Remember this is a single rpg game. There is little incentive to keep players on for months on end.  Death penalty of time is the now normal. Fallen toons also suffer debuffs (injuries) until you use a kit on them.

The other thing you have to consider : the Pause button. Can't do that in MMOs either. It is enjoyable, but can't go overboard comparing it to MMOs.

Overall the basic storyline is good.  However, like I suspected, you can't account for the freedom many players enjoy. The game may let you vary paths a little, but it is eventually going to nudge or deny you actions if you don't move the story foward. 

SW:TOR - will we expect the same?

 If any of you out got Dragon Age, how many of you feel if this is what Bioware meant by "story driven" for SWTOR? How many of you out there felt it will be totally different?

Originally posted by Ravanos

I don't know why all the hype over Dragon Age to be honest, the story is generic the characters are bland and the classes are extremely limited in customization. when i got my first advanced class i was really excited till i found out how little it impacted my characters playstyle.

what because i can choose my dialog? wooo so i can be snarky, or evil or the good guy but really nothing changes except my party members may not like me .... awwww.

 

its a decent game, just glad i didnt spend money on it if you know what i mean.

The yellow part concerns me in regards to the Star wars Bioware/EA MMO.

If Dragon Age is the model of "story" based gaming, then worry for the online MMO they are making. The perspectives of starting out are different, but they all meld together in Ostagar and there is little or no variance. I bet the MMO will be like Guild wars, which isn't bad. The down side is that GW is free to play.

 this will be the WoW Killer. I almost guarantee it

 Sure it is a good idea. However, you have to ask why give away content so early after launch?

that is where the skeptics come in.  Does anyone remember any subscriber mmo giving away free content a month after launch?

I don't think they are giving away content because they are feeling generous. If the game was meeting or exceeding sub goals, you wouldn't be getting this offer

Originally posted by robert4818

Outlaws.  Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, John Dillenger.  What do these people have in common?  They all lived very well off the spoils of their crimes, and in the end all suffered a very harsh fall at the end of it.

Only Al Capone of your list had a group which could exact revenge. The rest were truly on their own. Is this suitable for an MMO.. They also didn't meet their end from a server crash, lag or their internet service disrupted from a electrical storm/ pet pulled the plug from the computer, etc.

That is the appeal of playing the bad guy.  There is easy, big, pay-offs.  But in the end there is a good chance of losing it all.  The concept is that there is a balance between High Risk/High Reward.    This is a balance that in most MMO's that use open PVP i've not seen.  In general, there is High Reward balanced by/minimum risk. 

I would like to see a perma-death system for Outlaws, but one that being perma-killed is not an easy prospect (if you're smart).  Now what this means is that you can jump into PVP to rob and loot, without fear that if the person wins, you are done for good.  That makes for very little fun.  However, after you have done enough crimes, someone may come deliberately looking for you.  In that case, you need to be afraid, very afraid. 

The system would work something like this:

When you kill someone, they get a message telling them that they have the option of reporting this crime.  The window they have for reporting a crime is roughly one-week.  After which time the crime disappears from their log.  To report a crime they have to go to the local law office and report it.  (They also have in their log the option to "Forgive" the crime and delete it.)  To do this they talk to the NPC in the office and they see a pop up window with things like:   "Killed by 1337dude" [Report].  Clicking on the "Report" button would be all that was needed to report the crime.

When anybody has been reported for a crime, the computer will offer up bounties on the person.  The amount of the bounty is determined by the number of crimes reported under that character's name. 

If you are dead, can you really report a crime? ;) Just yanking your chain.

Once a player (or group of players) requests to pick up a bounty they are each given an item to use on that person's corpse.  This item is not a generic "Any wanted person" item.  It is specific to the person being hunted.  I.E. it could be a crystal labeled "Bounty Crystal for 1337dude"

The other characters have to then hunt you down.  Not an easy prospect if you are a smart outlaw.  Once your character is killed, and the item is used on your corpse, your character is permanently killed.

Now i recognize a few weaknesses in this overall concept.  The first is that it will ONLY work, if you are only allowed 1 character per server per account.  2nd is that it is exploitable by someone who dual boxes with multiple accounts.  The hunted player could easily transfer all his ill-gotten gains to his 2nd character and then off himself.  The question comes down to how easy it is to recover that character that you sacrifice to do that.

This is the system concept.  You have the normal high rewards that a full-loot open world PVP system offers, and a very high potential risk.  This risk is a harsh penalty, but one that must be deliberately applied, not one that may hap-hazardly hit you if you jump in to a random fight and hit a lag-spike.

What do you guys think?

You want a high risk? How about the game charges you $5 per resurrection of your toon?

 New game from IGG

Heroes of Grindage and Microtransactions

 There will be gnomes - and the leader will be Mini Me

 Didn't EA try Ultima Online 2? Or at least it failed to develop.

Runescape - good call

Everquest 1- good call tho EQ2 is most likely the answer

Legend of Mir

Meridian 59

Who wouldn't play World of Warcraft 2 with updated graphics, etc.

 The way to remove grind is to make an MMO with thousands of single player rpg storylines. But that would be nigh impossible

 In my humble opinion there is good news and bad news when it comes to instancing for MMOs.

Good News is Instancing helps game development. Content is easier to create and maintain. It is more flexible and immersive. It is this immersiveness that attracts the general crowd of gamers. These are the single rpg and console gamers. It brought more gamers into the MMO circle.

Bad news: It brought more gamers into the MMO circle. The small MMO veterans who planted their "Mine" flags for Ultima Online, Runescape, EQ, DAOC are being drown out. Game companies saw World of Warcraft and knew this market was untapped. however, they listen not just to the MMO vets, but the general console gaming masses. As a result, MMOs are evolving into co-operative games or multi-player modes.

 If anything SOE knows, it is how to generate ways for revenue.

They intergrate card games into their MMOs (Legends of Norrath).

They have their own virtual exchange market (Exchange servers)

If DC lets them put easter eggs in their comics it would benefit both companies. Buy a comic book for exclusive in game items. Play the game and unlock online comic book entries or perhaps something similar (free comic book shipped to you after you redeem the code with DC?)

Would be interested to see how they do things

 Underworld may be an interesting spin : Vamps and werewolves and throw in some paramilitary to spicen things up.

Anyway, would this game be 90% at night?  Or set in one of the distant North or South Pole for a 24 hr night cycle?

Anyways, a AAA Horror MMO would be a nice change.

 A hidden leak revealed this cutscene for all aspiring Jedi. Now we know why it is so important to eliminate the Jedi before utilizing things like Death Stars.

Enjoy

 I don't mind the offer since you have a few weeks and a headstart before the offer expires. If it is not worth it (in other words, you don't see yourself playing this game or resubbing often by next year) then do the conventional thing and pay monthly.

 I concur this game would have been better. 

Now lets figure out what can be done to save it

 can't get link to work

 Its just aPR piece to get the Star Wars fans. They already got the KOTOR gang. Now they want the SWG types.

:)

 Since most  game devs shoot for a 3-4 year development phase, they better get cracking.

 Don't confuse hardcore with the term dedicated. A dedicated player will work to help a game blossom.  They will nag the devs as nauseum to fix that graphic bug. They will demand the game story stay within the lore.

Hardcore gamers (IHO) are those who seek to "win". Race to the max level cap first.  Farm mobs for endless hours because the internetz says a purple drop comes from it.  They go crazy if they suffer exp debt or a group wipes. 

A dedicated gamer is one I would rather team with and enjoy gaming with. A hardcore gamer is a lifestyle I long ago abandoned.