Btw, I find the name eman_laerton (notreal_name) incredibly clever and inventive. Can I have your autograph?

Bwhahaha!  Thanks, I actually didn't notice that one.

While I can't say for certain whether the author of that article was being sarcastic (which is always hard to do in a written medium) or just an idiot, at least he started a debate.   As for me... I'm not sure where to begin here.

Are there elements of the Empire that are good?  Well, yes.  A government provides an element of order allowing for technical progress and economic activities to function in relative peace.  Compared to anarchy where the comforts of civilization are either nonexistant or horded by those with the biggest weapon and many of the services we take for granted in the West are inoperable due to instability, order of any kind looks pretty good.  Even Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany would be better then a society engulfed in civil war and infighting.  But on the same token, it was nothing for the Empire to destroy an entire planet just to test out their new toy.  And that's really all it was, razing an entire city (which is pretty much all it was in the general scale of Starwars) just because you doubt what a captured spy is telling you is stupid.  If it was more tactically advantageous for the Empire to blow the planet up instead of take it over or otherwise ensure access to the factories and farms it held it would be one thing, but the evidence we have suggests a bit of "because I can" kind of thinking going on among the higher-ups among the Empire.

I love his apparent double standards in using the Expanded Universe however.  In the movies, yes the Rebel Alliance don't go into great details regarding their post-war plan but then we don't get a great deal of insight into how the Empire works either.  We only really know that they really don't like bounty hunters and that they're all human (seriously, all the alien villains in the original trilogy were working for the Hutts or guns for hire.)  So how do we know that the Empire is a meritocracy without consulting sources outside of the movies?  For that matter, how did he know Han attended an Imperial military academy?  All we really got in the movie was that he was a smuggler who owed money to the wrong people.  Having another character call him "captain" isn't really much since if you own and run a ship large enough to require a crew bigger then yourself, you're a captain by default.  Granted, it's been awhile since I saw the movies so my memory might be wrong...

Originally posted by Danubus

well, you gave away one major thing. Final two classes will be shown by Dec 3rd.  That alone was worth reading this article!

Agreed, I look forward to being able to stop the speculation.  Although I still hold that the last two classes will be some kind of buff/debuff archetype.

Have to say I saw this one coming a mile away.  That being said, the class itself looks pretty cool and I look forward to its holonet writeup.

Now, the question to prove my theory right.  Are the last two classes support?

If the game is good, I'm rooting for the Ferenghi.  Screw democracy, I have money. =P

Originally posted by Stellos

I'm all about crafting, but I don't see this game taking that approach.  This is going to be a linear, action based MMORPG with next to no sandbox style play.  Therefore, I would predict that the crafting system will be limited and will mirror something like WARs crafting system oppose to something like SWG.  I suppose we could always hope for a crafting push though:)

So a system that requires you to get into the thick of it instead of just hanging out in the background spinning out blaster rifles while other classes do all the grunt work?   That sounds like a plan...

Originally posted by Vanive

Imperial Spy
Jedi Knight

Tomorrow is Jedi FYI     www.youtube.com/watch

That is a sweet find although some of us kind of figured that there was an espionage class. While not appearing in the movies in a significant capacity, treachery and espionage were two things that helped shape both the Clone Wars and Rebellion eras into what they became. Also, the Imperial Spy would make for a nice counter to the Smuggler (a light, fast-moving range fighter)

While it might be cool to have a crafting class, perhaps it would be best if that was just left classless like it was in Auto Assault and Tabula Rasa (two games that ultimately tanked unfortunately but you get the idea.) I still maintain the theory that the last class duo will be some kind of defensive caster. With Jedi/Sith we have offensive casters who are beasts in melee. Trooper/Bounty Hunter make up the multi-talented fighter class. Spies/Smugglers are rogues. So the last class has to be a "Cleric." Now with every class having a healing ability, that means the emphasis would be more on buffs/debuffs. You could still solo quite well, but groups are where you really shine.

