Originally posted by Psychow

I would recommend the first legacy perk being faster leveling for alts...AFTER your first character reaches max level...AFTER the leveling curve has returned to a decently lengthy amount of time instead of the quick leveling we have now. I don't want to reach max level within weeks of release.

You're basically advocating that alt bonuses exist, but only be available to people who don't play alts.  I say that's crazy.

I would just like to point out... that while a system that rewards how long a person has been "playing" on the account is good... it's a double edged sword. This system that has been re-worded and used in previous MMOs can actually keep away new or long absent returning players. The "achiever" crowd frowns upon systems like this because in their mind, they don't want to be playing 2+ years just get what someone "now" has. 

Me personally, I could care less but I have had friends I game with refuse to play MMOs that do this if they are new/returning players.

Originally posted by Saydien

While I do agree with your ideas to give people the chance for account-wide longterm advancement beyond and gear stuff I personally fail to see anything even close to a remotely decent implementation in TOR.

Charging silly amounts of credits to unlock something and having most of the stuff be pointless beyond belief for me is reason enough to not give any credit for that here. Legacy in its current implementation for me is amongst the most pointless features ever.

Sadly I have to agree with this too...

The extra presence for companions is very nice, and the Legacy (Heroic Moment) powers are pretty cool too, but the rest is mediocre at best, the improved speeder license is alright too.

The various teleports would have been alright, if they didn't mess it up by having all of them share the fleet pass timer >.<

That being said, the idea is sound, and an AA system should mostly stick to cosmetic stuff and non-critical PvE bonuses.

Originally posted by Jemcrystal

Straying from the main subject some, I find something I like in every game I ever played and wish I could shove them all into one game.  Most of all I love the Auction House for Gold Sellers idea in PWI and Forsaken World.  No more Gold Sellers shouting in the streets and regular players can compete with them selling gold/money.  That impressed me more than anything a game has ever done.  Making a place for the Gold Sellers instead of treating them like criminals so they don't bother regular players.

Someone else has probably pointed this out by now, but just in case they haven't (and so I don't forget later :p), Guild Wars 2 has implemented it as well.

You can buy and sell the store currency (Gems) through their AH, the perfect solution for those players with little time, but a lot of money that usually buy from RMTs, now they can buy from players with tons of time, but no money!

A brilliant solution IMO that frees up the company resources that normally would be occupied by fighting off/banning goldspammers.

Originally posted by SuperDonk

The legacy system was just one of the highlights on why SWTOR should of been released 6 months to a year after it did. Most players, like myself already had a couple of level 50's and multiple alts by the time it was rolled out, making it pretty much useless.

 

SWTOR will be a case study for future developers on how not to ruin potentially good ideas and gameplay before the game even has a chance at success.

Like any developer ever looks at another game.

Want proof?

Check how many games add an option to report gold spam WEEKS after launch, despite gold spam being a problem every new game has to deal with.

If game developers made cars, every single car model released would have had a recall to have brakes fitted.

MMO developers don't learn.

Originally posted by pkpkpk
If an MMORPG designs itself around an 'end-game' it has already failed. And while all MMORPGs may do that now, all MMORPGs now also fail.

The game should be just as much about the joruney as the endgame.  If you're not enjoying the journey and it isn't extensive then you probably shouldn't be playing the game.

Originally posted by Scot
CoH, Lotro, SWTOR and Vanguard have all come up with interesting ideas for PvE advancement after top level. But the MMO genre is strewn with good ideas that hardly get used again. I see no reason for that to suddenly change, you but hope mind you.

Any game that has end-game in weeks is a joke and poorly designed.

Exponential leveling skills/abilities has always been the way forward but it requires a change in approach and development of current MMOs.

I disagree with the OP.

In my opinion a game should focus on the content and experience of  a player's main.

Focusing energy on a system to actively encourage a player to create alts seems to me like a band-aid to disguise lack of content for a player's main.

If a player wants to create an alt because they enjoy doing so, the game should be good enough that the player can enjoy playing an alt on the game's own merits, not with some bizare system to make levelling quicker and easier.

To be honest, I don't even understand the reasoning, "You like playing alts? Well we spent a lot of energy creating a system to greatly reduce the amount of time you have to spend playing your alt. Isn't that counter-productive? If you want to play an alt because you enjoy it, why would you want to reduce the amount of time it takes to level cap the alt?

Again my opinion, but just design a good game, don't invest time an energy on a gimmick.

I have to politely disagree with the OP.

I don't mind that swtor has mostly unique storylines for all their classes making the game an alt driven game, I only mind that its not worth it at the cost to everything.

Hell, I enjoyed the voice as well, but again, not to the point where all the other staples are left out.

I was starting to type out all the things I would rather have seen instead, but suffice to say, I think they should have focused on the staples of mmo's first and foremost.

Originally posted by strangiato2112

Lost in how disappointing the game was and how poorly this system was implemented, SWTOR really had an idea that any level based game should openly embrace:  the Legacy system.

 

But instead of focusing on the details of how SWTOR implemented it, lets call it for what it really is:  Account wide alternate advancement.  And this should be an MMORPG staple.

 

 

All level based games suffer from the max level syndrome.  Most games, once you hit max level, your character is 100% done with progression.  Then it turns into gear progression, which isnt improving your character at all beause once that gear is taken off the imporvement vanishes.  Its temporary improvement.

 

EQ was one of the few smart ones, it realized this issue and implemented AAs.  Problem is, and Rift with its watered down version of AAs has experienced this, is it makes people not want to play alts.  but account wide AAs?  Not only are you heling your main, you are helping your alt as well.

 

Now SWTOR chose the Legacy System to act differently, and a smart implementation of a non-character progression system can work for the right type of players.  RP types can have more options to unlock for housing for instance.  There always stuff like WoW's heirloom gear that can be tied to it for altaholics, or appearance gear.  The key thing is to give lots of choice so they can customize their account how they want to.

 

I hope more games jump on this idea.

 

Care to explain the mechanics of it for those that don't play SWTOR, which likely are a lot of people... Just saying