Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend
akevv
Member Posts: 208
Hello Folks,
I have been reading what is available so far regarding the new Star Wars game. To me, this game sounds a lot like Guild Wars with a monthly fee. I am not terribly excited about being locked into a specific look because of some choices I make as a story advances. In Force Unleashed, I could not even pick a female avatar. I am very glad I did not pay for that one as 90 minutes of playing it, I was finished. I do not play a game to watch a movie.
What am I getting at? Well, the only way we are going to send a message to these companies is to embrace what they do not want to make. SOE is a crap company and John Smedley brings the devil his lunch every day. The thing is, SWG is still a sandbox. We have player cities, a player economy, and incredible player customization already available to us. We have proven, however, that we will not play it.
In twisted corporate logic, the failure of the NGE PROVES that we want less character customization and more story driven content. They simply do not understand that the first person shooter stuff and the disrespect of player progress is the issue.
The only way to show Lucas Arts that we do not want to be locked into how THEY want us to play is to support SWG. I know, it is awful. I hate it too, but it is the truth.
I think I am going to be sick.
Akevv Ostone
No Longer SWG Free 
Comments
I believe you may be on to something, here. The "sandbox" seems to be going the way of the dino.
But, I still have high hopes for STO. It would seem, with the available info, that character customization will be high, with "housing" (deco your ship), with guild cities (guild space stations) and more to do than just combat. So, I atually believe that 1 gaming company is still listening. Thx Cryptic, for at least a little bit of hope.
But your probably right. The gaming industry might have miss-read the lesson(s) from SWG CHANGES. Instead of putting the blame on the deleting player accomplishments, going after another player base at the downfall of your existing playerbase, etc, etc,, they very well could be blameing simulators and sandbox for the failure.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
On one hand SWG is the only game with true sandbox features, on the other the NGE ripped the guts out of the best parts of it, so by supporting SWG as it is currently you could be seen to be supporting a sandbox, or you could be seen to be supporting the elements that got tossed on top of the original game, ie: the NGE.
Moot point for me, it's a shit game, I wouldn't support it in any way.
...The spread of secondary and latterly of tertiary education has created a large population of people, often with well developed literary and scholarly tastes, who have been educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought.
IF it is true that the new game will be like that (and I think we are being too pessimistic here) and your scenario is more or less correct, supporting the NGE isn't the way to send a message to LEC.
No, the way to send the message is to play NEITHER. Play OUR game instead, which will be possible well before the NGE is closed/SWTOR opens.
we had our chance. We thought we were doing pretty good until WoW launched and sparked the slow transformation of precu into NGE. So if the 100's of thousands of players that played precu weren't enough, then whatever we can muster now wont make any difference. Not to mention that an increasing NGE population is more likely to be seen as supporting the conversion of a rich sandbox into more of a linear and simplistic style game.
i played swg after the nge. ITS FUCKING HORRIBLE
--------------------------------------
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The force shall free me.
-the Sith code
The problem is it is no longer the game I want to support. It's level based with points to invest in skill trees like WOW and other games, intstead of skill based. Also they have just added their card game, which I hate the idea of. Then there is the crappy UI and combat and the out of control buff wars which supposedly they were trying to get rid of.
So to subscribe now would in my opinion be validating the direction they have taken.
I think I will send my own message when the free SWG servers launch. If the servers are good and run professionally I will be sending them $15 per month via pay pal as a donation. Only by supporting the original version of the game which we liked can we truly send a message.
Now if SOE out of desperation for cash.. opened a Pre-CU server.
I would definitely say flock to that and force them to open more. Then if the new game is just the same level based crap (even with bio-ware polish I've had enough of levels) don't buy it.
A choice between the NGE and WoW with Star Wars graphics..
I'd play WoW instead.
I suppose that would send a message as well.. and I don't really like WoW.
[...]
Akevv Ostone
No Longer SWG Free
:O
Don't give in! There's a third option in here, don't support either SWG or this new TOR crap from Lucas Arts. That's what I'm going to do.
There's a sad twist regarding any potential Star Wars based MMORPG game. It can't exist without Lucas Arts involvement while at the same time everything LA put their hand on will turn to shit over time. This is why I don't think I will ever see an ...official SW MMO in a pre-CU like sandbox setting again
.
I'm in complete agreement here. If a Pre-CU server was to open, I would very vocally support it.
As a consumer I'm not going to subscribe to the current iteration of SWG just because it's the lesser of 2 evils. As a consumer, it's my way or the highway. SOE has chosen the highway, and it looks like perhaps BioWare has too. It's not my loss, it's theirs.
