It wont change the industry ... its warcraft in space with light sabers. I see very little that is revolutionary or industry changing if anything.
Actually, it already has. Do you think its a mere coincidence that almost every major MMO coming out in the next year has a heavy storyline basis?
Most people have grown to hate leveling via textbox popups. Most are extremely pleased w/ the "revolutionary" change of making it a storyline sequence with cinematics, voiceovers, and storyline choices.
I can pretty much guarentee you that I will never accept anything less from my MMOs after SWTOR.
It wont change the industry ... its warcraft in space with light sabers. I see very little that is revolutionary or industry changing if anything.
Actually, it already has. Do you think its a mere coincidence that almost every major MMO coming out in the next year has a heavy storyline basis?
Most people have grown to hate leveling via textbox popups. Most are extremely pleased w/ the "revolutionary" change of making it a storyline sequence with cinematics, voiceovers, and storyline choices.
I can pretty much guarentee you that I will never accept anything less from my MMOs after SWTOR.
Exactly which titles that are coming out in the next year have full voice overs? Or more story than warcraft did upon release? WoW had plenty of story. Tons of it. Voice over is nice and all but has zero bearing on whether or not I will play it.
You've never stood there in front of Ragnaros wishing to Elune that he would just shut the hell up? How bout Saurfang? Yea .. those voice overs are great. There better be a fast forward button.
I find reading text far preferrable as I can skim through story lines I don't much care about for pertinant infotmaion as opposed to having to listen to something I probably could already predict. Current MMOs have plenty of story. More is just not needed.
Star Wars story is bound to be better than Wow 3.0 and Rift .. but do you really think a market that is saturated by people who can't even be bothered to type thanks instead of thx is really all that interested? They want to log in, do their welfare quests/dungoens/and behind a tier ... nerfed to hell raids and log out as fast as possible. And yet here is Bioware throwing millions of dollars into something most people are going to skip .. and there isn't even going to be real spacecraft combat ... in a Star Wars game ... laughable.
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity. I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
It wont change the industry ... its warcraft in space with light sabers. I see very little that is revolutionary or industry changing if anything.
Actually, it already has. Do you think its a mere coincidence that almost every major MMO coming out in the next year has a heavy storyline basis?
Most people have grown to hate leveling via textbox popups. Most are extremely pleased w/ the "revolutionary" change of making it a storyline sequence with cinematics, voiceovers, and storyline choices.
I can pretty much guarentee you that I will never accept anything less from my MMOs after SWTOR.
Hate to burst your buble, but storyline-oriented MMOs have been around since before SWTOR started developement. SWTOR does it in it's own stylized way, but that doesn't make them a pioneer. Furthermore, the game still has text popups, they're just different (again stylized in Bioware's own unique way).
As for MMOs releasing next year that are heavily story driven, I only know of one. That would be GW2 (whose release date is still speculative), and that game has also been in developement since before SWTOR and basically builds off the design of it's predecessor.
Bioware does tend to do a good job with story, but that doesn't make them an industry changer, it makes them good at what they do.
- I highly doubt that in 5-10 years, players will be looking back saying 'remember when SWTOR changed how we play MMOS?' we'll most likely just still be arguing over why the next batch of MMOs is better than every other game and how it will save the industry / dethrone blizzards next mmo.
It wont change the industry ... its warcraft in space with light sabers. I see very little that is revolutionary or industry changing if anything.
Actually, it already has. Do you think its a mere coincidence that almost every major MMO coming out in the next year has a heavy storyline basis?
Most people have grown to hate leveling via textbox popups. Most are extremely pleased w/ the "revolutionary" change of making it a storyline sequence with cinematics, voiceovers, and storyline choices.
I can pretty much guarentee you that I will never accept anything less from my MMOs after SWTOR.
Hate to burst your buble, but storyline-oriented MMOs have been around since before SWTOR started developement. SWTOR does it in it's own stylized way, but that doesn't make them a pioneer. Furthermore, the game still has text popups, they're just different (again stylized in Bioware's own unique way).
As for MMOs releasing next year that are heavily story driven, I only know of one. That would be GW2 (whose release date is still speculative), and that game has also been in developement since before SWTOR and basically builds off the design of it's predecessor.
Bioware does tend to do a good job with story, but that doesn't make them an industry changer, it makes them good at what they do.
- I highly doubt that in 5-10 years, players will be looking back saying 'remember when SWTOR changed how we play MMOS?' we'll most likely just still be arguing over why the next batch of MMOs is better than every other game and how it will save the industry / dethrone blizzards next mmo.
The Secret World is also heavily story driven. Obviously not all mmo's with go this route, as there are plenty of different players tastes to which they want to cater, but there does seem to be a current trend toward this greater focus on Story. Sure, mmo's have had some story, but none to this degree.
Crafting : Is the same as seen in SWG if you equate Companions to Harvesters and Factories as I do.
