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

Well I think they had improved the story by WOTLK; remember that quest in Icecrown, pre-tournament, where you have to help a dying Argent Crusader named Bridenbrad? You end up in this quest to save his life, can't but A'dal comes along and tells you "The Light does not abandon its champions" as it liberates his spirit?

I remember that clearly and powerfully some 6 years after playing it.

SWTOR had a lot of those moments for me, and really ended up rekindling my love of Star Wars. I felt like my scoundrel, who looks bada$$, was the guy who took down the Voidwolf. It cleverly made the story about the defeat of the villain and that personalises it, because it's not a raid boss.

 

According to miner there are new audio files in patch 2.8.2 and the filenames mention locations like Yavin, Rishi or "Blood Hunt" flashpoint.

Sorry to break it to you but Bioware once said that there are no chances for playable races which can not speak basic.

 

I'm aware of that, but BioWare has said lots of things that haven't panned out as intended.

The idea of there being a whole bloodline of Wookiees with the same speech impediment as the one that could speak Basic in the Thrawn books is dumb and would have been a stupid idea if the wider ramifications for the EU still mattered, but with the EU gone, I put nothing past them anymore-- TOR exists now for one reason alone:

 

It seems that new PTS build is going up - keeping fingers crossed for information from Maanan and Rakata Prime.

 

Ok - there is a lot new stuff there like Satele Shan's Set or Exar Kun's Set, some new companion customizations...

Some story related stuff:

Spoiler

Lana Beniko
The Traitor

Darth Arkous sent me a coded message. He explained that my services as his advisor are no longer required, and that I should not attempt to confront nor stop him. He says there are Revanites everywhere, and anyone we choose to turn to could be in league with them. He confessed that he'd initially thought to recruit me; that he'd taken me under his wing because he saw in me the potential to be a great Revanite asset. He was ready to let me in on the truth about his plans, but, according to him, something changed the moment I met you. He sensed a connection, a certain open affinity between us. He said that moment was my undoing. I say he's wrong. Arkous will see it was his undoing. His, and the Revanites'.
Lana

Theron Shan
Still in one piece
Just checking in. None of our new friends have tried to crush my windpipe yet, so things are going well. Darok is still off the grid, but I'm keeping my eyes open. There's no telling how long this plan has been in the works; just have to hope we've thrown them off enough that they make some mistakes we can track. We're going to find them. And they're going to pay for Tython.
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Clues from the attacks on Tython and Korriban suggest that high-ranking personnel may be colluding with the enemy. You've followed these clues to a genetics laboratory on the planet Manaan. Colonel Darok and Darth Arkous have confirmed that they are working together to create an army of augmented cybernetic warriors through the use of ancient Rakata technology, but only before making their escape while also destroying the facility's support structure. You must find a way to escape the facility before it sinks to crush depth and implodes.
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Fighting your way through an underwater laboratory on Manaan, you confirmed that Colonel Darok is working with a Sith named Darth Arkous against the interests of both the Republic and the Empire. The pair intend to use ancient Rakata technology to raise a cybernetically enhanced army for reasons yet unknown. In your debriefing, Theron Shan introduced you to Lana Beniko, the former apprentice of Darth Arkous who now appears to be working with Shan. She explained that Darok and Arkous are working for the "Order of Revan", a shadowy cult that has been gaining influence in the Empire--and the Republic, apparently--for some time now. Jakarro, the Wookiee smuggler you freed from captivity within the lab, has agreed to seek out information concerning these Revanites. Meet discretely with Theron Shan on the Republic Fleet to discuss the results.
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Mercantile Plaza of Manaan

