Well sometimes a game doing too much to please everyone could loose its focus and become lackluster due to loss of focus as to what experience they want to portray to their target audience. STO tried to do both space and ground missions, and it seemed to fall apart somewhere between the two concepts.
Maybe Bioware wants to try focussing on just one aspect for SWTOR, get right upon release, and if successful, who knows maybe new gameplay mechanics such as space combat will come later on. At this point all we can do is speculate.
STO tried to do both space and ground missions, and it seemed to fall apart somewhere between the two concepts.
STO fell apart, but it wasn't due to having both ground and space. Having quests that had you go between both was actually one of the few highlights of the awful game. (e.g.: chase an enemy ship, disable, board and fight, etc.)
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
Nor would I make it to "mimic" movies, and have someone "whisper" in the ear of the player that he's the uberest uberduper hero ever... The player would be an average Joe/Jane in the huge galaxy, making his and hers way to greatness or the shadows.
But space... would be important... We're talking Star Wars here...
Nor would I make it to "mimic" movies, and have someone "whisper" in the ear of the player that he's the uberest uberduper hero ever... The player would be an average Joe/Jane in the huge galaxy, making his and hers way to greatness or the shadows.
But space... would be important... We're talking Star Wars here...
Exactly this was my original point. People are trying to justify what Bioware are doing , quite frankly I couldn't give a crap other than they are designing a SW mmo different to anyone else would if they had $150 million and a blank piece of paper.
THE SECRET WORLD - PAY ONCE PLAY FOREVER - Give it a go!
Exactly this was my original point. People are trying to justify what Bioware are doing , quite frankly I couldn't give a crap other than they are designing a SW mmo different to anyone else would if they had $150 million and a blank piece of paper.
I could care less if there's space or not. Not having it worked just fine for KOTOR, so I don't really care either way.
I just felt a need to point out that the $150 million price tag people keep throwing around has absolutely no bearing on facts or reality.
For all we know Bioware could have spent $10-20 million on the game, or $5 billion. The $150 million was a completely random figure thrown out here in a speculative article written by one of the staff members a few months ago and all of the haters latched onto it like it came from directly from Bioware.
Which it did not.
I would definitely agree that if Bioware had spent $150 million on developing ToR there had better be some damn space combat! But since we really have no idea how much they've spent on development.... well....
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Nor would I make it to "mimic" movies, and have someone "whisper" in the ear of the player that he's the uberest uberduper hero ever... The player would be an average Joe/Jane in the huge galaxy, making his and hers way to greatness or the shadows.
But space... would be important... We're talking Star Wars here...
Exactly this was my original point. People are trying to justify what Bioware are doing , quite frankly I couldn't give a crap other than they are designing a SW mmo different to anyone else would if they had $150 million and a blank piece of paper.
Stop throwing your imaginary 150 million USD , it is a made up figure holds no water. People do not have to justify what Bioware are doing and neither do Bioware the sales will do the talking.
Whatever your perception is of what a Star Wars IP related game should be is fine , but please if you do not allow the developers to deliver the game they wish to. You will never get to enjoy it as your false expectation will overtake reality and ruin the game for you. Sad but true.
________________________________________________________ Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel
Star Wars without space is like an English Pub without beer. It is WOW with light sabres. How original.
Is that why pretty much everything star wars is focused, you know, on the ground? movies, shows and games, all focus on teh ground with space usually just filling in travel witht eh occasional battle, or escape, hardly engaging gameplay material.
These "its not star wars without space" people really must not know star wars all that well if they dont know its not focused on space.
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling" Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.
Space battles were a very tiny, tiny, tiny, part of Star Wars. All the major actioin occurredon the ground.
First of all, this is simply not true. But i don't really want to have a lore geek-out, so i'll leave it at that.
Second, if SWG taught developers anything it's that people want to play the iconic roles from the star wars movies. Both of the major characters in the original trilogy were pilots (Luke and Han). Han was also a smuggler. It's pretty hard to live the life of a smuggler without a ship to smuggle things in, etc. In the second trilogy, the only reason Anakin was involved at all was because he was a pod pilot.
Now, i do agree that for the sake of initial launch or easier implementation, it's probably better to just put in a loading screen with a picture of a little ship for travel and maybe some cinematics showing what's going on in the air/space during big battles. But to recreate a galaxy where space travel and associated perils are a major part of life and conflict, you have to have space gameplay.
