chubbywan Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 So I have always felt, since beta anyway, that the swtor world felt dead. Not just in the number of players but the environments. Lifeless cities. No ambient sound. Well played the Tera beta the last 24 hours straight and it confirms these feelings even more. The cities feel so alive. Players are everywhere. Sounds of city life, crafting, players dueling in the dueling ring. I actually felt like part of an MMO WORLD. The list goes on and on. Yes it has flaws too (Korean) just makes me hope and some point Swtor will feel more alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyklingon Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 cool story bro. i personalyl liek the fully voiced over npc chatter at different quest hubs and in towns. i like how the fleet has alot of people just hanging out. i like how different quest hubs even when i go back to run lowbie guildies through or play my alt has random players running around takign quests at them. i like running into random players on random questing areas. i like how the critters in this game vary in shape size and form, from epic beast to humanoid refugees and other area appropriate npc types. i like how there's plenty of mobs patrolling. i enjkoy how the music isn't overwhelming and doesn't play nonstop out side of cantinas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauvarn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 So I have always felt, since beta anyway, that the swtor world felt dead. Not just in the number of players but the environments. Lifeless cities. No ambient sound. Well played the Tera beta the last 24 hours straight and it confirms these feelings even more. The cities feel so alive. Players are everywhere. Sounds of city life, crafting, players dueling in the dueling ring. I actually felt like part of an MMO WORLD. The list goes on and on. Yes it has flaws too (Korean) just makes me hope and some point Swtor will feel more alive. So how do you want to fix it? Oh you just came here to whine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chubbywan Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 I am not a game designer so that's not up to me to fix it. Its just noticeable and other games seem to be able to do it. Whining is different than wishful thinking. I'm saying I want the feeel of life in swtor, not that I'm leaving or the game sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wifeaggro Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 So I have always felt, since beta anyway, that the swtor world felt dead. Not just in the number of players but the environments. Lifeless cities. No ambient sound. Well played the Tera beta the last 24 hours straight and it confirms these feelings even more. The cities feel so alive. Players are everywhere. Sounds of city life, crafting, players dueling in the dueling ring. I actually felt like part of an MMO WORLD. The list goes on and on. Yes it has flaws too (Korean) just makes me hope and some point Swtor will feel more alive. I tested this theory my self and decieded i would test the ambience against a 2004 game EQ2. I was amazed at how alive the world felt Freeport felt very immersive . Patrols NPC's shouting at you waving you over. I am a bit fearful for TOR future seeing how much damn time i spent following it. Tor feels static and lifeless is a basic design flaw and i dont know that they can correct it. TOR shnes in some area's and fails miserably in others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauvarn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I tested this theory my self and decieded i would test the ambience against a 2004 game EQ2. I was amazed at how alive the world felt Freeport felt very immersive . Patrols NPC's shouting at you waving you over. I am a bit fearful for TOR future seeing how much damn time i spent following it. Tor feels static and lifeless is a basic design flaw and i dont know that they can correct it. TOR shnes in some area's and fails miserably in others. We play the same EQ2? You talking bout the port where you get your jumping mount? I mean if immersive to you means cram a ton of people on screen and make a couple talk when you click on them then you should be pretty immersed in swtor lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalehitchy Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Why do fanbois protect this game so much. I agree with the OP 100%. The environments are beautifully designed but there is soul missing in them. I always get nostalgia When in elwyn forest, west fall or storm wind. Here... It's lifeless, boring and just plain bad. No ambient sounds or light music.. Just footsteps / speeder sound. At first I didn't mind it... But when you go to any other mmo you begin to realise just how much it immerses you into the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chubbywan Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Why do fanbois protect this game so much. I agree with the OP 100%. The environments are beautifully designed but there is soul missing in them. I always get nostalgia When in elwyn forest, west fall or storm wind. Here... It's lifeless, boring and just plain bad. No ambient sounds or light music.. Just footsteps / speeder sound. At first I didn't mind it... But when you go to any other mmo you begin to realise just how much it immerses you into the game. You said it right there........The SOUL other games have is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoradus Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Why do fanbois protect this game so much. I agree with the OP 100%. The environments are beautifully designed but there is soul missing in them. I always get nostalgia When in elwyn forest, west fall or storm wind. Here... It's lifeless, boring and just plain bad. No ambient sounds or light music.. Just footsteps / speeder sound. At first I didn't mind it... But when you go to any other mmo you begin to realise just how much it immerses you into the game. Completely agree. It was this that mainly led to me not playing on the game for the last month and have decided to let my account lapse. LOVED the solo quest lines - but found the usual grind for xp to be able to continue the solo line unbearable - largely due to the lifeless world and lack of other player engagement. WoW had immersion in spades. SWTOR is better then WoW for the solo player, but hasn't beaten it for multi-player or immersion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wifeaggro Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 We play the same EQ2? You talking bout the port where you get your jumping mount? I mean if immersive to you means cram a ton of people on screen and make a couple talk when you click on them then you should be pretty immersed in swtor lol. Unfortunately i am not. aside from the Story which is great. the rest of the game words is extremly flat. you would be suprised how much passive things like dynamic lighting and weather cycles bring to a game world. But to answer your question i felt more immersion in Vanguard then this game.TOR shines in some area's but not this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypernetic Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 The worlds are static. No day/night cycles, no real weather (yes it/s snowing on hoth), no dynamic NPCs (everyone/everything just sits there waiting for you). Even the friendly fauna type stuff just sit there. meh. The game definitely lacks soul as others have described it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xworndownx Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 They have been slowly adding more npcs that run around/walk and droids that roll around the areas slowly. Though, From a server aspect not having npcs move around too much can save a ton of bandwidth and free up a lot of cpu both server and client side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oceanzen Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 This is all true and is definitely NOT whining. This game needed way more ambient sound and music, and more unique clusters of activity on the planets. I have found some ambient music on Spotify and turned it on for several of the questing