PAX Prime '11: Meet & Greet Q&A

Meet & Greet Q&A fra Pax Prime'11:

• Reid takes stage; Bass splits room into Republic and Empire sections.
• Joking about Huttball. Erickson says Republic very sad in PvP currently in game testing.
• Introductions: Rich Vogel, Gabe Amatangelo, Corey Butler, Daniel Erickson, Stephen Reid, and Blaine Christine.
• SR: First of all, let's just get this clear, Holiday 2011 is the target release date.
• Q: Force lightning for Dark side Republic players?
• DE: So, there is no chance you will have it based on morality choices.
• Q: Any aspects of game particularly challenging?
• A: It is hard building these things. Tons of content.
• Q: Why are lightsaber types (double bladed, dual wielded) restricted by class?
• GA: Class identity is very important.
• Q: Different color choices for lightsabers, like in KoTOR?
• DE: Yes. KoTOR influences on crafting system. A little more flexibility than before. Very exciting stuff to be announced later. It's going to make fans of that sort of system very happy. We're continually on the item system and lightsabers are a big part of it.
• Q: Do you plan to implement new mechanics over time based on popularity?
• BC: Gabe Amatangelo spins a wheel of chance *laughs*. As live producer, it is my job to separate the real issues raised by the community. There are limitations to what the engine can do, but if you're asking for X, Y, and Z, we'll try and get X, Y, and Z in. And then you'll eventually get X and Z. But they'll bitch about Y. (laughter) I'm looking forward to that 10,000 page thread about Y.
• Q: Weekend beta testing, is it random or based on preorder?
• A: Panel tomorrow. Can't talk about it.
• Q: Trophies... can they be collected? Are there guild halls/capital ships?
• A: After launch possibly. Wall of crazy.
• James Ohlen joins and is introduced.
• Q: Will we be able to upgrade, socket, or enchant items?
• DE: We've actually just finished doing a pretty big redo on the itemization system. Making modding something that is going to be very exciting for crafting. Very exciting for people who want to keep their particular core appearances. As a crafter, people are going to be coming knocking on your door. That is based upon major feedback we have been getting, so there you go. When people tell us we're stupid we listen.
• Q: Do we have an example of something to motivate people to reroll?
• DE: An entirely new story! (everyone laughs) There may be something to help you reroll... later.
• Q: If Force Lightning doesn't depend on morality, what does it depend on?
• A: Something else.
• Q: Is there an armor/clothing colorization system in game?
• A: No, you can color match, and that is it. There is no way to choose the color of your armor beyond what it already is. We have the color matching system, the anti-clown button. But you can't change your black armor into blue armor. Not currently anyways.
• Q: What features are you implementing for guilds?
• A: We have ranks within the guild. Basic features at launch, and advanced features marked as some of the most important post-launch items to work on. Guilds are very important to the longevity of an MMO. So we've prioritized guild features at the very top. We want them to be strong, we want players to really like being in a guild. Guild bank, guild leveling, stuff like that.
• Q: Plan to keep gold selling under control?
• A: We have lots of things we're doing to catch gold farmers and deal with them. We don't want to hurt the crafting economy either. It's a balancing act. Because if you make things so hard then you're going to actually hurt the crafting economy, which is what we don't want to do. The ways we're going to combat gold sellers are not things we're going to ever necessarily talk about publicly because then they know what we're doing. But we take it very seriously.
• Q: How are we tracking things to balance crafting, raiding, different playstyles?
• A: We have a lot of analytics to track things like this. Lots of dashboards we look at. Lots of internal metrics. We don't want tons of nerfing going on. Though that does happen in MMOs because they are rebalancing as an MMO grows over time.
• JO: The best gear in the game is going to come from the PvE Operations. So if you want to have the best gear in the game, you have to do Operations. You can also get gear that is nearly as good, but more specialized, from the PvP game. Those are our two highest stat gear and they're also the gear that we've reserved some of the best appearances for.
• DE: The tier right under that, that you're going to need to go get into that Operation, you're going to come see me (the crafter).
