This is not just an opinion but a known fact, the best loot in-game should come from large group content END.
I could leave the statement like that and move on. But this is not my way, I will list pros and cons from both sides of the fence and push my hopes forward in the what I see as a better way forward for MMO’s on the whole.
What we know now, and I will stress to leave out as much WOW references as possible. for in my eye’s WOW broke the loot-tread-mill system to no end.
“Clears throat”
So what tends to happen in MMO’s atm is that the highest loot possible comes from end-game large raids.
You and your fellow gamers will run the same instance time and time again. With a small chance to drop your class specific items and you then you have a chance to roll on that very item. These are the best items you can find in-game and the only way to acquire them, is in those larger raid groups.
Community surrounding The Old Republic keeps growing and we have reached a huge number of sites and different projects that devote themselves to following SWTOR. I think I’ve seen Tor Syndicate, a gathering of most TOR sites/guilds out there, reach 80 members the other day and it still keeps rising. It is nigh impossible to follow them all. It is even hard to keep track of the good ones in the crowd. That is why I wanted to try and present the ones that caught my eye this week to our visitors. With hopes of this becoming a regular article I present you the Community Tip for the first week of June.
Red Rancor V-Casts
Red Rancor has been around for a while and they are best known for their epic videos, like the 30 minute compilation of SWTOR screenshots released in the past 2+ years. They are now doing a regular V-Cast that is getting better with each episode. The latest episode is entitled “Full Auto” and you can listen about their thoughts on the upcoming E3, their video dissection of the trooper progression video and additional news and bits that caught their eye. The show is 20 minutes long with some great video effects and well thought out segments so check it out on their site or view it bellow:
Over the last few weeks, Real Life has come at me full blast. My full time job has sped up in what I am doing and how much of my time I have to get things done. My family has has done the same as the youngest now moves as fast as a Ewok on a Speeder. Needless to say, my life is busy, very busy. So, because of all of this, I am doing as much as I can before I have to leave.
You see, I have come to realize that once Swtor releases, it comes down to the Game and Real Life. As we all are so excitedly waiting for the game, I am sure you all know what I am talking about. Once the game launches, I will go into game mode. I will get tunnel vision and see nothing but Republic and Empire, Galaxy Maps and little green people that do or do not resemble something I once new. I will become a computer chair accessory and delve into the Universe on my ship. I will envelop myself into a story and my companions story. I will craft, I will fight and probably die, but I will have fun.
So when I say I have things to do before I leave, I do. I have work to get done and try to get ahead of. I have kids to play with and a Wife that I have to get chores and projects done for. I have grass to cut and weed-eat. I have a house to paint and repair. I have windows to get fixed, floors to be cleaned and sinks to replace. I have a real life that I must devote most of my time to so that I can get things done before I leave. Because once my ship launches, I may not be back for awhile.
During this time before we all set off on our journey we are all waiting for, what are you getting done? Are you letting things pile up to interrupt your new life that is closing in on you? are you working feverishly to get caught up and maybe farther on so that you can relax for the game at launch? Will you have time to relax and soak up everything as you come across it or will you be forced to cram as much play-time into as you have other things that will pull you away? So what are you doing?
Su cuy’gar, ner vode. Ibi’tuur copaani miit’gaanar be kebi meg vut’yc par ni, bal balyc par an beroyase – Mando’ade bal val joha, Mando’a. Still with me? Fret not, for it shall all be made clear momentarily!
Class is most definitely in session...
Those of you familiar with Karen Traviss’ “Republic Commando” series may have already had some exposure to the Mandalorian language, Mando’a. Originally, I planned on merely crafting a lengthy treatise about Mando’a and its grammar, but in the end I thought this would be a great opportunity instead to speak with a member of the larger Star Wars community whom I have followed for awhile, Natasha Morea, AKA “Mandalorian Girl.” I recently had the great pleasure of sitting down with her at a dusty cantina, where she graciously allowed me to ask all manner of questions. Below is an excerpt from our conversation.
Senior Online Community Manager Stephen Reid dropped by the forums this week to discuss SWTOR servers and languages. Would it bother you if your server did have a fair number of people on it who spoke something other than your primary tongue?
Dangit, I knew I should have paid more attention in class...
My first hands on experience with The Old Republic was playing the trooper for 15 minutes at GamesCom 2010. Ever since then I have been leaning towards choosing to play this class once the game comes out. This is why today’s update, that shows us the Trooper class progressions video trailer, is very exciting (beside being totally cool and managing to hype me about the game yet again). One thing I’ve noticed is that they seem to have used the same Sith Inquisitor we’ve seen in the “Unlimited Power” Sith Inquisitor class trailer. Has Bioware decided to create a mini story through their promotional trailers? In the Inquisitor trailer we see her using stealth to overcome her enemies. We now see how this can be countered by a Trooper class. Can we expect in some future Empire class trailer to have them counter Trooper’s moves? I sure hope so, because these small “easter eggs” sure are exciting to report on.
With the hands on time in Austin it went a long way to settle many of the nagging concerns that I have about TOR. I’ve also got to the point that I no longer threat about space combat. Sure it’s not what I was hoping for, but I do not see with the utter contempt that I once used to view it with.
Though the crafting system still has me very worried. This may be due to the fact that I’m somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to crafting. I cut my teeth in Ulitima, then continued on in SWG and Eve.
Think what you will of these games, but I’m sure everyone will agree that these had and continue to have the best crafting you can still find out there atm.
TOR is heading from taking the player out of the crafting. You get to have a say at what you want then pass it on to your minions.
Many will see this as a great leap forward. Crafting after all is not for everyone. It takes real-time to gain your skills, and as such you forgo some of the other activities. You will have to cut back on raids and scale down on PvP when you want to be the best crafters.
This in turn sees many a player having to choose what they like to do more.
Continuing his streak of highly informative posts on the main SWTOR forums, Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller, voted most likely in his class to scream out “Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller Aale!” at inappropriate times, stopped by once more to enlighten us about Smugglers and their Cover mechanics.
One of our favorite forum do-gooders, Georg Zoeller, dropped by the main forums today to wish us a Happy Rapt… no, my apologies! He wanted to clear up a few things about auto-attacking, and whether or not there would be macro functionality in SWTOR at launch:
Macros are a pretty broad term for certain convenience and advanced user functions at this time. Some of those features are present as possible key binds in the game, others are not.
We’re not opposed to macros, we don’t hate them, in fact we will probably add them, but probably not for launch.