planets. It totally changes my immersion level. I'm serious! For instance, on Taris I play this: Artist: Loscil Album: Coast/Range/Arc http://www.amazon.com/Coast-Range-Arc-Loscil/dp/B00518HB6C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328979974&sr=8-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonewild Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I agree with the OP- cities feel very 'sterile'. Having said that, I do appreciate the easter eggs that have been painstakenly placed throughout each world. For instance, in Mos Isla, on Tat, there is a fella standing in a doorway. Upon entering the bungalo theres a chubby guy getting a table dance from a scantily clad female. I don't know if adding mobile npcs (droids, troops, vehicles, Jawas)...the list could go on. That might help creating the illusion of 'bustle'- throw in some ambient sounds/music for good measure. The other option of enticing players to congregate to planets was lost to the fleet zone. I wouldn't play TERA over this game- especially with the very real threat that TERA will be shut down through court order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauvarn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 This is all true and is definitely NOT whining. This game needed way more ambient sound and music, and more unique clusters of activity on the planets. I have found some ambient music on Spotify and turned it on for several of the questing planets. It totally changes my immersion level. I'm serious! For instance, on Taris I play this: Artist: Loscil Album: Coast/Range/Arc http://www.amazon.com/Coast-Range-Arc-Loscil/dp/B00518HB6C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328979974&sr=8-1 If you bring it up and not elaborate on how to fix it, its pretty much whining. We have hundreds of threads that are pretty much a carbon copy of this one. They just serve to make the good threads good pushed to the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oceanzen Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 If you bring it up and not elaborate on how to fix it, its pretty much whining. We have hundreds of threads that are pretty much a carbon copy of this one. They just serve to make the good threads good pushed to the bottom. Good threads rise on their own, by virtue of being something people care about. Sorry to bust up your theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauvarn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Good threads rise on their own, by virtue of being something people care about. Sorry to bust up your theory. Alright can't beat em join em. I sure don't like those darn bosses in that flashpoint. brb gonna make a thread stating how I don't like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamHDMI Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I totally agree with the OP, the whole game feels somewhat still. NPC's don't patrol, they just stand there day in day out, and it's little things like this that really mske this game feel lifeless. Unfortunately, I think it is too late for BioWare to address this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahkronn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Impressive how some people defend the game even on the things that can, and need improvement for the long run. Defending that the game don't need improvement on some things, like the one being mentioned in this thread, is destructive for the game. If you care about the game, complain and point out what is really useful to keep a player database active, and yes, environment is a big point on holding subscriptions. Some of the most successful mmorpgs made hold people with environment, more than with content. Note that content can be beaten quite fast by a lot of people. Environment creates a sensation of nostalgia that keeps people coming back. For those that say it cannot be fixed, that's utterly blind-sighted. All is need is some tweaks on light, add a few dynamic environment sounds, and spawn some npcs with looping waypoints (patrols), automated interaction with players and other npcs, and random speech. Really really easy. Nothing that's not in the game system already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauvarn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Impressive how some people defend the game even on the things that can, and need improvement for the long run. Defending that the game don't need improvement on some things, like the one being mentioned in this thread, is destructive for the game. If you care about the game, complain and point out what is really useful to keep a player database active, and yes, environment is a big point on holding subscriptions. Some of the most successful mmorpgs made hold people with environment, more than with content. Note that content can be beaten quite fast by a lot of people. Environment creates a sensation of nostalgia that keeps people coming back. For those that say it cannot be fixed, that's utterly blind-sighted. All is need is some tweaks on light, add a few dynamic environment sounds, and spawn some npcs with looping waypoints (patrols), automated interaction with players and other npcs, and random speech. Really really easy. Nothing that's not in the game system already. I'm not defending anything, I'm accept its a problem but saying other games do it better and I don't like it solve nothing. Try to add something instead of just air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meldwyn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 /signed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephismo Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Smoke some weed man your whole room will feel alive:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahkronn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I'm not defending anything, I'm accept its a problem but saying other games do it better and I don't like it solve nothing. Try to add something instead of just air. My my, someone felt attacked. You sir, had the perfect fit for this hat. I did add something, a lot actually. I guess you were too nervous to read the all post as soon as you felt attacked. That's ok, I didn't type it for people that, like you, refuse to understand what is being said (specially due to not reading what they are raging about) and that rather be in denial of things that are so basic and easily fixed. You seem to want the game to stay as it is instead of improving. I love this game, and that's why I point out things that can easily be improved. You love it so much that you'll be bored of it due to lack of things others have pointed as necessary in the long run. Have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauvarn Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 My my, someone felt attacked. You sir, had the perfect fit for this hat. I did add something, a lot actually. I guess you were too nervous to read the all post as soon as you felt attacked. That's ok, I didn't type it for people that, like you, refuse to understand what is being said (specially due to not reading what they are raging about) and that rather be in denial of things that are so basic and easily fixed. You seem to want the game to stay as it is instead of improving. I love this game, and that's why I point out things that can easily be improved. You love it so much that you'll be bored of it due to lack of things others have pointed as necessary in the long run. Have fun Alright I'll admit I didn't read the second paragraph of your post and now that I reread see that you actually were constructive with your post. It's just really disheartening to see the same post of, "I don't like this" and all states is how its bad and all the replies end up being either /signed or I agree I hate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaManoNera Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 So how do you want to fix it? Oh you just came here to whine? How bout we start with the simple things you learn in Game Design 101. Like weather effects and a day/night cycle? And then get rid of "exhaustion zones". Hey, see those beautiful mountains over there!? No, you can't go to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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