Beta Tester Q&A

[thomasden2]

I stumpeld apun this beta Q&A, where a game tester is talking abit about the game and answering some questions, i hope you'll enjoy it. Warning, its a wall of text



"Q: What effect does companion affection levels have? For example, do they open side quests at certain levels, make them better at crew skills, etc?


A: Mainly for Romance and how they react to you (i.e killing them later on) as far as I have seen. Mako is my buddy, love getting in her pants, wouldn't want to hurt her



Qoes Imperial agent get a sith companion? i know it talked about 4 of the companions but i need to know the fifth for imperial agent...its killing me!


A: No, sorry, no Sith companions, although the Fifth companion is named Scorpio and he (it?) is a droid.



Q: Have you experienced any situation within game that stresses the connection? Any animation or move that lowers your FPS? thx keep us informed please, we depend on it!


A: Stressing connection, yes, well, kind of. Honestly, PvP, as you would imagine ultimately comes down to who has the better connection. If I am at 30ms or lower (my usual latency to the server) and you are 100ms+, the server is going to recognize my command before yours, even if it's oh so slightly. In a situation where I am healing in a ball match, my lower latency might just very well save my team mates life, and lead to your death. As for animations and FPS, really, depending on what kind of hardware you're running, the situation you're in, and what environment, something as simple as a explosion can kill your FPS momentarily. Right now, we have a glorious amount of Video settings (sarcasm). We have access too Texture Quality, Shadows, Windowed Mode and V-Sync as well as resolution. So, for now, people on lower and middle grade computers kind of have the option of running at a lower setting to enure their FPS stay nice and smooth, or playing at a higher detail level, but have to turn it down for group combat. Personally, I have everything maxed (aside from Shadows, they don't seem to be optimized, at least not for my card/processor combo) and never go below 60fps according to my card display, except in that rare situation in PvP when everyone has some effect go off at once, then it might go as low as 40.



Q: How exactly does the transition to space from the ground gameplay work? Is it a seamless experience without load screens using the famed instancing technology in TOR? Could you perhaps give a step-by-step account of what it is like to go from the landing pad to another planet and whether there is noticeable downtime? Thank you very much!


A: Let's say you go from Dromund Kaas to Balmorra. Once you use the map, if you look out the window, you'll see your ship move, then jump to hyperspace, and then re-emerge in front of the planet. Once you go to the exit of your ship, you either can watch the cutscene of your ship descending and docking on the planets surface, or skipping it and watch the loading bar. Unless your computer barely meets the minimum requirements (no, not even beta testers know the minimum), you should be done loading before the cutscene is over.Then you happily walk out of your ship onto the planets space dock.



Q: Does the game support SLI/Crossfire? I know the games doesn't need that much power, but if I have two card, I would still like to use them both.


A: Not going to BS you with a answer I don't know. I only use one card, and my GTX 460 is MORE then enough, so I wouldn't worry about it. But what I can say, and this is just based off the tester forums is that users have gotten Cross Fire and SLI to work, but not through in-game methods. They claim to be forcing it through the respective control panels, although no one has reported any difference in terms of performance.



Q: How would you rate this game on a scale 1 to 10? Does it ever get repetitive? How difficult is it?


A: I don't know if you're going to like my answer, but I am not going to piss on your leg and tell you it's raining. I'd give it a solid 6.5 . Why? Simple, it's NOT majorly innovative outside of the story department. There are some minor innovations, like no auto attack, companions doing the crafting, etc. But, don't let that answer disappoint you, I was a HUGE critic of the story driven atmosphere, I was on the forums for a few months a year ago throwing a temper tantrum like a 2 year old who couldn't have candy over the fact that the game was based on the story, but yea, I feel like a idiot now. The story doesn't change the fact that I need to go kill X amount of whatever, but hey, at least there is a story behind it, and I know why I am doing it, makes it, for me at least, a lot more enjoyable and a bit less tedious. I'd rate the game higher, but so far on Ilum (Level 50 group quest planet I just got too), as it stands, if I do 1 quest, log off, and come back on, I can't move on unless I find 3 other people in the same exact quest position as I am. I can't get a new group together and just tag along for the first mission and go on from there, that needs to be changed. As for getting repetative, yes and no. I mean, yes, some times your quest log will be the same exact quests as it was on the last planet, just with different names, but I still find it highly enjoyable simply because I know WHY I am causing a genocide of those poor Jawas. As for diffuculty, it's as difficult as you want it to be. You can turn your companion off and make the game get real challenging, real fast, or you can try to solo a 4 man quest.



Q: Does jumping while running reduce your movement speed or do you keep the same movement speed as in WoW?


A: You keep the same movement speed while in the air. Even in a Galaxy Far, Far away, the laws of physics still apply



Q: Do you have an opinion on how the evasion tanks(sith assassin, darkness tree spec for ex) perform in combat? Are the mitigation tanks preferred by healers as those kinds of tanks have a steady drop of health in combat as opposed to the evasion tanks which have huge drops in health but only every now and then?


