01.09
It is podcast time this week, and as always, we’re looking for questions from the community. If you have any Star Wars: The Old Republic or website related questions you would like to have answered on the podcast, then feel free to ask them in the comment section of this post.
This week’s community poll/discussion after the jump.
Which of the following faction alignments do you think the majority of the total planets available at launch will be?
- Independent / Contested (65%, 326 Votes)
- Neutral (15%, 73 Votes)
- Sith (11%, 54 Votes)
- Republic (9%, 47 Votes)
Total Voters: 500
Loading ...How many total planets do you think will be available at launch?
- 10-12 (47%, 233 Votes)
- 16-18 (24%, 121 Votes)
- 13-15 (21%, 107 Votes)
- 19-21 (3%, 16 Votes)
- More than 24 (3%, 16 Votes)
- 22-24 (2%, 7 Votes)
Total Voters: 500
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Related posts:
Is the DH podcast going to be delayed because of the release date news?
Right now I’m thinking there are ten or maybe twelve planets. It might not be much to go on, but part of the reason I’m thinking that is; if you look at the holonet pop-up menus, there isn’t enough room for many more planet names.
If there are ten planets, then I think the next planet reveal will be a Sith-controlled world, leaving the balance of allegiances as equal in terms of Sith and Republic. That is, 3 Sith worlds, 3 Republic worlds, 3 Independent worlds and 1 Neutral world. If there are twelve planets, maybe there will be 3 Neutral worlds to even things out?
I wouldn’t read to much into the little flash pop-up menus. The size of which can be adjusted quite easily. Although, we’ll know soon enough if you’re 10 planet guess is correct.
I would be surprised if there are more than 10 planets, as I’m hoping they are all filled with lots of content and detailed, rather than 20 planets that just seem “meh” because they were rushed and didn’t have enough time spent on them.
I don’t think we’ll get 20 planets. I think most people are falling into on of three camps 10, 12, or 16 planets. I’m leaning toward 12 myself, but either of the other two are strong possibilities.
I think there will be around 10-12 planets as well. I agree with mostly all the reasons people mentioned before i posted, but i also read something in a forum on the official website that made sense as well. Someone there felt that if there were literally dozens, that is, at least 24 planets at release, it seems like they would reveal planets more like the web comic or the time line. It would make sense that if they had many more planets to release that they would release them with other kinds of reveals. Hypothetically speaking, if there are at least 24 planets, then that’s about 15 more fridays or just under four more months of planet reveals. Even though the planets being released are really nice, does anyone think they would release the information stretched out over 15 weeks? It just seems logical that if there are still that many planets they would be released with other information. This is why i feel there will be around 10-12 planets but no more than 16 at release.
15 weaks is reasonable since I only expect the game to be close to release by the end of the year.
I’m bored, so lets guess what the remaining planets.
Dantooine – it’s in the web comic too much for it not to be in game but they can open up the rest of the planet with new content and not just focus on the Jedi enclave ruins. It also serves the Jedi Consular and Sith Inquisitor story lines.
Geonosis – considering that’s where the Mandalore started it’s clear they’re going to make it important for the Great Hunt or they wouldn’t have bothered mentioning the planet.
Nar shadaa – it’s orbiting Hutta they really have no choice without major backlash.
Ziost – although with Dromund Kaas as the capital I don’t think it will show up at release
Bothawui – The Sith would want revenge, but I would think it would be apart of the Agent’s storyline.
Rodia – might show up after that one mention in the web comic, probably the same as Balmorra.
Yavin 4 – it’s an important planet to Exar Kun’s lore so I think it will be mentioned in his timeline video, which also serves for the Consular/Inquisitor story line
I don’t think there have been any other planets hinted at.
Don’t even joke about Ziost not being in the game at launch.
You people want me to /wrist or something?!?!?
woops I didn’t finish that line. I was also going to say that Ziost would also serve as another planet for the Inquisitor story line.
Maybe we all just enjoy seeing you be emo Emlaeh, I’m just saying. (it is kind of hot *cough cough*)
That’s a kink I’d take to the doctor Deidare, very disturbing.