I will NOT, under any circumstances at this point support a SOE released pre NGE server, even if it IS pre-CU (and it wouldn't be, the most they'd do is CU).
They did actually internally test a CU server not that long ago, btw.
The reason why I'd not support it is because frankly I don't feel that SOE should be REWARDED by this community for doing what they EFFING SHOULD HAVE DONE on 11/16/2005.
Since we will be getting Pre-CU again no matter what, I'd rather support the one that won't be run by noobish morons who's first Star Wars movie experience was EP1.
I will admit that a hopping PreCU server over at SOE would put LA in a bind becaue you know full well that Bioware wants SWG to go away.
That being said, I prefer the idea of 3-4 hopping emu servers instead. See WoW's Antrix issue for more details.
how can you say something like that and not give details? How long ago? How do you know? Why?
Terranah,
When I started playing again, I was immediately turned off by the choppy animations, the interface, and the general unfinished feel of the game. What made me login again was that my friends list was scrollable. I thought everyone quit, like me, but for some reason they are back.
I stuck around for the two free weeks I had and by the end of it, I begrudgingly clicked the subscribe button. The game, once you get past the warts, is still better than what others are offering. There is no other game that offers player crafting, resource collection, and entertaining as viable paths for participation in the game world.
I do not expect any of those features to be available in The Old Republic. I expect it to be like Guild Wars. This is not a bad thing. It will be a fun experience, for a few months.
SWG, after chap 6, seems to be much more acceptable, as far as the experience goes. Finally, fighting a Night Sister is a risk again. It has been the first time since the NGE that I have found myself excited to fight an NPC. PvP is still Restuss centric, but on Flurry, we are trying to fix that. Player experience setup and gear actually matter again. It is not as good as it was, but it is acceptable.
I do not like levels. I want a skill based game where the damage is in the weapon and the protection is in the armor. If you are not qualified for the weapon, however, you have just as likely a chance to hurt yourself as you do the person you are pointing at. If you wear too much armor, then you cannot move well. I want to see a Sci-Fi game like that. Until the time comes, however, we are going to be stuck with levels. It is not creative, it stinks, and I hate it. SWG, the original version, was incredible. SWG, the current version, is not that bad. Considering the condition of all of the MMOs, SWG offers a whole lot of diversity that the others do not.
I am not happy about paying SOE. I hate them, really. I want my old game back. Unfortunately, they are the only ones offering even a glimpse of what I want from an MMO. God, I cannot believe I am typing this. What is wrong with the rest of you MMO developers? Where is a game that is an alternative? Every single one that was supposed to be a replacement has been utter rubbish. Arrgh!!!
Akevv Ostone
No Longer SWG Free
How exactly is SWG the only game with true sandbox features?
I would say EvE and UO are better sandbox's than SWG.
Hell, Saga of Ryzom is a better sandbox than SWG.
Does SWG have player housing? Yes... other than that... I dont see much Sandboxyness in it.
Uh huh...
I don't care if we're supposed to say the E word or not.
I played UO... from 1997 until sometime in 2002. There were many UO emulators and OSI/EA never seemed to care much.
I know why they didn't care as I tried a few and I've never had any positive hope about any private place doing an E server.
The only thing that would even interest me is running one for myself to dick around on my private network.
I personally would rather pay SOE for NO game than pin my hopes on an E server... good luck with that.
Maybe it will turn out well... personally I doubt it.
If they did a pre-cu server and I doubt they ever would. You do realize that the only way to get an actual game... that isn't a EQ/WoW clone is to support this?
If there is no support regardless of developer for a NON level/class/raid based game... guess what?
That's all you will ever see.
Wildcat,
I would not play an emulation of any MMO. John Smedley's word about not going after this project is worth about as much as his words about the CU being around for good. It is not really up to him in either case. It would be a terrible shame to loose that game twice. Once was enough for me.
Akevv Ostone
No Longer SWG Free
How exactly is SWG the only game with true sandbox features?
I would say EvE and UO are better sandbox's than SWG.
Hell, Saga of Ryzom is a better sandbox than SWG.
Does SWG have player housing? Yes... other than that... I dont see much Sandboxyness in it.
In EVE, you ARE a ship... you can't place structures within the game world, hell as much as I hate to admit it, in SWG the story teller addition pretty much gives the player complete freedom to place almost anything, within almost any environment, structured in anyway that they please. Feel free to show me something more "sandbox" than that in any game.
