Star Wars: The Old Republic [KOTOR MMO]

On this topic, this new comment from a Guild Wars 2 designer is very relevant to my position, I think.

---

"That is why Guild Wars 2 does not have a dedicated healing class.

Everyone take a deep breath. It's going to be OK.

We have lots of people in our studio that enjoyed playing monks in Guild Wars and healers in other games. We examined what it was about the healer archetypes that people really enjoyed, and we took a look at what it was about those archetypes that made the game less enjoyable. Then we created professions to appeal to those types of players.

Support players want to be able to say, "Remember that one time when I saved you from certain death?" They want to stand in the line of fire and block attacks. They want to surround their allies with a swirling dome of air that keeps enemy projectiles from passing through it. It's not about clicking on a health bar and watching it go up, it's about being there for your friends when they need you.

If you have played enough Guild Wars, or any other MMO with healers, you've sat around waiting for the right mix of professions before being able to continue. Or you loaded into Random Arena and both teams had two monks (or they had a monk and you didn't), and you already knew the outcome of that game 99% of the time. But we've all had those 4v4 Random Arena battles where neither team has had a healer. Instead of not being able to kill anyone or being forced to attack the monk first, you can actually think about who to target, when to use your defensive spells, where to position yourself on the battlefield, etc. From the highest level of PvP, to the sieges of World vs World, to PvE in the far reaching corners of Tyria, that level of creativity and tactical freedom is exactly what we want combat in Guild Wars 2 to be about.

We keep hearing other MMO developers espousing the "holy trinity" of DPS/ heal/tank with such reverence, as if this is the most entertaining combat they have ever played. Frankly, we don't like sitting around spamming "looking for healer" to global chat. That feels an awful lot like preparing to have fun instead of having fun.

Instead of the traditional trinity, every Guild Wars 2 profession is self reliant--not only can they all help each other by reviving in combat, but all professions have ways to build their characters differently to make them more versatile for group play.

Ultimately, DPS/heal/tank just didn't cut it in our book...er, game. Our players demand more from Guild Wars 2 and we intend to deliver on that demand instead of delivering more of the same. Not only is the trinity very formulaic, but it leaves out a lot of gameplay elements that make many other games so much fun. Instead, we break these trinity categories down into a cooler, more versatile system."

-----

Fits my views very well.

Before I saw your post, Ush, I'd said to Lana:

Dak - Bliss and Other Stuff says (1:13 PM):
*and the TOR people are reading this going "...well shit."

I am entertained.

Oddly enough, a traditional system would at least have been fluffy in Guild Wars, which has magic and hence healers. I'm still glad they did away with it, but it had a raison d'etre in the storyline.

Whereas forcing healers into Star Wars is plain weird.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Whereas forcing healers into Star Wars is plain weird.

Pretty much everyone who knows even a little bit about SW will fully agree with you on that.

Well to be fair, it's also not unheard of. There was a group healing ability in one of the Jedi Knight games I believe, as well as as just the regular old healing in the games and in the EU (Maul uses it I know). I agree that it's kinda ridiculous though.

I understand beta testing has begun in the US. Anyone luck out there?

Nope, I didn't.

Not surprised, though. When I signed up for it, the site was pretty much broken and it took me weeks to even make an account and submit it. So I really have no idea if it went through or not.

No luck here either, though same deal. They prepared horribly for the influx of traffic when they announced the sign-ups.

Yes the SW multilayer video was depressing in many ways. The WoW feel, the Jedi taking on the "lessor" enemies. I for one don't know why the smuggler couldn't take on the lesser enemies, while the Jedi and Trooper tackled the Breech Droids? Is he(she) that worthless, while he is hiding in the corner?

And for all that is Star Wars how could they reduce the Consular to a full time healer? I agree that is ridiculous, although there are healer Jedi in SW, they are not doing that the whole battles. I would rather they do "meditation", or some other type of group "buffs" than continuous healing crap.

I am hoping that being a healer is just one option that you can go with the consular, as all other video would indicate they are just a more Force oriented Jedi in combat, over lightsaber combat per say. I will hate it if they turn them into a healing class sitting on the sidelines of every engagement. Where have you ever seen a Jedi like that?

I suppose as a fan of this game I am starting to get confused... Are they making a new MMO, breaking the established rules? Or making a reskinned WoW?

I am just hoping with the early stage footage, and the fact that everything isn't ironed out that some things will improve. This article, and others like it, give me remaining hope...
(guess I can't post links... great)

Space combat is apparently in after all!

...

Ah, I dunno. Although it was heavily requested, I think the community is more lukewarm about it than might have been imagined. There are a lot of worries- will it be any good? Will it be twitch reflexes in an RP? Has it come at the expense of the development of other areas? Is it important, in which case how many players will miss out, or is it trivial, in which case, is it worth the bother?

The Jedi Knight advanced classes are out!

--

A defensive one and an offensive one.

(enormous facepalm)

I really think they're dropping the ball on the advanced classes.

I really think they're dropping the ball entirely.

However, it is Bioware, and I'm fully convinced after Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 (which I actually liked!) that all they're capable of is averageness.

I cannot find details, but I am reading rumours that the space combat is on rails.

On rails is not necessarily bad... I still love, say, Star Fox 64.

The Advanced classes, though, that just makes me sad. Along with the races being chained to the classes, it's like all my excitement for the plot focus just dropped off a cliff.

Backstory will be tied to your racial choice as well, though frankly I think that's a practical necessity.

Rails indeed not necessarily bad... I am still unsure if the game really needs space combat at all. I have this feeling it has a greater capacity to alienate than to please.

And yes, well, I've already mentioned at length what is disappointing behind the advanced class philosophy, and my enthusiasm has been withering away for a long time also. It is worrying when they cannot release new info any more without making me less happy about it.

I can understand the backstory being tied to your race, that's simply sensible. But tying your race to your class of choice just seems like unnecessary shackling. My class of choice is Sith Warrior, but I have literally no desire to play as a Sith Pureblood, when I would have been at least intrigued by a Mirialan or Rattataki. And if you look at it the other way, if someone has a particular favorite race they really want to play, it restricts them to exactly one class.

I don't understand how it helps the game in any way, especially when they were originally boasting about the amount of choice and input you'd have in shaping your personal story.

Backstory tied to race, okay. Makes sense. Tying race to class just sucks. It's not like it'd be impossible to create different variations depending on the combinations - Mirialan Jedi have this, Sith this, non-Force users this. Not difficult. Or just come up with the most barebones backstory and let you fill in the rest to fit the character.

...also I am annoyed, because I apparently cannot create a Mirialan bounty hunter. This means I cannot clone Rylis. Hmph.

I dislike the 'pureblood' concept in any case, so it alienates me from there. The idea of the Sith as a distinctive race was always rather weird.