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Gamescom 2010: BioWare reveals 10 new advanced classes for TOR
We've known for a while now that Star Wars: The Old Republic is planning to offer players two different specializations for each class, but up until now we've only heard of a couple of them. Today at Gamescom, however, BioWare unloaded the names and loose descriptions of ten advanced classes. The best part? No Bothans died for this information. Darth Hater reports that imperial agent characters will have the choice between specializing as snipers (long-range DPS) or operatives (who use stealth and short-range weapons to get up close and personal). If a bounty hunter is more to your liking, then the choice between a powertech and a mercenary should get your imagination racing. Over on the Republic side, troopers will sign up for either commando or vanguard training. Commandos are the tanking line, although we don't know much about vanguards yet. SWTOR-Station spied a Zabrak trooper at the BioWare booth, indicating another possible race for the class. Force-users are also in store for powerful upgrades. The villainous Sith inquisitors choose their path between a more Force-happy sorcerer or the twin lightsaber-using assassin. Their counterpart, the Jedi consular, has a similar decision to make: that of a shadow, who can use double-bladed lightsabers, or a wizard, who uses a single lightsaber but can heal. Are Star Wars fans ready for wizards and sorcerers in their MMO? Somehow, we think so.
Hyperspace Beacon: Loyal to their cause
As some of you may know, I love roleplaying in MMOs. Most of the MMOs I've played have had RPG tagged at the end. Even though it's not required to roleplay to enjoy an MMORPG, immersion is compounded when you do, therefore fun is compounded, too. In the Star Wars universe, I could not help but wrap myself in lore when I played a soldier or agent of the Galactic Empire. From line and formation to order and procedure -- all of this was in service to His Majesty, the Emperor. Of all the characters I made over my seven years of Star Wars Galaxies, my Imperial characters were the most purpose-driven. When Bioware announced the trooper class for Star Wars: The Old Republic, many players asked who would want to play a clone. There's no personality there, no motivation or character development, right? I disagree very strongly. In fact, I will go so far as to say I believe there is only one binding factor between soldier types: loyalty. Even then there are different types of loyalties and different motivations behind an individual character's loyalties. Step past the break and watch as I contrast the loyalty of famous factions of existing Star Wars soldiers and compare them to the trooper and agent classes of SWTOR.
Hands-on: Star Wars: The Old Republic's Trooper class
Click to Jabba-size LucasArts and BioWare have thus far released information for their upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, at a painfully slow pace -- the same goes for the hands-on opportunities they've offered us over the past year. When we finished our demo of the game at GDC, we were still left with a number of the same questions we had when we checked out the game back in December: Will there be space combat? What community features will be available? Can we build our own sentient, wise-cracking droids which secretly possess hearts of gold (and tin)? Alas, these questions remain unanswered. However, our GDC demo did clarify one hang-up we've been concerned about since the game was announced: Why would anyone play as a non-Force user? The answer is now clear. It's because the Galactic Republic's Trooper class is awesome. %Gallery-88220%
SWTOR video interview covers final two classes and more
The guys at Giant Bomb have thrown up a ten minute long video interview with BioWare's Blaine Christine that covers topics ranging from details on the Jedi Consular and Sith Inquisitor to how companion characters work in grouping situations. Much of the new info is blended into stuff that's already been covered, but it servers as a nice refresher course on Star Wars: The Old Republic with some new stuff peppered in for good measure. More than anything else, it sounds like the Consular and Inquisitor are support classes with some offensive capability. The notion makes a lot of sense, considering the Trooper and Bounty Hunter likely perform quite well as ranged DPS classes. Of course, until BioWare begins revealing specific abilities of the classes the best we can do is guess. Find the video after the break.
What are SWTOR's three final classes?
Looking at the official Star Wars: The Old Republic class page reveals four slots on both factions, with three total filled thus far. Of course, you'll notice that Jedi and Sith aren't shown here, but it's a forgone conclusion that they'll be filled sooner or later. While nobody but BioWare can be sure what the final classes actually, half the fun is trying to figure them out before they're announced.So with that said, it's time to take a few educated guess stabs at potential classes, and formulate our wish lists. I'm sure you've all got ones of your own as well, so feel free to share!
The Digital Continuum: SWTOR turns up the heat
E3 2009 has come and gone, with it came new information on Star Wars: The Old Republic -- and fresh concerns. To call BioWare ambitious would be an understatement of vast proportions. Every NPC receiving full voice acting ratcheted up my curiosity as much as it did my eyebrows. We may need a new word to describe the depths of this game's ambition.As if the voice acting news wasn't enough, BioWare revealed a cinematic trailer that reminded me how powerful this property can truly be, in the right hands. The excitement was so immediately potent that it caused some people to cry "over-hyped!" in the few short minutes between the trailer's beginning and ending.I think it's time to asses the current situation, and maybe ponder a few things about Star Wars and BioWare.
Threat of Peace issue 8 could be dropping hints
Star Wars: The Old Republic's free online comic, Threat of Peace, has reached issue number eight and finally introduced one of those lovable droids. It's safe to say that so far throughout this storyline, many of the prominent characters and their prospective races featured in this comic have the potential to be in-game racial options. Humans, Twi'leks and Wookiees have all been popular thus far, and now it looks like droids may in fact be a possibility. It's positively delightful!Of course, races that have seen the limelight in Threat of Peace aren't the only signs of things to come. Bounty Hunters and Troopers both received notable attention. Whether or not this sets any kind of reasonable precedent is something we'll leave up to you, however.