The argument for having a smaller world so you're more likely to run into people has some merit, but it's not my preference. I also don't think TOR will have major population issues. I think there will be enough players to fill as many zones as they decided to have (in other words, don't be afraid that you won't have anyone in the ground zones because people are in the space zones).
This is exactly what I was trying to say in a previous post, but you put it so much more eloquently!
I think some of the more defensive reactions to those of us who would like to see the game released with space combat are forgetting that pilots are an iconic role in Star Wars... all Star Wars movies had them. The books I read had a spaceflight and combat element to them.
It's only some games that did not. It's fine for a single player game in my view, but it's feels a little off to me to have a virtual, persistent world that does not.
Even in the old PnP role playing game version of Star Wars there was a pilot class. I remember it well, because I made one.
Is that why pretty much everything star wars is focused, you know, on the ground? movies, shows and games, all focus on teh ground with space usually just filling in travel witht eh occasional battle, or escape, hardly engaging gameplay material.
These "its not star wars without space" people really must not know star wars all that well if they dont know its not focused on space.
I don't think anyone here is saying that they want the game to be *focused* on spaceflight and combat. We just wish it was included.
These "its not star wars without space" people really must not know star wars all that well if they dont know its not focused on space.
I know star wars pretty well. I'll admit I can't recall exact dates and names of things, but I've watched all the films, I've read 50+ novels and I've played countless games. I even have an RPG guidebook someplace (which has detailed ship info btw). I clearly remember at the very least: X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, Rebel Assault, Rebellion and Star Wars Galaxies having space components. I think Jedi Knight and KOTOR did not.
Here is a reminder - not form me, but from Wookiepedia - about the 3 major battles that took place in the original trilogy. Feel free to browse the links the see exactly how much aerial/space and ground forces were involved in all 3 engagements.
Is that why pretty much everything star wars is focused, you know, on the ground? movies, shows and games, all focus on teh ground with space usually just filling in travel witht eh occasional battle, or escape, hardly engaging gameplay material.
These "its not star wars without space" people really must not know star wars all that well if they dont know its not focused on space.
I don't think anyone here is saying that they want the game to be *focused* on spaceflight and combat. We just wish it was included.
Well yes, I think the majority of people here have been answering a different question to the one I originally asked. justifying it this or that way ot $150 isn't the the amount they actually got or Bioware are doing for this reason or that reason...
I completely understand all of these views.
However I simply asked if YOU WERE GIVEN $150 MILLION to design a SW game would you include space/stars in it? It's a retorical question really because I believe everyone posting here would say yes, why wouldn't you?
THE SECRET WORLD - PAY ONCE PLAY FOREVER - Give it a go!
Players do not want to feel overwhelmed with what will be 2 seperate games, you do not want to fragment your community at the very start with those there for space and those there for ground play, it provides a perfect expansion opportunity so is a no brainer from a business perspective.
These are the two reasons I thought of as well. I think you are absolutely correct.
My favorite Star Wars games were KOTOR, Jedi Academy, Star Wars Galaxies (before NGE ofcourse) and Lego Star Wars. Out of those, there was only really space in Galaxies. So whether or not TOR will have space flight/combat doesn't influence me one way or the other, though it would be nice to have it, I would rather they do one thing properly and work out a way to do space properly if they even do it at all.
However I simply asked if YOU WERE GIVEN $150 MILLION to design a SW game would you include space/stars in it? It's a retorical question really because I believe everyone posting here would say yes, why wouldn't you?
It depends if in the course of the first stages of the project it became apparent that with the resources (talent pool, money) it wouldn't be possible to do the space combat and areas as well as the ground areas right, then I would have my teams focus on making the worlds exceptional for launch, giving them more time to think and try out several alternatives for space implementation, so that when I implement it in a follow up expansion, it could be as excellent and immersive as the planets.
I'd think of a SWG as an example, that it could be done this way.
I'm no game director of course, but this would be my thinking.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
These "its not star wars without space" people really must not know star wars all that well if they dont know its not focused on space.
I know star wars pretty well. I'll admit I can't recall exact dates and names of things, but I've watched all the films, I've read 50+ novels and I've played countless games. I even have an RPG guidebook someplace (which has detailed ship info btw). I clearly remember at the very least: X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, Rebel Assault, Rebellion and Star Wars Galaxies having space components. I think Jedi Knight and KOTOR did not.