A: Right now, as it's beta and we are all still for the most part learning, I can't form a honest opinion as to what's better overall, because I look at the grand scheme of things, for instance, did we complete whatever it is we were doing, or did we wipe for 9 hours then all rage quit. As a healer for the most part, I don't care either way, as long as you stack the right stats and aren't a mouth breathing, key board turning representation of almost all the convention footage that's available, I have no issue healing you. As far as combat, tanks and healers aren't gimped for solo, they do just as well as the other classes, maybe slightly slower (except Juggernauts, those OP Sons of Bitches higher up).



Q: I know that there is different gear and abilities for light side/dark side. My question is that is the difference big enough that people would want to pick a certain alignment to perform best? i.e. a healer wants to go light side for extra wisdom, whereas a DPS wants to go dark side for extra strength. Is it just aesthetic differences to balance it out or, does it possibly work like say InFamous where the powers are different but for the specific play-style of good/evil the power upgrades work better(Such as evil shock grenades clustered out for bigger explosion and good shock grenades instead did the good thing of arc restraining the guys caught in the blast).


A: Going off what I have personally seen, Lightside or Darkside is purely Aesthetic. Being a Lightsided Sith Inqusitor doesn't mean instead of Lightning you'll be shooting out Rainbows and Candy, you're still shooting Lightning, it's just you wear different looking gear. Go with what you want to go, either way, you won't be gimping yourself. Unless you want to look evil and all.



Q: What would you say is the actual impact of your decisions? I know they've been saying that what you do matters and all that. Does that go beyond getting different quests? I bet RPers won't be too happy as they "saved the world" and then another guy comes around and he "saved the world" too. Does this sort of decision making that makes impacts work well in the MMO atmosphere? Pertaining to that, they said with Taris you actually decide what happens to it. Does this phase it where if you did one way and your friend did it the other way that you wouldn't be able to find your friend on Taris at all?(Like in WoW where if you did a quest where it phases an area like say the Shadow Vault in Icecrown then people that didn't do that quest can't see you in that area)


A: If I decide to save the world, and you decide to watch it burn (btw, watching it burn is one hell of a good 4th of July show), neither of us will really know what the other did. It's purely for you. What Bioware did, and IMO they did a good job of, is created a game where it's a traditional MMO with loot, raiding and E-Peen contests, but the story is your own. It's like that other guy isn't even there in your story, it's just you, your weapon of choice and your companions saving/burning the galaxy, one world at a time. As far as decisions, they do affect you. As a Sith Inquisitor, one of your class quests has your contact ask you to save his son, a newly graduated Sith. If you save him, the quest giver thanks you, gives you your reward, etc. If you kill the son, cause he is a racist POS, the quest giver goes berserk and tries to kill you (cause it's always a good idea to attack a Lord of the Sith with a blaster pistol, that plan never fails!). And then you get a new quest giver. So decisions impact your story, yes.



Q: What incentive is BW using to keep people involved in running flashpoints and warzones apart from the obvious gear obtained? Has there been any talk of vanity rewards or titles given to those who play continuously? I know they wish to include some form of achievement system to keep people involved beyond just clearing the zones, but I'm just curious how heavily they are hanging onto story to keep people into the playing the same content several times over.


A: Honestly, can't answer that. Aside from the massive XP gain ( a reward in and of itself) and gear, I don't see a reason to re-run White Nova, Black Talon, etc over and over and over. Maybe a few times to see all story out comes, but beyond that, it's either for the XP or Loot, and they have made no mention of anything else for trying to get people to re-run stuff.



Q: How do the shared talent trees incorporate into the other main focus trees? Is there any incentive to follow it down beyond a couple tiers or does it serve only one specific purpose along with the others? Basically, do shared trees serve more specific purposes like PVP/utility or is it simply just a tree for either to use which has moderate use?


A: Just going to say, think WoW Pre-Cata talent trees. You can either focus on one thing, and be good at one thing, or focus on many things and be meh at everything, as opposed to good at one thing, bad at another. For instance, on my Inquisitor looking at the Assassin Tree's, I can easily see a nice build I'd go for when I am at it Solo, it's a combination of DPS and Tanking abilities, to help with sometimes fragile nature of the Assassin, but in no way would I get a group to love me with that spec. I'd have to respec pure DPS or Tank within the trees. It ultimately comes down to preference and play style, and a lot of the tree interact nicely for soloing and Pvp, not so much for flash points.



Q: Any insight to the CC lockout bar would be appreciated. Is it simply any CC causes the bar to fill or will each specific type of CC have its own bar? I know that the lockout is roughly 20s but im looking to see whether to roll a SJugg or SMara and how heavily CCs play by weaving them into a rotation is something factoring into the decision.


