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A few small things stopping me from subscribing
Legato89
Member Posts: 297
1. Not being able to put your weapon away. It just doesn't feel right walking around with your sword pointing to NPCs you talk to. I don't know why something so simple hasn't been added in so many years.
2. Graphics overhaul. Numerous MMOs have done it that have been released earlier this decade.
3. Lower level pve dungeons. From what I was told, I won't be doing any until I hit max level, which is a real bummer.
Comments
And I thought that #1 would have been that this game may not even see a release. You fooled me.
1. Drop your weapon into a slot on your toolbar, use one of the toolbar panes that isn't the first one and then bind a macro to that toolbar slot. Go into Keymap and assign a key to that macro. When you press that key your weapon will be equipped/unequipped. More info on macros here: Guide: Combat Preparation .
2. There have been a few graphical improvements over the years, are you running SWG on full graphics settings?
3. Do you mean low level instances? There are some lower level instances in the Meatlump Themepark and on Kashyyyk, you'll be sent to plenty of PvE bunkers on the Legacy Quest.
1. Drop your weapon into a slot on your toolbar, use one of the toolbar panes that isn't the first one and then bind a macro to that toolbar slot. Go into Keymap and assign a key to that macro. When you press that key your weapon will be equipped/unequipped. More info on macros here: Guide: Combat Preparation .
2. There have been a few graphical improvements over the years, are you running SWG on full graphics settings?
3. Do you mean low level instances? There are some lower level instances in the Meatlump Themepark and on Kashyyyk, you'll be sent to plenty of PvE bunkers on the Legacy Quest.
Good effort Badger, but I'm siding with OP on this one.
Compared to other MMO's SWG's "graphical Improvements" have lead to nothing but bugs and other technical issues for months after their release. Forcing the player to take it upon himself to make the game more "star warsy" isn't his job, it's the job of the developer. Simply Un-eqiping your weapon
The only graphical update that's been added that I've noiticed was CU when we got all the new animations and what not.
And as far as the meatlump content you speak of, i'd rather grind 10k xp bantha alone on tat, then even attempt the mindless repetitive grind tasked to the current PVE ers in swg. Sadly, the PVE in SWG doesnt' hold a candle to the expert system they have set up in world of warcraft, especially when the SWG NPC's can rubber band, shoot through walls, warp, ect. People want a game that works, not a game that's going to require two and a half hours of user side programming just to get it to run properly.
IMO, the game just needs an SWG 2 in order to even begin to think about attracting new players, or old ones for that matter.
The only graphical update that's been added that I've noiticed was CU when we got all the new animations and what not.
Not entirely accurate.
I recall they tried and failed to ad some fancy bump mapping type texture to ground surfaces a while back. Dantooine became 'mudworld'. I remember they put out an APB for players to find all the texture problems cause they couldn't be bothered to do the work themselves.
Then there was the new face 'detail'. YUCK!
Both times were a failure.
Anyone that says SWG lacks content or is boring to grind is either angry or lazy.
I helped my 8 year old grind a jedi to lvl 90 over the course of a year. We did not have meatlump at the time and still managed to have a great time playing together. We mixed legacy / Kash / Musty with Old Fashioned Grinding, little PVP, and Space. We just hoped from one type of leveling to the next depending upon how we felt at the time.
Funny thing is hearing people complain about reaching lvl 90 taking too much time and yet as soon as my padawan hit lvl 90 she lost interest because there were no clear cut way to measure additional progress beyond lvl 90. IE her ego was not suffiently large enough to give a darn about getting all the most uber stuff.
The road to lvl 90 is the best part of the game and SWG has more than plenty to offer.
Now, when we focus the "quality" of the content, I will agree with you. That is one area where SOE fails big time and worse is the time it takes them to fix their misstakes / quality issues.
I you are not willing to live with imperfection, then definately SWG and anything by SOE is not gonna be your bag. If you are willing to tolerate imperfection, then SWG offers at least as much as any MMO out there today, if not more.
Now with STO coming early next year, that might change quickly depending on how much sand box their is in STO.
I agree to this to a lot of what you are saying here.
Being angry at SOE is one thing. But if you look at the game and let all anger and frustration behind you (not pointing at anyone particular here). The game simply has a lot to offer.
Now, I am one of the Veterans, so certain aspects of the old game is naturally missed. I will probably miss old Azeroth in Wow too when Cataclysm arrives.
Its almost a bit like WOW. In BC I heard that everything was better in Vanilla and BC sucks :P.. and then in WOTLK I hear that everything was better in BC haha.. Its a never ending story.
This is called rose tinted glasses. And If you look too much behind you. You are actually walking backwards into the future. And that is not a good thing.
