51

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Here's my first Fraps video. It's my ace blasting Tier 1's in an asteroid field in the Tatoo system, the planet swinging around in the background is Tatooine. I thing the player-on-board (POB) ships, on which up to 10 people can walk around, man turrets, pilot, co-pilot and repair are even more impressive, but as you can see, starfighters can be a lot of fun too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3kud17kFtw

52

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

It was one night, in several cantinas. A crawl event.

There was star warsy music played by ents. If you want to listen to your own music while playing, you can just not /listen the ents.

Ent groups get in synch by using /bandflourish, which makes them all do the same flourish at the same time. Not sure if there's a way to synch to the music, or if it happens automatically, always seemed close enough for me.

There are 8 flourishes you can perform for each song and each dance, I don't remember how many songs and dances. Oh, and different ones for all the instruments. Lots of animations anyway. Non-ents can play one instrument and do one dance. My engineer did both that night.

As for the experience, it wasn't as fast-paced and intense as in the edited video, mostly people just dancing and playing and chatting. Was more about the socializing and meeting new people.

A guildie made the video, don't know how hard it was. She just said it took her a week to pick the song. If she's a real girl I guess it can't be that hard. I think she mentioned Fraps for the recording?

53

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Here's one from the Chimaera Cantina Crawl III:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tXmXl6azGOw

About a fifth of the people are from my guild, and the Yellow Twi'lek is my engineer.

OOC of course.

54

(24 replies, posted in Steambaths)

I see a lot of important people aren't participating yet so I've decided to help them along.

Ken would obviously be green, I'm sure anyone who remembers him from Seed would have to agree. Any other color just wouldn't feel right. He would be an Autobot, as I believe deep down he is a good person, despite his gruff manner. He could transform into a garbage truck to symbolize his grim outlook on life.

Norah would be a Decepticon, a cold machine of destruction turned bitter by her hopeless love for a certain handsome Autobot. I think black and white would be her colors, and she could turn into a gun turret. I was thinking jet fighter before, but I think Decepticons have a lot of those already so she prolly wouldn't go for that.

55

(10 replies, posted in Steambaths)

Hah! I missed this whole thread. Cool, thanks!

56

(24 replies, posted in Steambaths)

Speaking of manrobots, there don't seem to be any feminine robots in the canon, at least I haven't come across any. How would everyone feel about feminine Transformers ingame? Should they be allowed? Of course, robots are genderless, but the voices and behaviours of the ones in the animated series seem more masculine to me than feminine. Yet there should be no technological obstacles in creating more feminine voice boxes and behavioural subroutines.

57

(24 replies, posted in Steambaths)

I think if there would be PvP it would be unbalanced due to the numbers we're seeing here, so it might make sense that the only playable side at launch would be Autobot. That way we'd also get more content as the developers wouldn't have to invest effort in making decepticon missions.

58

(24 replies, posted in Steambaths)

I think Esme would do well as an Autobot, maybe one that turns into one of those red Minis, the little cars. Then if one of us could turn into a truck you could ride in them and emerge to take the decepticons by surprise.

59

(5 replies, posted in EVE Online)

I can't log in either since I quit a month or two ago.

http://static.dropline.net/cats/images/puzzled-kitty.jpg

61

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Sizzling Summer Crawl video:

http://static.filefront.com/ffv6/player … orun=false

(Another reason to like ents. Warning: may contain computer-animated babes of various sentient species.)

62

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Ah, yeah, it starts and stops, that must be part of why I noticed it. Triggered by combat, points of interest, and landing from shuttle/ship? Oh, and my favourite, sunrise.

63

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

37. The Music - I almost forgot about this, as I don't usually pay much attention to music. But in this game the music is just something else. It's by a real symphony orchestra, all grand and massive, with different sets for combat and each planet. An awesome mood setter. There is also the obscure Star Wars music that entertainers can play, and some unique tunes NPCs play in certain areas, like in Jabba's Palace.

