Yuefei Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Just wondering if anyone else feels the same way that I do about TOR, and if there is any hope for improvement on the horizon for what I am feeling about this game..... ***I feel that the galaxy in TOR actually gets SMALLER as you level. I was foolish enough to believe that this game would create planets in a way that you would always have some sort of incentive to go back to them for something.....I guess not. There is nothing to gain for me to go back to Hutta or to Belsavis...... ***There is no real "exploring" in this game either. I would love to have the chance to dig deeper into the depths of Nar Shadda and explore the back alleyways and the like, as well as find some less traveled path somewhere in the mountains of Tattoine....Yet it seems like we are all goldfish in a giant aquarium with little actual mobility to freely move around in this game. ***I truly miss the unique ability in SWG to have the ability to gain unique items from taking part in missions, or some event. Each person who played that game had the ability to set themselves apart in either their look, gear, or house. While I never expected houses, I thought that our ships would have that ability to be customized. **** I really want to stay with this game for a long time, yet I don't like the feeling of reaching level 50 and being "boxed in" as to where I can go to do something new. It felt a little stale rerolling another character and going through the same non-character classes that I have already done before. Is there any chance that any type of "sandbox" elements could be added to planets in the future? Perhaps expanding planets and having an "unexplored area" which players could go into in addition to their basic storyline. I dont relish the thought of reaching level 50 and having my options limited to staying on Ilum for eternity doing repetitive daily tasks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PibbyPib Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) Yeah, I really miss the way these types of games used to be structured. I played Anarchy Online for a long time when it launched, and the world was simply massive, with zones far bigger than the whole of Tatooine that went practically unused. I mean, you could wander out there and grind or use the mission terminals, but it really was the back of beyond. You could explore and find things like a person who'd been lynched out the middle of nowhere, or a little abandoned shack with the occupant's belongings scattered around and evidence of a struggle... that sort of thing. Some places were so far flung that you might find whole military or science complexes that none of your guildmates had ever seen in a year or more of playing, because they'd never had any reason to go out there. Exploration in that game was a blast. I once started a new character and decided to level him completely away from the cities and towns. I saw *one* other player the whole time I played that character, and I got him to level 85 or something. Edited February 4, 2012 by PibbyPib Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuefei Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 I miss the idea of choosing what I want to do. As a guild in SWG we could run fhashpoints, or just go and blowtorch ewoks, look for opposing faction players, hang out in the cantina, do something in our player city, or head to Lok and just look for loot, there is no real incentive to even be in a guild so far in this game, because you can simply group up with whoever and once the mission is done, simply be on your way.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PibbyPib Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Pretty much, yep. SWG was so awesome at launch. I really wish that character development system had been the one that caught on, rather than the simple leveling approach. So much variety. You might want to try out Fallen Earth sometime. The graphics are way outdated, but it's got an open-ended sandbox quality you might like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkerus Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 We have people complaining the planets are too big and people complaining there isn't enough exploring. I'm sorry SWG players, this game isn't SWG. You miss things about that game that aren't going to happen here. There is a reason that game never "took off" but had a steady, small sub base. However, the good news is this game has just about infinite expandability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuefei Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 I am not asking it to be SWG, I am simply giving an example of an MMORPG that had an open ended system of planet exploration that could easily be done on a repetitive basis without seeming old. My point was that the higher level a character progresses to in this game, that basically knocks one planet off your list that is of any use to you. There is a reason that you do not see any level 40s or 50s hovering around Nemro the Hutt's Palace, there simply is no reason to go back to most of these planets. There are no resources or rare creatures on the planets that draw the higher level player back to these places. I wish that there was and not a planet system that is tiered according to a players level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkPudding Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 One thing that I really agree with the OP is... the planets really don't feel like planets; they feel like towns. I'm not sure what's missing here but the vastness of the galaxy and the planets is definitely not portrayed well here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuefei Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 There is no real space in between areas in the planets, there is just one giant area in which we must navigate around in. I just hope that these planets can be pushed outward in terms of content and given a more planetary feel, as well as giving higher level players a reason to even come back to those planets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkerus Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I am not asking it to be SWG, I am simply giving an example of an MMORPG that had an open ended system of planet exploration that could easily be done on a repetitive basis without seeming old. My point was that the higher level a