BioWare explains two Sith in SWTOR

2011 WoW thats a long time to wait.

A long time to wait indeed. But, I still can't wait!

Still haven't heard an explanation as to why smugglers only work with the Republic and why Bounty Hunters will only work with the Sith, anyone who knows anything of SW lore knows that these sorts of people are loyal only to themselves and profit, not some arbitrary faction with its own agenda.

Other than that minor gripe, I'm quite looking forward to seeing more of this. I might be ready to try another MMO next year, depending on what you get for the sub price of course.

Well I'd rather have to wait until 2011 for a well-polished title build around a popular sci-fi franchise then go with a rush job with a popular sci-fi skin on top

@Murton:
http://ww w.swtor.com/news/article/200908...
http://ww w.swtor.com/news/bwblog/2009040...

edit: removed stupidity
edit2: fixed the link

ianegg: interesting reading, but doesn't explain in terms of lore why these iconic "characters" are swearing allegiance to a faction. When you're using an established franchise as your base it is how closely you follow the lore of that universe that makes or break your game, you need only look at SWG to see what damage a disregard for lore can do.

Taken from the bounty hunter article

"Which leads me to the third decision we made: No class would exist in both factions – at least at first. Each class gets its own story; no story content exists on both sides. If we did Bounty Hunters on both sides of the fence we’d have to write two different Bounty Hunter stories at the expense of a different class that was more iconic to the Republic. Was the idea of a Republic Bounty Hunter cool? Absolutely. But far less iconic than the Imperial aligned one and we had other Republic classes we wanted to get in there instead. At least for now… "

For me, developers should take a 'Valve' approach to releasing games. I.e, not done until it's bloody done.

I don't mind having to wait this long for HL2Ep3 as I have every faith that it's going to be utterly fantastic. If this was the case with most supposed AAA titles there would not be any need for patches a few days after release.

So, here's hoping they don't release SWOTR until it's ready to be, ahem, unleashed.

@Murton:
Maybe it's based on the player's storyline, where you'll get a strong reason to work for the Republic\Sith Empire as part of a linear path. It's probably part of focussing on faction-vs-faction and PVP warfare, ala WOW. Maybe there will be smuggler\bounty hunter NPCs who are unaligned at least.

The faction divide seems too solid, personally I think it needs more flexibility from the very start of the game. If actions and choices define your character and story through the game then why shouldn't you be able to start in the middle at least? I understand they couldn't be arsed writing extra stories for each class but in the end I think the strong emphasis on story and faction will make things way too linear.

Bounty Hunters SHOULD be neutral. If they work for one side more than the other they are a mercenary.

Okay, so by 2011 I'm going to need a PC that can play this game...better start saving! Then I can play the Lego MMO, too, hahah

@Murton. I've said the same thing here and other websites but thinking about it I think Bioware have missed a huge opportunity here. Smugglers and Bounty Hunters should have been a third faction like they were in Empire at War (the RTS), they could have been your neutral or morally ambiguous faction. It would have also been a brilliant opportunity to add a viewpoint that wasn't Jedi or Sith, they cold also add non-affiliated Force users (the guy from KOTOR) and really open the lore.

Gastrian: finally, someone who actually understands the difference between franchise lore and what the current devs says is going to happen.

The more I read about smugglers and bounty hunters the more I think to myself "Han would never do that" and "Boba Fett would never allow that" If we're saying these classes of people are iconic then surely their behaviour has to seem reasonable to the most iconic character of that class, and in these instances it just doesn't. Hopefully Bioware recognise this and come up with something truly great to explain it away, if not it won't be a huge deal but something that hardcore Star Wars fans will never fully accept.

@Murton.

