Darth Hater

Georg Zoeller
It is a good assumption that we are going to limit the population of each server in order to ensure quality of service. Allowing unlimited users on a server would be a recipe for unlimited unhappy users.

Georg Zoeller
It really depends on the spec you are running as a Gunslinger. Gunslingers are very nasty with cover once they are 'Entrenched', nothing to laugh at at all.

The run and gun thing is certainly possible as well. That's the nice thing about the skill trees, you have choices in playstyle.

Georg Zoeller
As a non force user class, the smuggler is definitely a bit of a renegade / rogue - something a lot of players won't try for a while as they explore their Force & Lightsaber wielding Star Wars fantasy.

That said, it's one of the most versatile classes... and that was before we gave the Smuggler the ability to 'Smuggle' (... their entire group behind enemy lines using that pretty rad stealth field generator they pieced together from some parts that fell off the back of some Imperial shuttle).

Georg Zoeller
That's just too vague, we know the hero engine has some pretty impressive tech to increase capacities.

Would it be so terrible to cough up some population caps estimates?

Please?This topic has little to nothing to do with engines and their capabilities. An empty Unreal level has some insanely cool capabilities too. It's all the features, content, systems and players that make the game that define your max population cap, along with variables such as bandwidth per player, CPU cost per player, etc.

Since we have not decided what our cap will be (extended load testing will determine that), we see little reason to have a discussion about a number that does not yet exist. Sorry.

Georg Zoeller
Awesome that our Smuggler/Snuggler bros/gals/mortal enemies get group stealth . . .

But do Agents get it too!?

/puppydogeyesConsidering the parts of that technology fell of the back of an Imperial Shuttle on it's way to Imperial Intelligence HQ on Dromund Kaas, it's a good assumption that Imperial Agents have access to some similar gadgetry as well

Georg Zoeller
Perhaps you didn't realize that not everyone played mediocre fantasy themepark MMOs. Likewise, TOR is the spiritual successor to SWG.This is incorrect.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is the spritual successor to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, also made by BioWare, and not any other game.

Damion Schubert
I'd still really like a reply on this from someone at BioWare, like Georg or Stephen or whoever, because my friends and I are setting up our starting group with everyone playing different classes, so that we don't foul each others stories.The second Warrior to enter can choose whether to enter the first Warrior's phase, or his own. You will know whose phase you are in by a large, hard-to-miss nameplate on your screen. As a general rule, the first Warrior cannot progress his quest while in the second Warrior's phase, so if player B joins player A, he'd do it twice. Some players will choose to do so, other groups will prefer to split and have each Warrior do his own solo version and meet up again outside.

It's worth noting that in most situations, we try to make it so the phased bit of the dungeon is relatively small. One of the reasons why is to keep the replay of the areas relatively short, in these sorts of instances.

Georg Zoeller
Oh, I didn't know this thread was "Is TOR a spiritual successor to SWG?" What a stupid and pointless debate.

On topic: I'm disappointed that Gunslinger doesn't seem to really use or rely on cover in PvP at all, according to the impression, and that's actually quite worthless. I understand why. The devs couldn't balance it and make it work, so they essentially just scrapped it as a core mechanic. Still, it was a unique "core" mechanic, and something the Gunslinger was especially supposed to focus on. No longer, I guess.Except that that impression is totally wrong.

The Gunslinger has an entire tree dedicated to cover gameplay that is very, very competitive. It's not everyone's cup of tea though, so that's why there are multiple specs available that rely to varying degrees on cover.

Georg Zoeller
Die Frage ist... kriegt das die Schmuggler/Agenten-Grundklasse oder nur eine AC?
Weil so wie ich das las, wollen die wohl Schmuggi und Agent attraktiver machen und nicht nur die eine oder andere AC der Klasse...

Wird also nur der Schurke schmuggeln knnen oder der Schmuggler (resp. Agent) im Allgemeinen?EN: At the moment, this ability [Smuggle/Infiltrate] is part of the character's [Smuggler/Agent] base class. This may or may not change until launch, dependent on testing.

