Nico Okarr

[Max_Killjoy]

This is a great question. Nico Okarr works a bit differently than the Companions you are comparing him too. To avoid any spoilers I don't want to say too much, but you recruit Nico Okarr into your Alliance in Knights of the Fallen Empire, and have him as a Companion thereafter.

 

-eric

 

So in other words, if you don't want to do the crappy new "expansion" content, you don't get the "free" companion? The companion we were told that we'd get if we were subbed by date X and stayed subbed until the expansion came out?

 

Would have been nice to know that little detail before. Of course, that might have reduced sub numbers, and you can't have that, can you?

Edited September 11, 2015 by Max_Killjoy

[TravelersWay]

Thing is, they could argue back at you that it's a subscriber perk related to the "pre-order" of Knights of the Fallen Empire and that it shouldn't be a surprise he is tied to it.

If his presence in the game is heavily reliant on the new storyline (Let's say, carbonite wall decoration for the Zakuul Empire), then getting him without playing KOTFE would make zero sense.

 

Not really. They can have an alternative method for unlocking him like they do with HK and Treek. People who want to play through the story line can do so and unlock him that way. Others can simply unlock him for free via Legacy and thus enabling his use whenever the player is ready to use him - KotFE or not.

 

Wait... are you saying that you have no intention of actually playing KotFE content?

 

I do not believe you.

I don't either. I don't believe anyone who says they are going to continue subscribing to play yesterday's game. I have no doubt many players will keep select characters out of the KotFE story line, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpDVWUkpYZc

 

At this point, I absolutely have no intention of playing KotFE until I know more about the expansion and the changes coming forthwith. In fact, I may not be playing the game at all when it launches depending on the changes made to the leveling game.

 

But that aside, I have no problem keeping my subscription regardless of whether I ever play new content or not. I subscribe because I am enjoying the game now. I don't subscribe for what may or may not be coming down the pike. Once I stop enjoying the game, I will stop subscribing. If that's when I finish the vanilla storyline with all of my alts two or three years from now, because KotFE is not something I will enjoy or be interested in, then so be it. I still play the original Guild Wars - if that had a subscription, I most certainly would still be subscribed to that, despite lack of new content for 8 years or so.

[Danery]

Thing is, they could argue back at you that it's a subscriber perk related to the "pre-order" of Knights of the Fallen Empire and that it shouldn't be a surprise he is tied to it.

If his presence in the game is heavily reliant on the new storyline (Let's say, carbonite wall decoration for the Zakuul Empire), then getting him without playing KOTFE would make zero sense.

 

And the fact that they've told us all this time up until now that we would receive ALL of our rewards via in-game mail (which granted I'll cede they couldn't give us an actual companion in the mail so I've been expecting some sort of item we use to unlock a mission similar to treek) and now we are being told "nope sorry, we actually aren't going to do what we told you and you wont get him until you meet him in the story. What you expected us to actually do what we said we were going to do?"

[branmakmuffin]

At this point, I absolutely have no intention of playing KotFE until I know more about the expansion and the changes coming forthwith. In fact, I may not be playing the game at all when it launches depending on the changes made to the leveling game.

You can say whatever you want.

[JasmineMoldovia]

Really can't see a reason not to do the new content myself.

[TravelersWay]

You can say whatever you want.

 

I have no reason to lie, nor is there any benefit for me to do so. If KotFE does not offer the gameplay experience I want, why would I want to play through it?

[Angror]

I have no reason to lie, nor is there any benefit for me to do so. If KotFE does not offer the gameplay experience I want, why would I want to play through it?

 

 

How will you know if you like it or not if you don't play it all the way through at least one time?

[TravelersWay]

How will you know if you like it or not if you don't play it all the way through at least one time?

 

I can make a reasonable assumption based on my personal preferences when playing games and the information they will provide to us, as well as the information from players who are playing it when it launches. Not really all that hard to do.

[RowanThursday]

On the other hand, if you're paying for it anyway is there some terrible hardship involved in playing through a quest chain that doesn't particularly appeal to you, in order to access the reward you do? I've yet to meet anyone who played through the HK hunt for *fun*- and even Treek, you have to talk to, to get. I paid for Shadow of Revan; didn't particularly enjoy grinding Yavin IV dailies ad nauseum to get the walkers.

