Raeln Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) Comparing certain aspects of a brand new game to a game that has a mature (time/level wise) playerbase makes you look like you don't have any critical thinking skills. You really want to compare a 1 month old game's low/mid zone populations to a 7 year old game? Seriously? I'm talking about concurrently logged in players during a time of day. That will be no different, percentage wise, between any MMO in North America. I am using my critical thinking skills. The age of the game has no bearing on the situation at all. People still have to go to work and school. The vast majority of students go to school during the daytime. The vast majority of jobs in the United States operate during the daytime hours. Edited January 17, 2012 by Raeln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterKayote Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 This game has plenty of group content. About as much, if not more, than the competition. The game is instanced but thats fine because it fits. Its the best/only way to tell a story and is usually reserved to a tiny area. Yeah it sucks when you come across something you cant go into because "not eligible" but oh well ... very small price to pay for a more immersive story-telling experience. Worlds are instances because youre not going to go from Alderaan to Tattooine by crossing a mountain path .. you have to fly to the next planet. It fits. The same world instances were just in the beginning and even then they were only on the Origin worlds. I havent had to switch instances after finding a group since then. As for Chat Bubbles ... I believe theyre coming soon. IMO there a big mess anyway. Dont thing ive ever just had a random conversation in /say with anyone ... and definitely not reading from the bubbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiraiya_Goketsu Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Worlds are instances because youre not going to go from Alderaan to Tattooine by crossing a mountain path .. you have to fly to the next planet. It fits. Sad you had to explain that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddeth Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Every planet I have been on has had areas at one time or another with at least 10 people in a small area. That is enough to be annoying. However, I was not talking TOR, I was talking in general. Other games I played where chat bubbles in crowded areas drove me crasy so I didn't want to see them here. An option to turn off is fine, but a MUST, give me a break. Ever hear of the chat dialog. It shows up there with the name. If you want chat bubbles for now, make a chat tab with only SAY active, you will see only what people around you talk about. Well last time I checked this isn't "in general" this is SWTOR. If you think 10 is enough i would have to ask is this your first MMO? the only time I have see more than 3 people close together was at a AH kiosk ( I know its not an AH but its what people know it as ) I think there were 6, they were not chatting. I the other game I bet there was an option to turn them off. All I and maybe one or two others want is an option to turn them on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetsunz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 totally agree with the OP....more and more every day i log on to play...it is getting worse and worse....this is not an mmo....not by any stretch of the imagination. Single player game disguised as an mmo Why did they go this route is question we need to ask. I think it has to do with the engine they chose and for financial reasons obviously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raeln Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) Well last time I checked this isn't "in general" this is SWTOR. If you think 10 is enough i would have to ask is this your first MMO? the only time I have see more than 3 people close together was at a AH kiosk ( I know its not an AH but its what people know it as ) I think there were 6, they were not chatting. I the other game I bet there was an option to turn them off. All I and maybe one or two others want is an option to turn them on I don't want more than 10 crowded around in my quest area, to be quite honest. I enjoy seeing another player or two off in the distance but when the place gets crowded enough that people start using their instant cast abilities to tag mobs first - the fun wears off fast. Besides, there are times when your character is supposed to be out in the remote wilderness - it doesn't make a lot of sense to see 50 other players rummaging about in that same remote wilderness at the same time you are, does it? Doesn't seem quite so "remote" and "wilderness" anymore to me. Now, when I return to the city on the planet or the Fleet - that place should be full of life. For the most part it is - the only reason it feels a bit empty at times is because Carrick Station is a bit too big. The station could probably be 3/4 of it's size and feel much more populated. Edited January 17, 2012 by Raeln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwamper Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Disagree with OP. When it comes to teams, I enjoy finding skilled, easy-going people to do instances with. However, I have NO desire whatsoever to 'socialize' or 'make friends'. The game is plenty MMO, I've abandoned more 4-mans than I can count. Grouping up because you want to = great! Grouping up because the game says you have to = sucks! I've played ONE MMO (out of at least 20 I've tried) that didn't force grouping for meaningful progress. I do not want SWTOR to be number 21 on that list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malleable Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Suprisingly I am a bit torn on this issue. Given the way the game is set up, and the story line, I think that if they opened up stuff much more we would end up having camping and mob farming etc. The environment is just not suitable for tons of people fighting over quest mobs. BUT I think that they should make more of the single player instances group instances, and definitely find a way to allow people of the same class to enter the same instance and complete their quest at the same time. All this having to enter the zone and redue it multiple times in a group, or run things in single player mode is breaking the game down. This doesnt feel like an MMORPG to me. But I think its still good (minus the insane number of bugs in the game). Just allow groups to have all their groupmates finish quests in all instances at the same time. It cant be that big a deal. Mal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddeth Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I don't want more than 10 crowded around in my quest area, to be quite