Yarrr! Beta
- Thread starter Witch
- Start date
FOG|Adrenaline
Veteran XX
I want in beta 
Guess I just have to play through KOTOR again.
Guess I just have to play through KOTOR again.Incoming Wall of Text.
Alright, I'll take a stab at impressions. Apologies if I jump around a bit in my thoughts. I will try to keep it as coherent as possible.
To set the baseline of where I am coming from: I played WoW, warhammer, Aion, AoC, Everquest II, Guild Wars, etc in regard to MMOs. I may make comparisons to some help better illustrate a point.
How It Looks:
Graphics - The gameplay vids that are up on the site, and the class previews they have done are pretty close to what the game looks like if you take into account the lower resolution. So, take the gameplay vids, crank up the res a bit, and it looks good. Think KOTOR, similar art style. I like that they did not go for the hyper-omfg-super realistic with the look. I think it gives the game additional longevity, and the art style makes it unique from other MMOs that are coming out here shortly. It should be noted that AntiAliasing is not currently enabled in this build of the beta, so the look will only improve I would imagine. Regardless, I think it looks great.
UI - Eh. I am more of a minimalist when it comes to an MMO UI. I prefer it as condensed as possible, while still giving me the needed info so I can maximize my screen real estate. I think TOR does this well. They combined the default action bar, and hp/mana(or energy or force) for you and your target to the bottom center of the screen. Additional indicators of target stats are to the right of the bottom bar. Chat is top left, minimap bottom right, top right is your quest tracker. From what I have found, this is NOT adjustable. You can add an additional action bar to the bottom, left sidebar, and right sidebar. My one gripe with the bars is that the secondary bar is added underneath your main. Which, from what I am used to is counterintuitive. For other, it may make sense. However, reassigning keybinds is easy to do.
Environments - I have liked all of the environments I have seen thus far. The Republic side of things feels a lot more linear in its envrionmental design. I like to be able to explore a bit, and not be forced to run down road A to get to path B - so this detracts from the experience a bit. Empire is more spread out in the starter zones. You still have some lineararity, but no more so than I have experienced elsewhere in other MMOs. That being said, I like the look of all of the environments. There is a fair amount of pleasant aesthetics to look at when you are running from point A to point B, to curb the dullness of running. Also, if you crank up your settings, there is a lot of ground cover detail, which is a welcome change from the standard "stretch texture 72 500,000 times to create ground". The feel of the environements is pretty spot on as well. Desert landscapes feel like deserts, temperate-temperate, city-city, etc. This may be a 'duh' for some, but I have definitely experienced some games that miss this concept.
Combat:
I have seen mixed reviews on this within the testing forums, usually occompanied by the expected WoW comparison. "Combat feels sluggish, too slow..." blah blah blah." I don't know what version of wow those fucksticks played, but it's absolutely retarded. Comabt doesn't feel slow IMO - it feels smooth. The ability chain together well, and from what I have seen, there are much less abrupt actions. Maybe thats what they mean when they say "slow". Terribly sorry my character doesnt completely ignore physics and stop mid swing to execute an attack in the opposite fucking direction. Is it guaranteed to be smooth 100%? Of course not, but they did a good job meshing the abilities. A couple little things to note are that the animations for abilities are not always the same. It changes based on te state of battle that you are engaged in (moreso in melee combat), which is a nice touch. For example, if I am going to fininsh off a target with my next ability, the swing of my lightsaber/weapon will be more final in nature (like and overhead downward swing to 'end' them). The death animations of mobs also change based on the ability used as well. If you use an across the body swing for the final blow, the mob may spin before falling to the ground; an overhead swing will generally send them to their knees before falling over. Little things, but nice touches.
I want to note that I started with a trooper, then Imp Agent, then Bounty Hunter, THEN Jedi/Sith Warrior. I wasn't too excited about saber combat. Now that I have tried it, I am fucking hooked. The deflection/parry aspect in the game is awesome. For example, the vast majority of the PvE combat you do will be against groups of enemies (their "Heroic Combat" goal). As a melee char, you are standing in the middle of the group using single target abilities, but when you are not attacking you are deflecting other enemies attacks. Lets say you run past a blaster user to engage the stronger melee enemy. He is behind you firing and your char will deflect the blaster bolts by reaching around his back before initiating the next strike. It feels awesome. Not to mention you actually parry other melee abilities as opposed to a parry popping up in combat text and there is no animation.
