Hello everyone,

Please discuss this week's Meet the Developers: Hall Hood blog in this thread!

If you have any questions for Hall, please ask them here. In the near future, we'll have some answers from him for you!

Thank you for writing the Doc romance, I've had a blast playing through it. So far I have completed the story for a JK and a smuggler and it has been a great time.

Also, brought a friend to the quest that you wrote hidden behind the spoiler-section. We were both really amazed when we played through it. Still remember that feeling

Looking forward to the next chapter when it comes out one day.

Alright, here is a question:

In a recent interview, you mentioned you mentioned that the writing direction of the future would be akin to the Avengers, bringing the individual stories together into one epic story. Could you elaborate on what this means for the future? Does this mean that there will be no more Class stories? Will future story updates be designed in a way that multiple classes will overlap and interact in the actual story in some way?

The former question would make me very sad, but the latter would be pretty cool.

I am surprised that nothing was said about the SWTOR Encyclopedia, given Hall's involvement, relevance to story in general and its high production value. I do recommend it very highly to anyone with a passion for the lore behind the stories.

I am very disappointed although not at all surprised that Hall was not provided an opportunity to discuss future romantic story content, given his clear interest in and enjoyment of its development.

The continual lack of any mention of pending same-gender romantic arcs has gone beyond frustrating and into the realm of insulting and dismissive, and I wish to voice my strongest protest of such needless curtailment on what is permitted to be said on this subject.

So.

Mr. Hood.

I have exactly one question for you.

WHEN is same gender romantic content coming? WHEN are we getting the option to play characters who are not straight? WHEN? WHEN?

Your ancient press releases claim it will be a post launch feature. Your ancient forum posts claimed "next year" meaning 2012, meaning this year, meaning YOU HAVE TWO MONTHS LEFT.

Two months left.

And we have not heard ONE WORD.

All we get is the same runaround from everyone. "Hello yes, we are totally aware of your concerns, we have no new information, now shut up and get back to your gay ghetto thread."

Are we getting same gender content with the Makeb update? Are we getting same gender content with current companions, or are new ones being added?

Are only certain classes getting them? Or what? You have provided absolutely NO information. And here I thought Bioware wasn't a homophobic company. Guess I was wrong.

Every single other Bioware game contains MULTIPLE same gender romances. WHAT is the hold up?

I would dearly like to play the game you wrote, Mr. Hood. I would love to play that Jedi Knight story you are so fond of.

But I can't.

Do you know why?

I don't want to play a male jedi knight. I want to play a female jedi knight. Doc is quite possibly the most boring, sexist male I have ever come across. He talked about my breasts within SEVEN SECONDS of meeting him. So I would like to romance the other option, Kira.

But I can't. Your homophobic company has decided to deny me that for no reason whatsoever.

So. Take this specific example. Is Kira going to be a gay option? Or is a new companion going to be added? I cannot play a Jedi Knight until this question has been answered.

I have not played a smuggler for the same reason. Do you like having all of your stories utterly ignored? No?

THEN ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

Same Gender Relationships, when, who, how?

its time to answer now mate, been waiting a pretty long time...

One Question springs to mind having played through a number of different story arcs:

When are choices and decisions made in any of the class/world/flashpoint/operations/PvP/anything going to have an effect on the game world or even the character beyond the two seconds after making the choice and then getting a very basic mail thanking or scorning us.

Now on the most basic level I would have written the story so that if you did all the side quests and all the bonus quests this would play out so you may not have to fight an end boss and it would just move to a cutscene. Take a non game example so as to avoid spoilers, your sith warrior has to invade a republic base. Now you can go up to the front door bash your way in and fight through. Another option is to sneak in, poision the air filtration units, murder the sentries then sneak up on the base commander as they sleep. One is far more juganaut like and one more maurader like but it would have ment the choice mattered.

In the more advanced level saving a captain of a star ship in one of the early flash points would have involved him turning up with a ship to either bombard your enemies or air lift people of the planet. Instead nothing happens, now I appreciate that it can be difficult to decide which play through should be used but then we all have a first play through and when finishing the black talon play through you get a follow on quest from the star port. So its not that hard to run with it.

Alright, here is a question:

 

In a recent interview, you mentioned you mentioned that the writing direction of the future would be akin to the Avengers, bringing the individual stories together into one epic story. Could you elaborate on what this means for the future? Does this mean that there will be no more Class stories? Will future story updates be designed in a way that multiple classes will overlap and interact in the actual story in some way?

 

The former question would make me very sad, but the latter would be pretty cool.

I just listened to that interview and that answer is frightening. I don't want all the classes to culminate into one Avenger's style storyline. I can't think of anything that would make me abandon this game faster. I love the fact that each class has its own storyline. I hate the idea that they would have spent so much time and resources encouraging players to roll so many alts to experience so many new storylines only to pull the rug out from under them. It's already almost impossible to play through the same side quests for the 2nd+ time for each faction just to experience the stories, can you imagine trying to take all 8 classes through the same storyline? BORING. That's why I hate the way Makeb sounds, I hate the implication of what Makeb means for the future of class quests, and I hate the fact that BioWare won't even use the word "class storylines" anymore and that a year has gone by without any mention of continuing the story whatsoever.

How about that question Mr. Lead Writer (who I do believe is talented and means well), will we get new class storylines or has BioWare abandoned them completely, and will you be honest about it and tell us?

Hi Hall,

I've really enjoyed most of the class stories and quests so far, particularly the Smuggler class line. Thanks for your work so far and I'm looking forward to more.

As far as suggestions go, I'd like to see more companion interaction during quests. It's nice to chat to them one on one for their companion story lines but I'm more impressed when they have something to add or say regarding what my character is doing and with whom they are dealing. It adds their presence and character to the action in the moment rather than around or outside it.