Here is a reminder - not form me, but from Wookiepedia - about the 3 major battles that took place in the original trilogy. Feel free to browse the links the see exactly how much aerial/space and ground forces were involved in all 3 engagements.
Highlight: Lando piloting the Millennium Falcon leads starfighter attack on Death Star II
That was cool, everyone remembers good old Admiral Ackbar's "it's a trap!" However, I remember the ground battle there a lot better. Han, Leia, Chewie, some rebels and ewoks taking on AT-STs and a bunch of stormtroopers was pretty chaotic fun.
"Star Wars" doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be space combat. Planets can be considered stars or even thinking of it as a story that takes place among the stars. Don't take stuff so literally. I feel like a broken record having to repeat myself
I'd prefer a Star Wars game launch with both ground and space combat but after playing SWG for almost a year with no space combat and seeing how fun that was I don't see it as a no brainer anymore nor an even relevant question as it has now been prove a Star Wars game can have a successful launch sans space flight/combat.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
"Star Wars" doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be space combat. Planets can be considered stars or even thinking of it as a story that takes place among the stars.
That wasn't my point. I'm not arguing that ground action has no place in star wars. I'm simply pointing out that space is and has always been a major part of what makes Star Wars - as much as anything that happened on the ground.
It's also the main point of difference between Star Wars and other fantasy games - if it was just dudes with swords and magic running around, it really wouldn't be nearly as special.
p.s. About the posters... if you really want to get into semantics of "what is bigger", then for the sake of this argument it's not really "characters vs. ships", it's really "ground locations vs. ships". Characters are involved in both. And there is very little in the way of ground stuff depicted on the posters. But as I said, that isn't my point. My point is that space is a major part of star wars, so is stuff on the ground. To properly represent life in the universe, both should be included. I agree that it doesn't necessarily need to be at launch due to budget constraints, etc.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
I'm guilty of reading absolutely none of this thread except the title, but that's as far as I needed to go to realize the OP is missing some history.
Star Wars Galaxies had no space flight/combat until the expansion of Jump to Lightspeed.
Other popular Star Wars games without space flight/combat:
The Force Unleashed
KOTOR
KOTOR II
Oh shoot, you know what, those last two games were also made by the same folks who are making SWTOR....
Honestly I'd be shocked if there WERE space combat in SWTOR at launch, considering the basis for the game is the KOTOR franchise.
And the only reason you have the player spaceship housing that they announced at E3 is because of another BioWare title that did the same thing: Mass Effect.
Your player starship, for the start, will essentially be a mobile house/home base--think of the Normandy in the Mass Effect games.
Honestly that's pretty sweet, even if you don't fly the thing anywhere except as an instance-changer. Other mainstream MMO's (WoW being the biggest) don't offer jack shit for player housing. SWTOR is getting a + by having it in the way of customizable ship-ness, right from the start.
And yes, even that is more than SWG did at launch.
So in answer to the thread title question....tons of people, apparently. And they've done pretty well for it.
Currently playing: LOTRO, Guild Wars 2. Have played: EVE Online; Champions Online; Age of Conan; City of Heroes/Villains; Star Wars Galaxies (pre-CU, pre-NGE); World of Warcraft (Vanilla to Cataclysm); Hellgate: London; Warhammer Online; Lord of the Rings Online; Vanguard: Saga of Heroes; Star Wars: The Old Republic Wishlist: Mass Effect Online
Its Star Wars: The Old Republic for a reason.. and very much is a throwback to the single player knights games.
Theres no space combat in those yet theyre incredibly awesome. Now.. is it correct or makes sense. No, not to me.
But that's not the question you asked.
Sadly, the old single player KOTOR game was terrible. I honestly can't believe it was as popular as it was. The maps were ridiculous. The gameplay couldn't have been easier. The only good thing about the game was that the fights looked cool. It was the equivalent of a modern day action movie like Transformers where literally it's only redeeming quality is how cool it looks.
Such movies and video games are, at best, interactive screen savers.
I'm guilty of reading absolutely none of this thread except the title, but that's as far as I needed to go to realize the OP is missing some history.
