Star Wars: The Old Republic re-review

Time hasn't been kind to The Old Republic. It certainly doesn't feel like a game that came out last Christmas, even if at launch its technology and largely reskinned Warcraft mechanics were more a base for BioWare to flex its narrative muscles with than a big leap forward for massively multiplayer buy Guild Wars 2 gold games. Now, not even a year later, with the game recently turned free-to-play, going back to explore its worlds feels like archeology. Sometimes palaeontology. And the story that BioWare hoped to tell is unlikely to have a happy ending.

From launch, The Old Republic's key problem was that it was stuck serving two very different masters - the personal storylines it wanted everyone to focus on and the subscription fee whose dark shadow loomed over all. It offered narrative beats far beyond what any other MMO had dared, with a choice of eight different character classes, each with a unique, branching story. It then suffocated them with padding, slow levelling and an endless array of tedious stock quests that no amount of dialogue could jazz up. (You also had to spend a ridiculous amount of time running around to check in on people despite owning a bloody cellphone. That bugged me. Just saying.)

None of this has changed. What has, though, is that story is no longer an exciting novelty, while World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World have all surpassed The Old Republic's stilted dialogue, basic cinematography and forgettable characters. In Pandaria, phasing and scripting comes together for a more dynamic experience with a good sense of humour. Guild Wars 2 remembers that an MMO is expected to be a multiplayer experience first, layering its plotting and single-player content on top far more skilfully. The Secret World offers infinitely better writing. Yes, they all have issues, especially with pacing. They still trounce The Old Republic's attempts, rendering it drier than moondust.


By Richard Cobbett Published Monday, 26 November 2012

Time hasn't been kind to The Old Republic. It certainly doesn't feel like a game that came out last Christmas, even if at launch its technology and largely reskinned Warcraft mechanics were more a base for BioWare to flex its narrative muscles with than a big leap forward for massively multiplayer games. Now, not even a year later, with the game recently turned free-to-play, going back to explore its worlds feels like archeology. Sometimes palaeontology. And the story that BioWare hoped to tell is unlikely to have a happy ending.

From launch, The Old Republic's key problem was that it was stuck serving two very different masters - the personal storylines it wanted everyone to focus on and the subscription fee whose dark shadow loomed over all. It offered narrative beats far beyond what any other MMO had dared, with a choice of eight different character classes, each with a unique, branching story. It then suffocated them with padding, slow levelling and an endless array of tedious stock quests that no amount of dialogue could jazz up. (You also had to spend a ridiculous amount of time running around to check in on people despite owning a bloody cellphone. That bugged me. Just saying.)

None of this has changed. What has, though, is that story is no longer an exciting novelty, while World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World have all surpassed The Old Republic's stilted dialogue, basic cinematography and forgettable characters. In Pandaria, phasing and scripting comes together for a more dynamic experience with a good sense of humour. Guild Wars 2 remembers that an MMO is expected to be a multiplayer experience first, layering its plotting and single-player content on top far more skilfully. The Secret World offers infinitely better writing. Yes, they all have issues, especially with pacing. They still trounce The Old Republic's attempts, rendering it drier than moondust.


The trouble with being a sniper is that your combat screenshots either look bland or like a sci-fi version of The Naked Gun.
With its only real selling point reduced to offering mediocre storytelling in a sterile, lifeless version of the Star Wars universe, The Old Republic doesn't have much to fall back on. As a game, it shoots for adequacy and often hits it. Even so, it's a clumsy adequacy weighed down by the fact that, while it does provide player-versus-player and story-based dungeons and endgame content as the genre demands, most of its best content would have been much more enjoyable done as a single-player game. The only real advantage of getting it as an MMO is that we were never likely to see, say, Sith Inquisitors of the Old Republic, making this the only way for most of the classes to strut their stuff.

These stories are still the best reason to play The Old Republic, especially as the new free-to-play version gives you access to all of them in their entirety. BioWare goes for quantity over quality in a big way for most of the game, but these tales are decently tight and offer plenty of flexibility. As an Imperial Agent for instance, you're a spy and you work for the baddies - your boss being an immature Sith Lord who isn't called Darth Joker, but should be. It's up to you whether you play that role as a backstabbing, ruthless bastard or an honourable agent repairing delicate situations from the shadows.

