Jan 15, 2012

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Blue Milk & Cereal: Should You Be Allowed To Switch Your Advanced Class?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

I’m almost afraid to do this one.

Hot on the heels of our dual-spec discussion last week, we have an equally, if not more controversial topic up for internet fisticuffs: the ability to switch Advanced Classes. Now that the game has been out nearly a month, players have a much better perspective on how the game plays, how the classes are designed and itemized, and how the content wraps around all of that. I thought it would be a good time to take the temperature of the community on this topic again. Let’s see if I’m crazy.

Some of the fuel for the controversy is that the design decision itself has never been set in stone, at least in public. When I talked to James Ohlen back at PAX East, he explained that they have the tech to allow switching, and painted the picture for any one of 3 scenarios at launch: no switching at all, prohibitively expensive to switch, or easy to switch often. As we know now, they decided to ship the game without this ability. However, that has not stopped the discussion surrounding the topic.

To be honest, I think BioWare ignited the controversy themselves with their naming of the systems. I’m surprised BioWare didn’t call the classes “Stories” instead. I mean, this completely meshes with their modus operandi as a storytelling studio and would more accurately reflect what you’re actually choosing at the time of character creation. If classes were labeled stories, and Advanced Classes were labeled classes, I think this whole kerfuffle wouldn’t even exist.

My take on it? No. Players should not be allowed to switch Advanced Classes. Here’s why.

In traditional class-based systems, classes are defined by a set of conditions and constraints assigned to a given character. These classes are then differentiated by the ability to:

  • Wield different weapons
  • Wear different armor
  • Use different abilities
  • Perform different roles

All of these attributes are found in the Advanced Class system of Star Wars: The Old Republic. It really is that simple. The Advanced Classes ARE the classes in TOR. Once players understand and accept that fact, everything makes sense.

By certainly my opinion can’t be the only one out there (much less the right one!) I’d like to hear where the AAJ Army stands on this issue at this stage of the game. Vote below, but more importantly post your thoughts and discuss others! Remember to keep it civil, this isn’t Huttball. :)

Should players be allowed to switch their Advanced Class?

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Jan 5, 2012

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Blue Milk & Cereal: Should TOR Have Dual-Spec?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Yes, I realize we’ve done this debate at least once before here in Blue Milk & Cereal, but now that the game is out and everyone is playing, the debate seems to be raging harder than ever. The current “hot thread” centered on this topic can be located here.

One side of the debate (which I happen to be on) thinks that class-based nature of an RPG should be held relatively sacred. The choices you make to form your character (in combat and otherwise) should carry with you to define who and what your character is.

Players on the other side of the kerfuffle argue that this is limiting, and they should be able to more freely change their spec to handle the situation they are in. The most common complaints seem to come from “tanks” or “healers” that feel their class isn’t as able or as competitive in those roles.

Now, it’s important to note that there already IS a way to re-spec your character. You simply need to visit a Skill Mentor NPC located in various locations around the galaxy who will reset your skill points for you. But that doesn’t seem to be good enough, as players who support the idea want more convenience and/or less cost involved in doing it. It’s also important to note that this debate is not about being able to switch your advanced class. That’s another thing entirely!

There are a million other points to both sides of these arguments, so we want to know where you stand. Now that you have had a chance to see for yourself exactly how classes, advanced classes, roles, the trinity and other group and combat mechanics truly work, did it change your opinion on the matter?

It’s a Yes or No poll, but would love to hear your discussion points below.

Should TOR have a dual-spec option?

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Dec 2, 2011

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Blue Milk & Cereal: How Do You Feel About No Advanced Class Switching?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Many of you who have been following the game for awhile are familiar with the off-again, on-again roller coaster ride that is the ability to switch Advanced Classes. Selecting an Advanced Class in Star Wars: The Old Republic is akin to selecting your actual combat class in other games, as each one plays so differently and even has different itemization. There have been vocal proponents on both sides of the argument.

When we talked to Senior Live Producer Blaine Christine at PAX 2010, he indicated that the idea of swapping Advanced Classes was still very much in development. But during San Diego Comic-Con back in July, Game Director James Ohlen revealed that Advanced Class switching was in the game, and that the first switch is “cheap”, but after that it may be all but prohibitive for most players. This satisfied most of the folks who though they should be allowed to changed classes in the game.

