SWTOR: Patch 1.2 Test Impressions

TLDR: Patch 1.2 felt like the second release date of Star Wars The Old Republic. While the core mechanics of the game haven't changed, it's the many small things that did makes the game feel new again. 


While 1.7 million subscribers would indicate the game is far from a failure, Star Wars The Old Republic has not been without it's major problems. A good chunk of these problems were in the end game and Bioware seemed surprised that so many people would hit 50 in such a short time, much less be finished with end game content. While the debate can go on that it's the player's fault for rushing through the game, it doesn't excuse released content that really isn't all there. 


The complete changes for patch 1.2 is just very massive. Without a level 50 on the test server, I could not reliably say anything about the end game changes and really, there is just too much content to cover. But with pretty much every change, you cannot shake the thinking that they should have been available at launch. 


Interface Editor

So many boxes.....

Probably one of the biggest criticisms about the game is the lack of movable user interface elements. Or even more interface options for that matter. At launch, the game only has 4 action bars, only 2 of which are on the center and easily seen. With all the abilities that I have keybindings for, I had to use the side bars and looking over at them is just not ideal in a PvP situation. 


Patch 1.2 makes up for it by not giving you more action bars, but by making almost every UI element modifiable. Each individual item can be re-sized, enabled, and have it's opacity changed. Settings are also saved into an XML file so they can be easily shared. A bit of a crafty method of not needing any third party mods. 


Bioware also moved the raid frame editor to the interface editor, which is a good move. This allows some better control for the window without cluttering the already cluttered preferences screen. 


I easily spent almost an hour just messing around with the UI and I am not even at the point of being really content with my choices. I found something usable for now and will see how it all works later on. 


Somewhat Improved Galactic Trade Network

No, it doesn't quite look like much has changed, but it does have one very important tweak. You can search by name without selecting a category. Yes, they finally made the trade network work as it should have, and it only took 4 months. No, I'm not bitter. Well, maybe a little. Modable gear now has its own category too so it will make it much easier to find them. Sadly, there was nothing for me to find at the time I was typing this up. 


New Gear...Which Still Looks Like Crap


Behold the new tier of Sith Assassin PvE gear!

Well, at least the skirt is gone...

Now I'm not the most artistic person in the world. Heck, I have trouble drawing a box, let alone designing my own clothes, but I've never been happy with how most gear looks in this game. I mean, yes, the skirt is gone, but what is the deal with those....hook....thingies? 


Luckily, all mods can be removed from the gear pieces and added on to other modable gear. This includes the armoring, which transfers the set bonus. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a level 50 transferred so I could not test it out and get more details. 


Still, the additional tier of gear will help out end game raiders by keeping progression in the game. Having all three end game tiers in 2 really easy operations allowed the upper echelon to get their gear too quickly. Its like having the carrot on so short a stick that the horse was able to reach it by sticking out it's tongue. 


These were just a couple of major changes to the game and this made me decide to play on the test server to find everything else.


Highlights and Small Changes

• Sprint at level 1! Some may wonder why bother having Sprint at all. There are some puzzles/datacrons that are not possible to reach when Sprint is on, so this makes sense as an ability for now. 
• When I started playing, there were 149 people on Korriban, and that number did not go down appreciably as I left for the fleet. At the time of typing this up, there are over a hundred people on Drommund Kaas. It's like beta all over again. 
• Winning PvP is more important now and the disparity of rewards between winning and losing is much larger. Winning a match gives additional medals so you can get 80-100 commendations winning a game vs just 20-40 by losing. 
• Pre-50 PvP weapons cost 900 warzone commendations. Ouch. 
• 40 Minute Hutbball match! No, that wasn't pleasant. It seemed that the game would not end until one side got 6 points. Was crazy though.
• The new Warzone was nice and intuitive. A more involving version of the Alderaan map. 

Mass Effect: On Stories and Endings

No, I have not played any Mass Effect game. No, I don't care about spoilers. I'm the kind of person who enjoys the experience even if the ending is known. To that end, I plan to get and play all three Mass Effect games in one continuous story. And no, there won't be any spoilers of any sort on this post. Perhaps this invalidates me from making an opinion on the matter, but there are more things than Mass Effect when it comes to storytelling.

For the past week since Mass Effect 3 released, I've been seeing tons of discontent over the ending. But I've also been seeing a lot of posts about people who really liked the ending. Then again, those that hate it are very vocal about it so they are the most heard. Of course, it doesn't bother me, but I am perplexed about the reactions.

