Preparations - Guild Naming and Voting

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So with the latest weekend beta test having concluded and it being December in a couple days, I was just wondering as to what has been decided on officially? Do we have the dark and light side guilds set up? Are they registered and ready to go or do we need to work on them? Have we selected what kind of server they're to be in such as a PvE or PvP server? East Coast, West Coast, European?

I'm just wondering since TOR will be releasing in about twenty days and those who pre-ordered and got an early access code will be playing five days before that. I mean there are the Korriban Lancers and The 10005 Legion but...I think names are all we got? Unless people have been discussing and planning it offsite

I mean hey, a Star Wars MMO by Bioware. We needs to unite and represent! If we could, discussions of plans (or a reveal of already-discussed plans) in this thread would be nice so that everyone knows who and where they'll be fighting when the game launches Or should I be keeping this in the General Discussion Thread?

I've pre-ordered.

Personally I'd prefer a US-West server, as I'm playing from Australia and that's the closest, but I don't mind whether we play PVE or PVP, Republic or Imperial. And I vote we call ourselves Hoopers Heroes.

Alright so it means that there be a lot of planning to do unless one of the other mods chime in with something For now I'm going to assume there hasn't been any offsite discussions and I'll just see what I can do about laying groundwork for discussions.

To start this off we'll go with...

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Servers

Right now the names of the servers don't matter and, even if they did, we currently have no idea if a lot of the servers that we played on (such as Canderous Ordo, which I played on) will be available when the game launches. Right now we should be concerned about the type of server and its location.

Type:
Pretty simple as we only have two types of servers: PvE or PvP. For those that are new to the MMO experience, PvE servers are severs where players (both Imperial and Republic) can quest and do heroics without any worry about players of the opposite faction attacking you. Say a Jedi Knight and a Sith Warrior are on a planet like Tatooine and come in contact with one another. Neither player can attack the other and they can just do their quests without crossing sabers. Any player combat that goes on in PvE servers will mostly be restricted to Warzones and if a player flags themselves for PvP combat. So if that Sith Warrior has his status enabled for PvP and he's running around killing Tusken Raiders, that Jedi Knight from before can decide to engage the Sith in combat if he so chooses.

PvP servers do not have such restrictions. If a Sith Warrior and a Jedi Knight bump into each other while questing on a planet, they can kill each other if they so choose. There are no restrictions, no safety nets, no nothing; players from opposing factions can attack each other on sight if they so choose. Unfortunately, there are drawbacks, the main one being that there is nothing stopping a player that's level 30 from attacking (and most likely killing) a player that's level 20. From my own MMO experience, "ganking", as it's called, is going to be a common thing where a high level player will actively seek out low level players just for the pleasure of completely destroying them. DC Universe Online, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, and World of Warcraft have all had this problem and there may be instances where an entire group of high levels will band together just to terrorize low level players.

So while players may be attracted to the "realism" of PvP servers where combat between players can occur anytime and anyplace, you should keep in mind that there will probably be very rare instances of "honorable" combat where you're battling a player that's around the same level as you. And if you haven't pre-ordered TOR and got an early access code, be prepared for the idea that those players that have a five day head start will use it to their advantage to participate in ganking.

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Location

The location of the server will have an impact for our players as well. While I'm assuming that most of our users are from the US, there are users from all over the world that I know whether they be living in Australia, the UK, Germany, etc. Unfortunately, this will most likely end with the majority being favored over the minority (again, I'm only assuming that the majority of us are US players). But I do want it so that the server can be more easily accessible to everyone. Xan brought up an excellent point that if a North American server is selected, then a West Coast server will be preferable as the West Coast is closer to Australia then the East Coast.

Right now we have two categories of servers: North America and Europe. And for each category there are some more differences. For North America, you're able to choose either an East Coast or West Coast server. For Europe, you're able to choose what language the game is played with such as German, French, or English server. ...I kind of doubt that the language will be a very imp

LordT and me already agreed on a Sith Warrior and a Sith Inquisitor and got a few guys from around hte world to join THE DARK SIDE. Dunno if we even can play on hte same servers, as I heard Germany gets a lot of calculating power on it´s own and probably even a synch, but I would love to . . . we won´t be up until January, though and probably only until we finished the storyline

It has been confirmed that US players can play on European servers and vice versa if that's what your concerned about I wish I thought of it sooner and tried playing on a European server to see what kind of latency issues should be expected but I didn't Xani was playing with me on an East Coast US server and didn't experience any problems from what I remember so I hope the usual issues that come with cross server play will be minimal.

