Yesterday those of us who were not lucky enough to get to E3 were treated to a live stream demo of SWTOR with Daniel Erickson, Lead Writer for the upcoming MMO. He played a level 26 Rattataki Bounty Hunter, showing us the second to last planet in Chapter 1 of the player's story arc.
It was explained during the stream that graphics were low to make streaming easier. Even with the lower settings the game looked fine. We saw that SWTOR still has several bugs that need to be addressed, but the game itself is currently playable.
Daniel explained to us how the Rattataki race and the GUI had been redone, and gave answers fielded by community members who were watching the stream. As a special treat for E3, we were shown a BH companion, Blizz the Jawa. Apparently from other interviews it's been explained that Bounty Hunters will add Blizz to their companion crew on Hoth later in the game. He was added early just to show at E3.
We got to see the map, and quest objective interface, as well as character screens and inventory. Inventory can be expanded by purchasing new slots, there wouldn't be bags that we would need to equip. Also it was explained that quest items would have their own section in the inventory window, that would grow as needed without costing anything.
We got to see planet transportation. Even though there are currently a few bugs with speeders we were told that as of right now they are available around level 25, and there are different speeds and styles of speeders. Also it was hinted that you would be able to "steal" opposing faction speeders.
After the audience was treated to seeing a small cut scene, with a choice between letting a dying Sith lord live or die, Daniel rode around the planet showing off the death system and scenery while he answered more questions.
Overall it's obvious that the game still needs work but it is beginning to actually look like an MMO now. While I watched I enjoyed what I saw, while it reminded me of that other Star Wars MMO out there, it was obvious that it was different.
This being said I wish we could've seen more of the actual game play instead of just riding around looking at scenery. In 45 minutes we only saw 1 quest get picked up and another quest get discovered while we were out in the world. I enjoyed listening to Daniel while he played giving insight into some of the issues that we were seeing.
Overall, the live demo left me wanting more. I find myself wanting the game out now so I can experience the it for myself. Watching previous flashpoint demos it looked as though the game was polished and close to being releasable, but it's obvious that there are still some issues that need to be worked out before we can all get our hands on a copy. But I'm prepared to wait and let Bioware release a product that is up to their standards. Now I just have to figure out what character I really want to make first because this video made Bounty Hunter look appealing.
To view the demo yourself, it can be found here
~Oria
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