So in SWG I was asking myself what am I missing from the old days, and what would I miss that is in SWG today if it was reverted. And that question is definately not as easy answered today as it was day after NGE-Day in 2005. Thing is that most of the things from old days are still in the game. And lots of things added and improved have made the game better.
If you compare it to lots of other games. It has most of the "usual" stuff + all the sandbox elements as a pretty well working player economy, where you can make your own business like a store, gather resources by putting up machines that harvest for you 24 / 7. Have a driod spamming spaceports for you and so on
And not forgetting a class that is very unique to SWG: the Entertainer. Now entertainer is for people that love chatting and socialicing more than anything else. My entertainer went to the cantina in Mos Eisley. I had not been there for a while (a few years haha). And I have to say that I have never seen that many people in the city of Mos Eisley nor that cantina. Not even in the peak days of Vanilla SWG. That was cool.
Before I went there. I found a great tailor that made my character lots of new clothing. I put on makeup and a added a new hairstyle, just that is unique for SWG.
I Made some flashing sparklers that matched the outfit and went to Eisley. I was immediately asked to buff. Compared to the old days when I had I in the old days had 1 buff as dancer + the abillity to remove battle-fatigue. I was amazed to to see that now I have almost 30 buffs + a great UI where I can put cover charge and add the buffs that the "customer" asks for. So entertainers have been improved big time since before. + its great for a dancer to be an ID and being able to combat too.
And the expertise system in General have brought back a lot of the old templates. Combined with the fact that everyone can put points into creature handler and have their own pet now. I think there are lots of positive things going for the game.
I made a smuggler too. And what a cool class, but that is another story :P (All I can say is that its neat with a class that can atcually be hunted down by player and NPC bounty hunters).
And the graphics. It is not as good as some new games. But it definately is not bad at all I have a much better computer today than I had in 2005 and with full settings it actually looks good to the eyes. But content overweights graphics in my opinion. It actually has its own style that is pretty colorful.
So to be honest (my opinon and lots will disagree). Even if SOE did mistakes, something they have done (but who does not). Their game is today has a lot to offer for a wide range of players.
No one knows the future, but I do not hope so.
To me Star Wars is what I saw in those movies in the 70s and 80s. Its stormtroopers, its Darh Vader, Its C3PO, its Luke Skywalker. The timeline of SWG is what is Star Wars to many of us.
I also know that I am not alone in not wanting to be the ultimate Jedi Hero or sith hero, but just being a ordinarry Pilor, a bounty hunter, the farmer and so on. And I fear that we will not find much of that in TOR.
And the graphics of TOR is strange. They have a little more cartoony-ish way to it. Why pretend to look like Starwars when there is actually a game that looks Star Wars?
I have always liked stormtroopers. I actually wish I had a stormtrooper costume in Real life.. not that I could have used it for something usefull, but just one that stood in a corner. In SWG I have my own stormtrooper costume and it looks like the costume that I wan to have. Not pretend to be or remind me of. It looks like.
And I have space ships that I remember from the movies.
To me that is Starwars. What I saw in those movies. And to me Starwars is to be the ordinary citizen of a planet set in the right timeline. SWG is just that.
I am sure TOR can be an amazing game. But its just the whole storyline and approach to it that is not what I am looking for. That is why I hope both games survive and can live side by side, because they are different.
Some wants to wave with a lightsaber all day and just combat. Others enjoy sitting in their house, crafting stuff and selling it or go to the cantina and just dance and show off in your latest tailor creation
Peple are different. Different games for different tastes. Its much better to wish all games well, because that will give everyone more options.
That was very well said! And I agree with most of it...but any failure of SWG to survive after ToR can NOT be blamed on players or attributed to a lack of interest in the SWG era. If/when SWG fails it will fall squarely on the shoulders of SoE's management (mismanagement).
The most recent disgrace by SoE (since the NGE) has been the TCG. For SIX (6) years players begged for the stuff coming out of the TCG. For the long awaited Structures update, crafters got 2 new homes and a few old ones with "windows". HOLY CRAP! TCG is releasing swimming pools, Sith/Jedi Temples, Diners, Barns, Starship Hangers...WTF!?!?!?! And vehicles...LOL! What was the last CRAFTED vehicle added? AV-21? No player drives a crafted POS vehicle.
I'm sorry...I LOVE the SWG era of Star Wars too, and I completely agree with you on so many points about the setting...but...SoE has destroyed the game with greed.
Lets put it to the test.
If someone really enjoys just one aspect of the leveling you describe, can they level from 1 to 90 by doing that activity alone?
Are there enough legacy quests to level from 1 to 90?
Themeparks/dungeons?
PvP?
Space?