After the bombardment of Manaan's surface cities and structures by the Empire, the Selkath became deeply untrusting of offworlders and once again withdrew to the depths, from which it was believed they would never return. But with the demand for Manaan's healing fluid kolto at an all-time high, it would only be a matter of time before outside influences would attempt to reestablish contact. A diplomat from the ocean world Dac, Advocate Mahreen, spent several years convincing a delegation from the Selkath's protective Order of Shasa to even meet with her. Over time, and with Republic pressure mounting, Mahreen was able to coax the order into converting one of the few existing surface platforms into the Mercantile Plaza. There, the Selkath could provide kolto in exchange for much-desired goods from across the galaxy. The denizens of Manaan found the plaza to be successful enough that, despite protests from the Republic, a trade relationship was soon reestablished with the Empire, thus clinching the planet's status once more as a strategic imperative.
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Ahto City

For millennia, the Selkath had no contact with other worlds. Then the Rakata came to Manaan and enslaved the Selkath, forcing them to construct monuments to the great Infinite Empire. After the Infinite Empire's fall, the Selkath were left in isolation once more. Now aware of the greater galaxy and its many species, the Selkath decided to build a city on the surface--a shining capital designed for tourism, trade and diplomacy. Ahto City was a thriving metropolis. At one point, large contingents of the Republic and the Empire lived side by side in Ahto City despite the raging Jedi Civil War. This awkward arrangement was made possible due to both sides' desperate need for Manaan's healing agent, kolto. More recently, however, the Sith Empire grew tired of Selkath neutrality and bombarded the planet from orbit, destroying most of Manaan's surface structures--including Ahto City. The Selkath have since retreated to the depths, abandoning their once-great capital, now a half-sunken wreck.
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Kolto

Kolto is a medicinal fluid found naturally on the planet Manaan. Highly valued for its ability to heal, kolto can be found in use in hospitals, clinics and medical bays throughout the galaxy. It also has obvious applications for military use, helping soldiers to recover more quickly from wounds sustained in the throes of war. The Selkath of Manaan strictly regulate the trade of their monopolistic supply of kolto. For this reason, many Republic and Imperial scientists have attempted to synthesize kolto. While a few less reliable, less stable caches of lab-procured kolto do exist, they are poor substitutes for the real thing.
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An Unexpected Ally

While no SIS database appears to mention Lana Beniko by name, further scrutiny might offer a glimpse into the psyche of this unusual Sith Lord. As detailed in an incident report, a skirmish on Hoth between Republic and Imperial forces during the Treaty of Coruscant ended abruptly when an unidentified female Sith Lord leapt into the midst of the battle, demanding an immediate ceasefire--and an explanation for the fight. When an Imperial officer suggested she wouldn't understand the nuances of military conflict, he lost his right hand to a lightning-fast lightsaber strike. The Sith, whose reported appearance closely matches that of Beniko, then told everyone to return to their bases and not reengage. The command was promptly obeyed by all, and the Sith Lord was purportedly never seen by Republic forces again.
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C2-D4

One of the very few protocol droids in the galaxy to bear a criminal record, C2-D4 is unusual to say the least. Constructed as part of a bulk order for the royal court of Onderon, it's unclear whether his capacity for deception and murder were an inherent design flaw or a sneaky alteration made by a political rival. Even before his partner Jakarro removed his limbs, D4 rarely got his own hands dirty, preferring to use his language skills to manipulate events toward profitable outcomes rather than risking his own safety. Though his deceptions were never proven on Onderon, his assignment to assist a short-tempered Wookiee and the court's later willingness to let the droid leave with his new master suggest that there were at least some persons in authority who may have suspected D4's true capabilities.
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Dark Partnership

From the Republic's vantage point, there's never any way to know for certain which Dark Lords of the Sith are seated on the Dark Council. The enigmatic and turbulent collective's roster is prone to constant change, making the task of keeping track all the more difficult. In fact, it was only very recently confirmed that a successor to the briefly tenured Darth Arho had been chosen. Darth Arkous, from what little SIS has been able to gather, is more of a long-term strategist than his predecessor, opting for craftiness over belligerence. Because of this, others within the Empire have reportedly underestimated Arkous as a threat--and have ultimately suffered for it. With Special Forces heavyweight Colonel Darok on his side, Darth Arkous may now be the most dangerous Sith in the galaxy.
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Jakarro

