24/06/2015

Accompanying Personnel: Companions I'd choose to keep

So Knights of the Fallen Empire has had a lot of questions being asked about it, particularly focusing on how Companions will be handled. Transpires that our own personal roster of Companions shall be permanently affected in some form or another; not only do we need to forage for various Companions but the implication seems to be that we can choose to not recruit a certain character; indeed, a further indication is that we can recruit or even kill a Companion belonging to another Class.

I'm reserving judgement on this last point, because I for one enjoy the diversity of the Class Companions. Whilst some are extremely difficult to work with - just try getting Ashara to like a Dark-Side Inquisitor - and some are just unpleasant - a certain Houk comes to mind - I enjoy having to spend time analysing their characters and what they like/dislike in the long run and having to adapt accordingly. I can understand the appeal for picking-and-choosing, however.

In spite of my attitude towards the matter, the question definitely rears its head; if you could choose which Companions could accompany you into the future, who would you choose? For this, I will be approaching it from the perspective of the original classes and not from the perspective of a future "potential owner", if you will.

The Companions listed, I must point out beforehand, are those which I would hold on as tightly as possible to rather than a complete list of those I could "bear to keep around". You'll notice that not a single Agent Companion makes this list, for example.

18/06/2015

Decorations which I would like to see

So after a hilariously badly-timed post on my part reinforced the fact that I like to constantly get ahead of myself on certain matters, I'm going to be trying to keep away from analysis and/or prediction posts for the time being.

So for the first time in a long time I'm returning once more to Strongholds, focusing on the various Decoration Themes which I'd like to see either expanded upon, if they're in the game already, or those which will be brand new added into the game in future.

15/06/2015

Cascaded Imperial Chivalry

Knights of the Fallen Empire has received a great deal of much-deserved attention from virtually all quarters.

Indeed, it's safe to say that it has received much better attention and to some extent publicity than Shadow of Revan, which was pitched as "the" big thing for SWTOR. This completely free update has received a fully-animated CGI Trailer rather than using the in-game engine to render cutscenes for trailers as what happened with Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan. A full-CG animation hasn't been done for this game since the brief HK-51 Reveal back in 2012, which even then was under a minute and just a teaser, and it's excellent to see another CG trailer even if it's still strange knowing that a free update received one whilst the two paid full expansions did not.

Some information was, as many know by now, leaked accidentally on Saturday but I decided to hold off on presenting my thoughts until the announcement was officially broadcast.

The full trailer can be viewed here, you can read the press release yourself here, and a Developer Blog update detailing more about the update, including the new Level Cap of 65, here.

09/06/2015

Living the Night Away

A brief post on this, because I don't have all that much to say about the Event that hasn't already been said elsewhere.

It's hard to say whether the Nightlife Event is one to be recommended.

If you missed out on it last year or still have things to do, such as winning that Rancor or blowing up a Slot Machine, then I'd definitely say that it should be given a chance. For everyone else, though?

Seeing as there hasn't been anything new announced this year - it would be nice if we got some Decorations, but a non-functional Kingpin's Bounty Slot Machine is the only thing I can think of - included either in the drops or on the vendor, there really doesn't seem to be all that much "replay value" to this Event once everything is said and done.

I will say that it is nice to get a recurring Event that lasts for more than a week, as this does last until August the 25th, and it's a shame that we don't get more "interactive" Events with more-than-standard longevity, even if it is only for a second week like the Gree Event recently was due to a Conquest Glitch. It is indeed Conquest itself which would annoyingly negate the possibility of such an occurrence.

If you do wish to indulge in credit-gambling, I can point you to a lovely little spot away from the main Casinos themselves which offer Slots and should be substantially less crowded; the two Barges on the Lower Promenade offer a couple of rows of the machines. You'd be unable to sit in the middle of four machines and click to your heart's content as you can in the Casinos, but the comparative tranquillity is a good compromise, in my opinion.

03/06/2015

Potential for Future Species in SWTOR

So today is the Stream which shows off which many people have been hoping to see for many months; the first player-created and controlled Togruta. The Togruta are only the second of two species added to the game post-launch for players to create, the other being Cathar.

With this in mind, I have decided to look at what other species would be an interesting addition to the game in general, and which species would be the most likely to become playable, based on popularity or prominence in Star Wars lore itself or whether any similar species have already become so.

01/06/2015

Galactic Accomplishment: 5 of the Most Annoying Achievements

Achievements are actually a fairly large part of the game now. Every planet, Flashpoint, Event, and PvP eight-player Scenario has its own slew of Achievements for doing the most humdrum and staple of things to doing the most ridiculous of things. For example, those eligible can get an Achievement for killing 500 Players whilst partying with your Party Jawa, which is absolutely hilarious.

As the final part of the second phase of "SWTOR Analysis", I will look over which Achievements can be gained by absolutely everyone in the game at present - bypassing those Party Jawas and notably Sharp Dresser, both of which require items no-longer obtainable by new players - are the most annoying and aggravating to complete for whatever reason.