Housing : Is all about storage. Sure some people in SWG made Fish Tanks, Fire Places, and what have you. But more often than not it was about increasing item storage above and beyond the limits of the bank. The same has been seen in WoW with the Guild banks, where every Alt has a guild just to get a guild vault. But TOR doesn't have a mechanic for increased item storage, unless your ship has infinite item storage.
Story : WoW has stories, it doesn't have an over arching story with a twist ending like KoTOR. But it is famed for its humor, puns, easter eggs, and play on pop culture. But here's the thing MMO players Don't Care About Story. I have seen the forum trolls on countless game forums asking for more story out of these MMOs, but I always suspected them to be EA/BW employees and not real MMO players. I and my MMO playing community DON'T care about story. We look to quest text for maybe a joke or pun, but mostly for kill X number of mobs that will drop Y number of quest items to be turned into a quest giver named "Z". What are we looking for in our narrative? Clear language directing us to the quest destination and objectives.
Do you realize that RPGs renamed the "Thieves" class "Rogues" because parents thought "Thieves" were to anti-social or anti-establishment. Do I expect BW to give me a PG single player experience with maybe four or eight possible ending per class? At the end of that single story line, will BW come out with a NEW story dlc with multiple twist endings in a timely fashion? Some how I doubt it.
Pardon any spelling errors
Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven Boy: Why can't I talk to Him? Mom: We don't talk to Priests. As if it could exist, without being payed for. F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing. Even telemarketers wouldn't think that. It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
It wont change the industry ... its warcraft in space with light sabers. I see very little that is revolutionary or industry changing if anything.
Actually, it already has. Do you think its a mere coincidence that almost every major MMO coming out in the next year has a heavy storyline basis?
Most people have grown to hate leveling via textbox popups. Most are extremely pleased w/ the "revolutionary" change of making it a storyline sequence with cinematics, voiceovers, and storyline choices.
I can pretty much guarentee you that I will never accept anything less from my MMOs after SWTOR.
Hate to burst your buble, but storyline-oriented MMOs have been around since before SWTOR started developement. SWTOR does it in it's own stylized way, but that doesn't make them a pioneer. Furthermore, the game still has text popups, they're just different (again stylized in Bioware's own unique way).
As for MMOs releasing next year that are heavily story driven, I only know of one. That would be GW2 (whose release date is still speculative), and that game has also been in developement since before SWTOR and basically builds off the design of it's predecessor.
Bioware does tend to do a good job with story, but that doesn't make them an industry changer, it makes them good at what they do.
- I highly doubt that in 5-10 years, players will be looking back saying 'remember when SWTOR changed how we play MMOS?' we'll most likely just still be arguing over why the next batch of MMOs is better than every other game and how it will save the industry / dethrone blizzards next mmo.
@Draemos - The game is nothing revolutionary. It just has voiced quests and stuff... If you want to play a game without text boxes you should wait for GW2 since it's fully voiced and has 0 text box quests since it's all about DE.
@aesperus - What makes you think the next mmo blizzard makes will take over market and be the most subscribed game of it's time? You put all your hopes in blizzard and think no other company can make a better game ? :P
"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life." -------------------------------
At the end of that single story line, will BW come out with a NEW story dlc with multiple twist endings in a timely fashion? Some how I doubt it.
Maybe they filmed the release plus 2 full expansions all at the same time and didn't shoot any scene more than once? I wouldn't doubt that
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity. I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
The Sims is the biggest game franchise in history. All you do is customize, build, and craft. It is a casual game. I'd say casual players who want the ability to customize far outnumber everyone else. Sorry if that bursts everyones bubble.
And yet The SIms Online didn't work out? ever wondered why? it is because players who only want to customize do not outnumber everyone else.
@Draemos - The game is nothing revolutionary. It just has voiced quests and stuff... If you want to play a game without text boxes you should wait for GW2 since it's fully voiced and has 0 text box quests since it's all about DE.
@aesperus - What makes you think the next mmo blizzard makes will take over market and be the most subscribed game of it's time? You put all your hopes in blizzard and think no other company can make a better game ? :P
GW2 is NOT fully voiced. From a Arena.net employee:
"Eric Flannum: The game isn’t fullyvoiced. We’ve tried to use it in situations that seemed most advantageous to us. For example, if a cut-scene is playing that only you’re seeing at the time we fully voice that to provide more immersion. Every time a character says something out loud in the persistent world that multiple people can hear it’s always fullyvoiced; if there are two NPCs having a conversation or a character yelling instructions or asking for help, for example.
The place where we don’t voice things are the in-depth conversations between the player and dialogue-heavy NPCs. We tend not to voice those since we find that most people will read faster than the dialogue is spoken and will want to skip ahead."
I also doubt its NPCs are fully animated in facial expressions and the variety of motion capture body movements the way they are in SWTOR. So although GW2 has some voice over, and there is some story, I don't think that's going to be their focus. GW2's main draw is probably going to be PvP.
@aesperus - What makes you think the next mmo blizzard makes will take over market and be the most subscribed game of it's time? You put all your hopes in blizzard and think no other company can make a better game ? :P
Simple. Blizzard has a very loyal following, even still.
The reason why Blizzard's next MMO will still because a success, is because they not only know how to make popular games, but they still have a very loyal following. Even if no one on this site touched their next game it would still be a success.
And please, don't jump to conclusions and put words in my mouth.
I have never stayed I have hopes that blizzard can make a better game. If anything I'm pretty far from a Blizzard fanboy. I don't play WoW. I tried it for a couple months, and then got bored. I'm merely stating the trend. The way things are currently (and have been going for some time) the only thing that is likely to trump a blizzard product, is another blizzard product. No one company has shown that it has the resources, skill, or fanbase to take over WoW's grip on the market. If we had a few games that were really solid that might do it, but the track record hasn't exactly been stellar.
Best case scenario, SWTOR AND GW2 are huge hits and retain a lot of subs. Only one of these games is a subscription model, so GW2 won't necessarily be pulling players away from anything (they can play GW2 and another MMO for only the extra cost of the box). SWTOR would basically need to be new / refreshing / different enough to not only engage players, but KEEP them engaged for years to come. We have not had an MMO like that in a while, and given how similar the design model for SWTOR is compared to the usual MMOs, it's unlikely that SWTOR will succeed in doing that.
It'll be hard for a game to keep people engaged with such a storyline driven design on top of the standard MMO model, in the same way that many players who played mass effect 2 only played it a few times through before putting it away. It's looking to be a very fun / exciting game, but I'm not seeing much that leads me to believe that it will retain the bulk of it's fanbase for over a year.
@Draemos - The game is nothing revolutionary. It just has voiced quests and stuff... If you want to play a game without text boxes you should wait for GW2 since it's fully voiced and has 0 text box quests since it's all about DE.
@aesperus - What makes you think the next mmo blizzard makes will take over market and be the most subscribed game of it's time? You put all your hopes in blizzard and think no other company can make a better game ? :P
GW2 is NOT fully voiced. From a Arena.net employee:
"Eric Flannum: The game isn’t fullyvoiced. We’ve tried to use it in situations that seemed most advantageous to us. For example, if a cut-scene is playing that only you’re seeing at the time we fully voice that to provide more immersion. Every time a character says something out loud in the persistent world that multiple people can hear it’s always fullyvoiced; if there are two NPCs having a conversation or a character yelling instructions or asking for help, for example.
The place where we don’t voice things are the in-depth conversations between the player and dialogue-heavy NPCs. We tend not to voice those since we find that most people will read faster than the dialogue is spoken and will want to skip ahead."
I also doubt its NPCs are fully animated in facial expressions and the variety of motion capture body movements the way they are in SWTOR. So although GW2 has some voice over, and there is some story, I don't think that's going to be their focus. GW2's main draw is probably going to be PvP.
Ahhh so that's why we have ZERO info about PvP.. nice logic you got going there;)
This is the sole purpose of why there's so much PvE info out. GW1 was indeed a more PvP oriented game in the beginning and Anet wants to change that. So they said numerous times, that the PvE and PVP focus is going to be the same. GW1 is not GW2. When will you people learn..
The Sims is the biggest game franchise in history. All you do is customize, build, and craft. It is a casual game. I'd say casual players who want the ability to customize far outnumber everyone else. Sorry if that bursts everyones bubble.
And yet The SIms Online didn't work out? ever wondered why? it is because players who only want to customize do not outnumber everyone else.
That doesn't even make any sense. It is the biggest game franchise in history, meaning more people play it than play any single MMO and likely WoW, Rift, and Hello Kitty Online combined.
idk why the sims online didint work out, I never played it. Never even heard of it, but I have sure as hell heard of the sims. the sims is a large reason there is no and probably will never be a sim city 5 (unless you count the crap they call sim city now, which sim city, it is not).
likely maxis sucks at mmos.
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity. I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
The Sims is the biggest game franchise in history. All you do is customize, build, and craft. It is a casual game. I'd say casual players who want the ability to customize far outnumber everyone else. Sorry if that bursts everyones bubble.
yea, unless you count mario and pokemon eh?
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
I also doubt its NPCs are fully animated in facial expressions and the variety of motion capture body movements the way they are in SWTOR. So although GW2 has some voice over, and there is some story, I don't think that's going to be their focus. GW2's main draw is probably going to be PvP.
Not to get off-topic, but there's some misinformation there. A lot of GW2 is said to contain voice-overs, just not everything. They have also emphasized quite a number of times the importance of your personal story within the game, and very little about pvp. How you're taking that to the conclusion that the main draw is going to be PvP is a bit unclear. The game will have PvP, but their focus has always been on story as well as combat.
