It was MORE than enough to be in the same universe as the heros and villains that I saw on the big screen. Being able to cross paths with them on the rare occasion was enough for me. As a Wookiee toon, I enjoyed mugging for screenies with Chewbacca....but I certainly NEVER wanted to BE Chewbacca.
And becoming a Jedi was my own unique experience. It didn't matter that others also had Jedi toons...the story that I created about my toon's force-sensitive path to becoming Jedi was mine--and mine alone. I followed along with Luke in the movies as he became a Jedi....but I never in a million years wanted to be him. If I wanted to play the character of Luke or any other iconic character, I would NOT have chosen to play SWG.
I'm curious to get other opinions on this. When I played SWG, the key thing I remember about pre-CU was just marinating in the universe. I was a citizen of the Star Wars galaxy, and my destiny was my own to write. I could be anyone I wanted. Except, of course, the true heroes of the galaxy, the ones who would eventually save it - Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, a male version of Princess Leia, etc.
That being the case, those heroes were raised to legendary status, even if you just fit them to the timeline - they were responsible for dealing the biggest crushing blow the Empire had received since its inception. As such, I felt so far below them all. I would have my own path, which may or may not have coincided with assisting those heroes on their quest, but it was MY decision.
My question to everyone is, how important was it to you (or is it now) that you be directly involved in the lives of the main characters of the movies? Is your Star Wars dream to be flying alongside Red 5 on a Death Star attack run? Or flying the Falcon while Han Solo is frantically trying to fix the hyperdrive while escaping a Star Destroyer? Or do the lives of the heroes just that - their own lives, which may or may not ever cross yours? And did you ever want to be known in SWG as a hero in your own right?
That really isn't a bad question at all...
Well when dealing with an MMO based on a big name IP like Ultima Online (longest running RPG line up till Final Fantasy, and really with UO going on almost 10 years it is the longest running CRPG line around.) Lord of the Rings, Matrix Online, Warcraft, and MMO's in the works like Age of Conan, Stargate and Star Trek, Warhammer and Firefly. Your going to have two camps imho.
Camp one are the Players who in someways want to fight along side their heroes from the show/movie/book/comic/game. In Ultima you had the Avatars followers and other's in the world. Players feel it brings the world to life somewhat when one of the big name Heroes shows up in the world.
The other Camp feels anything that's done in the will destroy any canon that's the game is based on. On Ultima a few Role Players I knew HATED the fact that EA did things like have Minax the foe from Ultima 2 come into the game and start a really big Event/Questline up. They felt that the game should have followed canon with Minax following the Ultima 2 story and a new 'bad guy' show up. In SWG the feelings are mixed on a ton of the things in game. I have friends that feel Luke shouldn't be standing around giving the same Quest to everyone and their mother.
So what's my take on all of it? I'm for some of it and I feel some of it needs to go.
See what made UO work with having the big name heroes from the Ultima games show up is rarely was it an NPC. And if it was an NPC it was for a quest that you had to give items too. A week or two later after the Event was over and done with the Dev's would get around to removing that NPC. Still you had the Dev's or GM's or back in the day the Seer staff playing some of the big name heroes and foe's from Ultima. Not only that some of them did interact with the Role Players giving us some life into the game, and dare I say even helped get new players into Role Playing. It works in SWG as well when the Dev's have someone playing someone from the Movies or even EU content, one Event I remember had us meeting with Borsk Fey'lya in a Bunker for a 'pep' talk from a known Rebel Leader. It was a fun event with the Dev or GM playing Fey'lya just like he was in the books.
On the other end do I like seeing two Han Solo's in the game? Or Vader being both on Naboo and on Kash? Not really... Some of the quests I can live with, take the main Obi-Wan quest in ToOW. He doesn't tell you his name, saying "Call me Ben." he gives you a nice little quest line that has a good story and makes one feel like the big hero (in my case) at the end.
