1.2 first impressions

[DarthSpuds]

Ok, I've been in played about a bit, respecced where needed and had a fiddle with the legacy system / family tree.

 

Here's my genuine first impressions.

 

Game UI

 

Well, lets be honest. What they have added to the UI should have been there from day 1. Customisable UIs are now considered pretty much the minimum required standard for UIs in games like this.

 

Score: 0/10 (Simply because it REALLY should have been there from day 1)

 

Graphics

 

Can't say I've noticed a great deal of difference. Perhaps just a little smoother; but I'm on a low-end system (barely half way between minimum and recommended specs) so I am probably not really in a position to say.

 

Score: N/A - can't really say.

 

Legacy System

 

Well, where to start:

 

We were told "New unlockable races" we didn't get that. We got same races rehashed across different classes and factions.

 

We were told "new unlockable abilities" well, they are there, but unless you already have a character with that ability at level 50 and a shed load on otherwise unneeded credits you still can't have them.

 

Its been suggested the Legacy system we there to only benefit the "solo / casual player". Utter rubbish. There's nothing there I can use, and precious little I would choose to spend credits on even if I could use them. It another "eye candy cosmetic" for hardcore players, something else for them to sink time and money in to.

 

I had massive hopes, and not unreasonable (considering the hype) expectations of the legacy system.

 

Even the family tree system is clunky and well, pointless.

 

Score: 1/10

 

New FPs / Warzones etc.

 

Don't know. I'm 90% a solo player and like most MMOs (please note MMO means massively multiplayer online - not massively group player. There's nothing inherent in the concept of MMO that precludes a game being playable and enjoyable as a solo experience) SW really doesn't care about the solo players. All it cares about is PvPers who think gear = skill. Real PvP skill means everyone has the same gear, same abilities and the ONLY deciding factor is skill. MMO PvP is really only 25% about skill.

 

Score: 5/10 I'm giving 5/10 because I'm aware a lot of players like this kind of thing and so BW have to keep those players happy; shame those players don't care as much about solo players being happy.

 

Overall.

 

When a new game comes out like this I usually promise myself to give it a fair chance. I like to stick with a game for 6 months before passing final judgement. If a game is truly broken and unplayable I'll leave sooner than that; if a game is really good and meets and exceeds my expectations I'll commit sooner that that.

 

So far SW has done nothing to make me want to commit long term to it. Neither has it done anything so bad it makes me want to quit straight away.

 

However, if the trend set so far continues I honestly doubt I'll be here after the 6 months. I'm fortunate that the game I have so far committed to long-term is free to play, so I can drop in and out of it as the fancy takes me. I'll be honest though, there's things about the F2P model I don't like at all, and Turbine seems intent on cramming as many as possible in to LOTRO. I had hoped SW:TOR could be my new long-term gaming commitment. Alas, it seems that is not likely to be the case.

 

The Legacy system could and should have been the deal-maker, the potential for it was and is (assuming BW care enough to make the necessary changes) immense. But by having the "unlocks" being dual-keyed - firstly to already having a toon of that race / class at level cap, secondly to having a bank full of cash then all the Legacy system really achieves is to create another barrier to enjoyment for any but hard-core players.

 

I play around three hours a day in the week and longer at weekends. But I like to jump around between characters, and often "level in tandem" running one too through a zone and then repeating that zone with a different toon to see how it plays from a different perspective. It also allows me to level my crafting in tandem, I like to be a self-sufficient as possible.

 

I consider myself very far from being a genuine "casual player" and there is nothing of use to me in the Legacy system.

 

Genuine casual players must be even worse off than me.

 

So my overall score for 1.2 Legacy (based on "first impressions") is only 3/10.

 

All The Best

[KrittaB]

I personally think this patch would be good if bioware would added everything that was promissed.

 

Example:

 

negatives:

 

- I was hoping for new color crystal added ( were in pts, not in live ) <-- are in game

- better graphics ( were in pts, and on the trailer ) and are not in live, why I do not know. <-- are in game

- appearance customization - was suppose to change how your gear looks, nothing like this. <-- match to chest, is in game

- games looks a bit blurry for me <-- lol? check your eyesight?

 

5char

[TUXs]

they warned you about that ahead of time. if you custom modded your BM gear they have no way of knowing what your intentions were. most people would QQ if they reverted your gear back to stock and you lost all the stats you worked so hard to customize.

 

Really?! You really feel like Bioware did a decent job of telling their players?

 

Dude, they told a few trolls here they were dong it, they never once sent a pre-update in-game message or warning on the login screen...they ignored probably 85%+ of their customers by not doing something IN GAME to inform people.

