All Posts by Dracis

While we all know the old SW:G is never coming back, I was wondering if there was ever a new MMO to come out that had the similar feeling of pre-CU SW:G ( Skill based, sandbox, large number of professions, complex crafting, etc.) what other features would you like to see?

You may want to call this a bit of market research for my small development company. While we are no where near ready to make a game on the scope of an MMO yet, it is something we are looking forward to do some time in the future. Please be as specific as you can about what features you'd like to see.

Thanks in advance for any help you folks would be willing to provide.

Edit* Obviously, once again, I'm up way to late to be typing.

Originally posted by jiveturkey12

The Offical forums February 13th? round 10 o clock pm EST.

 

I figure we make it a weekly event, us vets do our thing, say our peace, Do it in a kind manner and show we are not barbarians .

 

Just to keep them on there toes!

 

-Jive

Nice idea, but there is no chance in this world or the next that I'm going to pay $14.99 to post on their forums again.

Originally posted by iwantmyswg

the devs have no idea what to do with the game.

they have put in lame content that no one wants. i mean how many people liked space? all the players i knew and i knew alot hated jump to lightspeed and the action gamers who came in. and they make a whole publish about space? i bet 2k players left the game just do to that.

swg is going to die unless the pre-cu comes back in at this point.

In fact, I made the arguement back in Septembe, when they were discussing/asking about what new content should be added, someone brought adding in the underwater Gungan cities. Several, including a dev said that was impossible due to they couldn't modify the ground engine to handle it. I simply pointed out that space is a completely different engine than the ground game and could be easily modified to make this possible.

It just goes to show, like many here have already said, the current dev team just doesn't seem to know how to code the current engine in any form. *Professional note* In most game engines there is usually a scripting language that allows you to add assets and change things without changing the base code (think mods to Unreal and the Morrowind TES). I have a feeling this is all they can do at this point.

Just got the email and the link to the full article is here: http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/news/announcement.html

This may have already been released here, but I didn't see it.

Originally posted by Suvroc

I thought I read somewhere that it's not just about buying items, but buying access to certain areas.

It's the same with Pirates of the Carribean Online, you can play for free, but there are certain areas you can not access, which even includes parts of the main quest line.

Originally posted by Dracus

Maybe, but maybe not.

I thought the Marvel MMO had been axed sometime ago, with hearing bad news I think for about a year.  So now it is officially dropped.  Well if it is Cryptic, I think they'll remain silent on it (or whatever project it is) and do what Bioware is doing, just going into stealth mode.

I believe that line of, only one subscription based MMO has been commercially successful is BS.  That implies conventional game development can no longer be used for subscription based MMO's.  It is correct that only one subscription based MMO has gone multi-millions in users, but what about the others? To say that Eve-online is not a commercially successful MMO,

The thing is, every one of these big companies want to beat WoW. Well, they can't. I'd even be willing to bet that the next MMO from Blizzard won't be able to beat WoW. WoW is in a sense a fluke. I'm not saying it's not a grreat game, but it was the first and only game to actually reach a mass market. Can it be done again? Sure, but not everyone can do it. There is a great market right now for niche MMO's. Eve is one of them. These companies should be happy with 100k to 500k subscribers. That's still an excellent amount of income to be made from smaller subscription based MMO's. I've been saying for awhile that alot of these large companies need to diversify like smaller publishers like StarDock. They all need to take a step back and really thik about the future of MMO's instead of continueing to pump out the garbage they have been. Just because spend 20 million on an MMO doesn't guarantee it's going to be a good MMO.

Originally posted by thamighty213

Originally posted by smg77

Originally posted by salvaje

 

Originally posted by Suvroc

As much as I hate the idea of RMT's if the Agency becomes a hit then I'm sure you'll see a revamping of SOE's buisness model, and the slow shut down of the current pay to play games. Especially when newer games will be tied into the PS3 - and the RMT buisness model seems perfect for that platform.

Any ETA on the Agency yet?

