Traumahawk
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Posts posted by Traumahawk
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I'm well over the age of 15 and am known in my circles as the contrarian. I also have no friends that currently play the game, so I have none to impress. I kept a cool head in beta testing and begged testers to submit proper feedback and not jump to conclusions before the product was released. I witnessed some of the worst PR and community relations take place during testing and my outlook began to change. I saw builds that got worse with time, features removed with no explanation, and a whole bunch of spin.
I am not negative because I care what someone else thinks, nor do I feel that being negative is a fun exercise. I am negative because I sincerely hope that with enough "feedback" some of the core problems with the game will be fixed. I'm also an idealist and think that the whole SWTOR development experience is a good learning tool for future developers. You may be satisfied with the current state of the game, but I dare say that most changes and improvements that people are asking for would enhance your gameplay as well--even if it does not seem to matter to you now.
You can't put us all in a neat box and label us as being members of the herd, dysfunctional, angry teens or malcontents. I fit none of those categories and despite having contributed reasoned and well laid-out arguments, I have come to understand that any complaint or criticism will be dismissed and attacked. If anything, the very state of the community should clue people in to the inherit problems lurking beneath the surface. There really are some major sustainability issues going on--some may not be tuned into it now, but they can be devastating to everyone if they aren't fixed quickly.
One last note. I have noticed that a majority of the well-constructed and intellectual posts on this board are written by the critics. That's not to say trolls aren't in abundance either, but at least many posters are trying to cut through the noise and attempt to explain their reasoning. I find the complete dismissal (complete with TL;DR) of ANY critical post to be the pinnacle of intellectual depravity.
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Ahh...you're one of those Star Wars that either a) has never seen the movies or b) has a version of the movies in their head that bears no relation to reality...just to remind you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XG1nSlxuI
dancing teddy bears
Singing muppets with miniature blue elephant on the drums
and the newer version of same:
Also:
If anything, Bioware is being disresepctful to the original IP by not having more silly stuff in it.
These. Were. Kids. Movies.
No no no. I don't mean dancing, I meant the idea of a party-bomb! ie. A mechanical device that you throw at a group of people, forcing them to dance. Believe it or not, a force power that did this would make more sense.
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Was wandering around Hoth when I noticed an Imperial guard just leaning against a pole, hanging out, without a care in the world. Thought it was kinda funny because everyone else around was hard at work protecting the snow. Enjoy my viewpoint on the situation. Let me know if you like or hate the video!
Must be the PvP developer. Badda-bing.
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This is why I prefer flying--groping and all. It will not "fix" what I find troublesome about the game. My issues are more core/fundamentals at this point.
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You must have flashed your brains after watch Episode I then.
Chillax, dude. It's not like there's Gungans everywhere or Droid enemies that tell you "Roger, roger!" or "uh oh" when you kill them.
What is this Episode I you speak of? Gungan? Is that out of a Disney movie for kids?
And I'm oh-so-chill, even when annoyed. -
No, I haven't. Although I have leveled the same class twice because I enjoyed the storyline and wanted to FRAPS it the second time around, and I actually enjoyed it both times, didn't skip quest dialogue, etc. I have another of a different class that's just about 40, so I guess I've done it close to three times. It hasn't felt like a chore yet, but could it at some point? Certainly. Leveling up every single class was a bit of a hyperbole, and not necessarily something I'd aspire to do. I just meant that I'd be fairly content playing it like a console game, and trying out the storylines of every class I have a significant interest in. (Jedi Consular is really the only one I feel like I'd be pushing myself to finish, from what I know of them as they are now.) I can't guarantee that I'd enjoy leveling everything, because I haven't done it, but I have a fairly good idea of what I enjoy and what sort of monotony I can put up with. The questing situation in WoW (with regards to story) has a lot less variation than it does in SWTOR, though I played and enjoyed 7 (almost 8, I stopped about 10 levels short on one in favor of re-rolling something I'd already leveled) out of the 10 classes to cap level. The variations in abilities and gameplay were enough to satisfy my interest that it didn't feel problematic to do the same exact quests over and over again.*
As far as repetitiveness goes; I certainly see what you're saying, but that's pretty standard fare with MMOs, including the endgame. Even if the endgame is somewhat varied, there's only so much of it. And you end up doing it over, and over, and over again in order to get gear for your character (or multiple characters, which makes it even more repetitive). Everything in a MMO becomes that way. It kinda comes with the territory unfortunately. You do the same quests over and over again to get multiple characters to cap and/or you do the same endgame over and over again to get those characters developed. Though if it does entertain you, ~$12 dollars a month or so for entertainment is ridiculously cheap. I can't even go to a single movie at the theater for that amount (assuming I get anything to eat or drink).
