All Posts by hdnine

Makes you wonder though what the the rumors are regarding the eledged upcoming "Star Wars Online" MMO for Xbox 360? Since it is for the Xbox i guess it's not SWG, maybe one of the strategy games?

Also, there is talk about a new KOTOR, so doesn't that one include Lucas Arts?

Wow, and about time time too! This is one of the aspect that i really felt was missing in EVE, a way to interact with other players as "avatars" and not as dots on the map. I might actually re-subscribe when this thing is up and running.

...and let you all know that i just bought the game. I'm still waiting for it to arrive but i'm pretty optimistic about the game. Not so much that it will be the best i every played (then again it might be). No, i'm excited because it is an MMO i have never tried before and that it is not a fantasy MMO.

So there you have it! You guys chocked yet?

I can't think of anything much at the moment but one thing i do miss (maybe it's in there already) is rare, epic and legendary loot. Stuff that would give me that small edge and that very few people have. This doesn't have to be weapon or armor only but also nice things to decorate my house with.

I love MMOs and have subscribed to or played over 10-12 different ones in the recent years. The most recent is a trial of SWG NGE and also the beta for LOTRO.  So i was thinking of a scenario of mixing several MMOs and see what would come out? My choices would be:

Setting:
SWG
...of course.

Graphics:
LOTRO
Very nice environments that would look superb in a Star Wars MMO. Eventough games like WoW look very nice i can't imagine Star Wars looking like that.

Space:
EVE-Online
Excellent graphics and very well executed space battles as well as sophisticated trading, mining and player owned corporations.

Story:
??
I'm not a sucker for storylines so i really can't say. WoW has so far had the most "easy-to-follow" stories.

Combat:
??
Not sure with this one since i havn't found any that i feel really comfortable with. WoW so far has worked the best for me. For space combat i would go EVE.

General functionality:
WoW
Has the best working and most intuitive design of them all. Everthing from chatting to quest explainations to talent point distribution.

PvP:
WoW or EVE
I haven't played much PvP but i would say that either of these has the best PvP so far.

Preferred skill system:
I guess both level- and player skill based systems work for me as long as they are done in the right way.

Other things that i want from an MMO is player housing and advanced crafting. I like to have something online that is lasting, like a building that i own. I love to decorate my house and show of my prizes from within the game like veteran awards and rare items (cudos to SWG for the great vet awards and player prizes). Also, that an MMO supports other professions that are non-combat related and that's why i love SWG so much. You can be an entertainer or a trader and still get personal joy and value from the game. I like to quest and do combat also, but not all the time so the system shouldn't be build around this alone as for example WoW.

I must go with:

Like: SWG and WoW
Dislike: RF-Online

I feel that the SW franchise would do well with a new SW MMO. I love the whole SW universe but the current Galaxies are falling behind. Not sure if any of you have seen the new LOTRO? They have beautiful graphics with incredible environment. The thing is that their combat, and almost any other MMO, is better than the current NGE... i am currently playing it though to get a feel for some *real* crafting that i miss so much.

If they want to continue on as a competitor they will have to make a new MMO... well, hopefully they will.

I am playing on the EU-Chimera and there are people everywhere as far as i know? Just started so it is hard to say but the Mos Eisley cantina is always full it seems.

Well actually no. Since this monday, all test servers were down so i guess not? To be honest i haven't tested today because i un-installed the game.

I was hoping on getting into the european closed-beta if that is still active. I sneaked into the US stress-test and very much liked the game. As i understand it the US closed-beta is still on, so is it the same for EU?

Also, is there any EU pre-order and if i do that, when can i start playing? In US there are pre-orders and they seem to be able to play right away.

I did start with SWG back in 2004 and absolutely loved the game. After playing a couple of months i quit and later picked up WoW (another excellent game). I returned to SWG for just a month some time close to summer 2005. At this point it was okay to play but population was really missing.

Yet again a tried the game, this time as the two week trail just a week ago and i quit after a day. I'm not sure why it was but the game didn't at all have it's old charm. Please understand me when i say that i used to love the game, i really did. But this time around it just felt, well boring to play. There were even fewer ppl playing and the game play felt non existant. I like what they have done with the combat parts. It feels that you as the player is more in control actually fighting than just pushing buttons.

Maybe it's like this with all games, eventually you get bored and the loose their charm. But by all means try it out. I'm just hoping for a new Star Wars MMO to come out so i can have that extreme feeling of joy like i had the first time around.

