All Posts by BlackWatch

1) SWG (preCU)

2) WoW

3) EQ2

4) FFXI

5) CoH

Originally posted by ummax

Originally posted by Battleskar

Originally posted by AveBethos

Let's just justify credibility here...

The OP just said he believes that the game is BETTER now than it was Pre-CU/CU.

Right there says enough...

One more thing you talk about my credibility,because I like something you do not? You need to look up what credibility means I can state my opinion and you can state yours my opinion is this game has gotten beat down and bashed for way longer than it should have.SOE made their mistakes .Its time for some of you who are still holding grudges to get past the past for crying out loud. I still read alot of posts on here of folks quiting things about SWG that are just not true,and the Sad thing is I used to believe and agree with alot of them until I went back and made my own decision. If you do not like the game thats fine and dandy,If your still mad and upset at SOE and want to mope and whine and cry for the rest of your life thats fine too, it never got you anywhere the game never rolled back. Now that being said I like this game again and for those of you who miss it nows the time to try it again,but I reccomend that you start a new charactor and begon from the start you learn alot by starting over than starting from 80:P

 

Yeah I agree with this.   At this point its almost become habit to bash the game.    The fact is that truly that entire argument is almost irrelevant at this point in time.  The game that is being bashed is not the game that was released and broken in the nge/cu stuff.   Its been repaired and at the very least is on par with the old version. 

The other thing is the statements of "WoW" copies.  Its interesting but someone brought this to my attention recently.    Collections have become a huge thing in SWG.  If SWG is copying WoW why then is WoW about to implement collections for the first time with the warhammer release in order to not loose ground.  The fact of the matter is that at this point in time the past is over and Sony has moved foward. YES everyone and their brother will agree that sony indeed did screw up.  However they have done what they can to repair the damage and have moved forward to create a game that now people actualy want to play.    The fact also remains that it gave me a chuckle when I saw that WoW was implementing something that has become a Sony staple in their games (eq and swg and maybe others I havent' looked..).  

The last thing is that we are seeing posts from people who are almost confessing that they tried the game now in the present and are enjoying it despite that fact that all the fibre of their being is saying "no I should hate this".   Those that enjoy it stay (for now maybe something better will be produced in the future) and those that dont enjoy it leave.   The age old arguments are just that becoming such a habit they have lost their power as people read what is almost a drone at this point of people stating the sme thing over and over again.  I have a picture in my head of a very borred guy in a room reading from a script who has over the years gotten to the point where its just become habit.    If peopel see a positive post the "switch" is thrown and you hear this monotone voice say  things like "dead servers" , "sony lied", "NGE sucks" whatever all strewn together in very similar sentances.   Its over and was long ago the monotone voices saying the same thing over and over again have become background noise.  People make up their own minds.  They download the trial and they decide.  (anticipates the usual remark that says "if you download the trial you will see for yourself that the servers are dead blah blah blah).   Yeah its programmed now I know what is coming next.  It no longer something that even makes me and likely others take notice as we have read those statements and have made up our onw minds .

The fact is that this game is a decent game.   Its fun and its entertaining and its something people want to do.   That's just the way it is no saber rattling or forum battles here or anything else is going to change that simple truth. 

If you enjoy the game, then I'm glad you enjoy the game. 

I use Fanboi or SOE Employee just like I hear the terms Angry Vet or Old School/Elder. 

There are people in my old SWG guild that still play and enjoy it.  I don't slap the fanboi/SOE employee label on them, and I don't throw it at every current SWG fan either.   The people that get that label are the ones that refuse to acknowledge that there are issues with the game.  These people refuse to allow anyone to say anything even remotely negative about the game.  They do whatever they can to  discredit negative statements or opinions.

Being loyal is one thing.  Drinking the Kool-Aid is another.

Originally posted by Battleskar

Originally posted by AveBethos

Let's just justify credibility here...

The OP just said he believes that the game is BETTER now than it was Pre-CU/CU.

Right there says enough...

