Last week BioWare released a video of Game Director James Ohlen talking about some upcoming changes to Star Wars: The Old Republic, one of which was the Legacy System.
Up until now, we knew that the the Legacy system would create a sort of family tree for your main and alt characters and they would gain some sort of benefits. I for one assumed the benefits would be non-combat such as cosmetic gear, titles, mounts or something along those lines, however in the video James clearly states that all characters will gain new abilities and powers.
Being someone that has never played an alt character and who doesn’t plan to, this Legacy System completely gimps players who choose to stick with a single character. The Legacy System almost forces players to start over with an alt in order to remain competitive with other players.
Since SWTOR is all about story and is the game’s main focus, it’s no wonder BioWare would put in place a system that puts a huge incentive for players to start over. However for those of us who are not alt-players, this system makes it pointless to continue playing as we would do so with a permanently gimped character.
What BioWare is trying to do is add replay value to a genre that quite frankly doesn’t need it. Incentivising players to start over should be the last thing any MMORPG should do as the game itself should be engaging enough for players to continue logging in even after completely the story. However when you create a game that has the same old game mechanics and endgame as every MMORPG of the last decade, getting players to start-over is probably the only way to keep your subscribers.
I don’t expect there will be any real combat abilities. I’m anticipating something along the lines of WoW’s guild leveling system – little convenience abilities like mass rez, summon, etc.
Your premise is flawed. The legacy system benefits ALL members of the tree. Sure it will help alt toons. But it will also help your primary toon as well. So please tell us how we are gimped when we would have access to the same things with one toon as someone else would have with 5? You can only use one character at a time. If you dont run an alt, no big deal.
Bioware makes amazing single player games. That’s just what they do. But they seem to have failed significantly at this MMO attempt. The PvP issues are the same. They were like nobody there had ever played an MMO before.
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I haven’t played SWTOR myself, but it seems so far that the only things that make this a descent MMO were all ripped from the genre’s basics. Nothing innovative. Nothing new. No advancement of the genre. And even then, they have not always succeeded.
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The only reason this game was not ignored to irrelevance like a Korean F2P is because the history of Bioware and the Star Wars licence.
@jay Since I have no alts, I wouldn’t gain any of the abilities and powers that alt-players would gain.
Qix please do not even comment like you actually know how the game works and crap if you have not even played the game. Biowares first attempt at an MMO has been an astounding sucess. reveiws are all stating this to be an excelent game, and from a month of constant play I 100% agree with the reveiwers
secondly SWTOR is finally making questing fun and exciting, in WOW I did’nt know half the time why I was doing the stuff I was doing. I only quested for better stuff and to advance in level, however in SWTOR I quest because I want to see how my character story progresses.
It annoys me so much that faggots like you can come on and bitch about how the game is crap when you have clearly not even played the game. and comparing it to a Korean F2P is the biggest insult to one of the greatest and the new king of MMO’s
so piss off back to your age old fantasy world and play with your pointy little swords whilst I swing a real weapon
Wouldn’t these new abilities be gained by advancing your Legacy level? You can gain Legacy XP with just your main.
It’s a little early to know for sure, but I didn’t get the impression that the more characters you have, the more Legacy benefits you’ll get.
I suppose you could say that once you get to 50, it’s harder find ways to gain Legacy XP with your main. I don’t know though since I’m just shy of reaching 50.
You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
You can get Legacy levels w/o having an alt.
It’s more fun to do it w/an alt, but you don’t have too.
You can continue to get Legacy levels and experience w/a level 50 character.
You clearly have not played this game and have no idea WTF you are talking about.
@John The legacy system is made with alts in mind, so while I’m sure its still possible to gain Legacy XP after 50, I guarantee it’s at a much slower rate.
We’ll see what happens once BioWare announces the full details for the Legacy system, but I have no doubt that it’ll heavily emphasis players starting over with alts.
My level 50 continues to receive legacy points at the same rate as if he were still leveling. The worst thing about these online video game publications is that the run by 12 year olds with a deadline.
“this Legacy System completely gimps players who choose to stick with a single character”
The number of flaws and assumptions in this single statement are mind boggling.
