Ok I thought I would post a bit so people can first see what its like to play SWTOR from someone who is not bad at AO (but not a keen reearcher and mad twinker).
Comparison overall
1) SWTOR is very much mission based, rather than grab a team and level. This is good if you like to play solo, have trouble with dead time zones, or just rather some RP/Storyline stuff. The storyline in quests is much more defined than in AO. You can pretty much play AO (like i do) with no knowledge of the RP aspect of it. Where in SWTOR it is rammed in your face every second.
2) The social aspect of SW is waaaay worse than AO. Chat is rediculous to say the least. Cant copy/paste. No bot functions really. As far as i know there is no !items look up, !timers, !whois etc. Just makes it so hard to do things.
3) The graphics i better, worlds look nice. Mobs are smarter and more interactive. Not just single movements like in AO. So for someone who hasnt played anything else its kinda a novelty. I'm sure if you are a player of other MMORPGs like WoW, its probably on par.
4) combat is kinda cool, but the incredibly poor GUI and hotbars means that when you get more and more abilities its just so hard to keep up. Some abilities/combat functions are just levelled up, which is nicer that having 4million obsolete nanos like in AO. But still too many functions and not enough hotbar room.
5) Its a bit grindy. I guess you have to imagine AO with no big XP rewards, not gridding (they do have taxis, but still..) and no twinking to be ahead of the curve. So in parts you need to be prepared to slug it out running from A-B, then back to A, then on to C, then Roll at D, then back to A, then off to C etc etc and all the while killing mobs in groups of 3-5.
Good parts
1) companions. Its basically a pet you keep with you who has a personality and a tool set. Depending on what your companion is they may heal, Crowd control, damage, tank and more. Its basically your AO pet, but improved and actually useful.
2) Soloing. As previously the fact you can just progress, even if slower than say AO, without needing to camp LFT for hours is great. There are some missions where 2+ is needed, but if you can do them you dont lose much. Just some XP. Though i've not had any trouble, even at my lvl, finding even teams of 4.
3) Variety. Its good that there are a lot of things to the game and things like space missions make it feel slightly less grindy. Where in AO is just go here and kill, then go there and kill. Really it makes no difference if its a heck, crip, croaker etc.
4) Missions. They are just flat out better in terms of GUI, instructions etc. All mission waypoints can display simultaneously and you can move the cursor over different way points to see which mission(s) is in that zone and then complete them all.
5) Rolling. When you kill a mob in a team any rare/desired items are displayed with an option "need" or "greed" or you can opt to pass. From what it seems you chose one option and then you are randomly given a score (i think out of 100), highest score wins. Its just so much faster than the whole !add 1 thing. Plus as far as i can see there is no "omg i never win" comments. This may change with higher levels and tougher bosses.
Bad Parts
1) Tedious. Its mainly because there is a lot to do in the game, but you can feel a bit like you are not getting anywhere. With SWTOR atm you are not really able to have lots of alts as you will be perma broke. As well the missions can be a bit repetitive. Lots of just go here, r-click this and go back. You can quickly see repetition in the missions. Luckily you can roll most missions per zone, go out and click/kill then turn em all in at once. But its still alot of running. and sub 14 (before sprint) is OMFG long.
2) Tedious. I thought this needed to be seperate from the above, but its tedious when crafting (making stuff). Its not like AO where you just raise your stats. Your companion(s) will be able to make stuff, but you have to spend hours and lotsa credits to level up the crafting abilities enough to start to make some good items. The process is basically buy/find/beg for a bunch of materials to make stuff with. Then each time you make something you get up to 2/400 skill in that field. Then with the junk you undo it (reverse engineer) at a return of 50% and repeat. then repeat.. then repeat.... then(yawn) repeat.....
3) everything costs something. Take a taxi it costs, run a space mish it costs, get your crew to run a mish it costs, try to sell something on the market, guess what.... it costs. Pretty much you cant make a bowel movement without someone getting paid. Dont get me wrong, you can still make money and it does help to keep the economy low, but at low levels its a bit annoying to have everything cost cost cost. Again this is probably like AO was in the begining without an established bank roll.
