All Posts by WRyan

Originally posted by Alindale

What tore apart SWG was not the forums.  Players posted what they would like to see done to the game there, like bug fixing, ways to actually fix the broken content, level out PvP, and fix the force rank system.  SOE refused to listen to players, for the most part, and decided to make changes based on what they wanted out of the game instead of the what the players wanted.  What SOE wanted was WoW's player base instead of trying to keep and protect their current players.  SOE not caring for their players, openly insulting them, using outside think tanks on major decisions is what lead to most of the grief and flame fests in the forums.  The forums for SWG was a great place till SOE started one of the most epic PvP battles ever in the forums, in which the Player Faction lost to the Dev Faction.

This is true in every respect.  The SWG forums weren't always the nightmare they are known to have been today.  For the first year or two, there was nothing but... well... I've never visited a better forum... ever.  There was so much community on the forums.  People were talking about everything.  Sure, there were arguements, and your normal forum fights.  And there was some trolling.  But it just wasn't that big of a deal back then.

Everything changed after the CU went Live, though.  I think it was because the playerbase finally figured out that SOE was doing absolutely nothing to the game that the players wanted.  It was boiling up pretty badly up til that point, what with the Jedi vs BH wars and all.  But once CU went Live... it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Right before the NGE hit, it was slowly starting to get back to normal.  People were excited about the Ranger and Squad Leader changes that were soon coming.  Finally, the focus had been taken off of Jedi, which held the spotlight for over a year.  Then NGE came out of nowhere, and it was all over.

SWG failed, and likewise, the forum community failed, because SOE did not one single thing the players asked for, the way they asked for it.  We would say that something needed to change, and then basically lay it out for them exactly how it should be... and if they didn't do something that no one even mentioned, they did nothing.

When people lose hope in their development team, then they aren't very good neighbors on the forums.  This is exactly what happened to the AoC boards - and got worse when the MODs turned out to be complete pedophiliac assholes.  WoW is an exception to this since it was highly accessable to a younger audience.... not to mention a whole lot more people in general.

City of Heroes is a great example of how good an official forum can be.  Why is it so great?  Because Cryptic doesn't dick around with their game in a way that is worse for the player than what they originally had!  And.... aside from Jack Emmeritt thinking he knows everything about designing a game (which... hasn't been disproved yet), the MODs and developers aren't just rude to the playerbase.

How does one really rate a game?  Do you compare it to the last megahit, or do you compare it to the times?

So, my guess is that people will rate a game based on how much they like it.  I realise how moronically appearant that fact is, but let me explain.  Their rating will be swayed one way or another depending on whether they like the game overall.  We all do this - rate just a little higher on graphics or sound to get that Overall Rating score up, because we think it's more deserving than the original score we came out with.

For instance, we originally thought that the game's graphics were a 7, but after the final score came out to be a 7.8, we felt that the game was good enough for an 8.  So, we change a few scores here and there, until eventually it becomes an 8 or 8.5.

Also, add to the fact that if you really enjoy a game, you naturally rate higher than an unbiased opinion.  Maybe WAR doesn't have really great graphics - but in the score, it has a 9 because we find the overall appeal of the game to be quite satisfying.  Keep in mind, I'm speaking in rhetoric here.

Personally, I could say with almost 100% certainty that that 8.87 rating is fluffed to no end and back.  If the truth were known, it's probably about as good as a 7.5 at the most.  Which, if you think about what the ratings should mean, a 7.5 is a good bet for anyone who is interested in the genre.

As far as I can see... there is nothing in WAR that hasn't already been done in some other game.  For this purpose, I would have to say that people need to learn how to rate a game based on how well a game does something that's already been attempted, and how well a game does something that tries to advance the genre, and tries something new.  Again, because this game has no innovative features, the highest it would ever get from me would be a 7.9.  8.0 and higher is reserved for games that actually try to add something to the genre - not make money off of what's already working.

Whoa.... I didn't think anything would look far better than Crysis for at least three more years, but this is absolutely incredible.  I mean, sure... there is a certain level of advancement expected, but this is just crazy.  This really does look like cinematic quality.  I hope the game has an equally epic story attached to it.

My brother played on Shadowfire.  He and his guild were big into Jedi unlocking and PvP.  I don't know what their guild name was though, but I'm sure it had something to do with Jedi.  His name was Vaden Serophire, and unlocked right before that Aurillian Village crap came out.

