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Where's the life and soul of this game?
MindTrigger
Member Posts: 2,596
The *static* art in this game, once you adjust to the style, is very nice looking. However, it is lifeless. Where is the immersion? In fact, I would use the world sterile to describe the areas I have experienced. There is nothing about it that suggests you are in a living breathing world. They have taken the term 'theme park' and expressed it to the maximum in this way. I get next to nothing for immersion in this game, and it's because the details that bring in atmosphere are all missing. No weather, no day/night cycle, very few living creatures, and nothing small and cosmetic running or flying around like you see in other games. Even the 'war' against the separatists is only seen in little pockets of "action" which barely deserve a glance.
I also think, that for the money spent on this game, the player animations are stiff and boring. My smuggler runs around like he has a pole driven up his backside. At least WoW characters look and feel substantial as they move around, and I'm no fan of WoW, let me tell you. For all the beauty in LOTRO, I hated those stiff and lifeless animations as well, and these feel exactly like that.
One thing I cannot stand is what I call "NPC Kiosks". They are those ridiculous little areas where NPCs seemed to have put up little store fronts where they can sell their story to you. Make no mistake. This is how a themepark must be made, because no matter what anyone says, or what little trinkets they put out, these games are not designed to be explored. They are designed to be scripted and funnel players in one direction or the other. Rift is the same way. They reward exploration by putting collectable crap out there, rather than making the world so interesting that you WANT to explore it.
Before the fanboys get all red and inflamed, I did buy the standard edition already, and I am hoping Bioware will add more details to the game shortly after launch. I'm also counting on an RP-PvP server having a more interesting player dynamic. One has to wonder where all the money is in this game. VO? I don't think so. The VO isn't that great, and if that is where most of the money went, they made a huge mistake.
This weekend was my second time playing, and while I did enjoy Smuggler much more than Jedi Knight, I very much noticed how dry the experience is this time around. As I said before, I'm sure this game will be a hit for a lot of people, but I think a large section of us are going to be nagged by how shallow the whole experience feels. I'm not advocating sandbox here either, because I honestly think games like LOTRO and WoW feel much more alive than this one does.
Edit: I do enjoy a lot of the VO content, though some of the side quests get on my nerves. I just don't think it was wise to put as much time and money into these if it meant the rest of the game would be dry.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Comments
I you feel this way about this game... I fear what you feel about the other 400 mmo's. If being part of a movie doesn't immerse you... just play IRL.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
cantinas definitely need some work, they are so dull and lifeless.
Actually I think he called the experience shallow. Someone with plenty of depth and intellect can enjoy a shallow experience now and then after all
I must be missing some kind of inside joke here. I didn't insult anyone, and I gave solid reasons for my statements.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Could not disagree with you more. I am absolutely loving this game so far.
I agree... it does feel pretty bland and lacks the excitement one would expect from a game of this caliber, and which is set in this universe.
I'm disappointed, and though I'm still planning to play it upon release - I'm not really too excited about it now.
It's so..... static.
Someone else posted a post like yours and got it deleted after people whined to the mods. Negative posts of SW:TOR seems not tolerated on this site...
My gaming blog
A lot of US are enjoying the game and lots of US are going to be disappointed. neither side is wrong and right. I wish people find a middle ground and cut the flaming.
I totally agree and that's one of my biggest problems with the game - it just feels so lifeless and dead. Even all the cities and social hubs are graveyards / libraries. Most npc's are just plastered in place doing nothing, you can't click on any of them for a quick random sentence or two of chat, they don't talk to each other (I've heard 1 npc ambient conversation in 2 weekends of beta). It just feels sooooooo dead.
Spot on mate!
Lifeless, dumbed down and hard to maintain interested.. Sadly I have preordered, but im happy I just went for the standard edition as well.
Totally agree with the OP. Eventho I enjoy the game so far gameplay/story wise. Everything else is sorely lacking.
The whole Voice Over story missions will entertain you for a while, but sooner than later you will pinch through the sugar coat and notice how shallow this game actually is!
For all that money spend on this game..... I expected at least a vibrant game full of life!
If games like EQ2, WoW and LOTRO could already do it years ago, then why do we now got a game with the largest development budget EVER delivering us a shallow / soulless game.
This can be an amazing game if Bioware puts top priority on this as soon as possible.
- Make NPC's, mobs and critters move around more.
- Add more critters, so forests / outdoor worlds come more alive.
- Add Day / Night cycle (absolutely NO excuse whatsoever that this is absent!!).
- Add weather effects! (AGAIN, absolutely NO excuse whatsoever this is absent!!).
- Cantinas are way too bright and sterile! Like so many places! I am so incredibly baffled by this, as they did it so great with Mass Effect 2 ! ( remember that cantina on that particular planet? )
On Corrusant for example, I expect a more clean / sterile look on the top surface of the city. But NOT down below in the lower parts of the city! /sigh
Everything feels just too clean and sterile.
Seriously, if they can adress the above this will be a totally amazing game! No doubt!
Like others already said. Me too I'm glad I just preordered the standard edition. Me and my gf will enjoy the first month, but if the above isn't adressed, I don't see myself subbing beyond the first month.
Agree, this was among my biggest complaints. The world was completely lifeless. Like some sort of nuclear meltdown happened on all the plants, and everything is a ghost town. That's the sensation I got. Npc moved and had smooth animations, but everything seemed so lifeless. And movement animations really bugged me as well, very stiff.
Dude I so agree with you:
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/forums/post/4570377/thread/332973#4570377
We are only the same line with the world details.
Guild Wars 2's 50 minutes game play video:
http://n4g.com/news/592585/guild-wars-2-50-minutes-of-pure-gameplay
Everything We Know about GW2:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/287180/page/1
That's what I'm saying. I look at a game like LOTRO and how alive it felt, then compare it to swtor, and there is just no comparison. I'm, not shilling for LOTRO either. I stopped playing that game a long time ago. However LOTRO feels alive. Even WoW feels more organic, living and breathing. I just can't imagine why they needed to have it be this plastic and sterile. I don't care what anyone says. As interesting as the VO content is a lot of the time, it does NOT make up for shortcomings in the world design and atmosphere. I can forgive the simplified gameplay, but there is no excuse for destroying immersion in a game with this insane budget in 2011/2012. I have a feeling this is a one-trick pony, and it was all put into VO features. Time will tell after launch.
I can even forgive the tiny starting worlds. However, the atmosphere and immersion could have been off the charts on these tiny little areas.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
I have to agree with this unfortunately. Also the fact that enemy mobs don't move at all doesn't help either. Even minimal movement like most other similar MMOs would go a long way.
Ok Mindtrigger, I apologize, I haven't been playing this weekend!
*tumbleweeds*
....what, you mean I'm not the life and soul of the *furiously checks thread title*
...ohhhh, the GAME not the Party.
Sorry, my bad.
(some people are being all too defensive in here, just thought I'd lighten things up a bit)
I really think this is nitpicking, to be honest. You're complaining about flair, not core mechanics - which, truthfully, is all Bioware is concerned with at the current point in time. They have thousands of preorders, and their numero uno priority is to assure both the stability of the game's core features and the servers.
The game STILL isn't out yet, and with this - presumed - last beta weekend around, people have been more opinionated than ever, like the game and its servers / technology / and staff are all frozen in time and space and are incapable of manufacturing anything substantial after release. Bioware has PLENTY of time to add all the vain little tidbits after they make sure their whole world doesn't collapse on the 25th ( 15th for those preorders ). Not to mention, they've handled listening to their audience real well whilst in beta, so I have no worries that the entire 'ride' will be made much smoother and prettier in months to come.
Just sit tight, and don't fret the small stuff.
Some of the planets have more "life" than others.
Nar Shaddaa for example, since it is a city planet, has regular citizens walking about (they can be killed....watch your fire if your a "good guy"). There are non-aggro wildlife mobs on quite a few of the planets.
And Bioware has been adding a lot of tweaks and depth to cantinas and what-not lately. I think they are polishing up and adding these kinds of finishing touches at the end. IE, I can finally sit in a damn chair, and in cantinas I can buy jukebox tokens and use the jukebox.
I think this is one area of the game that will see contant improvement, since it's not exactly hard to add this kind of stuff as they go.
We're on the same page, I think. And not literally, though that is also true.
I'm betting most people who are leveling these critisms havn't even left the starter areas before coming on here to post . You see thats where the problem lies many are too quick to judge and totally forget what it was like when you first started another game . Take WoW if you were a nelf you would play through that island ( which name escapes me ) . it was linear and everything thats been said here was true of there . The mobs were for the most part static etc etc .
Theres nothing wrong with this game is solid smooth and enjoyable but the problem is with the average mmo fan they expect perfection and forget no game they've played in the past has been perfect . Or worse still they want to hate anything thats not by Blizzard or is Warcraft . Its pretty narrow minded and pathetic really .
Tell you what the best thing you can do is leave MMOs altogether . You'll never be happy for a long time to come because what evers produced no matter how good it is will appeal to you because your expecting something our current technology cant handle as of yet .
StarWars is the most solid playable mmo in since the release of Warcraft and yet your trying to kill it like you do with every single mmo thats released patially out of fear as to what will happen to the game you currently play . In most cases that is Warcraft . Well the facts are if thier had been some healthy competition now then you wouldn't be having a expansion based around Pandas because Blizzard would have remained hungry in the face of it .
Many MMO players are the most dogmatic ,backward thinking people on the planet . You play a game for an hour then you come in here and post . You don't even say even though my experiance of the game is limited this is what I think etc .
Facts are you wont save WoW if you troll TOR . WoWs going to slide what ever you do . What you may find though is if you contribute to this negativity when you finally decide to leave Warcraft yourself there may be no decent games to go to because no one will invest in them anymore .
Cutting off your nose to spite your face is a phrase that comes to mind .
I play wow and dont want tor to fail. The truth is the majority of negatives come from teh gw 2 fanbase and rift playerbase.
Most wow players dont look beyond wow. Although there were tons of ex wow players in tor beta last nite.
Im just saying if u play wow what do u have to fear u have a game with 10 mill sub base thats the most profitable mmo in the buisness today your game isnt going anywhere if tor is a sucess.
Actually, that is making an excuse for a poorly designed game. The fun should start the moment you begin playing. People in countless MMO's releases always use the same lame excuse...just wait, the game opens up at X level and that is where the fun begins! How many times did people say this for Aion, Warhammer, LoTR, Rift...and now people are using if for SW:ToR. As soon as I see people saying this I know this game is not going to do very well.
Besides that the OP is right and so are many others that have said the same thing, me included, this is the most mind numbing, boring game I have had the opportunity to play. The worlds are sterile, stagnate and lifeless. The MOB's might aas well be cardboard cut out targets for a shooting range. Just stay on the path, follow it from one group of targets to the next as you run down your path to your quest goal. Only to run back along he same path, turn it in, then turn around and do it all over again...typical WoW game play.
As for starting areas. In WoW...a BF does not have to stay in their starter zone, you can leave it the moment your character spawns - get to Ogrimmar and level there. Or go to Troll area and begin there. There is no fixed starter zone in WoW. So in that way WoW is far superior to SW:ToR because even WoW is not so linear.
Yeah too bad that was 8 years ago.
An honest review of SW:TOR 6/10 (Danny Wojcicki)