THANK YOU YES!  I've been waiting for this video for awhile now.  Didn't pick up on the homages to Harrison Ford at first but now that people have pointed them out.  Frankly Smuggler was one of my top picks if I play ToR, Force-Users never interested me that much (and the amount of whining I see about the Jedi/Sith killed what little interest I had to begin with.)  Didn't really give the Scoundrel much thought until this video though, might actually make me change my mind about going Gunslinger.

Originally posted by Zeroxin

I find it funny that some people want this to be P2P, can't a good game be a good game regardless of what payment model it has?

 In theory, yes.  In practice, the track record is admittedly not too good.

Anyway, overall I am optimistic about this game but like a few others I'm worried about the level of customization demonstrated so far.  Without taking the "Paths" (Soldier, Explorer, Scientist, and Settler) into consideration we only have nine possible character combinations (three races times three classes) so... there hopefully are races and classes we haven't seen yet or the four paths impact your character in more ways then has been revealed so far.  Granted, with what we've seen so far we have Tank, DPS, and AoE caster roles covered but at the same time that's only a narrow sliver of roles. 

Originally posted by Direphoenix

Originally posted by Deviane

...well was kinda obvious that the game  have at least 3 races and 3 classes...

The press conference at gamescom outlined at least 4 types of paths or classes, based roughly on gameplay styles:

Explorer - if you like... exploring

Soldier - if you are combat oriented

Scientist - if you're into the lore and gathering collections

Settler - if you're into socializing and building relationships and/or communities with your fellow gamers

 Those are paths, they are going to be seperate from the Warrior/Spellslinger/Esper revealed so far.  It will be interesting to see how exactly the classes and paths will interact with each other.  I am a bit surprised that there are only three character classes and races though.  Don't MMOs usually have more then that?

Hmmm, sounds potentially interesting.  At the very least I'm looking forward to the trickle of information about this game to see if it's worth a shot.

Hmmm, looks like I was indeed mistaken as the poll balanced itself out.  Not to mention the surprising amount of enthusiasm posters are showing for the dark side. =P

hmmm, if this is any indication I think we might have to worry about there being enough Dark Siders to balance the Light side of the force...

Realistically?  Yes.  Should they?  No, because then balance will go out the window.

@ Ignore Me:  Well, others have already covered the problems with your other suggestions so no point in retreading old ground.  Anyway, the only problem I have with my own suggestion is what I already outlined; making the new class's story as epic as the others are hinted at being.  Which begs the question of how do you make an engineer epic?  Ignoring how you go about making him balanced or relevant to the other eight (who can all have skill trees that let them spec for damage AND support,) how do you make the player care about some mechanic in a grease-stained jumpsuit when he could become a general, Jedi Master, or who knows what else?

Isn't the Grand Moff supposed to be like the director of the Sith Empire's CIA or something though?  So wouldn't such an office be in the Imperial Agent's storyline?  Just my two cents

Don't play MO, didn't really care either way until I stumbled upon this bit.  I've read the defenses of this game yet I noticed none of them addressed the moonwalking bear (thank you Leverage for that metaphor) in the room... it's never a good PR move to openly admit you asked a game news site to police their forums beyond what is called for by the standard ToS/ToA (or their specific Terms of Agreement for that matter.)  And of course since they admitted that the "grey areas" aren't violating the ToS, well... enough said.

In conclusion:  While I have not played your game SV, how you defend Mortal Online ensures I will certainly spend my hard-earned money somewhere else.

I was wondering if or when someone else was thinking ahead like this?  As for what I think of it...  Well for starters I don't think Bioware screwed themselves over with the amount of effort they put into the other eight classes, though it definitely makes things a little more difficult then they would in other MMOs.  I see the rest of these forums seem to agree with me on what the expansion class should be though.  Which might just be because people don't really agree with the other selections on that poll. XP

Anyway, while I personally would like to see a Mechanic/Engineer class (perhaps a free-thinking Republic inventor versus a Imperial techie who delights in crushing dreams and ambitions under the weight of The Machine and both of them covering a defensive sort of playstyle,) I do admit it's hard to see how they can make it "epic" and give the class a storyline that stands besides tales like the Bounty Hunter's quest to get into the Great Hunt (which you know has to entail a shot at becoming THE Maladorian at some point) or the powerplays of the Sith (to say nothing about where the Republic storylines can go.)

Thinking about it as I write, I actually can see two ways how it could go.  You could play it straight and make the class hail from some backwater world and his overall quest is to modernize and develop it into a major economic power.  Or you could just throw any pretense of seriousness out the window and make his quest a search for the ultimate tool.  Yes, while other classes are fighting for freedom or the dominance of the Empire; you're fighting to own your very own Omni-Wrench 6000...