4) Learning curve. its steep. I know AO would be as well, but its just something about SWTOR. Mainly due to not one major database site, like www.auno.org and ao-universe is for AO. Not having some bot functions is really a hinderance. Secondly the names a hard to remember and its a bit hard to really know whats what. But i'm probably being unfair a plenty of AP seem to know a huge amount more than me. I guess if youw ant to wrap your head around things you just gotta read, read, read.
5) Combat. Its hard with the GUI being the way it is. The other things is that its more like being an NT or a Shade in combat rather than say a Crat or Soldier. Its a lot of button mashing, well not so much mashing like a shade, but more like constant pressing like an NT. Long story short its not really a default attack then hit specials. You gotta press everytime you want an action.
Wrap up
All in all its hard to say a 1 for 1 comparison for each area of gameplay, even though i tried in the above.
In general i think there is more satisfaction to be had with SWTOR levelling as each thing is just so tedious that once you reach the end you will feel so relieved. The way that it is atm you will more than likely have done it the hard way (solo) and the honest way (hard work and no bank roll). I like that aspect that if you play well, work hard and just be smart you will be able to progress. If you compare the things with AO, you would need to go from 1-220, LE70, AI30 and have all your VP stuff, and usually a bunch of AI/LE/Beast/APF stuff without having bought a thing (aside from paying for every sneeze). The difference with SWTOR is that its perfectly reasonable and attainable to do so. Where in AO you almost literally just cant do it.
In terms of the actual gameplay, useability and such I still think AO is better. Chat and bot functions as well as GUI is sooo much better in AO than SWTOR. I compare these as something like the iPhone (SWTOR) Vs Anyother (AP). By this i mean that with an iPhone everything is plug and play, reduced customization means you cant bugger things up so bad and its all just there for the basic use. The flip side is that with AP you can do so much more, but it will take you longer to really appreciate everything it can do.
If i had to chose I would chose AO. But its not a bad distraction.
sum up for SWTOR so far
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
I guess I agree with 99.5% of the above.
Of course, SWTOR is new and we'll see how it evolves.
A few more notes... in disorder... Not like the structure and well planned post by Rojo.
As I said after testing it, SWTOR is a compilation of almost everything you have in other MMOG's (except AO). It's well done and solid, without genius though, pleasant to play, and a quite rudimentary interface. PvP and, in general, combat, are more dynamic and offer plenty of effects that are enjoyable.
Graphics are indeed very cool, and the worlds and buildings do make sense and could be "real" or almost. (Although they could hire some architects because several details are inconsistent but it's the case in all games.) The graphic engine is nevertheless way behind the AoC (Dreamworld Cheetah) one which is still the best at the moment. (It's the one that is used in TSW and one specific branch should be used for AO.)
Missions are given / completed by cut scenes with full screen videos showing your actual character involved with NPC's. It's cool and voice acting is most often fine. Some missions even have cut scenes in the middle of them, for example chatting with the big bad villain or with NPC's you have to rescue, etc.
About leveling, if you consider that 50 is the top level, then getting to 50 or getting to 200 in AO is about the same. Nothing like kite hills though. The lest three levels, more or less, are a bit long to get.
Trade skills make me scream, for the reasons pointed out by Rojo. This seriously need to be made more entertaining. Still, I level them.
You can manage affection from your companions and even flirt with your companion (some of them only) and he/she can even want to marry you in the end. (Nadia sends me love letters, reads poetry for me, and sends me gifts. Well, anyhow, I wouldn't marry a Rihwen...)
Side note: high affection from a companion makes her/him work better and faster for you in trade skill missions and items making. Nadia (affection maxed) works a lot faster than any other companion and with -it seems- better results. Second is Tharan, which is also the second in affection (4K / 10K) so it seems consistent.
The GUI is just a shame, period, although I must admit it's perfectly usable. There are some good things, like pop-up tips windows showing you a comparison between an item and the one you or you companion has already equipped. But windows in fixed positions and sizes, possibly closing when the game opens another, the miserable chat, the lack of a good task bar system, annoy me. AO was much better ten years ago.
