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Star Wars: The Old Republic General Article: Gamescom Wrap-Up
MMORPG.com's Community Manager Michael Bitton has synthesized all of the information about Star Wars: The Old Republic that came out during last week's GamesCom and placed it one handy-dandy article for readers to slice and dice and discuss. Check out the ships and advanced class information that Mike has amassed.
By Michael Bitton on August 25, 2010
Like many of you reading this, I was also stuck at home while what I like to refer to as “Europe’s E3,” Gamescom, rolled around. In fact, all of us here at MMORPG.com remained behind this year, though our noses were firmly pressed against the glass so to speak, desperate to take in as much of the information and media coming out of the show as possible.
While I was interested to hear about the many games being shown this year, Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic was definitely one of the game’s to watch. So, what did we learn about the game since Gamescom kicked off?
Bioware had a massive booth at the show, and for the first time the general public was able to get their hands on the game, well, that is if you could stomach the reportedly lengthy lines. Write-ups detailing gamers’ first-experiences with SW:TOR have appeared all around the ‘net since then, and eager fans have been poring over the markedly mixed opinions. No surprise, really, with such a highly anticipated game you’re going to have many people who will absolutely fall in love with the game after their first experience and those who will completely hate it.
The very first trailer for Space Combat in Star Wars: The Old Republic was shown at Gamescom as well, and we discussed this in great detail last week. Since then, Bioware has unveiled two of what looks to be a planned six starships to be included in the game. The two starships revealed were the same two ships shown briefly at E3 earlier this year, the Corellian-Defender Class Light Corvette for Jedi players, and the Fury-class Imperial Interceptor for players playing one of the two force-wielding Sith classes. Both ships are now up for viewing on the SW:TOR Holonet, where a smattering of screenshots, lore, and short clips of the ships’ interiors await. While many of you are likely more than familiar with my opinion on space combat in SW:TOR, I will say this, the interiors of the Defender and Fury ships are looking pretty snazzy at this point and I really can’t wait to explore and hopefully customize my own.
Finally, Bioware revealed a breakdown of all the Advanced Classes that will be available to players, and this really got fans buzzing. Read below for all the details:
The Trooper will have access to the Commando or Vanguard specializations. The Commando is a ranged DPS specialization that focuses on the heavy blaster cannon and grenades, while the Vanguard is the Trooper tank specialization, which makes use of the blaster rifle and energy shields.
The Scoundrel and Gunslinger specializations were also revealed for the Smuggler. The Scoundrel features some sort of blaster “shotgun” and oddly enough stealth mechanics. Oh, it can also heal. This is a bit weird, but OK.
The Gunslinger is more of what you think of when you think of a Han Solo-esque Smuggler. While Han stuck with a single blaster-pistol, Gunslingers wield dual blaster pistols and fill a ranged DPS role by using fast “quickdraw” attacks and the cover system.
Jedi Knights will support the team as either the dual-wielding melee DPS Sentinel or as the familiar Jedi Guardian class, which dons heavy armor and wields a single lightsaber in a tank role. The Guardian also uses “Leadership” and can provide the party with useful buffs.
The Jedi Consular’s Advanced Classes stirred the SW:TOR community into a tizzy over the past few days. Options for the Jedi Consular include the hybrid controlling/healing/damage dealing “Jedi Wizard” Advanced Class, as well as the saber staff wielding MDPS Jedi Shadow. Fan reaction to the Consulars “Jedi Wizard” class name was understandably negative, I’m not sure what Bioware’s thinking was here and I suspect that this may be changed. Yes, Ben Kenobi was referred to as an “old wizard” by Owen Lars in Episode IV, but that is pretty obscure and there are plenty of other possible names that could have been used here. This just seems like a lazy attempt to attach a familiar fantasy class name to one of SW:TOR’s “mage” classes. The Jedi Shadow, as its name would imply, interestingly makes use of stealth mechanics.
