TOR Release Discussion Thread

I was having a think on the way to work this evening (whilst avoiding skittish Deer and Rabbits on twisty country roads in the rain and the dark) about the release date for TOR and wondered what our plans were, either as individuals or as a guild.

A few interesting points present themselves, which I'd like to open here for discussion, here are 10 to start us off:

1. How important is it to us to all stay at roughly the same level and progress as a group, considering we are meant to be as much about Role-Playing as we are about leveling?

2. Do we wait until everyone has the game and try to do a co-ordinated Guild Launch? (I appreciate people will probably not all manage to get online at the same time, I was just meaning the same day..)

3. Seeing as there will technically be 2 guilds stemming from this one online community, are some of us going to start with Sith first and some with Republic? or do we all start on one faction then move onto the other?

4. If we do level and progress as a whole (I.E: All on one faction at a time) do we level (for example) all Sith character to level 10, then all Republic characters to level 10, and keep going like that? Or max out one faction then move onto the other?

5. Should we have definate preperations in place in case TOR does not allow cross-faction Chat? (people have spoken of Vent and X-Fire, but should we make some official choice?)

6. Are people interested in forming "levelling groups", people who level together, staying no more than a couple of levels apart from one another? (this allows for a well balanced group and avoids the use of PUGs ("Pick Up Groups") but requires a certain amount of dedication for players not to get too far ahead of one another.)

7. Would people be interested in forming sort sort of group guild fund (Fundraisers responsibility perhaps?) to pool excess or small amounts of in-game money into so that if the game allows us large expensive outlays (such as guild housing, mounts, other guild perks etc) we will be able to afford them as easily as possible? or would people prefer to be self-sufficiant and pay their own way?

8. Should we have dedicated Guild Crafters who people send the game's equivilent of recepies to, as well as raw materials for certain items so that the Crafter can not only increase their skill quickly, but also offer discounted goods for guild members due to not having to purchase most of the mats?

9. Should we start to think and chat about the possibility of two seperate "In-game Head Quarters", one for the Sith side and one for the Republic side? or is that something people would want to avoid?

10. Should we start considering the forming of groups (once the last few classes have been confirmed) to make sure we have a few small groups who have all bases covered? This should hopefully lend toward minimising raid-class-holes later in the levels (if TOR has such a thing as raids).


This is all speculative at this point as much of this we cannot answer for sure until we have more solid game information. I'd very much like to know people's thoughts on these (or any other matters that will crop up at the launch of TOR) anyway, as I think discussing them well in advance will give us a good idea of what people expect of the game and the way they would like their TOR experience to go.

So who thinks what?

(please feel free to add more questions if you can think of others beyond these 10)

Aaarrgh! I've written and rewritten the start of this reply too many times so I'm just going to offer a rambling brain-dump. Hopefully you'll all be able to drag some sense out of it!

For me this game is all about the roleplay. I'm looking forward to playing not just one character, or even one Republic and one Empire, but trying out the experience each class has to offer. So at launch I'm going to get in there as soon as possible and create my eight characters (top-tip: do this early for whichever classes you think you'll like to ensure your toons all get the name you want for them!). Therefore I think the first couple of days of play will see me settling into the game, oooo-ing and aaaahhh-ing and (game allowing) the odd early meet-up with those of you whose characters are in the vicinity of my preferred character. My smuggler will probably get most of my attention initially.
I'm not one for speed leveling my characters and I like to explore every nook and cranny and talk to every NPC in a game, trying to miss nothing and appreciating the difference between this patch of dirt here and that one over there (lol). I'll likely focus on one main for each faction (packing away the others to enjoy later) and try to level them equally.

I know from past conversations that some people are thinking of focusing on one character and playing him to the max. That's cool but I probably won't end up playing much with characters too far ahead in level than my own. In my experience it stops being fun when you're battling for your life against one foe next to someone who's felling bad guys (or good guys!) by the score and taking no damage. You quickly end up feeling redundant and I also like to feel I've earned my exp and drops or whatever.

