Has some really nifty trailers.
http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/trooper-progression
http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/sith-warrior-progression
http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/jedi-knight-progression


And you can collect a crew:
http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/crew-skills

I can see soem good and bad things about the crews gathering / crafting annd such

This is sounding more and more like a single player game w/ a chat room :(

Remains to be seen. Personally I don't think so.

Also, supposedly beta has started.

They had their fan site summit not too long ago and everyone played solo or at most, in a pair. You have your own crew of minions to group with so you never have to play with another person - and what that means is almost no one will. Sure, the instanced 8v8 PVP or fabled "raids" are multiplayer but its nothing like what we used to love in Everquest.

I was hoping there'd be something like a new-gen version of Eve - but like I said all reports seem to boil it down to nothing more than a single player game with a chat room (albeit a very impressive single player game).

I've actually been looking for a game somewhat like this, where you single player your group to max level, and then take that group with you to join other people on the "raids." making the raids the group content, and not really having everquest style raid content. Then again, I think I'm going to really like Rifts when I finally buckle down and pick it up.

This is sounding more and more like a single player game w/ a chat room :(

This is the summary I have heard from multiple people.

It'll be a great single player game though I'm sure. And it'll probably even have some mediocre "endgame" on some level - but its no Eve 2.0 or future of MMOs as we know it or anything.

I agree Kel, though I think EvE is too hardcore for a lot of players out there, especially those who like to gank with little or nothing to lose.

I think you'll eventually see the EvE system and the TOR system start migrating towards each other in some sort of hybrid of the two.

This being said, I'm sure TOR will be a great game. As far as that EQ feeling, the only game to really give me that nostalgic feeling was Realms Online, and that's F2P.

I may or may not have gotten into Beta.

lol nice... tell us all about it/ dont tell us anything

Akom since I know there is a NDA. Tell us your thoughts on this rumored game Wtar Sars that I keep hearing about.

Another Star Wars game.......

:devil

I keep hearing how this game is going to put a dent in the existing mmos but it looks kinda meh to me. The gameplay and graphics just look corny to me but hey to each their own I guess. I doubt we will be wasting money on this one anytime soon.

I have no information for you... mainly because I haven't been able to get it installed yet =(. Yay the fun of beta software.

It's got one thing going for it.....Bioware.

This means one of two things:

a) It's going to be great, like all the other Bioware titles or;

b) It's going to be Bioware's first big failure and/or sellout. They'll either fall on their face and suffer a rep hit or they'll come out with a popular enough game that they'll let quality suffer, similar to Blizzard.

Star Wars nerds. The game will be as bad as the movies. You heard it here first.

:devil

Trikki,

I can only hope it's as "bad" as the movies that Bioware has been making:


z0RuR3FREFw

Looking and sounding cool isn't the same as not sucking.

Hope it doesn't suck, if that makes it better? :)

:devil

As do I. I just got it working and will be playing it tonight ; D

Ok, if you like Bioware's games, especially KoToR, you will like SWTOR.

And I can put to rest the instancing fears, at least pre-level 10. If anything, it encourages open world grouping MORE than most other modern MMOs. Of course, I can't get into any details, but I will say that I am very happy with it thus far.

How do I get into beta? >:)

I wish I knew! I think it is pretty random, though, judging by the people I've seen posting on the forums. I created my forum account in October 2008, but I've seen plenty of people in there from 2009, 2010... saw one guy from Jan 2011.. so it seems they grabbed people somewhat randomly.

Soooo.....

I know I promised myself I wouldn't pre-order any more MMO's, but this one is different....at least I hope it is.

Any plans on whoever is playing this to be on the one server?

I would bite Bin, I'm am so ready for for an MMO thats is not another fantasy based game and is more Sci Fi oriented and this seems to be the best thing on the Horizon.
Ive done EvE twice and it really is a neat game in many ways but a slow paced time sink that takes a year or two to "gear up" was not what I wanted.

