Star Wars: The Old Republic

[Mike Cathcart]

How does that work? Are not all guild servers online? If they are already noted as full and the majority of guilded people aren't in yet....

Queues for the website was an omen. Should cancel that pre-order before it's too late.
All of the guilds that were created before the deadline a couple of weeks ago are on servers that were up today. I'm just saying, it's not a lifetime commitment. Your guild could see that the server was full and decide to go somewhere else.

Also, I'm not sure full really means full on that server list. When I joined beta there was only one server that wasn't full and I kept getting errors trying to connect to it. I picked a full server and had absolutely no problems and no lag the entire time. They might just be trying to funnel new users who don't have a preference to the newest of the new servers.

[Wolff]

Any word on how/if its allowed, server transfers for characters and guild?

[Mike Cathcart]

Server transfer stuff has not been announced yet.

[IGJoe]

I need to stop checking my email.

Yeah, you and me both.

[Jason McMaster]

Final wave sent. Won't be another til 7 EST in the morning. No guild for you guys!

[IGJoe]

9 EST by their tweet. 8 CST.

[Tyjenks]

9 EST by their tweet. 8 CST.
Yeah, that is what Facebook tapped me on the shoulder and told me.

[IGJoe]

Now to fight the urge to constantly check twitter for a surprise bonus wave.

[Razgon]

Heh, I can tell, that I'm not the only MMO-Whore in this place ;-)

[Nephrinn]

Man, they didn't even get through July. Some of us might be in for a long wait. :D

[Jason McMaster]

It would have been much less irritating if they'd given us a launch schedule instead of just emailing you when it's your time to go.

[Razgon]

Man, they didn't even get through July. Some of us might be in for a long wait. :D

Honestly, I'm not so sure. They said they had a ton of pre-orders from day one, but after that it was very spread out.

I registered at 31st of august, and I fully expect to get in tomorrow!

[walTer]

Yay one more day to play Skyrim?

[Tyjenks]

Honestly, I'm not so sure. They said they had a ton of pre-orders from day one, but after that it was very spread out.

I registered at 31st of august, and I fully expect to get in tomorrow!
I wonder what 12/12 will get me. :) If I happen to get in..I will not be telling a soul.

[Dreamshadow]

I wonder what 12/12 will get me. :) If I happen to get in..I will not be telling a soul.

Or 12/13 in my case. I know I won't be trumpeting it.

[Tyjenks]

Or 12/13 in my case. I know I won't be trumpeting it.
I'll PM you and we can hang out.

[Michael Fortson]

I was up at 3:50 this morning (couldn't sleep anyway). Got in at 4:10 AM (I yelled "first!" in general chat on Rakata Mind Prison, and was); Guardian is fun.

I thought about going RP-PVP (I loved Nimue back in the day). Meh. Mind prison is so appropriately-named, though...

[Falcon554]

hell at this rate I wont get in till next year, this way launching a game kinda just pisses me off.

[Sean Tudor]

I wonder if Amazon will email CD keys after the early access period is closed? My physical Amazon order probably won't arrive until after Xmas.

[ibdoomed]

hell at this rate I wont get in till next year, this way launching a game kinda just pisses me off.

Yeah, exactly. Somehow I missed the announcement when they first opened up pre-ordering that it would be first pre-ordered, first served.

[JackBurton]

How much does east coast vs west coast server matter? Anyone know if they are physically located on the respective coasts?

[Ryslin]

servers are supposedly central (texas) on backbones for the respective coasts

..........
It is most likely we will get in by 15th. (ordered on 12/2) They stated that today was mostly one day due to how many preordered on the initial sign up.

[Michael Fortson]

My beta testing was all done on east-coast servers; it was fine. Now I'm on West, and I'm seeing 10ms latency in the game.

[Charlatan]

My beta testing was all done on east-coast servers; it was fine. Now I'm on West, and I'm seeing 10ms latency in the game.

Don't tell me you're saying that 10 ms latency is not fine, because if you are, I'm going to have to punch you through my ethernet cable!

@ibdoomed & falcon: I didn't get in either, but they said (and it's in another thread here) that they expect everyone to get in by Thursday, so even the latest registerers should have 5 days of advance time, which is a ton of time to play before the game launches. And while it stinks to not get in earlier, would we like it more if we were in a queue of 800 people waiting to play (just keeping my fingers crossed that won't be happening next week).

[Shmtur]

I don't think it's ever been officially stated everybody will be in by Thursday. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

[Charlatan]

This is what I read. I guess you're right, he doesn't say everyone will be in by Thursday. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part:



Hey everyone.

We absolutely understand you want to get in and play the game early. It's one of the reasons we expanded our Early Game Access from a maximum of five days to a maximum of seven days. However, there are a couple of important points to realize about today's opening salvo of invites, and the procedure in general for Early Game Access and launch.

First, Early Game Access and launch is not supposed to be a stress test. In our previous Beta Testing Weekends we got up to very large concurrent number of players and brought invites into the game at a very high rate. That was done to stress test every aspect of our systems and servers, and essentially to see if they broke. In some cases, they did, but that helped us improve for launch.

For us, launch isn't just about stuffing our servers with as many people as possible. As anyone who's been through a large MMO launch can tell you, that experience can be painful. Our aim with this launch was to ramp things up gradually, to spread our player population out amongst a variety of servers, to maintain all server types, and to keep queuing to a minimum (although we expect that to happen as we head towards December 20th). So far, all that has been successful for us on Day One.

The second thing to realize is scale. We invited more people to play Star Wars: The Old Republic today than many other MMO launches manage in their entire head-start process. As I mentioned earlier today, when we opened pre-orders we had a huge spike in numbers - far more than most MMOs capture at launch. That was the initial rush. After that, our pre-orders settled down.

What this means is that tomorrow, you'll effectively start to see the pre-order timeline expand. You'll see people who have pre-ordered later than July getting invites. The day after that, more people will be invited. We're actually planning to invite more tomorrow than today, and invite the same number again on Thursday - at which point we'll be into the original 'five days of Early Game Access'.

Last thing. Why aren't we continuing to send waves over time? Two main reasons - one, because we need to see that the servers are maintaining stability over time; adding a lot of players in a short period (in other words, stress testing) can cause stability issues.

Two, our plan is to continue to add servers - but carefully, and in response to demand. We need to monitor that demand and role out servers accordingly. A long-term recipe for MMO failure is to add a lot of servers early on, and then when population decreases, have to close those servers and merge them together.

Our aim is for Star Wars: The Old Republic to be around for a long time to come. Today's just the first step in that - an early step, too - and we'll be running smoothly, with a stable population, before too long.

Stephen Reid | Senior Online Community Manager

[Michael Fortson]

Don't tell me you're saying that 10 ms latency is not fine, because if you are, I'm going to have to punch you through my ethernet cable!

Oh, nope :) I was just citing it as being probably nearby, or at least very well-connected to here. I didn't check the latency reading on an East-coast server though.

[Mike Cathcart]

I wonder if Amazon will email CD keys after the early access period is closed? My physical Amazon order probably won't arrive until after Xmas.
They will not.

[Tyjenks]

I wonder if Amazon will email CD keys after the early access period is closed? My physical Amazon order probably won't arrive until after Xmas.
I ordered yesterday and the "Release Day" arrival option for shipping was only $.99. Was that not available to you?

Also, has communication from the developers/PR been this timely, clear and detailed for other launches. I don't remember one, but I have missed a couple.

Awesome. Star Wars name generator (http://starwars.namegeneratorfun.com/) that somehow (by use of the Force I presume) translates your name.

Salk Solsticeburn. A Jedi Knight from Gorsh

We have a winner.

[Sean Tudor]

No I did not have the option. Maybe applies to US orders only. A guild mate just contacted the Amazon helpline directly and they stated that all standard and CE orders are having their keys recorded against the order number and they would be emailed to each of us once the physical box has shipped. That would ease the pain for those of us who live in other countries and have to wait on the postal system.

[ibdoomed]

Don't tell me you're saying that 10 ms latency is not fine, because if you are, I'm going to have to punch you through my ethernet cable!

@ibdoomed & falcon: I didn't get in either, but they said (and it's in another thread here) that they expect everyone to get in by Thursday, so even the latest registerers should have 5 days of advance time, which is a ton of time to play before the game launches. And while it stinks to not get in earlier, would we like it more if we were in a queue of 800 people waiting to play (just keeping my fingers crossed that won't be happening next week).

I don't actually care about playing though. I just didn't want to lose my name. =( Specially with this game when your name is far far more important than any other mmo.

I'd prefer queues that everyone has to wait through. It's more fair. I didn't know that with past mmo launches but hindsight and all that. I will try very hard from this point forward not to ever complain about queues as I have seen the alternative and it is far worse.

[Charlatan]

Believe me I want to get a few names for myself, so I'm chomping at the bit to get in also. But don't forget you can use single quotes (') and hyphens (-) in your names. Not sure if you can have more than one of each but who wouldn't want to be i-b'doomed! Or i-bdoom'd or ib'do-omed. See, the possibilities are endless!