That being said, you're right that SWTOR's voice overs look qutie a bit more dynamic, with the body movements & such that I've seen so far. The cutscenes in SWTOR do look more engaging when it comes to the general voice overs; talking to the quest NPCs.
@Draemos - The game is nothing revolutionary. It just has voiced quests and stuff... If you want to play a game without text boxes you should wait for GW2 since it's fully voiced and has 0 text box quests since it's all about DE.
@aesperus - What makes you think the next mmo blizzard makes will take over market and be the most subscribed game of it's time? You put all your hopes in blizzard and think no other company can make a better game ? :P
GW2 is NOT fully voiced. From a Arena.net employee:
"Eric Flannum: The game isn’t fullyvoiced. We’ve tried to use it in situations that seemed most advantageous to us. For example, if a cut-scene is playing that only you’re seeing at the time we fully voice that to provide more immersion. Every time a character says something out loud in the persistent world that multiple people can hear it’s always fullyvoiced; if there are two NPCs having a conversation or a character yelling instructions or asking for help, for example.
The place where we don’t voice things are the in-depth conversations between the player and dialogue-heavy NPCs. We tend not to voice those since we find that most people will read faster than the dialogue is spoken and will want to skip ahead."
I also doubt its NPCs are fully animated in facial expressions and the variety of motion capture body movements the way they are in SWTOR. So although GW2 has some voice over, and there is some story, I don't think that's going to be their focus. GW2's main draw is probably going to be PvP.
Ahhh so that's why we have ZERO info about PvP.. nice logic you got going there;)
This is the sole purpose of why there's so much PvE info out. GW1 was indeed a more PvP oriented game in the beginning and Anet wants to change that. So they said numerous times, that the PvE and PVP focus is going to be the same. GW1 is not GW2. When will you people learn..
We have learned but doesn't change the fact that many try to spread wrong information regarding GW2 on forums and 'GW2 is fully voiced over" is just one example. As far as PVP is concerned i wouldn't say there is zero information avilable. Yes it is lacking in comparison to PVE but still players got a very good idea regarding how PVP is going to work. And only because ANET is delaying on PVP aspect doesn't mean that later on GW2's main draw won't be PVP.
The Sims is the biggest game franchise in history. All you do is customize, build, and craft. It is a casual game. I'd say casual players who want the ability to customize far outnumber everyone else. Sorry if that bursts everyones bubble.
And yet The SIms Online didn't work out? ever wondered why? it is because players who only want to customize do not outnumber everyone else.
That doesn't even make any sense. It is the biggest game franchise in history, meaning more people play it than play any single MMO and likely WoW, Rift, and Hello Kitty Online combined.
idk why the sims online didint work out, I never played it. Never even heard of it, but I have sure as hell heard of the sims. the sims is a large reason there is no and probably will never be a sim city 5 (unless you count the crap they call sim city now, which sim city, it is not).
likely maxis sucks at mmos.
It makes sense because not every successful single player game can be turned into a succesful MMO. If it was true The SIms Online would be a guaranteed hit. A MMO has lot to offer other than just customization so my point is that if it was true and people who just want to customize really outnumbered everyone else there would be already MMOS focusing on that aspect or at least The Sims Online wouldn't be such a disaster.
Exactly which titles that are coming out in the next year have full voice overs? Or more story than warcraft did upon release? WoW had plenty of story. Tons of it. Voice over is nice and all but has zero bearing on whether or not I will play it.
You've never stood there in front of Ragnaros wishing to Elune that he would just shut the hell up? How bout Saurfang? Yea .. those voice overs are great. There better be a fast forward button.
No, I haven't. It wasn't a problem in WoW, it certainly won't be a problem in SWTOR
I find reading text far preferrable as I can skim through story lines I don't much care about for pertinant infotmaion as opposed to having to listen to something I probably could already predict. Current MMOs have plenty of story. More is just not needed.
You are in the minority. Reading popup text boxes completely destroys immersion. Most players click through them and then follow the arrow while listening to music w/out ever reading a single thing, and hate the process the whole time. Reports for the SWTOR beta are that players are actually invested in the story, and are ENJOYING leveling.
Star Wars story is bound to be better than Wow 3.0 and Rift .. but do you really think a market that is saturated by people who can't even be bothered to type thanks instead of thx is really all that interested? They want to log in, do their welfare quests/dungoens/and behind a tier ... nerfed to hell raids and log out as fast as possible. And yet here is Bioware throwing millions of dollars into something most people are going to skip .. and there isn't even going to be real spacecraft combat ... in a Star Wars game ... laughable.
