tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post7489675760637243748..comments2024-03-28T10:18:05.213+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: SW:TOR First Impressions: Story, Narrative and ChoiceBhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-67495237031215902292019-04-23T12:53:15.947+01:002019-04-23T12:53:15.947+01:00You know, for all its legit problems, especially w...You know, for all its legit problems, especially with impatient pugs, I really find myself missing the way cut scenes work for groups in SWTOR when playing through story content in other MMOs because it serves one important purpose: It makes sure that everyone in the group is on the same page about what's happening.<br /><br />I just spent the last weekend doing two zones worth of quests in ESO with my husband. From what I remember from the early reviews, launch was a real mess for people playing that game in groups because of phasing issues. Those seem to have largely been fixed, but progressing through many story-focused quests as a group is still a pain because the well-intentioned idea of quest credit being shared among all group members turns into a hot mess when it means that your NPC friend suddenly runs off or outright disappears while you were only halfway through reading their dialogue. And it doesn't matter how well-intentioned your co-questers are, because you simply don't always know when clicking through to the next bit will suddenly trigger an action as opposed to just showing more dialogue.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-70533544697884385962019-04-23T09:41:06.956+01:002019-04-23T09:41:06.956+01:00I think that 'waiting for other players'-t...I think that 'waiting for other players'-thing, aka 'press SPACE, press SPACE already!!', is indeed the reason why the system didn't get much praise overall.<br /><br />I don't want to sound like a bittervet, but the total lack of patience and relaxedness (is that a word...?) of at least 90% of strangers I played with during the last couple of years is the main reason why I don't want to play with strangers at all anymore. I just can't stand it.<br /><br />Now, it sure could be argued that implementing such a system in an MMORPG was a questionable decision in any case. Some people read much faster than others after all, so even if everyone's patient and relaxed, the faster folks will always have to wait a bit for the dialogue to continue, which of course makes the whole thing feel unnatural.<br /><br />Still, when were were playing with friends, guildies or just by ourselves we always found this system to be pretty special and all around great.<br /><br />Maybe you could convince Mrs. Bhagpuss to give the game a try? ;-)Mailvaltarhttp://mailvaltar.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-12966982779584098462019-04-23T09:06:50.657+01:002019-04-23T09:06:50.657+01:00That's the first time I've heard any menti...That's the first time I've heard any mention of different voice acting or dialog for cut scenes featuring multiple players. The only mention on watching cut scenes while grouped that I've ever seen have been the usual complaints about some people wanting to click through them while others wanted to watch. I might have to look into that; it sounds like something that should have had a lot more publicity.<br /><br />I think the Hat thing may be getting a tad over-hyped. I am going to post about this morning but there's not much to say!<br /><br />Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-62088435921527977062019-04-23T08:50:27.296+01:002019-04-23T08:50:27.296+01:00The dialogues are TOR's absolute strong side a...The dialogues are TOR's absolute strong side as far as I'm concerned. I liked that aspect of the game very much, for the reasons you stated.<br /><br />I know you prefer to play solo (as do I), but in this case you're really missing out. That whole cutscene- and dialogue-thing is cranked up to 11 when there's more than one player in the party. It's so well done, I haven't seen anything like it in any other game ever.<br />We used to play with two RL friends every now and then; I have countless screenshots of the four of us starring in cutscenes, it's glorious. We used to call ourselves the A-Team.<br /><br />Now do your post about the hat please, I'll wait.Mailvaltarhttp://mailvaltar.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-28267444684803933802019-04-22T19:42:49.364+01:002019-04-22T19:42:49.364+01:00Even as I was appreciating the gnomic vagueness of...Even as I was appreciating the gnomic vagueness of the options I was very aware they would drive some people to distraction. I thrive on not knowing what's going on. I do like to find out eventually but my ideal TV or comics series are the kind where you watch 22 episodes or read a couple of dozen issues and by the end you have less idea what's going on than when you started. Don't get nearly enough of that in MMOs for my taste although back in the old days it was a lot more common, if only because we didn't get canned narrative, just distributed lore.