• GA: There are several different slots, and there are some slots that remain specific for the crafters to help with the best PvE and PvP gear. The difference between the PvP and PvE gear is around 10%. And crafting can help support that in a couple of the slots. And we're trying around in testing just to figure out specifically what slots those are.
• JO: And one thing to mention is the moddable gear. The thing about moddable gear is you can mod it with mods that are at the highest level. So you can, for example, take 10th level Jedi Knight robes that look like what Obi Wan was wearing on Tatooine. Which doesn't look so hot. But once you put all the mods in it, it will actually be as strong as some gear that you've got from Operations. However, to get those mods, you have to do Operations. So it comes back to, if you want to have the best gear, you have to do the high level Operation content.
• Q: Can a good Sith or bad Jedi change sides? Faction changes?
• A: No. Interesting story... originally there was a third underworld faction (wall of crazy)! It becomes very expensive from a development point of view if we'd have to double the number of stories. However we are always looking for ways to figure that out in the future. You never know.
• Q: Will Sith Warriors get lightning? Since Malgus does?
• DE: Not from making morality decisions. (lots of laughter)
• SR: The characters you see in cinematics aren't necessarily what you see in the game. They're special.
• Q: As far as leveling goes, where will we spend most of our time?
• JO: We hate the word "grind." There will be no grinding in the game. (applause) Class quests, world quests. Heroic quests, which exist on every planet and are done with a group. But also have some very nice rewards. You have the space mini-game. Warzones and Flashpoints. Allows for a lot of variety in how you gain your XP. You can choose which activities you focus on on your way to end game.
• DE: Unless you love grinding, then go right ahead. That's also your choice.
• Q: How are you handling threat mechanics?
• GA: Pretty standard for MMOs. We don't have any threat mods or any UI elements at this point in time. We're working on those things as stuff we want to do.
• Q: Can Sith Inquisitors be more "intellectually" evil?
• DE: Alignment is not good/evil. It's light side/dark side. And there are rules to these things. So one of the things that we were talking about when we were putting the plot together for instance: If there's a bunch of people who are going to die in an earthquake or some natural disaster and you go in with your lightsaber and you threaten to kill them all if they don't run their stupid asses out of the house and get to safety? Light side. (laughter) Because you saved their dumb asses. The Light side does not care, as we've seen (go Qui Gon), about cheating, lying. It is a very different alignment system. The Inquisitor is actually a really fun one to try and play light side with. Because they can be the diplomat. They can be the face that Palpatine was putting up there. The problem with the Inquisitor is you often get a dialogue option called "shock them." The temptation level on the Inquisitor is perhaps the strongest one. And dark side/light side options change a lot between classes. So when you start as a Jedi Knight, your first dark side choice is not "Hey, let's go slaughter a bunch of people." Right? How did you get into the academy in the first place? Your first things are temptations, things that go against the Jedi code. And yes, at the time period our game starts in, romance is a no no and if you are a Jedi, you have made an oath around that. So a really easy way to slide into dark slide land is starting to chase a love interest.
• Q: Changes in character appearance based on morality, like KoTOR?
• (lots of whispering between devs) A: That is a feature that we haven't developed yet, and we really wanted it for ship. We'll put it in later. It is very important. It is part of the legacy KoTOR. It is not in the game yet. It is a complex system, we have a lot more to worry about than KoTOR when it comes to character appearances, so it's more difficult than you could imagine.
• Q: Will you change design decisions based on community reaction?
• DE: Does anybody remember the Jedi Wizard? There are things that happen from testing, both from internal testing and external testing. And when the community stands up, especially when it's really close to being universal, and they as a whole go "No guys," then yeah, we pay attention.
• Q: How are you going to balance the fact that there are differences with companions with bonuses for crafting as one class versus another class? And are there neutral companions that anyone on the Republic or Empire can go get?
• DE: We realized that was a dumb feature and cut it. So crafting bonuses, I believe, are well on the way out. Everybody had the same response to that one, which was we really don't want to do anything that is going to stop you from using a companion. If I've got a companion with me who happens to be my favorite companion and happens to be the guy with the biggest bonus towards the mission skill that I use for crafting, so I don't use him. That is fail. That's the first part of the question, the second part (about neutral companions) is, kinda. And, plus, there are some secrets.
• Session ends.