You mentioned earlier
that you don't want players to need to go out and recruit a bunch of
other players to take down one monster. How do you balance an MMO so
that you're still able to be a bad ass in single player but also have
that sort of multiplayer experience that so many MMOs provide?




James: One
of the things we've been doing is that we're making sure that when
we're building content we have different representatives of the
different play styles. Whenever we're doing design discussions or
implementing a system, we have the different player types involved.
There's the solo player type that hates other players and is very
anti-social...


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BioWare is
creating their game with all play styles in mind.

It's funny, because there are a bunch of players like this in WoW where
they don't like to hang around with other players but love to show off
all the cool stuff that they have.



Then there are the players that like to adventure with their buddies.
They have their own group of friends, and they just like to adventure
with those players all the time.



Then there are players that like to join guilds and are social
butterflies and like to adventure with people from their guild. They
like to be part of these big huge groups that go out and play in major
events like raids.



We want to take all those players and make sure that each of those
player types has fun in our game. I can't go into details about all the
systems, but we have made sure that those player types are thought
about when we're building the game.



Can you talk about the
leveling system at all? Will there be innovations beyond killing
monsters all the time?




James: Our
leveling system does use the classic experience point type leveling
system. There are some innovations that we working on, but we can't
talk about it.



I can talk about companion characters, and they're going to be a big
part of that system. They are going to be leveling up and geting
different equipment with you.



The Dark Side and the Light Side are also going to be a big part of the
game. You're going to be making decisions in your stories that are
going to be bringing you towards the Light Side or the Dark Side. You
can also try to go down a more "gray" path, much like Qui-Gon Jinn. All
of those paths are acceptable paths in which you work to travel down. I
don't think we've really seen that sort of system in an MMO before.



Will PvP be in the game?
How are you handling that system?




James: There
will be PvP in the game There's a reason why we decided to build two
factions into the game,



The game is called Star *Wars*. We're always thinking about that. It's
always about war. It's always about conflict. When the writers are
penning the story, we always try to remind them that this is Star Wars.
It's about the wars, and the conflict.



Think about the movies, that's what is exciting about them. Any sort of
PvP mechanic we have we want to make feel like Star Wars. There are
definitely certain things that that means....that I really can't talk
about. *laughs*



You've talked about the
companion characters quite a bit. Do they disappear when you're playing
with other people? How do you prevent ending up playing with a small
mob if you're playing with three friends?




James: You
only ever have a single companion character at a given time. You may
have collected more than one companion character but you can only have
one with you. You can switch them out because the companion characters
have different strength, weaknesses and personalities.



For example, you may have a whole bunch of companion characters, but
only one companion character likes big guns. You may want to use him
all the time. Or you may have a different companion character that you
play with simply because you like their story and personality. Maybe
you're pursuing a romance with your companion character. Or perhaps a
different companion character has really compelling quests that you
want to participate in.



You can only have one with you at any given time, but we have been
balancing for when you group with your friends.


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Companion
characters are going to be a big part of your MMO experience.

Rich: And we
really want to make sure these companions aren't just pets. They should
be a part of your experience. Even if you're playing alone, you'll
always have that companion to go with you and be with you.



Gordon: They
add to the immersion of the game as well.



How much control will you
have over your compaions? Will you be able to trigger their special
abilities?




James:
That's actually something that players have varying expectations about.
Some players are going to want a lot of control and some players hate
pets. They don't want to play a Hunter type class, so they're going to
want to have less control. We've made sure to accomodate those
different play styles.



We don't want to force players to always keep control of their
companions.



How are you handling
Force potential? That was always a big part of the universe, are you
implementing any of that sort of thing into the game?




James: For
the most part, it's going to be based on the class, level, and the
choices you make in the game. There aren't going to be players with
more Force potential than other players, simply because you get into a
bad situation when you go down that path. The "I'm cooler than you"
scenario.



You can certainly earn those sort of bragging rights if you're a higher
level and played through the game, but we don't want it to be based on
something that players have no control over.



Are there any plans for a
mentoring / sidekick system?




James: Yes,
we have a plan for that sort of system. There are certainly different
ways to implement that, and, although we can't say which system it's
going to be, we are investigating that.



Gordon: We
always want to make sure people can play with their friends as soon as
possible rather than capping them so they can't. That's part of the
social experience, no matter what level a player is.



How are you incorporating
vehicles into gameplay? Will there be ground combat and space combat?




James: We
can't talk about it, but Star Wars definitely had a lot of vehicles and
we're certainly looking at it.



Are you going to be
including anything in the game that isn't combat oriented? Maybe some
classes like a smuggler, admiral or diplomat?




James: The
core classes are definitely going to be oriented around heroic combat
encounters. We are going to have crafting, which we think is a major
part of MMOs. We're really hoping to implement that into the game in a
way that feels right for Star Wars. For the longest time we were really
struggling with crafting because it doesn't really feel right in Star
Wars, but one of the designers came up with a great idea of how to
incorporate crafting into the game without making the hero feel like
he's doing something non-heroic.



Will lightsabers change
as we advance?




James:
That's one thing with MMOs; player's and their equipment change as they
progress through the game, so you definitely aren't going to end the
game with the same lightsaber you started off with.



That may mean you upgraded your lightsaber or you switched to a better
one,



Rich: As you
progress, you will definitely be able to tell a high end character from
a relative newbie.



Are you doing anything
with player changable environments? Things like capturable towns and
stuff like that?




James: We
are looking at it, but we can't say anything yet. Warhammer has been
doing some fantastic work in that regard, and they're part of EA and we
can talk about all their experiences and what they've done with their
game.



What kind of web elements
are you preparing for the game? Things like an Armory sort of system or
even what WoW is doing with achievements?



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The web will
be a major part of the SWTOR experience.

Gordon: We
really look at that as part of the service of the game. There's no
difference to me between the service in the game and the service on the
web. You are our customers and we're delivering you entertainment.



Will there be instancing
in the game?




James: Yes.
There will be instances in the game, and it's improtant for a lot of
reasons. We want to be able to do storytelling and have players
experiences that aren't disrupted like they are in public areas.



Rich: But we
are balancing the instanced areas with the public parts.



James:
Because it's an MMO and players play MMOs because they want to feel
part of a vast world with lots of other players, you can't make too
heavy use of instancing, or you'll take that feeling away. That's
something we're very aware of.



Rich: I
actually met my first online friend when they saved me from dying.
That's an experience you don't get in instances.



How will the dialogue in
SW: TOR be delivered? Will it be textually? A lot of BioWare games use
great voice-acting and cinematic cameria angles and that sort of thing.




James: We
really can't talk about that at this time. We have a lot of learning
that we can take from other BioWare games, and we're going to take
storytelling to the next level.



Finally, battles in Star
Wars always seem to feature hundreds of characters on screen. You see
all the clone troopers running around and the storm troopers being
blasted by Rebel troopers. Are you have combat where maybe your Jedi is
surrounded by hundreds of enemies?




James: We
definitely want players to feel outnumbered. *coughs* Maybe not a
hundred to one, but we do want players to feel outnumbered and we can
do that in public areas and especially in instanced areas. 


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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