Nonetheless, I'm sure people will understand if there are those that decide to stick to native servers if its decided that the official TFN server is on the other side of the world from them. It would be a shame if we can't get everyone together but in situations like these it can't really be helped. Especially if the latency issues do end up becoming a big problem

To be fair, when I say it's not a problem I mean that I've only ever played MMOs with 200ms ping anyway and I'm used to it. You probably are going to get that sort of latency if you're from Europe and playing on a US server.

Ah well there you go

Problems are always what you make of them. I once played WoW on a 1000ms connection. Fishing was impossible, but otherwise it was fine.


I got my classes picked out during the beta, so if we play Republic, I'll be a Jedi Knight; if we play Empire I'll be a Sith Inquisitor. I'm leaning towards Republic but as we can have guilds on both sides anyway I'm fine with either.

I can't play melee classes; I'm too used to ranged classes due to WoW and my mage So for my first pair of classes it'll be the Consular for the Republic and Bounty Hunter for Empire with the Consular being my first class to play and level up. Even though I tend to be straight-up DPS, I'm actually gonna try and play the Jedi Sage for healing though I dunno if I'll try tanking for Bounty Hunter. Since pretty much everyone will be learning the ropes with TOR, I feel confident to at least try being a healer and doing the heals instead of the boom-booms

I'm also hoping that we end up in a PvE server. In every other MMO I've played I always ended up in a PvP server but at this point I fail to see the point of PvP servers other then giving players the ability to gank DC Universe Online really took the cake with ganking. First time playing and thirty minutes in - right after the tutorial section - I was getting ganked while trying to do low-level quests. ...Superheroes can be real jerks when they want to

I'm going to try to get some polls up so that people can vote on what they want like whether they want a PvE or PvP server. Considering early access starts in fifteen days, the polls will probably last less then a week each. Probably even less if time demands it and the results are already looking pretty obvious as to what will be selected Decisions, decisions...

Hey Sarge, thanks for being an organising voice.

I played on a US server over the weekend. I can't remember if it was West or East Coast (it was Ziost, if anyone knows offhand...) but everything seemed fine and dandy to me. But seeing as it was my first experience with an MMO I have no point of reference. I'll try a European server during the upcoming test in order to make a comparison.

No preference for side. I know my classes: shadow for Republic and sniper for Empire. I like the stealthy approach.

Haha, welcome but we don't exactly have a lot of time to do planning before the game's release Right now I'm just focusing on getting an official server selected so that we all know where to go if we all want to play with one another. If it has to the guilds can come last to the point where they'll be formed after the release of TOR. Shouldn't be a problem as I suspect everyone will be more focused about getting their characters leveled up and trade skills and whatever else when the game launches. The usual guild stuff such as raiding can come at the end

To answer your question though, the Ziost server was a West Coast server and some more input about about any technical problems (or lack thereof) is good to hear. Makes me hope that the location of the server won't be that big of a deal

I tried the Imperial Agent <.< The story seemed pretty sweet but the class was just awkward to play with the cover system and how some skills will vanish when you go in and out of cover. I mean I didn't play it that much so maybe its just something new that I just need to get used to. Still, I would think it would be pretty awkward in a PvP standpoint if you were an Imperial Agent and fighting a melee class like the Jedi Knight.

Story was awesome, I had to stop because I didn't want to see too much of it before launch. The cover system was a little tricky to get used to for sure. I found the worst thing was finding cover at the start of boss fights- usually they'd be able to land a few hits before I had managed to get my bearings. Overall it's my kind of class though.

But yeah, I'd probably be seeing a lot of the medcenter if we went PvP. Not that I mind if that's the popular choice, I'll just have my other character on a PvE server to give me a different experience.

Oh no, no, no, you can still PvP on a PvE server I meant like PvP like if you were going to do the Warzones like the Alderaan Warzone and Huttball. Those are still accessible in a PvE server I mean in general playing as an Imperial Agent in PvP may seem awkward. You don't have to PvP if you don't want to and could just focus on doing the Flashpoints instead or leveling up other characters.

Hahaha

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TOR SERVER VOTING IS NOW IN SESSION!

Alright, we have about two weeks (woot!) until the release of TOR so let's try to get our servers selected as quickly as possible so that we are better prepared for when its time to get to playing! The rules for voting are simple. I will be writing down what categories should be voted on and will list the choices. What you as the future players of The Old Republic are to do is simple: pick a choice and send your votes in a PM to Sarge221. I will make sure to tally the votes and will post the result.

Considering, like I said, we have two weeks until the start of TOR the voting will, at most, last a week. So since today is currently December 1st, you have until December 8th at the latest to send me your votes.

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The Choices

Right now our goal is clear: pick a server that we can play on. And for that I'm going to need you, the players, to vote on two simple things.


