Smuggler = FREE WOOKIE

[Rer]

www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20100924

"No Smuggler would be complete without a Wookiee companion, so we’d like to introduce you to Bowdaar, the mighty Wookiee warrior."

[Slurm]

yyyeeeeaaahhhhhh

I was thinking of writing something up about this. Might not though, so here's my reaction to reading that:



I know they want to give everyone the "Star Wars experience" they've always wanted in games, but come on....EVERY smuggler can have a Wookie companion?!?

Chewbacca even being with Han was such a fucking rare occurrence to begin with. Han saved his skin (literally) by disobeying direct orders and rescued him, which Chewie is repaying by "life-debt"

how the fuck are they going to explain how EVERY DAMN SMUGGLER gets a Wookie?!?

[Rer]

Especially given how Kashyyk isn't like... Imperial dominated yet.

Should be interesting to see how they explain this one.

Its almost like they really are designing this to be a single player game with multiplayer aspects.

[Winin]

Well, you got one in KOTOR... Maybe 1000 years ago, wookies were sidekick sluts. But by the time of A New Hope, it was rare. Being beat down and enslaved by the Empire might have turned them off.

[Lanir]

I want a sidekick slut too!

[Takzenen]

Sept 24, 2010 15:16:23 GMT -5 Lanir said:

I want a sidekick slut too!

Join the Sith, our girls actually put out.


And we have cookies, I'm told.

[Winin]

cookies lead to crumbs which lead to suffering which leads to the dark side.

[Tony]

Sept 24, 2010 17:34:50 GMT -5 Winin said:

cookies lead to crumbs which lead to suffering which leads to the dark side.

and to roaches

[Takzenen]

Sept 25, 2010 0:04:55 GMT -5 Tony said:

Sept 24, 2010 17:34:50 GMT -5 Winin said:

cookies lead to crumbs which lead to suffering which leads to the dark side.

and to roaches

You've never force choked a roach, have you?

[Winin]

Sept 26, 2010 17:41:42 GMT -5 Takzenen said:

Sept 25, 2010 0:04:55 GMT -5 Tony said:

and to roaches

You've never force choked a roach, have you?

Is that what you kids are calling it these days?

[Takzenen]

I knew that was coming ><

[xXJayeDuBXx]

I think it's a rather explanation as to why every smuggler will have a wookie - slavery! He's not only your sidekick, but he also does the dishes and cooks dinner too!

[Pazzolupo]

You know, I agree with the anti-Wookie arguement. The problem I have with it though, is not that all Smugglers are able to have him as a companion, but if they all start with him as a companion.

As an MMO you already have to make certain concessions that all players must have access to the same content. It never bothers anyone that Warlord Nashan attacks the same village with the same tactics and number of minions every time. Or that the same farmer's daughter gets kidnapped endlessly by the same bandits the same way in the same place, and that the bandits time and time again use the same "secret" hideout to hold her for ransom in.

Guild Wars has a companion system (Heroes) in which all players have the same named companions. It doesn't really bother anyone that there are 23,000 copies of Koss running around, or any of the other Heroes in the game. Some of them though, like M.O.X. (big tech golem) required a bit a work.

This is how I feel a Wookie companion with a life-debt to you should be. Technically available to everyone, yet highly involved to acquire. At the same time, the whole point to playing a Smuggler is being the 'Han Solo' (companion: Chewbacca - Wookie), 'Mission Vao' (companion: Zaalbar - Wookie), or 'Lorn Pavan' (companion: I-5YQ - modified protocol droid) in the Star Wars universe. Even though the people that scream for those cool companions do have a point, a normal one would do fine until more complicated missions could be accomplished.

I am on both sides here. Like Slurms, as a Star Wars fan I am highly annoyed that the exception is made commonplace. At the same time, you can't leave it out completely...so maybe it should be made difficult to do, so when you have that companion it is like showing off.

What do you guys think? Do we judge it so harshly because it is so close to our hearts? How much leeway should developers get on lore due to the fact an MMO needs to be accessible? Let us assume Wookies are in...how hard should that storyline be to complete? Should there be limitations on attempts to finish, such as only one chance to do it right on any given character? There are no saves or do-overs after all.

[Rer]

Sept 26, 2010 21:06:29 GMT -5 Pazzolupo said:

What do you guys think? Do we judge it so harshly because it is so close to our hearts? How much leeway should developers get on lore due to the fact an MMO needs to be accessible? Let us assume Wookies are in...how hard should that storyline be to complete? Should there be limitations on attempts to finish, such as only one chance to do it right on any given character? There are no saves or do-overs after all.

How much more "accessible" does a Star Wars game need to be? I would have gladly played it regardless of the Wookie addition, but now that its there I feel like BioWare is throwing lore out the window. *IF* it was something similiar to SWG's old jedi holocrons, where you really had to work for it, then I'd be fine with it. At that point, you should be considered epic enough to have a Wookie companion. If everyone has it from the get go however, I feel like its a cheap marketing ploy the make the smuggler more appealing.

[Pazzolupo]

Is there an echo in here? You basically said what I said... except you threw in some fire.

By accessibility I meant only: how would you feel if only the first 10 players on each server that reached the quest got it. How would you feel if you were 11th? What if you got there first, but you had some power/internet issues. Can't do that kind of exclusivity in MMO's.