[Max_Killjoy]

On the other hand, if you're paying for it anyway is there some terrible hardship involved in playing through a quest chain that doesn't particularly appeal to you, in order to access the reward you do? I've yet to meet anyone who played through the HK hunt for *fun*- and even Treek, you have to talk to, to get. I paid for Shadow of Revan; didn't particularly enjoy grinding Yavin IV dailies ad nauseum to get the walkers.

 

Some of the HK hunt was dull, but damnit if the Theoretika wasn't one of my favorite missions EVER in SWTOR.

 

The game needs more atmospheric areas like that, with more deliberate, cerebral gameplay mixed in.

[RowanThursday]

Mea Culpa, I'd actually forgotten that Theoretika was part of that chain, and you're right, it is fun.

[TravelersWay]

On the other hand, if you're paying for it anyway is there some terrible hardship involved in playing through a quest chain that doesn't particularly appeal to you, in order to access the reward you do? I've yet to meet anyone who played through the HK hunt for *fun*- and even Treek, you have to talk to, to get. I paid for Shadow of Revan; didn't particularly enjoy grinding Yavin IV dailies ad nauseum to get the walkers.

 

There's a difference between a boring vanilla mission and KotFE where once you enter, you can't go back and which comes with more than a few changes on top of that. That's aside from the fact that what if I want to use Nico on say, my Smuggler, who's only in the mid-20's (or any of my sub-max alts - and I have no desire to speed level to max level)?

[Max_Killjoy]

There's a difference between a boring vanilla mission and KotFE where once you enter, you can't go back and which comes with more than a few changes on top of that. That's aside from the fact that what if I want to use Nico on say, my Smuggler, who's only in the mid-20's (or any of my sub-max alts - and I have no desire to speed level to max level)?

 

Having an alternative companion for lower-level characters, especially for those who don't like Treek (an Ewok 3500 years early) or HK (why is this pure LS Jedi dragging around a killing machine) is part of the reason people wanted Nico I'm certain.

 

And yes, that "You can never go back" element of KotFE is going to turn more than a few players off completely.

[Legolose]

This is a great question. Nico Okarr works a bit differently than the Companions you are comparing him too. To avoid any spoilers I don't want to say too much, but you recruit Nico Okarr into your Alliance in Knights of the Fallen Empire, and have him as a Companion thereafter.

 

-eric

AHH I bet you get him as a first companion if applicable

[Angror]

There's a difference between a boring vanilla mission and KotFE where once you enter, you can't go back and which comes with more than a few changes on top of that. That's aside from the fact that what if I want to use Nico on say, my Smuggler, who's only in the mid-20's (or any of my sub-max alts - and I have no desire to speed level to max level)?

 

The game has changed so many times since beta i have lost count. Missions i remember from beta that are gone or long changed due to sensitivity training. I'm betting you play it through at least once. Maybe not with toons you have now, but the free 60 would be a possibility.

[mudmobile]

How does his age fit in? He's not a young man in Return trailer.

In July a blog called Vacation slightly stepped on this, its a cool read you should check it out.

 

He still looks young, we don't know why but he outwardly does not look like he has aged at all.

 

One can guess that part of the spoilers Eric wants to avoid could include the story explanation of his apparent lack of aging.

[Aries_cz]

Do I really need to spell it out for you? We have never been told, at any point, that we would have to wait until we started playing the story to get access to him or that we would have to recruit him to our alliance as Eric's post now seems to imply. In fact:

 

 

 

 

Nico Okarr is one of the Rewards for Subscribing by August 10th (changed from July 31st) and everyone was told in the terms and conditions, which is where you can find what I posted above that we would be able to redeem those rewards as soon as the expansion launched. That has been the expectation of a lot of people that we would have access to him immediately, and now more than a month after we met our requirements, Eric announces that Bioware is changing that condition and in fact we wont have access to him immediately and will have to wait until we gain access to him as part of our alliance. I for one feel like I was lied to on what I would be receiving for being subscribed on 8-10-15.

 

No, they are not changing anything. They say would will be able to redeem the reward after launch.

So presumably, you get a token like you have for Treek, you use it (thus redeeming the reward), and you will be able to recruit Nico at a specific area you get access to in KotFE, just like you need to go to fleet to unlock Treek.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Aries_cz

[Aries_cz]

There's a difference between a boring vanilla mission and KotFE where once you enter, you can't go back and which comes with more than a few changes on top of that. That's aside from the fact that what if I want to use Nico on say, my Smuggler, who's only in the mid-20's (or any of my sub-max alts - and I have no desire to speed level to max level)?

 

As someone who never understood the desire to have HK or Treek on lower levels (the content doesn't need them), why would you want a mute companion without any affection options that looks like Nico with you?

