IGN wasn't kidding when they said they would be taking questions from the community straight to the folks at BioWare, and the results are in. The resulting Q&A numbers 4 pages in length, and contains an assortment of new information and hints. Fielding the questions are senior content producer Dallas Dickinson from BioWare Austin, and Jake Neri, producer at LucasArts.
Some stand-outs below:
On healing:
IGN: A lot of people wanted to know about the healing system. Will The Old Republic use a trinity system; the tank, healer, and the DPS class. Will the healer play a massive role, or will groups be able to go with no healing?
Dallas Dickinson: We want to make sure that we have many, many MMO roles filled there, but it's really important to us that players are able to actually play their experience either as a group or as a solo. So there are a number of ways that healing comes into the game. Several of our classes have healing branches that they can follow that will have some specific healing powers, but we don't want to make it a requirement for the base core game. That said, you're obviously going to be better off, especially when you get into higher-level stuff and into PvP, if you have healers on your side.
Jake Neri: I think we have a unique sort of twist on how healing works. I don't think we're speaking in total detail about it, but I think the people will be excited for it, and it's definitely a unique function of our game.
On space, and customization:
IGN: This is from Mitchell in Texas. I would like to know if you guys are implementing space combat. There are a lot of people asking about space combat, and what type of combat will it be? Will there be dogfights, capital ships? And he says I want to feel like a Star Wars adventurer in the fray, not just another Boba Fett lookalike. Do you guys plan on allowing the player to customize their weapon, armor, and body features with a lot of variety.
Dallas Dickinson: The first one is that we're not talking about space combat yet. The second one is absolutely. We know that customization is a key to MMOs. It's one of the things that players strive for. It's one of the things that makes your gameplay experience unique. Throughout your characters life you're going to be able to find upgrades, you're going to be able to find some custom equipment, so that you will look different, you will feel different. People will be able to identify you by your achievements because they'll say, "Holy cow, you have that helmet. You must have completed this part of the game!" And it'll be a badge of honor.
Some other things covered include the issue of balance between force-wielding and non-force wielding classes, the possibility of player bounties, and more. But mostly, the answers were relatively thin on questions not involving what appears to be the focus for The Old Republic's marketing at the moment: the story.
For the full Q&A, head on over to IGN.