 

RMT is going to fail soon as players discover that it's a scheme to get MORE than $14.99 out of you.

And I will laugh at anyone who says that SOE doesn't have that in mind when they talk "macrotranscams".  I know them too well.

I hope that when people see the microtransaction scam for what it is they will finally see the light about SOE's business ethics. Their new business plan isn't to make money by providing top-notch entertainment but rather to nickel and dime their players to death.

If eliteist asshats want to pay cash for a leg up or fluff items then let them hell ill quite happily play for free while some saddo funds my playtime

I've been watching what the insiders and higher ups have been saying in several dev boards I watch. They want us to pay for everything and all they have is dollar signs (Euros if you liove across the pond) in their eyes. While yes development costs have been going up these companies have no idea how to diversify and be able to supplement their income (look at what Stardock does to diverify for example). SOE already relies heavily on their parent company Sony, but not all other major publishers have this option.

Will some companies switch to the micro-transaction/RMT model completely? Yes. Will all of them switch? No, because not everyohne believes in it.

Originally posted by BadgerSmaker

 

Originally posted by Dracis

 

... if it were me, I would have been blunt with the devs, that's just the way I am. I know it's not always the best tactic and probably wouldn't make me the best Senator, but it usually gets the point across.

...but to continue down a road that seems to be spouting only the company line is, at least in my opinion, not representing the players and goes against the concept of the Senate to begin with. Sorry, but that's my opinion.

 

I was very blunt, for a couple of years.  Don't think that you lot have the monopoly on tenaciousness in the face of certain defeat.

I'm not sure whether to be flattered that you see my idea to resolve this issue, that I formulated after long discussions with the community, as "the company line" or to be offended, surely my idea is better than anything SoE would design?

I guess that's the point and maybe a miscommunication or misunderstanding that it didn't seem to be your idea at all after awhile, but only what the devs would do or wanted. I guess that's just where we differ in opinion.

As to be offended, well, this is a forum and it's just my opinion. I can't help if you feel offended or flattered. It was not my intent to do either.

Originally posted by saay

 

Originally posted by Dracis

 

Originally posted by saay

Originally posted by Hozloff

Originally posted by saay

 

Originally posted by salvaje

At this point ANY arguing is pointless.  So is any petitioning the devs to improve things.  SWG is beating on death's door with a lightsaber.  Everything Badger is arguing about is tantamount to lobbying the captain of the Titanic to change the color of the lampshades.

And, you are never going to win any arguments with me, and I believe, any significant number of those who used to play the game but who quit over the NGE.  We're gone, and we aren't coming back for any version of the game based on the NGE, no matter WHAT you do with it.

So you guys better go and get new victims, uh, players and quit even coming around here to argue with us.

 

 

 

SWG is beating on death's door? - imagine us 6 months on - you'll be saying the same thing, just like you have for the past 2 years. I already have won arguments over you - check all my replies to your posts lying about content etc. We DONT want people like you back - so please stay away, we want rational, sensible people who can accept whats happened and enjoy theirselves in the present. I wont leave these forums until you refrain from spouting out false propaganda on the game and and stop lying.

 

...and you are rational and sensible by considering SOE "tiny" lies as ethical and moral, or otherwise accpetable as you put it here?

I am rational because i consider that not telling the community that the senator forums get the TC update notes a couple of hours before, probably because Valara went for lunch, is not only a tiny lie, but barely a lie at all. As for immoral, you are right, i dont think it is immoral to post updates a couple of hours before and not tell the community.

Saay, no one wins these arguements, no one. While I may seem be the most rational one here, I can understand where salvaje is comming from and what he means. I'm also not that jaded to know where you and the other pro-SW:G people are comming from either. But what you call propaganda, I call opinion and everyone here is entitled to their opinion, unless it violates the forum rules.

 

By the way, you still haven't brought forth the proof I asked for before in my post that Badger snipped a bit.

I did answer about the proof, look back :)

 

And when i said propaganda i wasnt talking about him saying "i hate the NGE" im talking about him creating posts like this which has no point since there was no actual lie and other threads which are outright lies.