A: It's all CCs, otherwise you could just play round robin CC and never hit that lock out with a bit of communication.



Q: This is a personal question to you guys, I hope you don't mind. But what is your addiction to the game? What is driving you to play this game, say compare to something like WoW? What mechanic does the Bounty Hunter use for healing? Does it shoot kolto darts, have a healing ray, throw medpacks at people, etc.?


A: My addicition to the game? Easy, it's actually the best contender I have seen to mimicking WoW's TBC/WoTLK success at mixing challenging and casual content. It keeps me going becuase if I want to just relax and do a few quests (well, with the story, make A quest if I have a hour or less), I can do that, or if I want to get nitty gritty, we can go tackle some of the group quests or world bosses which sometimes aren't for the faint of heart.
As far as Bounty Hunter healing... you pretty much nailed it all. You have a healing ray, kolto darts, etc. It's mostly a extremely management intensive healing class IMO, you have heals that are free (cost no Heat), but they are weak, then you have your heavy hitting heals that cost a lot of heat (no spamming them). By far, my favorite ability for that DPS who just can't stop getting hit is Kolto SHell, 10 charges, every time he gets hit, heals for X amount (3 second internal cooldown). Very nice set and forget for DPS, where as you have multiple forms of tank healing.



Q: Also what does a shield generator do exactly? Does it add AC, have a chance to block attacks, both?


A: As far as the shield generator... it's a stat item, and a "shield" in the WoW sense (blocks some damage). I don't have much experience with it as a healer/merc (dual pistols) but some have Absorption ratings which will absorb say 20% of the damage, 15% of the time, or whatever your shield proc chance is. It's a handy helper for your dodge and parries.



Q: Is there things to do besides the standard quest,raid,pvp. I was a huge Ultima online fan, and there were tons of things to do. deco. explore. vendors etc. etc. etc.


A: I haven't dug too deep into, but exploration wise, the Codex is awesome. It rewards experience per discovery, as well as experience once you complete sets. And some of the stuff isn't exactly on the road most travelled. As far as it's use at end game, can't say, haven't been there long enough. But there will be plenty to do, trust me at that. Over 150 hours invested into this game so far and I haven't even done half of what you can do overall (new class stories, all crafting, gathering, missions, etc).



Q: If you run into anyone with experience with the sniper class, I would like to know a few things:
1. Which sniper tree is most effective DPS?
2. Can snipers cloak, and if so for how long?
3. How does sniper DPS compare to assassin/marauder/sorcerer DPS?


A:
1. Can't say, all I know is some Snipers are just too OP right now, that it's annoying watching them 1 shot things occasionally.
2. No idea, if I get a answer, I'll send it along to BetaCake to add on to this.
3. IMO, more then all the ones you listed if you stat stack properly, it'll probably be toned down though, or they'll be made more squishy for the glass cannon effect.



Q: can you ask the person who leaked the photo of the Sith Assassin trees to do a write up of the tree similar to the Sith Juggernaut one


A: I honestly don't know personally who leaked it, but I am working on getting every class/AC combo done and will send it all in when I am done with it. It's not exactly easy to play your main as well as level up all these classes and take all these pictures hehe.



Q: I wouldn't be surprised if you don't know, since the leakers tend to rotate, and I'm not sure how well versed in Lore any of you are, but does the Sith Sorcerer actually get access to actual Sith Sorcery, like Horror for instance, or is all just about lightning spam attached to the semi-iconic name?


A: Someone put it real nice in-game. Sorcerer's are like Emperor Palpatine. They have some light saber skills, but are mostly reliant on some for or another of lightning, as well as other skills mixed in.



Q: Whats the programming/building status so far? Is just testing left or are there more things to be implemented? (e.g. 90% complete?)


A: We aren't THAT informed, but what I can tell you is that on July 20th the test servers are being taken down for a new build to be implemented. I have no idea how long they'll be down for, they mentioned the possibility of weeks, but they also said they'll keep us informed (all current testers are being re-invited). And, last time this happened, there was character wipes, so I am anticipating that, so don't get your hopes up for a September or earlier release. If this build goes live the first week of August, I expect at the minimum that they'll have us test for at least 3 weeks, probably longer since not many people are 40+ and that content really has been tested by the masses. And NO, we aren't stress testing yet :P



Q: One, is it possible to create a pure sith that does not have face tentacles or will all sith characters have them?


A: Absolutely you can make a Sith without the tentacles. I just went to the character creator, and not only did I make a pretty good Pirates of the Caribbean Davy jones wannabe, I made a red human for the most part (slight facial difference) but NO tentacles. You have some decent freedom in terms of facial features for Sith Purebloods.



Q: Two, is it possible to buff players not in your group, "drive by buffing" ?


