Pax 2011 – Day 1 Recap

Yesterday was the first day of PAX 2011.  BioWare’s “big” panel isn’t scheduled till Sunday afternoon.. so I don’t think we’ll be getting any big news until then.  There were a couple of Q&A sessions yesterday

 

Here’s what I’ve found so far for the Q&As.. there was no livestream of these.

 

Operations are high level story content. World bosses are on every world, which can only be defeated by several groups of players working together. Loot from world bosses not as good as ones from Operations. World bosses need 3 or 4 parties.
 Q: Can you change endgame armor looks?
A: You can tell who is a badass at endgame. Sets for PvP and PvE
A: We also wanted to make sure players looked like the characters from the movies. Yoda wears simple clothing. Mod-able items are available. You can mod a low level item into something more powerful. Level 8 robe can be modded to be legit at 50 so you can look like Luke or Obiwan.
Q: Benefits to being in a guild?
A: Basic features at ship. Features like guild leveling later. High priority.
Q: How much storage space will you have?
A:  You’ve got a whole ship to put your inventory in.
Q: Will you be able to queue in groups of 8? (Regarding PvP Queueing, Huttball, Alderaan, etc.)

A: Not currently. Eventually might add multiple group queues, but they want to minimize premade “steamrolling.”
Q: What options do you have for finding a group?
A: The game is very solo-friendly. There are also social hubs and a LFG system.
A: We’re working on streamlining grouping and socializing. They’re working on a system that prompts you to friend people after grouping with them.
Q: What do the devs play? What are your favorite classes?
A: Changes all the time. Inquisitor learns some crazy some crazy mysteries about the Force.
A: Cover classes. Sniper and Gunslinger. Steeper learning curve, very powerful and rewarding. Also Juggernaut and Knight.
Q: How accessible are raids going to be?
A: Story is meant to be accessible to everyone. Maybe 3-6 hours of raiding to get through it… hard mode is tougher with different mechanics. Easy mode lockout does not apply to hard mode lockouts.
Q: Will there be Wookiee massacres in the game?
A: Maybe. Trandoshan/Wookiee hate is alive and well. No faction grinding.
Q: Are dungeons like WoW?
A: No. Branching story and multiplayer dialogue make it very different.
A: No dungeon finder. Crew skills give RPG-style bonuses to certain Flashpoint areas. Slicing example.
A: You haven’t seen even half of our Flashpoints.
Q: How do you balance iconic content versus new content?
A: KOTOR is a great example. Very iconic, but not a carbon copy of the movies. One fight in KOTOR might feel like the fight in Emperor’s throne room. Operations are bit more creative, but class stories stick more to iconic moments, you as the single hero.
Q: Clarify last week’s comment about mixed faction Huttball teams.
A: No characters of different factions on the same team, but Republic can fight Republic, and Empire can fight Empire.
I found these across the internet.. I know that the folks over at Darth Hater liveblogged both Q&A sessions.  So you might want to head over there to read their coverage also.