SW:TOR Operation Flashpoint
So to continue the wonderful adventures in SW:TOR.
Today I did a dungeon...only they're not called dungeons, they're called Flashpoints, but otherwise, they're dungeons. Get a group of you together to clear an area that needs a party, and is instanced to yourselves.
You gain access to your first Flashpoint at the time you leave your starter world, heading out to your faction's capital, which will be round about level 10. At that point you can either take the fast shuttle straight there, or a group of you can take a passenger cruiser, where amusing highjinks are abound.
Firstly to note the Flashpoint is multi level and multi-area. Your route is pretty linear, although, in true BioWare style, there's a few either/or choices which mean the story can play out a little differently depending on what is chosen. Given that there's going to be a group of you, there's an interesting gimmick that governs which choices your group follow.
During a cutscene you get the usual Bioware conversation wheel. Everyone chooses which answer they want, and then the system does a random number roll. Person who gets the highest gets to say their line, and the group is governed by any effects of that person's choice. This also applies to options with Light or Dark responses.
It makes for a degree of variation, both in how the flashpoint plays out, but also who is doing the talking in the cutscenes, since every conversation choice is a new roll
Drawback is everyone has to be at the NPC to take part, and you have to wait for everyone to have made their choice
Some good things...If your party wipes you do get dropped at the dungeon entrance, but because of the segmented map, when you re-enter, you rejoin at the start of the area you were last in, rather than at the start of the dungeon. You can also get added into the party midquest, and you'll be in the same general area of the map as the party
Some bad things...Lifts between areas don't work whilst in combat, so if you're one side of the lift, and someone engages foes on the other side, you're stuck out of combat until they've cleared that mob. Also in the particular map there ae large holes you can fall down. You've seen them in the SW movies, all those walkways with vast drops and no railings. And if you fall down one, you're stuck, since you have no means yo climb out, and unless the fall kills you you can't respawn without leaving the party and getting re-added.
Happened to one of my team-mates, but the others were saying it's a common occurrence that they've seen happen most times they've been though this particular Flashpoint.
On the whole was quite fun for a couple of hours with complete strangers
Oh yes. Big thing for me
I dungeoned with complete strangers!!
Not only that, I'm the one who initiated the LFG, and was party leader
People who know me will know just how much of a big thing that is for me
Talking to strangers in a game without the safety net of someone I know. Freaky
Today I did a dungeon...only they're not called dungeons, they're called Flashpoints, but otherwise, they're dungeons. Get a group of you together to clear an area that needs a party, and is instanced to yourselves.
You gain access to your first Flashpoint at the time you leave your starter world, heading out to your faction's capital, which will be round about level 10. At that point you can either take the fast shuttle straight there, or a group of you can take a passenger cruiser, where amusing highjinks are abound.
Firstly to note the Flashpoint is multi level and multi-area. Your route is pretty linear, although, in true BioWare style, there's a few either/or choices which mean the story can play out a little differently depending on what is chosen. Given that there's going to be a group of you, there's an interesting gimmick that governs which choices your group follow.
During a cutscene you get the usual Bioware conversation wheel. Everyone chooses which answer they want, and then the system does a random number roll. Person who gets the highest gets to say their line, and the group is governed by any effects of that person's choice. This also applies to options with Light or Dark responses.
It makes for a degree of variation, both in how the flashpoint plays out, but also who is doing the talking in the cutscenes, since every conversation choice is a new roll
Drawback is everyone has to be at the NPC to take part, and you have to wait for everyone to have made their choice
Some good things...If your party wipes you do get dropped at the dungeon entrance, but because of the segmented map, when you re-enter, you rejoin at the start of the area you were last in, rather than at the start of the dungeon. You can also get added into the party midquest, and you'll be in the same general area of the map as the party
Some bad things...Lifts between areas don't work whilst in combat, so if you're one side of the lift, and someone engages foes on the other side, you're stuck out of combat until they've cleared that mob. Also in the particular map there ae large holes you can fall down. You've seen them in the SW movies, all those walkways with vast drops and no railings. And if you fall down one, you're stuck, since you have no means yo climb out, and unless the fall kills you you can't respawn without leaving the party and getting re-added.
Happened to one of my team-mates, but the others were saying it's a common occurrence that they've seen happen most times they've been though this particular Flashpoint.
On the whole was quite fun for a couple of hours with complete strangers
Oh yes. Big thing for me
I dungeoned with complete strangers!!
Not only that, I'm the one who initiated the LFG, and was party leader
People who know me will know just how much of a big thing that is for me
Talking to strangers in a game without the safety net of someone I know. Freaky