64

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Oh, and I joined a guild! SEA. The people who own and run Outmian Yakta. Great RPers, but also OOCers to help me grind and get rich. big_smile

65

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Maybe you should suggest a bill to designate a RP server when the free character transfers come. smile

I wouldn't change to an american server, though. Lag could be bad for the action combat, and the people would be asleep when I would be playing.

66

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

Americans RP too, on Sunrunner and Starsider mostly. I think the event is on Sunrunner just because the RP senator has her assets there.

67

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

An event by our RP senator takes place on Sunday, on the Sunrunner server. It's a cross-server event, so there'll probably be people handing out credits for clothes and such.

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/post … _id=433741

68

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

It starts at 8pm UK time (though there will be people gathering before that) and goes on late into the night. I hope you can make it at some point. smile

69

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

I'd also like to point out that tomorrow (Tuesday) is cantina night again in Outmian Yakta! Nobody miss it.

70

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

F. Credit spammers - This was mentioned in con A but I remember Norah said on IRC that it should be listed, so I'll give it a whole point of it's own. SWG is a big, well-established game and as such full of potential customers for people selling in-game currency, items and leveling services. This means the sellers of such merchandize will be trying to find ways to advertise ingame. They do this by placing characters in Mos Eisley and spamming away. Luckily there are ways to avoid having to see this, the most obvious, of course, being staying the hell out of Mos Eisley. When you have to go there, make sure you have AFK chat blocked in the chat options, and then just /addignore whomever you see spamming. I usually just have to /addignore one person per visit, which doesn't hurt my gaming experience all that much.

71

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

The long-awaited list of cons of SWG is here. Just a few things I've thought up, and what others have mentioned.

A. Trial chat limit - 400 characters per 15 minutes. The workaround is using tells or groupchat, and the player senate is debating different solutions for the credit spammer problem soon, if they haven't already. Still is an issue for RPers, in it's current state.

B. Grindy combat missions - When you solo missions they tend to be boring, even though the combat system in itself is fast, fun and intense. It does get a lot more fun in groups, though, so find players of your level to adventure with. It is also very easy for a higher CL player to powerlevel you if they're in love with you or something and don't mind taking the time. Personally, I think you should go to space as soon as you figure out how to put a decent ship together, as space combat is a bit more fun solo, and gives decent ground xp if you're low CL.

C. Roleplay is hidden away - Not hard to get into, you just have to find it. Also quieter in the summer. Don't expect everyone with a RP tag to be IC and good RPers, there are just too many of them for that to be true. You can usually find RP in Outmian Yakta and the RP guilds, or set something up OOC on the RP chat channel. This is an important thing. Make a new chat tab and type "/chatr join chat.RP". The channel is where RPers meet OOC, aside from the forums.

D. There is a learning curve - With a lot of depth comes a lot of learning. Take your time and study things you want to try out, or just jump right into it, as long as you don't complain when things don't work out at once. It's not a Fisher Price toy like some people claimed after NGE. The ground combat system is also different from most MMO's, a lot faster, and the controls are different. Make sure to turn auto-aiming on in the options. PvE difficulty has been recently increased across the board, too, and even veteran players are finding it challenging again. Space is a different game alltogether, more akin to space flyers than any MMO's in terms of controls, but also sports the awe-inspiring depth of other aspects of SWG. I can answer questions ingame, on IRC, in this thread or via PM if you want, but the best way to get the whole picture is to read some guides on the forums.

E. Bugs - Yes, there are some in every MMO, and SWG isn't an exception. As always, the community exaggerates the relative amount of these bugs, but there are still a few quite pesky ones I've come across since my return, like getting stuck under terrain, being unable to trade for a while and someone's avatar displaying different clothing/armor than he was actually wearing. If you face a bug you can't work around, submit a ticket and the GM's will help you out very quickly.

72

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

<insert obvious dark side joke which I'm too tired to come up with>

Let me know if you need help with anything. Go to Outmian Yakta, Tatooine.

