What do you want, a frigging equation? I'm saying WoW's community is the way it is partially because of this tool.

Make groups something you can casually and anonymously pop into like that, and you are making a nice, warm nest for the biggest a-holes out there. The net loss will far outweigh the net gain.

Star Wars has always had a heavy Japanese influence in it's costumes-- for the Jedi in particular. Even the names are heavily Japanese. The name "Jedi" comes from the Japanese name for their samurai dramas, 'Jidai-geki'. Obi-wan Kenobi's name is a jumble of words related to a samurai's outfit.

The most important lesson to take from DAoC is also the one that *every* developer seems determined not to learn; HAVE THREE FACTIONS.

The market has spoken clearly, and is speaking at this very moment. Sandbox MMOs do not appeal to the same numbers that themepark games do. I've always preferred sandboxes, myself, but I've just had to accept the fact that I am in the minority. There are plenty of solid sandbox MMOs out there *right now*. But I'll bet you can't name a single one without looking it up, because they didn't have fat development and marketing budgets. They are niche games. By the way, all this talk of SWG always makes me laugh. I *loved* that game at launch, but if you were there you remember the forums and the talk in-game. The tone was overwhelmingly negative. People were angry that they had nothing to do. No one was telling them exactly where to go and what to do and it pissed them off, because most people are not into sandbox games. There's a reason they demolished that little diamond and tried to rebuild it as a WoW clone. It was a niche game sporting a mega IP. Didn't make sense.

A new caaaaarr!

I'm a nerd. We're unaffected by Valentine's Day.

Chuck Norris anything.

I've never seen a more incomprehensible complaint combined with such a high degree of arrogance.

The truth is SWG was never great. It was built on some really great ideas, but it never had time to fill out. It was a mile wide and an inch deep, if you follow me. I loved it, but I mostly loved what I thought it could become in time. But Sony stomped on the genius parts of it and rebuilt it as an incredibly weak WoW clone before it had really even gained traction.

GW2 is another big budget game. You're lining up for one summer blockbuster after another and complaining that they aren't edgy Indie flicks. If you actually wanted to try something different, you'd be playing one of the many, more unusual sorts of MMORPGs out there that were done on a smaller budget, and took risks in their design.

Gotta disagree with you on the implementation of Jedi. SWG had it all wrong, and this game has it right. You don't set a Star Wars MMO in a period when the Jedi are practically extinct. People-- regular people with normal lives-- will want to play a Jedi sometime in a Star Wars game, and telling them they can't because it doesn't fit the lore is going to drive them off and leave you with a... well, with a Star Wars Galaxies-size population. Games are games first and foremost. If the setting and story is blocking fun, then you've got the wrong setting and story.

lol, well said.

Taris, but Nar Shaddaa is a very close second. This game seriously needs an alternate leveling path through every range, on planets that are *not* set up like mazes. See which people people choose. I expect it won't be the Nar Shaddaa/Coruscant/Taris worlds.

I would reroll to Republic just so I could dishonor your family by defeating you in the guise of Huffypuff Snuggyboo, the 3-foot gunslinger.

That's definitely true. I thought LotRO was held back by it's lore, but they made a big effort to give players options while staying true as possible to their overall setting. I think SWtOR is currently doing a fairly poor job of that, erring way too often on the side of limiting the player. I like the game quite a bit, but I hope Bioware learns to loosen their grip on the players' experience as time moves on.

This week in Unnecessary Censorship:

I don't see why that should be a problem. The non-basic-speaking races should be incredibly appealing to Bioware, since they only have to record a handful of stock, all-purpose lines. The player knows basically what they're saying when they make a choice anyway.

I've got news for you. Everything you've ever done in any game, ever, was a total waste of time.

Just give them Blood Elves. *shrug*

I'd like to punch you in the nose!

Bioware had better find a way around that "can't speak basic, can't play as one" thing, because it's going to be a glaring problem over time. I'm all for story, but it when it cramps gameplay so badly that players feel restricted, there's a problem.

Oh man, if that isn't true, it should be. That'd be a perfect bit of raiding bait, too. Collect all the pieces of HK-47 and get him as a companion.

There are some great suggestions in this thread, but this is how it would really go down in Hollywood: Han Solo- The Rock Princess Leia - Megan Fox Boba Fett- rewritten/replaced with a "funny", talking frog Luke Skywalker - Zac Efron Obi Wan - Marky Mark Walberg Vader - Shia Lebouf

I refuse to read any EU stuff until Lucas is dead. That way, I know he won't step in and just casually stomp all over something I enjoy, like a retarded elephant in a Wal-Mart.