On the Sith Empire side, Bounty Hunters can either take the path of the Powertech or the Mercenary. The Powertech is one of the Sith Empire’s two tanking classes. Powertechs make use of Flamethrowers and similar to the Trooper, also make use of energy shields.
Players who select the Mercenary will wield dual blaster pistols similar to the Smuggler’s Gunslinger, but will also make use of missiles.
Sith Warriors can choose between the Sith Juggernaut and the Sith Marauder. The Sith Juggernaut is the analogue to Jedi Knight’s Jedi Guardian advanced class, however, it interestingly appears to be an “aura tank”, as it is said to make use of Fear and Darkside Auras. Certainly speculation, but I’m getting an Age of Conan Dark Templar feeling here.
The Sith Marauder, at least from the basic description we have now, seems identical to the Jedi Sentinel.
The sneaky snakes on the Imperial side can look forward to the Imperial Agent’s Operative and Sniper Advanced Classes. For me, these two, at least at first blush seem the most interesting. The Operative is similar to the Scoundrel in that it employs Stealth, but the differences end there. Instead of a blaster “shotgun”, the Operative is an expert at close-range combat using an energy blade, but can also fall back on his blaster rifle, and is capable of high burst ranged damage.
The Sniper, on the other hand, fills a ranged DPS role and makes use of the cover system, as well as ambush attacks and can even call down Orbital Strikes. My favorite post-NGE SWG class was the Officer, and so this seems like a good fit for me. I played the Imperial Agent during my E3 demo and found it to be great fun.
Last, but not least, we have the Sith Inquisitor. The Inquisitor, like the Jedi Consular, also has a somewhat dud of a class name in the Sith Sorcerer. Sure, it makes sense, but why not Sith Lord? Again, it just sounds like Bioware wanted to be able to yell out at non-SW fans who need their mage fix, “Over here! This is the mage!”
The Sith Sorcerer wields a single-bladed lightsaber and makes use of force lightning and force drain attacks. Sorcerers can fill a ranged DPS role with their lightning abilities or the healer role with their drain abilities. Oddly enough, this leaves the Sith Empire with only one healer option, while the Galactic Republic has two in the Jedi Wizard and the Scoundrel.
The saberstaff wielding Sith Assassin will allow players to live out their Darth Maul fantasy as a cloth-wearing melee DPS character, who, like the Jedi Shadow, can also utilize Stealth. Oh, and, yes, you can make a Zabrak Sith Inquisitor. Woot!
What are your thoughts on all the Star Wars: The Old Republic goodies to come out of Gamescom? Do you have a favorite Advanced Class locked down yet? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Excellent review. I am also looking forward to the imperial agent. I have yet to determine wether it will be operative or sniper...
I think the game has a lot to work, the only class combat that i apreciatted was the jedi... the others were just standing there shotting with no auto-attack..
I think the showing at GamesCom could have been a bit shinier on their part, last years Captain flashpoint was met with much more cheering than this years showing of low level content only.
Still, a lot of interesting things were said and shown, maybe not so much through the footage which we had already seen a bit of, but through interviews and impressions.
Most people I spoke with (both on the personal level and the forums) seem cautiously optimistic about the game, while disappointed with the lenghty queueus and the short amount of playing time.
The footage looks decent for low levels imo, even though there are a lot of problems that still need fixing:
*The AI of the mobs actually does things like taking cover and running to the next room to hide, but this seems to come with a lot of pathing issues and it doesn't always work.
*Walking animations in particular, as well as 'idle' or 'in-combat' animations still need a lot of work, luckily James Ohlen (lead designer) did confirm that they were working on that intensively and we'd be seeing steady improvements over the following months.
*The presentation also needs a bit more work in some areas, like introducing more monster types with varied abilities.
*Difficulty will need to be reviewed after testing, only a complete newbie to the genre (and some players in the videos evidently were just that) could actually die in that demo.
