For the Days of SWG

[ThiborF]

The game was great, was the most played game at teh time, more players than EQ, WoW hit at a right time, when CU come out and NGE killed it.

 

Forgot the Dancers and muscians in cantinas to heal wounds and doc buffs in starports, specialy when you were tef'ed and tef'ed the doc which started a f'ed up tef war killing your friends.

 

A crafting system where all but super rare exceptional loot was entirely player made, player sliced, repaired by players and all mats were harvested by players.

 

You could play SWG without ever having to kill anything and still be important, still make insane creds, have fun and be part of a living economy.

 

Cryer's in SWG are like the bums on the street saying life is hard, they need a Money for food, offer them food they ***** cause they really want money for booze.

 

Want to play SWG emu but i scrapped my game disks when NGE came out so last i heard u needed them

 

Any links?

 

I give kudos to SWG for three things (this is all pre-JTL/CU/NGE)

A purpose for player housing/cities (though still didn't live up to its potential with it but, it's rare anything does)

Robust/deep crafting system

Free form class system

 

That's about it.

 

There was painfully little story driven content in the game at all. Go to mission terminal in city, get either a courier quest or kill X# quest with little to no pretense of any story at all, rinse, repeat. Then roughly once every month or two you get a content patch in which you spend 2-4 hours doing and then it's back to the mission terminals.

 

Or ... it's back to crafting. Ahh crafting. I give it kudos for its variety (rare it seems these days for custom colors/looks to be so easily implemented) and its complexity. And being a merchant class and being able to set up your own shop could be fun for awhile. What wasn't fun was spending hours tweaking macros to avoid carpel tunnel while making things and mindlessly walking across empty planets clicking a button every 25 feet in a mini-game-esque version of Marco Polo while you try to find the best/most abundant materials to harvest. Yeah ... that was LOADS of fun.

 

And then to top it off, you don't just have the devs nerf your favorite skill or class (which every MMO tends to do at some point and doesn't really bother me), SOE outright removes one of the more fun classes to play (RIP Creature Handler)

 

I had some fun in SWG but it was more because of the people I was playing with and not because the game itself was some rich form of amusement. I applaud it for its attempts at a sandbox game but its popularity was a shooting star ... flared brilliantly for a short time early on and then trailed off. Subsequent updates, while appeasing some of the masses, in many peoples eyes did more bad than good.

 

And before I get labeled as some raving TOR fanboy, I'm not. I do enjoy this game (I wouldn't be subbed to it if I didn't) but it's by no means perfect. Neither was WoW, AoC, STO, DDO, PotBS, SWG or AC2. Then again, I've yet to play the "perfect MMO" and honestly doubt it will every exist simply because what would be perfect to me would probably be crap to someone else. C'est la vie.

[Daeborn]

SWG was a failure after less than two years. The rest of the time it was nothing but a money sink for SOE and Lucas Arts.

 

/thread

[LeMage]

Nostalgia is overrated.

 

Not really - it allows me to think fondly of MxO even now. I had tried SWG and MxO and went with MxO.

 

Well they did have things in common:

SOE <spit>

Great Communities and

Both had combat revisions that to this day illicit heated debate

[PeepsMcJuggs]

Day of SWG:

Finally ready to play after spending a year upgrading my machine specifically for SWG.

Spend half a day convincing SOE to reestablish my free trial period.

Log into the game, start wandering around.

Look at overabundance of buttons on UI, ask self why the hell someone needs that many buttons to play a damn video game.

/slash command some emotes to watch my Trandoshan bounce around like an idiot.

Watch some people shoot each other.

30 minutes later, turn game off, never play again.

 

Ah, the memories...

[Jett-Rinn]

Edited February 3, 2012 by Jett-Rinn

[RagnarokJC]

The game was a success, what killed it was SOE and changing the game more than once eventually it became a boring Leveling system.

 

How about character customization the fencer/Kera tasi combination or the carbineer/bh combo. or the combat medic. After a long day of grinding out the boxes or pvp sat back and talked to the dancers, crafters in the cantina's and just having a great time.

I don't think you played the game at launch or even before the CU and NGE came out. If you did, you'd know that the reason why SOE implemented the CU and then NGE was because SWG was bleeding subs. That game was never going to be anything more than a niche MMO, but if SOE hadn't panicked, it might have continued on with a moderately-sized player base much like EVE is doing.

[Tinasa]

I played SWG too and I really enjoyed it. What made it bearable after the changes was the Sandbox qualities it had. It allowed you to play the game despite the problems they created with it.

 

I miss having my own houses, being able to put things in them I had found. I miss the space system. I miss the open world. I wouldn't go to some knock off version of the game, but I do wish with all my heart, this game offered more things in line with what SWG's did. Seems to be such a wasted opportunity.