The most recent turn of events, however, comes from Senior Community Manager Stephen read on the official forums. Mr. Reid revealed that, in fact, the ability to swap your Advanced Class is currently NOT in the game, though the potential may be there in the future. But there are no immediate plans for launch or right after:

Advanced Class switching (or re-speccing, take your pick) was, at one point, potentially going to go into the game. Right now, it’s not in the game. It could potentially be added after launch. Like, frankly, anything else. To quote Georg “we reserve the right to change our minds based on feedback and testing.”

This revelation has certainly stirred up quite a discussion for our friends over at TORWars, so we thought it might be the right time to take the temperature of the community with a Blue Milk & Cereal poll.

How do you feel now that we know Advanced Class switching will in fact not be in the game at launch? Let us know!

How do you feel about Advanced Class switching not being allowed in the game?

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Nov 20, 2011

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Embeddable Skill Trees And More From R2-Db

If you think you’ve seen all you need to see about interactive skill tree calculators, think again.

R2-Db, the original and authoritative database site for Star Wars: The Old Republic, has introduced their skill calculators, and they didn’t stop at simply letting you spend your points and fill your tree. They’ve created skill tree calculators that tie into the rest of the services on R2-Db, including their new Guides system. What does this mean? It means you can design a build and embed it right into a guide that you create! This goes way beyond simply “voting” on someones build. You can put your entire character build and strategy online for everyone to interact with, discuss and maybe even improve on!

But that’s not all. Right now, these skill trees are embeddable in R2-Db posts, forums and guides. But soon they will be embeddable right on your own site, your guild’s forums or anywhere that has the R2-Db Powered Script installed!

It’s important to realize that R2-Db is not only the best database site for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but that they have features and infrastructure that are truly next-gen. From a built-in reputation system, level and achievements you can earn by just using the site and even your very own inventory called The Stash.

Also, I’ve seen some of the things they having coming in the future, and trust me, this is where you want to be. Don’t settle for the cut-n-paste DB sites based on other games – R2-Db was created for TOR from the ground up.  Head over now, and while you’re there, create an account and start taking advantage of all of these cool features!

Yes. You will soon be able to embed this right on your site or forum! No more "check out the link to my build."

Yes. You will soon be able to embed this right on your site or forum! No more "check out the link to my build."

 

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Nov 2, 2011

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Blue Milk & Cereal: Is There A Need For Dual-Specialization?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

In a momentary lapse of reason, it seems that somehow we’ve never run a Blue Milk & Cereal on this topic. It’s one of the most heated in the TOR community (though I’m not sure why.) So let’s do it BM&C style!

One of the core principles behind a class-based character system is that different gameplay styles and combat roles can be represented through them. Since the dawn of (RPG) time, a wizard was a magic user and a warrior was a swords’n’boards type of character. And let’s not forget my personal favorite, the wily rogue who stalks his victims from the shadows! These archetypes have been extended over the years to provide variety but the core concept remained: different classes exist to have different roles.

In recent years however, designers have begun to build more flexibility into classes to allow players to potentially take on more than one role, although not necessarily simultaneously. To do this, you’d have to go visit a trainer in a city somewhere in order to “retrain” into another specialization which could let you perform another role.

In typical “give an inch, take a mile” fashion however, gamers started to complaint that it was too annoying to visit a trainer every time they wanted to re-spec, so the concept of “dual-specialization” was born. Simply, it allows you to store 2 different sets of skills/talents which you can switch between out in the wild (though not while in combat.) It’s definitely more efficient this way, but is it right for the game?

On the one hand, if they’re going to allow you to change your spec at all, then why not make it as easy as possible? On the other, it makes sense to have some kind of time cost, at least, to do this to help preserve the integrity of the classes themselves.

As far as Star Wars: The Old Republic goes, BioWare originally took the stance that it wasn’t needed and had no plans to implement it. Since then, they’ve flip-flopped on the issue stating that it’s something they want to have in the game.

Making it even more complex is the way that TOR handles Advanced Classes, which are essentially the “true” combat classes, each with their own set of specializations. They’ve said that you can switch your Advanced Class, but it will be a total bitch to do so. So common sense tells us that if there is dual-spec, you won’t be able to save a spec from your other Advanced Class. But back to the give an inch, take a mile syndrome – how long before that happens?

On the surface, dual-spec looks like a nice quality of life feature. But I encourage you to think about what it really does to the overall foundation of a class-based system.

So, what are your thoughts on the matter as it relates to TOR, or even MMORPGs in general? Should there be limits, and if so what? Fire away!

Should TOR have dual-spec available?

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