If you ever visit the Official Swtor Forums, you know that there are many, many discussions going on relating to what is known and what is still unknown in relation to the game. We all see these posts and probably even read some of the pages to see what everyone is talking about. One that I find interesting is a discussion on the General Forums talking about The Appearance Tab.

What this post, started by member Horeon, is about is whether or not there will be a system in place similar to the Outfit system currently used in Lotro and other games. This post deals mostly in how it works in relation to the PVP system in the game. Here is the original post:

Question: With the appearance tab we have two groups of players: Those who are well informed about the enemy’s weaknesses and those who are practically going blind. How will the a-tab manage to overcome such a serious and very important PvP issue?

For a person to “gimp” himself by using the a-tab system (keep it on during pvp), it means he will be able to see the a-tabs of ALL the players he encounters in his screen.

If the opposing team does not use a-tabs (which means have the a-tab off and thus see their opponents’ actual gear), then they will -by default- show their actual gear.

So in this case you have:

A-team: uses a-tab, sees all players’ a-tabs of those who have a-tabs on
B-team: doesn’t use a-tab, sees everyone’s actual gear and at the same time they show their actual gear.

This means that even though A-team chooses to see their opponents in the “wrong” gear, the opponents simply cannot be wearing it, unless they, too, choose to see their opponents “wrong gear”. Through this, it is impossible to hide your own gear, without hiding that of others. This completely solves the presented PvP “issue” of recognition and gear-identification.

I would love to see an appearance mechanic worked into Swtor. Just for those times you want to pull a Princess Leia and make everyone think you are a Bounty Hunter looking to claim a reward for the mark on a certain Wookie. It goes with the Universe. Not everyone is who you think they are or what they appear.

In regards to the forum post, most of the discussion is about its implementation in a PVP setting. In PVP, if using this system, how do you tell what class you are going up against to prepare yourself for the fight? Couldn’t the system be abused by some to give the false impression of being a certain class but in fact be another, thus trying to initially tip the outcome of the fight in their favor? sure it could and would most definitely.

This isn’t another character sheet to give you more gear options or anything like that. It is a feature that would let you keep the cosmetic look of gear that you find appealing on your character, while still being able to use better gear for stats and other features that outweigh the look of what you are showing everyone else.

Personally, even though I highly approve of the system itself, I don’t think it should ever be allowed in a PVP setting just because of those that would go out of their way to abuse it for their gain. For a game of this setting though, I think there should be something in place in case you want to look like how you want AND still PVP at the same time.

I’d like something to to make it so that you see your appearance look on your screen, but others could see you in the natural state of what your class is and what you are really wearing/equipped with. Exactly what is also stated in the thread:

We don’t want to look unique – we simply want to decide how we look.

We don’t want to appear with sexy sleeveless shirts while in fact we are wearing massive armor – we want limitations based on class.

We don’t want to enforce the appearance tab – we want everyone to be happy, so if you don’t like them, there should be a toggle available.

We don’t want people posting in this thread without reading the entire OP.

I think most people agree that an appearance tab on the Character Sheet would add massively to what already looks to be a huge game as is. Add another Appearance Tab to the Companion, and you would truly have something. Find the way to have it in PVP without it giving advantage to either side and I think you have a winner.

Forum Friday is a new weekly posting regarding the posts from the Official Swtor Forums. If you find a post you find interesting and would like to see it discussed here, then Contact Swtor Life with your idea.

Tags: Forum Friday

I do tend to be kind of random on my thoughts when it comes to TOR, and again this post will be well removed from my last.

This time I would like to air my thoughts on the music, and how it will effect us in game.

Well before I get into it, I’ll share with you how this random thought got hold of me.

While playing  Rift and listening to the latest PodCasts, and also chatting with guild members in vent. I had to switch to another channel, as I did not want to miss something that may be important. Now, this is not a first for me by any means, but this small act, coupled with the fact my game music was turned way down, it kind of just hangs there in the background so i can notice if I’m getting blindsided in PvP.

