Darth Hater

I think it is still too early to say exactly how similar to WoW the powers are - even on the podcast, the DH crew said these were descriptors.

I've been scouring the net for SWTOR footage for months, and I still haven't seen a quarter of the abilities mentioned, in action. So far, all we have to go on is the flavor text associated with the power. Beyond that, all you can do is try to relate that flavor text with what is most familiar to you based on how it sounds - while, in action, it may not play or feel exactly the same.

Not long ago, I saw some Imperial Agent footage that showed me the differences. Immediately before clicking, I went into it thinking 'SWTOR's Rogue/Hunter'. However, it quickly became clear that this was not how it played, at all. Shooting on the run, sending explosive probes out that can affect a target and anyone adjacent to the blast, Laze Target, diving behind cover - I've never seen these sorts of tactics done in WoW. Plus, this was all between level 2-5, I believe.

The thing that makes me laugh and shake my head, is when people see something and immediately assume WoW invented it; that sort of thing just saddens me - you know, after I stop laughing - because most, if not all, of WoW's "powers" come from other sources. In fact, everything WoW has done, powers or lore-wise, can be traced back to another source.

C'Thun? Thank you, HP Lovecraft. Yogg Saron? More like Yog Sothoth.

DK & Priest abilities? Thank Gary Gygax, because almost any fantasy based powers can be traced right back to D&D. Clerics were doing those "Priest abilities", back before you were probably born, in weekend D&D sessions - and the DK is pretty much what you would get if a Warlock & a Paladin drank too much whiskey one night and hooked up in a drunken haze.

Having said that, don't take this to mean I think WoW sucks. I actually enjoyed my time playing it. I just find it sad when people think that WoW invented anything; they (Blizzard) just took what was there before, and added their own touch to it.

Achievements? WAR.

Giant flaming eye atop a temple (seen in Cataclysm screenshots)? Tolkien... sort of, except it was a mountain in Lord of the Rings. But very, VERY similar.

The concept of "The Old Gods"? Lovecraft, again.

Hell, you want irony - I saw a freaking SARLACC in a recent Cataclysm beta video on youtube. Sure, they are calling it something else, but it's a damn Sarlacc.

Also, the first time I played WoW - long before I knew about the history, and how it tied in with Games Workshop - I remember distinctly saying "These character models look a lot like Warhammer figures."

See where I'm going here?

If WoW can take the structure of their entire game from another one (Everquest), add in features created by numerous MMOs (WAR, Everquest, etc), use character models that are strikingly similar - if not exact replicas - to those of another franchise (Warhammer), and borrow ideas directly from people throughout history (Lovecraft, Tolkien, and many, many others), why is it so wrong for BioWare to borrow a few powers?

Bear in mind that the validity of this concern is all predicated on whether or not the flavor text describes a power that looks, sounds, or is implemented exactly like what we picture in our own heads.lol

"Giant flaming eye atop a temple (seen in Cataclysm screenshots)? Tolkien... sort of, except it was a mountain in Lord of the Rings. But very, VERY similar. "

Actually, that really is more of a straight rip too:) The "Eye of Sauron" is atop Barad Dur, which is a tower/fortress and is NOT on mount doom.

but yea, people freak out about this stuff all the time, and in every single game.

Well, I've got a challenge for these people.

Game developers need to develop dozens of unique skills/abilities for each class. Can YOU design even 2 unique abilities for each of the 16 TOR ACs?

Go ahead, take your time...

Another fantastic podcast. You guys always amaze me with your detailed analyses...this week's on all the different abilities was superb.

I had to laugh at everyone's reactions to escort quests. While escort quests always make me groan...some of my favorite game memories have resulted from escort quests gone horribly wrong. I definitely agree with the gotta love 'em, gotta hate 'em camp haha.

Great podcast, but I gotta comment on the phasing subject:

It is very easy to make two people in the same world look at the same object and see very different things. We do this technique with training system software all the time and it is quite simple.

Lets say player 1 choses option A in which a building was burned down and player 2 choses option B in which that same building isn't burned down. For player A's database you change the pointers to reference the burnt down building model. Now when the IG renders the scene on Player A's computer, he will see a burnt down building. When the IG renders the scene on Player B's computer, he will see a normal building. They both see each other and can interact with each other, but the world looks different based on individual decisions they made.

The same can be done with things like weather effects, sign textures, clothing for NPCs, etc. It can't be done with things like collision models because it would look wierd for player A to be colliding against an object that player B can walk right through.

I really hope BW implements a system like this. I would love to walk into a region that looks dreary and broken, and after 30 hours of questing it looks bright and shiny (or reverse for you dark siders). It doesn't interfere with anyone elses experience or decisions, or limit social interaction like WOW does, or depend on lots of instances, but it makes my decisions and actions feel more persistent.

