RuneScape Forum Archive | Guide to the Fallen

Englishkid62

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I might just spend a few minutes on Story since you asked about that. Personally, I only have two level 50 characters as of now and they are the Jedi Knight and the Jedi Consular. Can’t really speak for the others since I haven’t gotten far, but I also like the Sith Inquisitor story so far because I like my master and she loves me and I kill people for her, so... Anyway, I'm guessing there might some kind of betrayal later but I won't presume so I'll just stick with what I know. In fact, I think the class quests are the most compelling stories there are in the game. World quests seem to be just distractions for me. The story is split into 3 chapters, Act 1, 2 and 3. The size of Act 1 = Act 2 + 3. For me I like the Jedi Knight story better (More heroic) but my sister preferred the Jedi Consular. A friend of mine preferred the Trooper over the two. But if levelling a different character means you have to visit the same planets again and listen to the same people whining about their same problems, at least the class quest is new. Class quest is really the main attraction in the story for me. There are occasions when I go to a planet and just do the class quests because I want the story, although you can't do that all the time since you will be massively under-levelled later on. Because this is an MMO with no 'save’ button, Bioware has dug themselves into a bit of a hole since they can’t give huge penalties for certain decisions like companion leaving you, companion dying, get you stripped of your Master rank or similar because they don't want people to feel they must reroll due to their choices. As a result, decisions in World quests and Flashpoints don’t really affect your story very much, but choices in your class quests will. In the vast majority of cases, choices that actually have an impact will be in your class quest. This is something of a disappointment as Bioware had always been good with story-telling and the impact of your choices is what make an RPG great.

23-Apr-2012 10:34:46 - Last edited on 23-Apr-2012 12:49:18 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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To conclude, since I have only 3 minutes remaining, I think Swtor is an exceptional MMO, especially for one that is only four months old. It is not comparable to an RPG due to design decisions and that it is an MMO but they are understandable decisions due to the amount of content they have to create and the wide range of players it is meant to attract. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to Kotor or Dragon Age Origins. But I believe the development also listen to the community and they are always looking to address the short-comings and improve the game in content patches which they plan to release ‘aggressively’. What I said doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface as I haven’t mentioned anything about endgame, crew skills, combat, GTN, Legacy system, advanced classes and so on.
In short, this game is better to be played with people. Unlike Runescape where you can actually do everything by yourself and get yourself anything you'll ever need, in Swtor you need other people to group up to do Flashpoints and Heroic quests and the game system rewards grouping by giving better loot drops and xp. I used to go on Runescape and try to spin 60k bowstrings and ponder the meaning of life but actually, people is what make an MMO interesting. So I'll advise you, if you ever play this game, play it with someone. Or have someone to play with. It gives things more meaning.
But yeah, if you want to know anything else, just ask…
(I also think there is a 7-day trial or a free weekend pass or something like that going on if you want to experience it first hand.)
Edit: Just went over and corrected some misinformation given in the morning.

23-Apr-2012 10:34:59 - Last edited on 23-Apr-2012 12:47:12 by Englishkid62

Chuk

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How much do the various class quest story lines interact? Like is there one overarching, or are the class quests as 'main story' as you can get?
Also, making different choices in your class quest line, really does effect the outcome? Like if I choose * instead of Y at point 1, at point two I have choices XX and XY instead of YX and YY or something? Basically, can you play the same class twice in a row and have a significantly different experience?
Also, wanna get me an invite for that seven day trial? :3

24-Apr-2012 03:29:07 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2012 04:25:54 by Chuk

Englishkid62

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I’m not sure how to describe the ‘interaction’ between class quests between different classes. I’ll try to be as detailed as I can be without giving too much away.
There is a global storyline. I would assume one for the Republic and one for the Empire. For example, within the Republic overarching story where at Point A the galaxy is still at peace, it will somehow lead to Point B where the Treaty of Coruscant will be broken and the galaxy is back in full-blown war. It will then lead to Point C, the end of the current class quest, which results in a significant defeat of the opposing faction. Of course, as a smuggler, the end goal probably is not the defeat of the evil Sith Empire but, never having played one, I couldn’t tell.
Class quest for your individual class can be a standalone story. It was designed as such. Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular would be doing wildly different things in Act 1, 2 and 3, but they all visit the same planets in the same order at each stage. Jedi Knight would be travelling to each planet in search for evil weapons to destroy and foil the Sith plot, while Jedi Consular would be investigating a mysterious Sith plague that is affecting the wisest Jedi Masters, driving them to madness. They don’t really relate to each other in that way, but each class quest gives an insight to the overarching story and completes the picture. So for example in Jedi Knight story you will come across one or two ‘Children of the Emperor’. If you only played the knight, you’d be thinking, what the hell? What does that really mean? But if you played the Jedi Consular, it would help you gain an insight on how the Emperor managed to live for 1000 years.

24-Apr-2012 10:19:34 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2012 10:23:11 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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As far as making decisions in class quests, I can only second guess because I haven’t really played two of the same class all the way through. I think you will have a significant experience already if you choose to respond differently or make certain decisions. What I can confirm is that if you choose to save someone in certain cases, they will return later in your class quest. Vice versa. Again, because this is a game where you can't 'save’ a decision and load it later and change everything I don’t think Bioware is going to punish the players by blocking certain options due to previous decisions. Instead, the focus more on the impact of your choices and how it will affect the people you left behind. At least this is what I think. Say I’m a Sith Inquisitor and as part of my class quest I’m helping this Sith officer to find his son, whom he loves very much. When I found him he was an arrogant brat who doesn’t show any respect to his father. I chose to kill him. Later in the story the father rages in grief and tries to kill me, and so I killed him too. Someone else took his place and I report to him instead. I wouldn’t necessarily say this particular decision will block out any other decision for me in the future. But then maybe this isn’t meant to be that kind of decision at all, and with a game this big I haven’t explored all the stories and so I can’t answer that. The biggest contrast though would be in lightside and darkside options, I think, if a significantly different experience is what you after. But then again, if you want a significantly difference experience, you might as well play a different class with a different combat mechanic and playstyle.

24-Apr-2012 10:19:51 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2012 10:23:37 by Englishkid62

Englishkid62

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Also, about the invite thing, I think it may only work on mail accounts that have not been registered on the site. If it has, they’re likely to have sent you a 7-day trial already and thus I can*t send invites to mail accounts that are already registered. So, check whether they have sent you an invite, whether it has expired, whether your mail account is registered with the official website, and then I’ll send you and invite…

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

24-Apr-2012 10:20:19

Chuk

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I played a couple hours worth of Beta back in November, so I know I have a registered email. I'll search through my inbox and see if there is that sort of promotion later on. Thanks for bringing it up.

25-Apr-2012 09:52:53