Why do many MMO players not appreciate the story?

[Lethality]

i already preodered mass effect 3 last year, so year story is more important to me then raiding and pvp.

 

Or playing with other real players, apparently.

[defiantlegacy]

A large percentage here on the forums hate on the game and state that they don't give a crasp about the great story Bioware has put into the game. These are probably the same type of people who would play Modern Warfare, but feel they're a more sophisticated gamer, so they play MMO's....then constantly complain about them.

 

IMO, story is what sets this game apart. Ive only played bounty hunter so far and love the story and look forward to playing every class.

 

I would say alot of people like the story, but , you are only gonna like it the 1st time through.

On your next play through you're gonna skip most everything but the class quest cutscenes and the standard mission scenes become annoying.

[DarthKhaos]

That's a ridiculous generalization and over-simplification of the facts.

Firstly I said some and second I saw on the forums someone posted "I'm not interested in story, social interaction or PvP." It happens. Sadly...

[Larlar]

I honestly don't see the 'great story' that everyone keeps going on about. There is nothing 'great' about it. They are just standardised stories, and fairly dull ones at that, designed to get you to go to the correct levelling planets.

 

I'm very very sceptical as to the value of devoting so much resources to this aspect of the game's development. A story can only go so far and thats fine for a single player with a one off fee, but unless BW are intending to continue significantly updating this part of the game with every patch, at great cost, then for me, its every bit as gimmicky and irrelevant to the long term success of the game as Tortage is in AOC. This aspect of the game will not keep people paying a monthly fee, how can it?

 

A more appropriate way to spend the money would have been to hone the gameplay in this title so that its utterly perfect and smooth and comparable to WOW's seamless combat and fluidity. This would have allowed the gameplay itself to have been the hook that keeps people playing, and everything else could then flow from that solid foundation, as it has with WOW.

 

Perhaps a little more innovation wouldn't have hurt aswell. WOW is losing subs and this is because a LOT of People are bored of the format despite the continuing quality of the product. New ideas are needed to get those people who are bored with WOW to pay for this game. However, in this game, compared with WOW, all we have got is the same old end game/levelling process with less features, more flaws, and inferior gameplay to go with it. The story is really all that this game has over WOW.

 

Disappointing.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Larlar

[DorkTrooper]

I appreciate the story. I appreciate the small things BW did to fit the story to different classes as you roll alts: various characters reply differently based upon your class, race, gender, and party number. I like those kinds of details. TOR needs a ton of fixes and more content (both game and endgame), no doubt. I have a lot of patience, and at the pace I play, I'm sure BW will be able to keep ahead of me.

 

There are many players for which this game type (themepark MMO with focus on storyline) just isn't a good fit. Many of these players are veterans of other MMOs who have different priorities and backgrounds than mine.

 

This includes a subset of people who bounce from game to game, gobbling up the content, and fiddling discontentedly until the next time-sink is released. They have to be kept busy, busy, busy. They don't give a bantha crap about the story, or rolling alts, or waiting for updates. This is not the game for them. I'm not sure there IS a single game for them.

 

This also includes a subset of people who are hyper-competitive to the point of only wanting to be associated with "the best" game, or the game with the most subscriptions, income, the most difficult game, the game with the most grind, what have you. Yet they are bored with that one game after so many years, so when TOR comes along with the hype that it's gonna "beat" WoW, they get kinda hopeful and try it out. And when it doesn't immediately live up to their personal standard, they get personally offended, blast the game on the forum and move on (or back) to...something else. They don't give a flip about the VO cutscenes, or the fact that they adapt as mentioned above. They wish the time spent creating those nuances had been spent on more other types of content up front.

 

There are hardcore raider types who spacebar past the story because they are focused on endgame, and aren't at all interested in PvE, RPing, questing, crafting (beyond endgame-usable advantages), and think that story is a waste because it doesn't pertain to smashing other players to dust.

 

And of course lots of people do not fit neatly into any category. No one is wrong in their preferences. But no single game can cater to everyone, not even WoW (tip: I was never interested in WoW). If there aren't enough people like me to keep this story-driven game going for a long, long time, then so be it. I'll find something else to do. But I am enjoying it for what it is right now and looking forward to more.

 

tl;dr If you aren't patient enough to read this post, TOR probably isn't gonna work for you.

Edited February 18, 2012 by DorkTrooper

[Kaelshi]

A large percentage here on the forums hate on the game and state that they don't give a crasp about the great story Bioware has put into the game. These are probably the same type of people who would play Modern Warfare, but feel they're a more sophisticated gamer, so they play MMO's....then constantly complain about them.

