What do video games inspire you to do?

Have video games inspired you to undertake other activities outside of gaming?  It might be podcasting or figuring out how to make in game food in real life?  For me, it is reading and writing but only specific games invoke those impulses in me.

Reading

Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of those games that drives me to bury my nose in a book.  It isn’t that SWTOR is so boring that it drives me to read, rather the storytelling is so good that I want to continue once I log off for the day.  I loved the books that were published with the release of the game and am sad that there are no more planned novels to be released.  But that’s alright, I have plenty of other books to read to keep me busy for a lifetime.

Neverwinter is also another one of those games that compels me to read.  For the first time ever, I’ve read novels set in the Neverwinter universe and I’ve loved them.  There is something magical about novels that I haven’t put my finger on yet.

Writing

The Elder Scrolls Online inspires me to write unlike any other game I’ve ever played.  Everywhere you look there are scenes and settings that make you want to log off and start writing.  I don’t just mean role play writing or stories but real writing from the characters and ideas that float around in my head.  I’ve found that when I get writers block I just have to log in to ESO and soon enough my fingers are itching to write once again.

So what has gaming inspired you to do?

SWTOR: Galactic Strongholds

Did reality match the long anticipated hype and hope?  First impression, not in the slightest did the hope and hype match reality this afternoon.

We all know I like my video games to have housing.  A place where my character can relax while I play someone else.  You know, home for the character.  Thus, I was very much looking forward to housing being implemented in SWTOR.  Star Wars holds a special place in my heart and I wanted my characters to have a place to kick back, relax, and express their personalities.

What I got was a hanger bay with prettier doors.  SWTOR, EA, and Bioware decided to go with the hook system of housing thereby destroying all player creativity.  No seriously, it is impossible to be creative when item can only go in certain places.  The decoration choices so far are cold and sterile, not remotely personal.  I’m disappointment to say the least.  Crew members and pets can be placed in the house, but they are static and unmoving.  Basically, the stand there like frozen actors or deer caught in the headlights.  It was soul crushing.

There was one highlight, the ability to park vehicles on the taxi pad.  But six vehicles parked next to a taxi is far from enough to make housing rewarding or enjoyable.

I will give housing another chance but I am not holding out much hope. I need housing that is warm, cozy, and creative.  I need housing like in Everquest 2 or Wildstar.  I need throw pillows, pets the move and make noise, pictures in odd places, well you get the idea.

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MMO Mobile Apps: Where are they?

The ultimate goal of MMO developers and producers is to make the game so engaging that you are willing to pay out your monthly subscription without a second thought.  And yet, they all fail to fully integrate their game into their customers lives.  Where are the mobile apps that let me manage crafting or research while waiting at the dentist office or on the train?

Truth is, we live in a world where mobile is integrated into almost everything we do on a daily basis.  Players are much more likely to be long term invested in a game that let them check goods for sale, research, crew members, etc. when they can do that from the comfort of the office during a boring meeting or while sitting around the airport waiting for a flight. 

Mobile apps shouldn’t be limited to checking out a players item level or what achievements they’ve earned.  Mobile apps should encompass non-combat, non-quest oriented gameplay, like crating in SWTOR or researching in TESO.  Mobile apps should also be available on all three mobile platforms and not just iOS platforms.  There is no logical reason MMO providers should limit their audience base to iOS.

Maybe, just maybe, game developers are waking up to  the fact that they can only benefit from inclusion of mobile apps into their core game structure.  Right now, I would love to be crafting on my SWTOR characters while catching some early morning sun but …

Never mind Corso is done crafting, here’s hoping I learn that reverse engineering schematic!

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Continuing Adventures, Treek, & More

My Consular is currently on Hoth, the cold and icy Hoth of the  movies.  Hoth is very large and very spread out and beautiful in the way that only extremely cold winters can be.  Being a content and happy desert dweller, I can admire the icy, blue beauty that is Hoth without bringing back awful memories of winter.

I’m finding the quests on Hoth interesting and engaging.  But then again, I love all of the unique races you discover within the universe of Star Wars.

She has helped the above Ortolans save their geothermic power plant from the Empire and is off to stop a madman she has already killed once.  Her biggest “issue” these days, is reviving Qyzen from the floor after a battle, despite the fact that she’s split her tree points up for some heals to keep him alive.  So, given his apparent love of dirt naps, hubby and I both purchased the Treek mercenary contract from the Cartel Market yesterday.

