#137 - RT Podcast

Rooster Teeth talks Old Republic

Link: http://roosterteeth.com/episode/rt-podcast-season-1-rt-podcast-137

Recorded: 2011-10-26 15:54:21

Runtime: 00:51:48 (3108.85 seconds)

Participants: Gus Sorola, Kerry Shawcross, Jack Pattillo, Adam Baird, David Bass and Blaine Christine from BioWare

[
    ""
]

[
    "The Old Republic" => "http://www.swtor.com/"
    "TOR European Release Moved Up" => "http://www.gamebandits.com/news/pc/star-wars-the-old-republic-european-released-date-to-match-u-s-18839/"
    "X Men Legends" => "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men_Legends"
    "Willow" => "http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096446/"
    "Smuggler" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/classes/smuggler"
    "Trooper" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/classes/trooper"
    "Jedi Knight" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/classes/jedi-knight"
    "Flashpoints" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/systems/flashpoints"
    "TOR Allegiances" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/allegiances"
    "TOR Planets" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/planets"
    "Advanced Classes" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/systems/advanced-classes"
    "Allies and Adversaries" => "http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20110921"
    "Drunk Tanks" => "http://www.swtor.com/guilds/6305/drunk-tanks"
    "Warzones" => "http://pc.ign.com/articles/121/1210188p1.html"
    "Huttball Trailer" => "http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DFO-QCW1IH2U"
    "T7-O1" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/biographies/t7-o1"
    "TOR Companions" => "http://www.swtor.com/info/systems/companions"
    "Early Game Access" => "http://www.swtor.com/preorder/faq#q209656"
    "Old Republic Versions" => "http://www.swtor.com/preorder"
    "Old Republic Beta" => "http://www.swtor.com/tester"
    "Developer Dispatch Music" => "http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/music-old-republic"
    "Wilhelm Scream" => "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream"
    "Old Republic Game Versions" => "http://www.swtor.com/preorder"
]

Audio:

Transcript (in progress):