 

IMO, story is what sets this game apart. Ive only played bounty hunter so far and love the story and look forward to playing every class.

 

Because everyone is different.

 

I personally love the story and think it is what makes this game so much better. That and the combat system - regular combat with groups of mob is much more fun than fighting 1-2 mobs over and over as in other mmo's.

 

However to your post - they are allowed to not like it. The problem they have is that they bought a game expecting X and the game is for people who enjoy Y. Now they are mad and making forum posts over and over that the game should be overhauled to fit what THEY enjoy.

 

The reality this is a decision for them just like any other game they buy. If this WAS a single player and they did not like it - they would just stop playing it. They feel a sense of entitlement though since they are paying a 15/month fee and so they log on and whine about it.

 

If they are going to play the game a certain way - then they have to just understand that they will run into things like not-enough content. They are leaving a TON of content untouched because it's not what they enjoy, but the game was developed around playing that additional content.

[DalrisThane]

Deleted. No point. Everyone is TLDR these days. +See Sig. Edited March 31, 2013 by DalrisThane

[Nurvus]

I love the story of most classes.

 

However, even though I find it fun for the first 20 levels that I have several options to choose from, soon I realize 90% of them have no real meaning other than gaining affection or dark/light side points, 9% result in getting some pointless mails with no real consequences, and the other 1% are the few, rare decisions pertaining to your class/companion story that make a difference.

 

I think BioWare did a great job with the voice acting and facial expressions.

However, I think they didn't invest nearly as deep into the MMO component of this MMO game.

 

I am not paying monthly fees to play a single player game with some repetitive "online group grinding" involved.

[Asavar]

uhm, what's wrong with modern warfare? it's the most fast paced fps atm, if you want quick action, it's the way to go

 

don't see why you would bring that up .

 

 

also, the story can be awesome etc etc but you still need to keep everything else top notch aswell, can't just take a crap on everything else but story

 

I lol'd, MW and fast paced?

 

Yeah, maybe if you get into one match where it's not 17 people camping one spot.

[gregordunbar]

A large percentage here on the forums hate on the game and state that they don't give a crasp about the great story Bioware has put into the game.

 

No, most of the people hating on the game are saying that it ONLY has a good story and once you get past it there is NOTHING ELSE but bland garbage.

 

The PvP is weak.

Crafting is pure garbage.

Flashpoints/operations are OK but like any instance gets old fast.

 

There is nothing else. There isnt even an average community on most servers and the game feels empty. I can sit in the fleet for an hour and may only see one single person try to have a conversation. and even go 3-5 minutes without a SINGLE person saying anything in chat.

 

The only thing the game has going for it is its character storyline...which you get in SINGLE PLAYER GAMES and not have to not only buy it, but pay to keep playing it. The game shouldnt have been passed off as an MMO, it should have been a single player with multi-player online capabilities like other games in the past.

[Jeedaix]

Because Blizzard bred a generation of impatient kids that want to stand around looking at glowies all day, dancing nekid, and not care about story.

[Asavar]

The more I think about TOR, the more it's clear who the target market is. They want to keep their subs up, with KOTOR players, and very specific KOTOR players. Not the ones that played once and called it... but the ones that wanted, or even needed to hear, every possible voice over combo, whether your character was light side, dark side, nice to companions, mean to companions, etc...

 

 

Eh, you don't have to be a die-hard KOTOR player to enjoy the story... I only played KOTOR (1) once. Couldn't really get into 2.

 

Granted, I don't listen to the main story line for the most part anymore, but I listen to every class story as I level a new character, and love it. Although, now that I think of it, I may want to re-listen to the main story world arc as it'd be interesting to see how the npcs interact with each different character (e.g. I'm now playing a sith juggernaut, my main is a merc.)

Edited February 18, 2012 by Asavar

[DecimaPoiuytr]

I don't know, maybe because the story-line is flimsy in most cases with tons of deus ex machina?

 

Oh no, the Empire has a super-weapon...wait we just happen to have the schematics and a protype eapon that will disable it just so and oh the villain in charge of the ship is no challenge at all the kill and has no real motives or character other than to be killed by you... blah blah blah

 

It's not a good story by any means. It's a retarded dragonball-z type story with strawman characters.

Edited February 18, 2012 by DecimaPoiuytr

[Jeedaix]

I don't know, maybe because the story-line is flimsy in most cases with tons of deus ex machina?