[Mubrak]

I never expected to meet Nico Okarr before i started the KotFE story, and certainly not getting sent him by mail (in a carbonite block?) It makes sense to A) introduce him properly and B) have a gate that excludes those that won't get him. So I always expected him to be similar to HK-51 who can only be gotten by players who have access to section X, just that in this case you can't unlock him for lowbie chars when you got him once on a 50+

 

As for old and new content, reading between the few lines we actually get, it seems to me that KotFE is mainly a series of story driven "Solo-Flashpoints" where you don't have access to your standard companions, but get story-related acquaintances that travel with you for a time. When you "exit" the KotFE-Instance, because you finished the chapter (or just took a break, if that is an option) you're back in the 3643-3639 BBY universe, free to do your old dailies on the old planets with your old companions.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Mubrak

[PavSalco]

So in other words, if you don't want to do the crappy new "expansion" content, you don't get the "free" companion? The companion we were told that we'd get if we were subbed by date X and stayed subbed until the expansion came out?

 

Would have been nice to know that little detail before. Of course, that might have reduced sub numbers, and you can't have that, can you?

 

We are probably getting "a contract mission" via mail to start a mission for Nico. They said the truth from a certain point of view. I bet more people are happy that Nico's presence is justified in the story and that we are getting additional content in the form of a quest chain. That's better than getting Nico in the mailbox.

 

Of course, that might have reduced sub numbers, and you can't have that, can you?

Likely not everyone is acting like a little princess that is unhappy for not getting her stuff immediately. We are getting access to Nico and that's all it matters. How we get it is another story. The game is advertised where storytelling matters, so getting a quest to unlock companions should always be considered.

Edited September 12, 2015 by PavSalco

[Max_Killjoy]

The game has changed so many times since beta i have lost count. Missions i remember from beta that are gone or long changed due to sensitivity training. I'm betting you play it through at least once. Maybe not with toons you have now, but the free 60 would be a possibility.

 

Why would I bother with the "free 60" when that character is going to be assigned Bioware's default "canon" history, which often includes some very silly assumptions of which choices were made. Without something like the set of options in DA2 if you don't import a DA:O save, there's not much point.

[Jimvinny]

Why would I bother with the "free 60" when that character is going to be assigned Bioware's default "canon" history, which often includes some very silly assumptions of which choices were made. Without something like the set of options in DA2 if you don't import a DA:O save, there's not much point.

 

This, right here, is what makes you so incredibly difficult to deal with. You completely dismiss any play style that doesn't perfectly match your own, yet flip the f*** out if someone disagrees with how you think things should be.

[Max_Killjoy]

This, right here, is what makes you so incredibly difficult to deal with. You completely dismiss any play style that doesn't perfectly match your own, yet flip the f*** out if someone disagrees with how you think things should be.

 

Let's see the first part of my post again...

 

Why would I bother with the "free 60"

 

"I".

 

Not "anyone", not "players", not "you", not "them".

 

I was directly responding to the smug nonsense of "Oh, I bet you play through X no matter what you say now."

 

If someone else doesn't care and wants to take the defaults with a free 60, then I'm not saying they shouldn't. For ME, it's a non-starter.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Max_Killjoy

[Max_Killjoy]

I never expected to meet Nico Okarr before i started the KotFE story, and certainly not getting sent him by mail (in a carbonite block?) It makes sense to A) introduce him properly and B) have a gate that excludes those that won't get him. So I always expected him to be similar to HK-51 who can only be gotten by players who have access to section X, just that in this case you can't unlock him for lowbie chars when you got him once on a 50+

 

On the other hand, accessing HK doesn't require leaving most of the rest of the game behind with any character you'd like to have him on the list for.

[Leklor]

On the other hand, accessing HK doesn't require leaving most of the rest of the game behind with any character you'd like to have him on the list for.

 

And guess what? HK-51's presence was barely story tied so having him at level 1 or level 65 basically changes nothing!

It seems here Nico's presence in KOTFE is heavily story reliant. So it makes sense for his acquisition to be story-tied too.

You don't want to play KOTFE? Then you don't get Nico, since having would then make zero sense at all.

Plus, "leaving most of the rest of the game behind" seems like an over-exageration of what's going to happen. From most sources we heard from what is being "blocked" as you start KOTFE are: Class story, companion stories and possibly planetary arc (That's not even sure for that), things that should have been finished before starting the new story anyway else it wouldn't make sense.