SWTOR

[Fordel]

Isn't SoE making a CloneWars MMO with the FreeRealm engine/model?

Or am I completely fucking high?

[Lantyssa]

I've seen one mention of it, here somewhere.  I'm so fucking there if they do it, however I am taking the rumor with a grain of salt until I hear something more concrete.

It's possible your recollection was of me mentioning it in IRC or WoW.

[Fordel]

That's completely possible, perhaps this is how rumors start 

[HaemishM]

So I'm really not sure what your beef is. I think we actually agree.

Story is not a gamble.  Core MMO players might not care, but their options are Swords & Sorcery Diku; Eve; or shit that doesn't even bear mentioning because it's too niche, too broken, or is atrophying away.

Most of the time, it's all 3.

There is plenty of room for Diku in space because people are getting bored with fucking swords and sorcery.

So the alternative is apparently LASER SWORDS and MYSTICAL MIND POWERS.

[LK]

Have they shown ANY gameplay yet?

[Draegan]

Yes they have.  You should use google.

[Malakili]

Have they shown ANY gameplay yet?

Yeah, my person opinion is that it doesn't look all that interesting, though some may disagree.  I'd like to see a nice in depth video of the cover system for the scoundrel class, thats the sort of thing that could definitely pique my interest if its done well.  It looks like fairly standard MMO fare though, from what I've seen thus far.  Action bars, abilities, standing in open shooting each other.

[DLRiley]

Have they shown ANY gameplay yet?

Yeah, my person opinion is that it doesn't look all that interesting, though some may disagree.  I'd like to see a nice in depth video of the cover system for the scoundrel class, thats the sort of thing that could definitely pique my interest if its done well.  It looks like fairly standard MMO fare though, from what I've seen thus far.  Action bars, abilities, standing in open shooting each other.

I wonder what type of "this is GENIUS" mindset must be floating around in Austin if they purposely design the scout and scout only to be the only class that can take cover. In a game where the average weapon amongst 3/4th of the characters is a gun why oh why do they think that every other class except one needs to go into every fire fight red coat style. though technically that is true of the star wars verse fighters who aren't han solo...

[Fordel]

I've read a few reviews that seem to imply all the gun classes can use cover to some degree, but with how limited the information is, who knows.



I really want the Trooper class to be able to use cover. I also really want this game to not suck.



Odds are not in my favour :(

[Lakov_Sanite]

Exactly what HaemishM said. Star wars isn't sci-fi, its higher-tech fantasy but it's still fantasy.

[Musashi]

Exactly what HaemishM said. Star wars isn't sci-fi, its higher-tech fantasy but it's still fantasy.

I feel pretty good about recognizing and avoiding what could possibly be the nerdiest argument in history.

[WindupAtheist]

Please, not even top five for this board in the last 12 months.

[Musashi]

YOU WOULD KNOW!

[Soln]

I've read a few reviews that seem to imply all the gun classes can use cover to some degree, but with how limited the information is, who knows.



I really want the Trooper class to be able to use cover. I also really want this game to not suck.



Odds are not in my favour :(

imperial agents get a portable shield as cover:

In the heat of battle, the Imperial Agent can activate a field of energy to protect from oncoming blasterfire.

http://swtor.com/info/holonet/classes/imperial-agent

[Lakov_Sanite]

Translation: They get a cooldown which allows them to have a boosted dodge bonus vs ranged attacks.

Don't pretend this game isn't just another diku and will somehow use cover or any sort of fps elements.  Same bullshit WAR fans fell for too.

[jakonovski]

One thing that might save this is that from all the footage I've seen, there are no loading screens between areas (except planets naturally). That's like the single most important factor of MMO immersion for me. 

[Cyrrex]

Yes, just so long as it is one long contiguous experience, then the game will be saved.  Clearly, lack of loading screens will what makes or breaks a Star Wars MMO made by Bizarro Bioware.

 

[Count Nerfedalot]

well, it certainly did wonders in saving SWG! 

[Malakili]

Yes, just so long as it is one long contiguous experience, then the game will be saved.  Clearly, lack of loading screens will what makes or breaks a Star Wars MMO made by Bizarro Bioware.

 

Not to mention the fact that given the fact that they are trumping up this idea of individual story stuff, its going to HAVE to be instanced heavily.   If its heavily instanced, there is pretty much going to have to be lots of loading.

[jakonovski]

Yes, just so long as it is one long contiguous experience, then the game will be saved.  Clearly, lack of loading screens will what makes or breaks a Star Wars MMO made by Bizarro Bioware.

 

Are you suggesting that pleasing me isn't the surest way to success?!