This, believe it or not, is just a small glimpse into my random thought process, when it comes to things related to TOR. Continue Reading »

So recently I, like many others, purchased the Deceived novel by Paul S. Kemp. Mainly I did this to read more on the Deceived trailer and some of the back story into that trailer, as well as the game  while waiting on the actual game to come out. While getting into both the novel and the trailer, I started thinking on each character as a class in the upcoming MMO. This led to some interesting thoughts on game-play and of course thoughts on the only Bounty Hunter in both.

First, let’s talk about the Bounty Hunter Shae Vizla. In the trailer, you get a glimpse of Shae watching Darth Malgus as he approaches the temple,  in which she then  jetpacks up the temple and enters through what appears to be a ventilation shaft. She then appears to kill off two guards as she enters the inside of the temple itself. We lose track of her there and then later reconnect when she pops in the main temple hall to blast some guards that are coming to join the fight. Aside from a flamethrower attack, this pretty much concludes our over-whelming joy of seeing the Bounty Hunter in action.

In the novel, our glimpse into Shae isn’t so greatly portrayed. The events pretty much play out the same as the trailer but in a much less diminished role. this isn’t to downplay the Bounty Hunter or Shae’s role, but more of the need to tell the larger story than focus on one character who plays a small part in a larger story. So what to take from both the trailer and the novel? What could be possibly gleamed from what we see and what we read to maybe give us thought on what may be possible in the actual Swtor game once it is released?

Let me start by saying that everything I say now is purely conjecture on my part, but what I hope may be partially true as it relates to Bounty Hunter game-play. Let’s start this with the fact that the Bounty Hunter is able to infiltrate into a major building that is full of guards and Jedi. All of this undetected. Now, while not expecting to do this in game, I do think we may play a bigger part in how we bring abilities that let groups by-pass secured areas of a Flashpoint or other areas of the game. We have all seen the Bounty Hunter trailer where the door explodes and the Bounty Hunter comes barging in with guns blazing. Imaging that door with no Bounty Hunter? What does a group have to do then to get the door open? Slice a console somewhere else in the area? Find an NPC to get the code to open it? Who knows, but blowing the door might have saved some time.

The Flamethrower and Gauntlet Missiles have pretty much been verified through the class trailer as is. In both the class trailer and Deceived trailer, these abilities are used in conjunction with large groups, so we have our AOE abilities. Throw in some blaster shots and we have standard game mechanics we pretty much know will be our standard fare. The one I think might be a surprise if it plays out would be something along the lines of Infiltration.

Shae achieves this through getting into the temple without setting off alarms or getting caught. Bounty Hunters are known to use a number of tricks to reach their marks the easiest way possible. So maybe this is something we can look forward to? I am not talking about stealth and creeping around in broad daylight 2 feet from an NPC and never being seen. More like a distraction technique that could be used to divert attention or lower the aggro range of NPC’s so that you can sneak around without getting caught. It is a fun thought on what could be an interesting mechanic if it is actually in the game as such.

We won’t really know if I am close to something or way off target until later once we all get into the game, but it’s fun to sit and think about things like this while we wait.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that BorukBH has decided to join forces with SWTOR Life. You probably know him through his articles that he writes at http://bountyup.wordpress.com/, which he will continue to write at his new web-home – SWTOR Life. He will be a great addition to the site and make this an even greater resource to all fans of the Old Republic. I am really honored and humbled that he chose to join our little band of galactic misfits. You will be able to access his section of the site through the menu tab above just as soon as we finish setting everything up.

BorukBH is 37 year old father of 3, and married. Full time Audiovisual Coordinator for a major retail company who fills those voids in a hectic daily schedule with a joy of MMO’s.

Welcome aboard!

The Escapist Magazine website is holding a very interesting competition throughout all of March. They pit best known game developers against each other and let their visitors and fans vote for their favorites. Each vote also grants you a chance to win one of the prizes they have.

We are now at semi finals stage and only 4 remain in the running for the title of the “Best Developer”. Among such heavyweights such as Blizzard, Bioware and Valve, “indie” developer of the popular online game Minecraft managed to get into the final four.

The biggest fight is certainly happening in the matchup between Blizzard and Bioware. Being competitors in the MMORPG genre, it will be interesting to see how much support can they muster from their fans in this competition.