It's very easy to be broke at high levels. I am currently. Of course, Nadia and I have some of the best available gear available on the market ATM or close, and I'll now work on Tharan Cedrax, but still... It's the first time this happens to me in a game. (Even "blue" items sell poorly now.) I'd say that the global economy needs revamping. Most items just don't sell and only a few will allow you to make some money as they are most often expensive to make. Gathering skills are also unbalanced IMHO (some produce much more valuable items than others.)
Overall, SWTOR is a good break, an enjoyable experience, a good solo adventure, and something solid, but with hardly understandable flaws and drawbacks. It has to evolve to be able to last long though.
Honestly, SWTOR or any current game just shows us that, in 2001 and for a design back in the late 90's, AO was simply a genius work. (I would have to mention the underestimated and quite specific good old City of Heroes too, where the original team is still making an amazing work.)
Of course, SWTOR is new and we'll see how it evolves.
A few more notes... in disorder... Not like the structure and well planned post by Rojo.
As I said after testing it, SWTOR is a compilation of almost everything you have in other MMOG's (except AO). It's well done and solid, without genius though, pleasant to play, and a quite rudimentary interface. PvP and, in general, combat, are more dynamic and offer plenty of effects that are enjoyable.
Graphics are indeed very cool, and the worlds and buildings do make sense and could be "real" or almost. (Although they could hire some architects because several details are inconsistent but it's the case in all games.) The graphic engine is nevertheless way behind the AoC (Dreamworld Cheetah) one which is still the best at the moment. (It's the one that is used in TSW and one specific branch should be used for AO.)
Missions are given / completed by cut scenes with full screen videos showing your actual character involved with NPC's. It's cool and voice acting is most often fine. Some missions even have cut scenes in the middle of them, for example chatting with the big bad villain or with NPC's you have to rescue, etc.
About leveling, if you consider that 50 is the top level, then getting to 50 or getting to 200 in AO is about the same. Nothing like kite hills though. The lest three levels, more or less, are a bit long to get.
Trade skills make me scream, for the reasons pointed out by Rojo. This seriously need to be made more entertaining. Still, I level them.
You can manage affection from your companions and even flirt with your companion (some of them only) and he/she can even want to marry you in the end. (Nadia sends me love letters, reads poetry for me, and sends me gifts. Well, anyhow, I wouldn't marry a Rihwen...)
Side note: high affection from a companion makes her/him work better and faster for you in trade skill missions and items making. Nadia (affection maxed) works a lot faster than any other companion and with -it seems- better results. Second is Tharan, which is also the second in affection (4K / 10K) so it seems consistent.
The GUI is just a shame, period, although I must admit it's perfectly usable. There are some good things, like pop-up tips windows showing you a comparison between an item and the one you or you companion has already equipped. But windows in fixed positions and sizes, possibly closing when the game opens another, the miserable chat, the lack of a good task bar system, annoy me. AO was much better ten years ago.
It's very easy to be broke at high levels. I am currently. Of course, Nadia and I have some of the best available gear available on the market ATM or close, and I'll now work on Tharan Cedrax, but still... It's the first time this happens to me in a game. (Even "blue" items sell poorly now.) I'd say that the global economy needs revamping. Most items just don't sell and only a few will allow you to make some money as they are most often expensive to make. Gathering skills are also unbalanced IMHO (some produce much more valuable items than others.)
Overall, SWTOR is a good break, an enjoyable experience, a good solo adventure, and something solid, but with hardly understandable flaws and drawbacks. It has to evolve to be able to last long though.
Honestly, SWTOR or any current game just shows us that, in 2001 and for a design back in the late 90's, AO was simply a genius work. (I would have to mention the underestimated and quite specific good old City of Heroes too, where the original team is still making an amazing work.)
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
There pretty much is no game outside of AO and AoC that allow chat bots ... which means no !items commands.
WoW and others compensate for this with addons, but the user has to manage these (in other words, I can't make it work for you through a chatbot).
SWTOR hasn't decided on an addons policy yet, so has no addons. Once it does (they've said they want something, but not to the extent of WoW) then you'll see things that work like !items, !timers, etc. You can do !whois functions by using the social windows and using search filters. However it won't be nearly as concise.
I agree that no cut&paste or pop-up tells is getting OLD ... but even WoW doesn't have most of those chat functions without, you guessed it, addons.