A: Yep. target and buff. If the target is in your group though, or you buff yourself, the entire group gets the buff (yay!). But right now, buffing random people is highly ill advised due to a bug with PvP flagging. I hate it when someone buffs me, and I return the favor to get flagged for PvP when I want to NOT be flagged at the moment :P



Q: Three, are there any uber buffs in sw:tor?


A: Uber Buffs...? They're all pretty dang good, but none are exactly better then others in terms of the class that gives said buff HAS to be in the group.



Q. Do SA's get stealth automatically? Or is it an ability that needs to be specc'ed? Example - darkness SA can stealth?


A: Just like WoW, you get stealth automatically (once you train it), but there is a talent to increase stealthed speed and improve stealth. Oh, and I will save you the time and answer, yes, you can use sprint once you get it at 15 while stealthed.



Q. Which spec has better survivability, deception or darkness?


A: Darkness.



Q. Which tree has more cc?


A: Madness and Deception have a roughly equal amount of CC.



Q. What and how does the SA play like, what are some Of the rotation ?


A: For Deception, it's put Khem on Aggresive (tank) mode, stealth in, open with a Maul, stand behind the target and pretty much spam thrash until Duplicity procs. That's the most effective way I have played the Assassin in my LIMITED (level 14) experience.



Q. Lastly what is the best leveling spec for an SA?


A: Deception/Darkness hybrid IMHO based on looking at it. Lots of survivability as well as damage. But can't say beyond looks, level 14 isn't that hard really when you keep your companion's gear updated.



Q: I have heard that Revan is a midlevel (30s range) flashpoint boss, along with HK-47 in some kind of flashpoint called White Nova. Is this true? What is the general tester reaction to this if so?
Spoiler for those of you living under a rock.


A: Yes, it's true. And the testers are a mixture of mad/understanding. Got to realize the game doesn't revolve around Revan, but it's pretty sad that you take him out so early on.



Q: Hello, I would like to know if there is any crew skills that are similar to alchemy in wow? Consumables health pots & mana pots as well as temporary buff like wow Elexir.


A: I know Biochem makes med packs, aside from that, really not sure.



Q: Any mention of Atton, Bao-Dur, Mical the Disciple, Visas Marr, or Mira in the game so far, seeing as they restarted the Jedi Order?


A: Haven't really gotten that far Republic side. So all I can say is, no mention of them pre level 10.



Q: In the official forums a response to the "can you respec AC" question is to just re-roll. How long does it take to get to level 10 again?


A: Depends on a few factors. Do you want to hear the story again, how many people, how well you know the quest order etc. I can get to 10 in under 4 hours mashing my space bar like a depraved idiot.



Q: Lately we saw some pictures from the beta that showed that coruscant has many many instances. some beta players say that its very hard to even find other players at public places and you cant find them even if you are at the same spot (because of instancing). Is it realy that way? and if it is, do you know if the instancing stuff is only for beta reasons and will be removed in the final game?


A: Can't say if it'll be removed for launch or not, but yes, you are instanced once a certain amount of people are on the planet. It's good and bad. Good, because there isn't going to be 258624636 people at launch fighting over 6 mobs (assuming it's still in), it's bad, because right now there is no easy way to swap instances to be with a group in a different instance.



Q: Have you seen any mount-drops or quest rewards in the current build?


A: No, I have not.



Q: In Q10 it was stated that actually you dont need crew skills ... Why is that so? Are the craftable items not usefull or to weak in comparison to the items you can buy?


A: Not exactly sure what question you're referring to, as I never said crew skills aren't needed. I merely said that they are a waste of credits until max level, unless you want to have them leveled up before you hit 50. I don't enjoy spending 300+ credits to get a few crystals in return to make a item upgrade that sells for next to nothing and that is ultimately worse then a quest reward most of the time, unless your crafting is at a higher level then you.



Q: Wolfgb said somewhere that pvp is not very poluar and that there is a lot of rage in the beta-forums on that topic. What is your opinion on the pvp in swtor and do you, as well, have the impression that most testers dont like it?


A: I enjoy it, I haven't seen "rage", but I have seen some disgruntled people. I enjoy PvP SW:TOR though. It moves pretty fast, and the fact that there is no brackets kind of makes it nice as jumping into a game doesn't take forever.



Q: As you are already lvl 40+ ... do you have the feeling that the quality of the quests and gameplay is on the same level from beginnig to end?


A: In terms of RIGHT NOW, no, it's not the same, it hasn't been thoroughly tested. But once it has and the kinks are worked out, it actually gets better .



Q: would it make sense to have like 4 alts just for doing crew skills all the time in order to support your main char and main crafter? Would you be able to make a lot of money this way?


A: I highly, highly suggest you don't do that. There is no welfare checks in SW:TOR and unless you're making a commodity that is needed and in demand, you actually lose a lot of money, unless of course you gather everything yourself and don't buy any materials. Then go for it.
s there a list on the beta forums, or anywhere that show which graphics cards are currently compatable and working? If so could you possibly post the list?