So that's roughly where I stand. Some of the above questions are really difficult to answer with so little info but I'll try and give them all a quick answer:

1. To me, very.

2. No; I'm too impatient to wait and everyone will likely be too busy to pay much attention to each other anyway! lol

3. Free for all. People should be able to play their favorite class regardless of faction and what about the one-faction-only bods?

4. I'd like to see if we can balance out leveling across the guild. ie: no-one goes too far past (tbd) the average of the lowest 3 mains or something.

5. Yes; it's only sensible.

6. Yes yes yes!

7. Yes. I think that a small weekly donation to a guild pool is a great idea.

8. Difficult this one is. I need more info on crafting to be able to answer.

9. Perhaps 1 HQ with each faction getting a sort of safe-house?

10. I doubt it. People may end up feeling obliged to nurture a toon they're not that interested in playing.

How's that?

Red me ol' mucker you just filled me heart with joy.

Primarily because you make at least 1 other person in the guild who is gonna take it slow and enjoy playing the game rather than going:

Buy Game / Install / Unplug from life / Sleep (min) / LEVEL 100! BOOM! now for raiding...

I'm afraid I don't like power-levelling, I did that in wow and got from 1st level to 70 in 4 days. It was like watching a train coming right at me. Didn't enjoy it one jot.

REALLY glad you said you'd be up for levelling groups because I know I much prefer running around with ppl the same level as myself (not that I don't appreciate the help of higher levels occassionally, just when you come to rely on it for progression it gets a bit like you're just 'tagging along for the ride').

Its going to be awkward because if some players go ahead of others they'll be off raiding and not spending much time with the rest of the guild pretty quickly, which would be a shame. I personally want the best possible experience from TOR and that comes from doing the stories with you guys, fellow Agents of the E.P.O.C.H.

I'm obviously going to be concentrating on the Republic side at first, but I don't want to miss out playing with all the Sith peeps so I think I'll prob get Ree'tak (or whomever I'm allowed to play) up to a respectable level (say 20 - 25) before really giving Xen (or whomever Sithite I'm given the reins to) for a decent period of time.

I gotta head to bed in a sec so I'll answer the questions as best I can and then I'll probably leave another reply if I feel I need to.

1. How important is it to us to all stay at roughly the same level and progress as a group, considering we are meant to be as much about Role-Playing as we are about leveling?

Personally I would prefer this, but I can't see it happening. Some people just can't help but powerlevel, which is fine as they're paying for the game and it's their right. What concerns me the most is that the people that are one faction only are going to be miles ahead from anyone else and I can guarantee that they'll be soloing a large percentage of the time.

2. Do we wait until everyone has the game and try to do a co-ordinated Guild Launch? (I appreciate people will probably not all manage to get online at the same time, I was just meaning the same day..)

If you mean all start playing at the same time then no. As soon as I get it it's going in my disc tray and then I'll be downloading clients, dumping the missus, quitting my job, telling all my mates to @%&# off, not sleeping, eating or washing and after all that I'll be living in a galaxy far, far away for quite some time.

3. Seeing as there will technically be 2 guilds stemming from this one online community, are some of us going to start with Sith first and some with Republic? or do we all start on one faction then move onto the other?

Personally I think what we should do is play each faction on a rota. So one week Sith and the next Republic or vice versa. When we first get it in though then I think we should gain a few levels with our preferred class. Also it might be nice to start with some in-game introductory RP just to settle everyone in. Obviously by then we'll know each other characters well enough anyway from the RP on here but it never hurts to see it in live action.

4. If we do level and progress as a whole (I.E: All on one faction at a time) do we level (for example) all Sith character to level 10, then all Republic characters to level 10, and keep going like that? Or max out one faction then move onto the other?

I still think we should play it on a weekly rota, so everyone gets their fair share of time with their preferred main.

5. Should we have definate preperations in place in case TOR does not allow cross-faction Chat? (people have spoken of Vent and X-Fire, but should we make some official choice?)

