3441

If I still got to participate in the dialog by making choices, it’d still be engaging, if a bit less so. The choices and participation in dialog are the real revelations as far as I’m concerned, not the voice acting.

3442

The little box in the upper right hand corner of the ability indicates whether the ability is toggled to auto-cast (green means it’s on). You can right click on it to turn it on or off.

3443

Yeah, I think you’re right. Good voice acting definitely embiggens the smallest side quest. It’s not really that the writing is so good, it’s just that the conversations are more engaging than a page of text. WoW has some really well written quests but after playing TOR for a weekend I’d love to see what Blizzard would be able to do with Bioware’s voice acting and facial expressions. Imagine the quest line in Icecrown where Tyrion sends you all over the world (and Outland) to try and help the paladin hero who is dying of the plague but with good voice acting. omg. But, given the little bit of voice acting we do get in WoW they probably made the right choice. VO just isn’t their thing.

3444

Agree with this. I think the voice acting helps establish the characters you’re talking to as actual characters and not just quest giving buttons, but it’s the choices that make it really work. I find myself speed reading the dialogue and skipping the voice acting a lot, but I still like that I know what the person is supposed to sound like.

3445

And that’s the last we’ll hear from Foxstab on this game, I’m sure!

3446

Voice acting for me adds much to the leveling and story…even WoW has an option that allows you to just have the text flash in a single blurb as opposed to the scrolling reveal that is the default- going one step further in the “leveling to the cap is a mere chore to get to the real game” mentality.

After years of that, I am looking forward to a real story for each character. I have a feeling that in 2 years I will want an option to skip it all but for now, I think this is a great idea.

3447

He’s definitely not the type to stick around and beat a dead horse.

3448

Well, it’s a game that looks and plays like it was made in 2005. Which would’ve been great, back in 2005.
After playing KOTOR, certainly, the notion of having online KOTOR was strong.
But this is pretty much the entrance for 2012. And yet the entire game seems outdated.
IIRC it’s been in development for nearly a decade now?
So, yeah. There’s the graphics element. As much as I’m anti-eyecandy, it’s still there.
Jedi Outcast/Academy had better graphics than KOTOR, I reckon. But it appears as though the SWTOR renderer hasn’t changed at all since KOTOR days.
And nowadays…well, I’d expect something better.
It’s not like this is M&B Warband. This is a Bioware project. Now an EA project. With a boatload of money invested onto it. There are no excuses for shortcomings, especially after how overly hyped it has been. The margin room for errors is nigh zero.

And yet, it all feels so dated.
From the lame “generic mobs to gank outdoors” to “can only loot this dude with the giant ass blue beacon flowing skywards out of his chest” to “generic loot that actually tells you it’s shit and is only good for game currency conversion” to “going inside some house and having goods on the table that have no interaction for you” to “in general only being able to interact with few specific items out of the entire environment” so on.
From top to bottom, start to finish, it seemed the long-drawn intros that we’ve all seen in the trailers are the best portion the game has to offer.
Seriously, circle-chat widgets? Is this game also being marketed on consoles? Maybe it is, I really have no clue.
At best, I’d say this game is on level with Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst. That’s kind of what it reminded me of with the experience. It appears to have nothing at all to offer.
Certainly, this is harsh and misguided judgement to make from a hour or a half of playing a MMO…but it felt so under-delivering and so dated and…‘conventional’ that it was simply dumbfounded.

3449

discussing quest

If this is the quest where you are grabbing the parcel from the senator’s courier droid, I am guessing it is because even though they had good intentions they are still trying to subvert the democratic process of the Republic. I was surprised the 1st time I did it as a Jedi and didn’t double cross the original quest giver and got dark side points. When I was playing a smuggler last night, I did it and agreed to give them the other data and got light points. There have been a few cases where I have been surprised by the awarding of force points.

I enjoyed playing the beta this weekend, and logged around 23 hours between Saturday and Sunday. I played a Jedi Knight to level 13, a Sith Inquisitor to level 7, and a Smuggler to level 12.

