My Warhammer Online Test icon is glaring at me something fierce for missing the siege testing last night. But what can I say, RL happens. Anyways, I look forward to testing them tomorrow and putting in some quality time with WAR these next few days. My little side experiment with SWG is being trampled by the glitchy-laggy combat. It’s all very frustrating because I was genuinely enjoying myself in SWG, but it becomes harder and harder to do so when I have to wait 1-3 seconds every single time I press a key.
Combat is such an integral part of MMOs because we spend so much time doing it. When it behaves the way SWG does it really destroys the fun factor and I become less and less likely to log in again. I will try to stick it out, but if I am already viewing it as something that I have to wade through then it’s not a very good sign for SOE, is it? I checked over the forums and learned that Windows 7 and SWG do have a history of troubles, so I am not sure how much that has to do with the lag I am getting or not.
The Angry Guild Leader did a retro-review of Star Wars Galaxies recently and ran into the same problems I did. Check it out here.
With plenty of time to devote to WAR, an AOC expansion around the corner, and laggy combat that makes me feel like I’m playing on dial-up…I fear my time in SWG will be forever coming to a close very soon. It gave me many wonderful memories back in the day and it still has a lot to like about it. It’s just a shame that SOE/LucasArts could not see past their own greed when they decided to ignore the players and push forward with the NGE.
Ah well, I have plenty of WAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! to get to anyway.
I put in my second play session with SWG today and I have come away with a few observations. On the positive side, the game still has a great sense of scope to it, as the NGE was not able to kill all of the sandbox feel that once made SWG such a wonderful place to spend some time. There is a spectacular amount of variety in SWG, from ground combat, space combat, crafting, PvE Heroic Instances, PvP between the Empire and Rebellion, and player built cities on top of all that. So there are certainly plenty of things to do to keep you busy in the wonderful world of Star Wars.
The greatest challenge for an old vet like myself is getting used to the class system, which is such a jarring change from the skill-based system I had come to know and love. You could be and do anything in SWG pre-NGE, the skill based system was completely fluid and if you wanted to become better with carbine weapons then you just needed to use them. If you wanted to improve your sword skills then all you needed to do was use swords in combat. You could take any path you wanted and if you decided later on that you chose poorly, you could unlearn those skills with the same character and try a different set of skills to see if they suited you better.
Now we have a formulaic class system just like all the other MMOs out there, stripping the game of its originality in a desperate attempt to attract the WoW audience. Yeah, that was what this was all about at the end of the day. You see, Star Wars Galaxies is 6 years old. World of Warcraft is 5 years old. When WoW launched and kicked the crap out of EQ 2, SOE could not stand being upstaged by the new kid on the MMO block.
WoW’s number were skyrocketing to unheard of levels and EQ 2 was going to need quite a lot of work to catch up. That work eventually did get done, and now EQ 2 stands as an incredibly deep and feature rich MMO that anyone should try if they have not sampled it before. But back to the subscription problem…after WoW became king of the world, the people in SOE and LucasArts looked back to Star Wars Galaxies as a game that could potentially reach that kind of audience. Star Wars was one of the most popular IPs in the entire world, so why not? The problem with that line of thought was the core design of Star Wars Galaxies being completely different from WoW in almost every way possible.
SWG was a sandbox game with an open-ended skill system, with slower paced combat and gameplay, the deepest crafting system in MMO history, and many lush planets to explore. It was not the kind of game that would ever reach a massive audience like WoW. However, Star Wars Galaxies was growing slowly and it was one of SOE’s top money makers at the time. But this was not enough for SOE and LucasArts. So they formulated a plan to completely redesign SWG and turn it into a more mainstream MMO with faster paced combat and a class/level based system.
So we were given the New Game Enhancement and Star Wars Galaxies changed forever. Players revolted, left in droves, and SOE was stuck trying to pick up the pieces and defend themselves against the massive onslaught of PR horror that was to follow. This even lead to a startling apology from CEO John Smedley later on, when he told Warcry the following.
“With the NGE, I’m sorry about the mistake we made,” he told us. “We screwed up and didn’t listen to the fans when we should have, and it’s not a mistake we’re going to make again. [The mistake was] to not just think we know the right direction without bringing the fans into the mix. We made the cardinal sin of not listening, but assuming and we were wrong.”
The NGE was buggy as hell when it was released. I was there and can still remember that day vividly. I am happy to report that most of those bugs have long since vanished and that current SWG plays far better than it did back when the NGE was released. But rest assured, some bugs are still to be found and they did put a damper on my fun today.
Mobs float in the air and warp around sometimes, and combat also becomes horribly delayed when an area is populated with too many people. I was having some fun doing the entry quests for Jabba’s Palace and quickly found myself knee-deep in a massive amount of server lag. Anytime I pressed a key in combat there would be a delay ranging anywhere from 1 to 3 seconds. It was just awful. Up until that point I was really enjoying myself.
