annoy me to all ends. Many MMOs have proven they can implement immersive story-telling without going to the lengths Bioware is and I see no reason to fix something that simply isn't broken.

So where's the beef? Here's where I think it becomes most telling and explains why we haven't seen more information about the MMO in this MMO.

Like the Inquisitor demo, it's a strictly single-player experience. We all play offline in separate instances of the same mission. As RPG gameplay goes, it's slick, accessible, pacey and enjoyable - but in common with everything LucasArts, EA and BioWare have shown of The Old Republic so far, there's nothing massively-multiplayer about it. They've shown an appealing and obviously high-quality game, but they simply haven't shown us an MMO yet.

I quiz Neri about it. What does LucasArts - which has already had its fingers burned in this genre with the under-performing, U-turning Star Wars Galaxies - want from an MMO using its most precious intellectual property?

"I think what we wanted to do was create an amazing story-driven experience," he answers. "We believe, as a company, in story. We had great success with BioWare in the past with KOTOR [Knights of the Old Republic] and we wanted to continue that. We wanted to deliver a smash in the space, for sure.

"I think, first off, in order to enter the space in any sort of serious manner I think you need to be different than what everyone else has done. I think that's probably the reason why we believe so much in story."

They made the decision to intentionally differentiate themselves in the market by focusing on "story" rather than using tried-and-true developmental strategies and letting the IP differentiate. When I read stuff like this it makes me want to pull hair out. It's the sort of thing Lum talks about in his blog from time to time, as he regales us with what passes for judgment in the gaming industry.

All that's bad enough, but once you understand that they haven't released any details on the MMO parts of the MMO are because they haven't made them, it makes you want to scream while pulling that hair out.

"We haven't talked a ton of details on in-between activities," Neri says, truthfully. "We've just said that we do understand that in this type of game you do need to have that type of secondary behaviour, things like crafting, harvesting systems, things like that: mechanics that players can draw themselves into when they're not fighting. So, not too much detail on that right now, but we understand the expectation and we're going to make sure that the game supports that type of behaviour as well."

Get that.. the things that make an MMO, an MMO -- like:

a structure for player-versus-player combat, a broad spread of challenging content for groups, social areas, trading, crafting and the wide spread of relaxing ancillary activities best described as "downtime"

are secondary activities. Trivial even. Unbelievable.

I want this game to to happen. I want it to be fantastic because not only am I a super Star Wars fan, but also because I love Bioware. I just want an MMO, not an RPG with coop play. I might feel better if they'd actually release real, in-depth information on what would make this an MMO but I'm beginning to see the bridge down at the end of the road... and you know... I'm not sure if I can see the other side!

That was very welcome, but you need to pay attention during the cinematics

GDC10 (Game Developer Conference 2010) was last week and one of the tidbits to come out was a summation of a 45-min hands-on play session of SWTOR by Massively.com. Obviously Shawn Schuster likes what he saw, but what I took away from his summation was the sentence I chose for this blog entry.

That was very welcome, but you need to pay attention during the cinematics.

I wish I could find the quote now, but a few months back (or perhaps it was many months, I simply don't recall) one of the Blizzard developers spoke candidly about what they've learned over time about quest development. Essentially he said it took them a while to figure out people didn't want to read a lot of crap. That what people really wanted was to get their quest and then go about completing it. I couldn't agree more.

SWTOR is going to be completely voice-over though. And I've been worried that those voice overs would force you to engage in a "conversation" with each NPC quest giver before you can actually just play and it sounds from Shawn's article that that is indeed the case.

Let me remind you, this is not on one or two quests, this is every quest. The voice acting I experienced by a half-dozen voices was done very well. There was never a point where I felt it was done cheaply or felt awkward, as I regularly encounter in other games with voice work.

That sort of thing is fine in an RPG, but in an MMO I can see it getting old very quickly. In an RPG you will spend about 30-40 hours or so. In an MMO you can log thousands of hours over a few years. You really think that I'm not going to become annoyed after having to pause and work through a conversation with various NPCs after a couple weeks in the game? I'm all for story. I'm not all for inconvenience or annoyance.

Bioware posts SWTOR fankit

Actually I'm surprised that hadn't done this prior, but now it's out there. Pretty standard stuff, but worth the download if you want the art for your site.

"Interesting" design premise of upcoming MMOs

Notice anything similar between the two largest upcoming MMOs? I've mentioned my recent thoughts on the Star Trek Online (STO) MMO, but hadn't really gotten into the amount of instancing it does. Almost everything is an instance in STO. From the public quests, to the quests, you will jump from instance to instance and only interact -- however limited -- with other players in the sector zones, space stations, and whenever someone ventures into the same public quest instance as you. For all intents and purposes, outside of that you are screaming through what can only be said to be an RPG. Replete with NPC party members, AKA bridge officers.

A lot of this has been available through other sources, but this recent IGN video about the Old Republic (SWTOR) certainly cements things together in a way that I don't think has been done previously anywhere else. Like STO, SWTOR will be repleat with individual instance environments where you will spend a majority of your time.

Star Wars: The Old Republic at IGN.com

Bioware has said cities will be open zones, which can be equated to the space stations in STO. And it struck me that this design premise has become more prevalent lately and seemingly started with Age of Conan. Only now it's been taken to the Nth degree and represents a large departure from traditional MMO design. I'd already remarked how the feeling to me in STO was that I wasn't playing an MMO, but rather a simple RPG that just happened to have some other people in it (rpg w/coop) and I'm really wondering at this point if SWTOR will not feel the same way. Interaction with others is important in an "MMO", yet in these two MMOs that interactivity is specifically and intentionally limited. And I have to wonder what would be driving this design premise. Whether this is a reaction to years of failed bids to dethrone WoW, or reaction to a common design problem in other MMOs; that low player base destroys much of the playability of the game; we can only surmise.