One more thing you talk about my credibility,because I like something you do not? You need to look up what credibility means I can state my opinion and you can state yours my opinion is this game has gotten beat down and bashed for way longer than it should have.SOE made their mistakes .Its time for some of you who are still holding grudges to get past the past for crying out loud. I still read alot of posts on here of folks quiting things about SWG that are just not true,and the Sad thing is I used to believe and agree with alot of them until I went back and made my own decision. If you do not like the game thats fine and dandy,If your still mad and upset at SOE and want to mope and whine and cry for the rest of your life thats fine too, it never got you anywhere the game never rolled back. Now that being said I like this game again and for those of you who miss it nows the time to try it again,but I reccomend that you start a new charactor and begon from the start you learn alot by starting over than starting from 80:P

Who says vets haven't moved on?  I think most have.  Just because people post doesn't mean that they haven't moved on.

I know that at this point, I read the SWG boards to see what has happened with patches/publishes or to see if SOE finally decided to pull their heads out and roll-back.

I rarely (if ever) come in here to target SOE employees/fanboi's... trolling is not a hobby of mine, honestly.

Until people feel like they have been heard and truly listened to, they will keep talking or attempting to express themselve until they find some level of satisfaction or peace.  Until then, we'll all keep posting our opinions about these games and hopefully enjoying the ones we're all playing, respectively.

For me, I found that I had to 'make do' with what the game offered, as opposed to being truly happy with what it provided.  Couple that with a seriously low server population, houses full of useless gear/food/items, and a profession that is a shadow of its former self.... the 'exit stage left/cancel' button seemed more attractive than days of grinding for 4/5 holocrons ever could be.

I tried SWG again myself.  But after seeing the collection system... I walked again. 

4/5 holo's... the new slayer of inner-children everywhere.

No matter how grand a virtual world may be, I'm typically underwhelmed by any of the games these days. 

I do want something 'sandbox-ish' that features a great deal of freedom, but I also don't want it so open that the game loses any type of shape or 'body' to the world. 

Sandbox should be more about creativity and making gameplay a more personal experience for the player.  It should not be about finding 'the one character temp/profession combo to rule them all' and then watching 10 million clones roll out of that mold...  then watching re-roll's as new FotM's are generated through various patches and nerfs.

Originally posted by Tee312

Originally posted by BlackWatch

I think the other key thing to look at  with character models and 'artwork' within a character is the detail and attention given to movement.

You can have the greatest looking characters in the world, but if they don't move well then they aren't that great... unless all you are doing is playing 1 frame at a time or taking non-stop screenshots.  Player models and npc's need to walk right, carry weapons right, breathe, manipulate and work with world objects, they need to fight, they need to run and jump... all of those things... in a 'realistic' way or pseudo-believable way. 

Character models often react slowly or awkwardly to commands.  They 'skate' across terrain rather than walk or run across it.  They 'snap' to targets, rather than really turn... head, torso, hips, legs, feet... it all happens 'now'. This mechanic changes for 2 legged creatures, 4 legged, etc.,.. Same goes for creatures that fly or  swim. 

The other thing... armor needs to fit the character... each character... as if it were crafted for them.  I hate how some surfaces on armor in some games look 'stretched' on some character models, yet fine on others.  I don't think each race needs their own armor, but I do think the armor should appropriately fit and look right.

How the creature or player model reacts to 'effects' that are placed on them.  More often then not, we see players who are subjected to 'ice' as 'moving slow'... as if in a blizzard, ahem.  If someone throws some ice down infront of you... of if they make it magically appear in your path... and you are already running at them at full speed, are you going to really 'slow down'?  No.  You'll hit the ice and fall on your arse or you will 'skate' by them, into them, or something unpredictable. 

If a player is 'blinded' in a game... make their screen go black or darken it.  Why should they be able to 'see' what's around them?  I mean, I'm sorry... you're 'blind'.  You were 'blinded' for a reason... not so that you could continue to watch and track your target so that whenever the blindness wears off you can immediately attack him.  Maybe their field or viewing radius gets dropped to a really low number... but that should be addressed, too. 

Rant off.

 

Oh really?  WAR has some things wrong with it, but I don't see how they "skate" across the ground.  I haven't seen a lot of what you're ranting about, actually.

I'm not ranting that WAR doesn't have this or does have this... in general, people were stating what some of the issues with graphics with games were.  Most people mention how local terrain looks or how 'plastic' textures look in many games.  I was just saying that we need to look beyond that and think of other things, too.

