SW-The Old Republic-Worth it or not...?

[DarthParametric 3,782]

They basically destroyed Crew Skills when they introduced the Cartel Market. All the best stuff comes from packs these days. While you can craft some crystals now that aren't level locked, they are all kind of crap and the material requirements are absolutely ridiculous. It's far easier just to buy them off the GTN. And these days they are pretty affordable (unlike at the start of the CM system, when good crystals would cost millions a pop).

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

I had not been playing SWTOR during my moving process so some of the changed off guard. I'm not a big fan of the old stuff that they archived as it's all in one unorganized folder. However, here are the better of the crystals I could make.

 

Advanced Blue

 

 

with bonuses of +41 to either Critical, Power, or Endurance.

 

 

Advanced Green

 

 

with bonuses of +41 to either Critical, Power, or Endurance.

 

 

Advanced Red

 

 

with bonuses of +41 to either Critical, Power, or Endurance.

 

 

Advanced White-Purple-Blue

 

 

 

with bonuses of +41 to either Critical, Power, Endurance, or Expertise.

 

 

Advanced White-Yellow-Orange

 

 

 

with bonuses of +41 to either Critical, Power, Endurance, or Expertise.

 

I also have the Advanced Magenta Crystals.

 

 

 

However, I don't (currently) have the +41 versions of these. Not yet.

 

If they've added more crystal schematics, I must've missed it.

[djnugent 34]

Yeah, I ended up just buying crystals. Way easier, and there ended up being some REALLY cool ones out there. 

Bought a Purple-blue-white I think - looks a lot like a darker Amethyst color, only really faint on the color. 

 

I still haven't taken any screen shots of my Characters, I'll try to do that soon.

 

Also - KOTFE actually made paying again for the subscription worth it. It's what I was hoping for as far as thought-out Star Wars (story-wise, anyways). Still all hack --> slash --> find button --> queue great cinematic sequence. Good story stuff tho.

 

So...until they release the next chapters...onward with the Swhartz!

[Talyn82 84]

I used to subscribe to the game every six months.  I had fun as a Sith Inquisitor.  My favorite planet is Korriban.  I enjoyed the game but I do not like what they did with Revan and the Exile.  I do not like that they had a canonized gender.  When I play KOTOR I and II both Revan and the Exile are males.  Also I also played a bit of Jedi Guardian and both as a Sith and Jedi, I did not find any references to the TSL characters.  I mean did the Exile not rebuild the Order with the Lost Jedi?  Like I said I enjoyed the game.  I liked that I could play the game single player style since I don't like to socialize and prefer to be by myself.  I never did any of the expansions.  I never met Darth Malgus.  I never met the Sith Emperor, or the Eternal Empire.  So I may or may not one day revisit the game.  I just hope the game does not get canceled.  As in no more MMO.

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

You can do many of the Flash points that have Malgus - but not all of them - solo.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

You should still be able to solo all the Malgus flashpoints I thought. What ones can you not?

1 hour ago, Talyn82 said:

the Eternal Empire

You aren't missing much, to be honest. The whole KOTFE/KOTET thing completely retcons the original TOR story and the second half of it ended up being gutted because everyone hated it and the way they were slowly doling it out in small chunks. It turns out was based on some guy's tabletop campaign and they just shoehorned it into TOR.

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

Well as far as solo, I found Red Reaper and Athiss near impossible.  It may just be that I suck. YMMV

[DarthParametric 3,782]

1 minute ago, Sith Holocron said:

Well as far as solo, I found Red Reaper and Athiss near impossible.  It may just be that I suck. YMMV

Neither of which feature Malgus, as I recall.

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

He's in the briefings for the DS playthrough.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

Lol yeah well if that's your measure you'd basically have to play every flashpoint up to pre-Illum just to get 30 seconds of him.

@Talyn82: You can just watch it all on Youtube. That should stick around even after EA inevitably pull the plug.

[Talyn82 84]

5 hours ago, DarthParametric said:

Lol yeah well if that's your measure you'd basically have to play every flashpoint up to pre-Illum just to get 30 seconds of him.

@Talyn82: You can just watch it all on Youtube. That should stick around even after EA inevitably pull the plug.

