Star Wars: The Old Republic anticipation thread.

[kolibri]

November 15th.

On another note, I felt like playing yesterday so I went to subscribe with PayPal and nothing happened. I did it twice. I also tried this months ago. I'm amazed. There's money in my PayPal, I made sure the addresses matched exactly. What the hell?

[J. Allen]

Downloaded it, am playing it for the first time. I'm going F2P to see whether I like it or not (plus I can't afford monthly sub games right now). I chose Jedi Consular, and have been enjoying the game thus far, though it is a bit rankling that I'm a level 4 taking on level 9 enemies, while my fellow players who sub are level 6s or 7s after the exact same missions. I can live with it, but it is a bit annoying to know that I don't get nearly as much XP, and that all of my gear costs far more than what a sub pays. See, that would be an area I wouldn't touch, if only because it slows down progress, and a game that seems like a slog without much benefit is not going to spur me to subscribe.

[sojourner]

I don't remember reading that f2p accounts would earn less xp as standard. I know you can use cartel coins and/or legacy/credits to purchase increased percentage of xp earned, but is there also a bonus just for having a paid account?

[CorporalClegg]

I think your level deficiency might be a result of you skipping quests. AFAIK, the XP nerf doesn't kick-in until level 10. (That's how it was on the PTS.) So it shouldn't even be a problem yet.

But even if they did change it, it shouldn't be noticeable that early in the game as long as you do all the quests. Be sure you always get the bonus objective(s) also.

As far as taking on a level 9, the only thing I can think of is you wondered off to someplace you didn't belong. Stick to the rails. They're a total pain, but they keep you were you're supposed to be.

The only other thing I can think of is there is, if you're on Tython, there's a level nine elite in the level 4-6 area. You might have run into him.

Honestly though, I think people are making a big deal out of the F2P Xp nerf. As it is, this game hands out Xp like candy, and it's really easy to always be over-leveled for whatever planet you're on. I suspect, with the nerf, you'll just be closer to the normal level range. Apparently, they give the Xp boost items for quest rewards too.

All in all, I really wouldn't worry about it.

And I don't know what you mean about the gear costs. Quest gear and planet com gear is the same either way and twinking is completely unnecessary in this game. You should never buy any gear with your first character ever. Save your credits for skills (They start to get REALLY expensive 35+.) and on crafting should you choose to do it.

[J. Allen]

Nope, I followed each quest as they came, and I did the bonus quests as well. The level 9s I was fighting were a part of those quests. The areas I traveled in, as part of each mission quest, reached level 9. There is a level 12 Elite in the ruins near the Forge, but that's not what I'm talking about.

As for gear, I'm talking about stims, medpacs, and such, which I found out, having talked to some subs and doing some comparison, do cost more for F2P. Training costs are also higher for F2P. Here's a rundown of what Premiere/Preferred/F2P players get: http://www.swtor.com/free/features

Still, I'm a Level 8 on Coruscant now, have my lightsaber and everything, so it's all good.

[sojourner]

It still sounds like you missed something. Even without doing the heroic you should have been able to reach level 9 or 10 before finishing Tython. They try to get you to 10 so you can pick your specialization when you reach the fleet station after Tython/before Coruscant. If you reached Coruscant without specializing, then you missed something.

[CorporalClegg]

Yup. You definitely missed something.

Of all the starting planets, Tython as the most xp. Even with a 25% deficiency, there's more than enough there to get you to 10.

As for medpacs and stims. Don't buy those either.

You get more than enough medpacs from quest rewards and loot. And stims aren't worth the money.

If you're really worried about it, take Biochem as your crafting skill. Which is pretty universally considered the optimum crafting skill for first character. (Since it's the only one that can really benefit all alts.) It's the easiest to level of all the skills, and you can keep it "up to level" fairly easily--any of the of gear crafting skills will ultimately start to fall behind unless you spend a lot of cash.

The Green medpacks and stims are way better than anything you'll find or buy and blue stuff isn't hard to make either and they add a HoT. Plus, the purps (also not too hard to get) are reusable (unlimited). Also, you can get packs that heal both you and your companion. You can't buy those from any vendor and they get expensive on the GTN.

Oh, and the Ancient Droid isn't an elite but a champion (gold and silver star) Elites just have plain gold stars and they're all over the place.

[Reverend]

I'm at a bit of a loss atm as to how the crafting system is supposed to work on f2p. I mean unless you pay, you can only have one crew skill. That seems to mean that you can either harvest resources you can't use, or you can be able to craft things but not have the resources...? Am I missing something here?