...The spread of secondary and latterly of tertiary education has created a large population of people, often with well developed literary and scholarly tastes, who have been educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought.
Wildcat,
I would not play an emulation of any MMO. John Smedley's word about not going after this project is worth about as much as his words about the CU being around for good. It is not really up to him in either case. It would be a terrible shame to loose that game twice. Once was enough for me.
it's like buying a puppy. You know it's going to die some day, the point is to enjoy it while it lasts.
How exactly is SWG the only game with true sandbox features?
I would say EvE and UO are better sandbox's than SWG.
Hell, Saga of Ryzom is a better sandbox than SWG.
Does SWG have player housing? Yes... other than that... I dont see much Sandboxyness in it.
In EVE, you ARE a ship... you can't place structures within the game world, hell as much as I hate to admit it, in SWG the story teller addition pretty much gives the player complete freedom to place almost anything, within almost any environment, structured in anyway that they please. Feel free to show me something more "sandbox" than that in any game.
You realize you can place POS (player own structures) in eve right? Its the main focus of 0.0 pvp. You can also place structures in empire. So not sure what your talking about.
Also, there is a hell of a lot more to sandbox than being able to place buildings. Sandbox also means character freedom, and since the NGE SWG has lost that. THE only sandbox aspect in SWG that Im aware of now is simply the ability to litter the landscape with your buildings. To me that is not sandbox. Soon as they walked away from the skill system they walked away from the sandbox.
How exactly is SWG the only game with true sandbox features?
I would say EvE and UO are better sandbox's than SWG.
Hell, Saga of Ryzom is a better sandbox than SWG.
Does SWG have player housing? Yes... other than that... I dont see much Sandboxyness in it.
In EVE, you ARE a ship... you can't place structures within the game world, hell as much as I hate to admit it, in SWG the story teller addition pretty much gives the player complete freedom to place almost anything, within almost any environment, structured in anyway that they please. Feel free to show me something more "sandbox" than that in any game.
You realize you can place POS (player own structures) in eve right? Its the main focus of 0.0 pvp. You can also place structures in empire. So not sure what your talking about.
Also, there is a hell of a lot more to sandbox than being able to place buildings. Sandbox also means character freedom, and since the NGE SWG has lost that. THE only sandbox aspect in SWG that Im aware of now is simply the ability to litter the landscape with your buildings. To me that is not sandbox. Soon as they walked away from the skill system they walked away from the sandbox.
Well you obviously know as much about SWG as I do about EVE, here's some suggested reading:
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/content.vm?id=66938&resource=features
...The spread of secondary and latterly of tertiary education has created a large population of people, often with well developed literary and scholarly tastes, who have been educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought.
Ef wins this thread!
How exactly is SWG the only game with true sandbox features?
I would say EvE and UO are better sandbox's than SWG.
Hell, Saga of Ryzom is a better sandbox than SWG.
Does SWG have player housing? Yes... other than that... I dont see much Sandboxyness in it.
In EVE, you ARE a ship... you can't place structures within the game world, hell as much as I hate to admit it, in SWG the story teller addition pretty much gives the player complete freedom to place almost anything, within almost any environment, structured in anyway that they please. Feel free to show me something more "sandbox" than that in any game.
You realize you can place POS (player own structures) in eve right? Its the main focus of 0.0 pvp. You can also place structures in empire. So not sure what your talking about.
Also, there is a hell of a lot more to sandbox than being able to place buildings. Sandbox also means character freedom, and since the NGE SWG has lost that. THE only sandbox aspect in SWG that Im aware of now is simply the ability to litter the landscape with your buildings. To me that is not sandbox. Soon as they walked away from the skill system they walked away from the sandbox.
Well you obviously know as much about SWG as I do about EVE, here's some suggested reading:
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/content.vm?id=66938&resource=features
that definitely gives it a sandbox element that I was unaware of. (Saga of Ryzom has a very similar system).
Now... if you could just get SOE to reimplement the original skill system SWG would be a perfect sandbox game.
Trust me, I was as surprised, and somewhat bemused by that as you are. I can't figure out why on one hand they'd take the skill point system away, effectively removing some of the best sandbox features the game ever had and then implement this. It's as frustrating as it is strange though, if we'd had that kind of system in the CU or pre-cu the game would have more content than anything out there and more importantly it'd be player made content and as we all know, players > devs when it comes to SOE and SWG.
...The spread of secondary and latterly of tertiary education has created a large population of people, often with well developed literary and scholarly tastes, who have been educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought.