Personally, except the bugs and crappy engine of the NGE, the idea is not that bad. The thing that bothered people is that it was a massive change of play-style for many gamers (due to different class/profession system), and that even when they do the 2-week beta test on test server, many found it to be lacking and buggy, and pleaded SOE not to push forward until they fix the bugs... But that didn't happen, and pissed off many players.
I gave the NGE 4-6 months benefit of a doubt and only found a few bugs personally... the idea of the NGE being sound i have to disagree with mate, it destroyed crafters and turned the game into another grind to max level then PvP or go out on loot runs for the best gear.. not really a step in the right direction is it when every other MMO is like that..
As for the mass changes being what drove people away i have to disagree to a certain point.. Yes a lot would have left because of those things but it wasn't the main reason (from my point of view anyways), for me the main reason was the disrespect the devs showed us by bringing the changes out in the first place, it showed they care more about trying to earn money than they care about those that play and payed them a lot of money in the first place.. After everyone jumped ship (from NGE release to roughly 6 months later) all they had to do was apologise, admit they were wrong and put things back as they were...
Some people (sharkypal and others) say "vets" left because of all the jedi running around, this is also partly true for 2 reasons.. 1) jedi became a starting profession and those close to being jedi prior to NGE were screwed out of a lot of time and effort they'd put in to EARN the class. 2) Jedi being a starting profession meant hundreds being made when Jedi were supposed to be extremely rare for the time setting of the game... this second part meant they didn't care about the lore or background of Star Wars which is why a lot of people play it to begin with.
I remember trying to figure out how to unlock Jedi, before we discovered Holocrons. I figured it had to be some sort of skill combination. For instance, I would have some Swordsman, some Artisan, and some other stuff I can't remember. Once you had these specific skills met, then you would randomly be given a hint as to what you had to do. That task would somehow require the use of one of the skills you had.
Later, we discovered holocrons, and though I felt that my original idea wasn't TOO far off base, I realised how incredibly lame the holocron system was. SWG was my first MMO, and it made me hate grinding, before we even knew that unlocking Jedi was just a huge Profession grind. I attempted on Holocron in all my years of playing - it told me I had to master Architect. I said to myself "Screw that shit!" and didn't look back. I was happy being the Smuggler I wanted to be in the first place.... well... excpet for the fact that I didn't really smuggle anything... ever....
My fondest memory of SWG was the feeling of mystery and discovery. Everything somehow felt... like it was everything I had been wanting to do since the first time I saw the Star Wars movies. Just walking around Mos Eisley is the absolute best gaming experience I'd ever had, because it was the closest thing I would ever get to actually being there, in that time, in that place. It really did bring that fantasy I had when I was a kid into a reality. Nevermind the rest of the crap that happened, or the complete lack of consistent functionality and balance in the game... it did allow us to feel like we lived there.
I wish there was a game that could capture that feeling again. I hope SWTOR can capture that magic.
Comments
I gave the NGE 4-6 months benefit of a doubt and only found a few bugs personally... the idea of the NGE being sound i have to disagree with mate, it destroyed crafters and turned the game into another grind to max level then PvP or go out on loot runs for the best gear.. not really a step in the right direction is it when every other MMO is like that..
As for the mass changes being what drove people away i have to disagree to a certain point.. Yes a lot would have left because of those things but it wasn't the main reason (from my point of view anyways), for me the main reason was the disrespect the devs showed us by bringing the changes out in the first place, it showed they care more about trying to earn money than they care about those that play and payed them a lot of money in the first place.. After everyone jumped ship (from NGE release to roughly 6 months later) all they had to do was apologise, admit they were wrong and put things back as they were...
Some people (sharkypal and others) say "vets" left because of all the jedi running around, this is also partly true for 2 reasons.. 1) jedi became a starting profession and those close to being jedi prior to NGE were screwed out of a lot of time and effort they'd put in to EARN the class. 2) Jedi being a starting profession meant hundreds being made when Jedi were supposed to be extremely rare for the time setting of the game... this second part meant they didn't care about the lore or background of Star Wars which is why a lot of people play it to begin with.
I remember trying to figure out how to unlock Jedi, before we discovered Holocrons. I figured it had to be some sort of skill combination. For instance, I would have some Swordsman, some Artisan, and some other stuff I can't remember. Once you had these specific skills met, then you would randomly be given a hint as to what you had to do. That task would somehow require the use of one of the skills you had.
Later, we discovered holocrons, and though I felt that my original idea wasn't TOO far off base, I realised how incredibly lame the holocron system was. SWG was my first MMO, and it made me hate grinding, before we even knew that unlocking Jedi was just a huge Profession grind. I attempted on Holocron in all my years of playing - it told me I had to master Architect. I said to myself "Screw that shit!" and didn't look back. I was happy being the Smuggler I wanted to be in the first place.... well... excpet for the fact that I didn't really smuggle anything... ever....
My fondest memory of SWG was the feeling of mystery and discovery. Everything somehow felt... like it was everything I had been wanting to do since the first time I saw the Star Wars movies. Just walking around Mos Eisley is the absolute best gaming experience I'd ever had, because it was the closest thing I would ever get to actually being there, in that time, in that place. It really did bring that fantasy I had when I was a kid into a reality. Nevermind the rest of the crap that happened, or the complete lack of consistent functionality and balance in the game... it did allow us to feel like we lived there.
I wish there was a game that could capture that feeling again. I hope SWTOR can capture that magic.