SWTOR General Discussion

[martu]

Star Wars: The Old Republic is now playable for some (and for all in a week) so I thought I’d start the general thread about the game. There is a SWTOR SMDB guild thread which can be found here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...=625834&page=1

So I rolled a Chiss Imperial Agent last night and got him up to level 7, so far the game is exceeding my expectations. Which were high. I found myself engrossed in the story even at this early stage and the fact I spent a lot of time in cut scenes did not detract from my enjoyment. Combat has a solid feel to it and you’re often fighting groups of mobs not individuals, in fact I’d say it was the norm, which led to me dying a couple of times. Even at level 4 you have to be careful.

One tip – you can go and pick up Crew Skills from level 1 by flying to the Imperial (Republic) Fleet as soon as you create your character. Though there isn’t much point getting the crafting or missions skills at this point, picking up at least a gathering skill can get you a head start on obtaining mats for when you get your companion later on.

[elninost0rm]

Originally Posted by martu

Star Wars: The Old Republic is now playable for some (and for all in a week) so I thought I’d start the general thread about the game. There is a SWTOR SMDB guild thread which can be found here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...=625834&page=1

So I rolled a Chiss Imperial Agent last night and got him up to level 7, so far the game is exceeding my expectations. Which were high. I found myself engrossed in the story even at this early stage and the fact I spent a lot of time in cut scenes did not detract from my enjoyment. Combat has a solid feel to it and you’re often fighting groups of mobs not individuals, in fact I’d say it was the norm, which led to me dying a couple of times. Even at level 4 you have to be careful.

One tip – you can go and pick up Crew Skills from level 1 by flying to the Imperial (Republic) Fleet as soon as you create your character. Though there isn’t much point getting the crafting or missions skills at this point, picking up at least a gathering skill can get you a head start on obtaining mats for when you get your companion later on.

Thank you for the tip. I pre'd yesterday, which probably means I won't get any sort of early access, but oh well.

I'll see you all in the guild.

[Skammer]

Originally Posted by martu

One tip – you can go and pick up Crew Skills from level 1 by flying to the Imperial (Republic) Fleet as soon as you create your character. Though there isn’t much point getting the crafting or missions skills at this point, picking up at least a gathering skill can get you a head start on obtaining mats for when you get your companion later on.

Ooh, I had no idea you could do that (I played in the open Beta a few weeks ago).

I still can't decide on a class, so I'll probably end up leveling a Consular, Inquisitor and Bounty Hunter simultaneously. I'm waiting impatiently for my early-access email, but I didn't register until October so I probably have to wait a couple more days.

[elninost0rm]

Originally Posted by Skammer

Ooh, I had no idea you could do that (I played in the open Beta a few weeks ago).

I still can't decide on a class, so I'll probably end up leveling a Consular, Inquisitor and Bounty Hunter simultaneously. I'm waiting impatiently for my early-access email, but I didn't register until October so I probably have to wait a couple more days.

I'm probably going to go with Consular. I've *always* been a healing type in any MMO I've played (Cleric/Druid/Healer in DAoC, Priest in WoW, etc.)

I love being a support role. It's usually a hard job, but it's one that not many people can do effectively.

[martu]

Originally Posted by Skammer

Ooh, I had no idea you could do that (I played in the open Beta a few weeks ago).

I still can't decide on a class, so I'll probably end up leveling a Consular, Inquisitor and Bounty Hunter simultaneously. I'm waiting impatiently for my early-access email, but I didn't register until October so I probably have to wait a couple more days.

One thing to note - you'll get a chunk of XP just speaking to the crew skills trainers even if you don't learn the skill. If you're not careful and you speak to all of them you can be level 4 just doing this which will effect the early opening world quests.

I intend to level one of each class type (IA Sniper, Jedi Shadow, Sith Warrior and Trooper Commando) to 15 or so then decide who I want to take to 50. I think the stories more than the class abilities will dictate this.

