Secret negotiations, conspiracies of silence, marketing tricks, fan hysteria, beta test fever are finally all behind us. Star Wars: The Old Republic came out exactly on time – December 20, 2011. And even earlier – admission to the game (strictly on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the pre-order registration date) began on December 13th, and on the 15th all pre-orders had already filled most of the more than a hundred servers to capacity. Even to the point of tearful complaints about hours-long queues.
Regarding queues, by the way, I note that BioWare turned out to be true to this word and tried to limit the flow of those wishing to join the ranks of users SWTOR. They say that an excessive crowd can cause huge problems – first of all for ourselves – and therefore we will fight against it… And we really did fight. Only in a very different way – due to the artificial limitation of server capacity, the number of people wishing to get there rapidly exceeded the number of those already there. After murmuring the drooling people for a couple of days, Canadians realized the depravity of this method, became enlightened by their love for the people and removed the barriers. After which “another problem” immediately resolved.
Playing without queues is much better than with queues. And playing as a light Jedi is cooler than playing a dark Sith. In all seriousness. Because good always triumphs over evil, and I prefer to be on the winning side. Alas, the Jedi line of quests was completely completed in beta test (you can read about this in our preview), so we had to spit on the principles and pretend to be a bad boy Sith assassin.
The Assassin turned out to be about the same dark as the light Jedi was before him. Mainly due to gameplay reasons – some items in the game have restrictions depending on the level of light or darkness in the character’s blood. So if you try to balance on the edge, you might fly past the tasty inventory. Although there is a role-playing element in this – if he is a Sith, then to the fullest, without snot and lisp. Because it’s more interesting this way.
Following standards
Nowadays, gaming forums are flooded with whining from dissatisfied users that they thought one thing about the game, but in reality it turned out to be something completely different. In my humble opinion, think it was necessary before “she turned out”. How I did it. That’s why I have SWTOR turned out to be exactly what I thought. I completely agree with James Olen (James Ohlen), the lead developer of the project, that MMO is a genre and therefore assumes the presence of characteristic features. And since we are talking about a blockbuster MMO with a subscription, it sets the standard here World of Warcraft.
Further, the logic is simple – standards exist in order to follow them. So SWTOR I just couldn’t help but look like WoW. And she couldn’t help but be. According to logic. And those who cannot understand this are not friends with logic. They themselves, however, do not think so and accuse BioWare in all the unfulfilled hopes. Also ordinary human logic. Which is inherent precisely to those who are not friends with it. In general, the philosophy of human logic is another topic. And I’ll tell you about it someday. Maybe. And now I’ll go back to where I started – to the standards.
Crowds of self-replicating monsters along the roads, “color differentiation of pants” (that is, inventory), classes, “tab-targeting” (taking aim at an enemy using the Tab key), “instances” (which are often used at the final stages of quests and in all plot and most important other tasks), abilities obtained with levels and the talent trees attached to them (required three), instanced “battlegrounds” (warzones) as the main PvP mode, “raids” as the main “end game PvE” mode..
I’m sure I forgot something, but the list already turned out to be quite typical. Any user World of Warcraft will confirm to you that a practically accurate verbal portrait of their favorite game has been released (except for the “instances” in WoW are used much less frequently). But the truth is that the main part of the above was not introduced into gaming practice Blizzard. She just finally compiled everything and issued it in the form of a standard. Like, take it and use it. What others do.
Interface about the table
BioWare was no exception, although in fairness I note that some standards could have been used more creatively. For example, abilities and talents. Blizzard after seven years of operation, this system finally seems to have separated the wheat from the chaff. Too many of the same type of abilities (usually attacking) leads to clogging (as I would call it) gameplay. The player has to constantly choose which of 4-5 attacks is best to use in a given situation. In the end, he settles on the most effective option, and the rest hangs as unnecessary garbage in the interface or even outside it.