I am familiar with the emotional investment in a story whether it is from a movie, book, or video game series. But I also realize that, no matter the medium, it really isn't OUR story. This becomes harder in video games, especially those with multiple endings, because the expectation is that we are playing through our own story. We are forging our character's path, whether it is to die a gruesome death or live a happy life with bunnies and rainbows.

But once again, it isn't our story. As much as we feel we are the writers of our character's destiny, that really isn't the case. Take the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Yes, there are some with good endings and some bad, but those are endings that are pre-chosen by the book's writers. They are what the authors thought would make sense based on your choices, and they may not make sense to you.

I know there are people who will try to get the "best possible ending" and it usually means a "happily ever after" situation and I suppose that is what people have learned to expect. From what i've been gathering from the internet, this was not the case for Mass Effect 3 and hence the uproar. Of course, this makes it very obvious that this matter is extremely subjective. What one thinks as the "best" may not be the "best" for others.

As an example, one of my favourite games is Dragon Age: Origins. From what I gathered, the "best ending" happens to be the "happily ever after" situation. Sure, there are some kinks, but people strived to get the ending where everyone is content and happy. No war, no disgruntled nations, peace throughout the land. But that never was the best ending for me. The best ending was one that made sense for the character.

I played a good guy, a city elf who fought knowing that he needed to do the right thing. He feels compassion, but it is not what drives him. His moral compass was set and decisions were made from that direction and nothing else. In the end, chaos still existed and his story ended the way it should have ended. Was it perfect? Not at all. But the ending brought closure to a character that I invested a good bit of emotion on and that was enough. Yes, there were parts of the ending I got that surprised me and made me feel a bit sorry for my choice, but I realized I would have made the choice no matter what with that character. I did play the Awakening DLC, but I didn't enjoy it as much because it wasn't about my character.

Perhaps that's the whole point of the rage. People did not get the closure they expected or wanted for their Shepard. They wanted the REAL ending. But what about those that were happy or satisfied with their endings? Won't a "real" ending just mess it up for them? For those people, there had been closure and, while maybe not 100% agreeable, it was proper. A "real" ending patch would mean their experiences are invalidated, closure suddenly removed.

Yes, it feels that those that really liked the endings are a minority, but is that really the case? one thing about the internet is that, usually, only the angry make their voices heard. There really aren't that many people who go online to just say "yeah, it was alright".

So if you felt wronged somehow by Mass Effect 3's ending, there is no need to feel that way because it is quite certain Bioware will release a DLC to help bring your proper closure. Perhaps the same way Fallout 3 did with it's Broken Steel DLC. This way, those who liked the current ending can opt not to get it while the rest can download it and (hopefully) get the best ending they wanted.

Still, I think it's high time we just accept that not everything will be tailored to our liking. Not everything will have what we want and not everyone can be happy at the same time. Take value in what the game has provided you the whole time you were playing it...and then move on.

SWTOR: Patch 1.1.5 Now Ilum Free

So there are quite a few changes in the most recent patch and most of them relate to PvP. After a night of trying it out, it left an overall positive impression on my increasingly cynical mind.

Ilum Dailies/Weeklies can be completed in Warzones.

I don't think anyone can see this as more than a stop-gap solution to the atrocity that is Ilum. As much as I've raged about Ilum, I always thought it had potential. I'm pretty sure Bioware thought the same way but it appears that the actual fix to the zone will take a long time.

Until then, both sides can get their daily and weekly rewards with ease. Each warzone game played counts as 3 Ilum objectives obtained, no matter if you end up winning or losing the game. That means 10 games a night and that gives a good chance of getting the daily warzone daily done as well...or at least getting something toward the warzone daily. Yes, I am being optimistic that people would get at least 1 win out of 10 games.

Champion and Battlemaster Gear from Warzone Commendations

Its not really that simple, but rather you are allowed to trade up your warzone commendations for the Battlemaster and Champion versions. Conversion is

1 Champion Commendation = 120 Warzone Commendations

1 Battlemaster Commendation = 1000 Warzone and 1000 Mercenary Commendations

This may seem a like a lot and I certainly balked at the rates when I first saw it. But then, Warzone Commendations wouldn't be the main source of Champion and Battlemaster gear. You'd still be relying on the bags from the weekly and daily quests. Puchasing the bags will also be more cost effective (7 Champion commendations = 840 Warzone Commendations while the bags are at an effective 7:800 ratio and adds in Centurion Commendations as well).