Yes, I will check it out on YouTube.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

I'd do that for the flashpoints, because frankly they are just a tedious slog. But some of the class stories are worth playing through yourself. Even with all the free-to-play restrictions it's still doable, and you can't really complain about the price.

[Talyn82 84]

3 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

I'd do that for the flashpoints, because frankly they are just a tedious slog. But some of the class stories are worth playing through yourself. Even with all the free-to-play restrictions it's still doable, and you can't really complain about the price.

Yes, the price is affordable and I did enjoy the  Sith Inquisitor storyline.  I also enjoyed Korriban which is my favorite planet since the original KOTOR.  But maybe I'll subscribe for another six month package since It's a deal, and I like to have access to as much content as possible.  Which is why I'll pay.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

If you have already been a sub, you'll revert to being Preferred once it runs out. That should be fine for the class stories. The only two things that really put a damper on it is the credit cap and the character cap. You can buy more character slots, but if you want to buy them through the GTN with in-game credits you'll typically need multiple millions per unlock, which is not possible to have on-hand as a non-sub. However since the change to Legacy credit storage, you can kind of side-step it that way if you know a sub that can buy things for you by proxy. Or otherwise sub for a month and buy a bunch of unlocks during that time. You can easily grind through various dailies and so forth to earn a bunch of credits in short order.

Also, if you haven't already you should add a key to your account. It will give you free monthly Cartel Coins, even when not subbed. You can use the Google Authenticator app on your phone, or you can use something like WinAuth on the desktop.

[Talyn82 84]

2 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

If you have already been a sub, you'll revert to being Preferred once it runs out. That should be fine for the class stories. The only two things that really put a damper on it is the credit cap and the character cap. You can buy more character slots, but if you want to buy them through the GTN with in-game credits you'll typically need multiple millions per unlock, which is not possible to have on-hand as a non-sub. However since the change to Legacy credit storage, you can kind of side-step it that way if you know a sub that can buy things for you by proxy. Or otherwise sub for a month and buy a bunch of unlocks during that time. You can easily grind through various dailies and so forth to earn a bunch of credits in short order.

Also, if you haven't already you should add a key to your account. It will give you free monthly Cartel Coins, even when not subbed. You can use the Google Authenticator app on your phone, or you can use something like WinAuth on the desktop.

I did not know any of that.  I do not know how many credits my character has as of date.  I will check once I subscribe,  I also did not know about the authentication key and it's benefits.  The last time I played I was on Hoth and getting my ass kicked by a creature.  I forgot who my companion was.  Talking about companions I wish you could upgrade their equipment by giving them different arms and armor.  I read on the official forum there is no benefit to that anymore.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

With F2P, I think the credit cap is something like 150,000. For Preferred, 350,000. Once you hit the cap, any excess credits get put into escrow, where you can't access them until you resub (unless you buy an escrow transfer). If you have Legacy vault in your ship or in your Stronghold, you can deposit money into a Legacy bank account. I would advise doing this when you approach the cap rather than letting the money go into escrow. You can always draw money back out of the Legacy bank (although still subject to the credit caps). That's why I mentioned buying things through a proxy. You could pay them back in instalments via withdrawals from the Legacy bank.

Companions now only have cosmetic equipment. You can give them whatever you want without worrying about it. It makes life a hell of a lot easier for non-subs. In the old days you'd not only have to constantly upgrade your own gear, but also your companion's. And that was back in the main stat days, when every class and companion used different main stats like Strength, Cunning, Aim, etc. To be honest this is one case of streamlining I can get behind.

 

[Talyn82 84]

About the Legacy bank I did not know any of that.  I will do as you say.  As for equipping one's companions.  I guess your right, I'm just used to equipping companions due to all the rpg's I've played over the years.  But yes, I can see how that can be a hassle.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

To get the best out of any gear it needs to be moddable. That means most pieces require an armouring, mod, and enhancement. When companions were gear reliant, that meant doubling the burden. And that also typically meant leaving them with one set of gear and just upgrading the mods. Now you can play dressups to your hearts content. And you don't have to worry when suddenly a story forces you to use a certain companion for one mission. That was always painful under the original mechanics.