you're talking about talking about a pocket the men in the program we have a special episode this week I'm on a special guest hey what's up you're already annoying the hell out actually work Florida WTF the conversation for later discussion earlier podcast Kerry here hey what's up I came upstairs long will I be here and joining us from BioWare we've got David bass and Blaine I'm sorry Blaine Christine and you are not the only one I've lived my whole life has Blaine Christine and then if I don't know which Christine pronounced just like Christine spelled like Christine eh eh that's right you guys over at the Old Republic producer and basically that means that I am in charge of the testing program for the last x amount of time that we have been actually externally testing the game show currently running our beta test and are testing weekends with you guys hopefully a participating in the and or heard about and then also I'm in charge of making sure the game is ready to go live as it were no pressure on your shoulders it's pretty important that you do time crunch going on this time of year yet the game is launching December 20th I believe December 20th is the ship date and we are Marching towards that date definitely High excitement within the studio right now but also a lot of time being but it's the 20th worldwide to because initially like European couple days right now it's all the 20th at the board meeting will the PAX Prime years he was working on the Lego MMO and I was like I'm over here like usual and then like I moved out here Brian aren't so they got another creative Services team and you know Jack that you're back a long way I don't know we have a long story video games like 2048 Esther and just working on Console games there and I work my way up over several years actually be a producer than the last game that I was the producer on at Activision was X Men Legends the original one thank you very much and X started out producing X Men Legends 2 and so that was my history sort of leading up to my journey to Austin a good friend of mine was working as a producer at Aspire for Jack was working and brought me in because they were looking for some help and I came in was working at the fire for about a year-and-a-half two years and still keeping my eyes open for other opportunities within Austin and noticed very quickly when there was a producer opening at BioWare because of course I've been a big BioWare fan for years and years and years play Baldur's Gate Neverwinter Nights and all that good stuff because I was a geeky little child and wanted to continue that in video games of a BioWare star and everyone a man was on the job or start working now that was a very interesting thing because at the time that everybody knows that the worst-kept secret in their interview long interview process and they were working on it that's right so fairly obvious what we were talking about at that point I think if you would come in before they denounce the deal with LucasArts it might have been a different story perhaps so congratulations and after that Howard the Duck that will be the third installment in BioWare and in those three billion people an email asking how to get a job in the industry there you go you let me walk away from a QA tester which is probably the easiest position to get into that's quality assurance game testing especially for those of you who don't know the lingo the term for the game comes out I'm not it was just a 1800 we were pretty much different now and start working on some game game 12 hours a day and then come and do it all over again I start over the documentation to explain exactly what you did to create the stories because we're working on Game Boy Color game goes for 8 hours a day and such a wonderful X 102 Dalmatians Disney racing game but then this was actually early for 9 months Simba Lion King Adventure on PlayStation one you could complete the entire game in 2 to 3 hours and sweet we touch did up for 9 months and then we be like up we've gone through the game again and it was so slow and fixing bugs and and it was a very long painful project that took many twists and turns but ultimately was a good thing because that's how I got to know the producer that hired me up into production at Activision so it was good but 9 months of Lion King Adventures on PlayStation one thank you very much never game like that to our game that you were gone for 9 months just become like just muscle memory or you can just close your eyes and be like contact Pandora but okay so we try to talk about the Old Republic I guess so okay I guess the embargoes been lifted so people can finally talk about content about certain things and we've been playing this game for a long time yes we can see how long how long we've been on a month or two maybe longer than that March or March so we're playing a long time I should have been playing like a hardcore fan and we spent a lot of time so we spend a lot of time playing the Imperial side of things so we're not talking about the Republic Smuggler everything you can do that anyway but luckily General Republic Smuggler which I thought I didn't think was a class that would really interesting seeing everyone think of Star Wars and I think of you know Jedi and lightsabers running around and I'll admit the first character you know those kinds of characters but I decide to play a Smuggler and that was really a lot of fun I think the way that uses the cover system is not something I'd seen it all before are you if you look for cover or uncover you get advantage of different attacks and your intended to do so it's almost like you're taking the World of Warcraft Warrior using a different stances using items in game for for your bonuses behind that rock and you know that I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed that obviously taken directly from the cover thing is something that again I've been BioWare for four years and so a couple of years ago it was really like a big decision for us and and we had to put some time and investment into that system and it was a big question among the design staff and and everybody else just be like okay we're going to go down this path we really have to support it and make sure that it is a viable option and that it is fun for players and so it is very good to hear people respond positively and say yes you made the right decision probably just classes but other mechanic look at the benefit of environment you can Trooper that's kind of running and running and hiding like tanks Trooper not as a tank or healer like it I love it I can still feel and and this is one thing we talked about it everyone's got allies and everyone got healthy which is so awesome I can out of him and your help and your actions whatever your classes because they don't have anything and then and that's how I dream of myself as a kind of