Oops, sorry about that, I don't know how I missed it. As to the rest of it, this is the vet forums and most come here to gripe. There have been plenty of lies told on both sides ( yes, even I know there was never 500k people playing SW:G, 90% of the player base quit, and other things said by some vets are false) but you have to take everything read on any forum with a grain of salt. This is why there are two different forums. Also, in regard to populations, like I said in another thread, your server may be ok, but the majority are not.

Originally posted by miagisan

not to take sides or anything...but until you guys (blindly raging hatebois) actually attempt to do some of the things corros do for free...then maybe then you would be sticking your foot in your mouth after. Fanbois and hatebois alike are both making complete mockery of current and past fanbases.

I wouldn't be caught dead anymore associating with either side...cause you are both just as bad as the other. Consider me the grey fanbase....cause frankly you both are blind to what the other side feels/needs due to your involvement or emotional attachment to this game.

I played SWG longer than 99% of the gaming population, from closed beta to 6 months ago. Reading the official forums makes me whimper at the community, watching my own home of valcyn's forums turn into a bunch a whining leetspeakers...then you have the steroid induced, blindly raging hatebois, who make me sad and embarrased to have even been associated with you half the time.

Maybe each of you should step into each other's shoes for a day...then maybe you both would get over the other.

I agree. I have tried to bring some rational discussion back to these forums, but it doesn't always work that way.

Originally posted by saay

Originally posted by Hozloff

Originally posted by saay

 

Originally posted by salvaje

At this point ANY arguing is pointless.  So is any petitioning the devs to improve things.  SWG is beating on death's door with a lightsaber.  Everything Badger is arguing about is tantamount to lobbying the captain of the Titanic to change the color of the lampshades.

And, you are never going to win any arguments with me, and I believe, any significant number of those who used to play the game but who quit over the NGE.  We're gone, and we aren't coming back for any version of the game based on the NGE, no matter WHAT you do with it.

So you guys better go and get new victims, uh, players and quit even coming around here to argue with us.

 

 

 

SWG is beating on death's door? - imagine us 6 months on - you'll be saying the same thing, just like you have for the past 2 years. I already have won arguments over you - check all my replies to your posts lying about content etc. We DONT want people like you back - so please stay away, we want rational, sensible people who can accept whats happened and enjoy theirselves in the present. I wont leave these forums until you refrain from spouting out false propaganda on the game and and stop lying.

 

...and you are rational and sensible by considering SOE "tiny" lies as ethical and moral, or otherwise accpetable as you put it here?

I am rational because i consider that not telling the community that the senator forums get the TC update notes a couple of hours before, probably because Valara went for lunch, is not only a tiny lie, but barely a lie at all. As for immoral, you are right, i dont think it is immoral to post updates a couple of hours before and not tell the community.

By the way, you still haven't brought forth the proof I asked for before in my post that Badger snipped a bit.

Originally posted by BadgerSmaker

 

Originally posted by Dracis

While I have seen them speak out, at times, for what the community wants, I have seen others just follow the party line. For instance, Badgers constant threads about improving grouping as a way to fix the population problems on some servers. When the original thread was started back in September of 2007 (which is when he and I discussed it) about grouping, he basically would not listen to anyone who did not follow his or the devs idea of what should be done. Most of the community did not like the proposed changes, but yet he would not represent anything but what the devs wanted. In fact at this point, fixing grouping, according to the official forums, is the way to fix everything population and game play related. That's the only thing they are willing to discuss.

I was working on the group XP system since the NGE, trying to get something like what we had back, where you could group up with anyone and advance together.

 

I kept asking for months for what effectively would have been a rollback to the heavily exploitable group XP system where you only had to get one hit to get full experience from a MOb while grouped no matter what progression you'd made to wards Master. 

Obviously they weren't about to do any of that, so in order to get some kind of positive change for the SWG players I switched my approach and went for community tool improvements, which the Devs recently said that they want to implement soon as it's the "biggest hole in our content".