Treek has been available for a while but I was too stingy in spending cartel coins to acquire her services.  I was an idiot!  The initial meeting with her makes me laugh every time and I admit it, I love Ewoks and always have.  So, once you get her and get her gear up to speed (she comes pre-equipped with Adaptive Armor appropriate for level nine) I took her into battle.    She not only holds aggro, she HEALS herself during battle.  Yep, that’s right, she heals and tanks which leaves you free to dispatch enemies as quickly as you like.

Now, I’m not going to lie I kill quicker (at least on my Sentinel) when I bring Kira along but I tend to take more damage and spend more time recovering after a battle.  Also, Treek gains no affection from conversations while out questing so I have found myself swapping her out with other companions for the affection gain whenever possible.  Treek only gains affection from gifts and completing her companion missions. 

And lastly, look what arrived this morning after maintenance!  My characters are happy and T7 will have a friend to hang out with!

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Beta: Wildstar

I finally scrounged up a beta key to Wildstar, even though I’ve been in the beta waiting pool since they opened beta sign-ups.  I’m not impressed.  It certainly isn’t going to be an investment I’ll be making, I’ll wait until the game goes free-to-play.

Basically, it is a space Western WOW clone.  The cell coloration is overly saturated and graphics are flat.  It looks like exactly what it’s creators wanted, a WOW clone. 

Character creation is uninspired, too similar between races and nothing truly unique.  Jewelry is excessively large and gaudy, personal opinion obviously.  After you wake up from stasis you take a step and immediately notice how incredibly floaty walking is, and jumping?  Jumping is like being a living, breathing rubber ball.  It is disconcerting, you just float and bounce alone.  Landing on the planet didn’t change that feeling either.

Classes and paths are unique, I will grant the team at Wildstar that but otherwise it is completely forgettable.  The game isn’t fully voiced, which dates it and sets it apart from it’s competition, which is a good thing because dialogue and text never match up.  As for quests themselves, they could have been written by a third grader.  Language and concepts are overly simplistic and dumbed-down to the lowest common denominator.

If you are looking for a game were you can fully customize your character, this is not the game.  The females are all young and skinny.  Boobs have decreased in size from previous pictures I have seen from the game, but seriously look at the size of my characters waist compared to her boobs.  No thanks, I’m not that unrealistically proportioned in real life and I don’t need to perpetuate adolescent male fantasies in a role playing game.

Happily, passing on Wildstar.  If I want a space opera MMO, I’ll stick with Star Wars: The Old Republic it is much more my type of game.

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Weekend Activities: SWTOR and Xbox

SWTOR got a lot of play Thursday and Friday, easy stress escape and I got caught up in leveling my bounty hunter.  What is really irritating me is that since the last time I played the fine folks over a Bioware have for some unfathomable reason disabled the ability to take a screenshot during a dialogue scene with a NPC.  I’ve missed countless great shots of humorous lines or facial expressions as a result.  Hell, I’ve just missed great shots of my characters up close.

I have a plethora of screenshot for the wildlife or environment but not one of my character.  I am going to have to remedy that next time I log on.  I fell into the crafting trap this weekend, you know the one.  You spend more time logging in and out of various characters to craft items or send raw materials.  I wish they would release an app for one of the mobile platforms to let gamers do that stuff while away from their gaming rig.  I would definitely spend more free time in SWTOR or any game to be honest, that let me get some of the more mundane but vital activities, like crafting, accomplished while waiting at the doctor’s office or watching television.

I fired up the Xbox demo for Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD before I had my first cup of coffee on Saturday morning.  It left a bad taste in my mouth and I quickly moved on.  Hubby woke up and he tried it thankfully and I was instantly charmed.  So a couple of cups of coffee and a trial by hubby and AC: Liberation wound up on my game rotation for the week.  A full review when I am more than a couple of hours of game play in and more than one cup of coffee consumed.

Thanks to the fine folks at Gamefly I also played some Diablo III on Saturday.  I created a female barbarian and set off on my single adventures.  I got to New Tristam and learned that there was no way to link my battle.net account to my Xbox account and was instantly frustrated.  All those fine goodies from virtual Blizzcon tickets are going to go to waste because of my platform choice?  Seems like a oversight that should not have happened.  Diablo III never felt like a PC game to me and there is no way I’m paying PC prices for it when I can rent it or buy it from Gamefly.  The one thing I do really like about the port to the console is that cooperative game play isn’t fouled up by a split screen which drives us both bonkers.

Hubby fired up Mass Effect and started the ugliest character he has ever created on Insanity.  No seriously, the Shepard he created was so ugly I cringed every single time I looked up at the television and caught a glimpse of him.  He took pity on me and recreated Shepard as Sheldon Cooper and started over on Insanity.  All I have to saw is that Insanity is a difficulty setting I will never be attempting!

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Plague breaks out on Alderaan

Rakghoul Plague has infested the peaceful planet of Alderaan and I’ve participated in the event for the first time when the event went live yesterday.  The last time the Rakghoul event was in game I was playing something else and didn’t participate.  However, I jumped in with both feet on two Republic characters yesterday.

My consular, Laughlynn, took the opportunity to further explore Alderaan and pick up some bonus series quests.  I particularly love the taxis on Alderaan that are non-mechanical.  There is just something so peaceful and majestic about taking a taxi on Alderaan.  I’m a little biased admittedly since Alderaan is my favorite planet to date.

First off, the Rakghoul tunnels on Alderaan are beautiful.  I spent a lot of time just enjoying the beauty of the environment yesterday while exterminating the affected victims.  There is a definite challenge to the event when you aren’t at maximum level and at the low end of the level range for the planet.  However, I love the challenge and had fun yesterday. 

Laughlynn did great even against the level 55 creatures when others were around.  They were hard to touch at level 39 but so long as she wasn’t fighting alone they were fun and a challenge.  Now those elite level 55 creatures and bosses were impossible to touch, every once in a while I’d manage to get a hit one of the but it was rare.  Still it was a blast!

Abi’gail had a much more difficult time at level 28.  The tunnels and the infected were definitely a challenge for Abi’gail.  More often than not her light sabers were nothing more than flashing purple sticks of ineptitude as they failed to land a hit.  Against the level 25 Rakghouls she was successful but those level 34 plus creatures were an exercise in misses.  But you know what?  I didn’t care, the tunnels were beautiful and I still managed to complete event quests and gain reputation while having fun.

This morning I logged on to my level 15 bounty hunter, Steph’ana, who has been stranded on the Imperial Fleet for a year now.  However, she is getting play time these days and she contracted the plague while on fleet.  Steph’ana is now on Balmorra and setting out on the great Hunt.  I got this great picture of the effects of the plague before she purchased a vaccine from the medical droid in Sobrick.

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Christmas Week Abbreviated Adventures

Pippa managed to run into Krampus finally in The Secret World and blindly followed him into the portal he opened.  He and his buddies immediately kicked my rear and Pippa was dead on the floor faster than wrapping paper on Christmas morning.  She wisely exited the instance upon regaining her sense.

Pippa, the original character of that name, and the bevy of 90’s opened presents and rescued Metzen until one of them was lucky enough to get the Rotten Little Helper companion.  He is decidedly evil and miserable looking.  Can’t say I feel the effort was worth it.  I will admit, I think I’m over WOW for quite a while.  Yes, I still have characters I could level and I haven’t completed the loremaster achievement.  But I’m not enjoying myself.  I enjoy reading the lore in novels much more than I am repeating myself in game. 

I can’t say I won’t ever be returning to WOW, I’ve made that claim too many times before and Pippa always get’s missed.  I wish Blizzard would wise up and give the non-raiding crowd a reason to stick around, like adventure or quest packs.

I stopped into Guild Wars 2 again this year.  Same even as last year it appears, I didn’t stick around that long to find out.  I decided to try out one of the event instances and imagine my delight in learning my level 10 warrior was stuck (until I logged out) in an instance filled with level 80s.  I can’t deny the game is lovely but there is no quest content and thus no interest for me.

I’ve dropped my LOTRO several evenings this week and completed the quests in Frostbluff for cosmetics.  Luckily, LOTRO will run on the Surface Pro well enough to do things like festivals and crafting so I’m not trapped in the office.  I think I’ve gotten almost everything I want from the festival this year.  Trying to decide if I want this year’s horse or not.  I’ve gotten one, not sure how interested I am in the other. 

I stopped by Star Wars: The Old Republic this week.  I activated one character, my Consular.  She’s on Hoth and I want to finish her story line.  I didn’t play her, I browsed the Cartel Market and realized that I need to change her gear out if I’m going to play her without subscribing.  Two years after the game launched and I don’t have a character at max level yet, but I keep wandering by for the story which speaks to how compelling the quest writers at Bioware are.