I've just recently moved back to high sec in EvE due to my having little time to spend jumping system to system. With the recent nerf of Jump Bridges, I could not be bothered risking my ship every second and third jump. Hoping I get into beta between now and then for SWTOR.

Gabe got permission to post some stuff that I can't:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2011/6/22/ (scroll down)

Sounding pretty good. the 4th pillar concept is very neat indeed.

wow that really sounds neat :)

PRE ORDERS ARE UP !!!

www.swtor.com/preorder

I was gonna preorder, but that "wait in like 48 hours to maybe be allowed to pay money in order to queue up to pay money" is kinda weird.

I was gonna preorder, but that "wait in like 48 hours to maybe be allowed to pay money in order to queue up to pay money" is kinda weird.

Mine was approved in 1 minute. And if you don't preorder you will be SoL until after release according to bioware. They are doing a limited release.

There's no way that's actually true. Wal-Mart alone would demand millions of copies as part of their carrying agreement unrelated to pre-order sales. The only limited part would likely be the pre-order goodies and such.

That being said, of course I'll pre-order it ... if I'm gonna play it, may as well get the goodies ... but I'm gonna do it at my local gamestop and not have to log in through their Steam clone.

There's no way that's actually true. Wal-Mart alone would demand millions of copies as part of their carrying agreement unrelated to pre-order sales. The only limited part would likely be the pre-order goodies and such.

That being said, of course I'll pre-order it ... if I'm gonna play it, may as well get the goodies ... but I'm gonna do it at my local gamestop and not have to log in through their Steam clone.

Well thats what they said... in order to not have the servers flooded at release.

Who has their pre-order? Just booked my CE copy on Saturday.

We going to try and coordinate everyone towards a particular server? Faction?

I have mine

There's also this:

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/news/read/21264/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Beta-Test-Weekends-this-September.html

Well, genius that I am I never registered for the Beta. I just found the email - I never verified my account.

Any idea if this is the kind of game you can walk away from if you get interrupted? DDO was nice that way - I could solo, and if the kid needed me just walk away from the PC. Other MMOs don't seem to allow any sort of real AFK. There have been a few nights where I spent the entire evening on one dungeon, with frequent interruptions.

It's like any other game... if you leave yourself in an unsafe area, stuff will respawn and you will get killed. I don't think stuff respawns in instances, though, so if you're in an instance you can go AFK and come back later. As with any MMO, you're better off logging out if you have to AFK and you don't know when you're going to be able to return.

Wow, was reading EA's 15 year plan for this thing. 500 eventual planets? Hmmm, sounds like someone is looking past WoWs records and going after EQ's longevity records.

It sounds impressive, but its the same thing as WoW and EQ2 both being designed with potentially level 200 characters in mind. 6 years later and neither games have added more than 35 levels though. It'd be more impressive if they can actually deliver that level of content, not just plan for it.

True, but at least they are planning for it. I remember playing EQ and thinking..."Wow, anyone starting at any time after the 10th expansion is going to have a hard time catching up."

They need to expand the game in such a way that the majority of it doesn't get turned into a ghost town. It has to feel alive.

As much as I hated "The Vision," that was something the original EQ did very well. The mechanics forced socialization in a way that worked for casual and hard core gamers. The lack of markets, mail, instant travel and such created population hubs, even near newbie areas.

"Planet" = Size of 3 - 5 WoW zones.

"Planet" = Size of 3 - 5 WoW zones.

500 x 4 = 2,000 zones

Yeah... I'm not saying it's a small number, heh, I'm just saying don't think of planets as being the size of SWG's planets.

Sounds like Rage of the Wookies style then, which is fine. I think that makes for a tighter design in any game.

Any word on some sort of game card? There have been a few too many companies leaking CC info lately.

As much as I hated "The Vision," that was something the original EQ did very well. The mechanics forced socialization in a way that worked for casual and hard core gamers. The lack of markets, mail, instant travel and such created population hubs, even near newbie areas.