IN World of Warcraft there is a clear division into basic attacks (always used), situational (depending on specific conditions, for example from behind or if the enemy has evaded) and special (powerful, but with a long cooldown and therefore reserved for emergency cases). IN SWTOR The amount of unused junk is appalling. For example, there are attacks that only affect weak and strong “mobs”, but not elite ones, “bosses” and players. I still don’t understand what the meaning of this design is. Tie the brain convolutions of the players with a double sea knot? Well, I can state that the developers successfully coped with this task.
An even more egregious talent situation. You can argue about the correctness of the decision Blizzard in Mists of Pandaria to abandon “green spaces” (trees, that is), but her reasons seem quite reasonable – they (trees, that is) cause more problems than oxygen. Not only are many talents doomed to a pro forma existence, but you also have to look to the future: an add-on will be released, talent points will be added – and you will have to fence the garden all over again, because the balance only provides for the current 41 points and from more of them there is a risk of losing your balance, falling and breaking.
Another standard in which between BioWare And Blizzard more parsecs than between Coruscant and Ilum – this is the interface. It seems that it’s not so difficult to analyze other MMOs, understand the hopes and aspirations of users and come up with the optimal solution. Alas, developers SWTOR demonstrated a phenomenal “missing the chip”.
There is an opinion that WoW and its addons for all occasions, when players do not need to do anything other than press buttons called clever software, are an obvious overkill. But a situation where you cannot place a single interface element on the screen according to your taste and convenience is no longer an overkill, but a mockery… And the game completely lacks combat logs. You wanted to see who and how much you offended, and who and how much offended you, but nowhere. I couldn’t believe it for a long time, but the incredible turned out to be obvious.
https://bettabetscasino.co.uk/bonus/ Immoral choice
But God (or the devil – for the Sith) is with them, with other people’s standards, because BioWare I always preferred to develop and install my own, which is why they love her. If in SWTOR there were only second-hand “features” and a crooked interface, crowds of beta test mice would agree to inject themselves, but to burst this cactus, and for money? I think it’s unlikely.
I have already expressed my opinion about the 100% scripting and voice acting of quests and the companion system in the beta preview, but I don’t mind the words and time to repeat it again – it’s cool! Of course, there are enough of those who simply miss this “luxury of communication” – praise BioWare, what gave them such an opportunity. Although they still whine that they can’t stand the endless scenes and chatter. Which miss. Another thing is the text sheets. They missed them too, but loved them much more. Human logic… well, yes, I already talked about it.
The beta preview said a little less about the plot. Because they limited. But now there are no restrictions, so there will be a little more words. Storylines for all classes, if woven into one common one, will link together a chain of events preceding a new full-scale conflict between the Republic and the Empire. Having gone through the stories of Jedi Shadow and Sith Assassin and without delving into spoilers, I want to note that it was interesting to look at the course of galactic history from opposite points of view. And not just look, but take direct part in its creation.
However, against the backdrop of the epic global processes, personal dramas and tragedies did not make much of an impression on me. Yes, there is a full standard role-playing set BioWare of interesting dialogues, excellent acting, amorous romance and moral choice. But the MMO setting is fundamentally different from the “single player”. Therefore, the constant assurances of the surrounding NPCs of the character’s exclusivity cause nothing but an ironic grin when, in your adventures, you stumble upon some “world boss” capable of destroying the hero with two blows.
In “moral elections”, non-moral reasons often also come first. For example, you want a light bomb with a red crystal, but it has a restriction on a light worldview. And the Jedi spit on Jedi principles only to wave a blood-red blade in battle. You can, of course, blame players whose faces are too crooked to look in the role-playing mirror BioWare. But in my opinion, turning a moral choice into a gameplay constraint is not the best design move.
In general, the plot quality did not fall below the baseboards in the developers’ office, the level of which (baseboards, although the developers too), as is known, is higher than the level of other developer ceilings. I heard a lot of kind words about the stories of non-Sith-Jedi classes, but I haven’t been able to check it myself yet – I left it for dessert when everything else becomes bitter and disgusting. This principle is followed by many, so it is unlikely that the game will lose very many when the first month ends and it’s time to pay for the subscription.