Q: In the last Q&A the beta tester stated that in the mid 30's on the Empire side you get to fight Revan, now with that said does that mean that there is no Republic version of this same quest line? if so what does it entail?


A: After a bit of research, there is a Republic equivalent, but I can't say exactly what, it's next to impossible to get someone who did it to answer a lower level. It's always met with do it for yourself.



Q: I've read that class stories don't give enough XP to level and you have to do world arcs so does that mean you're forced to group if you wish to progress?


A: This is a sticky, sticky question. Yes and yes, possibly no. I'll tell you right now, I dislike grouping up when it takes longer then a few minutes, I want to know what happens next in my story, not what it's like to wait 30 minutes or more. So for the most part I skipped the group quests, save for roughly 30% of them, and yes you will be underleveled. I left Dromund Kaas at 15, and FINISHED (aside from group quests, I only did 2) Balmorra, and I was 18 and a half. That slowly, slowly effects you, to the point where 2-3 planets later, you finish and you're 3+ levels away from where you should be. My suggestion is, and it's working out for me so far on my next character that I am doing for fun until the wipe is just kill EVERYTHING in your path. Don't avoid a single mob if you don't want to do world quests. If you slaughter everything in your way as well as all solo quests, you SHOULD be fine for the most part.


Q: So, just to be clear, we can mix and match different armor parts from multiple sets? As in helmets, boots, legs, gloves, chest, biceps, etc?
Has there been any discussion about adding more species to the game? (on the beta forums/secret Dev info)
Will classes be able to wear armor sets from the other advanced class? For example, I want to wear the final armor in the Powertech armor progression, but I want to wear it as a mercenary.


A: Unless the armor is class specific, and you have the required proficiency, you can wear whatever you damn well please. As far as races, no, not a word on any new ones. It seems Bioware wants Humanoid races so that the players can feel comfortable that their character is a extension of them, but that's just my take on it.



Q: about crafting, what do you mean by saying that its not profitable until max lvl, you mean character max lvl (50) or companion crafting lvl? Can you explain it?
And what about other gathering missions, is it in your opinion profitable sending your companions on Tresure hunting etc missions? What type of missions you think are profitable and what arent?
How to skill your companion on those missions, by sending them etc, or it just depend on planet, i.e. on Tatooine there are cheaper but in Hoth there got full potential but they costs more?


A: I mean that you will spend a hell of a lot of credits to make something basically worthless. Unless your crafting is making items above your level, skip it until you're level 50. Save the credits for your mounts and training.



Q: In Q&A 10 the tester mentioned 2 companions for the BH. One named Gault and one a Mandalorian named Torian. I was wondering if you can go into more details about these two.
Can you tell us briefly about the story of the bounty hunter? For example what's the story like in Chapter 2 or so.


A: Gault is a DPS centered companion, while Torian is a Tanking centered companion. And I refuse to spoil Class Stories. Play it and experience it for yourself (that response sucks, I know) but it will be worth it, trust me, BH has one of the best stories in the game.



Q: will we be able to scroll out for better overview, especially for tanking?


A: Yes sir, there is a option to change the camera's max distance.



Q: "What species and Genders are the Jedi Knight's Companions? Namely Rusk and Doc"


A: Doc is a Male Human and Rusk is a Chagrian Male.



Q: With in an AC, are stat priority the same? as in if I were to play a Sith Assassin, would I choose different gear depending on whether I was tank or dps specced? or do the game only differentiate on the AC level?


A: Sort of the same, like you'd want Endurance and Strength, just different focus based on your goal.



Q: One of you told us about attributes, so for example a Merc has to stack up aim and cunning. My first question would be if there are ways to get a WORKING build that would only need to stack up one attribute, so for example reducing heat costs for rockets enough to only stack cunning (and hence ending up with alot more and more dps). And if so, have you encountered an AC that seems to be best suited for that?


A: You could do that... but not reducing heat, you can't just spam rockets all day. Aim and Cunning, with a focus on Cunning for a Bounty Hunter DPS.



Q: Not exactly a question, but would one of you be kind enough to give a summary for one (or more) AC talent trees, kinda like the Juggernauts? While I do appreciate the pictures of high-end talents, thoose on their own are not a good estimation what thoose trees are about.


A: Eh... not sure what you mean here, but it's generally DPS/DPS/Heal or Tank, some have variations.



Q: how meany spells/abilities does the bounty hunter have? and when you pick your advanced class do you get more spells/abilities or does it just make it so certain spells/abilities are better then the other advanced class?


A: You have a lot... and each AC adds new abilities ontop of the Bounty Hunter standard ones.



Q: witch of the bounty hunters advanced classes do the most damage i wanna role a bounty hunter but want to do alot of damage and take hits good too and not die to easy.


