SWTOR

[Sjofn]

So...who do we align or declare war with?  

I'm hoping everyone planning on playing, but in non-f13 guilds, will align or declare with BC.

I believe Sjofn wants SLAP on a different servers because she wants her Republitards in a different world from her Imperials. The only SLAP showing up is an Imp guild.

ETA: Only three slots for allies/rivals. Have to be set up for the same server rules for a server match. We're currently rivals with Riggswolfe's guild, so we have two slots left for BC. One reserved for SLAP if they go Republic, RP server and want to be on the same server. If not, THEN FINE! 

Sjofn can deal with Slap in the Force being on the same server as Bat Country! It's just her own private damage and as has been made clear, Ingmar doesn't care about her needs. 

[Arrrgh]

So...who do we align or declare war with?  

I'm hoping everyone planning on playing, but in non-f13 guilds, will align or declare with BC.

I believe Sjofn wants SLAP on a different servers because she wants her Republitards in a different world from her Imperials. The only SLAP showing up is an Imp guild.

ETA: Only three slots for allies/rivals. Have to be set up for the same server rules for a server match. We're currently rivals with Riggswolfe's guild, so we have two slots left for BC. One reserved for SLAP if they go Republic, RP server and want to be on the same server. If not, THEN FINE! 

Sjofn can deal with Slap in the Force being on the same server as Bat Country! It's just her own private damage and as has been made clear, Ingmar doesn't care about her needs. 

They hinted there would be some benefit to having all your alts on the same server, but I don't recall where I saw it.

[Ingmar]

Yeah it was in some interview, I remember seeing it as well.

[Evildrider]

Yeah it was in some interview, I remember seeing it as well.

Yep, they said that there might be a reason to have an Imperial and a Republic character on the same server.  My guess it's something to do with the Legacy system.

[eldaec]

I'm guessing in advance that there'll be US/EU servers so no point in getting my guild to ally with BC.

No game with a global publisher has ever needed to region lock servers, I'd be surprised if this does.

If your guild is a filthy socialist euroguild who insists on playing on commie pinko euroservers then that won't help ofc.

[Evildrider]

Yeah they said there would be no server locks on the US servers at least.  Then again if most of you are in the EU, you'd probably prefer those servers for the lower ping etc.

[Lucas]

Sigh, I wanted to declare war to FoH, NeoGaf and QT3 

[Nonentity]

Any guilds on a west coast PVP server that want to do alliances or enemies? I know most of the F13 folk are doing the RP/PvE server thing.

[Kirth]

Almost 90% sure we are going republic so I threw an ally request at slap in the force.

[Lantyssa]

We're going Republic/RP so yeah, RIVALS it is. I'll set it up today. And allies with Riggs. We're at all of 13 people ourselves so far, but I expect I'll get a little more signup buy-in as the game approaches.

Virtual 14th if I ever get the game.

[Ingmar]

Almost 90% sure we are going republic so I threw an ally request at slap in the force.

Either such designations are one-sided, or I don't know where to look to see that.

[Furiously]

Not that I have much interest in playing but a West coast server group might be a good idea.

[Evildrider]

Not that I have much interest in playing but a West coast server group might be a good idea.

I don't think there are going to be east and west coast servers.  It's more about what time your guild usually is more active, during eastern or western prime time.

[Ingmar]

It apparently affects whether you'll be placed together, though.

EDIT: Man, nobody called me on my effect/affect fuckup.

[DraconianOne]

I'm guessing in advance that there'll be US/EU servers so no point in getting my guild to ally with BC.

No game with a global publisher has ever needed to region lock servers, I'd be surprised if this does.

If your guild is a filthy socialist euroguild who insists on playing on commie pinko euroservers then that won't help ofc.

Yep. I gather capitalist US servers don't permit guilds to raid without a sanctioned mulit-tiered DKP system so we'll just stick with our welfare epics system, leaderless guild structure (to be agreed on by our leaders) and subsidised health buffs for all (although regular raid attendees will be able to get them cheaper).  Everyone is equal in the eyes of our guild (although some are more equal than others.)

[Sky]

Either such designations are one-sided, or I don't know where to look to see that.