Georg Zoeller
We've yet to actually see any viable cover in PvP though. There may be PvE cover specs, but it would be nice to see some reports of cover being something other than a burden in PvP. Georg didn't mention anything at all about cover's PvP viability and HOW it's viable. Other reports of cover classes in PvP have made it sound like cover is a poor mechanic in PvP, to smuggler's/AI's disadvantage.For the cover specs, cover is very viable in PvP. The ability to entrench grants them immunity from a wide range of effects, including ballistics and makes them impossible to charge. Their superior range means they are guaranteed to get the first shot, which could be a powerful alpha strike, a snare or one of several other options.

An entrenched sniper guarding a choke point like a bridge on the Voidstar or objective in a Warzone is painful for most solo classes to deal with. If you get a sniper or gunslinger with cover spec set up in your flank during a battle and don't do something about it, expect the fight to be over quick.

In our last round of testing, I've seen a single Smuggler guarding a bridge wiping out four attackers trying to swarm him by sending them into the bottomless with a well timed cover pulse. Granted, they weren't exactly smart charging him head on, but these things happen when people get overconfident.

A number of interesting mechanics, such as the powerful Cover Pulse AOE defense and the ability to instant snipe for a short duration after exiting cover allow characters that got surprised to regain control of the situation or transition into an organized retreat.

Of course, cover based classes are not suited for all roles equally (few classes are) and the cover gameplay is surely not for everyone, especially not people who just like to charge into the fray. Playing in our Alderaan Warzone for example, cover based classes are more likely to act as defenders than scouts and that requires patience and tactical movement to be successful. Charging head on into a Lightsaber wielding enemy is a very good way of getting a free speeder ride in these scenarios.

We don't expect them to be as wildly popular as a Jedi Knight or Consular, it is definitely a class that is harder to master than most, but I do think that players who like this kind gameplay will be satisfied with their options here and do well in competitive PvP.

Georg Zoeller
This.

Also, to those who said Smuggler will play like WoW's Hunter. ... I hated WoW's hunter.

But everything I've seen from TOR's Smuggler I love. Go figure! HahaA Smuggler can be a Medic, healing and supporting his allies.

A Smuggler can be a marksman, entrenched in cover and decimating the enemy with devastating single target attacks.

A Smuggler can be an explosives specialist, leaving craters and blown up Imperial squads in his wake.

A Smuggler can be a stealthy mid range scrapper, approaching enemies unseen and hitting them hard with his scatter gun.

A Smugger can be a daring risk taker, running and gunning into close range and finishing enemies with a few good kicks into places where it hurts.

A Smuggler can be a Smuggler, delivering his group behind enemy lines unseen.

As you can see, saying 'a Smuggler plays like this class from another game' is never going to be terribly accurate. I'd say, it's probably wrong.

Joanna Berry
Another factor to consider is that for Trandoshans, hunting isn't just utilitarian, it's a very meaningful part of their culture. It's a social and religious activity that raises their status in the eyes of their peers, and brings them closer to their goddess. Obviously many Trandoshans go about hunting in a more brutal fashion, or care less about the spiritual aspects than the joy of the kill; as a result, that's what most people in the galaxy imagine when someone says "Trandoshan".

For individual Trandoshans who see hunting not as an end in itself, but a way of honouring the Scorekeeper, it's a tough perception to overcome.

To be honest, though, the mindset of a Jedi meditating to prepare both mind and body before a battle, and that of a religiously-inclined Trandoshan praying to the Scorekeeper during a difficult hunt, aren't a million miles apart. Both parties serve something greater than themselves--the Force on one hand, and the Scorekeeper and the concept of earning your self-worth, on the other. Both subscribe to a value system which, to those outside it, can sometimes seem downright peculiar.

I'm not saying all Trandoshans and Jedi should hug and be BFFs. You can't sugar coat the fact that, yes, Trandoshan culture inclines them towards violence, and that's something a Jedi would have to accept. But there's a little common ground between them a starting point, at least.