[Nephrinn]

Awesome. Star Wars name generator (http://starwars.namegeneratorfun.com/) that somehow (by use of the Force I presume) translates your name.

Salk Solsticeburn. A Jedi Knight from Gorsh

We have a winner.

Oh man, mine is Grus Gianthiker, A Dark Lord of the Sith from Galidraan. :D

Alternative: Vulpeculiar Giantcrusher, a runaway prince from Galidraan. Think I like that one more, lol

[Falcon554]

lol from what i read some people are already 35 some pvp exploit.

[Falcon554]

This is what I read. I guess you're right, he doesn't say everyone will be in by Thursday. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part:

To the point where I just might say fuck it when I do get a email, they have pissed me off that much.

[vyshka]

Clutch Hengul. A prince from Garqi

[walTer]

Giantlast Sadalbari
A runaway slave from Frego

Not sure how they came up with that....midi-chlorians I assume.

Hmm so do they actually allow you a space when you make your name so you can have first AND last?

[Nephrinn]

Early access rage. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2szTEHgqZXY&feature=g-all)

Wait for the jabba the hutt impression, had me rolling. :)

[idrisz]

just first name, you get surname later when finish chapter 1, but your surname is shared among all of your characters.

[Mark Crump]

Dumb question: the code I have is only for pre-order. When I get the final "you're in" e-mail, it will have the full serial # I need?

[Murbella]

Dumb question: the code I have is only for pre-order. When I get the final "you're in" e-mail, it will have the full serial # I need?
No, that email will just be notifying you that your account has been flagged as having entered the headstart. In theory you don't need to enter the retail serial until at or slightly after the retail release date (the 20th).

When/if you get said email, you will, in theory, be able to log in to the head start immediately.

[Nephrinn]

Looks like those that preordered in December will only be getting a day or so of early access according to Rockjaw's latest tweet. (https://twitter.com/#%21/Rockjaw/status/146705008350609408)

[Nesrie]

I am not worried about early access, just hope my friends and I get in at about the same time. We ordered about the same time.

[Libra]

I pre-ordered through Origin today and received my pre-order code. I entered the code in my account on SWTOR.com and downloaded the client. When I go to my account information though, it says I need to enter a Product Registration Code to be fully ready to play when the game goes live. I can't seem to find a different code. I tried entering my pre-order code in that section but it says that code has already been used.

Do I just need to wait until I get my early access email to get my code or...? I understand that I can't play now, but my account settings look like I still need to enter my actual Product Registration Code, which I can't seem to find.

[Nesrie]

I pre-ordered through Origin today and received my pre-order code. I entered the code in my account on SWTOR.com and downloaded the client. When I go to my account information though, it says I need to enter a Product Registration Code to be fully ready to play when the game goes live. I can't seem to find a different code. I tried entering my pre-order code in that section but it says that code has already been used.

Do I just need to wait until I get my early access email to get my code or...? I understand that I can't play now, but my account settings look like I still need to enter my actual Product Registration Code, which I can't seem to find.

One is an early (reg) code, the other comes when you get the game or finish paying... aka the code with the product.

[Libra]

One is an early (reg) code, the other comes when you get the game or finish paying... aka the code with the product.

So I guess that other code will come when the game officially unlocks on Origin?

[Mike Cathcart]

No, that email will just be notifying you that your account has been flagged as having entered the headstart. In theory you don't need to enter the retail serial until at or slightly after the retail release date (the 20th).
Yeah, there's no grace period so if you want to play past 12AM next Tuesday (9PM Monday night for the west coast) you will need a code.

[walTer]

I will just keep reminding myself that technically the game is released on the 20th., and I really just preordered for convenience, any early play time is a nice little bonus.

Mind you, it won't work but I can pretend.

[flem1]

Yeah, it's a bit disturbing that our West Coast server is full at 9am on a weekday. Hate to see what it's like tonight.You mean Leviathan?

One reason may be that it's one of the two servers the Aussies were considering for official unofficial Oceanic PvE server. Not sure what/if they decided in the end. This means lots of off-hours play.

US East is in Virginia, btw, and US West in California.

[Rasputin]

This guild interface is ass. It's all right-click dropdowns and the gkick doesn't have an "Are you sure?" confirmation. I just kicked two guildies in a row trying to set their guild info and rank!

[Nesrie]

So I guess that other code will come when the game officially unlocks on Origin?

That's my understanding, or when you get your retail (other e-tailer) version and the official release day comes. You don't have to have origin so I think it's just when the login will accept the code and forces you to have it.

[Razgon]

Hah, I'm a sucker for name generators for some reason.

Trails Sailwatcher - A conscripted stormtrooper from Generis

[Falcon554]

I will just keep reminding myself that technically the game is released on the 20th., and I really just preordered for convenience, any early play time is a nice little bonus.

Mind you, it won't work but I can pretend.

Its bs the game is released now, so i have made up my mind that after the first 30 days im done period, will not re up. So people who maybe could not afford to pre order till later or forgot gets punished? Screw EA hard.

[Razgon]

Can I have your stuff?

[Falcon554]

Can I have your stuff?

I aint got no stuff yet!

[Razgon]

I aint got no stuff yet!

Okay - that made me laugh :-D

[wolfbane]

Its bs the game is released now, so i have made up my mind that after the first 30 days im done period, will not re up. So people who maybe could not afford to pre order till later or forgot gets punished? Screw EA hard.

I don't quite understand...people gets punished by EA by not getting to play a game they haven't bought?

[JM]

He has pre-ordered, just not early enough.

[Falcon554]

I totally understand what they are doing, I just think its so unfair for everyone. If I cant play till the 19th and the rest of my guild gets in the 15th, you miss alot. Its part of the fun playing with guys I have played with for 10 years. The launch can be a blast but not like this

[Mark Crump]

Looks like those that preordered in December will only be getting a day or so of early access according to Rockjaw's latest tweet. (https://twitter.com/#%21/Rockjaw/status/146705008350609408)

I took that as a "we don't know when you'll get in, but you will," cop-out

[Murbella]

They just seem to be handling this REALLY poorly. I can't see how stretching out the headstart so much is really needed. Somehow i doubt they are really only letting in enough people to fill a server one day, running out to fry's, buying another server, setting it up and then repeating the process the next day.

The headstart was basically the only preorder bonus they offered. Just like how most people would be pissed if they preordered a game that advertised giving away special dlc if you preordered and it didn't include it, people who preordered swtor should feel the same way.

Oh well, I never expected the head start to start until tomorrow, but i am not going to be happy if i don't get in until the 19th for ordering a 2 or 3 months ago. This is the first game i can think of that has punished people for not preordering soon enough.

I just hope whatever technical benefit they get out of this offsets the goodwill they lose by treating the people they expect to ask for money next month poorly.

[Razgon]

In two weeks, everyone will have forgotten the headstart, so I doubt they will garner any kind of badwill or whatever its called through this.

Thats the thing about people on the internet (as a mass group), we have very short attention span and even shorter memory.

In other news - next wave is out in 12 minutes!

[Mark Crump]

Yeah, I agree. And if the pre-orders are causing them grief, I can't wait to see what happens on Christmas day.

[ydejin]

I rather fortuitously had a day-and-a-half off (not originally planned for SWTOR), so I managed to get in 16 hours of play.

I'm really enjoying the game. The Jedi Knight storyline is rather mundane on the first planet, but it really blossoms as you dig into what's going on on Coruscant. Looking at the Jedi Knight Coruscant story along with the Imperial Agent story I played up to about level 14 in beta, I really think this is some of Bioware's best storytelling to date.

I'm really dying to see what happens next. Alas I need to work now, so it will have to wait.

[ibdoomed]

In two weeks, everyone will have forgotten the headstart, so I doubt they will garner any kind of badwill or whatever its called through this.

Thats the thing about people on the internet (as a mass group), we have very short attention span and even shorter memory.

In other news - next wave is out in 12 minutes!

Oh. Ok. My bad, I thought this was a long term game, not some 2 month quickie.

Sarcasm aside, every time you look at your toons name, 5 years from now, you'll get slapped in the face to remind you that you pre-ordered 5 days late and lost the name you really wanted. It's not like you can easily change your name later, even if the one you wanted freed up.

[Murbella]

In two weeks, everyone will have forgotten the headstart, so I doubt they will garner any kind of badwill or whatever its called through this.

Thats the thing about people on the internet (as a mass group), we have very short attention span and even shorter memory.

In other news - next wave is out in 12 minutes!
This is not true at all with mmorpgs.

A mmorpg company is asking you to pay them more money a month after release so people are going to need to ask themselves a bit before then if it is worth it to them and headstart isn't that long from this point.

Now, i must admit that i was a pretty big fan of the game when i played it in beta, so i will not be punishing bioware for this, but i doubt the same could be said for everyone.


And yes, if their servers are so fragile that they require this crap, are they planning to do phased logins on holidays too? Queues were ok in beta, but if they continue the queue situation from beta, even I will not be playing long.

[Brian Rucker]

Well, I finally got my first taste last night. Started a Consular off on Tython. I wasn't in beta so these are first impressions and I'm still in very early going.

