Thread: Your thoughts on the Beta?

I started to ask questions in the chat box about you guys' beta experience (as I am ordering my internet today, still not sure if I'll be capable in time to get in on a test), then realized it would be far more beneficial to just start a thread on it. Now that the NDA is expired, lets delve into some details, gentlemen.

Was it everything you hoped it would be? Pros / Cons? Anything you could see that you hope is fixed prior to launch?

Its an amazing game. I spent most of my beta time testing all the different classes, playing with all the different creation options, and making sure that I know what I want come launch time. I tried all the starting zones and tried not to go too far as I dont want to spoil anything come launch. I learned I do not like the Smuggler/Agent classes, the Warrior/Knight classes did not entertain me much either...however, I fell in love with the Bounty Hunter and Inquisitor classes and am sticking to my plan to roll a BH main with Inquis alt. This game is truely a top notch gaming adventure, the story line interaction, the combat system, and the graphics make this top notch. Im super exited for launch, I am also interested to see what Rayden has to say...I have a feeling he missed out on some sleep this weekend.

Heh, I put in around 30 hours so far this weekend, and considering the beta still runs for another 13hours, I have another sesssion planned for tonight.

I've been playing mmo's for almost 13 years now, I've been lucky enough to betatest most of the big titles. I think I can honestly say this was the smoothest beta I have ever seen.

The servers truly got hammerd, and I spend 40 minutes in a que at some point. Yet once ingame, I haven't noticed any lag what so ever. My client didn't crash once, my cousin experienced 1 client crash during the entire weekend.

The game runs extremely well on my desktop, with all graphic settings to high and a 1680x1050 resolution.
- Q6600 4-cores@2,4Ghz, 6GB ram, GTX275.
The game runs quite poorly on my laptop. Even at lowest settings and a 800x600 resolution.
- AMD TL-62 2-cores@2,1Ghz, 3GB ram, 8600M GS.

I expected better performance on the laptop to be honest, since the game only requires a dualcore@2.0Ghz, 2GB ram and can work on an onboard gpu.
I noticed some improvements after overclocking my cpu to 2.4Ghz, and the game became more playable then, so I'd say that's the minimum speed you need when running an AMD cpu, you probably can get away with a 2.0Ghz Intel cpu.

Ok, moving on..

Once ingame, I was actually very disapointed by the character creator. You only have 4 body types (short/slim, normal, big/muscular and big/fat). No options to adjust the height or body/muscle volume.
It also offers a bunch of preset faces, with zero options to edit the face (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, ...)
The hair and facial hair options are fairly standard like most rpg's.
All in all, I was unable to make the characters look like I really wanted.
Yes, you have a lot more options compared to a game like WoW, but if you look at City of Heroes, Champions Online, Matrix Online,..., it feels limited. I expected more from a Bioware game.

I've tried 3 classes, I don't want to level up to far as to not spoil retail.
A human jedi knight up to level 8.
A sith sith warrior up untill level 14.
A human republic trooper till level 8.
A cyborg imperial agent till level 3.

The storyline is excellent, the missions are fun, the conversations with npc's are awesome..
You start out feeling like a powerfull character right away, cutting through entire packs of enemy's yet some fights remain a real challenge. The difficulty is just perfect imo.

The Jedi Knight is a very fun character to play and will surely make it into retail for me. This is KOTOR gameplay at it's finest and feels very familiar. I asume it will only get better once you actually get a lightsaber and learn some more forcepowers.

The Sith Warrior was just... wow... the storyline is amazing, and totally pulled me into this class. The gameplay itself is a direct copy from the jedi knight, with the same skills even, just some different animations and names. But that storyline.... the view of Korriban... the dark side choices, seriously..
I never even considered this class before as I've always played a good guy, but both me and my cousin will be rolling a sith warrior in retail. I played this character more then my jedi, so I did make it past the first starter planet, and I did get my lightsaber. I've played star wars games before, and I've 'owned' lightsabers before, but once my sith warrior got his first lightsaber I totally went "HELL YEAH BITCHES!!" The already fun and rewarding combat becomes even more fun when wielding a lightsaber.

I've done 1 flashpoint, the black talon one, and again.... wow.. yes, it's a dungeon like in any other mmo, but the conversations and choices you are offered really make a difference that can change the entire storyline.

Ok, so the trooper.. I just wanted to take a quick look at the trooper. I mean.. who wants to play a soldier when you can play a jedi?
Well, after a few levels, I do...
Once again, the starting area and storyline were amazing. The trooper is also very, very, very satisfying to play. "Speak Softly, and Carry a Big Stick" really fits in here. The firefights are very fun and rewarding, and really make you feel like a special forces operator. Once again, a class I will carry over into retail.

I made a quick run as imperial agent, and the cover system they use seems interesting. Storyline and starting area also look very promosing.
I'll check out this class in retail.

So that's about it, overall the game is amazing. Bioware did an amazing job on this one, and I know it will keep me busy for a long long time.
The only drawbacks would be the limited character editor, and the pre-order color crystal. I was under the impression that the crystal would allow you to change the color to whatever you wanted, but instead it turns your lightsaber into a black beam with a golden glow.(image)

Thanks for the write-up, Rayden. It quelled some worries of mine, as well as got me really pumped to try the game. I'm really hoping I'll still be able to get in using one of the two beta invites I was sent, however it 'might' be too late for me. Either way, 12-20-11 is only getting closer and closer

So tonight I've been playing some more on my Jedi. I finished the starter world and moved up the ranks from Padawan to Knight. I was also able to build my first lightsaber. Like with the sith warrior, the combat turned from cool to awesome.
I continued along the main class storyline for a few hours, as it took me to Coruscant and I really wanted to take a look at that. And once again, I was in total awe. The city looks and feels amazing.
After a few missions, you are granted another companion (you leave the starter planet with your first one), which once again totally changes gameplay. While these companions are no replacements for human players, they are perfect for players like myself who love to solo most of the time.
One thing I did notice is that you can not just focus on your class storyline. If you don't take any sidequests, you are outleveled pretty fast. After only doing 4 or 5 missions, my last mission put me against a level 16 elite, while I was only level 12... Had to bring in another player to deal with that one.

Then I got my spaceship... Again, it feels very similar to Kotor. If you loved the Ebon Hawk, you'll feel right at home.
Space combat feels very familiar as well, as it's basicly a shooter on rails. Your ship is being flown by a droid, and you handle the shooting, firing turbolasers and rockets.

Once I got the ship, and after I did my first space combat mission, I decided to leave it at that and close the client. I have been able to test and see what I wanted to during this weekend, and I'm very exited for retail. This is the perfect game for any Star Wars fan, a rocksolid mmo, and a worthy successor to the Kotor series.

Good deal man, I wish I had played more this weekend...I just dont want to ruin anything for launch. I used my 2 beta tests weekends to get an idea of what I really wanted to be and left it at that.

Does it give you an idea of a good level to take the quest at such as in other games (color coded in terms of what you should hold off until later)?

Erm, I have no idea.. actually..

On a sidenote, I got myself a new laptop today, so I'm ready to go.

Originally Posted by jd-inflames

Does it give you an idea of a good level to take the quest at such as in other games (color coded in terms of what you should hold off until later)?

Yes! Each quest is labeled with a specific level and a color. Red, Yellow or Green. Each quest is displayed on the mini map EXACTLY though sometimes the range for things can be quite large or things can be on different heights but it kinda kills the need for any kind of quest helper addition. Everywhere you go on the map you can clearly make out where your quests are supposed to be.

Good deal. So the quest log itself is set up like WoW or EQ2. Always good to hear