Still, there are things that hold great promise; the resource system for the trooper looks interesting, cover looks good yet a bit clunky still, the AI shows promise when the issues are fixed and the quests seem to be interesting, as well as the voice overs.
I think no auto attack is one of the best things about this combat.. Perhaps with no autoattack that means you will have to be less lazy while you play the game?
"Jedi Wizard?" Seriously? I think that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
People have to remember, Bioware is writing this game for the Wow crowd. It is by a large margin the biggest pool of MMO players out there, hence Bioware is thinking big. Personally, I think it will have a chance to challenge Wow. Wow is getting a bit long in the tooth and if anyone can do it, it is Bioware, especially with the Star Wars IP. Would not be surprised to see Wow numbers go down after this game is released.
I also think a lot of people on this site won't like it. There is nothing innovative or different in this game, just more of the same. Bioware has been very careful to not do anything that will challenge players, their emphasis is on fun factor. My only concern with the game is what is there end game going to be? Guess we need to wait to find out.
Seriosly... "Jedi Wizard"? I can perhaps accept Sith Sorcerer, it could be worse... But "Jedi Wizard"? It's lika adding a class named "Ninja wizard" or something like that. Honestly. -_-
Other than that, it sounds good. Though I admit that the Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior seem a bit too much like mirror classes for my taste... ^^
Sounds fun and exciting...mainly b/c im an ultra star wars nerd! Can't wait to play most, if not all, of those classes.
That only works if you have varied things available to do at all times during combat. If you are stuck firing off a basic attack for periods while waiting for other things to recharge (you know, what an auto-attack generally is), then all it is is making the player push the same button over and over and touting it as "active combat."
Auto-attack was actually a QoL feature where devs made life easier on a player waiting with nothing to do while waiting for their powers to recharge. Removing auto-attack is only a combat improvement if you also remove that boring "cooldown gap." Otherwise, it's a step backwards, not forwards.
You can't use Sith Lord as a class because "Lord" is a title; not a class. Sorcerer is fine but, yes, Wizard sounds stupid. Yet, I can't think of anything better than Wizard other than "Sage" but that sounds weird, too.
Hmm, well I didn't notice having to wait that long for a cooldown. Seemed like I always had something available. But w/e I think they will do what is best for the game, and what is best is not always what you or I think is best.
Ah, such blind faith.
The overall health of the game is not my concern. That is for the beancounters. All I care about is my personal enjoyment, and I'm not doing another STO "push one button constantly" game. My keyboard can't take it.
IM trying to keep my glass 1/2 full for this game. So nothing really new here but more + than -
How do we not know they plan to add an auto attack? Maybe one is not needed to play the game. It could be more of strategic combat style. They will have people testing this game and if they get enough complaints and feel that one is needed to effectively play this game, I am sure they will probably add it... I don't have blind faith. I plan to buy this game and if auto attack is in or not and if it really has a negative impact on my gameplay experience they will find out because they will not have my sub for very long.
I preordered ff14 and don't even think I'll enjoy it. Just something to kill some time with inbetween games, and my friends are going to play it for some time. So , I really don't have any faith in any company.
If Cataclysm wasnt on the horizon you would probably be right, although im a bit dubious about how much this game would appeal to the average WoW player, it is unfortunately, not a fantasy game but a Sci-fi one.. though lately reviews of TOR have been more along the lines of WoW with lightsabres, im still not convinced that this is necessarily a good thing. If Cataclysm tanks badly, then maybe.. just maybe.. TOR will draw some away, though if it does well, they might not even notice that TOR gets released....
Sorcerer seems fine to me, it doesn't make the bile rise in my throat. But almost anything would be better than "Jedi wizard." I liked your idea for "sage." Maybe "seer" would work too? (Jedi can see the future after all.)
I think you guys are missing the point of what he's saying.
