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The Old Republic for Dummies

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 DarthParametric
12-07-2011, 9:15 PM
#51
Yes, I hope they introduce animal mounts as well. That was one of the reasons I started playing SWG as a CH.
 Mav
12-07-2011, 9:22 PM
#52
Yes, I hope they introduce animal mounts as well. That was one of the reasons I started playing SWG as a CH.Like some of the quick travel mounts on some worlds? ;)
http://i.imgur.com/pV9Me.jpg)
 DarthParametric
12-07-2011, 10:25 PM
#53
Yeah I took a few rides on the flying dolphins in my second beta weekend back in October. I doubt you'd ever get something like that as a player mount, but presumably things like Dewbacks have to be in the frame for inclusion. They said a few months back they would consider it post-launch.
 Tommycat
12-07-2011, 11:31 PM
#54
Yeah I took a few rides on the flying dolphins in my second beta weekend back in October. I doubt you'd ever get something like that as a player mount, but presumably things like Dewbacks have to be in the frame for inclusion. They said a few months back they would consider it post-launch.

If they did add those as mounts, the skill to learn to ride it is probably a million credits.
 Zakhodit
12-08-2011, 3:31 AM
#55
Dewbacks and Banthas would be pretty cool...

Can I get a Rancor?
 DarthParametric
12-08-2011, 6:31 AM
#56
It's possible we may eventually see something like rancor holos as ship decorations (along the lines of what SWG had) or maybe even tiny ones as non-combat pets (like WoW and SWG or the mouse droid of the TOR CE). There's no way you'd ever see a mount version and sadly I see no possibility of a CH-type class ever being offered.
 Zakhodit
12-08-2011, 7:49 AM
#57
Oh I wouldn't discount anything just yet. The game is brand new. There may not be many drastic changes early but in five years who knows.
 DarthParametric
12-08-2011, 8:32 AM
#58
I think ruling out rancor player mounts is fairly safe, regardless of how radical future changes may be.
 Mav
12-11-2011, 4:29 AM
#59
So I have a question, let's say I have a Bounty Hunter, his name is Bob, he is only level 5, let us then say that I no longer want to be Bob the Bounty Hunter, I want to be Bob the Trooper. If I delete Bob the Bounty Hunter does that free up the name and let me create Bob the Trooper? I am assuming this answer is yes, so I have a follow up question, does anyone happen to know if there is some lag time for this to take effect or is it instantaneous? This is something I meant to test in the beta and forgot because I was too busy flamethrowering people in the face.
 Lynk Former
12-11-2011, 4:34 AM
#60
I actually did do what you're describing in your post... I created an Imperial Agent with a particular name but then decided that the name would suit my Jedi Consular a lot better. So I deleted the Imperial Agent and then started the Jedi Consular... only problem is that I don't know how much lag time there is for sure because I was working on the site design at the time and I created the Consular after deleting the Agent around 40 minutes later.

I'm assuming it's almost instantaneous though.
 Mav
12-11-2011, 4:37 AM
#61
Yeah Jeff was saying it was pretty much instantaneous in WoW so that's how I assume it would be for TOR, nice to know somebody remembered to check though XD.
 .:Lord Revan:.
12-12-2011, 11:58 AM
#62
I have a cousin who is playing this when it comes out will i see him in the game and hopefully kill him?
 Lynk Former
12-12-2011, 12:02 PM
#63
I have a cousin who is playing this when it comes out will i see him in the game and hopefully kill him?
If you're playing on the same PvP (Player vs Player) server, are on the same planet and in the same instance and on opposite sides (he's Empire, you're Republic) then sure... you can kill him.

Otherwise, bad luck.
 Mav
12-12-2011, 12:56 PM
#64
Of if he is the same faction or you're on a PvE server, you must challenge him to a Duel and he must accept, then you can "kill" him.
 logan23
12-12-2011, 2:13 PM
#65
Duels do not kill the other player. The duel stops when one of the player's hp drops to a certain level.

But you could fight him at tattonie's something den ... Ugh I forget the name
 Player0
12-12-2011, 3:15 PM
#66
I don't know about TOR specifically, but wanted to give a heads up regarding some potentially exploitive dueling.