honest. I enjoy seeing another player or two off in the distance but when the place gets crowded enough that people start using their instant cast abilities to tag mobs first - the fun wears off fast. Besides, there are times when your character is supposed to be out in the remote wilderness - it doesn't make a lot of sense to see 50 other players rummaging about in that same remote wilderness at the same time you are, does it? Doesn't seem quite so "remote" and "wilderness" anymore to me. Now, when I return to the city on the planet or the Fleet - that place should be full of life. For the most part it is - the only reason it feels a bit empty at times is because Carrick Station is a bit too big. The station could probably be 3/4 of it's size and feel much more populated. lol funny you should say crowded quest area, I just ran into one, Unfortunately it was the other team....... the thing is the game is so instanced that there are not even enough people on Tatooine to make a 4 man group. you may think thats good game design but I have to really disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fungihoujo Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Heroics- specifically for grouping, multiple on every planet. 2 flashpoints at least always within level range. Social points- specifically a reward for grouping up. Bonus loot/xp for grouping. There's a great deal of incentive into grouping up- people CHOOSE for this game to be single play because that's what they like, especially levelling up- people prefer to level at their pace, that's a 'problem' with most games, unless grouping is forced- but people tend to hate being forced to group. The only thing 'missing' is some sort of PQ, Rift, dynamic event- though, in all fairness, such things were only somewhat successful in other games- and tended to be mostly abandoned between the first two zones and the last two zones. Also, the instancing isn't nearly as much as you think- it's there for a few quests outside of group heroics and story quests- most of the game is played in the open, especially after Nar Shaddaa- the worlds get bigger and bigger and more open. You'll see that once you get to Hoth, Belsavis, Quesh, Tattooine, etc... Instance overload is really only present early on, and those areas are still pretty packed because they're starter zones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SentinelDranoel Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 HEH EVER PLAY GUILD WARS, you can solo the entire game like I did.... and the game is called GUILD wars. Depends on the people playing, if everyone rather solo then why take away their freedom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waypoc Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keellz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I don't understand these complaints. The game is massive. Been to alderaan? Hoth? It is multiplayer, even if only in short bursts. And it is online.... I played wow for just a couple months and lvld two characters to 60 practically by myself. Hardly ever interacting with others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raeln Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 lol funny you should say crowded quest area, I just ran into one, Unfortunately it was the other team....... the thing is the game is so instanced that there are not even enough people on Tatooine to make a 4 man group. you may think thats good game design but I have to really disagree. I'm not saying it's good to only have 4 people in a zone. Your specific problem with Tatooine right now has nothing to do with zone design or anything that Bioware can really do short of dumping all the server shards into one megaserver. It's simply the slow point of the day for video gaming. It happens all across the board at this specific time of day. Most of the gaming population is at work or school, not home playing their favorite video game. This isn't just a MMO-specific problem - FPS game servers will be empty during this point in the day too. Go to Tatooine tonight during primetime - there will be more there. I just finished Tatooine on my server last night with my Trooper - it's an RP server, so probably a bit less population than other servers and there was still something like 70 in Tatooine last night around 8pm central. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanzoV Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 The MMO police: "Why are you playing alone?! Stop it!" Why are people so afraid of the solo players? I'm all for incentives to group (loot & social points), but forced grouping isn't a good idea. When grouping is an option, then you're more likely to group with those that actually want to group. As opposed to those that want nothing to do with you, but are forced to team-up with you in order to move along in their quest line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amiracle Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 This game is highly social, more than any other MMORPG I've played, we even get social points for grouping and doing conversations together. The class quests do have some times that are player only, but those are few. Most class quests can be attended by others. I group up for every quest, even class quests to share the content with friends. Not sure the first poster's issue with the social aspect of this game or why they think its a single player game for them -- my friends and I are doing everything together. Do you really think watching a script and answering the NPC while 3 other people are in the griup that you do not speak to while this is going on is being social? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drukoziz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I agree that it'd be nice to have a few more players in the areas. Just give me the ability to reduce the view distance first, so my comp doesn't have to load them all at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amiracle Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 You want less single player? Ditch your companion... Then try to get to lvl 50 single player.. Yeah. Goodluck You see.. what you don't get.. is that your companion is like another player with you.. infact they count as a party member.. notice when you have a 4 person group your companion drops? The companion is there to use if you don't want to wait around for people.. which is awesome. Down the road when everyone is 50, and on their 2nd expansion.. someone new can pick up the game and catch up and not feel lost with 10 people in a planet. Like LOTRO: you got past Bree.. no one was there.. all of the other places were empty.. because everyone else was in the expansion. TL;DR Ditch your companion. Try single player.. Didn't Work? Have someone quest with you. Really? You view a companion in this game as a real player? This doesn't surprise me, this is why many times you join a group and barely anyone says anything. Because they treat the other real players just like an npc. So sad.