Boring Static World of SWTOR

[Mephismo]

It's not about the haters. I love this game but find it lacking in some places, hence I voice my opinion on it

 

It’s a computer programme what do you expect !

If you want to experience a living breathing World get off your fat arse and go outside and meet some living breathing people.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Mephismo

[Blackardin]

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>

 

 

Yet you are still here.

 

If you don't like the game, move on.

 

I swear, there are people that can find anything to complain about....even stuff that means nothing. They tried exactly what this guy is suggesting in Wow. Yanno what it did for everyone? Nothing. Meant nothing, did nothing, did not make the game "better".

 

This is a MMORPG, they gave you the world, you make your own fun. Apparently there are people that just don't get it, and can do little unless its spoon fed to them.

[archifikoss]

Yeah that was haters not paid shills for Anet.

 

Anyway asinine comments aside; one of the things I hope to speak about at the summit is making the world more dynamic; having background NPC's not always in the same place having a bit more random events....I totally agree that the world is a bit too static; and it wouldn't take that much to change it.

 

Do that mate... In my opinion it's important for the overall feel of the game. Bring it up if possible

[Blackardin]

LOL. And therein lies the problem. A lot of people never sub after their free month is up. Some do, and then they hit cap. A few stay. A few leave. The game has/had promise.

 

It has NOT delivered on that promise.

 

 

....and yet, you are still here.

 

The game delivered, if you bothered to read up on what the game promised. Most of the whinny types did not.

 

Most of the complaints on these boards are nonsense, some are people that came to a MMORPG expecting a shooter, others are the types that move from game to game never liking any of them, spending most of their time complaining about them.

 

However, about 87% of the original players have stayed, are out there having fun, enjoying the game.

[Jett-Rinn]

Do that mate... In my opinion it's important for the overall feel of the game. Bring it up if possible

 

I'm actually compiling a pretty significant document with not only issues of this nature but ways they could go about quickly addressing them......one of the things a lot of people miss that gives so much in regards of ambiance is the background sounds...but the sound system and the music in TOR is totally borked...if they could address that first...then start mixing up the NPC's script some random events it would really go a long way.

[archifikoss]

It’s a computer programme what do you expect !

If you want to experience a living breathing World get off your fat arse and go outside and meet some living breathing people.

 

I'm training to run the classic Marathon (gonna be a while till then though lol), I'm many things but fat isn't one of them. My life is pretty active ATM, thanks

 

And "it's a computer program" is not a good excuse really. Gothic, an indie RPG developed in 2001, had a vivid, lively world with NPCs doing things in the world and "fluff" objects you could interact with.

 

I'm just giving feedback on issues I think the game is lacking in.

[Farbod]

Yet you are still here.

 

If you don't like the game, move on.

 

I swear, there are people that can find anything to complain about....even stuff that means nothing. They tried exactly what this guy is suggesting in Wow. Yanno what it did for everyone? Nothing. Meant nothing, did nothing, did not make the game "better".

 

This is a MMORPG, they gave you the world, you make your own fun. Apparently there are people that just don't get it, and can do little unless its spoon fed to them.

 

Im on my way out. Ambiance doesnt make the game better? Pretty stupid comment.

[Blackardin]

It's a dramatic moment when you first see it... But wouldn't it be better if we actually saw the captives being shot? And then the circle could continue as new captives are marched in (maybe with slightly randomized uniforms to boot), to be shot down in their turn. Maybe at random one of them could make a run for it, and get shot down by a guard. And at some point, the executions stop, and the firing squad walks into the cantina and spends some time drinking there, and eventually returns to its original duty.

 

Nope. Absolute waste of time and resources. No matter what you do, it will become mundane upon the second look at it, and no one will ever return there to watch that "dynamic" moment ever again.

 

Put the resources into end game content, leveling content. Nit picky things like this, to appease nit picky people, are a waste of time. The type will never be happy no matter what is done. You give them a firing squad, they will complain about hair color.

[Kirameki]

Aw ambiance, one of the only good reasons to sometimes still log Aion. It has a night/day rotation. (this also includes mobs/npc's that show only at day/night/certain times)<3 Edited February 14, 2012 by Kirameki

[Farbod]

I love all the people asking the ones with thoughtful observations and real complaints to leave already. Enjoy the game with low subs while the devs push the eject button...

[SithEnvoy]

This is a MMORPG, they gave you the world, you make your own fun. Apparently there are people that just don't get it, and can do little unless its spoon fed to them.