This time next year, I imagine I will still be happily immersed in Elder Scrolls Online.  I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas.  Happy New Year and may all your football teams be victorious!

 

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Random Screenshots for MMO Tours this week

Pippa at the Kindergarten on the Savage Coast in The Secret World.  Atmosphere here is seriously creepy, appropriate but creepy.

Taalina the new Draenei paladin on Fizzcrank.  So, last thing I need is another character in WOW, but I need a Draenei that isn’t on an imbalanced PvP server and I need a woman Draenei to go through and kick Orc ass when the expansion releases.  I will be leveling her slowly and without heirlooms, gives me a good opportunity to close out some zones for my loremaster title.

My Horde Shaman on Silvermoon.  She’s in her mid-40’s I pop-in, grab a couple of levels on her and then log right back out.  I think Blizzcon left a bad taste in my mouth for the Horde and I’m already Alliance biased by nature.  I will level her to 90 but I won’t be powering through it.

 

Cilantro hanging out with the Elves in Rivendell.  Sometimes the scenery in LOTRO is just drop dead gorgeous that I find myself stopping just to take the random screenshot of nothing in particular.

I poked my head into Guild Wars 2, completed a quest and then logged right back out.  While the models for characters are pretty, I’m completely agnostic about my characters, the game, and the setting.  I have a feeling that Bronta here will be a long, long time (if ever) leveling to max.

I poked my head into SWTOR and Rift as well but did nothing in either.  SWTOR change regarding names is just irritating although I’m honest enough to admit that free-flight PvP in the upcoming expansion looks like fun.  Rift I can’t get any enthusiasm for at the moment.  The game is fun but it isn’t at the same time.

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Women and Gaming

Blizzcon just ended and once again another gaming convention has come and gone with an ever present male bias in gaming.  It happens every gaming convention, not just Blizzcon.   I get my hopes up that some gaming company somewhere will present reveals, cinematics, or a new major character(s) that are women.  I fear that is never going to happen however.

The executives, hell almost every panel member, is male.  The new character models on the Warlords of Draenor site are so far male only models.  The only models shown during the art panel and discussed were male models.  Sure they showed a slide of a female dwarf and gnome, but these were non-animated slides and are not available on the website.

Every major character discussed at Blizzcon was male.  Why?  Warcraft has so many amazing women that would make excellent vehicles for story telling: Sylvanas and Jaina immediately spring to mind.  There are so many story lines possible with just these two woman alone that it is inconceivable to me that they are left to languish and sit there on the sidelines.  Sure we heard from Jaina a couple of times in Mists of Pandaria but her story was left  unfinished from the brilliant treatment Jaina received from Christie Golden’s Tides of War.

Star Wars:The Old Republic does a somewhat better job.  Satele Shan is the Grand Master of the Jedi Order and she isn’t a figure head that players have no interaction with either.  She is a strong, lead female character but SWTOR isn’t a great example to draw on unfortunately.  SWTOR is extremely story driven by the player’s in-game choices thus allowing Bioware the opportunity to write strong female characters into cut-scenes. Bioware, in general, writes strong, prominent female characters but even these characters aren’t the “star” of any Bioware game.

I want development of lore from the games I play that involves women.  Women play games, write about games, and want game developers to recognize that we are more than just a small, insignificant portion of their player base.  We are more than spell slingers and healers.  We tank, we burn stuff down quickly with blade and spell alike.  We lead raids and guilds, we write about our gaming experiences and we bring others into games we play.  What do game developers fear in making a woman front and center in a game?  That their male audience won’t play because of the presence of a strong woman lead character?

It’s time that gaming developers recognize that women play games and that we want stories that are balanced between the sexes. My characters, are more than a plate bikini digital image to feed the imaginations of young men.  Women everywhere deserve equal lore representation and focus as male characters.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Having a Blast

It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for a good story, be it in a book, a game, or a performance, and the one thing Bioware has consistently provided over the years are great and compelling stories.  I’m back playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, (no surprises there at all) and loving the stories once again, even the Consular story line which so irritated me into taking a break earlier in the year.   

When I resubbed about two weeks ago I was in a PvP frame of mind, and still in am honestly.  I had heard so many complaints and horror stories about the PvP in SWTOR that I was reluctant but bit the bullet and jumped right in.  It was a blast!  Seriously why do people bitch and moan like preschoolers that just had their balls taken away?  Maps are fun, wide range of skill levels makes for challenges, and there are decent rewards.  Seriously I don’t fathom why there is so much angst about the state of PvP in SWTOR.  Yes you aren’t going to be at the top of the damage or healing charts if you are in the lower half level wise of your bracket.  But really who cares?  It grants you experience, credits, commendations, and is a break from questing.  The PvP gear doesn’t take a lot of commendations to acquire either. 

