A new issue of Pro Tips is out today, this time broaching on the subject of Darth surnames. As with any popular monicker, the moment you gain your achievement of Sithitude may be the moment you realize you have to start making up words to sound original in this galaxy. Give Steve a shout in the comments section, and click the little Like button above the comic for free bacon. For legal reasons I have to say you won’t get any free bacon.
When playing MMOs I often find myself playing solo more often than not, so last Friday's official update showcasing a new Flashpoint (i.e. group dungeon) wasn't that interesting to me. Still, it's nice to see some of the story-based content that they're including and that the group content contains just as much story as well. Here is the official news:
Some missions are too dangerous for just one hero. In Flashpoints, players team up with others to confront monumental challenges at pivotal moments in the game story. Fight deadly foes, make decisions that determine the outcome of the story, and get some of the best rewards in the galaxy as you and your allies experience Flashpoints.
The new Flashpoints Game Systems page features more detailed information about Flashpoints along with an exclusive video look at Taral V, a never-before-seen Flashpoint from the game. Get ready for great multiplayer action in Flashpoints in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™!
To save you some time looking up the video at the official site, here it is from YouTube:
I find it funny how they keep referring to "the Jedi prisoner" instead of referring to the individual by name. Sounds very awkward and, to me, smacks of some big identity reveal for said Jedi waiting to happen.
Next to the video there's also a new Game Systems page with some details on a few Flashpoints, showcasing Taral V and givign this description regarding Flashpoints in general:
Taral V is just one of several unique Flashpoints in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Every Flashpoint takes a group of Imperial or Republic players through its own self-contained adventure, culminating in one of several outcomes based on player choices. You won’t have to miss out on any of the story, though – Flashpoints exist in specially instanced parts of the galaxy and can be repeated as often as you’d like. Flashpoints feature enemies that require skill and cooperation to defeat, and are much more challenging than single-player missions, but they offer valuable loot and rewards. Gather up your allies and get ready for explosive multiplayer action in Flashpoints!
What I find most interesting here is that in the examples they list there seems to be a clear interplay between Republic and Empire. The low-level Republic Flashpoint is about a Republic transport being attacked by Imperials… and the low-level Imperial Flashpoint is about imperials attacking a Republic transport. Could this be players seeing two sides of the same conflict? Seems very likely. The mid-game ones, including Taral V, is similar with the Empire one being about tracking down an escaped prisoner (could that be "the Jedi prisoner"?). And then the last one is just one Flashpoint that both can play. I wonder whether it's pretty much the same for each or whether they approach the same Flashpoint from different directions. They promised no repeated content between sides, so it's a little confusing to see something listed that looks like repeated content.
Anyway, that's the official update. Read after the break for a Q&A at GameSpot on Flashpoints as well as developer quotes from the last week.
This weeks episode of the TOROcast Samm and Musco are joined by Fo and Kimi. The four discuss this weeks news from BioWare for Star Wars: The Old Republic on Flashpoints.
We want more exotic dancers in Star Wars The Old Republic! Uh… maybe?*sigh* So many people have so many different ideas about what the game will be. We are getting a lot more information now, some of it dribbled out to us on a weekly basis and some gleaned from interviews that we find with… Read More
Bioware have announced a key component of SWTOR: Flashpoints. Group-based missions with decision-driven mechanics, they’re essentially your traditional dungeon instance but with potentially a little more nuance. Because decisions / story drive next steps, then your experience will be slightly different each time – at least until you’ve run it a handful of times. The… Read More
Today’s Friday update focuses on Flashpoints. Players participating in the Flashpoints work together to achieve victory. BioWare announced five Flashpoints available to players of varying level and affiliations. These include The Esseles and Taral V for the Republic, The Black Talon and Boarding Party for the Empire and Directive 7 for both groups. Directive 7 takes place end game.
Flashpoint Taral V Trailer
During the Esseles Flashpoint, an early-on event, players defend a covert Republic transport from the Imperials. The Imperial early game Flashpoint, The Black Talon, requires players to deal with a captain ignoring his orders of attack. During Taral V, which players encounter mid-game, an important Jedi needs rescue. The Empire’s mid-game Flashpoint uses a similar theme, only instead of trying to free a prisoner, players need to recapture an escaped one. Both Republic and Imperial players work to stop a droid-led revolution during Directive 7. DevTracker post continues after the jump. Our media gallery with screenshots from the Flashpoint Update is below. Our dissection of the Taral V trailer is also available in the prior post.