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithmud Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I disagree. Why would you want to make this game more like the others? There are plenty of games out there that focus on the features you listed. SW:TOR is focused on its story, which makes it unique. Any changes that reduce the importance of the story would only hurt this game, as they would make it lose its identity. What changes take away from the story that he listed ..? the plenty of games that have the features are mmo's not a retooled single player game with multilayer ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannic Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 HEH EVER PLAY GUILD WARS, you can solo the entire game like I did.... and the game is called GUILD wars. Depends on the people playing, if everyone rather solo then why take away their freedom. Guild Wars isn't an MMO. It also doesn't charge $15 a month to continue playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannic Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 The MMO police: "Why are you playing alone?! Stop it!" Why are people so afraid of the solo players? I'm all for incentives to group (loot & social points), but forced grouping isn't a good idea. When grouping is an option, then you're more likely to group with those that actually want to group. As opposed to those that want nothing to do with you, but are forced to team-up with you in order to move along in their quest line. The more games cater to solo players, the worse the MP aspects of that game become. Isn't this self-evident? We've been trying to prevent this for years, but you anti-social types, for whatever reason, can't stand to just play Oblivion or Skyrim. No, you have to take over MMO's too, constantly griping that "Zomg, I can't believe I have to play with OTHER PEOPLE in this multi-player game!! I pay $15 a month, this should be a giant single player game!!" When MMO's came out the whole point to them was "you can play online with thousands of other people!" And for some reason, the more they "advance," the more players demand that the developer remove other people from the equation. I mean, seriously, why even make an MMO in the first place? Take TOR for example. The only thing TOR's MMO aspects do is bring the game down. It would have been much better as a purely single-player game with some kind of a gathering hall for co-op. They could have made the SP part of the game even better. What has Bioware accomplished with this hybrid? The SP part of the game isn't as good as it could be, and the MP part of the game is half-assed and just unsatisfying. Why any developer would design an MMORPG, and then forget that before you can release that the MULTIPLAYER parts of the game need to be damned near perfece, just baffles me. Why did you make it a MMO, again? The answer then becomes clear. Because with an MMO you can charge a sub. There's literally no other reason I can think of why Bioware wanted to make an MMO. It's obvious their hearts aren't in the "MMO" parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iusedtoplaywow Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I would say the game is actually MORE multiplayer then many other games such as WoW. There are just as many dugeons, more group quests, plenty of pvp content and you can actually group up and get rewarded for questing in a group. What is THIS guy smoking.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordric Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 In my opinion: if this game wants to survive the next year ... it needs to be more like WOW. Yes I just said that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hizzler Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 First let me post my check in for Chat Bubbles. It's not a game breaker, but it certainly makes things more enteraining. i.e. Im looking around the area and the enviorment and someone yells out "Leroy Jenkins!" from a far and you watch him dive into a mob. Thats to me is entertaining. So yes, chat bubbles should be included imo. Make it an toggled option. Also agree with poster that this game does feel like a single player wrapped in mmo shell. Let me explain first.. in other games there was "the grind" you power leveled your guy to dishout more dps or defbuffs, gain more HP and get better armor and weapons. This game has evolved around that so that all classes are "up to speed" by playing alone, the companions are a HUGE help and I think is a great compramise in the mmo genre. HOWEVER... this game is lacking depth, and immersion. These planets (even the larger ones) seem to be lacking something.... MASS. I appreciate quests that send me far across the planet (making new discoveries and exploring along the way) in order to talk to one npc, and kill a few baddies and then survive the trek back to gain my quest xp. That was the fun, its the Journey. These planets should be about 4 times larger than they are now, and less confined. I want to stumble upon low-level areas I know I can kill and then all of sudden a cavern with level 50's in there (which I know I cant take on) but it gives me incentive to come back and explore later ... this game is missing that. You finish a planet and then your done, move on. While I have seen a couple of spots where high level mobs are waiting to be taken on (alderan) there isnt enough to make this game feel massive enough. I am a lvl 49, and all thats left is Corellia I beleive. Also, add in some social classes cause not everyone that loves star wars and MMO's want to do combat. Some people WANT to hang out in Cantinas making freinds and gaining buffs or gather resources and craft like a fiend. Yes SWG had some things right..let the flames begin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanzoV Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 The more games cater to solo players, the worse the MP aspects of that game become. Isn't this self-evident? We've been trying to prevent this for years, but you anti-social types, for whatever reason, can't stand to just play Oblivion or Skyrim. No, you have to take over MMO's too, constantly griping that "Zomg, I can't believe I have to play with OTHER PEOPLE in this multi-player game!! I pay $15 a month, this should be a giant single player game!!" lol, oh, so you "groupers" are victims, right? God forbid a game, with the STAR WARS IP, have options for the casual, solo players. Sorry to tell you, but if you wanted hardcore grouping (sounds dirty), this was never going to be your game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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