All Posts by Athela

Hi there Beery, welcome to the rip-the-heads-off-chickens show that is the Galaxies part of these forums.

I haven't seen any hint anywhere of a game with the music and dance and ID options Galaxies has.  It is too bad because it is a ton of fun to be an entertainer in game.  As much as they've taken away any player interdependency type purpose, it is still a hoot. 

Take someone like myself who can't play a note in the real world.  There I was, Master Musician, playing along in a packed Coronet cantina just wishing they would find a way to make it so everyone didn't have to be playing the same song as the lowest skilled musician in the group.  Who knew that was as good as it would get, and that those were the most glorious times for ents. 

I remember reading on the Musician forums lots of people saying they were real life musicians, and they loved the game but would really like to be able to actually compose some songs.  I wish that the devs had found a way to allow that.  It could just be a blast to have the ability to buy someone's compositions, or art in game.  Maybe someday, but not in a galaxy far far away, thats for sure.

I'll definitely play. Torn between Hunter and Minstrel.

Interesting speech he gave.  Lots of emphasis on not treating customer like steaming piles...think about making a *good* name for yourself out there...was he referring in a backhanded way to the sicko customer service policies and bad name of a certain company?

kenshuAni wrote:   you all think when they get no response or some BS one like "send me a picture."

I never thought that.  The correspondant system was a good thing, at least it reading through all the guides on the various "profession" boards felt worthwhile.

Ya, sorry for the broad brush.  I just see the attacks on the senators as not getting anyone anywhere, and full of useless jealousy and all that stuff.  They didn't get any choice in no longer representing a particular profession.  I don't believe they were given any clue for a long time how they'd operate.  They try with the weekly reports to show what is going on (nothing cause thats how the community is interacted with by the staff at SOE).

I think what it really is, is displaced anger at the devs and at TH who should be talking and getting answers.  The people who should be coughing up info don't.  The Senate are made up of people who got into the corr program to help fellow players, its what they do. So because they're out there hanging in the wind, they get the shots.  In a bad situation, its just another bad thing.

Pretty sad when the good guys give up (that would be Starnick and Illscander).  Alot of correspondents left with the CU and the NGE.  Have to give the current lot credit for hanging in as long as they have.  They obviously don't have the big *in* you all think when they get no response or some BS one like "send me a picture."

The first scintillating question you need to ask is, what is it right now?

In short, it is a game written around the Jedi profession.  All other professions support gameplay of the Jedi profession.  If anything new is added, if anything is taken away, it is a result of looking at the impact on Jedi.  Why would this be?  Well, Jedi are easy to market/sell/understand.  The teensiest mind can grasp and wield a light saber.  It *glows*.  Its purty.  You swing it.  You hurt people. You win.

What was it?  It was a system where you learned a huge variety of skills.  You could change them at any time by dropping skills to pick up new ones.  You could experiment endlessly with your character.  There was a rich game in place for both combat and non-combat characters.  Interdependency of all character types was cleverly built in to the system.  Your character was as great or as mediocre as you wanted them to be, depending on your efforts.  Each planet was very different in what npcs and creatures you encountered.  You needed strategy before every fight.  Crafting mattered and was valuable.  Everything you made, someone could use.  It was a game of infinite possibility and imagination.

Thats sorta it.

/raises hand   I know, I know!    The Little Engine That COULDN'T

Interesting read, Tillamook. 

I can see his idea being hugely popular, especially with all the vehicles/music and eras represented.

Great thinking on the multiple pay models and promotions.

Cross platform would be easy too.  And, even people that don't like console controllers would have a blast with a steering wheel control...anyone remember racing games called Pod and Megarace? 

 Maybe some nice off planet races for the SF fans...

Rekrul wrote:

Did adventure games die? Did simulators die? Did RTS die?
- Adventures are now in MMORPGs. Their form changed, but the selling points of the original adventure design were too few. They also had no replayability, reducing their value.
- Simulators? Car simulators are going in full force. Flight simulators, not so. FS have reached market cap which is no longer sufficient to support large scale development. Simply put, you can't cover costs.
- RTS? Don't really know about that, but the C&C is mostly gone out of mainstream. The third-person perspective doesn't apeal to avatar oriented players. Despite that, the civilization, Age of Whatever and similar series are still popular, or were a while back. Not mainstream market though. They will sooner or later make a comeback in MMOs. Controlling squads of units as a commander standing in the field, and all that.

Don't you think, as I said, elements of all of these types of games can be brought into mmorpgs?  Even gameplay elements that seem daunting at first can actually be picked up in the cooperative mmorpg environment when you can find someone to talk you through a difficulty.

You're seeming a bit absolutist, and reminding me of a game design book I took a peek at by Chris Crawford. He kind ticked off by name every game to the date of his book, said what it had going for it, then seemed to write it off.  It looks from everything I see and read that the future is *in motion* for gaming generally, and online games for sure as more types of players come in.

Only the wiley coyote developers know the answer! I'd look to games like LOTRO for story and Vanguard for complex virtual world.

Bioware and those rowdies Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel I think are capable of turning things around.  I re-read their mmorpg.com interview yesterday    http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm?loadFeature=654&bhcp=1    and these quotes stand out:

"...the two see BioWare as a chance to step outside the narrow MMORPG mindset and reevaluate everything about these games."

"The major asset MMORPGs have, according to both men, are their communities. They also noted things like crafting and economies as extremely interesting to them."

