Lord_Ravenhurst Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) I´ve been wondering from the start why a certain exploration feeling is missing on the planets. It´s the streets everywhere. Those planets are all "civilized" and the areas all have paths, which seems kind of strange. It´s almost like "rails".. again.Also I found no part which leads you a long way down into depths of planets vertically. Or parts where you need to climb very high areas, since climbing is not possible, only jumping. Most of the maps are laid out in plains or some mountain areas you can not cross and need to walk around.. following the street, more or less.And of course where is the swimming? The whole galaxy is full of planets with knee deep water. To give an example, there was quite a number of RPGs which had this sense of exploration, one of the best in my opinion was The Witcher 2, check out the map in the upper right corner, there simply are no corridors; really enjoyed this kind of level design. Edited March 31, 2012 by Lord_Ravenhurst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkgryphon Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Can't you turn off the lines on the map? I thought I saw someone talking about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notebene Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Hoth actually has a few fun 'mountains' you can climb over, but you start succumbing to the cold and are hindered as you go. It's kinda fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Ravenhurst Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) Can't you turn off the lines on the map? I thought I saw someone talking about it. well that would be smart, does it work? Although the asphalt/stone pattern paths won´t disappear from the game graphics I guess. Right now I´m looking for the "turn off exhaustion zones" option and the "turn on lakes/rivers/swimming" option. Edited March 31, 2012 by Lord_Ravenhurst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkgryphon Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 well that would be smart, does it work? Although the asphalt/stone pattern paths won´t disappear from the game graphics I guess. So you're saying a civilized planet should have zero roads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drudenfusz Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I also miss swimming/diving. Most of the time when I tried to explore I just got stuck somewhere (I especially hate Alderaan, but Belsavis is a close second). I have all datacrons (except for the fleet one), and very few felt anything else as just an achievement (and even those few where one has to figure out how to get them or where to find them where too easy since it became clear where they have to be when one sees people jumping on certain crates). No true exploration in that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I´ve been wondering from the start why a certain exploration feeling is missing on the planets. It´s the streets everywhere. Those planets are all "civilized" and the areas all have paths, which seems kind of strange. It´s almost like "rails".. again. Also I found no part which leads you a long way down into depths of planets vertically. Or parts where you need to climb very high areas, since climbing is not possible, only jumping. Most of the maps are laid out in plains or some mountain areas you can not cross and need to walk around.. following the street, more or less. And of course where is the swimming? The whole galaxy is full of planets with knee deep water. Last I checked, you can actually step off the roads and othre paved surfaces in this game and pretty much move around as much as you like off the beaten path. Like many MMOs, swimming will likely be patched in at a later date, WHEN is it actually required as part of the game play elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansultares Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) The biggest problem are red shields of phased "no content for you." It totally took the sense of exploration out of the game, because practically everything unique or interesting was hidden behind them, and they're plastered all across every map. There's no sense making my way towards that building in the distance, or to fight my way down this canyon to reach the cave at the end, because both are sealed tightly with red shields, and only heavily overused and under-customized junk lies in between. Edited March 31, 2012 by Ansultares Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugotz Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I have also wondered why transport always follows the roads. Why can't flying/hovering craft fly or hover without mainly following the road network? Exploration in this game is pretty much nonexistent rather then the open searchable worlds they were touting back in prelaunch days. I guess that claim just fell from the table Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Ravenhurst Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 So you're saying a civilized planet should have zero roads? There should be "wild" planets too with lesser or no roads - who thought there would be so many roads on Hoth for example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerokTalram Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) There should be "wild" planets too with lesser or no roads - who thought there would be so many roads on Hoth for example? I would hardly call a path worn in the snow as a road. Edited March 31, 2012 by JerokTalram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Ravenhurst Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) I would hardly call a path worn in the snow as a road. If it´s just footsteps in the snow, why putting it on a map then..? The climate on Hoth and permanent ice and snow storms would cover everything. Edited March 31, 2012 by Lord_Ravenhurst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
System_TOR Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) I´ve been wondering from the start why a certain exploration feeling is missing on the planets. It´s the streets everywhere. Those planets are all "civilized" and the areas all have paths, which seems kind of strange. It´s almost like "rails".. again. Also I found no part which leads you a long way down into depths of planets vertically. Or parts where you need to climb very high areas, since climbing is not possible, only jumping. Most of the maps are laid out in plains or some mountain areas you can not cross and need to walk around.. following the street, more or less. And of course where is the swimming? The whole galaxy is full of planets with knee deep water. To give an example, there was quite a number of RPGs which had this sense of exploration, one of the best in my opinion was The Witcher 2, check out the maps in the upper right corner, there simply are no corridors; really enjoyed this kind of level design. So you have every planet map and sub maps uncovered for all area's? if not then you have not explored. You have to explore for it to feel like