*Edit: It may or may not be worth mentioning that (with regards to SWTOR) I tend to play in a somewhat "RP" sense, in that I consider the characters to have different ideas/motivations/histories and the like, so some of the interest comes with integrating the imagined things (which I do myself) with the actual in-game events (which I'm paying Bioware for). That's part of the reason I think I wouldn't have a problem playing multiple alts. If I were intending to play SWTOR the same way I've played WoW and FFXI (almost purely level/gear grinding), then yes, I would probably become extremely bored.
Fair enough and point well taken. I've drifted away from the RP (socially and personally) and though I want to feel like I'm acting the hero, I guess I'm now more interested in making progress while being entertained. I'm also the type of person that won't watch a movie more than once unless it's a true classic or really has a depth that has to be appreciated in multiple viewings. I don't consider myself to have a short attention span, but when playing, I always envision the goal line so-to-speak. I guess I would be more motivated to play again if I felt the reward waiting for me at 50 was--decent. Also, I've mentioned before that a main issue I have is not being allowed to choose alternate pathways to level. Two or three zones or even legitimate side-activities that reward decent XP is always nice. Admittedly, PvP (ie. Huttball ad nauseum) is not that type of alternate path I am looking for.
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QFT
Achievements is not content
Bull. Ask around and see how many people spent months playing games for faster or unique mounts, titles or other reward unlocks. It's side content, yes, but if executed properly, it can be the pressure valve for players annoyed with bad PvP *cough cough* or repetitive PvE *clears throat*.
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There's also http://www.torhead.com/item/gH7sAyW/galactic-party-bomb
Although technically it's not an emote
Yeah I'm gonna get flamed for this and called a spoiled sport, but it's junk like this (and that frackin' train in WoW) that really annoy the snot out of me. It's supposed to be Star Wars, right? There wasn't this kind of banal humor in any of the movies that I remember--a freakin' party bomb? It's childish tripe. It's like these devs don't even respect the IP enough to keep this junk out of it. What's next? Haris Pilton? X-Ray goggles? Some reference to Justin Bieber? Dummies.
/rant
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I agree, but to be honest with you: I love the leveling experience in SWTOR so much that, even if I were to only play the game up until the point where I'd experienced each of the different class storylines and then quit, I'd have considered my money and time well-spent, perhaps even moreso than the two years worth of time and money that I spent grinding (and yes, enjoying) WoW. (Not to mention the 7 or 8 years or so that I played Final Fantasy XI.) I'm sure that's not exactly what Bioware would want to hear from a financial standpoint, but nevertheless... If they could somehow make endgame as appealing as WoW's seems to be for a lot of people, then that would just be icing on the cake for me.
And HAVE you actually leveled up all those characters to 49 like you said you would enjoy doing? Because around the third alt (if you can get the second past 35) it starts to become an exercise in masochism. Only because the class story does not constitute a majority of the questing and leveling experience. And worse, all class stories take you to the same planets in the same order and even to the same areas.
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I'd say that's a matter of opinion...
After about level 25 I was no longer enthralled with leveling in SWTOR. At first I was really interested in the voice acting, and the feeling that I WAS this character, and that distracted me from the lame content of the quests themselves, and the poor game mechanics. And by the time I expected it to get better (around level 25 or so)...it didn't. And then you start recognizing the same voices again and again, and getting the same response options, and you start to realize your choices don't actually matter, you're going to end up in the same place anyway...
