Breaking News: Smugglers smuggle?

[This post may be updated from time to time]

Senior Writer Hall Hood shares a little bit of insight in creating the spirited adventurers of the Republic known as the Smugglers. You can find this Developer Blog titled: Creating the Smuggler by clicking here or you can continue reading for my own special commentary on the article. Like everything else concerning TOR, we have gained no new concrete information. All we have available to us is theory crafting, reading between the lines, and splitting hairs.

I have the feeling if we want something new, we’re gonna have to talk to EA CEO John Riccitiello. He likes to blurt out info for investors (RMT). I’m a potential customer, does that count as an investor? Then again, everything he were to say would just be later denied by Bioware. Anyway… Lets get this show on the road!

Try this hypothetical scenario… you’re relaxing at the local cantina when three trigger-happy Rodian mercenaries pick a fight with the most attractive Jedi Knight you’ve ever seen. After the smoke clears, the Rodians are carried outside and the Jedi apologizes to everyone for making a scene. Do you:

1. Crack a joke to relieve the tension;
2. Demand the Jedi buy you a drink to replace the one that got spilled during the fight;
3. Smoothly invite your new friend back to a private booth to get better acquainted.

The answer, of course, is (d) All of the above. What’s that, you say? “All of the above” wasn’t among your options? Consider that your first taste of the Smuggler lifestyle. It’s time to make your own options and never limit yourself to just one. Strict adherence to rules and regulations is something other people do. Smugglers make things up as they go.

Not only will Smugglers have entertaining social options to select from but, to me, it sounds like the profession will have more leeway in regard to alignment. Since the Smuggler profession is not bound by a code of honor and/or duty, such is not expected from a Smuggler. Gaining light and darkside standing with this profession may lie with your actions regarding who or who not you decide help and less with your words. The jokes, flirtation, and greed are all part of the art of manipulation which is key to the Smuggler getting what he wants.

Now wait a minute, I can hear you say. Nobody successfully flirts with Jedi Knights. There’s no point even trying. The Jedi Code forbids romance, they wield the most lethal conversation stoppers in the galaxy… and they’re kind of stuck-up. A Jedi would never accept an invitation from a scruffy-looking free trader, right? Wrong! Smugglers have remarkable track records for romancing people way out of their leagues. Just ask them.

I imagine all professions will get a Negotiation or Intimidate skill. However, from what was said above, It really sounds like the Smuggler class will have either more opportunities to use the skill and/or will have the option of becoming more proficient in said skill than other classes.

Of all the stories in our game, the Smuggler ones are specifically written with an emphasis on humor and romance. If you’re playing this class, you get to say the funniest things (usually at the least appropriate times), and are always on the lookout for people who find charming rogues irresistible. You’ll be flirting with or laughing at the most exciting personalities in the galaxy: crime lords, gamblers, Bounty Hunters, senators, nobles, spies, Jedi and even Sith.

Senators, Crime Lords, and Bounty Hunters – Oh my! Story wise, this is exactly why I have chosen the Smuggler profession – Smuggler’s get to have the Romantic Comedy (staring Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson). Let’s be honest. Jedi are cool and all, but Han Solo was the most entertaining character in the original trilogy (Something the prequels were severely lacking).

It’s not all witty one-liners and romantic conquests, either. Smugglers lead lives of high adventure, taking on jobs no one else is crazy enough to do and answering to no authority but their own. They also don’t have to risk their necks for free. Unlike pious Jedi or duty-bound Troopers, Smugglers are never out of line demanding a fee for their services. The Republic needs rogues to hit Imperial convoys? Sounds like fun, if there’s profit in it. The Hutts want illegal technology slipped past military blockades? No problem, as long as they pay in advance.

Like I mentioned above, and what was stated in the previous quote, “Smugglers are never out of line demanding a fee for their services,” Smugglers may not take any kind of alignment hit due to greed.

On a separate note, the following line is very interesting: “The Republic needs rogues to hit Imperial convoys? Sounds like fun, if there’s profit in it.” This doesn’t sound like the job of a smuggler to me. This is the job of a spy type character. I guess it depends on how you read it. Is Bioware calling the profession “rogue” because we have no allegiance to the Republic (per se), or because Smugglers also fill the roll of a stealthy spy type like the… rogue class in WoW?

Are there Smugglers working for the Empire? Not really. In the Empire, the pay’s lousy, the hours stink and the clients are creeps. The Empire is all about controlling people. If Smugglers wanted to be told what to do, they’d get real jobs.

This is Bioware’s way of politely saying “QQ” to those of you who are bitching and moaning for Empire based Smugglers. Don’t worry, you Empire folks WILL get an equivalent.

Not all of these spirited adventurers are mercenaries, of course. Some have hearts of gold and don’t worry about retiring to their own private moon. These heroes of the hyperlanes use their special talents to help the poor and downtrodden. It may not pay as well, but “honest” Smugglers make lots of friends. And when gangsters with informative names like Rogun the Butcher try to kill you, it’s nice having a few people you can rely on.