A: Well, if you want to do a lot of DPS and not die, go Merc so you can heal yourself. If you want to do some decent damage and not get hit that hard, but have a higher chance of dying then go Powertech (unless you group with a healer).



Q: How is money in SWTOR? Like is having 1000 credits alot or is it more like 10k?


A: I had 3k or so leaving the origin world, you get them real fast and easy, and you can waste them just the same if you arent paying attention to how you send out your companions.



Q: Selling items and loot money. Whats the base that you seen drop or items sell for to venders?


A: Loot and sell everything you can't use unless it's blue or epic. Easiest money in the game, at least in beta.



Q: Which of the bounty hunters advanced classes are you and how do you like it so far?


A: Merc and I wouldn't go Powertech if you offered me 20 dollars



Q: how is crafting/skill gathering like if you sent a companion out to gather metal or whatever how much does it cost to do that and how long dose it take before your companion comes back and what is the average amount of the item they come back with. like 5 metal or something?


A: All depends on the skill level, the mission level relative your skill level, etc. Anywhere from 5 minutes to 12 and it can cost a lot.



Q: weapon upgrades do all weapons have them? and what kinda upgrades are there.


A: Grips, barrels, power cells, color, etc. Not all weapons have all slots, and some weapons have less slots then others.



Q: Do you have to have your companion fighting with you all the time to kill mobs or can you do quests/kill mobs fine with out them?


A: You can go out solo (no companion) if you want, but it gets real tough once you start running into the elite mobs. Or the groups of semi-elite mobs.



Q: Are there same gender romance arcs ingame? How do characters look without gear, how defined are for example male characters, also have you come across any armors that reveal some skin?.


A: No same gender romance so far, as I have seen anyway, although thats kind of disappointing as there are some people who lead that life, and they shouldn't be left out of the game like that, as it is VERY easy to get attached to your character. Without gear characters look like... well whatever race they are I guess, don't know what you mean. Males are pretty chiselled for the smaller statures, or you can be a fat guy and just sit on your enemies. Either way it works. And There is SOME revealing armor... but not a lot, so no, you won't see every female running around in 2 pieces of floss and a couple smiley face stickers.



Q: Can you influence the alignments of your companions to any extent? For example, if one goes a dark-sided Jedi Knight your companions will also follow suit and become darksided like the companions in KotOR 2.


A: To be perfectly honest, haven't paid attention. Mako for me isn't a issue, regardless of your response (as long as it involves credits) you gain affection with her, as she is a gold digger and loves credits.



Q: Are there achievements/deeds, similar to WOW, RIFT, or LOTRO?


A: As of now, no.



Q: Are there any racial benefits in terms of questing,class related issues,litle starting bonuses?Or is this justa fluffthing?


A: Races are purely cosmetic.



Q: Can the Voiceover be changed right away from let/s say German to English?


A: I can't say, I downloaded the English client, but I would imagine retail would allow easy swapping.



Q: At what level do you get your first light saber for Jedi or Sith?
Q: When do you get your class ship?


A: These 2 questions both get the same answer. No specific level, it's just when you get to them in your class story. Some will get there sooner then others, some will get there much later.



Q: Does alignment (like being a Dark Jedi) have any impact on your story,skills or your appearance?


A: Nope, your just a evil or nice guy, nothing more really. That and some gear is specific to either alignment.



Q: This has been a big thing on the official forums, and has been since the beginning. Do Sith Assassins have any equipment that has pants like Maul instead of long Palpatine-like robes?


A: Not that I have seen so far.



Q: Even though the game takes place 3000 years before the movie, does most of the armor and surroundings still look like something we'd expect from Star Wars?


A: Yep. Some stuff might even look very familiar if you pay attention



Q: About lightsaber/sword fights, do you keep clashing untill a kill animation(?) or do you like keep slashing someone in the chest untill they die?


A: Mostly depends on if you parry or not for melee, or deflect or not for ranged. It's not a constant clash though.



Q: As a Sith, can you visit Coruscant, and as a Jedi can you visit Korriban?


A: No, Empire can't hit Republics Origin Worlds or Capital, same for the Republic.



Q: After watching the Sith Warrior progression video, and seeing the last stages of both the Juggernaut and the Marauder resulting in some kind of bio-mechanical abomination, I'd like to know if there is an alternative to this. I'm sure there's alot of people who prefer the traditional black cloak and perhaps a mask over the cyborg thing.


A: I can't say... and here it is. I am not Rick Ross, you'd have to ask him and his Warrior



Q: Space combat looked kind of repeatitive to me when Daniel Erickson demonstrated it, is it?


A: I gave up after 12 seconds. It's like Star Foxes lame younger brother. Only time I yawned while playing TOR.



Q: When do you, as someone who has experienced the product as it is now, think when it'll be released?


A: October (my guess) or later. A new build is going up next week, then we get access the first or second week of August, and there will be at least 6 weeks for that phase (IMHo anyway) because characters are more then likely getting wiped so we all need to relevel and get a lot more people at the higher end content then there is now.