Eh, gotta express myself somehow.
Another question which has just occurred to me while watching the Clone Wars season 1 Blu-ray… do you think there will be many opportunities for “moralistic” choices for quests? For example, I’m watching 2 Jedi work with a Sith lord to escape capture, as they are all bound together in the same cell. Should the Jedi trust the Sith lord to do as he says in any plan that they make to escape? I would expect the Sith lord to further their own aims in escape by working with the Jedi, would would they jeapordise that by providing false information, by breaking a truce, or otherwise trying to manipulate the Jedi? There’s been some evidence of this in the videos, but how far do you think it will go, how much will it affect other players in the group your in? It seems to me that there is a fantastic potential in the ability to make a decision which will affect your character in game, and ideally, affect the persistent world, even if only in a small way. I’d love for the far reaching consequences of such a system to be discussed; the more that you think on what this system could achieve, the more you realise that this could differentiate SWTOR from other generic MMOs.
There is much to appeal to a general PvP player; however I’d love for something to be implemented in an MMO which provides a different area of (long term) consequence, namely the decisions made of the course of your characters career, perhaps in association with politics, trade and diplomacy.
That is very much the primary goal of SW:TOR..and really of Bioware. I recommend playing games like KoTOR, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age: Origins to see just the kind of stuff you can expect from BW.
You can bet my SI will quickly get some title along the lines of “Harvester of souls”, and will be a plague where ever he walks. People will cower in fear, run at the mention of my name, or, the foolhardy might try and collect the sizable bounty on my head.
Referencing your above example, if I was the sith inside…I would do whatever is necessary to be freed…and promptly kill my rescuers. If I see a group of thugs roughing someone up, I attack but hold back just long enough to offer them their lives for a sizable reward. When they make an offer, I demand double. When they pay…I kill them anyways. Next, I would turn to the person I saved, and demand a sizable reward. When he makes an offer, I demand double. When he pays, I kill him!
Only those that can truly help me are permitted to live…and those are very few and far between.
The examples you give are good, but only offer an immediate consequence to your actions. How would it be if one of the thugs you ransom and then kill is a henchman of the Hutts, or is a spy for one of your Sith Lord masters? I long for more far reaching consequences to influence the storyline!
I’ve had something similar happen in KoTOR and DA:O both. I tend to make a lot of enemies:) Actually, I think it was KoTOR at one point I had 2 groups that hated each other that decided to join together to try and kill me, lol.
I’m actually considering going a bit easy in TOR because of that…not sure yet.
Reall though, go play any of Biowares games, and you will see that they are very much about changing the outcome of things.
I like that the Clone Wars shows precedent for Jedi working with Sith on a common goal.
I feel that is on huge area of innovation that BioWare is leaving on the table… they’ve said some pretty direct things about no cross-faction cooperation…
Would truly be something unique AND have great story implications as well… perhaps if you help a Sith member out, you can slight reputation increases with certain factions on that side, etc.
Enough planets to have a decent variety of monsters and terrain while telling an interesting story.
As for factions… I would go for an even split. Maybe 40/40/20 (Sith/Republic/Independent)
Once again, the more the merrier. I’d love to see more stories and yes, factions would be a nice thing to reveal soon too.
I might be in the minority, but every single planet revel keep’s getting better and better! With regards to layout, level design, lore, story potential, etc. I’m with the majority that 12-16 seem’s to be the cap. With more planet’s coming with patch’s/expansions, it’s just all way to exciting. I really have to give BW/LA credit, they are doing some amazing things with these planet reveals.