They are one-sided, but you can see them on the new tab they put up (along side Roster/Guild Admin/Cake/etc).

[Mnemon]

Rift's subscription base has certainly dropped since release, given the many calls for server merges and free character transfers to underpopulated realms. Since they haven't merged servers, the obvious way to make group content accessible to lower-populated servers is a cross-server LFD queue. Which is exactly what they did.

Would they have done it anyway? Probably, Rift (and soon, SWTOR) copied everything else. But they really needed it when they lost those subs.

RIFT is an interesting case in that it was the polished MMO at launch that followed (arguably) the rules of what a MMO needs to do for a successful title, but it still couldn't hold onto subs.

It's one of the reasons why the sub-based payment model isn't viable any more - players don't put up with minor (or major) inconveniences any more and keep paying that $15 a month just because.

Well, Rift also has one of the least interesting and compelling worlds I've seen in an MMO despite the fact it has gigantic old-god monster things busting out of holes in the sky randomly.

Basically what I was going to say. Rift was a nice game but ultimately had no soul.

[Lucas]

Rift's subscription base has certainly dropped since release, given the many calls for server merges and free character transfers to underpopulated realms. Since they haven't merged servers, the obvious way to make group content accessible to lower-populated servers is a cross-server LFD queue. Which is exactly what they did.

Would they have done it anyway? Probably, Rift (and soon, SWTOR) copied everything else. But they really needed it when they lost those subs.

RIFT is an interesting case in that it was the polished MMO at launch that followed (arguably) the rules of what a MMO needs to do for a successful title, but it still couldn't hold onto subs.

It's one of the reasons why the sub-based payment model isn't viable any more - players don't put up with minor (or major) inconveniences any more and keep paying that $15 a month just because.

Well, Rift also has one of the least interesting and compelling worlds I've seen in an MMO despite the fact it has gigantic old-god monster things busting out of holes in the sky randomly.

Basically what I was going to say. Rift was a nice game but ultimately had no soul.

Agreed. But maybe that's relevant only for those of us who are also interested in that feeling of a "world", beside the usual, boring theme park MMO grinding (for them, you can place those mechanics whereever you want and they won't care, they'll just keep skipping dialogues and quest text in order to get their "dose" :P)

[Sobelius]

Basically what I was going to say. Rift was a nice game but ultimately had no soul.

Part of a game having a soul is having character/personality. Ask someone to describe WoW's world, or its NPCs without saying what it looks like or what the NPCs do. Most of the time you'll hear it described as funny, lighthearted, even 'cartoony' -- and that's not about the graphic style, that's about its entire approach to the tone of the world. Playing in Azeroth is a lot like being in a cartoon. Few people would probably call WoW a "serious", dark, gritty, or realistic game.

I have a hard time coming up with personality adjectives for RIFT. Gritty? no. Serious? No. Funny? No. Lighthearted? No. Dark/gloomy? No. Unpredictable? At times -- I've had rifts open literally where I'm standing, without warning, at the start of a zone event. But is this a personality trait that makes a game world interesting?

[Kirth]

Almost 90% sure we are going republic so I threw an ally request at slap in the force.

Either such designations are one-sided, or I don't know where to look to see that.

Must be one sided. My guild is called The Flameborn.

[eldaec]

I have a hard time coming up with personality adjectives for RIFT. Gritty? no. Serious? No. Funny? No. Lighthearted? No. Dark/gloomy? No. Unpredictable? At times -- I've had rifts open literally where I'm standing, without warning, at the start of a zone event. But is this a personality trait that makes a game world interesting?

This is exactly the problem I have getting excited about any fantasy mmog since daoc, but (espeicially RIFT and GW). Fantasy settings have to work three times as hard precisely because they are so played out.

CoX in particular got an enormous amount of benefit of the doubt from me precisely because it doesn't involve elves.

[Fabricated]

Warcraft rips off every fantasy novel ever written and is very poorly written in terms of continuity and so forth but I can actually halfway give a shit about their world because the headline characters have distinctive personalities, some actually interesting!

