To all the fellow roleplayers - from SWG days or otherwise... here's hoping we'll all find a new home soon, developed by the kings of RP video gaming, BioWare.
Cheers
Why do I write, create, fantasize, dream and daydream about other worlds? Because I hate what humanity does with this one.
Some games are, I think, inherently more hostile to RP than others. EVE Online, for instance. Gimme a break. I know some people supposedly manage it, but how they do it without hallucinogens is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, I love the game (despite its uber-grindiness and PvP-centricity)...I just can't get into it. If some EVE-RP'er were to contact me with the intent to prove me wrong, though... *hinthint* Ironically, I think WoW has some of the best untapped potential for RP. The varied environments, the different races & factions...and yes, once you get past the jarring cartooniness of it all, it's actually quite pretty. Unfortunately, it'll never happen. Not until the dead rise from their graves, the rivers and seas flow red with blood, cats and dogs live together...mass hysteria!
i disagree completely. EVE is the only game where i can roleplay, because it is the game that gives more power&options to the player. i can be evil, really evil, or i can be good. i can be a thief, or i can be a pirate. and on every case, the game gives me tools to really commit to my choice.
for example, how can i roleplay a thief if i cant steal? thats something most mmorpgs forbid, stealing from other players. or, how can i be a pirate or an assassin if i cant fight anybody anywhere without having to compare our levels? what is the reason for pirating if there is no loot to recover?
not only that, fighting for resources and territory gives another powerful excuse to roleplay. there is a reason to fight the other corporations. you want what they got.
meanwhile, RP on WoW, or EQ, or even LOTRO, is only an excuse to speak with "thee"s and "thou"s. but options are very limited. you can only attack those of the opposing faction. you can only advance through fighting. i mean, how interesting. i can be a healer, but to gain XP i need to kill. no XP for healing. how can i roleplay then? also, the lack of non-fighting classes. i cant be a full crafter. i need to advance my fighting levels to advance my non-fighting skills. that is stupid.
open-ended, skill based mmorpgs are RP heaven. WoW is as far as can be from there.
Some games are, I think, inherently more hostile to RP than others. EVE Online, for instance. Gimme a break. I know some people supposedly manage it, but how they do it without hallucinogens is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, I love the game (despite its uber-grindiness and PvP-centricity)...I just can't get into it. If some EVE-RP'er were to contact me with the intent to prove me wrong, though... *hinthint* Ironically, I think WoW has some of the best untapped potential for RP. The varied environments, the different races & factions...and yes, once you get past the jarring cartooniness of it all, it's actually quite pretty. Unfortunately, it'll never happen. Not until the dead rise from their graves, the rivers and seas flow red with blood, cats and dogs live together...mass hysteria!
i disagree completely. EVE is the only game where i can roleplay, because it is the game that gives more power&options to the player. i can be evil, really evil, or i can be good. i can be a thief, or i can be a pirate. and on every case, the game gives me tools to really commit to my choice.
for example, how can i roleplay a thief if i cant steal? thats something most mmorpgs forbid, stealing from other players. or, how can i be a pirate or an assassin if i cant fight anybody anywhere without having to compare our levels? what is the reason for pirating if there is no loot to recover?
not only that, fighting for resources and territory gives another powerful excuse to roleplay. there is a reason to fight the other corporations. you want what they got.
meanwhile, RP on WoW, or EQ, or even LOTRO, is only an excuse to speak with "thee"s and "thou"s. but options are very limited. you can only attack those of the opposing faction. you can only advance through fighting. i mean, how interesting. i can be a healer, but to gain XP i need to kill. no XP for healing. how can i roleplay then? also, the lack of non-fighting classes. i cant be a full crafter. i need to advance my fighting levels to advance my non-fighting skills. that is stupid.
open-ended, skill based mmorpgs are RP heaven. WoW is as far as can be from there.
I agree with you. I do think SWG does give tools for great rp or even what I like to call immersive grinding (for lack of a better phrase). My wife and I have had a great time rp'ing the legacy missions with a few new friends...We do the missions as group in character and cruize around visiting planets and bars during off times. As a whole we are in character 24/7 and when we come across others who are same we mingle.
I think some people look for a certain kind of structured rp rather than just "live". Either is fun but i enjoy being the Bounty Hunter or Smuggler and never knowing what I could run across.
Sure I am always up for structure. In fact a just made a friend I will rp with. Basically he has his character and I have ine and we live our lives with the inention of them crossing paths in the near and far future. I love the slow burn.
First off I wish to say thank you for your article. I also wish to applaud those old SWGers who still, to this day, mourn their loss. My husband and I, as original SWGers, share your pain. We, too, cheerfully spent our paychecks (3 accounts) to be part of a world full of so much more than killing orcs and grinding levels. As first a master creature handler and then a master bio-engineer it was a sad day when SOE came to our house on Chilastra and personnally shot all of my pets in the head with a gun called the CU and a silencer called an NGE.
Of course we have spent the rest of our game days looking for another RP game, including games mentioned by others in this thread, but so far we have failed.
Still hope lives eternal but what I don't understand is why no other game developer has heard our cries? It seems to me that a new game comes out almost weekly (ok monthly) yet no attempt has been made to appeal to a ready make, eager to pay, clientile such as the one SOE turned their collective noses on (I was there the night all the playersr complained in game about the changes and were booted out of Theed and several other towns).
Still in all articles such as this one may someday make some dev see the light. Devs if you doubt me look around the net.. there are still, after all these years, websites devoted to the tailors or architects or CH's like me from the old SWG. Want to walk down memory lane? Go check out the Galaxy Girls of SWG website.. it's a touch of the old days (but then so is my avatar) or do a search on YouTube and watch players in the cantinas havinig the time of their lives. /sigh
I was doing some research on my old hometown of Vagabond's Rest on Starsider and found this article.
Mandash Grim is the name, a crusty old freetrader captain (who didn't actually have a ship for a year or so until JtL came out), and one of the founders of old VR.
Some folks might be interested to know that with the recent voluntary, free, server transfers Starsider is way out on top in terms of population. Roleplayers everywhere.
Comments
To all the fellow roleplayers - from SWG days or otherwise... here's hoping we'll all find a new home soon, developed by the kings of RP video gaming, BioWare.
Cheers
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
i disagree completely. EVE is the only game where i can roleplay, because it is the game that gives more power&options to the player. i can be evil, really evil, or i can be good. i can be a thief, or i can be a pirate. and on every case, the game gives me tools to really commit to my choice.
for example, how can i roleplay a thief if i cant steal? thats something most mmorpgs forbid, stealing from other players. or, how can i be a pirate or an assassin if i cant fight anybody anywhere without having to compare our levels? what is the reason for pirating if there is no loot to recover?
not only that, fighting for resources and territory gives another powerful excuse to roleplay. there is a reason to fight the other corporations. you want what they got.
meanwhile, RP on WoW, or EQ, or even LOTRO, is only an excuse to speak with "thee"s and "thou"s. but options are very limited. you can only attack those of the opposing faction. you can only advance through fighting. i mean, how interesting. i can be a healer, but to gain XP i need to kill. no XP for healing. how can i roleplay then? also, the lack of non-fighting classes. i cant be a full crafter. i need to advance my fighting levels to advance my non-fighting skills. that is stupid.
open-ended, skill based mmorpgs are RP heaven. WoW is as far as can be from there.
i disagree completely. EVE is the only game where i can roleplay, because it is the game that gives more power&options to the player. i can be evil, really evil, or i can be good. i can be a thief, or i can be a pirate. and on every case, the game gives me tools to really commit to my choice.
for example, how can i roleplay a thief if i cant steal? thats something most mmorpgs forbid, stealing from other players. or, how can i be a pirate or an assassin if i cant fight anybody anywhere without having to compare our levels? what is the reason for pirating if there is no loot to recover?
not only that, fighting for resources and territory gives another powerful excuse to roleplay. there is a reason to fight the other corporations. you want what they got.
meanwhile, RP on WoW, or EQ, or even LOTRO, is only an excuse to speak with "thee"s and "thou"s. but options are very limited. you can only attack those of the opposing faction. you can only advance through fighting. i mean, how interesting. i can be a healer, but to gain XP i need to kill. no XP for healing. how can i roleplay then? also, the lack of non-fighting classes. i cant be a full crafter. i need to advance my fighting levels to advance my non-fighting skills. that is stupid.
open-ended, skill based mmorpgs are RP heaven. WoW is as far as can be from there.
I agree with you. I do think SWG does give tools for great rp or even what I like to call immersive grinding (for lack of a better phrase). My wife and I have had a great time rp'ing the legacy missions with a few new friends...We do the missions as group in character and cruize around visiting planets and bars during off times. As a whole we are in character 24/7 and when we come across others who are same we mingle.
I think some people look for a certain kind of structured rp rather than just "live". Either is fun but i enjoy being the Bounty Hunter or Smuggler and never knowing what I could run across.
Sure I am always up for structure. In fact a just made a friend I will rp with. Basically he has his character and I have ine and we live our lives with the inention of them crossing paths in the near and far future. I love the slow burn.
Hope to see others.
Rex
No Apologies
Maybe we cant put CCP and George Lucas in a room for how ever many years it would take to get the job done right.
Id miss EVE but a real Star Wars MMO would be incredible.
S*D
First off I wish to say thank you for your article. I also wish to applaud those old SWGers who still, to this day, mourn their loss. My husband and I, as original SWGers, share your pain. We, too, cheerfully spent our paychecks (3 accounts) to be part of a world full of so much more than killing orcs and grinding levels. As first a master creature handler and then a master bio-engineer it was a sad day when SOE came to our house on Chilastra and personnally shot all of my pets in the head with a gun called the CU and a silencer called an NGE.
Of course we have spent the rest of our game days looking for another RP game, including games mentioned by others in this thread, but so far we have failed.
Still hope lives eternal but what I don't understand is why no other game developer has heard our cries? It seems to me that a new game comes out almost weekly (ok monthly) yet no attempt has been made to appeal to a ready make, eager to pay, clientile such as the one SOE turned their collective noses on (I was there the night all the playersr complained in game about the changes and were booted out of Theed and several other towns).
Still in all articles such as this one may someday make some dev see the light. Devs if you doubt me look around the net.. there are still, after all these years, websites devoted to the tailors or architects or CH's like me from the old SWG. Want to walk down memory lane? Go check out the Galaxy Girls of SWG website.. it's a touch of the old days (but then so is my avatar) or do a search on YouTube and watch players in the cantinas havinig the time of their lives. /sigh
I was doing some research on my old hometown of Vagabond's Rest on Starsider and found this article.
Mandash Grim is the name, a crusty old freetrader captain (who didn't actually have a ship for a year or so until JtL came out), and one of the founders of old VR.
Some folks might be interested to know that with the recent voluntary, free, server transfers Starsider is way out on top in terms of population. Roleplayers everywhere.
Always notice what you notice.