Originally posted by singsofdeath

Originally posted by kithe

 Hmm I have most likely missed it, I usually do... But where exactly is it stated officially that they new MMO is in fact a Star Wars MMO? 

 

I would love a new Star Wars MMO just for the fact that SOE is lacking the balls to do a forced server migration of SWG so we could get some people to play with. NGE on it's own isn't as bad as everyone is yelling their lungs out to make everyone else think it is. It was poorly implemented which lead to low populated servers. 

 

And about shutting it down not to compete with the new game? How would they do that? New game is Bioware and EA as it seems, old game is SOE and LA. LA won't pull out as it isn't costing them jack and they still have a contract with SOE about just the SWG game. 

 

With todays trends it will most likely be a overhyped game that in the end will make everyone all whiny and squeeky becouse it wasn't "the star wars game WE wanted it to be"... Just look at AoC, War, Lotro... All these games had whining fans just after release becouse THEY didn't like how the game was made. 

 

Well time for bed here, you all have fun contemplating this yet to be fully announced game ^^

 

You haven#t missed anything. But well...there's several pointers leading people to believe the unveiled game will be Star Wars: The Old Republic. Such as registered trademarks in that name, the cooperation between LA and BioWare, the slip from EA's chief honcho, several alleged claims by ex employees, etc. etc.

 

It's considered the industry's worst kept secret. And it certianly has been hyped and speculated about long before any facts about it have ever surfaced. Which would fit in nicely with their announcement of revealing.."the most anticipated game...".

You know, people keep saying it's "the worst kept secret" and all, but if you think about it - that really isn't the case at all.  I mean, think about what we know about the game - nothing, practically.  We know it's using the Hero Engine, and we know it's being developed by Bioware, and LucasArts is in there somewhere too.

We don't really KNOW that it's Star Wars.  I mean... we DO know... but we don't really.  That EA guy could have easily lied about what he said.  I mean, you wouldn't think someone would let that slip... on accident.

Aside from what's stated above... we know nothing.  So, in this respect, I'd say that's a pretty good little secret there.  Usually, after a game has been in development for three years, you would have a website, and know pretty much what the original design plan was.

I hope they don't go cheap side with the graphics.  I mean, I don't have to have the best thing ever, but I surely hope they don't go for the WoW/WAR effect, where everything is slightly cartoonish.

Yeah, yeah, I know "But WAR doesn't have cartoon graphics!"  To be honest, they look like the step up from WoW graphics, which is indeed cartoony.

I would be happier if they kept a strong art design, with lots of smooth, rich animation over total photorealism.  But if they can make both happen, then I'm game!

Anyway, I don't know where in the world the OP got that information... but it seems to me like someone spouting off what they wished SWG would have been.  That being said, I personally don't beleive half of what's on that list is what the game is truely about.

I forsee lots of planets to explore, but I don't expect them to be fully realised.  However, on the other side of that coin... it's been confirmed that they are using the Hero Engine for the game, which makes level design and overall level production crazy fast.  It takes less than half the time to develop a level with the Hero Engine than it does through conventional means.  So, it could very well have a crap load of planets to explore, all fully realised.  We shall see, though.

Lumache wrote:

No my point was he was turning guessing into then determined fact in his post and more directly that noone at funcom has said much about this issue since LAUNCH.

Look, this is where you completely lose me.  This is exactly how you are turning something I said into something it wasn't mean to be.  Your error is in your inability to understand what you are reading.  Am I wrong?  You tell me... but the proof is in the pudding.

I realise you are upset that FunCom screwed you and lied to you, blah blah blah.  Cry me a river already.  I'm an SWG vet, so don't even get me started on being lied to about broken aspects of a game.  In all of AoC's faults, it isn't even a quarter of the nightmare SOE put us through.  As a matter of fact, this fiasco probably wouldn't have even been a big deal had SOE not completely smeared the repuation of online game developers.  But that has nothing to do with what I wrote, and neither does your beef with FunCom.  By the way... the news of day is  - FUNCOM LIED TO EVERYONE, NOT JUST YOU!  Grow up already...

I was able to put aside my differences to offer sound estimation - you on the other hand, are appearantly incapable of doing that.  Thus, I'll thank you for not responding to anything I post in the future, or reading it for that matter.

Originally posted by Alindale

Originally posted by efefia

Originally posted by Alindale

Bioware's SW experience is with KotOR so the chances are high that is what it is, but still it is speculation.  Wouldn't matter to me what era of SW the game was about, as long as it is sandbox, which is not Bioware's style.  Bioware loves indept immersion quests that follow well thought out story lines, so again, strong possibility of that style of game.  I look forward to trying the game, but will hold off judging it untill I can actually play it for myself.