Star Wars Galaxies had no space flight/combat until the expansion of Jump to Lightspeed.
Other popular Star Wars games without space flight/combat:
The Force Unleashed
KOTOR
KOTOR II
Oh shoot, you know what, those last two games were also made by the same folks who are making SWTOR....
Honestly I'd be shocked if there WERE space combat in SWTOR at launch, considering the basis for the game is the KOTOR franchise.
And the only reason you have the player spaceship housing that they announced at E3 is because of another BioWare title that did the same thing: Mass Effect.
Your player starship, for the start, will essentially be a mobile house/home base--think of the Normandy in the Mass Effect games.
Honestly that's pretty sweet, even if you don't fly the thing anywhere except as an instance-changer. Other mainstream MMO's (WoW being the biggest) don't offer jack shit for player housing. SWTOR is getting a + by having it in the way of customizable ship-ness, right from the start.
And yes, even that is more than SWG did at launch.
So in answer to the thread title question....tons of people, apparently. And they've done pretty well for it.
Well if you're replying to this thread you're also guilty of answering a different question which is what most people seem to be doing.
What is wrong people who are rpelying to this thread, YOU ARE ANSWERING A DIFFERENT QUESTION TO WHAT I ASKED.
THE SECRET WORLD - PAY ONCE PLAY FOREVER - Give it a go!
Well if you're replying to this thread you're also guilty of answering a different question which is what most people seem to be doing.
What is wrong people who are rpelying to this thread, YOU ARE ANSWERING A DIFFERENT QUESTION TO WHAT I ASKED.
... Ehm:
Originally posted by cyphers
Originally posted by bluefunk
However I simply asked if YOU WERE GIVEN $150 MILLION to design a SW game would you include space/stars in it? It's a retorical question really because I believe everyone posting here would say yes, why wouldn't you?
It depends if in the course of the first stages of the project it became apparent that with the resources (talent pool, money) it wouldn't be possible to do the space combat and areas as well as the ground areas right, then I would have my teams focus on making the worlds exceptional for launch, giving them more time to think and try out several alternatives for space implementation, so that when I implement it in a follow up expansion, it could be as excellent and immersive as the planets.
I'd think of a SWG as an example, that it could be done this way.
I'm no game director of course, but this would be my thinking.
Not me, did answer the right question in a former post
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Well if you're replying to this thread you're also guilty of answering a different question which is what most people seem to be doing.
What is wrong people who are rpelying to this thread, YOU ARE ANSWERING A DIFFERENT QUESTION TO WHAT I ASKED.
Given that your response options for the questions were clearly meant to be sarcastic, I think most people would be correct to assume that the question was rhetorical (why would a crazy homeless person, a dog or a doctor be designing a star wars MMO?).
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
Well if you're replying to this thread you're also guilty of answering a different question which is what most people seem to be doing.
What is wrong people who are rpelying to this thread, YOU ARE ANSWERING A DIFFERENT QUESTION TO WHAT I ASKED.
Given that your response options for the questions were clearly meant to be sarcastic, I think most people would be correct to assume that the question was rhetorical (why would a crazy homeless person, a dog or a doctor be designing a star wars MMO?).
Comments
Well sometimes a game doing too much to please everyone could loose its focus and become lackluster due to loss of focus as to what experience they want to portray to their target audience. STO tried to do both space and ground missions, and it seemed to fall apart somewhere between the two concepts.
Maybe Bioware wants to try focussing on just one aspect for SWTOR, get right upon release, and if successful, who knows maybe new gameplay mechanics such as space combat will come later on. At this point all we can do is speculate.
/shrugs
STO fell apart, but it wasn't due to having both ground and space. Having quests that had you go between both was actually one of the few highlights of the awful game. (e.g.: chase an enemy ship, disable, board and fight, etc.)
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
If I got to make a SW MMO...
Space would be an important part of it.
Nor would I make it to "mimic" movies, and have someone "whisper" in the ear of the player that he's the uberest uberduper hero ever... The player would be an average Joe/Jane in the huge galaxy, making his and hers way to greatness or the shadows.
But space... would be important... We're talking Star Wars here...
The reason TOR doesn't or hasnt mentioned space flight, is because it wouldn't work with their game. Atleast from mechanics I've looked into.