I think I'm the bearer of bad news ... but ... games today are doing 2 things:
1) relying on addons for finishing touches on UI functionality
2) going with minimal UIs because the VAST majority of social interaction in these games for guilds is over voice chat
It isn't just SWTOR that is lacking here, but pretty much any new game. SWTOR's lack is just called out that much more because there is no addon system to bypass the problems.
I don't expect to see much in the way of change in this in the future. Maybe some game will come out with decent cut&paste or pop-up windows ... but you will probably never again see MMOs with the chat richness of an oldschool game or the connectivity capabilities of an IRC-based chat system (it is this IRC-based connectivity that allows chat bots in AO and AoC).
TSW? Maybe we get lucky and they enable chat bots there since they have the expertise around their chat system. But not again outside of Funcom unless these companies start looking for more than the bare minimum chat UI requirements.
PS. I hate this fact, too.
WoW and others compensate for this with addons, but the user has to manage these (in other words, I can't make it work for you through a chatbot).
SWTOR hasn't decided on an addons policy yet, so has no addons. Once it does (they've said they want something, but not to the extent of WoW) then you'll see things that work like !items, !timers, etc. You can do !whois functions by using the social windows and using search filters. However it won't be nearly as concise.
I agree that no cut&paste or pop-up tells is getting OLD ... but even WoW doesn't have most of those chat functions without, you guessed it, addons.
I think I'm the bearer of bad news ... but ... games today are doing 2 things:
1) relying on addons for finishing touches on UI functionality
2) going with minimal UIs because the VAST majority of social interaction in these games for guilds is over voice chat
It isn't just SWTOR that is lacking here, but pretty much any new game. SWTOR's lack is just called out that much more because there is no addon system to bypass the problems.
I don't expect to see much in the way of change in this in the future. Maybe some game will come out with decent cut&paste or pop-up windows ... but you will probably never again see MMOs with the chat richness of an oldschool game or the connectivity capabilities of an IRC-based chat system (it is this IRC-based connectivity that allows chat bots in AO and AoC).
TSW? Maybe we get lucky and they enable chat bots there since they have the expertise around their chat system. But not again outside of Funcom unless these companies start looking for more than the bare minimum chat UI requirements.
PS. I hate this fact, too.
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
Just to clarify the economy thing.
Firstly SW is a new economy, this means that people don't know what to charge for things so often there will be a difference of opinion on what something is worth. Secondly, most people don't have a bank roll at this stage so the pool of money is a bit lower. You can get creds from missions, shop food and slicing (a crew skill the generates boxes that open to give creds). After this there isnt much. But it's the same as AO, only there hasn't been 7 years of building up and no s10 style generation of money.
So really you can't loot something that will have a market value of 500mil like in AO as most people just can't pay that. Best advice is to sell in numbers, put in a bunch of 1000 cred items and such, over time it will add up.
With SW the way you progress your guy is to upgrade gear and to train new abilities. Unfortunately each new ability or upgrade to ability costs you. You cannot loot it or mission for it like in AO. But on the upside you can pretty much loot a lot of your gear, or it's bought with things like commendations (kinda like tokens you loot). So this means you just kinda upgrade as you go. If you image your armor and weap like an implant, there are slots in which you can add modifications (like clusters). These mods improve your gear. Some can be from missions or crew missions, some can be crafted and others are bought.
The other thing is that every time you want your crew to do a mission to improve a skill then it costs you. I'm about 60% done with one skill and it's about 1k on average per mission. Luckily this generates income, but most others only generate income by selling the item (see above about the selling of items), or it's defers the cost of you having to buy an item.
So really the things you just have to pay for are
Space missions
New abilities
Increasing crew skills
Taxis
Selling items
Equipping your companions (as expensive as equipping yourself)
Buying TS materials for crafting (needed to increase crew skills)
Equipping your spaceship
Repairing gear (when you die you lose a potion of the items health)
Some quests also you "donate" creds to poor people
Buying the affection of your companions
So as you can see you just bleed money all of the time.
Firstly SW is a new economy, this means that people don't know what to charge for things so often there will be a difference of opinion on what something is worth. Secondly, most people don't have a bank roll at this stage so the pool of money is a bit lower. You can get creds from missions, shop food and slicing (a crew skill the generates boxes that open to give creds). After this there isnt much. But it's the same as AO, only there hasn't been 7 years of building up and no s10 style generation of money.