Upon first my first read through this article, I saw this quote in regard to companions. I now think it’s more general on the lines of story than anything unique to the Smuggler profession and companions. An example would be to think of the Sith/Bounty Hunter demo on the bridge of the starship – Letting the captain live makes life easy while killing him requires you to fight your way out of another mess. I can imagine random people whom you have helped in the past coming out of nowhere several hours later through the story to lend a helping hand in a situation of certain death or something of that sort. I see nothing new here.

The most successful Smugglers surround themselves with trusty companions who are handy with a blaster when deals go sour. Han Solo had Chewbacca as backup, and Smugglers in our game will have their pick of several memorable sidekicks.

Neato… Han had Chewie, Jack had Gibbs, and Mal had Zoe and to an extent, The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jane. In other words, our companions will fit the roll and by extention, who we pick for that roll will help decide what the roll is in detail. Example: You pick a Jedi character as a companion (not saying this is possible). The Jedi won’t exactly be the stick up his ass, by the book, dedicated to the order type of Jedi. It will be a type of Jedi that suits the roll of an underground character. Like I said, neato.

That’s not to say you can’t handle yourself. Smugglers are notorious for outwitting and outmaneuvering more powerful opponents. In a galaxy full of Lightsaber-wielding demigods who can lift star fighters with the power of their minds, most people underestimate “ordinary” folks armed only with blasters. That’s a big mistake. Smugglers are the best shots in the galaxy, and they can avoid being noticed until it’s time to make a big entrance. When they finally show themselves they have a variety of, shall we say, unorthodox combat moves that leave their enemies reeling. Jedi may see things before they happen, but Smugglers always shoot first.

Smugglers always shoot first and Smugglers can avoid being noticed. This has been said several times in the past but I didn’t want to say anything due to the possibility of that quote being taken out of context by the media. Now it is coming straight from Bioware. This screams of STEALTH.

We have seen or heard nothing of stealth yet – other than these hints about the smuggler being able to avoid detection. While I think that the stealth system from World of Warcraft is a bad fit for The Old Republic, I don’t think that stealth in general is a bad idea (If done -correctly).

I can imagine a stealth system being tied to the cover system. Let’s say that stealth is persistent while in cover and you have to be in cover to enter stealth. You can then leave cover while still in stealth but only for a short period of time before stealth fades. However, plotting the right route through a zone will allow you hop from cover point to cover point while completely avoiding detection. I see it to work much like the Cloak and Dagger Spy Watch from Team Fortress 2 – replace standing still with entering cover.

The Old Republic™ is the first Star Wars™ video game to let players truly live the dream of being Han Solo or Lando Calrissian. Other games have let you engage in a bit of smuggling for profit or simulate “scoundrels” as a collection of stat bonuses, but none come close to delivering the humor, romance and just plain fun of being a wisecracking Smuggler who triumphs against all odds. Every member of The Old Republic team is committed to crafting the defining rendition of the Smuggler archetype.

Our combat designers have outdone themselves inventing powers to leave your fellow players laughing out loud and asking how you pulled off that stunt. The animation team is creating custom movements that perfectly evoke the sheer bravado and lightning reflexes Han Solo displayed when he took three (three!) shots at Darth Vader on Bespin. World builders tirelessly create dens of scum and villainy, populating them with the galaxy’s most notorious criminals. Artists craft all the small details that tie everything together, from sweet-looking blaster pistols to flashy outfits that put Lando’s wardrobe to shame.

Again, not much in regard to Smuggler mechanics – Just more story… Cool, that’s great. Oh whats that, a fourth pillar? It’s like we get our own KotOR Smuggler Edition? Does it come with a stick to beat that dead horse too? We get the point! TOR has story and a lot of it. Unfortunately for you Bioware, at the end of the day, most people will judge the game on how it plays and not how many voice acted hours of story we get to experience at launch.

That being said, I am comforted that Smugglers will have a lot of comedy involved. I’ll be laughing out loud if I can recreate this infamous Han Solo moment.

Last but not least, the writing team has invested its tremendous love for snappy dialogue, outrageous characters and insane story twists into every aspect of playing a Smuggler. If you’re teamed-up with a Jedi or Trooper and chat with a NPC, you’ll always get to rattle off the best one-liners. If those other classes are looking to earn a few extra credits on the side, they’d be fools not to let you do the negotiating.

Well, looks like closing time at the cantina. Your new Jedi friend mentioned some high-risk, high-reward work in the Outer Rim. Those new Corellian engines everyone’s raving about are expensive, and credits don’t grow on trees. Besides, the job sounds simple enough. What could possibly go wrong?

Strap yourself in, Smuggler — you’re in for another exciting ride.

Overall, I feel a bit at ease knowing that Bioware is making the smuggler story exactly what it should be: Comedy, Romance, Me Versus The World, and Looking Out For Number 1 Type Stuff. I also find the prospect of stealth very interesting since my favorite classes in Warcraft were both stealth classes – Rogue and Druid. Either way, the Smuggler class is my chosen profession and there hasn’t even been a hint of anything that would disappoint me.

I apologize for the sloppiness of this post (I gave it a whole 20 minutes of effort)I may update this post as time goes on and I new happenings reveal themselves. But for now, it’s Friday afternoon, there are beverages to be drank, cigarettes to be smoked, and pride to be lost. Have a great weekend everyone.