I would play an RPG devoted to these guys, ideally one with lots of Alpha Protocol mixed in - and most of the rest have their moments too. Even with The Old Republic's problems, I'd recommend downloading the free client to try one of these out, and dip into a couple of the narrative-driven Flashpoints (dungeons) if you haven't already seen how they're handled. It's just a shame that most of your time is still spent on cookie-cutter questing that's several years past its prime.

"BioWare has developed some of the most embarrassing freemium approaches since Vindictus started selling sexy lingerie and calling it 'Inner Armor'."

I feel I should warn you, I'm played by Commander Shepard.
Beyond the levelling areas, you can access almost everything except Operations (raids) and a recently premium area for free, at least to some extent. However, an extra purchase is needed to let you equip or loot advanced gear you find, and you have to buy weekly passes for unlimited access to the Warzones (PVP) and Space Missions (worthless rail shooting). This isn't a perfect system, and if you find yourself buying more than a couple of weekly passes every month then then you may as well just bite the bullet and become a subscriber. It's a reasonable taster though, at least for now.

Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends. As initially generous as The Old Republic seems, it soon becomes clear that BioWare has developed some of the most embarrassing freemium approaches that I've seen since Vindictus started selling sexy lingerie and calling it "Inner Armor". It's passive-aggressive, often feels rushed, and the only reason some of it doesn't border on suicidal is that it's hard to inflict a fatal wound even when actively emptying a minigun into both feet.

Take character creation. Free players are now only allowed to create Human, Cyborg or Zabrak characters (the latter of which I think we have to assume aren't in the store purely as a pre-emptive strike on the "Darth Mall" joke). Subscribers can also access the original race choices, like Chiss Imperial Agents, and unlock others in the store or via the Legacy system. Free players have to pay up. Seems reasonable enough... until you actually try to do it.

If you want, say, a Twi'lek Bounty Hunter, you can't simply click the button, spend the money and start playing. Instead, you have to first create another character that you don't actually want and play them all the way to Level 10 - a whole planet's worth of content - to unlock the Legacy system that connects up your characters. Only then are you permitted to hand over your money, quit, go back, and start the game for real. Somebody implemented this!


Alderaan. Tssk. Even with the server saying 'full', it's about as populated as it was in The Empire Strikes Back.

The Old Republic's biggest failing as a free-to-play game, though, is its attitude. It doesn't simply push you to subscribe. It levies so many petty restrictions that it ends up feeling like the goal wasn't to attract newcomers so much as spite any who dared show up. One of many examples: if you don't at least unlock Preferred status by spending a few quid (or returning to an old account), you're not allowed to Sprint until Level 15. Yes, that was the case at launch. It was changed shortly afterwards because the maps are huge, and getting around them at walking pace was and remains a deeply miserable experience.

Of course, BioWare needs to sell things to make this model work. That's not the problem, and most of what subscribers get is fine - early access to mounts, all-access passes to content and so on. The catch, as any game with the sweeties budget to enlist a six-year-old child could tell you, is that the free side of the game is just as important. The more people stick around, the more they're likely to buy - if not quick cosmetic stuff, then maybe extra maps or lockboxes or similar. All players matter, if not as VIPs to spoil right now, then as potential customers next month, or in three months, or next year.

The Old Republic has no time for this, preferring to treat non-subscribers as third-class citizens - even the ones willing to spend money on individual purchases. These unworthies earn no rested XP, with even regular XP being acquired at a lower rate. Quick Travel is now on a two-hour cooldown instead of half an hour. Even opening a shop window (not including the real money one) means getting a snippy "Vendor prices are increased for Free-to-Play Players".

This is not how subscribers are won. This is how 20GB of disk space is recovered.

"It's less like BioWare has set up a stall than actively taken offence that the game failed."