 

There was always so much you could do that would keep you entertained and busy that didn't involve fighting. God Sony is horrible.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Tinasa

[Sotaudi]

First, they were "Holocrons," not "Datacrons."

 

Second, you, like many people, think fondly of unlocking a Jedi. Me? I said it back then, and I will say till my dying day: The day the first Jedi was unlocked was the day the NGE became inevitable. The introduction of the Jedi introduced an alpha class into a system that was already nearly impossible to balance. Jedi made the NGE inevitable, and the "Hologrind" was the bus that took us there.

 

The game was supposed to be about being a citizen in the Star Wars universe. You took professions to fit into that theme, professions you wanted to play. Even without the imbalance caused by adding an alpha class into an already precarious profession balance, Jedi had no place in the game because of the time line. Adding them was damaging enough to the game, but the hologrind to unlock them caused a mass abandonment of professions people actually wanted to play in favor of grinding up professions people did not want just because some holocron told them to do so. Of course, as soon as they mastered that profession, they abandoned it to grind up another one all because the ridiculous system told them to. And once they did unlock a Jedi, they then, mostly, abandoned their original character to play the Jedi.

 

This completely destroyed the game. For instance, before the hologrind, crafters actually worked to find the best resources to create better equipment than their competitors. After the hologrind was introduced, crafters largely abandoned all that in order to unlock a Jedi. The only people crafting at that point were churning out garbage just to gain the XP needed to master a profession they were just going to abandon as soon as they opened a new holocron. People who kept crafting on their non-Jedi character largely just did it in their spare time playing their Jedi as their main.

 

People like to look back fondly on unlocking their Jedi. As far as I am concerned, whoever decided to add them to the game basically put out a contract hit on the game, and whoever designed the hologrind system administered the poison that killed it. Everyone who participated in it aided and abetted the crime.

 

I can only assume those responsible were Sith, because this whole thing could have only come from the darkside.

[sevenex]

I love how lots people talk about how much fun they had in SWG and there's always a few that come in and argue. It's like they're trying to pull off a jedi mind trick and say, "No you did not have that much fun, you must be mistaken!"

 

Good post, I also really miss the game.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

I love how lots people talk about how much fun they had in SWG and there's always a few that come in and argue. It's like they're trying to pull off a jedi mind trick and say, "No you did not have that much fun, you must be mistaken!"

 

Good post, I also really miss the game.

 

There's a difference between arguing whether people enjoyed it and arguing whether it was a good game. I used to enjoy Star Wars Rebellion, but I'll be the first to admit that it was a terrible, terrible game.

[sevenex]

There's a difference between arguing whether people enjoyed it and arguing whether it was a good game. I used to enjoy Star Wars Rebellion, but I'll be the first to admit that it was a terrible, terrible game.

 

I actually agree. I appreciate a good combat system, which swg did not have. I don't think anyone claims it did though, pre or post CU

[Darth_Syphilis]

I love how angry the defenders get.

 

My point was that the game was not as great as everyone wants to try to remember it or build it up. It had major flaws and was largely considered unfinished by many -- much the way some of these same people rag on SWtOR for being unfinished. But this is largely arguing something that is largely subjective.

 

I enjoyed the game for a while but then it became a painfully boring grindfest when everyone got sucked in to the whole Jedi unlock grind -- as mentioned by the poster above. It was tough not to get sucked into that because no one wants to devote their time to playing a non-Jedi character that could only be mediocre once everyone else was a Jedi.

 

The game had some really great elements (crafting, player economy, player bounty) but the game was not "all that" -- it was good but not great. If it was great there would be no need for SWtOR.

 

Essentially, this is like arguing about what song is the better song, etc. My only point is that the bulk of activity on SWG died fairly quickly -- WoW and the insanely huge changes they made killed it. I played for a year after it was released and it feels like it was dying already then with the exception of a minority of die-hards that held on to the end, but they were a limited number.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Darth_Syphilis

[Adelaine]

This is what I remember of my first attempt at a mmo in an SWG trial a year or so before I started playing wow. First impression of the game looked nice, I was quite excited to download it and when it installed and I logged in and created my character I mostly had an wide-eyed expression on my face because I thought this was going to be great.

 

Then I got to create what my character looked like and choose faction, I don't remember ever picking a class. At any rate I logged in and.... hm, eh. So I found a room with a few NPC's in it, one or two tutorials on how to move but no instruction at all on what I could, or was suppose to do in this game. I tried to talk to a few NPC's, ran around a bit to see if I missed anything, spent 15 minutes looking around before uninstalling and never touching the game again. Why anyone would want to play a game and run around in a empty world (read open sandbox) with nothing to do is beyond me.