 

Cmmon, its the less interactive world ive seen in any MMORPG. You cant even swim/sit. Dont make me laugh. What do you want us to do? Youre done with leveling/raiding/PVPing... (wich is not hard id say) and? Crafting system is flawed. AH is a joke.

[Saitada]

It’s a computer programme what do you expect !

If you want to experience a living breathing World get off your fat arse and go outside and meet some living breathing people.

 

I tried that. I just kept wishing I could do to the idiots I ran across (85% of the people I came across), what I do to mobs in a game.

 

Not a good analogy.

 

~S

[AJMTL]

I love all the people asking the ones with thoughtful observations and real complaints to leave already. Enjoy the game with low subs while the devs push the eject button...

 

Cattle don't realize they're lined up at the slaughterhouse until the hammer rises above their heads.

 

Don't sweat it too much.

[OldBenSmokin]

Nope. Absolute waste of time and resources. No matter what you do, it will become mundane upon the second look at it, and no one will ever return there to watch that "dynamic" moment ever again.

 

Put the resources into end game content, leveling content. Nit picky things like this, to appease nit picky people, are a waste of time. The type will never be happy no matter what is done. You give them a firing squad, they will complain about hair color.

 

If the emotional foundation isn't there, it doesn't matter how many extra layers of crappy content you lay on top of it. This game will be the ultimate example of how that plays out over time. Stay tuned.

[Jett-Rinn]

I love all the people asking the ones with thoughtful observations and real complaints to leave already. Enjoy the game with low subs while the devs push the eject button...

 

I actually like to hear from the players who are dissatisfied and have suggestions about how to improve the game....it's those who hop on every positive thread to make snarky comments or those who post the same exact SWTOR sucks threads that I have a issue with.

[Jett-Rinn]

Cattle don't realize they're lined up at the slaughterhouse until the hammer rises above their heads.

 

Don't sweat it too much.

 

That is the most insipid analogy I ever heard.

[Saitada]

Cattle don't realize they're lined up at the slaughterhouse until the hammer rises above their heads.

 

Don't sweat it too much.

 

They don't realize it even then. By the time they realize anything, they are dead.

 

What they do realize though, is the smell of blood etc, and that makes them fearful. Still... I prefer the .22 driven Impact hammer over a straight sledge. The sledge tends to be a bit sloppy, and you are not always going to get a clean hit, with the .22 driven impact hammer, you only have to hit them in about a 4 inch round area on the skull and it is over.

 

Overall. Much cleaner.

[archifikoss]

Nope. Absolute waste of time and resources. No matter what you do, it will become mundane upon the second look at it, and no one will ever return there to watch that "dynamic" moment ever again.

 

Put the resources into end game content, leveling content. Nit picky things like this, to appease nit picky people, are a waste of time. The type will never be happy no matter what is done. You give them a firing squad, they will complain about hair color.

 

I disagree, but then again we obviously have different criteria about our games. I find the aesthetics and liveliness of a game world just as important as the content - and so do many others. I won't get into an argument about this though as it would achieve nothing.

 

I do believe that actual bug fixing and the like should have absolute priority... But there's no reason not to constantly improve the entire experience in as many ways as possible, especially with a potentially massive budget.

[Dreossk]

I actually like to hear from the players who are dissatisfied and have suggestions about how to improve the game....it's those who hop on every positive thread to make snarky comments or those who post the same exact SWTOR sucks threads that I have a issue with.

 

I'l repost it then:

 

Dead world

Let’s start with the main problem about the game, the dead world. Best example is Coruscant. Remember the Coruscant scenes in the movies? Huge crowds of people, dense traffic, in short, a living world. Now go to Coruscant in the game, you’ll see a tiny zone linking the spaceport to the senate (nice coincidence by the way!) with barely a couple of NPC standing in place, frozen in time. That plaza is the only “living” area of Coruscant and the only place you’ll go back to (on that planet) after finishing the game, all other zones are full of enemies, completely linear and underground or in buildings and don’t represent at all what we expect of Coruscant. Zones are not connected and there is no feeling of unity. Some zones are obviously made for a video game since they would be impossible in reality by their poor design, it might not be as bad as The Citadel or Illium in Mass Effect but it’s still obvious.

 

You wanted to go to a place like Dex’s dinner? Sorry, there is no such open sky area nor any place like that. You wanted to stand at the 300th floor of a skyscraper and look and the scenery through the window? Not possible. You wanted to visit the planet through the catwalks high in the air? Not possible. The same problems are visible on Nar Shaddaa. One zone is above ground, everything else is away from the landscapes that make the planet notorious and there is little to no NPC life.

 

The main cities like Coruscant, Kaas City, Nar Shaddaa, Corellia, etc. need more life. Hundreds of NPC must be added and they have to walk around, have animations and do things like using a computer, moving to talk to other NPC, going to cantina, etc. Dozens of NPC vehicles must also fly by and fill up the sky. Zones like in the movies must be added, social zones with no enemies, like the bar district or the dinner in ep2, or the building in the books, apartments, shops, attractions, social places, etc. Stop putting everything and every important NPC in the same place, we are not in that much of a hurry. The fleet is currently the only important place to be at level 50, add reasons to go back to the planets.

 

The PvE enemies are almost always in packs and placed in such a way that it doesn’t make sense for a battle and they are frozen for eternity, not moving or doing anything and it just adds to the feeling of dead worlds. They also have to do things and move so it look like a real world.

 

What it is: Coruscant Spaceport | Coruscant Senate | Coruscant Streets

 

What is has to be: Coruscant crowd

 

 

Exploration

Exploration is currently really hard to do. You want to go explore that coast? Chances are good that you are going to enter an exhaustion zone and die, even if you are on land and unaffected by weather. The lands are filled with invisible walls and useless limitations. Most structures are unclimbable or simply inaccessible. As said in previous point, we need more non-fighting zones to go to.

 

 

Day/night cycle

As other caring people on the forum at that time, I was shocked that day a couple of years ago when they announced that every planet would be frozen in time, never to evolve, never to change. It’s mind boggling to see that in a 2012 MMO. A day/night cycle is essential for the mood and immersion of the game. You wanted to organize a RP event during night on a day planet? No chance. You wanted to watch the lights of Coruscant at night? Not possible. You wanted to finally see a day on Nar Shaddaa? Not possible. You wanted to watch the sunset between the hills of Alderaan? No.

 

You'll never see: Coruscant Night | Tatooine sunset | Tatooine at night

 

Pre-rebuttal:

“But the day/night cycle was crap in that other game!”

Just because it was crap, too dark, too light or ugly in another games does not mean that it must be the case for SWTOR too. I’ve seen that argument many times and yet it never made any sense.

 

“Planets don’t all have a 24 hours rotation in the Galaxy Far Far Away!”

So? The rotation just has to be based on the actual data of that planet.

“I don’t want to play during night all the time!”

Many planets are at perpetual night at this moment. Anyway, as said before, the rotation isn’t always 24 hours and it doesn’t have to be on a 1:1 ratio with real life either.

 

 

Dynamic weather

Some planets have special weather but in most case it’s just to limit (limitation being the key word in this game) the zones you can go to like the killer sandstorm on Tatooine if you try to go PvP in the enemy city. Weather needs to be more dynamic, make it rain on Coruscant, spawn a huge blizzard once in a while on Hoth, make the sky change, give life to the world.

 

Tatooine sandstorm

 

 

Environment interaction, social activites & RP

To live in a world, we must interact with the world. Elevator buttons are not enough, there isn’t much liberty in the environment. Cantinas are filled with chairs, why can’t we sit on them? We must be able to gather friends, go to a cantina, sit at a table start playing a game like Pazaak or Sabacc with the possibility to bet credits. I see some kind of Dejarik game in my ship, why can’t I use it?

 

Sabacc

 

Allow us to activate more buttons in our ship, like a viewport toggle, lights, training simulation, etc. Allow us to put waypoint on the map and establish a route for a player created race event. Allow us to climb obstacles like in other games so we could actually go to places that are obviously possible to go to for a trained warrior instead of being blocked like if we were on a wheelchair

 

Allow swimming! Not having that in a modern game is an insult. The reveal of Otoh Gunga in The Phantom Menace was a great moment and we can’t do similar things in the game.

 

Pre-rebuttal:

“I wear heavy armor, I can’t swim!”

It’s the Galaxy Far Far Away with technology thousands of years ahead of us, many solutions exist. Submersible armor, waterproof electronics, scuba gear or simply remove armor when swimming!

 

“Underwated content was crap in that other game!”

See answer for day/night cycle. Because other games failed in doing a good job doesn’t mean that it will fail here too. A lot of potential for underwater content exists.