Q: Are Marauders and it's Republic counterpart able to wield two lightsabers with different colors?


A: Sure. If you want to run around as a Jedi with a Green/Blue, Red/Purple whatever combo, go for it. As long as you are aligned for the colors you want to use, go for it. Red = Dark, Green and Blue = Light, the rest don't matter.



Q. Is the game everything you expected/wanted it to be?


A: No, but it's well over 80% of my expectations. You won't be disappointed as long as you don't think this is like the second coming of MMO's or something of that nature. It's just a good MMO, nothing more. The wheel is still circular here, it hasn't been reinvented



Q. Do the lightsaber forms really affect the way you fight visually, or is it all about stats?


A: Stats only, sorry. I wish it would have made a difference, it'd help the non force users out in PvP in knowing what form we were going up against (so we know what effect they have).



Q. In the Sith Inquisitor class video it shows the player studying a Sith holocron, I myself was planning to play a Sith Warrior, although I'm also interested in Sith philosophy and tombs etc. Is this exclusive to the Inquisitor?


A: As a Inquisitor, you're basically Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, your class story revolves around finding artifacts for the most part in Act 1. So if you want to go spelunking, go inquisitor.



Q. It has been mentioned that there would be some lightning ability for the Sith Warrior. Can you shed some light on this?


A: No, I have no idea personally, my Warrior is level 11 and I don't have it.



Q: Can you elaborate on head slot armor vs. cloaks, and do the classes who where cloaks have the ability to put their cowl up or down? Can you assign a hot key to this, similar to flourish in KOTOR?


A: There is no back slot. Some pieces have the hoods up, and some have cloaks attached, but there is no cloak only items. And not that I know of for putting it up or down (highly doubt it). But you can hide your head slot item.



Q: How big would you say a planet like Tatooine is compared to WoW zones (how many zones)? I only have WoW as a reference sorry.


A: Tat is one big mofo. Easily 2-3 zones in WoW. If you get there at 24, it sucks til you get your mount.


Q: How many times are you presented with a loading screen when on one planet. If you are on Tatooine, and run into Anchorhead, does it load? If you’re in Anchorhead, and run into the cantina, or the space port, does it load? I’m hoping for seamless J


A: No load screens on the planet unless you leave. Otherwise everything is seamless.



Q: On the maps we’ve seen in leak shots, it looks like there are many yellow lines indicating paths from area to area. Do you feel pretty boxed in...are there always buildings or rocks/mountains/trees that force you to stay on a pretty linear path, or can you make your own way, as the crow flies and just deal with the monsters etc. that you may run into?


A: Kind of boxed in, kind of not. You can go exploring, but there is no shortcuts really. You go where they want you to go.



Q: A Lot of people have asked is it fun, I want to ask why is it fun and enjoyable more than other games and does it have that so called "addicting lasting appeal" I dont want it to die like so many other mmo's...


A: For the first play through of every class, it has that addicting appeal, it's once you do all 8 classes to 50 that there won't be anything truly new left to do... but by then there should be new content out to keep us all busy. It'll be fine, so far Bioware has been very good with responding to testers and their concerns/problems. I think this game is going to last a while as #2 MMO until WoW kills itself.



Q: Do Sith warriors always appear as bulky armored, or is there more of a "deceived Trailer" look with minimalistic armor that isn't so bulky and black robes/hood? This question is for Both AC's.


A: For the most part, yes you are bulky, but I really can't answer beyong the Warriors I have seen.



Q: How useful will stealth be in PVP as far as quick kills go? Do you think a shadow consular or a concealment imperial agent can really do some damage with the stealth or is combat too slow paced for a "WoW" style PVP stealth to be very good at killing quickly with stuns and locks? Does it vary depending on situation? ex. world pvp vs battleground pvp vs 1 on 1.


A: You can take out a good chunk of health, but it won't be like WoW with stun locks.



Q: How do the classes Stealth Mechanics work? Which class do you think has the most useful stealth option and what kind of things can be done from each classes stealth, if any?


A: For the most part, stealth is exactly as it is in other MMOs, last until cancelled for some classes, limited duration for others. And what you can do is all dependent on the class.



Q: What kind of options for armor looks are available to a character who goes lightside if they are on the imperial side and vise versa? Does a good SW get Jedi like armor? or is it more like Sith armor with a lighter color scheme? Or perhaps neither?


A: Can't say, as hard as this is to believe (sarcasm) I have yet to run across a light sided Sith Warrior, or anyone on the Empire for that matter.



Q: What do you think the most powerful PVP classes will be, and for what reasons? What about PVE and reasons for those?


A: can't say, things are constantly changing, but right now, Juggs and Snipers are 2 hard hitting classes that are getting nerf batted.