the opposite the old man we trust Blaine up in and around Austin Texas one time for a Gothic 3 actually 43 think I wish I had a video of that I'm sure I would be shocked if it wasn't for your consideration if you can't find it I have it somewhere. Blaine anyway back to the important stuff you're saying you're playing Smuggler would you think of the story that was going through me the first time I played it I was like no really it's like it's really good I think well aware that you play that you have certain preconceived notions about where things are going and you're like oh this may be a Twist but it still feels like I want to give anything away I don't suppose it and talk about it everything is really want to know what's going to happen next to become invested in the characters and in the other characters you going to reckon with and getting a couple of different and have different and it's interesting to look at the and then how many people all of them the last option sort of the topic did you guys get a chance to check out multiplayer conversation yeah yeah yeah that's really really cool the whole social aspect of it and you're doing flashpoints when you get to the point where I just talk into the conversation and the old automatically be back in time to do anything every character roles are random number and whoever gets the highest ever left the party because like the dark side and and that's going to change how the mission plays out if they've won they get to you know people get to be done to run around and kill everyone or whatever example Republic you're running around this ship and you have to close the bridge and you want them to help you and you can we're sorta like the first three where we actually show the game where you at the getting on one of those presentations but he showed off the multiplayer conversation the question we would always get from the press and players was like oh my God exactly what you guys are talking about what happens if somebody picks the choice tell people that's the whole point that's why it's fun but then once you experience it you know it's same thing you're talking about that choice of killing the engineers plan through with the group recently and one of the people we are playing with actually hadn't seen that figure choice and she was trying to play the good class and be like so evil I want and Greek American workers for a week after events of them is in the group conversation that you can see what other people are choosing so I apparently dark Jedi so I was the only person that invented I actually had someone okay to bring a companion now but they are fat people who like looking for group for families Knight only killed because of the light by choice and at least on the access is a little bit longer because I get the points for being dark side whether I am there any advantage to doing that other than being people are pretty serious about it could be also like the cumulation of the light side or dark side points like maybe if they want a lot of Light Side points Republic Republic that even farther than the end of the experience men like they're a lot easier to get along with in my life like you'll be running around here some there some questions like you have to go and I can destroy X member react or something like that and anytime I see people run around the same area I just throw them an invite if they don't have one I've been denied so many times inside the Empire drunk Republic Social what you would normally consider if I was playing Republic I am playing Dark Side okay Blaine Empire live band playing Empire Light Side very nice the market numbers right now cheaper Hydro Darkside so you get armor based on what level you are in so the choices you make through the solo questing also be that the flashpoints everything like that you build up your kids just like what we talked about flashpoints that part of the game but I had to go back to my home Enders 2 starting planets Tor mantell and tython is the starting line for The Smuggler in the Jedi Jedi Consular as being like kind of like casting DPS but still also a thing is it gets really tricky when she get into the advanced classes because each class has those branches in the branches take you in a different path plus you've got your skill trees which then allow you to further specialize so so really what we're trying to build is like we want you to be able to pick sort of the story and the thing that you want to go with it and then be able to customize from there so so at the early levels it definitely feels like what you're describing but at the lower levels that there's really a variety of options ultimately you could have almost any class or feeling like they're really depending on the choices you made if you were playing the trooper you're certainly not going to be heavy on the mail a right like you're definitely right you know whether you are going like range tank or range DPS are things that that you can sort of specialize in as you get further into debt advanced classes that's really really nice like you start off with building your skills into different directions and the amount of classes until you get to the point where flashpoints Willow Blaine thing is that we want people to Tor classes based on what story they want to see advanced classes what people are going to be staying or going with the Shadows is it the end of control Matt early we have fulfilled our mission of making sure that we have lots and lots of choices retail and how they play out a little bit for you to be like you and your group your problem but I think you can playing with a bunch of random pertaining to being specific about the type of classes are you guys having like like that Companions and also like which I definitely want people to check out which is and when we have had a lot of people check out but if you go to the web you can actually sign up and create your own Guild on the web and then we just introduced a new program adversaries and allies Jack is talking about which basically allows you to say Tor hate Adam do our best and it's a tricky job as you can imagine to sort of detangle that way but adversaries and allies and then plug them into the game so that when we start up the game that you'll actually be able to say I'm on this server and it's with Blaine you can throw your groove into it so the default server that almost everyone tanks find someone on the side missing music sure why not so we're looking for other out into more adversaries and a couple of mad 3900 get in get in and what definitely heard it from Adam Jack we should also talk about Adam another and there's a bald spot in the middle of an arena and two teams Rush at it and you have to take the ball and Russia to the other team's goal across the map it's almost like rugby or football we have to take a pass the line and could do you