I think the main issue with this in the past hasn't been the difficulty/ease of implementing it...but rather the increased load and size on various systems. In your example, you need to create both a burnt down building, and an untouched building. Both need to be installed taking up room on the clients computer. Also, you need to add to the database for the object to tell it which files to display under the 2 conditions, and the database for the character needs to list what choices have and have not been made. Finally, you also have to transmit this extra data.

Basically, it increases the requirements on nearly everything, which has a compounding effect. Not to say that TOR won't have it, as I believe that is one of the key features of the HERO engine and that appears to be the way TOR is going, but rather just a reason we haven't really seen it in MMOs to date.

Also, I propose the term,"Pocket Dimensions" or "PDs" for these micro-phased areas:) I think it fits pretty well with the concept, doubly so with the whole sci-fi thing.

As for escort missions...</cry>

I loathe them like no other. While I hate the slow moving ones...it's the ones that charge that drive me crazy the most. Right off the bat one from LoTRO springs to mind. In Mirkwood 1 of only 2 daily repeatable quests involved this where towards the end of a small instance, 2 dwarves you are escorting charge a group of 5 normal enemies with a signature. ( Signatures roughly being designed to be equal to a player, usually relatively easily soloable though. ) The dwarves don't give you time between the previous fight and this one, instead charging straight in. Each dwarf can only handle 1 normal, leaving you to take on 3 normals and a signature by yourself. Some classes such as the champion this is fairly easy...but others like the Single Target DPS and single squishiest class in game RK it is a nightmare. It took 6 attempts to get this quest down, and once I did...I could still only manage about a 50% success rate. Sometimes the dwarves would just taunt a mob off me and get themselves killed, other times all 6 mobs would attack 1 dwarf off the bat killing him, or maybe they decide to attack my target and instead of me only fighting 4 mobs I'm fighting all 6. etc etc etc.

What's weird is LoTRO has a nice little system in other places where you can actually control the NPC a little ( basically by telling him when to move forward or stop. ) <sigh> Woulda been so nice there with those dwarves:(

Good podcast DH crew!

About BotE #10, Teneb Kel does really have some very care bear moments for a Sith. The explicit mention of "companion" seemed a little too cheesy to me heh.

Escort missions are generally very challenging for me as well. My first escort mission experience would probably be X-Wing as well. All of the escort missions in X-Wing involving escorting a very slow moving shuttle, freighter, or generally some slow moving, rather defenseless vehicle. The escort mission directly mentioned in the podcast required engaging the bombers as far away from the escortees and then dumping all your power to engine power to meet the next wave. Escort missions in MMOs tend to rely heavily on the NPC AI. Some NPCs fight back while others cower in fear and aggro everything along the way! I've experienced this quite a bit in LOTRO. The only redeeming factor for escort missions is their difficulty.

There was a ton of skill / class info from Gamescom, which is great to see. I noticed some discussion about the 7 lightsaber forms. These forms are essentially stances. From my recent experience in LOTRO with the melee DPS class, the Champion, I have 3 different stances that have different focuses (defensive, offensive, and in-between) and also change the amount of "power" and fervour (Rage for the SW) regen. These stances correspond almost directly to what we are seeing with the saber forms.

Looking forward to the PAX coverage!

Escort missions are OK. Some have been more interesting than others, but all tend to be somewhat annoying.

Escort missions always make me cringe. They are tricky things in video games mainly because you have to rely on the AI of the character/vehicle that you are tasked to protect. Anytime you are forced to forfeit control of your situation over to an NPC, there is bound to be discomfort. Memories of various escort missions hearken back to the early days of teammate AI in shooters; they never seem to do the damage that a real live person with a keyboard/controller is capable of. I take comfort in the fact that AI teammates' accuracy and efficiency have improved over the years. Hopefully BioWare will find a way to improve on the past shortcomings of others when it comes to escort missions.

I'm hoping the escort NPC will react similarly to the way companions do when they follow you: basically, allow you to dictate the speed of movement.

If you, as a player, have control of the pacing, I think escort quests may be far less tedious than in other games.

That would be a fantastic change. However, I would still loathe escort quests, just not as much.

They've already said you won't be able to control the speed in which you travel, only move your ship ( up, down, left and right ) within the given rail.

I thought it was pretty interesting that basically 1 out of 5 changed their mind about what AC they will play once the names where announced. I am sticking with Sith Assassin personally. I was actually kind of surprised to see only 5% voted for it since it's a DPS focused class with stealth but I certainly don't mind less competition. Plus I need my Darth Maul fix.

Great podcast DH! And man did I hate the turtle escort quest in Tanaris!

Great podcast as allways guys!

The Interceptor Shield ability you guys were talking about is probably for lowering the threat for the Mercenary AC, or my other guess would be for changing targets from the main tank to another mob or tank.

Chocodiles remind me of Soul Coughing, heh.... Downloading the podcast now for my commute!