I wrote this over on the Angry Joe website last September and was surprised not many others felt the same way -
[link url=http ://angryjoeshow.com/?p=5743&cpage=3#comments
]http://an gryjoeshow.com/?p=5743&cpage=3#...[/link]

I originally posted this on the That Guy With The Glasses website and Joe’s asked me to post it here (I feel so privileged )

Regarding Starwars and Star Trek going up against WoW, Eurogamer did a very good article on WoW’s impact on the MMO market and there are some decent comments. My personal favourite being the fact that market “disasters” like LOTRO and
WAR still have a larger player base then many of the pre-Wow success. You can read it here;
[link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/the-real-cataclysm -article
]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/the-re...[/link]

Also Penny-Arcade had a good reason why the Star Trek MMO may not be that steller
[link url=http://w ww.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/8/13/
]http://ww w.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/8...[/link]

About SWTOR? Well graphically I’m disappointed, KOTOR while an old engine seems to have more in keeping with the feel of the Star Wars universe than the stylised graphics. Prehaps Bioware should have just fine tuned it and added some new graphical features. It looks better than World of Warcraft and looks more like the movies than the current engine which looks more like Clone Wars. It already has a good range of character models and the engine is also stable and works with most hardwrae and software on the market.

Now with the other classes its important to note that Bioware have been given free reign over the story, its set in a period with next to no backstory, sort of like a forgotten time in the Star Wars universe and which will have no impact on whats already been written to happen later on so we could potentially see classes we’ve never known to exist.

What I still find confusing is why they felt the need to have these classes pre-set to an ideology and this to me is a flaw not just in this game but many other MMORPGS. For the sake of narrative you are being deprived the option of playing the game the way you want to play it and the classes seem a little bizzare in their placing.

Why are smugglers fighting for the Republic? Lets not beat around the bush, smugglers are pirates who work in the illegal trading of goods outside of Republic law. Does this sound like a good guy? If they did it legally within Republic guidlelines then they’d be called merchants. In the StarWars: Empire at War Forces of Corruption expansion smugglers were introduced as part of a third faction who were interested in wealth and power but it seems just because Han Solo was a smuggler and a hero, smugglers from then on were classed as “good guys”. Which in itself is quite bizzare, when we first meet Han Solo he is on the run from his crime lord boss for botching a smuggling run and ditching the cargo? Do we honestly believe that he was smuggling teddy bears and sweets to rebel orphans or was he more likely smuggling ilegal goods like weapons, drugs or even slaves (which makes the ditching of cargo even worse) as he was working for Jabba the Hutt. Even when he decides to “help” Luke and Obi-Wan he’s interested in the money and his own self-preservation and not the plight of the Rebel Alliance.

The same applies to Bounty Hunters. Just because Bobba Fett worked for Darth Vader and Jango Fett worked for Darth Sidious we are to assume they are bad guys? Lets look at this with some perspective, Jango Fett was hired by a senator, a legal ruling body of the Republic, to help in the creation of an army to protect the republic. Bobba Fett took a contract from the Empire, the new legal ruling body of the galaxy to track down fugitives linked to a terrorist organisation (heroes or not, as the saying goes one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist) and also to apprehend Han Solo, a smuggler who got caught doing illegal shipments who went on the run instead of paying his boss back.

Bounty Hunters are generally a semi-official form of “law enforcement” and the Republic is not run by Jedi it is protected by Jedi so if a senator put a bounty on a Sith Lord’s head why would a bounty hunter not take it and theoretically fight for the republic?.

Bioware is using screwed logic for its classes and I would have much prefered it if they came out with fewer classes, a Force user, a smuggler/merchant, a commando and a bounty hunter and gave them branching storylines which allowed you to chose your own destiny. Why should I start as a Sith when I can start as Padawan, learn the ways of the force, get seduced by the dark side, betray my master and follow the ways of the dark side under Darth Joe? And why do I have to chose between Jedi or Sith in the first place? Jolee Bindo didn’t.

This is what made KOTOR such a great game, morality wasn’t just black and white, it was a grey scale and your in game actions dictated your allegiance not your character roll. Even the much under-rated Jade Empire had a great take on the matter with its open and closed first iedologies. Closed first is ruthless but with temperment your strongest will survive attitude would create people who sre strong of will and body. The open first is the way of kindness and to protect those that can’t protect themselves but without restraint you would create a people who are solely dependant on you and could not survive without your assistance.

I did ramble on at the end but essentially I think the class system is wrong in this game, it restricts individualism and while my Bounty Hunters stat’s and appearance (unless there’s a single set of end game ubder gear and we all look the same in it) may be different to yours its the same character and its a character of Bioware’s creation not our own and drives a dagger through the heart of the RPG in MMORPG.