Sean Dahlberg has today confirmed that they're unveiling the Smuggler class during the coming E3 week:
The Smuggler class is being revealed in conjunction with E3. More details on this class will be posted to the site as part of the E3 wrap-up.
Since I know this is a question that will pop up over and over again and cause a flurry of debates, I'll clear the air now - The Smuggler is part of the Republic. More information as to why this is will be revealed later.
Forum members started discovering a new forum for the class as well as new items such as on Kotaku detailing an interview in Edge Magazine:
As Sean says, we'll be getting more information over the coming week.
BioWare's Friday update on Star Wars: The Old Republic is up and this week we get another video, the third "Developer Dispatch", about creating the Republic Trooper Class.
From massive blaster rifles to state-of-the-art armor, creating the Republic Trooper took hard work and dedication from The Old Republic team. In the latest Developer Dispatch, we recount the making of this heroic defender of the Republic; from design to story, concept, and animation.
Go behind the scenes and watch the Developer Dispatch: The Republic Trooper now!
It's a nice movie, showing some details on the progression of their armor (as I understand it from light-armored rebel soldier look past storm trooper look to very heavily armored look, though it could be that those are just choices the player makes and not progression) as well some of the story choices the player will face (fight fire with fire or take the moral highroad). They tell us that the Republic Trooper is all about their gun and that they shouldn't be underestimated.
It looks like a fun class, but it still isn't for me. Just don't care much about such heavily-armored, weapon-oriented, combat-heavy, military-type classes. Even so, still a nice movie.
And on a different subject, next week is E3 and they've promised quite some information, which I'll do my best to post. Is likely going to be a fairly busy week next week. Should be fun.
More info at the link above, though besides more of the crew (like who is the fight choreographer) not much information.
It does hint at a 2010 release date, but that doesn't really mean anything more than any store's projected release date (i.e. it's likely a complete guesstimate based on no more information than we already have).
Kind of curious that Lance Henriksen isn't listed, but then perhaps he just does the voice overs for the timeline and isn't in the actual game.
As reported by vg247.com, BioWare has twittered that this Thursday they'll be showing some of their games on GameTrailers in a pre-E3 show:
Anyone who wants to see more on our games should check out Gametrailers on Spike TV, Thursday at 11pm. Will be a big pre E3 show - Matwood
Here one can assume that "our games" refers to Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Though I'm not expecting anything new until E3 proper, it should be at least interesting to check out. Will report when I've seen the show.
[EDIT] Just noticed that the twitter page itself only shows the Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age logos, and not the Star Wars: The Old Republic logo. So maybe they're just showing those two. I guess we'll see.
[EDIT 20090526] I just saw Spike TV's press release for this and it the list of shows it mentions Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, but no Star Wars: The Old Republic. So as far as the MMO goes this seems like it'll be a big, fat dud. Of course, it still has Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 (and bunch of other games I care nothing about).
As one might guess from the title, this Friday gives us a fairly lukewarm update on Star Wars: The Old Republic. It consists of two parts; a "Fan Friday" update and the next issue of the comic.
The Fan Friday post I won't quote here, but contains a link to a "make-your-own-adventure" type story thread, a member showing how he drew a picture in MS Paint in several steps, and a link to a new official poll asking which events you intend to go to. Slightly more interesting perhaps is that they also added four new forum avatars for the Trooper class.
Then there's the next three-pages of the Threat of Peace webcomic. Here's the official text:
The seventh issue of Threat of Peace™ carries us to Korriban where Sith Lords Baras and Angral have returned from their respective endeavors. There is always discord among the Sith, and the tension between Baras and Angral promises to grow. Meanwhile, the Wookiee Dalborra and his captive, the Bounty Hunter Braden, are onboard an Imperial transport headed for the Sith homeworld.
And I'm sorry to sound a bit negative, but the comic doesn't really do it for me either. The story feels all over the place. jumping left and right and up and down. It's hard enough following the story with gettign three pages every two weeks, but with multiple story threads being split out such that you only get one or two pages to a thread each time I'm honestly completely lost with where the story is going; it doesn't engage me in the least. If this is an example of how BioWare is giving us story with the MMO then that doesn't bode very well.