It's not so much about whether there is, or isn't auto attack, it's the pace of combat. He's saying he doesn't want to stand there waiting to press his 1 button attack skill, and I don't blame him. Having autoattack (or not) isn't really the issue, it's keeping the pace of combat going, and keeping it interesting. If you opt to remove autoattack, then that's fine, but the speed of combat should be sped up accordingly, and there should be more variety to start with than just 1 or 2 attack skills.
Jedi Knight is a "title" and not a class either. That didn't stop Bioware. Also, I mentioned Sith Lord specifically because almost all of the Jedi classes/subclasses were directly lifted from KOTOR II, including: Sith Marauder, Sith Assassin, Jedi Sentinel, Jedi Guardian, Jedi Consular, and dun-da-dun, Sith Lord appears to be missing, replaced by "Sith Sorcerer".
Ideally, I'd have liked to see the Jedi/Sith class names break down like this:
Jedi (instead of Jedi Knight)
Sith (just Sith)
Personally I want my Jedi Ringmaster so I can start mu Cirque du Systeme Solaire and make a fortune!
That is a good point, a good combat system will help, i think this is something that AoC did pretty well, and given that so many of the classes have lightsabres, it wouldnt be a bad thing to have directional attacks etc...so while there might only be a couple of 'special' attacks, making 'normal' attacks more 'tactical' would make things more interesting than just some kind of random circle strafing..
I prefer sith lord, over sith sorcerer.
I feel compelled to play the scoundrel. Stealth healer? Yes please.
wizard and sorcerer do seem to be out of place, definitely not iconic, or 'starwarsy' or whatever you call it, i can't see them keeping those names, tbh, i would have thought they could have come up with something more in keeping with the genre, even if sith lord etc, was not something they wanted to use.
Sith Lord and Jedi Master would've been good as advanced class names, or Jedi Magister. Sith sorcerer is a fitting name also according to the SW lore, but I hope they end up using another name instead of Jedi Wizard.
Also, Jedi Shadow is a peculair combination: it makes me think of some kind of Jedi covert operative, or someone standing on the line between Dark Side and Light Side of the Force.
Only way to speed up the basic combat would be to make every kill 1 to 2 shot instead of 2-4 shot that it is now, especially considering how quickly every class seem to dispose of their enemies.
Also, few low level abilities hardly tells us how complex the combat can be at higher levels - we know each specialization (at level 10?) already has it's own compliment of skills. Most MMORPGs and even standard RPGs consider the first 10% of levels (say 1-10) almost as a turorial to your class, so this is why it is almost customary to only have few skills, but increasing in number as you get past the earliest levels.
It is pointless to try and judge the combat based on few lowbie abilities. Go try almost any RPG and tell me how complex their first 1-5 levels were.
Sith sorcerer is actually something you encounter a number of times in the Star Wars universe, see here.
So that one makes sense and is fitting in a way. Jedi wizard is something you don't encounter much in SW lore.
I was also thinking that Jedi Seer would have been better. Wizard just does not sound right.
Jedi Wizard needs to go imo; luckily these things can still change as noted in the fan friday.
90% of voters in a 1500 people poll on the official forums disliked Wizard, so I hope they really reconsider that name.
It just doesn't remind you of Star Wars, and the silly LFG speeches that will come out of this... I can miss them...
Sorceror is fine on the other hand, Sith Sorcery has been established in the Star Wars lore for a long time.
There is no auto-attack and it seems from a very nice write-up from raul on the main site that combat is not like STO at all. He had 45 minutes to play and reached 2 bars below level 4 in his play time. It is a good read with a lot of follow up through the post. But here is the first quote about combat from him:
Gameplay wise the first thing that really surprised me was that combat felt very smooth and right/nice. You don't really notice it until you get to play but it's smooth, you're always busy fighting and not just standing still waiting on or casting skills, even with the 3 abilities I had. I think a large part of this is due to the fact several abilities can be fired while moving. Out of my three combat abilities (blaster pistol burst, wrist rocket, flamethrower) two could be used while moving. So you'd generally run towards a group, shoot your wrist rocket knocking them back and off their feet, while still running towards them you'd be spraying them with blaster fire, then when you're close cover them in fire with your flamethrower. At the same time the AI runs for cover, like they might run back into the building and hide in there, hide behind cover, or just get some more range on you. You're also always fighting multiple enemies at once which does seem to make a lot of difference in gameplay, you're targeting the middle ones for AOE, feel outnumbered, etc.