Other people have suggested an "Officer" type class but I don't know, I don't see Officers soloing all that well. A tech-specialist (buffing allies and yourself with minor tinkering, hacking to fry enemy tech) or biochemist (toxins for your enemies, stimulants for you and your allies) might be a better fit. Granted there aren't many obvious examples of this archetype but then we started drifting away from recognize figures once we named the Jedi, Sith, Smuggler, Trooper, and Bounty Hunter.

Originally posted by Bignolte

In thinking of star wars lore between all of the books as well as the KotR games has there ever been a hero or character that is really considered a healer. To the point of not having big boss fights that also seems to make sense in that in the books the only time a hero ever really fought the villain it usually boils down to a 1v1 good vs evil scenario but the majority of combat takes place between two large groups of enemys in some epic battle, or a small group taking on a large group of enemy's a'la 4 jedis against 400 stormtroopers lol.

Actually the Medistar series (if you can call two books a series) did revolve around a MASH unit in the Clone Wars and the plots they found themselves entangled in.  While it was largely a medical drama with most of the action happening in the operating room, there were other plots revolving around the herb bota; a wonder plant with medicinal properties that everyone wanted and no one wanted to share.

But besides that, yes if we went by certain iconic characters there is a distinct lack of reoccuring healers.  Although granted if we went by iconic archetypes then nearly everyone has been covered already with the Jedi, Sith, Trooper, Smuggler, and Bounty Hunter classes.

My two cents if I may:

While all the classes revealed so far appear different, they do have an asymetrical counterpart on the opposing team.

With Jedi/Sith we have casters (yes I know they're warrior-monks, not wizards; just bear with me.)

With the Trooper and Bounty Hunters we have an option for players that like to hurt things with heavy weapons although there is the possiblity that the Bounty Hunter is meant to be a "mirror image" of the Smuggler.  It is remotely possible, both classes represent independents who picked a side that best support their own interests.

Smugglers come off as a more "duelist" kind of affair, flashy and flamboyent to the more mundane and utilitarian Trooper/Bounty Hunter.

If the Bounty Hunter is the Smuggler's opposite, then the unannounced Empire class is possibly a Maladorian Warrior and could be a more melee-focused counterpart to the Trooper.  If the Smuggler's counterpart is still unannounced, then it's probably a spy/assassin who focuses on more cruel forms of "hitting below the belt."  While both are possible, I have to say I believe the second to be more likely.

The final two I also believe are going to be support classes of some kind.  While it's unlikely they'll be slouches in combat (since no one else is,) what kind of support class would be appropriate for the Sith Empire (which seems to place a bigger emphasis on giving PCs more options to inflict horrific amounts of pain then the Republic) is something that's a little beyond me.  Healers feel a little too focused.  Tech-users might fill the niche but the authoritarian attitudes of the Empire would definitely turn off the more free-thinking sects of techies (who are are also usually the more creative ones in literature,) leaving the question of who would be on the Sith side....  Hmmm, "Splicer"/Scientist?  The former is a techie who's a bit of a trouble maker (like the Smuggler) but knows which side his bread is buttered on so he sides with the Republic while the latter is a scholar given free-reign (ignoring pesky ethical restraints) so long as he continues to produce results for the Empire?

Not bad, I agree with more then a few of the author's choices, particularly Dune and Starship Troopers.  Most of these I haven't read though.  However, I know some decent canidates for a Sci-Fi MMOG:

- Starfist by David Sherman and Dan Cragg:  It's the 25th century and humanity's spread across several dozen worlds,  but the Marines (and other branches of the Confederation's military) could use a few good PCs. Between the alien Slinks and insurrections on numerous worlds, there's plenty of opprotunity for adventurers.

- Vatta's War by Elizabeth Moon:  In the far future, humanity has settled a region of space light years away from Earth.  Conspiracy and piracy are abound and there's a conflict between several different religious sects regarding the existence of modified humans.  Has potential as both an Elite-styled ship game and a SWG-style RPG.