Anyway, they're probably just holding back information for E3 and I realize that they can't reveal a new class or such every week.
More Lance Henriksen as the second installment of the Star Wars: The Old Republic is released. Going back in time seven years from the previous entry the Jedi Master Gnost-Dural recount how the Mandelorian Blockade was broken.
As part of his accounting of recent events in the galaxy’s timeline, Master Gnost-Dural, Keeper of the Jedi Archives, has entered a new holorecord on the subject of the Mandalorian Blockade.
BTC 7 - A Mandalorian blockade is positioned along the Republic’s primary trade route resulting in famine and unrest amongst the colonies. A daring smuggler known as Hylo Visz attempts the unthinkable, to take down the intimidating fleet of Mandalorian ships and deliver the much needed goods to the people of Coruscant.
And here's the full text of this timeline, though honestly I prefer to hear Mr. Henriksen say it, not in the least because the text is in all-caps. Anyway...
AFTER THE SACKING OF CORUSCANT, THE JEDI COUNCIL AGREED THAT THE REPUBLIC HAD BEEN UNDONE BY THE BOLD CUNNING OF THE EMPIRE’S STRATEGY.
A CLOSER LOOK, HOWEVER, SUGGESTS THE SACKING OF CORUSCANT WAS NOT THE CROWNING MOMENT OF THE EMPIRE'S CAMPAIGN, BUT RATHER A RISKY MANEUVER UNDERTAKEN AFTER ALL OTHER EFFORTS HAD FAILED.
THE SITH ONLY CONSIDERED TURNING TO SUCH MEASURES AFTER THEIR EFFORTS WERE UNDERMINED BY AN UNLIKELY REPUBLIC ALLY — THE CRIMINAL SMUGGLING CONTINGENT THAT BROKE THE MANDALORIAN BLOCKADE.
THE BLOCKADE CHOKED THE PRIMARY TRADE ROUTE FOR PROVIDING REPUBLIC MILITARY SUPPORT TO THE OUTER RIM… AND THE MAIN HYPERLANE FOR BRINGING RAW GOODS FROM THE COLONIES TO THE CORE WORLDS.
LONG-STANDING HOLDOUTS IN THE OUTER RIM BEGAN FOLDING TO THE EMPIRE, AND CRITICAL SUPPLIES VANISHED FROM THE CORE WORLDS ALMOST OVERNIGHT.
AS STARVATION SWEPT THROUGH THE LOWER LEVELS OF CORUSCANT, RIOTS BROKE OUT PLANETWIDE. TALK IN THE SENATE VEERED SHARPLY TOWARD A COMPLETE SURRENDER TO THE SITH EMPIRE.
IT WAS AT THIS CRITICAL HOUR THAT A MIRIALAN SMUGGLER NAMED HYLO VISZ RECOGNIZED AN EXTRAORDINARY BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOR HER AND HER PARTNERS.
WITH THE REPUBLIC WILLING TO PAY ANY PRICE FOR RAW GOODS, HYLO’S PLAN WAS SIMPLE — BREAK THE MANDALORIAN BLOCKADE.
LOADING MASSIVE FREIGHTERS WITH ALL THE GOODS THE OUTER RIM HAD TO OFFER, HYLO AND HER FELLOW SMUGGLERS HAULED THEIR LOADS TO WITHIN A PARSEC OF THE BLOCKADE AND STOPPED STILL.
DISTRACTED BY SUSPICIOUS FREIGHTERS, THE MANDALORIANS NEVER KNEW WHAT HIT THEM — A MOTLEY FLEET OF SMALL STARSHIPS DROPPED OUT OF HYPERSPACE AND OPENED FIRE.
A MASSIVE SPACE BATTLE ENSUED. THE SMUGGLERS’ LIGHT FIGHTERS RAN RINGS AROUND THE MANDALORIAN CRUISERS — BUT EVEN SO, HYLO VISZ AND HER BAND WERE OUTMATCHED.
FORTUNATELY, REPUBLIC STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS WAS TIPPED OFF AND STARFIGHTERS WERE SCRAMBLED FROM NEARBY SYSTEMS. WITH THEIR ASSISTANCE, THE MANDALORIANS WERE QUICKLY OVERCOME.
