SWTOR

[Draegan]

 

[luckton]

EA's el presidente was also on GT.TV a little while ago at the end of their broadcast today.  He says BW is aiming for a 2011 release...in the tone of "I'm the goddamn el presidente of EA.  Those bitches will release it this year or I'll kick 'em all to the curve."

[Sky]

Jawa companion 

Best companion thus far, imo.

As far as beta: if you can't say, that means you say "no", not "I can't say".

[Tannhauser]

I'm going Bounty Hunter so I get the jawa pet, er companion.  UTINNI!

[luckton]

Back on topic, the raid trailer looked cool.  At least 'getting' the raid looks interesting, as you start off on an orbiting station/ship and have to use escape pods to reach the surface.

The perimeter battle reminded me of Ulduar    Big machines going boom.

Hopefully today we'll get some more information of stuffs.

[Sky]

Can you get more than one companion or can they change class?

Companion kits seen again, this time shown as items you equip to your companion, kits unlock abilities for your companion to use on the battlefield.

Companions had access to Stasis kit, Shockwave kit, Medipac kit, Grenade Pack kit.

I know BH has the Twi'lek and Jawa so far. Some of the other class companions are sounding cool; the agent gets a female droid (or cyborg?) that hates the agent, sith warrior gets an imperial trooper Lt.

[Outlawedprod]

The comments for this video are what I expect the average pug group experience to be like in swtor.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7YhJssw5x4

I lied it will probably be 10x as bad=p

I still don't get why do companies let 3rd parties do promo vids like this before the creators themselves have released their own highly polished gameplay video with an experienced tester.  All these types of videos do is show how the combat can look on the weak side.

[sam, an eggplant]

It depends on the wording of the NDA. If the NDA specifically states "do not disseminate to anyone in any fashion that you are a part of this program" then they would be breaking NDA by saying they were a part of the program

I was in the beta. The NDA allows you to confirm you're in it, but nothing else.

[luckton]

It depends on the wording of the NDA. If the NDA specifically states "do not disseminate to anyone in any fashion that you are a part of this program" then they would be breaking NDA by saying they were a part of the program

I was in the beta. The NDA allows you to confirm you're in it, but nothing else.

Stop.  Derailing.  Thread.  With.  Stupid.

[sam, an eggplant]

Alternatively, you could eat my dick.

Edit: I heard from an active tester, the game is indeed in wider closed beta with a limited number of participants so far.

[Sky]

I still don't get why do companies let 3rd parties do promo vids like this before the creators themselves have released their own highly polished gameplay video with an experienced tester.  All these types of videos do is show how the combat can look on the weak side.

That was Bioware. The Trooper character was trying to listen to Daniel doing an interview and fielding online questions and highlight whatever he was saying at the time. It was probably also awkward because they were playing on some kind of mobile setup they were carting to different media outlets. That said, it's mmo combat. We all know what that is, who cares if the guy behind it is 1337 or not. But I do agree with your premise about the comments, I abhor mmo players who get way too uptight about playing a game.

In the full video, the only thing I found annoying was the interviewer. I wanted to punch the giggle out of him.

[luckton]

EA had an investor's meeting today.  Some notes:

-Pleased about progress
-Launching in Q2/Q3
-Top priority
-More then 75% of the MMO players are aware of TOR
-Deliver a great game
-Deliver a great service
-Deliver content
-TOR will never end
-Alot of Beta testing.
-Over 1 Million beta testers signed up
-Still under NDA testing
-1000's have tested it
-Customer service are in Beta

Nothing new 

[Cyrrex]

Q2/Q3 would seem to indicate a pre-November launch, would it not?  That can't be right.

[luckton]

Q2/Q3 would seem to indicate a pre-November launch, would it not?  That can't be right.

They're really going for the whole "Announce it's coming and then ship it 1-3 weeks later so the competition can't counter us" play. 