I suppose they could always have an ability that does more damage for every alt you’ve created. ;)
Since we already have confirmation that Legacy XP remains constant at 50, the only other thing I could imagine them doing that would support your concern is if they increased Legacy XP gain for every level 50 character you have.
No where does it say you have to have alts to benefit. You start gain legacy points by playing regardless of what character you use. No where did he say that you have to be using an alt to get any benefit. As long as you are playing, the lvl keeps going up.
And you would be wrong as well, Qix. The setting is Star wars and the character interaction is very bioware, but it is like any other mmo, and that’s all it takes for ppl to take notice of a new mmo, with out those things it would not have gotten as much notice, but it still would have gotten plenty, because any new title does.
All along the main thing they talked about was how there was going to be so much story and it would be driven by the story and how each class would have it’s own story. In nothing they showed did thy ever give the impression that it would be revolutionary beyond that. And it’s not. But the character interaction is fun. The stories interest me and there is plenty of content so that even if you make an alt there are different planets you can go to that you might have been to high to bother with on the first run. I have pretty much skipped 4 planets for all but my person quest line simply because there was enough stuff to do on others that it would have been a waste of time to try to do these.
Personally I think you could enjoy it if you did not like star wars, but I have to adimt a bias because I am a fan of both Star wars and bioware.
Uninformed speculative junk. The idiot that wrote this is an insult and embarrassment to the concept of internet entertainment journalism.
@Qix I don’t grasp how you can say that there’s nothing new, that PVP is broken and that the MMO has failed when you admit you haven’t even played it. As for the article, it’s junk. Total uninformed crap.
Wait what? When James says, “…and all characters within that family tree gain benefits” why would that mean “…only new alts within that family tree gain benefits.”?
He never indicated that your alt will do anything your main can’t.
@Mike how about you actually try and learn about a system next time before you assume and post.
Legacy XP is gained at the same rate throughout the game, and honestly level 50 endgame mains gain far more legacy XP than a character leveling up(Since the amount xp gained is larger at 50 from flashpoints, and daily quests).
In addition to that your entire idea that your main will not benefit from the Legacy system is contrary to everything Bioware has said. The powers that you gain access to are available to your main as well, not just your alt like you are implying.
You seem to have a bias and grudge against the game for some reason and honestly it shows in your posts. If you are not happy with the game then play something else and post about that. But posting about a game you do not like yet is popular is simply trolling for page views.
In the BioWare video (http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/coming-star-wars-old-republic) John states:
“the legacy system actually allows each one of your new characters to join a family tree and all the characters within the family tree gain benefits that’s going to unlock abilities and powers that you normally wouldn’t have access to”
To me that sounds like you will only be able to unlock these abilities and powers by creating alts and growing your family tree. Hence if you do not plan on creating and playing alt-characters you will not be able to access some of these abilities and powers.
@Drub I’m not implying they won’t be available on your Main if you have alts. I’m implaying that those players who have NO alts, won’t be able to unlock some of these abilities and powers.
Wow….cry more you big sloppy baby. There is no reason you cannot earn legacy experience with a main character. Or DID YOU NOT PLAY THE GAME LIKE ALL THE OTHER CRYBABIES (read Wrath Babies)?
@Mike And to me, that sounds like any created characters from first to last will have access to these powers as their legacy lvl goes up.
“To me that sounds like you will only be able to unlock these abilities and powers by creating alts and growing your family tree. Hence if you do not plan on creating and playing alt-characters you will not be able to access some of these abilities and powers.”
Why would they use the vague notion of “having alts” to measure when you would unlock these abilities when they already implemented a straight-forward system for gaining Legacy levels?
You all are idiots do you not realize what mike is saying.. what bioware is saying… If i only create ONE char period and never create another will i still gain these “family tree” abilities .. We understand that if you create MORE THAN ONE char .. all those chars will have access to the new abilities.. main and alts.. But will i, the person who only created ONE single char.. I may get legaxy xp on him.. but can i use them for anything if i don’t have alts and a family tree.
@Tony, maybe you didn’t read all these posts, but myself and many others have been trying to say that there’s no evidence that if you stick with one character, you can’t gain access to these Legacy abilities.