It's pretty much any other themepark MMO but with voice acting. I almost think I'd like it better as a purely singleplayer game so I could avoid camped quest objectives and the like. The Jedi powers and melee feel pretty good but, well, I'm jaded. I've played games like City of Heroes where there's a much wider range of "super" powers and far more freedom to customize them into a build (as far as I can tell).

Character customization, cosmetically, isn't as bad as I'd been hearing. At least at this early stage I haven't run into anyone who looks quite like my character but I do see many other player-characters where the obvious, aesthetically pleasing, decisions were made and they find themselves with clones. There is no way to alter your appearance post-creation so far so choose wisely.

The story itself is suitable, it doesn't feel flawed, but it's not terribly intriguing or surprising. I'm not dying to find out what comes up next because I kinda get the feeling it's going to involve caves, complexes, and me killing lots of stuff in a very non-Jedi extreme prejudice kind of way. Meanwhile NPCs are happy to lecture me about how peaceful and disciplined we Jedi are. But I don't seem to spend much time meditating or in a library. I spend all my time making things go splat. Which, to be fair, is what 80% of the incoming players are going to want to do. Because there's not enough of that in other MMOs...*sigh*

I got to bed on time.

Now I am told other professions have much more interesting storylines. I'll stick with this one for a bit, this is the character I've been flogging with the swtor-rp gang, but alts are certainly in my future.

[triggercut]

Its bs the game is released now, so i have made up my mind that after the first 30 days im done period, will not re up. So people who maybe could not afford to pre order till later or forgot gets punished? Screw EA hard.

Pretty out of the ordinary to see you raging about how an MMO done you wrong.

[Skorin]

Registered my key on August 11 and just got in, in case anyone's in the same time frame. Now I have the day off and can veg out for like 8 hours straight. Gonna be the best Imperial Agent you ever did see.

[Mark Crump]

Oh. Ok. My bad, I thought this was a long term game, not some 2 month quickie.

Sarcasm aside, every time you look at your toons name, 5 years from now, you'll get slapped in the face to remind you that you pre-ordered 5 days late and lost the name you really wanted. It's not like you can easily change your name later, even if the one you wanted freed up.

How is this different than getting in on a "normal" launch and having someone beat you to your name?

[ibdoomed]

How is this different than getting in on a "normal" launch and having someone beat you to your name?

Because it's a race when we all start at the same time.

In reality, this is like a race when someone that registered before you for the race gets a one hour head start.

I admit that it's my fault for not paying attention to the faq when pre-orders first went out. This is just such a mind boggling way to handle the launch of an MMO that it didn't occur to most of us. It's just another reminder that they really think of this as a single player game with some mmo elements tacked on.

[Neopythia]

What's getting lost in all the fury of not getting in yet is the fact that they started early access two days earlier than they originally intended. Whether it has staying power or not, there is tremendous interest in the game, and launch has the potential to be a disaster. Yesterday was as smooth as I've seen in an mmo. I never crashed, nor was there any downtime. Hopefully this continues as more and more people get access.

Brian- The Consular story was one of the weaker ones. At least the portion I saw. (Up to level 15 in beta) As for your other comments, they have said they are adding a "barber shop" for post creation customization. While its not as robust as say SWG, it makes up for it in other ways. The modification system is a clever way to handle the appearance tab issue and is what LOTRO's legendary item system should have been.

[Balasarius]

Did they ever announce the monthly fees?

[Falcon554]

What's getting lost in all the fury of not getting in yet is the fact that they started early access two days earlier than they originally intended. Whether it has staying power or not, there is tremendous interest in the game, and launch has the potential to be a disaster. Yesterday was as smooth as I've seen in an mmo. I never crashed, nor was there any downtime. Hopefully this continues as more and more people get access.

Brian- The Consular story was one of the weaker ones. At least the portion I saw. (Up to level 15 in beta) As for your other comments, they have said they are adding a "barber shop" for post creation customization. While its not as robust as say SWG, it makes up for it in other ways. The modification system is a clever way to handle the appearance tab issue and is what LOTRO's legendary item system should have been.

see this is the point, I paid the same money as u did but I can't play but u can. That's just wrong period

[Balasarius]

Oh hey, I got my invite! Not that it does me any good, sitting here at work.

My only real desire to log in asap is to reserve all the cool names, which are probably long gone anyway.

[Brian Rucker]

It's Star Wars. Name generation isn't hard.

"My only real desire"

Myesre

"to log in asap"

Tolona

"all the cool names"

Althmes

See? Just slice and dice any words in a sentence. Insta Star Wars name.

[Rasputin]

I love people who don't understand the rank and surname system. Yesterday there was a "Captainreynolds" who was a Smuggler, so with the rank he becomes "Captain Captainreynolds" or worse later on in the game.

[Jason McMaster]

I registered:

Reggie
Willy
Cuddles
Rainbow
Rick

[Rasputin]

Can you see if "Archer" is taken? I'm sure it is, but I just now thought of it.

EDIT: McMaster just checked and it's taken. Oh, well, I'm mostly going to be using the random generator anyway.

[MarchHare]

Can you see if "Archer" is taken? I'm sure it is, but I just now thought of it.

EDIT: McMaster just checked and it's taken. Oh, well, I'm mostly going to be using the random generator anyway.

Aw shitsnacks!

[Rasputin]

Aw shitsnacks!

I know, right? This is so classic him.

[Mike Cathcart]

I had something for this...

[Razgon]

Well, I'm in as well - preordered on 31st of august.

[Neopythia]

So far I've been encouraged by the names I've seen in game. They seem true to the lore, on Adraas anyway. Though there is one guild named <JEDI> which has to be one of the least inspired names ever.

[ibdoomed]

So far I've been encouraged by the names I've seen in game. They seem true to the lore, on Adraas anyway. Though there is one guild named <JEDI> which has to be one of the least inspired names ever.

Only if they are empire...

[Gedd]

Not to sidetrack from the early access talk, but I know folks wondered a while back about authenticators for non-CE users. It looks like they put up a page (http://www.swtor.com/info/security-key) showing that the stand-alone authenticators will be available for $4 on the 15th and an app version will be coming soon on the usual device markets.

[walTer]

I did just read that they do allow you to use a - or an ' in your name.

Also this may have been mentioned but if you like this kind of thing, there is a nice skill calculator up. I tend to run these things over and over and totally stress out.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc

[Douglas on QTT]

For what it's worth, I reserved on 9/27 and got in today.

[LesJarvis]

There's a thread on Reddit each day tracking who is getting in. Here's today's:

http://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/ncd7q/early_access_day_2_post_when_you_get_in/

Looks like chances are very good that preorders through November (which would include me) will get in tomorrow, and the thread author is predicting everyone will be in by then.

[Brian Rucker]

So far I've been encouraged by the names I've seen in game. They seem true to the lore, on Adraas anyway. Though there is one guild named <JEDI> which has to be one of the least inspired names ever.

There are only a few diaperheads running around on Adraas so far. They kinda stick out like sore thumbs. But...we're looking at a) early access and b) the organized RP scene's designated server. I suspect the picture won't be as pretty on the other servers and especially after launch.

Haven't seen any actual roleplay yet but, heck, I don't even want to roleplay right now. I've got a new toy to mess around with! Sitting around and typing...that's for later days.

[Libra]

I can't decide what class I want to play.

I leveled a Sith Assassin to 15 in Beta, but I don't think I want to roll with that class in release. I've been thinking about rolling either a Bounty Hunter/Mercenary or IA/Sniper. Anyone have any experience with either and have any input?

[Wolff]

what timezone is the "official" RP server on

[Royal Fool]

Hmm, if those numbers are reliable, then it looks like mostly everyone could be in by tomorrow, unless they start letting far less people in as launch gets closer.

[Brian Rucker]

Lord Adraas is an East Coast server. Population is filling up. Two RP-PvE servers are already at Standard pop. One's Ebon Hawk, the server with the cool name, and then there's Lord Adraas. The rest are light except for one of the two RP-PvP servers, Jung Ma, which is also at Standard pop.

That was as of a couple hours ago.

[Ryslin]

eastern for Lord adraas

..........
if its < J E D I> that is an old SWG guild, heavy pvp rp if I remember correctly
It spread to many other servers as it had a workable code for rping your way from padawan to master.

Sometimes a label is the best name you could ever want. A group of my old wow server are starting elsewhere (when we finally get in ARGH). I can appreciate the massive amount of rpers and opportunity on Lord Adraas, but would rather have more control over how the community might progress. ER always had a snarky sense of humor, don't want to loose that if I don't have to.

Thou..everyone I know is rolling red side, leaving me holding the bucket for blue. Why do I always pick the underdog to start?

[Brian Rucker]

Well, there's really no Central Organizing Committee for the scene. It's more about networking. At this point most of us realize we all have different tastes and ideas about roleplaying. So the best thing is to create a massive, loose, umbrella for everyone to get under and make their own plans. Even a roleplayer whose style you don't like is likely going to be better company than the kind of tard that loves nothing better than screwing with roleplayers for lulz.