The exploit comes from the fact that in some MMO's there are areas that allow PvP content between the factions, but you have to specifically flag yourself for PvP before the other team can attack you. Even while flagged, you can't attack anyone else unless they too flag themselves.

You can flag yourself for PvP usually through a slash command (like /pvp) or by trying to attack someone of the opposite faction who is flagged.

In WoW - something I confirmed myself on a rather humorous occassion - it was possible to start a duel with the opposing faction after flagging yourself for PvP. After the duel started, you could immidiately concede the duel using the slash command /concede. Once conceded, the duel is no longer taking place, but because you flagged yourself for PvP you're still a legitimate target to your opponent.

The opponent, potentially unaware that you conceded the duel, begins to attack you, thus flagging themself for PvP. The group you're riding across the desert with on your way to a raid - some what oblivious to what's going on - suddenly sees you being attacked by a PvP flagged person of the opposite faction. All 20 of them hop off their horses and proceed to chase the poor sod across the desert and end his life.

It's fun really, unless you're the guy who was tricked into flagging themself for PvP. And that's the moral of the story - don't get duped into a fight were you can potentially be killed, even if the premise is simply a "duel." There's lots of ways to grief people in duels.

In TOR, knocking people off a cliff seems like an obvious way of griefing in a duel. Your attacks may not be able to kill someone in a duel, but a long enough drop will because the damage is environmental. It's also possible that during a duel you pull aggro (aggression, or the attention of an enemy) from a nearby mob (movable object, an old MMO term to refer to PvE enemies or potential enemies) who finishes you off.

Take care when considering a duel!

I also wanted to mention regarding looting:

General rules vary on the do's and don'ts of looting. Different parties will do things differently, even guilds will do things differently. And there's generally different rules based on the quality of the gear you're liable to find.

In general, in pubs, I have a few rules I follow that I expect others to follow:

1) If you roll need, it's because you plan to equip the item immidiately, or you plan to equip the item as soon as you are high enough level to do so. If you don't plan on putting the item on, don't plan to roll need. I want to see that item bound to you.

In other words, if a really nice item drops that you *could* use, but you would probably sell, then roll greed. Need is for people who actually need to use the item - not just those who could use it. Greed is for everyone else.

2) If you just plan to sell the item, or trade it, you're welcome to roll greed. And that goes for anything, including rare bind on equip items that will fetch a pretty penny when auctioned.

3) Don't loot until the fighting is over - FOR EVERYONE! I've been a pretty good healer in past MMO's and one thing I CANNOT stand is people who start looting before mobs are dead. I've had really bad experiences with it.

In fact, in one particular case, our group pulled a mini-boss with 2 other elite mobs. I was the healer in the back trying to stay out of the action. Our tank didn't realize that the elite mobs weren't aggroed to him and continued to focus the miniboss with the rest of the team.

"No problem," I said, and used a skill to decrease some of my aggro getting the mobs off me and back onto the tank. Shortly after, the miniboss went down and the group proceeded to loot. Unbenounced to them (because no one was paying attention to the party tab) both of the other mobs had reaggroed to me when my spell wore off.

Despite my best yelling in a chat box, no one noticed I was dying until I had died. After being revived, I promptly left that group to fend for themselves.

Moral of the story: the items aren't going anywhere, there's plenty of time to pick them up and most quest items will spawn duplicates for everyone. Your main healer, on the other hand, is there to survive the challenge just like you, and if you leave them (or anyone else) out to dry, you can rest assured that they WON'T be there for long.
 Mav
12-17-2011, 6:44 PM
#67
So the Crew Skill missions that you can learn from "schematics" are those missions one shot per schematic or are they redo-able once you learn the schematic? :data:
 DarthParametric
12-17-2011, 11:21 PM
#68
Missions you get as loot are one-shot. I've gotten a bunch I can't use with Slicing, which I've thrown up on the GTN. With only a 2 day max sale period though, I don't know if they'll move. I have no idea of value, so I just went with the recommended price. I did get one that I could use though. It was about a level 120 or so mission and cost about 2,000 credits to do I think. Fortunately it was successful and I got my money back with a little extra, and a schematic for something I can't remember that I threw up on the GTN. When I played the beta I got a couple of loot missions and my success with them was a bit hit and miss, so I was wary of this one. Maybe they've tweaked the probabilities or something.
 Lynk Former
12-18-2011, 7:36 AM
#69
So now I've got a question... I know that there's a Companion Customization Vendor in the Cantina near the Space Port on Taris, but it only sells customizations for a few characters, none of which are the ones for the Trooper.