In short, Combat felt very dynamic and fluent.
So even at level 3 with 3 skills to use it sounds a lot better than STO. Ofc most games are better than STO ground combat, but that is another story.
Edit: The STO remark was for Sebral, I was thinking of that post as well when I quoted this.
Link to the poll please? :)
Yeah, I think Sith sorcerer fits. It seems to fit with the lore to me.
Nah, I wait until they add Jedi Troubadour, so I can sing the Sith to death.
SWTOR at this moment is the SWTOR KILLER
I've been getting that vibe alot, the more I hear about it, the less I'm looking forward to it. Also, Jedi Wizard? Are you kidding me? That really damn weak. I really hope thats a place holder.
Which AC names would you like changed?
Well it's 89.15%... but anyhow.
Jedi Wizard has to go, and i think sith scorcerer is kinda dumb to. The devs would be better off just making up a cool word that has no real meaning outside of star wars, tell us what it means, and go with that. It is better to be original with the name of the class even if the class functionality is not that original.
WoW numbers go down with almost every new MMO that promises to replace it, but then they go back up when expectations fail to be met and those same players go back to WoW. I loved WoW, until they took the challenge of leveling away because players started seeing "grinding" as a tedious necessity to get to end game. If SWTOR is not challenging, it will suck. In almost all things, the journey is way more exciting then the prize at the end. I can't stand questions about end game and raiding. I want to love every level, and feel like I actually earned the next one. Raiding is the worst thing about WoW.
Cataclysm will not tank, it is brilliant. Two new starting areas, two new races, and an event that will change the whole face of Azeroth and allow flying mounts in virtually all areas...this will please the masses. As far as end game, a balance of PVP/PVE is likely, I mean what else is there? Oh yeah, Bioware said that every class will have it's own unique storyline, meaning there will plenty more to experience, as long as you don't just try to bust out a max level healer or tank so you can fill whatever role is needed.
Oh, I hope they don't make the second mistake Blizzard made by giving xp in the BG's and seperating the twinks. I know a lot won't share that opinion, but Blizzard could have had me as a life long paying customer if I could have kept owning fools in the 39 bg's.
Bioware, PVP at level one like WAR please, but no, you do not have to give me levels for that, it should be something to do on the side. blah blah blah my stupid opinions are getting too stale to keep typing.
The only real problem I have with using titles straight out of lore (like Knight or Master) is that the classes so far desribed do not fit with those titles. Not all Masters (like you suggest using) acted like the Consular class and not all Sith Lords had tons of lightning abilities like the Inquistors do.
Yes, Knight should probably be changed, too, but Sorcerers are already well establised in lore like others have mentioned on here.
If BW was to change any of the advanced class titles, though, it has to be Wizard. Its just flat out a mistake.
I don't like the fact they announced that Flashpoints will be repeatable.
I really do not like how restrictive the classes are in terms of weapons, I was wanting to play a wookie trooper and use a vibroblade like the soldier class in the first kotor. The oh you have to dual weild if your this, single sword weild here, blade staff hear kinda just irks me. I wanted my characters to be mine not cookie cuter here this weapon is for x class thing. Which in my mind had ruined mmo's across the board since you can end up spending days killing things and get just 1 weapon or item that is for you.
Also Wizard and Sorcorer kinda work. Wizard means simply wise one, while Sorcorers are associated with people who weild dark powers to control others and rule without mercy. Yes you can call it a tack on but some study of the words used outside of gameing context will help understand the logic.
