SNCommand Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 In DCUO they have players of both factions sharing quest areas and have NPCs actually attacking each other, so it makes quest areas like warzones. Now that's good design Played it and it still felt very sterile, though that might just be because the environments were a city, and a city during nighttime The explosions and rocket decals near fighting in the distance was a nice touch though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Karsk Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Remember bioware dont care about immersion in the star wars universe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grecanis Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I loved the questing. I enjoy my character development. Tython seemed pretty interesting... At first glance. However most worlds are so static and boring. Besides the occasional group of empire or republic soldier standing around or huddled behind a barricade forever shooting over it, the world feels so empty and static. Nothing moves around, there is no hustle and bustle of the world. No NPC events or occurrences. Ilum is supposed to be this big battlefield but really its a bunch of people standing around. Fleet feels so empty if their aren't players running around. Its hard to immerse yourself in such a static and stagnant world. Even older MMOs have made the world feel at least somewhat inhabited and interesting. Ilum would be so much more fun if it was a giant war, full of NPC's running around and fighting each other, instead we get big stupid walkers just sitting there ready for us to walk up to, picnic around it, then if we are bored, shoot a missile at it. <Yawn> A sentiment that has been voiced since beta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 For the currently existing worlds, what's done is done. But hopefully for new worlds, more is done to make it as lively as possible. Some of the things needed are already there. Some mobs do patrol. On Tatooine, you see some officers arrest someone with his hand behind his head. And I think it was on... Balmorra, that you have a few squads of republic members surrounding a few sith lords and shooting heavily at them while the sith lords use the force to protect themselves. And fire fights have existed in a lot of planets. These kind of things will do wonders in making the world feel more alive. They just need to do more of it. I think they are too limited by the engine to ever do much different. Sad, but I suspect true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soluss Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Irrelevant. You cant emerse yourself on what you call dead worlds with voice acting and people speaking in the streets, but you can with day/night cycles, randomly walking buggy NPC's and text boxes? Please... tell me a new joke. Its just QQ, sorry to say. If you're not imersed its because you didnt allow yourself to be. As others have said, maybe they will try to please you a bit more in the future, but to me its just a waste of development time. Its not the engine. Stop trying to act like you have a clue what development entails. RIFT, a very different game, with things better and things worse and you dont hear any of this QQ about the engine. Guess what, they use the same engine as SWTOR. Yeah... design choices. If anything. i'd be more inclined to point and blame at the university students that "helped" in the development. I wouldnt be surprised if that was the source of the heavy code and bugs in this game that now they are having to re-optimise. Rift uses Gamebryo not Hero engine. Should do some research before you flame someone else and then post false information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulsummefield Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 World of warcrafts world is 10 times worse if you think this game is bad. Recently had a free 10 day trial on mists of pandaria and was just fed up within hours. The ****** quests, static NPCs and wall of texts for quest dialogue left me feeling like i will never go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omicronmd Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) If that was the case, they would just make one giant desert with mobs for us to kill and say here: Interact. The fact that MMOs create diverse worlds and landscapes IS IMPORTANT. The life, ambiance, immersive quality, and overall emotional connection we have to these worlds is extremely important to many many players. I mean most of the success of this game is due to the emotional attachment to the STAR WARS universe to begin with. You are faulting us for actually asking for that world to exist IN GAME? LAWL. Since you are obviously unhappy and are going to leave......can i haz yer stuffs? Edited December 1, 2012 by Omicronmd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master-Nala Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) In DCUO they have players of both factions sharing quest areas and have NPCs actually attacking each other, so it makes quest areas like warzones. Now that's good design lol DCUO has never had, at any point in its lifecycle as many subs as SW:TOR. I'm a lifetime subscriber there, I'm not biased, I like the game but let's get real. It's world is even more dead and lifeless than SW:TOR. Those endless battles have been going on since January of 2011. The Daily Bugle is still stuck in a forcefield. Just like all themeparks, that world is static and unchanging. SW:TOR just gets the hate parade bringing it up. Edited December 1, 2012 by Master-Nala Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkgryphon Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I was standing right outside the spaceport on Tatooine, republic side. All the sudden I saw laser bolts fired, and saw a local deputy chased down and shot a crooked merchant... was like ***? Then I saw this thread about the planets being lifeless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConradLionhart Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I think they are too limited by the engine to ever do much different. Sad, but I suspect true. The World of Warcraft engine is 8 years old but they can still update it year to year. Surely Bioware can do something with the Hero Engine? How old is it anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConradLionhart Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I was standing right outside the spaceport on Tatooine, republic side. All the sudden I saw laser bolts fired, and saw a local deputy chased down and shot a crooked merchant... was like ***? Then I saw this thread about the planets being lifeless. There's not enough of it though. It only occurs in bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkgryphon Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 There's not enough of it though. It only occurs in bits. Then why do people talk in absolutes? If there's a little bit, why do people claim there is nothing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConradLionhart Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) Then why do people talk in absolutes? If there's a little bit, why do people claim there is nothing? Because people like to engage in hyperboles, but if you ignore the overly dramatic posts, the worlds really could use a bit more liveliness. Edited December 1, 2012 by ConradLionhart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CannotDeny Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Blackardin, you could at least make it a little less obvious that you're being paid for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I was standing right outside the spaceport on Tatooine, republic side. All the sudden I saw laser bolts fired, and saw a local deputy chased down and shot a crooked merchant... was like ***? Then I saw this thread about the planets being lifeless. There's an odd thing like that, but they are few and far between. The World of Warcraft engine is 8 years old but they can still update it year to year. Surely Bioware can do something with the Hero Engine? How old is it anyway? The actual proper Hero Engire you can do all sorts with (night/day and weather come as default), however Bioware EA bought the beta version of it and modified it themselves, and so supposedly can't update it (although that is a "can't" as in simply doesn't have the development time/money, not "can't" as in it is impossible). Blizzard built their own engine from the ground up and therefore had both full control over it and seemingly the development knowledge and time to keep pushing their engine forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandicus Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 The World of Warcraft engine is 8 years old but they can still update it year to year. Surely Bioware can do something with the Hero Engine? How old is it anyway? They've been updating/optimizing it. There's no way the launch game would allow for a playable Ilum when it hits early next year. For just about any PC pre-2011 Ilum was a slideshow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreySix Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) Not long ago, I'd have taken issue with a thread like this, but I find myself agreeing. The worlds are static, and game-play can be repetitive and stale after playing three or four characters, especially for those of us who don't engage in PVP. It's a shame that a great many of the quite valid observations in this thread were never addressed. Edited December 1, 2012 by GreySix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaisernick Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 So a guy goes to his mechanic, says, " My engine keeps making this weird noise..." Mechanic grabs a phillips head screwdriver and punctures the man's eardrums. Problem resolved. lol good one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyvid Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I don't know why they can't add non targetable NPC "stuff" tied into the foilage scale. In a sense, people are the background foilage of a city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandicus Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I don't know why they can't add non targetable NPC "stuff" tied into the foilage scale. In a sense, people are the background foilage of a city. Assuming I understand you correctly, they did add something in like what you're talking about in August. Its most noticeable on Nar Shadda where crowds of NPCs shift locations, or are replaced by other NPCs of different races and such, but I've also seen stuff like a mandalorian in Kaas city in a fight with some troopers(all non-targetable). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyrison Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 just call the man whoever did this the necromiister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyana Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Maybe if there was a chicken we could kick or something... Or kill bulls or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddux Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I have no idea how to make a game like this, but a friend sent me this link to explain the fps issue and why a bunch of ambient activity might not work. In a nutshell, the hero engine troubleshooting guide states that in order to make the frame rates better, a dev must go room by room and eliminate anything extra. http://wiki.heroengine.com/wiki/Controlling_framerate_(FPS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxfetish Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I can't say I disagree... I love this game but the static feel of the worlds is one of it's low points. As are the annoying exhaustion zones in the middle of the map. I would go as far to say that this is more responsible than any other single factor for why this game took a dump and went from 1.5 million+ at launch to a couple hundred thousand subs today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZirusZero Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 lol DCUO has never had, at any point in its lifecycle as many subs as SW:TOR. I'm a lifetime subscriber there, I'm not biased, I like the game but let's get real. It's world is even more dead and lifeless than SW:TOR. Those endless battles have been going on since January of 2011. The Daily planet is still stuck in a forcefield. Just like all themeparks, that world is static and unchanging. SW:TOR just gets the hate parade bringing it up. Fixed for different IPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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