What this does is allow you to get that last commendation or two for that piece of gear if the weekly/daily bags fall short and you really want to get it now. It also softens the blow on bad losing streaks. While the numbers seem very unfavourable in such a case, it helps when the patch also has ....

Increased Commendation/Valor Rewards

Patch 1.1.5 introduced added rewards by earning medals, as well as new medals. Each medal (up to 4) gives 500 valor and 10 warzone commendations in addition to regular valor/commendation rewards for game due to overall medal count and if the game is a win or loss.

To put that into perspective, before the patch, a loss with 6 or so medals would net me just 700 or so valor and 30-40 commendations. Last night, I had a lot of losses, but never got less than 1800 valor and 60 commendations per match. Winning a game typically nets me 2500 valor and between 90-100 commendations. In just 10 games, I went from middle of rank 51 to hitting rank 53.

Another thing I noticed in my games is that, win or lose, more people seem to be trying harder. Now, I can't say for certain if it is just that small subset of people are actually trying or if the rewards are causing this, but it definitely made the games more fun. I didn't mind the losses as there were not that many certain loss situations. Even losing 4-0 in Huttball, our team tried to make a comeback, and that is where the fun is in a game.

Purchasable High End Crystals

I consider this a minor thing because it was stated that this will not last. The crystals are indeed powerful, with the highest level, beyond what artificers can currently make, going for 250k credits. not cheap, but certainly accessible for those who really want the stats. But the colour....oh the colour. The same hideous black/yellow from the first pre-order bonus gem. I'm glad I'm not at the point where I need to min/max anything so I plan to pass on this one.

Bioware has definitely been increasing confidence with the SWTOR gamers with their patches. While it can be argued that SWTOR should not have been in that rut so soon, the damage was done and its time to see what they do to get that excitement back into the game. News about patch 1.2 is indeed promising and potentially changes the game. If nothing else, it's something to keep us talking for a few more weeks.

Highlights

• Not related to changes, but an Alderaan win stolen right under the opponents. down over 100 points, with only a side turret, we managed to capture center and eak out a 5-0 win. The changes to the side speeders did make it more challenging to defend the side turret, but luckily, we were not easy to kill and kept them off the objective long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
• One of the more fun nights of PvP in a while. Sure, there were frustrating moments, but that's always been part of the fun.

Free Play: DC Universe Online

I've always been a fan of comics and I grew up reading the adventures of my favourite Marvel and DC heroes and I would be lying if I said I didn't make up my own superhero that could chum it up with Batman and Superman. I lost track of the stories at the time when I could not justify the spending on comic books, but I've never really lost love for the characters as I knew them. So when the superhero MMOs arrived, I, of all people, would have thought it would be easy to jump right in and start the adventures of my very own superhero. That didn't quite happen, but I realized it was the same reason I stopped buying comics - cost.

By the time I really heard of the superhero games, I was well into my adventures in World of Warcraft and quite satisfied. I could not justify the costs involved to try out another game, nor could I justify the time. But now a good number of games have gone free to play so half of that equation is no longer valid. While time is still tight, I would be able to try things out and thus the Free Play column is born.

For the record, I played DCUO primarily on the PS3 but I did get the PC version just to check out some of the differences. The game itself is not totally different across both platforms, but it is obvious that the game was made for the PS3 and ported over.

What's Free?

The base game is free to download and play and there are no level caps for free accounts. So you can theoretically play much of the game without paying a penny. Take note that this is a ~16GB game so watch your bandwidth if you have one of those limited cap internet plans.

With the free account, you also get only 2 character slots, which would not be a huge problem unless you are dedicated alt-aholic. DLCs are also paid for, typically around $10 each. I also did not find a way to respec for free, so if you are dead set in paying nothing for the game, you better be really sure about how you spend your skill points. You are also capped with how much money you can have, I'm not certain how much though.

The store purchases do not have any major impact to game play or balance, but things like respecs, name changes, etc., are things that you need to pay for. Again, nothing that will really make the scrooges feel they need to pay anything for.

Is it Fun?

In short, yes. My play sessions take around 30min to a couple of hours and I certainly did not feel I've been wasting time. With only 2 character slots, I did have to think really carefully about what I would like to have as a main character and use the other slot for experimenting.

Flying was also a lot of fun especially after hitting level 9 and getting a power that allows me to charge opponents from the air. I have yet to try the other movement modes (acrobatics/wallwalking and speed running).

