A/V The Old Republic MMO: The New Official Thread

Trailer for the newest update.

 

I like the idea of holding onto power (it is a story Star Wars has always had trouble telling) wish it was more then just raids though

 

It looks to be a "in-between major stories" update, to hold people over until the next big update probably a year from now.



And honestly, I think we all know how the Player sitting on the Eternal Throne of seemingly-unlimited power, attempting to govern and keep the peace in the galaxy, will go...

 

Yes! 6 MORE YEARS!!!!

 

Game Update 5.2 – War for Iokath

• Coming first week of April likely, if they can do a March release they will try.
• Bringing back operation content into SWTOR with 5.2.
• Master Mode Uprisings – hard challenge for 4 players. They will have additional mechanics and coming with 5.2.
• New storyline – Return to Iokath. Scouts from the Alliance, Republic, and Sith have all arrived on Iokath. You, as the alliance commander, need to pick which side you will be on and take the super weapon. You can side with the opposite faction from your starting faction (i.e. Empire players can side with Republic and vice versa)
• Returning companions – Quinn and Elara. If you side with the Empire, Quinn will return. If you side with Republic, Elara will return.
• New Daily area on Iokath. Storyline will unlock repeatable dailies on Iokath. New gameplay options with these dailies much like we did for the chapters. There will be a new reputation track depending on which side you pick.
• New Operation– Superweapon is the ultimate boss of the operation. Unlike previous operations, they are not waiting until Fall to release all 5 operation bosses. First operation boss will come in 5.2, all 5 will be released before end of the year.
  • First operation boss is Tyth, the God of Rage in Zakuulan Pantheon.
  • The same guy who designed the Revan fight also designed Tyth.
  • http://i.imgur.com/1dqFxdW.jpg
  • This operation will be on PTS in about 2 weeks. They may either do an open PTS or a closed PTS and open PTS later.
  • Most of the story for Iokath will be wrapped in the storyline but the operations bosses are also tied to the story and serve as a side track.
  • Stuff coming to adjust CXP gains for operations in 4-8 weeks before 5.2.
  • Companions return are separate from the operation.

 

Can we finally kill Quinn?

 

Interesting, with Elara back the Trooper is the first to have encountered all their vanilla companions again. And that happens to be my main...

 

Also, interesting that Republic Outlanders can side with the Empire and vice versa. I'm going to have to heavily consider doing that on some of my characters (because, let's face it, some of my Republic characters approve of Acina much more than they do Saresh's puppets). I can see my Consular siding with the Empire (my Knight likes Acina more than my Consular does, but my Knight's a Republic loyalist while my Consular kind of hates the mockery Saresh has made of it), while my bounty hunter and agent might be open to siding with the Republic (my Warrior wants Quinn back and my Inquisitor's pure dark side).

 

This is interesting, I am disappointed we will only Get Elara if we side with the Republic.

I wonder how many people will actually side with them though, given how little we have seen of the Republic in KoTF and KoTET. I mean we start with Darth Marr, then Acina offers to help us, all we see of the Pub government is Saresh. So it will be interesting to see who runs it now.

 

Well, I kind of like this approach much more, than being flooded with all these companions.

They have also wondered about it during the livestream. Will you side with the Republic or the Sith Empire that helped you a lot during KotET storyline. They also implied that future Republic companions might be very unhappy if you choose to give the weapon to the Sith (and vice versa).

Yeah, it seems that the rest of bosses will be the other "gods" from Zakuulan Pantheon.

They did not say anything about it, but I find it very likely that we will be able to kill him.

 

While its nice to hear that Elara will be coming back, not sure I care enough to resub. I got tired of Bioware's Sith bias a long time ago. Like the Republic has been saddled with Saresh ever since launch (after quickly getting rid of the much nicer Janarus) while the Sith Empire has had the much more reasonable Marr and Acina. Not to mention Lana's being the main companion of KotFE. I haven't even gotten around to playing KotET yet, partially because due to lack of interest and because I've been busy (and that horrible new gearing system).

Ironic that the Trooper will have met all their companions again, I think the classes with the next most returning companions was probably... Agent and Bounty Hunter? While really important ones like Kira and Scourge are still gone (and not much point bringing them back now with Valkorion dealt with), and the Consular barely had one companion return. It would be nice if there was dialogue about "All the (good) Havoc Squad members reassembled" but Bioware Austin is too lazy for that.

The setup for this reminds me of what I've heard about Halo 4's post-game content, although the general idea is pretty standard too (a fight between factions for ancient technology).

I hope joining the Empire won't be required to kill Quinn, but it might, as another way for Bioware to push the Sith Empire. Oh well, maybe I'll try to take my Trooper through KotFE (even if that does mean enduring Chapter 10 again) and then resub later on for Elara.

 

Nobody145

I don't think Biowear has a Sith bias, don't forget the Sith Empire was losing the War with all pre-exisiting leaders dead by the time of the Makeb Expansion.

I remember all the negative threads about how Biowear was anti-Sith.

I think they are responding to peoples responses, reading the release media, Saresh is meant to be a popular Churchillesq leader who is rallying the Republic and who the players would support. Marr was just an after thought. The writers didn't expect Marr (and the Empire as a whole, I feel they have always have better stories; classes and world quests) to be so popular and players to hate Saresh so much. So they responded to peoples reactions, which I feel is the better choice then to try to convince people your right.

 

Not sure that works, considering the first real interaction we have with Saresh as Chancellor, my Trooper is tempted to resign to protest her stupid prisoner exchange idea (wasting all the effort it took to capture a very dangerous general). And its only gotten worse since then (all she does is complain about Yavin, Ziost, etc.).