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Exactly this was my original point. People are trying to justify what Bioware are doing , quite frankly I couldn't give a crap other than they are designing a SW mmo different to anyone else would if they had $150 million and a blank piece of paper.
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I could care less if there's space or not. Not having it worked just fine for KOTOR, so I don't really care either way.
I just felt a need to point out that the $150 million price tag people keep throwing around has absolutely no bearing on facts or reality.
For all we know Bioware could have spent $10-20 million on the game, or $5 billion. The $150 million was a completely random figure thrown out here in a speculative article written by one of the staff members a few months ago and all of the haters latched onto it like it came from directly from Bioware.
Which it did not.
I would definitely agree that if Bioware had spent $150 million on developing ToR there had better be some damn space combat! But since we really have no idea how much they've spent on development.... well....
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Stop throwing your imaginary 150 million USD , it is a made up figure holds no water. People do not have to justify what Bioware are doing and neither do Bioware the sales will do the talking.
Whatever your perception is of what a Star Wars IP related game should be is fine , but please if you do not allow the developers to deliver the game they wish to. You will never get to enjoy it as your false expectation will overtake reality and ruin the game for you. Sad but true.
________________________________________________________
Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel
Is that why pretty much everything star wars is focused, you know, on the ground? movies, shows and games, all focus on teh ground with space usually just filling in travel witht eh occasional battle, or escape, hardly engaging gameplay material.
These "its not star wars without space" people really must not know star wars all that well if they dont know its not focused on space.
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling"
Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.
This is exactly what I was trying to say in a previous post, but you put it so much more eloquently!
I think some of the more defensive reactions to those of us who would like to see the game released with space combat are forgetting that pilots are an iconic role in Star Wars... all Star Wars movies had them. The books I read had a spaceflight and combat element to them.
It's only some games that did not. It's fine for a single player game in my view, but it's feels a little off to me to have a virtual, persistent world that does not.
Even in the old PnP role playing game version of Star Wars there was a pilot class. I remember it well, because I made one.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
I don't think anyone here is saying that they want the game to be *focused* on spaceflight and combat. We just wish it was included.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
I know star wars pretty well. I'll admit I can't recall exact dates and names of things, but I've watched all the films, I've read 50+ novels and I've played countless games. I even have an RPG guidebook someplace (which has detailed ship info btw). I clearly remember at the very least: X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, Rebel Assault, Rebellion and Star Wars Galaxies having space components. I think Jedi Knight and KOTOR did not.
Here is a reminder - not form me, but from Wookiepedia - about the 3 major battles that took place in the original trilogy. Feel free to browse the links the see exactly how much aerial/space and ground forces were involved in all 3 engagements.
Star Wars: Battle of Yavin
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Yavin
Highlight: Red 5 X-Wing piloted by Luke Skywalker destroys Death Star as part of major assault.
The Empire Strikes Back: Battle of Hoth
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Hoth_(Galactic_Civil_War)
Highlight: Luke Skywalker leads Rogue Squadron - piloting Snowspeeders - in defence.
Return of the Jedi: Battle of Endor
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Endor
Highlight: Lando piloting the Millennium Falcon leads starfighter attack on Death Star II
oh and hey, here is the original poster for Star Wars - check it out - it has a whole bunch of ships and space on it! http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/jik2.jpg
oh and hey, here is the empire strikes back one, again ships and space! it's almost as thought space and ships are part of what makes Star Wars, eh? http://www.smartbizconnection.com/movie_posters_9_files/image021.jpg
but wait, surely this can't be on the posters for all 3 films! can it? oh crap, ships and space again on the Return of the Jedi original poster: http://tf.org/images/covers/ReturnOfTheJediPoster1983.jpg
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Well yes, I think the majority of people here have been answering a different question to the one I originally asked. justifying it this or that way ot $150 isn't the the amount they actually got or Bioware are doing for this reason or that reason...
I completely understand all of these views.
However I simply asked if YOU WERE GIVEN $150 MILLION to design a SW game would you include space/stars in it? It's a retorical question really because I believe everyone posting here would say yes, why wouldn't you?
THE SECRET WORLD - PAY ONCE PLAY FOREVER - Give it a go!
http://www.thesecretworld.com/buy/
OR PM ME FOR A BUDDY KEY (need your email address).
These are the two reasons I thought of as well. I think you are absolutely correct.