This Friday Update gives us a brief look at Flashpoints. No group content? Take a Flashpoint to the face!
Bioware treats us to a nice update this Friday with a brand spanking new page showing off Flashpoints.
What are Flashpoints?
Flashpoints is the group content of The Old Republic. Teaming up with four other players you battle it out in these story enriched missions, pushing you and your group’s skill to their limits. Use all your knowledge, resources and cunning to fight your way through elite mobs to complete your objective. Also be wary who you join forces with. Your groups decisions will have a meaningful impact on what you will have to face and the outcome of the flashpoint.
Naturally with the more danger comes the greater rewards. The question is are you up for the challenge? Are you and your fellow team mates ready to take on the galaxies finest?
Ladies and gentleman Bioware presents to you‘Flastpoints’.
Taral V
This is the main flashpoint Bioware has shown us. A mid game Republic only Flashpoint where the Imperials are hold a Jedi vital to the Republic war effort. Its your job to delve deep into enemy territory and rescue this Jedi. Failure is not an option.
We were fortunate that Gamespot had the first scoop of this flashpoint and put out a write up, video and Q&A about Taral V. All can be seen HERE.
In the Q&A we find out that the Empire are holding a Jedi prisoner vital to the Republic. To reach the prison the Republic have to retrieve a Gree computer to navigate the cosmic storms surrounding their objective. So the group has to infiltrate the remote jungle world of Taral V to get the device to save the Jedi.
During the interview World Designer Jesse Sky explains that Flashpoints are roughly 90 minutes long. However if you wish to complete everything there is to do it may take up to 2 hours or even longer to complete.
Flashpoints will be available at early, mid and end game so it is very viable to use to level as they can be repeated again and again and also to gain upgraded equipment.
Again to view the entire Q&A and video of Taral V please head over to GAMESPOT.
Flashpoints
In the update Bioware gave us a small list of what Flashpoints we can expect to see. It is important to note that more flashpoints and information will come over the coming months.
The Esseles – Early Game, Republic Only.
The Black Talon – Early Game, Empire Only.
Taral V – Mid Game, Republic Only.
Boarding Party – Mid Game, Empire Only.
Directive 7 – End Game, Both.
All of these can be read about on the Old Republic Flashpoint page HERE.
Please head over to our forums and join our community discussing all thing TOR.
Gamespot revealed a new flashpoint trailer: Taral V, intended for players level 32 or higher. Your Republic team must rescue an important Jedi prisoner. Gamespot conducted an interview with World Designer, Jesse Sky. When asked about the game’s state, Sky said, “Development is going very well, and were all happy to be heading into our homestretch.” For our take on the contents of the Flashpoint Taral V Trailer, check the media gallery below for the Working Dissection. Note: As always we will be ignoring things commented on in past dissections. We will be adding more to the gallery over time so make sure to keep checking back throughout the weekend. If you see something that you think we should add, feel free to comment on it and we will credit you for the find in the image.
Generally speaking, customization is a good thing—a great thing—for MMORPGs. MMOs are social games, and anything that sets you out from the crowd is appreciated. However, I am always surprised when someone advocates customization as the “most important” concern for an MMORPG, and this happens often. Whenever a question comes down to customization vs gameplay, there’s a contingent crying “customization first.” I disagree with this mentality strongly. There are reasonable limitations on customization, as BioWare is no doubt aware of in designing Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Benefits of customization
Some amount of customization is universally appreciated. It allows you to identify with your character—either because it looks like you or because it matches your character’s personality. It’s also useful as a social tool. How your avatar looks is an expression of yourself, or at least, of the self you want to be within the game. It provides a context for other players to relate to you, and allows them to recognize you in a crowded instance. The desire to put a face to a name is a strong one, and even spills onto forums where players select forum avatars or even use their character portrait as an avatar.
The biggest benefit of customization is that it’s a game-within-a-game. I have walked away from MMOs I thought were terrible and yet deeply missed their character creator (e.g., City of Heroes, Champions Online). There’s a true sense of satisfaction in developing a character and dressing it up. Why else is the Sims series of games such an empire? Because people never really grow out of playing with dolls, they just graduate to having actual kids.