But SWTOR-RP isn't just about Lord Adraas (or Progenitor for EU folks). They plan to set up the same kinds of IC news networks and forums and wikis for every RP server and have reporters covering what everyone's getting up to.

It's a bottom up, RP boosting, kind of thing rather than a top down trying to control everyone's RP thing. That never, ever, works in an MMO community.

[Marcus]

Yeah I ordered at the end of August and I am in today and I have all my names reserved! Woo!

Sadly Marcus was taken =(

[ibdoomed]

Yeah I ordered at the end of August and I am in today and I have all my names reserved! Woo!

Sadly Marcus was taken =(

Sigh. They must be watching my forum activity and hate me since my August 1st wasn't good enough.

[Razgon]

Sigh. They must be watching my forum activity and hate me since my August 1st wasn't good enough.

Weird - I was august 31st and am in

Did you check you spam folder? Also, try going to http://www.swtor.com/early-access (http://www.swtor.com/early-access)

which is all your mail will point you towards for entering. Also, try the launcher afterwards and see if it will let you in

[Neopythia]

eastern for Lord adraas

..........
if its < J E D I> that is an old SWG guild, heavy pvp rp if I remember correctly
It spread to many other servers as it had a workable code for rping your way from padawan to master.

Sometimes a label is the best name you could ever want. A group of my old wow server are starting elsewhere (when we finally get in ARGH). I can appreciate the massive amount of rpers and opportunity on Lord Adraas, but would rather have more control over how the community might progress. ER always had a snarky sense of humor, don't want to loose that if I don't have to.

Thou..everyone I know is rolling red side, leaving me holding the bucket for blue. Why do I always pick the underdog to start?

It was that and it is good to see old SWG guilds reassembling in SWTOR. Best case scenario is that Adraas can develop into a community the likes of Starsider or Landroval. Though it is impossible to duplicate the mix of hardcore RP'ers and hardcore space PvP'ers that made Starsider what it was.

[Marcus]

Sigh. They must be watching my forum activity and hate me since my August 1st wasn't good enough.

You could also just try logging in if you have already downloaded the client.

[Royal Fool]

I succumbed to peer pressure and preordered this. Now to download this huge client...

[Bill Dungsroman]

Some of you people clearly have no idea how new MMOs get launched.

[Nephrinn]

Got my invite a few hours ago and have been happily playing. Registered on October 1st, so big shock to get in today. :D

[Mike Cathcart]

Got my invite a few hours ago and have been happily playing. Registered on October 1st, so big shock to get in today. :D
Yeah, I think a really large percentage of the preorders happened in July so once they got through that the dates started moving faster. There will probably be another slowdown when they get to late November because of that big beta weekend, but I'd be surprised if everyone didn't have access by the weekend.

Some of you people clearly have no idea how new MMOs get launched.
Bill, this is bullshit. BioWare is punishing lower income groups and destroying our civil rights and my cousin got in yesterday and he didn't even preorder until tomorrow and now he has something that I want and I WANT IT AND I WANT IT NOW and you and your fraud company with their lies are the ones who clearly have no idea how new MMOs get launched because I was in the beta for Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot and BW just wanted people to give them money up front so they could screw them over so I promise you that when I get into the game I am going to play it to 50 but I am not going to be happy about that because of this fail launch that said five days in the advertising the words "FIVE DAYS" were in there, Bill, so what am I supposed to do now WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?

[AlanQ]

I have a quick question for those that have played this. I have never really enjoyed an MMO, but I did like KOTOR and Mass Effect. Is this game more like an MMO or a bioware RPG? Do you have to grind at all, and what are the quests like?

[Rasputin]

It is a Bioware RPG when you're talking to people about quests, etc. When you play the game to do anything, it's WoW.

[AlanQ]

It is a Bioware RPG when you're talking to people about quests, etc. When you play the game to do anything, it's WoW.

Gross. Thanks for the heads up!

[Black Isis]

I have a quick question for those that have played this. I have never really enjoyed an MMO, but I did like KOTOR and Mass Effect. Is this game more like an MMO or a bioware RPG? Do you have to grind at all, and what are the quests like?

Wow, I answered this question yesterday. Exactly this question in this thread. :P

Basically, at least for me, it was a lot more like KotOR with some WoW-esque MMO tropes stuck in than vice versa. The storylines were fairly strong, the cooperative missions and conversations were a lot of fun and added a ton to the immersion of the game, and the grinding was minimal (I played up to about level 15 on two characters). The grinding that did exist was mostly for bonus missions you didn't need to complete.

If you like KotOR and Mass Effect, and you can tolerate a little WoW leaking into it, I would say that your 60 bucks will be well spent for the first month at the very least.

[Black Isis]

It is a Bioware RPG when you're talking to people about quests, etc. When you play the game to do anything, it's WoW.

I'm not sure what that even means. What are you playing the game for if not the quests, etc?

[idrisz]

I'm not sure what that even means. What are you playing the game for if not the quests, etc?

he means actual gameplay, like shooting, looting, grouping..

[Mike Cathcart]

I'm not sure what that even means. What are you playing the game for if not the quests, etc?
It means the part when you get the quest and when you turn it in are like KOTOR. Everything else is like WoW.

[Marcin]

I'm not sure what that even means. What are you playing the game for if not the quests, etc?

Oh, come on. Single player games tend to have a lot less timesinking built in. Fast travel options that aren't stupid (Dromond Kass disconnected taxis, I'm looking at you), enemies that don't stand around in convenient clusters of three, bear asses quests tend to be minimal, and of course no spawn camping.

Totally with Rasputin on this one from my time in the beta. I'll still be in on this when it goes F2P, but there's no hiding the generic MMO mechanics.

[Black Isis]

Mmmmkay....I dunno, combat and everything still felt very much like a BioWare game to me. Maybe more Dragon Age (which I guess was more MMOey than other BioWare games), but still...I didn't find it distracting or anything. And I do not like the WoW-style MMOs as a rule (the only MMO I've really played other than TOR is Eve, which is completely different). I guess the question is, what don't you like about WoW-esque MMOs?

Edit: Marcin makes some good points, but frankly I don't mind some of that stuff. I like playing MMOs and RPGs to feel like I'm exploring a virtual world, so being able to teleport all over and just go from fight to fight to fight to quest giver to fight to whatever seems...lame to me. And if you think "enemies standing around in clusters of three" doesn't happen in single-player games evidently missed large parts of KotOR and Dragon Age (admittedly, probably the worst parts of both). I dunno, maybe I'll change my tune in a month or two, but during the beta I really enjoyed the RPG parts enough to overlook the annoying MMO tropes.

[stusser]

I didn't read the whole thread, so it may have been posted, but you need to watch this video. There's swearing at the end that might be NSFW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2szTEHgqZXY

[Tyjenks]

I'll still be in on this when it goes F2P, but there's no hiding the generic MMO mechanics.
I am beginning to wonder if it will become a development practice to build up to a launch, advertise the game like crazy to move units and get subscriptions for a few years and then move to F2P forever when subscribers decline to a certain point. If we are not there already.

@stusser: That clip is awesome. Mr. Cathcart brought it to my attention earlier today.

[Erik J.]

I didn't read the whole thread, so it may have been posted, but you need to watch this video. There's swearing at the end that might be NSFW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2szTEHgqZXY

NSFW due to language and ample man-boob.

[Mike Cathcart]

NSFW due to language and ample man-boob.
Spoiler alert.

[Rasputin]

Mmmmkay....I dunno, combat and everything still felt very much like a BioWare game to me. Maybe more Dragon Age (which I guess was more MMOey than other BioWare games), but still...I didn't find it distracting or anything. And I do not like the WoW-style MMOs as a rule (the only MMO I've really played other than TOR is Eve, which is completely different). I guess the question is, what don't you like about WoW-esque MMOs?

Since you haven't played WoW before, let me tell you: the game play is exactly like WoW.

[rei]

Wow, I answered this question yesterday. Exactly this question in this thread. :P

Basically, at least for me, it was a lot more like KotOR with some WoW-esque MMO tropes stuck in than vice versa. The storylines were fairly strong, the cooperative missions and conversations were a lot of fun and added a ton to the immersion of the game, and the grinding was minimal (I played up to about level 15 on two characters). The grinding that did exist was mostly for bonus missions you didn't need to complete.

If you like KotOR and Mass Effect, and you can tolerate a little WoW leaking into it, I would say that your 60 bucks will be well spent for the first month at the very least.

It's questionable if it's worth $60+$15/month afterwards.

[Erik J.]

Spoiler alert.

Perhaps, but I think it's fair for those people who may be at work to know they get a little man-titty regardless of watching the video with headphones on.

[idrisz]

Basically, at least for me, it was a lot more like KotOR with some WoW-esque MMO tropes stuck in than vice versa.

wait if you never played wow because, how do you know SWTOR contain WoW-esque elements?

[ibdoomed]

Perhaps, but I think it's fair for those people who may be at work to know they get a little man-titty regardless of watching the video with headphones on.