I was wondering if anyone knew the location of the Character Customization Vendor that sold customizations for Elara Dorne, the Troopers companion.
 DarthParametric
12-18-2011, 11:28 AM
#70
Maybe they haven't added them all yet. They said during beta they would add them eventually, but I'm not sure if they ever said they'd be in by launch.
 Miltiades
12-18-2011, 2:01 PM
#71
Anyone have anything to say or any tips to share concerning the spawning of enemies? My only experience with MMO's is the not-really-an-MMO Guild Wars, which never had any problems with spawning because they worked with instances, so you guys are probably used to this, but I get quite annoyed with it sometimes. Today my Bounty Hunter experienced his first death during a Heroic Quest because enemies respawned right in front of me while I was taking care of an already respawned group of enemies. I was hoping to avoid dying for as long as possible (what if there's some perk or title to gain from surviving - like Guild Wars had).
 DarthParametric
12-18-2011, 8:32 PM
#72
You will die a lot. That's part and parcel of an MMO. The penalty is very mild in TOR though - from what I can tell it is just extra equipment wear rather than an XP hit.

As far as spawns go, always move away from a mob's spawn point as soon as you have dealt with them, lest you experience exactly what you did. There was some discussion of respawn rates in another thread. They are a bit variable, depending on the level and the planet/area. The more populated areas are likely going to have very short timers for the trash mobs, so it may pay to stop and ascertain what that rate is for a given area before wading in.
 mimartin
12-19-2011, 11:33 AM
#73
Alright, I have the dying part down. I’m getting really good at it.

Playing as Smuggler/ Scoundrel (healer)

Up to level 16 or 17 now, got my ship headed to Nar Shaddaa. Noticed all the enemy here are level 20 to 21. Did I make a mistake, should I have gone to Taris first? Or is that just par for the course and enemies usually will be a few levels higher than you?

Also is it alright that I practice my healing skills on other players? It isn’t bad etiquette or anything?
 Mav
12-19-2011, 12:27 PM
#74
Yeah you're supposed to go to Taris before Nar Shaddaa mims. On the galaxy map in your ship, each planet should also have a level range displayed. Also if I was another random player I certainly wouldn't mind randomly being healed.
 DarthParametric
12-19-2011, 2:06 PM
#75
Always do whatever side-quests you can find on a planet before leaving for the next one. Most planets should have a "bonus series" that unlock after you have completed the planet's main side-quest chain (and probably your class story chain too), although in some cases these are not intended to be undertaken until later (an example for Empire players being Nar Shaddaa, whose bonus series quests are aimed at level 31 - i.e. post Alderaan, 2 planets later).

Your main story quest is typically a level or two above the side-quests you'll be doing at the time, so be cautious about rushing straight into that. Best to run through some side-quests first and continue to intersperse side-quests with story quests as you move around the planet to keep yourself at or above the level progression curve.

Common courtesy suggests you should apply your class-specific buff to every friendly player you see. Hopefully they will reciprocate, meaning if you buff players from the other 3 classes (on post-starter planets) you should end up with all 4 buffs applied to you (strength, endurance, willpower, critical % I believe). If you have heals, it's always good to heal other players nearby, especially if they are in trouble. Be aware that healing/buffing someone who is in combat will flag you as hostile to whatever they are fighting. At the very least this will put you in a combat stance for the duration of that player's fight, killing any non-combat abilities like Sprint.

Generally it is best not to directly interfere in someone else's combat (i.e. engage their enemies), unless they are fighting an elite or something and getting their ass handed to them or if they specifically ask for help. If you see someone waiting around for one of the elites that form the final part of most bonus quest lines to spawn and you are after the same mob, invite that person to group with you (or accept their invite if they offer). That way you'll help each other out and both get the quest item to finish the quest chain.
 Tommycat
12-19-2011, 3:03 PM
#76
Something more unique to TOR is that your companions may need an item. With loot rolls though you should stick with "Need" ONLY if your character will be equipping the item. Companions can end up using stuff you would otherwise not need(ie heavy armor when you're a smuggler, because Corso can use it). If you roll "Need" on something for your companion, your group will get mad if you end up beating the guy who can use it on their character.

