World Depth: Small changes for large gains.

[Murasakikitsune]

SWTOR delivers a lot of unique things to the MMORPG genre. Its extensive stories, snazzy (albeit unoptimized) graphical style, solid controls, and reasonable progression (for a themepark MMO) among other things really make it an engaging experience. However, it appears that for many, this experience is short-lived and doesn't extend far past character stories.

 

I believe this is due to how shallow the world is outside of the stories Bioware has focused so much on.

 

As a hobbyist game developer myself, I often think about ways to make my worlds feel deeper, and I also set realistic goals for what I can achieve. This will be a brief, consolidated post outlining many small, effortless changes which could make a big impact on players' perception of the world, as well as some slightly larger additions which may have longer-reaching effects.

 

Please put forth your own suggestions as well, but be sure they follow the trend of low-effort-high-gains, so as to keep them realistic and viable. Bioware does have its limits.

 

 

Premise

• Stories are deep and entertaining, but expensive, time-consuming, and short-lived.
  
• Themepark elements are similar; short-lived. But also shallow and not very compelling at end-end-game.
  
• A solid, immersive world is compelling, even to non-roleplayers. When the world feels alive, everything else you're doing feels more alive. This is how to get more dedicated players.
  
• Worlds in Star Wars are vast, and despite the limits of technology, they need to at least appear to be vast on a deeper level than pretty background pictures.
  
• Sandbox elements are cheap and highly effective at making the world compelling and also providing longer-lasting content.
  

 

 

Solutions

(Colored by difficulty of implementation.)

(Sorry the format is ugly. Lists don't like spacing.)

 

• Sittable Chairs. So many chairs everywhere, but nowhere to sit! It makes the Galactic Senate even more useless, because now people can't even roleplay as though something ever happened there. And don't people usually sit down at the Cantina? All the items are already in-world and ready to be sat upon; just add the function!
   
  
• Move vendors to real stores. One-stop-shops may be convenient, but they trivialize the world. Meanwhile, there's tons of room for shops out in the cities of Nar Shaddaa and Coruscant. The fact that it isn't used by anybody but mindless mobs makes the world feel shallow.
   
  
• Make vendors' items not such garbage. There is absolutely no reason to buy anything from the armor vendors in Coruscant. It's wimpy, it's ugly, and there are far better things out there. Those vendors have no reason to exist. Open up a shop for them out in other districts, and give them something worthwhile to sell. Matching sets of clothes, convenient cash sinks - anything!
   
  
• Fewer walls. Nothing says "fake" like discovering a vast desert is still just an invisible box you're stuck in. When you need a taxi to get from one area to another, the world is little more than a series of shoeboxes. SWG's planets were far too huge and sparse for this sort of game, but TOR's planets don't feel as large as they might actually be.
   
  
• Remove quest-based area restrictions. Another "wall" like I mentioned, but big, bright red, and screams, "This whole planet is a glorified story hub with some mobs in it." Proper phasing is not difficult. Allow anyone in any area regardless of class or quests, phase properly, and the world no longer feels as restrictive.
   
  
• Mobile Mobs. Mobs always stand around doing nothing. Civilians in dangerous areas should run toward safehavens. Criminals should try to mug/kill them. Creatures should look for smaller creatures to kill. Troops should constantly patrol or escort workers. All simple AI routines.
   
  
• Mobs don't just appear. Flashpoint mobs jetpacking in is pretty cool. Mobs appearing out of thin air is not. Just add another little AI routine to respawn in a believable spot (mobs in caves, villagers in houses, troops from vehicles), and move to their initial position.
   
  
• Cowardly Mobs. Want a simple way to make trash mobs way more compelling? Have some surrender and leave you alone if you spare them, turn and run to a safehaven, turn and run for reinforcements, or even have some try to avoid tough players. (Like a reverse aggro radius.)
   
  
• Merciful Mobs. Some criminals are just out for money or intimidation. If they beat you, have them knock you out and steal some credits, but let you get up and walk away. (Half of what a repair bill would be, perhaps?)
   
  
• Casino Games. I hear Bioware's adding Pazaak. Great move. But will there ever be a reason to visit any of the casinos on any of the planets? And of course, the more the merrier when it comes to these minigames.
   
