An End, Once and For All!

This has been a day I've long been anticipating.

Throughout the past two days, I finally managed to drag my Powertech through her remaining chapters of Fallen Empire, completed Eternal Throne, slogged through Iokath and the Traitor arc, and took a breath of fresh air on Ossus and Onderon.

This may not seem like much, particularly to the more altaholic readers out there, but I have very specific reasons to be celebrating this.

I'm done. 

Never again will I have to sit through Fallen Empire and its subsequent storylines. At long last, I have all characters from each base-class caught up to one another again, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since partway through 3.0 - almost, if not over, five years ago.

Appropriately, since Phirella is the last of my characters to be going through these storylines, I thought I'd shake things up somewhat just as a "last hurrah". I hatched the idea of maybe making her my saboteur while she was finishing up her class story at the start of 6.0 and the threat of Fallen Empire et al. loomed ever nearer. So it was that when she started Iokath and eventually Ossus, she became my first and only character to support a faction opposite to her own.

I didn't look up any videos of saboteur activity pre-Onslaught as I had heard second-hand that some of the choices made by a saboteur, particularly during Hearts and Minds, were absolutely hilarious. Having now seen the speech given to Imperial troops with a character who deliberately flubs the speech, I can confirm that part of it caused me to burst out laughing. Grey Griffin's voice-acting certainly added to the hilarity, so I'm curious to hear what the other Imperial VAs sound like when delivering their own flubbed speeches.