Overall, I love the look/feel of combat. It just works. And saber combat is fucking sweet. I am so torn over what to roll at launch...
Alright..what's next? PVP?
There are currently 3 battlegrounds in this build: Alderaan, The Void Star, and HuttBall. Honestly, I enjoy all 3, and they are all 3 different types of play. A little info on each:
Alderaan - Your classic capture and hold map. There are 3 points (gun batteries) that you want to capture and hold. Think Arathi Basin in WoW, or Nordenwatch (sp?) in Warhammer. As you hold the batteries, they fire on the enemies ship, reducing its HP. Once the enemy ship's HP reaches 0, you win. Compicated...I know. Anyway, it is very similar to Arathi/Norden as there is a capture time on the point of which you must channel to take control. Any damage will interrupt the channel. Respawning is instant, but you must hop on a speeder to get back to the battlefield - and you will have a speeder for each point you currently control to allow choice in where you re-enter the fight.
The Void Star - Very similar to Strand of the Ancients in WoW. You may set an explosive on one of two doors, and then prevent the opposing team from disarming it. once it detonates, you move on to the next area and do the same. there are 3 areas to set explosives (2 options at each area), and then you must access the main computer to steal the data (blah blah story). Once one team is done, they switch roles; fastest time wins.
Huttball - A variation of capture the flag, mixed in with some pigskin. The ball starts in the middle of the arena, and the goal is to grab the ball and take it to the opposing teams goal line. The respawn points for each team (again, respawn is instant) are above their goal lines, so getting the ball across the goal line becomes harder as you get closer. You also have the ability to throw the ball to another player,o but this is an AOE targeted This is the most intense out of the maps. You get a lot of whole team vs whole team battles that you really dont see on the other maps, which adds to the excitement I think. Also, if there is a tie in terms of goals scored, then the winner is determined randomly.
Class Balance in PvP:
From what I have seen so far, each class brings something different to the table which aids balance. I play a Sith Marauder mainly (dual-saber wielding melee dps) in PvP. I can tear apart certain classes, and I get torn apart by others. I can say that normally I just try to run away from Jedi Consulars (Republic caster dps/heals). They have enough knockbacks/slows/ranged damage to tear melees apart. Other ranged dps classes do well against them though. That seems to be the norm between the classes. Certain classes do well against some, poor against others. Since the bg's focus on team matchups, it has not proved to be a big deal.
BG Balancing:
You can pvp from level 10 on, and all levels pvp together. The inconsistencies in stats are compensated with bolstering, similar to what we saw in Warhammer. I have noticed some problems with higher levels having additional control abilities compared to the lower levels, which can yield an advantage. Is it game breaking? Not at all. The way the queue system works is it tried to match those at a similar level first, before putting together a mixed level matchup - but we see the mixed most often in beta simply due to the lack of population.
Questing:
Every quest is presented in a fully voiced cinematic. THIS is what Bioware was talking about. I have to say, it is damned impressive. Some people will skip them and rush through the reqponses willy-nilly, but I really enjoy developing my character. **NOTE: I AM NOT A ROLEPLAYER** I don't run around town acting out my chosen path, yadda, yadda. I do enjoy trying to maintain a consistent theme with my character though. You recieve light side/dark side points based on some of your responses. Points are really only awarded for pivotal decisions, not every choice you make. You can also gain "affection" with your companion character based on your responses in convos. I will talk more about that later. It should also be mentioned that 'space bar' skips the current dialogue and brings you to the next required response, and 'Esc' will end the conversation to allow you to restart it. Both light side/dark side and affection points are not final until the conversation is complete. So, you min/maxers out there will have opportunities to "redo" your decisions should you want to.
As a result of everything having a story behind it, you can't help but feel more involved in the quest. The quests do include your normal kills this many, collect this many, deliver this, etc; but there are also a fair amount of other types. Some quests are simply conversations in themselves that require no action other than speaking - kind of like playing a part in a cinematic (I thought it was great to watch some action unfold and get xp for it). Also, the stories behind the quests are not your normal "I don't like rats...go kill me some rats!". There is more to it than that.
