19 – We need a villain

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Today’s show includes a HUGE bunch of talk regarding free to play MMO’s and ToR’s eventual entry into that side of gaming.

Getting hung up in your 30′s. Pets in this game are kinda awesome. The EU and Middle East get some ToR love. PVP states of being. A legit damage meter. Gearing up from quests and drops. Lower monthly before going free. Economic meltdown averted. More on moisture evaporators. When your main is no longer your main. All crafiable things on display! And more!

Special thanks to our sponsors this week: Doghouse Systems, TypeFrag.com, and Camp Myth!

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23 thoughts on “19 – We need a villain”

  1. Hey guys, I suggest you go an look at a Free to Play Game that its going to be an MMO/RPG/FPS in giant robots. got to http://www.mechwarrioronline.com and check out this game that should be going into beta in the next few months. This is a Free to Play game built on the Crysis II Game engine. I have played Mechwarrior games my entire computer gamer life (starting in the late 80′s and early 90′s)

    Now if TOR goes free to play I am totally down for it. Just as long as I can make micro-transactions for cool things I would be happy to support it.

    • OMFG! So, I regularly listen to the podcast during my day to day activities (driving to work, walking the dog, etc) and at about 2am this morning (as I finally got internet hooked back up yesterday for my new house) got to the part about comparing companion gear. Why wasn’t this an instant built in feature??? I used to have to go to my crew tab and bring out each companion individually and see if the reward gear was even worth it. FINALLY! Time saved.
      Thank you guys so much for finding this and pointing it out!

  2. I deeply hate the f2p model. In those f2p mmos, sooner or later I always end up spending more than 20$ every month. With SWTOR I love it because I know I’ll pay 13$ every month, no more no less.

    I heard horror stories about f2p gamers who ended up spending thousands every month!!! Thousands!!! o.O

    So careful what you wish for…

  3. Hi Scott, name is Bjarki, i’m 26 from Iceland. I love your TOR podcast and listen every week.

    I was listening to your latest podcast at work and when you mentioned Iceland along with all those middle east contries I laughed so hard my co-workers came looking into my cubicle. Just to clarify people in Iceland have their personal computers and play a monthly fee, just like most people in US.

    Best regards, keep the show going and don’t worry that you are not 50 yet, it’s the ride not the destination.

  4. Tor is dying for me I think its because its basicly wow copied and pasted in to a star wars setting while lacking a lot of what makes wow good.

    There’s no real innovation .. bioware needed to make it different and while the questing and voice acting is good its not a mechanic that keeps you playing.

  5. Regarding server locations. I’m in Taiwan and play on a US west coast server (ping 140ms). They opened oceanic/asian servers but placed them in freaking australia. I have over 300ms ping there!!
    I have no idea about middle eastern servers, but I assume they put the servers in europe anyway.

  6. Hey Scott,
    I am a fan and longtime listener of the instance in both it’s forms. I have to say this weeks episode was pretty weak.. There was very little TOR related content and was just you and Dills rehashing the same free-to-play conversation that we are all bored to death of at this point. Sorry to be a complaining Mancy but there are plenty of meatier issues I’d love to hear you guys banter about.

    PS We need a group finder for TOR! Do you think we will see this implemented next patch?

  7. Hi Scott,

    I’m a long time listener. I’ve been with The Instance TOR from episode 1, and you bring the same entertainment to TOR that you brought to WoW for years.

    You mentioned the lack of an “enemy” in TOR and before 1.2 i would have agreed with you. But, if you had a 50 and were playing end game (not a shot at your personal decision for progression speed), and finished EC you would have seen an amazing video setting up a huge power struggle. (spoiler alert) With the emperor dead (Jedi Knight story line), the Dread Masters (5 powerful sith master that are released from Belsavis in an Empire quest chain) are vying for control of everything. This will make for AMAZING opportunities for a true villain in the TOR universe.

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KQeVsq9VCc[/youtube]

    I wish people would give the lore just a little more time to develop. We know that Bioware can tell awesome stories through their games. WoW’s content was different because they just took an already developed story (Warcraft) and just re-introduced all the villains again. WoW actually hasn’t introduced any new enemies before MoP. TOR has nowhere to come from. Even the story they developed with KOTOR isn’t really relevant here because it’s 300 years later! They’re having to build everything, from a story prospective, new.