  
• Pilot Speeders in Cities. This might be a bit tougher. To make a player feel like they're in a vast world, they need to feel free, like they're the ones in control of where they go; not some taxi to some other shoebox-world. Fully free roaming wouldn't be feasible, but within a range of traffic lines should be reasonable. Just extend the "invisible walls" a little more than normal.
   
  
• All planets available. Smugglers get anywhere they need all the time. Why not the opposite faction in a low-security area? This opens up World PvP opportunities, and removes even larger "invisible walls" from the game. Downside is, for travel to make any sense, some of the previous points would have to already be in place.
   
  
• Generic Droid Companions. Class companions are totally awesome and add a lot to the story. Even the cross-class HK droid. But if I want to feel like I'm actually in the Star Wars universe, I'd really just like to go to a store and buy my own droid or two. Or hawk one for that matter. This gives people even more reason to go out looking for these new shops you've placed in the world. I list this as Yellow because unlike other companions, it takes no extra time or effort to implement story elements. Story is expensive and limited. This is cheap and expansive.
   
  
• Open space areas. Yes, it's a doozie. A doozie that may or may not be a lost cause. But it's also a Sandbox feature. Implement it early and keep it simple, and you've got a reusable tool to create more fun, and something players will use to create their own fun. Imagine a Warzone that plays like Battlefront 2's space missions, shooting other fighters and capital ships' weak spots, or even sabotaging them from the inside. This could even open the door to pilots' spacesuits; Adaptive Armor that allows characters to hop out on top of capital ships to bomb/repair them and the like.
  Also imagine many of these ideas culminating into the assault and defense of factions' fleets. The possibilities are endless, yet they all stem from the same principle: Vehicles with vertical movement, highly selective collision detection, and a set of controls.
  See TransGaming for more info: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/transgaming
   
  
• Galactic pop culture. Did you see that band in the Nar Shaddaa cantina? Of course you didn't. They weren't interesting, didn't play any music you could actually hear, and didn't even have any names. Even KotOR had a band with names and a brief history. ... I bet you didn't even visit the casino, did you?
   
  

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed reading these ideas. Please share your own low-budget ideas, and feel free to criticize mine.

Edited November 12, 2012 by ZoeTuah

[Stereoph]

I don't have any ideas to add. But i want to tell you that i completely support this! Also, i'd like to see more interaction with my ship, that would be very good! Nice ideas. Edited November 12, 2012 by Stereoph

[Murasakikitsune]

Strange, found this in GD. I guess I misclicked.

 

But yeah! More ship interaction would be nice. If you think about it, the inside of your ship is completely separate from what you see in a hangar. In a hangar, it's nothing but a large, static item.

 

Imagine your ship behaving more like fighters would in Battlefront 2 or SWG (minus the shoddy controls); get close, press button to hop in (with your friends!), pilot it around and destroy turrets and other objects on capital ships, or storm it from the inside.

 

I emphasize that this isn't terribly difficult. A ship is nothing more than a character with different controls.

[Stereoph]

I hope so. I just know this game will have features like this.. I really think it will ! We just need to wait

[Costello]

Very nice ideas.

 

I hope Bioware can do something to make the game more engrossing once the story has finished.

[Ailie]

I'd just add in more NPCs and have them doing things. You go to a city like Nar Shadaa or Coruscant which are entire planets and they feel empty. Cantinas are mostly deserted. It wouldn't take much, just groups of characters walking around endless loops would make a massive difference

[Murasakikitsune]

I'd just add in more NPCs and have them doing things. You go to a city like Nar Shadaa or Coruscant which are entire planets and they feel empty. Cantinas are mostly deserted. It wouldn't take much, just groups of characters walking around endless loops would make a massive difference

 

Indeed, just simple AI behavior. Certain (usually Strong) mobs tend to patrol areas, so it's obviously implemented. Just under-used. Move here, move there, fiddle with some decorative background objects, move back over here.

 

Also, I took a trip into the slums of Coruscant only to find that any places that might have been interesting were full of nothing but mindless neutral mobs standing about. Couldn't even remember their species.

 

Not even the chairs were interactive.

 

I've added sittable chairs as well as a few other things.