Good in-game content with a steady player base.

The Sci-Fi genre is really in need of a well put together game which game attract a player base of at least 500k. So how do we do that? I don't have any specific answers but what i do know is that every single MMO i have tried i compare to WoW. And why you might ask? Simply because it's the best implemented game out there. It is extremely intuitive. So simple and straight forward to use that you don't even need the manual to start playing.

A lot of MMOs can learn something from Blizzard. But this alone isn't enough. There has to be some sort of attraction and here are som examples:

City of Heroes
I believe they have a player base because it is a genre that is so rooted in society. Comic books are most for young men agreed, but the chance to become a super-hero, to be something more that you are, is very appealing.

World of Warcraft
Fantasy is more so rooted and generally excepted than comics. It's the largest genre and whoever impliments it best get all the customers. It's not a coincidence that WoW is so huge but what boggles me is that it is THAT huge.

The Sims
Take care of your pets, your friends and your toon. It's like playing in a large virtual doll house. The game addresses everyday issues like romance and work and this appeals to people. We all love dogs or cats so why shouldn't we want to take care of a alternate version of ourself?

So where is sci-fi represented in all this? Well many of you will promptly argue that EVE or SWG are the best games out there and i don't have anything against your opinions. What is apparent however is that these games, in comparison to giants like WoW and Lineage (or perhaps even Guild Wars), do have a very small customer base. So something is clearly wrong, or i should rephrase, all of the sci-fi MMOs lack somthing that the other have. But what?

Let's look at SWG. This is today my all time favorite MMO. Nothing so far has made me feel so, well, good when playing a game. If we compare it to WoW they both have:

• Fantasy elements
• Dragons, creatures and any other beings
• Wizards and magic
• Worlds to explore
• A level based system (at least i think SWG has it now?)
• PvP and PvE
• Cities and towns
• Missions or quests
• A variety of races, classes and professions
• Player based economy
• Auction/Market possibilities for you items
• Guilds or such alike
  

Hmm yeah ok. I'll check the official webpage to see if i'll get lucky. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I just watched Revenge of the Sith and really felt like knowing more about what happened to Leia Organa after she was left in care of Bail and his wife on Alderaan. Is there any offical books that cover this period, what she was like as Leia Organa - her upbringing, offical duties and her political career?

Thanks!

I forgot to mention one thing in my list of what i feel Star Wars is all about. It is something that was touched on pre-CU: Diplomacy and politics.

This is such a central part of SW and goes hand in hand many times with greed and corruption.

This surely is an honest question and yes, i haven't experienced much else than the movies which i in turn absolutly love!

I recently began reading my second SW book - The Truce at Bakura - and have played several of the earlier games. Including both the excellent KOTOR titles. I guess that i am to inexperienced in "true" Star Wars to acutally make a qualified point (?). I however would like to say that when i played SWG back in mid 2004 and again summer 2005, i really loved the game. I got hooked since it had all the elements that i remembered from the movies.

PvP if i recall correctly was a choice for each person? I must admit that it felt kind of strange that, when in PvP-mode, you automatically got blasted but the opposition just as soon as you showed your face. I guess this wouldn't be the case in the "real world"? But while PvP-ing i had some really fun fights where laser bolts flew in every direction and people tried to out flank their enemy. It was exciting!

I can't speak much about the recent changes since the last time i played was during the CU. I did however get the mail about the veterans reward - some kind of ship (?) - but did catch the news about instant travel. And yes, if this is the case they really need to think over this on, instant travel belongs in Star Trek. I loved going to the space stations to sit and wait along with twenty or so other people, waiting for the shuttle to arrive. That was really one of those small things that really made the game if you ask me. As it appearantly is now, having Jedi running around must be the greatest dissapointments as i see it. Before the CU, you really had to earn your titles, now, everyone can have it. This really destroys the game.

royalpenalty mentioned the "player bounty system". I'm not entirely sure on how this works but if you could earn yourself a bounty by causing much havoc to, let's say the Empire. Then that's a good thing. If the current system let's anyone put out a bounty on whomever just for the sake of it... then what the heck is that good for? Their must be a justified reason to get a bounty on you head.