The fact is, the quests in SWTOR are more limited than they were in vanilla WoW. The ONLY quest types in SWTOR are:
Kill X things
Collect/click on Y items
Talk to some dude.
That's it. Even in vanilla WoW they had escort quests and timed quests. And today with the cata revamp they added several different types, where you pilot a vehicle, or have a little squad to control, or you transform into a bird or something, or you get a special item that lets you stealth or whatever. And the story is still there...you just have to read it instead of having it read to you.
So, the quests aren't that great, and then you start to realize how boring the combat is, and how bad the enemy AI is. All the mobs stand still as statues until you approach, and then they fight to the death. They never run away when they're low on health and try to find help. They just stand motionless until you kill them. Again, even in vanilla WoW the mobs had better AI and the combat mechanics had more depth.
And then you start to realize how dead the world is. No sounds. Coruscant is empty. I can't gamble in the cantinas? Huh. Wait, I can't even sit in the chairs? Gee, I hadn't noticed before but every body of water is ankle deep. So...I can't swim? Well, all right, let's explore! I wonder what's off in that direction? Oh, it's an exhaustion zone. Well how about that one? Oh. Exhaustion zone.
And then you start to plan your questing/training/auctioning around a desire to not have to go back to fleet because you'll have to slog through orbital stations and hangers and loading screen after loading screen after loading screen. Again, even vanilla WoW had no loading screens unless you're switching continents or instances. The orbital stations would actually make sense if that was when they were loading the planet content. Like, they pre-load all those (since they're just tiny rooms that all basically look the same), and while you're running through that they load the planet. But no. You have both loading screens, AND orbital stations!
And then you start to realize how little it actually feels like Star Wars, and more like WoW with lightsabers. Wait, so...my lightsaber has...bleed effects? Don't lightsabers cauterize as they cut? And Jedi (and Sith!) can...use the Force to heal wounds? And even resurrect people who died? What? I mean I get that there are "game mechanics," but can't they come up with something better? Call the DoT "trauma" instead of a bleed. In LoTRO, since death in Middle-Earth is permanent, your characters never die. They don't have hit points, they have "morale." When your character is overcome by the relentless evil she's facing, she retreats. And minstrels (healers) bolster your morale with their inspirational songs. It's still the same mechanic...bars go down, buttons are pressed and bars go back up. But at least they TRIED to make it fit in the lore. And on my Sith I didn't mind the "kill everything" quests so much, but on my Jedi Knight? Wait, so...here I am on Coruscant, and I'm killing gang members (who have mainly turned to crime because of the failures of Republic politicking), and then...a bonus pops up, that I'll get bonus credits and experience for...finding an extra 40 of them to murder? That doesn't feel much like being a jedi.
And if you leveled on a PvP server thinking "Oh man, this is going to be nuts! I'm going to have to be on my guard, make sure I don't get ganked! What kind of wacky world PvP antics are going to happen?!" you'll be really disappointed. Because they completely separated the questing zones so you pretty much never encounter a member of the opposite faction. Ever.
So, yeah, I don't really think it has the best leveling experience, because the only thing good about it is the voice acting, which gets repetitive. The rest of it falls flat.
To sum up,
SWTOR Leveling:
- All voice acted! Yaaaahhhh! (until you've heard "There will be NO survivors / Yawwwwn / What does this have to do with me?" for the 500th time)
- All boring quests (kill 10 Space Wolves/Collect 8 Space Boar Spleens)
- Terrible enemy AI/gameplay mechanics
- No exploration
- Dead world
- Loading...loading...orbital station...loading...hanger....loading...ship...loading...orbital...loading...
- Doesn't feel like Star Wars. Lightsabers don't make people bleed, and Jedi don't slaughter people.
WoW:
- Only voice acting for major plot events. And they're all Chris Metzen. Ugh.
- Half boring kill quests, but at least they try to mix in some unique gameplay
- Decent enemy AI
- Tons of exploration (see that mountain? You can climb it! See that lake? You can dive in it!)
- Living world, with day/night cycles, patrolling mobs, critters, NPCs who talk, chairs you can sit in.
