November was all about SWTOR. This, of course, means I got my old main up to the new level cap in preparation for today’s expansion and made a ton of progress on my new character, right? Not so much. The old alt-making itch is back, and, while my Guardian has almost made her way through the last expansion’s content, I’ve spent a great deal of time and anxiety playing virtually every class in the game.
My operative seems to be leading the pack. I was always a staunch Republic supporter when I first played, so this is my first time through most of the mid- to high level Empire content. Thus far I’ve been running with the DOT based DPS tree, Lethality, for leveling. It does a good job against stronger mobs, but, being DOT focused, it’s a little tedious against trash. But hey, that’s what stealth is for. I’m hoping to switch to the healing spec and run some flashpoints (dungeons) soon, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Also making an appearance is my first character, a Jedi Shadow. I really want to like this class in theory–stealth and a double bladed lightsaber, what more could you want?–but in practice it just feels all around mediocre. They’re kind of a DPS class, but they can be outmatched by any of the pure DPS classes. They’re kind of a tank class, but their light armor means they take more damage, limiting them to off-tank status at best. To play optimally, there’s a LOT of cooldown management that has to happen, and, while I’m sure I could learn it if I tried, I’m not sure if it’s worth it for a “meh” class. I guess that relegates him to a “for fun” character that doesn’t have much purpose other than the story, which is the same as my sage.
Convenient segue to my sage. I rolled this character to play with my wife, who is playing a Jedi Guardian. This setup works out pretty well; she tanks, I DPS and heal as needed, and our companions clean up what’s left. Plus it’s a great way to teach her more about the finer points of MMOs without the pressure of an actual group. Our schedules tend to be opposite, so this character isn’t likely to be one of my main ones, but it’s fun for our purposes.
I had just decided that I wouldn’t start any more characters when I realized that the one class I never got around to playing was the bounty hunter powertech/trooper vanguard. I played the trooper commando early on and my impression of its story was… well, I don’t really remember what happened at all. I played one to level 40ish, but all I can remember is that you start out being the rookie in Havoc Squad, and you have a bunch of people working with you that you generally never see, and at some point everyone betrays you to the Empire, and you suddenly get promoted to Havoc Squad’s leader (a la James Kirk in Star Trek XI). Oh, and there was some superweapon/mini-Deathstar or something? And the droid companion is cool and entertainingly overzealous about the Republic. That’s about it. For a game whose primary selling point is its story, that’s kind of sad. All that to say, I ended up with a shiny new bounty hunter. I’ll say this for the bounty hunter/trooper, they can certainly crank out the burst DPS, and the tank spec means I don’t take a scratch in most fights. This has made the early levels really fun. Not enough to pull me away from my operative, but I plan on coming back to her at a later date.

Shadow of Revan’s early access starts today, so I’m looking forward to the new story and digging into the skill tree revamp. I know some people aren’t a fan of the way Revan is portrayed in SWTOR, but I must admit with some shame that I still haven’t beaten the original Knights of the Old Republic yet, let alone its sequel, so, while I think Revan is one of the most interesting Jedi/Sith in the Expanded Universe, I’m not overly attached to one particular idea of him the way some people are.

Toward the end of the month I had a “Crap, I haven’t played Guild Wars 2 in a month” moment. This means that I missed one episode of the Living Story and cut it close with the second. Now I have to decide if I want to pay $2 worth of gems to play through the hole in the story or just YouTube it. I’m leaning toward the latter. While I have the gems, I’m not too keen on the idea of paying for maybe a half hour of content. I’d rather save it for the talking golem backpack. It was also at this moment that I realized just how much SWTOR has sucked me in. And I’m ok with that. I’ll be back to GW2 eventually, but for now I’m loving my return to a galaxy far, far away.