So really you can't loot something that will have a market value of 500mil like in AO as most people just can't pay that. Best advice is to sell in numbers, put in a bunch of 1000 cred items and such, over time it will add up.
With SW the way you progress your guy is to upgrade gear and to train new abilities. Unfortunately each new ability or upgrade to ability costs you. You cannot loot it or mission for it like in AO. But on the upside you can pretty much loot a lot of your gear, or it's bought with things like commendations (kinda like tokens you loot). So this means you just kinda upgrade as you go. If you image your armor and weap like an implant, there are slots in which you can add modifications (like clusters). These mods improve your gear. Some can be from missions or crew missions, some can be crafted and others are bought.
The other thing is that every time you want your crew to do a mission to improve a skill then it costs you. I'm about 60% done with one skill and it's about 1k on average per mission. Luckily this generates income, but most others only generate income by selling the item (see above about the selling of items), or it's defers the cost of you having to buy an item.
So really the things you just have to pay for are
Space missions
New abilities
Increasing crew skills
Taxis
Selling items
Equipping your companions (as expensive as equipping yourself)
Buying TS materials for crafting (needed to increase crew skills)
Equipping your spaceship
Repairing gear (when you die you lose a potion of the items health)
Some quests also you "donate" creds to poor people
Buying the affection of your companions
So as you can see you just bleed money all of the time.
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
auno = torhead.com
www.oldrepublic.net
http://torwars.com (okay I guess)
http://www.swtorstrategies.com/
And I don't mean this bad at all, but do a google search for SWTOR and you will find more info out there than AO every had. Not as much as WoW of course, but lots of things out there. Like, try a search for crewskill guide and you will find that one that will give you the fastest/cheapest way!
www.oldrepublic.net
http://torwars.com (okay I guess)
http://www.swtorstrategies.com/
And I don't mean this bad at all, but do a google search for SWTOR and you will find more info out there than AO every had. Not as much as WoW of course, but lots of things out there. Like, try a search for crewskill guide and you will find that one that will give you the fastest/cheapest way!
Daddyrabbit 220/30 ENFStuff
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
I disagree with rojo as far as relevance goes for the costing of stuff.
Imo, the thigns you pay for are:
Skills+upgrades (aimed shot, rank2, rank3, rank4, rank5...rank8) --> costs like 80000$ by the end of it
Vehicles (40000 @ lvl25, 210000@ lvl40)
Inventory and storage bay upgrades (10k, 20k, 50k, 100k, 200k), (100k, 400k for more bays) inv =inv, bay=bank
ship upgrades (only expensive for grade 5+, where each item is 18k and you need all 5 of them for 90k.
Imo, those are the big expenditures, the rest is pocket change.
like, taxi's aren't worth mentioning, neither is fuel for space flight.
So, with those expenditures, you have to balance with income
Where you earn money:
standard play: mission rewards, PVP rewards, looting, chests, selling items on the GMS
So, if you just log in and do stuff you make money. the only time you get short on credits is when you try to buy stuff that you won't need for many levels... which will end up being moderately priced when you're able to use it. At higher levels, monetary rewards are much higher.
Chest @lvl 10 = 80 credits
Chest @ lvl 45 = 4k credits
Mish reward @ lvl 10 =100 credits
Mish reward @ lvl 45 = 5k credits
Selling an in demand purple @ lvl 10 = 2000 credits
Selling an in demand purple @ level 40 = 50k credits
I know a 24 trooper who specializes in TSing purples and has well over a million credits.
Imo, the thigns you pay for are:
Skills+upgrades (aimed shot, rank2, rank3, rank4, rank5...rank8) --> costs like 80000$ by the end of it
Vehicles (40000 @ lvl25, 210000@ lvl40)
Inventory and storage bay upgrades (10k, 20k, 50k, 100k, 200k), (100k, 400k for more bays) inv =inv, bay=bank
ship upgrades (only expensive for grade 5+, where each item is 18k and you need all 5 of them for 90k.
Imo, those are the big expenditures, the rest is pocket change.
like, taxi's aren't worth mentioning, neither is fuel for space flight.