Some people say that due to the story telling, the game feels more like massively single player game. I can see where they are coming from, but only if questing is all that you do. For some people, that is enjoyable, and I definitely have days where I just want to quest alone. However, you can do all quests in a group if you so choose, and the other player will be in the conversation with you - with an equal likelihood to respond (it is handled by a dice roll). You also have flashpoints (or instances) that you can do starting at level 10. They are a ton of fun from the ones that I have experienced. I will talk about them in a bit. So basically, it CAN feel like a massively single player game, if thats the experience you choose.
Companions:
At around levels 8-10, you get your first companion. They run around with you, fight with you, provide conversation at times, offer advice, etc. They each have a different personality, which is cool. They look for certain things in the way you act (in order to gain affection), so you may find yourself responding to please them (for you min/maxers out there). All in all, they increase the number of mobs you can handle, and make questing more enjoyable. They also add a whole new dimension to your character, and not an overpowering one. If you have a full group, they are unsummoned automatically. Or, if you only have 3 (a full group is 4), you can choose who's companion to take along, and they are a vauable combat asset.
Flashpoints:
Story-driven instances. It is a good balance of story with action. You generally have a conversation/event occurance, then you go kill a bunch of mobs, then another convo, etc. It works well, provides more emphasis for what you do, and the progression of the instance is dictated by your choices. The groups responses in convos is dictated by a roll, as I stated previously. However, if it is a light/dark side choice, you will still get the corresponding points from YOUR choice, regardless of which player responds. So, if I choose dark, but the person who chose light wins the roll - they get their light points, you still get your dark side points.
What else do y'all want to know?
TL;DR - I am really enjoying it thus far, and looking forward to release.
Alright, I'll take a stab at impressions. Apologies if I jump around a bit in my thoughts. I will try to keep it as coherent as possible.
To set the baseline of where I am coming from: I played WoW, warhammer, Aion, AoC, Everquest II, Guild Wars, etc in regard to MMOs. I may make comparisons to some help better illustrate a point.
How It Looks:
Graphics - The gameplay vids that are up on the site, and the class previews they have done are pretty close to what the game looks like if you take into account the lower resolution. So, take the gameplay vids, crank up the res a bit, and it looks good. Think KOTOR, similar art style. I like that they did not go for the hyper-omfg-super realistic with the look. I think it gives the game additional longevity, and the art style makes it unique from other MMOs that are coming out here shortly. It should be noted that AntiAliasing is not currently enabled in this build of the beta, so the look will only improve I would imagine. Regardless, I think it looks great.
UI - Eh. I am more of a minimalist when it comes to an MMO UI. I prefer it as condensed as possible, while still giving me the needed info so I can maximize my screen real estate. I think TOR does this well. They combined the default action bar, and hp/mana(or energy or force) for you and your target to the bottom center of the screen. Additional indicators of target stats are to the right of the bottom bar. Chat is top left, minimap bottom right, top right is your quest tracker. From what I have found, this is NOT adjustable. You can add an additional action bar to the bottom, left sidebar, and right sidebar. My one gripe with the bars is that the secondary bar is added underneath your main. Which, from what I am used to is counterintuitive. For other, it may make sense. However, reassigning keybinds is easy to do.
Environments - I have liked all of the environments I have seen thus far. The Republic side of things feels a lot more linear in its envrionmental design. I like to be able to explore a bit, and not be forced to run down road A to get to path B - so this detracts from the experience a bit. Empire is more spread out in the starter zones. You still have some lineararity, but no more so than I have experienced elsewhere in other MMOs. That being said, I like the look of all of the environments. There is a fair amount of pleasant aesthetics to look at when you are running from point A to point B, to curb the dullness of running. Also, if you crank up your settings, there is a lot of ground cover detail, which is a welcome change from the standard "stretch texture 72 500,000 times to create ground". The feel of the environements is pretty spot on as well. Desert landscapes feel like deserts, temperate-temperate, city-city, etc. This may be a 'duh' for some, but I have definitely experienced some games that miss this concept.
