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Amusing post from BioWare dev
omome
Member Posts: 203
I stumbled upon this on the SWtOR dev tracker, it sorta goes against a common perception of the game:
Quote:
"Health Potions. Mana Potions? Meesa not understand."  Seriously guys. We are making Star Wars: The Old Republic, not some other game that has mana potions. (No, we don't have 'Force Potions' or Midichlorian infusions, that'd be rather weird.) I know it's easy to compare this game to other MMOs you know, but still, we're making a different game, not a clone of another MMO. There are different mechanics (such as companions with their own bars or cover), different numbers of abilities, skills, usable items, different UI mechanics and options, etc - so taking a number of slots on quickbars from one game and translating it onto our game without taking these factors into account is a bit premature at best. In short: We'll give you enough hotbar space to play Star Wars: The Old Republic, but we can't guarantee you'll have enough space to put your leftover healing and mana potions from another game onto it.  |
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Georg "Observer" Zoeller Principal Lead Combat Designer |
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Comments
lol yea i got a kick out of that post too. only reason i didnt post it here is because of how offended some people seemed to get in that thread. figured i didnt need to fuel anymore flames over here.
edit: if you like georg you might get a kick out of his post here too. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=6227863#post6227863
its not amusing at all, i dont find. he is trying to be funny.
but aside from the fact that he is so ademnant at using "star wars" vocabularly for buff items (because that is what they are), the real sad part is that he seems to dismiss such elements because they will be present in native skills or the skills of your companions - either that or he is trying to shift concern of this being a shallow game by resorting to humour. pretty similar to the humour they produced when people complained about space on rails.
so yet another step and confirmation in the direction of self-sufficiency.
which is ironic since the NGE was accused of emulating WoW precisely when they did this. They removed loads of usable items which people produced, sold or traded, and converted them into buttons on everyone's toolbar.
I agree Troneas.
I don't blame him, people are constantly flaming the devs and their work in the official forums. Too much speculation going on, unfortunatelly.
I mean, you would think that the devs would know how many hotbars are necessary to play the game effectively.
If you don't play or quit playing simply because the game won't give you enough spaces to place your emotes on the hotbar, frankly, I think the game is better off without such crybabies.
clearly, you've never played the NGE.
There were never mana potions or force potions in SWG...ever
"Seriously guys. We are making Star Wars: The Old Republic, not some other game... we're making a different game, not a clone of another MMO."
This part can't be said enough around here. TOR is not a clone of another game.
And seriously, why in the world do you need 576 slots in your hotbars? That's just insane. How would you ever fit that many on one TV screen? Some people are just nuts.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
just add from the same thread:
GeorgZoeller General Discussion -> Is 48 hotbar slots enough for most MMO'ers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyrr
48 does seem like a very very limited number for an MMO. This is not necessarily from a powergaming perspective - there are usually many things one might want to keep on the HUD, including:
- Emotes
- Pets
- Mounts/vehicles
- Macros (assuming this game has them, of course)
- Crafting skills
- Fun or silly items (for example, fireworks or snowballs)
- Combat utility items (assuming they are in the game, but I would imagine there will be some)
This is all in addition to all your class/advanced class skills. I also sometimes prefer to leave gaps between groups of items or abilities so they are segmented visually.
I can definitely understand the desire to keep the interface clean and compact, but it's always nice to have the option to organize everything you want right there on your HUD, rather than have to go fishing through your inventory or various menus to find items/skills.
Just to answer a few of these.
- Emotes have a quick access menu near the chat panel.
- Crew Skills (AKA crafting) have a dedicated UI, you can't map them to the quickbar (when you see more details on the Crew Skills, you'll understand)
- Companions have their own bar for their abilities. Additional utility is available by clicking their portrait (e.g. selling junk/greys)
- Certain functionality (target of target, etc.) are accessible via user definable keybinds, roll into cover, etc.
As a general philosophy, we have full UI support for all game functions. We try to avoid using slash commands as the single point of entry into functionality.
yes there were. not force potions, but certainly HEALTH, ACTION and MIND potions - as well as for their subcategories such as stamina, willpower, focus, etc.
they weren't called potions, though. mostly they were crafted food and drinks. for instance, Vasarian Brandy was the most popular mind "potion" in pre-cu. you should know this if you played it.
I don't really know what the discussion is about where this post is taken from (number of hotbar slots?), but it seems to me he's trying to make a point that SWTOR won't be the same as other MMO's and that therefore the UI also isn't necessarily the same, something like that?
The mana potions and such I didn't get, iirc I read something about medpack or stimpacks ingame, which sound like the same thing as health potions.
Anyway, I'm not sure what the deal's about, GW2 will have a limitation of 10-11 hotbar slots, TSW will have like 14 as limit, so I'm maybe missing something
But seems to me that not every MMO needs to do things the same as any other MMO and still do good.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
explain how - considering everything they have said about swtor - fundamental game design and mechanics differ from the standard WoW model.
upon submission of your elaborated thesis, i will consider believing this statement.
Vasarian brandy and/or muon gold to buff mind pool, yes, but never anything player made to replentish force.
For starters, there are no health or mana potions
Ah.. the good old days.Tthe first time I got that stuff along with ranger buffs(or was it DOC buffs? been awhile since I played it.) and headed to that spawn behind Eisley Cantina. It was like being superman.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
well in the context of the post, and given that not everyone will be force sensitive, i think its valid to conclude that people were talking about all forms of buff items. SWG was unusual in that it had more pools than any other game inlcuding the mind and action pool- and mana (whilst not magic) could be interpreted as filling those roles in that game.
regardless, you are focusing on the olive and not the whole pizza.
Everything is a clone of every other game. Age old argument that has been around since people were "cloning" Everquest. SWTOR brings a different universe then WoW, story driven gameplay based on choices you make, vast planets, space combat, ect...all different then WoW. You can put a new spin on old things and make them different, I promise!
Otherwise I guess all RTS games are the same all shooters are the same,ect. Hell, they are more clones of eachother then MMOs are. Kind of ironic isn't it considering that no one ever points that out...
Sonic the Hedgehog > Mario
oh, and WoW took Ideas from single player RPGs ... like the ones BioWare was making back then, KotOR had themepark questing, skill bars with cooldowns, stat and gear progression; it only stands to reason that TOR would too.
"Seriously guys. We are making Star Wars: The Old Republic, not some other game... we're making a different game, not a clone of another MMO."
~Let's just say they are not straying too far from the nest~
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Believe whatever you want, but it isn't a clone.
Combat is completely different
Crafting is completely different
Leveling is completely different
Class structure is completely different
WOW doesn't have space
WOW doesn't have voice overs
WOW doesn't allow choices that affect your character's growth
WOW has much smaller land mass than TOR.
A couple continents compared to 17 planets
And don't even try and make the ignorant argument "thats's just fluff". Saying that a game is a clone just because it has similiar hotbar and key structure is like saying that Burger King is a McDonalds clone because it serves hamburgers and french fries. A clone is an exact copy. Period. Which this game isn't.You guys can hate the game all you want, but you don't get to make up definitions to established words. Only Webster is allowed to do that.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
George Lucas should get a nickel every time someone uses the word clone, oh wait, he probably does.
Everquest and WoW were quite distinct i can assure you. Copying certain elements of a game does not make the other a clone, though.
But changing the skin does not mean its not a clone either. The star wars theme, and areas being presented as planets and how big those are is not a "fundamental game design and mechanic".
By game design i mean how the system of the game plays out: interaction with the world, progression system and design, class system, economy, penalties, accessibility, world structure...
and space is a minigame within the game.
so your claim that everything is a clone of every other game is not particularly true. Perhaps some games did lay the ground for particular models (UO, EQ, WoW, EVE) and some do contain elements and features of many games, but they are not necessarily clones.
Lotro is a WoW clone. So is Swtor.
It looks like a natural evolution of KotOR to me.
If by 'WoW clone' you mean 'themepark MMO' but then in a derogatory way that non-themepark fans are often wont to do, then yes, SWTOR is a WoW clone.
After all, SWTOR has all the elements that are typical of a themepark MMO, just as good as all AAA MMO's have had of the past 5 years or so.
Does that mean that SWTOR will be an exact copy or near-exact copy of WoW in all its mechanics and features?
Nope, of course not, as people have posted the differences every few threads.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
The game is different from NGE, ToR doesn't need pots. Your companions can either tank if your a healer or you get a healer pet if you can't heal yourself. Without a need of pots then your bars are just for your skills. Your companion has it's own bar that is appart from the others. Your companion quests and crafting tab is in it's own menu screen. If you have a need of more than 48 skill buttons then something is very, very wrong.