“[MMORPGs are] too MUD driven,” said Vogel, who was part of the original Ultima Online design team. “MMOs publish people way too much… I think MMOs are too hardcore.”

"To help bring the game’s vision into focus, James Ohlen has moved to their Austin office. The ten-year BioWare veteran is the Creative Director for the entire studio. He worked on all the classics, like Baldur’s Gate, and will combine that single-player RPG experience with the MMO know-how of Vogel and Walton. He brings the signature BioWare design and storytelling to their project."

    So, they are hoping to base their game on some different mechanic than the traditional MUD. They are interested in crafting and player economies (something from SWG and Eve Online, but also in tons of RTS games).

 The more I read and play, the more I think that mmorpgs should be pulling in elements from traditional and new rpgs and adventure games.  Worlds are created then nobody knows what to do in them.  Well, rpgs and adventure games bring story and puzzles and level design.  People playing those types of games don't just want to shoot, they want to explore and be challenged in a variety of ways.  In fact, I don't see why mmorpgs can't be stealing gameplay elements from many single player game genre's.  They aren't limited, really, they can sneak in dungeons with horror/survival stuff.  There can be Sam and Max type mini games.  There can be arcade elements.  For instance...in SWG why on earth isn't the trainer for space missions more like a video arcade game?  They just all need to cram more *stuff* in.

Thanks for your time!!!

Aha! yesterday I was thinking why don't they use the sort of puzzles that a game like 7th Guest used? (Calm down game junkies, most won't know the game).  I'm thinking of the sort of puzzles that randomly generate and "reset".  There is always this thought out there, that the content is written and it is on a game site walkthrough the next day.  Well, why don't dungeons and instances and even some missions reset in some randomly generated manner?  You have to not just think outside the box, think outside the game, eh?

Ha! These boards are full of good deep discussion compared to the official forums. What a cesspit that place has been since the NGE.  Just ugly ugly. 

Iskareot wrote:  Demographs aside,  EvE is no doubt a good game.. has a niche and will survive based on that alone.  They have loved thier customer base, listened to them and worked with them in a professional manner. 

How key is that?  If I had never left SWG for a bit and seen the way other companies interact with their customers, I would have thought they are all hostile, defensive, non-communicative, ask-what-the-players-want-so-they-can-ignore-or-give-the-opposite...

But, even SOE's EQ people are from a far different customer service land.  They truly seem to love the game and the customers are treated like, well friends and comrades.  There is just a mutual respect there that you could only wish the SWG staff had. I dunno, its an eternal puzzler.

Doshu wrote:   Recently, I got invited into Alpha testing of LOTRO, and I have to say in alpha phase compared to SWG, it is amazingly 1000x times better than SWG.

Lol, how is the air up there in NDA Breaker land?

My general thought on SWG, after playing a few other games, is that it is still in a shockingly unfinished state, I just can't fathom why they do what they do how they do it.  They truly seem to have no plan at all, and when they give a glimmer of having a plan, they toss it and rename it as the *new* plan and la la la off they go.  Two huge names in the game industry working together and its just a damn mess.  Unreal.

Ya know, since Jim Ward is the supersalesman who worked for Nike and Microsoft and Ford, and who, in his own wee head is going to save gaming with his superior business modeling---why hasn't he put any effort at all into SWG?  He has been on board at LA for long enough. 

 Is he unable to get his head around what the game is (or was)?  Can't get the hang of the keyboard instead of a PS2 controller?  Is he among us as the fat naked guy we see blowing a slitherhorn at starports and he never got farther in the game than that?   Tsk.

Okay, I have to write this to get the image out of my head:

If I had film editing skills, I would take the recent Jim Ward video interview and add an inserted, looping video of Pee Wee Herman yelling:

Salesman!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally posted by Shayde
I don't mean to burst your bubble here, but the media is controlled by bog corporations.

Controlled by money.


and yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

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Is this a Florida thing?  Boggling...

Actually, since the industry and its membership is vaunted as being small, they can easily close ranks.

Also, on this topic, has anyone seen the new magazine Massive?  It is like one long advertisement.  I can't think of another whole magazine with such a fawning tone.  I was surprised, expecting a bit more depth.  I could count pages, but it seemed to me about 3/4ths of the zine was on WOW.  Should have called it WOWie instead of Massive.

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Originally posted by FreelancerA4

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Originally posted by PyscoJuggalo

You ever see the sig of a SWG Official board member that says "When you resubscribe to SWG, a baby kitten is born?"

Well here is my saying, "When you resubscribe to SWG, an 18 yearold Stripper finds Jesus, gives up stripping, and moves with a rolex revrand to Hawaii."

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I hate that guy. He spins almost as much as MsNiL...and she just does it because she's an attention whore.

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You sure don't sound like somebody who is ready to settle on into a Hobbit Hole....

What screenshots are you looking at?  All of the ones I've seen look beautiful.  Maybe you can post a link?

Have you tried DDO since the July changes? Maybe you'll like it better.  I thought DDO was very sharp graphically, by the way.

I love it too! It is a shadow of its former self, and nothing like it could be, but there just isn't anything like it anywhere.

Sadly, the parts they are trying to kill off and sweep under the wookiee walking carpet, the VIRTUAL WORLD aspects, those are where the glory still lies.  Everything they haven't changed yet, including the planets themselves *sigh* its all Star Warsy till they destroy it.