THE BLOCKADE BROKEN, HYLO VISZ BROUGHT FREIGHTERS FULL OF RAW GOODS INTO CORUSCANT AND WALKED AWAY WITH MORE WEALTH THAN SHE HAD EVER IMAGINED.
AN ELABORATE MEDAL CEREMONY WAS HELD IN HER HONOR, BUT HYLO NEVER SHOWED — SHE WAS LONG GONE.
RUMOR HAS IT HYLO VISZ WAS KILLED A YEAR LATER FOR DOUBLE-CROSSING THE HUTTS.
REGARDLESS, THROUGH THIS UNLIKELY HERO’S EFFORTS, THE REPUBLIC WAR EFFORT GAINED A REPRIEVE.
AT THE TIME, MANY BELIEVED THE EMPIRE WAS BEHIND THE MANDALORIAN BLOCKADE. MY RESEARCH INDICATES A FAR MORE ELABORATE EXPLANATION.
I WILL SHARE THAT IN MY NEXT REPORT.
So while in this report we had how the blockade was broken, the next one will recount how it came to be in the first place. Can't wait.
In the meantime this seems even more clear indication that Smuggler will be another player class, so clearly painting one in the role of a hero. And a bit of mystery that wouldn't surprise me if we ran into that again. Knowing smugglers one should better not believe all that you hear and see.
They're also explaining how the outer rim planets would fall under the Empire, giving an explanation that would work for a number of planets one might normally associate with the Republic.
It's a quite interesting read, giving a little more insight into the engine. Though it also talks a bit about the game they're developing with it themselves, namely Hero's Journey, even that can be an interesting reference to see some of the things that can be done with it.
Here's an excerpt:
The MMO Gamer: So, you mentioned storytelling in that last answer, and to drag you off topic a bit here, that’s a subject very near and dear to my heart, being a writer.
Storytelling, from my vantage point, is something sorely lacking in MMOs these days. What does HeroEngine bring to the writer and designer to allow them to tell a story within an MMO framework?
David Whatley: Well, we’ve worked really hard in our Hero’s Journey design to create a method for developing unique storylines that are personalized to your character. One of the ways we do that is first we have quests that feature elaborate branching story lines, so there are always decisions to be made.
Do I go left? Do I go right? Do I give the item, do I not give the item? That kind of thing, rather than just following what you’re told to do. And whether you do something, or don’t something, or one of three or five different choices, they’re all valid. Or as I like to say, failure is an option.
It’s okay to fail a quest because that just leads down a different road. Now, the problem with that is that that creates a need to develop way more content than if you just have a linear quest line. Or two or three linear quest lines. Because every branch means that you now need to develop that branch.
To get around that we built a way of branching quests that tie back into themselves. And HeroEngine gave us the tools to be able to do this sort of thing. On top of that, we layered a special system which we call “quest tokens” it’s kind of an inventory system but you never see these items.
They are things that are recorded on your character that have influence later quests. One good example of that is the “nemesis quest token.” What happens is in some point of your life you’re going to come across a boss creature, and you’ll start fighting it, and there will be some randomness about it but it will decide that guy is your nemesis.
From this point on, you’re gonna be seeing him over and over again. And what’ll happen is later on there’ll be a quest that says “Insert Nemesis Here, if he has Nemesis Token” and what’ll happen is he’ll show up in that quest, and every time he’s more powerful than he was the last time, and he’ll be calling you out and stuff like that, and he’ll always make this grand escape right before you kill him.
Then, somewhere near the end of the end game you’ll get an opportunity to take him down or not in the final confrontation. That’s just one example of the things we do with the quest tokens.
It also does Fable-like stuff where you know, it’s keeping track of characters’ predispositions towards you and can cause quests to branch one way or the other.
I think there’s a fair amount of innovation in this system but really its the gestalt that matters, the gestalt of all these things that makes it interesting.
The HeroEngine is really great at allowing for this kind of innovation because as a tool set it allows you to develop specialized tool for your game and your game only, and what we did with Hero’s Journey is we created a very elaborate quest system that lets designers go in and specify stuff at this level of detail, all parametrically with dialog and drop down boxes and never have to get their hands into scripting, because it can all be done with very elaborate specifications.
When he talks in this bit about how they're using the HeroEngine to tell their stories he's talking about things specific to Hero's Journey. But it sounds like things that I can most definitely see BioWare doing, and some of their comments hint at just that (such as their comment that when you have to make choices there isn't a save button to be able to go back to and change your mind later). And when he says a little further down the line that "I know that some of our licensees have duplicated some aspects of it when they are designing their own system. In fact, we allow licensees to use Hero’s Journey as a reference implementation." it wouldn't surprise me if he's referring to BioWare as one of those licensees.
Of course, the question is how do you teach people that they don't just have to do what they're told, how to let them know that it's alright to fail? I know that in Age of Conan whenever you turn in a quest that has you collect certain items you get a pop-up asking you whether you want to turn them in or not. That always confused me, because I wouldn't even consider not turning them in (and don't think I've ever even tried in close to a year now; in part because I fully expect the dialog to just end and reset back to the beginning offering me again the next time I try).
There is also the risk that if people fail and they can't try again because the story moved on then they'll be left dissatisfied. In Age of Conan, again, there was one quest where you had to talk to a couple of guys. I hadn't even read the quest description (as I never needed to in the previous hundreds of quests and they're not that compelling). But when talking to the first guy (just clicking through the dialog) I suddenly got a message that the quest had failed... and I couldn't pick it up to try again. That left me very upset. Though in fairness in Age of Conan the story didn't continue after that. Even so, for failure to mean something it needs to be a bad thing, which in turn is not likely to make people happy. Do people really want to struggle to undo their earlier errors, making things harder as a consequence, or do they just want to try again?
As such it's quite possible that BioWare won't take branching storylines to quite that level and will, instead, approach it more in the same way as we're used from them in their previous games. I'd expect more cases where they clearly present to you that you're making a choice where the options are all roughly equally valid (even if the distinction would just be between good and evil). We will see.
There are a few other interesting comments in the article as well, such as the one that suggests that MMOs are all very similar these days because of WoW's success and, in the light of that, investors being less willing to accept more risky designs (even if such a thing is probably needed to truly have a chance of rising above WoW's success). People tend to prefer things with higher certainty over things with a chance of a higher reward.
Anyway, can recommend reading the interview and gain a little insight into the engine behind BioWare's MMO.
It's just a little blurb, but based on what they mean exactly the potential consequences could be quite intriguing.
Gamasutra posted a brief article about a talk the BioWare Bosses held at GDC Canada regarding The Future of Storytelling. In it is the following one sentence about Star Wars: The Old Republic:
For the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, "Manipulation of world server data based on a broad range of user activities can actually change the game world."
This could mean nothing, it could just be that "if we find that people prefer doing quests involving wookiees then we'll add more quests involving wookiees in a future update". And it could just be the general "your realm has to gather ten-million rancor teeth for the gate to open". But if could also mean that people, altogether, can dynamically change the world around them.
If nothing else that leads to some interesting thoughts.
Another Friday, another update from BioWare. This one almost as exciting as our previous new post.
There's actually two bits today. The first shouldn't come as that much of a surprise as it's another episode of the webcomic; another three pages of hart-stopping Star Wars action (or something along those lines). As per the official news post:
The sixth issue of Threat of Peace™ brings us back to Coruscant where the heroic defenders of the Republic’s capital planet, Lieutenant Tavus and Jedi Master Orgus Din, have been holed up in the lower levels since just after the Sith Empire’s assault. Unaware that the Treaty of Coruscant has been signed, the pair defends a refugee camp against an attack from Imperial droids before venturing out to discover the devastation the Sith left behind when they departed.
You know, considering one of the two main characters in these three pages you'd almost get the feeling that they've planned to synchronize their information releases.
Which brings us to the second, and big, news this week... the revealing of the second Star Wars: The Old Republic class. Namely the Republic Trooper. As per the official announcement:
We are excited to reveal the next playable character class in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ – the Trooper!