 

There is a reason we pay developers to make content for us, when players are responsible it rarely lives up to expectations.

[Kraith]

You'd think with all those players claiming SWG was the best thing since sliced bread that the game was actually a succes. Which it wasnt. How odd.

 

define success...

 

 

I played SWG for 8 years, so from my point of view, it was a succes.

[Aharx]

I would state all the things you did, O.P., and then add this one.

 

For the days (wayyyyyy back in SWG) when you finally purchased the weapon you wanted (for me it was a Master Crafted E-11 Carbine)... went to a Smuggler to Slice it (for those who didn't play, Slicing was a way to modify a weapon to make it better)... only to have it result in a Critical Failure (destroying the weapon). Ugh. My stomach sunk the day that happened on my Master Bounty Hunter.

[Orici]

Ive said it before and I'll say it again, The ultimate game will have:

 

SWG's crafting system

 

MxO's interlock combat system

 

LotRO's raiding (never played WoW, and for the games i have played, The Rift is by far the best, most fun raid on-lvl)

 

SWtOR's interactive story.

 

 

I agree with whoever said the addition of Jedi ruined the game. I loved SWG, and was pretty much forced into the holo-grind when i found one and it told me to master Scout. That was the end of my TKM/Doc.

[Jorelle]

SWG pre NGE crap is the best ever, bottom line.

[MefuneAkira]

As a 7 year vet of SWG, I can honestly say SWG is still the best MMO to ever be released.

It had the Star Wars genre and more social and non-combat game play options than any other MMO.

 

I hope TOR inherits at least a few of the cool crap SWG had, - like bounty hunting other players, guild wars, player bases, complex crafting system, character customization...ya know, the list is just too damn big to continue....

 

WoW combat works great for TOR and SWG social and non-combat activities would work great for TOR. Here's hoping!

[jonobiwan]

Hated SWG love SWTOR.

[Davloc]

Free form class system

 

This was one of the greatest things about the game, and not having to visit a trainer, ever. Players could, and wanted to, train you in your skills (and all the various languages) so they could get apprentice points (can't remember the exact name) to master theirs.

 

Oddly enough, I can't remember doing quests other than from the mission terminals.

 

Imported a collectors edition (which I still have) from the USA (wow, a quick check of Ebay tells me that they sell for between 35 and 75 of my Scottish pounds, a couple of months ago they went for about 10 lol).

 

Have fond memories of the few months I played pre CU/NGE. Can't actually remember why I quit, and can't remember if I went on to play EQ2 or WoW after, but I remember getting all nostalgic and deciding to re-sub and wondering why I had to choose a class when I logged in lol.

 

Aah, I love my rose tinted glasses.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Davloc

[itekazzawrrlic]

There's a difference between arguing whether people enjoyed it and arguing whether it was a good game. I used to enjoy Star Wars Rebellion, but I'll be the first to admit that it was a terrible, terrible game.

 

What was so terrible about it? I have yet to play a strategy game that was nearly as fun.

[PeepsMcJuggs]

What was so terrible about it? I have yet to play a strategy game that was nearly as fun.

 

Click. Click. Click click. Click drag click. Click click. Click. "You've conquered Coruscant!"

 

(I removed most of the clicks for sake of brevity.)

 

And someone needs to find you a copy of MOO2.

 

Edit: To be more specific, you could watch

to reminisce about micromanagement hell. Edited February 3, 2012 by PeepsMcJuggs

[Krakov]

I miss my Kimogila pet...

[Keihryon]

I think the CU was a step in the right direction for SWG, personally. I hated the HAM system, but the skill tree was the best idea I'd seen in an mmo ever. It was far superior to the talent tree most use today. Such a diverse method of character creation and evolution should be the industry standard, not the exception.

 

The NGE, however, was 5 steps backwards. And everything seemed to be sacrificed for some semblance of class balance.

 

which reminds me, i need to check up on the emu and see if they have improved it any.

Edited February 4, 2012 by Keihryon

[Knockerz]

Being a jedi with feign death and lol at bounty hunters who in vain tried to kill you. Having another account with a bh who would pick up your main account's jedi bounty. Thus, limiting the number of bounty hunters who could pick up your bounty. I think it was limited to three or four missions for any given jedi. Leaving your jedi inside a house in a remote part of dantooine afk all day in order to deter any play bh from taking your bounty. The purpose being to waste bounty hunter's time by forcing them to travel long distance and having your jedi online all the time made it impossible for he/she to distinguish when you were afk and when you were leveling. Edited February 4, 2012 by Knockerz