So, with those expenditures, you have to balance with income
Where you earn money:
standard play: mission rewards, PVP rewards, looting, chests, selling items on the GMS
So, if you just log in and do stuff you make money. the only time you get short on credits is when you try to buy stuff that you won't need for many levels... which will end up being moderately priced when you're able to use it. At higher levels, monetary rewards are much higher.
Chest @lvl 10 = 80 credits
Chest @ lvl 45 = 4k credits
Mish reward @ lvl 10 =100 credits
Mish reward @ lvl 45 = 5k credits
Selling an in demand purple @ lvl 10 = 2000 credits
Selling an in demand purple @ level 40 = 50k credits
I know a 24 trooper who specializes in TSing purples and has well over a million credits.
" I Don't Like That Man. I Must Get To Know Him Better." -Abraham Lincoln
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
I guess the economy thing depends on your prof and what you are doing. I have about 60k creds and I am current. Ship is level 1 all my abilities are current and armor is mostly blue with some orange mixed in. The problem gets a bit sticky (ask Chris) where you are the gearing your companion and just finishing off all of the more expensive stuff. With crafting for example it costs about 200 creds for a lvl 1 desh. Now I can beg for these off org mates, but generally it is a cost I will bear. So it costs me say 600 to get 4 stats. That is buy 2 for 200 and then reverse engineer at 50% return.
It will just depend on how lucky you get with gathering and crafting as to how much you make or lose. I can send out a dude for underworld training at 1000 a mish and get nothing back. So it really does start to add up. I am lucky that I have slicing as it is a source of income and I was lucky to get a few things that sold in gmt for 10k. If I did not have slicing I might find it a bit tighter.
Don't get me wrong, you are not totally gimped and trying to save up for some fancy piece of armor. It's just that you do incur a lot of costs over time that do add up and that it's not like you can just get lucky and farm one item that can then pay for all of your stuff. I say this because some players like to farm one thing to avoid having to do something else and trade off creds for service/item. So far in SW you cannot do that to the best of my knowledge.
Regarding the web and all of that I do find torhead a bit harder to understand. I guess they look at SW from the perspective of a WoW player and I don't always get the logic jump from one to another. Also it still is a case where you do need to go google it. Say with ao-uni you know all the guides are there, from how research works to how to do most missions and trades kill processes. Maybe I am a noob with google but I just haven't been able to find great info on all topics and some concepts are still a tad hard for me to wrap my head around.
I know these things will improve and AP have been super at my annoying questions, but with chat the way it is chat is missed often and then it's so time consuming to stop and google all of the time.
It will just depend on how lucky you get with gathering and crafting as to how much you make or lose. I can send out a dude for underworld training at 1000 a mish and get nothing back. So it really does start to add up. I am lucky that I have slicing as it is a source of income and I was lucky to get a few things that sold in gmt for 10k. If I did not have slicing I might find it a bit tighter.
Don't get me wrong, you are not totally gimped and trying to save up for some fancy piece of armor. It's just that you do incur a lot of costs over time that do add up and that it's not like you can just get lucky and farm one item that can then pay for all of your stuff. I say this because some players like to farm one thing to avoid having to do something else and trade off creds for service/item. So far in SW you cannot do that to the best of my knowledge.
Regarding the web and all of that I do find torhead a bit harder to understand. I guess they look at SW from the perspective of a WoW player and I don't always get the logic jump from one to another. Also it still is a case where you do need to go google it. Say with ao-uni you know all the guides are there, from how research works to how to do most missions and trades kill processes. Maybe I am a noob with google but I just haven't been able to find great info on all topics and some concepts are still a tad hard for me to wrap my head around.
I know these things will improve and AP have been super at my annoying questions, but with chat the way it is chat is missed often and then it's so time consuming to stop and google all of the time.
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
I had almost 400K credits when I got to level 40ish and I thought "OK, that's the take-off time". It dropped very fast.
I have no doubt there can be some players (who, BTW, seem to have been in the long-term beta...) with 1M credits. There are flying fishes but that doesn't mean the majority of fishes fly.
In Aoc, I had like 380 gold (and the best equipement I could buy) when people around had in general like 30 to 100 for the happy ones.
