TOR on Preorder

[Alirrin]

Listening without talking has a limited benefit, sadly. (Tried that, too!) Things were great until I had a question or something useful to say; I would type it, but most people were paying attention to voice and not the chat window, so I got missed until someone happened to notice. 

Again, my results are not typical and I have no intention of telling anyone they shouldn't use voice chat (or trying to guilt them into not doing so). It just means that if a group is planning to use voice chat, I will just have to choose not to participate in that group.

[Jasyn]

Because I didn't have a mic, I used voice chat in lurker status only with the Vagabond Knights groups/raids/meetings/special project coordination in EQ2 and some of BahlandBou's raids, so I really only made use of it whenever I had to and not really because I wanted to.  For routine gaming, I simply find it to be too much of a distraction (I have enough distractions on my side of the keyboard as it is).

In grouping situations, it worked well enough for me since most of the time, all I needed to do was follow orders anyway.  However, like Quince said, it's sometimes problematic for the "listen only" crowd when you have a question and no one is paying attention to chat.

I thought it shined quite a bit in guild meetings, though.  VK would conduct part of their guild meetings in character, text chat, and then the other half of the guild meeting would be ooc business where everyone gathered in voice chat, which made the meeting go much faster than it would have otherwise.  In these situations, they were very often quite considerate of the "listen only" folks and were monitoring text chat while responding in voice chat.

Also, it can be slightly off-putting when everyone simply assumes you are in voice chat and text chat is deadly silent because instructions are being issued verbally.  If it's going to be used at all, I don't mind a little warning so I can at least get logged in to listen in.

My honest, crotchety opinon?  Voice chat is about as "necessary" in a game designed for text communication as texting is a "necessity" for phones designed for voice communication.  Sure, it's a convenience, but a really good group should be able to get away without it just like they did in ye olden days when round trips between Qeynos and Freeport were uphill both ways in the snow.

Having said that... I do now keep a headset/mic handy in the event that I may need to use it.

[Alirrin]

in ye olden days when round trips between Qeynos and Freeport were uphill both ways in the snow.

And we were GRATEFUL just to be able to make the trip! None of these namby-pamby wizard spires and druid rings! We WALKED and SWAM our way there!

[tanare]

i'll be there and have set up an Sith version of Saga for the evils who may want to try that route. honestly the Sith side looks more interesting than the jedi side- might go with a smuggler though just to have toeholds on both sides. depends on how many characters we're allowed i guess.

as for voicechat- i was never really fond of it but it never really made much difference to me since i would seldom ever be available for any sort of activity that was bigger than a group. but it didn;t really interest me much since i think i'd be more distracted by the chat and not pay attention what what my toon is doing. never even bothered getting any sort of mic/headset setup for that reason.

[Titia]

I have to agree voice is mandatory the moment you start getting into raids, pvp or high level groups nowadays.

Regarding RP in voicechat, personnaly and as someone already said, it feels odd to play a female character considering I'm a man and voice doesn't match at all (not to mention my terrible accent). So I usually listen only and express myself in text chat.

One thing that always bothered me in RP voicechat.... emotes play a large part of discussions sometimes, you can't get that right in voice so you still have to type

Also I'm wondering: has anyone ever tried a voice changer to change his male voice into female or something else (or the reverse)?

[PinkRose]

To answer a few questions.
1. MostToys posted that she uses a voice changing microphone to go from female to male characters. That sounds interesting. I haven't tried it.

2. I play D&D online, the "table top" game not the video game, in my living room. Voice chat is used for that, but it's only a specific block of time, as if I had poker buddies over or such. Always on voice chat would be distracting, I would think. And wearing headphones would remove me from the time spent with my wife even if we aren't playing together.

3.

I have to agree voice is mandatory the moment you start getting into raids, pvp or high level groups nowadays.

