SWTOR

[Sjofn]

Yeah my Sith Warrior is already slated to be a dude. Alistair's voice actor is really good, dammit.

[Ingmar]

The ones I know for sure (and some credible rumors) and prior Bioware roles:

Sith Warrior
Male - Steve Valentine (Alistair)
Female - the rumor is Claudia Black (Morrigan), I don't think this is confirmed

Sith Inquisitor
Male -
Female -

Bounty Hunter
Male - Steve Blum (Oghren, etc)
Female -

Imperial Agent
Male - Not 100% sure but I believe this is Jamie Glover (couple random voices in DA:O, and The Architect in Awakenings)
Female - Jo Wyatt (She-Hawke)

Jedi Knight
Male - David Hayter (no prior Bioware roles AFAIK but he is Solid Snake in most (all?) of the MGS games)
Female - Kari Walgren (some random side-voices in DA:O but she's been in a billion other things)

Jedi Consular
Male - Nolan North (random voices in DA:O but he's Drake in Uncharted)
Female -

Smuggler
Male -
Female - Ali Hillis (Liara) - only like 90% on this one

Trooper
Male - Brian Bloom (Varric)
Female - Jennifer Hale (Bastila, FemShep, Mazzy from BG2, Dynaheir in BG1, etc etc etc)

There are a bunch of rumors for the ones I left blank too but it was hard to pin anything down. Man Hawke is floating around as a rumor for the Sith Inquisitor, though.

[Merusk]

Now that you mention Blum did Oghren I can totally hear it in my head, but I never noticed it before.  Heh.

[koro]

I'm pretty sure the female Smuggler is Kath Soucie.

[Miasma]

I was going to go Imperial Agent but if varric is a sith hmmmm.

[Fordel]

I was going to go Imperial Agent but if varric is a sith hmmmm.

Troopers are a Republic Class.

[Rasix]

Pretty sure that the female Bounty Hunter is Jack from ME2.

[eldaec]

Nerf trooper VO!

[tmp]

Male Sith Warrior is Alistair actually.

It's kinda like having the elf rapist son of an arl from DAO voice male Hawke in DA2, just in reverse. Can't wrap mind around it at all 

(did make the DA2 playthrough more amusing, tho)

[Sky]

Blum totally cemented my choice for Powertech at launch...not that I was wavering in that too much. Wooolverine!

[Ingmar]

He was Spike in Cowboy Bebop right? Big stretch playing a bounty hunter.

[Merusk]

He was Spike in Cowboy Bebop right? Big stretch playing a bounty hunter.

Yes.. he's been lots of voices.
 Spike, Roger Smith, Mugen, Dark Scream, Fortress Maximus, Wolverine, Duke, Roadblock, Wild Bill, Ripcord, Zartan, TOM from Toonami.

And that's before you get to the video game stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Blum

[Kirth]

Class/Role philosiphy:

http://www.swtor.com/fr/community/showthread.php?p=9655283#edit9655283
edit, he re-posted it in English:

Hey guys,

Because the Dev Tracker is a bit wonky again and doesn't show my post, and because translating my English post to German and then back to English isn't producing the most reliable results (Oh god, they did what???), here's the Class Design Philosophy post again, in original source:

"Just to chime in about our class design philosophy here. We've explained this a number of times already during development, but now that we've been running large scale testing for a while and have solidified a lot of the design, I think it's time to explain what we're doing and why.

In regards to class roles, we do things differently than some other games which people might be used to. That creates some anxiety and questions, so let me explain.

Of Class, Advanced Class, Roles.

Unlike other games where you pick a class and that defines your role, class in Star Wars: The Old Republic defines your overall story, your possible roles and your visual style / gameplay style (e.g. Force user vs. Tech user).

Due to the nature of the Advanced Class system, every character starts out in a DPS role at the start of the game, and they're about equally good at it.

By the time you reach level 10, you get to make your choice for Advanced Class, which narrows down which roles you could play, and yes, some Advanced Classes (Gunslinger / Sniper / Marauder / Sentinel) only have damage type roles available, while other Advanced Classes have access to two roles (e.g damage or healing).

What actually defines your role in our game, in terms of traditional MMO gaming, is how you distribute points in your skill trees. Specialize in the 'Combat Medic' tree and become a healer, specialize in the 'Vengeance tree' and become a DPS character.

By spending that first skill point at level 10, you start developing your character into whatever role you want them to play in the long term. Since it's your skill choices that define your role, it is a gradual process. You don't become a healer at level 10 or 11, you're growing into becoming a healer over many levels.

Our content is designed around that. The first Flashpoint assumes the group has only DPS roles. Even if you bring a healer, he'll have only a single heal available at that level as he has just begun his journey into his role, so there isn't too much of a spread in balance.

Over time, the game becomes more firm in the roles it requires for content like Flashpoints, but additional tools like companions still make it more flexible than many other MMOs in regards to what group mix can run group content.

That progression is quite different from how your characters work in other games, and we've certainly seen our share of people being surprised by it in testing ("I just took the Sage Advanced Class, but I don't feel like I'm a great healer").