I’m pretty sure it’s required by law at this point to add my thoughts on the Force Awakens trailer to any discussion of anything Star Wars related. In case you’ve been living in the Jundland Wastes the past few weeks:

While there’s not a ton of meat to this trailer to talk about, it does give me A New Hope that this is going to be the movie to redeem the series. After all, J.J. Abrams took Star Trek and turned it into a great Star Wars movie, so how bad could he do with this? The lightsaber with a crossguard is getting a lot of flak, but I’m just glad to see them doing something new with lightsaber designs in the movies. Other than Maul’s double bladed lightsaber, we’ve pretty much only seen normal, straight lightsabers in the three primary colors (except for Windu, because Samuel L. Jackson had to be different). Sure, the lightsaber is the coolest weapon ever imagined by man, but where are the lightsaber pikes and lightwhips? Why not have some dark force user find one of the pre-lightsaber “forcesabers” from the Infinite Empire era? And that Darksaber in Clone Wars was pretty cool. Also worth noting is the square radar dish on the top of the Falcon. It’s a small detail that’s easy to miss, but it tells me that the creators of this movie are paying attention; they remember when Lando lost the original circular dish in the Death Star II trench run, and now Han has replaced it with a smaller, more updated unit. It’s a great touch that makes me feel like the creators are just as much fans as we are, and often fans are better at protecting the feel of a series like Star Wars or Star Trek than the original creators. I guess we won’t really know for sure until a year from now.

It has come to my attention that, while the majority of MMO players seem to have to be coerced into playing the healer class simply because their guild needs more, healing is probably my favorite role. I’ve been playing Guild Wars 2 for about a year, so returning to Star Wars: The Old Republic has really been a fresh air simply because I can play a healer again.

My favorite thing about healing is that, while DPS is just about facerolling a rotation, and tanking is just about holding the attention of one or two enemies, healing is very technical; it takes thinking and planning. It’s all about prioritization, quick decision making, and resource management. Active healers like SWTOR’s Scoundrel/Operative have to do a lot of planning ahead and micromanaging HoTs. Reactive healers are all about knowing which player’s health to top off when. Sometimes you have to decide who to sacrifice when things get bad (protip: heal the tank; DPSes are expendable. There’s a reason why Star Trek Online made the DPS class wear the red uniform by default). I love this kind of play. Keep your big numbers, I’ll be back here keeping five people alive so you can focus on beating things with swords. Of course, with a quick respec, most healers can crank out respectable DPS as well (my Minstrel in LotRO in Warspeech mode used to hit like a truck back in the day). Maybe not more than a pure DPS class, but enough to make leveling easier or give you a way to be useful while you try to catch the gear treadmill.

It’s also nice to feel needed. I’ve never been immediately kicked out of a pickup group as a healer. As a tank or, more often, a DPS, the group leader will often size you up based on your gear, and, if you don’t meet his or her exacting standards, you’ll suddenly and unceremoniously find yourself dumped back in the group finder queue. There are plenty of fish in the sea, they’ll find someone else better than you soon enough. Healers, however, are something of a rare commodity. They’re usually willing to at least give you a shot before kicking you out (one wipe and you’re probably out the door, but that’s different).

Finally, healers get the best seat to watch the action. When I’m killing things, I’m just focused on my target. Tanks have to glance around from time to time to make sure there’s nothing squashing their healer or to take some heat off of the DPS, but healers really get to see all of the action. While most guilds seem to prefer that the tank lead the raid, I think a good case can be made that the healer is a better choice, since they get to stand back and take in the whole battlefield more objectively.

Granted, I’m painting a pretty rosy picture of healing here. The truth is, like anything in a group setting, it’s not always great, depending on how laid back your group is. There’s a lot of pressure on the healer, especially in small group dungeons; if your internet hiccups at the wrong time, you could wipe the group. Also there’s the blame game. If you’ve done many pickup groups you probably know what I mean here. The group wipes. The tank says it’s because the healer didn’t heal fast enough. The healer says it’s because the DPS/off tank never pulled anything off of them. They claim that’s because the healer was generating too much threat and doesn’t know how to play his class. And it all falls apart from there. More often than not, it ends in everyone ganging up on the healer for not keeping them alive. After all, they all died, and your job is to stop them from dying, so it must be your fault, right? Nevermind that they were happily standing in fire at the time.

What are your thoughts? Am I crazy for enjoying the healing snoozefest, or are there other healing fanatics out there who just aren’t as vocal about it?