I am still apprehensive about the game as it is being developed by the Bioware Austin division and they have hired several SOE VP's, developers, etc from SOE Austin.  I only hope they are the people who were involved with some of SOE's questionable acts with SWG. 

All in all, I look forward to what they release on the 21st and look forward to the future release of the game.  If the game costs $50 then it is worth it to me to at least try it out as I have always liked Bioware's NWN series and I am a childhood fan of the original Star Wars movies (the Episodes were okay).

 

BioWare Edmonton isn't making the MMO, BioWare Austin is, which is filled with ex-SWG(pre-cu) and UO devs. I wouldn't write it off just yet

 

Yep, and that is what I am afraid of.  I noticed I didn't add a "not" after "I only hope they are (insert the "not" here) the people who were involved with some of SOE's questionable acts with SWG."  I corrected that in my earlier post.  I hope the people they hired were the ones that made Pre-NGE worth playing and not the, well, others....

It would be my guess, and I stress guess, that these individuals were the ones responsible for not supporting the NGE (or CU for that matter).  The fact that they no longer work for SOE says a lot... to me.
 

Turn everything into something it wasnt meant to be? Isnt that the intent of your post? You clearly go from making suppositions and change into statements of fact in the same sentence. Thats all I was trying to point out...

NO!  My intent was not to turn something into nothing.  My intent was to use what knowledge we do know about the game, and try to make sense of a possible reason for it's existence in the game world.

I don't know how much clearer you want me to be!  I used all the correct wording - assume, presume, probably... which of those words speak of absolutes?  NONE!  I never said anything was how it is, except for the math!  The Math is correct as best i can tell, but I never said it was absolutely used in such a manner.

AGAIN! The whole post was to make sense of what we know!  We KNOW that the game uses numbers such as .1% for stat enhancement.  How does that figure into the big picture?  I offered my best guess.

You're arguing just to argue because you're pissed off about the game.  So shut up, and stop smearing someone who has done nothing wrong!

The truth is something even more frightening : NOONE KNOWS what the stats mean or if they DO anything at all. Noone call tell you what WISDOM does or how it impacts your casting other than under intense testing GEAR that increases the stats has NO noticable effect on damage.

Great!  I'm glad you understand that I don't know, and I never said I did.  What I did say was that it was my best guess!

The same with melee.... how the hell can .1% even be in ANY game? I mean why even bother?

I explained the utility of this when I spoke about level scaling - or did you not get that part either?

I naturally never like seeing a game close it's gates.  I know there are people who may enjoy the content in the game, and for them to lose that is never a good thing.  However, I can't say I really enjoyed the game.  Too much grinding and too much POT spamming for my tastes.

So, without any hesitation, and without any offense, I say good riddance to this grindfest...

Originally posted by lumache

Originally posted by WRyan

Originally posted by lumache

You cant tell me that the masses, or lack there of will be drawn in by a change from .1% to .2% that is just equally useless. .1% has next to no effect, .2 has next to next to no effect.  Another example of Funcoms inability to get in sync with the gaming community.

 

Let's break this down a bit:

1. Let's say you have a 1% of Increased Crit Chance.  In English, that means that every 100 attacks, 1 of those attacks will likely be a Critical Hit.
2. Now, let's use AoC's figure, and change that 1% to a .1% Increase Crit Chance.  That means, that out of that 100 attacks, 1 will be a Crit, but only 1 out of every 10 of THOSE will actually be the Crit.  WHAT?
3.  
4. So, that means that you actually are hitting something 999 times, before you Crit
5. This part makes sense and yea, Im not motivated to raid for that trash, what part of that dont you get?.
6. Now, let's assume that after the patch, the value of this number will be increased by 50%.  No, that doesn't mean what you think it will mean.  It means that it will represent half of your character's ability to Crit.  So that means that the other half is inherent, which could vary greatly depending on the class you play.
7. Based on what evidence?Funcom wont talk about what they mean exactly leaving us all to guess that they mean nothing - or next to nothing, but either way NOTHING or NEXT TO NOTHING is the same NNOTHIN MUCH....