win and you can see if you pick up the ball you move at a slower pace and a giant shaft of light illuminates you so everyone that yes you are who and who also does commercials yes yes prisoner Kerry Corporation is really really good and it's cool to get in there and have that sense of mayhem from would look there's a giant pile of players right there I'm going to jump in there and you know what some people have to say it's pretty tricky I think that that the game play style is is awesome I'm glad to hear yes I can if anybody wants to check it out again actually go to the Star Wars the Old Republic website and we've got at least one video plug release this year and I think the tricky part is in for the first time you don't know what's going on really really difficult but it's one of those games where the longer you play the better you get and strategies then then it really gets a lot more fun actually 2003 air nautique Richmond Pillsbury Doughboy battle the voice over voices are in the Glide like it it's telling you what's going on when I saw that that was like really down cool thank you go through this by myself thank you it is so cool to have company are healing you need to have to think about it I didn't even like me Presto quartz companions have always been a staple of BioWare games plus you know you know within Star Wars you get your Sidekicks and that kind of thing in it but the idea always was we want groups to be easy to form and also that goes back to the advanced class kind of thing and like how you said Up characters and you know you don't have to be stuck with a particular type of healer whatever with particular class so we did everything we did we wanted to make it easier to hear about there for one of the cool things about the companions is if you don't have a Healer and there's only two of you there play especially later in the game you have multiple companions you can select a companion that will heal there for you got the group that you need companions my companions talk to me like I'll Kill Them All like whoever was the writer 47 absolute nerd 27 battle how the character when he talks to you and stuff like that I don't know if you guys for me I saw that garbage collecting robot that goes to space to save two fat people bass and like and I'm not going to spoil too much there's one part where and the the Droid actually request to go with you sorcerer R2D2 Mountainside Ministries within the Old Republic universe that you may encounter with in the game Knight and I'll take her along and that's the thing that I think is most striking about the Old Republic is how much story there is everywhere Internet only in class but in companions it seems like everything you do if you want to delve further you can and find out more information and one awesome thing about the companions as they do on your crafting and tor for me or whatever release I think it's beyond Christine Jackson Long Beach X Tor with companions what is superb job I felt that all the voice actors and actresses get in the in the game I know before I start playing and you know that it wasn't really going to be texting somebody all dialogue spoken dialogue driven and I was a little skeptical but I think that the performances are really engaged and that's one of the things that makes you a lot more about what's going the game early on and we would talk about that occasionally you get to the genre but I think that BioWare storytelling is something that's unique and different we obviously took a huge Cadre of writers that were working on this for a very long time which is why you get these cool moments like with 27 at cetera but also just like no-holds-barred in terms of once we committed to we're doing this fully fully voice and especially with the player character being voiced that was also really key decision within our game and development that that it's just that is what BioWare storytelling is all about so I think it is hopefully unlike anything you've certainly different voice cat paws tell you that Republic side but I think we tried to definitely part of your characters class story but also A world quest that have like very interesting decisions and I'm sorry David I have to go up here just talk a little bit Imperial side on how there's one just came home and it was right at the beginning of the game where where you make a decision about it sort of a wife and husband fighting over their child and it's just like we start the game off with a bang and that's not even your class story so that kind of stuff is sprinkled throughout the first time ever and then lick men tortured Something In My Heart scream men and a lot of other BioWare games I have played very very dark characters in a play area like it's probably that it's like I find myself B characters in men light in planter because tourist murdered everything Kerry like your friends you know like that will make them that'll raise affection and there not a whole bunch of chocolate I like chocolate and I don't think Kim ball on the on the Imperial side I keep doing sorry but I mean the game is early the digital Deluxe game and the collector's edition Georgia weather radar Intuit we've been doing larger-scale up beta weekend we're doing that over the next month whatever I know we're inviting more players signed up on the website you should do that now because we're going to try to get you before we actually really quick please and have no whur.com Alaska supplements key events like a good Mix original prequel music your new Trilogy music and also stuff that I've never heard before I don't know if its original composition or just like trash from the ocean waiting for the game and I was all done with LucasArts was actually we worked with them they hired folks that have worked on lots of Star Wars stuff over the last 10-15 years or more because they they work with those people all the time and so so yeah there's a lot of original music for our game that's in there and I was all done music library right now but we've done some modification of that stuff too so I think of the other cool thing you find especially if you would like wearing headphones and you're really into it which which would you play with a bunch of different experience and you catch some of the new ones but like just hearing how we've altered especially to go through the game and different lightsabers sound different different Blaster rifle sound different so I actually like when I pick up a new glass trick on playing the trooper then you're actually coming it was going to sound like I was almost exclusively Charlie as soon as the testing goes I'm sure Blaine you're extremely busy actually talk about the other side and we missed is Cantina Band in the game cuz I haven't done but I didn't B Collector's Editions holiday alright thank you so much for taking time early bird near the equator and allies