[Spiff]

A Dev-post just landed as the Good Friday update:
http://forums.f13.net/index.php?action=post;topic=15047.3045;num_replies=3064

Reads a little like they're trying to rebuke the rumours SWOR will be more of an MSO than an MMO.
Mostly a very clever marketing-post of course; vague enough not to pigeon-hole anything, yet a few specifics in there (once again the multi-player conversation options) and sprinkled with some MMO pop-history for street-cred, just enough to wet my appetite once again.

A more interesting read than most on an MMO-in-development forum though to me and fun to compare the slickness of such a dev-post to that of so many others on recent, and not so recent, MMO's (amply discussed on this forum  ).
Whatever SWOR turns out to be, their pre-launch is pretty flawless so far I'd say (for whatever that's worth).

[taolurker]

A Dev-post just landed as the Good Friday update:
http://forums.f13.net/index.php?action=post;topic=15047.3045;num_replies=3064

Reads a little like they're trying to rebuke the rumours SWOR will be more of an MSO than an MMO.
Mostly a very clever marketing-post of course; vague enough not to pigeon-hole anything, yet a few specifics in there (once again the multi-player conversation options) and sprinkled with some MMO pop-history for street-cred, just enough to wet my appetite once again.

A more interesting read than most on an MMO-in-development forum though to me and fun to compare the slickness of such a dev-post to that of so many others on recent, and not so recent, MMO's (amply discussed on this forum  ).
Whatever SWOR turns out to be, their pre-launch is pretty flawless so far I'd say (for whatever that's worth).

Forum FAIL

Link is: http://www.swtor.com/news/blog/20100402_001

[eldaec]

To be fair there were a lot of 'this is not really a MMOG' noises coming from Bioware back when we were still debating if it was likely to be KOTORO or not.

tbh, if this turns out to be single player rpg with a co-op multiplayer option, and they are just using the mmog tag to justify the subscription and ubi-soft style drm, then it probably bodes well for the quality of the game, if not for longevity of it.

[Sheepherder]

Are you suggesting that pleasing me isn't the surest way to success?!

That's what she said.

[Venkman]

To be fair there were a lot of 'this is not really a MMOG' noises coming from Bioware back when we were still debating if it was likely to be KOTORO or not.

tbh, if this turns out to be single player rpg with a co-op multiplayer option, and they are just using the mmog tag to justify the subscription and ubi-soft style drm, then it probably bodes well for the quality of the game, if not for longevity of it.

This.

[schild]

To be fair there were a lot of 'this is not really a MMOG' noises coming from Bioware back when we were still debating if it was likely to be KOTORO or not.

tbh, if this turns out to be single player rpg with a co-op multiplayer option, and they are just using the mmog tag to justify the subscription and ubi-soft style drm, then it probably bodes well for the quality of the game, if not for longevity of it.

This.

[Goreschach]

Are there really that many people who would be willing to pay a sub for a single player game?

[Stabs]

Are there really that many people who would be willing to pay a sub for a single player game?

Before Dungeon Finder WoW was essentially a single player game with a multiplayer context. You soloed your quests, you essentially soloed in battlegrounds, you soloed dailies, you soloed the auction house. (Raiding is an exception but there have been times when most WoW players did not raid).

WoW has now changed but I think it shows it's possible to get people to pay subs for soloing in a world where after they solo they can compare with other people.

Most people work for the "omg! you have Tier 3 armour!" moments and will flow along the path of least resistance to get it without especially caring about the company they are required to keep along the way.

[Goreschach]

Before Dungeon Finder WoW was essentially a single player game with a multiplayer context.

That's really stupid.

[Sheepherder]

WoW has now changed but I think it shows it's possible to get people to pay subs for soloing in a world where after they solo they can compare with other people.

It's proven nothing: expansion launches, interest is kindled and zones are densely populated, time passes and those zones empty until they're deserted again.  It's only a single player game in the zones where almost nobody except the people who are batshit insane with altitis are playing.  Which is a problematic sales pitch because the zones are nearly deserted because nobody is interested in playing there anymore in the first place.

[Zzulo]

Before Dungeon Finder WoW was essentially a single player game with a multiplayer context. You soloed your quests, you essentially soloed in battlegrounds, you soloed dailies, you soloed the auction house.

Not really, no.

[Stabs]

Let me clarify.

For multiplayer to be part of the draw there has to be interaction with other players that matters to the person playing.

For many WoW players this really wasn't the case.

Tons of people running around Howling Fjord didn't care that other people were trying to do it too. People firing into the zerg on the road in AV could just as easily have been shooting AI-controlled mobs. AH is a numbers game, many people who play it simply play it for the enjoyment of seeing numbers get bigger or the utility of having more spending power rather than a sense of beating off competitors.

The context is am I doing better than other people? but the playstyle is solo.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I tried playing wow on a private server, it;s not a solo game. You just don't realize how much the absence of other players, even if you dont interact with them, really matters.

[Fordel]

Don't you just love going to a football game and being the only person in the stands?

[Lantyssa]

Par for the course in Houston.