But here's the thing, SOE uses them a little too much in the roles of NPC's that you talk to and that hand out rewards. And even then SOE shouldn't use Luke or Han all the time if it's a GM or Dev doing a Event or Quest with the Players. Hell that's one of the big downers with SWG. SOE has soooo many heroes to pick from that can show up, they can make up 'new' heroes as well if they wanted too (Those Seer's on Ultima Online did a great job by making up their own toons) SOE looked like they had a good idea going by putting HK-47 into the game. Or that one time you could run into Mara Jade int he game when doing something for Vader. I would hope to see or hear about other EU things as well. Kyle Katarn, Reven and so on...
What SOE needs to do is find some kinda balance. Having Vader or Han give out some new Armor isn't the 'right' role for them in game. At the same time SOE shouldn't have all kinds of Events with Luke or Leia being the head at the event.
And most of all it boils down to the Players, yes Role Playing may sound 'dorky' or take time away from 'pwning the noob' but it does bring life into the game and makes your toon feel a little more alive.
I honestly don't mind having series of quests and missions where you interact with the main characters. I like that aspect of quests. Quiet honestly the old pre-cu quests sucked something terrible. They where probably the lamest quests in any current mmo. Most games at least have some overriding "backstory" that you go through to maximize a character. SWG didn't. I kind of thought that was a major reason the game never gained popularity. You drop a bunch of pc shooters and console gamers off in a city with there shirt a piece of junk weapon and no progressive quest and expect them to keep playing?
Now its very important to have the ability to grow a character like swg had for me. I won't pay to play a game where I am not invested in my character. I cannot invest in a clone of everyone else. So you should combine the two methods. The game should be a sandbox, but you need some directed "tours" of all the cool things about the sandbox. You don't toss an infant whose never seen sand in a sandbox and say play. You teach them how to play in the sand. You show them the pale and the shovel and how water works with sand. That "parenting" of the box was seriously lacking pre-cu.
I'm curious to get other opinions on this. When I played SWG, the key thing I remember about pre-CU was just marinating in the universe. I was a citizen of the Star Wars galaxy, and my destiny was my own to write. I could be anyone I wanted. Except, of course, the true heroes of the galaxy, the ones who would eventually save it - Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, a male version of Princess Leia, etc.
That being the case, those heroes were raised to legendary status, even if you just fit them to the timeline - they were responsible for dealing the biggest crushing blow the Empire had received since its inception. As such, I felt so far below them all. I would have my own path, which may or may not have coincided with assisting those heroes on their quest, but it was MY decision.
My question to everyone is, how important was it to you (or is it now) that you be directly involved in the lives of the main characters of the movies? Is your Star Wars dream to be flying alongside Red 5 on a Death Star attack run? Or flying the Falcon while Han Solo is frantically trying to fix the hyperdrive while escaping a Star Destroyer? Or do the lives of the heroes just that - their own lives, which may or may not ever cross yours? And did you ever want to be known in SWG as a hero in your own right?
My answer is going to be a little off-track for a short bit, because I think many players confuse MMORPGs and RPGs, hence the infamous Nancy McIntyre comments. Thus, my answer would be that it all depends upon the type of the game.
In a single player RPG (or one in which I control a very small group like some of the D&D games out there), I would expect to be Luke or Han or a close associate.
In a massively multiplayer universe like SWG, with hundreds if not thousands of other players, there is no way I could reasonably expect that same experience as I do from a single player RPG, so I expect to set my own path with the main characters going in and out of my story while they pursue their own. To be candid, I cannot fathom players who expect to be Luke or Han in an MMO, the fundatmental concept is so inherently inconsistent with the essential contentions of an MMO that I personally find it unfathomable. Quite literally, how the hell can hundreds of people per server all be Luke?!?! Maybe I'm just too literal, logical, stupid, obtuse, or something else, but I just think having that kind of expectation in an MMO is ludicrous. There can be only one Neo in The Matrix, not hundreds, but the same goes for the pilots who flew the Death Star run - we know who all of them were, who lived, who died, you can't retro yourself in no matter what.
