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Static Mobs
stragen001
Member UncommonPosts: 1,720
I was a huge fanboy of SWTOR before launch, and subbed for 3 or 4 months after launch. I loved the combat, the story, the atmosphere, the crafting, the companions and generally had a really good time levelling a couple of characters.
I didnt really like all the cutscenes, but I could live with them
What drove me away was the static mobs. Sometimes you would look ahead of you and you could see 10 groups of the same 3 mobs just standing there, doing nothing, just waiting for someone to come along and attack them. Once you sussed out how to kill that particular 3 mob combination it became very repetitive very fast.
I have been thinking about coming back to the game now it is F2P, what with the addition of Makeb and Galactic Starfighter, but every time I think of it the memories of the static mobs just turn me off.
Have they fixed this yet, or is the world just as lifeless as before? Is it worth me returning?
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
Comments
what do you want the mobs to do...tapdance?
if you send them patrolling on those small maps, they will get into the aggro range of other groups
so, the next unsuspecting player can pull 2-3 Groups at once, perhaps , without wanting even one
ordinary mobs should be like XP and loot pinatas
thats their jobs
GW2 tried spicing it up a Little, but after a while , its even worse, than the static ones
The firefall devs talked very openly about the amount of resources it took to make mods patrol over making them just stand there. Every server has it's limits and it was pretty surprising how much of an impact it had by just making them walk in a circle. And like posted above you have balance issues when you have multiple groups all patroling around. Fighting could get rather tedious if you constantly get adds instead of it being a surprise once in a while.
I don't think anyone really loves seeing mobs standing around waiting to die but technology has it's limits our imaginations do not.
Well, the static mobs aren't so dissimilar to other MMOs.
But the reason it might seem worse in SWTOR is that this was supposed to be the game that was all about story. Mobs just get in the way of advancing the plot.
In the original Star Wars movie, Luke had - what - one Tusken Raider fight between the time we saw him first and the time he got to Mos Eisley? Imagine if there was just mobs after mobs of Raiders? Now imagine if Luke just kept doing the exact same three or four moves against each one he fought? Lordy!
There's a time and a place for throwing wave after wave of thugs at the protagonists. Usually towards the end of an Act. Back to the movie: think about all the stormtroopers the heroes fought while escaping the Death Star.
But on the top of SWTOR's story, once you get past the fact that you have next to zero control over how the story plays out, the bloom comes off the rose quickly. All of the hype of voice overs and story turns out to just be features stuck on top of the same old basic MMO design, rather then the core of the next big thing in MMOs.
There are some patrols in the game , but makeb actually has different enemies attacking one another , they are slightly scripted still. It's a step in the right direction though. There has been a few complaints about Makeb and Oricon having too many mobs.
Cheers ,
BadOrb.
PSO 4 years , EQOA 4 months , PSU 7 years , SWTOR launch ongoing , PSO2 SEA launch ongoing , Destiny 360 launch ongoing.
"SWG was not fun. Let it go buddy." quote from iiNoSkillzii 10/18/13
The original propoganda pixie dust villain :[]
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
It's a themepark, all those games have themed zones with static spawns just standing there with a invisible agro radius around them.
"going into arguments with idiots is a lost cause, it requires you to stoop down to their level and you can't win"
This was a major reason I never played the game, static mobs. It definitely is a backwards step, compared to, say, Ryzom. In Ryzom, there are actual seasons, and mobs migrate to different areas based on seasons. Predator mobs are after prey, or else go back to sleep in their dens; herds of mobs move around, etc. Heck, some mobs may come up to you and pee on your leg! There are also boss type mobs roaming around. It is not unusual to see a group of npc's walking around, and then sit down in a circle, out in the middle of nowhere.
And that game was done in 2004.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
if the quest giver wants 10 bear butts, the game better line 10 bears up, for me to gank
not 5 bears and 2 girafs
IMO , 10 bears and 5 aggro wolves would be adequate
FFXIV suffer from same problem of static mobs, NPC glued to the ground. And yet you enjoyed that game and gave its lifeless and static world an 8.0 rating... i guess singling out SWTOR for every problem which is common for other MMOS and making it look like as if it is unique to SWTOR is kind of a cool thing around here.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
-Jesse Schell
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No kidding doogie.
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
Such is life at mmorpg.com
I went back to look at my review. I dinged FFXIV for having a small, static world, almost lifeless. But I enjoyed being there so I gave it an 8.0. From that review:
"And the world is a bit constricting; there are invisible walls everywhere, and lots of tunnels and mountain-induced paths, restricting free movement. Nevertheless, it is nice to be there, so I give it a high rating."
In SWTOR's case, I found it also constricting, and I didn't enjoy being there. That was the difference. And it was only one of the reasons I didn't like SWTOR. SWTOR felt dead to me, and FFXIV didn't. Even so, an 8.0 rating is not very high.
Many or even most games suffer from this. I pointed out Ryzom as the exception, and to refute the claim that you can't have AI like that in an MMO.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
LOL its funny you should say that....here are some dudes in SWTOR i just came across with shovels....and guess what they are doing?...you guessed it....digging
is the hole getting bigger?
if not, theyre only PRETENDING to dig a hole, just like a modern worker would
theme park or social realism? its better, than sandbox, anyway
being locked up in the playboy mansion would prolly be more fun, than being in a prison cell
the reason mmos dont use it, is, it costs too much , and will scare most customers away
see evidence A: Ryzom..never heard of it, and i prolly never will, again
wow did it right: tons of braindead mobs , spread over several different areas
No offense, but every time I read one of your posts, it sounds like its being said out loud by William Shatner. Please learn how to properly use commas.
it's
...because that changes the way you read my post, right?
You totally "got me"...
Sorry, I couldn't resist. I don't disagree with your Shatner joke though.
No offence, but have you noticed that Simplius isn't from English speaking country. Shouldn't it be enough that his posts are understandable?
Absolutely. I wasn't calling him out on his grammar, per se. Regardless, I gave pause when I read it but after a second go I understood. And to be honest, it is FAR from being the worst I've read from posters who claim English as a main language. Generally, I only call out those who do the calling first! :P
Meanwhile, we're digging our own hole here and throwing the topic into it. I guess we should get back to the matter at hand?
8.0 isn't very high? LOL
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I am pretty sure everyone who has ever read just 1 of his posts would know he is not nativly english....with that said, it's hard to imagine throwing in an insane amount of commas randomly in every sentence...
+1