SWTOR's Trooper development and morale abilities
BioWare's lead combat designer Damion Schubert discusses creating the Trooper class today over at the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website. It's not too difficult to understand the heart of the Trooper: he's got a huge gun and makes everything in his path explode. The difficult part of the Trooper was making it something that could go toe-to-toe with Sith both in the actual game and in players' minds. It had to be cool, exciting and a whole lot of fun to play.Of course, as Damion points out at the end of his journal, the Trooper isn't all about massive amounts of firepower. The class packs an assortment of morale-themed party buffs too, which are able to strengthen himself and the party. While this feature was assumed on our part, this is the first we've heard of morale-based class abilities. Consider us curious to find out more in the future.In case you missed its debut over the weeked, we've embedded the dev video on The Trooper after the jump.%Gallery-35033%
New SWTOR video explores Trooper class development
BioWare offers us a look into the development and philosophy behind the Trooper class for Star Wars: The Old Republic in their latest Developer Dispatch video. They explore the different looks a Trooper can sport, which is everything from Hoth stormtrooper inspired snow gear to the Rebel forces' reds, oranges and whites. Of course, there's plenty of fresh looks as well, for players desiring a less traditional look.The video also goes into the animation of the Trooper and reveals a little of the motion capture sessions complete with prop miniguns. It's quite easily one of the most interesting videos to come out of the Star Wars: The Old Republic project, so we hope that BioWare sees fit to do the same for each of their classes in the coming months. You can find the full video after the break.
A Trooper featured in Threat of Peace issue six
BioWare seems to have planned the announcement of their newest class for Star Wars: The Old Republic at just the right time. A character -- presumably a Trooper himself by his appearance -- in the latest issue of the free online comic Threat of Peace proves that the class is quite up to the task of dealing with strong enemies in its own right. While the newest issue is a little light on story, the message is still clear: Troopers are cool, m'kay?The few-pages-every-week-or-two free online comic structure isn't an entirely new concept, but it's proven to work fairly well and seems to be doing the lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic decent justice. Now we've just got to sit tight for more of those voiced archives for the real meaty info while we get our visual fix from Threat of Peace.
Gun toting Trooper class revealed for The Old Republic
The fourth Star Wars: The Old Republic class has been revealed today, and it's the Republic Trooper. An initial pang of worry struck our minds at the name until we began perusing the official class page, then saw the image above. Oh, and let's not forget the videos depicting three glorious special attacks. Weapon butts? Sticky Grenades? High-Powered Rifle Grenades? Sold.Reading through the class description provides further clarification as to why a player would consider this career over a Jedi. These aren't just cannon fodder soldiers, but highly trained and specialized men and women not to be trifled with -- which gives us pause. Why are these people so impressive, but not named in a way that lets you know this verifiable truth?It seems as though, considering the severity of their battle prowess presented on the official website, naming this class simply "Trooper" is a bit of a misnomer. We're sure there has been plenty of internal debate over at BioWare concerning this matter, and we'd just like to take this moment to point out that the incorrect side seems to have won the argument. Still, at least the class looks quite awesome.%Gallery-35033%%Gallery-35034%
A look at Exteel's Trooper Mechanaught
In previous developer letters from NCsoft, we learned about some of the entry-level Mechanaughts available in Exteel, their free-to-play robotic wargame MMO. In the most recent letter, we learn much more about the advanced Mechanaught known as the Trooper. This bipedal robot is the successor to the Frontliner and can absorb more damage, use energy more efficiently, regenerate energy faster, is much more responsive, and is a lot more accurate.Also in this letter we get some detailed information on the Last Stand battle mode. This is an extremely useful mode where players can battle against scores of AI opponents and hone their skills, winning matches and accumulating hard-earned money for PvP battles. Plus, Last Stand matches can be played with a fewer group of players without the concern for finding enough people for balanced teams. All you need is some friends and that's it!
Wolfking announces MVP series gamepad and mouse for gamers
If you're the type of gamer who digs alternative input devices, you might have a gander at the Wolfking Warrior gamepad (sister site Massively has a review) and the Trooper gaming mouse (besides, any gadget named after an Iron Maiden song is worth a head turn). Both units have gotten an update in the new MVP series, with the Warrior USB 2.0 55-key circular gamepad receiving a style update in the form of deep black audio keys to match its matte black finish. The Trooper delivers a frame rate in excess of 7080 frames per second, up to 45ips and 20g high speed motion detection, 2400 dpi resolution, onboard LED displays and a Rapid Fire Switch function button that lets you select your rate of fire from 1 to 4 shots per click. The MVP Series versions will be coming in at $34.99 for the Warrior and $59.99 for the Trooper.
Super Console Wars puts spin on mascot Gamepires
We've seen Mario in the Matrix, Luigi as a Braveheart, and what we thought was everything in between. Well, hold up, 'cuz now we've seen everything: classic game icons have been mashed up with Star Wars.Super Console Wars: The Gamepire Strikes Gold is that hybrid that with good and evil roles spread out onto each platform and various gaming mascots, ranging from Mario clone troopers vs. Princess Zelda to a VMU droid and GPU-enabled android (erm, peripheral).About two-thirds of the way through the 20-minute video, you're gently encouraged to wear 3D glasses to enhance your video viewing, but even without glasses, the parody stands as an amusing take-off of gaming standards, pop culture, and retro reminiscing. Obi-Wan Shinobi, indeed.[Thanks, Cradrock]See also: Super Mario Reloaded Ready for an "Oldschool Revolution"?
