Fridays mean new updates for fans eagerly waiting on Star Wars: The Old Republic, and while last week saw the kickoff of PAX East and a hands-on demo (which we played), this Friday sees discussion on a wide range of different aspects. For starters, the latest Fan Friday feature has been posted, showing off new concept art and a fansite spotlight as well as a few new Sith avatars for forumgoers.
A new developer diary is also available, which discusses cinematic animations, one of the major selling points for the game. Certainly the motion capture helps, but as the diary notes, it's not quite as simple as suiting up some capture actors and getting their raw data. Even for a simple scene, there's some fairly elaborate work necessary to make the animation and overall environment feel convincing.
The end of the entry is devoted to several community questions regarding flashpoints, fresh in everyone's mind after the aforementioned demo at PAX East. If you're curious about how loot will be balanced in a dungeon with multiple storyline options, take a look at the full entry to get a clearer picture of how the system will be implemented in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Reader Comments (10)
Posted: Mar 18th 2011 8:40PM Apakal said
I'm still left feeling pretty indifferent about the game at this point.
I think its going to be great for players who aren't sick of the traditional MMO model, love the Star Wars universe and lore, or really had a good time with Mass Effect and are looking to break into the MMO genre.
On the other hand, for the players who are looking for a different, unique experience like myself, this probably isn't going to be the game for them. Definitely not something I'm planning on jumping into right at launch with so much else on the horizon.
I think its going to be great for players who aren't sick of the traditional MMO model, love the Star Wars universe and lore, or really had a good time with Mass Effect and are looking to break into the MMO genre.
On the other hand, for the players who are looking for a different, unique experience like myself, this probably isn't going to be the game for them. Definitely not something I'm planning on jumping into right at launch with so much else on the horizon.
Posted: Mar 18th 2011 11:46PM Vagrant Zero said
@Apakal I'm pretty much the person you described (I have no issues with the current MMO paradigm, actually I'm fairly easy to please and like themeparks and sandboxes both providing there's enough content) so I'm shitting bricks of anticipation for this game.
Traditional MMO with BioWare Story and Glowbats?
Yes please.
Reply
Traditional MMO with BioWare Story and Glowbats?
Yes please.
Posted: Mar 18th 2011 8:48PM Alph said
@Apakal
*grabs some popcorn and waits patiently*
*grabs some popcorn and waits patiently*
Posted: Mar 18th 2011 9:40PM Dunraven said
I have had quite a bit of hands on with TOR, personally I love it...I love it most of all becuiase it gives the traditional MMO player (IE L2P, U R A SCRUB U R A BAD Disgruntled SWG vet etc) the finger.
This isn't hardcore game but it does take some common sense to complete the flash points. Thos who play MMO's for self esteem or to feel l33t will be sorely disapointed.
Will the game be popular? Yes. Will old school sandbox loving mmo gmaers hate it? You damn skippy; and that's why it's on my must get list.
This isn't hardcore game but it does take some common sense to complete the flash points. Thos who play MMO's for self esteem or to feel l33t will be sorely disapointed.
Will the game be popular? Yes. Will old school sandbox loving mmo gmaers hate it? You damn skippy; and that's why it's on my must get list.
Posted: Mar 19th 2011 2:18AM Thorqemada said
SWTOR has any chance to be a great game with enough new stuff to make one curious while feeling like a MMORPG with a real story AND familiar controls, systems.
For soemthing more different try "The secret World".
Sandbox-MMOs be not on the screen as long they be develped by underfunded hobbyists.
For soemthing more different try "The secret World".
Sandbox-MMOs be not on the screen as long they be develped by underfunded hobbyists.
Posted: Mar 19th 2011 10:15AM Dunraven said
@Thorqemada I will agree that The Secret world is going to have a medium but rabidly passionate audience. After talking with the devs you can see it is a labor of love for these guys...the are pouring their souls into it, and the result is a very cool MMO that isn't going to be for everyone.
TSW like TOR isn't made for MMO players, but their grouping system is second to none and I bet anything that the big dogs will be ripping... err adapting this system to their own game is short order.
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TSW like TOR isn't made for MMO players, but their grouping system is second to none and I bet anything that the big dogs will be ripping... err adapting this system to their own game is short order.
Posted: Mar 19th 2011 1:03PM cyb3rpunk75 said
So at one point a long time ago in a galaxy not so far away I was excited about this game. When it was first in development they kept talking about how star warsy the combat was. I can only guess they were trying to appease all the people that hated the rpg feel of the combat in swg. Now I've watched this Taral V flashpoint video a couple of times and nowhere does it feel fast paced, like Dallas claims. I remember when they said they weren't doing boss fights like other mmos because it didn't feel "star warsy" or heroic, it would be lots of enemies but this looks like standard mmo fare to me, mediocre at best, and slow as hell. Everyone was supposed to have some kind of healing skills and there wasn't supposed to be dedicated healers. This looks so much like WOW with a star wars skin it makes me want to puke. The smuggler doesn't make me think of Han Solo very much, in fact none of the roles make me think of Star Wars one bit. The more I see of this game the more lame it looks.
Posted: Mar 19th 2011 7:39PM (Unverified) said
I have to admit, the delay in release and the total silence about how close or how far we are has been a big turn off. I know it'll be ready when it's done, but I feel like they're doing the fans a disservice by being evasive about the single most important piece of information that people want to know. Not an auspicious start relating to responsiveness to customer concerns.
Posted: Mar 20th 2011 12:32PM fattybeef said
@(Unverified)
If the game isn't ready to ship it isn't ready to ship. They have offered a window of between July and Dec31st which isn't unreasonable, and they have literally said will ship before the end of 2011.
With Mass Effect 3 targeted for Holiday 2011 that should knock off December for the release. If ME3 gets pushed back to January of February than I would say November or December. If they keep ME3 before the 2012 than I would say an August release isn't out of the question. I doubt both those games come out within 2 months of each other.
And it looks far from lame. I'd rather have a polished product than a buggy one. I work in software development right now. It isn't as cut and dry as you would like to think.
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If the game isn't ready to ship it isn't ready to ship. They have offered a window of between July and Dec31st which isn't unreasonable, and they have literally said will ship before the end of 2011.
With Mass Effect 3 targeted for Holiday 2011 that should knock off December for the release. If ME3 gets pushed back to January of February than I would say November or December. If they keep ME3 before the 2012 than I would say an August release isn't out of the question. I doubt both those games come out within 2 months of each other.
And it looks far from lame. I'd rather have a polished product than a buggy one. I work in software development right now. It isn't as cut and dry as you would like to think.








