For now, join us after the jump for the live blog.
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Note: At certain points the audio is hard to hear due to position and acoustics.
- Starts at 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT
- 6:22: Reid, Ohlen, Butler, and empty seat likely Karpyshyn on panel. Michael Biton leading the panel
- 6:33: Michael asks about expectations on the project. Ohlen: First MMO, didn't expect it to be so vast, such a big game. Butler: Was always a Star Wars fan so I couldn't wait to jump in. Erickson: Lots of challenges, should be easier in the future. Reid: Came on later, so it's not as bad, knew that we would have that 1% crazy but that 1% is a lot bigger than expected.
- 6:36: Question: Aside from Taris, how much did kotor influence game? Answer: Erickson anything big storywise will get a nod. We wanted to answer some open questions, if someone from KOTOR did something historical, you will at least hear or see a glimpse of it.
- 6:37: Q: If you're on a pvp server can you kill rebel scum? A: Ohlen: Safe early, later it becomes dangerous. We don't want someone stalking you, so there are mechanics in death system to prevent that. Sanctuaries help, they are there but are rare. Example - You can't turn the Hutt capital into a blood bath. Aside from that, there are mechanisms in place to disallow ganking when in dialogue moments.
- 6:39: Q: How will item mods work? A: Ohlen: being modified as a system. As currently stands, you can modify a high % of items. Let's you keep old stuff longer, especially iconic anesthetic armor. Keep your favorite look. High level mods difficult to get. More details later, mods and how they work are still being worked on.
- 6:42: Q: Will there be dual speccing? A: Ohlen: Not for ship, eventually want to add.
- 6:43: Q: Mac version? A: Reid: No. Ohlen: No plans at this moment but we will make sure it works well on Bootcamp.
- 6:44: Q: How soon can you leave your origin world? A: Ohlen: Not at level 1 but pretty early on you can jump a shuttle to another planet. Yes, you can jump to another planet and help out a friend.
- 6:46: Q: What parts of Sith will influence history? A: There is some stuff in there that we know will happen in the future, there will be occasional signs, for example - Alderaan will be Republic later in history.
- 6:47: Q: Legacy system? A: Erickson: We never said anything about that. No news.
- 6:48: Q: How many of the 15 flashpoints are shared with both factionss? A: Ohlen: About a dozen shared. Erickson: I do not remember end game count. Two plus endgame flashpoints.
- 6:50: Q: Smugglers are apparently low on damage according to some sites, any comment about balance? A: Reid: No comment. Skill trees anywhere are probably out of date on leaks. Ohlen: Don't worry about balance. We're working on it. Reid: Forum screams about balance are seen, but we trust Georg's #s.
- 6:53: Q: If there's dual spec... Lots of conditions? A: too theoretical, we'll address when we need to.
- 6:54: Q: Is romance a problem with the Jedi Knight? Erickson: Choices have to be hard. If you're dark side, your commitment will be tested. A huge amount of Jedi fall to dark side bc of romance. Three levers influence morality - social pressure, companions, your morales.
- 6:56: Q: Will we see racial abilities in the game? Ohlen: They won't influence your character choice.
- 6:57: Q: Race/class combos? Erickson: We decided the list. Reid knows. Reid: Sith Pureblood Inquisitor
- 6:59: Q: Can you customize your UI? Ohlen: Limited customization at launch, working on more later.
- 7:00: Q: Observer modes for pvp? Ghost camera? Like SC2? Ohlen: Not in ship. Gabe might look into it later.
- 7:01: Q: Most eye opening feedback from testing that changed the game? Ohlen: Passionate feedback about item mods. We reacted to player feedback on that.
- 7:03: Erickson: I defend the world and story. I stood against repeatable flash points and companion customization. DE: Lots of things from users. Customize companion look. Repeatable flashpoints. If it makes sense and we can do it, we'll consider it. Ohlen: The story element has gone smoothest because we have experience with it at BioWare. The technical aspects are biggest challenge, like the game engine. Erickson: There are a lot of limitations on storytelling in mmo. Can't put in prison. Made us be honest as writers and plan.
- 7:05: Q: How will you deal with feedback post launch? Butler: About the same. We'll listen to users and make changes when they make sense. Ohlen: Neverwinter nights was a source for lessons learned Chapter 1 was playable on nwn engine.
- 7:09: Q: Roleplaying community building? Reid: You get to roleplay your dark/light choices. Feels more like an RPG than anything. Erickson: Artists asked why are we making a wedding dress?
- 7:12: Q: Playable wookies? Erickson: No, it is fully voiced. We're not a sandbox. We are a Star Wars movie. No fiction was focused on wookies. Too much time spent listening to yourself.
- 7:13: Q: Is there a reward system for non-extreme alignment paths like grey? A: Ohlen: We won't gimp you. We're careful with it. It doesn't impact all of your abilities. Erickson: You can be snarky and still be light side. You can be a wiseass in conversations but light side. It's the bigger actions that you take that matter.
- 7:16: Q: Will there be multimedia tie-ins after launch? A: Reid: It's not up to us. LucasArts controls the IP that's up to them.
- Q: Any tools for Auction House system? Ohlen: Basic features for ship. More access points than other games. Making some changes now so not sure exactly what will be in at ship.
- Q: Guild perks and leveling? Ohlen: No guild leveling at launch. We work regularly with guilds like the syndicate to check what they like. We're going to enhance post launch as it is important for keeping people around.
- 7:21: A: Erickson: Voice actors locked into long term contracts, will not change.
- 7:22: Q: Future plans for space combat and space pvp? Ohlen: We focused on the hero and the heroic story arc. We have space now. It is more of a mini-game. No multiplayer space combat at launch. Rail shooter is fun.
- 7:23: Q: Are there any other impacts on class story aside from morality? Erickson: Class story changes by actions taken. Actions affect story ending
- 7:24: Q: You confirmed dark side appearance change. Light side appearance change? Ohlen: No light side appearance change. We toyed with a "wisened old" look but scrapped it. You don't grow angel wings.
- 7:25: Q: What about crafting and player housing? Ohlen: Starships are your housing. Can store stuff in them. There are some videos on our site about crafting.
- 7:26: Q: How do you affect companion behavior? Erickson: You can change the way they act towards you based on how you treat them.
- 7:27: Q: How frequent are raid patches? Ohlen: As fast as possible. Can't talk about it much but we'll be pushing content patches.
- 7:29 Q: How are you going to handle gold farmers? Ohlen: We have a team dedicated to quality of life things and keeping gold farmers in check is among that. We have tools and people watching it. Can't speak on specifics.
- Panel over.
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Posted 10/18/2011 1:19:54 AMSo, my sith pureblood(by now half humand sith), will play on that. Thank you Bioware for knowing your lore.
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Posted 10/15/2011 8:07:31 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 10/15/2011 7:57:05 PMConsidering you need gear for your character but you also gear up your companions as well. Who know how many companions you may end up with as well. Thats a huge "need" for gear.
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Posted 10/16/2011 1:25:53 AMSo if swtor accomodates for the classes grouped up, the drops of rares (it could be for less rare items not sure) are modified accordingly. Which means the companions will have drops suitable for them, but if they are items which can be shared with other similar classes, I am assuming that there will be prior-o-tizing invovled, meaning an actual player who needs an item will get priority over a companion.
The problem with that would be playing with greedy players who need on items that they dont need. Solution would be playing with guilds as the best bet.
Also another problem with that is if items drop for the players in the group, then the companions that are not being used will not get items suitable for them being of a different build. For example using sword melee group, and the drops are mostly swords, then the companions that use guns, will not get (rare) drops for them.
That is what I understood it to be. This situation could be mostly for boss drops with rares, and how rares are configured to drop out of the many possibilities, the right one for that class at the scene of slaying the boss.
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Posted 10/15/2011 1:34:33 PMI wonder if Daniel is pleased with this change, ie not being able to kill your companions. If I had to guess, he probably said that in a very sad manner, sighing afterwards.
I wish it was in, it would at least make your choice's matter, but since people kept on killing their companions, I guess it's something we just have to deal with.
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Posted 10/15/2011 10:27:30 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 10/15/2011 8:05:00 PMEven if they gave 10 warnings every time you had a choice to kill companions, somehow, someway, somebody would still kill their damn companion and then cry that they didn't mean to do it.-_-
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Posted 10/15/2011 8:00:53 PMI also understnad that when you get lonely you can talk to them (one you get your ship).
I hear that the R2D2 Type droid can hack the holonet for you so you can tune in to the playboy holovid channel.
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Posted 10/16/2011 5:37:49 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 10/15/2011 12:31:27 PM"6:36: Question: Aside from Taris, how much did kotor influence game? Answer: Erickson anything big storywise will get a nod. We wanted to answer some open questions, if someone from KOTOR did something historical, you will at least hear or see a glimpse of it."
I believe Daniel said he went back thru KOTOR I and KOTRO II. I know for some people it is important that the events/characters from KOTOR II are not overlooked in SWTOR. From his answer to this question, it seems like Daniel wanted to make sure stuff from both games would be acknowledged.
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Posted 10/15/2011 6:44:47 AMThat is one of those answers that easily could get overlooked, but it makes me feel relieved considering how vo heavy a game BioWare is making. If I get used to these voices, it would take me out of things a little bit to suddenly log back in after a patch and hear a noticeable difference in vo.
Good job thinking ahead by BioWare.
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Posted 10/15/2011 1:44:30 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 10/15/2011 5:55:26 AMThe question here was about the debate over Marauders only filling one role, and if their dps skill trees will perform differently depending on the circumstance. Daniel confirmed that certain dps specs will be better for a specific event, which gives the Marauder a bit more utility.
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Posted 10/15/2011 7:50:56 PMHopefully the companions ( while not necessarly ideal ) will be able to handle those rolls where needed.
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Posted 10/15/2011 1:54:46 AM