Star Wars: The Old Republic – Tradeskills

A few weeks ago at the EA Showcase we were lucky enough to be presented with more information about Star Wars: The Old Republic. The MMO developed by Bioware and recently announced to be published wordwide by EA. Behind closed doors we were presented with details about the tradeskilling and player-vs-player aspects of the game.

Tradeskills will be split into three main categories; gathering, crafting and missions. Each category then splits in to several sub-categories, so as a player you get a better choice of trade.

Gathering (see: Research) will have bio analysis, slicing and two more yet to be revealed options. Yes, these do sound like menial tasks and no, I can’t imagine a Jedi (or Sith, for that matter) having the time or inclination to bother with such things. That is why Bioware have provided companions. You’ll have the option to send your companions off gathering for you, whilst you fight the good/bad guys. While we have no idea how that will play out, it’s certainly an original take on tradeskilling – leave it to the NPCs!

Crafting (see: Construction) has several chosen paths including artifice, bio-chem and at least 4 others, yet to be announced. While we don’t know the full ins-and-outs of how construction of items will work, we do know that bonuses will be applied to crafted items that aren’t available otherwise. As a result, crafting or purchasing from a crafter will become a valuable instrument in building a player-based economy, rather than merely looting and purchasing from NPCs. Crafted weapons will also feature the stamp of the creator.

The missions offer diplomacy, treasure hunting and 2 other career types. Treasure hunting is another tradeskill where you’ll be sending your companion off hunting. This time it’s a roll-of-the-dice game of chance that may or may not provide useful items. For example, a ‘crit’ could score you some valuable items, where-as a regular roll may just bring in some currency.

Of the three, crafting seemed the most exciting to us. Having the ability to stamp your name on weapons you’ve created is an ego-feeding tactic that’s worked in MMOs before and we’re pleased to see it return in SWTOR.

It seems Bioware are doing everything they can to make sure Tradeskilling isn’t boring or time-consuming. You can take some companions with you and leave some behind to get on with the tradeskilling. They’ll stay on your ship, which is your base of operations, so to speak. You can radio back to the ship at any time, to instruct your companions. You can even leave your companions tradeskilling while you’re offline. There will of course be a time limit for each type of operation, but having that offline option will provide a rewarding sensation when players log-in to find new materials have been gathered, money has been found or items have been constructed and are ready to use.

Tradeskills are an activity in MMOs that are often abused. Macros are used to maintain repetitive tasks while a player is away from the computer. Bioware seem to have solved that problem by taking the player somewhat out of the equation. However, it must be said that we have slight concerns over the enjoyment factor and sense of achievement from tasks that will not have been accomplished by yourself, but by your personal bots. If done incorectly, it could make tradeskilling feel meaningless. For now, it’s a case of waiting to see how this feature turns out in the final product.