Instead of fighting the system, I played the system, and hopefully that means a win for SWG players.

As for the use of the private forum, sometimes SoE give us a heads up on some things and we discuss it, but they don't change anything based on our feedback till it goes out to the community, which is how it should be.

I'm very strict on what gets posted in the private forum, I'm very conscious that in order to represent our community effectively we must be as transparent and accountable as possible, if I see a thread that should be public I say so and usually it gets moved.

Well, I understand that Badger and I didn't mean to say that was your only choice and I will admit maybe some things were posted where I couldn't see them. It's just my opinion and if it were me, I would have been blunt with the devs, that's just the way I am. I know it's not always the best tactic and probably wouldn't make me the best Senator, but it usually gets the point across.

I think you and I both know that very few, if any of the players are seriously worried about anyone power leveling. The only people who are worried about it are the devs. As a developer myself I know you can't always listen to the community on everything, but there are times you have to listen. You can not bury your head in the sand and scream, "we can't hear you!" , every time they say something you don't like. I know very well how the SOE management works and how the devs are micro-managed to death in nearly everything. I've seen the system and that's why I run my company completely different.

Like I said, this is my opinion and if I were the one representing the community, I would stand up for the community. If the community thinks it's not the best idea, then present a viable alternative, to both the community and the devs, but to continue down a road that seems to be spouting only the company line is, at least in my opinion, not representing the players and goes against the concept of the Senate to begin with. Sorry, but that's my opinion.

Edit* my spelling sucks today. Who am I kidding, it sucks everyday :P

Originally posted by elvenangel

Smart thinking..you shoudl also send a copy of this to Turbine's Staff so they can send out a general notice and look into where the email came from

 

Here's a link to find out about the person who sent the email: http://www.johnru.com/active-whois/trace-email.html . Just Google it and you will find out more ways to trace an email as well.

Ok, I'll reserve my comment on the Senators for later, as this is not the issue I have at the moment. The issue I have is with saay and your constant insistance that more and more people are comming back to and just started playing SW:G. Now, I really don't mean this to be a flame, but you have, just as many other current players have, asked for proof when any non playing vet talks about numbers lost during the NGE, CU, or any other controvercial Chapter. So I ask simply ask for proof of more and more people are comming back and/or are just starting to play. If we are supposed to give proof, of which there is very little because SOE no longer releases numbers, then so should you. I don't think that is too much out of line for me to say.

As for the Senators, well I have seen quite a few rude and down right insulting comments from some of the Senators, MasterCosmos being one of them. While I have seen them speak out, at times, for what the community wants, I have seen others just follow the party line. For instance, Badgers constant threads about improving grouping as a way to fix the population problems on some servers. When the original thread was started back in September of 2007 (which is when he and I discussed it) about grouping, he basically would not listen to anyone who did not follow his or the devs idea of what should be done. Most of the community did not like the proposed changes, but yet he would not represent anything but what the devs wanted. In fact at this point, fixing grouping, according to the official forums, is the way to fix everything population and game play related. That's the only thing they are willing to discuss.

Originally posted by Suvroc

 

Originally posted by saay

 

Originally posted by Suvroc

 

Originally posted by saay

And to the person who said "balance" destroys individuality, go look it up in the dictionary. Its "balance" not "uniformity". Balance simply means each proffession has the same amount of power, the individuality comes in because they have power in different areas, skills and circumstances.

 

Well, what would those "different areas" be?

There is only one health bar, so I cannot see how differnt skills and circumstances are relevant as the end result is to deplete that one health bar.

Besides, take for example a healer class. That class would ultimately be the "alpha" class because not only would he have the same "power" as other classes but he would have a stronge heal aswell.

Its pretty basic really, il start with your example, the medic. The medic has very good heals, a few stamina and health buffs, some specials that remove DoTs and recoup action but they lack in DPS. BH on the other hand excels in an onslaught of damage and applying DoTs and debuffs, but has a lack of healing etc. There are many areas - melee, snaring, DoTs, AoEs, healing, debuffs, ranged, buffs, elementals etc etc and combinations of these obviously. 