 

Bioware fails at many things right now imo (PvP), but communication is probably number 1.

[Hizoka]

I think there's an issue with the colour matching, none of the helmets for my Bounty Hunter colour change to match the armour, not even a little, especially the mando helmets nothing happens to them, hope this is a bug, anyone else having this issue?

 

no helms match for anyone...

[GamerInDallas]

I am very disappointed in the legacy stuff. Having to buy all of the unlocks other than the valor or social ones makes them completely pointless and worthless to me. I don't have the time or desire to waste millions of in game credits to buy these... if the ones in 1.3 or further on are only acquired through spending credits then I will not continue playing.

 

I was under the impression that having a high legacy level would mean I could have cool stuff, but it doesn't mean anything if I don't also spend a piles of credits. That sucks big time and makes the legacy stuff just a cheesy credit sink.

 

Sorry if this seems overly negative, but I am terribly disappointed.

 

Wow! I hadn't realized it until you said it. Legacy really IS mostly worthless. The cost in credits assume that you level up one alt at a time. Only a 50th level character can afford the Legacy unlocks. So, if you raise all your alts, like I do, you won't be able to afford really ANY of the Legacy unlocks until ALL of your alts (in my case seven of them) reach 50th level. At that point, most of the Legacy unlocks are pointless.

[Bullwrath]

Indeed. It's like watching an old man on a park bench yelling at the squirrels he's feeding.

 

O

 

M

 

G

 

 

This is the best thing I have ever seen on these forums. /hat tip

[DaBong]

my first impression is that it has broken more things than it fixed.

im fully expecting a "patch for the broken patch" soon.

 

im not going to go into all of the exact problems im facing here, but lets just say im on ticket number 7 with things ive found purely in the last 4hrs (and confirmed problems by multiple general chat players).

 

what on earth took place during 3 weeks of testing?

[KrittaB]

Really?! You really feel like Bioware did a decent job of telling their players?

 

Dude, they told a few trolls here they were dong it, they never once sent a pre-update in-game message or warning on the login screen...they ignored probably 85%+ of their customers by not doing something IN GAME to inform people.

 

Bioware fails at many things right now imo (PvP), but communication is probably number 1.

 

Sorry you don't follow the dev tracker? We were told weeks ago that this was happening. How is it their fault if you weren't paying attention? And if you think it through, it makes sense. They aren't going to remove the work you did to customize your gear and revert it back to the stock stats. That's absurd and the backlash would be tremendous.

 

Besides, you certainly spend enough time on the forums to have seen the posts.

Edited April 12, 2012 by KrittaB

[Hizoka]

Really?! You really feel like Bioware did a decent job of telling their players?

 

Dude, they told a few trolls here they were dong it, they never once sent a pre-update in-game message or warning on the login screen...they ignored probably 85%+ of their customers by not doing something IN GAME to inform people.

 

Bioware fails at many things right now imo (PvP), but communication is probably number 1.

 

they said it in post after post after post. What more do you want them to do call your house and tell you everything??? ALL the info was out there you simply had to read it.

[Sheff]

after i figured out how to turn my skill bars back on hehehe and i got to looking around a bit....

 

 

 

first and foremost...graphics are way better...game engine runs way better.... Good Job on the engine updates.

 

 

second... crafting updates... you mean synthweaving is actually useful? YES!

 

interface options...

 

 

GOOD JOB ON INTERFACE WORK

 

 

legacy...

 

honestly looks kinda hokey and boring....its a meh feature right now.

 

pvp gear and expertise calculation changes...

 

Good Job..this is cool...its sad for those who hit 50 and want to grind a little pvp gear to raid in but.... it is good for we who have full sets of battlemaster hehehe

 

 

i like it so far! Good Job bioware.

 

Never thought I would say that.

 

Il update this as I do more things..but no WZ running or anything yet D:

 

Have to say I am totally unimpressed. The graphics don't look any different to me. I never really had much to complain about fps wise, but I still get the micro stutter going in to combat at times and coming off my speeder.

 

I think the engine seems a little more stable but this really should have been addressed along time ago.

Legacy, dear god. I hated the idea to begin with and I really don't like it after seeing it.

Other than that, very small artificial changes that I don' think at this point will make me resub.

A real shame as there are some good things in the game. I think I will revisit if it is still going at a later date.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Sheff

[Scar]

Wow! I hadn't realized it until you said it. Legacy really IS mostly worthless. The cost in credits assume that you level up one alt at a time. Only a 50th level character can afford the Legacy unlocks. So, if you raise all your alts, like I do, you won't be able to afford really ANY of the Legacy unlocks until ALL of your alts (in my case seven of them) reach 50th level. At that point, most of the Legacy unlocks are pointless.