I've been thinking about this. Do you think I should start a Vent or Teamspeak server? I mean I know BH has started one but I can't help but feel this is the guild leaders responsibilty. I'm actually more than happy to use what BH has done because a.) He knows what he's doing and b.) I don't have a friggin' clue how to set one up and I'm thick as Bantha PooDoo when it comes to these things.

6. Are people interested in forming "levelling groups", people who level together, staying no more than a couple of levels apart from one another? (this allows for a well balanced group and avoids the use of PUGs ("Pick Up Groups") but requires a certain amount of dedication for players not to get too far ahead of one another.)

I think we're thinking too far ahead for this one to be answered yet. After all this is a story driven MMO so who knows how the multiplayer works. It sure would be nice to have us all at the same level though cause then we'd gel really well as a unit when it comes to endgame.

7. Would people be interested in forming sort sort of group guild fund (Fundraisers responsibility perhaps?) to pool excess or small amounts of in-game money into so that if the game allows us large expensive outlays (such as guild housing, mounts, other guild perks etc) we will be able to afford them as easily as possible? or would people prefer to be self-sufficiant and pay their own way?

This will be a job role of one of the officers. We need someone to collect and keep track of who has payed what. To be honest this will only really come into play if theres things like player housing and buying HQ's.

8. Should we have dedicated Guild Crafters who people send the game's equivilent of recepies to, as well as raw materials for certain items so that the Crafter can not only increase their skill quickly, but also offer discounted goods for guild members due to not having to purchase most of the mats?

Yes & No. It's a good system thats working for us well in LotRO and one that I always use in guilds. However dedicated crafters are a bad idea if you mean that specific crafter has to make everything for the guild and no else does anything. You get players who hate crafting which is fair enough and they'd rather have loot drops, but you also get the people who won't craft that expect everyone to make stuff for them. I'm not saying there are any of those here but I think crafting should be handled with a good amount of pre-planning.

9. Should we start to think and chat about the possibility of two seperate "In-game Head Quarters", one for the Sith side and one for the Republic side? or is that something people would want to avoid?

I want a HQ for both personally but it is a bit early to chat about it as we don't even know if player housing is in.

10. Should we start considering the forming of groups (once the last few classes have been confirmed) to make sure we have a few small groups who have all bases covered? This should hopefully lend toward minimising raid-class-holes later in the levels (if TOR has such a thing as raids).

Not sure about this. It would be nice if people chose different classes but everyone has the right to play what they most feel comfortable with. The toughest one of these of course is the Jedi. Not may want to play this class and if it is the only melee class then the Republic side are gonna be pretty screwed as only one of our members has any intention of playing one, or at least I think thats the case.

I'm against restricting how much people can level up unless it is blatant power levelling.

Artekus wrote:

I'm against restricting how much people can level up unless it is blatant power levelling.

Sorry if it seemed like "Restricting", thats not what I was implying, I was just meaning that as an RP guild it would good if we all roughly "stuck together" so we don't have 1/3 of the guild at low levels, 1/3 at the middle range and 1/3 off raiding at top end with nobody talking to each other.

It woud kick seven shades of crap out of group dynamics if that happened.

Iam also againt forbid members to level. All members must be allowd to lv so fast that members want.

Lunarwolf wrote:

Artekus wrote:

I'm against restricting how much people can level up unless it is blatant power levelling.

Sorry if it seemed like "Restricting", thats not what I was implying, I was just meaning that as an RP guild it would good if we all roughly "stuck together" so we don't have 1/3 of the guild at low levels, 1/3 at the middle range and 1/3 off raiding at top end with nobody talking to each other.

It woud kick seven shades of crap out of group dynamics if that happened.

I'm all for that.

Lord_Nord wrote:

Iam also againt forbid members to level. All members must be allowd to lv so fast that members want.