In other mmos I know that I can level completely in dungeons if that is what I enjoy most. I will not be forced to grind mobs, grind a limit of 10 randomly generated kill missions from a terminal every day or some other activity I may not enjoy, because there is a lack of what I do enjoy.
Technically you are right that swg offers a lot of options, but at the same time that isn't exactly correct is it?
If someone finds the content of swg boring, it doesn't make them angry or lazy. It just means they did not enjoy it.
Lets put it to the test.
If someone really enjoys just one aspect of the leveling you describe, can they level from 1 to 90 by doing that activity alone?
Are there enough legacy quests to level from 1 to 90?
Themeparks/dungeons?
PvP?
Space?
In other mmos I know that I can level completely in dungeons if that is what I enjoy most. I will not be forced to grind mobs, grind a limit of 10 randomly generated kill missions from a terminal every day or some other activity I may not enjoy, because there is a lack of what I do enjoy.
Technically you are right that swg offers a lot of options, but at the same time that isn't exactly correct is it?
If someone finds the content of swg boring, it doesn't make them angry or lazy. It just means they did not enjoy it.
Thats the essence of a Sandobx. It does not have lots of quests and a prefabricated progression road. You find your own stuff to do, like kill for meat that you sell to a crafter, being a bounty hunter looking for other players or just entertain or craft and so on. Todays SWG has more quests than Vanilla SWG as its a hybrid-sandbox today.
That said, todays SWG is more sandbox than any game I know, but with a lot of added theeme park / quest game elements that are known from games like Wow and EQ. Complaints about lack of quests was one thing that contriubted to SOE pull NGE back in the days and made Sony belive less in sandbox games. I mean sandbox is basically a sandbox. You get the toys. Invent story and content yourself.
I remember back then, in 2004 and 2005 when I played swg and read forums. The massive amount of complaints from EQ people about lack of quests.. Many people could not adapt to a different play style. Some loved it but a lot could not play a game without lots and lots of quests.
I played 4 characters to masters in more than 16 classes without doing a single quest other than Rebel and Imperial theeme park back in the days of pre CU - pre NGE swg.
Wow was probably the first game out there that made it possible to level from 1 to endgame all alone by doing quest 24/7. Most other games have quest combined with forced instancing and lots of grind (aion..).
SWG is and was different. But that makes it a game that is not for everyone. At leas that was how it was. Today most types of players will find something to do in that game. But if you want the game to hold your hand and follow you around, then there are other games that are better option. Problems with the games that does so however is endgame. Sandbox games has no endgame. You still do your stuff every day wheter that is being a famous decorator a weaponsmith a bounthunter or someone that craft or entertain.
Daoc was the first game I recall where you could level on quests.
Saying SWG has as much or more than other games is a bit misleading, because it doesn't really. It may have similar aspects that other games offer, but it doesn't stand up in a real comparison.
Does it have pvp battlegrounds? Yes. Do they work, not really.
Does it have quest lines? Yes. Does it fall far short in quantity, yes.
The list goes on.
Call it hand holding if wish, but a lack of content is a lack of content, no matter how you try to dress it up. I understand what a sandbox is, but aimlessly grinding mobs for XP isn't sandbox or freedom. Otherwise we could call Everquest the grand daddy of sandbox games. When the only option to fill the content voids is with grinding mobs or an artificially limited number of randomly generated terminal kill missions then that really doesn't constitue "more content than any other mmo".
Strangely enough, most of the sandbox aspects have either been removed or severly diminishedwhile being replaced with themepark game mechanics. Specifically segmenting character progression into 90 levels and not creating enough content to fullfill that progression, which almost every other mmo has enough of. Thus SWG doesn't really "offer as much or more than any other mmo out there"
It certainly has some features which are not common anymore.
It may or may not lack content, but it certainly is buggy, I had multiple broken quests when leveling, if they recently fixed this, good for them. But you can't blame people for calling the content boring/bad/lacking after the game being out for so long and STILL unfinished.
By the way, it is boring to level in SWG. That's my opinion, believe what you want. It's so boring that people macro level, hell I even did it on dantooine in the janta villages, there was a ton of people doing the same, and they kept coming. I guess everybody is just lazy though. I'll add that I'm seriously against boting or leveling without actually playing, but SWG grinding is so boring I had to make an exception.
Ever take a tour of Vreni Island on Corellia? It's practically a museum of broken quests. Easily half of the NPCs there offer quests, and I'm pretty certain that not a single one of them actually works.
Id say just hit the free trial talk to a few ppl in Eisley and try it out. After that just think about if the games what you want. Ill say your not gonna get a good view of the content just in the trial but it shows some of the features and with the right ppl helping you and telling you about the game it might interest you. Its worth the download to try id say but everyone different so up to you if you are gonna enjoy it.