[Skammer]

I found the BH and Inquisitor stories most compelling (up to level 10 which is as far as I got). I was less excited by the Consular story, but I need a Republic toon for the Doper guild and I usually prefer healers (my max level toons in WoW are priest, holy pally and resto shammy).

ETA: Hey, maybe to make things interesting I'll make an eeevilll Consular.

[martu]

Originally Posted by Skammer

I found the BH and Inquisitor stories most compelling (up to level 10 which is as far as I got). I was less excited by the Consular story, but I need a Republic toon for the Doper guild and I usually prefer healers (my max level toons in WoW are priest, holy pally and resto shammy).

ETA: Hey, maybe to make things interesting I'll make an eeevilll Consular.

The Commando and Smuggler can also heal.

Regarding Dark\Light points I am playing the IA as a fundamentally good man who totally believes in the Empire as a force for good and so far I have picked nothing but Light side options in conversations. It's nice I can be an Empire man but do not have to be eeeevil. My Sith Warrior on the other hand is going to be nasty.

[Pleonast]

I've got alts of all the base classes, both sides. I have no idea which I'll stick with ultimately, but I wanted to get my names reserved. From beta testing, everything is fun, which is both good and bad.

I'm pretty much always going to take the Light Side options. I just don't have the stomach to do the Dark Side choices. (By the way, Light Side vs Dark Side is the same as Good vs Evil isn't really right. It's more like Rational vs Passionate.)

I'm annoyed by the lack of an antialiasing option in the game. I've tried using the Nvidia utility to force it to antialias, but no luck making it work. Anyone know what to do or if it's even possible?

[Skammer]

In beta, my consular always picked the Light response. My bounty hunter usually picked Light, but I tried to play him as a pure mercenary who would do anything for profit, but tried to be nice about it.

My Inquisitor, however. Very very haughty, proud, self-confident, and with absolutely no qualms about causing pain or betraying his accomplices to gain power. That was kind of fun

[martu]

Originally Posted by Pleonast

I'm pretty much always going to take the Light Side options. I just don't have the stomach to do the Dark Side choices. (By the way, Light Side vs Dark Side is the same as Good vs Evil isn't really right. It's more like Rational vs Passionate.)

Hmmm I don't think that's quite right either it's a mix of the two really, for example (spoiler for IA\BH side quest)

SPOILER:

You're tasked to get a kid back from his Dad so his Mum can send him off to become a Sith, light side option is you let the guy go with the kid then lie to the mum, dark side you kill the Dad and force the kid back to his Mum. Pretty evil stuff imo

[DigitalC]

I love the bounty hunter countdowns.

Guy blathering.
Me: One.
More blathering.
Me: Two.
unwisely continues blathering.
Me: Three. *Shoots*

[martu]

I got to level 10 on the IA last night but only had enough time to pick my AC (went for Sniper) before logging off. The conclusion of the starter world story was done very well and my new companion fits the story impeccably. Not only that but I find her rather attractive for a grey skinned bald woman, not usually my type.

I managed to earn a few dark side points by being thorough in tidying up after myself, dead people don’t tell tales, but also picked a non ‘just get the job done’ option because Kaliyo fluttered her eyelashes, an interesting character development.

A couple of things I noticed from last night’s play, IA\Smuggler specific really:
1) Don’t’ add taking cover to your quickslot bar – this can lead to a delay before you do the action. There is an option in the preferences to have this assigned to a key (the default is F but I use F for something else) which makes it instant.
2) The green gumby which appears to show natural cover positions only appears when you have a hostile targeted. I thought it was buggy until I noticed this, maybe I’m slow and this is obvious but thought I’d mention it.

[Drunky Smurf]

Originally Posted by martu

One tip – you can go and pick up Crew Skills from level 1 by flying to the Imperial (Republic) Fleet as soon as you create your character. Though there isn’t much point getting the crafting or missions skills at this point, picking up at least a gathering skill can get you a head start on obtaining mats for when you get your companion later on.