[Sky]

Biggest problem with that is the pre-orders. Personally, I'm ok with pre-ordering without a firm date, but not sure how that's going to go over.

[Zetor]

Q2/Q3 2012, amirite?

[luckton]

Biggest problem with that is the pre-orders. Personally, I'm ok with pre-ordering without a firm date, but not sure how that's going to go over.

I'm ok with not preordering since we live in a time where a store doesn't only gets as many copies as it gets preorders....awe, I miss those Babbage's days 

[Outlawedprod]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OslPG_kF69E  shows off the Razer keyboard.  They #2 comment made me laugh:  "I'm sorry, Bioware, I can't afford to buy your game anymore. I need to buy this keyboard instead."

[Shatter]

Naturally they are interested in making $$ ASAP but as I recall they did not count any revenue from TOR in their 2011 financials.  That essentially implies its going to be 2012.  I hope this CEO doesnt F it up and make em launch something thats not ready just to get it out this year...f'ing suits

[Nonentity]

Played this at E3 on the show floor yesterday (against my better judgement, standing in line forever, yes I am an idiot).

They showed a video introducing how you should play all the classes, where you'd be playing (level 26 Imperial charaters on Tatooine) and so on.

I didn't get to a terminal for any interesting class, so I was saddled with the Imperial Agent subclass that uses knives and stealth. I would sneak up behind someone and stab them, and then shoot them at point blank until I could stab them again. Hooray.

I could not have been a stupider looking character. I had blue skin and a black mullet, and a pair of black sunglasses with what appeared to be a retractable car antenna on it. I also had some bizarre rebreather looking thing and a tan trenchcoat. He almost crossed the line for me into looking so terrible it was awesome, but it still seemed like it was trying too hard to be cool.

Movement and combat feel fluid enough for MMO combat, no weird hitches. I'd say it feels comparably responsive in contrast to WoW, so that's a plus point. UI was fairly polished.

I turned on subtitles immediately because I couldn't stand attempting to listen to the voiceover through headphones. After the first interactive dialog I turned them on and just checked my quest log afterwards, making sure to select all the 'evil' options on the conversation wheel (which my Companion liked).

I had a mount that was a little speederbike. There were some physics on it, but nothing too fancy. There was some weight on it if you strafed left and right while going forwards.

And... then I had another conversation where I shot some dying Sith instead of helping him, and I got a big red down arrow indicating my dark side points or whatever. Then the demo was over.

That was about all I could gather from the 15-20 minutes of actual game time.

[Amaron]

-Launching in Q2/Q3

That's interesting.  I'm assuming they mean fiscal.  Q2 would mean they think September is a possibility.  I'm not sure how they can pull that off unless they're just about ready to go into a much larger closed beta period.   I'm guessing he only said that because he meant "if the heavens align it could happen".

[Sky]

WHAR CAN I GIT THAT KEYBOARD

MUUUUULTITOUCH

Just made a non-gadget guy sproing.

[Amaron]

Hmmm multitouch pad.  That is very sexy but it's RAZER.

[Sky]

I was just bitching about not having multitouch on my pc at home. Unless the thing's totally junk, if I have the funds when it's released, I'm very tempted just for that.

[Amaron]

I was just bitching about not having multitouch on my pc at home. Unless the thing's totally junk, if I have the funds when it's released, I'm very tempted just for that.

They have multitouch pads for USB I believe if you're actually really interested in that.

[luckton]

The raid trailer is now available on the main site, in downloadable HD 

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/eternity-vault

[fuser]

I was just bitching about not having multitouch on my pc at home. Unless the thing's totally junk, if I have the funds when it's released, I'm very tempted just for that.

They have multitouch pads for USB I believe if you're actually really interested in that.

You could always buy a Magic Trackpad for $69 and extract the drivers from the bootcamp installer to use it on Windows 7 (provided you have bluetooth if not Asus USB/bluetooth).