While the game does appear to have some sandbox elements, there is not much variation from beating up a random thug. Then again, there is usually something every couple blocks - Metropolis appears to have an invasion at every corner - so you can just go around and do punchups when you feel like it.

You also don't die, well, not in the normal MMO sense. Once defeated, you can run away - meaning you spawn at certain spots. Friendlies can also revive you and it works well in groups. Yes, it is just a change of semantics, but it blends well with the genre. I mean, you don't see superheroes die all the time, and those that do stay dead...or wait a few years to be resurrected.

Anything Not So Good?

It does take a bit of getting used to for first time players. You can't click on anything and interactions are done through the generic "use" key. Context of they key will depend on what you are looking at so it ranges from picking up objects to talking to quest givers or random NPCs. No, you cannot pick up a random NPC and throw him.

The game is made for a console and it shows. Graphics appear outdated, but still blends nicely with the whole comic book feel. As mentioned earlier, the controls are clunky and ported over from the PS3 gamepad. You can remap keys on the PC, but being comfortable with the game specific keys will take time.

There is also the matter of the game making your background for you - particularly about how your character got powers. You can certainly fill in the backstory before then, but it takes away from the RP aspect of the game. Its not a major thing, but the part of my brain that likes roleplaying just died a little bit. There is that disconnect that the Exobytes giving Batman-like powers when Batman actually has no powers. Even for comic books, that little part just makes me scratch my head in confusion.

Overall....

Enjoyment of the game will be highly dependent on how much you like the genre. As a quick dash and play game, it certainly has a lot of fun elements. As far as free to play games are concerned, a mark of a good game is one where you feel it's actually worth spending money on it and DCUO fits very well there. I am actually considering getting the Green Lantern DLC, and that says a lot seeing that I planned to not spend any money at all when I first started playing.

Highlights

• Breakable objects! Yes, not everything is breakable, but fights actually having some effect on the environment just makes it feel more....super.
• No need to actually target something. Anything in the path of the attack gets hit. This means being able to hit more than one thing at a time if they are grouped up. Again, more comic book style gaming!
• Being knocked off the air. A weird thing to be a highlight, but some attacks can take you off your movement mode, and therefore, if flying, fall down several stories. Hitting the ground doesn't kill you and it does have a great effect.
• Actually beating Bane! My first "boss" encounter was with Grodd and he ran away after stunning myself and The Flash. I thought Bane would do the same thing, but I was glad to be able to capture him.

Guild Wars 2: Signed Up But Sighing

I admit it, this article's title is probably one of the dumbest I've ever come up with, but I'm leaving it there. Besides, it is fairly accurate about my attitute towards Guild Wars 2. It's a sigh of indifference.

I've seen nothing but praise for the game after the media's beta event, which really is more like a demo - something I will touch upon at a later date. And from the publicly available videos, the game does look absolutely fantastic. Everything does appear very fluid and the level of polish makes it appear that the game is ready for launch. So after all this great hype, why am I indifferent about the game?

I have to remember another great game I really liked but was indifferent before I tried it - RIFT. I knew nothing about the game or the developers and the screenshots, as high-res as they were, looked like they were from an asian or free to play game. Turns out I was wrong and enjoyed my beta experience enough to sub for a few months.

That is the exact same feeling with Guild Wars 2. I never played Guild Wars so I don't know anything about the game or the developers. I listen to or watch videos of podcasts and I cannot deny the enthusiasm of those that have played the first Guild Wars but I could not understand it. This will probably all change once I get my hands on the game, whether it be the beta of getting a copy at launch.

SWTOR: What Would Make Ilum Better?

I'm pretty sure that everyone is so tired of talking about Ilum. But for all the complaints and problems encountered, the zone has a lot of potential. As the game gets more level 50s willing to slug it out, improvements to Ilum will be needed sooner than later.

Tangible Rewards

Better known as "Why are we fighting for this place again?".

No, not talking about pets or gear, but anything that will make a visible impact to the players or gameplay. It doesn't even have to be overpowered either. The valor buff from taking control points is actually a good start and can benefit even small groups against a larger, less organized, horde. Having it also give bonuses to warzones was also a good idea.

There had been talk before of being able to access the rarest of rare materials from the zone based on who controls Ilum and that will be a huge bonus as well. As it stands though, full control cannot be maintained long enough for such a reward to be even useful.