[Talyn82 84]

3 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

To get the best out of any gear it needs to be moddable. That means most pieces require an armouring, mod, and enhancement. When companions were gear reliant, that meant doubling the burden. And that also typically meant leaving them with one set of gear and just upgrading the mods. Now you can play dressups to your hearts content. And you don't have to worry when suddenly a story forces you to use a certain companion for one mission. That was always painful under the original mechanics.

Oh I did not know that.  I was just going by the many complaint threads that were on the SWTOR site at the time.  I've only tried dressing them up once and it was the Twi'lek Vette I think when I played briefly as a Sith Marauder. 

[HK-47 84]

I'm still subbed to SWTOR. Have been since early access. The complaints on the forums are like they've pretty much always been: mostly folks that don't know what they really want or need, nor understand what it takes to make those things.

To me it's been worth it. I'm a single player person myself, and while I enjoy group stuff, I love the nice balance between the two. I play STO as well, and while I like the F2P model of that game, the rest doesn't even compare to SWTOR. STO doesn't keep me engaged for more than a few minuets if there's an event. SWTOR on the other hand can keep me engaged for hours every day.

Your questions about the Exile are kind of answered in the Revan novel. And the Exile being female was confirmed two years before SWTOR was started up, same with Revan.

[Talyn82 84]

On 8/31/2018 at 3:53 AM, HK-47 said:

I'm still subbed to SWTOR. Have been since early access. The complaints on the forums are like they've pretty much always been: mostly folks that don't know what they really want or need, nor understand what it takes to make those things.

To me it's been worth it. I'm a single player person myself, and while I enjoy group stuff, I love the nice balance between the two. I play STO as well, and while I like the F2P model of that game, the rest doesn't even compare to SWTOR. STO doesn't keep me engaged for more than a few minuets if there's an event. SWTOR on the other hand can keep me engaged for hours every day.

Your questions about the Exile are kind of answered in the Revan novel. And the Exile being female was confirmed two years before SWTOR was started up, same with Revan.

See I never read the book.  I just assumed it was SWTOR that canonized them.  Since it's the latest in the series.  But aside from that I will resubscribe soon and continue from where I left off.  The last time I played I was level 63 and on Hoth as a Sith lightning Sorceror.  Maybe I will also try my Jedi Knight, the last time I played him he was still on the starter world. 

I have a question for the lore experts.  Is Satele Shan a descendant of both Bastila and Revan?  Or is she not related at all?  I know Revan left to the unknown regions pretty quickly but he still had plenty of time to conceive a child.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

Yes, Satele is Bastila and Revan's descendant. This is acknowledged directly in-game in one of the later expansions.

[HK-47 84]

That and novel also talks about Bastila and her child (son I think). K2 can give the impression that Revan immediately left for the Unknown Regions, but really, there's nothing to indicate that. And the Knight story is the continuation of the whole Revan story (from the standpoint of what happened when he came across the emperor at the end of the Mandalorian War in the Unknown Regions). That story goes K1 -> K2 -> Novel -> Knight story (with Taral V and Maelstrom Prison flash points Pub side -> Boarding Party and The Foundry flash points Imp side before or after Chapter 2)-> the rest of SWTOR to KotET end (doesn't matter if anyone didn't like the story, that's the story).

[Talyn82 84]

56 minutes ago, HK-47 said:

That and novel also talks about Bastila and her child (son I think). K2 can give the impression that Revan immediately left for the Unknown Regions, but really, there's nothing to indicate that. And the Knight story is the continuation of the whole Revan story (from the standpoint of what happened when he came across the emperor at the end of the Mandalorian War in the Unknown Regions). That story goes K1 -> K2 -> Novel -> Knight story (with Taral V and Maelstrom Prison flash points Pub side -> Boarding Party and The Foundry flash points Imp side before or after Chapter 2)-> the rest of SWTOR to KotET end (doesn't matter if anyone didn't like the story, that's the story).

Once again thanks for the reply.  I will check it out when I resub.

[Talyn82 84]

1 hour ago, DarthParametric said:

Yes, Satele is Bastila and Revan's descendant. This is acknowledged directly in-game in one of the later expansions.

I knew Revan and Bastila must've had a child.  I don't know how but I think she said so in the hologram T3M4 plays for the exile.  I don't remember.