This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update gives us the Jedi Consular progression video. The video features a female Mirialan, and showcases skills and armor from both of the Consular's advanced classes. In this video, a Jedi Shadow clad in armored robes showcases an in-combat stealth ability, as well as what appears to be a damage absorption skill. The Jedi Sage features high-powered telekinetic attacks and a resurrection ability, while favoring more elaborate robes.
Many of you have been wondering how long Early Game Access will last, and we are now happy to announce that depending on when you redeem your Pre-Order Code, you will gain Early Game Access up to five days before the official game launch date.
Early Game Access is staggered over five days to ensure a quality experience for players at launch. Staggering access aids server stability and a gradual increase in player population through the game. Early Game Access will be granted according to when your Pre-Order Code is redeemed at the Code Redemption Center. If you have not yet pre-ordered Star Wars: The Old Republic, there's still time! Visit our Pre-Order page for more information and watch the Collector's Edition Unboxing video for a peek inside this highly coveted edition of the game.
The first thing that any potential tie-in to Star Wars and The Old Republic should do is answer a series of questions: What does this story contribute to mythology of The Old Republic? What does a reader get from this story that changes the way he or she experiences the game? Does it give the reader a new perspective on a character? Does it explain a mystery that isnt resolved in the game? Does it explore the setting and the timeline in new depth?
--"What are all the different types of multiplayer quests?"
Whew, that one's a big list but I can hit the major stuff. 1) World Quests: One-offs or short chains built for easy pick up and play. Grab a PUG or your friends and have a short adventure together. 2) World Arcs: Epic quest arcs that go from four to ten quests or more and follow a storyline across an entire planet. Big decisions and branching questlines you may have to play multiple times (in different playthroughs, they're not repeatable) to see all the content. Built for long play sessions or a series of short sessions where you and your group want a huge adventure that may stretch over tens of hours. Also very PUGable as long as you're grabbing like minded folks. 3) Flashpoints: Instanced, heavily scripted major story and action pieces built for groups to go in and get the very best of BioWare's multiplayer storytelling. Built to be played in a single sitting.
We increase the XP pool for each group member in it, and then divide that pool. I don't have the number in front of me, but its something we'll be tweaking as we play anyway.
The general gist is that we want to reward grouping, but not so much that grouping is the only way to play the game (something that is very easy to do if you tilt the table too much, and then balance the levelling curve to that rate gain). That being said, as some have mentioned, grouping with another person increases your killing efficiency and reduces your risk of death substantially, to the degree that being in a group of two is vastly more efficient than 2X killing efficiency (this is like most MMOs). Still, you want to reward grouping enough to help ensure that you overcome the friction associated with grouping (finding groupmates, getting to them, tolerating idiots, etc).
Other notes:
- Yes, we have anti-twink measures. Yes, high level players get shut out if they kill creatures too far below them. This is a fine line - you want to let high level players help their new friends, but you really don't want high level players hunting in low level areas, as that can be disruptive to the lowbies.
- Yes, compared to other MMOs, we give you more XP for completing quests and less for killing creatures. These numbers will also likely be continually tweaked.
- Yes, harder things give more experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xavior
Group of 5 level 10's killing a level 10 mob: 100 xp each
Group of 3 level 10's killing a level 10 mob: 100 xp each
Solo person of level 10 killing a level 10 mob: 100 xp
no one gets screwed, no one is forced to group and everyone is happy.
Balancing it's not that easy. Instead, you need to look at XP gain per hour. A group of 3 can kill (let's say) 5X the creatures than a solo player can in an hour, which means that if you give everyone the full XP value, grouping is 5X() more efficient than soloing. If you balance the curve to that, the solo player gets screwed.
In our curve, we push that towards being closer to 2-3X. Still a significant advantage, but the grouper has to deal with all of the inertia of forming a group.
And now at level 40, you're a pretty good and these guys come to you.
Most Commented
BioWare Layoffs
Update 1.3 Details Revealed at IGN
Darth Hater Interview: Game Update ...
Daniel Erickson on Server Changes
Level 50 PvE Starter Guide