I’m pretty sure the Legacy system has one main goal: keeping people playing after they hit level 50. Whether you keep gaining Legacy XP with your main or you create alts, you’ll have something to keep you playing.
Why create these Legacy levels only to have other means of granting the abilities? Why wouldn’t it just be straight-forward? Say at Legacy Level 5 you can use ability X? What else would they do? Say you need 5 characters, all at least level 30 to grant ability X?
Since we’re all just wildly speculating here, why not speculate about the most simple answer?
Watch the video again. He does say at a point in it that they don’t want to hurt those that don’t re-roll alts and that there will be specific things for those people….meaning everyone gets their free what ever it is.
On top of that, the video does mention that the legacy additions not only help the alts but also help the main/first character.
Since you are A. able to use the different legacy things on your main, and B. able to access the legacy things without making an alt(with the potential of special things if you want to take what was said that way)…..that makes this article another piece of unintelligible/poorly thought out blogging from someone that didn’t pay enough attention…..hate to flame but there is so much of this garbage floating around out there causing havoc on the game that I have to post to straighten it out…..don’t take my word for it, re-watch the video and read the accompanying text(the original).
@Rick We’re all speculating, but yes, that’s exactly what I’m afraid of. That players will have to have X amount of alts to unlock certain powers/abilities.
Say if you complete the Bounty Hunter story-line you open up a new ability, then once you complete the Smuggler story you open another. If you want to open up everything, you’ll need a character for each class.
As of right now it’s not clear one way or another who’s right, but from the way John explained it in the video, it seems like that will be the way it’ll work…at least it does to me.
This is all speculation based on the thinnest threads of information. The statement that your “new characters” can join a family refers to the fact that you need one of your characters to finish chapter 1 of their story to unlock the Legacy system in the first place. After that point then other characters can join this “family.”
Nothing says you have to make alts if you don’t want to. your main (or only) character continues to earn full Legacy XP after hitting level 50 and gains Legacy levels, so it could be that all the abilities you’re worried about are earned purely through Legacy levels and will be given to our only character.
Until the details of the system are released we won’t know for sure, but there’s no point in shouting “Fire!” in the theater until you know something’s actually burning. Crying about a system that you think will penalize you when you don’t actually know how it works is a waste of breath.
Your post is alarmist and misinformed.
@Mike, if the system implemented like you describe, I would agree with you that it would be awful. No one should be forced to level any characters they don’t want just to be competitive.
I do disagree with your theory though. I think they’ll just Legacy XP and levels for handing out the new stuff. That’s my hope at least.
Article doesn’t seeem to make sense. Everything i’ve seen say you will be able to use these skill on your main character/
This is why I prefer Suzina’s posts. Mike does some crazy jumping to conclusions and leading post titles. Otherwise, hey, its just video games after all.
yet after being schooled by commentary, the author Mike has yet to change the title or the content of the “article”
anyone with a computer can write what they feel and thats cool but when you are called out on incorrect things, the right thing to do is retract what you have said as fact when it really wasnt. but you wont will you?
Okay so your complaining that there shouldn’t be extra abilities for players from legacy since you don’t want to do alts. By the way, don’t you realize if you actually played the game that all characters including your main gains legacy points. Alts are not needed they just add to experience for each other equally as you lvl them and main. YOu can lvl just main and still gain legacy. If you don’t plan to do alts don’t cry foul.
I heard the same crap people who want to solo a MMO but without companions. Companions are there to help you actually solo stuff which in most part shouldn’t happen, so count your blessings.
This is another person crying because they don’t want to take part in everything the game offers: raiding, crafting, companions, legacy etc. Its your fault if you don’t go the full mile.
From reading this it doesn’t sound like you bothered to research before publishing.
1) You don’t need Alts to get XP. And from what I understand you gain it at the same rate at level 50.
2) Even if the system benefits those with Alts so what? Why can a game designer not design a game element that benefits the majority? The majority has Alts so they not make something that sounds like a cool system to tie your characters together out of fear of alienating those who play 1 toon?
The attitude of having to please the entire audience or reach the entire audience is why we often end up with cookie cutter games, movies and even music. You cannot please everyone.