Between that, the restrictions on sprinting, quick travel and the cargo bay I think they've gone a bit overboard with their f2p model.

[J. Allen]

CorporalClegg wrote:

---

Yup. You definitely missed something.

Of all the starting planets, Tython as the most xp. Even with a 25% deficiency, there's more than enough there to get you to 10.

Well, as I said, I did everything in the main story mission and the bonus quests, but didn't reach level 10. I still got my lightsaber, still got to go to Coruscant, so I'm not worried about it. I'm still killing level 12s at level 8, so it's all good.

As for medpacs and stims. Don't buy those either.

You get more than enough medpacs from quest rewards and loot. And stims aren't worth the money.

If you're really worried about it, take Biochem as your crafting skill. Which is pretty universally considered the optimum crafting skill for first character. (Since it's the only one that can really benefit all alts.) It's the easiest to level of all the skills, and you can keep it "up to level" fairly easily--any of the of gear crafting skills will ultimately start to fall behind unless you spend a lot of cash.

I might try that.

The Green medpacks and stims are way better than anything you'll find or buy and blue stuff isn't hard to make either and they add a HoT. Plus, the purps (also not too hard to get) are reusable (unlimited). Also, you can get packs that heal both you and your companion. You can't buy those from any vendor and they get expensive on the GTN.

I can't use or equip purple anything.

Oh, and the Ancient Droid isn't an elite but a champion (gold and silver star) Elites just have plain gold stars and they're all over the place.

He wasn't a droid.

[O'Dib]

Class quest alone (with bonus objectives) can never get you leveled enough, even w/o the FTP XP nerf. You gotta pick up sidequests from all those village folk and random jedi.

[sojourner]

J Allen, have you picked your specialization yet?

[Reverend]

J. Allen may have a point. I've been continuing my sith inquisitor from the free trial and even with all the random sidequests, I'm struggling to keep up level-wise. I suppose if I do all the heroics, space missions and flashpoints I might be able to manage, but it feels an awful lot like grinding...

[J. Allen]

O'Dib wrote:

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Class quest alone (with bonus objectives) can never get you leveled enough, even w/o the FTP XP nerf. You gotta pick up sidequests from all those village folk and random jedi.

I do, and I have. Right now I'm doing every side mission I can get my hands on, and I'm just about to reach Level 10.

sojourner wrote:

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J Allen, have you picked your specialization yet?

Not yet. I'm still getting familiar with some parts of the game. I do wish that F2Pers could use the Galactic Market, or at the very least, chat in the chat window with other players.

Reverend wrote:

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J. Allen may have a point. I've been continuing my sith inquisitor from the free trial and even with all the random sidequests, I'm struggling to keep up level-wise. I suppose if I do all the heroics, space missions and flashpoints I might be able to manage, but it feels an awful lot like grinding...

Exactly. I'm grinding the hell out of the game, doing all of the missions I can find, and I'm still struggling to move upward. It sucks that "Sprint" is only available as a subscriber. Casually walking everywhere sucks, too.

I think they really need to rethink some of the F2P limitations. I get limiting maps and certain customizations, but forbidding Chat? Not being able to run? That's just silly.

[Base_Delta_Zero]

Go to both starting worlds before heading to the capital.

Get the datacrons on both starter worlds.

Explore the entire map on both starter worlds.

Get the codex entries (that aren't bugged) on both starter worlds.

I was level 10 before leaving my first world on each toon, picking an advanced class and going back to finish it, and was 12 by the time I left the second and hit the capital. This was on all 8 toons.

Don't skip mobs until they stop giving XP. Track down every mission. Always satisfy the bonus conditions for every mission. Solo the Heroic 2+ missions. Solo the Heroic and Area 4s where possible. Some are so balls hard as not to be worth the effort. Make sure you're fighting above your weight class on the first two worlds so you're getting max XP for mobs and missions.

From the capital planet on, if you follow this pattern, you will have great difficulty NOT graying out (over-leveling by more than 6) your story missions.

This is without playing a single space mission until 50 and only randomly bothering with flashpoints.

The game throws so much XP at you that wasting credits/money on the legacy XP perks is for noobs, even with the F2P XP nerf.

Don't get me wrong, the inane, draconian restrictions on F2P suck the big one, but the game is so simple once you understand what your class can do and how you can use each to break the game, especially the story missions, it only becomes a matter of how much time you want to invest to experience the story.

[sojourner]

The key to taking out elite mobs: your interrupt ability. Learn to stop the elite's big attack and everything becomes easy sauce.