character progresses to in this game, that basically knocks one planet off your list that is of any use to you. There is a reason that you do not see any level 40s or 50s hovering around Nemro the Hutt's Palace, there simply is no reason to go back to most of these planets. There are no resources or rare creatures on the planets that draw the higher level player back to these places. I wish that there was and not a planet system that is tiered according to a players level. YOu do know that a lot of high level recipes require farming back on old planets right? The game is in a vanilla state. I am quite positive future releases will have reasons to go back to other planets. If they don't, they have an entire universe to use. What are you going to do anyway? Stand in the middle of the desert and be a moisture farmer. No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuefei Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 WHat my point was is that what I think a lot of people would appreciate are the out of the way missions, quests, and rare mobs/loots that are off the beaten path. Each planet simply feels like one giant town. I would think that planets in an MMORPG in 2012 could at least have seperate towns and areas that at least felt as if they were seperate from each other. I agree that the game has the potential to expand greatly with future planets, content etc...but is there a chance that some of it could be more of a sandbox variety? Or will it continue to be in the mold of keeping us contained in a giant box with little option of variety? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkerus Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 WHat my point was is that what I think a lot of people would appreciate are the out of the way missions, quests, and rare mobs/loots that are off the beaten path. Each planet simply feels like one giant town. I would think that planets in an MMORPG in 2012 could at least have seperate towns and areas that at least felt as if they were seperate from each other. I agree that the game has the potential to expand greatly with future planets, content etc...but is there a chance that some of it could be more of a sandbox variety? Or will it continue to be in the mold of keeping us contained in a giant box with little option of variety? My personal opinion is this game will always offer a "guided path" experience. That is bioware's core expertise. There will probably be some branching out and some cool things along the way but biowares claim-to-fame is the story experience and pushing your character along. But there is not reason they can't add some extra stuff at max level. We'll see more stuff...I just don't know what it is yet. This MMO is young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safiir Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 My point was that the higher level a character progresses to in this game, that basically knocks one planet off your list that is of any use to you. That's the theme-park design for you. If you don't like it you shouldn't have bought the game. It was never marketed as sandbox. If you want sandbox sci-fi mmorpg go play eve online. It's an awesome game and your need for exploration will more than be fulfilled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aisar Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 We have people complaining the planets are too big and people complaining there isn't enough exploring. I'm sorry SWG players, this game isn't SWG. You miss things about that game that aren't going to happen here. There is a reason that game never "took off" but had a steady, small sub base. However, the good news is this game has just about infinite expandability. I think people are complaining because the planets do seem small and artificial but they are also poorly done. Just bad all around. So you get some people saying why does this feel so small and hallwayish with the other group saying the planet is way too big and boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurugeorge Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) I'm sorry SWG players, this game isn't SWG. You miss things about that game that aren't going to happen here. There is a reason that game never "took off" but had a steady, small sub base. Actually SWG was a huge success in its day. It came out before WoW and was a big success, celebrations all round. It's just that, when WoW became a super-humungous success shortly after, SoE got greedy and tried to WoW-ify it, against the wishes of their established fanbase. But when it came out it was one of the highest subscription MMOs of its time. I'm saying this just to clarify and be fair to SWG, whose designer, Raph Koster, is widely respected as a game design genius. I agree that SWTOR is not the same kind of game at all, and it would be ridiculous to expect it to be. OTOH, I would like to see some more generally sandboxy elements included in SWTOR as time goes on. Edited February 5, 2012 by gurugeorge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkerus Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I think people are complaining because the planets do seem small and artificial but they are also poorly done. Just bad all around. So you get some people saying why does this feel so small and hallwayish with the other group saying the planet is way too big and boring. I guess I don't get it. I felt like the planets were big enough. I found the quests easily but the planet LOOKED like a planet. I have no need to stray off the beaten path. I can hundreds of miles around me. If I was RPing a character I'd say "Thats 1000s of miles of desert, I don't need to go out there." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuefei Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 I guess what some of us mean by the planet "doesn't feel like a planet" is that there doesn't feel to be any seperation of cities or major points on that planet. Not to bring up SWG again, but take Naboo for instance. There were completely seperate cities within the planet that you could speeder, walk, or shuttle to that felt like seperate cities, not just one giant glob thrown on a map and called a planet. And the open areas, if you chose to go into them, were purely optional, and on some planets you never knew what you might find in them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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