 

Then there are the different circumstances, for instance a BH with a certain template may be very good 1 on 1 (for bounties) but might not have enough defensives and attacks that deal in area damage. The same way an officer with a certain kind of template may be very good at buffing his groups at the right times and bring in supplies/backup but may lack somewhat when facing a foe on his own. So there is quite alot of diversity especially when you take into account different PvE enemies (large HPs, or powerful debuffs, or melee etc)

 

How can each class have the "same amount of power" if they do not do the same damage? I believe heals are a different power then DPS, therefore how can they balance when they are different.

I totally understand what you're saying but what I'm trying to say is that there are so many personal opinions on what balance is, and that is what proves to be about impossible to define.

I guess the question to be asked is what do you define as "power"?

Ok, considering I'm probably the only one here who has been to a video game design school, let me add this: Balance in an MMO is an illusion, unless it was originally designed that way. SW:G was originally designed for squad based combat. Everyoine had their role, crowd control, dps, healer, etc. The unfortunate flaw was that the original devs didn't take into account the hybrid professions, ie melee/defense stacking., etc.

Now let's take the design concept for the NGE. OK, no hybrids, which one would think a bit easier to balance. For those of you that remember, originally no matter what weapon you had, you did the same amount of damage. Remember all those Jedi running around with rifles? Basically what happened was that damage did not include any modiffiers for the weapons, nor were there any restrictions to each class arch type in regards to weapons. So, eventually they added restrictions, weapon damage modifiers, which strayed away from their original concept and the end result is what you see today.

Basically if they had stuck with their original concept of the NGE in regards to combat, everyone would have been fairly balanced when it came to combat. Unfortunately, no one liked it and didn't want to be like everyone else. So, the devs added differences, different abilities, expertise, and so on. Now, because they didn't stick with their plain, you have inbalances.

The point is, when you design a game, or in this instance redesign it, you have to have a clear cut plan when it comes to combat and stick with it! You can not get away from the core concept and hope to keep a balance. And yes, there is a difference between making changes and fixing things. MMO's and most games today are huge in the amount of code there is and no matter what you aren't going to find every single bug. You can fix and adjust combat, without actually changing the way it works, which is what the NGE devs did not do.

Edit* I really need to check these posts for errors before I click Submit*

Well, I've spoken to many AS on Chimaera and they don't have to stock their vendors all that often anymore. In fact, I bet if SOE would stop changing the stats on everyone every few weeks, I'd be willing to bet that besides someone changing their look, there wouldn't be a need for AS or Tailors at all. As for DE's, yes there are still the few die hard BH's out there. Heck, I was one of them. On the account I reactivated, that's all I played was my BH and for the most part all I did was run NPC missions and I only had to buy droids once in 3 months and combat dorids are not used all that much really. Just when was the last time during a large PVP battle did you see some one pull out their uber combat droid? Yes Droid Commander maybe comming, but hell man, it's been 2.5 years and they are now just getting to improving the game play for crafters? ANd by goodness no not all of them, but some.

Like I said, RE'ers are not what I would call crafters. Farming loot to RE is just not crafting and that's what most do, farm loot on a combat alt and RE it with their second slot crafter.

Pre-CU I had five accounts. I ran a Tailor, Chef, AS, and a Master Artisian on two of my accounts. SW:G for a time was like a job for me ( I'm disabled, so before you say go outside and do something else, I can't ) and I loved it. I was never the best AS, Chef, or Tailor, nor the most well known, but I had my niche and did well enough. Literally, for some one starting out (yes, I went through the Legacy quests on a completely new toon) they will see almost no need for a crafter as everything can be looted. And let's be honest, there isn't a ton of new people coming to try the game out all the time. It's a trickle of new people at best.

Originally posted by saay

 

Originally posted by Dracis

 

Originally posted by saay

 

Originally posted by Warmaker

It's funny about that NGE combat play