Hybrids

Ultimately we don't do hybrid roles. You can do them (by mixing different skill trees), but by design, all our classes are meant to be fully capable in the roles they fill. The 'hybrid' tax would be the fact that you won't be able to get the top tier talents in one skill tree if you spread yourself too thin into others.

At high level, all roles have the same capabilities, in our game all healers are 'main healers' provided they are specced accordingly, etc.

Common Questions

So, what's the point of playing an AC that has only DPS options available?

That is a question you have to answer for yourself.

In a traditional fantasy MMO, if you play a thief or a wizard, you're locked to one role as well, so it's the added role flexibility that SWTOR brings to the table that is giving you second thoughts. I would look at it like this:

If you really like the flexibility of non DPS roles and feel comfortable with taking on other roles, you might want to play an AC that has that option available.
If you know you only enjoy DPS roles in a game (and based on our research, a sizable faction of players falls under that umbrella), a DPS only AC means you will get a three different styles of dps gameplay to select from.

So why do we do this? Why not go for a 'this Advanced Class only can DPS and therefore they are the best at it' approach?

Because we want people to pick the class they want to play and reduce the likelihood of them getting told 'sorry, can't participate in this group because we want only the best DPS in game - that is a Gunslinger'.
Likewise, we don't want the fact that a specific tank or healer AC is not available at a time from becoming a stopping point for getting on with your group content.

The truth is, not everyone is comfortable playing every role and shouldn't be expected to.

Players, as they get more familiar with the game, will no doubt find interesting ways of proving the superiority of a specific specialization in a specific situation, that's expected. With different gameplay styles and utility come different strength and weaknesses.

Should things outside our comfort zone be discovered in testing or after launch (e.g. Operations ending up requiring that one specific healer AC because they are deemed 'the absolute best and a must'), we will adjust the game accordingly. We want player skill to be deciding factor in your choices, not which class they picked hundreds of hours ago. That's pretty standard for MMOs.

TL;DR

Q: 'Why would I play a DPS only Advanced Class if I can play an Advanced Class that can respec to fill other roles?' A: If that is your main concern, you shouldn't play that Advanced Class, because you are going to be unhappy about the fact that you cannot switch roles.

Q: Since I can only fill a DPS role, I should do the absolute best damage in the game! A: Not in SWTOR. We give you get more variety in your DPS gameplay. We maintain balance between all ACs that can fill a role.

Q: What ever happened to being 5% better thing for pure DPS classes? A: Given class utility and other considerations of why you might want to have someone in your group, 5% is not considered 'significant' for the purpose of this conversation.

I hope this clears things up a bit. I'm sure there'll be plenty of different and, of course, dissenting opinions on this topic, but at least everyone will be on the same page as what our design goals are in this situation and how we approach balancing classes."

Georg "Observer" Zoeller Principal Lead Combat Designer

[luckton]

So when it comes to DPS, every class is the same, they just have different skins and weapon models.

I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing...I think if that's the way they're gonna go, every class should be a hybrid then.  At least then you can tank or heal if the spot is needed.

[Kirth]

I agree, if the choice is really what story you want to play then the 3 diku roles should be at least accessible for each advanced class in some limited way or another. Given 4 person group sizes and the assumption that every high level group needs a tank/healer your looking a 50% split for dps and with a "a sizable faction of players" wanting to play dps I see alot of problems late game.

[Murgos]

So when it comes to DPS, every class is the same, they just have different skins and weapon models.

I don't think that's what he said.

There are four pure DPS AC's, two on each side.

Melee DPS (Marauder/Sentinel) and ranged DPS (Gunslinger/Sniper), how is that, "Every class is the same?"

[eldaec]

Is it just me, or does almost nothing in that wall of text make any sense without multi-specs.

In a traditional fantasy MMO, if you play a thief or a wizard, you're locked to one role as well, so it's the added role flexibility that SWTOR brings to the table that is giving you second thoughts. I would look at it like this:

If you really like the flexibility of non DPS roles and feel comfortable with taking on other roles, you might want to play an AC that has that option available.
If you know you only enjoy DPS roles in a game (and based on our research, a sizable faction of players falls under that umbrella), a DPS only AC means you will get a three different styles of dps gameplay to select from.

Because we want people to pick the class they want to play and reduce the likelihood of them getting told 'sorry, can't participate in this group because we want only the best DPS in game - that is a Gunslinger'.
Likewise, we don't want the fact that a specific tank or healer AC is not available at a time from becoming a stopping point for getting on with your group content.

Q: 'Why would I play a DPS only Advanced Class if I can play an Advanced Class that can respec to fill other roles?' A: If that is your main concern, you shouldn't play that Advanced Class, because you are going to be unhappy about the fact that you cannot switch roles.

I'm probably missing something obvious, but if your group is sat outside a dungeon cockblocked while looking-for-healer, how does it help to know you could have been a really good healer if you had specced for it two months ago.

Or did they put multispeccing in and I missed it?