Robotics, I always liked being the engineer in TF2

Originally posted by SuperHans

How was that ad funny? I'm not crazy like that PeterPorker dude, but the ad was pretty fucking retarded. I can't picture it in my head how would anyone laugh at that. I simply don't understand what was so funny about it.

Eh, dying's easy; comedy's hard.

I found it entertaining because it targeted a long-standing frustration I've had with MMOGs, the general lack of options outside of high fantasy.  Elves in particular are iconic of the genre, everyone remembers Legelos but not as many recall Grimbe.   It's particularly funny as Global Agenda AND Fallen Earth have used "No Elves" as an in-joke yet no one has put together a video about it before.  So yes, let's shoot the elf a few more times.

I can't wait for the other three.  Simply put, that was genius.  Even in the delivery of the Recon's disbelief.

Not sure, I'm not that big of a Star Trek fan and honestly I think the original system would have worked out fine so long as they made sure the promotion system was NOT left up to the players and advertised it so that no one felt cheated being a chief engineer or medical officer instead of a captain.  The first option in particular was one of the things that killed StarQuest Online for me.  Rank was handled entirely by players and became more a question of popularity and connections instead of merit.  As a result, many of the awesome things you were told you could do often went unfulfilled because you were too busy playing a cheaply dressed virtual version of what you were already doing in real life and often just as appreciated for it.

This new system?  Ehhhhh, I would have at least included an option for a non-aggressive path (science vessel perhaps?)   Other then that I'm going to wait and see.  I'm not entirely sure how you would make the idea of everyone being a captain work...

Originally posted by momodig

The graphics didn't bother me, but what did was I had no clue what to do... wasn't even sure if people were logged on to ask for help?

 

Really want to try this game -- but everytime I log on, no help... or direction.

*checks the date on the post*  The game STILL doesn't have a tutorial for those who start civvie?  *facepalms*

Okay, some of my tips have invariably changed since I last logged in but here's something that worked for me.

- Check your inventory and your bank account, you should have started with a small amount of seed money

- Go to the supermarket in the city (what city did you long into, I might be able to hazard some directions)

- Look for a equipment rack (they look kind of like a gun or tool rack) and click on it

- Buy a sonic pick and a hand smelter.

- Go back outside and equip the pick, then open your skill screen, double-click on mining, then click on the white marble rocks.  If it doesn't work, you may have to move closer.  Keep digging until you have a good pile of ore and a decent starting mining skill (around thirty might be good for a start.)  Put the pick away and equip the smelter in one hand and a small pile of ore (about ten pieces to start) in the other.  Use the smelter.  Keep in mind that your level of success depends on your mining skill

-  Once you enough ingots, go to a vendor in the space port (NOT the ticket booth) and sell your ore.  Keep in mind you should spend experience on a craft skill.  Read up on what they do and pick one or two you like, spend the mental EXP on them.  Fabricate's good for clothes.  Reverse engineer is necessary to get blueprints, perhaps not as much as when I used to play but at least you won't have to pay someone else for design documents all the time.

The following are observations from my time playing, take them as you will:

- The only people who are your friends are the NPCs, to be fair there's a few decent PCs (Burke comes to my mind) but your best bet are the NPCs; anyone who tells you they're your friend should be watched very carefully.  Something that's true no matter what MMO you play as.

- Do not join Fleet, just don't.  With the exception of a small handful of people (such as Locke and Burke,)  most of the players who have or are serving with the Fleet "guild" are not worth the trouble of associating them with.  As someone who played a Fleet engie and survived through the insurrection that occured near the end of Beta, I can safely say you're better off sticking with being a civvie.  The community is ONE thing that hasn't really changed much since my time playing. 

-Be very careful in your dealings with other civilian players as many of them are alts for various fleet players.  Keep a fully charged/loaded gun at your side at all times.

With that, I wish you the best of luck and maybe you can survive better then I did.  If you need help with anything else, just message me.  I'll try to help you the best I can.