Combat:
I have seen mixed reviews on this within the testing forums, usually occompanied by the expected WoW comparison. "Combat feels sluggish, too slow..." blah blah blah." I don't know what version of wow those fucksticks played, but it's absolutely retarded. Comabt doesn't feel slow IMO - it feels smooth. The ability chain together well, and from what I have seen, there are much less abrupt actions. Maybe thats what they mean when they say "slow". Terribly sorry my character doesnt completely ignore physics and stop mid swing to execute an attack in the opposite fucking direction. Is it guaranteed to be smooth 100%? Of course not, but they did a good job meshing the abilities. A couple little things to note are that the animations for abilities are not always the same. It changes based on te state of battle that you are engaged in (moreso in melee combat), which is a nice touch. For example, if I am going to fininsh off a target with my next ability, the swing of my lightsaber/weapon will be more final in nature (like and overhead downward swing to 'end' them). The death animations of mobs also change based on the ability used as well. If you use an across the body swing for the final blow, the mob may spin before falling to the ground; an overhead swing will generally send them to their knees before falling over. Little things, but nice touches.
I want to note that I started with a trooper, then Imp Agent, then Bounty Hunter, THEN Jedi/Sith Warrior. I wasn't too excited about saber combat. Now that I have tried it, I am fucking hooked. The deflection/parry aspect in the game is awesome. For example, the vast majority of the PvE combat you do will be against groups of enemies (their "Heroic Combat" goal). As a melee char, you are standing in the middle of the group using single target abilities, but when you are not attacking you are deflecting other enemies attacks. Lets say you run past a blaster user to engage the stronger melee enemy. He is behind you firing and your char will deflect the blaster bolts by reaching around his back before initiating the next strike. It feels awesome. Not to mention you actually parry other melee abilities as opposed to a parry popping up in combat text and there is no animation.
Overall, I love the look/feel of combat. It just works. And saber combat is fucking sweet. I am so torn over what to roll at launch...
Alright..what's next? PVP?
There are currently 3 battlegrounds in this build: Alderaan, The Void Star, and HuttBall. Honestly, I enjoy all 3, and they are all 3 different types of play. A little info on each:
Alderaan - Your classic capture and hold map. There are 3 points (gun batteries) that you want to capture and hold. Think Arathi Basin in WoW, or Nordenwatch (sp?) in Warhammer. As you hold the batteries, they fire on the enemies ship, reducing its HP. Once the enemy ship's HP reaches 0, you win. Compicated...I know. Anyway, it is very similar to Arathi/Norden as there is a capture time on the point of which you must channel to take control. Any damage will interrupt the channel. Respawning is instant, but you must hop on a speeder to get back to the battlefield - and you will have a speeder for each point you currently control to allow choice in where you re-enter the fight.
The Void Star - Very similar to Strand of the Ancients in WoW. You may set an explosive on one of two doors, and then prevent the opposing team from disarming it. once it detonates, you move on to the next area and do the same. there are 3 areas to set explosives (2 options at each area), and then you must access the main computer to steal the data (blah blah story). Once one team is done, they switch roles; fastest time wins.
Huttball - A variation of capture the flag, mixed in with some pigskin. The ball starts in the middle of the arena, and the goal is to grab the ball and take it to the opposing teams goal line. The respawn points for each team (again, respawn is instant) are above their goal lines, so getting the ball across the goal line becomes harder as you get closer. You also have the ability to throw the ball to another player,o but this is an AOE targeted This is the most intense out of the maps. You get a lot of whole team vs whole team battles that you really dont see on the other maps, which adds to the excitement I think. Also, if there is a tie in terms of goals scored, then the winner is determined randomly.
Class Balance in PvP:
From what I have seen so far, each class brings something different to the table which aids balance. I play a Sith Marauder mainly (dual-saber wielding melee dps) in PvP. I can tear apart certain classes, and I get torn apart by others. I can say that normally I just try to run away from Jedi Consulars (Republic caster dps/heals). They have enough knockbacks/slows/ranged damage to tear melees apart. Other ranged dps classes do well against them though. That seems to be the norm between the classes. Certain classes do well against some, poor against others. Since the bg's focus on team matchups, it has not proved to be a big deal.
BG Balancing:
You can pvp from level 10 on, and all levels pvp together. The inconsistencies in stats are compensated with bolstering, similar to what we saw in Warhammer. I have noticed some problems with higher levels having additional control abilities compared to the lower levels, which can yield an advantage. Is it game breaking? Not at all. The way the queue system works is it tried to match those at a similar level first, before putting together a mixed level matchup - but we see the mixed most often in beta simply due to the lack of population.