I did a quick look around last night but I couldn't figure out the Alliance side equivalant to the above quote. Does anyone one know where the trainers are?

Basically I'd like to start on the gathering skills right away at level one rather than accidentally bumping into the gathering skill guy at level 12 and then having to go back to the starting areas to start the gathering skills.

[martu]

Originally Posted by Drunky Smurf

I did a quick look around last night but I couldn't figure out the Alliance side equivalant to the above quote. Does anyone one know where the trainers are?

Basically I'd like to start on the gathering skills right away at level one rather than accidentally bumping into the gathering skill guy at level 12 and then having to go back to the starting areas to start the gathering skills.

Go to the Spaceport (The Spaceport on Tython is upstairs at the Jedi Temple, The Spaceport on Ord Mantell is at Ft. Garnik) get the shuttle to the Republic fleet, go to the elevator from the dock and go to the Main Level. Press M to view the map and select Crew skill trainers and off you go.

[martu]

A map of the Imperial Fleet showing the Crew Skill Trainers (bottom right) can be found here: Swtor-Spy Imperial Fleet

[Drunky Smurf]

Originally Posted by martu

Go to the Spaceport (The Spaceport on Tython is upstairs at the Jedi Temple, The Spaceport on Ord Mantell is at Ft. Garnik) get the shuttle to the Republic fleet, go to the elevator from the dock and go to the Main Level. Press M to view the map and select Crew skill trainers and off you go.

Thank you.

[Skammer]

When I finally got in last night I was experiencing horrible, horrible lag. I even set all my graphical settings to "low" and still the voices were not synced and my keyboard/mouse response was so bad the game was nearly unplayable -- I hadn't had that problem in Beta.

Turning off shadows worked wonderfully - I was even able to increase some of the other settings as long as there were no shadows. Just a tip if anyone is having similar problems.

[Pleonast]

Interesting about the shadows. They haven't given me any trouble.

I did finally manage to force the game to antialias. And found why they disabled the option. My framerate dropped from 50-70 fps to 10-30. Not acceptable, which is really too bad because it looks beautiful once the jaggies are gone.

[Angel of the Lord]

I might have to turn off the shadows. They're not really slowing me down, but I don't like the way they look. Thanks for the tip, Skammer!

One of my online friends is playing on Shien, so that's where my characters are now--a Sith Inquisitor, and a Jedi Knight (because the friend is playing Empire, but I really wanna play Republic, too!). Of course, they send me the invite on the one day I actually have things to do. . .

[Pleonast]

Just got my retail code in an email, so I'm all set.

[Kinthalis]

If I pre-order today, will I get to play right away, or do I have to wait?

[Skammer]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

If I pre-order today, will I get to play right away, or do I have to wait?

I'm not sure. Do the pre-order sites (like Origin.com) still say early access comes with the pre-order?


Gonna choose some gathing/crafting skills tonight but no idea what I'll pick. I'd like to get both my toons up to at least level 10 tonight...

[Pleonast]

The in-game holonet system should give a good overview of what the different crew skills do.

A character can only have one crafting skills. Artifice and Synthweaving are for force-user weapons and armor. Armstech and Armortech are for weapons and armor for the others. The other crafting skills work with any class.

The other skills are either gathering or mission. You can take as many of those as you like, up to the limit of three skills total. Personally, my characters will take one crafting skill, the corresponding gathering skill, and one mission skill.

I found this thread on SWTOR forums to be useful.

[Kinthalis]

I pre-ordered and they sent me the early play email!! YAY, I'm downloading now.

[Quimby]

Jesus the collector's edition box is huge! Installing now!

[Arrogance Ex Machina]

Hit Dark II with my Imperial Agent and she got hit by the ugly wand pretty hard, that Sith corruption looks hideous on her. Turned it off on Preferences but it seems it automatically turns itself on every time I zone. Seen a bunch of similiar cosmetic bugs, like at one point my companion was knocked down and after that battle she was stuck in that position, writhing on the ground with her legs spread, the shameless hussy.

