SWTOR: A Bounty Hunter on the prowl

Because getting ready to go on a vacation and preparing for Neverwinter’s soft launch tomorrow isn’t enough to keep me busy, I loaded back up SWTOR to check out the game’s changes since 2.0 went live.  I thumbed through the few characters that I’d created during the subscription era and found a fresh new Bounty Hunter with an unlocked race and expanded inventory to enjoy.  Sounds good to me.  Guess I’ll try my hand at a tank.

It’s not been terrible returning.  The combat isn’t as free-flowing as what I’m used to in GW2, but it’s satisfying and scratches the ranged combat itch in me.  I particularly like the addition of achievements, a few of which are tied to tangible rewards (such as cartel coins).  It does seem like there aren’t as many rewards tied in with these as I’d prefer, but it’s nice to have secondary goals while puttering around on a planet.

So I’m getting used to Ghostfire, a Bounty Hunter who loves to indulge in dark side choices while being sugary and sweet to those she likes.  Going through Hutta is a huge nostalgia trip as I feel all of my long-term memories being downloaded back into short-term for quick recall.  Oh, there’s where that datacron is.  I remember this quest.  Those aliens really want to make me kick their butt.  Etc.

I think LOTRO is spoiling me with its remote looting, because clicking on mobs to loot seems so passe now.  Even GW2/TSW allows you to loot nearby corpses with a button press, which is much faster.

I think I’ll be keeping my time with SWTOR pretty casual right now.  I know that XP gains dip for F2Pers after level 10, which does a number on my enthusiasm for gaming, but we’ll see how bad it is.  I saw that joining a guild gives you a 5% XP gain boost, and perhaps running the three flashpoints per week can supplement things to keep me up to par.

Maybe one day I’ll see the expansion content, even.  I’ve heard good things.  But for now I’m just trudging through the industrial muck of Hutta and dreaming about one day finding a Jawa sidekick to love.

Picture of the Day

Maybe you all know about this, but I did a double-take in Walmart today when I saw SWTOR LEGO kits.  I guess there are three of them.  And they came out a year ago.  Passed me by, I guess.  Just was a surreal little moment to see the MMO being given shelf merchandise.

Rise of the Hutt Cartel Market

I uninstalled Star Wars: The Old Republic a couple of weeks ago, mostly because I couldn’t settle on a character to play, had little time to plow through the entire story again, was more than a little rankled at the free-to-play setup, and generally felt like there were more interesting prospects elsewhere.  But I don’t bear the game any ill-will, nor am I going to say anything so rash as “I’ll never go back there again.”

So I’m not without some interest in the news of the upcoming expansion, titled Rise of the Hutt Cartel.  Yes, it’s a little unfortunate for BioWare to use a word in that title that instantly makes the players think of the cash shop, but what are you going to do.

I don’t have a lot of time right now, so here are a few off-the-cuff thoughts on this:

• Bully for the studio in getting out an expansion.  SWTOR has not had the easiest of years, and players really needed a reason to have or regain confidence in the product.  Expansions are a good way to project, “Hey, this game has a future!” whether or not it’s true.
• It really does feel like more of a chunk of DLC or a content update than an expansion, especially with a features list that includes: (1) a new planet, (2) a five-level bump in the cap along with more storyline content, and (3) “more information coming soon.”  If there is more to the expansion than that, it really would’ve been in the best interest of the studio to put that on the announcement page.  They couldn’t have brainstormed a couple more talking points?
• Another thing I’ve been seeing is that the additional planet isn’t exactly new news at this point, making me wonder if Makeb was originally intended to just be part of a monthly update, but now that F2P has hit, it had the potential to make a few bucks.
• On the upside, it’s not a traditionally priced expansion, costing either $10 for subscribers or $20 for everyone else.
• Finally, I really like that the studio is finally doing something to give a lot of players what they’ve been asking for: the next part of their character’s personal storyline (unless I grossly misinterpreted what’s being offered here).  BioWare’s been mucking about far too long with endgame features to cater to the raiders and PvPers while ignoring what I see as the core audience of the game, the levelers.