It's funny you say this because back in the day, I remember complaining about this and yet this is the aspect I enjoy most about the Fippy Progression server. I feel satisfaction every time I log in now. :)

Funny Bin, it was the sheer brutality of trying to start fresh in that game that made me say "oh hell no"
Started a necro, got to lvl 3 and thought Woot im in now! then...

Kebartic tries to hit "A Fire Beattle" and misses.
Your spell fizzles.
Kebartic tries to hit "A Fire Beattle" and misses
"A Fire Beattle" hits Kebartic for 2 points of damage.
Your spell fizzles.
Kebartic tries to hit "A Fire Beattle" and misses.
your spell fizzles.

Freaking Brutal!

Strangely, even with the xp penalty I'm loving it. The newbie armor quests have kept me occupied.

Anyone have a beta key they don't need for Swtor? ;)

Honestly, the best way to deal with reusing old content is the way billy vs snakeman does it. Instead of increasing the top level, create content that is only accessable by getting to the top, then going back to the beginning and going back to the top again. that way low level zones always have a use, even when your player base is veteran heavy.

Anyone have a beta key they don't need for Swtor? ;)

No keys... they accept your account and then you're in.

Anyone else in? I got my invite yesterday :)

Anyone else in? I got my invite yesterday :)

:(

I have been dieing to get into Beta... No invite yet :(

Hey Fild, did you get into the weekend beta or the general testing?

general :D

general :D

Oh... I just died a little inside :)

If you get bored and stop playing I would take that off your hands in a heartbeat :)

Nothing here yet - although I did get one of the emails they sent out last week by mistake, and thought for a moment I'd been selected.

The best way to see if you're invite is legit is to go to http://swtor.com/tester

Sorry Jedd :(

Im In.

Im In.

UGH! Lucky Bastages!!

Enjoy!

A ton of my friends got weekend invites but they are all spread out on different servers. :(

My girlfriend got in, but I didn't, and we both signed up the exact same day at the same time. Curious ...

Its Random

I am on pvp server Naga Shadow or something like that.

I am on pvp server Naga Shadow or something like that.

!!!!!!!!!!
you're with me.
ZOMG!
Rep or Sith side?

http://www.inmalafide.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/08/nerds.jpg

:devil

How's beta goin for you guys? Give me the juicy goodness!

YESSSSSS I am in the Weekend Beta!!!

Ditto! :D 5 hours and counting....

Got my first invite for this weekend too!

First thoughts? If you're looking for sandbox, keep walking.

If you're looking for a game that makes every effort to make the story about you, then sign up and jump in!

It takes what WoW did right, namely being able to pick the game up quickly through ease of use, but unlike WoW, YOU are the star of the show. I've not seen a loading screen yet, though they do conceal the loading rather cleverly. Bioware has definitely made efforts to put the RPG back in MMORPG.

Am I having fun? HELLZ YEAH! Playing a Sith Inquisitor (the only class I've played so far) is helluva fun. Part caster, Part melee, Bioware has made efforts to muddy the waters as to what class performs what duties. The clear cut "Healer", "Tank", "DPS" is out the window. Though certain classes do certain jobs better than others, I've not seen a time yet where someone has been turned away from a group simply because of what class they were playing.

Grouping WORKS in this game. It's convenient, it's fun and even if you snuff it during an Epic encounter, you still get credit. VERY handy.

Uh odd. I got a weekend beta invite, but no real way to download and play the game, nor anything to click in the email to do so...was just sort of a "we're gonna invite you real soon now...don't do anything" email.

Bioware has definitely made efforts to put the RPG back in MMORPG.

But while they've done that, they have taken the Massively Multiplayer out of MMORPG as far as I can tell.