You know the first thing I thought of when I heard that?
DAOC Albion Minstrel! (stealth, melee, heals)
I dont know about the game as I am remaining cautious, but some of the classes look like great fun
I've always been a sucker for dual wielding classes; I'll be trying the Jedi Sentinel and the Sith Maurader first. The Mercenary sounds kinda fun as does the Gunslinger. As for the general "will it be good" question, I have no reason to doubt Bioware making a Star Wars game (of any sort), they've proven they're masters with this IP as long as there's a great story arc and more to follow, the game's mechanics are really secondary. I'm eagerly awaiting this game!
i drive a camry, im not looking for the super duper amazing "next gen" mmo im looking for next years camry, strong, reliable and consistant. if bioware gives us that, i ll be fine. the problem i find is people want someone to reinvent the wheel, it rolls, it works don't try to fix what isnt broken.
The only thing about this game that worries me is the fact that they keep saying the Jedi DPS characters will dual wield. Call me picky but I cringe at the thought of holding two sabers, it doesn't feel right. What if I prefer to DPS with one saber? Does that automatically make me less useful than the players who prefer to have two? Correct me if I'm wrong but I have yet to see anything about single saber DPS as an advanced class. This worries me deeply but other than that I like what I'm hearing.
So they are not writing it for the KOTOR crowd which is as big as the Warcraft fanbase was when WoW was released?
Interesting idea, piss off your fanbase (who are just as numerous as Warcraft fans) to steal Warcraft fans away from WoW. Anyone see a problem with this idea?
Ever thought OZMODAN could be wrong?
This whole Killing WoW thing doesnt have to happen for this game or any game really to be successful.
If they can draw a new audience in to THIS MMO, thats all they have to do.
It may be a numbers game but the fanbase of WoW arent the only potential paying customers.
Im no fan of the idea of a company going away form its fanbase to market to a different crowd( which i dont think they are doing here although you can never be sure till played bioware has shown they are good for just that)
but the biggest problem is that you think that the kotor current fanbase is anywere near as large as the wow fanbase
The words sorcerers and wizards ARE used random times through out many diffrent star wars medias... so they must have came from somewhere...so whats wrong with a few thousand years earlier then, a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.... i see nothing wrong with a few rarely used(BUT STILL USED) words having more meaning in a early time of the star wars universe.... let them be creative or we will just keep getting the same'ol...
"Yes, Ben Kenobi was referred to as an “old wizard” by Owen Lars in Episode IV, but that is pretty obscure and there are plenty of other possible names that could have been used here. This just seems like a lazy attempt to attach a familiar fantasy class name to one of SW:TOR’s “mage” classes."
Well, we could let you off the hook here, but I don't think we should.
So, there are "plenty of other possible names" that could have been used instead of wizard. You failed to name ONE in your article. That's pretty poor.
I'm sure there are but you failing to name them on the one hand, then saying their are "plenty" then calling them "lazy" makes it look like you are lazier even than THEY were.
I didn't read through all the posts yet, so if you got "unlazy" and named some (author) ; disregard. (see what I did there? I was lazy too.. it's catching!)
Nice article. Thanks for all the info. I don't really mind the jedi wizard title, though I can see why some find it a bit dorky lol. I think I'd prefer something like "Jedi Mystic" ^_^. That aside, a lot of the options for characters sound fun.
I've just started reading Star Wars novels and I have encountered the term sorcerer several times when discussing sith. Haven't seen the word wizard connected to anyone yet.
Obiwan is referred to as a wizard in Episode 4
I hope your right!
I was probably blacklisted by the Dev Sean or whatever his name is, that guys a total douche. I won't be getting in the beta.
Jedi Guardian
Jedi Consular
Jedi Sentinel
Sith Marauder
Sith Lord
Sith Assassin
It's not hard to use names that belong in that era.