In CoH I had just billions and billions and I'm able to buy anything, which is extremely rare. (I even built a base for AP just in case.)
Paradoxically, it's in AO that I have less money because I have little time to earn it. Probably like 600M max spread over several characters now.
Not figuring out how to make cash is new to me...
What killed my cash? Maybe a list could help some of you planning your income / expenses.
First I agree that taxis or space travel don't really hurt your wallet although taxis can be expensive on the last planets (1K+) and you have to plan your travels sometimes.
- equipping Nadia and me: currently there is NO item that give globally (or almost) more than what we have; there are always drawbacks that I wouldn't be able to compensate, it seems
- getting really good modifications items was expensive
- New abilities: a sage have tons and prices rocket suddenly
- raising crew skills (I farmed most of archeology myself but it's the only one where I can do that) is a pain even if you try to do a lot of "lock-boxes" missions in Treasure Hunting, to get something to sell possibly, or directly some cash.
- Reverse-engineering: I don't know how it works for you but it's a pain for me and what annoys me is I can't do anything about it! It's random. Currently, to get a purple recipe (and nothing more than a standard purple), I have to build and RE like... 25 items? 30? More? I don't even know now. And so far the purple recipes I have don't make very wanted items. One does... but one component for it drops -rarely- from Ops and hard mode raids...
- "Blues" don't sell anymore... well they sell a bit, but there was a time I could farm blues and sell them. Now most end at NPC's stores.
- Lost some money in errors -my bad but we could be warned- for example if you get a "blank" Orange item and want to mod it to sell it well... it looks like a good idea... nope: modding it makes it nodrop. Very fun when you notice that after making and installing 3 purples in it. Did I mention that removing modifications from items cost money and even a lot for purples...
Now I contemplate a sad reality: I discovered a few nights ago that mass-killing instantly level 25ish mobs with AoE + Nadia brought more money that any other effort if I choose the places well and farm archeology around when the resource respawns. Nothing wonderful but, still, better.
There must be another way... there MUST...
I have no doubt there can be some players (who, BTW, seem to have been in the long-term beta...) with 1M credits. There are flying fishes but that doesn't mean the majority of fishes fly.
In Aoc, I had like 380 gold (and the best equipement I could buy) when people around had in general like 30 to 100 for the happy ones.
In CoH I had just billions and billions and I'm able to buy anything, which is extremely rare. (I even built a base for AP just in case.)
Paradoxically, it's in AO that I have less money because I have little time to earn it. Probably like 600M max spread over several characters now.
Not figuring out how to make cash is new to me...
What killed my cash? Maybe a list could help some of you planning your income / expenses.
First I agree that taxis or space travel don't really hurt your wallet although taxis can be expensive on the last planets (1K+) and you have to plan your travels sometimes.
- equipping Nadia and me: currently there is NO item that give globally (or almost) more than what we have; there are always drawbacks that I wouldn't be able to compensate, it seems
- getting really good modifications items was expensive
- New abilities: a sage have tons and prices rocket suddenly
- raising crew skills (I farmed most of archeology myself but it's the only one where I can do that) is a pain even if you try to do a lot of "lock-boxes" missions in Treasure Hunting, to get something to sell possibly, or directly some cash.
- Reverse-engineering: I don't know how it works for you but it's a pain for me and what annoys me is I can't do anything about it! It's random. Currently, to get a purple recipe (and nothing more than a standard purple), I have to build and RE like... 25 items? 30? More? I don't even know now. And so far the purple recipes I have don't make very wanted items. One does... but one component for it drops -rarely- from Ops and hard mode raids...
- "Blues" don't sell anymore... well they sell a bit, but there was a time I could farm blues and sell them. Now most end at NPC's stores.
- Lost some money in errors -my bad but we could be warned- for example if you get a "blank" Orange item and want to mod it to sell it well... it looks like a good idea... nope: modding it makes it nodrop. Very fun when you notice that after making and installing 3 purples in it. Did I mention that removing modifications from items cost money and even a lot for purples...
Now I contemplate a sad reality: I discovered a few nights ago that mass-killing instantly level 25ish mobs with AoE + Nadia brought more money that any other effort if I choose the places well and farm archeology around when the resource respawns. Nothing wonderful but, still, better.