Originally posted by AlloughN

Originally posted by Maj_Science

Originally posted by Lydon

I downloaded SQ with expectations of playing something different, but unfortunately things didn't go as planned.

The first thing that put me off was the fact that the game client runs in a window in a window. Quite pointless! Secondly, setting everything up and creating a character took me a few tries before I understood what they were telling me. It just didn't feel polished enough to make it an enjoyable experience for me.

I understand that I cannot review the game on gameplay as a result (my little experience with it wasn't positive), but I thought I'd mention that I think they really need to work on those issues I mentioned if they wish to improve the game.

To continue being cynical, if the character generation screen was a road block* then can I recommend Maple Story?  It's just as grindtastic, social interactions are encouraged instead of required, and finally, it's both free and much simplier.

To summerize my own experiences with the game:

Pros:  It's sci-fi.  Not only that but it's probably the closest to the original Startrek Online most of us are going to see in our life times.

Cons:  The community is almost entirely worthless with the exception of a notable few, the game is a GRIND, if games like Maple Story and Runescape had you bored out of your skull then you will not like SQO.  Crafting is/was difficult to get into, Mining is/was cumbersome and pretty much all you can do for ages, and you will regretfully have to interact with the community on an almost intimate level to actually get anything done unless Castlethorn took me seriously when I suggested a need for ships that required only one player to operate (such as a scout ship or blockade runner.)

And as a final note, I still have my account from Beta barring some management decision to cut off freeloaders that I somehow didn't hear about.  Which poses a interesting question, if I think the game sucked even when I didn't have to pay to play, why would I come back for ten a month?

*  Seriously, back in Beta that was the only area where the manual was actually helpful.  At least they hired a competent writer now that the game's been live for awhile.

1. Everything in-game is now craftable, and its easy to do

2. Mining is changed, and you can even mine asteriods with ships

3. It takes about 3 days to get your own ship if you want to do it that way

4. You can solo in ANY ship, and 5 new usuable shiptypes have been added. Fighters will soon be in-game.

5. The game is TOTALLY different

6. There is a in-game tutorial, the game manual is there, but no longer used.

7. Your beta account is still active, and your welcome back, unless you cant get your head out of the sand and stop bashing a game for what it was in BETA!. Do you even realize how long ago you were in the BETA?

 

 

My head out of the sand?  Really.  You haven't addressed my main issue.  Are YOU still the same clump of idiots I remember about a year ago?  The same clowns that left me feeling like I was logging in to a second job that I wasn't getting paid for?  Answer THAT question, the question I've been asking myself after the uprising that cost you glory boys in Fleet several ships.

Originally posted by justill45

Hey, i'm one of the lucky Alpha testers to Global Agenda. Currently we're doing 10 vs. 10 matches and this is how it's going to stay.

Hope this helped

:)

Aren't you supposed to be sworn to secrecy by the dark magics of the NDA blood pact?

Originally posted by yugo

Most say i like that i see, game seem to have a good fps side so my concerns would been the "mmo" part of the game

I tend to agree, this talk about matches that really matter has me interested, but I need more information.

I don't think it will be "instanced" at least not in the way we're used to seeing it.  It definitely has a solid FPS vibe to it.  If anything, I think there will be battlefields that confer some kind of bonus that will give one guild an edge over others.  I'm more concerned with what they plan to do to make this more then "Team Fortress: The MMO."

Yes, and if Riddick's been at it since Day One (of testing I assume,) that should tell us something since SQO didn't have a character wipe when it launched.

Anyway, your original post refers more towards a "evolving" gameworld, which is not entirely the same thing as a "open world."  Technically WoW is a open world, you're free to do any number of things from crafting to combat.  However the world does not evolve, a village you saved yesterday is still in trouble for the next players in line.

A evolving world is more like Planetside, where the frontlines shift back and forth between the three empires depending on who won that given day.  And yes, evolving worlds are pretty cool.  But they're even cooler when the world is open as well as evolving.