This is why Bounty Hunters will probably never get a player Bounty system. Because if they do you will have people whining that its unfair for Bounty Hunters to get class specific content and that everyone should be able to do bounty missions. Not realizing that if everyone can do them there is no point in being a Bounty Hunter.
In my BH example some Devs would see BH missions for all the solution. When the smart solution would be to create other content for each of the individual classes (Smuggler missions for smugglers etc…).
You cannot design a game with depth where everyone’s play style is taken into account when designing content. That’s like expecting those who don’t run space missions to be given space accommodations or those who don’t pvp to have access to pvp gear. Its ridiculous.
I’m not a hardcore gamer. I’m more than casual but I’m not a hardcore player. I get that the game is designed to be casual friendly and I agree with that decision but they can only take that so far.
What you want is basically like the BH mission example I gave – you want BH Missions for all or in this case a system designed to tie peoples ALTS together to be designed around one toon. Every other damn system in the game is geared toward your one toon and the one system that isn’t you’re crying about.
Like I said this attitude is what is ruining media content but especially games.
Mike, from all the above you can easily understand that you don’t have to play any alts in order to advance your legacy… so will you edit your initial article? Your current article is misinforming readers / gamers. Thanks in advance.
Nothign says you have to have lvl 50 alts either, Will it trouble you to make 4 lvl 1 alts, a sith and unlock lightenign or somethign on your main? I’m just using that as a example as I don’t know how the legacy system works, and one should wait to see how it works before bashing it.
Here we have some wild speculation about how the system will somehow only benefit alts because you’ll get new powers your main won’t get… which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Race doesn’t matter in the game, so new race unlocks for alts won’t matter. Any actual powers you get you would also get on your main, which means you’re not being punished at all.
This is a very clever troll to garner page hits, and it succeeded.
Mike, you’ve got to try some alts. I’m not kidding. Buying this game and only playing one character is only enjoying 1/8th of the value. Until they solve all of the end-game issues, try out a new character. There are still 3 starter worlds you haven’t played through. There are still 7 storylines you haven’t experienced. There are still 15 advanced classes you haven’t pwnd some other player with. If you haven’t tried the smuggler, create one now. If you have, make a bounty hunter. You can thank me later. :)
I totally disagree with the author´s perspective.
The legacy system is meant to benefit all characters across one single server, be it 8 characters (max at this time) or just one.
If I split my time evenly between 2 characters, has the final result of playing a single character 100%. Legacy points are gained for XP gain in the game, and its shared across all characters.
In that sense, playing only 1 character and avoiding alts doesnt hinder anyone, as if both of us play 10 hours a week, where you dedicate 100% of that time to one character and I dedicate 60% to one and 40% to other, in the end, all legacy points go to the same pool and we all benefit.
This article, even though is a honest opinion, is flawed, as it didnt take time to study exactly how legacy works.
Hello all.
Let me clear up a few things for you. I currently run a level 50, and I can tell you with certainty that as a level 50, I am gaining legacy XP at a faster rate than any point before. This is due to the fact that legacy XP is granted after you unlock your legacy after finishing chapter 1 of your class story. At that point, any time you do something that gives you regular XP (questing, griding, flashpoints, operations, PVP,space battles, pretty much anything and everything) you gan an additional ammount of legacy XP – separate from your character XP and equal to about 25% or so of whatever XP you earn.
This A) does not detract from any character XP you earn, acting purely as a suppliment, and B) is the sole contributing factor to your legacy level.
The legacy system, which can be found next to your character tallent trees (the tab is right at the bottom of that window pane), will provide benfits to ALL characters within that legacy (up to 8 toons on your server – so if you have alts on another server, they will not be affected).
In a recent interview James Ohlen has been quoted as saying that these abilities will affect how quickly your Alts will gain Character XP from specific activities. So you can say “okay, this time around, I’m going to level a new toon by running more PVP, or running more heroics, etc.” Thus making it easier for people to play Alts and giving players an incentive to try other aspects of the game, exploring much of the content Bioware has laboured to create.
This, apart from a hint that the Legacy system will unlock a few additional customization options, is all the information that we have in terms of abilities within the system. Anything else is pure conjecture.