[Kirth]

I think they said yes for specs within your advanced class, no for advanced class switching. But they have designed themselves into a corner there, and if they offer advanced class switching it will be very awkward, but hey Alts. 

[eldaec]

Yes for respecs, ie. permanent reconfiguration of points triggered by paying a cost or completing some bullshit.

AFAIK it is still no for multispecs, ie. having 2 or more specs you have defined and which you can switch freely between in an appropriate non-combat location.

[tazelbain]

Makes me think how awesome GW2 class design is.

[koro]

"So, what's the point of playing an AC that has only DPS options available?

That is a question you have to answer for yourself."

(the real answer is that Georg doesn't want to admit that the only reason at all to play a Gunslinger/Sniper/Sentinel/Marauder is the pure Rule of Cool choice of Dual Wield/Sniper Fetishism/Dual Wield/Dual Wield)

[luckton]

"So, what's the point of playing an AC that has only DPS options available?

That is a question you have to answer for yourself."

(the real answer is that Georg doesn't want to admit that the only reason at all to play a Gunslinger/Sniper/Sentinel/Marauder is the pure Rule of Cool choice of Dual Wield/Sniper Fetishism/Dual Wield/Dual Wield)

I commend them for sticking to their RP guns and saying that story and style > numbers and mechanics, but this stance of that every DPSer, be it a dedicated class or a hybrid speced for DPS, will be the same will backfire, IMO.  The only people that will play the dedicated roles will be those people wanting to play for the story and lore.  The hardcore raiders and guilds won't have them, and just tell everyone to roll hybrids so they can flesh out their raid nights better.

[koro]

In fact, a commenter in the original Reddit thread articulated my point better than I did:

[Montague]

"So, what's the point of playing an AC that has only DPS options available?

That is a question you have to answer for yourself."

(the real answer is that Georg doesn't want to admit that the only reason at all to play a Gunslinger/Sniper/Sentinel/Marauder is the pure Rule of Cool choice of Dual Wield/Sniper Fetishism/Dual Wield/Dual Wield)

I commend them for sticking to their RP guns and saying that story and style > numbers and mechanics, but this stance of that every DPSer, be it a dedicated class or a hybrid speced for DPS, will be the same will backfire, IMO.  The only people that will play the
dedicated roles will be those people wanting to play for the story and lore.  The hardcore raiders and guilds won't have them, and just tell
 everyone to roll hybrids so they can flesh out their raid nights better.

Is that really all that important to truly hardcore guilds though? I would think they'd rather recruit a geared and experienced Tank than
have to gear up a perfectly good DPSer to now tank(who probably doesn't want to in the first place).

[eldaec]

ITT, f13 posters unironically claim not enough people will choose to play DPS classes.

Given that content is anyway shared at a base level, does this even matter?

One spec or another was always going suck anyway.

[Merusk]

As always people making the anti-hybrid stance in those threads are assuming the class can do everything all at once.  It's still funny.

"Well the gunslinger can toss heals if needed"  

No.. because they'd be heal spec and tossing heals all the time rather than DPS spec.   Does your Ret Paladin jump in to heal when one of the priests dies? No.

It also assumes that the 'pure dps' ACs have no utility at all.  That was WoW's problem and they worked to fix it.  

Or, as Montague points out, that you're going to bother gearing one person for two roles.  Or that said person wants to play either role.  There's an assload of DKs, Paladins, Warriors and Druids in WoW yet still a shortage of tanks because nobody wants to play the damn role.

[eldaec]

Also, the "all tanks/healers/control/dps" are equal meme is transparent bullshit, they are never equal unless they are the same. So I really wouldn't worry.

[eldaec]

Regarding utility, looks like they've shared control across all 8 classes. Sniper emgineering, marauder rage etc. DPS dudes seem to have as much utility as anyone else.

Except they probably didn't spec for it because swtor us almost as retarded as SWG in rewarding monoline speccing.

[Nebu]

Also, the "all tanks/healers/control/dps" are equal meme is transparent bullshit, they are never equal unless they are the same. So I really wouldn't worry.

I have to bet that someone already has a dps spreadsheet for the classes and can tell you the exact class/build/weapon that will produce the maximum dps.   Hardcore guilds will tell their players what class to play, what build to make, and what role to fill based on spreadsheets from beta or shortly after release.  The classes that aren't on the hardcore lists will fill the forums with whines. 

Same as it ever was. 

[Mrbloodworth]

I'm not sure I give a crap. I'm playing because its Star wars, and the story stuff looks cool. Number crunching, like with most games for me, will just kill my fun. Its likely not even necessary, I don't believe this game is designed like games of old.

[tmp]

Moving onto more important subject, is there wide enough selection of Twilek /dance emotes?

[koro]

Moving onto more important subject, is there wide enough selection of Twilek /dance emotes?

Nope.

[Draegan]

People are forgetting that some of the pure dps specs have lightsabers.


Lightsabers.

[Sjofn]

Whatever, I shoot first, motherfuckers!



wtb game pst

[eldaec]

Too many of them though.

No truly badass jedi in the history of star wars has been a regular user of more than one single sided lightsabre.