Questing:
Every quest is presented in a fully voiced cinematic. THIS is what Bioware was talking about. I have to say, it is damned impressive. Some people will skip them and rush through the reqponses willy-nilly, but I really enjoy developing my character. **NOTE: I AM NOT A ROLEPLAYER** I don't run around town acting out my chosen path, yadda, yadda. I do enjoy trying to maintain a consistent theme with my character though. You recieve light side/dark side points based on some of your responses. Points are really only awarded for pivotal decisions, not every choice you make. You can also gain "affection" with your companion character based on your responses in convos. I will talk more about that later. It should also be mentioned that 'space bar' skips the current dialogue and brings you to the next required response, and 'Esc' will end the conversation to allow you to restart it. Both light side/dark side and affection points are not final until the conversation is complete. So, you min/maxers out there will have opportunities to "redo" your decisions should you want to.
As a result of everything having a story behind it, you can't help but feel more involved in the quest. The quests do include your normal kills this many, collect this many, deliver this, etc; but there are also a fair amount of other types. Some quests are simply conversations in themselves that require no action other than speaking - kind of like playing a part in a cinematic (I thought it was great to watch some action unfold and get xp for it). Also, the stories behind the quests are not your normal "I don't like rats...go kill me some rats!". There is more to it than that.
Some people say that due to the story telling, the game feels more like massively single player game. I can see where they are coming from, but only if questing is all that you do. For some people, that is enjoyable, and I definitely have days where I just want to quest alone. However, you can do all quests in a group if you so choose, and the other player will be in the conversation with you - with an equal likelihood to respond (it is handled by a dice roll). You also have flashpoints (or instances) that you can do starting at level 10. They are a ton of fun from the ones that I have experienced. I will talk about them in a bit. So basically, it CAN feel like a massively single player game, if thats the experience you choose.
Companions:
At around levels 8-10, you get your first companion. They run around with you, fight with you, provide conversation at times, offer advice, etc. They each have a different personality, which is cool. They look for certain things in the way you act (in order to gain affection), so you may find yourself responding to please them (for you min/maxers out there). All in all, they increase the number of mobs you can handle, and make questing more enjoyable. They also add a whole new dimension to your character, and not an overpowering one. If you have a full group, they are unsummoned automatically. Or, if you only have 3 (a full group is 4), you can choose who's companion to take along, and they are a vauable combat asset.
Flashpoints:
Story-driven instances. It is a good balance of story with action. You generally have a conversation/event occurance, then you go kill a bunch of mobs, then another convo, etc. It works well, provides more emphasis for what you do, and the progression of the instance is dictated by your choices. The groups responses in convos is dictated by a roll, as I stated previously. However, if it is a light/dark side choice, you will still get the corresponding points from YOUR choice, regardless of which player responds. So, if I choose dark, but the person who chose light wins the roll - they get their light points, you still get your dark side points.
What else do y'all want to know?
TL;DR - I am really enjoying it thus far, and looking forward to release.
Ah, forgot to talk about that - thanks. In the social window, you can mark yourself as LFG with a note for what you want to group up for. However, all of the grouping that I did was done through the general chat channel. So, if you are asking if there is a dungeon finder like in WoW - as of now, no. I do not know for sure if that is planned for the future, but I would imagine they will put something similar together. I do know that they survey often for how groups are formed.
Not a problem!
Not a problem!
MountainDewMike
Veteran X
Thanks for the write-up. I'm very much looking forward to the story aspect but I wonder about mixing the story into the flashpoints. After you've done it the first time I imagine it will get pretty repetitive. Is there a way to skip through the story after you've done it once? Who in the group would dictate this? If you join a PUG and say 3 of the 4 people have done it several times and want to skip through it can they do so or is it based on dice rolls? I'm all for a good story but after seeing it several times I'm going to want to get on with the action.