    I see this story really developing into something with a lot of depth and angles if given the time, and i think Bio is looking to have it really going by the end of the year. If content with story development like this continues to be released, this series could be one of the best stories told in an MMO ever!

    Reur
    Guild – Venatus Super
    Server – Belgoth’s Beacon

  8. Yeah, I was laughing when I heard them complaining about no villain. I love listening to these guys, but I wonder if they’re the best people to do this podcast for Frogpants or the Instance brand. Have you considered passing the reigns to someone more interested? Maybe let Dills take it with another cohost?

  9. There isn’t a whole lot of passion for TOR pouring out of Scott on these last few shows. With D3 and Pandas coming out, maybe they should pack it in, instead of phoning it in. It’s better to burn out than fade away fellas. Long time listener, just a little let down by this one so far.

    • I would think thats because there isn’t much to be passionate about with this game. They don’t have to kiss TOR’s butt in order to play or enjoy it.

      • Well David that’s half of my point. While some people really do enjoy this game, others share your opinion, and if the hosts are on your side of the issue maybe they should not do the podcast?

        • True, but the issue is, they haven’t stated anything like that. They are being objective, as they should be. Doesn’t mean they dislike the game as I don’t think they would waste time playing or podcasting about it if they weren’t interested in it.

  10. I have been listening to this podcast for awhile now (episode 2) and I have got to say you guys a fairly entertaining. Though the problem is that half the time you guys don’t have the correct information and are corrected by the chat room or just put out incorrect information.

    The reason I am posting is more to the F2P topic though. I really don’t understand how people can’t understand basic math. There is only one reason companies like F2P over sub based game. Its a simple concept, they make more money from it. Now that in and of itself I don’t have a problem with. It is the misleading name of F2P. It is not free. It’s not even close to free. If it were the companies wouldn’t make more money with that model then the other model.

    I have no interest in playing a pay to win game. Which is where most “Free to Play” games end up.

  11. Are people still enjoying ToR ?

    I log in look at my Char on the login screen then sigh and click quit.

    The raiding is poor and after month’s of bugs the fixed encounters are just dull.

    PvP was the only thing keeping me playing but 4 man grouping has kinda killed that ..you had to be in the team with the premade or you were fighting a premade with a fail pug.

    Its a shame I had high expectations for ToR I really wanted it to be good

    • I am still enjoying the PvP in the game but have yet to hit fifty. Yes, it is best to get into a pre-made group, but that’s not too hard since cross servers has yet to be implemented and you are constantly running with the same people on the way up to fifty. I only started playing in late February, but so far I love the game. The Voss mystilcs’ story line has completely pulled me back into leveling for now. The only issue I have is that I haven’t been able to find groups for flash points.

  12. Come one guys. Why no episode this week? There was some bogus comment on the Morning Stream about a subscriber dip leading to no show – which seems a pretty thin reason. Play the game, and tell us about it, or cancel the show. This in between is painful.

    • You want them to spend a hour and a half talking about the subscriber loss? That’s really the only news from ToR this week.

      That’s not exactly a cheery topic. If the ToR devs and such were being more involved with the community, it would help to have an idea of what’s coming next in the game.

      • Most podcasts don’t just talk about the news… They talk about what they’re doing in the game, what their guild is doing, the complexity of fights, leveling strategies, pvp strategies, etc… If they just want to talk about TOR news several days after the fact, I guess I don’t see that point of that, but it speaks volumes that they don’t feel compelled to put out anything besides that.

        • Maybe they just don’t like the game that much anymore? I wouldn’t take the time to produce a weekly show about something I marginally cared about, either. I just like Scott’s podcasts, still listen to the original Instance even though I bailed on WoW before Cata, and wish this podcast were higher priority since TOR is my current thing, but hey that’s life!

  13. Just wanted to say when I heard the The Instance was doing a TOR show I was pumped. I started listening back in Ep. 1 and love it. I know that some people don’t like TOR, but your show keeps me going. To all the people who say this game isn’t WoW, your right, wow has had over 8 years to perfect their game, and TOR has had only 5 months. Give them a chance before you start blasting them about what WoW has and what TOR doesn’t have.

    It’s not WoW, so if you want a WoW experiance go play that. Also if you want to leave TOR and are on the Sith Med. Sphere server, “Can I have your stuff?”.

    Keep up the great shows, if it takes time for you to put them out that’s fine, I can get my instance fix on the original WoW show.

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