Last week, I was pretty vocal about my thoughts on Star Wars: The Old
Republic at Gamescom. The show was, by and large, a disappointment in
my eyes. I don’t know how much stock BioWare’s marketing team puts into
these shows, but from my perspective, Gamescom and PAX Prime were
crucial last chance events to drive awareness of the game and throw some
bones to fans that may be a bit fatigued after riding on the hype-train
for three years.
Fortunately, PAX
Prime was a good deal better on the latter bit. It’s almost a bit
embarrassing how little it takes for an event to go from a massive
disappointment in my eyes to ‘a good deal better,’ but the difference
literally came within the last ten minutes of the last SW:TOR PAX panel
(before the Q&A session). The showing was largely the same as
Gamescom in every other way: there were demos of the Eternity Vault, PvP
matches for fans to participate in, and Q&As where numerous
questions on the games minutiae were answered.
There
aren’t a whole lot of major systems or features left for Star Wars: The
Old Republic to unveil, so I’d narrowed down a few that I hoped to see
revealed at either Gamescom or PAX: World PvP, the Legacy system, and
character creation. Gamescom disappointed on all three, but PAX gave us
significantly greater detail on World PvP and the surprise announcement
of a start date (September 3
rd!) for upcoming game test weekends.
Up
until now, we’ve known that World PvP would consist of designated areas
on certain planets (similar to WAR’s RvR lakes), but not really much
else. The PAX presentation revealed that Star Wars: The Old Republic
would feature neutral planets for players to fight over and this would
include territory control gameplay. The icy planet of Ilum was unveiled
as the first World PvP planet, and this makes sense given the fact that
Ilum is known for being rich in lightsaber-grade crystals. Ilum, and
other World PvP planets, will feature bases that can be captured and
held by Republic or Imperial forces, along with a number of objectives
towards that end. For example, in order to capture the enemy base on
Ilum, players will have to take down the planetary defenses protecting
it, after which they can call down a bombing run to hit the base.
Rewards will be plentiful in World PvP as well, as players can earn
Valor (and XP) along with Mercenary Commendations, the latter of which
can be used to purchase some of the game’s best PvP gear.
While
I wasn’t at the panel myself, I understand that a few screenshots of
World PvP were shown at the presentation, but there wasn’t much else. It
sounds like BioWare really didn’t share much in the way of World PvP,
but I still found the announcement reassuring. Judging by fan reaction, I
feel it went over well with most gamers too. World PvP in TOR isn’t
simply: “Here are your contested areas. Have at it!” It doesn’t sound
like a bullet-point on a box (and it could have been); it sounds like a
fully fleshed out feature, though questions still remain. For example,
I’d love to know if they plan on tying all these neutral planets
together as part of some cohesive campaign (think WAR’s RvR campaign) or
if they will be self-contained.
I think we’ll definitely have
some meat to chew on as far as World PvP goes at launch. The visibility
(or lack thereof) of the feature up to this point leads me to believe
that World PvP either isn’t quite ready for primetime just yet or that
it’s simply lower on the totem pole as far as launch priorities go. It
may yet not be as robust as some would hope by the time the game hits
store shelves. Star Wars: The Old Republic may be a bit more PvE-slanted
at launch, but the foundation of World PvP announced thus far gives me
the idea they are at least serious about it. Even if it isn’t fully up
to snuff when the game goes live, I have a good feeling this is an area
of the game they will pursue with a high-priority in the months that
follow. This is just a hunch, of course, but that’s how I’m reading the
reveal so far.
I’m
personally hoping they plan on tying this all together as part of a
campaign, but even if they don’t go that route, it would be neat if
planetary control in Star Wars: The Old Republic functions similarly to
the RTS Star Wars: Empire at War. In Empire at War, each planet had
various properties, and keeping these planets under your control
conveyed bonuses to your faction. Along this same vein, I’d love to see
BioWare hook Crew Skills into World PvP, for example. This would include
adding PvP specific mission types to the Mission skills as well as
PvP-oriented recipes and components for the Crafting skills. Controlling
certain planets could provide faction-wide bonuses to certain Crew
Skills and also limit access to resources specific to the various PvP
recipes. Want that super rare Pontite crystal for your lightsaber? Well,
you’d better hope your faction controls Ilum or you’ll have a hard time
getting your hands on some. You could send your companion on a mission
to find these resources (at perhaps an increased risk of being
captured), or you could try to venture out into enemy territory and
harvest it yourself. Either way, the risk would be significant if your
faction doesn’t control the territory, and the opposite would be true
(bonuses) for the faction under control of said planets. I’m sure there
are many other angles you could take this feature, but that is just one
example.
Subject: Star Wars: The Old Republic: PAX 2011 
Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:44 am
