Developer Dispatch: The Legacy System

[Runeshard]

pretty sure the "non-jedi with force powers" thing is an aprils fool. and if not. its a little sad... just a little.

 

Don't see why. Your characters that share a legacy name will have some sort of relation to each other and will have learned skills from each other, I don't really see the implausibility in it.

[pbartash]

honestly i cant wait till 1.2 i will have a bounty hunter that chokes people with his sith warrior dad

[jannickj]

Don't see why. Your characters that share a legacy name will have some sort of relation to each other and will have learned skills from each other, I don't really see the implausibility in it.

 

well... life-long training? i like every aspect of the legacy system and the game. but this one just goes against the idea of star wars. mastering the force takes a lifetime of dedication whether your jedi or sith. the most extreme case of sudden-jedi-skills ive ever heard of was luke. and his father was the jesus of star wars. seems wrong. loved the game so far. but 4 months in and everyone can suddenly get force-powers? its like dragonball after frieza when everyone suddenly went godlike in no time.

 

i have had the greatest fate in bioware this far. but this one might be my dealbreaker,

[jannickj]

unless ofcourse it turns out to be an april fools joke

[Runeshard]

well... life-long training? i like every aspect of the legacy system and the game. but this one just goes against the idea of star wars. mastering the force takes a lifetime of dedication whether your jedi or sith. the most extreme case of sudden-jedi-skills ive ever heard of was luke. and his father was the jesus of star wars. seems wrong. loved the game so far. but 4 months in and everyone can suddenly get force-powers? its like dragonball after frieza when everyone suddenly went godlike in no time.

 

i have had the greatest fate in bioware this far. but this one might be my dealbreaker,

It won't turn out to be an April fool's joke. And we are not talking about mastering the force, just a few handy talents/tricks/skills, call them what you will. As for having a life-time to train that is really up to you. If you decide that the relationship between your jedi character and a non jedi character is that of parent and child then there may very well have been a life time of training. Even if their relationship is only that of allies they can still learn a few things from one another, again, we are not talking about mastering something here. Just a few skills, the use of which will be limited.

 

Edit: just to clarify, you won't be getting scores of force powers for your trooper, just for example, just one from your jedi knight and one from (if you have one) your consular. And even then it'll be your choice to use them.

 

Edit 2: What about the academy that Luke Skywalker started? Didn't he move away from the rule about only teaching younglings and also teach adults, who ended up learning relatively fast seeing as they became jedi? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Runeshard

[QuaziPance]

pretty sure the "non-jedi with force powers" thing is an aprils fool. and if not. its a little sad... just a little.

 

I'm a physicist, I went to school to learn about physics, my job requires that I know about physics. But I know how to put up dry wall because my dad is a carpenter, which I did not learn while in school to be a physicist... I also know how to play a few instruments, because my uncle is a musician. Is this that much different? I am not a master carpenter, nor am I professional musician.

 

You also have to remember that your jedi character is not supposed to just be some crappy jedi. They are supposed to be one of the most powerful jedi in history, during a time period where there are some pretty amazing jedi. I mean in the story lines, if you reach level 50, you are not just some guy. You are one of the most important people of your time. I would hope your kid would hope your kid could benefit from that in some way.

 

Also, bioware was very careful to not say much about the past of any of the characters. In all of the storylines you start out as an adult. So your pureblood sith jedi could have done a lot of things before starting their jedi training. And your bounty hunter could have failed out of the jedi academy because he was a sucked as a jedi, doesn't mean he wasn't force sensitive, and doesn't mean he wasn't able to use force choke in a "heroic moment", espcially if his dad was darth so-and-so

 

the more I think about the legacy system, the more I really think the flaver/roleplay aspect is pretty amazing. And will make for interesting back stories for our characters.