I miss the combat of the old days, but I was surprised to discover that I was actually having fun with my Bounty Hunter. I now have a droid sidekick who helps me kick tail with a nasty flamethrower ability, and I was fascinated to see all of the different droids you can use at higher levels. There is also so much fun to be had just exploring in SWG. I love visiting the player cities and checking out the homes, cantinas, and city halls…even the shopping malls. Yes, you can create your own NPC Vendors to sell the things you make in SWG. So it’s always a load of fun to go exploring around the planets to see what people are selling.
All of this is leftover from the original sandbox game, of course, and it still does so much to help make you believe that you’re playing in a living, breathing world. Unfortunately, the sometimes glitchy combat marred my experience during this second playthrough. I am enjoying the way my Bounty Hunter fights, but the lag I experienced was not a good sign for future PvP engagements as part of the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebellion.
My interest is somewhat peaked, however, and I will continue to check things out to see how the game fares as I level up. If you are an old vet or just find yourself a little bit curious about Star Wars Galaxies, I can tell you that it truly is not a bad way to spend 20 bucks. That gets you all the expansions, 10 races and 9 classes, 12 huge planets, twitch-based space combat that can be quite fun on its own, a strong crafting system, loads of transportation options with all the fun mounts they give you, your own home, and many different forms of PvE and PvP gameplay to explore.
The Star Wars Galaxies of today has been an enjoyable experience for me thus far, minus the sometimes glitchy mobs and server lag. It exists as a weird hybrid MMO that lives somewhere in the boundary between the class/level based design of the mainstream and the more freeform/immersive design of the sandbox genre. There are even two classes in the game that are leftovers from the old skill system. Known as the Entertainer and Trader, these classes are focused more on the social and crafting aspects rather than just combat. If you’re curious about the other classes, I pulled this from the main website.
Jedi
Jedi are Force sensitive beings that can use their Force powers to overcome and control their enemies. Jedi can also master the art of fighting with a lightsaber. Force sensitive individuals feel a connection to the energy that surrounds all living things and binds the galaxy together.
Bounty hunters chase the worst foes in the galaxy. These mercenaries learn to use whatever dirty tricks necessary to bring the prey down.When someone needs an enemy taken care of, they hire bounty hunters to do their dirty work. Tracking down and eliminating people are what bounty hunters do best. As a bounty hunter, you must learn the tricks of ambush and assault so your prey does not escape.
Smugglers make their living dealing with the scum and villainy of the galaxy. While moving stolen goods, having a blaster at your side and knowing how to get out of sticky situations will keep you alive.Smugglers can fight without weapons as easily as with a pistol. Who knows when a cantina disagreement will get ugly? With the smuggler’s clientele, you would be wise to know how and when to fight dirty.
Some operatives favor subtlety over grandiose pistol-waving intimidation. Spies use their training to blend in with a crowd, sneaking up quietly on targets to accomplish their missions. As they are often on their own, spies have a rudimentary knowledge of first aid to keep themselves alive.Skills
Need an AT-ST destroyed? Call a commando! Need a base blown up? The commando is the one for you!A true combat specialist, the commando uses heavy weaponry and demolitions to break through resistance. Whether you prefer to get in close or fight at range, commandos wreak havoc with their powerful weapons.
Officers use their abilities to enhance the combat efficacy of their entire group, and can call in fire from above to dominate the battlefield.Do you think you have what it takes to be an officer? Can you handle the responsibility of other people’s lives? Are you calm in a crisis?
Every army needs good leaders to organize the troops and help them perform at their peak! Whether Imperial or Alliance, if you want to be an officer, you will learn how to lead a squad and how to fight. You will keep your squad alive, no matter how hostile the terrain.
What cantina would be complete without a stellar band on stage and a dancer or two gyrating to the music? All the fame of top musicians and dancers can be yours!Top entertainers can inspire people to do their best, allow them to relax and enjoy a drink at the bar, or give them an internal rhythm to follow throughout their day.
A noble profession for those that like to work with their hands, traders craft items and then sell what they craft to eager folks that need the items that they make. Credits can flow into a shrewd trader’s hands if they follow the desires of the market.Traders tend to specialize in one of four fields: Domestic Goods, Structures, Munitions, or Engineering.
Specializations
Domestic Goods: Specializes in crafting various domestic goods including clothing, foods, drinks and desserts.
Structures: Specializes in various large item construction including structures, decorations, furniture, space ship hulls and space ship components.
Munitions: Specializes in making all kinds of military equipment including weapons and armor.
