SweetOldBob Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Now and then you read complaints in the forum about no day/night cycle on the planets. I can't see how this would work. When I was leveling up, many times I would get stomped in a class quest, then do a bunch of side quests and WZs to gear up before trying again. So if it is early evening during my first visit, what time of day would it be when I tried again? What time of day is it at the ACW or NC WZs when I play at 11:00PM? What about when I play at 5:00AM (EDT, and yes it's true that I have no life. A day job, a wife, a mortgage, but no life.) If you change the order in which you run the Belsavis dailies, or do some in the morning and finish up in the evening, will that affect the sun's altitude? I could see different planets or WZs having a fixed time of day, so they might have something other than full light, as currently on Ilum, where the sky is always dark, but I can't think of a sensible way to cycle day and night. SWTOR is my first MMO; do other MMOs have diurnal variation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripster Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 There might be some MMO that has a 24hr day/night cycle, but a lot of them just have day/night cycle every few hours or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anzel Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 SWG had this as well as "weather". I can remember a few times where it was storming outside my window as well as in the game. Pretty cool actually. I can't say it added too much to the "immersion" though. I was a neat feature but not one of those things that really changed my overall game play experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nastynas Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Apparently, this is like the only MMO without a Day and Night cycle. I don't really pay attention to such things, but I know WoW and SWG has/had them. Can't remember RIFT enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaVolpex Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 i guess it depends on how "real" this night/day cycle would be.... will it simply be night/day light and sky cycle with cycling npc lights and illumination? or do you want it to be like warcraft 3 where theres actual game mechanics/ mobs/ abilities that actually change at night? first one is easy enough to implement and nothing more than a cosmetical change second one is harder, and touches on balance and gameplay issues wich might not be possible honestly i would be content with #1 but i wont write a letter home about it either if we dont get it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarfux Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Apparently, this is like the only MMO without a Day and Night cycle. I don't really pay attention to such things, but I know WoW and SWG has/had them. Can't remember RIFT enough. Yes RIFT has them. I still play it. Made up my mind. Tis my fantasy mmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRagabash Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 they could literally make it go by what it is supposed to on that planet in particular perhaps? Tattooine as of wookiepedia has a 23 standard hour rotational period, meaning it would change from day to night every eleven and a half hours, and thats not counting if tattooine was tilted toward or away from the sun, accounting for shifts in that time...but then again...this could just be too hard to code for every planet individually especially the mentioned equinox and solstice causing tilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irongut Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) Apparently, this is like the only MMO without a Day and Night cycle. In space there is no day/night cycle. So it doesn't exist in EVE, Black Prophesy and a few other space based MMOs. I'd like to see a diurnal cycle in SWTOR, perhaps tied to the local time of the server. It doesn't really change the gameplay but it might add a bit of immersion if you weren't always blinded by the suns on Tatooine. Edited August 3, 2012 by Irongut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRagabash Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 oh wow...now im thinking about if a planet happened to have a particularly long rotation period...like...it would take a standard year for a planet to rotate completely, leading to literal months on a certain planet where its day or night. this could lead to an interesting and pretty immersive, at least IMO experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocketthesaurus Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 they could literally make it go by what it is supposed to on that planet in particular perhaps? Tattooine as of wookiepedia has a 23 standard hour rotational period, meaning it would change from day to night every eleven and a half hours, and thats not counting if tattooine was tilted toward or away from the sun, accounting for shifts in that time...but then again...this could just be too hard to code for every planet individually especially the mentioned equinox and solstice causing tilt. Actually, with its two suns, the day/night cycle might even be screwier than 11.5 hours between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enkenon Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Now and then you read complaints in the forum about no day/night cycle on the planets. I can't see how this would work. When I was leveling up, many times I would get stomped in a class quest, then do a bunch of side quests and WZs to gear up before trying again. So if it is early evening during my first visit, what time of day would it be when I tried again? What time of day is it at the ACW or NC WZs when I play at 11:00PM? What about when I play at 5:00AM (EDT, and yes it's true that I have no life. A day job, a wife, a mortgage, but no life.) If you change the order in which you run the Belsavis dailies, or do some in the morning and finish up in the evening, will that affect the sun's altitude? I could see different planets or WZs having a fixed time of day, so they might have something other than full light, as currently on Ilum, where the sky is always dark, but I can't think of a sensible way to cycle day and night. SWTOR is my first MMO; do other MMOs have diurnal variation? Have you ever played a game that has a day/night cycle? If you had you'd know that a day/night cycle is irrelevant to the events going on in the game. And