- Seamless transition between zones (except continents/instances)
- Feels like warcraft only because...well...it's their IP. They can do whatever they want with it.
As an alternative, check out Lord of the Rings Online. There is an involved story line, with voice overs for some of the major plot points. The world feels VERY alive, with day/night, weather, wandering mobs. Different enemies are out during the day than at night. They paid a lot of attention to the lore, and it really FEELS like Middle-Earth...man, when I was questing in the Old Forest and didn't realize it was getting near night, and then it started raining, and that place is like a maze...that actually felt scary. The combat mechanics are pretty good, too. Only downside is there are A LOT of repetitive kill quests. You will be killing 8 wolves, 10 bears, and collecting 6 boar tusks at every stinking quest hub.
So, WoW has the best leveling experience for gameplay and unique quests, LoTRO for feeling like you're in a living world, and SWTOR is a distant 3rd.
Good post and agree with your assessment of the leveling experience. After your second alt, and after the enchantment of V.O. wears away, it's actually one of the most painful leveling experiences I've ever had.
Oh yeah and the most immersed I ever felt in an MMO was the Old Forest. I actually dreaded going in there. Got lost most of the time and at night it was scary. That and the music really sealed it. Can't have experiences like that in a game and just forget about it because of the SW IP or voice acting.
- All voice acted! Yaaaahhhh! (until you've heard "There will be NO survivors / Yawwwwn / What does this have to do with me?" for the 500th time)
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While you are trying to do something constructive I have to know:
Since you admit that your research is flawed and the accuracy is in doubt, then why do it?
All you are accomplishing is posting flawed data that is doing nothing but causing people to argue (which might be your ultimate goal).
OP is not making a hypothesis, only presenting a set of data. Any extrapolation or inferences made from these data is speculative--it's a snapshot. If her data collection method was biased or "flawed" then you may have a point, but given that she describes her method and appears to capture all available data (at least consistently which is more important than accuracy in this case) I can't see the problem with posting it.
Now if she came here stating a hypothesis and making correlations based on one set of data, then I would completely write this off as having an underlying agenda. People are deriving their own hypotheses from these data--it has nothing to do with how many active subscribers there are, and everything to do with server faction ratios and population RELATIONSHIPS. Again, that has nothing to do with accuracy of the numeric values if you are collecting the data consistently over a suitable sample size.
If I see three jars filled with candy, as long as I can validate the consistency of the volume (the jar) and the candy (all round and the same size) then I can legitimately draw conclusions from visual data (observation is really the term here) that one jar is filled with more candy than the other. I don't need to take them all out and count them in order to validate my claim--given that reasonable and perceptible differences are present. In the end, I walk away knowing that Jar 1 has more candy than Jars 2 and 3. There is no hypothesis, simply observed fact. Watch little kids at a birthday party use this technique to choose the largest slice of cake.
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You're also a member of the vocal minority, so don't go hating on the OP because he shares a different opinion than your own. And the OP was primarily complaining about companions; way to completely miss the point.
If Bioware had stuck to their original plan of giving us job kits(kits that change your companion from a healer to a tank, or whatever you want them to be), then people would have less to complain about, instead, you're forced into using 1 companion, and leaving the rest on the ship for 40 levels.
Male Inquisitors romance is a light side Jedi; doesn't affect me, I play light side, but kind of screws all the Dark Vs out there. Not because they can't gift her up for the romancable quests, but because doing so makes the entire relationship an oxymoron.
The only class they got romance correct on is the Sith Warrior. You get a snarky twi'lek who likes you're kind heart, or a psycho chick that creeps out even the freakiest of us. All classes should have this dynamic, for both male, and female players.
I was being sarcastic, but I admit I shouldn't have hinted at it a bit more. I agree with the OP, but after a while, it seems like nothing said here is ever considered valid or legitimate. You are either a hater or a Biodrone.
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Yes, as the customer I am an armchair Dev. Just like I'm an armchair engineer when I buy a car. I don't work at Ford, nor do I have to in order to know what I like in a car.
