Time Sinks

[TalonKorr]

I've been playing ToR now for a solid year and am still enjoying the game. In closed Beta we didn't have some of the problems that we're experiencing in release, but that's mostly due to the incredible need to get to 50 so quickly. I still think this is a fantastic product, however there is something I'd like to add.

 

At the end of the day, this and every other MMO on the market will be compared to WoW, however I feel its a safe assessment that were this game launched when WoW was launched, the market would be a very different place. I think about WoW and the seven years I played that, and I think about the last year of ToR. Safe to say that ToR has come a very long way from when I got my closed beta invite. But, let's review what the player's options are when playing this game.

 

Leveling up in ToR is clearly where the bulk of development was placed. The "Fourth Pillar" that was so touted is evident in the quality of the voice acting, the story lines, etc. Leveling up is something player's are meant to do multiple times to experience very different stories and mechanics. In a very real sense, the leveling up process is also a single player game. Occasionally you'll find quests that require more people, however you can simply choose not to do them. This is great for the average players and so forth.

 

However once you get to 50, your choices are narrowed. You can choose to run Flashpoints, leading to Heroic Flashpoints, leading to Operations and take the PvE route. This effectively eliminates that single player relying on yourself bit. You can choose to farm credits and patterns for your profession(s). However if you're looking to make a profit on any of these patterns you'll need to run Operations and so forth to acquire the hard to find ones, as well as their mats. This effectively eliminates that single player relying on yourself bit. You can run Space Missions over and over, but that only takes an hour to complete every single one, and as fun as they are with upgraded ships and so forth, they get old the 40th time through. Or you can PvP, where you need to rely on seven other people who may or may not be as goal oriented as you are, who may or may not be as patient as you are, who may or may not be as geared as you are, and so forth. For some the idea of going into a PvP match is quite intimidating I imagine. Personally I'm in full augmented War Hero and it's obvious when I've mow'd over someone wearing fresh recruit gear or just plain old Battlemaster. These new players become the target of angst on their teams and its safe to say it has probably soured more than a few new 50's experiences.

 

That's really about all I can think of that the average player has to do at 50, should anyone have something that I've missed I'll be glad to update. But at the end of the day, I have a level 50 character that I have worked hard to gear up, and the only thing I my character can really do is PvP at a high level. This loses its appeal after a few matches of getting piled on by other players, 3 and 4 at a time.

 

So, what can we do about it? The answer is Time Sinks. Meaningless content that is fun and provides something for players to enjoy and feel accomplishment over, where they're not threatened by other players and can just login and solo have a good time should they choose.

 

1) Faction Grinds - I'm a major player in the empire, but there's nothing to show it. I'm not part of some Elite Commando Force or some Elite Force Commando Force (see what I did there). Provide a set of daily quests that involve a faction grind within the Imperial Or Republic service that can provide adaptive gear, titles, mounts, etc.

 

2) Fishing - Yeah, it's simple. But you know what? I've had many friends who have wasted many an afternoon fishing the hell out of exotic locations in both SWG and WoW.

3) Swoop Racing - Here's my coup de grace for the whole argument. The player is given a quest to acquire/build their own Swoop. Once they've completed it, they have to be trial'd at it, whereby they're given another quest to race for the Hutt Cartels. All the crafting professions can be used to generate various things for the speeders. Cybertech for certain parts. Certain specialized parts from a Weapontech/Armormech/Synthweaving/Biochem (use your imagination). In the end however, the best parts for your speeder will only be purchasable for credits earned from doing races. Races can be time trial based, or four to a "heat". At any time, players can choose to race the tracks for fun. Etc.

 

These are just a few ideas I had floating around, but the goal is to provide something for our level capped characters to do other than whats readily available.

[Ardim]

I agree with this post. The fun gets pretty downhill once one reaches 50 because you only have a limited amount of choices.

 

Alongside the suggestions above me, I'd like to suggest a few things myself. First off is Pazaak. I played KOTOR2 (Never got a chance to play the first game though), and Pazaak was pretty fun. Adding it in with the ability to either play against a computer AI opponent and/or other players would occupy quite a bit of time, especially if a feature to wager credits is added in.

 

Second, the ability to replay the class story once you reach level 50 with that character. Essentially a New Game + that will allow you to explore the other options/routes within a storyline (Like the Imperial Agent's, for example, where there are multiple story endings), but keep the result of what you chose when you leveled. Basically, relive the moments.

 

Oh, and hey Grisha.

[TalonKorr]

Sup Wash,

 

The issue I think that people might have with Pazaak is that it's effectively gambling. Gambling with in game monopoly money, but this is a game that still has a young audience base. I'd love to see a fully functional casino with pazaak tournaments and so forth. It'd be another way of regulating the economy as well (in theory).

[Ardim]

Well if it is a concern, maybe Bioware could put in a age limit if they add Pazaak. Basically where only people of 18+ years of age can use the "Wager" feature.