[Sky]

Or I could get a wicked keyboard with TOR buttons :p Does it actually send hotbar buttons or is it just macros?

(I'd also like backlit keyboard, but the chances of me having $200 for a toy this year is nigh nil)

[luckton]

Ars Technica just pushed out an unique article about how your morals affect the story, regardless of your side.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/06/the-old-republic-interview.ars

"I always take it back to the World War 2 analogy: if you were a very evil British soldier in World War 2, you wouldn't join the Nazis; you were torturing them in the basement," Erickson explained. "You're a bad man, but that doesn't mean you're going to leave your country. You're going to do what you're trying to do in the worst possible way."

[Sky]

Dark Jedi != Sith kinda thing. (edit - read it) Yeah, he's saying Vader etc are Dark Jedi, basically. Not Korriban-trained, etc...though there is a bit of a nerdfight there because they do follow Darth Bane's Rule of Two, after which Sith were Master-trained, not Korriban/Academy -trained. Not sure about Sidious, but Vader definitely fits Dark Jedi, technically.

To answer my own questions: yes, you can send hotkeys, skills, etc to the buttons on the keyboard, but then have to take your hand off the mouse to use them. Not sure I'd be ready to jump to a trackpad for gaming.

[UnSub]

-Launching in Q2/Q3

That's interesting.  I'm assuming they mean fiscal.  Q2 would mean they think September is a possibility.  I'm not sure how they can pull that off unless they're just about ready to go into a much larger closed beta period.   I'm guessing he only said that because he meant "if the heavens align it could happen".

EA uses some sort of odd fiscal year quartering that is then misreported by gaming journalists who don't understand it.

Also, EA needs to keep its stockholders calm. Some have raised concerns that SWOR is such a huge project and that it is highly risky, so hearing, "Everything's fine and it is out soon," is meant to soothe them.

[Count Nerfedalot]

Sheesh, I skip a couple days and the thread grows 5 pages!

Regarding the cinematic trailer.  Beautiful.  Too bad the game doesn't look like that.  And are my wife and I the only ones that see a lot more of Mal from Firefly than Han from Star Wars in the smuggler?

As for the gameplay videos, anyone who EVER complained about EQ2's plastic look or pretty much any other game's goofy animations can just shut the hell up before praising the graphics on this cartoon.  I mean seriously, Mickey Mouse was animated better back in the 30's, and you better be careful with those virtual plastic actionfigure toons they give you to play with.  Leave them on a virtual stove or something and all you'll have left is a puddle of sticky plastic goo.  I hope, without hope, that they are making another pass before putting in the real animations.  There were a few sequences (probably scripted as part of a dialog) that were quite good.  But by and large the vast majority was absolute crap and this may be one of the few titles in recent years that takes a far better still-frame picture than it looks in "living" motion.  While plasticky, the characters at least have enough polygons and are articulated well enough to pose properly but watching them move makes my eyes hurt.

[Ingmar]

The smuggler makes me think of Lee Van Cleef personally.

[Merusk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OslPG_kF69E  shows off the Razer keyboard.  They #2 comment made me laugh:  "I'm sorry, Bioware, I can't afford to buy your game anymore. I need to buy this keyboard instead."

It's times like this I'm glad I'm partially ambidextrious.  I can't write with my left hand but I can mouse just fine.

Tho, for a keyboard "designed by gamers" it seems a severe oversight to stick the macro keys on the right like that.

[01101010]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OslPG_kF69E  shows off the Razer keyboard.  They #2 comment made me laugh:  "I'm sorry, Bioware, I can't afford to buy your game anymore. I need to buy this keyboard instead."

It's times like this I'm glad I'm partially ambidextrious.  I can't write with my left hand but I can mouse just fine.

Tho, for a keyboard "designed by gamers" it seems a severe oversight to stick the macro keys on the right like that.

I really have little interest in SWTOR, but I would love that keyboard regardless.