I decided that there will likely be more contested/Independent planets simply because it makes more sense for PvP. There are more options available to both players and developers if there are more planets “up for grabs” instead of planets that are allied with either the Imperials or Republic. I also decided that there will be between 10-12 planets…I’d love around 15 and I don’t really believe the idea that More Planets=Less Detail…but it’s just a feeling I have that they’re getting the planets out of the way now so they can talk about other things later. As far as which planets have yet to be revealed? Bothuwai is the only one I feel safe about. There was an entire timeline video dedicated to a battle there. Geonosis was also heavily mentioned in another…I’m not a big fan of that planet but there’s great PvP potential there with the arena. It’s a tossup with #12. I’d personally LOVE Corellia, but since we have Alderaan now which is somewhat similiar (and also Tython) it makes it less likely. I also personally like Ziost…but that would be an Imperial planet. So…
#10. Bothuwai
#11. Geonosis
#12. Taris/Kashykk/Dantooine/etc
Here is my question…
What do you guys think about elite classes? For instance, “up and coming Moffs” were mentioned side by side with “Imperial Intelligence operatives” on the holonet page for Dromund Kaas. And we also know Grand Moff Tarkin was part of the inspiration for the Imperial Agent. What else is an “up and coming Moff” if not an Imperial Agent anyway? I checked out wookieepedia and there doesn’t seem to be much information about how Moffs were used during this time period. What if they had it where…Jedi could become Jedi Masters (or an equivalent), Sith could become Lords (or something similiar), Imperial Agents could become low-ranking Moffs, etc.
@Imperial Officer- For one a Moff just doesn’t sound like a logical class to me. The likely hood of working for a Moff NPC does though. Which is much of what the imperial Agent does, and that’s work for high end military officers. And Moffs were around in this time period like at the battle of Bothuwai. So I think the mentioning of Moffs purely states that you will encounter some at the Capitol city of Kaas. (Only makes sense for leaders like that to be there).
I would rather have a small number of worlds, if it meant that the zones/areas were guaranteed to be large and wide open. What I’ve seen so far in persistent zones has seemed rather…cramped.
They will likely be made up of mostly contested planets. I really see them doing a heavy PvP lake system similar to WAR with each side having their respective PvE areas for questing and a shared lake for PvP and PvP related quests.
As for the number they have said that there will be “dozens of planets” at launch. So if we assume that some of those arent fully developed and are for the purposes of instances or some thing like that i put down 19-21. If each planet is as large as even Outland in WoW im happy and think it would make for a pretty expansive game.
More independent/contested planets would be ideal for a conquest type pvp system. The more factional planets, the less fun it will be because of the exploitation of the guards or other “police” to prevent battling. As much as I hate being banned from certain planets, it does not mean there isn’t any hidden places where the Sith could land on them and invade somewhere. I am curious to see what will happen as they make more planets and providing mechanics of the pvp system.
For the number of planets, I am really tied into in the middle of just around 16-18 because any less will miss out the story and lore of missing planets that are not brought up yet, and having more than 18 will bring way too much lore with more capacity to make it feel “empty” of lore, like SWG did with their crappy Endorian and Yavianan planetary system and boring layout. I think by having less, it will put a lot of effort into each planet and make the community more tight knit than spread out where questing or raiding will be difficult, but it would not be because they said you can solo the game, so having more seems plausible without LFG 10+ planets to get a raid or quest done. With +20 planets and having a game to be able to solo and defeat content is plausible without needing to quest with people, but having guilds and having grouping systems such as battlegrounds, war zones, dungeons, etc will be more prominent in a game like this. Besides, the server size can increase with the more planets as well. With more space comes with less lag, and with less space comes with more immersion, more open world feel-alike. My concern is that having too much will desert planets themselves unless there will be very few servers when the game comes out. Having less than 10 would be pretty dumb with the missing key lore that some planets have during this era.
With that, I am excited to see more as we go down the road, but I feel it is necessary to have planets that are mixed in factions, independent, one-sided faction, contested, and just plain neutral where no one has conquered yet. It will be a dream to just live it out in the giant universe and battle it all out for the glory of the galaxy.
<3 DH team
-macer
On a different line. We’ve seen with both classes and planets that Bioware likes to mix the tried and true favorites with some rarely seen or new content. I figure this will continue with species. What are DH speculations for species?
Very true and that is actually a very good strategy if you think of it.
Some cling to familiars, and will only appriciate a game that has the things they recognise. Others reject the familiar and will be drawn to the unknown content. Tatooine for the first, Nal Hutta for the latter. Bounty Hunters and Glowstick wielders for the first, Imperial Agents and Jedi ‘casters’ for the latter.
