I'm a bit of a closet stronghold fangirl. At first, I hated the word 'stronghold' because I thought they should have been called apartments. (Okay, I still think they should. But now everyone is used to 'strongholds'.) Then, I was afraid they might turn out to be a huge money sink. By now I know they indeed are just that, but it's something I don't mind because it's nice to have an on-going project to work on.
In the spring we'll be getting a new stronghold. But what planet will it be on?
One thing is sure: as there's only going to be one new stronghold, it's going to be on a planet that's 'neutral', as in suitable for both Republic and Imperial players. These are planets that I've been thinking about:
Manaan
Manaan is a name that pops up a lot. It was the first thing Conrad said when I asked for his opinion and Darkbrew from The Cantina also roots for it (in a post titled Manaan, Manaan Doot-Doot-Do-Do-Do - what gave it away?). I wasn't all that enthusiastic at first. Manaan is such a 'clean' planet with all that white and light blue. It reminds me of going to a clinic, which isn't something I want my home to be like.
But then Conrad convinced me: what if the stronghold would be underwater? I can imagine the balcony having a glass ceiling through which you can see fish swim. Or you having to put on a KotOR-style diving suit each time you need to go out. Totally awesome.
Alderaan
Another place that I've heard mentioned (for instance again by Darkbrew) is Alderaan. Alderaan would make sense lore-wise, simply since multiple noble houses allied to the Republic and the Empire already have their own 'strongholds' there. The alpine climate would make for a great outdoor area.
Although the views on Alderaan are amazing, somehow I don't get all that enthusiastic at the thought. Maybe if we get our own thranta outside for travelling (instead of, say, the Nar Shaddaa taxi or the Tatooine starship slot).
Rishi
I haven't heard anyone about a Rishi stronghold, but this is something I'd love to see. Just a simple treehouse on an uninhabited island would be nice. I don't mind if it's small inside, as long as there's lots of space to decorate your own jungle garden. It would be a great place for our living mounts. And we'd need a raft in case we'd want to go anywhere else.
Hoth
Hoth is being contested by Empire, Republic and independent pirates, but there are still vast amounts of uncontested frozen landscapes. Surely one or two player-inhabited strongholds wouldn't cause a problem. The only thing that I don't find very charming are the underground hidden bunkers: I'd rather have a village of igloos. And a tauntaun for if I'd have to go somewhere, of course.
Locking and unlocking strongholds
Then there's the matter of strongholds getting locked or not. I was just expecting to buy a new stronghold and that's it, but apparently there's currently a maximum of four strongholds active, and it's uncertain whether they are going to do something about it or not. Initially I thought they would, as they will be missing out on a lot of cartel coins if they don't (I'm not going to decorate five strongholds if I can only use four), but then Darkbrew pointed me towards this forum thread where Eric Musco declared that the maximum amount was intentionally added in case new strongholds would be released in the future. I'm so hoping they are going to change their minds on this.
Where would you like to have a stronghold?
Hmmm, such an interesting question. I don't think that SWTOR actually has that many options if the new SH is to be cross faction.
ReplyDeleteI think Alderaan is the obvious choice but it seems a bit vanilla to me. What I consider the interesting planets for a new SH have the following issues story wise:
Corellia - War torn/half destroyed
Belsavis - Giant jail
Hoth - Too white.. I mean cold
Makeb - Limited time to buy real estate
Oricon - Possibly madness inducing
Quesh - Toxic
Voss - Full of Voss
Having said that a lava filled SH on Oricon would be awesome... if only.
While the 4 stronghold limit is in place in case they add future strongholds, they did say they would increase the limit IF they could do so without impacting performance. They made 4 strongholds, and with 4 it worked fine, but they didn't want to risk imposing a limit after the fact as it would anger players. This way, if they introduce a stronghold and raise the limit, we're all happy - if they don't raise the limit, at least we knew the limit was always 4.
DeleteAnyway, a Manaan stronghold would be awesome, and it may not make sense lore wise but Rakata Prime would be so gorgeous.
@Anonymous: "Oricon - Possibly madness inducing" xD I like your line of thought. I don't think Hoth is *that* improbable, though. After all, Tatooine being mostly yellowish and "too hot" didn't stop them from adding a stronghold there. That said, I agree with you that Alderaan is an obvious choice, albeit a bit ...(dare I say?) boring.
Delete@Olib: thank you so much for informing us about this; this gives me hope. :D
And I've thought about Rakata Prime as well. I wouldn't mind a stronghold there at all!
There's a "stronghold directory" on Rishi--you can't interact with it, but it's there.....could be an indicator of where the next stronghold will be....
ReplyDeleteThat's quite exciting! Where exactly on Rishi did you find this stronghold directory?
DeleteI would really love to have a stronghold on Rishi, but the stronghold we're getting first is on Yavin 4, as strange as that is (definitely a possibly madness inducing place, and much more an Imperial than a Republic planet): it was datamined and later confirmed by sneak preview images that were given out.
I wonder when we'll be getting it. "Spring 2015" they said, but it's almost summer. Then again, I guess they were busy with Ziost until recently and this might be their next project they're working on.