Star Wars and the uncanny valley

I think The Secret World has spoiled me in ways I haven’t fully realized yet.  Ever since going back to SWTOR, I’ve had a lot of difficulty getting into the stories and quests the way I could last year, but didn’t put a finger on it until recently.  I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that while it was pretty good for what it was, TSW showed me how it could be a lot, lot better.

Here’s a quick and dirty list of what’s holding me back from reveling in SWTOR’s strongest suit.

Problem #1: Stupid facial hair and morbid obesity

I cannot stand cutscenes where the other person has one of the ridiculous cartoony moustaches or beards or mutton chops.  Just about all of them are butt-ugly, looking more like someone glued a slug to their face instead of giving any semblance of “hair.”

And the male morbidly obese model is incredibly distracting, because I simply cannot buy how this character is a soldier or mercenary or anything other than a Walmart shopper who needs an electric cart to scoot down the aisles on.  I mean, props to BioWare for acknowledging other body types, but there are stops along the way from “well built” to “Jabba the Hutt.”

Problem #2: There are far too many NPCs

This is why I think TSW does so well: It keeps its cast list to a manageable number, akin to what you’d find in a book or movie.  Over the course of several quests and investigations, we get to know these characters, and there’s always the chance we’ll be coming back to them when missions are added in the future.  I can probably tell you several aspects of each NPC questgiver in the game off the top of my head… and I really can’t do that for most of SWTOR.

SWTOR had a lot of voice acting and actors involved, but that’s the problem: There are way too many.  It’s a problem that many MMOs have, the disposable NPC who means little because they’re one among a legion and you won’t be speaking to them tomorrow.  They don’t have a chance to make an impression and you already know they won’t matter.  When you tack on expensive voice acting, it turns that disposability into a tragedy.  Sure, some of the story characters and companions are more fleshed out, but BioWare had to stick to the traditional MMO model of an enormous supporting cast.

It makes me wonder what if… what if the cast was far more limited, such as what we see in a standard Star Wars movie?  What if there was nothing else than the personal storylines and a much stronger emphasis on your interactions with a few NPCs and your companions?  I think I would’ve liked that a lot more.

Problem #3: The uncanny valley

This last problem wasn’t something I really acknowledged until recently, and again, only when compared to TSW.  I won’t argue that TSW’s characters are sometimes off-putting to behold, but the excellent writing, voice acting, and — this is important — facial and body gestures combine to form a believable personality.  I get as much from a shrug or a happy dance as I do from a line of heavy-handed exposition.

So going back to SWTOR feels like stepping way backwards.  These characters don’t really emote.  Sure, they have good voice acting, but their faces don’t really show emotion or match up to what’s being said.  “Angry” and “orgasmic” are basically the same expression.  And gestures?  Since BioWare apparently used some program to cinematically splice together cutscenes instead of doing them by hand, you’re going to see the same gestures over and over again — gestures that don’t have much to do with anything being said.  Just Theater 101 stuff.

Is it the uncanny valley?  I’m starting to think so.  They look like people, they talk like people, but they do so through Leatherface masks.

I’m wondering if all this combines to a subconscious unease, as if my brain can’t quite make that final step to accepting these characters as believable fiction.  The pieces are in place but something’s getting in the way.

Poll: Where do you stand on SWTOR’s F2P switch?

The Christmas of Too Much

I’ve noticed something interesting about my toddlers come Christmas time.  At least at their age, more presents isn’t necessarily better.  They only have the attention span for the more recently opened gift, not to mention that the excitement level tends to take a nose dive after gift three or four.  So this year we’ve decided to focus on one big gift for each of them with a couple smaller ones to give them later.  That way they can just devote all their attention to one present and enjoy that to its fullest instead of pushing it aside for the next thing.

I feel like I’m in the midst of a “Too Much Christmas” this year.  I’m not complaining, but dang if all of the launches, expansions, patches, conversions, and special events are keeping me hopping.  I’m actually looking forward to December this year more for its quiet than anything else.  I need time to enjoy the gifts I’ve opened, briefly sampled, and then had to temporarily set aside for the next one.

This week offers three big presents for me, one right after the other.  Tomorrow is RIFT: Storm Legion’s launch day, which is probably my most anticipated expansion release this year.  It’s got so much to do that even if RIFT was my only MMO, I would have my hands full with it way into 2013.  Our guild is growing every day as returning players hop back on and fill the chat window up with excited conversations.  Personally, I think that the player housing that’s coming with this expansion will be its break-through feature.  It’s certainly one of the most robust systems we’ve seen in a modern MMO, and I’ve heard more than a few people whisper that it might exceed EQII’s system — if not this week, then some day.

The next present is SWTOR’s F2P transition, which I believe is this Thursday.  That works out well for me, since my one month subscription is almost up and I can just downshift into F2P.  If you’ve been thinking about going back and are anticipating getting some of the new store currency that BioWare’s promised, it’s important to note that you’re not getting Cartel Coin one unless you’re subscribed at the point of F2P launch (or so I understand from BioWare’s latest post).  It seems like this detail could be overlooked by many and has the potential to sour many returning players’ attitudes, so FYI:

“We are literally granting millions of dollars worth of Complimentary Cartel Coins as part of this program. But you’ll only receive a grant of Complimentary Cartel Coins if you’re an active subscriber when the Free-to-Play option goes live!”

I’ve seen a few players on the forums remark that BioWare hasn’t made this condition as prominent as it should be, and I agree.

Finally, Guild Wars 2 is releasing its second content update, Lost Shores.  I’m not as excited about this, mostly because I haven’t heard much that interests me.  New enemy, new area, some pvp stuff… okay.  It could be great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not pushing my happy buttons (which are located between my third and fourth dorsal fins).  I’ll keep an open mind, though!

Beyond this, I’m most excited for TSW’s next update, because chainsaws.  I need a chainsaw in my life.  And I need to put in a couple of hefty sessions to finish out Egypt.

Five quick thoughts on SWTOR’s recent State of the Game

As SWTOR picks up momentum for its free-to-play conversion, we’ve been treated to a new state of the game post by Executive Producer Jeff Hickman.  You can read it here if you haven’t already.  As my time this week is limited, here are just four quick thoughts about it off the top of my head:

1. Introducing yourself with a picture of your tattoos is not as cool as you think it is.

If you’re going to show a picture of you, including your face would be nice.  The whole tattoo-resume thing ranges from laughable to been-there-done-that.

2. Jeff Hickman?  When did this happen?

Actually it happened well over a year ago, and I should know since I wrote the story on it.  But I guess I forgot, and from comments I’ve read, it seems like a lot of people forgot that WAR’s old head honcho is now in a key position on SWTOR.  At least it makes for easy snide comments for those looking to do so.

3. BioWare’s really sticking to the “subscriptions made people leave in droves” line — and I don’t fully buy that.

Of course, I don’t have access to any of BioWare’s feedback or research, but this seems to be an awfully convenient statement to be flinging about.  Convenient in that it places the blame for subscriber loss on the business model and not the product or ongoing service.  I still think that sub-only games can succeed and thrive if done right and if they offer a superior service, and if saddling the game with subscriptions was going to tank it, then BioWare either had to be completely oblivious to any pre-launch feedback and research or EA strongarmed them into it.  Again, I don’t think that’s the case.

What I believe is that SWTOR is a solid MMO with plenty of strengths and plenty of flaws, but at the end of the day it couldn’t justify its subscription fee with a superior product or a superior service.  Hickman kind of hints at stumbling in the service department with slow updates, but the rest is BioWare’s PR spin trying to take the pressure off from players pushing for a quality increase in the product and/or service.

4. Addressing the departing team member situation was surprising and gutsy.  I liked it.

If BioWare is keeping its head in the sand over the whole “subscriptions was our main downfall” line, at least it’s not trying to ignore or obfuscate the fact that the studio’s suffered a lot of personnel losses from the very top on down.  Hickman gets points for at least acknowledging this, as well as making an interesting observation (that some members left because they weren’t fans of the F2P adaptation).  He might lose one or two of those points for trying to spin all of this as a positive thing, but I’m giving him a pass on this because so many other studios wouldn’t even touch this subject in public.  On the whole, MMO companies are loathe to have team member layoffs or departures noticed and reported on, because it just doesn’t look good.  But Hickman addresses it and says the team  is still dedicated and working hard, and that’s actually comforting to hear.

5. The things I wanted to hear, such as the continuation of class storylines and how BioWare is going to handle pushing those stories forward, weren’t mentioned.

But hey!  Oceanic server populations, am I right fellas?

SWTOR: Return of the Jaded

At least for one gamer, BioWare’s efforts to increase SWTOR’s visibility and accessibility via free-to-play is proving a successful lure.  Taking a break from SWTOR earlier this year was a good personal decision: I had taken a character to 50, seen the barren nature of what lay beyond, and had a hard time summoning the enthusiasm to level a new character all over again.  Besides, it was another subscription that threatened to stretch my gaming budget too tightly when I wanted to head back to RIFT and was eying TSW.

But on the eve of F2P, it’s happened.  Perhaps enough time has passed that the fields of my interest in the game are fertile once more.  Perhaps the notion that I won’t have to pay (and I really won’t) sings to me with that tempting siren’s call.  And perhaps I’ve regretted not taking a Republic character to 50.

So I decided to sub for a single month to get a jump on things, as well as to unlock a few character benefits that will persist into F2P (such as extra inventory space).  I dithered about once more with a Consular, but I quickly remembered why I couldn’t bond with the class — not because of the fight mechanics, which are actually interesting, but because the character’s personality and story are borderline comatose.  Thus, I rerolled a Smuggler — a male this time, because darn it, I’m romancing something — and began to live out the Han Solo fantasy.

It’s interesting when you return to an MMO that you played pretty extensively.  Some of it feels wonderfully fresh, while other less desirable memories come crashing down on you.  You remember the more… unsavory elements.  In the few days I’ve had time to dip back into SWTOR, I recalled how I’m not a huge fan of the excessive side quest dialogue (which gives new meaning to the word “inconsequential”) nor of the still-lacking talent trees that just pale in comparison to many other character build options in MMOs.

Yet, there have been a few welcome moments as well.  I do enjoy being able to pick speech options and see how NPCs react.  The main class story is engaging enough, and the scifi setting is a very nice change of pace.  And, at least with the Smuggler, I dig the look and combat.  Unlike the last time I rolled one, I’m not doing a Gunslinger this time around.  Oddly enough, I like the look of a single blaster more than two, and having options to stealth and heal are quite important to me.  And while it’s pretty linear, sometimes that’s relaxing in its own right.

Instead of coming at the game as a near-main MMO, I am definitely enjoying the mental shift to making it a side activity.  A game to “pop in” when I’m in the mood for some Star Wars, but certainly nothing now that’s going to take precedent over, say, Guild Wars 2 or LOTRO.  There’s far less at stake too: If SWTOR wears out its welcome again, then there’s little pressure to keep me there.  I’m there as long as the fun lasts, but not a moment past that.

SWTOR downgrades F2P madness to a calm lunacy

Just a quick follow-up to yesterday’s SWTOR article in the interest of fairness.  BioWare came out with a couple posts regarding some changes and clarification to F2P, and I think they go some ways to making the whole system less antagonistic (although not totally) to free players — particularly those who have put some money in the system.

First of all, we’re up to two quickbars and more warzones per week, and the former there is fine with me.  I can survive on two hotbars in most MMOs (although not EQ2, which requires something on the level of 39 full hotbars per character).  That’s one less thing I’d have to buy.

Then there was a great post clearing up what “preferred status” was (which, again, is all current and former subscribers as well as anyone who buys even one thing through the cash shop.  The big things here for me is that this comes with cargo hold access (another thing I won’t have to purchase), level 1 sprint, two crew skills, and an increased credit limit — among a long list.  Plus, any current characters will be able to retain legacy unlocks, species rolled, inventory and cargo expansions, and artifacts equipped.

This feels a bit better than what we were looking at before.  I’m still not thrilled that some mission rewards and lockboxes won’t be accessible and that there is a slower XP gain rate, but that’s not a dealbreaker.  I think I can finagle a character out of this that will be playable on the side.

