Boba Fett, Dengar, Zuckuss, IG-88, Bossk, 4-LOM. This was the lineup that started it all. Darth Vader wanted something done and his own people weren’t up to the task. So he called in specialists. Seeing this motley group of outlandish characters on the bridge rankled Vader’s officers and told us these guys were the real deal. When Vader felt it necessary to specifically look at Boba Fett when he mentioned he didn’t want anyone disintegrated, we understood this was a man with a reputation. When Boba Fett objected to Han Solo being frozen on the grounds that the Bounty Hunter needed Solo alive, Vader didn’t intimidate Fett -- as he did poor Lando -- or choke him senseless. He listened and reassured him in a businesslike manner. He was talking to a professional whose work he respected.
As this is the first blog we’ve done on classes, it’s important to give a little background on how classes work and the decisions we’ve made along the way to guide those decisions. When Star Wars™: The Old Republic ™ was still just a twinkling in our eye, James Ohlen (Creative Director and Lead Designer of Baldur’s Gate™ 1 & 2, Neverwinter Nights™, Star Wars™: Knights of the Old Republic™ and Dragon Age™) and I were both working on Dragon Age and were delighted at how personal, heroic and rewarding the origin stories made the experience. We talked numerous times about what it would mean to try to do that level of individualized story for an entire game but both knew that the time, expense and effort involved would have to have a big payoff—a game the average person might play through once and then set aside wasn’t going to do it. When we moved down to form the Austin studio and create BioWare’s first massively multiplayer RPG, we had the opportunity we were looking for.
There were a few decisions we made early on. First of all, there would be two distinct factions. This was Star Wars™, not Star Neutral Guy’s Adventure. When there is a war that spans an entire galaxy, nobody can stand on the sidelines. Sure Han is unaffiliated for about six minutes of the movies, but that doesn’t last long, and even if he’s not with the good guys he sure doesn’t like the Empire. The war affects everyone, even if they’d rather it didn’t.
Second, no story content would ever cross factions. Star Wars is a story about good and evil -- it simply doesn’t make sense to have Jedi and Sith doing the same quests, answering the same calls to adventure, etc. Creating one batch of content for all Players would have been half the cost, taken half the time and solved any number of organizational headaches but it was simply the wrong choice from a storytelling perspective. Unique content for both sides was the only way to go—if a Player went all the way through the game playing a Jedi and then playing a Sith, he wouldn’t experience even one repeated piece of story content.
Which leads me to the third decision we made: No class would exist in both factions – at least at first. Each class gets its own story; no story content exists on both sides. If we did Bounty Hunters on both sides of the fence we’d have to write two different Bounty Hunter stories at the expense of a different class that was more iconic to the Republic. Was the idea of a Republic Bounty Hunter cool? Absolutely. But far less iconic than the Imperial aligned one and we had other Republic classes we wanted to get in there instead. At least for now…
Speaking of movie moments, let’s take a second to review BioWare’s approach to Star Wars that started with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. We create a world familiar to the Star Wars fan who only watched the movies -- and didn’t memorize them -- introduce the best parts of the Expanded Universe and then add something new to help grow that universe. This approach gives us clear guidelines on what we do and do not focus on as the core of the game. As a random example, I happen to dig the idea of Morgukai, but most Star Wars fans won’t have the foggiest idea what they are. So while there are Morgukai in our game, they aren’t going to have a class, a dominating role in our universe, or be referred to or introduced without first being explained.
With those guidelines in mind, it was pretty clear the Bounty Hunter story wasn’t going to start with the Bounty Hunter being a Mandalorian. The Mandalorians have a huge Expanded Universe following, were a key part of KOTOR’s story and history and are near and dear to my own heart—they do not, however, define what it means to be a Bounty Hunter in Star Wars and are alien to fans who only know the movies. Look at that first lineup of Bounty Hunters, how many are Mandalorians? Now would you even know that much if you’d never read any back story?
With Mandalorians off the table as the Bounty Hunters centerpiece (although clearly their presence will be felt and I still want to become one someday…) we had to sit down and outline the fantasy fulfillment of being a Bounty Hunter. So what defines the Star Wars Bounty Hunter? Well, they work for the bad guys, but they’re not necessarily bad guys themselves. You get the distinct feeling they’re doing a job. Are some of them cruel lowlifes who enjoy hurting people? Sure, probably. Some of them are also remnants of warrior cultures who no longer have a place to practice their ancient arts, thrill-seekers out for the galaxy’s next challenge or just people with a knack for weaponry trying to make the most out of the gifts they were given in life. Whatever their story, they specialize in the hunt, the small scale assault, the personal touch. You don’t call the Bounty Hunter when you need to take out an army; you call the Bounty Hunter when there is a very particular person whose death or capture could mean the difference between large scale victory and defeat.