And this is the reason why "Saga" the original guild doesn't see voice chat as neccessary. Take a quick poll of this thread. If the Saga member raids or PvPs, they are pro-voice. If they are PvE, they are anti-voice. (generalization, but 90% accurate). If Saga TOR were PvP, I would say Voice should be optional manditory, or highly recommended. If Saga TOR is PvE, then keep the voice out.

4. I vote Saga TOR go PvP because if one doesn't like it, there are other game options honestly.

5. I vote Valquiss Guildleader and Carte Blanche to make it what ever he wants, with the one rule to keep the boards the same and only those that prove themselves gain access to Behind the Bar.

[Vilidius]

To answer a few questions.
1. MostToys posted that she uses a voice changing microphone to go from female to male characters. That sounds interesting. I haven't tried it.

2. I play D&D online, the "table top" game not the video game, in my living room. Voice chat is used for that, but it's only a specific block of time, as if I had poker buddies over or such. Always on voice chat would be distracting, I would think. And wearing headphones would remove me from the time spent with my wife even if we aren't playing together.

3.

I have to agree voice is mandatory the moment you start getting into raids, pvp or high level groups nowadays.

And this is the reason why "Saga" the original guild doesn't see voice chat as neccessary. Take a quick poll of this thread. If the Saga member raids or PvPs, they are pro-voice. If they are PvE, they are anti-voice. (generalization, but 90% accurate). If Saga TOR were PvP, I would say Voice should be optional manditory, or highly recommended. If Saga TOR is PvE, then keep the voice out.

4. I vote Saga TOR go PvP because if one doesn't like it, there are other game options honestly.

5. I vote Valquiss Guildleader and Carte Blanche to make it what ever he wants, with the one rule to keep the boards the same and only those that prove themselves gain access to Behind the Bar.

Ack.  Jeez.  That's a lot of pressure.

I'd like to respond to this in a series of points.  Please take these as only one opinion.

First off, I acknowledge there are some pros and cons to voice chat, and many of those relate to how gaming fits into real life for older players.  That's a core Saga issue.  I'll say that I consider it just about mandatory to be willing to use voice chat some of the time.  This, however, can be heavily modified by one's personal needs.  So the whole "can listen but can't talk" thing is common.  Also, many players are silent and off the headset while doing ordinary things such as crafting, harvesting, repetitive non-challenging gameplay, etc.  The percentage of time where the whole "must get on chat" thing comes up is small - think about time spent raiding, for example.  But harking back to old school EQ, we all knew that committing to certain activities meant a different level of gaming anyway.  Voice chat becomes part of that equation.  If you can't turn on the headset right now that's fine - just don't raid this particularly evening.

Side note - any time you really need the headset, it isn't social time with the wife anyway.  You're doing the kind of thing where you'd be barking at her if she interrupted you regardless.

Second, the raiding vs. non-raiding guild dichotomy has broken down considerably in recent years.  I see no reason why TOR wouldn't be another example of this.  Back in EQ days, you either made the commitment necessary to be in an "elite" guild or you didn't.  Almost all of us opted out of that, with a few finding this content in other ways such as raiding through alliances.  By far the best was the Fellowship days, in my opinion.  Regardless, this hard split doesn't exist anymore, and it's a positive change IMHO.  This means that I don't see Saga as facing a choice as we would have in the past.  Inevitably, I expect all of the active guild to reach end game content - it's a question of when and not if.  Once there, it will help immensely to be on chat.

Third ... I don't think I can support Saga going straight up PvP (even on an RP PvP server) unless the following should happen.  If everyone expressing an interest in TOR were to say "sure, why not go PvP" and pretty much no one say "I'd play with Saga, but no damn way I'm going PvP" I'd go there.  Might be interesting.  But given what I know of who's here, I can't anticipate that will happen.