It’ll be interesting to see if BioWare makes any other changes to the F2P plan prior to release.

SWTOR shopping

With SWTOR seemingly near to a free-to-play switchover, I’m sure a lot of former or “on haitus” players such as myself are mulling over the question of returning.  SOE’s John Smedley is not the only figure who’s stated that F2P could push SWTOR into a commanding spot in the industry, but I’ll just dither around the wishy-washy middle of general optimism with a side dish of who-the-heck-knows.

One thing everyone is pouring over is the cartel market (the item shop) and related costs.  If you want to go back and stay free or mostly free — kind of like “mostly dead” I suppose — then there has to be an analysis of the F2P restrictions and potential costs for removing the most painful of those.

Dulfy has a good breakdown of the specific restrictions that BioWare didn’t feel like spelling out in its chart the other day.  Some of it is pretty common sense, although there are a few items that just seem… petty.  Like BioWare couldn’t think of other ways to milk us for money, so they’re restricting us to just one quickbar?  Taking away the ability to remove our headgear visually?  Making players pay just to receive rewards  from missions and lockboxes from crew skills?

Dudes, why not just make us hop on on leg until we pay up?  There are sensible business practices and then there’s just giving noogies to get the rest of our lunch money.

Let me reiterate: Part of this is perfectly okay with me.  When it comes to F2P, anything more than “nothing” is a win for the cheapskate player.  We’re getting a lot here, and while some of this is annoying, it’s nothing that can stop you from playing the game from 1 to 50 and enjoying most of it.

Darth Hater has a huge list of what’s on the cartel market on the PTS right now, and while it’s subject to change between now and release, it can’t hurt to peruse and pick out a few of the most important.  For me, if I’m going to play at all, it’s going to be extremely casual and sporadic, so many of the restrictions aren’t a bother to me.  Here are the ones I would pay for, however:

• Authorization: Artifact Equipment (1200 CC): Extremely pricey to be able to equip purples.  You could survive just fine through the PvE story without it, although it would be painful to get purples and not be able to use them.  Plus, dungeon running would be more challenging.  I like purples.
• Unlock Cargo Hold Access (475 CC): I’m not 100% sure about how easy it’ll be to get back to the fleet to access your bank, and having it on your ship is a huge boon (especially with a limited inventory).  Another one that I could live without if I had to, but I’d like to have it.
• Unlock Crew Skill Slot (420 CC): Free players only get one of these, but that’s pretty darn restrictive if you like to do any crafting or even crew gift hunting.  I would really like a second.
• Unlock Additional Quickbar (250 CC): There is NO way I can play this game with just one quickbar and the ability window open all the time.  I would rather have three quickbars, but I can make do with two.

Those four are the bare necessities, and they add up to 2345.  The website informs me that I’ve got 2200 cartel coins coming to me, so I’m a bit short.  I guess I could forgo either the cargo hold or crew skill slot — again, any play this game gets from me is going to be on the light side (not the Light Side), so I’m not going to cry if I can’t craft as much or what have you.  I might consider dropping the cargo hold for bigger inventory (175 CC per 10 slots), although I would need to be vigilant with looting.

Now, it’s important to note that previous subscribers and anyone who gives BioWare money after F2P happens will get the nominal account bump to preferred status.  From what I understand, that includes fewer chat restrictions, cargo hold access (but how much?  Does that take away the 475 CC I was going to spend?), level 1 sprint, and higher login priority.  I’ve heard/read that previously created characters can be grandfathered in, at least race-wise, without having to pay to unlock it, but there are still a lot of little questions regarding the switch from sub to F2P that haven’t been clarified yet.

There are a lot of attractive fluff items in the store, like pets and cosmetic gear, but uncrippling my character takes priority.

Anyway, there’s a lot of discussion going on over whether BioWare’s being too restrictive, overly generous, or Goldilocks just right.  One big factor we don’t know is the exchange rate of real dollars to cartel coins, which will certainly have some say in the whole matter.

Update: BioWare responded to the backlash against some of these decisions and said that it is allowing a second free quickslot bar, 5 warzones a week instead of 3, and a more lenient cartel coin temporary bind timer.