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The Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina Tour Arrives at EA San Francisco!


CourtneyWoods

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  • 2 weeks later...

wow... ea/bioware know how to hrow a party. awesome grub, tons of free drinks... killer digs.

 

i went to the cantina event last year, and it was awesome to be able to see eric again... have some continuation to the dialog. i have to say that buckus and hickman were so excited about the game and meeting players. it was awesome playing GS with the lead designer (dev?) there cheering me on as i killed stuff. super friendly and genuinely passionate about the project.

 

hickman has come a long way from those pax (?) interviews where i first saw him take up the project. he was direct, real, and filled with hope and purpose. he was concerned about feedback and gave me the sense that he sees the game as a visinary, which is what the founders at bioware were so good at.

 

some take aways:

rakghoul/chevin event coming back sooner than later and expanded upon (blown up i think was the term used)

ancient tome isnt anything anyone will talk about for 6 to 9 months.

there are technical obstacles to legacy banks

if GS goes well, you can expect a lot of innovations and QoL stuff.

 

have to say again... was an awesome party. lets do it again

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EA provided an open bar and kitchen. Kudos for this. Free pet in game. Signed poster.

 

I think the beta NDA is in effect until morning so I'm leaving my notes related to Galactic Star Fighter out. I will say this: it's going to rock and I'm really looking forward to it.

 

From Jeff Hickman's introduction: 10 million + account created. 1 million + playing monthly.

 

My burning question: I am sick of boot camping my mac for TOR. I asked one of the developers about an OS X client, whether it was a limitation of the Hero Engine or a business decision. He told me it could be made to work (not that it was easy but it could be done ) but EA didn't really see a business case for it. My wallet disagrees but I like I got a no-bs answer. Fair enough.

 

Some notes From The Q&A

* Hood toggles .. on to do list but don't expect soon

* Dual-spec / gear swap remains on to do list but don't expect soon

* Why PVP spaceflight over PVE spaceflight ... player demand ... easier to release with less AI, scripting .. if successful, could lead to more content

* Audience asked about changes to the leader board... response: "It's a day old!" ... funny moment.

* Audience made request for legacy list, legacy bank... there are technical problems re: performance and storage

 

Nothing earth shattering was revealed during the Q & A ... i personally didn't expect anything to be. The night was really about galactic star fighter, and folks were pretty straight with their answers imo. I'm a HUGE critic of EA ( because of so many mistakes and mis-steps in games over recent years ) but it was pretty clear to me that the guys on stage care about the game. That's really encouraging, at least for TOR.

 

I've gone to Blizzcon for the last four years. Server communities have been really damaged with LFDs/LFRs in Azeroth, and it's really easy to forget how big Warcraft really is outside your guild community -- as well as the fact that there are people behind blue posts. SWTOR communities are better imo but it's still really easy to forget that there people behind the yellow posts and behind the toons in game. These kind of events help keep that all in perspective. There were lots of excited players (fair to say most subscribers .. most folks raised their hands when the spot poll was taken) there tonight, including one guy in a scout trooper costume. Whoever has a picture of that .. please post it!

Edited by tzipidamus
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Definitely enjoyed this cantina tour. Food was great and everyone was super enthusiastic about the game.

 

I had the chance to chat with Jeff for a bit and I asked more questions along the lines of how the team operated and what it was like working there. After my conversation with him I'm very happy to hear how things are communicated amongst the team and how everyone works together with the common goal of creating an awesome game. You don't see that very often in many video game companies. The level of commitment and dedication they displayed tonight through their excitement was very admirable.

 

I actually realize how incredible of a feat it is to have so much new content every 6-8 weeks. Not only that but this content is being put out on Hero engine which the mere mention of it during the event brought many a furrowed brow.

 

Also for anyone that went and I had the chance to talk to or saw me I'm "JediConsular" and was in the gray suit. :)

Edited by Mindsting
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It was a great event. I echo dipstik and consular it is clear that bioware is passionate about the game and cares about what the fans think. They really want our thoughts on GSF. Jeff did come across very sincere and excited about the future.

 

Other things I heard and two I surmised.

 

The kuat flashpoint will be dynamic meaning it changes every time you play it so that should add to replayability.

Two GSF maps at launch

They put a lot of thought into making an accessible and fair flight game that feels like Star Wars

Scenery designed to give a sense of speed and directionality versus just open space:rak_02:

No joystick support at launch, don't want all players running out to by a new piece of equipment

3 ship types each with a unique play style (elusive scout, strike fighter, and sniperish gunship) each style can them be further customized

Will be somewhat reminiscent of tie fighter, Michael the lead designer (who was super nice/awesome and very passionate) grew up playing it

Your companions can copilot your ship with all new VO for in combat. Can also use requisition to unlock same faction companions so that my trooper can hear VO from Nadia, Guss or Doc

The rewards from ranked are supposed to be sick!