I don't like stopping story to farm Datacrons. I wouldn't mind stopping story for companion affection, but I did not have one I could do that with until level 44. Which is why I made the orginal post.
I think I may have been too deadpan on the delivery. But regardless... I agree.
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Now on to the story. Having to stop the main story in order to level up, cuts the story and interrupts it's flow. I now feel that I have to grind for story. The feeling of Grinding in MMOs is generally bad. And the selling point of yours requires grinding.
Thanks for your time.
Pfft. Armchair dev. Have you ever considered that the real devs know what they are doing? There is a reason you aren't working at Bioware, so let the professionals be the ones to decide what a grind is and what one isn't. And if you aren't happy with the grind, you could always go farm datacrons or level up companion affection. Just another member of the vocal minority.
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Nothing requires a degree, its just a piece of paper, but posting this long whining post about how bioware should do things is an armchair dev...
Many so-called armchair devs have been picked up by game companies. Ideas aren't created in a vacuum. I don't understand you guys. What kind of critical post would you accept as being valid? I've seen post that didn't mention the word "quit" once, were written better than most people's term papers, and yet were still maligned by angry defenders.
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tl;dr: LOL @ armchair developers.
You seem to be confusing the artistic, marketing, psychological, sociological, business aspect of creating a game (none of which require a degree in game development) with the technical ability to code it.
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at a level when a title for each class is been long for you, make need for it.
That's the wrong answer. Please see my post above. Pay your dues and you will be fine.
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I didn't get that title when the jedi consular get padawan as the first title, the Sith Inquisitor don't get a thing
Because you are a filthy slave.
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The problem with your logic, is if you can't 1v1 a class how helpful can you really be to the team >.>
If you win a war zone not because of your "skills" or "X-personal factor" it means you are been carried. Specially as a melee class (as opposed to range that benefit from "teamplay" in using their teammates as meatshield.) if you can't kill something 1v1 means that something is better than you, and could be more helpful than you. (Whatever the reason: "Gear, personal "skills", or favorite among forums, OPness)
Now can't you see when someone tries to 1v1 you, he is trying to test himself directly against your worth, instead of some other arbitrary value. (I AM AWESOME CUS I GOT FORCE SPEED TO CAP TO BALL, doesn't make you worth anything, although it does make wins...)
How helpful can a tire be on a car. After all, you can't drive a tire to work can you?
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does any1 else find it odd that we have speeders that are basicly hovering space bikes of the future and the fastest they can go is like twice as fast as i can walk... not being funny but i can go fast on a push bike ^^
Our speeders hover? That's news to me.
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Don't need a ton of abilities to make combat fun or hard or engaging. Lots of people are drawing false correlations between combat difficulty and amount of different abilities. Should have one filler/resource builder (or dump) and the rest should serve a specific function. Look to LotRO's warden or runekeeper classes for different approaches to traditional combat. Of course, SWTOR is very traditional--and that's putting it politely.
Not to be a downer, but myself and many others asked Bioware to have Assault and Sundering Assault merged into one ability for Juggernauts. We received no reason as to why this wasn't an option, and as you see, nothing has changed. I doubt fundamentals will be refined until pink slips start going out.
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OP, I wouldn't be so inclined to just slap items in the sell pane and be done with it if the interface was actually user friendly. As it stands, it's a royal pain to try and do an research or trend analysis with what we have. I do mark-up artifacts and slotted epics, but for the most part, I just don't find the GTN UI friendly enough to invest a lot of time into the market. As a fanatic user of Auctioneer, I would like nothing more than to play the market, but pair the UI with screwy crew skills and you have pretty much nothing more than a flea market.
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once u hit 50, and u want to have a making profession on your main, choose bio if u disire, but don't get upset when it gets gimped.
Or more importantly, when they fix the other professions to make them viable.
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It is truly a well optimized game, i can see this engine setting the standard for decades to come!
See?! I told you so! That proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt right there!
And I'm oh-so-chill, even when annoyed. 
Demographic discussion: Those who like vs dislike SWTOR
in General Discussion
Posted
What are you saying?