 

Swimming

 

Enough on the poorly designed impossible static worlds topic for you?

Edited February 14, 2012 by Dreossk

[archifikoss]

Dreossk how did I miss that post? Good stuff!

[DarthSublimitas]

LOL, and how is the world any more static than actual players at level 50 all standing around waiting for queues to pop?

 

The mall is only active because people are in it doing stuff... take away the people and it gets pretty static. You want activity? Fill it up with your friends. Duel. Dance. Run around in circles.

 

It's only static because you let it be.

 

It's only static cuz there's NOT. A. DAMM. THING. TO. DO. PERIOD. LOL!

 

Yeah, BW really screwed up here not putting in npc's in the backgroud doing stuff like in WoW. Sure I'm using that comparison again but that's just the reality of the matter. This game is souless...

Edited February 14, 2012 by DarthSublimitas

[Jett-Rinn]

I'l repost it then:

 

Dead world

Let’s start with the main problem about the game, the dead world. Best example is Coruscant. Remember the Coruscant scenes in the movies? Huge crowds of people, dense traffic, in short, a living world. Now go to Coruscant in the game, you’ll see a tiny zone linking the spaceport to the senate (nice coincidence by the way!) with barely a couple of NPC standing in place, frozen in time. That plaza is the only “living” area of Coruscant and the only place you’ll go back to (on that planet) after finishing the game, all other zones are full of enemies, completely linear and underground or in buildings and don’t represent at all what we expect of Coruscant. Zones are not connected and there is no feeling of unity. Some zones are obviously made for a video game since they would be impossible in reality by their poor design, it might not be as bad as The Citadel or Illium in Mass Effect but it’s still obvious.

 

You wanted to go to a place like Dex’s dinner? Sorry, there is no such open sky area nor any place like that. You wanted to stand at the 300th floor of a skyscraper and look and the scenery through the window? Not possible. You wanted to visit the planet through the catwalks high in the air? Not possible. The same problems are visible on Nar Shaddaa. One zone is above ground, everything else is away from the landscapes that make the planet notorious and there is little to no NPC life.

 

The main cities like Coruscant, Kaas City, Nar Shaddaa, Corellia, etc. need more life. Hundreds of NPC must be added and they have to walk around, have animations and do things like using a computer, moving to talk to other NPC, going to cantina, etc. Dozens of NPC vehicles must also fly by and fill up the sky. Zones like in the movies must be added, social zones with no enemies, like the bar district or the dinner in ep2, or the building in the books, apartments, shops, attractions, social places, etc. Stop putting everything and every important NPC in the same place, we are not in that much of a hurry. The fleet is currently the only important place to be at level 50, add reasons to go back to the planets.

 

The PvE enemies are almost always in packs and placed in such a way that it doesn’t make sense for a battle and they are frozen for eternity, not moving or doing anything and it just adds to the feeling of dead worlds. They also have to do things and move so it look like a real world.

 

What it is: Coruscant Spaceport | Coruscant Senate | Coruscant Streets

 

What is has to be: Coruscant crowd

 

 

Exploration

Exploration is currently really hard to do. You want to go explore that coast? Chances are good that you are going to enter an exhaustion zone and die, even if you are on land and unaffected by weather. The lands are filled with invisible walls and useless limitations. Most structures are unclimbable or simply inaccessible. As said in previous point, we need more non-fighting zones to go to.

 

 

Day/night cycle

As other caring people on the forum at that time, I was shocked that day a couple of years ago when they announced that every planet would be frozen in time, never to evolve, never to change. It’s mind boggling to see that in a 2012 MMO. A day/night cycle is essential for the mood and immersion of the game. You wanted to organize a RP event during night on a day planet? No chance. You wanted to watch the lights of Coruscant at night? Not possible. You wanted to finally see a day on Nar Shaddaa? Not possible. You wanted to watch the sunset between the hills of Alderaan? No.

 

You'll never see: Coruscant Night | Tatooine sunset | Tatooine at night

 

Pre-rebuttal:

“But the day/night cycle was crap in that other game!”

Just because it was crap, too dark, too light or ugly in another games does not mean that it must be the case for SWTOR too. I’ve seen that argument many times and yet it never made any sense.

 

“Planets don’t all have a 24 hours rotation in the Galaxy Far Far Away!”

So? The rotation just has to be based on the actual data of that planet.