At the heart of the Bounty Hunter story is the hunt itself. Smugglers, Jedi, Sith, rebel leaders, rogue droids, assassins, entire gangs or embezzling underlings, the Bounty Hunter takes them all down. Each hunt has its own flavor and each hunt brings with it a unique set of challenges and choices. Do you follow the job’s description to the letter and kill the wayward daughter of a powerful officer or do you bring her in alive and force the man to do his own dirty work? Will you take a bribe to fake a kill you didn’t make—will you switch sides when it’s clear the person you’re hunting has more honor and justification for his actions than the one who sent you? Does your honor come from getting the job done or being a good person? Is your loyalty to your crew, your conscience or your credits?
Core to the entire Bounty Hunter fantasy is this sense of independence. As a Bounty Hunter you are, and always will be, your own person. You start with nothing and work your way up, make a name for yourself and eventually travel in circles with Darths and Moffs, intelligence officers and governors, but you never become one of them. You work for your reasons, do things your way and can become a force of pure vengeance and destruction if crossed. Along the way you build a crew to support your ambitions, make friends or rivals out of the other great names in your field and tend to draw enemies like flies.
But first things first. You’ve got a blaster, a few credits and a contact who thinks you have promise. Your move, Bounty Hunter.
Daniel Erickson
Principal Lead Writer
blog | bounty hunter | daniel erickson
COMMENTS
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"jedi killer" right? =) I think that jedi and sith been the most played classes. Every game from bio become THE BEST. And I hope for this case. From russia with love.. )) |
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this class looks so cool |
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Truly amazing. This game is going to be absolutely amazing in story and gameplay. Being a SW fan for years, I believe that we will all be more than impressed. Being able to play as a bounty hunter is going to awesome! |
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personaly i like this character.I remember the scene form "Attack of the clones" when Qui-Gon Jinn fight with Jango Fett and i have the impression of an duel with equal oponents.....the first character(beside the siths) who can stand against a jedi.I will love to play it. |
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I think that this is going to be an awesome class, and one that definitely has my vote. I cannot wait to start capturing prisoners and selling them for profit! |
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Really interesting Blog (and hopefully first of more character info)... People's hangups here seem to be the inclusion of Player bounty and 'taking out a hit' on an opposing player. Now we all know contracts are possible in EVE but that's quite a different universe! Someone below mentioned the fear of an early Bounty hunter taking down a high level player. This would mean people would actually have to search for appropriate BHs and not just hire the same maxed out characters. Just an idea... im tired so it may be a bad one! :) |
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Hmmmmmm Sith Warrior or Bounty Hunter? |
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I'd like to see some ancestory from Boba and Jango's ancient mandolorian bloodline in this game if there is any. TW |
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it would be just jangos bloodline considering that boba was a clone of jango and i agree fully |
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Id like to be an Anzat BH, that would be fun after all they are natural preditors since their food is brains. I know it probably wont happen but it would be cool. maybe even if its not a PC char there could be some NPC ones. |
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bh are sooooooooo cool you all are poodoo if you don't like the bh |
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man i can't really decide between the trooper or the BH, both seem so great but well i'm going to really decide what i'm gonna be when they come out with all the classes. it will be alot easier to decide when they come out with speices and all classes |
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You know I read all of the Republic Commando books and the life of a Mandolore just isn't about slaying and credits, well, come to think yes it is but theirs more to it. Honor and those who earned it, and this way, a BH many Mandos; see it clearly that this is their nature of cousre and hell, that's all of us right? But not to the extreme, that would be soooo cool... hehe |
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If anyone makes a Bounty Hunter Guild, count me im |
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WOW, I've been looking for that one MMO that I can play for the next few years for a long time. I think with TOR and with the Bounty Hunter I may have just found that game! Thank you yet again Bioware for making this world just a little bit better! |
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Player bounty's would be cool but they should be administered by a GM or someone like that. I know I would get pretty pissed off if someone put fifty bountys on me, one after another just because he's rich and bored. Oh, and after reading the text I can't stop thinking about Predator from Alien vs.. And it's a good thing! |
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Player bounty's would be cool but they should be administered by a GM or someone like that. I know I would get pretty pissed off if someone put fifty bountys on me, one after another just because he's rich and bored. Oh, and after reading the text I can't stop thinking about Predator from Alien vs.. And it's a good thing! |
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I don't know about you guys but i have been second-guessing my start character from the get-go. Bouncing between sith,jedi,smuggler and bounty hunter not to mention other mysterious classes i was finding it a hard choice. But then i thought "what do i want to do and what do i want to get out of my adventures?" the answer: like bioware i believe story is key to any good game and i love the special touch, the true art and finesse that i believe only a bounty hunter can bring to the table......but of course, only time will tell.... |
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ye l understand, i want to be one of the good guys with the republic but i want to be a bounty hunter, i dont know maybe trooper is close enough on the bounty hunter to make me try that, cool armor and big guns sounds like me. |
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i cant decside if like to be a sith or a bounty hunter it's a hard pick |
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i wonder if Bounty Hunters will be able to embrace Mandalorian culture and get special armor, weapons or benefits because Mandalorians were made out of Humans embracing the Mandalorian species culture? |
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But in all seriousness. Bioware you need to make bounty hunters be able to do player bounties. So the noobs that trash talk to much learn their place. But they need to make it somewhat expensive so people dont put out random bounties on people! Dont go soft on us bioware! dont turn into Blizzard! PLEASE! |
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i agree, but they also need to make it fair so that a noob bounty hounter can't take on a lvl 50-something and automatically win. if you're smart enough to outwit the vet. go ahead and claim your bounty (sends a warning to the people who think they are high-and-mighty: be careful who you ***** off) but if you actually get into combat with a BH that is hunting you it should revert to normal PvP rules. |
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Well i have a question. Are bounty hunters targets going to just be NPC's? or are other people going to be able to put a bounty on other players which you can thus collect a bounty on other players heads? That would be EPIC! |
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Silrk
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I agree with Visidious- I had to clean up after reading that. Jetshsidi that is an eccelent point-Kick some noob a?? I was also thinking about "guilds" What if Bioware made guilds like companies and they received small bonuses and stuff. So, is there going to be veicle-battles, like with speders and star-fighters, That would be EPIC!!! |
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Bounty hunters have always been my favorite characters in the star wars universe so I'm defintely making my first character a bounty hunter. And if we can own our own ships with droid crews I will ***** myself with happiness. |
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All these classes are cool, but Jedi all the way! The Republic shall prevail. |
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..Knowing me I'll play every class, because I love SW and I trust in that Bioware is going to make every class stinking great! |
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too bad everybody will be a bounty hunter once they realize they won't be getting a lightsabre on day 1. |
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I like bounty hunters not my favorite but there OK now lets talk abouyt my favorite class how will it turn out when a trooper and bounty hunter of the same lvl duel that would be really cool! |
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I've found my class |
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Hmm, PvP could get interesting with all those attacks which seem to be instant kills, like the troopers sticky or the bounty hunter wrist rocket. |
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Well this seems as though it is going to turn out really good, not sure as to how PVP will work for them, and it seems as though if one of them gets surrounded by any class or mixture of classes, they are screwed but other than that, it sounds great. |
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if you chose the bounty hunter class will you get to show of the trophies? |
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A big thing that i think about when i think about a bounty hunter is the looks. Are we gonna be able to choose what kind of armor he Wears?? What im saying is, Are we going to be able to choose if our bounty hunter lives their life in a shell or out in the open?? |
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i really hope this game is free like guild wars if its nt eh f--- it ill pick up mass effect 2 and the new halos |
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i cant wait i soooo wanna be a bounty hunter |
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Damn I'm practically salivating right now to play this game after reading that. Lord thats good. |
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I hope that they make a video doc or a trailer for this class soon i can't wait for some more info on the class. |
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I dont think the bounty hunters will have acess to the heavy weps like the trooper but will have aceess to more gagdets. |
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I only hope this class doesnt become overpowered. I would get a little sick of being 5 shotted from behind by a twink bounty hunter. hopefully all the gun classes balance out. im sure the game will start extremely unbalanced, and with feedback will be fixed. |
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They are doing a great job on this class |
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like the idea...i think SWG touched on it but didnt perfect it...i think bioware could really make that work! |
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Thats a sick idea. Then you could get to a point where if you are a reallly good bounty hunter you pretty much become famous(or infamous i should say) and people who seek you out for bounties. props man |
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SWG, pre-NGE had a player bounty system where BH could take contracts on any jedi who gained "visibility" by revealing themselves. It was extreamly fun to hunt other players. A game that actually has an open player bounty system is EVE Online. Falling in line with this titles story line, a open contract system much like EVE-Online's current system would be totally kick *****. |
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That actually sounds like a really kick ***** idea. You can have the option to put out "HITS" of fellow players. Almost like the Auction House works in WoW. You could put out a sort of "Wanted Poster" for a particular player and their level and class. Then if someone accepted your hit you would pay them (actuall in game currency) for them to take the hit for you. Obviously they would have to meet a required time (say a few days) or else they fail the HIT and you get your money back. ARE YOU LISTENING BIOWARE?! Sounds like an AWSOME IDEA, lol. |
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dude, the player bounties is an AWESOME idea. id love to be a trooper and have to deal with a bounty hunter nemesis. |
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hate to tell you this but any mmo you can take out "contracts" to kill people. i did it in wow all the time. people would pay me gold to go and hunt someone down and camp them. or i would camp people untill they paid me gold to stop. |
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This is a bounty hunter not a trooper you kill who ever. You dont care as long as you get the credits. Your not friends with any one why should you the better you get the higher bounty on your own head. It should be let players hunt players that made other players mad it would be very fun to do that. |
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That was great it is a great idea made me laugh but i think otherwise on the pvping everywhere the idea of pvp zones every where is a little far fetched i guess a entire planet just pvp would be AWESOME! but for those who rather not fight and just do there quests and find a good story line this idea would make them less likely to join |
AUTHOR
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SeanDahlberg |
| Other Posts | Date |
| Developer Blog: Creating the Polluted World of Hutta | 03.06.2009 |
| Developer Blog: How the Content Team Makes it Happen | 02.07.2009 |
| Developer Blog: Mark How | 01.02.2009 |
| Developer Blog: Welcome to the Community | 10.21.2008 |
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