This ain't your parents SW universe and I don't think it matter what they call them just so long as they are fun to play. It can be called the Sith Fairie or Jedi Fanboy for all I care just make it fun to play. Hell how about Snooki the Wookie?
After they killed SWG several times over I'm just hoping this game brings fun back into the SW universe.
Nice review. I don't mind the "wizard" advanced class label. Powers of the force do seem magical to me.
Ever occur to anyone, that since this game is targeted at the Wow crowd, they would use descriptions that use fantasy based names for their classes? Wizard, Sorcerer? Not normal star wars names, so quite evident they want the Wow crowd to notice and be comfortable with the classes.
ITT: People still hung up on labels.
The original MMO model wasn't broken but Blizzard decided to go ahead and break it anyway. Didn't do them much harm but did do a great deal of harm to the genre as almost every game that came after it was a poor attempt at a clone. The genre needs to be broken again if that's the right word because currently it's just got boring.
Yep, I just want a fun MMO to play, I don't care if it is next gen either. As long as it is fun, and have a strong community. I don't care about if this will be the number one game or the biggest hit of 2011-2012... that's when games fail, when people over hype them too much and say "this game is gonna be innovating, just look at the graphics and animations" then people expect the game to deliver and they don't. Aoc, and WAR come to mind, but I like both those games anyhow. They just didn't live up to their "hype".
Auto attack doesnt require you to do anything at all. Not a single click or button press, hence the "auto" part of it. So really, even with auto attacks you are still just waiting for cooldowns so you can press your button again. So are you really just asking for some kind of animation between button clicks? Just ask them to let you twirl between attacks if you really think that a global cooldown of 1sec is just far too long for your ADD to handle.
How did blizzard break the mmo model? Do you remember when it first launched even? You can not look at WoW nowadays and compare it to launch, because about 80% of today's features were improvements they felt were needed to maintain their population and increase it, between vanilla and Wrath.
Some people complain that wow is too easy, but a vast majority of the mmo population prefers the way WoW operates and its difficulty. Keep in mind that they say only about 10% of the mmo population actually post on forums and sites, so really, we are the minority here.
I just want a game with as many features as WoW but with a different IP, and Star Wars could be that game. The only thing that could be better would be a Wheel of Time MMO.
How do you figure this game is targeted at the WoW crowd? BioWare already said who their demographic was, and it wasn't the WoW crowd.
I did state in an earlier reply that there are "plenty" but really, the most obvious one is "Jedi Master" for this particular Advanced Class. And, yes, I know that Master is a title, but they have a precedent in their games, including this one, for using Jedi rank titles as class names. KOTOR 2 used the Jedi Master and Sith Lord to describe the Jedi Consular's light/dark specialization classes focused on force-use.
For SWTOR itself, the melee Jedi class is called the Jedi Knight. All three of these are silly if you're a lore-nut like myself, but they are far more preferable to Jedi Wizard or Sith Sorcerer, IMO.
Well, the game has been so long in development, I wonder if it is ever going to be released.
Classes-preconcieved and limited to what you can or can't do? I wish you would have started out as a "nobody" and been able to progress your character to whatever you wanted it to be. I hate a linear progression of a character into a preconvieved class by the developer.
the classes are completely retarded. they should of just combined all the jedi/sith classes into just a Jedi and a Sith. then from there you could either work through the expansive quest system to unlock your potential as a Jedi Sentinel, Guardian, Counseler, or the Sith Lord, Maurader, whatever the hell.
or they could have made it you are a jedi/sith and you can spec in a certain alt class system to gain powers of whatever strikes your fancy. in star wars the sith lords had the power of all these classes. Sidious was an amazing duelest and a beast with the darkside force powers. Vader could of learned force lightning but his dumbass had to get all mangled and robotic.
the strict seperation of these powerful bits of star wars history is a slap in the face. bounty hunters are gonna rape the shit out of jedi
I agree completely. Bioware is literally dumbing down Star Wars, they want it to be more like that HORRIBLE Clone Wars movie. I want my 9 bucks back.Give it a rest, they aren't appealing to the WoW crowd because of a few advanced class names. That's pretty super thin evidence that they are.
