Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Bye Bye SWG hello TOR!
Deewe
Member UncommonPosts: 1,980
For the best or the worst, depending your experience, SWG will be shut down in a few days.
As one of the "elders", and I guess many others, I look at the past and have a mixed feeling of both very nice and awful memories of the game. Still if I was asked to summarize SWG in one sentence it would be:
"The first pillar of SW was not crafting, not even socialization and even less combat (player bounties) it was choice."
"There was something to do for all kind of players from PvPers to Socialisers through Crafters. You could create the character you wanted to play. Although the game wasn't really kind for PvErs due to the lack of content."
That being said time is approaching to say goodbye to this era. A game that nobody can deny will stay as a huge milestone in the MMO genre. And as we're on a TOR forum say hello to the newcomer that will finally hit the shelves 6 longs year after being started.
(in no specific order) Bye bye...
[Animals pets / classes][Non Combat classes]
These are not the Rancors/Bagerasets/Kimas... you are looking for.
To be totally honest I can understand some players like sending 2 rancors to kite mobs but it did not the trick for me. Rancors where supposed to be you know... unfriendly, epic. However creatures like narglaches, it did felt SW and it was fun babysitting them.[33 classes]
Since SWG quite no MMO allowed a player to totally enjoy a MMO without ever fighting killing something. What was good is it brought quite a new type of players in the genre.
And you could mix them like you want, be it a smuggler/architect or a teras kasi/cook. And reroll at anytime for "free" to level new skills.
[Complex crafting system][Hunting surveying for mats]
SWG system was good in Wow standards: easy to learn difficult to master. However some tend to forget it has many flaws: click fest to grind, resources/components management was painful, and it created tells hells... ask your favourite crafter if you don't know what I mean
And yup it was a pain for the DBA and the performance of the game as each crafted item was a unique entry in the DB!!![Player Bounties]
It was quite a quest (2nd job?) to find the neat stuff, but it wasn't a random drop either. When you finally found the spot and(or) creature you would do it for some time always gathering stuff. Also how pleasant it was to get tells from hunter/miners/farmers proposing you rare stuff because they saw your name on nicely crafted item and they knew you might be interested in their resources.[3D free roaming space combat]
Very controversial subject isn't it? Been on both sides of the gun and the system too often ended in a gank fest, fun yes but for one side only. Simply put its implementation was broken.[Choice of 33 space ships]
As a space sim fan I nearly wet my pants when I heard about JTL. Sadly it ended way lower than the X-Wing series: form the flight dynamic down to the UI.[Housing and player cities]
From single seat ones to multiplayer ones with turrets and parts you can repair. And you could own many at the same time.["Alienish" looking playable species]
Ok housing furnishing was awesome, well it was missing roll item left/rightBut seriously as a former in game mayor / city planner: what a mess!!! Most cities looked really bad or at best as small far west villages: no way to level the ground, no street textures, no fences. Almost forgot, was always nice to find houses in very nicely places designed by the artists, with house names like "In your face $oE" /not.
[Character customization]
Already missing my Ithorian crafter and Wookiees hugs superbly played by people with emotes and so![20 players groups and no levels]
Making a character was something, so much that we even could totally redesign your character body and features in game. Still remembering a +2h long Image Designer session helping a walking carpet becoming a deadly looking Wookiee hunter... through the chat box and my poor English!!! Top that with appearance tabs mind you.[Time sinks == socialization fertilizers]
It was time when anyone could play with anyone and have fun together. Group size where huge and no there was no "RAIDs" back then. Players didn't group to grind up to a carrot at the end of an instance. They grouped to wander around or PvP in the open world.[Bugs, bugs and... bugs]
Shuttle hops 10min wait times, meds centers and cantina's before players cities. Since SWG I never ever experienced so much communication between players. And none not based on combat. Tending wounds after a big PvP events: rebels and imperials in the same place. It was something. For sure the time sinks where a bit too long but it was a good start.[Time sinks]
Be glad Blizzard made Wow, because before that a MMO broken or unfinished like SWG was the norm. You could not unlock the Jedi slot at launch, contrary to what SoE said[Nothing to do and too complex]
You needed time, lot of time to do anything in that game. It was hardcore.[Caveman Galaxies™]
There was quite no content in SWG. It was a living world but made by the player themselves and the learning curve was quite overwhelming at first.[From best to bad UI]
Seeing Jantas owning laser pistol and rifles armed players with stone knives does not looks like very SW.[Broken combat]
Pre-CU UI was top notch, However the NGE one is really bad.[Clueless management]
At first you needed buffs to be able to wear armours or there were no hard caps on stats like defence. Then it became a pseudo FPS without collision detection, nor ammunitions, nor 3D movement, nor aiming nor missing.
And worst communication ever. Don't forget LA was involved and the NGE was requested by them. It's been a massacre. I still feel for Tiggs.
--- ---
(in no specific order) Hello...
[A SW experience]
TOR is designed like a playable movie. Some says it's too much on rails but you'll feel like evolving in a stylized SW world at every moment.
[Fast paced combat]
Sadly or not in an MMO you can't slice a player in two in one swing or drop him/her square with one shot in the chest. However from the sounds, the dynamic music, the (being worked upon animations) it will feel closer to the movies than SWG for sure.
[PvP Scenarios]
Might look bit small for now but it looks epic skirmishes.
[Companions]
(Can't stand talking companions, it ruins the immersion). However isn't it cool to have a choice of 5 companions at launch to join your game play sessions?
[Breathtaking environments]
You saw the vids and the pics. This ain't small stuff. You will be dwarfed by the proportions of the surroundings more than often.
[Epic Sound & music]
You'll feel like playing SW for sure. Every single tidbit's of sound will be there: lighsaber clashes, droids "voices"... Sarlaac burp?
[Resources gathering]
Not anymore a real 2nd job. You can send your companions do it for ya.
[Bye bye time sinks]
You'll grind doing fun things, from the tunnel shooter to raiding and PvPing.
[Polished game]
Not perfect but way far ahead from the othe game for sure!
=> And finally a very solid ground to build upon for years.
Comments
I played the game from release till the launch of the NGE. I enjoyed my time there, but I wish SOE had listened to it's customers.
If SWG had half of the features it listed on the box at launch well I probably would still be playing it right now but since it didn't I lasted like 3 months then got bored with the lack of content and left.
I wonder if another game like it will ever be made.
Set in the only true Star Wars timeline / era. It was a real visionary game.
The new one, isn't.
Sadly though, we are going from "choice" to "no choice" and rails.. I just wish there was a happy medium... at least make some of the higher level planets sandbox like and leave the starter planets on rails.... The space combat is so cheesy i think they just added it to come back to later as they couldnt chase 2 rabbits at once and would probably want to really focus on this subject after the main game was launched... i hope....
I played from launch to the NGE and I can honestly say that no game has ever left such a memorable experience for me and my friends. We still talk about the good old days of Pre-CU SWG and the fun we had. Holorcron had the best vision for SWG. Never again will sandboxers have such a well designed concept for all playstyles. The classes offered anything one could want before Jedi everywhere ruined it all. Harvesters.. Surveying.. Experimenting crafting.. real player driven economy (minus the dupe bugs and whatnot)... Non-instanced Player cities!!!
Many will miss SWG regardless of what the haters can say. I hope that one day I will get the chance to experience another well thought out SWG style MMORPG with my son, but we are in the ADD generation now. They should just put Ritalin in the water.
Holocron make SWG2 please.
P.S. TOR plays like the Star Trek mmo... I would have bought it had it not been a mmo because I'm a huge long time Bioware fan in the Black Isle days of Icewind Dales, Balder's Gates, Neverwinters, Hello!! Planescape Torment!! Those guys are the best. - BUT I just don't want another theme park where it is so path limited and instanced.
How about not just no...but fuck no!!!!!
TOR was targeted at those of us that felt SWG was a POS. It really makes a lot of sense to give us what we want to begin, then throw Owen on us. What would this game be if it didnt cater to those sandbox fans? I would say "more likely to succeed."
Excuse me a second...I think I just threw up in my mouth at the thought of another SW sandbox.
If you insist on pining over SWG, then the forum is that way----->
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Seems to me your are confouding quality and game mechanics.
TOR targets nobody. LA has just more money as they could ever spent and SW is GL's hobby. Else there wont be a tripple digit funding. Its almost impossible the game will ever cash in its funding. Its a hobby
There wont be a SW sandbox ever since the IP belongs to LA for the time being. There wont be a 21th century AAA sandbox for the next 5 years if at all. Simply because there is nobody left who knows what a AAA sandbox is. One reason for this is, that there never was a AAA sandbox. Maybe a B or a single A but never a tripple A. A tripple A would be 100% sandbox freestyle while offering fun to any kind of gameplay. From experimental crafting to raid and that while maintaining coherence and offering a believable worls/universe.
Maybe, when i am 80yo some young dude reinvents the wheel and releases a AAA sandbox. It ll play in ancient japan and the title will be Kotetsu, since this is the real name of the death star
It's still the only star wars mmo because the old republic isn't really star wars its more like fan fiction. How can you have star wars without darth vader?
Played SWG for good 4 years and i am not going to miss it even a bit.
*shrugs*
How many servers SWTOR will launch with on release?
ShredderSE - Umm how many do they need? Maybe 6.
US, EU, Asian, France, German and Russian.
Subs will be so low there is no need for more
Snoocky-How many servers?
The first 3 months a lot...after that 2 i guess, one for PVE and 1 for PVP...
Thorbrand - SWTOR doesn't have longevity at all. Might be one of the shortest lived MMOs.
I am proud to have been able to experience SWG from launch through the NGE. It was a historic and defining moment in gaming for me and I am sad to see we may never have something like it again. RIP SWG. You were a beautiful creature that was molested and violated.
TOR will have made back all of its funding within 6 months of launch. I predict 2 months or less to get to 2.5M copies sold.
Thank God we wont see any more POS sandboxes. That money can best be used towards making actual games, and not the latest iteration of "virtual economy online". It is fine and dandy you folks like Uncle Owen games. Problem being that no one cares enough about the few subs you guys bring to target a major game towards ya.
Just think...if the end of the world happens next yr, you get to go to your maker STILL demanding a sandbox AAA MMO. Which ironically will be the only chance of themepark gamers not getting even more games made for them.
Long live the almighty themepark. Thank you EQ.
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
Ummm, really? You've got a very narrow view of the Star Wars universe.
I think that the only way a AAA pure sandbox could be successful is if it catered to the "casual" crowd. Not many people want to play a game that is like a 2nd job (and about as much fun). Why spend hundreds of hours doing mindless grunt work to get to the fun parts?
I do wish there were more sandbox/theme park mixes out there though.
It will never work.
Uncle Owen play is predicated on a forced dependancy. IE players are made to keep buying their gear from Owen.
Thus instead of doing PVE for the rewards, folks are simply farming money to give to Owen. Dont we get enough of that shit in RL?
We wont even get into reserving the gaming area for folks to build on, rather than having that area utilized for more content that everyone can enjoy. That is the draw to good themeparks. Lot of areas to get PVE content, and the proverbial carrot for completing said content.
The other major feature of standard sandbox MMOs is FFA PVP, which is a niche mechanism. Since you said casual, we wont get into it.
Pizz on Owen. Let him stay burnt n cripsy. Pizz on Ghost Towns waiting to happen. And most of all, Pizz on trying to change what is the draw to themepark MMOs. We dont need sandboxers to pay our rent.
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
I played a bounty hunter in SWG, Now time to roll a new bounty can't wait. I have my Client downloaded and installed ready to go!
This is the part where cameron goes berserk!
Original SWG was enjoyable and unique, though hopelessly bug-ridden. Post NGE SWG was a complete pile of bantha poo.
TOR is exactly the game you would expect from BioWare making an MMO set in the Old Republic. For people who are strictly sandbox fans, that obviously won't give them what they want, but to me it is far more "Star Warsy" than SWG ever was. I loved pre-NGE, but it was a well-conceived sandbox with some Star Wars visual and audio files tossed on top, not a tailored Star Wars experience, which TOR is. Different strokes.
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.
Yeah my favorite class;) ready to go.
How many servers SWTOR will launch with on release?
ShredderSE - Umm how many do they need? Maybe 6.
US, EU, Asian, France, German and Russian.
Subs will be so low there is no need for more
Snoocky-How many servers?
The first 3 months a lot...after that 2 i guess, one for PVE and 1 for PVP...
Thorbrand - SWTOR doesn't have longevity at all. Might be one of the shortest lived MMOs.
Your first on my list returnintor.
This is the part where cameron goes berserk!
lol.. once again we have smugglers who can't smuggle, and bounty hunters who can't 'bounty... just call it as it is.. a couple of guys with lame pistols, but at least the imperial agent can infiltrate and do intelligence gathering right
Care to step in FFA zone? or roll on PVP server?
How many servers SWTOR will launch with on release?
ShredderSE - Umm how many do they need? Maybe 6.
US, EU, Asian, France, German and Russian.
Subs will be so low there is no need for more
Snoocky-How many servers?
The first 3 months a lot...after that 2 i guess, one for PVE and 1 for PVP...
Thorbrand - SWTOR doesn't have longevity at all. Might be one of the shortest lived MMOs.
So true!
This is the part where cameron goes berserk!
FFA zone on a PVP server... almost choked on my brekky for laughing
Too bad you didn't actually choke and had a seizure ;(
Guess someone didn't read OR. And yes there is a FFA zone where you can kill your allies. Got to play it before you feel like knocking it down.
How many servers SWTOR will launch with on release?
ShredderSE - Umm how many do they need? Maybe 6.
US, EU, Asian, France, German and Russian.
Subs will be so low there is no need for more
Snoocky-How many servers?
The first 3 months a lot...after that 2 i guess, one for PVE and 1 for PVP...
Thorbrand - SWTOR doesn't have longevity at all. Might be one of the shortest lived MMOs.