My girlfriend is really enjoying it. But its leaps and bounds different from SWO, EQ, and WoW in the multiplayer realm - she hasn't had to talk to a single person once since she started playing a few weeks back. Feeling more and more comfortable about signing up for that 1-year WoW deal.

You don't have to unless you want to do the larger encounters. They've allowed for people who simply don't want to play with others, and I can understand that, it's good for business. But if you do want to get the epic encounters or flashpoints done, you have to work with a team. There is ZERO disadvantage to grouping. If you die during the boss fight and then the boss drops, you still get credit and you can be revived on the spot.

An update to the classes: So far I've tried a Sith Inquisitor (just as he became an assassin) and it seemed the most "WoW like" IE: move up, use abilities, etc, etc.

So I decided to try the Trooper. Running and gunning is fun, especially when you can just stand there and take the hits. You're not invincible, but you are damn tough. Great for no nonsense players.

Then I tried the Smuggler.....

O....M....G....! I've never had so much fun in an MMO. As soon as you target an enemy, you'll see a green outline of yourself somewhere near you, this is where you end up if you decide to take cover. As you do the dramatic leap, then it's more a case of timing and what abilities you use to dispatch your enemies quickly. It's definitely not autoattack time, thats for sure. I also find the story more light hearted and leans towards the whole Han Solo feeling of Star Wars. When the kid with the battle droid was talking to me and I was trying to bluff him, it was AWESOME! Options often involve being a greedy money grabber, a swash buckling flirtatious scoundrel, or a guy who suddenly feels the need to help the Republic. Granted, I've not tried Imperial Agent yet, or the bounty hunter. The Jedi/Sith classes feel very similar for the first ten levels, so I'm pretty certain that the differences don't really show themselves till after level ten when you start down your own path.

All in all, it does what WoW did best back in it's hey day but at the same time makes you feel like the lead character in a Star Wars movie.

To get back to being social, you have that choice and choice is good. WoW offers that choice as well, but there's nothing in WoW that really makes you feel any different than the shammy on either side of you (if you're a shammy......you know what I mean), at least other than your shoulder pads (Sorry, had to get that in there ^_^).

I think the whole personal story bit is a great step in the right direction. It gets the player more involved. The more a player is attached to their toon, the less likely they are to leave the game. ;) If SWTOR becomes the next "WoW" as far as subscriptions go (and believe me if this stress test is ANY indicator, it will) then it will be AWESOME seeing other companies trying to match this new standard.

Any idea of how the story continues into the upper levels?

I've seen too many MMOs where the lower levels were awesome and content driven, and then that just stops in the mid levels and it's almost a regular grind.

you weekend beta testers killed my chances of playing.... queue # 668 on my server with my characters.

oddly enough, I've grouped a ton in this game and the cities are full of people doing stuff people in MMOs do in large groups, and there's PVP. Yep, it feels like an MMO to me.

The story continues at the higher levels. Each class has a story and you continue thru it. I will tell you however I am seriously tired of the dialogue my 4th time thru Jedi Consular. I've actually stopped playing so much b/c of Skyrim and BF3 but I'm very glad I pre-ordered :)

You know what sucks? Grand daughter's first birthday 11-18, daughters birthday 12-19. then there is the whole Christmas thing coming up. all this on the heels of my vacation at the end of Oct. that i spent way too much money on. /sigh this sounds so awesome but not sure i can swing the money on my self =(

But while they've done that, they have taken the Massively Multiplayer out of MMORPG as far as I can tell.

My girlfriend is really enjoying it. But its leaps and bounds different from SWO, EQ, and WoW in the multiplayer realm - she hasn't had to talk to a single person once since she started playing a few weeks back. Feeling more and more comfortable about signing up for that 1-year WoW deal.


1 year WoW deal? What so you can sit in orgrimmar or stormwind and use the LFG tool to insta port into mini instanced dungeons and then when finished insta port back to a city to sit and wait for the next queue to pop?

If any game took the MMO out of MMORPG it is WoW in its current state.