I like how they made it very easy to vote, because you can use your Facebook login to login to Escapist Magazine website and place your vote. Also, if you have a Twitter account, you can connect it to the voting application and when you tweet your vote you also get another entry into the prize drawing.

We invite all fans of Bioware games and Star Wars the Old Republic to help Bioware defeat the behemoth that is Blizzard so we can finally have a new king. Vote Team Bioware!

Something I have been wondering about for quite some time is the level of item one can expect to craft after a “crafting crit” takes place during item creation.  Will the created item be on par with raid loot drops, PVP drops, or other drops or rewards from missions?
Read on!

Continue Reading »

Tags: armstech, Artifice, beta, biochemist, bioware, companions, crafting, crafting critical, crew skills, crit, gameplay, Gathering, image, mission skills, PAX EAST, speculation, star wars, star wars the old republic mmo, swtor, treasure hunting

Over at Random House.com they have released the cover art and short synopsis of the authors plus, have given a sale date for us in the United States, thanks to Matthias I have recently learned that the German version is already for sale on sites such as Amazon.com.

The book “The Complete Vader”  is written by Ryder Windham and Peter Vilmur and is a book about the cultural impact Darth Vader has had on our society.  I for one look forward to reading this as the Anakin/Vader story is my favorite plot line of the whole Star Wars universe!

Synopsis

Star Wars: The Complete Vader is the definitive book on the history, myth, and cultural impact of Darth Vader. From his early development in the first Star Wars film by George Lucas, to the new legends created in comics, videogames, and novels, to his ongoing appearances on everything from television commercials to bedspreads, Vader presents a complete view in all his incarnations as the Dark Lord of the Sith. Going beyond the films to cover his further adventures in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the book combines new insight with exclusive interviews and photographs from the Lucasfilm Archives. Interactive reproductions of rare memorabilia fire the imagination, while pages packed with never-seen-before images explore the world’s endless fascination with the notorious Darth Vader.

It will be a hardback, have 192 pages and goes on sale for $60.00 on October the 18th in the USA.

Don’t forget to get yours, I know I will be getting mine.

🙂

Tags: darth vader, gamescom, random house, star wars the old republic mmo, swtor

As part of this Friday Update we get a surprising new feature. It is a video showing progression of a class from the very beginning with some early combat, through advanced class branching and finally we realize that the character is capable of awe inspiring feats as it reaches its full potential. The honor to be featured this way goes to the Jedi Knight (according to some sources the most popular class among game testers). It was very fun to see how the Jedi Knight goes from practice sword to light saber and how armor looks better and better as the character gains more experience. Also, I must say I am amazed by how epic both advanced classes feel and look with their final armors. You can check out the official Friday update page here or watch the video bellow:

Tags: armor, friday update, jedi knight

SWTOR Life is proud to present another addition to the site that we hope all Old Republic fans will appreciate. It is a page that will keep track of all the posts Bioware developers and staff are making on the official forums. There is a version of this found on the official site (link), but we weren’t satisfied with the features it has, nor the functionality. We present you a version that has instant search (it’s more of a filter applied to all posts) of all dev posts integrated so you can search for posts only by one of the developers or a keyword. You can also sort all the dev posts by the person that posted, forum it was posted in or date. We plan on adding more features to the page, like adding Twitter posts to the mix, and we hope to bring them very soon. It is still in a sort of a beta state so please report any problems you might have with it.

Tags: developer, forum, search, sort, tracker

All of us have played single player games at some point, and in games produced by BioWare, we all know how choice matters to your overall playing experience.

This is all well and good in that single player game, but how does this effect us in the MMO space. Not having to think past the end boss in these games, is something we’ll be very weary of in the MMO world. After this end boss (1-max in an mmo), some will say, that the real game begins.

Lets say that you know a little about TOR, and that you have not just clicked on a random page on the interwebs. You will all know that SWTOR will have story driving it forward. This is the major difference along with the Voice Over (VO) that sets TOR above all those other games out there.

Now, I am not going to suggest that story is a bad thing, and I’ll say right now, that “I, MrWarlock, do say that TOR will be the best playing experience from start to max level” and you can quote me on that.

Click here to read the rest of the article.