 

Oh no, the Empire has a super-weapon...wait we just happen to have the schematics and a protype eapon that will disable it just so and oh the villain in charge of the ship is no challenge at all the kill and has no real motives or character other than to be killed by you... blah blah blah

 

It's not a good story by any means. It's a retarded dragonball-z type story with strawman characters.

 

I see because you dont like means it a terrible story....maybe really it's you

[Hypernetic]

The story is completely terrible in this game, it's like a 12 year old wrote it.

[KuusouRumba]

I see because you dont like means it a terrible story....maybe really it's you

 

I could say the same to you about Twilight, but we both know it's a horrible story

 

Right?

[Tiam]

because if i wanted a story id read a movie or watch a book.

 

oh yea biowares head storywriter just left them.

 

Same here, If I want story I'll read a book. I play mmo's online as a fun hobby. I don't watch t.v. I play video games in my spare time. VO in SWTOR got old fast, the class quests sometimes I'd watch it, but mostly spacebar, spacebar, spacebar through it all. When I'm at home relaxing, playing a game, Watching some voiceover that wastes half the evening of playtime is not my idea of fun. To those that do enjoy it, wonderful, I'm glad you can, but if I want story, I'll read a nice book.

[DarthKhaos]

However to your post - they are allowed to not like it. The problem they have is that they bought a game expecting X and the game is for people who enjoy Y. Now they are mad and making forum posts over and over that the game should be overhauled to fit what THEY enjoy.

The question is WHY did they expect X? Some of the people complaining were in Beta. They SAID they were going to cancel their preorder. Now 2 months later here they still are. I really do not know what to make about that.

 

BioWare was clear with what they were making. I'd give those who say the game is way more linear than they expected. However I think BioWare made the right decision with focusing on the leveling first. Now they can add on top of this. Think about it? A planet not related with the class story for a specific level range so if you REALLY want to you can go to that planet. A different space combat system. More Warzones. All these things can be added. However to redo the whole leveling setup tied into story later will take a WHOLE lot more work.

 

Same here, If I want story I'll read a book. I play mmo's online as a fun hobby. I don't watch t.v. I play video games in my spare time. VO in SWTOR got old fast, the class quests sometimes I'd watch it, but mostly spacebar, spacebar, spacebar through it all. When I'm at home relaxing, playing a game, Watching some voiceover that wastes half the evening of playtime is not my idea of fun. To those that do enjoy it, wonderful, I'm glad you can, but if I want story, I'll read a nice book.

Then I'm curious why you joined an MMO that is focusing on story? I mean seriously there ARE other MMO's out there. Just curious.

Edited February 23, 2012 by DarthKhaos

[Vyradder]

Most MMO players couldn't roleplay their way out of a paper bag. To folks like that, story elements are a waste of time.

[Alpha-Llama]

i love the story too but people actually do get arsey when you watch the story

its spacebar spacebar > fat loot for the most part for most hardcore MMO players

[-Fritz-]

A large percentage here on the forums hate on the game and state that they don't give a crasp about the great story Bioware has put into the game. These are probably the same type of people who would play Modern Warfare, but feel they're a more sophisticated gamer, so they play MMO's....then constantly complain about them.

 

IMO, story is what sets this game apart. Ive only played bounty hunter so far and love the story and look forward to playing every class.

 

 

for me its not about "appreciation" its about "time".

 

i am an adult with real life obligations and when i have a few hours to play i do not want to spend the entire time listening to an npc talk about their little imaginary problems, i want to play the game i paid for.

 

some voice acting and story would have been cool.

20-30 minutes of garbage every time you visit a quest hub is just obnoxious.

 

 

 

I also find it quite humorous that you consider mmo games to be for sophisticated people when by design they are made so people with bare minimum of computer and gaming skill can still be successful players.

 

its like calling toddlers toys sophisticated... but i digress.

Edited February 23, 2012 by -Fritz-

[oursacrifice]

A large percentage here on the forums hate on the game and state that they don't give a crasp about the great story Bioware has put into the game. These are probably the same type of people who would play Modern Warfare, but feel they're a more sophisticated gamer, so they play MMO's....then constantly complain about them.

 

IMO, story is what sets this game apart. Ive only played bounty hunter so far and love the story and look forward to playing every class.

 

Because deep story does not belong in a MMO - a style of game that is 100% driven on end-game content. Also, a heavy focus on the story causes the mass linearity present in the leveling of this game.

 

Imagine how incredible this leveling experience could have been had they spent the $300 million on giving us more planets, larger zones, more variety, better class mirror balance, more warzones, additional time spent on fixing the hardmode flashpoint/operation bugs/glitches, the ability for user mods, combat logs, a better/customizable UI at launch, etc...

