Bum Wars

[Anery]

I know I said I wouldn't be playing the game, but there are no MMOs out there that appeal to me (and I tried a fair few that didn't) so I pre-ordered and my early access has come through.
I'm on the Hidden Beks server
Name is Hounds
Imperial

[Thompy]

I don't intend to play even it's good, as I don't like fleeting encounters with MMOs, it's either life consuming or nothing. I'm counting on GW2 for the former.

I'll be interested to hear a 5punker's view on it though. I'd be pleased for it if it overcomes the stigma of being a WoW clone with story, but at the same time I kind of want it to fail horribly.

[buzzmong]

I'll be interested to hear a 5punker's view on it though. I'd be pleased for it if it overcomes the stigma of being a WoW clone with story, but at the same time I kind of want it to fail horribly.

I think someone, Deej maybe, has been in various tests for it. I think the consensus was it was just a reskinned WoW but with lots more voice acting.

I was only interested up until the point they said everyone can be a jedi or sith from the get go. The SW universe is so incredibly rich that I think an MMO would work best without Jedi/Sith in them as common player characters (so, basically, what Galaxies did).

[deject]

I'll be interested to hear a 5punker's view on it though. I'd be pleased for it if it overcomes the stigma of being a WoW clone with story, but at the same time I kind of want it to fail horribly.

I think someone, Deej maybe, has been in various tests for it. I think the consensus was it was just a reskinned WoW but with lots more voice acting.

I was only interested up until the point they said everyone can be a jedi or sith from the get go. The SW universe is so incredibly rich that I think an MMO would work best without Jedi/Sith in them as common player characters (so, basically, what Galaxies did).

I got a beta code that was good for a weekend but I didn't try it because I didn't want to waste ~30GB of my bandwidth cap on one weekend of an MMO beta.

[Dog Pants]

I'd happily try it if the client was free or you didn't pay a subscription after the £40 outlay. But I'm not paying an extortionate amount and a sub. In fact, I wouldn't pay £40 even without a sub, for any game.

[Joose]

I played the beta, and it was very good. Calling it a reskinned wow is a bit unfair, it does share a lot of elements, but so does nearly every MMO of the last few years. The voice acted stuff makes a hell of a difference: I rarely knew what exactly my quests were about in wow, other than what kind of arseholes I needed to collect, but in this I knew what was going on, and why I was doing what I was doing. The combat is not much better than wow, but things like the cover system spice it up a bit.

Ultimately, my problem with this game is the cost. If it was a bit more sensibly priced, I would look at it like just as if it was the next kotor game, rather than an MMO (which wouldn't be unreasonable). I would pay £40, or I would sub. I'm buggered if I'm doing both though.

[Killavodka]

It's much more storyline orientated than WoW ever was. Instances play more like a Knights of the Old Republic mission rather than your average MMO dungeon grind, the group has to engage together in conversations with NPCs (this system I have yet to fully understand) and every class has its own ongoing storyline, which thankfully doesn't completely fall apart after the first area (Eg. Aids of Colon)

While I was initially very pessimistic about SW - ToR, playing the Beta weekend changed my mind. IMO it has all the social aspects that you expect from a modern MMO, combined with the storyline and setting you would expect from a KOTOR game.

Only thing I do hate about this game is the price, why on earth they need to charge so much initially for a pay-per-month game I do not know.

[Dog Pants]

How does it deal with everyone having identical sidekicks? Can you make yourself look like an individual, or is everyone a clone of each other in slightly different gear?

[Killavodka]

You get a choice of customisations at around level 10, which can change everything from hair to skin colour (or just colour for droids) and you also get different choices for clothing in a later mission.

Character customisation is pretty standard, choice of four body types (small, medium, huge, fat), about 10 different faces and there are about 5 races per side.


On an additional note the companion isn't merely a pet, they interact in dialogue, gain/loose affection based on your choices, can be trained in the arts of crafting, gathering and missions. Once you have completed the first area you can send them off on their own missions to gather resources, speciality items or just tell them to make stuff based on what you trained them. Also each companion has its own bonus and I reckon further down the line there will be probably a choice of companions each with their own skillset.

[Dog Pants]

'Everything' is a pretty expansive selection, but it sounds like a fairly nominal (and typical) set of custom options. Way below what I'd consider a modern MMO of this budget should have. I already knew that your player races are limited to half a dozen or so Star Trek style 'humanoid with some rubber prosthetics and facepaints' races, and the sidekicks are set in stone. I was hoping that at least cosmetic equipment slots would make it in - which I'd consider a basic requirement for a new MMO. A wasted opportunity considering how many intelligent races there are in Star Wars canon.

[Killavodka]

Depends which class you pick, I have seen some very different companions on other people from what looks like genetically engineered warriors to your run of the mill Trandoshan hunter and they do have a cosmetic equipment slot which is the customisation option I mentioned previously.

[Dog Pants]

That's potentially much better, certainly better than the beta reports suggested. I'd still suggest it's a wasted opportunity given how important individuality is in an MMO, but at least they're not all slightly different coloured clones. Do you get choice within your class, or does every smuggler have a different coloured wookie?

[Killavodka]

Each class has their own specific character who is integrated with the storyline, so it would be quite difficult to change the characters around. There is however a drop down menu for selecting companions so I would probably guess that later in the game you will get more choices in who your companion is.

[Dog Pants]

There's a race in Star Wars who are boneless gloops from a low-gravity world. Since most sentient beings live and trade on normal gravity worlds they had to develop special suits to allow them to interact. They look exactly like space suits filled with snot. If I could play one of those guys I'd be far more inclined to pay that £40.

[deject]

There's a race in Star Wars who are boneless gloops from a low-gravity world. Since most sentient beings live and trade on normal gravity worlds they had to develop special suits to allow them to interact. They look exactly like space suits filled with snot. If I could play one of those guys I'd be far more inclined to pay that £40.

Reminds me of the Volus from Mass Effect somewhat, though in the opposite direction.

[Dog Pants]

That did cross my mind as I wrote it.

[FatherJack]

Reminds me of the Volus from Mass Effect somewhat, though in the opposite direction.

Or the Hanar

[Anery]

I thought I should share my findings as most of you are not playing.

Customization of your own self is pretty basic but it is ok, hopefully they will improve on it at a later date. Sidekicks are quite different, in GuildWars you could improve their armour and choose their skills etc, here you can change armour and weapons but skills auto level and each one fills a role (one might be tank, one dps, others healers or melee) each one also has a crafting.speciality and it is your sidekicks who do your crafting for you which means you may have to make difficult decisions on who you leave back at your ship crafting and who you take with you. They also have an opinion of you, some might like you, some hate you - it depends on the choices you make during quests - the level of their love/hate affects their crafting rate. They can also be sent off on quests whilst you are not there, these net you cash and other goodies.
As mentioned, you get your own ship. This acts as home base, personal transport between worlds and as a fighter for on rails space combat (side quests, affects nothing)
There are issues, server queueing times are ridiculous, there is no LFG tool, no dual spec and combat can feel clunky at times - I'm pretty sure these are being ironed out. So far no hordes of Sith and everyone is fairly polite - however like most online games, it soon devolves into a "right way/wrong way" situation and the noob calling will start.
Oh, and the bounty hunter gets a companion who is a jawa
He has a rocket launcher...

[Dog Pants]

So you get a selection of sidekicks? Ahh, that makes more sense. I like that. I hope the players don't get all cookie-cutter with that.

[Anery]

I don't think you can cookie cutter your companions, they seem to have a set skill set, its up to you and your play style who you run about with. I use my tank a lot and do the healing and damage myself.