Yeah, after doing the first flashpoints once or twice, it was REALLY repetitive. If everyone in your group presses the spacebar during the convo screens, it'll skip to the dialog choices instantly, but, again, only if every single person does it. It was quite frustrating when you'd have someone in your group not skipping and you'd have to sit there constantly waiting. Bioware is going to have to figure something out for this, otherwise people are pretty much only going to run each flashpoint once or twice unless they're with friends that all agree to skip the scenes quickly. Even if everyone keeps skipping the scenes, it still feels very repetitive and lame.
I didn't mind sitting through the conversations in the flashpoints. I kinda view it as part of the instance, Plus you never know how someone will reply, so there is a sense of randomness to each set of dialogue.
I don't go into a FP thinking it'll take 20 minutes to run, then get pissed off at everyone else when it takes 30 minutes. Expect it to take as long as it takes. If you're in a super hurry, do something else, or go in with friends who all feel the same way about it as you.
In the latest build for the beta, I ran each Flashpoint twice while leveling a character, as well as doing all the quests. By the time i got my ship, I was level 17, and could go to two new planets. One had green level quests, and one had orange. So I nearly out-leveled one of the planets. You probably won't be running the same flashpoint 3,4,5+ times unless you really want to. You level so quick at lower levels that there's not much point in grinding for BIS gear. Blue and even purple quality gear is easy to come by, especially if you take up crafting.
Hoeric Flashpoints will be a different issue, since you likely will have to run those over and over.
I don't go into a FP thinking it'll take 20 minutes to run, then get pissed off at everyone else when it takes 30 minutes. Expect it to take as long as it takes. If you're in a super hurry, do something else, or go in with friends who all feel the same way about it as you.
In the latest build for the beta, I ran each Flashpoint twice while leveling a character, as well as doing all the quests. By the time i got my ship, I was level 17, and could go to two new planets. One had green level quests, and one had orange. So I nearly out-leveled one of the planets. You probably won't be running the same flashpoint 3,4,5+ times unless you really want to. You level so quick at lower levels that there's not much point in grinding for BIS gear. Blue and even purple quality gear is easy to come by, especially if you take up crafting.
Hoeric Flashpoints will be a different issue, since you likely will have to run those over and over.
One thing I'll say about companions that I wrote up on the forums about:
If you choose a dialogue option they like, you'll get a little pop-up notification saying +15 affection. If they didn't like what you said, you get a -1 notification. This can occure multiple times in one conversation.
The problem I had, was I found that my companion was turning my conversations into a meta game of keeping them happy. Instead of playing my character how I want to play, my companion soon had me play how he wanted me to. Because if/when you answer wrong, you get feedback saying so.
While you have multiple companions in the game, you only get 1 for the first stretch until you get your ship. And even then, the other companions who join you, might not be the ones you need to take into battle. For example, I played a Sith Sorcerer spec'd into healing. My first companion was a melee tank. Even if I unlocked multiple companions, they couldn't fill the role as well as he does in battle. This sucked for me because he hated my character's alignment choices.
Now, I assume that companion affection has some sort of use in game (not sure that purpose is implemented yet). I imagine when it gets high enough, they'll unlock quests to do etc. What there needs to be are benefits for being hated by your companions. It would be odd if the game lets you choose a path in the story between good/neutral/evil, but only rewards you when you're in high standing with a companion because those two things will clash at every quest from 1 to 50.
**I'll note that you can boost companion affection with gifts... but the point boost is so small, that if you had to make up for an entire game's story worth of dialogue, you'll be having to collect/buy a fucking TON of gifts.
If you choose a dialogue option they like, you'll get a little pop-up notification saying +15 affection. If they didn't like what you said, you get a -1 notification. This can occure multiple times in one conversation.
The problem I had, was I found that my companion was turning my conversations into a meta game of keeping them happy. Instead of playing my character how I want to play, my companion soon had me play how he wanted me to. Because if/when you answer wrong, you get feedback saying so.
While you have multiple companions in the game, you only get 1 for the first stretch until you get your ship. And even then, the other companions who join you, might not be the ones you need to take into battle. For example, I played a Sith Sorcerer spec'd into healing. My first companion was a melee tank. Even if I unlocked multiple companions, they couldn't fill the role as well as he does in battle. This sucked for me because he hated my character's alignment choices.
Now, I assume that companion affection has some sort of use in game (not sure that purpose is implemented yet). I imagine when it gets high enough, they'll unlock quests to do etc. What there needs to be are benefits for being hated by your companions. It would be odd if the game lets you choose a path in the story between good/neutral/evil, but only rewards you when you're in high standing with a companion because those two things will clash at every quest from 1 to 50.