But one question in return. When you fee, that the game isn't, again, Star Warzy enough. Is this after the CU and NGE or has it been like this since the beginning? It seems that most of the things you guys mention are from the era CU and above and yes i agree, the game has really taken a wrong turn somewhere along the line.

As a side point here i played Battlefront yesterday for my first time and i gotta tell ya... wow! Great action and great team play. Eventhough the game lacks story as such it really offers something that SWG PvP might have been able to use? It really is quick and dirty action and i like it. But since it is an entirely different kind of game (with instant respawns and such, focused on only PvP) it would resemble more a WoW Battleground if anything else. BG really destroyed WoW since no one ever seem to fight out in the world no more... but that's another subject for discussion elsewhere.

The bottom line, eventhough i might not be able to express it in a good way, is that i really enjoyed playing SWG because it was Star Wars to me. Now please don't flame me for being ignorant in what the SW universe has to offers. I am just trying to understand why so many people all of a sudden hate a game the once so dearly embraced? I realize that it has gone trough changes for the worse but still, it has (and what is Star Wars to me):

• Beasts and creatures
  
• Space travel (but i must confess that i didn't like it the way it was back in mid 2005)
• Different planets to explore
• Different races
• Laser weapons and swords
• Mystical legends, old ruins
• Rebels and emperials
• Space ports
• Cantinas
• Combat (all sorts from PvP to PvE)
• Vehicles
• Housing
• Larger cities (though they could be put to more use since the cities feel like empty shells)
• Player market and economy
• Different professions (which several of them they sadly removed)
• Player interaction all over the world (we fight together, we spend time in cantinas or at the medcenter talking about the beasts we have slayed)
• Force wielding creatures (i agree that players shouldn't be able to play jedi, atleast not without working for it A LOT!!)
• Droids (again something that could be put to more use since they in a way are so dependant upon them)
• Crafting (and what i feel is lacking - markets where players can sell their stuff. We have the Bazarr but that is nothing close to for example Watto's shop or the local creature selling his food at a food stand).

Hey everyone,

I have been reading these forums for some time now as well as shared my thoughts about the game. One thing however that the discussions seems to get back to is that SWG isn't Star Warzy enough? I must admit that i'm a bit confused about these statments and i was hoping that you good people could share your thoughts regarding this.

I myself feel very much that SWG is Star Wars. It's everything from the environment to the characters that inhabit the world. It had nice PvP and good questing right from the start (mid 2004 for me) so let me know how you think...

Aye, i also started on Tatooine, Mos Isley. First thing i did was to hide myself behind som large junk to try and figure out how the menues and stuff worked. I thought that everyone would start shooting at me. This was somewhere around may 2004 and SWG was my first ever MMO and damn it had a strong impact on me. I remember playing the game until 7 AM several nights in a row. It was great fun! I was hooked!

I must agree with you Nikoz78,

I too had fun with the game while trying it - up to the point where i couldn't get anywhere. It brought up memories. The settings seems to be polished and the game ran much better than before. But still, with my first char i got to the "final point" after just 10 min! What am i supposed to do for the rest of the nine and a halv days the trail is valid? It's just crazy to restrict trials like this... the only thing that should be limited is the time you can play it - in this case for 10 days. I feel that everyone would be so much more inclined to continue subscribing if they really could test it, to see what the greatest MMO ever once had to offer, and maybe still does?

Quite frankly, i'm not sure what SOE/LA was thinking when they hoped to attract more customers. This way i'm fairly sure that not many people will wanna play it. I spoke to two other gamers while in the game, they too were on the trial and they had a very negative reaction to the fact that it was restricted so shortly after the start.

Speaking of bugs, i had several. At many points while playing i got this default bounding box for items in my inventory. Also on my other chars mission i were throwing some grenades... those too where bounding boxes with som default texture on it. Also, the stupid issue about the missing droid that was supposed to take me off station?!? Now this is just bad game design to omit it like this. I, plus several others thought the game was broken, bugged, since we couldn't continue playing. They should at least have that much sence too keep the droid in game and having it tell us that it is a trial limitation. Then we would know. Now i had to chase down information on the forums...

Indeed. I should add that i'm not entirely sure about the high monthly cost. Now when exiting the game, it offers me to continue playing for 14.99 USD so i might have misread the info. But still, what have they hoped for having this short trial? I must admit that i like the setting and i feel it has more "action" then i remembered. Well, i woun't subscribe within the near future... too bad, it was such a great game.