As for the other saboteur-specific stuff? Well, it means I finally got to see Emperor Vowrawn at last as well as properly meet Jedi Master Sal-Deron first-hand rather than through someone else's recordings, so I'm happy about both of those. It's a bit too soon to gauge how other choices will impact things, especially as with letting the Republic fleet escape I proceeded to choose the Dark Side option in the subsequent conversation with Malgus. No spoilers for people who haven't done or seen the saboteur storyline yet, of course.

~~~

I don't begrudge anyone liking the Chapters as a means of storytelling. Heck, I myself can appreciate the theory behind them and some of the stuff that's been in the Chapters have been among my favourite story moments in the entire game. However, as time went on and as more and more characters of mine reached the point where Chapter I: The Hunt became their next mission, I began to feel very disillusioned with them.

More than anything, this is simply because of the sheer onslaught of cutscenes that is presented to players nowadays. When 4.0 launched with its Chapters, The Alliance was the break-point, and it made good logical sense. With each addition to the story, however, the break-point got extended further and further to the point where, unless you stop yourself deliberately (while making sure to do so in an area that doesn't launch you straight back into a Chapter the moment you enter the phase), you will be presented with all twenty-five Chapters back-to-back. At least as they were coming out we had the means to start them deliberately at our own pace!

I know, I know, people will say "you know you can stop at whatever point you like, right?" but I feel this is still indicative of the issue I have. Yes, I know I can halt a chapter after it starts and take a break, but you still can't prevent any chapters from starting outright. Once you initiate the final cutscene of any given chapter, hey-ho, it's another cutscene and possibly an entire loading screen that greets you afterward. At least with the subsequent storylines, while you mostly get given the missions automatically, you can start them from scratch whenever you desire.

I'm pleased BioWare indulged in experimenting with the Chapters as the content we're seeing now feels like a BioWare making use of the experiences they picked up from writing them while merging them with the more traditional open-world story content of the base-game.

However, I'm even more pleased - in fact, I'm going so far as to say that I'm thrilled - to have finally escaped them at long last.

Since I haven't been updating my blog in the past few months (because... reasons...), I should also follow up on my Vanguard, whose progress I also last briefly touched on back in Tasks and Signals. Like my Powertech, I've only just got my Vanguard up to all the story content within the past week, so this has been too long I've spent on Iokath this week alone.

Still, at least it meant that I finally got to see the Trooper's conversation with Elara Dorne as well as the Hunter's reunion with Torian and Mako this week. Extra rewards to be reaped for having to put up with all that other nonsense!

Thoughts on 6.0 #7: The Characters, part 3 (Onderon, Mek-Sha, and Corellia)

This is the seventh post in my "Thoughts on 6.0" series. You can read the previous entries here:

1. Gear
2. Crafting Changes
3. Group Content
4. The Locations
5. The Characters, part 1 (Empire)
6. The Characters, part 2 (Republic)

Onderon and Mek-Sha both provide a few interesting characters for players to interact with. Most of these characters can be interacted with by everyone regardless of their faction, but there are a couple who are faction-specific. The characters who are seen during and after Corellia are particularly interesting...

Thoughts on 6.0 #6: The Characters, part 2 (Republic)

This is the sixth post in my "Thoughts on 6.0" series. You can read the previous entries here:

1. Gear
2. Crafting Changes
3. Group Content
4. The Locations
5. The Characters, part 1 (Empire)

The Republic forces are essentially the defenders of the expansion, trying to stop the aggressive Empire from crippling its war effort and any necessary reinforcements. There are quite a few returning characters as well as some quite interesting new characters.

Thoughts on 6.0 #5: The Characters, part 1 (Empire)

This is the fifth post in my "Thoughts on 6.0" series. You can read the previous entries here:

1. Gear
2. Crafting Changes
3. Group Content
4. The Locations

Much like any story expansion, Onslaught has provided us with a slew of characters to plot with, contest against, and just have fun chatting with. Some are old, some are new, and two are so obscure you wouldn't believe where they originated from.

Since the Imperials are the aggressors of the expansion, and as their story technically precedes part of the Republic's, I thought it made sense to start with the characters we meet as an Imperial Commander first. The next post will touch on Republic characters and a third post will touch on characters we meet on Onderon, Mek-Sha, and during and after the Objective Meridian Flashpoint.

Throughout these character posts, I will not be referring directly to any story moments since I tend to use a spoiler watershed until a month after an expansion's launch. These next three posts are just generic looks at each of the characters in question.

Thoughts on 6.0 #4: The Locations

This is my fourth post in my "Thoughts on 6.0" series. You can read the other entries here:

1. Gear
2. Crafting Changes
3. Group Content

Onslaught provided two brand-new open world locations to the SWtOR galaxy. Onderon makes its grand return to Star Wars media, having been last seen in The Clone Wars in 2012, and Mek-Sha - similar to Voss, Denova, Seline, Darvannis, Zakuul, Odessen, Vandin, and Iokath - is a BioWare-original addition to the franchise.

Thoughts on 6.0 #3: Group Content

This is the third post in my "Thoughts on 6.0" series. You can read the previous entries here:

1. Gear
2. Crafting Changes

Onslaught was the first expansion since Shadow of Revan to provide both Flashpoint and Operation content at-launch. While Fallen Empire and Eternal Throne would also provide group-content at launch in the respective forms of Star Fortresses and Uprisings, neither of these additions were really satisfactory in comparison to what came before.

Onslaught has also shaken up the traditional "group-content balancing" formula we've been used to since Fallen Empire. Rather than raise all previous Operations and Flashpoints to Level 75, BioWare has left most pre-existing forms of group content at Level 70. The Dxun Operation, the Corellia Flashpoint, and - curiously - the Uprisings are the only pieces of group content scaled to Level 75.

What do these changes mean and how do the new things hold up? 

Thoughts on 6.0 #2: Crafting Changes

This is the second post in my “Thoughts on 6.0” series. You can read the previous entry here:

1.  Gear

