Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Interesting SWG interview
Obraik
Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 7,261
Gives some itneresting insight into SWG 
http://www.mmognation.com/2007/05/14/how-they-make-star-wars-galaxies/
Comments
get your 7 day FREE sub to SWTOR
http://www.swtor.com/r/7DDKjQ
Nice, sounds like they have a pretty solid approach. To bad they didn't operate like this 4 years ago, probably would have saved a ton of grief.
I was looking around on the offical site and saw this...
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m?topic_id=302040
Chap 8...finally Star Wars is going to focus a little on where it should....the stars! Thats what I'm taking about. You can have you're cutsie little ground wars, starships are where its at.
The Galaxies team has been stripped down to just about 20 people.
They’ve learned a lot of lessons from the last two years, and all they want to do now is shut up and make the game.
We spent a goodly amount of time talking about the company’s relationship with LucasArts. He was reluctant to place blame with their group, but he did admit that SOE and the house that Skywalker built have occasionally had rough patches. His statement was that, if you look at the project’s history it’s possible to see where there were problems based on how the game was doing. Problems in SWG probably equated to problems between SOE and LucasArts.
Mr. Blakely took pains to note that, while they have had problems in the past the relationship between the two companies is probably stronger than it has been in over a year. He also shared a bit about their process. Every year SOE-Austin meets with the folks at LucasArts to decide goals for the coming year. The tacke the queue of ideas they’ve built up over the previous 12 months, and use feedback from the community via boards, IMs, conversations, and player events to prioritize what needs to be done first.
The problem is one of time. We talked at some length about the problems facing designers the simple act of adding a quest to the game. SWG was not designed to have quests added on a regular basis; SWG’s sandbox concept when the game launched is still working against them. As a result, the tools they’re using (to this day) are awkward and clumsy when you consider the amount of information they’d like to add for a given quest. It’s something they’re working on.Down size...good job SOE. Now back peddle and attempt to refocus some of the blame to restore potential marketability of your products.
Some how I think they do not know what's coming in chapter 7 since they are now functioning on a VERY narrow development schedule. To note, that is actually a good thing for them and those who insist on playing poorly functioning SWG.
Good luck. I'll be staying tuned...
OMG! LMAO!!!
This just proves that SOE has no clue how to develop a game.
Any smart person would have ditched the old SWG and started developing a new game called SWGII or something. Now SOE is stuck with convoluted code. They are spending so much money and time to work with an outdated and bastardized code. The game would be so much more advantageous to us as players if they just let SWG die and start a fresh new game with code that does what they need it to do when they want it. Hell, they would probably save a lot of time and money too.
This entire paragraph screams, "We don't know what we are doing."
Why would SOE make a SWGII when SWG was a mess from launch? Yes, that's right, SWG was wreck since day one. You honestly think that someday, someone is going to remake the old style of a SWG game? Look at the the trend of MMO's, like any other industry the course is set and it is very unlikely anyone will go back. No one is making the the type of game that the old SWG was....why? Because no one but a few crabby vets like them. There are plenty of sandbox style games out there, where are they all? Face down in the mud either dying or struggling to keep their head above water.
If a SWGII was made, you think its going to have 30 or 40 professions and will be a sandbox style game like the old vets want? I seriously doubt it. Its going to have a few base classes like every other MMO and would probably have a more involved scripted quest system. You would be lucky to get half of what SWG currently has. Why? Because SWG always did one thing, bite off more then it could chew. The profession idea in MMO's does work mainly because of the technical issues. Look at old SWG, the professions were a f**king mess. Half of them never worked right or were unbalanced. Most of the old professions where just a skill tree with a title anyway. Some people need to stop making it out that it was more then it actually was.
As far as the new dev team, I'm sure they are having a hard time trying to put square pegs in round holes. The game was not originally designed as it currently exist. So far IMHO, these new guys are doing a pretty good job at reviving the spirit of the game. Its gonna take a lot more time though. To bad they didn't get this going 4 years ago. By the time they get this game to the point it would be above average, its going to be hitting 5 years old. In another year, would SWG in ANY form be able to compete with whats on the way? Doubtful.
I don't think SOE ever really was sure how to handle SWG. After it launched and it didn't go over so well they paniced. Simple as that. Now they are cleaning up the mess and thats what pisses the vets off. They don't want to see anything good happen to the game, they want it to crash. Like little kids who can't play with a toy, if they can't have their way, no one should.
Thing is, no one knows what it is.
Links:
Raph's new MMORPG company, Areae: http://www.areae.net/
Raph's personal site: http://www.raphkoster.com/
Interview with Raph about the new company: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12133
Another Raph interview about the new company: http://www.tentonhammer.com/index.php?q=node/655
Wiki on Raph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raph_Koster#External_links
I miss the good ol' days when nerds were actually intelligent.
Thing is, no one knows what it is.
Links:
Raph's new MMORPG company, Areae: http://www.areae.net/
Raph's personal site: http://www.raphkoster.com/
Interview with Raph about the new company: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12133
Another Raph interview about the new company: http://www.tentonhammer.com/index.php?q=node/655
Wiki on Raph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raph_Koster#External_links
Yeah, I realize that post came out pretty negitive but that is the reality of where the market has gone. That doesn't mean I support it or like it. I try to stick with games outside of the standard fantasy/class/raid/loot cookie cutter designs but its becoming increasingly difficult as most of them are either "evolving" to reflect the current market demand or simply dying off.
Its good to see Ralph making something along those lines but that sort of game design is the exception, not the rule these days.
Yo!
Playing EVE Online, Dungeon & Dragons Online and occasionaly checking out SWG.
SOE should purchase a license to Turbine Engine, as used in DDO, to be used in SWG. It is very similar in terms of "twitch" based controls although TE2.0 is far superior to anything SOE has implemented.
"The problem is one of time. We talked at some length about the problems facing designers the simple act of adding a quest to the game. SWG was not designed to have quests added on a regular basis; SWGs sandbox concept when the game launched is still working against them. As a result, the tools theyre using (to this day) are awkward and clumsy when you consider the amount of information theyd like to add for a given quest. Its something theyre working on."
What a crock, wasnt one of the touted reasons behind the NGE that the original code was a mess. Were we not told that this was going to clean all that mess up? Were we not told that the NGE would make adding content to the game much easier and faster?
Spin the black circle