I'm with the Levelator with this one

also I'd prefer to have a Alt day not a Alt week as I love my mains too much to be apart for a whole week (example Graylock)

Aye I'm pretty sure LW wasn't suggesting that people have a limit to how much they level cause that would be a bit silly, but what he's trying to get at is that it would be nice if we stuck together through the levelling process. There are more positive reasons than negative reasons why this could work. Firstly as we've already mentioned we'd all become very used to each others playstyles whilst effectively would make us better at working as a team for the more difficult challenges that the game may offer. Secondly it would really help every single member grow as a roleplayer if we're roleplaying around each other all the time, plus this is exactly what our characters would do. I totally understand if people wanna solo every now and again cause some days I feel a bit antisocial and I wanna do the same, but if peopel go off powrlevelling then I personally think they'll be shooting themselves in the foot, but heh thats just my opinion.

As I've said before in the past the only thing I will be strict on in this guild is behaviour and of course roleplaying plus I will be keeping an eye out on whos fitting in well. Aside from that I don't think anyone would dream of telling you how to play the game.

As I've said before I'll help the lower level people out (for a few Credits) But I'll be happy with what ever you guys decide

I will also help lower level people our guild for free and other will pay some credit

I think I'm the worlds slowest leveler. Gaining level is really not a big interest for me. I do it because it's part of the game and I need to to have access to better looking items and progress through the game. How long it takes me to get there doesn't interest me. I love to take my time, find new places and explore the world. I can spend hours in a new place just looking about and chatting to NPC's and other players. I have played many MMO's, but have rarely got to the max level.

I've answered the questions below, but I haven't read anyone's replys yet, so sorry if I repeat stuff others have said.

1. It would be great if we did all stay at around the same level, but I can't honestly see this happening.

2. Allsorts of things go wrong at the launch of MMO's. Also we have no idea what is required to create a guild, or do we? Maybe if we wait a few days after the release and then try and do a meet up to create the guild. Give people time to get things ironed out?

3. I'll be starting both my characters at the same time, but I'l level my Republic character up a few levels first and then work on my Sith character.

4. I think it would be best to let each player level their characters in what order they want. I know I'll be trying to level them both up as equally as possible.

5. I don't think it would hurt. I doubt I'll be using any kind of voice comms though.

6. That would also be nice if we could stick to it, but I'd have to opt out as I level far to slow for most people and they would just get fed up of waiting for me to catch up.

7. I'm all for giving to the guild. I have done in all other MMO's I've played, be it with items or money. I don't think it's wise to push a sort of guild tax though. It should be voluntary.

8. I think it best just to list the guild crafters on the forum and maybe have a section where crafters can ask for donations of items they require to level.

9. Unless we can play both faction on the same server, we won't have much choice would we?

10. Not sure on this one. I'm not keen on being placed in groups like this. I had it in another guild and wasn't too keen.

This is really interesting. I wonder how the remaining members will reply (if they reply)? Of course there's no way to know how well the guild will work together until we're playing but getting an insight into people's play styles like this gives us some clues.

I whole-heartedly agree that level restrictions shouldn't be placed on members, and though that wasn't perhaps suggested it's a good point to bring up to make sure we're all clear on. But as for "levelling groups" as discussed in Dubz's question 6, it looks likely from the comments people have made that this will occur naturally (which thinking about it is pretty inevitable).

The only worry I have at this point is the possibility of reading spoilers back here! Can we all sign a declaration or something promising not to give away any momentous plot twists please?? lol

Sorry to double post, but I've just seen this:

Tando on his Wiki wrote:

Companion(s): Whoever Pays the most

I guess I won't be keeping company with Mr Alums much if I want to save up for my own starship!

1. How important is it to us to all stay at roughly the same level and progress as a group, considering we are meant to be as much about Role-Playing as we are about leveling?

Quite important, though we should allow some flexibility. 5 levels away from the average is a good number though if someone lags behind, we'll wait (though not forever mind, we all still need to play too). However, as we mostly roleplay, this won't be a large problem.

2. Do we wait until everyone has the game and try to do a co-ordinated Guild Launch? (I appreciate people will probably not all manage to get online at the same time, I was just meaning the same day..)

There is almost no chance that everyone will get the game at the same date and it's important that everyone is there. EPOCH is not about the guild but the people in it (at least from were I'm standing). However, if someone is going to get it 5 months away from the rest of us then it's obvious that we shouldn't wait, but that's a dire circumstance).