The Wookiee Jakarro has plied many trades over the course of his long career in the galactic underworld. He's served as hired muscle in the endless gang battles of Hutta and Nar Shaddaa, used his starship to raid rival transports in the Syndicate Wars, acted as a bodyguard for members of the Chevin Conglomerate, and even served as a mercenary to the royal court of Onderon. It was only after an "incident" in the Onderonian court that Jakarro was paired up with the protocol droid C2-D4. Although he claims to hate the droid (and has inflicted extensive damage to D4's chassis in moments of frustration) Jakarro never works without him, and the pair have carved out a reputation for their reliable work as smugglers and pirates-for-hire.
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The Rogue Lord's Accomplice

One of the Empire's most humiliating defeats against the Republic on Corellia was the systematic, floor-by-floor eradication of forces from the corporate headquarters of Coronet Ion Works, which had been converted into a major Imperial communications command post in the war. The architect of that bold attack--and of many other successful offensives on Corellia, Ilum and other worlds--was Colonel Rian Darok. As the pride of Republic Special Forces, Colonel Darok remains high on the Empire's list of enemy targets. The fact that Darth Arkous now appears to be in league with Darok makes the Sith Lord's betrayal all the more severe.
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The Unknown Asset

Even before the dismantling of Imperial Intelligence, no record existed of an SIS agent named Theron Shan. There are, however, vague accounts of a dangerous Republic asset dubbed "Technoplague" who may very well be Shan. The asset first came to be known through his role in the death of Darth Mekhis of the Dark Council. He was later believed to have surfaced during the Battle of Duro and to have been instrumental in the destruction of the Ascendant Spear and the death of Darth Karrid, Mekhis's second successor to the Sphere of Technology. Karrid's successor, Darth Acina, gave the asset the Technoplague codename, but whether the perpetrator of both of these events is the same, and whether said perpetrator is Agent Shan, remains to be seen.
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Manaan

Few planets have been as important to both sides of the war as Manaan. But with its surface covered completely by water, and with its native Selkath population having adopted an isolationist stance, access to the planet can be difficult to come by. The Selkath economy's reliance on the export of kolto to the Republic and the Empire does provide opportunities to visit, but guests are typically limited to the world's few trading platforms--the only surface structures not affected by the Empire's bombardment of the planet during the Great Galactic War. Millennia of Rakatan dominion over the planet and a predominantly unexplored ocean floor evoke strong temptations to probe Manaan's crushing depths. However, due to the strategic importance of its kolto reserves, Manaan will have to largely remain a mystery for now.
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Player: Are you Gorima?
Gorima: I am, and I'm never going to finish with so many interruptions! Go back to Darok and tell him to stop pestering me!
P: You need to stop what you're doing and answer my questions.
G: Then you aren't one of Darok's people. An intruder. What do you want from me?
P: I want to know what Darok and Arkous are planning. What are you doing here?
G: Creating an army. Or at least, the first recruits. Rakata technology is self-repairing. Quite marvelous to observe, though quite fatal when implanted into live hosts without my special treatment process. Once the implants are accepted by the host tissues, they work in unison. Enhancing strength, repairing damage... the perfect soldiers.
Jakarro: There you are! Time to learn the cost for crossing Jakarro, eel!
G: Please, it was nothing personal! You have to understand--you're such an impressive specimen!
J: What are you waiting for? Do it! Before he has a chance to betray us again!
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Darok: Well, that explains the dead guards.
Arkous: I knew I sensed someone familiar.
D: I told you to let it go. You did your part--none of this concerns you.
P: You should have known better.
D: You don't even know what you're interfering with.
P: [Force Persuade] Surrender.
D: I... want to... ugh!
A: Foolish tricks won't change anything.
D: Treason? A few dead pawns? That's all you care about? Our work is so much more important than that.
D: To save the galaxy. We're working for the good of the entire galaxy--the Republic, the Empire, everyone. We can't let you interfere.
A: Feel free to die before the facility reaches crush depth. It will probably be more comfortable that way.
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P: Your betrayal of the Empire will be your downfall, Arkous.
A: Come now, Wrath. We both know the state the Emperor is in. There's hardly an Empire to betray.