I played the WOW version of Huttball (Temple of Kotmogu).  Huttball is superior in EVERY way.  There is no one shotting members of the opposing team, which was consistently my experience in Temple of Kotmogu.  The commentary in Huttball amuses me to no end also.

So, if you haven’t given PvP a go in SWTOR, then jump on in and experience it yourself.  Remember having fun and helping your team be successful is far more important than topping some meaningless chart in a match.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Patch 2.1 Customization

Tired of the sometimes drab brown world of the Republic or perhaps you have an inherent distaste for purple armor of the Empire, well then my friends never fear the fine folks at Bioware have released Patch 2.1: Customization today for Star Wars": The Old Republic!  Patch notes can be found here in full.

Hate everything about the way you created your character except for class and gender?  Then rejoice because for Cartel Coins you can have everything from a new race to different eye color.  Hate the hair style you picked, then head on over to kiosk by AesthTech and pick a new one on your fleet or Capital city.  If you wish to create a new character using the new models, those models must first be unlocked via Cartel Coins.

Have you longed to rename your character, legacy, or guild?  Then you too have a reason to head on over the the AesthTech kiosk and deposit your cartel coins.  Renaming in now an available option, ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 Cartel Coins.

Cathar are now a playable race.  For 600 Cartel Coins, you can unlock the race to create a new character or change the race of your current character.  I expect to see quite a large number of player created Cathar in the coming days.

Collections are a new feature also being released today.  Collections will be where all characters, across all servers will be able to access most items available from the Cartel Market or Reputation, live fan events, Pre-Order, Collectors Edition, etc. items.  Once one character has collected an item or gear set, Cartel Coins can be spent to unlock said item or gear set for all characters on the account.  There is however an exception for level 15, 31, and 43 Adaptable fear and Cartel Reputation items.

I’m looking forward to experimenting with armor dyes and character customization later today.  See you in game!

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Lifestyle: I figured out why I had Burnout

So it dawned on me over the weekend why I had burnout on the MMO front and I blame Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Well, SWTOR isn’t solely to blame, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back truth be told.  I got my beloved Consular through the first chapter of the game and went from loving the story line, and therefore my character, to feeling let down and slogging through levels just to gain a level.  Then I just stopped playing all games, I couldn’t stand the mere thought of logging into any game.

Everquest 2 is just daunting, even double experience weekends can’t tempt me to log-in.  I don’t hate my characters, my guild makes me laugh, but those AA points are a roadblock I dread.  Literally they are speed bumps along the path to leveling.  I could have multiple characters to max level by now in Everquest 2 but for the AA roadblock.  I’m not looking for speed or power leveling but I was not enjoying the feeling of constantly running on a treadmill and gaining no ground.

Rift is just frustrating.  I love PvP in Rift but unfortunately rifts get in the way of PvE activities in the game.  For me, it completely detracts from the story in Rift.  It is a fun game, but I should have listened to my initial assessment when we were in the Rift beta (“there isn’t enough of a story line for me” is precisely what I told my husband).

I resubbed to WOW this morning.  I keep swearing it off and resubbing, hey it gives hubby great joy when he teases me whenever this happens.  I plan on playing at my pace and keeping chat off as much as possible.  Yeah I know, it’s a social game but hey to each their own.

So here’s my advice for those of you suffering from gaming burnout – take a couple of weeks off and do something completely unrelated.  I am making a public promise to myself that as soon as someone irritates me in game or I feel obligated to do something, I’m walking away and doing something else.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Game Update 2.0 released on PTS

Star Wars; The Old Republic’s the Rise of the Hutt Cartel has hit the Public Test Server.  Here is a brief glimpse of what can be tested:

• Level 55 characters will have new gear
• New Operation: Scum and Villainy
• Level 55 Hard Mode Flashpoints: Hammer Station, Athiss, Mandalorian Raiders, and Cademimu
• New Nightmare Mode of Operation: Terror from Beyond
• New legacy achievements

You will, for the first time, be able to copy an existing character to the test server, and all characters on the PTS can be advanced to level 55 on the Fleet.