3450

Dang it, had a nice post that the database errors ate. tl;dr version: I like the voice work, it adds to my enjoyment of the game, and I’m surprised this is so, as I was very skeptical of this working. OTOH, I have yet to figure out exactly how to balance TeamSpeak and guild conversations over voice with the cacophony that is SW:TOR, with all the voices, sound effects, and music. I turn down a lot of that, but I do want to hear the NPCs, especially my mentor or other key quest people. Hard to do when you’re also listening to TS.

3451

I enjoyed the beta weekend, playing both an IA and a Bounty Hunter up to 7 or so. I will definitely pick one of these two as my main when early access starts, with the intention of making a healer. A few questions for those with more extensive experience:

  • Any comments on the healing styles of the various classes? I am sure the overall balance will move to and fro, but the basic gameplay style should remain consistent

  • Do the light/ darkside choices have gameplay effects, or is it just aesthetics? Will going darkside eventually make me look like a scarred-up zombie, as in some KOTOR titles? Is there any benefit to staying neutral?

So far, this game looks good enough to suck a bunch of hours from my life next year :)

3452

I’ve heard, though I can’t confirm, that going Dark side will eventually give you the trademarked “evil Sith bastard” cracked skin look. There are vendors, too, that sell stuff that requires a certain Light or Dark score to equip.

3453

I’m fairly certain light/darkside points only effect your title and you ability to wear certain armor sets.

3454

Certain equipment requires a given alignment tier, and it changes the way you look as well, though only if you go dark side from what I understand.

3455

I do think the story so far (I got up to about the point you get your ship with both Jedi Consular and Sith Warrior) seems a little by the numbers Bioware standard, but there were a few things that caught me by surprise. An incident on the engineering deck during the Esseles flashpoint (the first one you can get on the Republic fleet) that left me with my mouth open looking at our rather ruthless Smuggler is the major one that comes to mind…

I do wish there was more of a reward for taking a “grey” path though. I tried to play a principled but patriotic Sith Warrior and I definitely got the feeling I was going to get screwed for not just being a sadistic asshole or a goody two shoes. I wish it was more like Mass Effect, where I could feel safe going with what felt right for the character, rather than what would actually be light/dark side.

Also, the game needs interrupts. That was the best new thing in Mass Effect 2. Maybe have them get offered to one character at random based on their light side/dark side score or something. I definitely felt like drawing my lightsaber and doing SOMETHING to my Smuggler friend at a few points, with her sometimes-frustrating demeanor. :)

3456

I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of visual aspect to it, because there’s an option to display your visible Sith corruption in Preferences.

3457

Speaking of the awarding of Light/Dark side points, there was one JK quest on Typhon that awarded Light points for something that seemed crappy. The quest had to do with two Padawans that had fallen in love:

Quest Spoilers

[spoiler]You’re tasked with finding out if they truly are romantically attached. Of course they are. They attempt to bribe you into lying to the Jedi Order about their relationship in exchange for a lightsaber crystal. Accepting that deal and lying to the Jedi gives you Dark Side points. Telling the truth to the Jedi and getting the Padawans drummed out of the Order because they are in love gives you Light Side points.

I understand getting Dark Side points for lying, but it sucks that by being a rat and getting two people kicked out for loving each other is somehow a Light Side option. It’s also weird knowing that Shateele Shan and head of the Jedi Order, is a direct descendant of Bastila Shan, a Jedi that married Revan after the events of KOTOR. You’d think the Order would’ve changed its stance since then. Either way, I wish I could’ve at least taken a neutral path by not exposing the lovers, but also not lying to the Jedi. Hell, in my mind lying to the Jedi should give Light Side points.[/spoiler]

3458

Yep, I definitely agree. I don’t agree with the way light side/dark side options are arranged at points in there. There really needs to be a neutral option for some of those things.

3459

There is no emotion, Steve. There is peace.

3460

I also hope there is a way to go some other way in the Sith and Republic paths – for the Sith, to believe that the Empire needs to reform from something completely sadistic and self-devouring (the Revanite storyline was interesting, but I’m curious if it will pop up again after the one series of missions on Dormund Kass), and for the Jedi, at least, to believe they can’t be aloof forever (which could also be described as Revanite, come to think of it!). Because my character was definitely becoming very uncomfortable with the choices she was having to face…