Predictions: 1m+ players 3 days out; how about in January 2013?

[Sky]

"well that's how this game is, take it or leave it"

[Ingmar]

I really don't understand the need for I AM THE MOST POWERFUL, ME BY MYSELF ALONE thing. Especially when you're fighting 4-5 dudes at the same time.

I mean, in an MMO in particular it makes no sense at all.

[Furiously]

I'm lowering my estimation to 250K - 500K.

[Sky]

[tmp]

I really don't understand the need for I AM THE MOST POWERFUL, ME BY MYSELF ALONE thing.

I'm more of the "make me equal to the opponent(s); if that's out of question then have decency to acknowledge it was team effort, instead of dialogue rimming me how awesome and most powerful i am and ignoring my companions entirely" type.

Because the disjoint is mainly in the narrative insisting how totally badass you personally are, while the gameplay repeatedly drives the point home that no, you actually aren't and if it wasn't for constant assistance then every 4th guy you meet would squash you like a bug.

[Paelos]

We had our first hash it out with the guild about the game last night. Turns out that a lot of us like it, but the Guildmaster is getting all emo about the foreseeable grind and everyone in the guild playing smugglers.

[Nebu]

We had our first hash it out with the guild about the game last night. Turns out that a lot of us like it, but the Guildmaster is getting all emo about the foreseeable grind and everyone in the guild playing smugglers.

Smugglers can heal hardmodes easily and make great dps.  You need a tank and 3 smugglers and you're good to go.  Tell him to roll a tank...

[Paelos]

I did, but he won't because he knows how hard it is to tank in this game. He's watched me struggle hard and I was our tanking RL, plus he played one in beta. He's just being bitchy. Still, it was the first time everyone did a "is the game fun" check.

[Nebu]

There's no doubt that SWTOR is a fun game.  I really have enjoyed the game so far.  My only question that keeps popping into my head is one of staying power.  With a monthly sub, I need something to dabble in to keep interest.  Perhaps he's feeling the same thing and is just not articulating it particularly well?   

[Fabricated]

For me, SWTOR is fun but it's another "I'll stay subbed if they fix XYZ thing" sort of game. I have no idea if the developers can be trusted to do that yet.

I mean, the raids are still all buggy as hell. Particularly Soa.

[Paelos]

There's no doubt that SWTOR is a fun game.  I really have enjoyed the game so far.  My only question that keeps popping into my head is one of staying power.  With a monthly sub, I need something to dabble in to keep interest.  Perhaps he's feeling the same thing and is just not articulating it particularly well?   

I think it's mostly that his RL friends play RIFT, but he hates that game, and they refuse to switch.

[Nevermore]

Can't say I know anything about how that actually played out, as I never played that expansion...but still sounds like bots to me, just better implemented bots.

SWTOR companions have soul.  I care what they think.  Has any other MMO done anything like that?

Heroes all have stories, huge flexibility in class and skill selection, and can be outfitted with any gear you want.  Their look is pre-determined, but that's a stylistic choice.  And you can bring as many or as few as you want, up to a full party.

While I like some of SWTOR's companions, I think GW's implementation is far superior.

I agree on the flexibility aspect. But for personality, companions get the nod.  It's too bad heroes won't be in GW2.  That and the feeling I have that I'll have little interest in whatever story they have is why I have a feeling GW2 won't be for me.

[Ratman_tf]

I really don't understand the need for I AM THE MOST POWERFUL, ME BY MYSELF ALONE thing. Especially when you're fighting 4-5 dudes at the same time.

I mean, in an MMO in particular it makes no sense at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvUtXFg65Cs

Luke isn't all on his lonesome, but goddamn does he cut through mooks like a hot knife through butter.

[Sjofn]

We had our first hash it out with the guild about the game last night. Turns out that a lot of us like it, but the Guildmaster is getting all emo about the foreseeable grind and everyone in the guild playing smugglers.

Smugglers can heal hardmodes easily and make great dps.  You need a tank and 3 smugglers and you're good to go.  Tell him to roll a tank...

When did this happen? I could swear a week ago you were raging that only sorcerers can do it.

[Nebu]

When did this happen? I could swear a week ago you were raging that only sorcerers can do it.

It was a few weeks back, the trash got easier, and some of the bugs got fixed.  I also severely underestimated the value of gear in this game.  

In other words, I was wrong.  Our merc has been doing more healing now too since his gear is all columi and rakata.  

[Sjofn]

That's good to hear, as my trooper's way of healing is really really fun. Sage is fine, but I've done that sort of healing for years and years and years. The trooper is entertaining as hell.

[tmp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvUtXFg65Cs

Luke isn't all on his lonesome, but goddamn does he cut through mooks like a hot knife through butter.

On the other side of the spectrum there's the 2 jedi vs 1 sith boss fights in the prequels, and the emperor takes a full group (and they wipe to boot when an add spawns) ... but these are relatively few and in-between. So when you get nothing but such fights at practically all major points of your "personal story", well.

[Ingmar]

I think the feel of all those 2 person fights is fine on the Republic side for sure - Jedi + padawan is very ingrained in the story for the most part, Han + Chewie, troopers are always in groups. I guess I can see how from the Empire perspective it might not feel quite as right.

[Fordel]

Yea, if it wasn't for the mechanical/balance reasons, Troopers would be rolling out in 4-6 man teams at all times.

[tmp]

I think the feel of all those 2 person fights is fine on the Republic side for sure - Jedi + padawan is very ingrained in the story for the most part, Han + Chewie, troopers are always in groups.

That's true enough but does grow old just the same when seemingly you require that couple of jedi or group of supposedly elite badass troopers etc... to defeat any bigger robot, a random patrolling guy (with dozen+ such patrols through every area) or even every second rodent of unusual size. And the 'fix' for that could be as simple as having at least part of these enemies also work in (weaker) pairs.

[Ingmar]

Some of that is probably down to imperfect balancing between spec/role for soloing, which I'm not sure is solvable. The solo experience, even when you factor in the companions, feels pretty different on a tank than on a dpser.

[Ratman_tf]

It seems like the healer companion is the 'best' for soloing content. From playing on my Sith Jugg and Republic Trooper anyway. I'd much rather have the healer than any other for most fights.

[Zetor]

Yeah, on my tank-spec vanguard I had no choice: it was Elara or Bust™. OTOH on my healing sage I went Qyzen -> Zenith -> (name omitted to prevent spoilage) - healers work really well with dps companions.

Alternately you could level as dps and use a tank companion... then either use your out-of-combat regen ability or unsummon/resummon it between fights to quickly restore its hp/cooldowns. Probably too much bother though.

[Koyasha]

Dropping the 'kit' idea for companions really should have come side-by-side with a change in storylines to ensure that every single class gets a healing companion either right off the bat, or somewhere on the capital planet.  This observation comes from having played many classes, but none having quite the 'flow' as my Bounty Hunter all the way through.  On my BH, I had Mako.  On every other character, I'm having to wait to get that healing companion.  My Inquisitor doesn't get a healer until fucking Hoth.  Knights don't get them until Balmorra, which is late in the game on Republic side.  Bounty Hunters, on the other hand, feel 'right' from the start, as though the game was designed to have a healer following you around if you aren't one yourself.  It seems likely to me that it was.

And yeah, having companions available during 'solo' fights seems weird.  In the bounty hunter line, there's a fight at the end of Dromund Kaas where I'm specifically told I get no outside assistance during the fight...and yet Mako's still right there helping me.  Huh?  They should either have ensured those fights were actually solo, or taken the companions into account as part of the writing.  Gets even weirder if you're doing the quests with a group or a buddy, cause then you have a full 4 characters (possibly including companions) fighting what everyone is calling a one-on-one fight.

[Sjofn]

My tank-specced sith assassin did much better without his healer (who he just got) than I expected. Once he got his first DPS companion, things went a lot quicker and I stopped having to rest after Every. Single. Fight.

But yeah, generally it feels like my healer claracters have the most flexibility as to who kicks around with them. Even heal-spec + healer companion works fine, just sort of slow.

[eldaec]

It seems like the healer companion is the 'best' for soloing content. From playing on my Sith Jugg and Republic Trooper anyway. I'd much rather have the healer than any other for most fights.

With the exception of speed running content you outlevelled this is just about always true. I'm seeing no reason at all for tank companions to exist, you could use them with a healer PC but not sure why you would.

[apocrypha]

Your ship droid, 2V-R8 (don't know the Republic one's name, sorry) is a perfectly decent healer at low levels if you get him a bit of gear. Cybertechs make parts for the droids. Feel free to hit me up on Shien if you want some parts making - Notorious is my Cybertech char.

Everybody always forgets him, mainly because when you first get him and question him he insists that he's shit at combat. I think they overdid that aspect of his introduction and should have made it clearer that he can heal. Soon as you get a proper healing companion you'll want to switch to them but he's a decent fallback for late healer companion classes like SI.

Personally I really like the companions. They allow you to play any class in any way and use an appropriate companion to "fill the gaps" as it were. Levelling a healer is a lot less hassle with a good dps/tank companion for instance, and if I wanted to switch specs then I could just swap companion too.

I also really like gearing up my chosen companion. You couldn't put a silly hat on your warlock or hunter pets!

As for the whole "don't feel like a badass solo" thing, well, I don't feel like that. Solo I can happily chew through large groups of normal/weak mobs. Sure if there's a strong or elite I'll need a companion and there is some disparity between classes. I can happily solo strongs on my Sorc with the aid of some Biochem but not so much on my Juggernaut, but that feels more like a class balance issue than a companion issue.

[DraconianOne]

I really don't understand the need for I AM THE MOST POWERFUL, ME BY MYSELF ALONE thing. Especially when you're fighting 4-5 dudes at the same time.

I mean, in an MMO in particular it makes no sense at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvUtXFg65Cs

Luke isn't all on his lonesome, but goddamn does he cut through mooks like a hot knife through butter.

But look what happened at the end of ESB when he tried taking on the Champion level mob in the Cloud City instance with no companions? He thought he was a really hard Jedi and be able to solo him but he couldn't. Then at the end of his story quest in ROTJ, he needed a companion to help beat the final boss (although the way it was told, I think it all happened in a cut-scene).

[Cyrrex]

I really don't understand the need for I AM THE MOST POWERFUL, ME BY MYSELF ALONE thing. Especially when you're fighting 4-5 dudes at the same time.

I mean, in an MMO in particular it makes no sense at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvUtXFg65Cs

Luke isn't all on his lonesome, but goddamn does he cut through mooks like a hot knife through butter.

But look what happened at the end of ESB when he tried taking on the Champion level mob in the Cloud City instance with no companions? He thought he was a really hard Jedi and be able to solo him but he couldn't. Then at the end of his story quest in ROTJ, he needed a companion to help beat the final boss (although the way it was told, I think it all happened in a cut-scene).

Yeah, but in ESB he quite deliberately aggro'd a Gold Elite that was at least 10 levels over him, like some dumb noob.  In ROTJ, after gaining about 15 levels, he used some kind of hack to train that same mob on the unattackable Boss Mob.  Clearly cheating.

[Mosesandstick]

Your ship droid, 2V-R8 (don't know the Republic one's name, sorry) is a perfectly decent healer at low levels if you get him a bit of gear. Cybertechs make parts for the droids. Feel free to hit me up on Shien if you want some parts making - Notorious is my Cybertech char.

Everybody always forgets him, mainly because when you first get him and question him he insists that he's shit at combat. I think they overdid that aspect of his introduction and should have made it clearer that he can heal. Soon as you get a proper healing companion you'll want to switch to them but he's a decent fallback for late healer companion classes like SI.

That's probably because he couldn't heal before and they never changed what he says.

[Merusk]

Hm.. I totally disagree that you "have" to have a healer.

I stopped using Mako on anything but double silver and gold fights about level 35.  Tank + Melee DPS was just quicker and more manageable, and I finally had enough tank power and abilities that I'd live through longer fights and adds without constant healing.

On my Sith Warrior who's DPS spec I've never used the healing Imp.  First Vette then Janessa, both felt better than the incredibly slow pace that having a healer out at all went at.

[Amaron]

The companion DPS is highly unequal from what I've seen.     I leveled my JK with Kira as dps and she was ok.   On my trooper I used Elara but when I picked up Yuun in his greens he was like a walking death machine.   If his weapon wasn't a freaking tech staff I would have respeced to tank right then and there.

[Sjofn]

would of

You would think with the number of times we correct this mistake, people would stop doing it. What you mean is "would've." Or would HAVE.

The DPS seems similar to me across companions, it's just a matter of making sure who you want DPSing has updated stuff, at least in my experience. I heart the ranged DPSers much more than the melee ones, personally, mostly because their two stances are obvious in what they do (I have NO IDEA which stance is "better" for the melee DPSers) and they don't have any goddamn annoying abilities that make you want to punch them. Sneaky knockbacks and such annoy me.

[Nebu]

... and they don't have any goddamn annoying abilities that make you want to punch them. Sneaky knockbacks and such annoy me.

How about those lovely AE abilities that the melee compansions use when you've just mezzed that second strong mob add. 

I agree that the melee dps companions require more micromanagement. It makes them a tough choice with all other things being equal.  Lately I've just been using the companion with the best gear.  Gear makes such a huge difference in these games.

[Amaron]

would of

You would think with the number of times we correct this mistake, people would stop doing it. What you mean is "would've." Or would HAVE.

It's hard to fix actually because I grew up thinking it literally was "would of" instead of "would've".  I even say it as two words instead of one.   I know that it is incorrect now of course.   Even simple proofreading won't allow me to spot it unfortunately.  I catch it occasionally but it's hard to fix when you can't even spot it.  I do appreciate having it pointed out and feel sorry for inflicting it on you.