You can buy and trade cash-shop items on the auction house, but not really on your own. Current prices are far above the credit caps for non-subscribers.
Medical Probes suffer from by far the worst change. In the original game, and to subscribers, these are free in-field resurrections - The Old Republic's answer to corpse-running in Warcraft. When questing, especially alone in the single-player-focused stories, the huge maps and regular last-minute interruptions from boss monsters make them essential. The design relies on them.

So obviously, they're now treated as luxuries. Non-subscribers have to buy them from the cash shop in packs of five, each costing an insane 500 space funbucks in a game where £2.99 only gets you 450. Refuse, and even if you're in an instance at the bottom of a dungeon, you get catapulted to a nearby base in the over-world. It's not guaranteed that all the enemies will have respawned by the time you get back; it's just 99.9% likely.

What's especially strange about all this - even ignoring the naked opportunism of things like forcing non-subscribers to pay about £2 to hide headgear items instead of having them welded on like particularly dorky leper bells - is what's not on sale. There's no character rename option, no chance to buy more than your two starting character slots, no race change service or even much in the way of cosmetic gear - not that the setting allows for that much variety. There definitely isn't the one thing I'd personally be happy to pay for - a way to experience the class stories without all the padding. The closest thing is a 25% XP boost lasting three hours, which barely even warrants this sentence.

Set up a tattoo parlour on Tatooine, made hot deals on Hoth, and on Nar Shaddaa... sold crystal meth. Way more profitable.
Over time, yes, all of this may be fixed and improved. As a starting point though, it's impossible not to see most of it as an acknowledgement that The Old Republic isn't a good fit for the free-to-play model and that BioWare isn't really that interested in it anyway. It's less like they've set up a stall than actively taken offence that the gw2 gold game failed.

Is it a complete disaster though? No. Despite all of the problems, the free option is still very playable, and The Old Republic still has its charms when the pieces come together and tell a good story. True, the Star Wars atmosphere is undercooked, but that doesn't mean you have to feel guilty about swinging a lightsaber for a while - and there are moments where you can see why BioWare thought betting the farm on this concept would make sense. Even if it didn't pay off.

As a top-tier MMO though, The Old Republic is done. Many games are said to have their day. The Old Republic's initial blaze of glory took that rather more literally than most, and this year's big releases have left it in the dust. Consider it on life support - and not the cool Darth Vader kind. The NHS kind. Surrounded by nurses who won't shut up about BUPA.

Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's Lost Shores recap

I won't be the first one to point this out, but almost as annoying as his eagerness to tell the citizens of Tyria about his new tourist destination (he was so eager that he actually interrupted himself -- constantly) was Subdirector Blingg's use of the phrase "most unique."

No idea what I'm talking about? Then you likely didn't get a lot of hands-on time with Guild Wars 2 over the weekend. While Southsun Cove and the Fractals of the Mists are still around for your enjoyment, you missed out on the Lost Shores event itself.

Some people will dispute whether or not you actually "missed out." They'd argue, I suppose, that there wasn't a ton of missing out to do. We differ on that point. Anyway, jump below the cut to catch the skinny on this weekend in buy Guild Wars 2 gold: the good, the unfortunate, and the maddening.

This weekend seems to have been a very mixed bag. When things were going right, they were going fabulously right. When things were going wrong, you couldn't use skills, see your enemies, or talk to people in your party. I don't know if "fabulously wrong" is really the sort of phrase to use there, but it comes to mind.

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Guild Wars 2: Special loot rewards in dungeons

The German Community Manager of Guild Wars 2, Ramon Domke issues a statement on the current rewards in dungeons. It's about special loot at lower bosses and make a statement to the magical feeling.