Yes, they are obviously interested. Bioware sells millions of games doing exactly what they are doing. No shortage of the players that buy Bioware games are WoW players. People want to have fun. They ignore WoW storylines because reading text popups isn't fun(especially after doing it for 7 years). It doesn't matter if you have a metric shitton of storyline if your production value for presenting that storyline is garbage. All current MMOs have absolute trash production value when it comes to presenting their storylines
At end-game you may have a point, but that's completely beside the reality that Bioware is revolutionizing the leveling process in MMOs. And then giving enough replayablility through different class storylines that it will give players a significant amount of content to burn through before being forced to bang their heads against the end-game wall.
There is space combat, and I expect it will be built upon in the years to come. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Hate to burst your buble, but storyline-oriented MMOs have been around since before SWTOR started developement. SWTOR does it in it's own stylized way, but that doesn't make them a pioneer. Furthermore, the game still has text popups, they're just different (again stylized in Bioware's own unique way).
You aren't bursting my bubble, you're just diddling yourself. You know exactly what Bioware is doing w/ SWTOR that hasn't been done w/ any other MMO, so I see no point in you trying to play this line. We'll see who's right 5 years from now.
@Draemos - The game is nothing revolutionary. It just has voiced quests and stuff... If you want to play a game without text boxes you should wait for GW2 since it's fully voiced and has 0 text box quests since it's all about DE.
This is incorrect. GW2 is not fully voiced, and while what Bioware is doing isn't revolutionary to the gaming industry, it is revolutionary to the MMO industry. The closest thing to what they are doing is what AoC did for their tutorial zone. Which, btw, is the highest rated tutorial zones in the MMO industry.
I fail to understand how people don't realize that making leveling an enjoyable process is a major step for MMOs.
I fail to understand how people don't realize that making leveling an enjoyable process is a major step for MMOs.
I think a big part of it is that WoW has made levelling an obstacle to get past before the "real game" begins. At least for a lot of players.
The irony is that WoW became so popular in the first place because it made levelling more fun than most MMOs when it came out. It seems like a long time ago now and I think the much of the MMO industry has lost its way since then.
Nothing like a blind Star Wars fan to spew rhetoric.
Reports from beta are that people are immersed? What reports? Seriously? BS. I polled a bunch of women and was amazed to find most of them reported having boobs. Lets hand pick a bunch of Bioware fanboys and ask them if they like the kind of game they have been playing for 10 years.
I'm the minority? Source please. Stop talking out of your back side about things you can't possibly have the foggiest idea about.
Revolutionizing the leveling process?
So I won't be killing 10 mobs named "insert anonymous boring name here" and returning to a "?" which oh by the way has a voice over!!! REVOLUTIONARY!!!! Because no game has had voice overs, ever ... EVER!!!!
I wont gain 10 levels in the first hour, level 20 a day or so later, level 30 3-4 days later? etc etc? I won't be grinding levels on quests which oh by they way have a voice over!!! REVOLUTIONARY!!!!
I've played Bioware games. Story is great and all, decisions are a neat little twist, but MMOs are about community, not solo questing through story lines. Revolutionary alright ... just another chink in the MMO world as now there is even less of a reason to talk to anyone else because the game talks to you!!! SUPER!!!
Consequences? What consequences? So by making bad choices I will have a crappy character at end game? You really think that is going to happen? You are dilusional if you think the choices are going to mean anything outside of altering the story a little. They'll lose most of their player base a month after release if thats the case.
You talk a lot of crap but you havent said anything about what makes all of this BS revolutionary. And if you didn't want Saurfang to shut up .. then you are in the minority (there .. there's some rhetoric for you so you don't have to focus on the rest of the post). I bet you liked the voice overs in Rift too ..
Endgame might suck you say, but the leveling process is revolutionary so we will all have to come here 5 years from now and kiss your feet? Really? Ok you wait here and in 5 years i'll stop by and hang out and you can let me know the exact moment when I can see whatever it is you are talking about ... because so far you haven't said anything that seems like SWTOR will even remotely revolutionize leveling.
Serisouly .. 3.5 minutes of irrelevant chatter .. if I wanted to watch a movie, i'd watch a movie. I just watched it and listened to it and in writing this all I retained is that he killed a captain. What other part of that whole conversation was relevant to anything?
All that said .. i'll have a blast playing a sith or jedi .. lightsabers .. the healing-ish classes look cool .. but I can't see this game holding my attention for more than 2-3 months.
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity. I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
like the above said once u hit 50 story is over time to move on to another mmo, there is no longivity in this game. Even they said they want u to reroll the other 7 classes b/c there is nothing else for u to do after ur story is over. 2 million sub is not a problem the problem is how many stick around after 50.
Game seems like a 30-90 day line of fun at best... I was really looking forward to it, but I don't see any kind of longevity in this game. I am not one to re-roll... I don't like alts... I like to max my character, then raid, as well as being social with my guild and/or friends... I like character progression to take a bit of time, have some pride in the character I built, and keep that one. I may be in the minority, but I cannot possibly be the only person who does not like rolling alts.
Seems to me guild wars did it first. You know the fully instanced game play.
I can't fathom how this game will change anything. Not to say I'm not a rabid TOR fanboy, it's just a bold face lie to say it's going to change everything, it may MAYBE alter the way stories are handled but even then I doubt it.
I think we've all forgotten......Who reads quest content anymore? Even KOTR's side quest dialog was something of a mmo.
It wont change the industry ... its warcraft in space with light sabers. I see very little that is revolutionary or industry changing if anything.
Actually, it already has. Do you think its a mere coincidence that almost every major MMO coming out in the next year has a heavy storyline basis?
Most people have grown to hate leveling via textbox popups. Most are extremely pleased w/ the "revolutionary" change of making it a storyline sequence with cinematics, voiceovers, and storyline choices.
I can pretty much guarentee you that I will never accept anything less from my MMOs after SWTOR.
You actually think TOR started the storyline craze? What are you smoking? Every game has had a storyline bent ever since the release of Lord of the Rings Online, and that game has been out since 2007. Its time to get in touch with modern MMO's. Just because TOR is new doesn't mean anything. Almost everything in TOR has been done before.
Comments
Actually, it already has. Do you think its a mere coincidence that almost every major MMO coming out in the next year has a heavy storyline basis?
Most people have grown to hate leveling via textbox popups. Most are extremely pleased w/ the "revolutionary" change of making it a storyline sequence with cinematics, voiceovers, and storyline choices.
I can pretty much guarentee you that I will never accept anything less from my MMOs after SWTOR.
Exactly which titles that are coming out in the next year have full voice overs? Or more story than warcraft did upon release? WoW had plenty of story. Tons of it. Voice over is nice and all but has zero bearing on whether or not I will play it.
You've never stood there in front of Ragnaros wishing to Elune that he would just shut the hell up? How bout Saurfang? Yea .. those voice overs are great. There better be a fast forward button.
I find reading text far preferrable as I can skim through story lines I don't much care about for pertinant infotmaion as opposed to having to listen to something I probably could already predict. Current MMOs have plenty of story. More is just not needed.
Star Wars story is bound to be better than Wow 3.0 and Rift .. but do you really think a market that is saturated by people who can't even be bothered to type thanks instead of thx is really all that interested? They want to log in, do their welfare quests/dungoens/and behind a tier ... nerfed to hell raids and log out as fast as possible. And yet here is Bioware throwing millions of dollars into something most people are going to skip .. and there isn't even going to be real spacecraft combat ... in a Star Wars game ... laughable.
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity.
I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
Hate to burst your buble, but storyline-oriented MMOs have been around since before SWTOR started developement. SWTOR does it in it's own stylized way, but that doesn't make them a pioneer. Furthermore, the game still has text popups, they're just different (again stylized in Bioware's own unique way).
As for MMOs releasing next year that are heavily story driven, I only know of one. That would be GW2 (whose release date is still speculative), and that game has also been in developement since before SWTOR and basically builds off the design of it's predecessor.
Bioware does tend to do a good job with story, but that doesn't make them an industry changer, it makes them good at what they do.
- I highly doubt that in 5-10 years, players will be looking back saying 'remember when SWTOR changed how we play MMOS?' we'll most likely just still be arguing over why the next batch of MMOs is better than every other game and how it will save the industry / dethrone blizzards next mmo.
The Secret World is also heavily story driven. Obviously not all mmo's with go this route, as there are plenty of different players tastes to which they want to cater, but there does seem to be a current trend toward this greater focus on Story. Sure, mmo's have had some story, but none to this degree.
Crafting : Is the same as seen in SWG if you equate Companions to Harvesters and Factories as I do.
Housing : Is all about storage. Sure some people in SWG made Fish Tanks, Fire Places, and what have you. But more often than not it was about increasing item storage above and beyond the limits of the bank. The same has been seen in WoW with the Guild banks, where every Alt has a guild just to get a guild vault. But TOR doesn't have a mechanic for increased item storage, unless your ship has infinite item storage.
Story : WoW has stories, it doesn't have an over arching story with a twist ending like KoTOR. But it is famed for its humor, puns, easter eggs, and play on pop culture. But here's the thing MMO players Don't Care About Story. I have seen the forum trolls on countless game forums asking for more story out of these MMOs, but I always suspected them to be EA/BW employees and not real MMO players. I and my MMO playing community DON'T care about story. We look to quest text for maybe a joke or pun, but mostly for kill X number of mobs that will drop Y number of quest items to be turned into a quest giver named "Z". What are we looking for in our narrative? Clear language directing us to the quest destination and objectives.