 

Is mail broken?

[TUXs]

Sorry you don't follow the dev tracker? We were told weeks ago that this was happening. How is it their fault if you weren't paying attention? And if you think it through, it makes sense. They aren't going to remove the work you did to customize your gear and revert it back to the stock stats. That's absurd and the backlash would be tremendous.

 

Besides, you certainly spend enough time trolling the forums to have seen the posts.

 

I do. I'm a troll, like you. Not everyone was aware of this ONE TIME mention of it in Dev Tracker though...in fact, I bet not even 10% of the players knew it was happening.

 

When an update like this is coming out, with a change to gear that is difficult to acquire, the developers were WRONG not to tell the people who don't troll and they are wrong to not offer a POST patch upgrade/exchange option.

 

I don't blame Bioware for not updating modified armor...I blame them for absolutely ATROCIOUS communication on it.

[GamerInDallas]

I'm curious what you mean here. You can change the legacy "family tree" however and whenever you want. I think you missed something when you dragged-and-dropped the characters - you have to drop it onto the little sub-icon that you want to use not just on top of the character to relate it to.

 

The only important part is that you have to put parents in before children.

 

Also, all the characters in the tree get the benefits regardless of position or even if they are in the tree.

 

I got the impression that the Legacy tree actually "does" something based on the relationships between the characters, rather than just allows you to tell yourself what their relationship is. It's kind of pointless to graph out their relationships if it doesn't affect ANYTHING in the game.

 

I'm a role player, even if I'm soloing. So, I'm not going to play 7 characters above 20th level saying they are siblings the whole time and then suddenly go back and redefine their relationships because it gives me some in game advantage to have a parent or child. Plus there's no in game aging or character avatar modification, which makes it akward. "That's my grandpa, but he looks younger than me." If it were part of the Star Wars mythos that aging no longer exists, that would be one thing, but it's not. You see people growing old in the Star Wars universe all the time.

[TUXs]

I got the impression that the Legacy tree actually "does" something based on the relationships between the characters, rather than just allows you to tell yourself what their relationship is. It's kind of pointless to graph out their relationships if it doesn't affect ANYTHING in the game.

 

I'm a role player, even if I'm soloing. So, I'm not going to play 7 characters above 20th level saying they are siblings the whole time and then suddenly go back and redefine their relationships because it gives me some in game advantage to have a parent or child. Plus there's no in game aging or character avatar modification, which makes it akward. "That's my grandpa, but he looks younger than me." If it were part of the Star Wars mythos that aging no longer exists, that would be one thing, but it's not. You see people growing old in the Star Wars universe all the time.

 

It's a 2min bracket you can toy with. ENJOY

[Bullwrath]

that was bantha..they found that bananas froze on hoth making them unridable.

 

Total awesomeness!

[Kubernetic]

LOVE LOVE LOVE the new patch.

 

UI customization is awesome. And the new movable UI windows are sweet!

 

I can finally Abandon planetary quest chains! Let me just pause for a moment to reflect on this. There.

 

Graphics look much better. Atlasing improvements were well worth it.

 

GTN improvements are excellent. We can actually JUST search for Custom gear now, or particular armor slots. Since the windows can be brought to front or back with focus, no more having to close the GTN to get at those last few items hidden underneath the GTN window in your inventory!

 

Elara speaks through the helmet transceiver. I loved that little bit.

 

The little tauntaun is absolutely adorable. I want to fry it and dunk it in garlic hot wing sauce.

 

WARNING: Don't get lost in editing your UI customization settings without setting a new save template and saving often! The inactivity timer will eventually just boot you out of the game without allowing you to save, although when I heard my hard drive pinging like crazy, I realized that was what was happening and it just barely let me save at the last moment before kicking me out to the character select screen. <Whew!>

 

I'm sure there are so many other little improvements... I haven't finished exploring the new fleet setup but I see there are a few rooms changed already.

 

But alas, I must get to work and cannot play any longer for now. But to BioWare, and the Devs and Management that made this happen, you folks are awesome! Consider me resubbed through Christmas if not beyond! LOL

[Aastarius]

they said it in post after post after post. What more do you want them to do call your house and tell you everything??? ALL the info was out there you simply had to read it.

 

You do realise that the majority of MMO players (not just SW:TOR) never even look at the forums - not once.

 

This is why developers really should implement "in game mechanics" for notifying people about changes, especially those that can seriously effect someone's game play. Putting it in the release notes that display whilst an update is actually taking place is far to late.

