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Hyperspace Beacon: Putting SWTOR PvP on the right track
This past weekend, a friend of mine came up from Texas. Not only did we talk about our families and such, but we also spent some time talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic PvP. We have both been following the game about the same amount of time, and we are now in the same guild. I argued that PvP in SWTOR is broken. A couple of Advanced Classes excel while the others are just filler or fodder. Even if there were balance in the classes, BioWare does little to encourage the competitive player. In July, I gave a mid-term report card for SWTOR based on Dr. Richard Bartle's assessment of the different types of MMO gamers. As you might guess, SWTOR failed miserably in the "killer" category. As I talked to my friend, we came to the conclusion that SWTOR is a PvE game with a side of PvP. However, given some of the additions coming later this year, I think our Star Wars MMO might raise itself above the F grade I gave it a few months ago. Today, marks the start of Season One PvP, and in less than a month Galactic Starfighter launches. Both of these additions mark significant changes to the perception of game through the eyes of a "killer."
Dev blog outlines SWTOR's inaugural PvP season
PvPers in Star Wars: The Old Republic who are looking forward to the first Ranked PvP season will be able to start blasting their way up the ranking ladder when Game Update 2.4.3 launches. To give players an idea of what to expect, Senior System Designer Rob Hinkle has drawn a roadmap of this inaugural season in a recent dev blog. When Season One begins, all pre-season rankings will be reset to default for a clean slate. Throughout the season, ratings will be available via web-based leaderboards. Although there is no definite date set for the end of this first season right now, BioWare is looking at a six-month run. Then near the end of the season, exclusive rewards for various tiers of ratings will be announced. And once the season ends, there will be a break before Season Two gets rolling.
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's stunlocked
How many times have you booted up Star Wars: The Old Republic to have a little fun in PvP only to be frustrated by certain mechanics? How many times have you been playing the Alderaan warzone, or worse, the Ancient Hypergate warzone, and you are about to cap the node but are suddenly impeded because your character has fallen asleep? Of course, you know there's an Assassin or Shadow there using Mind Trap or Mind Maze. Your first instinct is to set yourself free using your stun break, but it occurs to you that if you use your stun break, then the opponent is just going to use that ability again, and then you won't have any way to break free. However, if you don't break free, then he will cap the node you're supposed to be guarding. It looks to me as if your enemy just hit his I-win button. If it isn't already obvious, today I'd like to talk about stuns and other movement-impairing effects in SWTOR. Although it'd be really easy to write these abilities off as broken, I believe that there are some misunderstandings about the resolve system and a couple of simple fixes would make the system more palatable to the average player.
SWTOR plans to tweak endgame PvP balance
In an interview with fansite TORWars released last night, Senior Designer Rob Hinkle explained that one of the ways BioWare will attempt to make endgame PvP more fun in Star Wars: The Old Republic is by making the PvP stat (Expertise) equal across all sets of PvP armor. Like many other MMOs with a focus on PvP, SWTOR has struggled with balancing the endgame PvP progression. Hinkle said in the interview that he frequently hears from players that they love level 10 to 49 PvP but are disappointed by their performance when they first log into endgame PvP. Hinkle described how the development team aims to make endgame PvP better by changing how Expertise will work in the "relatively" near future: "Instead of Expertise being a stat that you're chasing as you're getting better and better PvP gear, all the PvP gear no matter what tier it is will have the same Expertise level. It's just the normal stats that will be getting better as you getting higher in PvP gear." Although this change will not be fully implemented until after Update 1.6, Massively's latest Hyperspace Beacon has already scoped it out for your edification.
SWTOR explains the rules of the Ancient Hypergate warzone
As Star Wars: The Old Republic continues testing Issue 1.6, PvPers are understandably anxious to get their hands on the new warzone coming with this update. Senior Designer Rob Hinkle has a few words of instruction, wisdom, and teasing for those waiting, as he lays out a new developer diary dedicated exclusively to the Ancient Hypergate warzone. Hinkle explains that the warzone is all about a mad scramble to secure old technology, namely a Gree hypergate. Players have two objectives to conquer and defend as well as several energy orbs that need to be grabbed and thrown into the nearest friendly energy pylon. Little orbs just want to go home, after all. There's a pretty cool mechanic with the pylons whereby they are charged up over time until they eventually unload a massive amount of energy (as well as an explosion). The release can be magnified if a lot of enemy players have been defeated since the previous discharge, and it can also be increased or decreased if the team controls both or neither of the pylons. It's a tricky warzone to explain, and we get the feeling that it will make a lot more sense just to see it in person. Even so, you might want to give this dev diary a read to help you prepare!
Huge Lands of the Dead update via WAR/Eurogamer dev chat
Eurogamer just hosted a live dev chat with Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online staff. Present in this conversation were Executive Producer Jeff Hickman, Senior Creative Director Paul Barnett, Senior Designer (careers) Rob Hinkle, and Live Producer Destin Bales.Mythic staff elaborated on many parts of their game and business from launching in new countries, to the new Slayer and Choppa careers, and balance. Perhaps the biggest reveal was a plethora of new information about Lands of the Dead. They spilled the beans on a number of interesting details, including a live event leading up to LotD that will essentially be a huge Order vs. Destruction battle for who can gain early and exclusive access to the dungeon (for a limited time). This "RvR-gated ultimate sandbox" zone is expected to change hands nightly and will have content for smaller group sizes up to that of a warband (24 players). Paul Barnett elaborated on some similar mechanics to Darkness Falls from DAOC by saying LotD will have, "tokens, other loot methods, a wide level range, and the thrill of your enemy always breathing down your back."Do yourself a favour and check out the entire dev chat log because there are so many more details than this!
