TribalPlague

Will the races in the game have an advantage/disadvantage traits or their intention is purely cosmetic? If its purely cosmetic then it really makes no sense, I am hoping Bioware puts some stats into the races some general advantages and disadvantages so that there is a sense of deserved variety.

@crusader8463: I plan on doing that as well. One of the things I liked the most was the questing system and after I level my BH I will go on and level another toon to check out the story. I plan on checking both sides (Empire and Sith) as both story archs interlope interestingly with each other.

This year, 2011 Christmas is not going to be on December 24th like every other year, to me at least this years Christmas day starts on December 20th (or whenever the early access begins) with the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, (SWTOR from here on).

I have had the opportunity to play in two of the beta’s for SWTOR and I am going to refrain mentioning gameplay experience because I dont want to break the NDA. This write up is not a review, more than an opinion on which class I will be playing as my main when the game launches and which class I will play as my alt. I am no altoholic, I enjoy reading a characters story and plot, that is what I like about playing mmo’s, and this is what kept me playing World of Warcraft for so long, its back story and the development history of the characters themselves.

As presented by the SWTOR website (http://www.swtor.com), there are going to be several classes available to play from each side. Each side, represented by the Empire and the Republic scum, will offer a series of classes to play, from melee dps, ranged dps, tanks, healers and support classes (hybrids).

The healers believe it or not are a subset part of some classes as there are no combat medics or straight out healers. Most people will be able to heal and everyone will be able to rez (resurrect) out of combat with a few classes being able to do combat rez.

The Melee DPS classes are the Jedi Knight and the Sith Warrior. Each of these classes can also become a tank class at lvl 10 when you choose the 1st branch of the advanced classes. These are the stereotypical classes every body and their mother will want to play, and without any fault, if you could run around in robes wielding a lightsaber you would quit your job right now and do it. I may play this class as an alt to the main class I plan to play with. More information on these classes are here for the Jedi Knight: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=348849 and the Sith Warrior: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=96502.

The Ranged DPS class are formed by the Jedi consular, Smuggler and Trooper on the Republic side. The empire counter parts are the Sith Inquisitor, Imperial Agent and the Bounty Hunter.

Remember the hybrid classes I mentioned at the beginning of this article? Well the Sith Inquisitor is one of them. At the beginning of the Advanced Class, for this type you get to choose between the Sorceror, a ranged damage dealer and healer (based on Palpatine) or the Assasin, a melee DPS/Tank.

Its Republic counterpart is the Jedi Consular. The consular’s advanced class includes the Sage, famed for their wisdom much as for their powerful healing and defensive skills and the Shadow. The swtor.com page describes the Shadow as ”Wielding double-bladed Lightsabers, Shadows embrace the synergy between melee and Force combat, enabling them to strike down enemies of the Order with deadly efficiency.” This could translate as another melee DPS with ranged support.

A good write up of the Jedi Consular class is found here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=415390 as for the Sith Inquisitor: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=168236

The last 4 classes are for the Republic, the Trooper and the Smuggler. Their counterparts on the Empire are the Imperial Agent (contrary to the Smuggler) and the Bounty Hunter (contrary to the Trooper).

The Smuggler, “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side” -Han Solo, has two flavors in the Advanced Classes tree. The Gunslinger which specializes in ranged DPS dual wielding pistols with the Saboteur tree and ranged Tank with the Sharpshooter. The other Advanced Class, the Scoundrel which is more of a DPS healer of sorts… The Smuggler feels more like a Jack-of-all-Trades character master of none… More info: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=323954.

The Imperial Agent is the Smuggler’s counterpart without being so general, I think people might like this class more because it can either be the role of the “Rogue in WoW, with its Operative advanced class, where the importance is its Rogue like features, the classic rogue tree; stealth and daggers. Get close without being seen, then stay there until your target is dead combined with the Medic, who heals allies with probes and bacta syringe guns while hiding on the edges of battle, just like the World of Warcraft Priest would.