Addendum: Have you seen the suggestions about being able to repeat class stories, example as per my sig? There's a certain amount of interest for it. A lot of people would love to "re-read" your stories. Maybe a word edgewise with the bosses on our behalf?...

To specify, these questions are for Mr. Hood as he is the Lead Writer and should have a good idea of why these questions are relevant to the content and the people waiting for it.

• Will any current companions be available for same-gender romance?
  
• If so, which?
  
• If current companions are made available, will the new romantic content be available to players who have already completed existing story content with their companions without needing to roll a new character?
  
• Will same-gender content require and additional purchase, such as a legacy unlock, in-game credit expense or real-world currency through the Cartel shop?
  
• Will we ever see same-gender content beyond companion characters as [Flirt] prompts with various world or class story mission NPCs, such as currently exist as opposite-gender options?
  
• Will there be same-gender romances available to all classes and all genders?
  
• If so, how many?
  

Hi Hall

My question to you is, if and when the Level cap ( future content ) is add to the game. How much involvement will are companions have to the main story . will are companions have new conversions ? summarising what he or she has been up to since we hit level 50?

What progression will we see in are Main characters eg ( how much time has pass etc)

Thanks

Oliver

Alright, here is a question:

 

In a recent interview, you mentioned you mentioned that the writing direction of the future would be akin to the Avengers, bringing the individual stories together into one epic story. Could you elaborate on what this means for the future? Does this mean that there will be no more Class stories? Will future story updates be designed in a way that multiple classes will overlap and interact in the actual story in some way?

 

The former question would make me very sad, but the latter would be pretty cool.

Isn't that basically what flash points and ops are? Where 2 emporers hands a few Agent 9 and a few Darths come together to do an avengers Assemble style story. Which ultimately has very very little story and far more generic content. I would also be very sad if future class story turned out to be instanced world story so if you have multiple characters you get to see the same content repeated.

Another question, when are we going to start seeing something to do with the civil war. The game is set in a time of war across the entire galaxy yet so much of the time the story is about killing your own people (for the sith) and dealing with thugs and seperatists for the republic. So when will we see Imperial vs Republic and the war being part of the story.

I just listened to that interview and that answer is frightening. I don't want all the classes to culminate into one Avenger's style storyline. I can't think of anything that would make me abandon this game faster. I love the fact that each class has its own storyline. I hate the idea that they would have spent so much time and resources encouraging players to roll so many alts to experience so many new storylines only to pull the rug out from under them. It's already almost impossible to play through the same side quests for the 2nd+ time for each faction just to experience the stories, can you imagine trying to take all 8 classes through the same storyline? BORING. That's why I hate the way Makeb sounds, I hate the implication of what Makeb means for the future of class quests, and I hate the fact that BioWare won't even use the word "class storylines" anymore and that a year has gone by without any mention of continuing the story whatsoever.

 

How about that question Mr. Lead Writer (who I do believe is talented and means well), will we get new class storylines or has BioWare abandoned them completely, and will you be honest about it and tell us?

I would not be surprised if the class stories were combined in some way. It takes a lot of man hours to produce each of the cutscenes we see in the game and I doubt they have a big budget pool to swim around in though I hope f2p goes well. Even if they really streamline their processes and get super efficient with it all, it's still a costly undertaking. I'm not trying to make excuses for them because the way it sounds I probably wouldn't continue with the game if it turns out like this but at least it's understandable from a business reality pov.

I like the companion system. I really think it adds a lot to the game. There are some clunky bits to it: forced recruitments, limited romantic choices, and remarkably unkillable individuals, however, over all, I like what it brings to the story. What I'm curious about is how it's structured, how is it meant to work going forward, and what kind of vision the developers have for it.

I'm guessing since we're getting HK-51, that new companions are in the works. Are new companions only going to be universal companions or will there be class specific ones? Are we meant to just keep adding or do the devs have in mind a way to eliminate some of our crew members? If the game has a long lifespan then our ships could get awfully crowded over time. How do the developers see the composition of our companion crew evolving over time?

Would new companions bring new romance options? Do the developers see the current companions as done in terms of romance options, or are we likely to see romance arcs opening up with current companions in the future both for same and opposite genders? To me, that would make sense, as there are companions who are preoccupied with other matters right up till the end of Act 3, but that's purely speculation.

I would not be surprised if the class stories were combined in some way. It takes a lot of man hours to produce each of the cutscenes we see in the game and I doubt they have a big budget pool to swim around in though I hope f2p goes well. Even if they really streamline their processes and get super efficient with it all, it's still a costly undertaking. I'm not trying to make excuses for them because the way it sounds I probably wouldn't continue with the game if it turns out like this but at least it's understandable from a business reality pov.

That's fine, if they choose to go that route I'll know this isn't the game for me after all, I just want them to say it. For a player like me, BioWare style class stories are literally the only reason to play this game over another MMO, and after a year that content is starting to wear thin. I'm fine with focusing on a 6-week content release schedule for story-less warzones, flashpoints, and operations as long as I know there's more true story coming down the pipeline that isn't as watered-down and homogenized as Makeb sounds like it is going to be.

I just want to know if there's anything for players like me to look forward to.

Thanks so much for the post! The story is definitely the most important part of the game for me, and I'm always glad to hear more about it. (I loved the Jedi Knight story, by the way.)

One question: will all future story content be for level 50+, or are there any plans for new companion quests, planet stories, etc. in the 1-49 range?

Thank you for the interview and looking forward to seeing more questions from this thread answered.

My question had been a hot topic for a very long time:

Will future romance story arcs include same-gender romance similar to what BioWare became widely known for in games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect?