Update on the non-working installer: turning off Fraps fixed the problem. :psyduck:
Oh well. Let's see how it is, corvus ready to log?
5 Hours later...
forsev: i wanna skip work tomorrow
corvus: don't do that steve
I have to say, the whole experience is better when played with a friend.
I tried starting as Sith Warrior while Corvus started with a Bounty Hunter.
But when I realized we both started in different planets, I decided to go Imperial Agent.
This is ultimately what saved the game for me, because there is no way for us to communicate in game until we are level 10 for non paying customers.
Clearly this is a method to keep gold sellers from spamming customers, but wouldn't it be better if the level requirement be cut to 5?
Oh well, we got grouped in the same zone and followed his storyline first, which featured classic tale of Bounty Hunter taking opportunistic contracts in the middle of a gang war between Hutt cartels. There were several nice touches when corvus is given a choice between being merciful or ruthless ala Mass Effect, you get the feeling your choices actually matter - even if it's not, it's a decent illusion of choice they've weaved. There were several dark moments where we hunted down an ex-cartel accountant who doublecrossed his boss. The moment we caught up with the paperpusher, he started babbling about the amount of credits that was offered to him AND that his wife was under threat - or some shit.
Course, the Hutt ordered his head to be brought back and showed to his wife in the cantina. Pleading for his life, Mr.Accountant offered some credits - which I told corvus to accept AND kill the paperpusher anyway. The animation followed was comical despite the grimdark nature of it, corvus walks up to the guy - bonks him on the head. Then crouched over the unconscious body before drawing a blade to cut his head off while the Sith Trombone plays. This isn't what George envisioned IMO, especially when corvus went 'ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU ALBAR' on General Chat.
Then the censorship kicks in at the last moment when the blade was plunged, the screen turns black.
When light returns, we see...a sack. Yes, all severed heads in cinematics are depicted as 'sacks'.
You can say that the accountant was brutally...'sacked' -
Regular NPC quests also feature multiple resolutions - suppose you were doing a mission for a bunch of farmers to kill a poacher. And when you clear the poacher's hunting droid, he'll show up and offer you a bribe to let him go. Small touches like that sets The Old Republic apart from most MMO where the only option in quests are the quest rewards.
It's not much but that's what it is.
On the graphic side, the game suffers from poor art direction. There are far too many instances where we just simply laughed outloud at the NPC face choices and cannot help but wonder at the QA saying 'this is totally okay, it looks fine.' Hey, I'm no artsfag but I really hate it when a game tries to paint a serious picture of an Imperial Agent infiltrating a Hutt Cartel and his contact looks like this:
Anyway, I'm feeling content enough to come back for more. This isn't a superb game, but for those who might be curious - bring a friend along and have some fun and cheap laughs. The combat's fine for ranged characters - not so much for melee. But that's just my opinion.