[Blotter]

ok, i've been in played about a bit, respecced where needed and had a fiddle with the legacy system / family tree.

 

Here's my genuine first impressions.

 

Game ui

 

well, lets be honest. What they have added to the ui should have been there from day 1. Customisable uis are now considered pretty much the minimum required standard for uis in games like this.

 

Score: 0/10 (simply because it really should have been there from day 1)

 

that tells nobody about the ui customization options and system they implemented, so i fail to see how it is a "first impression" of the 1.2 patch whatsoever.

 

graphics

 

can't say i've noticed a great deal of difference. Perhaps just a little smoother; but i'm on a low-end system (barely half way between minimum and recommended specs) so i am probably not really in a position to say.

 

Score: N/a - can't really say.

 

Legacy system

 

well, where to start:

 

We were told "new unlockable races" we didn't get that. We got same races rehashed across different classes and factions. no, you weren't told that. Bw was very explicit all along that they were not adding brand new races and that it would simply allow you to unlock race-class combos that did not previously exist.

 

we were told "new unlockable abilities" well, they are there, but unless you already have a character with that ability at level 50 and a shed load on otherwise unneeded credits you still can't have them. what didn't you understand about bw explaining from the get-go that this was how it would work? You were not mislead. Rather, you misunderstood.

 

its been suggested the legacy system we there to only benefit the "solo / casual player". Utter rubbish. There's nothing there i can use, and precious little i would choose to spend credits on even if i could use them. It another "eye candy cosmetic" for hardcore players, something else for them to sink time and money in to. bw never suggested that. Rather, they said it would add thigns to make leveling your alts, something people who solo tend to do more of, more enoyable, convenient and varied. It was and always has been all about quality of life improvements for alts and roleplaying, not a special thing aimed particularly solo players. Again, you're either creating straw men by misrepresenting what bw told us beforehand, or yuo completely misunderstood it all.

 

i had massive hopes, and not unreasonable (considering the hype) expectations of the legacy system.

 

Even the family tree system is clunky and well, pointless.

 

Score: 1/10

 

new fps / warzones etc.

 

Don't know. I'm 90% a solo player and like most mmos (please note mmo means massively multiplayer online - not massively group player. There's nothing inherent in the concept of mmo that precludes a game being playable and enjoyable as a solo experience

 

....other than the activities and structure that all of them have been been around) sw really doesn't care about the solo players. All it cares about is pvpers who think gear = skill. tell that to the half of the community that doesn't really do endgame pve content and spends almost all their time pvping...go ahead...tell them. If i might suggest, tell them in the thread about the decision to pull rated wzs out of 1.2.

 

real pvp skill means everyone has the same gear, same abilities and the only deciding factor is skill. Mmo pvp is really only 25% about skill.

 

Score: 5/10 i'm giving 5/10 because i'm aware a lot of players like this kind of thing and so bw have to keep those players happy; shame those players don't care as much about solo players being happy.

 

 

12345

[Blattan]

My first impressions, if anyone cares:

 

The game engine runs smoother for me. It is a bit more responsive and snappy.

 

Sound bugs out really easy, and I lose most sounds.

 

It is very easy to get stuck in interactive terrain now. On Voss, in the Gormak Lands, Force Leap at a mob with one of the turrets/speeders/supply crates right next to him, and you can get stuck in the item.

 

And, the biggest overall easy to spot change: The Healing.

This isn't meant to be a judgement post, or even an opinion post.

 

But it was very easy to spot right off in combat.

 

My Hit Point bar was acting like a yo-yo. I admit, I didn't think it all the way through when reading about it... But the class healing changes affect your companions too. I was used to Doc (Jedi Knight healing companion) doing a better job of keeping me healed. [ironic/humorous side bar: When Doc shouts out "You need a medic!" it is true! Now I just have to wait for the patch that gives me one! :-P ]

 

Whether an individual considers this a good or bad change, I feel confident saying this makes the game less solo / casual friendly. (NOTE: This is not the same as claiming you can't solo or enjoy the game casually.) I was technically over leveled for the area (by two to three levels, depending on the mob) and having to stop after nearly every fight to Meditate. Just to put a finer point on it, that is with my healing companion.

 

I imagine many subs will cry out then be silenced this week. What overall effect it will have remains to be seen.

[aarka]

If the only thing in 1.2 was the UI update, I'd still be satisfied.

[GnatB]

they said it in post after post after post. What more do you want them to do call your house and tell you everything??? ALL the info was out there you simply had to read it.