Though that leads into an old KotFE criticism- while I enjoyed seeing old companions, we got way too many (and we could still only send out six for gathering missions), and the KotFE story was pretty one-sided in terms of bringing back old companions (Aric and T7 were the exceptions rather than any real attempt at balance). Its probably why they didn't bother with that for KotET. At least for this one, they're keeping it balanced with Elara and Quinn, but as mentioned from the stream, the Sith Empire sure seems more reasonable by now. Which is silly, as they're Sith, but that's the way SWTOR went.

 

What about on Corellia and Makeb?

I think the Trooper thing was just miscommunication (since it is VERY out of character for her)

Also Yavin and Ziost were post change so her unpopularity was well known. Don't forget here are threads to show how much people did not like her

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=787896

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=821609

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=821697

and the oldest one

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=701483

So she was never popular, but reading the SWTOR Encyclopedia, she is described as "Intelligent and Charismatic... gained numerous allies when she put the reconstruction back on track after months of gridlock and false starts.... The passionate and commanding Twi'lek leader Saresh the rode a wave of political support and public fervor straight to the...supreme chancellor. On that day.... made a promise to the people of the Republic: she would lead them to final victory against the Empire-whatever the cost."

 

I dunno... I can kind of see it either way, because I feel like the very first scene on Taris with Saresh does sow the seeds for the "victory over the Empire at all costs" thing - and that could go in either a positive direction, or the one it actually did.

 

I personally don't mind the reasonable Sith since I've played mine as one and it feels like he kinda made a difference. Most of the really crazy, kill all ones have died out due to high attrition and stupidity, leaving the saner ones in charge - the ones who use the dark side because that's what they were taught but they've managed to balance it with a duty to the state.

 

Some Q&A about caompanions in 5.2.

Q:- If my Jedi Knight elects to side with the Empire to obtain Quinn and because tbqfh, she's beyond frustrated with the Republic, then according to Charles' this MAY affect future companion recruitment... does that mean she won't be able to get ANY of the future Republic-sided companions, or just some? Iresso was mentioned as an example and it would make sense for him not to wish to join a 'traitor' but Lord Scourge for example, the Jedi Knight's own companion, realistically he wouldn't/shouldn't care. Hell he'd probably rejoice so what of companions like him, will he become off-limits too if my JK sides with the Empire?
A: That is a bit of a complicated question so let me work on it. We will get the answer out before 5.2 so you are informed for the choice!
Q:- What of our already recruited companions such as Theron and Aric Jorgan, if we're Jedi/Smug/Trooper but side with the Empire in 5.2, will we lose them? Or say Pierce in a reversed situation if your Sith chooses the Republic.
A: The choices you make in 5.2 will not impact Companions that you already have.
Q:- I assume romances with Elara/Quinn will be resumed in this new patch?
A: Yes, Warriors and Troopers will be able to continue their romance with these Companions. However, note that it is possible that some of your past decisions could come back to impact your relationship…

 

The Inquisitor storyline is ok, but the ending was quite intriguing with the Inquisitor taking their seat on the Dark Council. They are now literally one of the rulers of the Sith Empire. Too bad they ran out of money for class storylines after that, I really wish we could have seen more of that. And of course everything from Makeb onwards barely acknowledges the unique classes.

I don't mind the idea of a slightly reformed Sith Empire, that's part of what made Marr popular, he was a practical Sith, not just the typical ax-crazy malicious brute. I just wish we didn't have to be stuck with a somewhat ax-crazy incompetent Republic led by Saresh, which just made Marr look better by comparison.

I haven't played KotET so I don't know what happens to her, but everyone is tired of her. Perhaps from the beginning she was just meant to irritate. The Trooper ending seems out of character for her (no quick execution for a war criminal?) but it was probably just meant to annoy Troopers- kind of like how in ME1 the Council complained no matter what Shepard did (like they complain about genocide if you kill the rachni queen and complain about future threats if you don't kill the rachni queen).

Let's hope they can do romances better. I had heard even the Lana romance had bugs, and considering she's the most high-profile companion, that's saying something (Theron isn't around for half of KotFE and Koth is... controversial, to say the least).

 

I guess, that the decision from Iokath (regarding SCORPIO's fate) might have some consequences in "War for Iokath" update.

Oh, I have also realized that Elara will be the first returning romanced companion for my characters (Sith Warrior romanced Jaesa and Agent romanced Temple). It will be nice to have one of them back after two years, haha!

Recently, I have started KotFE with my Consular. The letter from Nadia has nice throwback to The Old Republic: Revan:

Now I think that it would have been very cool to have an option to give this Neotikon to Revan, when you meet him for the first time as the Jedi Consular. Another missed opportunity I guess...

 

Without going into spoilers, Saresh is no longer around, one way or another, by the end of KOTET.

(Which is one reason why I'm rather curious to find out more about the Republic now. If the Chancellor was a puppet, what happens now that the puppeteer is gone?)

 

The puppet finds it's soul and becomes a real boy.

My personal hope for the resolution of the conflict between Republic and Empire is a breaking down of both states (and the orders within them) to the point were they realize they've become the same and continuing the fight would be stupid (and the Alliance already shows they can work together just fine). At which point the war ends with them forming a new galactic government (which get's called the Republic eventually but by that point nobody cares).

 

I am out of the loop on these things but this is stick sticking to legends canon as best as possible? If so I assume the Republic will see its mistakes and fix them while the Sith despite not being all unreasonable will keep trying to gain power again and in doing so die. Be it by the Republic, themselves, or possibly even triggering another threat. Heck maybe their leadership tries to set up a campaign deeper in the unknown regions and runs into some scouts or something for another race........maybe one who is more technologically advanced