People use headphones at work?

[Erik J.]

People use headphones at work?

I do...?

[Teiman]

I didn't read the whole thread, so it may have been posted, but you need to watch this video. There's swearing at the end that might be NSFW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2szTEHgqZXY

There are a lot of quest in SWTOR that involve killing a boss in a area where you compete to kill such boss. The game is designed so the first player to damage the boss will get his quest complete. So even if you do 99.99% of the damage, you will not get your quest advanced. It will be common, at release day, to have groups of 5 or 6 players camping these boss. Is not a fun experience, often is frustrating because the most greedy normally take over the boss. Or the most frustrated. You can be there 1 hour, and this don't give you any advantage, the next guy that come can "steal" the boss from you.

Maybe its a good idea to wait a few day, or weeks, until the bigger group of people has moved to the high level areas. But before the first wave of nerfs standarize the game too much.

[Black Isis]

wait if you never played wow because, how do you know SWTOR contain WoW-esque elements?

I am not completely unaware of the WoW format. :P I do know plenty of other people who have played it (and I played DikuMUDs for many years). For me, the difference between TOR and WoW is that the story forces its way to the front in TOR, and makes itself a integral part of the experience, whereas in WoW (and Eve too), the quest text is basically fluff 95% of people don't even read because they want to see the "bring me 15 bear butts" upshot and get on with it. TOR seems to be more about the journey and the context, whereas WoW is just about doing the rote tasks.

[idrisz]

TOR seems to be more about the journey and the context, whereas WoW is just about doing the rote tasks.

technically, it's really up to whomever is playing the game, the only difference between WoW and SWTOR is WoW use quest text, while SWTOR use VO. Wow have some interesting quest like SWTOR. player can just choose to ignore context in both game.

[Matthew Gallant]

Again, I'd point out that KOTOR and Mass Effect are also a lot like WoW when the talking is done. You go somewhere and engage in real-time RPG combat against multiple small groups of enemies. You fire off your special abilities and wait until you can fire them again.

[LesJarvis]

technically, it's really up to whomever is playing the game, the only difference between WoW and SWTOR is WoW use quest text, while SWTOR use VO. Wow have some interesting quest like SWTOR. player can just choose to ignore context in both game.

In SWTOR the choices you make can also affect quest outcomes, which is an important distinction IMO. In WoW, every time you do a quest it's the same quest, and you have no real input into it. Even just the ability to select different dialogue options sets SWTOR's questing apart from WoW's.

[Gedd]

There are a lot of quest in SWTOR that involve killing a boss in a area where you compete to kill such boss.

Did you actually play the game in beta at all? I did not see many quests that involved kill a single named mob that weren't in a story instance. The one that I did on Dromund Kaas had you interact an item to summon him, so you just waited (or even helped) the other group and then spawned it yourself. Additionally, the worlds are sharded (or instanced in Bioware's terminology), so you'll only ever be competing with a certain number of players at a time.

Even on the biggest stress test beta weekend I could count on less than two fingers the number of times I had to wait around for a mob, type of mob, or item to respawn.

I could definitely understand waiting until later if technical issues show up (like the inevitable queues), but this game isn't like WoW, where you've got a couple hundred players in a single zone all hoping to tap a Hellboar to get 5/12 boar ribs for your quest.

[idrisz]

In SWTOR the choices you make can also affect quest outcomes, which is an important distinction IMO. In WoW, every time you do a quest it's the same quest, and you have no real input into it. Even just the ability to select different dialogue options sets SWTOR's questing apart from WoW's.

but WOW use instance phasing, so it make the player feel that whatever they did actually make an impact in the world, which something SWTOR lacks.

[ydejin]

I'm with Black Isis. To me it feels exactly like a classic Bioware RPG. Combat-wise it's less like Mass Effect, since it's not shooty at all. But it is very much like KotOR or any of the old Bioware games pre-Jade Empire. You've got a bunch of powers that are all timed, you hit the one you want, you wait for it to execute. Is that not how KotOR, NWN, and Baldur's Gate all worked?

I also don't get the "there are groups of three bad guys sitting around" comment. That's exactly what happened in KotOR.

I haven't played WoW, but I'm finding the storylines more involving than AoC, Rift, or LotRO. How much of that is the voice acting vs. good writing? Hard to say, I'd say a lot of it though is better story writing. Maybe it's 50/50. FWIW I'm a player that always reads all the way through the text dialogs on non-voiced games.

[idrisz]

Did you actually play the game in beta at all? I did not see many quests that involved kill a single named mob that weren't in a story instance. The one that I did on Dromund Kaas had you interact an item to summon him, so you just waited (or even helped) the other group and then spawned it yourself. Additionally, the worlds are sharded (or instanced in Bioware's terminology), so you'll only ever be competing with a certain number of players at a time.

the one I remember that was really annoying was the Bounty hunter quest on Hutta. you need hunt down 4 targets, those target spawn in a normal area where everyone can attack them. they have around 3-4 minutes respawn time, it was a pain in the ass.

[Nephrinn]

As someone who was tired of WoW's mechanics and initially poo-pooing SWTOR for not innovating enough, I'm very impressed so far and am convinced that giving the quests rich context and narrative makes collecting bear-asses actually fun. Maybe that was the problem in the first place, not the game play.

[ydejin]

There are a lot of quest in SWTOR that involve killing a boss in a area where you compete to kill such boss. The game is designed so the first player to damage the boss will get his quest complete. So even if you do 99.99% of the damage, you will not get your quest advanced. It will be common, at release day, to have groups of 5 or 6 players camping these boss. Is not a fun experience, often is frustrating because the most greedy normally take over the boss. Or the most frustrated. You can be there 1 hour, and this don't give you any advantage, the next guy that come can "steal" the boss from you.

Maybe its a good idea to wait a few day, or weeks, until the bigger group of people has moved to the high level areas. But before the first wave of nerfs standarize the game too much.

First off, this is in part why they are phasing people in in waves, otherwise there would be an absolutely massive wave all going through each area at once. And doing it by pre-order date is IMO a lot better than just randomly choosing people. At least it's something that you had control over, if you wanted.

Anyway, what's been going on in games is mostly when I come up to a boss that everyone is camping, someone that's waiting invites me to join a newly formed party. We all kill the boss, then the party disbands. I did have someone kill still an objective right in the starting fields (I took on the mobs, and they went behind me while I was engaged and grabbed the quest objective), but other than that one experience everyone has been very helpful and good at forming groups for bosses on spawn.

Also the Character Storyline bosses tend to be in very short phased instances. Probably mostly so no one can mess with your game cinematics, but this has the side effect of no one can kill steal. I don't recall having much trouble with the non-Character open world quests, where there are quest givers scattered around the world that need help for various things. Most of the shared bosses are from the bonus quests which you pickup as you start killing bad guys in a particular area -- where you get a bit of extra XP when you kill x number of bad guys. These are usually followed by a "now that you've killed a whole bunch of henchmen, go kill boss named x", these do tend to be over subscribed, and there's often a bunch of people all sitting around waiting to kill the boss. I'm a completest, so I have been doing these, but they don't have any storyline associated with them and really can be skipped without missing much of anything.

[Mike Cathcart]

WoW used to have a lot of quests like that. Now if you need to kill a specific dude in the open he usually drops a chest or something that anyone can loot to complete the quest. That way if you get there and someone already is fighting the guy you can join in and not have to wait forever hoping to tag the respawn.

[ibdoomed]

First off, this is in part why they are phasing people in in waves, otherwise there would be an absolutely massive wave all going through each area at once. And doing it by pre-order date is IMO a lot better than just randomly choosing people. At least it's something that you had control over, if you wanted.

They aren't going by pre-order date or even the pre-order registration date, it's some sort of randomness. I pre-ordered and registered, and got the confirmation emails, on August 1st and yet people that claim October registration are in and I'm not.

I've been trying the launcher every hour or so since yesterday morning. No dice.

[Union Carbide]

Actually in Cata some of the kill the foozle in the open quests rewarded everyone that got on the mob's threat list, regardless of if they got credit for the kill. The one I remember specifically was the giant in Tol Barad, and I'm pretty sure there were others.

[Mike Cathcart]

Yeah, plus a lot of the stuff in the Molten Front dailies works that way.

[Union Carbide]

They aren't going by pre-order date or even the pre-order registration date, it's some sort of randomness. I pre-ordered and registered, and got the confirmation emails, on August 1st and yet people that claim October registration are in and I'm not.

I've been trying the launcher every hour or so since yesterday morning. No dice.

Did you actually ENTER your preorder code on Aug 1?

[ibdoomed]

Did you actually ENTER your preorder code on Aug 1?

Yes. This is the email I got back, dated August 1st.

Thank you for registering your Pre-Order Code. You are now registered for the following items:
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Deluxe Edition Pre-Order
Early game access
Color Stone (Virtual Item)

We will keep you informed about early access to The Old Republic as we get closer to the game's release.

If you have any questions about your Pre-Order, please contact a member of our Customer Service Team (http://www.swtor.com/support/).