“I don’t want to play during night all the time!”

Many planets are at perpetual night at this moment. Anyway, as said before, the rotation isn’t always 24 hours and it doesn’t have to be on a 1:1 ratio with real life either.

 

 

Dynamic weather

Some planets have special weather but in most case it’s just to limit (limitation being the key word in this game) the zones you can go to like the killer sandstorm on Tatooine if you try to go PvP in the enemy city. Weather needs to be more dynamic, make it rain on Coruscant, spawn a huge blizzard once in a while on Hoth, make the sky change, give life to the world.

 

Tatooine sandstorm

 

 

Environment interaction, social activites & RP

To live in a world, we must interact with the world. Elevator buttons are not enough, there isn’t much liberty in the environment. Cantinas are filled with chairs, why can’t we sit on them? We must be able to gather friends, go to a cantina, sit at a table start playing a game like Pazaak or Sabacc with the possibility to bet credits. I see some kind of Dejarik game in my ship, why can’t I use it?

 

Sabacc

 

Allow us to activate more buttons in our ship, like a viewport toggle, lights, training simulation, etc. Allow us to put waypoint on the map and establish a route for a player created race event. Allow us to climb obstacles like in other games so we could actually go to places that are obviously possible to go to for a trained warrior instead of being blocked like if we were on a wheelchair

 

Allow swimming! Not having that in a modern game is an insult. The reveal of Otoh Gunga in The Phantom Menace was a great moment and we can’t do similar things in the game.

 

Pre-rebuttal:

“I wear heavy armor, I can’t swim!”

It’s the Galaxy Far Far Away with technology thousands of years ahead of us, many solutions exist. Submersible armor, waterproof electronics, scuba gear or simply remove armor when swimming!

 

“Underwated content was crap in that other game!”

See answer for day/night cycle. Because other games failed in doing a good job doesn’t mean that it will fail here too. A lot of potential for underwater content exists.

 

Swimming

 

Enough for you?

 

 

Lets not get snarky okay?

 

I read it and *gasp* agree with many things you are saying especially about Exploration...on some planets there is exploration....but there needs to be more and I have already talked about the static world.

[Blackardin]

Im on my way out. Ambiance doesnt make the game better? Pretty stupid comment.

 

On the way out? Is that like, yeah, I hate it, but I'm still playing because I hate is so much? You are either playing it, or you are not. If you are playing a game that you hate, I'm not sure what to tell you here. ;p

 

Anyway, adolescent retort, which is about what I expected. You do understand that assuming that one's point is so valid that any counter point is "stupid", will not make an invalid argument any more valid. right? Especially when you have not qualified it at all. Defending it, demonstrating proof, viable argument, anecdotal results would. Anything else is just whining and complaining.

 

Ambiance of the degree, and resource consumption being suggested here will not enhance the game, not for the type of nit picky people that are never satisfied. There is sufficient enough ambiance in the game for the main demographic of players, to waste resources on non-issue items as a means of satisfying a minute percentage of people, that will probably find something else to complain about, would be foolish.

 

Its been tried, its been of no consequence. It is not worth the time and effort for the return.

[Drednor]

It needs more ambient activity mate... Non-critical NPC's actually moving around and doing stuff rather than repeating animation cycles all the time. It really adds to the feel of a game Even WoW does that better, and I find it pretty static as well.

totally agree, i think we shoudl remember that this game is only a couple of months old though, and Bioware are new to this genre, u have to give thigns time

Edited February 14, 2012 by Drednor

[Farbod]

On the way out? Is that like, yeah, I hate it, but I'm still playing because I hate is so much? You are either playing it, or you are not. If you are playing a game that you hate, I'm not sure what to tell you here. ;p

 

Anyway, adolescent retort, which is about what I expected. You do understand that assuming that one's point is so valid that any counter point is "stupid", will not make an invalid argument any more valid. right? Especially when you have not qualified it at all. Defending it, demonstrating proof, viable argument, anecdotal results would. Anything else is just whining and complaining.

 

Ambiance of the degree, and resource consumption being suggested here will not enhance the game, not for the type of nit picky people that are never satisfied. There is sufficient enough ambiance in the game for the main demographic of players, to waste resources on non-issue items as a means of satisfying a minute percentage of people, that will probably find something else to complain about, would be foolish.

 

Its been tried, its been of no consequence. It is not worth the time and effort for the return.

 

Unsubbed. Have fun.