3. Seeing as there will technically be 2 guilds stemming from this one online community, are some of us going to start with Sith first and some with Republic? or do we all start on one faction then move onto the other?

I say kick start at the same time. There will be some of us who play one factions only and so what I suggest is that we make things very flexible and allow people to play on any faction on any day. However, important events may require people being pulled to one side.

4. If we do level and progress as a whole (I.E: All on one faction at a time) do we level (for example) all Sith character to level 10, then all Republic characters to level 10, and keep going like that? Or max out one faction then move onto the other?

I say make things even if this is the case, though I think you're assuming everyone will play cross-faction. I certainly won't (at least for a while) so Skursir will be my main focus, as such, while everyone else is leveling their alt I'll have to be tied down. I don't think this is right and other mono-faction people will probably agree.

5. Should we have definate preperations in place in case TOR does not allow cross-faction Chat? (people have spoken of Vent and X-Fire, but should we make some official choice?)

I hate Vent and although X-Fire sounds interesting, I'd prefer we just stick to normal chat. Besides, I doubt that Bioware will make a faction barrier.

6. Are people interested in forming "levelling groups", people who level together, staying no more than a couple of levels apart from one another? (this allows for a well balanced group and avoids the use of PUGs ("Pick Up Groups") but requires a certain amount of dedication for players not to get too far ahead of one another.)

This won't work. Many people will be offline or have other things to do at the time so these groups will lose valuable people unless specific dates are made, even then, people may not come. I suggest just focusing on inter-guild PUGs to make things easier and much more fluid.

7. Would people be interested in forming sort sort of group guild fund (Fundraisers responsibility perhaps?) to pool excess or small amounts of in-game money into so that if the game allows us large expensive outlays (such as guild housing, mounts, other guild perks etc) we will be able to afford them as easily as possible? or would people prefer to be self-sufficiant and pay their own way?

As Sureshot has said, there is an officer that will be in charge of this (it was also stated in the officer jobs section). But this is an important matter (just not yet).

8. Should we have dedicated Guild Crafters who people send the game's equivilent of recepies to, as well as raw materials for certain items so that the Crafter can not only increase their skill quickly, but also offer discounted goods for guild members due to not having to purchase most of the mats?

Like the GTC, it may help to have some dedicated crafters to not only help the guild but to stimulate this new Black Market/Smuggling section that Sureshot has pulled out of his hat. Still, it's up to debate and if not enough people become crafters then this idea will go to dust.

9. Should we start to think and chat about the possibility of two seperate "In-game Head Quarters", one for the Sith side and one for the Republic side? or is that something people would want to avoid?

I'd prefer a single HQ to keep the guild together. Seperate HQs would split the guild and may cause problems. Also, much more RP will be gained from having everyone in one spot (such as the Black Heart and Skursir tensions).

10. Should we start considering the forming of groups (once the last few classes have been confirmed) to make sure we have a few small groups who have all bases covered? This should hopefully lend toward minimising raid-class-holes later in the levels (if TOR has such a thing as raids).

Similar idea. Make a list once all the classes have been announced and put the top 2 jobs that the character would do in that list that would make distributing contracts better. Raid groups would also but good, but perhaps too early, especially at this stage. The smaller groups one isn't such a good idea though, I'd prefer my inter-guild PUG idea...

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6. Are people interested in forming "levelling groups", people who level together, staying no more than a couple of levels apart from one another? (this allows for a well balanced group and avoids the use of PUGs ("Pick Up Groups") but requires a certain amount of dedication for players not to get too far ahead of one another.)

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This won't work. Many people will be offline or have other things to do at the time so these groups will lose valuable people unless specific dates are made, even then, people may not come. I suggest just focusing on inter-guild PUGs to make things easier and much more fluid.

I've beg to differ on this one. I've done levelling groups before (and levelling partnerships where there are just two of you) and it works amazingly well, especially on RP-Servers. You do need dedicated people of course, and it helps to have the group small (no more than 4 people) so that you can keep in communication and work out days people will be on and such. Usually in this scenario there is never more than 5 levels between the highest and lowest levelled character too, so you always get to do the same instances / take on the biggest bosses together too. It forms a wicked community spirit.