<br /><br />Talking of not knowing what's going on, my time in TOR so far has been unusual in that I have yet to look up anything at all. Doing these posts has given me a lot of very helpful tips and pointers in the comments, for which I'm very grateful, but as far as specifics go I know only what I see in game. Your explanation above tells me an awful lot about the way both the Dark/Light system and Companion Influence work and I'm a bit surprised to find both of them are mostly window dressing. I was anticipating some kind of practical outcome for the choices I've been making. I guess I've been wrong to think of them as "meaningful" at all.<br /><br />My plan at the moment is to get this character to 50 without actively researching anything. Then I will do my normal due diligence and read a whole load of guides and wiki entries before I start another Class. I'm halfway through Level 31 now. Shouldn't take too much longer.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-50012120648660890382019-04-22T17:12:39.442+01:002019-04-22T17:12:39.442+01:00It's funny how many -- not all, but a lot -- o...It's funny how many -- not all, but a lot -- of the things you praise about the story are things I dislike about it, like the vagueness of the dialogue wheel. Interestingly, though, the way you say you feel about your character -- as something external, like a character in a book -- is how I feel about all my video game characters, always. Probably some interesting lesson to take from that, though it escapes me at the moment.<br /><br />As Shintar pointed out, the kind of personality management you dread doesn't appear until the Knights of ___ expansions, and even then it's much tamer than in, say, Dragon Age.<br /><br />In the base game, there's literally nothing you can do to make a companion dislike you so much they abandon you (believe me, I've tried). They also rarely interact with each other, and when they do it generally doesn't require you to pick sides or mediate their disputes. <br /><br />It's worth noting that Influence only affects their combat prowess and not the story. So they'll like you just as much regardless of whether or not you shower them with gifts or otherwise curry their favour. You also can't lose Influence with them. Disapproving of your choices just rewards less Influence than when they approve. In actual fact, from a meta-game perspective the worst thing you can do is take actions your companion has no opinion on, because that's the only thing that doesn't award Influence.<br /><br />In case you haven't already figured it out, I should also point out the Light/Dark points are pretty much pure fluff. What little rewards they do offer tend to be purely cosmetic. Basically Light Side versus Dark Side boils down to "do I want red or blue armour."<br /><br />Furthermore, under the new system your character chooses their allegiance to one or the other (and I believe you're set to one by default from character creation, though it can be changed), and you earn Light or Dark points based on your allegiance from every mission. The points you get from story choices are fairly trivial by comparison, so if you want you could make all Dark choices and still be a Light character and vice versa.<br /><br />Finally, I agree you probably picked a good class in smuggler to start out with. Sounds like a good match for your tastes. Sith warrior can also have a similarly light and pulpy feel if you make the right choices. I maintain one of the most delightful things you can do in this game is play a Light Side warrior, take Vette as your companion, and pick all snarky dialogue options. You're the perfect wise-ass chaotic good hero.Tyler Edwardshttps://superior-realities.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-76031709446372427132019-04-22T13:37:25.479+01:002019-04-22T13:37:25.479+01:00Yes, I was very aware of the Jedi problem when I c...Yes, I was very aware of the Jedi problem when I chose my class. Jedi are unbearable in the movies so I can't imagine they're any better here. I was hoping for Han Solo, a world-weary cynic with a conscience that hasn't quite atrophied and that's pretty much what I got. <br /><br />I can't help notice that, as usual, I'm slowly turning into The Littlest Hobo, though. I blow into town, trot up to anyone willing to pat me on the head and toss me a bone, run around for a while pulling kittens out of wells and somehow helping Pa save the farm, then I wag my tail one last time and head off for the horizon. Every MMORPG ever. No different here.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-33154203615469811482019-04-22T13:02:48.466+01:002019-04-22T13:02:48.466+01:00Love the hat. Looking forward to reading more abou...Love the hat. Looking forward to reading more about the hat.<br /><br />Knights of the Fallen Empire has some of those post-battle debriefings where people complain about your choices and storm off in hissy fits (just like the good old days indeed), but before that you should be fine.<br /><br />Reading your thoughts on the writing and dialogue, I think it's very fortuitous that you chose a smuggler as your first character. While the generic quest givers are the same for everyone, Force users and their ilk have a habit of being considerably more flowery in their language. Jedi waffle on and on about how the Force is with them, while Sith take unexpected turns towards sounding like psychopaths when you choose the rude option by suddenly talking about wanting to bathe in people's blood.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.com