 

EDIT: Some others have said things along this line as well, but yeah, your back story is YOUR back story. in the movies you see random, not super powerful, younglings lifting stuff with the force, they have not had a lifetime of training, they are like 8. They may in fact fail out of the academy (or escape before it is destroyed, depending on time period), and end up being a bantha herder. This does not mean that if someone tries to kill them they won't instinctively go back to their jedi training and throw a boulder at the guy with the force. Again, you can only use these things in "heroic moments".

Edited March 22, 2012 by QuaziPance

[Runeshard]

I'm a physicist, I went to school to learn about physics, my job requires that I know about physics. But I know how to put up dry wall because my dad is a carpenter, which I did not learn while in school to be a physicist... I also know how to play a few instruments, because my uncle is a musician. Is this that much different?

 

You also have to remember that your jedi character is not supposed to just be some crappy jedi. They are supposed to be one of the most powerful jedi in history. I mean in the story lines, if you reach level 50, you are not just some guy. You are one of the most important people of your time. I would hope your kid would hope your kid could benefit from that in some way.

 

Also, bioware was very careful to not say much about the past of any of the characters. In all of the storylines you start out as an adult. So your pureblood sith jedi could have done a lot of things before starting their jedi training. And your bounty hunter could have failed out of the jedi academy because he was a sucked as a jedi, doesn't mean he wasn't force sensitive, and doesn't mean he wasn't able to use force choke in a "heroic moment", espcially if his dad was darth so-and-so

 

the more I think about the legacy system, the more I really think the flaver/roleplay aspect is pretty amazing. And will make for interesting back stories for our characters.

 

Hm, good points.

[jannickj]

It won't turn out to be an April fool's joke. And we are not talking about mastering the force, just a few handy talents/tricks/skills, call them what you will. As for having a life-time to train that is really up to you. If you decide that the relationship between your jedi character and a non jedi character is that of parent and child then there may very well have been a life time of training. Even if their relationship is only that of allies they can still learn a few things from one another, again, we are not talking about mastering something here. Just a few skills, the use of which will be limited.

 

Edit: just to clarify, you won't be getting scores of force powers for your trooper, just for example, just one from your jedi knight and one from (if you have one) your consular. And even then it'll be your choice to use them.

 

Edit 2: What about the academy that Luke Skywalker started? Didn't he move away from the rule about only teaching younglings and also teach adults, who ended up learning relatively fast seeing as they became jedi? Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

never really thought of post-ROTJ as real lore... just a lot of superheroes and over the top happenings. still. i dont think ill ever adjust to a trooper or a smuggler as having force powers. especially as i never head of any in star wars before this..

[Runeshard]

never really thought of post-ROTJ as real lore... just a lot of superheroes and over the top happenings. still. i dont think ill ever adjust to a trooper or a smuggler as having force powers. especially as i never head of any in star wars before this..

 

Well, I guess it's up to you if you want to disregard that part of the lore.

 

What about the arguments though, for a force sensitive trooper learning one or two things from his jedi father/brother/ally/lover etc?

Edited March 22, 2012 by Runeshard

[jannickj]

I'm a physicist, I went to school to learn about physics, my job requires that I know about physics. But I know how to put up dry wall because my dad is a carpenter, which I did not learn while in school to be a physicist... I also know how to play a few instruments, because my uncle is a musician. Is this that much different?

 

quess it depends on your view on the force. in my little world of star wars it just doesnt fit together. if most people think its cool and adds flavor thats fine. but kotor1 and 2 were just exactly how i percieved the star wars universe and the force. this kinda goes against that nerdy kid inside of me who was looking forward for another game to match his expectations of the presentation of the star wars universe.

[Runeshard]

quess it depends on your view on the force. in my little world of star wars it just doesnt fit together. if most people think its cool and adds flavor thats fine. but kotor1 and 2 were just exactly how i percieved the star wars universe and the force. this kinda goes against that nerdy kid inside of me who was looking forward for another game to match his expectations of the presentation of the star wars universe.

My sympathies. Hopefully you can adjust to the idea, seeing as the use of force powers by non jedi/sith will be limited (in number as well as how often and when you can use them).

[jannickj]

Well, I guess it's up to you if you want to disregard that part of the lore.