That said, what we think we know about PvP may not be accurate, unless you've played newer games lately.  True "PvP servers" allow open world PvP - essentially what many call ganking.  You're harvesting your stuff, maybe even sitting in a town or something, and along come players from the other side to kill you.  You can't opt out and it's always on.  The consequences may not be great, but it sure as hell can get annoying.  And this, clearly, isn't for everyone.  Some love it.  I'll admit it adds to the tension.  But some hate it.  And it certainly affects the vibe of the community.

Despite this, open world PvP is mostly a gimmick.  Most PvP has moved to so-called "Battlegrounds" and here's where the real rewards are found.  Battlegrounds is the WoW term, btw.  Hate to use it, but there you go.  Special maps with special rules where players go only to PvP.  Those maps are equally accessible on PvE servers.  This, I've always imagined, is where Saga might be most comfortable, but why I also expect we might want to PvP and use the tools to help us do it well.

So, on this topic, there is really only one strong reason to go PvP full on.  I have some friends I might pull in from DCUO if we did that, and the combination of them plus Saga would be a great starting core.  If the current Sagaites really want that I think it would be great, but I'd hate to ever impose it.

I agree that whomever is Guildleader in TOR needs carte blanche, on the basis described.  Recruit whoever and however feels right, with the understanding that behind the bar is for full family members only.  I'm really not sure I'm the right one for it.  Depends on how people feel about what I'm describing.  Depends also on our ability to deploy critical mass.  Because building from less than a group or so worth of players ... that's hardly a guild at all.

All the same, I think this discussion is going great.  Good to see the enthusiasm and interest.

[PinkRose]

So, are you recommending PvE with Battleground Focus?
And what's the difference between Jedi v. Sith in TOR?
What do we gain and lose?
And for those that have been vocal about Sith, Askari, would you be willing to go Jedi?
And for anyone that said Jedi, would you be willing to give the Sith side a go?

My opinion, I can't imagine not being able to be a  Paladin, I mean Jedi, but that wouldn't stop me necessarily.

[tanare]

well for me the smuggler's about the only class that looks interesting on the Jedi side. on the sith side bounty hunter, inquisitor and agent all look interesting. not real sure what the big difference is between the sides, looks like things are going to be divided up evenly so X areas are sith, X areas are jedi and X areas are free for all places both sides are fighting over.

i'm also not going to be going for any pure 100% all the time all the kills PVP server. playing on venekor in eq2 with that set was a pain because you spent more time trying to get away from the reds you're green to than actually doing anything.

however i didn't mind the option of arena fighting - or what's been turned into the Battlegrounds idea i guess at this point, because it's a nice enough change of pace from time to time and if you didn;t feel like doin it anymore you left and didn;t have to worry about being chased by everyone afterwards. had some nice RP events at the old EQ1 coliseum arena in whatever out of the way zone that was in.

[Kelora]

I've been out of touch for a bit, but I did get the preorder e-mail a few weeks back. Has there been any word on an open beta time frame? I wouldn't want to commit to one side or the other just yet as all I've played is a bit of Jedi sentinels during closed beta many months ago.

[Vilidius]

I'm not recommending PvE with a battleground focus per say.  I'm not even saying PvP is huge to me.  I'm just saying it's something I like to do some of the time, and which really helps add content to the game when you're out of other things to do (other players = great unpredictable content) and it came up in context of voice chat because it's a damn good reason to be in chat.  You can't beat real time communication when it comes to responding to unpredictable stuff.  And there's nothing more unpredictable than other players in PvP.

So again, really just two sides to this.  I consider voice chat required for the some of the time we might be PvPing.  No necessary focus on this.  No requirement that anyone in the guild do it any amount of the time.  Just there for the people who want it.  Second, if I pull in some friends from DCUO, that might skew our habits a bit in that direction, just based on who's in the guild.  But still, no pressure.