Why aren't they appealing to the WoW crowd? Mainly because the WoW crowd hates knowing why they're doing a quest, they just want to do it. They farm instances for the phat lewts, not for the story that sent them there. The WoW crowd are going to say "boring!" and skip past the cutscenes and storyline bits. The major selling point for this game is the storyline, something the WoW crowd generally finds unnecessary in their games.
Well said, Xondar. :)
I think SWTOR is going to be great and one of the big reasons for my optimism is that it's NOT like WoW.
"Jedi Wizard hits you with Fireball for 9,000 damage."
Since there seems to be a lot of hate and confusion surrounding some of these names, I'll provide a quick over-view (with links!) to show that most of the Jedi fit nicely into the lore.
Jedi Knight - While technically a "title," the Jedi as a whole were referred to as the Jedi Knights and traditionally this is the term used to describe/identify Jedi in battle, so it fits.
Jedi Guardian - "Battle Jedi" who are superior in combat. Sometimes wore armor. Perfect.
Jedi Sentinel - Generally seen as a mix between a Guardian and a Consular, they are second in combat only to the Guardians, but have a keener view of things. The two-lightsaber thing comes from their established Sentinel model - Bastilla Shan. Admittedly, she used a double-bladed saber, but the connection is still obvious.
Jedi Consular - Also known as Jedi Seers (more later), they focus on mastery of the Force above all else, and do not hone their combat expertise as much as Guardians.
Jedi Shadow - Traditionally these were specialized Sentinels. However, after the Great Sith War, Consulars filled this role in leu of Sentinels.
And, finally, we have...
Jedi Wizard - Admittedly, I agree that this one is lacking. While I can see a basis in the lore for why they would use this term, there are a few options that work better, most noteable Jedi Seer or Sage Master (the title of a Master Consular). As a side-note, traditionally it was the Sith who had titles such as Magician, Witch, or Sorcerer - so using Wizard for a Jedi seems strange.
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As far as the Sith go, I'll only point out one thing that seems to be drawing some heat.
Sith Sorcerer - As I noted above, Sith traditionally had titles such as Sorceror, Magician, and Witch. Instead of referring to their focus as "the Force" they often referred to "Sith Magic." This name fits very well in the lore, and I would be very sad to see them change it.
Don't I have Jedi Paladin aura to mitigate that? :)
While I except the argument about Sith Sorceror and lore you can hardly expect this to be seen as anything other than appealing to WoW and its clones. They should be celebrating the strengths of the SW IP, not creating class names to fit players preconceived ideas.
1. Jedi Seer
2. Jedi Master (title)
3. Sage Master
only three I see even though there are "plenty", lol. And[u] two of those came from a reader[/u], not the author.
I guess he really couldn't think of "plenty", but it's easier to call the Bioware people "lazy" because he doesn't like the name. Still haven't seen anything by the author that the novels can corroborate with "plenty".
Shame.
"" “Europe’s E3,” Gamescom, rolled around. In fact, all of us here at MMORPG.com remained behind this year ""
Surprising considering Gamescom is a much larger event in comparison to E3
I dont know but for some reason graphics look so cheap for 2011 mmo.
I m not inderested playing it under these awful graphics.
Magi / Magus ?
Sorcerer makes sense with the lore, wizard does not. Get rid of Jedi Wizard ASAP.
OMG... 5 words, giddy as a school girl
No healing classes?
It just appears to be healing 'specs'. This is a good thing since there won't be as much pigeon-holing going on in this game.
I am not sure what the hang-up is on the labels. It is a cosmetic feature that will be meaningless 5 minutes after you pick your AC. I guess with all the time between now and launch people have to pick something to focus on.
Can you make a Zabrak Sith Marauder??