Useful URLs:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/post … _id=247990 - Tons of game guide links in one thread
http://www.oekevo.org/expertisecalculator/ - Expertise calculator (check this out before you hit level 10)
http://www.chimaera-european.org/wiki/i … =Main_Page - RP community wiki
http://chimaerarp.obloxfiles.co.uk/index.php - RP community forum

73

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

More random thoughts on professions:

I'm trying jedi at the moment in an effort to make rising through the final 5 combat levels more fun and effortless. They seem to have a lot of neat tricks and fun gameplay, but I think I'll be returning to smuggler when I hit CL90. Smugglers might be hard to play, but they get the hidden padding line that boosts unarmored resistances by up to 4000, which is excellent for a wookiee (our armor looks pretty dumb....but nothing compared to jedi robes on a wookiee of course) and any roleplayer who might find himself in a combat situation without warning. Also there is the fact that I can use my melee specials unarmed - a nasty surprise for an opponent in any surprise RP duel for sure (thou shalt not upset teh wookeh). Emote fights are of course preferred, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared in case someone wants to see if I can back it up. A smuggler can score insane criticals, I mean really insane - they've been reported as high as 15k - something that captures the feel of being torn apart by an angry wookiee rather well. I also miss my ability to fence items where ever I want. Particularly as a jedi - being unable to wear backpacks with armor - the inventory slots fill up very quickly when killing things.

Playing jedi has that Jedi Academy feel to it, though, you know, adventuring through the galaxy, cutting through enemies with your lightsaber of awesome+3 and magical prowess. It's all OOC, but fun and immersive nonetheless. The neat tricks I mentioned in passing would be pretty much all jedi specials. You've got your force run, force cloak, mind trick, saber throw, force lightning, saber block....all kinds of fun. I bet a master+padawan duo could have tons of fun RPing the grand adventure too, but that's not what I have in mind for my current character.

Something I'd like to try later on is bounty hunting. As I mentioned on IRC a couple of times, free character transfers are coming, and I might be bringing over my Rodian from another galaxy. This would be my bounty hunter. I'm sure he'd look just liquid awesome in full assault armor, and is just the right type of character for it. It doesn't matter if he goes down like a little bitch when unarmored since he's just a scrawny little bug. I don't even need to be able to melee with him. Also the vicious way thinking that is required for the job is present in him, and rodians have an extensive tradition for hunting all things.

However, I would like to preserve the option for exploring the crafting side of the game with a RP character, and to place my own vendors at some point. I even have a nice RP idea for Trobi, which I'd like to try out before I delete him. I don't particularly fancy the idea of leveling another combat toon through the vet noob levels right after Drrlirarl, either, though I'm leaving the door open for that - who knows, it might be crazy fun as a bounty hunter.

74

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

They don't think you're a bot, they just had to set the limit low enough so the spammers can't get out too much text and ruin the game for everyone. It think it's because SWG is big. More players attract more sellers. I heard WoW has a problem with these kinds of spammers, and I'm sure many other big games do too, or will when they get old enough for the gold farmers to move in. At least it's been resolved in SWG.

I believe others run into the chat limit too, not just RPers. People trying to learn about the game systems from others or just talking about how the game feels get just as much chat out, but since most game devs/GM's really don't care about RP it's easy for a RPer to feel specifically victimized.

SWG isn't like that. It keeps getting more and more RP-friendly content, and there even is a roleplay senator on the player senate. There aren't ones for other playing styles, just one for each prof, neutral ones and then the RP one right beside them.

75

(58 replies, posted in Games Discussion)

RPers use trial accounts for plot alts all the time in MMO's, and if it's either adding an apostrophe to their name or paying 15 bucks for the next month, some would choose the prior, I'm sure. If you don't use your character skills, you don't lose anything when you reroll.

Anyway, the reason has been confirmed to be the credit spammers that were a real problem before this limit, now you only see them in Mos Eisley. It's a feature I very much support as a paying subscriber, as it solves the issue without taking away any of the customer service I pay for.

For the trialers: The limit is 400 characters per 15 minutes. After that you can make a group or RP in PM's until you can chat again.