 

Instead, we get spoken dialog, one leveling path, small planets, heavy instanced experience, and pretty much everything that makes leveling an alt a boring snoozfest of "gee, the ONLY new part is my class story that is 10% of the whole leveling process".

 

For a MMO - this game is terrible.

 

For a normal single player RPG - this game is incredible.

[Blotter]

The question is WHY did they expect X? Some of the people complaining were in Beta. They SAID they were going to cancel their preorder. Now 2 months later here they still are. I really do not know what to make about that.

 

BioWare was clear with what they were making. I'd give those who say the game is way more linear than they expected. However I think BioWare made the right decision with focusing on the leveling first. Now they can add on top of this. Think about it? A planet not related with the class story for a specific level range so if you REALLY want to you can go to that planet. A different space combat system. More Warzones. All these things can be added. However to redo the whole leveling setup tied into story later will take a WHOLE lot more work.

 

 

Then I'm curious why you joined an MMO that is focusing on story? I mean seriously there ARE other MMO's out there. Just curious.

 

Apple tastes like apple!!! Wanted orange flava!!!! Apple is broken!!!! Fix apple NAO!!!!

Edited February 23, 2012 by Blotter

[Devlonir]

Fun fact:

 

When WoW came out, many old MMO vets said it would fail because 'MMO players don't like a quest based game' and 'most of the content to max level can be soloed except for a few instanced areas'.

 

Thing is, themepark MMOs that put the focus on what the player wants and not what he should do for the community have been the more succesful kind of MMO. A game where you need to group for nearly all content is doomed to fail and sandbox MMOs have the major downside of not giving people a clue what to do (I look at you SWG and Second Life!).

 

SWTOR adds story to a genre that had none. It adds a layer of choice, no matter how small, to a genre where your experience to level to max level has been the same as everyone else's.

 

The most heard positive response from longtime MMO players after playing SWTOR has been: I actually care about my character beyond just what gear he has on, something I haven't felt before.

 

This story may not win awards for originality, but it creates a bond between player and avatar that no other MMO has done before.

 

The people hating it, are the same kind of people that said the quest system in WoW was doomed to fail as a way to max level. That grinding is what makes people stay in MMOs and not questing. And the behemoth on the MMO market prooved them wrong. And this game adds story to those quests and nearly everything you do in a way no MMO has done before.

 

Of course the MMO vets will not like it, as in their eyes a good MMO doesn't need it. But it will bring in a new crowd of people, and it already has! Half of the active players on my friends list are firstime MMO gamers who usually came from playing the original KOTOR series or are just huge Star Wars geeks and played every Star War game that came before or are huge biodrones and love every game Bioware ever brought out. But you know what? These people never played an MMO before this game, and are loving the experience. Just like the 9 million+ people that never played an MMO before WoW and learned to appreciate the genre because of that game.

 

So, to conclude.. this game doesn't cater to MMO vets, it caters to MMO newcomers. And it caters to them so well that you barely hear about MMO first timers quitting, they are always the old MMO vets who prefer their games to be clean and without all that 'not needed story crap'.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Devlonir

[Rollcageuk]

Because deep story does not belong in a MMO - a style of game that is 100% driven on end-game content. Also, a heavy focus on the story causes the mass linearity present in the leveling of this game.

 

Imagine how incredible this leveling experience could have been had they spent the $300 million on giving us more planets, larger zones, more variety, better class mirror balance, more warzones, additional time spent on fixing the hardmode flashpoint/operation bugs/glitches, the ability for user mods, combat logs, a better/customizable UI at launch, etc...

 

Instead, we get spoken dialog, one leveling path, small planets, heavy instanced experience, and pretty much everything that makes leveling an alt a boring snoozfest of "gee, the ONLY new part is my class story that is 10% of the whole leveling process".

 

For a MMO - this game is terrible.

 

For a normal single player RPG - this game is incredible.

 

100% is it.

 

If that was the case then why don't the devs just start everyone at 50 with all the skills that go with it.

After all the way you play at lvl 10 is nothing in comparison to 50 so there is no point in it.

 

There is in fact a good part of the game that drives through the levels. It's a shame that some MMO's don't care about character development, or simply the experience of learning, different skills, different areas etc. All part of an MMO.

 

How very over dramatic.

 

Question: If you didn't want a story then why the heck are you playing a story driven game, a game that was heavily advertised as story driven so no real surprises?