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MMO Burnout: Help I’m Infected

I’m infected by the MMO Burnout bug badly.  I haven’t played one in over two weeks now.  I’m missing the Erollisi Day event in Everquest 2, an event I enjoy very much.  However, I just can’t muster the interest to log in and play.  I’ve been infected before but not to the point where I find myself even avoiding MMO news like the plague.  I am sure the MMO apathy will pass.  I’m giving myself until the end of the week and if it hasn’t passed by then, I will simply log onto my Consular and finish leveling her before the Star Wars: The Old Republic expansion releases sometime this spring.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Expansion Video First Look

 

Bioware released the first look of Makeb this morning in the above video for Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Interested parties can find more details on The Rise of the Hutt Cartel here.  The expansion is due out this spring, no date yet specified, and it looks like the Hutt’s have been quite busy since the events in The Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams (great read and an excellent audio book by the way).

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Game Update 1.7 Return of the Gree

The Gree are coming, in Game Update 1.7 for Star Wars: The Old Republic.  The Return of the Gree is coming soon and will bring a recurring event to the game for level 50 players and introduce a reputation system to the game.  The recurring event is called Relics of the Gree and will allow the player to gain new weapons and armor.  The Galactic Reputation System will be earned for your legacy and that should significantly alleviate any grind associated with the introduction of a reputation system.

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What Does Fox News, SWTOR, and You have in common?

So, what do the fine folks over a Fox News have to say about the coming expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic?  Well, apparently it’s an expansion occurring on a gay planet for gay people.  Yep, you read that right folks … according to Fox News it’s an expansion devoted to a gay planet for gay people.  Fox focuses solely on the inclusion of same-gender romance arcs becoming available on Makeb and makes outrageous claims concerning the outrage of the player base.  The story fails to cover the expansion in any detail or the facts concerning same-gender romances. 

So, once again let’s clarify same-gender romances will be available on Makeb when the expansion launches this spring.  These CHOICES will not be available with companions in the game and are options for players to explore if they so desire.  The planet of Makeb is not “gay”, as if a whole planet could be “gay”, nor is it a “gay” expansion.  Fox decided to latch onto one small aspect of an expansion that would sensualize their base of readers and viewers. 

The universe of Star Wars is an inclusive universe and how can any rational, thinking adult believe that allowing same-gender romance arcs turns an entire planet or expansion gay?  Instead it’s just an option for those players uncomfortable, marginalized, or exclude with current romance options available in the game.  I applaud Bioware, EA, and the team at SWTOR for following through on their promise to include same-gender romance arcs into the story and for building an inclusive, accepting universe rather than an exclusive, judgmental, bigoted, and hateful universe.

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Star Wars:The Old Republic: Additional Character Slots

Star Wars: The Old Republic released new Cartel Market items at the conclusion of weekly maintenance. Most interesting item included in patch notes was the ability to purchase additional character slots for 600 cartel coins per slot.  If of you’ve always had dreams of building an army of smugglers then break out the cartel coins and enjoy.

On a personal note, my consular easily defeated Lord Vivicar last week after a couple of armor upgrades to Fess’s armor.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: State of the Game #2

Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer of Star Wars: The Old Republic released his second State of the Game Developer Blog.  The posting covers four areas of interest to players:

1. End Game Content (aka Elder Content)
2. PvP
3. Copy to Public Test Server
4. Same Gender Romance

End Game Content remains a priority for the developers at SWTOR.  The plans for the coming year include The Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion, new operations and flashpoints, new PvP, and new difficulty modes.  The team is looking at ways to keep all play styles engaged and active at max level.

World PvP is difficult for the team at Bioware to implement.  New warzones and PvP seasons are instead the primary focus of the developers.  There will be some open world PvP in the coming year, but it will be limited to contested zones.  And truthfully, I have no problem with this form of implementation of PvP.  It opens PvP up to a much broader player base than those that play on PvP servers and desire the constant threat of ganking and being unable to complete objectives.

The long awaited and begged for ability to copy a live character to the Public Test Server (PTS) is coming!  This ability will be available in the early part of the year.  The most welcomed news out of this State of the Game blog is that character transfers are coming later this year.  Too late for many players but better late than never.  Personally it will be nice to be able to transfer over a couple of characters that are orphaned on a server we do not play.

Same gender romance has long been asked for and promised for SWTOR.  It is coming, limited fashion at first but it is coming.   Due to design implementation difficulties unforeseen by the development staff, it will not be implemented for companion characters.  However, with the release of The Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion this spring, there will be several same gender romance options available with NPC’s on Makeb.

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