Do you realize that RPGs renamed the "Thieves" class "Rogues" because parents thought "Thieves" were to anti-social or anti-establishment. Do I expect BW to give me a PG single player experience with maybe four or eight possible ending per class? At the end of that single story line, will BW come out with a NEW story dlc with multiple twist endings in a timely fashion? Some how I doubt it.
Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
As if it could exist, without being payed for.
F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
@Draemos - The game is nothing revolutionary. It just has voiced quests and stuff... If you want to play a game without text boxes you should wait for GW2 since it's fully voiced and has 0 text box quests since it's all about DE.
@aesperus - What makes you think the next mmo blizzard makes will take over market and be the most subscribed game of it's time? You put all your hopes in blizzard and think no other company can make a better game ? :P
"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."
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Maybe they filmed the release plus 2 full expansions all at the same time and didn't shoot any scene more than once? I wouldn't doubt that
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity.
I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
And yet The SIms Online didn't work out? ever wondered why? it is because players who only want to customize do not outnumber everyone else.
GW2 is NOT fully voiced. From a Arena.net employee:
"Eric Flannum: The game isn’t fully voiced. We’ve tried to use it in situations that seemed most advantageous to us. For example, if a cut-scene is playing that only you’re seeing at the time we fully voice that to provide more immersion. Every time a character says something out loud in the persistent world that multiple people can hear it’s always fullyvoiced; if there are two NPCs having a conversation or a character yelling instructions or asking for help, for example.
The place where we don’t voice things are the in-depth conversations between the player and dialogue-heavy NPCs. We tend not to voice those since we find that most people will read faster than the dialogue is spoken and will want to skip ahead."
I also doubt its NPCs are fully animated in facial expressions and the variety of motion capture body movements the way they are in SWTOR. So although GW2 has some voice over, and there is some story, I don't think that's going to be their focus. GW2's main draw is probably going to be PvP.
Simple. Blizzard has a very loyal following, even still.
The reason why Blizzard's next MMO will still because a success, is because they not only know how to make popular games, but they still have a very loyal following. Even if no one on this site touched their next game it would still be a success.
And please, don't jump to conclusions and put words in my mouth.
I have never stayed I have hopes that blizzard can make a better game. If anything I'm pretty far from a Blizzard fanboy. I don't play WoW. I tried it for a couple months, and then got bored. I'm merely stating the trend. The way things are currently (and have been going for some time) the only thing that is likely to trump a blizzard product, is another blizzard product. No one company has shown that it has the resources, skill, or fanbase to take over WoW's grip on the market. If we had a few games that were really solid that might do it, but the track record hasn't exactly been stellar.
Best case scenario, SWTOR AND GW2 are huge hits and retain a lot of subs. Only one of these games is a subscription model, so GW2 won't necessarily be pulling players away from anything (they can play GW2 and another MMO for only the extra cost of the box). SWTOR would basically need to be new / refreshing / different enough to not only engage players, but KEEP them engaged for years to come. We have not had an MMO like that in a while, and given how similar the design model for SWTOR is compared to the usual MMOs, it's unlikely that SWTOR will succeed in doing that.
It'll be hard for a game to keep people engaged with such a storyline driven design on top of the standard MMO model, in the same way that many players who played mass effect 2 only played it a few times through before putting it away. It's looking to be a very fun / exciting game, but I'm not seeing much that leads me to believe that it will retain the bulk of it's fanbase for over a year.
Ahhh so that's why we have ZERO info about PvP.. nice logic you got going there;)
This is the sole purpose of why there's so much PvE info out. GW1 was indeed a more PvP oriented game in the beginning and Anet wants to change that. So they said numerous times, that the PvE and PVP focus is going to be the same. GW1 is not GW2. When will you people learn..
Eat me!
That doesn't even make any sense. It is the biggest game franchise in history, meaning more people play it than play any single MMO and likely WoW, Rift, and Hello Kitty Online combined.
idk why the sims online didint work out, I never played it. Never even heard of it, but I have sure as hell heard of the sims. the sims is a large reason there is no and probably will never be a sim city 5 (unless you count the crap they call sim city now, which sim city, it is not).
likely maxis sucks at mmos.
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity.
I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
yea, unless you count mario and pokemon eh?
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
Not to get off-topic, but there's some misinformation there. A lot of GW2 is said to contain voice-overs, just not everything. They have also emphasized quite a number of times the importance of your personal story within the game, and very little about pvp. How you're taking that to the conclusion that the main draw is going to be PvP is a bit unclear. The game will have PvP, but their focus has always been on story as well as combat.
That being said, you're right that SWTOR's voice overs look qutie a bit more dynamic, with the body movements & such that I've seen so far. The cutscenes in SWTOR do look more engaging when it comes to the general voice overs; talking to the quest NPCs.