My favorite Star Wars games were KOTOR, Jedi Academy, Star Wars Galaxies (before NGE ofcourse) and Lego Star Wars. Out of those, there was only really space in Galaxies. So whether or not TOR will have space flight/combat doesn't influence me one way or the other, though it would be nice to have it, I would rather they do one thing properly and work out a way to do space properly if they even do it at all.
It depends if in the course of the first stages of the project it became apparent that with the resources (talent pool, money) it wouldn't be possible to do the space combat and areas as well as the ground areas right, then I would have my teams focus on making the worlds exceptional for launch, giving them more time to think and try out several alternatives for space implementation, so that when I implement it in a follow up expansion, it could be as excellent and immersive as the planets.
I'd think of a SWG as an example, that it could be done this way.
I'm no game director of course, but this would be my thinking.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I'd prefer a Star Wars game launch with both ground and space combat but after playing SWG for almost a year with no space combat and seeing how fun that was I don't see it as a no brainer anymore nor an even relevant question as it has now been prove a Star Wars game can have a successful launch sans space flight/combat.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
That wasn't my point. I'm not arguing that ground action has no place in star wars. I'm simply pointing out that space is and has always been a major part of what makes Star Wars - as much as anything that happened on the ground.
It's also the main point of difference between Star Wars and other fantasy games - if it was just dudes with swords and magic running around, it really wouldn't be nearly as special.
p.s. About the posters... if you really want to get into semantics of "what is bigger", then for the sake of this argument it's not really "characters vs. ships", it's really "ground locations vs. ships". Characters are involved in both. And there is very little in the way of ground stuff depicted on the posters. But as I said, that isn't my point. My point is that space is a major part of star wars, so is stuff on the ground. To properly represent life in the universe, both should be included. I agree that it doesn't necessarily need to be at launch due to budget constraints, etc.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
I'm guilty of reading absolutely none of this thread except the title, but that's as far as I needed to go to realize the OP is missing some history.
Star Wars Galaxies had no space flight/combat until the expansion of Jump to Lightspeed.
Other popular Star Wars games without space flight/combat:
The Force Unleashed
KOTOR
KOTOR II
Oh shoot, you know what, those last two games were also made by the same folks who are making SWTOR....
Honestly I'd be shocked if there WERE space combat in SWTOR at launch, considering the basis for the game is the KOTOR franchise.
And the only reason you have the player spaceship housing that they announced at E3 is because of another BioWare title that did the same thing: Mass Effect.
Your player starship, for the start, will essentially be a mobile house/home base--think of the Normandy in the Mass Effect games.
Honestly that's pretty sweet, even if you don't fly the thing anywhere except as an instance-changer. Other mainstream MMO's (WoW being the biggest) don't offer jack shit for player housing. SWTOR is getting a + by having it in the way of customizable ship-ness, right from the start.
And yes, even that is more than SWG did at launch.
So in answer to the thread title question....tons of people, apparently. And they've done pretty well for it.
Currently playing: LOTRO, Guild Wars 2.
Have played: EVE Online; Champions Online; Age of Conan; City of Heroes/Villains; Star Wars Galaxies (pre-CU, pre-NGE); World of Warcraft (Vanilla to Cataclysm); Hellgate: London; Warhammer Online; Lord of the Rings Online; Vanguard: Saga of Heroes; Star Wars: The Old Republic
Wishlist: Mass Effect Online
Sadly, the old single player KOTOR game was terrible. I honestly can't believe it was as popular as it was. The maps were ridiculous. The gameplay couldn't have been easier. The only good thing about the game was that the fights looked cool. It was the equivalent of a modern day action movie like Transformers where literally it's only redeeming quality is how cool it looks.
Such movies and video games are, at best, interactive screen savers.
Well if you're replying to this thread you're also guilty of answering a different question which is what most people seem to be doing.
What is wrong people who are rpelying to this thread, YOU ARE ANSWERING A DIFFERENT QUESTION TO WHAT I ASKED.
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The Star Wars Universe is not soley based off of space combat so not having it at launch is no big deal.
... Ehm:
Not me, did answer the right question in a former post
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Given that your response options for the questions were clearly meant to be sarcastic, I think most people would be correct to assume that the question was rhetorical (why would a crazy homeless person, a dog or a doctor be designing a star wars MMO?).
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
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