ofc since we are talking about a multitude of planets on different solar systems there should be different day/night cycles for each planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripster Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 If you had you'd know that a day/night cycle is irrelevant to the events going on in the game.I'm not sure about this for two reasons. Some games have different populations of mobs depending on the day/night cycle or even events that happen at certain times. Also, BW is big on story, and even though most players might not care they may think it is silly that some things are going on at 3 a.m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafreak Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Day/ NIght has allot to do with the atmosphere of a planet/ story. IM paraphrasing here but what kind of affect would it have if Romeo and Juliet met at midday instead of night? I dont think Day/ night would work with this particular game because of the story and how each planet has its own feel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Descent Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 It's not really a big deal, but its standard for a contemporary MMO and its absence serves to reinforce the plethora of holes in the foundations of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) SWTOR is my first MMO; do other MMOs have diurnal variation? Yes almost every other MMORPG ever made has had a day/night cycle (usually because it draws the players eye away from the otherwise staticness of the MMO-world). If you want to see a good example try LOTRO free to play and look at the night sky. Edited August 3, 2012 by Goretzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phalynn Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Completing missions at 3:00 am is no less unrealistic than the current perpetual day/night effect that we have now. You mean EVERY time I go to Tatooine its daytime? EVERY TIME? Like when I randomly go to Tatt no matter what time of day...no matter how long ago I left...its still Daytime? Someone above mentioned that adding a day/night cycle is a small thing and wouldnt go far as for immersion. I wholeheartedly agree but if they kept implementing small things like this it would lead to vast immersion. 1 or 2 rain drops are meaningless but a lot of rain drops = a storm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eavandar Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 There should defenitely be day/night cycles, aside from the immersion angle it could be quite beautiful. Remember Tatooine in SWG, the eerie sights and sounds of the desertnights, loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayeh Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 There might be some MMO that has a 24hr day/night cycle, but a lot of them just have day/night cycle every few hours or something. Final Fantasy 11 has a day-night cycle in game. There are 25 game days in each real life day. You can even tell what day of the week it was by the colour of the moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJWyler Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 GW1 didn't have a day/night cycle, and I never really thought anything was wrong with that. Vanguard has one, and it really does nothing to enhance my game play one bit. Don't know if STO has one - I've only been on planets a couple of times and didn't notice any changes while I was there - it wouldn't enhance my gameplay, regardless. I certainly don't need to see rain when I'm on the bridge of my starship. To me, day/night cycles and weather are useless unless they affect game play in one way or another. Development time and resources can be better spent on creating playable content rather than a dynamic atmosphere. BJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phalynn Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Completing missions at 3:00 am is no less unrealistic than the current perpetual day/night effect that we have now. You mean EVERY time I go to Tatooine its daytime? EVERY TIME? Like when I randomly go to Tatt no matter what time of day...no matter how long ago I left...its still Daytime? Someone above mentioned that adding a day/night cycle is a small thing and wouldnt go far as for immersion. I wholeheartedly agree but if they kept implementing small things like this it would lead to vast immersion. 1 or 2 rain drops are meaningless but a lot of rain drops = a storm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starmanmmo Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 EQ2 has an amazing day/night cycle, the best in any game because the sun and moons actually move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarjarloves Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Have you ever played a game that has a day/night cycle? If you had you'd know that a day/night cycle is irrelevant to the events going on in the game. And ofc since we are talking about a multitude of planets on different solar systems there should be different day/night cycles for each planet. well I remember in WoW there was that village that turned all its inhabitents to Worgen at night. But other then that yeah its pretty useless. I would like to see it on the new planet they are making. But i'm fine with out adding it to existing planets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrpayday Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 The asteroid the Foundry is on rotates fairly quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqparadox Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I only have this to say: I played WoW from 2006-2008ish, through the original endgame content (MC and Onyxia, we were on BWL when BC came out) through the first expansion and into the first few levels of the second expansion. I logged well over 20 days on my main character through all hours of the day. I don't remember the day/night cycle at all. I remember WoW just fine, but the day/night cycle had such a small impact on my overall immersion that I don't remember it at all. Now I'm probably in the minority on that, but I just wanted to pipe in that there is another side to the coin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashu-ri Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 IMO, we are playing on different planets - which means different day/night cycles for EVERY PLANET. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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