The Trooper is an elite combat specialist in the Republic military armed with heavy blaster rifles and nearly impenetrable armor designed by the military’s top engineers. Trained to beat almost any odds, the Trooper battles deep behind enemy lines to carry out precise, hard hitting strikes against the enemy, with a barrage of blaster-fire and a few carefully aimed firebombs. Even Sith Lords are wise to think twice before engaging in combat with the Trooper—this is what it means to be one of the Republic’s finest.
Learn more about the Trooper class and check out the latest Trooper inspired wallpapers!
In conjunction with this announcement, GameSpot conducted an interview with Principal Lead Writer Daniel Erickson and Lead Combat Designer Damion Schubert.
Ooh, snazzy. Heavy weapons guy for the Republic side in Storm/Clone Trooper type armor.
Of course, the class shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone who's been following the game somewhat closely. It's just been called "Special Forces" or "Commando" before. A class like that has been hinted at ever since they started with the online comic. And it seems a perfect balance for the Bounty Hunter class (both heavy armor, heavy weapons and using a number of 'tricks' such as flamethrowers and sticky bombs).
The only thing that really surprises me is the name. As not only does it sound a bit stupid, it also strengthens the association with Stormtrooper, which were the bad guys in the original movies. Now I know that the recent Clone Wars stuff and the prequel movies have been trying to paint them as good guys (except that, of course, in the end they kill everyone without question just because they're told to), but I could never shake this "bad guys" feeling. And I know that the armor does that too to some extend (in fact, does it a lot), but even so something more dynamic like "Commando" would've been better I think.
Anyway, as the text above says they've also added a couple of new wallpapers for the class:
They're nice wallpapers, but I think I'll refrain from adding them to my wallpaper cycle list. They don't appeal to me that much (and neither, to be perfectly honest, does the class; this "shoot everything" kind of class just isn't interesting to me).
And as you might've seen GameSpot posted a short interview about the class as well. Here's an excerpt:
GameSpot: Trooper characters are described as having indomitable spirits. How does this translate to the way a trooper character plays? Will they be experts at soaking up damage, for instance? Will their high spirits enable them to evade death longer or be revived more quickly by way of adrenaline rush?
Damion Schubert: Our troopers are leaders on the battlefield. This makes itself visible in the form of battlefield command buffs (enhancing abilities that strengthen their targets) [that] they give their companions and party members, which make their parties stronger and more flexible.
Hmmm, group buffs? That makes me wonder if the Bounty Hunter gets those as well. If not then they might go for an asynchronous balance (giving the group buffs to another Empire class) because two heavy armor, heavy weapon guys on the Empire side doesn't make any sense at all to me.
Oh, and on a side note, when Kotaku reported the news they asked the interesting question of what the female Trooper armor might look like. Somehow I doubt that BioWare's version of female Trooper armor will have quite as much skin.
Small update, but Amy Crider, Community Coordinator for BioWare, has confirmed in a forum post that there will be jumping in Star Wars: The Old Republic:
There is jumping in the game, but we didn't really use much player combat/action shots in the footage since the focus of the piece was the planets.
Ok, so it's a really small update. But it's also some of the first true concrete gameplay information we've had.
Of course, how would they do Force Jump without jumping? Hmmmm.
BioWare posted a new video this Friday. Titled "Developer Dispatch: Diverse Worlds" it shows a bit of the four worlds they have revealed so far, screenshots, concept art, and some ingame footage. And throughout it the developers comment on the diversity of the worlds and such.
Here's the official post:
Majestic forests, toxic swamplands, desert landscapes, and hazardous war zones – the worlds that make up the Star Wars™ universe are unique and enriched with compelling storylines. Watch Developer Dispatch: Diverse Worlds and go behind the scenes to find out how the developers are bringing the worlds of Tython, Korriban, Hutta, and Ord Mantell to life – a few of the many playable worlds in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.
It's a very nice video. Particularly the HD one you can download it very nice to look at. No action or gameplay, but it gives a good impression of what the world looks like.
The world don't look realistic, which is a bit of a shame. You can see that everything is fake. But in that they are quite detailed. Can definitely see myself walking around in those and can't help but get excited thinking of visiting all those places.
Of course, the question is whether my little light-side Sith will be able to walk through the lush forest of Tython.
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