From this, we can conclude a few things:

1. Classes that are inherently better at Critical Hits (which I presume are the Rogue classes and probably the Conquerer class) will always have the better Critical chances. WHAT?The only thing I conclude from this: is that you are guessing and way off base at that.
2. Since the classes have gear restriction (some classes can only use heavy armor, etc.), then each type of weapon and/or armor will have different types of associated stat modifiers, which more define the role(s) of each class that uses each weapon or armor class.
3. However, since there are some weapon and armor types that are shared by various classes, it also means that there will be fewer needs of one class over another.  Basically, you can get by without having a Barbarian, because you have a Conqueror, or visa versa.  This is what they wanted to asure players from the beginning - all classes are viable.

I personally don't see how .1% is anything to be happy about in the first place, but it seems to me that the idea behind their design makes some good sense... in theory.  Now, if we were talking about a 10-20% increase in overall ability... then that's a different story.

Still, it could have something to do with level difference, in that a Level 80 character attacking a level 1 character has an 800% increase of Crit Chance because of the difference in level, thereby giving the level 80 character an 80% chance to Crit instead of a .1% chance.  This is called level scaling, which I can't decide is a good thing or not, but I presume is the nature of the beast for Level Based systems.  After all, you wouldn't expect a character to completely decimate an equally powerful character with constant barragement of Crits.

Just my thoughts ont he subject.

 

You have the develo[per code and data to support this or are you just making this stuff up as you see it?

Notice how he goes from presuming to WILL ALWAYS in the same sentence? Nifty lil tricks there!

Relax man... all of this is spoken in theory.  Why do people get so defensive about this crap?  I'm just trying to make sense of it like you - and I'm putting what I think down so others can see if it is at least plausible.  Had I the foresight to know someone like you would come along and completely turn everything I said into something it wasn't meant to be, I wouldn't have written it.

By the way, please do notice how I word my sentences.  To presume, is by nature, to not know.  Thus you speculate.  I would think, that if I chose the words "presume" and "assume" then it would out of principal definition imply that I didn't know.  But that doesn't make the theory any less plausible.

You have completely made an ass of yourself with your reply, and I feel sorry for you.  OF COURSE I don't know this stuff as fact, and I never said it was.  Show me anywhere in my post where I said everything I've said was fact.  DAH!  People like you need to learn how to ascertain what you read!  Ascertain - that means understand.  It's easy to read.  It's a lot harder to understand what you read.

Originally posted by lumache

You cant tell me that the masses, or lack there of will be drawn in by a change from .1% to .2% that is just equally useless. .1% has next to no effect, .2 has next to next to no effect.  Another example of Funcoms inability to get in sync with the gaming community.

Let's break this down a bit:

1. Let's say you have a 1% of Increased Crit Chance.  In English, that means that every 100 attacks, 1 of those attacks will likely be a Critical Hit.
2. Now, let's use AoC's figure, and change that 1% to a .1% Increase Crit Chance.  That means, that out of that 100 attacks, 1 will be a Crit, but only 1 out of every 10 of THOSE will actually be the Crit.  So, that means that you actually are hitting something 999 times, before you Crit.
3. Now, let's assume that after the patch, the value of this number will be increased by 50%.  No, that doesn't mean what you think it will mean.  It means that it will represent half of your character's ability to Crit.  So that means that the other half is inherent, which could vary greatly depending on the class you play.
4. In either case, half is half, so that means that instead of attacking 999 times before you Crit, you'll only be attacking 499 times.  Either way, these are still bogus numbers.... maybe.

From this, we can conclude a few things:

1. Classes that are inherently better at Critical Hits (which I presume are the Rogue classes and probably the Conquerer class) will always have the better Critical chances.
2. Since the classes have gear restriction (some classes can only use heavy armor, etc.), then each type of weapon and/or armor will have different types of associated stat modifiers, which more define the role(s) of each class that uses each weapon or armor class.
3. However, since there are some weapon and armor types that are shared by various classes, it also means that there will be fewer needs of one class over another.  Basically, you can get by without having a Barbarian, because you have a Conqueror, or visa versa.  This is what they wanted to asure players from the beginning - all classes are viable.

I personally don't see how .1% is anything to be happy about in the first place, but it seems to me that the idea behind their design makes some good sense... in theory.  Now, if we were talking about a 10-20% increase in overall ability... then that's a different story.

Still, it could have something to do with level difference, in that a Level 80 character attacking a level 1 character has an 800% increase of Crit Chance because of the difference in level, thereby giving the level 80 character an 80% chance to Crit instead of a .1% chance.  This is called level scaling, which I can't decide is a good thing or not, but I presume is the nature of the beast for Level Based systems.  After all, you wouldn't expect a character to completely decimate an equally powerful character with constant barragement of Crits.