P: You seem to have forgotten where your loyalties are meant to lie.
D: She/He thinks you've gone to the other side, Arkous.
A: Oh, I am most definitely acting against the Empire's narrow interests. But what I do is not for ill; it is for the future of this galaxy.

Source

 

From Dev Stream: There will be update 2.10 September 9th and the next expansion is coming soon after 2.10

 

Interesting tidbits, though nothing that shocking or new after the earlier dataminer stuff. Though guild flagships are currently listed at 50 million credits, so that's going to cost a lot.

They said 2.10 will have the class changes, as 2.9 will be full of Stronghold stuff. Funny, I thought they would hit 3.0 before then. Looks like Manaan will be part 2 of the Forged Alliances plot, wonder when part 3 will be.

 

The Order of Revan is starting to sound like... just the Order of Revan, and simply the next version of the Dread Lords in being a third faction for both sides to fight.

The basic idea though of an army of Rakatan-tech-augmented cyborg soldiers is still more interesting than the dull story of Revan just making more droids.

 

Which is one of the main reaons MMORPGs just suck at telling a story

 

Yeah, but honestly - the story in SWTOR is awesome and I just don't buy the argument it doesn't. I played WoW; it sucked at telling a story. SWTOR was art by comparison.

This is Endersai. He's a scoundrel:



During his 51 levels, he's done all those things but people remember it. My takendown of the Voidwolf is, for that game, canon.

Sure, Wookiepedia says the Smugger did it, but when I log on... I don't see anyone but me in that role.

That whole journey, every light and dark side point, every flirtation, every well timed quip, was unique to my guy and determined how people reacted to me.

Sorry, I can't agree with that. SWTOR excelled at telling a story.

 

According to data mining, we know that part three will take place on...

Spoiler

Lehon.

Also, I'm surprised this article was not posted in this thread (unless I missed it). According to this report, the F2P conversion has been a huge success, with TOR being the fourth largest MMO in the world (and the second largest in the West, given the two MMO's directly above TOR in revenue are large in Asian markets). I do wonder how much of this is accounted for by subscriptions, though, and what efforts will be made to increase that number—regardless, it gives me hope that we will start seeing more and more return in terms of content in the game. Then again, maybe not... but you can't blame me for my optimism!

 

He spent several weeks just randomly shooting creatures to level up whilst running the same daily group quest over and over again? And yep the Smuggler story is pretty good now imaging how amazing it could be if it was really just his own story and they had sunk the whole budget TOR cost into the 7 or 8 separate classic RPGs they could have made instead?!

 

A shame the article doesn't link to the raw data itself, as I'd be curious where some of the other MMOs fall in the statistics, and not just the big ones.

 

I like Lana but I really hate to work with the pubs, especially someone like Theron Shan, who caused 2 Dark Council members' death and destroyed so many weapons.

 

So the PC can hold Lana's hand in the end of the arc?

 

Markup is unclear here, but the whole "slice and dice" aspect from lightsabers should never, ever be implemented. Ever.

 

Lana Beniko’s Journal: Darth Arkous

Spoiler

Observation of my subject continues. It’s entirely business as usual. Oversight, consultations, strategy discussions. A good deal of his time is spent behind closed doors without my presence. It’s always been that way with us, but it used to be I had no reason to question the reason for his privacy.

Working with him from day to day as if nothing’s amiss has not been easy. When I look him in the eye and ask him a question and know that he’s lying to me, it is difficult to believe that this is the same man who recruited me into his world. How far back does the deception go?
***
My first impression of Darth Arkous was that of a vain and pompous statesman. I recall not being all that impressed with him, but his offer to act in an advisory role for the military was too promising an opportunity to pass up. This was especially true as my first exposure to Arkous’s work would involve overseeing the invasion of Talay, the site of a major Republic outpost and communications hub.