We have learned but doesn't change the fact that many try to spread wrong information regarding GW2 on forums and 'GW2 is fully voiced over" is just one example. As far as PVP is concerned i wouldn't say there is zero information avilable. Yes it is lacking in comparison to PVE but still players got a very good idea regarding how PVP is going to work. And only because ANET is delaying on PVP aspect doesn't mean that later on GW2's main draw won't be PVP.
It makes sense because not every successful single player game can be turned into a succesful MMO. If it was true The SIms Online would be a guaranteed hit. A MMO has lot to offer other than just customization so my point is that if it was true and people who just want to customize really outnumbered everyone else there would be already MMOS focusing on that aspect or at least The Sims Online wouldn't be such a disaster.
You aren't bursting my bubble, you're just diddling yourself. You know exactly what Bioware is doing w/ SWTOR that hasn't been done w/ any other MMO, so I see no point in you trying to play this line. We'll see who's right 5 years from now.
This is incorrect. GW2 is not fully voiced, and while what Bioware is doing isn't revolutionary to the gaming industry, it is revolutionary to the MMO industry. The closest thing to what they are doing is what AoC did for their tutorial zone. Which, btw, is the highest rated tutorial zones in the MMO industry.
I fail to understand how people don't realize that making leveling an enjoyable process is a major step for MMOs.
I think a big part of it is that WoW has made levelling an obstacle to get past before the "real game" begins. At least for a lot of players.
The irony is that WoW became so popular in the first place because it made levelling more fun than most MMOs when it came out. It seems like a long time ago now and I think the much of the MMO industry has lost its way since then.
Nothing like a blind Star Wars fan to spew rhetoric.
Reports from beta are that people are immersed? What reports? Seriously? BS. I polled a bunch of women and was amazed to find most of them reported having boobs. Lets hand pick a bunch of Bioware fanboys and ask them if they like the kind of game they have been playing for 10 years.
I'm the minority? Source please. Stop talking out of your back side about things you can't possibly have the foggiest idea about.
Revolutionizing the leveling process?
So I won't be killing 10 mobs named "insert anonymous boring name here" and returning to a "?" which oh by the way has a voice over!!! REVOLUTIONARY!!!! Because no game has had voice overs, ever ... EVER!!!!
I wont gain 10 levels in the first hour, level 20 a day or so later, level 30 3-4 days later? etc etc? I won't be grinding levels on quests which oh by they way have a voice over!!! REVOLUTIONARY!!!!
I've played Bioware games. Story is great and all, decisions are a neat little twist, but MMOs are about community, not solo questing through story lines. Revolutionary alright ... just another chink in the MMO world as now there is even less of a reason to talk to anyone else because the game talks to you!!! SUPER!!!
Consequences? What consequences? So by making bad choices I will have a crappy character at end game? You really think that is going to happen? You are dilusional if you think the choices are going to mean anything outside of altering the story a little. They'll lose most of their player base a month after release if thats the case.
You talk a lot of crap but you havent said anything about what makes all of this BS revolutionary. And if you didn't want Saurfang to shut up .. then you are in the minority (there .. there's some rhetoric for you so you don't have to focus on the rest of the post). I bet you liked the voice overs in Rift too ..
Endgame might suck you say, but the leveling process is revolutionary so we will all have to come here 5 years from now and kiss your feet? Really? Ok you wait here and in 5 years i'll stop by and hang out and you can let me know the exact moment when I can see whatever it is you are talking about ... because so far you haven't said anything that seems like SWTOR will even remotely revolutionize leveling.
Here's an example : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0nqdbiy3bE
Serisouly .. 3.5 minutes of irrelevant chatter .. if I wanted to watch a movie, i'd watch a movie. I just watched it and listened to it and in writing this all I retained is that he killed a captain. What other part of that whole conversation was relevant to anything?
All that said .. i'll have a blast playing a sith or jedi .. lightsabers .. the healing-ish classes look cool .. but I can't see this game holding my attention for more than 2-3 months.
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity.
I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
Game seems like a 30-90 day line of fun at best... I was really looking forward to it, but I don't see any kind of longevity in this game. I am not one to re-roll... I don't like alts... I like to max my character, then raid, as well as being social with my guild and/or friends... I like character progression to take a bit of time, have some pride in the character I built, and keep that one. I may be in the minority, but I cannot possibly be the only person who does not like rolling alts.
Seems to me guild wars did it first. You know the fully instanced game play.
I can't fathom how this game will change anything. Not to say I'm not a rabid TOR fanboy, it's just a bold face lie to say it's going to change everything, it may MAYBE alter the way stories are handled but even then I doubt it.
I think we've all forgotten......Who reads quest content anymore? Even KOTR's side quest dialog was something of a mmo.
You actually think TOR started the storyline craze? What are you smoking? Every game has had a storyline bent ever since the release of Lord of the Rings Online, and that game has been out since 2007. Its time to get in touch with modern MMO's. Just because TOR is new doesn't mean anything. Almost everything in TOR has been done before.