Furthermore, Bioware has strived endlessly to make sure that player choice is never a hindrance. They crafted classed with multiple roles to ensure people could play who and how they want to play. They removed companion deaths to ensure nobody would get hindered. They added brackets and stat bolstering to pvp so that nobody would be too useless. And that’s just to name a few things they’ve done to ensure balance. So why would you think they’ll build an entire system, the soul purpose of which will be to gimp players?
That’s completely obsurd.
I’m assuming the author has not reached level 50. If so he would have noticed you the fastest way to get legacy exp is to do the level 50 dailies. So in that case people who only play one character will gain legacy levels faster that altholtics. Please do your research. This misinformation gets posted on other sites and we are all dumber for it.
“I guarantee it’s at a much slower rate.”
No, its not… you gain legacy exp hand over fist at level 50
This whole article sounds like a scalded players rant to me. At the end of the day if you dont want an Alt, dont roll one. Im sure you can play the game just fine without the legacy system’s help.
I envisage it being something close to the Perk system in anarchy online, the benefits were fealt if you had it, but quite frankly you could play the game just as well without it, or at least i did.
The author of this article obviously never played the game..
And basically everyone who hates SWTOR are the people who haven’t played it yet..
I used to think the game would be a ‘WoW clone’ like Rift and be unenjoyable.
I was so wrong (:
This is just another example of our current “entitlement” society. Too many people feel as if they should be entitled to something that another person has to work hard to get. What about those of us who don’t have time to farm PvP for honor? Will our characters be forever gimped because we can’t get that gear? I can’t stay home & farm credits all day…so I’ll never be able to purchase some of the items that go for 1.5 million credits or more. Oh woe is me! Stop whining & complaining…stop looking for hand outs…if you want something…get out there & work for it.
By god, it amazes how narrow minded some people can become… Tbh, this journalist has not researched properly and as for NOT playing an alt character(s) in SWTOR, what an idiot, Bioware are encouraging people to explore their other storylines outside their main with this BUT also allowing those who stick with their main to gain what others would! I plan on playing EVERY story, even if it takes me a long while, my JK, SW and trooper main quests are astounding in their scope and originality an how one cannot see STORY, or any sort of meaningful structure, as important to any game, not LEAST AN MMO, is an idiot, who doesn’t want these games to be mainstream and make any sort of impact on the industry like SWTOR is trying to do! I never played an MMO before this and so long as Bioware keep it going on to this quality, I am here to stay!!
I was going to go into detail explaining how wrong you are regarding this as everything legacy based is “Legacy XP” based .. but it seems to have been done to death and you still have not listened.
Instead Ill explain what he meant in the video. All the legacy system will be alt wise is convenience, it will give people who do roll alt’s the convenience of having a few extra perks at the start and as they level up due to the legacy system and the legacy XP they have earned on their main’s and other alt’s … Nothing in the Legacy system will affect lvl 50’s that cannot be done by someone who only plays on a main char.
your not even lvl 50 yet I see because of your comment about legacy XP slowing down … I dont know about anyone else but it has actually speeded up for me with the amounts I get for my dailys Im going up almost a legacy level every couple of days max (only playing on evenings)
Next time , complete your main char, and write about something with either facts or that you have personal experience of.
Do you really believe BW devs are stupid enough to make abilities available only to those who have made alts?
Nowhere does it say that in any of the statements made by the devs.
They have only said that the legacy system will provide benefits to your characters that would not otherwise be available.
What does this mean? Simple…
Players that have not unlocked the legacy will not have access and…
Alts of players that have… will have early access.. for example, before completing ACT I…
How does this gimp your main again?
You dont need an alt to contribute to your tree. Or gain points.
First time on this website, definitely the last.
Jumping to irrelevant conclusion and spreading false information in a fake informative article. Say something relevant or don’t say anything plz.
You could not be more wrong Mike. Next time take the time to think before writing. You do not understand the impact of such an article.
I wonder if it is not a mere attempt to attract more readers/trolls with provocation. Well it worked. Gj
Wow, you’re complaining about Bioware adding content and you’re pissed because you don’t want to access it… That doesn’t make any dam sense.