Yep. Me i’m hoping to be an Ongree. sure its probably a pipe dream but it would be great!
Not really in line with the planets, but some food for thought on other topics ( though I doubt you’ve missed it )
At level 4, a character was seen with 450 life ( in Vid Doc 3 )
At level 30 a character was seen with 1270 life ( in designing the sith vid )
Thats less than 32 life per level. I think this means that a level might not mean as much as it does in other MMOs. Sure, you wouldn’t want to send a level 4 against a 30…but perhaps a level 20 would have a decent shot.
Nice observation.
My gut tells me to be careful with the stats comparisons in marketing materials because itemization affects that, which might very well be in development flux.
Your observation alludes to a greater reason why someone would wear obviously low level gear in public gameplay demo at lvl 30.
My gut says, I’m hungry, but you know that’s just me. But yeah since the games still in development I wonder if there was even any stats on some the gear they had yet, or maybe they were just wearing basic “test gear” (for the people playing the level 30’s) which might not have many stat bonuses. So that could just be the basic amount of health you get as you level without added stats. But eh, it could mean a number of things at this point.
I agree, it would seem easier for the majority of gear they have made is solely skins and stats are going to be tweaked in as they begin the balancing act.
While that is certainly probable, it would still mean that level itself matters fairly little. You would have to see pretty big numbers on gear to make up the difference, which I think many people don’t entirely want. ( Of course theres plenty of people that want good gear…but there is a difference between gear being the 1 and only factor and not. )
Also, in my experience in testing: Right from the beginning they set up generic sets for every milemarker level ( usually every 10 levels ). They will be removed before the game goes live, or even open beta usually. However, they do need to have a base set of gear to compare everything else to, and test with.
So, while the gear they have almost surely won’t be in game, it is most likely a moderate set of gear for their level..probably comparable to regular solo quest rewards.
This could also mean that health points aren’t so important, because other stats make someone better or worse. HP leveling has some bad sides and is unnatural (not realistic). So less HP per level doesn’t mean that BW don’t finalize this aspect of RPG mechanics. For example: higher level Jedi can deflect more shots and melee atacks, so she/he doesn’t need so much more HP or any.
In other side I understand that in many (don’t know this is good to write majority) RPG systems HP play big role (e.g. I know probably only one where this element is different) – maybe BW find some compromise
Yeah, it could mean quite literally mean tons of things at this early stage in game development. We’ll just have to see
Well i have been going with the Speculation that there will be 16ish planets at launch. (this is derived from the 1st holonet video). And New speculation helps support that theory such as imperial agent starting on Nal hutta. This means we have 2 planets per side, 3-4 planets per side for leveling and then 2-3 for High end Pve/PvP content. this would also follow the basic Bioware formula for their Games. Like in KotoR1 about a total of 5 planets i think it was. You started on one, were there for awhile, and then you traveled the galaxy and went to the climactic ending. Mass Effect and Dragon Age both follow this formula as well (Dragon Age just does it with cities)
tl:dr, 16 planets is my prediction with supporting theories.
I think there will be 10-12 planets at launch. I also think there will be 2 planets aligned to each faction and the rest will be netural, independant, or contested. I also hold a sliver of hope that there will be undiscovered plants in the game that players would have to find! A kind of unlockable content! Just a fun idea!
Psst: Tython, Ord Mantell and Coruscant are already GR. I kinda doubt there will only be 2 Galactic Republic planets:)
As much as I would agree, and love to have unknown stuff out there, I really don’t see it happening.
and for planets: I have no idea. 10-16 is my bet…but I really couldn’t narrow it down more than that. I really doubt more than 16 though.
It would probably end up being random and instanced. I would much prefer locations and planets to be static. Its just the exploring in me that would love to do something along the lines of claim a new hyperspace lane!