1 year WoW deal? What so you can sit in orgrimmar or stormwind and use the LFG tool to insta port into mini instanced dungeons and then when finished insta port back to a city to sit and wait for the next queue to pop?

If any game took the MMO out of MMORPG it is WoW in its current state.

I've got a group of 4 guys I went to highschool with who are planning on playing Diablo 3 every Monday night together online, so I knew I was going to be buying Diablo anyway. Figure that's $60.

I'm in a 25-man raid guild on probably a medium sized, pretty casual server and we have a pretty active Rated BG team so I'm pretty much always doing something with other people there. We raid 9 hours a week, leaving plenty of time for other games, but plowing through the WoW raids is still one of my favorite past-times. I also know a lot of your criticism is something they talked about working on in Mists of Pandaria, which'll be out in probably 7-8 months. So figure 4 months of playing through that, a month or two of the next patch ... AT MOST I lose out on $18 if I don't log into WoW at all for the other 6 months - which is probably unlikely.

I've said it elsewhere, I think Blizzard may be more hurt then helped by the Mists of Pandaria.

The average player these days are generally too cynical to play "Kung Fu Panda". (I know, I know Pandarans were around back in Warcraft, but most people don't know that.)

Gonna be interesting. Personally, my money is on SWTOR.

The time I spent on Swtor this weekend was the most fun I have had in any mmo since Everquest!

-edit

I just got into Diablo 3 Beta today! :)

Wow, I just totally felt a blast from the past when I found the link to this forum again.

I've been enjoying the SWTOR beta so far. It takes an interesting approach to leveling and learning class roles. Players start getting advanced class abilities at lvl 10 (this is when you choose which of your 2 base class routes you want to branch into and develop a true class), however they are gradually weaned into their class role. As you gain a few more levels, a few more abilities, and start distributing the equivalence of talent points in your chosen skill tree(s) you begin to get a much better feel of your chosen advanced class. By the time you reach about level 20 you really feel like you are playing your chosen role.

The quests are fun & fairly immersive. They have heroic quests (quests that you should have more than 1 player for), but those are optional and not class specific quests for the people who wish to play an MMO but not with other people. The same holds true for the flash points, which are essentially the dungeon runs of SWTOR.

The highest I've gotten so far is level 22 as an Inquisitor Assassin (tank).

NDA has been lifted!

Can't WAIT for next weekend!

So here we are another stress test with weekend testers. I really had hoped with the server maintenance downtime they had used that to install some additional infrastructure to their server architecture based off past results. Instead it appears they have taken about a 2 mile leap backwards rather than a couple steps forward which one would certainly hope for since we're at release candidate status build wise.

Estimated wait times when I thought I might return to my main and try to finish off the last bit of Chapter 1:

Darth Malak 2days 18hrs 39min
Holocron of Adas 22hrs 30min
Shawken Spire 20hrs 10min
Moomo Brothers 1day 22hrs 55min
Leviathan 4hrs 59 min
Cosmic Turbine 4hrs 39min

Are you shitting me?!

yeah my queue to leviathan was 17hrs earlier :(

10 days until I get to play again.. its like being an addict without your drug!

Wtb hype.

:devil

yeah, i'm spending the time trying to figure out what the good pair combos are on darth hater

Early access now starts on december 13th!!!!!!!!!!!!

Early access now starts on december 13th!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup and if you pre-ordered you get to download early.


Early Game Access* will begin on December 13th at 7:00AM EST, 2011 and ends on December 19th, 2011 at 10:01PM EST. During this time, we will be emailing invitations to join Early Game Access based on the order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code. Pre-load the game client now, so you're ready to play when your Early Game Access invitation arrives. Note that download time can vary and may take awhile.

Stay clear of Origin! Good grief. I'm in tech support AGAIN trying to get my product key this time. The Origin client claims the game is still unreleased, and while they charged my card they have no record of my purchase. You know, the one that shows as unreleased in my client under games I own.