[Neopythia]

I've put over a hundred hours into SWTOR in the various beta tests and my early access yesterday and I never experienced spawn camping. In the rare times multiple people needed something, we simply grouped and disbanded afterward.

As for the first hit getting credit for the kill, its a much better system than most damage. I can't remember the number of dps races I was in on Mustafar in SWG. There is nothing worse than waiting for a mob only to have another player or group come along and steal it in mid-fight.

[triggercut]

Yes. This is the email I got back, dated August 1st.

Thank you for registering your Pre-Order Code. You are now registered for the following items:
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Deluxe Edition Pre-Order
Early game access
Color Stone (Virtual Item)

We will keep you informed about early access to The Old Republic as we get closer to the game's release.

If you have any questions about your Pre-Order, please contact a member of our Customer Service Team (http://www.swtor.com/support/).


Yeah, that may not be the right email to show that your registration is complete. You should have an email that says "Welcome to STAR WARS: The Old Republic". If you don't have that, could be you're not even in the pre-sale queue yet.

I'm guessing you still haven't registered your account--you just put in your pre-sale code.

[triggercut]

xxxxxxx:

Congratulations, your registration is complete! Welcome to the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ community!

Your account details are:

Account Name: [email protected]
Display Name: xxxxxxxxxx

As a member of the Star Wars: The Old Republic community, you can:

Personalize your profile
Comment on and rate news articles and media
Interact with other members of the community

If they're going by this--registration of account and confirmation, that might be why ibd is shut out so far.

[LesJarvis]

How could you register a pre-order code without having an account? I had to log in to put mine in.

[Jason McMaster]

Yeah, it's part of the account creation process

[triggercut]

Ah, you're right. Timestamps on those emails for me are the same now that I look at 'em.

[LesJarvis]

If they're going by this--registration of account and confirmation, that might be why ibd is shut out so far.

It's pretty clear that they're going by when you put in your pre-order code, because people have been tracking and correlating who's being let in and when they pre-ordered, and they also made this explicit on their early access page:


Starting December 13, 2011, 7:00AM EST (Pacific: December 13th, 4:00AM PST; European: December 13th, 12:00PM GMT, 1:00PM CET), The Old Republic will begin emailing invitations to start your Early Game Access. Invitations will be sent throughout the Early Game Access period offering rolling access to the game in the order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code, so be sure to check your email inbox!

http://www.swtor.com/early-access

This doesn't account for why ibdoomed doesn't have access, though. My guess is that it's just an error.

[ydejin]

Yes. This is the email I got back, dated August 1st.

Well, you've certainly got my sympathies. I'd be pissed.

I still say going by pre-orders is a very reasonable way of going about things, and letting people in in waves is a big plus. If they've got bugs in the process, that's a different issue.

FWIW I pre-ordered within four hours of the announcement and got in in the first 20 minutes. And as seen here and elsewhere, most people who pre-ordered very early got in either yesterday or today. So they are at least mostly following the pre-order ordering.

Definitely sucks for you though ibdoomed. :-( Hopefully you'll get in sometime in the next day or so.

[ibdoomed]

If they're going by this--registration of account and confirmation, that might be why ibd is shut out so far.

Yeah, I've got that email as well:

Congratulations, your registration is complete! Welcome to the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ community!

Your account details are:


Account Name: XXXXXXX
Display Name: ibdoomed

As a member of the Star Wars: The Old Republic community, you can:

Personalize your profile
Comment on and rate news articles and media
Interact with other members of the community

While the Star Wars: The Old Republic newsletter is a great way to keep up to date with the community, you can also join us on some of the social networks such as Delicious (http://delicious.com/starwarstheoldrepublic), Digg (http://digg.com/users/starwarstheoldrepublic), Facebook (http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic/28984808859), Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31042781@N03/), MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/starwarstheoldrepublic), Twitter (http://twitter.com/swtor), and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/swtheoldrepublic).

To update your account, simply click here (http://www.swtor.com/user/account).

Remember we may have updated or created an EA account using this email address. If you need assistance with your account, please contact a member of our Customer Service Team (http://www.swtor.com/support)

[Tyjenks]

FWIW, I got the email ibdoomed got. (EDIT: The first email as you posted the second one while I was typing).

When I go to the login screen for the game and enter my login info,I get a message stating something like "There is no active subscription for this account yet". According to a hotlink after you get that message, I have early access and am just awaiting unlock.

I am using the above as proof that I am good to go and only waiting on The Word. I only registered a couple days ago, so I am perfectly happy waiting until the rest of you guys/gals get in.

[ibdoomed]

I did find someone to reserve my name though so I'm ok now. I'll just wait til next year to actually start playing.

[walTer]

I did find someone to reserve my name though so I'm ok now. I'll just wait til next year to actually start playing.

See this confuses me. The game will be released on 12/20. At that point as long as the servers don't crash EVERYONE gets to play. Why would you wait two weeks after launch?

[ydejin]

ibdoomed do you want me to reserve the name for you? I can login and create a 'toon with the name, and then delete it later. I'll be in the office all afternoon and evening though, so I won't be able to delete the character until I get back home. I should mostly be around and able to login whenever Thursday and Friday.

I assume this strategy will work. Someone please let me know if they can see a way this would screw up ibdoomed.

I'm not heading for work for another 40 minutes or so, so let me know if you want me to go login and create an ibdoomed character or some variation thereof.

[Edit] nevermind, just saw your 12:59pm post.

[Ranulf]

Bah, I finally got around to preordering in mid November. I'll be lucky to get the email by saturday.

[Union Carbide]

Have you gotten this email yet?


Thank you for registering your Pre-Order Code. You are now registered for the following items:
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Deluxe Edition Pre-Order
Early game access


If not, you haven't actually used your preorder code yet.

[Erik J.]

Meh. I'll consider it a bonus if I get in by the weekend. If not, oh well, no big loss.

[LesJarvis]

Unless they dramatically slow the rate at which they're letting people in, everyone will be in by tomorrow or, at worst, Friday.

[Marcus]

I showed the game to my wife and now I have two pre orders coming from amazon.

[ibdoomed]

See this confuses me. The game will be released on 12/20. At that point as long as the servers don't crash EVERYONE gets to play. Why would you wait two weeks after launch?

I'm in this for the long haul, not short term. Five years from now, these two weeks won't matter but I will be using the same character name, that's what has always been so important. If they had let us register toon names online, like mechwarrior online is doing, I'd probably just ignore the whole thing for a while. So I'll switch my name over from my friends account whenever they allow it, and I'll go enjoy life for a bit to let things settle down. Bioware has shown they have no idea how to run an MMO so I'm not going to deal with the initial growing pains.


Have you gotten this email yet?

Yes, scroll up, post 4391.

[Marcus]

Oh and now amazon is saying that they are going to have the game in my hands on the 16ht which is the release day.

[Douglas on QTT]

Did you actually play the game in beta at all? I did not see many quests that involved kill a single named mob that weren't in a story instance. The one that I did on Dromund Kaas had you interact an item to summon him, so you just waited (or even helped) the other group and then spawned it yourself.
There are usually quests to kill a single boss-type mob in the open world at the end of the bonus mission chains you get (eg: kill 30 of x, kill 20 of y, now kill their leader). I always just asked other people in the area to group up to make it less painful for everyone.

[walTer]

I am guessing no one knows for sure but is there any estimate on how many pre-orders there were and how many people have been let in so far?

[Tyjenks]

I am guessing no one knows for sure but is there any estimate on how many pre-orders there were and how many people have been let in so far?
I think Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/ncd7q/early_access_day_2_post_when_you_get_in/)(as posted earlier) has as close to accurate as you are going to get.

[Mini-Cyn]

I am guessing no one knows for sure but is there any estimate on how many pre-orders there were and how many people have been let in so far?

There was a post a little while back stating that 400,000 pre orders had gotten in by now, and it was roughly half. If the link is to be trusted everyone should be in by tomorrow.

Edit: Tyjenks beat me to it.

[walTer]

oh interesting- thanks.

[Tyjenks]

What do I win?

[Mini-Cyn]

This lovely apple.

[Erik J.]

This lovely apple.

It's a trap!

[ibdoomed]

It's a trap!

Well played.

[walTer]

Missed opportunity!! Stupid email notifications are really slow today.

[Razgon]

Okay, bounty hunters are the most insane class I ever played in an MMO.

I mean, I have rockets, exploding darts that makes people scream in fear, flamethrowers, uppercuts powered by my rocketgear, death from above which is too good to explain, and well, heavy heavy armor!

Unfortunately, I choose Mercenary, which is the damage/healer type, and wanted to click the tank type....gah!

Anyways, loving the game -so much fun right now!

[PapaSmurf]

It's torture to read all these threads with people already playing.

I pre-ordered way late (on the 13th itself) and probably won't get in until a day or so before the actual launch, if they're only at early October right now (and I assume there would be a glut of pre-orders around the time of the open betas, preceding my pre-order by a month.)

At the least, I know I won't have to play a Jedi character to get the full experience. Both Imperial Agent and Bounty Hunter sound fascinating.