My only major problem with the game so far is my lousy FPS: 20-30 when I'm running around, dropping to 10-20 when I'm in combat. Makes for rather unsatisfying fights, with the numbers above mobs, my animations and enemy health bars all de-synced. I might get xp, then I see damage numbers and then finally the animation plays, which is pretty far from what I'm used to with WoW and CoH. I'm hoping they are still working on optimizing the graphics since I know I'm not upgrading my computer any time soon, it plays other new games just fine.

Other than that, having fun. Space combat seems a bit glued on but not as bad as I expected - it's hard to hate something that's so shiny and makes all those Star Wars space combat noises at you.

[Taomist]

Originally Posted by martu

A couple of things I noticed from last night’s play, IA\Smuggler specific really:
1) Don’t’ add taking cover to your quickslot bar – this can lead to a delay before you do the action. There is an option in the preferences to have this assigned to a key (the default is F but I use F for something else) which makes it instant.
2) The green gumby which appears to show natural cover positions only appears when you have a hostile targeted. I thought it was buggy until I noticed this, maybe I’m slow and this is obvious but thought I’d mention it.

Thanks for the tip about the stealth hotkey; and good to know I'm not the only one who's been wondering all night 'where is my little green shadow?'


Speaking of shadows: Turn them off entirely, or at least as low as you can stand it, for an incredible performance boost. The shadows really kill fps.

[Cyberhwk]

So...I'm officially on as a Jedi Consular and I think I deserve "miser" as a skill. $2500 credits (just turned Level 7) and I haven't bought a thing yet. Paranoid about having some buyer's remorse. Is there a good rule of thumb on how much makes an upgrade worth it? This is my first MMO and I'm really just trying to feel it out at this point.

[amanset]

Does anyone know how Archaeology works? I've scoured the web but all I can find is placeholder stubs on Wikis. Basically, I have it as my gathering crew skill but don't seem to be able to do anything. I'm stumbling across crystals in the wild, but I can't seem to pick them up or anything. Can you only do it by telling your companion to pick it up? And how do you do that?

Also (and this is going to make me sound rubbish) but I missed the tip popup for companion inventories (something else jumped up right after and it closed). How do you find that? I got a modification to personalise my companion in my inventory but I can't work out how to use it on my companion.

Needless to say, I'm not finding the user interface particularly intuitive.

[amanset]

Hmm. I just now got a popup regarding how to gather and now can gather. Pity it didn't give me that when I first saw crystals yesterday ...

[amanset]

Actually just found the companion inventory.

EVERYONE IGNORE ME I AM AN IDIOT

[AClockworkMelon]

Originally Posted by DigitalC

I love the bounty hunter countdowns.

Guy blathering.
Me: One.
More blathering.
Me: Two.
unwisely continues blathering.
Me: Three. *Shoots*

This is a reference to a bounty hunter that does exactly that in KOTOR.

[Quimby]

Played for a few hours last night. A few observations:

1. This game is a huge success financially. It is still before the official release and 90% of the servers were full when I logged in. The rest were Very Heavy or Heavy.

2. The movies that play are really well done but there was a point where I was like "C'mon! I want to make my Character!"

3. I was a little disappointed there weren't more customizable options when creating a character. I wanted a pony tail!

4. In the run up to the game's release, I think I lied to myself. "It's KOTOR 3," I said, "Just with other people playing along with me." But it really isn't. It really is an MMO first and foremost with a Star Wars sheen. And that's my own fault not their's. I liked the ideas and the hints at story so far but I am not sure about the gameplay. I only play one MMO, City of Heroes, and that barely feels like an MMO. This feels like one. I hate to say it but I am not sure I will play beyond the 30 days.

[Gukumatz]

Any Eurodopers playing? I'm three levels in with a Jedi Knight and enjoying it so far. Probably gonna reroll with a Trooper, since I'm a fan of ranged DPS, but I wanted to get a feel for melée and to know if I'm missing out.

[Skammer]

I'll be glad when the queue settles down.

Originally Posted by Arrogance

Hit Dark II with my Imperial Agent and she got hit by the ugly wand pretty hard

I didn't know about this! I must say that's kind of cool. My SI is a very small, youthful guy with a smooth face and bald head. It'll be interesting to see the corruption (he's taking a Dark path).

What stat is better for my smuggler -- Aim or Cunning? I haven't really had to choose so far except for stimpaks, and I've been taking Aim. Heh.

[wolfman]

Well, I have to say that is a creative "get unstuck system". Zap you to an inescapable death platform while god throws lasers at you until you die and respawn.

[Arrogance Ex Machina]

Originally Posted by Quimby

1. This game is a huge success financially. It is still before the official release and 90% of the servers were full when I logged in. The rest were Very Heavy or Heavy.

This doesn't really tell us anything yet, especially since Bioware's the one who decides how many servers to launch. What's critical is how full the servers will be in early February - retention rate is what makes or breaks a MMO.

[DigitalC]

"If you are concerned about the casualties let me assure you that the lives of the crew members are statistically insignificant to the war effort" I freaking love Sith.

[drachillix]

ok ordered,
still 6GB to go downloading

Dunno anything except what I have been reading but figuring on playing alliance side. So what do we need for balance...we got tanks?

[Skammer]

For our alliance guild, it sounds like we have a few potential healers, so tank is probably valuable.

I spent hours today playing my SI Sorcerer, and ran the Black Talon flashpoint. That was fun.

[Cyberhwk]

I'm just focusing on my won Consular. Finally got to level 10 and I chose Sage. Hoping that'll make me valuable enough so I could join some ad hoc groups and be of some use.

I sure as hell ain't worth a damn fighting. I get wasted. How the hell do you defend yourself? I noticed my guy parrys when he's just standing there. Should I be more conservative in battle? So far my strategy has been balls to the wall, hope he runs out of health before I do but the Mark V Training Droid dispatches me before I even have him at half health. Anybody with fire just wastes me.

My first group effort was a utter failure. A Lv. 12 Jedi Knight let me tag along and do Chamber of Speech. She'd outrun me and kill the baddies before I even caught up to her.

I must be missing something about combat. Is there a way to be more elusive? I've tried strafing back and forth but it just seems that causes me to miss and they're as accurate as ever (even it it means their rounds curve though the air ).

Originally Posted by wolfman

Well, I have to say that is a creative "get unstuck system". Zap you to an inescapable death platform while god throws lasers at you until you die and respawn.

I like the "You died. Would you like to respawn in your current location?" With only half your health bar likely under heavy fire from an enemy whos health gets completely restored? Talk about being hung out to dry.

Originally Posted by Skammer

For our alliance guild, it sounds like we have a few potential healers, so tank is probably valuable.

I only have one point in the Healing tree so it's probably not too late for me to switch to Shadow? I have absolutely no preference myself. The Double Lightsaber is more than a bit awesome.

[Arrogance Ex Machina]

Originally Posted by Cyberhwk

I must be missing something about combat. Is there a way to be more elusive? I've tried strafing back and forth but it just seems that causes me to miss and they're as accurate as ever (even it it means their rounds curve though the air ).

Running around doesn't help. I haven't played a Sage so I don't know what sort of abilities they get, but most classes get something to either disable the enemy for a short while (stuns, knockbacks and such) or heal themselves or so on. Or they get a companion that can tank for them, like us Imperial Agents get Kaliyo.

I like the "You died. Would you like to respawn in your current location?" With only half your health bar likely under heavy fire from an enemy whos health gets completely restored? Talk about being hung out to dry.

You respawn with a 10 second stealth buff that gives you enough time to stagger to a safe spot, usually.