Some of the things WoW does well, imho... how a character runs or jumps is pretty funny.  The tauren player model jumping, breathing, etc..,.. funny, imho.  I'm not saying the mechanics are 'right' or exact (for a mytho-creature), but they are entertaining at least... and not forced or stretched the point of me seeing those characters are 'ridged' or 'stiff'. 

I haven't played WAR as of yet (alpha/beta or otherwise), but since I pre-ordered the CE... I will be checking it out. 

I want the new SW-MMORPG to be nothing like SWG was... in any stage of the game. 

I want something new, entirely.

I don't want another 3 years of: "Bioware, I really like your game, but could you do 'this' like SOE did in preCU: SWG?"

I'm a 4+ year SWG vet.  And I hope I don't hear the following words... ever:

Anti-Decay Kit

The Old Man

The Village

4/5 Holocron

Holo-grind 1

Holo-grind 2

Respec Jedi

Elder Jedi

etc.,...

Give me the real 'StarWarsy' and 'Iconic' game I'm looking for.  That's all I'm asking.

I think the other key thing to look at  with character models and 'artwork' within a character is the detail and attention given to movement.

You can have the greatest looking characters in the world, but if they don't move well then they aren't that great... unless all you are doing is playing 1 frame at a time or taking non-stop screenshots.  Player models and npc's need to walk right, carry weapons right, breathe, manipulate and work with world objects, they need to fight, they need to run and jump... all of those things... in a 'realistic' way or pseudo-believable way. 

Character models often react slowly or awkwardly to commands.  They 'skate' across terrain rather than walk or run across it.  They 'snap' to targets, rather than really turn... head, torso, hips, legs, feet... it all happens 'now'. This mechanic changes for 2 legged creatures, 4 legged, etc.,.. Same goes for creatures that fly or  swim. 

The other thing... armor needs to fit the character... each character... as if it were crafted for them.  I hate how some surfaces on armor in some games look 'stretched' on some character models, yet fine on others.  I don't think each race needs their own armor, but I do think the armor should appropriately fit and look right.

How the creature or player model reacts to 'effects' that are placed on them.  More often then not, we see players who are subjected to 'ice' as 'moving slow'... as if in a blizzard, ahem.  If someone throws some ice down infront of you... of if they make it magically appear in your path... and you are already running at them at full speed, are you going to really 'slow down'?  No.  You'll hit the ice and fall on your arse or you will 'skate' by them, into them, or something unpredictable. 

If a player is 'blinded' in a game... make their screen go black or darken it.  Why should they be able to 'see' what's around them?  I mean, I'm sorry... you're 'blind'.  You were 'blinded' for a reason... not so that you could continue to watch and track your target so that whenever the blindness wears off you can immediately attack him.  Maybe their field or viewing radius gets dropped to a really low number... but that should be addressed, too. 

Rant off.

Reminds me of Will and Clark going to town in Good Will Hunting.

Chuckie: Are we gonna have a problem here?

Clark: No, no, no, no! There's no problem here. I was just hoping you might give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the southern colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War, the economic modalities, especially in the southern colonies, could be most aptly described as agrarian precapitalist.

Chuckie: Let me tell you something -

Will: Of course that's your contention. You're a first-year grad student; you just got finished reading some Marxian historian, Pete Garrison probably. You're gonna be convinced of that 'till next month when you get to James Lemon. Then you're going to be talking about how the economies of Virginia and Pennsylvania were entrepreneurial and capitalist way back in 1740. That's gonna last until next year; you're gonna be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood, talkin' about, you know, the pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization.

Clark: Well, as a matter of fact, I won't, because Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social -

Will: "Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth, especially inherited wealth"? You got that from Vickers' "Work in Essex County," page 98, right? Yeah, I read that too. Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us? Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter? Or do you, is that your thing, you come into a bar, read some obscure passage and then pretend - you pawn it off as your own, as your own idea just to impress some girls, embarrass my friend?

Clark: [looks down in shame]

Will: See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a f***in' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library!

Clark: Yeah, but I will have a degree. And you'll be servin' my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.

Will: That may be, but at least I won't be unoriginal. But I mean, if you have a problem with that, I mean, we could just step outside - we could figure it out.