**I'll note that you can boost companion affection with gifts... but the point boost is so small, that if you had to make up for an entire game's story worth of dialogue, you'll be having to collect/buy a fucking TON of gifts.
BloodyShark
Veteran XX
I did the Esseles flashpoint only once because I didn't have time to level up more than 1 character in the beta last weekend. Do you get light side/dark side points every time you do the instance? Or just the first time?
Every time you get points. But currently LS/DS points are only used for gear requirements. And at early levels you'll only need Light 1 or Dark 1 to equip the light/dark gear. There's no purpose in powerleveling LS/DS because you should have as much as you need so long as you stick to one or the other.
You will need to grind some out if you decide to change though. Your alignment is simply the smaller of the two subtracted from the higher. If you have 2000 lightside points, and 200 darkside, then your standing is 1800 LS.
But as far as I can tell, it's just for "looks". Light3 gear has the same stats as Dark3, but the two sets have different looks to them.
You will need to grind some out if you decide to change though. Your alignment is simply the smaller of the two subtracted from the higher. If you have 2000 lightside points, and 200 darkside, then your standing is 1800 LS.
But as far as I can tell, it's just for "looks". Light3 gear has the same stats as Dark3, but the two sets have different looks to them.
BloodyShark
Veteran XX
Yea, i was sorta hoping that if I go full dark on republic i could faction switch or something. I was told no. I hope they do more with it than just looks for gear. Maybe different color powers or something.
The way they've described it in the past is that at the upper levels, like in the lvl 50 raid encounters, there will be gear and mod drops that require alignments to equip with no direct equivalents for the opposing faction. So, like, a DS lightsaber drop and a LS chest piece, with no direct overlap.
That was months ago, so who knows what the hell they think they're doing with it these days.
That was months ago, so who knows what the hell they think they're doing with it these days.
All good points as well. I definitely find myself playing more to my companions opinion sometimes, but I have not really collided with the way they feel yet. Meaning, I still like the answers I choose when I get affection bonuses or what not.
One other thing that I was thinking about today are all of the different commendations you get. "Commendations" are similar to the different tokens you collect in other MMOs for gear. It is a great system, and sometimes you can collect a commendation instead of a certain piece of gear you would not use. The issue I have is that every planet/flashpoint/city etc. has its own commendation. Then you have PVP tokens as well. Now, you can convert lower level commendations to the next level at a 2 lower for 1 higher ratio. However, I dislike that I have to manage several stacks of these things. I have some left over, I have some that I am collecting, I have these flashpoint ones, and then I have these OTHER flashpoint ones...blah blah blah. So, I think in theory it is a great idea, and I really don't know how to improve the implementation. So I guess... buy the commendation gear as soon as you can - and get some use out of them; or just continue saving until you can convert them all up to better ones. (flashpoint commendations cannot be converted to my knowledge). PvP tokens are static throughout, higher level items simply require a greater number of tokens.
One other thing that I was thinking about today are all of the different commendations you get. "Commendations" are similar to the different tokens you collect in other MMOs for gear. It is a great system, and sometimes you can collect a commendation instead of a certain piece of gear you would not use. The issue I have is that every planet/flashpoint/city etc. has its own commendation. Then you have PVP tokens as well. Now, you can convert lower level commendations to the next level at a 2 lower for 1 higher ratio. However, I dislike that I have to manage several stacks of these things. I have some left over, I have some that I am collecting, I have these flashpoint ones, and then I have these OTHER flashpoint ones...blah blah blah. So, I think in theory it is a great idea, and I really don't know how to improve the implementation. So I guess... buy the commendation gear as soon as you can - and get some use out of them; or just continue saving until you can convert them all up to better ones. (flashpoint commendations cannot be converted to my knowledge). PvP tokens are static throughout, higher level items simply require a greater number of tokens.
Spot on about the tokens. I agree that it's great that you can get so much gear, and that you can turn in old tokens for new ones... but it does feel like there's so much token management going on at times. Maybe a separate inventory page like the one for mission items. That way you don't really have to worry about spending/converting old ones for the sake of saving space.