 

What about the arguments though, for a force sensitive trooper learning one or two things from his jedi father/brother/ally/lover etc?

 

i see how this could apply to many other fantasy universes. but what i've got from the star wars movies and whatever post TPM EU ive seen it just takes away the magic and mystery about it. if a father can simply teach his son a couple of force moves why wouldnt the son be able to teach all of his friends? in star wars very few people. like a couple hundreds out of many billions are chosen to be trained in the force because most are unable to master it. wich is one of the things that makes it so special. i like the idea of the sith/jedis swearing to dediacate their lives to their training.

 

no offense to D&D and dragonage and all that middle age fantasy stuff. but this legacy thing makes the force seem like F-ing magic tricks you would learn in dark age games..

Edited March 22, 2012 by jannickj

[AssassinXero]

Awesome! i've been waiting for this to come i can finaly cross over my favorite race to the other side i never played republic very mutch so should be great.

 

 

but one thing bothers me: will it kill the game? i see so many complaints its a great idea they have multible alts at 50 they clearly have no life but seriously? cry me a river i can see why some things could get unbalanced like a jedi knight using 30m force lightning he got from his sith dad/mom in pvp matches and have people cry because they didnt invest their time into these legacy charactors i know i will crossover and will love to have some juggernaut abilities on a consular like saber ward or force choke.

 

 

anyways thanks for this the game was needing some extra features.

[Runeshard]

i see how this could apply to many other fantasy universes. but what i've got from the star wars movies and whatever post TPM EU ive seen it just takes away the magic and mystery about it. if a father can simply teach his son a couple of force moves why wouldnt the son be able to teach all of his friends? in star wars very few people. like a couple hundreds out of many billions are chosen to be trained in the force because most are unable to master it. wich is one of the things that makes it so special. i like the idea of the sith/jedis swearing to dediacate their lives to their training.

 

no offense to D&D and dragonage and all that middle age fantasy stuff. but this legacy thing makes the force seem like F-ing magic tricks you would learn in dark age games..

 

A pre-requisite is that you are indeed force sensitive, that is why the son wouldn't be able to teach them to all his friends. As for the argument "a couple of hundreds out of many billions" not all force sensitives are found. The Jedi and the Sith train those that meet their requirements in terms of strength in the force, whether or not they are fit to master the arts being taught to them, as applied by the two different disciplines only time tells. Many do indeed fail but that doesn't mean that what they have learned up to that point is suddenly erased. I.e. they retain the skills and knowledge they've acquired so far, that only stands to reason.

 

As was mentioned by someone else, your Jedi is one of the most powerful in history, not just some run of the mill knight (as poorly as that term applies to jedi). His/her son would, most likely have a very strong affinity for the force as well.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Runeshard

[Vagessel]

I would've been impressed if all that fancy crap was valid for ALL your characters of your account across all servers and not just one.

 

And the system seems pretty fancy and they are dedicated to it. But. How about you let our characters get a HAIRCUT?

 

Or is that too fancy?

[veevito]

To the people that say that this is insane:

 

Luke Skywalker was just a random gunner, yet he still had the force in him, making him able to force his lightsaber into his hands while in the ice cave (episode 5). He had NOT trained any force abilities yet but could still do it.

 

Also, Leia Skywalker could feel that Luke was in danger and where he was (end of episode 5) even though she didn't know the force was strong in her. She was just a NORMAL GUNNER and could still do it.

 

 

This makes COMPLETE SENSE and stop saying it's going against the lore.

 

I don't think it's insane and i'm looking forward to it.

 

But, didn't Luke train for a short time with Obi Wan on the Millenium Falcon using the little blaster sphere remote thing, trying to deflect its shots?

 

That was before the ice cave, so he did have some instruction before to attune himself to the force.

 

No, Obi Wan hadn't trained him to move objects yet, but it's still something.

[BWHORN]

Nitpick much? Most people are well aware that the AC that share a base class also share the same story and they still think of it as every class having their own story, you're just splitting hairs.