Clark: No, man, there's no problem. It's cool.

Will: It's cool?

Clark: Yeah.

Will: Cool.

Originally posted by Pappy13

Originally posted by BlackWatch

Not saying I support bott'ing (because I don't), but how much further out can we be from Blizzard vs some of the mod's that automate some ingame activities (such as mod's that watch the AH for pricing trends and such)?  And then will they go after multi-boxers as well? 

You mean other than the fact that Blizzard has already stated countless times that these are completely within the TOS and EULA and acceptable?  Yes Multi-boxing is acceptable as long as it's not automated.

At the end of the day, it's Blizzards software and their game.  So, if they have stated it's okay... then I'm fine with that.  I'd just like to see it in writing with a little more detail (from them) on what methods of multi-boxing they accept. 

Really, I'd like that in writing to protect me... because I multi-box in WoW and have in other games as well.

Originally posted by templarga

Originally posted by BlackWatch

 

I think it's good to nuke something that completely removes the human factor from gameplay, but I am directly opposed to Blizzard having any rights whatsoever to look at the system I'm playing on and the contents (software/hardware).

 

Then do not ever read the rights you give Microsoft via Windows installation....that is scary!! :)

On topic though: Go Blizzard!! Botting and scripting programs are ruining the game and I for one, applaud any effort to ban anyone who does not want to play the game. I know some people that have so many programs or addons that they hardly even play the game anymore. All they do is run around where they are told too and its mind-numbing. I have always thought that WOW has too many potential addons and they really need to reel some of them in.

I am just glad that this is a victory for those of us who actually play the game and abide by the rules and actually enjoy the game as is.

Yeah, well... I know all about Micro$oft.  I think the world knows about Micro$oft.  And yes, it is scary.

But overall..

Botting (to me) would be like... having my computer take my college classes for me, then I get the degree.

Sure, it would take talent to write the AI that would allow the computer to essentially 'bot' your college classes.... but that's not the way the system is supposed to work.

If I pay my $200,000 and get my degree, and you pay your $200,000 (+$25 for bot) and you get yours... how does that impact me?  Because while I would have actually attended classes and earned my degree, you wouldn't have.  Then, when you get into the workforce, your lack of knowledge would bring down the value of a degree from the college I attended.  Especially if 100,000 people were to take the bot-route to their degree...  the diploma from that college would essentially become 'worthless'.  Furthermore, someone would've essentially become very wealthy while destroying a school. 

Not saying I support bott'ing (because I don't), but how much further out can we be from Blizzard vs some of the mod's that automate some ingame activities (such as mod's that watch the AH for pricing trends and such)?  And then will they go after multi-boxers as well? 

I think it's good to nuke something that completely removes the human factor from gameplay, but I am directly opposed to Blizzard having any rights whatsoever to look at the system I'm playing on and the contents (software/hardware).  I have not done any type of deep dive on this, but I certainly would like to know %100 of where they look and what they look at on my box.  Outside of sending Blizzard crash logs and giving them a reason for client software failure, I don't think they need to know what I have on my system. 

The license agreement should protect the customer (gamer) just as much as it protects the corporation and their software.

Originally posted by Obraik

My end game content:

• Heroics (high end instances)
• Collections
• Crafting
• PvP
• Ground quests
• Space quests
• House deco
• The odd storyteller event

 

1. Heroics.  They don't drop enough loot.  I came back and ran 'Heroics' for a few months and my take on them... underwhelming.  I ran the instance for the stat increase because I didn't see anything else drop that was worthwhile... not for me anyway.  But to see only 1 item or so drop from 'the Boss'... incredibly weak.  You work your way through a time-sink instance only to run into zero reward at the end. 

2. Collections.  4/5 Holocrons = losing my religion.  Once I got down to only needing 1 Holocron... and I'd been grinding for that 1 holo for weeks/months... frustrating does not = entertaining.  Hours dumped into getting nothing.  SOE had to take dev time to get Collection items to stack because people looted so much of that crap while searching for the stuff they really wanted (but never got). 

3. Crafting.  Lol.  Next.

4. PvP.  Restuss.  Same 10 people about 2-3 times.  After that, people get tired of having to visit the Entertainer and rebuff and all of that. 