I wanted to interact w/ the main characters some, but not exclusively. SW is a pretty damned big place, there are many terrific stories in that universe we still don't know, many heroes and villains we haven't met yet, and those are stories I am interested to find out about. I hope my own time in SWG was just one such story, but no, I don't want to fly along Red 5 on a Death Star run, much less to BE Red 5, at least not in an MMO. I'd much rather try something new, heck even "alternate universe"-type stuff rather than simply replay known history.
We're all Star Wars nerds here, consider this example. In the movies, Aayla Secura is seen in the background a few times. She's never formally introduced to the casual viewers, however. Casual movie fans have absolutely no idea who she is nor do they care - but I imagine we all know who she is, what her story is, etc. I like to think my own experience in SWG is very similar - it is important but many people may not know how or why. Too bad for them, because they're missing a helluva good story. Yeah, casual viewers may describe me as the 3rd stormtrooper from the right, second row, but my story was something special and they're the ones missing out, not me. I do think the Galactic Civil War must be a central storyline that must affect all players in some way, but I don't think the lives of Luke, Han, etc. must necessarily be a consistent and intrinsic part of the players lives. The social impact of Darth Vader is much stronger when he is sparingly used - overuse dilutes his impact.
SWG Veteran and Refugee, Intrepid server NGE free as of Nov. 22, 2005 Now Playing: World of Warcrack Forum Terrorist
My question to everyone is, how important was it to you (or is it now) that you be directly involved in the lives of the main characters of the movies? Is your Star Wars dream to be flying alongside Red 5 on a Death Star attack run? Or flying the Falcon while Han Solo is frantically trying to fix the hyperdrive while escaping a Star Destroyer? Or do the lives of the heroes just that - their own lives, which may or may not ever cross yours? And did you ever want to be known in SWG as a hero in your own right?
My goal in the game was to be a Creature Handler. I accomplished that goal, then moved on to every other profession out there. I enjoyed every one of the profession. While combat proved to be exhilarating, I enjoyed the craft side even more. The benefit to combat was you could group with people, and enjoy yourself even more.
Then, when I heard about JtLS, I prepared myself for shipwright. That was my main goal from the beginning, to make the planes and fly for the Rebellion. While I can still do that now, the ground aspect of SWG has just lost its appeal to me. During the time it took for JtLS to come out, I became engrossed with the toon aspect of SWG. So, that made me quite when they decided to do a complete overhaul on the system(NGE obviously).
So, to answer the question completely. No, I did not care about involving myself with the main characters. I could care less if I was flying with, or by Han or Luke. I just cared about doing the missions I had to for the Rebellion, which might include running across any main character.
I did not care about Jedi, in fact, it seemed to be a waste of time. If you could only die 2 or 3 times, and have to reset, I decided it was not worth my time. I found myself with the band that thought Jedi would end up hurting the game...guess they were right. The only attractive thing about going Jedi was the fact you could open up that extra character slot. So, I decided to go for it Post-CU, and I did not continue down the Jedi path with my main. I made a combat and crafter instead, with my combatant using up the extra force sensitive points.
I just want to play as Ave Bethos. I think MOST other adults who play MMOs and HAVE money would agree, we just want to be our own person with the freedom to choose our path. I don't want it forced on me by SOE.
I played as RK-31, with only good friends knowing his civilian name. I created my own character, complete with a background fitting for his life. He had his own mood, his own needs... He was my creation.
And to this day, I spit on Nancy "Readin is bad m'kay" McIntyre for taking away what I created, because players didn't want to create, they wanted to play a movie.
I wasn't a hero. I was a meager scout (later BE and later wanna-be BH) who's content was primarily supplied by other players...and I freakin' loved it.