The subject of today’s post is the crafting update. Crafting is always an interesting thing to look at with each subsequent expansion to see what’s changing, what crew skills are going to be the most popular, and in general how accessible the new recipes are. 

With Onslaught, crafting has seen a great number of changes which make it one of the most controversial aspects of the expansion thus far.

Thoughts on 6.0 #1: Gear

For the past couple of years I've been occasionally pumping out a series of posts called "The Good, The Bad, and The Eeehhhhhs". These posts looked at three of the most major updates of 5.0's patch-cycle (5.0, 5.2, and 5.10) and listed each of the things that I liked and disliked about them.

I had originally planned to follow suit with a post for 6.0, but upon reviewing the first finished draft, I realised three things. Firstly, I was unhappy with one particular section (which just so happens to be the subject of today's post) and I desired to rewrite it; secondly, there was nothing which I considered on reflection to be 'bad' as a whole (thus negating a third of the title); and thirdly, it was set to be the longest post on the blog and there was still more stuff I likely could find to add.

So instead of following through with that original plan, I decided to nip these issues in the bud and break down the sections into their own individual posts. This also enables me to use these posts for International Picture Posting Month 2019 throughout the entirety of November, whereas otherwise it is entirely possible that I would just make one post on the 22nd of November and attempt to cram in as many images as possible in one go.

I haven't even finished retrieving stills from all the story footage yet.

Further Adventures on the Onslaught PTS

As I was hoping, the PTS was brought online before I had to disappear off across the Atlantic, allowing some time to hop back on and analyse the changes.

Along with reporting on these various changes, there were some inaccuracies in my original post that really needed updating. Granted, some of these were due to updates that were announced or brought in shortly after the post was uploaded but there were some which I had completely the wrong idea about.

I get easily confused by a lot of things these days.

Adventures on the Onslaught PTS: Phase 1.5

With Onslaught due to launch next month (!), BioWare have been providing us with a steady flow of details regarding Classes, their new Abilities, and their various Tacticals and Set Bonus pieces. Last week they opened up the PTS, allowing people to test out the changes for Inquisitors and Warriors, before bringing it down within that same week to prepare for the inclusion of Agents. The PTS is currently open in "phase 1.5" of testing, although it will probably be brought down again next week to prepare for Hunters and phase 2.

I missed the initial batch of testing due to being on holiday, much to my disappointment. I was able to keep up with what people were saying on the testing forums, but both their reports and the official word of BioWare was not enough to really sate my interest. Notably, we knew what the ultimate tiers of the various Set Bonus items were going to be but the lower tiers were still a mystery - BioWare had highlighted that they would mainly be stat boosts and left it at that. Additionally, we didn't know how many of these sets would or wouldn't have six pieces.

Speaking of Set Bonus and Tactical items, the only ones that had been listed were specific to Classes; we'd already been told that there would be several items which everyone could use, but we weren't informed about any of these. Granted, considering the sheer potential of 'generic' items, this is likely because all the options aren't yet finished, but it would still have been interesting to receive official word on those which were ready to go. 

Then what about the Companions? BioWare had been hinting that they'd like to give Companion re-balancing another go, given how lackluster or powerful certain characters are, but there had been no indication of whether or not they'd even started this. 

So, when the PTS came back up on Wednesday, I happily launched myself into it. I'm in the fortunate situation whereby the Classes 'ready' for testing are those which I have the most experience with (sorry, Hunters) so when it came time for BioWare to list all the sets and Tacticals, I already had a good idea in my head of which items I was going to try out.

In this overview, I will also be listing just extremely generic findings as well as Class-specific ones. If you want to know what these are but have no interest in reading about Classes, you need merely look for the screenshots of the Imperial Fleet as that will be the cutoff point for Class details.

Characters I’d Like to See Introduced or Brought Back in Onslaught

Hello again!

The SWtOR community has been buzzing recently about the new details regarding the “play what you want, how you want” gearing system that is Spoils of War. While I, too, have been caught up in the whirlpool of hype (and confusion), I am choosing to wait until we actually get to see this new stuff in-action on the PTS before I offer my thoughts on it here.

Instead today I’m turning my attention to something I care about far more than gear, and that’s the in-game story characters. I’ve been thinking a great deal about who I’d like to see, either brought back or introduced for the first time, on Onderon and Mek-Sha and I just thought “hey, why not make a post about it?”

Obviously, some characters are a given. Darths Krovos and Malgus, Empress Acina, General Daeruun, Jonas Balkar, Major Anri, Moff Pyron, NR-O2, Tau Idair, and Vowrawn are all definitely going to be back in some way or another, either because of their prominence or their popularity. I’m also considering Alec Ranin and Lord Izar from the Hearts and Minds mission to be certainties since the two outreach programs would be well-used at various points in the new story.

I am also not thinking of the remaining missing Companions because 5.0's cycle is still not over and I don't want to include them here just in case BioWare surprise us and they all turn up in 5.10.4.

I doubt it, but I'm sticking to that rule anyway!

Beyond this lot, there are quite a few names (and one concept) I’ve come up with. I don't hope to see all of these characters with the initial launch, but I would certainly like to see them at some point in 6.0's story cycle.

The First 6.0 Details

Another Star Wars: Celebration, another bunch of interesting reveals.

Of course we've had the big reveals of the Episode IX title, the first full details of Jedi: Fallen Order and its hero Cal (no relation), and, by the end of today, more information regarding The Mandalorian and the long-awaited seventh series of The Clone Wars.

However, as glorious as those reveals are, the one which is the most pertinent to this blog is the first official glimpse of the next expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic.