The Jedi Saga

Raph

Given that folks here were discussing yesterday's article on SWG history, I thought I'd alert you to the new one:

 

http://www.raphkoster.com/2015/04/16/a-jedi-saga/

nolf

As a rabid fan of the pre-NGE experience, I found that to be an interesting read.

As often as broken and flawed SWG could be at times, it still really captured the idea of just living in a fictional universe better than any other MMO I've played to date, until the Holocron grind, at least.

That was the magic that allowed the playerbase to overlook what wasn't quite right.  Everyone was just going about their "lives" in SWG.  The IP had more than enough pre-established lore for players to work with, and you guys put a lot of sand in the box.

From a design standpoint, I would like to say that I've never seen a "class" system that fostered and necessitated the sense of community that the Cantinas in SWG brought.  We didn't know it at the time, but all that necessary time spent getting buffed and healing wounds was actually the glue that bound the servers' communities.  Whether that was the intent or not, it was a stroke of genius on someone's part.  Out of all the features in MMOs I've seen copied and adapted and reused, this is the one I really wish to see repeated.

Too bad it all went the way it did.  I'd just like to say that SWG was one stacked deck I enjoyed playing more than any other game I've played, for a time.

It's a shame the house always wins.

Cavadus

I played SWG from launch to about six months post NGE.  I roleplayed a Stormtrooper and had a very tough to play build (carbines, launchers, grenades) which was a combination of carbineer, commando, and BH.

Never had any interest in jeedai.

But I watched as the hunt for the jeedai unlock overtook everything else in the game.  How so much development time and effort was poured into the jeedai experience while everything else was neglected.  It disgusted me.  It disgusts me still today.

Raph is absolutely right; jedi killed Star Wars Galaxies.  They should have never been in the game.

And then to make matters even worse by the time of the NGE the entire game was covered in clone wars tech.  They absolutely butchered the source material as the game went on.

Quirhid

I think the wizards in Edding's or Tolkien's novels or the jedi from Star Wars should never be made playable characters in an MMO. They are just way too powerful and way too much trouble from a design standpoint.

They should only be used as plot devices (quest NPCs), used to define a faction or played only by GMs.

General-Zod

"The problem is obvious: as soon as three people all have gotten a hint that what they need is to master a specific skill box, the secret was out. It was weak cryptography."