I really enjoyed the little role I fell into within the grand scheme of things. The world's were so huge (both geographically and population-wise), that it was actually really cool to be just another person (that probably sounds weird, but it actually was an major trip to have an alternate persona in the Star Wars universe).
I wasn't a hero. I was a meager scout (later BE and later wanna-be BH) who's content was primarily supplied by other players...and I freakin' loved it. I really enjoyed the little role I fell into within the grand scheme of things. The world's were so huge (both geographically and population-wise), that it was actually really cool to be just another person (that probably sounds weird, but it actually was an major trip to have an alternate persona in the Star Wars universe).
omg any other answer to the OP question other then :
"Yes i wanna be part of the MMO World as my created char/toon with my own litle history "
is simple pathetic. I am curious about how many mental institution occupants started their carreer with the famous " i am <put any popular persons name here>"
In short , iconic classes makes you ill.
-----MY-TERMS-OF-USE-------------------------------------------------- $OE - eternal enemy of online gaming -We finally WON !!!! 2011 $OE accepted that they have been fired 2005 by the playerbase and closed down ridiculous NGE !!
"There was suppression of speech and all kinds of things between disturbing and fascistic." Raph Koster (parted $OE)
Comments
I COMPLETELY preferred creating my own story.
It was MORE than enough to be in the same universe as the heros and villains that I saw on the big screen. Being able to cross paths with them on the rare occasion was enough for me. As a Wookiee toon, I enjoyed mugging for screenies with Chewbacca....but I certainly NEVER wanted to BE Chewbacca.
And becoming a Jedi was my own unique experience. It didn't matter that others also had Jedi toons...the story that I created about my toon's force-sensitive path to becoming Jedi was mine--and mine alone. I followed along with Luke in the movies as he became a Jedi....but I never in a million years wanted to be him. If I wanted to play the character of Luke or any other iconic character, I would NOT have chosen to play SWG.
**Returned SWG player**
IGN: Gindacca, RACE: Wookiee
OLD GUILD: [cCc] (aka: BOC)
NEW GUILD: -SAS-
PROF: Light Jedi (elder)
(pre-NGE PROF: TKM/Master Swordsman)
SERVER: Chimaera (Euro)
That really isn't a bad question at all...
Well when dealing with an MMO based on a big name IP like Ultima Online (longest running RPG line up till Final Fantasy, and really with UO going on almost 10 years it is the longest running CRPG line around.) Lord of the Rings, Matrix Online, Warcraft, and MMO's in the works like Age of Conan, Stargate and Star Trek, Warhammer and Firefly. Your going to have two camps imho.
Camp one are the Players who in someways want to fight along side their heroes from the show/movie/book/comic/game. In Ultima you had the Avatars followers and other's in the world. Players feel it brings the world to life somewhat when one of the big name Heroes shows up in the world.
The other Camp feels anything that's done in the will destroy any canon that's the game is based on. On Ultima a few Role Players I knew HATED the fact that EA did things like have Minax the foe from Ultima 2 come into the game and start a really big Event/Questline up. They felt that the game should have followed canon with Minax following the Ultima 2 story and a new 'bad guy' show up. In SWG the feelings are mixed on a ton of the things in game. I have friends that feel Luke shouldn't be standing around giving the same Quest to everyone and their mother.
So what's my take on all of it? I'm for some of it and I feel some of it needs to go.
See what made UO work with having the big name heroes from the Ultima games show up is rarely was it an NPC. And if it was an NPC it was for a quest that you had to give items too. A week or two later after the Event was over and done with the Dev's would get around to removing that NPC. Still you had the Dev's or GM's or back in the day the Seer staff playing some of the big name heroes and foe's from Ultima. Not only that some of them did interact with the Role Players giving us some life into the game, and dare I say even helped get new players into Role Playing. It works in SWG as well when the Dev's have someone playing someone from the Movies or even EU content, one Event I remember had us meeting with Borsk Fey'lya in a Bunker for a 'pep' talk from a known Rebel Leader. It was a fun event with the Dev or GM playing Fey'lya just like he was in the books.