Oh and under no circumstances should you say, "I'll just do a quick quest and go to bed." Especially at 10:00 on a Sunday when you work Monday through Friday... The next time you look at the time it will be midnight, and you will be NEAR finishing the quest... Not that I'm speaking from experience... Just sayin'. If anyone needs me I'll be at my desk with toothpicks holding my eyelids open.
 Lynk Former
12-20-2011, 12:21 AM
#77
So here's another question:

Can someone explain to me what the Ability Action Queue Windows is/does? It's listed in the game preferences under Control.
 DarthParametric
12-20-2011, 12:27 AM
#78
There is no actual window (although I wish there was). It's how long in seconds (up to 1) that you can queue commands in advance. Only works with instants though it seems - if you are using a channelled skill hitting another will cancel instead of queuing it.
 mimartin
12-20-2011, 10:34 AM
#79
Yeah you're supposed to go to Taris before Nar Shaddaa mims. On the galaxy map in your ship, each planet should also have a level range displayed. Also if I was another random player I certainly wouldn't mind randomly being healed. Thanks Mav, left Nar Shaddaa and went to Taris. Way more fun when most all enemies are the same or lower level than my toon. No longer feel completely underpowered. For awhile there I was thinking healer was a complete mistake. :D
 Miltiades
12-20-2011, 10:49 AM
#80
Well, I was surprised with the jump in difficulty when I arrived on Dromund Kaas, to be honest. My Bounty Hunter was already at lvl. 12 when I arrived there, but the areas between the Spaceport and Kaas City (Alkmaar? :p) are heroic areas and significantly more difficult, in my opinion. Mandalorians in group are all elite.
 DarthParametric
12-20-2011, 12:21 PM
#81
You are meant to take the speeder past that area. The officer at the outpost that borders that area (the one with force fields and where the monster keeps spawning and charging at them) tells you not to go in.
 Miltiades
12-20-2011, 1:41 PM
#82
You are meant to take the speeder past that area. The officer at the outpost that borders that area (the one with force fields and where the monster keeps spawning and charging at them) tells you not to go in. Well now I feel stupid. I'm usually a good listener, but that trooper must have bored me. :p
 mimartin
12-20-2011, 2:34 PM
#83
Well now I feel stupid. I'm usually a good listener, but that trooper must have bored me. :p

At least you went to the right planet.
 Jeff
12-20-2011, 3:01 PM
#84
This is a tip more than a question: The are "exhaustion zones" on maps in this game. That basically means if you enter one, your health will slowly go down until you die. For example, if you try and run across Tatooine instead of taking the taxis from location to location, you will encounter these zones and die if you can't leave them fast enough. And to make it even worse, if you are on your speeder, it dismounts you, making it pretty much impossible to leave the exhaustion area before you die.
 logan23
12-20-2011, 5:03 PM
#85
Hey, I just got my physical copy,
I'm in the game due to early access,...
When I put the CD in for the physical copy it asks if I want to uninstall the game?

Do i need to uninstall and reinstall the game?

Or do I just need to place the register code in and thats all?

I could not find anything explaining this in the forums at swtor
 Astor
12-20-2011, 5:48 PM
#86
You should only need the registration code, as you've already got the game client installed.
 Lynk Former
12-20-2011, 5:49 PM
#87
You don't need to put in the CD if you already have the game on your PC. Just go to your account on the official swtor site and input the code you got in the packaging and that's that.
 logan23
12-21-2011, 7:34 AM
#88
Thanks !
:)
 Miltiades
12-21-2011, 7:43 AM
#89
Well, got my first embarrassing group quest done. There's this Heroic Quest on Dromund Kaas called 'Saving Face', I think, which consists of taking explosives and then installing them on a panel and defending the panel from Rebel slaves. The thing is, when my group member installed the explosives, the quest changed for both of us, but somehow, when we defeated the boss, the quest didn't update and we were randomly wandering through the area. We agreed to reset the quest, but then my group member left and my heart broke. :'(

Seriously, though, anyone have idea what's the problem here? I'm just wondering, usually both members of the group need to click on quest items and such to update the quest, but here it wasn't needed. Also, it may have had to do something with the fact somebody else was involved in fighting the boss, because the health bar was greyed out. Could that have been the problem?
 mimartin
12-21-2011, 8:54 AM
#90
The greyed out health bar was the problem. You didn't get credited with the kill, it was that someone else that got the xp.
 DarthParametric
12-21-2011, 10:05 AM
#91
If multiple non-grouped people attack a mob, I would guess it will be whoever deals it the most damage that gets the credit for the kill.
 mimartin
12-21-2011, 10:38 AM
#92
I thought it was whoever damages the enemy first.