[Balasarius]

How do you enable anti aliasing in this game?

The beta ini fix doesn't work anymore, nor does managing the 3D setting from the nVidia control panel.

Edit - oooh, yes it does.

Add -

AntiAliasingLevel = 8

To the [Renderer] section of the client_settings.ini file located in C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\SWTOR\swtor\settings

[Jason McMaster]

I just got notice about my collectors shipping as well for delivery on the 16th

[Jason McMaster]

Hello,

We have received new release date information related to the order you placed on July 28, 2011 (Order#). The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected based on the new release date:

"Star Wars: The Old Republic Collector's Bundle"
Previous estimated arrival date: December 20, 2011
New estimated arrival date: December 16, 2011

If you want to check on the progress of your order, take a look at this page in Your Account:

https://www.amazon.com/

We hope to see you again soon!

Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
http://www.amazon.com

I uh.

[Skorin]

I'm really liking Powertech (Bounty Hunter tank/dps advanced class). It's like a weird hybrid ranged/melee class: most of the good attacks have 10 meter range, so you have to be close, but you still have some decent ranged attacks and multiple gap-closers. Plus high AoE damage and you're tough as a rock. Since your first companion is a healer, it's pretty great and you can survive everything.

Ran the first flashpoint and it went great. I was the only light side person in the group, and kept getting the rolls for the big mission-altering choices, so it was great. It was a steady stream of the three sith I was with being cartoon evil, then suddenly on the important choices, me piping up with "LET'S BE FRIENDS IT'S OKAY". So much grumbling from the group.

[Mark Crump]

Apparently tomorrow's invites (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=156470) will bring them up to the end of November, so December pre-orders could get in Friday.

[walTer]

Well now that the release date is the 16th--just got my Amazon conf as well....we will all be playing on Friday. If you did a preorder and are getting the game on release day- hmm, I suppose you could get a digital copy on Friday and play on Friday?

Anyway if I am playing by Friday I am totally cool with that. That is still before original release date.

I looked up my SWTOR account- I signed up back in 2009 when the game was announced. I can wait 24 hours I guess.

[Marcus]

My fucking CE still isn't going to ship till the 20th and get to me on the 21st.

[The Bitter Cynic]

Well, me and the boy, Mini-Cyn, are both pre-ordered on Nov 26.

I really hope we get in tomorrow. I grow weary of his whining.

[Ranulf]

Yup, just got my confirmation from Amazon, due now on the 16th.

[Mini-Cyn]

Well, me and the boy, Mini-Cyn, are both pre-ordered on Nov 26.

I really hope we get in tomorrow. I grow weary of his whining.

I whine because I want to get in, and loved this game so much over the beta.

[Murbella]

It would seem kind of silly if people got their retail copy before they got in to the head start.

[Tyjenks]

Got my Amazon email, too. I feel a new wave of rage simmering.

[Charlatan]

Got my Amazon email, too. I feel a new wave of rage simmering.

Got mine too. Real rage or internet rage?

[Marcus]

Oh well good news for me! My CE shows as being delivered on the 16th! Oh happy day!

[Jason McMaster]

I would imagine everyone will be in by Friday anyway. I wonder if they managed to talk amazon into shipping their pre orders early

[Union Carbide]

I don't think it took much convincing. "Would you like to collect all that money 4 days early?"

[Jason McMaster]

I don't think it took much convincing. "Would you like to collect all that money 4 days early?"

your FACE

[Tyjenks]

Got mine too. Real rage or internet rage?
Fine line. Unless other retailers send out keys to their preordererers on the 16th, I imagine there will be a fair amount of, I ordered a million years ago and I am still getting it on the 20th and Tyler ordered on the 13th and is getting his on the 16th rage.

[Michael Fortson]

I got an email from Amazon showing delivery for the 16th. I needed to change the billing info, though, so I logged in and did that. Now it shows the 20th again. I have no idea what will really happen.

/mutter...

[Murbella]

Changing the billing info when it probably ships today or tomorrow is likely not a great idea.

[Michael Fortson]

Changing the billing info when it probably ships today or tomorrow is likely not a great idea.

I placed the order 5 months ago, and the card had since expired.

[ImaTarget]

Got my CE yesterday and damn is that thing good looking and huge! I totally underestimated the size and need to create some room to display it somewhere. Great stuff.

[ibdoomed]

Got my CE yesterday and damn is that thing good looking and huge! I totally underestimated the size and need to create some room to display it somewhere. Great stuff.

Soooooo does the website allow you to enter a retail code yet?

[Razgon]

Soooooo does the website allow you to enter a retail code yet?

Yes, under "Account" the option is there

[Tyjenks]

First wave is out. Don't know why I am watching so closely. No way do I get mine today. :)

I am surprised at how little talk there is of the actual game. Are all of you in a SWTOR induced haze? Someone needs to start an "It's released" thread or get to talkin'.

[Razgon]

Hey, I tried, but all people want to talk about is curves or waves or something!

But - the game is great! Really digging it so far.

The worst part, and be very carefull about this, is that once you choose your Advanced Class, its for GOOD! That means, you better be damn sure if you want to be dps, tank, or heal whenever you reach lvl 10.

[Tyjenks]

The worst part, and be very carefull about this, is that once you choose your Advanced Class, its for GOOD! That means, you better be damn sure if you want to be dps, tank, or heal whenever you reach lvl 10.That is the one thing I HAVE planned out. Except for the fact there are a couple of base (?) classes that seem to be able to go either way.

[Gedd]

I would imagine everyone will be in by Friday anyway. I wonder if they managed to talk amazon into shipping their pre orders early

Bioware backtracked* on the grace period between launch date (the 20th) and when you needed to enter your actual code from the box. I think they originally said you'd have some sort of grace period to continue playing to account for shipping delays, but a week or two ago they came back and said no grace period. Of course much internet rage ensued, and Bioware started actively dealing with the retailers to make sure the games would be in people's hands before the 20th, not shipping on the 20th. Amazon was naturally one of the ones they started talking to first.

* Note I didn't actual see such a promise, but it is/was at the heart of the rage.

[ibdoomed]

Yes, under "Account" the option is there

I love it that some people can enter the retail code while the rest of us, some that bought it direct from the source, are still waiting to get in.

[DKDArtagnan]

I'm in it seems....

As for AC choice, it's not that big a deal - because it takes but a few hours to get to level 10 with another char - especially if you skip the voice-overs.

Here's hoping I change my mind about the game during the free month.

[Wendelius]

Today's Reddit tracking: http://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/ndr67/early_access_tracking_day_3/


Day 1 Summary: Waves 1-4: July 21 - July 27

Day 2 Summary: Waves 1-4: July 28 - October 4

Day 3

Wave 1 (9AM EST): October 26th
Wave 2 (~10AM EST): November 9th
Wave 3 (~11AM EST): November 16th
Wave 4 (~12PM EST): November 26th

Bonus Wave 1 (1PM EST): November 27th
Bonus Wave 2 (2:20PM EST): December 1st
Bonus Wave 3 (?):

Update on the official forum: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=26745


Here's the good news: overnight we decided to send out more invites than we had originally planned. However, we'll be spacing those invites out, which means we'll have more 'waves' than the previous four-per-day. We are inviting more people today than we did during yesterday.
I preordered on the 13th. I'm not holding my breath for today.

Wendelius

[Tyjenks]

I guess the servers are holding if they are ramping things up. I wonder if queues will blow up starting today.

What's the word on the The Harbinger server?

[ydejin]

I guess the servers are holding if they are ramping things up. I wonder if queues will blow up starting today.

What's the word on the The Harbinger server?

It seems to be just about the most popular server out there. Typically there seem to be about 3 servers which have heavier loads than all the rest, and ours seems to be one of them.

Could be a plus long term, when populations inevitably start dropping.

[RLMullen]

I love it that some people can enter the retail code while the rest of us, some that bought it direct from the source, are still waiting to get in.

Did you contact CS yet? You should be in with a reg date of 8/1/11.

[Ryan A]

I guess the servers are holding if they are ramping things up. I wonder if queues will blow up starting today.

What's the word on the The Harbinger server?

I had a 5 minute queue logging in at 5:30pm (west coast USA) yesterday. I heard others reporting up to a 15 minute wait.

[LesJarvis]

Hey, I'm in! Totally worthless since I'm at work, but there ya go.

[Jakub]

BioWare updated that there will be more waves today, but about the same number of people as yesterday. They expect that to take them up through to the last week of November.

[Tyjenks]

Awesome. Looks like I will be good to go for tomorrow and get my boring, regular edition box.

[Mike Cathcart]

BioWare updated that there will be more waves today, but about the same number of people as yesterday. They expect that to take them up through to the last week of November.
Check the link Wendelius just posted. Mo' waves, mo' people.

[Tyjenks]

Per Reddit:

Wave 2 (~10AM EST): Latest pre-order November 9th

maybe today for us late adopters?

[ibdoomed]

Did you contact CS yet? You should be in with a reg date of 8/1/11.

I did the online form thing but haven't heard back from that. I'm on hold with them right now but who knows how long that may take.