There must be another way... there MUST...
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
I have over a million credits already, which isn't much but a start. What you do? farm crafting materials. Listen, people are lazy and they want to level up their crew skills but don't want to farm the items, do it and sell them. Set your own price, not too high, not too low. Stacks of stuff I've farmed sell like crazy, lower, middle, and end game stuff too.
Also many get to endgame and see they don't like the crewskill they trained and want one that will benefit them better so the retrain and then they go to buy all the items they will need to train up very fast without having to farm. this method will get better and better, and better as people get more money, they get more lazy.
My advice, gather gather gather
Also many get to endgame and see they don't like the crewskill they trained and want one that will benefit them better so the retrain and then they go to buy all the items they will need to train up very fast without having to farm. this method will get better and better, and better as people get more money, they get more lazy.
My advice, gather gather gather
Daddyrabbit 220/30 ENFStuff
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
Slicing is also a decent skill for a first or second toon. I've been able to keep my Scavenging and Cybertech up to max (ie, I can make things I can't use yet) and had Slicing at 400 by L30. Slicing, unlike other gathering, essentially pays for its own missions plus around 10-15% (sometimes more) of the cost of the mission back as cash. Which means that at L33 I've got about 240,000 credits and have all my abilities trained with fairly high trade skills.
It is NOT a big money maker, gathering will net you more in the end, but it is great for keeping your head above water while levelling. I am figuring that once I'm 50 on my Guardian I'll drop Slicing (after I have all the missions and schematics from it) and train up a 2nd gathering skill or crafting skill. By that point I'll be able to afford to do it the cheap way (ie, gathering my own stuff instead of paying someone else to do it) and Slicing won't be a big deal.
NOTE: Early in the game slicing was WAY overpowered, essentially returning double your money back from a mission. Ignore that if you see someone talking about it, the 15% return is about normal now. I make around 500 credits on average for each L400 Slicing mission I run, which take around 40 minutes. Not a huge influx, just something to be above water with. And I can sell rare schematics and missions (you get rare missions for other tradeskills that you can sell to allow other people to run that mission) for up to 30K each right now.
Likewise, cash from space missions is good enough that you can do them daily (avoiding other dailies and getting a break) and find a net+ on cash. It won't make you rich, but it will keep you from drowning.
It is NOT a big money maker, gathering will net you more in the end, but it is great for keeping your head above water while levelling. I am figuring that once I'm 50 on my Guardian I'll drop Slicing (after I have all the missions and schematics from it) and train up a 2nd gathering skill or crafting skill. By that point I'll be able to afford to do it the cheap way (ie, gathering my own stuff instead of paying someone else to do it) and Slicing won't be a big deal.
NOTE: Early in the game slicing was WAY overpowered, essentially returning double your money back from a mission. Ignore that if you see someone talking about it, the 15% return is about normal now. I make around 500 credits on average for each L400 Slicing mission I run, which take around 40 minutes. Not a huge influx, just something to be above water with. And I can sell rare schematics and missions (you get rare missions for other tradeskills that you can sell to allow other people to run that mission) for up to 30K each right now.
Likewise, cash from space missions is good enough that you can do them daily (avoiding other dailies and getting a break) and find a net+ on cash. It won't make you rich, but it will keep you from drowning.
Re: sum up for SWTOR so far
As I said in my post and others have backed it up. It will be about selling a lot of things for a decent amount not one thing for a lot. On GMT silica goes for about 400 per 20. So as boring as that may be you can sell a bunch of that and just keep a steady inflow. I ended up buying a bunch so i can level my CT crafting as I dont have scavenging to collect silica and desh. If you sell in a bunch, say 99, I bet you can charge 3000 or so.
Its just going to be about gradually building your bank. Now that you are in good gear and you do have most things kinda paid for, you probably only need to get a return of 10-15% on investment to just keep that bank going.
The longer the game goes the easier money will flow on GMT.
Its just going to be about gradually building your bank. Now that you are in good gear and you do have most things kinda paid for, you probably only need to get a return of 10-15% on investment to just keep that bank going.
The longer the game goes the easier money will flow on GMT.