Uphrades

[caios]

Well to no surprise, I logged into the beta test this morning and found almost all of the servers were full.

The only exception is the server Uphrades, which is PvE East Coast, so that's the one I'm using right now.

See you on the flip side!

[drjackwolfe]

How tight do you think they are running these servers? Cause the waits I'm seeing will not be acceptable, specially if there is only one RP server or our Guild gets placed on a busy server.

[gothicshark]

DrJW I think because this is a server test this weekend and they have sent an invite to every who has ever shown any interest in this game, it is highly likely that there might be 2 million people playing this weekend. Divide that by the number of servers which is over twenty and that should give you an Idea of where the current server population is. I should also point out that is why they are doing this weekend, so they can figure out how many servers they will need, and tweak with a few other things server side.

Personally I will roll up a few characters mess around in the start area, but because these characters will be deleted again, I will not be playing much this weekend since I do not want to get bored with the start zones and leveling areas.

[ZombieSareini]

Well, after playing around in the beta yesterday and for a little bit today (until the cats decided to launch an assault) I have to admit... the game is growing on me.

My controls are sluggish, it doesn't like when I try to alt-tab out and when I exit the game it takes five minutes to actually do so (that's one hell of a memory leak they've got there), but it's not a bad game. I personally wouldn't have put as many cut scenes in as they have (I was almost getting my Kindle out yesterday) but I guess they really want to show off the voice acting an animations they spent two fortunes on.

Plus my Jedi Consular has a Trandosian, which I'm choosing to see as a more family-friendly version of the Predators from the Predator movie series. And he's awesome.

I'll likely be in the game again at some point in the day, when the cats let me, so if anyone wants to poke Ianis on Uphrades, please do so. I'm not rushing out to get a pre-order of the game, but I have softened my opinion of it...

[Hollowpoint Heroism]

After having poked TOR cautiously with a long stick over the past two days, I'll say this much: If I had the cash for it? I'd pick it up. However thanks to the fact I'm currently earning a pittance, I'll likely have to shelve this until such time as I've got more disposable income.

[Warp Factor]

I didn't get very far with it. It's not objectively bad or anything, but I hated the look of the characters and wasn't into the art style. The story area stuff is a cool idea, but I just wasn't into the story it was trying to tell. I may give it another try if they give me more beta time, but from what I've seen so far it's just really not clicking with me.

[drjackwolfe]

Well, I'm having more fun then I did with WoW, I've played everyclass to between 5 and 10 and some further. I think I like the gunplay, which leads to really want the secret world, I'm also liking the stories. The other tester all sound like barrens chat,, so finding a good community might be tough, though I guess that's to be expected. I"m thinking it'll get at least 3 months.

Have to say I'm more impressed with class difffernece across faction then I thought I would abe, could use better graphics and a few more adult themes. I'd like to see Mass Effect taken to it's full Mature rating and applied. I"m also dubious, as I am with most MMOs, about all of us being the "chosen one" for our story, it really seems to me the CoH and Eve are the few games that get around this weakness in the genere.

[Dedlok]

One thing I found weird, and the opposite of what I would expect, is I would have perfect frame rates in exterior areas, but as soon as I enter a interior area I would fall to 4-12 FPS. That includes pretty much every story area and the Republic Fleet.

[ZombieSareini]

Meanwhile, my streak of apparently confusing people online continues!

Standing still in a random part of Coruscant on my male human Jedi Shadow, someone comes up to me and asks "will u be my online gf?"

...I swear, I don't set out to make these characters as androgynous as they seem to turn out to be.

[drjackwolfe]

Really? Hah did you say yes? Clearly you give off chick vibes.

[drjackwolfe]

Dina all notice somebody registered a guardian angles guild on the us west servers?

[gothicshark]

Nov 28, 2011 14:54:09 GMT -5 drjackwolfe said:

guardian angles

As long as they are not Right Angles I'm find with that.

[caios]

So ... here are some thoughts. ;D

At the end of the day this is a WoW clone, so alot of the things this game does is grounded firmly in that paradigm. However SWTOR manages to avoid the pitfall of other WoW clones in that it is not trying to be a WoW clone just to be a WoW clone. They're not trying to "Out WoW" WoW so much as they're trying to do their own thing while still sticking with a working formula. It makes sense since given the scope of their game, they can focus on where they stand out - storytelling, companions, and full VO conversations - while minimizing the risk elsewhere.