With one of the last patches for Guild Wars 2, a change came on the spoils system for the dungeons. The German Community Manager Ramon Domke are to the official forum a statement, in which he played the obvious changes. "We have every dungeon series selected three specific sub-bosses and developed special loot for them. [...] We also have these three sub-bosses are each allocated a guaranteed object called'' bag of wondrous goods'', the players a karma-consumable and Money transactions are consumable item with a value of up to 4 silver. explorable dungeons you in this bag also rewarded with three specific to that dungeon brands. "

With this adjustment, the developers hope to make the rewards for dungeons a little more interesting for the gw2 gold players of Guild Wars 2. Besides the boss rewards the chests have been adjusted in the dungeons, "We are aware that in some of the explorable series are less bosses, so we have updated so many of the Event Reward Chest as necessary to maintain the balance between all explorable paths to guarantee. "

Recently remarked Ramon Domke on the magical feeling and turned to all players the meaning behind it represent how your get, the more magical feel you have a greater chance of special rewards. The new rewards of sub bosses so you can receive new unique loot. That was, according to Ramon Domke, has always been so and will remain so in the future. The magical feeling, however, has no effect on rewards from chests in the dungeons. You can find the complete article in the Forum of Guild Wars 2 More information about the game can be found on our topic page for Guild Wars 2 and Wartower.

Guild Wars 2: The Lost Shores is Live

The spectacular one-time world event is now live! Unravel a monstrous mystery and defend Tyria from a formidable new threat – the karka! You’ll face brand-new creatures, earn cool new rewards, discover a brand-new island map, explore the new Fractals of the Mists dungeon, and more! This weekend event, which culminates in an epic showdown at 12:00 PM Noon PST on November 18, lasts until 10:00 PM PST on November 18.

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Guild Wars 2 - ArenaNet explains the "Ascended equipment"

This weekend starts with "The Lost Coast" already the next event in Guild Wars 2 and also brings the same diverse innovations. In particular, the notice "New equipment, additional weapon skins on item improvements to another category of items between the degrees" "last" Exotic "and" Legendary encouraged to heated discussions in the community (see Wartower.de forum # 1 and # 2).

Now Linsey Murdock, game designer at ArenaNet announces, in an official blog post to explain it word and in particular the new "Ascended equipment". Below is a brief summary, the complete article can be found here.

We have always worked hard to create a progression that is satisfactory and is not equipment-Grind, and our new initiative to equipment progression is no exception, by adding new, more challenging game mechanics to our Endgame and opportunities for high- end gw2 gold players to mitigate these mechanisms through object-progression, we add personal progress without changing the game feels like an endless subject of treadmill, when the goods are out of your reach. Fans of the original Guild Wars will eventually recognize the familiar approach of our new progression. The first new game mechanics that we add is torture that you will encounter in the dungeons of the fog fractals, and can weaken by infusions.

In future releases of other endgame content you will notice that more infusions and Ascended objects find their way into the game. Sooner or later you will be able to furnish you with a complete set of equipment and high Ascended infusions that will give you when playing the endgame content of an advantage.

In addition, you will in the future more items to the degree Legendary and an update of our existing Legendary Weapons see. It was always intended that Legendary items with other "best place" objects are equal. So do not worry - all existing Legendary Weapons, the exotic weapons are currently equivalent will be upgraded so that they have the same value as Ascended weapons as soon as we bring the Ascended weapons into play. Legendary weapons are thus still be the "best place" items. All Legendary items will have Ascended force. We also plan, with a touch of "scavenger hunt" to introduce more entertaining methods for acquiring legendary predecessor objects than present.

These additions in November are just the beginning of our initiative to object-development. We will in the future add a ton of new content for high level characters to buy Guild Wars 2 gold. With the introduction of new content for high level we are also free Ascended and Legendary items put into play (other rewards that you can earn while playing, not to mention).

Guild Wars 2 innovation subversion your game view

Innovation element is the first element to determined a game is success or not, "Guild Wars 2" can be popular around the world, and break through the traditional, comprehensive and innovative game content and the game modes are inseparable. It can be said, "Guild Wars 2" has changed our past traditional cognitive game, and make the game more real, more relaxed, more humane, better allowing the player to experience the joy and charm of the game.

Without article read, human shields, output mode of treatment of the "iron triangle", there is no next task, to do the task, the task assigned to the cycle mode, there is no fixed combination of skills, a copy is not the same years, there is no a full range of weapons and skills constraints, there is no fixed level, there is no strange brush endless. "Guild Wars 2" in the original intention of the design is, to fixed settings to change the traditional games unreasonable, a free and experience to the gw2 gold players, unlimited adventure game world.