I’m pretty much the same. While I would love to see it as a feature, I think it would lose too much in the quality department. Part of why I lost interest in EVE online, is that every single location was virtually identical to the next. It got boring:)
Wait, so you’re saying a whole planet, or a large section would be instanced? And only two faction allied planets?! Well I completely disagree. Tython and Ord mantell are starter zones, so that gives you two faction planets right there. And then leaving Courscant as a contested planet just isn’t right. Now it being a capitol planet and all yeah it’ll get attacked by Empire players a lot. But it’ll still be Republic allied. If that doesn’t help well then think of Dromund Kaas; now does it really look like it would be contested at all? As for the instance part, I think sections at a planet might be instance, if any instancing at all. It could more so be all open like Star Wars Galaxies for a more suspense and mass induced PvP fight. (So people grinding in the area would be pulled in too, stuff like that.)
Well, what can I say, its a very big galaxy. I’m quite sure that many other planets will be unleashed through different patches and such, but from my point of view, I would be satisfied with a small number of planets if they would design them in a nice way. I am refering of course to the ever popular ”quality > quantity”
So far I am pleased and i have a list with several things to do on the planets… for example on Coruscant jump of the highest buiding, on Tatooine laugh at a jawa, on Dormund Kaas kill the Emperor and so on
I would like to hear you talk about wether or not there are going to be day/night shifts in SWTOR.
That would be cool if it were based of each planet. Say if some planets had longer or shorter days.
When SW:TOR started, I said: “Maybe.. 4 planets”.
Once they started releasing 5, then a 6′th came. I was like; “Okay, maybe 8″.
BEFORE this poll, I was sure it’d be 10-12 planets.
But.. DarthHater has seen other things coming long before released. 10-12 planets being the MINIMUM on this poll has got me pondering.. guys.. do you know something we don’t? Why is 10-12 (a very logical number of starting planets) the LEAST on your list? It’s the first option. You never make a poll and expect it to be answer number one. It’s too simple.
You’ve got me curious now lads. A clarification for the numbers used in this poll, please?
I think they just did it because it is the least possible. They did not mention Dromund Kaas as the final planet, so we can expect atleast 1 more: IE 10. They also knew some of the speculation runs upwards of 24 due to the “dozens of planets” quote, so they had an upper end. Finally, people aren’t entirely sure, so they went with a + or – 1 system: 3 planets per guess. That alone is just good poll building:)
Now, if I had to guess, they are betting on 16 based off the holonet vid and the aforementioned quote…that’s where my money is atm.
I agree with you. 16 will be FAR beyond my wildest guesses though. Amazing.
read my comment it might change your mind
Well I am sure that both Empire and Republic will have an equal amount of planets. It would be unfair otherwise, wouldn’t it? I think that most planets will be neutral or contested (with some kind of conflict on each of them).
Yea I don’t think Republic or Sith would have more planets than the other. But I also don’t think Neutral.IND will have an overwhelming number either. I think it would be equal across the table. Spread the Wealth and all that
I wonder if with the planets the enemy NPCs and encounters will be restricted to specific level ranges, or if each planet will have content available for all levels. I’m also making the assumption that while we may be able to go to each planet, not all of the planet surface may be available to explore, which would allow in the future for expansions to take advantage of that.
It also appears that (whether consciously or unconsciously) each planet seems to have it’s own visually unique appearance, much the same way that WoW does with it’s zones. Just because of this, it does make one wonder whether the planets in SWTOR will be pretty much synonymous with what we’d refer to as a zone in other MMOs.
I also share some concerns about the planets if they are too numerous and being a scattered playing population making group questing difficult, and reducing the general community feel to the game, but to some extent this issue depends on some of the points I’ve mentioned above.
Regarding questions for the podcast, I’ve a couple I’d like to throw your way for consideration:
1. It seems that MMOs with little lore and background information tend to feel shallow, and speaking personally, hold little appeal after the initial thrill of playing a new game. Also, without fostering a “community spirit” within an MMO, a feeling of playing an online single player game can happen. How do you think these issues might be addressed either by Bioware and/or the community?
2. There was a brief mention of politics in one of the videos (my memory may be wrong, but I think it was the Designing the Dark Side one). Do you think this may refer to some in game system(s) which may apply either as some kind of “tradeskill” or perhaps as a talent branch belonging to the Inquisitor or the Consular?