This is why they're using the simpler graphic style, and why they're using their given control schemes, and why everything from PvP to Auction Houses work the way they do. Meanwhile they can leverage their advantage to bring out a way better crafting system, social features, and solo play experience. It may not be for everyone, but it comes pretty damn close. For the most part, if you like WoW or Star Wars you'll probably like this game.

Given that, Warp, my advice to you would be to give some of the other classes a shot. Each one has their own story and they can vary widely, especially across faction. You'd be surprised how much the story can affect how much fun you're having. Like Jack mentioned many of the classes get a completely different vibe across factions. This can lead to some pretty big differences in how the game feels even when playing the exact same class.

For example, I found playing the Jedi Knight to be more fun then playing the Sith Warrior. Yet strangely playing the Sith Inquisitor was much more enjoyable then playing a Jedi Consular. No offense to Sare, but your lizard tank has nothing on the bottomless pit of fury and hunger that Inquisitors get as their first pet, ... I mean companion.

For non-force users, playing my trooper has been a ton more fun them playing a bounty hunter, though I admit that probably has alot to do with the voice actress. Both the male BH and the female Trooper have awesome VO, but only one of them lets you play as Commander Shepard. ( You can bet the "Shepard" Legacy will be picked up pretty quick. ) Interestingly the Imperial Agent and the Smuggler were pretty close, though I definitely have to give the edge to the Smuggler for the simple fact that you get to play Malcom Reynolds, hell he even sounds like him.

Regardless I'm enjoying all of the stories, and in fact I'm already planning on having one of every class as a result. Once the game is released and I get my Legacy I won't be in any rush to play through all of the storylines, so it's not like I'll be playing them all at the same time. The Jedi Knight is definitely my favorite and will probably be my main toon and DPSer, though that's followed very closely by my Commander Shepard, I mean my Rebuplic Trooper, who will likely end up as my primary tank character. Third place right now is a toss up but currently my Sith Inquisitor is in the lead. Everything else is still in flux so it depends on who I feel like playing at the time.

[drjackwolfe]

Yeah, so I'll be playing Jack as Mal but heavy for the angels, but trooper or Bh are close behind. (stop telling me that shep is the female trooper, I like my dark blue BH). Game is lfast enough to be fun, warsy enough to be exciting, and light enough to be quick ta learn. I have little problem with a WOW mechanics clone if the rest of the game works and draws players, so far this does. It aint't ST:G fer depth though.

[gothicshark]

Well I just logged out after playing today, sadly do to the holiday I was too busy this weekend to play. Fortunately this was my 3erd Beta weekend. So I really had the chance to play several classes, and get a feel for the system.

As Caios said each class really has a different vibe. I personally can not stand the way Smugglers/Imperial agents play. But I love both the Sith warrior and the Jedi Knight. (I will be playing both). I find the Sith Inquisitor to be one of the most compelling story lines in the game. But I love Playing the Bounty Hunters and the Troopers.

I have decided I will make 4 characters for this game.

Mariel (Human: Jedi Knight - Sentinel, DPS sort of Fury Warrior/Ret-Pali combo class. Chaotic Good) - I was going to make her a Smuggler sadly I just do not like that class.
Marchosias (Sith Pure Blood: Sith Warrior - Juggernaut, Prot warrior Tank. Lawful Good)
Tiburon (Chiss: Bounty Hunter - (undecided). True Neutral will do nothing unless he is being paid to do so.)
Racheal (Rattataki: Sith Inquisitor - Sorcerer, Warlock/Mage/Priest. Chaotic Good.) Was going to be a Trooper However since Bounty Hunters and Troopers are essentially the same class and I will be making Tiburon one of my four mains. I will do Racheal as SI for the Story I am really hooked on this story.

Servers, Guilds ect.
Since I have several groups of friends doing several different things. I will be slow to level my GA characters. My friend Mat will be playing Sith, and he lives in walking distance. Mat and his friend Jack are 2 of the Top Raiders on Dark Iron they are both 'Knights of Archadia' which is a PA guild. The plan is to build a RP Friendly Hardcore Sith Raiding Guild. I want in. So for that My two Sith mains will be on a west coast RP server with Mat and Jack. My Republic characters will be rooled and placed in the GA guild but I might not play them much untill I finish the Story's for the SI, BH, and SW (in that order.)

I will only roll Sith on Mats chosen server, and I promise to only roll Republic on the server chosen for GA.