Atm, the friends I've got in game are more interested in Jedi.  There's where I think I would be.  I can't comment intelligently on the relative differences in one side vs. another.  I'd be willing to go either way, but I think pulling Saga to the Sith would be so far outside this guild's natural comfort zone that it would be more trouble than it's worth.  So if we're going with Saga, for sure, my intention is to go Jedi side.  Additionally, while I'd be potentially willing to help organization and run one guild, I'd hate to try to do this "two guilds, one on each side" thing.  Folks are certainly welcome to make alts on the other side, but considering Saga's limited population as stands, splitting it in half seems incredibly silly to me.

On the open beta side ... sorry.  Got no idea.  Although TOR has indicated the intention to have a stress test beta, they haven't made it clear if this will be open to all preorders or only an extension of the existing invite only beta.

[Mixxi]

My first choice is Jedi Consular, so I would be looking mainly on the Jedi side. Not a big Sith fan. Smuggler would be fine with me, too. I'll be a Jedi Consular somewhere, so if Saga does something else, I can be something else in the Saga guild.

I like PvP in the context of roleplaying, particularly attacking/defending strongholds. This goes back to the fun I had doing things like defending Felwithe and Ak'Anon. I also really loved flagging rebel/republic in SWG. Defending Anchorhead and then running down and attacking one of the Imperial-held cities was huge fun.

Not a big fan of small group or individual PvP, mainly because I just don't do it enough to develop a skill set. I also find that it feels (and often gets) too personal. In any case, I die a lot in PvP and am pretty terrible at it. I will fight just about anyone who is trying to kill my character's friends/allies, however.

RP-PVE with PvP flagging/options is what I'll be looking for. I can roll alts somewhere else as well, but my main will probably be on this type of server.

[Titia]

I think I read somewhere stress beta phase would open in september but it's hard to say if there is any ground in this (don't even recall where I read that).

I'll be most likely joining the light side for my main. Jedi consular seems to be my preferred flavor right now.

Having spent quite some time on a PvP realm in WoW then switching back to PvE and just doing BG, I can tell my preference is going to PvP realm: that little stress that make you stay alert was missing in PvE. Not to mention open PvP gives you more options than just BG. Roaming in group deep in enemy territory can be fun and could bring challenge like: 'Hey let's do some Endor sort of adventuring, you know like when they all where surrounded by Empire troopers and had to blow up a bunker"

[PinkRose]

So, we've decided on Jedi PvE.
See how easy this is, Valquiss?

Now just pick a server and point us to the way.

[Imeriel]

* Imeriel will be playing a Chiss Imperial Agent ....   

[Alirrin]

*points* Ime spotting! 

[Titia]

To convince those who think the path of the dark side of the Force will be better to change their mind, the Jedi Consular class video is up here: http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/jedi-consular

Nothing shown for the advanced sub-classes unfortunately

[PinkRose]

As an honorary member of the Ime fan club, what is a Chiss Imperial Agent and which side does that fall on?

Also,             

[Alirrin]

what is a Chiss Imperial Agent and which side does that fall on?

I'm not familiar with the game or the names, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess Imperial Agents might work for the Empire? 

[Askari]

My first main will likely be a Jedi Consular.

Whether I go down the Sage advanced class (healer or telekinetic ranged DPS options) or the Shadow advanced class (stealthy melee DPS or tanking options) will depend on the grouping situation and the ability to re-spec.

The Jedi Consular vid appears to show a lot of the Jedi Sage playstyle (single-bladed light saber, lots of mid-ranged telekinetic DPS). I'll be interested to see more on the Jedi Shadow playstyle (dual-bladed light saber, stealth ability, melee DPS or tanking).

Race: Probably Miraluka (eyeless humans, evolved on a planet lit by a red dwarf with only infrared spectrum light, wear decorative veils/glasses). Or possibly Mirialan, if they look enough cooler (green-skinned, tattoed, near-humans).
Allegiance: Galactic Republic
Faction: Jedi Knights

Of course, as I looked into class choices...I found myself wanting to play almost every class (and advanced class). 


By the way...this is a Chiss Imperial Agent ->