Fleet Announcements/Monitors

One of my biggest frustrations with Ilum is that, when I get there, either nothing is happening or something interesting happened and it is already over. Timing is everything and with good timing/luck, you can get into exciting battles. Conversely, going to Ilum when nothing is happening can be mind-snappingly dull as you play arament carousel with 30 other people.

Being able to see if any action is happening on Ilum will definitely help bring in people. A quick check of a map or pvp monitor can indicate how many of each faction are in Ilum and if there is a fight going on. A fleet-wide chat can also allow players to send out a "call to arms" and notify people that a major battle is happening. But of course, that leads to the next improvement suggestion....

Instant or Faster Travel to Ilum

As it stands, getting to Ilum from the fleet requires the following steps:

1. Enter elevator to hangar
2. Enter ship
3. Fly to Ilum
4. Enter orbital station
5. Enter elevator in orbital station
6. Take shuttle down to Ilum
7. Take speeder to PvP zone

I cannot count the number of times when I heard about a good fight going on Ilum and seeing it finish just I arrive in the PvP area. Depending on how fast things load for you, it can take a good 5-10 minutes to get there from the fleet, for some people, perhaps more. If the fights are just starting, then there's still some good PvP to be had. But if you find out about the action near the tail end of the battle, then it would be too late and you may end up just doing some armament carousel.

A direct shuttle to the Ilum PvP area would do wonders to open up the zone and make PvP there more accessible. Having a system like this will allow fights to escalate quickly and last longer as more people start pouring in.

Granted, there can't always be battles in the zone as there definitely are other things to do, but having these improvements can make those that do happen truly epic...or at least, something positive to talk about.

RIFT: Not Quite the Return to Telara

Out of curiousity, I logged on to my RIFT account to check if it had been compramised. Luckily, all is good and I was also prompted to change the password to be more secure. Interestingly, I found that I had 3 days of play time left on my account even if there hadn't been any subscription info on there nor was there any email notice of that fact.  

Of course, I had to make sure it was legitimate so a quick search brought up info that Trion gave 3 days for former subscribers. Certainly a good way to get people back in the game and I applaud Trion for the initiative, though I did wish I had some info about it sooner. Just as well since I had been wondering about the changes since I last played. I was not there for the 1.5 and 1.6 patches. Come to think of it, I think I missed the 1.4 patch as well. I was always impressed by the game's graphics and soul system. I was less impressed with how obvious the grind was presented. Some gripes aside, it is a great game and at times, I forgot why I even quit.

Over the weekend, I remembered. It still is the great game from a few months back, but that's also the biggest problem. There simply was nothing for me to do. I tried out the Chronicles and got my behind handed to me on a platter in Greenscale's Blight. Hammerknell, on the other hand, was a very easy and quick Chronicle. I queued for a T2 dungeon and I got Abyssal Precipice and that has not changed either. I tried an Instant Adventure and got...well...something. The AA system was interesting, but also looked overwhelming considering I had only 3 days to play around with the game.

There simply was no incentive for me to advance any further. Perhaps if I had only lower levels or a new 50, I may have wanted to see more of the game. Granted, I haven't tried Ember Isle yet, but that's my point - I had no reason to do so.

MMORPGs rely completely on the carrot on the stick method of keeping their gamers' attention. But perception plays a key role here too and that carrot may not look quite as appealing to some than it does others.

In my case with RIFT, I do not raid. I don't have any intention to raid, and neither do I have any intention to PvP a lot. This leaves me with no reason to gear up or improve my character in any way. For most of the couple of hours I was online, I checked my bags and mail, as well as checked the auction house - which had fewer things in it than months ago.

RIFT is still a great looking game, but without friends, or a guild, or a good idea of what I want to do in the world of Telara, there is simply no reason to stay logged on. Perhaps one day I may return, but this free gameday weekend was just not it.

Highlights of the weekend:

• T2 dungeon queue popped for me as a DPS role - at 8am on a Saturday morning. Surprising but the run itself was pretty by-the-numbers.
• Instant Adventures brought me to Shimmersand with a chain of quests, but did not send me back when I left it. Leaving an instant adventure apparently just means leave raid and abandon quest.
• Accessibility of raid gear has improved. Still slow unless you run dungeons a lot. And like I said, there was no incentive to do so anyway.
• I realized I haven't tried the game since my graphics card upgrade. Everything looked GREAT!
• Mashing up to 3 macro buttons was not fun then, it certainly isn't fun now. But hey, it worked and the results were good.