On the other end do I like seeing two Han Solo's in the game? Or Vader being both on Naboo and on Kash? Not really... Some of the quests I can live with, take the main Obi-Wan quest in ToOW. He doesn't tell you his name, saying "Call me Ben." he gives you a nice little quest line that has a good story and makes one feel like the big hero (in my case) at the end.
But here's the thing, SOE uses them a little too much in the roles of NPC's that you talk to and that hand out rewards. And even then SOE shouldn't use Luke or Han all the time if it's a GM or Dev doing a Event or Quest with the Players. Hell that's one of the big downers with SWG. SOE has soooo many heroes to pick from that can show up, they can make up 'new' heroes as well if they wanted too (Those Seer's on Ultima Online did a great job by making up their own toons) SOE looked like they had a good idea going by putting HK-47 into the game. Or that one time you could run into Mara Jade int he game when doing something for Vader. I would hope to see or hear about other EU things as well. Kyle Katarn, Reven and so on...
What SOE needs to do is find some kinda balance. Having Vader or Han give out some new Armor isn't the 'right' role for them in game. At the same time SOE shouldn't have all kinds of Events with Luke or Leia being the head at the event.
And most of all it boils down to the Players, yes Role Playing may sound 'dorky' or take time away from 'pwning the noob' but it does bring life into the game and makes your toon feel a little more alive.
I honestly don't mind having series of quests and missions where you interact with the main characters. I like that aspect of quests. Quiet honestly the old pre-cu quests sucked something terrible. They where probably the lamest quests in any current mmo. Most games at least have some overriding "backstory" that you go through to maximize a character. SWG didn't. I kind of thought that was a major reason the game never gained popularity. You drop a bunch of pc shooters and console gamers off in a city with there shirt a piece of junk weapon and no progressive quest and expect them to keep playing?
Now its very important to have the ability to grow a character like swg had for me. I won't pay to play a game where I am not invested in my character. I cannot invest in a clone of everyone else. So you should combine the two methods. The game should be a sandbox, but you need some directed "tours" of all the cool things about the sandbox. You don't toss an infant whose never seen sand in a sandbox and say play. You teach them how to play in the sand. You show them the pale and the shovel and how water works with sand. That "parenting" of the box was seriously lacking pre-cu.
I am a hero out of SWG , wouldn't you agree? Love that Jestor!
Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
My answer is going to be a little off-track for a short bit, because I think many players confuse MMORPGs and RPGs, hence the infamous Nancy McIntyre comments. Thus, my answer would be that it all depends upon the type of the game.
In a single player RPG (or one in which I control a very small group like some of the D&D games out there), I would expect to be Luke or Han or a close associate.
In a massively multiplayer universe like SWG, with hundreds if not thousands of other players, there is no way I could reasonably expect that same experience as I do from a single player RPG, so I expect to set my own path with the main characters going in and out of my story while they pursue their own. To be candid, I cannot fathom players who expect to be Luke or Han in an MMO, the fundatmental concept is so inherently inconsistent with the essential contentions of an MMO that I personally find it unfathomable. Quite literally, how the hell can hundreds of people per server all be Luke?!?! Maybe I'm just too literal, logical, stupid, obtuse, or something else, but I just think having that kind of expectation in an MMO is ludicrous. There can be only one Neo in The Matrix, not hundreds, but the same goes for the pilots who flew the Death Star run - we know who all of them were, who lived, who died, you can't retro yourself in no matter what.
I wanted to interact w/ the main characters some, but not exclusively. SW is a pretty damned big place, there are many terrific stories in that universe we still don't know, many heroes and villains we haven't met yet, and those are stories I am interested to find out about. I hope my own time in SWG was just one such story, but no, I don't want to fly along Red 5 on a Death Star run, much less to BE Red 5, at least not in an MMO. I'd much rather try something new, heck even "alternate universe"-type stuff rather than simply replay known history.