The unique underwater combat, dynamic events everywhere, a massive world war unique individuals epic systems, makes "Guild Wars 2" fresh and agile distinctive. Among "Guild Wars 2", you can always feel in every way and the real world, the same things in common, so the game feel more realistic, more shocking!

Subversion you view the game, change the mode of thinking of your game, that is the key of "Guild Wars 2" to success, and also our players are the most important. "Guild Wars 2" are still stale gameplay devastated? Still repeated endlessly brush strange upgrade? The really happy the game should not be our burden."Guild wars 2 " changed your view of the buy guild wars 2 gold game!

GW2: Extensive planned class changes in the upcoming update

With the next major update in Guild Wars 2 are obviously also extensive class changes. As players report on the official forums, gw2 gold game designer Jon Peters was recently in the mists of the way and told there one or the other for this coming November patch.

According to reports, Peters said that the section of the class was to change in the patch notes of the upcoming updates about 5 pages long. This would include about 16 points for Rangers and 30 points for engineers.

The Mesmer class, however, would strayed in patch the fewest changes. The update will also include a lot of bug fixes and some balance changes.

Expected in December patch it should then be possible to color the PvP Armor individually. A goal of the objective function was not a high priority, it would be such a view, however, probably more accurate in the future. Even to an observer mode, and other features, there were no concrete statements here Peters merely stated that they were in labor.

Posted by forum user Noctred
According to Jon Peters in the mists a few hours ago:

- The profession part of the upcoming patch notes is roughly 5 pages long.
- ~ 16 bullet points for rangers.
- ~ 30 bullet points for Engis.
- Mesmer saw the fewest number of changes.
- "Tons" of bug fixes.
- "Some" balance changes.
- Portal is a cool ability that's important to the game but has some problems (whatever that means from their perspective idk).
- The ability to use custom dyes in pvp is possibly coming in a December patch.
- Broken treb lord and announcements should be fixed soon.
- Target of target and player cast bars are low priority but something they might look at in the future.
- Probably no hope of ever letting us disable the terrible skill queue.
- Custom rankings, obs mode, etc. all "on the way" (as usual).

All in all, I think it's pretty decent Depending on what exactly gets fixed.

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Flameseeker Chronicles: There's something in the water in Guild Wars 2

October is gone, and with it went the Mad King. He's returned to his realm, and if the number of hisslippers I have piled up in the corners of my bank vault is any indication, he's ill-prepared to deal with any sudden drops in temperature. On the first day of November, Lion's Arch citizens marveled at the sudden disappearance of all the festive decorations, applauded the continuity of the lion statue's still being absent from the Piazza, and set about life as normal.

Until they saw the whales.

Strange things are afoot on the shores of Lion's Arch!

If you wander down to the beachfront in the city (so long as you're not on the overflow servers, which evidently aren't special enough to merit beached whales), you'll notice some whales lying around. They don't particularly look as if they're enjoying themselves, and they're accompanied by distraught villagers. If the thought of looking at a beached whale without trying to help is distressing to you, there are water buckets nearby so you can help the poor dears (although their lives don't seem to be in real danger -- yet). Between the weeping of the villagers and the fact that whales aren't precisely known for their fondness of hanging out on beaches, we can assume that something is fishy about this scenario.

Whales aren't all that have washed up on shores. We've seen a passel of new signs posted, a ship come to port, and the beginnings of a new Asura gate.

Tags: gw2 gold;buy guild wars 2 gold

Guild Wars 2 mouse (SteelSeries) Small, precise mice Rich is looking for you for big adventure

Once there was a snow-white mouse from SteelSeries-land that was looking for a great adventure. They roamed the plains of Tyria, and saw a crowd in the town of Divinity's Reach. "What are you doing this," said the mouse and an old lady replied: "Because it rumbles Is determined the Ice Dragon.". Ice Dragon Oh, that sounds good, the taste of adventure - thinks the snow-white mouse, ask around and find an engineer who accepts her. A man of craftsmanship would just appreciate quality, even if the "SteelSeries Guild Wars 2 Edition Gaming Mouse" in the moment seems very unassuming.