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9. Should we start to think and chat about the possibility of two seperate "In-game Head Quarters", one for the Sith side and one for the Republic side? or is that something people would want to avoid?

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I'd prefer a single HQ to keep the guild together. Seperate HQs would split the guild and may cause problems. Also, much more RP will be gained from having everyone in one spot (such as the Black Heart and Skursir tensions).

A single HQ would be great, but its highly unlikely in game, unless BioWare allow neutral areas we can all hang out in. I was meaning one HQ for the Sith bods and another for the Republic ones - a kind of "base of operations" for both of the Factions, like Hutta for the Sith and Ord Mantell for the Republic. Out-Of-Game, our "headquarters" would be Coruscant anyway, as thats where the Falleen is meant to be based.

1. How important is it to us to all stay at roughly the same level and progress as a group, considering we are meant to be as much about Role-Playing as we are about leveling?

This is what annoys me a bit I what to focus on my bounty hunter but also have a Republic alt that is a similar level to Rep guys so it would be great but unlikly.
Leveling quickly may be a problem if the entire thing is story driven then you may find yourself leveling without grinding and just enjoying the game ?

2. Do we wait until everyone has the game and try to do a co-ordinated Guild Launch? (I appreciate people will probably not all manage to get online at the same time, I was just meaning the same day..)

I think to meet from the release date would be too hopeful but I'd like a Guild luanch day were we all meet up We could do a Swolen shack type Rp event on the first week, everyone gather as a guild IC Creed giving a welcome maybe cause a scene

3. Seeing as there will technically be 2 guilds stemming from this one online community, are some of us going to start with Sith first and some with Republic? or do we all start on one faction then move onto the other?

We could, it would be more fun in roleplay having everyone on the same side playing together but i'm not sure who else would go for it, i like Sureshots idea of a alternative week system.
One thing I thought of is if our allied guilds are Sith Republic sides only and we're alternating then they're going to level faster than us (probably) so we may start to lag behind them and not take part in raids etc due to the level difference, just a thought.

4. If we do level and progress as a whole (I.E: All on one faction at a time) do we level (for example) all Sith character to level 10, then all Republic characters to level 10, and keep going like that? Or max out one faction then move onto the other?

Same as above

5. Should we have definate preperations in place in case TOR does not allow cross-faction Chat? (people have spoken of Vent and X-Fire, but should we make some official choice?)

I don't think its important just yet.

6. Are people interested in forming "levelling groups", people who level together, staying no more than a couple of levels apart from one another? (this allows for a well balanced group and avoids the use of PUGs ("Pick Up Groups") but requires a certain amount of dedication for players not to get too far ahead of one another.)

Yeah

7. Would people be interested in forming sort sort of group guild fund (Fundraisers responsibility perhaps?) to pool excess or small amounts of in-game money into so that if the game allows us large expensive outlays (such as guild housing, mounts, other guild perks etc) we will be able to afford them as easily as possible? or would people prefer to be self-sufficiant and pay their own way?

Definatly, as long as there was some way to keep it fair, last guild I was in would be buying armour for the tank stuff for the healer for raids etc and although it was good for the guild they never paid the money back nor did anyone alse benifit.
If we can get guild house's I'd definatly contribute or craft designs that can be used for the guild

8. Should we have dedicated Guild Crafters who people send the game's equivilent of recepies to, as well as raw materials for certain items so that the Crafter can not only increase their skill quickly, but also offer discounted goods for guild members due to not having to purchase most of the mats?

Not sure .

9. Should we start to think and chat about the possibility of two seperate "In-game Head Quarters", one for the Sith side and one for the Republic side? or is that something people would want to avoid?

Think I've said 3 would be a good number, 1 on each faction and 1 main neutral one for us all would make sense

10. Should we start considering the forming of groups (once the last few classes have been confirmed) to make sure we have a few small groups who have all bases covered? This should hopefully lend toward minimising raid-class-holes later in the levels (if TOR has such a thing as raids).

Yup