Server Type: PvP or PvE

and

Server Location: Europe or North America


See? Simple. All you have to do is send me a PM and tell me what you want. Once TOR is released and you can finally create the Jedi or Sith or Bounty Hunter of your dreams, what server do you want to play on where you can fight with and/or against other Jedi or Sith? You're the players that are seeking to enjoy a unique game experience so you have a right to voice what you want.

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Voting Starts Now! Get Those Votes In As Soon As Possible!

Jello, what if there isn't a Canderous Ordo server?

Then the game just isn't worth playing.

Yeah, I hear that a lot. They say it about every MMO that comes out, but the point is . . . our version is dubbed. That kept it from working in Lotro and Conan. Also WoW found a way around it. Except they are amidst the biggest dubbing operation in history of gaming right now LA hasn´t said what effect this will have on compatibility. So I think we might seriously be out of the game, then. PvE anyway. PvP is for LDRs.

Ah well if the dubbing is your problem then I can't help you there

....dubbing? I'm confused. Like voice-over dubbing?

Dubbing?

Are you guys saying that 'dubbed' versions of the game aren't compatible with the English language version? Sounds kind of odd.

Honestly, I don't see why anyone would want to play a dubbed version, unless they couldn't understand English.

I mean, I'm from The Netherlands, but I'll play any game in English. Dubbed stuff (be it games or movies) is extremely cringe-worthy.

Once I popped in a SW DVD without setting the language to English. (Being in Western Europe, DVD players will -sometimes- automatically select French or German by default). God, Vader in French is just absolutely horrible. I don't even want to know what he's like in German, I'd probably laugh my balls off.

Alrighty, so it be the 8th! Voting's done, time to tally up the scores and post the results!

Now as for the location of the server...it was pretty unanimous. So as for the official server location that we should play on it shall be....

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North America!

And now for the type. There was a little bit of opposition for this one but it seems that most of the voters have decided on...

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PvE it is!

Well, there you have it! The votes are in and it looks like for our official server it will be a North American PvE server.



Now there are only minor questions concerning more specific details of the server but they're either easily solvable or something we may have to deal with when TOR launches. Specifically, we need to figure out whether its an East Coast or West Coast server we're playing on and, obviously, the name of the server.

Since it was a North American server that was picked and not a European one, if any of our European players have a preference on which coast we should play on you can speak up if you wish. If you consider a West Coast server to be better then an East Coat then, by all means, we'll play on a West Coast server. I'm on the East Coast but I won't care if I end up playing on a West Coast server. I mean we're all familiar with timezone differences by now so it shouldn't be a problem I mean if a West Coast server has proven to have better latency for our European players then we should have at least the courtesy to play on it

That or we can all go on Canderous Ordo (East Coast)



As for any other discussions that don't concern the server issue...I guess the only one that we'd really be concerned with would be the guilds. There is the 10005 Legion but apparently a Ten Thousand and Five Guild had already been made and its going to be located on an East Coast PvP server. Soooo...I don't know what the story is there. I mean there's workarounds if it's needed like make a guild like the Ten Thousand and Five but with slight differences (Ten Thousand and Fifth?) or we could actually make that guild an official TFN PvP guild if that'll help. So...yeah, kind of lost about the situation there

As for a Republic guild...supposedly there is the Forces of Light but no one has confirmed or denied that to me so that's nearly as much of a mystery as the 10005 Legion. If anything I don't think there's anything at all about it other then a name that someone may've spoken before and that became a name to call it by? I dunno but if we want it does give us room to make our own Republic guild with its own name. Maybe we can go with Hooper's Heroes

Right now the guild situation isn't that important. I mean when TOR comes out we can't really do much in the way of guild activites such as the big raids and we'll be distracted with leveling and taking advantage of all that TOR has to offer. If anything the guild situation can be discussed and solved after TOR launches. But some discussions on it now certainly wouldn't hurt

Yeah since 10005 is PVP, we could be the JC's PVE guild?

I still vote Hooper's Heroes for the name. It would just be confusing if we went with Ten Thousand And Fifth or something very similar... and honestly I'm not too enamoured with "Forces of Light" and it sounds like nobody has come out and said they want to make that guild anyway.

As for East vs West Coast, I am in favour of West as it's closer to me, but I didn't have any problems playing on an East Coast server in the beta. I think we have some Europeans on board which might be better off with an East Coast server too so maybe that's the best compromise. Plus Canderous Ordo is an awesome server name.

Well, I just realized this thread existed...but im totally in if you'd all have me. I've got MMO experience in SWG and MxO if it matters.

Mostly just looking for cool people to chill with as I play through with my Ninja.

And if I am allowed, a name suggestion for the Republic Guild: The Omnipotent Force

Just 5 more days 'till EGA.