 

No, actually, he's not. A lot of these so-called unique storylines are smoke and mirrors. In order to do those quests you are required to do tons and tons of planet content which is the same for every character AND class.

 

When they previewed this game they were all "there's 200 hours of gameplay for every class".

 

That is just not true.

[SupremeAdmiral]

People are WAY to hung-up on the non-force classes using force powers thing. If some people really want their bounty-hunters to force choke then let them!

 

Personally, I really like the inverse idea; like a Jedi Guardian with military experience who uses Trooper powers, or a Commando who fights dirty and has Smuggler powers.

[Runeshard]

No, actually, he's not. A lot of these so-called unique storylines are smoke and mirrors. In order to do those quests you are required to do tons and tons of planet content which is the same for every character AND class.

 

When they previewed this game they were all "there's 200 hours of gameplay for every class".

 

That is just not true.

 

Still that wasn't what he was claiming, the point he was trying to make in that post was no more than an example of nitpicking.

[veevito]

Oh, and one annoying thing is that you apparently can't retroactively change the race of an alt you already have. Most of my alts are in their teens, so not a big deal to reroll once species are unlocked if I wanted a specific species/class combo, but if you have alts in their 20's+ and a ,50 of a race you would like to unlock, I can see how you would be a little upset.

 

Especially since the legacy system was kept fairly hush hush and there really was no concrete implication that this functionality was coming.

 

Overall though, I can appreciate what they are trying to do here. Looks promising.

[BWHORN]

I just think that some of you guys need to stop and think about the fact that in order to make all of these new characters you are going to put in your legacy you are going to have to go back and do all of that content again and again.

 

Over and over.

 

By the time you get your little family together you are going to be so sick of this game you'll want to stick a lightsaber in your head.

 

They could have made it more interesting to acheive this goal, but they didn't.

 

It's just going to be a grind. Either a level grind or a credit grind. But a grind.

Edited March 22, 2012 by BWHORN

[Runeshard]

I just think that some of you guys need to stop and think about the fact that in order to make all of these new characters you are going to put in your legacy you are going to have to go back and do all of that content again and again.

 

Over and over.

 

By the time you get your little family together you are going to be so sick of this game you'll want to stick a lightsaber in your head.

 

They could have made it more interesting to acheive this goal, but they didn't.

 

It just going to be a grind. Either a level grind or a credit grind. But a grind.

 

Yes, lucky thing it's so different from what you have to do in other MMOs if you want to start an alt.

 

Sorry for the slab heap of sarcasm, but that argument just seems to ignore the fact that going through the same content again and again is something you put up with in practically every MMO when you create alts.

[VoxTheHero]

To me, the 1.2 patch is a roleplayer's dream. My Agent for example, has been working as a double agent for the Republic, mostly because he grew disillusioned with the Empire. Alas, no access to Chiss Smugglers till this was announced, that made me happy.

 

One thing I don't like though, is that you cant include other people's characters into your legacy family tree. What if your character's married to another one's? My Jedi Knight, for example, is the lover of a friend of mine's Smuggler.

 

I just wish you could include others in your Legacy.

[SupremeAdmiral]

I just think that some of you guys need to stop and think about the fact that in order to make all of these new characters you are going to put in your legacy you are going to have to go back and do all of that content again and again.

 

Over and over.

 

By the time you get your little family together you are going to be so sick of this game you'll want to stick a lightsaber in your head.

 

They could have made it more interesting to acheive this goal, but they didn't.

 

It just going to be a grind. Either a level grind or a credit grind. But a grind.

 

Not necessarily, there is some inherent replay value because of the Bioware story telling structure. On the base level you would be getting 2 different stories for choosing your faction. From there you got 4 choices each to determine your class's personal quest-line. Even then some people might want to replay the same class just to make different alignment choices and to see what the consequences are. I think the legacy system is a way to reward people who are already invested in the idea of playing multiple times.

[Propane]

BH's get to run with that jetpack = me