Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
So what´s all this hype with the questing system?
Latella
Member Posts: 189
Ok before we start:
I am not saying SWTOR´s questing system is bad or that SWTOR sucks,
I just want to know why all this unbridled hype about its questing system as if it was the second coming of Jesus.
The quest system itself is nothing new or groundbreaking, i know many of you don´t play F2P games but there is many free to play games with "Active" quests that update and slightly change depending on your actions and what do you explore or find in your travels ( And some of them, especially action mmo´s DO have cutscenes).
About SWTOR´s quests being fun because it is story/lore based, heck, even WoW is all about stories and lore as you level up, the fact you dislike WoW/it´s lore and just skip all the quest text/events because you dislike the stories themselves or the format they are presented (Mostly quest text and ingame cutscenes) and just go for the objectives does not mean the lore or the storylines are not there, and i for one have enjoyed them a lot.
In short :
I am not saying SWTOR´s questing system is bad, and i will probably enjoy it, and i will probably get all into the storyline (I am a lore nerd in pretty much all the good games i play) but i am just saying perhaps it´s not all that "new and revolutionary" as many of you seem to preach. Yeah, it´s a good, solid and working system, and in the end it is what matters, but again, it´s not the second coming of Jesus of mmorpgs.
Rawr.
Comments
TOR's story is an integral part of everything you do. It is "new and revolutionary" because no game has ever done it to the extent that Bioware is. It's not just that the VO and cutscenes are there, it's that the game was built from the ground up with the story being heavily integrated into the game.
Shadow's Hand Guild
Open recruitment for
The Secret World - Dragons
Planetside 2 - Terran Republic
Tera - Dragonfall Server
http://www.shadowshand.com
The depth of story and lore are good for both IP's.
The way the story is DELIVERED is unique and new.
If the fact that an MMORPG spent this much money and time devoted to a fully VO quest system and story line isn't impressive to you, then I don't know what will. Most MMOs are all about leveling, about achieving max level. The quests are grind. Sure, story might be there, but it is an afterthought to give a background to the game. SWTOR moves the focus to the story. The idea is not to get to level 50 as much as having a blast getting there.
Thanks everyone.
Your answers sure made more sense to me than the usual fanboi screams that i am used to read about the subject and helped me to better understand the concept behind the system.
I guess now all i can do is wait till the beta and try it for myself!
Have fun.
Rawr.
Agreed this game will probably have a ton of Missions (Quests). But, for the most part people are going to be willing to complete these missions cause they ultimately want to see what is going to happen. They want to see their little play.... well play out. See the result. More and more people are inclined to see what happens next and that is their selling point.
Rather in games like WoW where you just go from town to town gather up all the quests do the ones with decent rewards or don't do em at all and just delete the rest fi you out level them.
I'd see your point, but just for the record...even Jesus preordered.
Shoot he ordered three copies.
His brothers Juan, Hector, Ricardo, and Jorge did too.
I'm not sure what hype you are talking about. It's certainly not the second coming of anything, but it is a refreshing change of pace. In part it is because it is in the Star Wars universe, and you can easily feel a part of it. Part of it is that you can choose your responses and play your character with a certain personality, rather than just accepting quests. Partly because how you play the character through the dialogue affects later options. Partly because the class story line follows you throughout the game. You can play an evil Jedi, a nice Sith, a greedy bounty Hunter, a flirty Smuggler, or various other combinations.
If those kinds of things don't matter to you, then no, it's not all that big of a deal.
SW:ToR questing is a different experience for the player, even if a lot of the same basic things are happening. You are killing X number of things, and you are traveling and delivering things. I think it's different because the actions you are performing are secondary to why you are performing them. For me, this has never happened before. Other games have tried to make this happen, but SW:ToR is the first game that actually achieved it.
I was doing the quests (especially the main storyline quests) because I wanted to see how they would end or continue to the next stage.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
ToR "Read" the quest text for you. Otherwise nothing much. If you're bored with kill 10 rat quest, you'll still be bored by kill 10 rat quest. Difference is you have to listen to 5 minute of "quest"
The quest system is nothing new, the quests are the same Meridian 59 had in 1996. Kill 10 rats and Fedex quests like usual.
What is different is the dialogue system that makes the story a lot more interesting, but that ain't the same as quests. It have not been done in MMOs before even if AoC had something that gives the illusion of being similar but there it doesn't really matter what you answer.
Except there are no "Kill 10 rat" quests given to you by npcs, and you aren't forced to listen to any of the dialogue if you prefer. And there are actually some rather unique quests in this game, even the non-class quests. There are still plenty of generic quests, and I've no doubt that people will begin to space bar through some of the more generic quest dialogue, but don't spread misinformation that you pulled out of the Tor Hater's Handbook, please. Most of that crap has already been debunked by those who have played the game.
This.
And the crux is further weakened by the fact that bioware decided to remain with the model of numbers. To level up, the player still has to go through a series of checks and fill a certain counter.
So while it works well in RPGs, the "kill 10 space rats" quests in SWTOR (and there are PLENTY of them) are dreadfully boring. If you really get your enjoyment from listening to an NPC regale you with some nonsensical story that culminates in "Gather ____________" or "Kill ____________" and think this is what makes a stellar STORY, then I pity you. Because you obviously haven't read a good book. Ever.
The class specific quests were very well done, but personally, I hate being shoe-horned into storylines so it isn't really my thing.
Small point of contention... it really doesn't matter what you choose in the context of the larger game world. You know, the part that is important in an MMO
"Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
I need to take this advice more.
Mostly I think it's so amazing is because there is actual role-playing in an MMORPG. You make choices in the quests that affect your character and how the game percieves your character. Read the Sith Marauder preview. I'm gonna have a blast in this game, simply for that fact. Sure, mechanically, it might be much like any other MMORPG, but that's simply how these games are. Everyone wants "new" and "revolutionary" game play, but the fact of the matter is the core aspect of all of these games go back to pen and paper RPGs. To me, if a game can give me my "ooo, shiny" fix wrapped up in a story and character I actually give a damn about, it's a success.
If that is all it was, it wouldn't be a big deal. AoC does that as well as some other games. But it is actually acted out in cut scenes with voice acters adding the emotion to the scene. There is even an Indiana Jones type of cut scene where you grab something that sets off a trap and you actually dive and roll out of the way having to now fight off the new mobs as they jump out at you.
Or feeling the emotion from a son after you put a lightsaber through his mothers heart after she surendered to you. Seeing the emotion on a NPCs face when you tell them you have killed one of their children and have the other one hostage. And if he doesn't do what you say, the other child dies.
To me that is much better than reading the text or having a stationary NPC just read the text. There is a big difference you will experience if you play. Obviously the class stories will be better than open world stories. But the voice "acting" with cut scenes filled with emotion make all the difference to me at least.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?
R.A.Salvatore
Nuff said ^^
Don't worry, as with WoW, many people will still play it. Chill and have fun ^^
There is a big difference between a piece of text read by the user and one read by another aloud. There is an increased sense of immersion and you get all the contextual emotions embedded as part of the experience. The voice actors have all the feeling and attitude with the story and that's just something you CANNOT do with text only quests.
You can get a real sense of what I mean by downloading and listening to an audio book. It REALLY IS a different experience.
Yup you get good immersion from the VO, which makes seeing all the other character with the same companion/class/looks as you even more painfully jarring and immersive breaking.
Oh believe me, I'm not worried, and I'm not trying to come off as an ass or anything. Just wanted to correct some misconceptions. I also fully admit that there exists some of the dull standard stuff we've come to see in themepark MMOs. The game isn't perfect, but it is fun.
As for how people receive it, my take is this: The only person Bioware needs to impress is me. Since I'm the one paying the subscription, I'm only concerned about my opinion of the game, and from what I played in beta, I personally fell in love with it. So I'll be playing it, and I'll be happy about playing it. And one day, as with all MMOs, I'll get bored with it and say, "Okay, gg Bioware, but I've had enough. Time to find a new game." My guess, based on what I personally have experienced, is that that day will happen further into the future than it does with most other MMOs. But mileage may vary depending on what type of game you like.
There will always be immersion breaking mechanics that exist in any game. In MMO's it's even more apparent to people who pay attention. However, every step that a developer takes to highlight the possitive immersion takes attention from the negative immersions that exist in the game - this is evident when you appear as you are part of the evolving story during the VO's and you aren't paying or seeing someone doing the exact same thing at the same time. Another great mechanic they used, which many overlook, is many of the personal instances you seamlessly enter for alot of the quest lines.
One of the most common immersion breakers is kiling a quest NPC and 5 seconds later they appear in front of you again - but that is in every MMO.
If you want something as close to as a pure immersion environment, you'll have to look at single player games because you sure as frakk aren't gonna find it in the MMO industry any time soon (even games with heavy phasing).
Someone talking about the quest system isn't hyping. If you choose to call it hype that's your issue.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I would say that single player games don't have much "immersion" as people nit pick about it on these forums, though we are generally willing to look past "immersion" breaking things in games we like, and point them out in games we don't. For example, in Skyrim I find it funny that I can barely walk if i start carrying too much stuff, but I can still swim all day!
Single player games offer better avenues for immersion. Skyrim has great immersion, apart from some bugs and simple flaws as you mentioned. To your last statement, whether or not something is amusing doesn't have anything to do with it's immersion value but you are right, we do accept a certain level of immersion breaking situations.
When someone starts "nit-picking" about immersion it's usually because they are tired of the current game they play or just fed up with MMO's or games all together because there isn't a single game or technology available to us that would give us pure immersion.
I would tend to agree with the statement on mmos. I just don't really find myself all that "immersed" in single player games either, but, similar to most movies, I tend to turn my brain off at the start up menu and enjoy the game for the escapism that it is. For example I really enjoye the Assassins Creed games but the fact that I can infinitely run and jump across rooftops isn't immersive at all (though similar to Skyrim the environment itself is very immersive, to me).
I think that we (as an many gamers, I'm not going to claim to talk for all, or even most) tend to confuse "immersion" with our ability to simply turn off our brains as to how the real world works.