Q: What kind of armor can we expect endgame? Will it be every class has the same respective armor like WoW endgame where all mages wanted there top gear and all Druids wanted there top gear and they all looked the same? or will there be some choice on what you look like endgame so you don't have to be a possibly ugly clone to be the best you can at pvp/pve?


A: No raids in-game for us yet, so I don't know, but right now, no, no one really looks the same. But at the same time, there is maybe 400-600 people online each side at a given time, and not that many are above 40.



Q: What do you think the most overplayed class and AC will be when the game comes out? which will be the least played in your opinion?


A: If it has a light saber, it will be over played. If it has a blaster, it'll be a rare creature.



Q: So me and my friend have been debating over republic vs empire for a while now. He doesn't want to go empire because he thinks all the choices will be "evil" or "less evil". Could you give some insight? Is it going to be "kill him or just torture him a little" or "kill him or save him". I guess what I am asking is, how much freedom do you have in your choices in empire vs republic


A: The messed up part is, at least for Empire, sometimes the Light Side option is more cruel then the dark option. If he wants to be a Hero, go Republic, if he wants to be all evily and Muahahaha like, go Empire. Or go whatever and just make choices however you honestly would, thats what I do, and I got sucked into the story.



Q: In regards to the timeline of the game, does the Treaty of Coruscant ever collapse and the galaxy is thrown back into full scale war? Or is it an uneasy peace throughout the game.


A: It collapses, won't say any more.



Q: Are Sith Inquisitors allowed to be pureblood on your current beta build?


A: Yes.



Q: Do you get contacted by phone when you get an invite for beta test? If not, how do you get contacted? Just by an email? Are all the contact information like Home number, Zip postal code and Address just a ordinary process? Thank you.


A: You get a email saying you have been selected to test, go to swtor.com/tester to accept or decline. The contact info is just to verify you are who you say you are I guess.



Q: I've seen a couple testers say they are not playing the tunnel shooter space combat. It that pretty common for the test community? If so, why do you think that is?


A: I hate the space combat, as do a lot of people I talk too, it's like a worse version of Star Fox... and I hated Star Fox.... Do a barrel roll!



Q: Was the first tunnel shooter mission after you get your ship mandatory? Are there any class only space missions that can only be done as part of the class story?


A: Space is completely optional. You are never forced to do it.



Q: The most bumped post on the regular TOR boards is the space combat thread. Is there a similar one on the testing forums? What do testers think of what people not playing the game are saying about space combat?

A: Right now the most bumped thread is about the new build deployment and the end of this build next week, and the multiple threads that pop up about it.



Q: Can you explain the different resource systems to us? How you gain and use the resource? The more detailed the better."


A: It's just like WoW. Crystals for Artifice, Bio stuff for Biochem, etc. Don't want to go into too much detail because that would require me to actually go and learn crafting and really do it, which is a waste of time IMO.



Q: "Could you post the Trooper (Vanguard) talent trees?"


A: I am working on getting all the trees. When I have them all I will email them to Beta Cake.



Q: In a lot of screenshots we see that the writings are in Aurbesh(sorry if i butchered the name), do they get translated when you point them with the mouse, as i heard that in SWG (i never played it) there is such function.


A: No idea what you talking about, sorry, maybe rephrase and ask again?



Q: will the red lightsaber have the same blur effect on wielding we saw on the blue saber in jedi videos?


A: It has a slight blur effect yes, same as blue.



Q: I was wondering if you could tell us the names and info about each of the Imperial Agent Companions. Thanks


A: Kaliyo D'jannis, Vector Hyllis, Doctor Lokin, Ensign Temple, SCORPIO. You get them in that order. Beyond that, can't tell you that much.



Q: Earlier you said, 40.000 credit was the cost for the first mount. Did you find it hard to get those 40.000, did you have to save some money, or even farm some additionally, to get the mount with reaching the "mount-level" or did you get that cash by just normal leveling?


A: Don't go overboard with crew skills and you'll have no issue getting that money before 25.



Q: Is there a "riding"-skill like in WoW, that costs money, or do you just buy the mount and use it like in WAR? If there's a skill, how much do you pay for it and is that payment already included in the 40.000?


A: The 40,000 is to learn Riding 1. The mount itself is 4k. For a total of 44k (You'll have that much easy if you don't waste the credits).



Q: If you're a Sith, are you able to visit Coruscant ? I'd really think I'd enormously suck if a planet of that big role in the movies is not accessible as sith.


A: Unfortunately you can't go there as a member of the Empire.



Q: Just a round number would do it: How many in-game-days do you expect for a skilled and well experienced MMO-player, who still wants to enjoy his game, to reach level 50?


A: 10 days if you put in 10 hours a day and don't fool around and just constantly do quests. A bit longer for your first time through the game. So we'll say 15 days more or less for you experienced MMO gamer, less if your the hardcore gamer putting in 16 hours a day."