The Operative has received a number of updates aimed at providing an alternative, less cover dependent gameplay option if skilled accordingly. Operatives are now more viable in mid and close range combat, using their stealth field generator to approach the enemy unseen before delivering heavy burst damage with their energy blade. -DevBlog

The Sniper’s entire skill tree has been reworked to include PvP feedback from internal and external tests. The Sniper is now able to entrench himself, providing a viable initial counter against attacks that would previously knock him out of cover. The Sniper also gained Cover Pulse, a player triggered pulse mine that can knock an unsuspecting attacker away from the Sniper. The Sniper’s tree is composed of the Marksman (Marksmanship is the sniper tree: entrench yourself in cover and take out your enemies from a safe distance) and the Engineer, (Don’t get your hands dirty; sit back and let little robots fight for you. This one’s all about controlling pet probes.) Like I said before the Imperial Agent is a modernized Rogue. More information here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=189238

The last two classes are the Trooper (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=310107) described best as “Cutting-edge Special Forces … Advanced Strike teams … compromised only of the most talented and disciplined soldiers—a new breed of elite Republic Troopers.” Other quotes about this class are more indicative: “If you’re a player that just wants to get in there and wreak havoc … you ‘d be a Trooper …” Tim Temmerman Associate Producer Lucas Arts. So in other words, if you want to play a “Starship Trooper”, then play a Trooper. Meh.

The last class I am going to cover is the Bounty Hunter. You will see why I have reserved the best for last.

The Bounty Hunter, “The only law in this galaxy -is the one a man makes for himself” is a powerhouse regardless you choose the Powertech for its tank abilities or the Mercenary DPS, the Bounty Hunter’s work for the bad guys, but they’re not necessarily bad guys themselves. This gives a you a lot of liberty how you want to play you character making him a good badass or an evil badass. The bounty hunter utilizes a heat system. So rather than having to worry about energy or mana, the bounty hunter must maintain a low equipment temperature.

Decision Time:

I know for certain which class I will play and for which side. I like playing the “bad” guys in this game as my main, so I will be playing the Empire and I will start mostlikely with the bounty hunter class and a mercenary. The opportunity to play a badass against the republic and an asshole to the Empire is too hard to pass.

About Guilds:

Something I have liked almost since we first found out about this game has been the fact that Bioware is allowing people to form their guilds before the game starts. This is awesome because you dont have to rush to Level 10 and grab 5K credits to build your guild. It will be there from the get go. It has been pretty cool because we have been able to recruit people we have been playing with on other games for this one. If you read this article and decide you would like to play on a PVP server on the Empire side don’t hesitate to join our guild, FIRSTBORN, http://www.swtor.com/guilds/125300/firstborn. When you get to the guild page just click apply!

People need to remember that this game, while its based on the Star Wars franchise, its not based on either portions of the movies we used to see (the original three, or the later ones). This game is based on the Old Republic, its four thousand years before Anakin Skywalker.

Its not going to be like SWG (which was placed between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi). So its not going to look or feel like anything you have seen before movie wise or book wise.

This is what is mostly appealing (to me at least) is that while we will be able to play in the era everyone was wielding a Light Saber, its not going to be the world we saw in the movies. Its a completely new world, from a different time perspective.

I am sick and tired of people who have not played in the beta to be putting their opinions dissing a game that has not been released and is in BETA. It's critizicing something that is not complete and saying its a complete POS just because it doesnt fit the grand scheme of things. I have read in other places that people will not play the game because it's Bioware's first MMO. You know, Blizzard wasnt born making MMO's, they did one and it was a hit (regardless how bad it is now).

This game is like (I know because I have tested the game) playing a single player campaign from Bioware that has MMO elements. I wish I could say more but that is as much as I can say without blowing the whole NDA over.

If you ware going to play it my guild is looking for people who want to join prior to the launch. The guild website is: http://www.swtor.com/guilds/125300/firstborn

I will be playing a..... (wait for it...)... Bounty Hunter... This class rocks!

We are recruiting for our Guild - FIRSTBORN, it will be on the Empire side on PVP. To sign up go:

http://www.swtor.com/guilds/125300/firstborn

It was 1983 and I was 13, when my mother asked me if I wanted a trip to Disney World or a computer. I told her I wanted a computer and I showed her the computer I wanted on a magazine called Byte. It was an Apple IIe. That summer my parents bought me an Apple IIe and I entered a world that has been my life. When I plugged it in and started it up for the first time, it was like I’d stepped into The Future from a science fiction novel.

For this and so much more... Thanks you Steve!