 

THinking about it, he does have a point. While you and I (and actually apparently him) visit the boards, it's always been a known fact that in every MMO I've ever participated, the VAST majority of players never check the website/forums.

 

If you need to tell the players anything, you *have* to do it in-game. Or at the very least in-launcher.

[iRouven]

I got the impression that the Legacy tree actually "does" something based on the relationships between the characters, rather than just allows you to tell yourself what their relationship is. It's kind of pointless to graph out their relationships if it doesn't affect ANYTHING in the game.

 

I'm a role player, even if I'm soloing. So, I'm not going to play 7 characters above 20th level saying they are siblings the whole time and then suddenly go back and redefine their relationships because it gives me some in game advantage to have a parent or child. Plus there's no in game aging or character avatar modification, which makes it akward. "That's my grandpa, but he looks younger than me." If it were part of the Star Wars mythos that aging no longer exists, that would be one thing, but it's not. You see people growing old in the Star Wars universe all the time.

 

No - and they did so that you do not feel compelled to change the relationships of your characters. The tree in itself is for you and has nothing to do with the unlocks. Just trying to help.

 

Watch the guild summit videos, they're good at explaining a few things.

 

Not in game yet so I can't comment on 1.2.

[Kubernetic]

You do realise that the majority of MMO players (not just SW:TOR) never even look at the forums - not once.

 

This is why developers really should implement "in game mechanics" for notifying people about changes, especially those that can seriously effect someone's game play. Putting it in the release notes that display whilst an update is actually taking place is far to late.

 

RTFM.

 

Been that way for decades. In MMOs and modern games, this means checking the official web site for updates. There's no way to actually have a paper manual anymore. They'd go bankrupt from printing and shipping costs.

 

You cannot expect BioWare to try and coddle every single player and notify every player of every possible change that may affect every possible aspect of the game that someone might consider crucial and therefore be upset if they weren't notified in advance. It just isn't possible.

 

The game launcher itself has hyperlinks out to swtor.com, and every patch has linked out to the patch notes on the server. I hate to say if you missed it, too bad, but if you missed it... you should consider it a learning experience and in the future make sure you're checking the web site for updates.

 

Otherwise this will happen in every online game you play. Luckily there's no real-world impact and you haven't lost any money or real-life value over it.

[Exoddos]

So just impressions here myself I have already cancelled my sub with a little hope they would majorly improve somethings.Things I do like are.

 

1)UI is just so much better but fact is this isn't an improvement it should have came at launch..(How can Biowares Devs sit on a board at PaxEast as the future of gaming when they release a game with no customizable UI at launch? Talk about a joke!)

2)Graphics actually look good!

3)Spell delays seem to be gone for the most part.Love it!

4)Crafting is a lot better!

5)Healers aren't completely op in pvp now!

6)Illum crates now spawn a lot faster!

7)Legacy is nothing but a money sink.(I like this because my main has 25millCr and nothing to spend it on.)

 

So those are the only good things so far obviously I haven't raided so can't give any OPS feedback..But now for the bad!

 

1)Really starting WZ's with 2 people and it doesn't abort? Not to mention NO VALOR! or COMMS! at all unless you win?

2)No currency exchange for BM or Champ to WZ or Cent?...Such a joke!

3)The new PvP armor is ugly as hell... at least for Shadow!

4)New WZ is comptl bs it's a camping gank fest if you start out with low numbers!(No abort really?)

5)SERVERS ALL SCREWED POP WISE HOW CAN YOU HAVE PVP LIKE THIS?????(Without any Merges or cross servers! Save the time people aren't coming back!)

6)No Ranked! Really???? The whole point of 1.2 for pvpers was the Rank! Now there isn't any?

 

I'm sure people will argue it's a great patch I personally feel that $45 that I have paid since launch went to waste. (and Yes fanbois keep your fanboi remarks to yourself) I will however enjoy leaving the game and giving away my 25mill credits and lawl my way G2...Enjoy this RPG because this is not an MMO...Way to fail hard Bioware

[LrdScorpio]

THinking about it, he does have a point. While you and I (and actually apparently him) visit the boards, it's always been a known fact that in every MMO I've ever participated, the VAST majority of players never check the website/forums.

 

If you need to tell the players anything, you *have* to do it in-game. Or at the very least in-launcher.

 

It is not their job to make sure everybody reads every bit of info. It is there job to make sure the information is available. They have no obligation to ram it down our throats.

 

The people who don't go online to read, generally don't care. That majority you speak of, plays the game for fun and doesn't take it so seriously. You know, the player base game companies actually make their games for, as they should.