***I don't know if I would trust me on that without confirmation, look at who started this thread for Dummies.*** :D I was wrong corrected by Lynk. I thought it was targeted..
 Miltiades
12-21-2011, 11:56 AM
#93
If multiple non-grouped people attack a mob, I would guess it will be whoever deals it the most damage that gets the credit for the kill. I thought that as well, but we were with two and two companions, the other was alone with a companion (I guess we gave him/her a present there).
 Miltiades
12-23-2011, 8:42 PM
#94
Well, I did the quest again with a few people (who can thank me, I was significantly stronger than my last encounter with the Rebel Slaves) and obviously finished it.

But another questions arises from this experience. Can anyone explain how and when social points are supposed to work? I understand you need to bring in the mission with the party to get social points? The thing is, two of my group left after they had defeated the boss, but the remaining group member stayed until we finished the mission. I didn't get social points for that (and I'm sure of that, I'm still at 0 :p).
 DarthParametric
12-23-2011, 9:01 PM
#95
You get social points for multiplayer dialogue, so you won't get any if you join a group and you have already completed the quest previously (and thus can't take part in the cutscenes). If you do a flashpoint (that you haven't done before) you'll get a bunch of social points, but even just questing around a planet you should get loads if you are grouped most of the time.

Social points can be used to gain access to social gear provided by the social vendor. It's mainly for role play type stuff from what I can see.
 mimartin
12-23-2011, 9:03 PM
#96
I'm not the best source, but since this is the first question asked in this thread, I’m not really sure anyone is the best source as I still don’t understand the mechanics of social points completely.

However, what I’ve noticed… My main character has like one social point (1/10). Got that one point (or 1/10 point) on the first planet when I played the heroic area and a other couple quests with a group. I’m pretty sure I got the point for winning a conversation roll. Other than killing a few eliets in groups, I played solo.

My other character, which is only finished the first planet, has Social: Social 1 232/750, but with that character I’ve only played in a qroup (100% with Lynk). Pretty sure it also has to do with gear rolls, but both Lynk and I were pretty good at letting each other pick what we wanted. I don’t know if we ever did a gear roll.

I know you can also win multiple conversations in a row. Either that or Lynk hacked the system because I know he won 3 in a row.

Social points can be used to gain access to social gear provided by the social vendor. It's mainly for role play type stuff from what I can see.

I have my eye on a white party dress. :D
 DarthParametric
12-23-2011, 9:24 PM
#97
You get points for simply partaking in multiplayer dialogue, but you get about twice as many for each dialogue choice you win the roll for versus those you don't.

As for winning multiple dialogue choices in a row, yes I was obviously mistaken in my earlier post where I commented about them patching that out. I was sure I had read that in the patch notes for the final beta weekend, but perhaps I just imagined it.
 mimartin
12-23-2011, 9:36 PM
#98
Don’t take my statement as an attack or trying showing you up for being wrong. I wasn’t, I really appreciate your attempt to answer the question earlier and I have no doubt that you read it somewhere. I just lmao as Lynk won roll after roll, although we were pretty much picking the same answer every time. At least now I know Lynk wasn’t cheating. :xp:
 Lynk Former
12-23-2011, 9:51 PM
#99
Obviously the game likes me more...
 Mav
12-24-2011, 7:43 PM
#100
Just to expand on the "rewards" of social points, as it's been said you can only equip certain items if you have a high enough social score. Some examples, Nar Shaddaa Social Vendor has Slave Metal Bikini gear, and Tatooine has Sand People gear, btw these are orange/custom gear, so you could potentially make them comparable to your other gear with mods. But some social vendor's all sell stuff like Speeders that you can only use with a high enough social score, so yeah mostly for RP uses, but there are alternate perks to the system as well.
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