Originally posted by gaou

Originally posted by Maj_Science

Originally posted by gaou

Originally posted by Maj_Science

Not bad, I prefer the non-Force Users (and admittedly raged when I heard there were going to be two force classes way back when the Consular/Inquisitor was just announced) but it's good to see them finally get around to this guy.

Though as I read the expanded update and see the Consular's compaion I can't help but wonder... what ever happened to the Scout class?  Kotor had it (I believe,) the Star Wars PnP RPGs had it... will we be seeing it some point after launch or am I just musing for no real reason?  Anyway, good to see a Trandoshan break the usual "evil race" mold.

from what i read when i just looked up the scout class, uses a balance of force and saber skills correct?  well there is no specific class for that. but according to georg zoeller, depending how you spec, you can reach a balance of sorts.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=6729496#post6729496

GeorgZoeller

Joined: May 2010

06.10.2011 , 08:21 PM
Quote: Originally Posted by Extremecobra This may be a dumb question but if a force using class cannot use their lightsaber other than defense, then that ruins the class for me. Even a mage in WOW could use their staff to attack with. It's a matter of preference and skills / Advanced Class on the Inquisitor or Consular. It's perfectly viable to spec in a way that your saber becomes a purely defensive / last resort weapon. It's also possible to make your saber based abilities viable as part of your rotation, but as an Sith Sorcerer, you will only have a limited number of those. If you want a few more, you want to be an Assassin and if you want to have a ton more, you want to be a Marauder or Juggernaut instead. In regards to Force vs. saber use, the scale is something like this (Consular Example) |-- more Force / less saber --> more saber / less Force -- | | -- Telekinetics/Seer Sages --> Balance Sages --> Balance Shadow --> Infiltration Shadow --> Combat Shadow --> Sentinel / Guardian -- | There's differentiation regarding the amount of Force powers and saber powers that are available to you in both classes, but ultimately gameplay requires you to make a choice. You cannot be a Force user with a lot of long ranged abilities and excel at melee range with your saber. You can be one, the other, or a number of things in between, depending on Advanced Class choice (Consular for significantly more Force, Knight for significantly more saber) and skill selection.

 After reading this a few times... apparently there is a miscommunication somewhere as I wasn't talking about the Consular.  I was referring to a class that appeared heavily in the pen and paper RPG published by Wizards of the Coast when they had the Starwars license and in the old pre-NGE SWG.  This is the same class that the Consular's Trandoshan COMPANION is trained in.  The Consular's abilities are not even remotely similar to what the Scout class is supposed to be able to do.  There is no Scout class in ToR unless Bioware has something already planned for an update or expansion...

This was a non-Force Sensitive career path; in the Pen and Paper games, he was fairly similar to the D&D Ranger, a warrior trained in ranged combat and most at home in the untamed frontier far from civilization.  In Starwars the Scout's skills were generally focused on navigation, acclimization to particular environments, and living on the fringe of known space.  In the movies and expanded universe, this was the character class of Chewbacca, Jar Jar Binks (before Episode III,) and Wicket the Ewok.  In TOR it is the class of companion Qyzen Fess, the hunter who gladly trades away his trophies just for a ride to the next hunt.

oh i see.  i had done a quick google search and was going off what i found was said about scout class in kotor. sorry about that. 

 Hmmm, not sure what you were referencing as Kotor was supposed to be based off the system Wizards of the Coasts developed for their Starwars RPG but whatever, no big deal.

Originally posted by lostkoss

Uh, Smugglers gotta smuggle. Ya Know?

 

Ifs theys wasn't smugglin dem theys just be freighter pilots.

 There's also a war between the Republic and the Sith ya know?  Because like, it would be a really boring book/movie/game if it took place when there wasn't some kind of war.

And wars tend to do things to the definition of contraband.  Suddenly something as inane as medicine or spare parts can become all different shades of illegal depending on where their destination is...

Originally posted by gaou

Originally posted by Maj_Science

Not bad, I prefer the non-Force Users (and admittedly raged when I heard there were going to be two force classes way back when the Consular/Inquisitor was just announced) but it's good to see them finally get around to this guy.

Though as I read the expanded update and see the Consular's compaion I can't help but wonder... what ever happened to the Scout class?  Kotor had it (I believe,) the Star Wars PnP RPGs had it... will we be seeing it some point after launch or am I just musing for no real reason?  Anyway, good to see a Trandoshan break the usual "evil race" mold.

from what i read when i just looked up the scout class, uses a balance of force and saber skills correct?  well there is no specific class for that. but according to georg zoeller, depending how you spec, you can reach a balance of sorts.