But hey, happy launch day!

Stay clear of Origin! Good grief. I'm in tech support AGAIN trying to get my product key this time. The Origin client claims the game is still unreleased, and while they charged my card they have no record of my purchase. You know, the one that shows as unreleased in my client under games I own.

But hey, happy launch day!

Origin is not needed to play this game... and the customer support is fantastic. They fixed an issue my friend had when the card he used to pre order was canceled and origin not only assured him that he would be ok on launch day but quelled his fear that his pre order early game access would be erased when his card declined. They gave him Crysis 2 for free for worrying...

I was on conference call and couldn't believe they gave him a free game just cause he was worried he wouldn't be able to play at launch. They also were very professional the few times I had to call them.

I learned a long time ago that with any customer support I ever call that if the first person can't help me, I hang up and call again and get somebody different. Doesn't matter what company it is, there is always someone that will make you bang your head against a wall.

Stay clear of Origin! Good grief. I'm in tech support AGAIN trying to get my product key this time. The Origin client claims the game is still unreleased, and while they charged my card they have no record of my purchase. You know, the one that shows as unreleased in my client under games I own.

But hey, happy launch day!

Kanyli please check your PMs.

I just got done installing the game and about to log in, time to see how fun this is :D

Glad you had better luck than me Jedd. I had a similar concern with TOR, and they were not so nice. The forums have some lengthy threads of people going through the exact same experience, and a few horror stories far worse than mine. I did finally get my code from them, and I downloaded the client last week through Bioware. Now I'm happily slaying Imperials across the warzones.

As a tip - when you train abilities, check both tabs for your class and your specialization. I wondered why I didn't get an upgrade for my heal in ten levels...(and why the flashpoints were so tough!).

Don't check the other tabs, its better to play in hard mode.

I love how everything is server based and there are no cross server pvp queues or looking for dungeon finders like in wow... I feel like the entire server's PVP population knows my name and my little group of RL friends have become champion Huttball players. We actually call plays and run them, and win most games 6-0.

I also am building a reputation as a tank and i love how just like in old Everquest your name and reputation mean something!

I hope bioware never goes the route WoW did. This game is such a breath of fresh air!

It's funny listening to the comparisons to WoW (not you Jedd). I'm feeling old. It used to be everything was compared to Ultima or EQ. Although I did run into an old school friend from Cazic Thule the other day on my server.

Hit 25 and finally can use a vehicle. Which is good, because I'm broke and can't afford a taxi.

I hate LFR/LFD queuing and hope it never becomes a reality either.

Its funny, we were just talking about that last night. There are two things that really took a lot of the community and excitement out of the MMO experience.

One is the Looking for Group features that automatically match you up with people so you never have to communicate. Jedd hit on the cross realm BGs in this or a different thread too.

The other is instancing. Going into Sebilis and seeing other groups, actively competing against other groups, etc. was a lot more interesting than having your own little bubble to play in. Giant World PVP battles always are a lot more memorable than the sterile arena or battleground fights. I appreciate why instancing exists, and we'll likely never see it disappear, but it really has taken the massively multiplayer out of the MMORPG. Especially when it comes to raiding. Racing other guilds and competing against each other for kills was far more exciting than seeing who can play Don't-Stand-In-The-Fire 2 hours faster than the other guilds.

EQ2, WoW, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Rift, SW:ToR - they all seem to be following that same mold with only Eve really willing to be something different. Would be nice to see more variety in the genre as it continues to blossom.

That being said, SW:ToR only having one of those is certainly a plus.

On the other hand, for more casual players like myself, things like instancing allow me to do more with my limited play time.

The original format in EQ forced a lot of community. I met a number of long time friends sitting in the rest area in Blackburrow mediating up, for example. The time sinks that we all hated were what encouraged community, which I believe was stated back in "The Vision." EVE is the only game that comes close, since there's not much else to do while traveling gate to gate.