Companions and the -1 of Shame

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

My companions are really cramping my style.  Each of them has their own little likes and dislikes and if I feel feisty and snark off in front of a non-snarky companion I get the -1 of Shame.

You know what I mean.  The little companion portrait pops up and there’s a -1.  It’s like a virtual eyeroll.  Like “I am not annoyed at you enough to talk about it now, but we are definitely discussing your attitude once we get back to the car, young lady.”

Well, I want my companions to like me.  Not necessarily for humping purposes, but because supposedly if they like me, they give me access to stuff.  Quests? Faster crafting?  Oh hell, I’m vague on the details, but I know I want them to like me.

But sometimes I’m baffled by what to say to get them to like me.  I read the codex.  I research on the internet.  But I’m still flailing.  I can go through a whole conversation behaving as I think the companion likes… sure I don’t get a -1 of Shame but sometimes I don’t get a single +15 of Luv.  So I end up playing a whole scene in a way I totally wouldn’t in a way to get brownie points… and no brownie points.

Now I understand what it’s like to be a guy and want to say the right thing or a girl won’t drop her pants.

That was a quote by ME last night.  Ugh. Seriously.

I went out and bought my companion a present he loves.  I got 96 affection for it.  There, now I can get the -1 of Shame 96 times and not worry about it.  Much better.

Complexion? How the Eff Does That Work?

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

OK, so you get to the character creation screen and there are like… 40 settings for complexion.  2 have freckles, a few have veins, weird tans, wrinkles, or spots.  And then there are a good number that look like “clear skin normal”.  What the hell is the difference?

Eyebrows.  Folks, complexion determines eyebrow size and shape.  So if you’re having trouble telling the difference, focus on the eyebrows.

Also, if you plan to be bald, complexion controls the head stubble (which shows up as a shading, not real textured stubble).  Like a tiny mohawk shadow on some.

Speaking of eyebrows, why the eff do twi’lek even HAVE eyebrows?  Do they have hair?

I Am Underwhelmed By Support Of Community Building

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Normally, I don’t do a “U SUCK (insert game development company here)” because it doesn’t do any good.  But things have been so thoroughly bungled in this launch that I have to say something or I’ll explode.

No, it’s not anything to do with the servers or gameplay.  It’s to do with community building.

1. Guild Allies and Adversaries.  For months, guilds were told to pick their allies and adversaries and that Bioware would “try” for them to be on the same server.  From the reports of several guilds I know, this was not even close to the case.  The assignments were no better than random. Because the assignment were given hours before pre-launch, this caused guilds to be scrambling at the last moment to make arrangements that they could have made months ago, had they known that the allies and adversaries system was not going to work at all. Which leads me to…

2. Forums were Down.  Ok, forums need to be down for maintenance, I get that.  But having the entire community site down, private messaging included, when you needed to coordinate with other guilds after the allies thing got borked was awful.  You couldn’t even SEE the guild members of any guild, let alone try to speak with them.1

3. There are no server forums.  That’s right.  The forums are back up with no forums for servers.  How are we supposed to reach out to our community from THAT?2

In SWG, each server had a community and a culture.  People who played for even a year still remember people on their server who were not in their guild.  In WoW, we barely had that from the beginning, and it was eroded by the dungeon finder and server transfers.  Each guild was essentially an island.

A week ago, I really thought that Bioware was trying to build server communities and was super-excited.  Now, I feel like we’re slipping into “each guild is an island.”  And I don’t like it.

  1. Honestly, the forums/site seem to be down pretty much every time there is a completely predictable spike in traffic. ↩
  2. Well I didn’t see any.  Maybe I am a moron and can’t find things.  Or maybe they don’t exist. ↩

[Spoiler] About The Female Trooper Romance Option

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

SPOILER WARNING: This post contains the identity of a romanceable male companion for the female republic trooper and the identities/characteristics of other romanceable companions in the game.  It does not reveal storyline of those romances, as I have no idea what they are.  Enter at your own risk.

*****POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW*****

Continue reading »

About The New SWTOR Mouse

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

I know you might be jumping about with glee, but remember… the SWTOR mouse is not the only one on the market with the 12-button grid on the side.  Both the Naga and the Naga Epic do too.  And I know from beta that the Naga works fine, and there’s no reason to think the Naga Epic would be any different.

So, as much as you like the imperial logo, I’d advise looking at pictures of all 3 of these, and deciding which looks most comfortable for you.  After all, you won’t see the logo with your hand over it.  At first glance, it appears that the SWTOR mouse has grid buttons that are more raised and defined, while the Nagas have a flatter grid area.  This is ultimately personal preference.  Also, do you like a corded mouse or a cordless?  Naga is corded while the Naga Epic and SWTOR Mouse are both cordless.

You can always use a sticker for your logo of choice.  Pick which mouse will work for you.

Healing Without Addons? /freakout

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

OK, I am totally freaked out about healing without addons.  But we can’t always have everything we ever wanted… so I’ve come up with the bare minimum to make myself comfortable.

As a side note… my Naga works beautifully.  It is making me considerably less stressed.

1. Move all the things

This is kind of self-explanatory.  If I can’t change the frames, I can live with that, but I need to move them to an appropriate location.

2. Additional Action Bars

OK, right now I’m seeing 4 bars that’s IT.  I need a place to put all my stuff.  These limited bars just do not cut it.  Especially in their, ahem, current positions.

3. Mouseover

Oh FFS, there are a bunch of asses on the forums saying “you guys are lazy, what’s the big deal, it’s two clicks instead of one.”  OK, tell ya what… you should have to click on the boss before every attack.  No?  Doesn’t sound awesome?  Guys, it’s only two clicks for every action, what’s the big deal?

And that’s my list.  Am I missing anything essential.  I mean seriously cannot-live-without?

What Sort Of Healer Should I Play?

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Short answer: I have no flippin clue.  I haven’t been able to get too high level.  HOWEVER… I gathered some links for you.  For funsies.

Healing Comparison on the MMO-Champion Forums

Class Healing Comparisons on the Relic Forums

Republic Healer Comparison on Jedi Consulars (Old-ish)

And, of course, for all healers, join the Force Heal forums.  I think of them as kinda… Plusheal for SWTOR.  Things are starting off slowly, but if you build a website, the community will come.