exploreing. Edited March 31, 2012 by System_TOR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugotz Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 So you have every planet map and sub maps uncovered for all area's? if not then you have not explored. You have to explore for it to feel like exploreing. Heh, you have missed the point by a mile. Purposefully I imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Ravenhurst Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 So you have every planet map and sub maps uncovered for all area's? if not then you have not explored. You have to explore for it to feel like exploreing. Since there is not much variation in the planet areas or surprising things to find I stopped to uncover all map parts after Quesh. I can only recall a few memorable places like the Ship Graveyard on Hoth or the temple area on Belsavis, but that´s about it. Got all the datacrons though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azzras Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 The biggest problem are red shields of phased "no content for you." It totally took the sense of exploration out of the game, because practically everything unique or interesting was hidden behind them, and they're plastered all across every map. There's no sense making my way towards that building in the distance, or to fight my way down this canyon to reach the cave at the end, because both are sealed tightly with red shields, and only heavily overused and under-customized junk lies in between. Most of the red instances are either caves or rooms. Not really much to see in them without a quest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmc Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Since there is not much variation in the planet areas or surprising things to find I stopped to uncover all map parts after Quesh. I can only recall a few memorable places like the Ship Graveyard on Hoth or the temple area on Belsavis, but that´s about it. Got all the datacrons though.It is fun to explore the enemy side of the map. You can find large areas filled with friendly mobs that don't mind if you scoop up chests. Then you run suddenly into Level 50 base guards that aren't friendly (and/or enemy players). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Ravenhurst Posted April 1, 2012 Author Share Posted April 1, 2012 (edited) It is fun to explore the enemy side of the map. You can find large areas filled with friendly mobs that don't mind if you scoop up chests. Then you run suddenly into Level 50 base guards that aren't friendly (and/or enemy players). Oh heck yes, another issue that it´s not even possible to walk into the full area of the opposing faction. That would have been fun. Yeah I´ve been to the small areas where opposing players can show up, since there were between 6-10 players on the whole planet that happened about three times during my class story. Meh. Edited April 1, 2012 by Lord_Ravenhurst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmc Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Oh heck yes, another issue that it´s not even possible to walk into the full area of the opposing faction. That would have been fun. Yeah I´ve been to the small areas where opposing players can show up, since there were between 6-10 players on the whole planet that happened about three times during my class story. Meh.I think on most of the shared planets, you can go to just about everywhere in the enemy territory. Nar Shaddaa and Tatooine spaceports are notable exceptions; otherwise most of the planets are shared and can be explored (am I wrong?). NS/Tatooine are the first PVP planets, so have areas that are safe. Wandering through enemy bases can be tough, since there are often level 50 guards, but you can stand right outside them (and go in if someone can kill the guards). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tloops Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 i hate to admit it ,but WoW was way more fun to explore than this game...in fact WoW was way more fun in alot of ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansultares Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 (edited) Most of the red instances are either caves or rooms. Not really much to see in them without a quest...I'm sure shallow logic like that is part of why they're literally all over the place. Korriban has a short canyon with an elite NPC that spawns at the end of it. When the NPC isn't up, it just seems like a shallow canyon populated by quest mobs you already capped out on before even starting down the canyon. With the NPC up, there's something interesting at the end of the canyon which you couldn't quite see from its entrance. Off-hand I can't think of a specific canyon that ends in a red shielded cave. Suffice to say, no matter what's behind that shield, the canyon itself is just populated by some junk. If you're exploring, you're forced to ignore the cave because of a red shield. If you're questing, you ignore the junk because AQT just sends you to the cave. Or take the example of a particular hut in Tatooine where I know the Warrior class quest at least has a step. For anyone who is not a warrior, they find a hut in the desert that they can't enter. So, they've explored, and found something cool, but they can't even investigate it. I'll work on developing better examples and analogies, because I truly believe it is one of the most glaring mistakes within the PvE leveling content. It is fun to explore the enemy side of the map. You can find large areas filled with friendly mobs that don't mind if you scoop up chests. Then you run suddenly into Level 50 base guards that aren't friendly (and/or enemy players).I spent an hour or so leveling flashpoint gathering skills on the Republic sides of Tatooine and Alderaan. Even snagged a couple right out from under a pub's nose, including scavenging a few robo corpses before he had the chance to. Anything to generate threat in boxed PvP. Edited April 1, 2012 by Ansultares Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VordakGef Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Explore: 1. To investigate systematically; examine. 2. To search into or travel in for the purpose of discovery Wander: 1. to ramble without a definite purpose or objective; roam, rove, or stray. 2. to go aimlessly, indirectly, or casually; meander: That is why wandering on planets does not feel like exploration ... because it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostkoss Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Explore: 1. To investigate systematically; examine. 2. To search into or travel in for the purpose of discovery Wander: 1. to ramble without a definite purpose or objective; roam, rove, or stray. 2. to go aimlessly, indirectly, or casually; meander: That is why wandering on planets does not feel like exploration ... because it's not. Nice one VordaGef ! The game lets you wander a bit, but there is no true exploring. I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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