Design: Simple and elegant

The snow-white mouse has eight buttons and a logo on the back: the red ice dragons, those bosses of "Guild Wars 2". The scroll wheel has us very much, because it can not support gw2 gold game. Some scroll wheels tend to break easily nch left or right, or to turn over when scrolling, here, everything can select wonderful. Otherwise, there are few frills: no twelve side buttons like Razer Naga, no big fat case mod lighting at every turn so that the rodent and lightning flashing like a Christmas tree at the beginning of winter. When are the other mice in the world the Paladin, in fine polished to a high gloss armor and with an arrogant smile under the helmet is the "SteelSeries Guild Wars 2 mouse" more of a quiet monk who roams with his plain robe over the place - but since points may, where it really matters: in the battle, in the heat of battle - as the snow-white mouse is a true artist precision.

We tested the SteelSeries Guild Wars 2 Edition Gaming Mouse:

MMO:
Guild Wars 2

Role-play:
Diablo 3
Torchlight 2

Shooter:
Battlefield 3: Aftermath
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Medal of Honor: Warfighter

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Guild Wars 2: ArenaNet published Event program from Lost Shores

It is common knowledge that we ArenaNet preparing a world-event "that will forever change Tyria", as a result, during the day it was published and the official program of the event.

On November 16, at 22:00, will kick off the wonderful even in Lion's Arch shop, which will then trigger madness throughout Tyria. The second phase will begin on November 17th (22:00), will highlight the point! Consumed in November 18 ... 22:00.

It should be noted that this is an event which takes place only once in Guild Wars 2, so it would be advisable to seriously consider if you really want to participate.

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GW2: The Lost Coast - Teaser Poster + about level requirements for the weekend event

Halloween event in Guild Wars 2 ended a few days ago, the next major events in the game, however, raise already on the horizon! Mid-November is the update go "The Lost Coast" and others online a new island to the battlefield. On Facebook ArenaNet now published a teaser image. There was also information about the level requirements for the planned weekend event.

Participation in the weekend event

On Friday, 15.11.2012, it's time, then go with Guild Wars 2, the next big update online. A teaser site for The Lost Coast ArenaNet released at the end of the week. First details about the new gw2 gold game director Colin Johanson also announced in an interview.

As part of the interview Johanson revealed among other things that on 16.11.2012 starts a weekend event, which will open the way to a new island. In the forum, a player asked now that (stage) requirements one had to participate in the event and whether it was accessible as the Halloween event for all.

Johanson explained to her that the event and the things that would take place this weekend, basically by the level scaling technology are available for players of all levels. "We want that everyone has the opportunity to try it," said Johanson.

Teaser image on Facebook
Already, there are in the game the first indications of the upcoming November update yourself. So on the coast Löwensteins emerged such as new ships and in a hut were discovered mysterious posters.

One of them priced at a fantastic new holiday paradise that is to be accessible shortly. Posters said ArenaNet now published on the official Facebook page for the game, it was an appropriate translation of a Facebook user:

On Friday, 15.11.2012, it's time, then go with Guild Wars 2, the next big update online. A teaser site for The Lost Coast ArenaNet released at the end of the week. First details about the new game director Colin Johanson also announced in an interview.

As part of the interview Johanson revealed among other things that on 16.11.2012 starts a weekend event, which will open the way to a new island. In the forum, a player asked now that (stage) requirements one had to participate in the event and whether it was accessible as the Halloween event for all.

Johanson explained to her that the event and the things that would take place this weekend, basically by the level scaling technology are available for gw2 gold players of all levels. "We want that everyone has the opportunity to try it," said Johanson.

Teaser image on Facebook
Already, there are in the game the first indications of the upcoming November update yourself. So on the coast Löwensteins emerged such as new ships and in a hut were discovered mysterious posters.

One of them priced at a fantastic new holiday paradise that is to be accessible shortly.