Also, keep in mind that usually, the stats are more like .5% or whatever.  So, you that 199/1 ratio will be radically changed in your favor with an increase in base value.

Just my thoughts on the subject, and I could be wrong.  I may not have done the math correctly.

Originally posted by Darth_Pete

Originally posted by wjrasmussen

Originally posted by Darth_Pete

Originally posted by wjrasmussen

What if this ends up not being a star wars mmorpg?

Or worse, set in a certain period in the timeline that people don't want?

I hope it is a star wars mmorpg and that it set similar to KOTOR.  Can't wait...........................

 

I'm guessing alot of pissed off fans

What do you mean worse if certain period of time that people don't want? I bet people are more pissed if it isn't Star Wars MMO.

 

Worse. How about star wars mmorpg based of the Ewoks Christmas Special?! *puke*

I love those furrballs

No seriously. No one will ever make ewok MMO! No one can be that stupid .. can they?

Well... the Force Unleashed was almost a Wookiee adventure.  Wookiees are cool and all, but not something I would stake my company's "Next Gen Gaming" reputation on.  Not to mention what has happened to SWG... I would say that it is highly possible for someone to be so stupid.

Star Wars has reached a point where the marketers and powers that be have seen evidence that people will buy anything with the Star Wars label attached to it.  History has shown this quite abundantly.  The problem with that is that they really lose touch with the value of the lore.  So, it basically falls true in the theory that more is less.

What happened to Star Trek will eventually happen to Star Wars, where merchandising and abuse of the IP will eventually take it's toll on the value of the property.  This happens to all huge fan based IP's like Superman, Batman, Rocky... it starts to lose it's flare and eventually must be rebooted somehow.

Thankfully, Star Trek is about to be revitalized with the new Movie (that looks promising) and MMO (that could suck, but will probably be about as good as City of Heroes.)  So, there is hope that something could come along and revitalize Star Wars, like KOTOR did with the franchise in games.  Still... Jedi Knight was an excellent series, so it hadn't lost all hope.

Originally posted by Battleskar

Originally posted by tillamook

www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php maybe (a) or (the SW) MMO, maybe not, we shall see.

 

LucasArts' and BioWare's long-awaited, much-discussed joint development project -- widely speculated to be an MMO set in the Star Wars universe circa BioWare's own Knights of the Old Republic -- will be revealed to the press October 21, according to an invitation sent out to media outlets including Gamasutra.

It is likely that the official announcement will come shortly after the October 21 press reveal held at LucasArts' San Francisco offices; events of this nature are frequently subject to a media embargo.

The postcard, which proclaims "The wait is over" and promises "the official unveiling of the game that's been rumored about for years," makes no explicit reference to Star Wars. It is branded with the LucasArts and BioWare logos and depicts floating robots and hooded figures in futuristic interior locations reminiscent of the sci-fi franchise.

The alleged existence of a KOTOR-themed MMO is considered one of the industry's worst-kept secrets, with BioWare parent Electronic Arts' CEO John Riccitiello essentially confirming the title's existence.

Riccitiello called the BioWare/LucasArts effort "quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry," before acknowledging it as a KOTOR MMO.

Development of the joint project is being handled at BioWare's Austin studio, created specifically for MMO development.

 

I do not remember where I read it,but I remember  a statement that they were making a Kotor 3 yes,but not a Kotor MMO. Now I have read alot of speculation on a Star Wars mmo based on The Clone Wars. Now that a TV series is beginning on The Clone Wars my best guess is they are working on a title similar to the TV series. Most likly a game with similar Graphics engine as the TV show which Blows.

A TV show or Movie with those animated graphics is not all that impressive.  But a game with animation and art design like that would be pretty awesome if you ask me.  And... for the record.... I kind of dig the art design for a TV show.  it's sort of a CG equivilent of the former Clone Wars series.
 

Originally posted by achesoma

It's about freakin time!  I guess they were just waiting until after Force Unleashed came out so not to steal its thunder.  Looking forward to it.

Maybe so, but I bet it had something to do with getting the big name MMO's of the year out of the way first.  You've got AoC now Live, and it was... well... it needs a lot of work.  And now WAR is out, and it has turned out to be a WoW clone with heavier and more pronounced PvP.  WotLK is it's only competition in "anticipation" now, but it's just more of the same from Blizzard, so it's hardly as exciting as a new MMO.

I hope it's a new Star Wars MMO.  How great