Gift Companions
The fact that companions were a great idea became clear to me even at the very beginning of my participation in the beta. Since then, 50 levels have already been gained twice, and the clarity not only has not become clouded, but has crystallized to the purity of a diamond. Fussing with companions (dressing, putting on shoes, feeding and all that) is a thing in itself, and with them it’s even more interesting to destroy bots, fight against other players, when you’re lucky (or not) to see a living Jedi or Sith, and simply experience the plot twists and turns together.
Probably the main problem is that there are too many of them (companions). Five different types and types plus a robot nanny included with the ship. You can only take one with you on adventures. Everyone else mostly languishes on the ship, only occasionally going on missions to obtain ingredients for “crafting” or engaging in production. As a result, the moral choices and overtures of the Lord Master pass them by, and they pass by the attention and interest of the players.
The relationship between the hero and companions is built on the basis of influence, a standard parameter for games BioWare. As it grows, new topics of conversation and even quests appear, the situation develops further and further and ends with something culminating (for example, a marriage proposal). The nuance is that if your companion is not with you, then the relationship freezes almost at one point. And most companions are not with you almost always.
To get this gameplay boulder off the ground and roll it further, the developers came up with the idea of giving gifts. Gifts are as different (weapons, historical research and objects, technological artifacts, luxury) as the tastes of companions. But there are always intersections, and a good gift can smooth out even ideological contradictions. So, bringing the relationship between the hero and his companions to the ideal is not at all a problem – if only there was money for gifts.
Looks vital. If we consider the scandalous stories about the elderly Italian prime minister and his numerous call girls as life. For an epic story on a galactic scale, such primitive mercantilism smacks of a fair amount of vulgarization. But on the other hand, what else could the developers do?? If there is a companion in the game, then sooner or later he must play his role. And if this cannot be achieved naturally, we have to come up with artificial ways.
Social Consensus
However, no matter how great the stories, companions, galactic journeys and spirit of Star Wars are, the main thing in any MMO is the content. Which in games is like WoW or SWTOR ultimately comes down to collecting clothes and accessories for max level characters. Traditionally, approximately 80% of massive online users prefer PvE. This is true even for PvP sandboxes like EVE Online or Darkfall Online. For "theme parks", which include The Old Republic, – doubly true.
PvE in the game is standard. I’d call it a dungeon crawl, but in Star Wars, dungeons aren’t the most common setting for an adventure. Therefore, there is a more general word for it in MMO slang – “instance”. That is, what takes place mainly in areas that are restricted to entry only for certain players, groups of players or "raids". Group in SWTOR has four people. “Raid” is called “ops” and can accommodate from 8 to 16 fighters.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about “instances” at first is, again, the social network. In the form of a joint interview with the NPC, the results of which are decided by consensus. And if the consensus diverges, throw the dice. At the same time, characters with a solid social indicator receive bonuses to rolls. And sociality is gained in the same interviews – the more you interview, the higher. However, it does not affect the character’s combat characteristics in any way, so my assassin doesn’t care. Which is more correct from a role-playing point of view.
When the first pores pass, the second ones come, then the third ones – and so on in order. Social features no longer seem like something unique and worthy of admiration, and you begin to look with wide eyes at the actual process of bot genocide. The spectacle, frankly and bluntly, is not impressive. There is nothing in it that has not already been seen somewhere else. I guess I just don’t understand the beauty of PvE. Although those who understand also for some reason frown and complain about about the same thing – nothing new. And more on bugs.
“Beetles” is not exactly a separate topic, but there’s no way to get around it. Defenders SWTOR on this issue they are exclusively united and in some cases even invincible: they say, the game is only a month old, so it’s not scary. If you looked at WoW at a comparable age, it was much worse… A strong argument. For 2004. But in 2012, for some reason, people want to pay for the game, and not for fighting software errors. Completely corrupted and spoiled, but humanity has no other people for developers. More precisely, there is, but he prefers F2P..
And still quite a lot of people will choose The Old Republic. Because even with all the cliches, standards, errors and lags, it shows something new and not so boring. In addition, it still has the atmosphere of a game, and not a social network with an MMO interface. WoW has long ago turned into a hybrid of e-sports equipment and chat chat. For some this is enough, but for others they want to immerse themselves in the virtual world. So that with your head and as deeply as possible, away from hateful reality. And the project BioWare provides this much better than its main competitor.
Control without control
And yet, despite the dominance of relatively peaceful hunting for bots, it is impossible to erase the competitive spirit from MMOs. Those who try to do without PvP at all sooner or later realize the error and try to correct it. Smart developers attach significant importance to the mode from the very beginning. And if you find an indicator on this scale of the mind BioWare, then he will turn out to be so-so. Middle half. Or even a third to a third.
And it’s not at all a lack of innovation and a global war “all against all,” as the most radically minded fans of the extermination of their own kind would like. Firstly, the PvP system in SWTOR no worse than similar systems in other games of the genre (we mean “theme parks”, because “sandboxes” are a completely different matter), and secondly, if something is missing in the system, then it can always be added. A little earlier or a little later.
Another thing is the battle process. If it doesn’t deliver, then any system is worthless, because a cake made of crap will still remain crap, not a cake. Making a killer battalion commander so that people swallow it by the handful, lick their fingers and purr from the buzz is quite a task. World of Warcraft more or less dealt with it. A Warhammer Online — more or less epically failed.
PvP quality The Old Republic still closer to WoW, than to WAR. The main complaint is that the game has a terrible amount of “crowd control” (or CC). If “popular for the ignorant”, then SS includes abilities that worsen or kill control over a character – slowdowns, knockbacks, stuns. SS is an important element of the combat system SWTOR, where the key to victory is not in accurate shooting or precise strikes, but in the correct use of techniques and counter-techniques.
The main requirement for such a system is the correct balance. So that the techniques and counter-techniques of some classes do not dominate the same of others. Yes, and they didn’t shut each other up. SS is a very powerful tool, and if you overdo it, and on the contrary with counteraction, then constant knockdowns, “knockbacks” and knockouts can drive even the most patient and devoted person to unsubscribe.
Now imagine that you are a melee fighter and can use a “remedy” once every two minutes, and you are slowed, stunned and knocked back several times every second. And all the time while you are flying away, crawling or standing stunned, someone is shooting at you, bewitching you or hitting you on the head with something heavy. Very unpleasant.
A special scale invented by the developers, which gradually fills up every time CC is used against a character, and once full, which gives invulnerability, doesn’t work at all. I don’t know for what reason. As a result, this whole nightmare began to appear in my dreams at night (jokes aside), and I decided to quit the game. Because health is more expensive, and without PvP at all it’s boring and not worth it at all.
For some, however, my reasons may turn out to be unprincipled – they are much more offended by the lack of arenas, poor optimization of the engine, due to which battles involving three dozen or more fighters turn into slide shows, and minor but unpleasant bugs. One way or another, PvP fans have complaints about BioWare there’s more than enough. And although she promises to fix everything and put everything in order, the people’s patience is not ironclad and is quickly depleted.
Okay, but early
In general, in general and in some places in particular, Star Wars: The Old Republic – the game is good and practically correct. In it, your favorite “Star Wars” looks not like the ravings of a madman, but… your favorite “Star Wars”. Plots, dialogues, companions, planets familiar from films and games – everything is there, and of excellent quality. But something is still missing. Probably finishing and polishing. Therefore, I would advise not to spoil the joy of an excellent dish by being too hasty and let it settle. About six months. But without you.
Pros: plot; dialogues; Star Wars atmosphere; companion system.
Cons: bugs; poor class balance; poor engine optimization; PvP “for show”.