Despite the self-assured manner in which he carried on about his plan, I had to admit it was a clever initiative that would minimize resistance while maximizing confusion amongst the planet’s populace. What not even Arkous had accounted for, however, was that the Republic was executing a plot of its own that would threaten to place his offensive in jeopardy.

An SIS team was already aboard Arkous’s ship when we departed from Dromund Kaas. I was meditating, setting my passions free to roil and reach. Spies are taught to withstand the persuasive powers of the Force, to protect their minds from harm. While this sort of discipline is useful against direct confrontation from someone like myself, it tends to be a fairly useless means of mental camouflage. Point of fact, it acts as a virtual beacon to any Sith familiar with the telltale signs of someone walling off their thoughts.

I could sense that the enemy assets--four of them--were apart from one another, unable to communicate for fear of discovery. I sought out the one nearest to me and, after some initial resistance, convinced him to tell me everything. They were to slice whatever data they could and then remotely detonate an explosive device on our craft from the safety of an escape pod. I had been concerned the spies were sent to subvert the Talay initiative, but it was clear they knew nothing of it. Not yet, at least. They still had a reasonable chance of revealing our plan to their superiors, and an even better chance of killing us all.

I reached out to Arkous, warning him of the danger. Separate but working together we silently stalked and eliminated two more. I then came upon the final SIS agent, who was busy priming the explosive device within the belly of the ship. I thought I had the drop on her, but she had surgical enhancements. Inhumanly alert and impossibly fast. I struck and missed and by the time I recovered she was already on her way to the escape pods.

With the need for subterfuge over, I sounded the alarm. As I worked to defuse the bomb the crew tried their best to stop the agent, but they failed. She had already launched the escape pod. I gave word to the bridge to jam all communications and then let Darth Arkous decide whether to pull her in via tractor beam or obliterate her with our cannons. That was when she detonated a secondary device inside the ship’s electrical hub.

We had no comms. No tractor beams. No weapons. And we had no idea what she might have learned of our initiative, and there was nothing we could do about it. Even the Force couldn’t stop her from broadcasting the data if she wanted to. I watched the pod depart, wishing I had done more, when I witnessed something truly astounding.

The pod slowed as a figure rocketed from our ship. It was Darth Arkous, outfitted for space. He slammed against the pod and plunged his lightsaber into it. That was enough to compromise the pod’s integrity. Its interior became the agent’s tomb.

Darth Arkous went above and beyond to preserve the Empire’s edge against the Republic. He may have played the self-important bureaucrat, but by his actions he was undoubtedly a selfless and devoted patriot. From that moment forward, I was certain I had made the right choice in becoming his advisor.
***
My subject recently made arrangements to pilot a shuttle to Onderon. He claimed he must negotiate a sensitive matter with the planet’s temperamental queen regarding troop commitments. That would be all well and good if he was actually going to Onderon.

He has arrived on Manaan instead. Without the proper clearance codes I find myself unable to land, but I must see this through, if only to prove that he’s simply engaged in something petty or embarrassing. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll prove any such thing. I feel with every fiber of my being that this is something more.

Something terrible.

 

May I ask why not?

 

I still think Lana is very strange as a Sith, in both parts she didn't act like a Sith at all. Maybe it's just some disguise?

 

Or she's a member of the Sith Order but doesn't follow the Sith ideology.

 

Because it destroys game balance for one, and disrupts mechanics for another. My paladin in WoW never stoved a boss or a PvP's foe in with his war hammer, nor has my smuggler one or two shot a boss in TOR. If the saber was remotely realistic in behavior, the game would just cease to work.

 

The Order of Revan? But she hates them.

 

Actually she liked them quite a lot (at least an earlier incarnation of Revanites).