I only have one point in the Healing tree so it's probably not too late for me to switch to Shadow? I have absolutely no preference myself. The Double Lightsaber is more than a bit awesome.

Advanced classes are permanent. Once you choose one, that's it.

[Skammer]

I didn't have *too* much trouble fighting as a Consular in beta, up to level 9 at least. Getting the companion was helpful of course. Don't forget to use your knockback ability frequently - it pushes everyone away and stuns them briefly. As a consular you want to rely on your force abilities more than your lightsaber; you probably already figured that out.

I have some of the same challenges with my Sorcerer, but now that I have a heal spell, I just send my tank companion in to fight and I focus on keeping his health up. Occasionally I'll throw in some damage if heals are not needed.

[amanset]

Originally Posted by Gukumatz

Any Eurodopers playing? I'm three levels in with a Jedi Knight and enjoying it so far. Probably gonna reroll with a Trooper, since I'm a fan of ranged DPS, but I wanted to get a feel for melée and to know if I'm missing out.

I currently have a level 20 Sith Sorcerer on, shit, whatever that server was that Arrogance Ex Machina mentioned somewhere. In a shocking display of originality, my character is called Amanset.

[Cyberhwk]

Originally Posted by Arrogance Ex Machina

You respawn with a 10 second stealth buff that gives you enough time to stagger to a safe spot, usually.

Yes, but you can't Meditate while engaged so the best I can do is just your normal regen rate. If I run far enough away do you disengage? Does your enemy reheal during that period also?

I'm going to have to practice with tabbing across enemies and the like. There's probably some beasts on Tyron I can practice on.

[Arrogance Ex Machina]

Originally Posted by Cyberhwk

Yes, but you can't Meditate while engaged so the best I can do is just your normal regen rate. If I run far enough away do you disengage? Does your enemy reheal during that period also?

The way it goes: you die, then all enemies heal to full, you resurrect with a tiny sliver of health and that 10 second stealth buff, stagger to a place far enough from the enemies so they won't attack you when the buff fades and then you can use Meditate to heal to full. Now you are back where you started at, with both you and the enemy at full health, but at least you should be slightly wiser in what the enemy will do.

And the server with both me and amanset on it is The Progenitor, English RP PvE server. I'll be happy to chat with any SDMBers who feel like rolling a character there on the Sith side.

[Cyberhwk]

Ok. I understand now. Finally got past my issue and am doing a lot better now that I have a companion. Thanks you the tips guys.

[martu]

Originally Posted by Skammer

I'll be glad when the queue settles down.

I didn't know about this! I must say that's kind of cool. My SI is a very small, youthful guy with a smooth face and bald head. It'll be interesting to see the corruption (he's taking a Dark path).

What stat is better for my smuggler -- Aim or Cunning? I haven't really had to choose so far except for stimpaks, and I've been taking Aim. Heh.

Cunning for Smugglers\IA
Aim for Troopers\Bounty Hunters


Started a Jedi consular with my friend who I levelled with in wow first time, seeing both of us in the quest conversation is awesome. He's going heals I'm going tank so between us we should be bale to handle all the content on the way up to 50.

[Skammer]

Originally Posted by martu

Cunning for Smugglers\IA
Aim for Troopers\Bounty Hunters

Okay, thanks.

Did a heroic quest with my level-12 Sorcerer and got to do a lot of healing. It's not that hard when you only have one healing spell, but I miss my WoW addons like Clique. Is there any way to create macros in this game?

Also I went to log in to the guild server again last night and the queue was about 30 minutes -- which was a good chuck of the time I had available to play -- so I rolled a BH on a server that wasn't full. I forgot to remember the name of the server though. The queues were bad at times over the weekend; I can only imagine what it will be like tomorrow after the game officially launches. Fortunately I can't play tomorrow anyway but Wednesday will be just as bad.

[willthekittensurvive?]

Originally Posted by amanset

Actually just found the companion inventory.

EVERYONE IGNORE ME I AM AN IDIOT

what? they have a inventory as well?