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All the side quests destroy story immersion for me
Creslin321
Member Posts: 5,359
So I've had a chance to get what I would consider a good chunk of SWTOR at this point. I've got a level 16 Sorceror and a plethora of other characters around 11. One thing I've noticed is that (IMO) the game just lacks the "story magic" that I remember from SP Bioware (or BW style) RPGs.
For example, in ME, DA, NWN, PS:T, and other similar games, I'm always excited to learn more about my party, my character, and the plot in general. My interest in the story drives me forward more than anything else.
But in SWTOR...this just hasn't been the case for me, and I think I know why.
You see, in an SPRPG, you normally participate in a "story sequence" and then you have to do some kind of mission related to the story sequence. You may wind up doing something else during your mission, but in general, the game tries to keep you very focused on the story. It often does this by using cleverly paced cutscenes while you're on the mission to help maintain the sense of urgency.
But in SWTOR, this is how it usually goes. You see a "story sequence" for the main story, but then you pick up like 4 or 5 side quests that are completely unrelated in exception for the fact that their objectives are around where you were going anyway. Each of these sidequests have their own "mini-story sequences" as well to try to make them more interesting.
But for me the end-result is always that I run off to an area with what I feel like is a list of errands. And by the time I finish my main quest and all the errands, I usually forget what the heck was going on with the main quest. It almost feels like coming back to an interesting TV show after a very long commercial break. It always goes something like this...
"Okay, I need to stop Darth what's-his-name before he destroys the planet!" (main story)
"Oh but Betty needs some medicine so I may as well pick that up to"
"Ah and captain Johnny needs me to kill 20 Trandoshians and shut down a comm relay"
"Oh yeah...don't forget, Bill wanted me to find his son.
"Whew okay, glad that's done...now what was I doing again???"
So I just find myself not as interested in the main story as I am in SPRPGs. Does anyone else feel similar?
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
Comments
its because In an MMO they need to fill all those gaps with kill x and y stuff because if not people would be done with the story and only be level 20.. its also another reason this type of story telling is much better suited for single player games and not MMOs
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/339443/Video-FollowUp-Guide-For-Enhancing-Graphics-and-Performance-in-SWTORSorry-still-Nvidia-Only.html
Hehe if this "MMO" didnt have side quests of kill X and collect Y on the sides of it this game would be like FF13 a Straight lined Movie to the finish..
You know, upon further review, I think that the "everything is voiced" feature kind of hurts the game in a way.
VO/cutscene is like a spotlight. When you see a voiced sequence or one with a cutscene, you know it's important. The problem is that when EVERYTHING is voiced, there is no more spotlight. It seems like saving Bob's prized chicken is just as important as your main class storyline.
I kind of wish they would have just had normal text or something for side missions...it would have helped keep the focus squarely on the main storyline where it belongs.
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
Yeah, it's basically true. Getting into all those sidequests and other stuff (like Warzones and space missions), your main story arc loses its momentum and weight a bit.
The thing is, even in those single player games I sometimes disliked the fact that the story was interrupted by combat!!
This is pretty much exactly the same as in Mass Effect and Dragons Age, you know that, right? In Dragons Agem you have to stop the Blight before it engulfs the world, but you still end up hunting down stuff for random people, do archaeology for the dwarves, help an elf out with his love life, play veterinarian, help or bust smugglers. In Mass Effect, you are CONSTANTLY getting calls to help the Alliance (or whatever they are called) find X military squad on some random planet, or help some Asari diplomat murder her sister for political gain and some cash.
These tangential "errand" quests that you do along with the urgent main story are nothing new at all.
I realize that SPRPG have side quests as well, I even said that in my OP. But the point is that "focus" isn't something that you can measure in discrete terms. It's not "it has side quests that distract from the story" or "it does not..."
Basically, all I am saying is that I feel SPRPGs in general did a much better job at keeping the player focused on the main narrative than SWTOR does.
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
That's the problem with mmorpgs, you've got to earn the XP somehow.
So, in a time in which they roam space in giant ships they can't programm a droid to get 8 x bantha poo, they've got to send a jedi knight for this "task".
But in return, you get the quest with voice overs...and since this is supposed to be the major innovation, it must be worth it i guess.
Honestly I agree. And I think the problem is they are trying to adapt their SRPG storytelling mechanic to an MMO on top of the old questing mechanic.
It would've been better (IMO), to change the questing mechanic a bit. Ditch the main overarching storyline, by breaking it up into multiple ones. What do I mean by this? Maybe have a main storyline for each planet, and a few that carry between planets. Hell, why not even have the 'main story' be territorial, empire vs. republic. The universe is already set up for that. Each person's story could effect their faction either positively or negatively, effecting the overall outcome. Complex to design, yes, but far more immersive imo.