We're all Star Wars nerds here, consider this example. In the movies, Aayla Secura is seen in the background a few times. She's never formally introduced to the casual viewers, however. Casual movie fans have absolutely no idea who she is nor do they care - but I imagine we all know who she is, what her story is, etc. I like to think my own experience in SWG is very similar - it is important but many people may not know how or why. Too bad for them, because they're missing a helluva good story. Yeah, casual viewers may describe me as the 3rd stormtrooper from the right, second row, but my story was something special and they're the ones missing out, not me. I do think the Galactic Civil War must be a central storyline that must affect all players in some way, but I don't think the lives of Luke, Han, etc. must necessarily be a consistent and intrinsic part of the players lives. The social impact of Darth Vader is much stronger when he is sparingly used - overuse dilutes his impact.
SWG Veteran and Refugee, Intrepid server
NGE free as of Nov. 22, 2005
Now Playing: World of Warcrack
Forum Terrorist
Then, when I heard about JtLS, I prepared myself for shipwright. That was my main goal from the beginning, to make the planes and fly for the Rebellion. While I can still do that now, the ground aspect of SWG has just lost its appeal to me. During the time it took for JtLS to come out, I became engrossed with the toon aspect of SWG. So, that made me quite when they decided to do a complete overhaul on the system(NGE obviously).
So, to answer the question completely. No, I did not care about involving myself with the main characters. I could care less if I was flying with, or by Han or Luke. I just cared about doing the missions I had to for the Rebellion, which might include running across any main character.
I did not care about Jedi, in fact, it seemed to be a waste of time. If you could only die 2 or 3 times, and have to reset, I decided it was not worth my time. I found myself with the band that thought Jedi would end up hurting the game...guess they were right. The only attractive thing about going Jedi was the fact you could open up that extra character slot. So, I decided to go for it Post-CU, and I did not continue down the Jedi path with my main. I made a combat and crafter instead, with my combatant using up the extra force sensitive points.
12 year olds want to play as Luke or Han Solo...
I just want to play as Ave Bethos. I think MOST other adults who play MMOs and HAVE money would agree, we just want to be our own person with the freedom to choose our path. I don't want it forced on me by SOE.
Screw the "target audience", all 10,000 of them.
I played as RK-31, with only good friends knowing his civilian name. I created my own character, complete with a background fitting for his life. He had his own mood, his own needs... He was my creation.
And to this day, I spit on Nancy "Readin is bad m'kay" McIntyre for taking away what I created, because players didn't want to create, they wanted to play a movie.
I wasn't a hero. I was a meager scout (later BE and later wanna-be BH) who's content was primarily supplied by other players...and I freakin' loved it.
I really enjoyed the little role I fell into within the grand scheme of things. The world's were so huge (both geographically and population-wise), that it was actually really cool to be just another person (that probably sounds weird, but it actually was an major trip to have an alternate persona in the Star Wars universe).
Totally agree.
omg any other answer to the OP question other then :
"Yes i wanna be part of the MMO World as my created char/toon with my own litle history "
is simple pathetic. I am curious about how many mental institution occupants started their carreer with the famous " i am <put any popular persons name here>"
In short , iconic classes makes you ill.
-----MY-TERMS-OF-USE--------------------------------------------------
$OE - eternal enemy of online gaming
-We finally WON !!!! 2011 $OE accepted that they have been fired 2005 by the playerbase and closed down ridiculous NGE !!
"There was suppression of speech and all kinds of things between disturbing and fascistic." Raph Koster (parted $OE)
It was not important to me at all.
I never felt that I needed to be around "heros". Rather, I prefered to be a hero to my friends - coming through for them when they needed me.
It's one of the main reasons I loved SWG, you weren't a hero - and you weren't expected to be.