Rift I literally can't tell one character apart from another. I seriously couldn't -force- myself to read quest text after about 15 levels, and I was one of those guys who used to hate people who didn't read quest text.

[fuser]

3 weeks now since last beta weekend 

[Ingmar]

Warcraft rips off every fantasy novel ever written and is very poorly written in terms of continuity and so forth but I can actually halfway give a shit about their world because the headline characters have distinctive personalities, some actually interesting!

Rift I literally can't tell one character apart from another. I seriously couldn't -force- myself to read quest text after about 15 levels, and I was one of those guys who used to hate people who didn't read quest text.

This. Guild Wars also beats out Rift on this factor easily, even just with Prince Runs The Fuck Off Rurik, and gets much better about it in the later campaigns.

[Rokal]

Rift I literally can't tell one character apart from another. I seriously couldn't -force- myself to read quest text after about 15 levels, and I was one of those guys who used to hate people who didn't read quest text.

I had problems getting into Rift's story too. I really thought the intro was pretty awesome at setting up the stakes and showing what would happen if Regulos went unchecked. But after that.. no memorable characters, story for each zone seemed to be the same, etc.

I started enjoying Rift more when I started doing achievement related stuff instead of just leveling. They actually put some in there that encourage you to explore (find a specific puzzle in the zone and solve it), find optional quests, or collect artifacts. Collecting artifacts is boring as hell, but completing artifact sets often rewards you with a book that fills in the story for the zone/game in a more effective way than the quests do. Here is the book you get for completing the artifact collection "The Day the Rifts Came".


The 'class origin' books were great too, but you might not find/read them on your own. It's sort of like the codex in Mass Effect or Dragon Age, only you have to go out of your way to get new entries. The problem is, unlike ME or DA, you don't really have any awesome characters to fill in the world when you aren't discovering codex entries.

Benefit of an established IP is that you have characters and a world that people already care about.

[Sjofn]

Guild Wars also beats out Rift on this factor easily, even just with Prince Runs The Fuck Off Rurik, and gets much better about it in the later campaigns.

Dude has shit to do! Stop lollygagging, Ingmar!

[Lakov_Sanite]

I knew jack all about wow when it came out but you instantly got a feel for each race and what they were about. Having several starting areas/cities goes a LONG way to setting the tone.

[Fordel]

Guild Wars was amazing at representing medieval cultures that aren't Europe. GW is still the only MMO I've played that let me make actual black people, not just white people with a dark skin tone.

[Shatter]

3 weeks now since last beta weekend 

I know, this sucks :(

[Evildrider]

Developer Dispatch: Companions

Nice little info on the companion system.

[Fordel]

The appearance kits are nice, I was worried about everyone having the exact same companions everywhere. I hope there are a lot of them to choose from!

[Sjofn]

Guild Wars was amazing at representing medieval cultures that aren't Europe. GW is still the only MMO I've played that let me make actual black people, not just white people with a dark skin tone.

Haha, I still remember in Nightfall... I made my awesome black lady, logged in ... and was fucking surrounded by white people. BRANCH OUT, PEOPLE.

[Lantyssa]

I know.  Same with Factions.

My Ritualist is pretty white, but I was going for an albino-otherwordly look with her.  My Warrior is modeled after me.  Everything else takes advantage of their plethora of options.

[Merusk]

Guild Wars was amazing at representing medieval cultures that aren't Europe. GW is still the only MMO I've played that let me make actual black people, not just white people with a dark skin tone.

Haha, I still remember in Nightfall... I made my awesome black lady, logged in ... and was fucking surrounded by white people. BRANCH OUT, PEOPLE.

But that'd be RPing and that's lame!

I miss my Alliance Paladin.. she was a sexy Indian-looking skin.   You can't get beyond white on Horde being elves and all.

[Cyrrex]

Guild Wars was amazing at representing medieval cultures that aren't Europe. GW is still the only MMO I've played that let me make actual black people, not just white people with a dark skin tone.

Haha, I still remember in Nightfall... I made my awesome black lady, logged in ... and was fucking surrounded by white people. BRANCH OUT, PEOPLE.

I think I will create a dark skinned toon, and play a tank.  I think I'll be pretty unique.  And popular!