Yes BETA!

I loved Taris, i was there and i just found out what happened to the outcast, and i saw the inside of the endar spire.

My weekend was awesome. I am going to play the last bits now since the play button still works for 2 hours.

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

I found that it's more or less WoW with companions and a story line.

The Laughing Man wrote:

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

Ok, I'll totally agree with you here.. The light/dark choices were... um.. disappointing

Valkus Werdana wrote:

The Laughing Man wrote:

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

Ok, I'll totally agree with you here.. The light/dark choices were... um.. disappointing

So Imma go bad bad Scott?

Scott Chain wrote:

Valkus Werdana wrote:

The Laughing Man wrote:

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

Ok, I'll totally agree with you here.. The light/dark choices were... um.. disappointing

So Imma go bad bad Scott?

If you mean an arrogant, prideful, psychopathic murderer? Then yes a bad bad Scott lol

Valkus Werdana wrote:

Scott Chain wrote:

Valkus Werdana wrote:

The Laughing Man wrote:

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

Ok, I'll totally agree with you here.. The light/dark choices were... um.. disappointing

So Imma go bad bad Scott?

If you mean an arrogant, prideful, psychopathic murderer? Then yes a bad bad Scott lol

Excellent... I expect my laundry to be done by 10 sharp!

Valkus Werdana wrote:

The Laughing Man wrote:

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

Ok, I'll totally agree with you here.. The light/dark choices were... um.. disappointing

Yeah.

I mean...some of the morality choices are REALLY good, but, some of them are really stupid--piss-poor writing from the writing team. Like one mission on Ord Mantell: revolving the refugees and the Republic military.

You get light side points for giving stolen medicine back to the people who stole them (the refugees). And you get dark side points for giving stolen medicine back to the ACTUAL owners (Republic military). (Well, as a Trooper, naturally, I give the medicine to the Republic military). I think BioWare should just completely remove the tier system for morality and stated gear associated with it; they should also add in a neutral choice option (bringing the total up to 3) for players to pick from.

As it stands now, you're basically forced to go pure light or pure dark. It really ruins the storytelling and choice BioWare so heavily emphasized.

The Laughing Man wrote:

Valkus Werdana wrote:

The Laughing Man wrote:

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

Ok, I'll totally agree with you here.. The light/dark choices were... um.. disappointing

Yeah.

I mean...some of the morality choices are REALLY good, but, some of them are really stupid--piss-poor writing from the writing team. Like one mission on Ord Mantell: revolving the refugees and the Republic military.

You get light side points for giving stolen medicine back to the people who stole them (the refugees). And you get dark side points for giving stolen medicine back to the ACTUAL owners (Republic military). (Well, as a Trooper, naturally, I give the medicine to the Republic military). I think BioWare should just completely remove the tier system for morality and stated gear associated with it; they should also add in a neutral choice option (bringing the total up to 3) for players to pick from.

As it stands now, you're basically forced to go pure light or pure dark. It really ruins the storytelling and choice BioWare so heavily emphasized.

From an earlier statement neutral players would get rewarded as well...

TitanT2 wrote:

The Laughing Man wrote:

Valkus Werdana wrote:

The Laughing Man wrote:

My biggest complaint, and probably the biggest complaint of most testers (or so the testing forum makes it out to be), is just how static the worlds are. I mean...in other BioWare games the worlds feel alive and vibrant. SW:TOR doesn't; mostly it feels: dull, lifeless, and quiet. (I'm pretty sure the normal alive and vibrant worlds of other BioWare games was sacfricied because TOR's an MMO (expected to have thousands--if not millions--of players) and not single player. The lag could be brutal.

TOR's planets are the dullest, most lifeless, and quiet planets I've--not only encountered in an MMO, but, in a game PERIOD. (The hallway-like linearity of most planets doesn't help). I mean...there's little to no ambient noise, little to no conversation between NPCs (only hand gestures back and forth), and NPCs don't ever move from the spots they've been placed. Like I said, Balmorra is the planet I've seen with the most "life" in TOR, which shouldn't be the case with metropolitan planets like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa.

Off-topic: I'm also not very fond of the morality system. To get some amazing gear you MUST get a certain alignment level (i.e. dark side 1, light side 1 etc. etc. etc.). The morality system as it stands now basically forces you to be pure light or pure dark--there's nothing special for grey characters and you somewhat gimp yourself. Also, the light side/dark side choices are way too extreme; you're either a total sissy everything-is-happy-sunshine kiss ass (light side) OR you're a total sociopathic caveman thug who doesn't know how to count to 3 (dark side).

(Some light side/dark side choices make absolutely no sense either--don't even get me started on that). If this game wasn't STAR WARS I probably wouldn't buy it. I also like a good story, and TOR has a good story (for the most part).

Ok, I'll totally agree with you here.. The light/dark choices were... um.. disappointing

Yeah.

I mean...some of the morality choices are REALLY good, but, some of them are really stupid--piss-poor writing from the writing team. Like one mission on Ord Mantell: revolving the refugees and the Republic military.

You get light side points for giving stolen medicine back to the people who stole them (the refugees). And you get dark side points for giving stolen medicine back to the ACTUAL owners (Republic military). (Well, as a Trooper, naturally, I give the medicine to the Republic military). I think BioWare should just completely remove the tier system for morality and stated gear associated with it; they should also add in a neutral choice option (bringing the total up to 3) for players to pick from.

As it stands now, you're basically forced to go pure light or pure dark. It really ruins the storytelling and choice BioWare so heavily emphasized.

From an earlier statement neutral players would get rewarded as well...

/+5renagade

That statement is no longer valid, for launch anyway.

Yup, if you go neutral you will seriously gimp yourself. It's either light or dark.

The Laughing Man wrote:

piss-poor writing from the writing team

(Haven't been in this thread in a while)

While I'm honestly just saying this because I like Bioware, I always try to keep a realistic mind about how the writing was done for each class. You had 1-2 writers doing the whole thing, and at some development level, you really can't expect Bioware to spend tons of hours going over 8 stories (each script supposedly longer than Kotor) with varying options and making improvements on each one while at the same time working on the game. I don't really know how many more quality employees Bioware has at this point. Between TOR and ME3 (and whatever their new game is) it's fairly obvious that they are on their 4th or 5th tier backups now.

So personally I keep criticisms about story related to the writers themselves. Drew Karpyshan and such.

On the other hand, it doesn't sound like the morality in this game is a problem, you could make a bad choice or two and not have any serious impact for your character. I believe Diplomacy solves that issue?