5. Ground quests.  Pre-req's for Heroic's.  After that, what else is there, really?  Not much that I found, tbh.  I mean, are we talking about 'Legacy' quests?  Or are we talking about the quest line that new players get?  The one where, say if you are a wookie... the quest rewards are absolutely worthless. 

6.  Space quests.  At least in space, nobody can hear you scream.  After ACE... what space quests?  Collections?  Bah. 

7.  House Deco.  Seriously?  I mean, I have a trophy bunker/house.  I had multi accounts and all of that... lots of houses.  My friends run instances, pvp, and all of that in their games... I'm supposed to tell them that I spent a few evenings in game decorating?  For a forum badge? 

8.  Storyteller.  For what?  Didn't the individual that ran the storyteller program leave the company?  Other than RP'ing, is there any other reward for storyteller events? 

I realize that is all of your end-game content... but I tried some of that in the current SWG and it really wasn't enough to keep my attention. 

The current player population doesn't honestly care about the history of the game.  They care about the state the game is in right now and they seem to care about progressing the game more than rehashing the past. 

They know we lost a lot.  They never got to play the old game, so they will never really understand... no matter how many 'my personal story-feelings about SOE/SWG' posts we Vets make. 

I'm not a fan boy. I hate SOE...  not just for what they did to SWG, but for the fun-crimes they commited vs other IP's, too. 

Times have changed.  While we Vets hang on to our memories of a game that we enjoyed... it's gone.  And by the time any shadow of that game roll's out in the way of an EMU, it will be so outdated that it will need an update within itself. 

I know there is a void, however.  There isn't a game on the market today that calls to me like old school SWG used to.   Sure, when I try a new game there is a certain level of excitement and draw.  But after the newness is gone and I've discovered what the game is missing... my level of interest declines, my playing time declines, and then I begin to search for SWG's next replacement.

The new hope has got to be SWG 2 or the next SW based MMORPG.  SOE is not a company with the reputation of doing the right thing and I don't think they'll start now.  SOE is not going to give us a preCU server.  Once we finally stop hoping for the sake of hoping, we'll be able to really move on from the original SWG.  I know that it's tough to 'give up', because it's not in my nature either.  But this tale isn't made for American cinema and it won't have the happy ending we are all searching for. 

If we focus our efforts on pushing for a SWG 2 or new SW based MMORPG, then we can hopefully see more of what we like (liked) from our old 'world' in the next one.  If we keep flaming everything about CU/NGE SWG, it might appear that we simply don't want any other SW-MMORPG other than preCU SWG.  So, we probably need to re-think our messaging to the MMORPG community and refocus our energy.

It wasn't really that many, tbh.  Not by way of comparison to the CU or NGE purges.

WoW is still the MMORPG king.  It's not dead.  it's not dying.

But WoW is showing signs of age.  It just is.  The fact of the matter is that even some of the most loyal of WoW customers/players have 'seen/done it all'.  While there is some level of comfort and appeal to the fact that they play in a world where everything is familiar to them... there is also a level of 'yawn'. 

The guilds I've belonged to have all but stopped raiding.  Sure, it's summer and people are out and about, but the other side of it is that they don't want to spend days/weeks raiding with such a short window before WotLK launches. 

I think the new expansion will take WoW numbers well off of the chart.  Any modest % of growth in WoW would probably = sub total numbers for some of the other  'successful' MMORPG's out there have.

The appearance isn't bad in SWG, but the way that graphics process or are drawn as you encounter the world... it's really not smooth at all in SWG.

There are planets with a lot of visual bugs and issues to this day in SWG.  Things just take too long to draw.  I mean, when I can see planets like Dant draw layer for layer (water, different levels of terrain, creatures, etc.,..), it's done badly.  Try walking into a house or vendor... you walk in, then wait... and sometimes wait, and wait, and waaaiiiiiit until things are drawn.

And, when you are riding across land and something doesn't draw fast enough... or if you are going too fast... you rubberband.  After 5 years?

Again, I think the game 'looks' okay, but I would've expected other items to be updated on the performance side of the game.

...

I know it's a bit beyond the art team for the game, but why doesn't 'jump' really function as a 'jump' as opposed to an emote? 

It's been too long between updates on the state of the game and/or a release date.