Villalobos who works on GSF is supposed to be unbeatable so watch out for him and we will get to learn his tricks as he plays on a live stream soon (mentioned they are launching a live twitch channel)

 

Now for my inferences

They know we want guild capital ships and joked about it. From the tone I bet we see these in game for sure at some point

When talking about companion VO they put up a slide with a composite if all the companions. It looked to me like there was at least one new one, an ithorian but I can't be positive.

 

Hope I didn't say anything I wasn't supposed to and thanks for an awesome event.

 

 

Lastly I really wanted to meet up with grand poobah Eric Musco, but he was swarmed by fans like a celebrity. All the bioware team were class acts and I really liked talking to Jack, Michael, Blaine and Deb. I got a lot of questions about what I liked in ops so I recommend we take more time on the forums to tell them what we like about bosses and instances (eg love the mechanics of dp, hate the puzzle on DF, love the bonus puzzles on oricon, etc)

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wow... ea/bioware know how to hrow a party. awesome grub, tons of free drinks... killer digs.

 

Oh, man, you were there?! I would have loved to have gotten a chance to meet you, given all your work in the Tanking community. :)

 

---

 

Not only did we not play Bombers, they were threatening the closed beta players at the event not to breathe a word about them, even though the NDA expires this morning.

Edited by AlixMV
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Some notes From The Q&A

* Hood toggles .. on to do list but don't expect soon

* Dual-spec / gear swap remains on to do list but don't expect soon

* Why PVP spaceflight over PVE spaceflight ... player demand ... easier to release with less AI, scripting .. if successful, could lead to more content

* Audience asked about changes to the leader board... response: "It's a day old!" ... funny moment.

* Audience made request for legacy list, legacy bank... there are technical problems re: performance and storage

 

Thanks for posting this. I was in group "C" and more than a little annoyed that I missed the bulk of the Q&A, which I was more interested in than the hands-on.

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Oh, man, you were there?! I would have loved to have gotten a chance to meet you, given all your work in the Tanking community. :)

 

---

 

Not only did we not play Bombers, they were threatening the closed beta players at the event not to breathe a word about them, even though the NDA expires this morning.

 

i think eric introduced me when i asked about hood toggles lol. i just remember damion saying something (at SF cantina event) along the lines of "i will not stop working on swtor until there is a hood toggle" so i thought i would ask. i also made a point to ask hickman (who i was super excited to meet) about rakghoul/chevin and ancient tomb. i figured if anyone could spill the beans it would be him. ill never forget him revving people up to drink while we were in line, form the other side of the glass. that was epic.

 

i hung out with invalid target and unnecessary girth peeps from bastion server the whole time. met quite a few people from harbinger.

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i think eric introduced me when i asked about hood toggles lol. i just remember damion saying something (at SF cantina event) along the lines of "i will not stop working on swtor until there is a hood toggle" so i thought i would ask. i also made a point to ask hickman (who i was super excited to meet) about rakghoul/chevin and ancient tomb. i figured if anyone could spill the beans it would be him. ill never forget him revving people up to drink while we were in line, form the other side of the glass. that was epic.

 

i hung out with invalid target and unnecessary girth peeps from bastion server the whole time. met quite a few people from harbinger.

 

I was in Group 'C' and missed all those parts of the Q&A. :( Ah, well. Maybe next time!

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wow... ea/bioware know how to hrow a party. awesome grub, tons of free drinks... killer digs.

 

i went to the cantina event last year, and it was awesome to be able to see eric again... have some continuation to the dialog. i have to say that buckus and hickman were so excited about the game and meeting players. it was awesome playing GS with the lead designer (dev?) there cheering me on as i killed stuff. super friendly and genuinely passionate about the project.

 

hickman has come a long way from those pax (?) interviews where i first saw him take up the project. he was direct, real, and filled with hope and purpose. he was concerned about feedback and gave me the sense that he sees the game as a visinary, which is what the founders at bioware were so good at.

 

some take aways:

rakghoul/chevin event coming back sooner than later and expanded upon (blown up i think was the term used)

ancient tome isnt anything anyone will talk about for 6 to 9 months.

there are technical obstacles to legacy banks

if GS goes well, you can expect a lot of innovations and QoL stuff.

 

have to say again... was an awesome party. lets do it again

 

Yeah last night was fun. I enjoyed meeting the team and they really made me feel they wanted the best for the game. Thats something we don't always feel reading the forums. I personally have a newfound hope for the future of the game. Thank you guys for the awesome night.

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