Engineering: Specialized in high tech engineering including the construction and modification of Droids and some weapons.
Medics use the powerful healing properties of bacta to keep others alive before, during, and after combat. Their remarkable knowledge of anatomy and medicines allow them to counter the detrimental effects of toxins, diseases, and vertigo.The nature of war dictates that medics also know how to fight. Some medics use their medicinal knowledge to poison or disease while others fight with blasters.
No one was more thrilled than I was to learn that Bioware, my favorite RPG studio, was going to team up with Lucasarts to make an MMO set in their engaging Knights of the Old Republic universe. When Bioware announced that they would be heavily focusing on the element of story, what they called the Third Pillar of MMOs, I was even more intrigued. I always thought how even more amazing their games would be if you could join up with friends and experience the journey together, everyone making choices that could affect the outcome.
I have gobbled up every last bit of information that Bioware has released on The Old Republic with a particular kind of zeal. So it is with a tinge of sadness that I report that no one was more distressed than I was to hear the same old hype-fueled talking points coming out of the Bioware machine in their latest video on combat.
Let me first explain that I have no problem with the gameplay footage in this video. Some of it even looks pretty sweet in my opinion. But what I see are all the staples of MMO combat. Any MMO player would be able to spot the auto-attacks and the firing off of different skills. It looks just as I expected it would, nothing more or less. But don’t tell these Bioware guys that…they are revolutionizing the way MMO combat works! Or that is what they keep telling me in this video at least.
The problem is that they make these wild claims about doing things with combat that no MMO has ever done before, then they show a clip from the game and it looks exactly like MMO combat. I see different animations for the lightsaber attacks and some look pretty good. I see other classes with fetch-like abilities along with an assortment of various attacks. The video looks fine, my problem is not with the footage.
Some of the skills look very cool and others look kind of average, but that is to expected in an MMO that is still probably over a year away from being launched. But listening to Bioware talk about how AMAZING their combat system is while they show videos that look just the way MMO combat is supposed to look…it all screams red flag to me. So it seems that Bioware is becoming just another MMO development company that is asking its fans to join them in a visit to…
Yes…hype…the slayer of dreams and the crasher of parties…it is the one thing that you must manage with great care, especially when selling your new MMO. Of course you want to talk about your game with passion and explain to people what you think makes it unique. Of course you want to get the word out there about what innovative things you are trying to do with your game so people will get excited and buy lots of copies.
The problem with all of this is that MMO success is not based on copies sold, but subscription numbers over the long haul. Hype is the very thing that can ruin your shiny new MMO before it even gets the chance to walk. By building up expectations to nearly absurd levels, you run the risk of disappointing far too many people who will then stop playing your game. When you do videos like this then you better be careful not to make any wild claims that your MMO will fail to deliver on.
So what whoppers do we have in this video? Let’s see…
“We’ve really been trying to progress the way we show combat…I think MMOs…we’re gonna take them to a new level.”
Followed by a video than looks just like the typical kind of MMO combat…
“We’re trying to create a sense of combat that…that’s just plain exciting.”
Followed by a video than looks just like the typical kind of MMO combat…
“One of the problems with other MMO combats is that you often have scenarios where you have multiple heroes beating on a single enemy…and that just isn’t very heroic.”
Followed by a video than looks just like the typical kind of MMO combat…
“Within minutes of starting the game you are doing things that you wouldn’t expect to do in other MMOs.”
Followed by a video than looks just like the typical kind of MMO combat…
“Something we’ve tried to do is to get away from that sort of…step and repeat kind of combat.”
Followed by a video than looks just like the typical kind of MMO combat…
“We want to be sure that players get the full experience of the different kinds of combat that is out there.”
Followed by a video than looks just like the typical kind of MMO combat…
Do you notice a theme that is building here? They go on to talk about how you will have to learn when to use this skill or that skill depending on the situation, as if no MMO other has required such a thing from you before. Then they explain how you don’t want to see the same attack over and over again, as if no other MMO has more than one attack animation. Have these guys even played an MMO recently? I am starting to get worried over here.
Now, I have no doubts that I am going to get flamed for some of this criticism, but I love Bioware and genuinely look forward to every game they make. So I feel justified in pointing out that their comments are already funneling way too much energy into the hype machine. Once again, the footage of the game is fine and I have no issue with it. So in closing I would like to say the following…
Every single aspect of your game does not have to be revolutionary, Bioware, you are already doing something unique by trying to bring your brand of interactive storytelling to a dynamic MMO environment. That’s enough to be proud of in and of itself, so stop trying to sell me on how your combat is going to change MMOs forever. As long as it’s enjoyable then it will fit the bill nicely.
Don’t feed the hype troll, my friends, it will eat you alive if you aren’t careful.
nightwreath
