Star Wars Galaxies

After sitting around having a few beers with old friends last night the conversation inevitable came up regarding games, inparticularly SWG. One of my friends brought up a point that SWG suffered due to the introduction of vehicles because the game lost that "frontier" feeling.

Now of course we're talking about a game that is supposed to be set in a universe that is somewhat technologically advanced, yet somehow vehicles seemed to hurt the overall feeling of danger in the wilderness.

For those people that remember playing the game without vehicles and mounts, given the option to do it all over again how important would vehicles be to you?

There is no doubt when the game had no transporation except on foot, shuttles or starports, the game felt bigger. I didn't have to go far to feel like I was out in the wilds, far from any civilization. I was a crafter foremost, so I had to survey on foot...this took many hours and made finding good concentrations time consuming (and often dangerous), BUT I recall those times with a 'warm and fuzzy'. Going out with my ranger/CH hubby helping me and sitting around in his camps strategizing our next move as we healed/rested. There were nights that rolled into the wee hours in the morning becasue of a late spawning uber resource requiring the immediate planting of harvesters, which was particularly brutal on worknights. Aaahhh...those were classic times.

Vehicles turned my surveying and harvester maintenance into a cake walk for the most part. Vehicles went very fast and did take away some of the sense of immersion I used to have out in the wilds, but the benefits offset that. I had more time for crafting, fighting and socializing. 

Vehicles did very profoundly affect the feel of the game.  Mounts did not, as you couldn't evade mobs on a mount the way you could on a vehicle, particularly since when you drew aggro, the mount slowed down to about half burst run speed to force the issue of combat on you.

Zipping around on Dathomir on a speeder defintely changes the danger of Dath.  Likewise the rest of the adventure planets.

If there were no vehicles, the run to the Village would have been a very different experience, except for the "please kill me" after you'd done all your business there.

The run home from Mos Espa was painful without a vehicle.  It did change the feel of the game but there was something to hopping on my speeder and being able to run to my house and log....  Cruising across planet to a player city was enjoyable where without was actually a painful 10 to 15 minutes of wasted time.

Originally posted by Tazdax

The run home from Mos Espa was painful without a vehicle.  It did change the feel of the game but there was something to hopping on my speeder and being able to run to my house and log....  Cruising across planet to a player city was enjoyable where without was actually a painful 10 to 15 minutes of wasted time.

Thats funny because I remember having to run 5000m to get to my player city to log out, and that was kinda fun. It was dangerous for me as a crafter to run that far on Dantooine with no vehicle, and that increased the thrill factor of travelling.

they shoulda made it where mounts did not slow down, and you could use skills on them. That would have made my SWGs expirience. I didnt really like vehicles. It made everything so much closer and easier, Mounts on the other hand were slower then vehicles and you could shoot off them, wich is why i liked them and wanted them to be more important in SWG

Originally posted by Suvroc

Originally posted by Tazdax

The run home from Mos Espa was painful without a vehicle.  It did change the feel of the game but there was something to hopping on my speeder and being able to run to my house and log....  Cruising across planet to a player city was enjoyable where without was actually a painful 10 to 15 minutes of wasted time.

Thats funny because I remember having to run 5000m to get to my player city to log out, and that was kinda fun. It was dangerous for me as a crafter to run that far on Dantooine with no vehicle, and that increased the thrill factor of travelling.

How about the run to Jabas place,I remember that very well.Got to quit coming to this forum..memories..

Originally posted by Suvroc

After sitting around having a few beers with old friends last night the conversation inevitable came up regarding games, inparticularly SWG. One of my friends brought up a point that SWG suffered due to the introduction of vehicles because the game lost that "frontier" feeling.

Now of course we're talking about a game that is supposed to be set in a universe that is somewhat technologically advanced, yet somehow vehicles seemed to hurt the overall feeling of danger in the wilderness.

For those people that remember playing the game without vehicles and mounts, given the option to do it all over again how important would vehicles be to you?

I am all for exploring and terrain and all the fun of experiencing a games "maps".  However, if you want to equate swg problems with vechiles and shuttle wait times as "content" you are just pre-cu wacked. 

SWG needed a WHOLE lot of content.  No I didn't need it per say to enjoy the game and I'd still play.  However, most people don't want to deal with realistic travel in games.  Make no mistake about what held back pre-cu was nothing more then a total lack of content.

Its all fine to have an awesome sandbox.  You still want toys.  SWG had nothing but an empty grind.

Not trying to be rude as I loved pre-cu.  I hated travel.  Just let me go to the content please.  Why is it so hard to let people experience content.

Oh because Swg content for BH use to be running to way points shooting an NPC that couldn't harm a flee and running back.  Look swg content stunk.  Imp missions, reb missions, jabba's.  POI's, I had about every badge.  The only ones worth a struggle was the race tracks.

Well, I didn't come into until after vehicles came in, but I have to say I remember quite a few times having my swoop disabled and having to hoof it back to a city with a star port or shuttle. I never really minded the wait times for the shuttles, although 10 minutes was a bit much, but I thought it was fine when they changed it to 5 minutes. I met a lot of great people sitting waiting for the shuttle. I remember all the jokes, duels, people just BS'ing about what they were up to. It didn't matter what faction or guild you were in, it was just a place to socialize while on the way to your next destination.

Even though I had my speeder, I still spent loads of time just exploring and not just to hit the POI's. That was one of the things I hoped for in DnL that never came about really, the chance to be a real explorer. While SW:G had the POI badges and such, IU always kind of whish they had a "fog of war" type system where unless you explored that area, you couldn't see it on your map.

I will agree though, SW:G did need some more content. Not necessarily quests or anything like that and certinly not what they have now, just something a bit more. It never bothered me though, I always find something to do. Grind on Mokk's and Janta's on Dant for credits and bits, or go hunting for a crafter friend, until I started crafting myself, or even just hang out and randomly buff noobs in Mos Eisley ( that always surprised them when I did that). SW:G had a very good social aspect, it's just too bad that part is gone forever.