[divorced]

How are people getting early access? I preordered from Gamestop and nothing like that was mentioned.

[Mike Cathcart]

Per Reddit:

Wave 2 (~10AM EST): Latest pre-order November 9th

maybe today for us late adopters?
Rockjaw says a lot of people have preordered in the past two weeks. I think you're good for tomorrow, though.

[Tyjenks]

How are people getting early access? I preordered from Gamestop and nothing like that was mentioned.
I ordered through Amazon and minutes after I ordered, I received an email with an early access code to my Amazon registered email. Per the SWTOR website, most retailers should be doing the same.


Rockjaw says a lot of people have preordered in the past two weeks. I think you're good for tomorrow, though.
Ahhh, that makes sense.

[Rasputin]

First wave is out. Don't know why I am watching so closely. No way do I get mine today. :)

I am surprised at how little talk there is of the actual game. Are all of you in a SWTOR induced haze? Someone needs to start an "It's released" thread or get to talkin'.

What would you like to know? Perhaps how much like WoW or KoTOR it is? Because that hasn't been asked this page.

Seriously, though, I think people are shying away from spoilers, since the game is so story-based. My main impression so far is how many people are not playing Troopers, it's pretty much all Jedi with a smattering of Smugglers on the Republic side.

[Black Isis]

The third wave...is away! (Sadly I was not in it yet. :()

[Brian Rucker]

On my server, on Ord Mantell, it seemed about 50/50 smugglers and troopers. The population was only a little lighter than the Jedi Temple. There it also seemed about 50/50 if slightly favoring Knights over Consulars.

[Tyjenks]

What would you like to know? Perhaps how much like WoW or KoTOR it is? Because that hasn't been asked this page.

Seriously, though, I think people are shying away from spoilers, since the game is so story-based. My main impression so far is how many people are not playing Troopers, it's pretty much all Jedi with a smattering of Smugglers on the Republic side.
No, I read the similarities posts.

Just seems like with most games folks like to come in here to Qt3 and ramble and there has been none of that, which is fine. I was not really looking for anything in particular and don't NEED to know more. I guess I was just expecting more gleeful chatter. I knew that it was a lot more story-based than other games in this genre. I guess it would follow that folks who did not want to be spoilery would have less to say.

Also, I am waffling between trooper/Jedi. Tempted to go Trooper just so I would not be in the herd of Jedi as I assumed it would skew that way.

[walTer]

11/15 pre-order and just got my invite-

WOO!

[Sepiche]

Anyone know when/where we get the final registration code for the game if we ordered off of Origin? I looked back through the emails I've gotten since I preordered, but I only see the preorder code.

[Erik J.]

Anyone know when/where we get the final registration code for the game if we ordered off of Origin? I looked back through the emails I've gotten since I preordered, but I only see the preorder code.

Probably when it is actually released.

[Mini-Cyn]

How are people getting early access? I preordered from Gamestop and nothing like that was mentioned.

GameStop didn't send my code until well after I had ordered, to the point I considered completely dropping my preorder from them and ordering elsewhere.

[Teiman]

Origin probably depends on a lot of cobol code no human alive knows what do, and required pseudomagical periodical server massages to complete some mission critical operations. And for your profile to be updated correctly or corrupted depends on a 21 years old sysadmin obsesed with a anime character. Buying anything in origin is a small adventure. Somone sould make a movie about it. Maybe the monthy python.

[Mini-Cyn]

Monty Python and the EA Origin Order?

[Arkon262]

On my server, on Ord Mantell, it seemed about 50/50 smugglers and troopers. The population was only a little lighter than the Jedi Temple. There it also seemed about 50/50 if slightly favoring Knights over Consulars.

Doing a quick survey of the Who list on Taris last night showed way more non-jedi characters than jedi characters. Has been interesting being in a group with 2 other commandos and a scoundrel.

[Rasputin]

Here's a question: anyone know how the hell you leave general chat? I can't seem to find that anywhere.

[Arkon262]

Here's a question: anyone know how the hell you leave general chat? I can't seem to find that anywhere.

If you right click on the chat tab you can customize it. I left the main tab alone and instead created a new custom tab for only the channels I wanted.

[Mini-Cyn]

Right cick on your chat tabs, and open up chat options. You can control what channels are shown.

Edit: beaten to the punch again.

[Myth]

Got my head-start email. Registered my pre-order on Nov 19.

[Rasputin]

No wonder I couldn't figure it out. Maybe it'll be in the manual I get tomorrow.

[Jason Townsend]

Just seems like with most games folks like to come in here to Qt3 and ramble and there has been none of that, which is fine. I was not really looking for anything in particular and don't NEED to know more. I guess I was just expecting more gleeful chatter.

Partly I think it's that the superfans have been reading forums too much in between/after betas while jonsing for the release. Most of the discussable stuff has been rehashed to death.

[Jasper Phillips]

Anybody here try out PvP yet? How is it?

[Lum]

Got my head-start email. Registered my pre-order on Nov 19.

I did mine last week of November and got my email with the 12:00CST wave, so I strongly suspect everyone who pre-ordered will be in by tomorrow.

[idrisz]

nov 28.. got in.

[Jasper Phillips]

Anybody here try out PvP yet? How is it?
idrisz, this is largely aimed at you. :-)

Definitely curious to see what you think once you try it out.

[Tyjenks]

The Security Key App is out:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-wars-the-old-republic/id488420452?mt=8

[Black Isis]

Hrm, I didn't get my mail yet, but I preordered on the 27th. I guess I'll have to check when I head home at lunch.

Edit: Also, they need to get a security key app for Android already. :/

[Gedd]

Anyone know when/where we get the final registration code for the game if we ordered off of Origin? I looked back through the emails I've gotten since I preordered, but I only see the preorder code.

According to the devs:


Origin will email customers who pre-ordered their digital copies of the game tomorrow, December 16th at 8AM PST with your PRODUCT REGISTRATION CODE.

Tyjenks, I suspect the reason that there's very little chatter on the actual game is because it's mostly unchanged since the NDA dropped. Once that happened, most of us got our game impressions out. I suspect there might be more chatter about the gameplay when the 20th hits and the non-preordering (and possibly the very late preordering) players get in.

[Gedd]

I'm guessing no one has figured out what the security key vendor is selling because they haven't been out yet, right?

[idrisz]

idrisz, this is largely aimed at you. :-)

Definitely curious to see what you think once you try it out.

I already tried it out, I got 33 as Sith Assassin in beta, I seen most of the planets already. I played some hutta-ball during the beta, there are some strategies involved, but I was on my imperial agent, it kind of sucked. I don't feel like I can do anything.

they better have some end game content planned though.. some of the flashpoint is lame, the Black Talon is the best, rest of them is just bleh... the 2nd one's last boss doesn't even drop loot.

my friend is forcing me to play, that's why I pre-order so late. I be still doing my weekly WOW LFR and LOL.

[Knightsaber]

I'm guessing no one has figured out what the security key vendor is selling because they haven't been out yet, right?

So far all I've heard of is a big-ass speeder for a ridiculous amount of credits. I'm sure there are a few other things.

[Dreamshadow]

Okay, I'm a little confused. I've downloaded the Security key app, and it is asking for a serial number of 7 digits. When I go to set it up, the SWTOR site asks for my serial number. Their instructions don't seem to include the software app yet. Anyone else figured this out yet?

[Union Carbide]

Origin probably depends on a lot of cobol code no human alive knows what do, and required pseudomagical periodical server massages to complete some mission critical operations. And for your profile to be updated correctly or corrupted depends on a 21 years old sysadmin obsesed with a anime character. Buying anything in origin is a small adventure. Somone sould make a movie about it. Maybe the monthy python.

should have sent a poet

[Union Carbide]

Here's a question: anyone know how the hell you leave general chat? I can't seem to find that anywhere.

During the thanksgiving beta weekend general chat on my server was actually really awesome on friday night. Then everyone finished downloading the client and it was nothing but WoW complaints/praises and Chuck Norris "jokes"

[Tyjenks]

Hrm, I didn't get my mail yet, but I preordered on the 27th. I guess I'll have to check when I head home at lunch.

Edit: Also, they need to get a security key app for Android already. :/
Did you try logging in anyhow? There are continued reports that the emails are lagging behind the actual access.

[Desslock]

I dunno, I've had early access since the 13th, but haven't logged in and reading this thread just reinforces that MMOs are probably not for me, because I have zero interest in the things that everyone here seems to obsess over - leveling, best character builds, guild saturation on servers, etc.

I guess I should give it a shot - anyone playing on a RP server? I'm so apathetic towards this game - the opening cinematic was awful: a bad fan-fiction mishmash of highlights from the movies - that I'm thinking of just canceling my preorder since my credit info wasn't updated anyway and it hasn't processed yet.

[Black Isis]

Did you try logging in anyhow? There are continued reports that the emails are lagging behind the actual access.

Well, not yet (still at work). But it looks like I actually preordered on the 29th, which is still not done yet according to reddit. :( Hopefully there will be another bonus round today....