E3 News Discussion Thread (Update 15/6/10)

E3 2010: Star Wars: The Old Republic Hands-On

BioWare reveals even more information about their impressive first foray into the MMO scene, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Personal starships, character customization, PvP, and great riches lie ahead.

What we're talking about: Star Wars: The Old Republic, developed by BioWare and set during the Old Republic era first seen in the Knights of the Old Republic RPG on Xbox and PC. Oh, and it’s a massively multiplayer online game, too.

Where we saw it: E3 2010 in a quiet upstairs meeting room, directly above the main floor.
E3 2010: Star Wars: The Old Republic Hands-On

What you need to know:

* The newly announced player starships are rewards earned at later levels. They’re big, too – not quite Normandy SR-2 big, but about half-way there. They’re also customizable, but to what extent BioWare wouldn’t quite say. Starships boast several functions, too. Players can use them to plan missions, fiddle with their character’s gear and invite friends to show off a bit and -- well, it all sounds exceptionally like player housing with hyperdrive to me.

* The newly announced PvP Warzones focus on team vs. team and faction vs. faction battles. BioWare confirmed Alderaan – featured in the E3 2010 CG trailer – as a playable Warzone. Beyond this information, I wasn’t able to glean or question for more and it’s likely we’re not going to hear more until BioWare is fully ready to show it off.

* A short hands-off demo was put on for the press attending and it cleared up the topic of class roles. It would be easy to say that SWTOR is abiding to the classic combination of a healer, damage sponge and damage dealer class archetypes; inconveniently, the truth is slightly more complex. Yes, the Trooper is a “tank” -- except, it’s a high-tech, long-range tank toting a huge gun capable of smearing the battlefield with dark pockets of hot blaster death. All the classes have some kind of Star Wars twist that fits both the MMORPG setting and the license.

* With regards to the hands-off demo mentioned above, it also cleared up a grouping mechanic and co-op dialog selection. At the beginning of the demo, each BioWare employee moved their respective character into a glowing circle around a small area populated by two or three NPCs. While I wasn’t outright told, it seems that during these missions the whole group needed to be within that circle before everything got underway. If true, it’s the perfect way to prevent one person from accepting the mission before the entire party is ready. And, if one person is taking too long, it’s a safe assumption the party leader can simply kick them. As for dialog, well, each person chooses their own line – and it would seem the game acknowledges their responses individually. Again, this is unconfirmed observation, but the approach seems in line with what BioWare is attempting to achieve throughout SWTOR.

* It’s important to remember that each class has an Advanced Class to move into, morphing four class choices per side into eight, more or less. Even though a Jedi Consular can level-up into the healing specialization, there’s at least one other completely alternate choice, too. Currently there’s no word on the specifics of these choices, because BioWare is likely to start announcing them in the coming months.

* I was able to play two classes. Being all about powerful sniper blasters and undercover spy themes, my first choice was the Imperial Agent. Think of a “rogue” class with a high-powered rifle instead of daggers. If you’ve played any of the Mass Effect games with sniper rifles it feels closer to that kind of experience minus the twitchy shooter element. Your primary ability here is using the cover skill to increase your dodge. As a rule, if something seems like it could be used as cover, in SWTOR, it can. Once you’ve taken position, the cover skill flips to a “snipe” attack that’s incredibly deadly, yet risky. In the few seconds your character lines up the shot, enemies have free reign to introduce your face to molten hot face-laser.

* My second experience was with the Sith Inquisitor, and it became immediately apparent that the tone and story for this class was entirely different from the Imperial Agent. Assuming that BioWare does create enough content to take a player from level one to max, it may not be complete hyperbole to say SWTOR delivers sequel upon sequel to Knights of the Old Republic. Play-wise, the Sith Inquisitor is a support class that does very well at range and so-so in melee combat. It felt like being a cross between a warrior and an evil wizard, which nails the Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious vibe perfectly.

* Zones feel both horizontally and vertically enormous. Rest assured that upon exploring the world, I instantly felt like this was a huge MMO – I even saw what I assumed to be fellow E3 attendees wandering to and fro.

* Quest Areas (or whatever they’re eventually, officially, named) are a simple but genre-changing feature. When I moved into either a building or in the case of social hubs -- like cantinas – specific parts of buildings, I passed through a mostly-transparent green field. Upon speaking to a member of BioWare, my suspicions were confirmed: these are separate super-mini instances for the express purpose of maintaining a singleplayer atmosphere free of other people looking to perform emotes while you’re trying to have a conversation about great riches with a Hutt. The magic here is that Quest Areas have absolutely no load time, none. Even better: party members always have the option of joining your Quest Area or entering their own.

Open the zone map while standing still and you’re treated to a very Star Wars-themed window – as is the case for every type of information window I pulled up. Open that map up with auto-running, however, and it’ll appear semi-transparent. It’s a nice little touch that only an experienced and insightful MMO team could create.

E3 2010: Star Wars: The Old Republic Hands-On

Point in development cycle: It’s no secret that SWTOR has been in development for several years. Right now the projected release is still spring 2011.

My take: If you were to ask an MMO fan to make a wish list of features for SWTOR, at this point BioWare has probably marked off far more of those features than not. Pleasing everyone is an unobtainable goal – someone will have grief with one matter or another. So it’s with great weight that I say BioWare stands a reasonable chance to please most. Player housing, personal space travel of some kind and large-scale PvP are all things I’ve consistently heard requested by SWTOR forum-goers and edge fans alike. The focus on modular play – allowing players to remain solo or easily jump into a cooperative party, and the instant-switch Quest Zones – exhibits a kind of RPG and MMO mastery that is rarely seen in our industry. We’re still nearly a year away from the potential launch. As such, BioWare still has a lot to prove to the now-attentive audience of Star Wars and MMO fans – especially after the claim of KOTOR 3, 4, 5, 6, etc back with the official announcement of the game. Yet, shockingly, every new wave of information seems to further confirm that BioWare wasn’t filling our heads with hot air.