I think we are more likely to see planets that act like zones. So we would see Korriban, as a starting planet and you get to level say 15, from there you can travel to multiple different planets to continue your journey.
I would hope that BioWare extends those areas either via content update or by expansion. Since some planets would be great to re-visit or be apart of a new struggle.
I recall someone from bioware saying that there will be “dozens” of planets at launch. Now, a dozen means 12. “Dozens” means at least 24. As much as I’d love that to be true, I think it’s pretty unlikely
We’re probably gonna see these ones added as well: Geonosis, Utapau, Agamar, and Ilum (’cause you gotta have an ice planet
). We’ll just have to wait and see.
Oh, and thanks for the nice read.
I don’t know if I so much care about how many planets we get as I am with the content of the planets. I personally don’t want to ever feel like I’m alone on a planet. So I’m hoping more for the 10-12 planet range and have lots of room to explore with planets hosting to a variety of levels. Not like WoW where some zones are like you have to be level 58+ to be able to do anything. One of my favorite parts is being able to socialize in a MMO with my friends, guild, and even random people. So I really hope they can balance out planets so its not like WoW and I’m leveling a second character say 6 months later when majority of the player are reaching level cap and I feel like I’m all alone.
Well. I think that the classes will start out on a total of 4 Planets, and each side will have one or two planets still under their control. The rest of the planets will be contested/neutral. That way it will be fair at the start, But as the game progresses, Factions can take control of planets that either belong to the enemy or are Contested/neutral.
Think there are going to be 12 planets 4 Rep, 4 Sith, 4 Neutral/Contested. Quite simple.
Also The Australian KFC ad is stirring up a-lot of BS :S
i hope a lot of planets will be contested…… cause i wanna pvp everywhere…. the hole idea of planets to pvp on ground to take ove makes me jizz XD
i think there will be 10-12 planets
hole idea of planets to pvp on and ground to take ovee makes*
sry for the wrong spelling
I was looking for a total number of planets around 8, but I’m HOPE there will be around 12 at launch with the majority of those as Republic. My reasoning behind this assumption, is that as the game progresses, and the “war” storyline unfolds, more and more planets will fall under Sith control, or will split off from the republic. I think that this would add an interesting element and new story telling dynamic to have entire planets up-for-grabs so to speak. If not an Republic majority, then an even spit would be next likely.
Hate to burst any bubbles, there are already 9 planets announced. Which means that we will have at least 9. I’m figuring more than 24 planets.
I voted 10-12 planets and am now leaning towards around 4 persistent zones per planet (for a total of 40-48). We haven’t actually seen enough of any planet to believe they will be any larger than this. IMHO the more planets we get the less content each will hold, and I would much rather see fewer richer planets than a horde of planets that are essentialy a single zone.
As far as planetary allegiance, I think we will see far more neutral planets than faction specific as it supports a more realistic galactic war system where control of neutral planets is a catalyst for (what I hope will be) a rich PvP system.
I think 12:
x2 Capitals
x2 Sith starters
x2 Republic starters
x6 Contested with both factions
But, happy if they have more so long as they can feel populated and active to be on and the design quality remains really very high (rather 4 truly awesome planets than 12 that are diluted and weak).
I think Dantooine & Manaan are a coming but I have been drinking tonight *hic* at the cantina *burp*…
Planets will make great expansions too. Geonosis could be included if only for Arena PvP battles. Lots of possibilities. Rah.
I agree with this breakdown as well. Although, if there are 12, I think the next three will be Taris, Dantooine and Bothawui. If there are 16(as some have speculated due to the timeline galaxy map) I think we can add Ziost, Manaan, and Nar Shadaa. I’m torn on what the 16th planet will be.
Before the last few planet updates I thought there’d just be about 6 planets … I hope they’re really open :S
The way that I see it, the more planets the better. So long as they are careful not to dilute their own content by an overabundance of it.
Agreed Zenkei, the more the merrier in my opinion as well. As long as they play their cards right and get people to visit any planet no matter what level you are.