Games with heavy customization play into this and the best games don’t restrict customization to character creation. They let you alter your look through vendors or even character classes (e.g., Star Wars Galaxies). If people are willing to spend real money on clothing that’s uncomfortable or impractical simply because it makes their ass look good or whatever, they’re willing to invest time in a videogame tarting up their in-game avatar.
Types of customization
Customization can be broken down into a few broad categories: character customization, gear customization, and prop customization.
Character
Unless you’re playing Diablo, RPG games let you customize the look of your character. This can include the face, body type, hairstyle, and special features like tattoos. Some games—Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empirebeing two examples—get by with a very limited selection of character skins the player can’t edit, but multi-player games tend to have more. For MMOs, after race and gender, the big question for customization always seems to be “sliders or selections?”
With sliders—true sliders that allow for fine-tuning of features, not just select-by-slider—players can create a custom look for their character by warping the dimensions of its features. The Mass Effect and Dragon Age games had this, and SWG even provided sliders for the whole body, allowing players to vary their waist size and height wildly. Generally these systems are well received—Aionand Riftare both praised for their customization—although the added control does allow players to create truly hideous characters at times:
With selection systems, every feature is pre-made and cannot be altered by the player. However, this type of system can still provide a wide variety of customization with enough options. Although some consider this approach “lazy,” it does have some advantages. Because each feature is individually designed, artists can include more eclectic features for characters. Consider the difference between hairstyles and noses in Rift, which uses selection for hair but sliders for the nose. The eight-or-so hairstyles are far more different from each other than the different noses players can create with the two nose sliders. If nose shape was instead handled via selection, different noses could vary more, such as having a mole or a piercing or an improperly-healed break. Something to consider.
Gear
The standard for gear is restriction by class and build. To prevent a hysteric mishmash of clashing gear, many games include gear “sets” that coordinate visually. World of Warcraft includes different gear sets, and the acquisition of high-tier sets is arguably the primary motivator within the game. This can provide a variety of looks for characters, but does limit choices by class, build, and tier. There are a few customization options within that system, however. Helmet, cape, and armor toggles allow players to “hide” equipped gear, vanity items—such as guild tabards—allow players to add cosmetic pieces to their ensemble, and armor dyes let players alter the color of their gear so it doesn’t clash entirely even between sets.
Open systems of gear customization allow you to equip whatever look you’d like for your character, either because gear isn’t restricted to classes or because of an “appearance tab.” With the former, players can equip whatever gear has the best stats for their character. When well-executed, this results in a wide variety of looks. When poorly done, every player is wearing the same uber set of gear. SWG‘s “composite armor” was one such set of “alpha gear” for a while, and I colored mine pink because it was the only color nobody else was wearing. With an appearance tab, players can equip one piece of gear for stats and another for looks. This solution allows for great customization, but makes it hard to determine the class, level, and build of a character at a glance.
Developers could also go extreme by providing sliders for gear or by making clothing entirely cosmetic. This is more common in non-combat MMOs like Second Life, but was also a primary draw of the ill-received APB: All Points Bulletin, of which it was—as I understand it—one of its few redeeming features. This system is amazing for customization, but requires devoting a lot of development time toward something that is entirely cosmetic, taking attention away from gameplay.
Props
Props—player housing, player ships, mounts, companions—could also be customizable. In Champions Online, players could even alter the look of their spell effects. Normally, props are only “customized” in that you buy the one you prefer, such as mounts in WoW. However, many props in SWTOR are class-specific, so it would be nice if we could paint racing stripes on our ships or something to make up for that. And the ability to customize companions would be helpful to avoid duplicates on the battlefield.
Problems from customization
With so much potential customization available and with the obvious benefits and popularity of customization, one might wonder why I feel it could ever be a bad thing. Well, just like I can love gin & tonics but decidedly not love waking up mid-puke in a random parking lot in Milwaukee, too much customization has its drawbacks.
One drawback of free-form customization is that you lose some of the drive for gear-related rewards. Sure, one might chafe under the restrictive “gear set” system, but the looks of those gear sets are part of the allure for encouraging players to go after a particular set. If you can obtain the exact look you want from the beginning, then you have one less layer of player incentive driving the game. If SWTOR was a sandbox experience, this wouldn’t matter as players would be expected to motivate themselves. As a “themepark” or “guided” experience, however, players will want increasingly impressive rewards—visually as well as statistically—to chase after.
Another consequence of customization is that it can make it harder to identify classes and builds during gameplay. If body-type can be altered, then character silhouette is no longer defined by class. If armor dyes exist, then classes are no longer color-coded by a few particular shades. If gear—armor or weapons—can be shared across builds and classes, it’s no longer easy to identify who everyone is on the battlefield at a glance. Relaxing the restrictions on a few of these is probably fine, but too much flexibility and it can be very difficult to keep track of what’s going on during a heated PvE boss battle or in a PvP warzone.
Too much customization also makes for weaker archetypes, and therefore weaker story. If the protagonist has to be a generic stand-in because Force only knows what’s going to pop out of the character generator, then you can’t really do much with that character that identifies their personality, place in the galaxy, or personal style. But if you narrow down who they are a bit—a hard-nosed Trooper who wears heavy armor and likes big guns for example—then you can start crafting a story around that. While BioWare could broaden their story-related restrictions to accommodate more variety, such as Pureblood Sith Inquisitors, it’s not necessarily better to do that because that reduces the impact of the narrative for that class and its visual archetype.
Related to the above, by making cosmetic options too broadly available, you eliminate a visual draw for other classes. Remember, BioWare wants you to play more than one character in SWTOR. You have to “balance” the cool customization options across multiple classes or else people won’t want to explore those narratives as much. If your first character is a Jedi Knight and you can make him a Chiss, that’s one less reason you’ll ever consider playing an Imperial Agent. That might save you time, but is that a good thing for the game?
Finally, too much customization can lead to clashing archetypes. This goes beyond just “story limitations” and into actual combinations that don’t work in the lore. Examples might be Wookiees who speak basic, Smugglers proficient with lightsabers, droids using the Force, Bounty Hunters who fight in silk robes, or Sith who fight for sweetness, light, and the Republic. While these are all archetypes that could be introduced and then explained away, they run counter to the expectations of the viewer and distort the lore, are therefore problematic.
What BioWare can do
At the moment, we know that SWTOR has faction-exclusive classes, class-exclusive races, class-exclusive gear, no appearance tab, and we have not seen any signs of dyes and the like. This is less customization than many players wanted. I feel it is important to note that customization is something that is rarely “finished” once the game is launched. New items, options, and vanity pieces are commonly added post-launch, so while we don’t have, for example, an appearance tab, there’s nothing to say they can’t add one once they have combat balanced and endgame content sorted out.
That said, there are some things BioWare can do pre-launch that will improve customization while avoiding the pitfalls mentioned above. Without altering their current setup, BioWare can ensure that we have enough options to choose from for each part of character customization. This means at least 3 different races to choose from per class, this means—if we don’t get sliders—we need a wide variety of options for character features and not just 4-5 different noses or hairstyles, and it means that we need a number of different gear sets in the endgame for each build. If a player only has one choice for gear within their build, that’s problematic. But without spending dev hours constructing an elaborate appearance tab system, BioWare can address this issue by throwing in some alternate sets for each build to at least give us some variety.
BioWare should also provide armor dyes, gear toggles, and some basic vanity items to start with. Again, nothing that changes how item restrictions work, but if we’re already going to let Jedi use red lightsabers and Sith use blue, you may as well let the Trooper dye their armor black instead of stormtrooper white, especially if this gear is player-crafted. As long as the outline is distinct from Bounty Hunter armor, this shouldn’t cause too many problems. And guild arm-patches or other minor vanity items that allow players to customize a bit should be easy enough to implement without causing mass-developer-suicide.
And after launch? After the immediate concerns are addressed and you’re thinking about that first expansion? Think appearance tab, at least in a limited function. Think more species per class or even the ability to unlock a species for all classes after you take a character to level cap. I don’t mind BioWare’s guided, select-from-options approach to customization because I can see how it helps other aspects of the game, but I still want them to add more options when they get the chance.
What do you think about SWTOR‘s level of customization? We’ve been told the game has a lot of different items, but do you think this will amount to much variation in the endgame? What are your primary concerns for customization in an MMO? Comment below or discuss here!
This week’s DevTracker Highlights focuses on the Star Wars setting, hints at what fans can expect from PAX East, how players will engage in combat, and the risks involved. Lead Writer Daniel Erickson illustrates BioWare’s relationship with Lucasfilm with the reveal of the planet Quesh. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller comments on the absence of auto-attack and describes the role of death penalties. Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert also jumps in the conversation and shows how harsh death penalties can deter players from tackling challenges. All this and more continued after the jump.