I listen to a lot of soundtracks. They’re the perfect thing to keep you awake while you work (all good programmers listen to music while they work, it’s a thing). Perennial favorites include the soundtracks from the 8-bit Mega Man games, the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies, Guild Wars 2, Tron: Legacy, and anything relating Sonic the Hedgehog. But lately, thanks especially to sites like Humble Bundle and GOG, I’ve been listening to a lot of the soundtracks from some of my favorite indie games. Here are a few of my favorites (in no particular order).

Dustforce – Lifeformed (Amazon MP3, iTunes, Bundled With Game)
Dustforce is one of the weirdest, off-the-wall game I’ve ever played. The best way to describe it is that you play as ninja janitors who have to clean up all of the debris in a series of parkour levels, using cleaning supplies to beat up bad guys made of leaves and trash as they go. Once you get past the insanity of the concept, it’s actually a remarkably smooth, almost hypnotic game. The sounctrack is chill, ambient, and as unique as the game’s concept. Quirky track titles like “Frozen Hot Sauce,” “It’s Not Supposed To Be Snowing,” and my favorite track, “Swimming While It Rains,” make listening to the soundtrack so much the better.

Megabyte Punch – Runesound (Bundled With Game (GOG), Bundled With Game (Dev’s Site/Humble Store))
An interesting mashup of Super Smash Bros., Mega Man, and Custom Robo, Megabyte Punch is a sadly neglected indie title (seriously, go buy it now). Almost better than its gameplay is its upbeat, danceable techno soundtrack. The tracks all fit very will with the varied levels, and the energy level is perfect for this high-action fighting game.

Fez – Disasterpeace (Amazon MP3, iTunes)
(Seriously, what is it with game composers finding two random cool-sounding words and running them together for a name?) Say what you will about Fez’s lead designer Phil Fish, the game is solid and its soundtrack is great. It’s ambient and dreamlike, and somehow manages to maintain a retro feel without actually being chiptune. It’s the perfect fit for a game that also somehow feels retro without actually playing much like any oldschool game. I almost didn’t include this one on my list, since it’s almost too backgroundy (that’s a word, I promise) to listen to on its own, but then I played it again and was reminded of how perfectly it meshes with the game. Sometimes that’s the best part of listening to a soundtrack; it can be so closely tied to the experience of the game that you get some of the enjoyment of the game without actually having to play it.

Cave Story – Pixel (Free Download)
This freeware game is a legend, and if you haven’t played it, you should stop everything you’re doing and download it. I’ve played it through more times than most AAA titles, certainly more than any other freeware game. I love it so much I’ve bought two paid versions of it (WiiWare, Cave Story+, and considering buying Cave Story 3D), even though none of them really add much of anything to the original free version. The music is some of the finest examples of post-NES chiptune. What’s even more amazing is that the game (which is by no means short), graphics, and music were all done by one man over the course of five years.

Freedom Planet – Woofle/Various (Bandcamp)
If you grew up playing games in the ’80s or ’90s, or enjoy any of the 2D platformer greats–Sonic, Mario, Mega Man, just to name a few–I can’t recommend this game enough. It has the speed and feel of Sonic, but throws in the best elements from a variety of games, like Sparkster, Pulseman, Ristar, and Super Mario Bros. 2 (US), along with, of course, a lot of its own style. I may actually like it better than Sonic, which is saying a lot because I’ve been a Sonic fan as long as I can remember. Raving about the game aside, I really love Freedom Planet’s soundtrack, which isn’t exactly chiptune, but manages to capture the essence of ’90s Genesis/SNES-era soundtracks with more modern sounding synths.

Journey – Austin Wintory (iTunes, Bundled With Game)
The PS3-exclusive Journey from Thatgamecompany (no really, that’s their name) is known for its breathtaking visuals and unique storytelling. But rivaling its graphical beauty is its epic, cinematic soundtrack. It’s filled with so much emotion; the music really tells the story more than the visuals. The Piano Version deserves a listen as well.

Know of any soundtracks I should add to my collection? Leave a comment below!