All The Galaxy’s A Stage: My Initial Impressions Of Role-Play Potential In SWTOR

All The Galaxy’s A Stage is a regular column at Ask A Jedi with some lofty, creative goals.  On one hand, we will be discussing and exploring meaningful topics to support the role-play experience and community.  On the other hand, we also want to introduce the casual Role-Player to the writing-acting experience that can add so much more to an MMORPG like Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Share your perspectives and experience as we co-create magical story in that galaxy far, far away!

I’ve had the chance to beta test TOR for a while now, and I thought I’d start off with an article about my initial impressions of RP potential for TOR.

The first thing that jumped out at me when I entered the game was the magniificent ambiance of every environment I stumbled across. Planets in TOR are gorgeous and are dripping with atmosphere. Admittedly, I played a Jedi Sage, and so I spent most of my time on Tython and Coruscant.  But regardless of the planet I really enjoyed the grandeur of the setting from the moment I logged in.

Exploring the environments in the game really did inspire me with the mental imagery for building story. At one point I realized little ideas for story and events were jumping out at me each time I moved into a new area.

As I wandered around it became clear that I would have no end of choice for places to RP. Cantinas are obvious starting points. However, the senate building on Coruscant not only offered a sumptuous setting, but also had the scenery and space. Throw in the ‘political’ backdrop and I can see some great RP scenes in the making there.

The old Galactic Market was definitely worth a visit. But then so was the Jedi temple. I can see Jedi RPers heading there for setting the stage. The temple and surrounding grounds will be a great point for Master-Padawan RP scenes without a doubt. There are wonderful rooms off the beaten track that really add to the feel of it all.  Whether you set a scene in the combat training room, the lecture hall, or train your Padawan amongst others practicing their levitation and Force Lifting skills, you are sure to find the setting you want.

Other planets like Nar Shadaa and Coruscant are filled with much potential.  From shady meetings in the corners of cantinas, to wandering through grafitti and garbage filled streets, and on upwards to the polished and decadent heights, there is no end of ambiance and backdrop to your story.

What’re you lookin’ at? I know what I’m doin’

The decision by BioWare to use social points won during group conversations to buy cosmetic outfits will delight many RPers. I’ve got a feeling that the possibilities of elegant dresses, hats and rugged casual menswear is only the tip of the iceberg. I look forward to sharing the discovery of how broad the social wardrobe actually is. And most interestingly, this system actually provides incentive for RPers to play the game, since you have to group and quest with others to win social points.  For the role-player that likes to avoid questing you may find yourself constrained to get at the nicest attire.  But then the upside to all this is that the story is just so…much…FUN!

I will confess that I discovered the downside of phasing/instancing when trying to get a group together. Phasing divides players across different servers, which reduces lag.  This may mean that depending when you log in or travel to another planet that you may find yourself sitting on a different instance from those you want to RP with.  However, from the RPers point of view I think that we will just work out that we need to move to the same phase that can take us all. But for larger gatherings, or ‘accidentally’ bumping into RP I do see a downside. It is worth bearing in mind though phases only kick in for busy areas.

Your eyes can deceive you; don’t trust them

But any RP review has to consider the downsides. The biggest to my mind is tha lack of being able to interract with the environment. We cannot sit yet (except in the pilot’s chair of our spaceship). This will undoubtedly make it in post-launch, but the early days are going to see a lot of standing, meditating or sitting on the floor. Be warned though that the seated postures also leave quite a lot to be desired. We’ll get by but we’ll rejoice when the ability to sit on chairs is added. And I hope that a Bio tab won’t be long after launch either.

I found a sizeable set of emote menus, but I suspect that those from SWG may be a little underwhelmed.  However, as someone who uses text to emote and finds even the extensive SWG emote library limiting I’ve never been much of an in-game-emoter. But I’m certain there’ll be those that will be left wanting.

Where are you taking this… thing?

Still, the elephant in the room is the absence of the appearence tab. This has a hot topic on the official forums for some time now, and was even covered by Ask A Jedi a while back. In my opinion, while being able to sit on chairs and benches supports the setting of a scene, an appearence tab supports a richer switch between playing the game and roleplaying in the game. And given that many RPers will be questing with groups to win social points and get those nifty casual outfits, I anticipate many RPers will be left wanting for the appearence tab in short order.

Obviously, companions add the potential for a great new dimension in MMO RPing. We have an instant cast of NPCs for events, story and scenes. However, my early experimentation with companion customization left me wanting. Add the lack of appearence tabs for companions and I think RPers will definitely feel the work to prepare for scenes is getting old within a few months.

I had the fortune to RP in LotRO from day one. Yes, sitting in chairs was there close to the start. However, the appearence tab took quite a while to make it in. I am under no illusions; I’ve yet to experience the utopian RP environment in an MMO.  There may be shortcomings for RP potential in TOR but I believe that the main ingredients are there, or will be there soon enough.

The Force is strong with this one

Overall, SWTOR is showing the potential to be a fantastic setting for RP. Given the popularity of the Star Wars genre, as well as the self-professed passion for role play on the part of BioWare team members, I hold out hope that the RP community will fare better than we have with other MMOs.

My conclusion is that this will be a must-play MMO for RPers. There are definitely gaps to be addressed. But we are talking about one of the most epic IPs in the world, set in a graphically stunning world oozing atmosphere, an emphasis on story behind the game’s design to inspire story, all developed by a company that considers themselves RPers and used the emphasis of table-top mechanics from back in the day for many elements of game design. In short, I think you’ll like what you see at launch, but you’ll love what it’ll become in time.

I’ll see you at launch ;)