One of the difficult things about expansion for this game is all of the voice dialogue and scene direction that will have to happen. They have to provide acting for any new content that is not just incidental questing (and I think even that gets a voice over from the quuestgiver). I fear the new content in this game will come slower than most for this reason, but it's just a fear, could go the other way too.
Doubt it. The quests are written the same as any other game. Once the quest is written, they make an appointment for the voice actors to come in and say the lines. The same way it happens with tv shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, Clone Wars, etc that have to get a show out each week. And there's probably an algorithm they use to auto-animate facial expressions and camera angles according to the pattern of speech, volume of speech, and who's speaking. It shouldn't take much longer than typical MMO quest updates.
I'm not sure it's that simple. From what I've seen so far, the questing system is going to be much more dynamic then any other questing I've seen in an MMO- look at WoW's latest firelands release. Who knows how long it took them to release that- months, maybe, and it all boils down to a few npcs standing around giving you a task to kill x at y location... bla bla bla. Basically content that isn't all that dynamic or groundbreaking, they even put this whole "token" system thing so players have to grind dailies to complete the new content- but I digress. Normal mmo quests are yawnfests. Blizzard tried with the voice acting in Thrall's quest line but it was meh. ToR is going to have quests that are not only cinematic, but.. they offer players a choice. So not only do we have quests that will have to take unique twists and turns, but the environment they will be in and how your decisions will affect that environment... what each class might bring to the table, in terms of dialogue options, etc. etc...
And then it seems that each class gets it's own quest lines, as well. Unless all the quests tie together into one story line towards the end... I'd imagine their quest updates would have to cater to each specific class. Of course I could be wrong there. They could just release quests that go with any class- but still, it's hardly going to be a typical MMO quest update. ToR's most attractive feature imo is that the quests are far from typical for your average mmo experience.
I don't think the title of the thread is what I'm looking for, but I can't think of anyway to ask my question.
My question is this. From what we know about SWTOR is it designed to add new features or is it designed to basically stay in its current format. For instance, there is a lot of clammer for there to be space combat. It the game designed in such a way that it would be relatively easy for them to add an XWING style gameplay in the future. Also, is the design open enough to add player houseing, more exploration, more PvP, more crafting complexity/options etc.
I know that few people have real experience with the game, but there seems to be enough to speculate on this. Many games come out with features that are planned, or at least open to the potential for additional features.
BioWare is famous for (and good at) building more content. They're not famous (and are bad at) for building mechanics.
So, can you expect 17 MORE planets and 200 MORE hours of storyline per class to be added? My guess would be yes. BioWare is likely to add a lot more of the same stuff you see in game.
Can you expect a different type of space content mechanic, different type (open world) housing and a revamp of their crafting system? I wouldn't hold my breath for it. I mean, anything is possible - this is BW's first MMO after all. But generally, they are just really good of building on their strengths and giving you more of what you had before as opposed to introducing whole new ways to play the game.
Anyhow, obviously this is just one opinion based on 15+ years of BioWare and MMO gaming.
"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
Comments
I'm not sure it's that simple. From what I've seen so far, the questing system is going to be much more dynamic then any other questing I've seen in an MMO- look at WoW's latest firelands release. Who knows how long it took them to release that- months, maybe, and it all boils down to a few npcs standing around giving you a task to kill x at y location... bla bla bla. Basically content that isn't all that dynamic or groundbreaking, they even put this whole "token" system thing so players have to grind dailies to complete the new content- but I digress. Normal mmo quests are yawnfests. Blizzard tried with the voice acting in Thrall's quest line but it was meh. ToR is going to have quests that are not only cinematic, but.. they offer players a choice. So not only do we have quests that will have to take unique twists and turns, but the environment they will be in and how your decisions will affect that environment... what each class might bring to the table, in terms of dialogue options, etc. etc...
And then it seems that each class gets it's own quest lines, as well. Unless all the quests tie together into one story line towards the end... I'd imagine their quest updates would have to cater to each specific class. Of course I could be wrong there. They could just release quests that go with any class- but still, it's hardly going to be a typical MMO quest update. ToR's most attractive feature imo is that the quests are far from typical for your average mmo experience.
BioWare is famous for (and good at) building more content. They're not famous (and are bad at) for building mechanics.
So, can you expect 17 MORE planets and 200 MORE hours of storyline per class to be added? My guess would be yes. BioWare is likely to add a lot more of the same stuff you see in game.
Can you expect a different type of space content mechanic, different type (open world) housing and a revamp of their crafting system? I wouldn't hold my breath for it. I mean, anything is possible - this is BW's first MMO after all. But generally, they are just really good of building on their strengths and giving you more of what you had before as opposed to introducing whole new ways to play the game.
Anyhow, obviously this is just one opinion based on 15+ years of BioWare and MMO gaming.
"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