As we've seen over and over again, single player & multiplayer mechanics are 2 different beasts, and they just need to be treated as such, instead of trying to sandwich one into the other, or visa versa.
Yeah I totally agree.
I feel like the overarching main storyline and the MMORPG aspects of the game are basically like oil and water. They just don't mix well. I think it would have been much better if they did it as you say, smaller, but interesting, storylines that you can choose to complete at your leisure.
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
Hell yea...nailed it.
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Most planets, like Balmorra, Tatoiine and Alderaan actually have fairly interesting sidequests, as they relate to the lore of that planet. I particulary enjoyed Tatoiine and Alderaan, both had great side story. It is also quite different what you typically get from those first two planets. You have one comprehensive side story, plus some filler quests closely related or just completely unrelated. That "planet" story is usually one that is the main thing along side with your class quest. And you also get a bonus series that continues the main planet story. In case of Nar Shaddaa, for example, you get to go to Alderaan, and once you come back you have few more things to do in Nar Shaddaa as a bonus series.
The first two planets are bad examples. I found that you had perhaps too much voice acting and cutscenes, but later planets have a lot better balance in that. And also stories have been thought out much better. I am off to Hoth next and I again expect to have one story for the planet that goes along side with my class story, and I am quite looking forward to it. Gotta say that doing these quests with a small group, is even more fun, as you get to interact in the dialogue options, which creates immersion.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
Personally I think they would have been better off only having the main story line quests go into "cutscene mode" everytime you get or turn in a quest. The rest could have still been voice acted but just with no cutscene. I think it would have made the game flow much better. As it was in beta, having to wait for the damn scene to load for every stinking quest made the game feel too much like those crappy interactive DVD games. And after a few levels that just made the game drag like hell for me.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
Sorry, but no. You arguably get too many cut scenes in the first few worlds. This argument is mostly offered by people who only played first few levels of the game (1-17). Also, not sure what you mean by "load", as my cutscenes are instant, there is no loading at all.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
I've been playing it casually (lvl 27 after starting during early access) because I've got things to do around here for Christmas. I honestly forget where my main questline is when I pick it back up because of a few things. The side quests do a good job of pulling me into them as well, which takes my mind of the original class quests. The daily warfronts area distraction and I am compelled to do them for some odd reason. The space shottem up dailies are fun so I bust all of them out as soon as I get online. Then you have the Synthweaving I am working on which requires me to work on Arch for the mats and UT for better mats.
I'm not saying that options are a bad thing. They certainly are not. However, immersion has taken a bit of a hit when it comes to the main class story. Which at this point is still fine with me.
I'm honestly outleveling a lot of content so I'm looking forward to re-rolling another toon (not a damn Sage
).
considering much of the story and voice accting takes place via quest and quest help level faster in order to get to more story content it does seem to me your really shooting your self in the foot with this...I dont know maybe its just me.
If you pay attention to the theme on each planet you'll notice that all of the side quests tie into that theme. They aren't directly related to your characters personal adventure, but they are more about your factions activities in that zone.
I actually find them entertaining. My inquisitor decides to help promote the Empires goals on a specific planet, even though they don't directly benefit his goals at the time.
If you like that sort of thing, you can get a very good idea of what the actual factions are up to in these zones. Sure they may be minor quests, but the side stories explain a lot of what's happening in the galaxy.
A shining example of this is the revanite cult quests. I won't spoil it, but if you are a KoTOR fan, this chain is excellent. The quests are not great, but the story tells you a great deal about the empire and the politics going on.
I love the side stuff.
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The difference between doing the quests in a game like Mass Effect and an MMO is the pacing. In an MMO everything is done in a linear fashion, like in the post above - you get four quests to do and they have to be done NOW before you jump into the next chain of quests.
In a single player game like Mass Effect you could get those four quests but you could pick and choose or just go off and do something else. Like, "Okay, I have these four quests, I could do the main one but I think I'll keep that until I do these others.. I'll go get Betty's medicine first and check out her planet while I'm there, do a few sidequests on that planet as well.. then I'll go and down that comm relay.". And then half way through the planet you find another quest that puts you off doing the comm relay because it sounds like something you'd rather be doing instead.
This is the problem with sticking single player elements in an MMO, they just don't mix together. If they'd designed the game differently instead of making a straight copy of every other themepark game they might have been more successful with the idea, but a purely linear game with all these voice overs just starts to become frustrating rather than interesting.