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=6729496#post6729496

GeorgZoeller

Joined: May 2010

06.10.2011 , 08:21 PM
Quote: Originally Posted by Extremecobra This may be a dumb question but if a force using class cannot use their lightsaber other than defense, then that ruins the class for me. Even a mage in WOW could use their staff to attack with. It's a matter of preference and skills / Advanced Class on the Inquisitor or Consular. It's perfectly viable to spec in a way that your saber becomes a purely defensive / last resort weapon. It's also possible to make your saber based abilities viable as part of your rotation, but as an Sith Sorcerer, you will only have a limited number of those. If you want a few more, you want to be an Assassin and if you want to have a ton more, you want to be a Marauder or Juggernaut instead. In regards to Force vs. saber use, the scale is something like this (Consular Example) |-- more Force / less saber --> more saber / less Force -- | | -- Telekinetics/Seer Sages --> Balance Sages --> Balance Shadow --> Infiltration Shadow --> Combat Shadow --> Sentinel / Guardian -- | There's differentiation regarding the amount of Force powers and saber powers that are available to you in both classes, but ultimately gameplay requires you to make a choice. You cannot be a Force user with a lot of long ranged abilities and excel at melee range with your saber. You can be one, the other, or a number of things in between, depending on Advanced Class choice (Consular for significantly more Force, Knight for significantly more saber) and skill selection.

 After reading this a few times... apparently there is a miscommunication somewhere as I wasn't talking about the Consular.  I was referring to a class that appeared heavily in the pen and paper RPG published by Wizards of the Coast when they had the Starwars license and in the old pre-NGE SWG.  This is the same class that the Consular's Trandoshan COMPANION is trained in.  The Consular's abilities are not even remotely similar to what the Scout class is supposed to be able to do.  There is no Scout class in ToR unless Bioware has something already planned for an update or expansion...

This was a non-Force Sensitive career path; in the Pen and Paper games, he was fairly similar to the D&D Ranger, a warrior trained in ranged combat and most at home in the untamed frontier far from civilization.  In Starwars the Scout's skills were generally focused on navigation, acclimization to particular environments, and living on the fringe of known space.  In the movies and expanded universe, this was the character class of Chewbacca, Jar Jar Binks (before Episode III,) and Wicket the Ewok.  In TOR it is the class of companion Qyzen Fess, the hunter who gladly trades away his trophies just for a ride to the next hunt.

Not bad, I prefer the non-Force Users (and admittedly raged when I heard there were going to be two force classes way back when the Consular/Inquisitor was just announced) but it's good to see them finally get around to this guy.

Though as I read the expanded update and see the Consular's compaion I can't help but wonder... what ever happened to the Scout class?  Kotor had it (I believe,) the Star Wars PnP RPGs had it... will we be seeing it some point after launch or am I just musing for no real reason?  Anyway, good to see a Trandoshan break the usual "evil race" mold.

Like a few others here, I'm not sure this is as much of an issues as the OP makes it out to be.  The game lore clearly states that non-Force Users aren't "right off the bus."  The Trooper is described as being SpecOp (something militaries typically have very exacting standards for) while it is is mentioned that Imperial Agent is the pinnacle of what non-Force Sensitive can achieve in the Sith Empire.    Subsequently, it is not really mentioned but can be implied that the Bounty Hunter and the Smuggler have been doing something to establish themselves as "above average" when the game begins.

In the end, I believe the result of the OP's scenerio would depend on the player.  Mature players would respond "Well Played!" or at least try to think about where they went wrong.  "Lol! I can has lightsaber plz?" players on the other hand will rage and be themselves.

Originally posted by Agricola1

I'd have thought there'd be some NPC missions to smuggle weapons/drugs/slaves so I'm sure that they'll get to smuggle to some degree, if not at launch then latter on.

 Well, you supposedly arrive on Ord Matell (sp?) to deliver guns for the Republic side of thing so it's probably in there.  Hopefully there will be plenty of light (smuggle food and meds past a Sith blockade to a besieged planet) as well as dark side options for commodities.

As for the OP, yeah that group stealth field's a nice little nugget of information, thanks.

I have to agree with the general sentiment of the author... anyone who believes the computer is going away is an idiot.  While the console is a stable platform, there are just some genres we cannot, CANNOT design a game for on a system with less then a dozen buttons per input device.  Most games can work like that but some can't.  Besides, can you type on a console or cellphone?  Can you run a graphic design program like Photoshop on a console?

Yes, the desktop PC will eventually be replaced.  The march of technological innovation makes it inevitable.  But its retirement will only come at a time when there is a suitable heir for the truly multifunctional device.  And I have yet to see one cross the horizon.

Hmmm, wish I could say I shared the same enthusaism the author of this article has.  Played, got to about level ten or so as a medic known by the wonderfully cheeky name "Dr. Feelgood" and found myself surprisingly bored considering the setting. 

I know someone's trying to make a Farmville joke here but honestly sounds more Harvest Moon then Farmville

Can't wait to see the Smuggler/Imperial Agent progression videos now.