Making the Old Republic feel more like KOTOR I and II

[Crimson_Merc]

This is an older post that I have since updated, however, I still think some that of these additions should be in the game to make TOR feel more like the older KOTOR games.

 

Anyways, as we all know, when Bioware was developing The Old Republic they stated several times that The Old Republic was suppose to be Knights of the Old Republic 3, but it could very well be 4, 5, 6, 7 etc with the amount of content they would be adding. However, Bioware has removed many important features that were in the KOTOR games. I think as it currently stands, that The Old Republic is a great game, but it is true that in certain aspects it doesn't truly feel like a KOTOR game.

 

Here I will list my ideas from extensively playing KOTOR and KOTOR II . My end goal is to create suggestions to not only make TOR feel like a KOTOR game and a true sequel, but to also make it an MMO that everyone can enjoy. If these ideas are popular, perhaps something will be done.

 

Now I will be listing all of my suggestions and please feel free to comment and suggest your own, but please try to stay on the topic of making the Old Republic feel more like the older Knights of the Old Republic games.

 

Making the game feel more like Knights of the Old Republic:

 

 

Introduce a Pazaak mini-game:

 

Pazaak was a card game that was featured in both the first KOTOR and its sequel. Every cantina featured a "Pazaak Den" where other Pazaak players would compete with each other. Since no two Pazaak decks are the same, players in the TOR community could build their own decks and collect rare cards. Daily, weekly and monthly tournaments could be held with prizes and I think this would help strengthen and build the TOR community. The Cantinas in the game are pretty much pointless and it would be nice to add a little bit of a purpose for them.

 

Bring back swoop racing:

 

Swoop Races, like Pazaak, were a mini-game that was featured in both KOTOR games, but it hasn't made an appearance (yet) in TOR. Racing and placing bets on races like Pazaak would help to build our online community and make the game feel more like a true sequel a mere shadow of its former self.

 

Introducing a Similar damage type system that was featured in the KOTOR games:

 

Basically, the Old Republic is "suppose" to be a sequel so to speak of the Knights of the Old Republic games. I really enjoy this game a lot and its a good start, but I think more should be done with it. One of my more serious gripes is the absence of damage types that where in Knights of the Old Republic. For those of you who didn't play the KOTOR games, there were different damage types for each weapon. Lightsabers were energy based weapons that caused energy damage along with most blasters sharing the same damage type. However, there were unique and different damage types for different weapons. Vibroswords and Sith War Swords often did a physical damage that could be Bludgeoning, slashing or piercing damage. Certain blasters produced special electrical damage while some produced a unique "sonic" or "ion" damage, that was very damaging to droids.

 

There were many types of these damages and these consisted of:

 

Energy, Fire, Cold, Ion, Heat, Bludgeoning, Slashing, Piercing, Physical (Kinetic), Poison and Electricity.

 

With these unique damage types you could add special damage bonuses to your blaster or saber i.e +10 Cold damage or +10 Ion damage which would be deadly to droids etc. In addition, certain armor would be stronger against certain types of damage and you could put certain enhancements to protect against certain types of damage i.e. +5 against slash damage etc.

 

 

Personally, I think this definitely needs to be implemented in the game somehow because it would add a lot more uniqueness not only as far as weapons go, but for armor selections as well. This could create new weapons, new mods, new enhancements etc and we wouldn't be forced just to choose from "ranged" or "melee" damage. Like I mentioned previously, this game is fun and a good start, but until we start seeing some variety within damage types it is always going to be rather vanilla for my tastes. It would also make combat a lot more dynamic and boost the overall lasting appeal of the game.

 

 

Make grenades useful:

In the KOTOR games grenades were very useful where to as now they are almost useless. (I have never seen anyone use grenades) Maybe make them more useful again and you could even give certain classes like Commandos for example perks to using them.

 

Make KOTOR/ More Star Wars styled armors:

 

The Art direction of the armor is pretty bizarre to say the least especially end game. A lot of these crazy armors look like something straight out of WOW and really don't fit into the whole Star Wars universe. Maybe introduce a new art direction that is more Star Wars Themed and that isn't too over the top. I also don't remember all these crazy armors in the KOTOR games and sometimes and basic design is much better than an exotic one.

 

 

I feel like if we added this stuff this game would be a lot more like the older KOTOR and that really isn't a bad thing. The original KOTOR games were already MMO-like, but Bioware seriously dropped the ball and gave us a dumbed down game with dumbed down mechanics. I repeat- I think the game is great, but it definitely falls short of the other games and I feel like some of these additions would help bolster the games appeal to fans of the series.

[Henge_Wolf]

The different damage types, while cool, I don't find as interesting as the Pazaak and swoop racing. I think everyone would enjoy seeing those brought to the game.

 

As for the armor, yeah, a lot of it I just don't get. My Jedi switches between Muse Vestments and now full Thermoweave armor, and any "end-game" armor I get will probably just have it's mods stolen and put into those. Over-the-top flamboyance is one of the many things I actually hated about WoW, and it has no real place in Star Wars, but MMOers seem to like it. Understatement is a thing. Even in WoW my transmogs were mostly of green sets and a few blue weapons. The raid armor etc always looked too over-the-top for me. But hey, at least I have the option of running around in level 31 custom gear at level 60, so that's a plus.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Henge_Wolf

[Terrorus]

Paazak and Swoop Racing mini games have been requested for yers. So far is is in the Devs "wall of crazy" as far as I know.

 

As for the different damage types, they have no reason to exist in this game. The different damage types you see in KotOR I and II are steples of the D20 RPG System used as a basis for the mechanics in those games. SWTOR uses a completelly different system, with its own types of damages. To mix the two would create a terrible balacing issue on top of those already existing. Not only that, it would require the implementation of a whole new system of resistances and weaknesses in order to work.

Bottom line, it qould be a lot of work for something that doesn't really make sense with the combat system of the game.

[Crimson_Merc]

Paazak and Swoop Racing mini games have been requested for yers. So far is is in the Devs "wall of crazy" as far as I know.

 

As for the different damage types, they have no reason to exist in this game. The different damage types you see in KotOR I and II are steples of the D20 RPG System used as a basis for the mechanics in those games. SWTOR uses a completelly different system, with its own types of damages. To mix the two would create a terrible balacing issue on top of those already existing. Not only that, it would require the implementation of a whole new system of resistances and weaknesses in order to work.

Bottom line, it qould be a lot of work for something that doesn't really make sense with the combat system of the game.

 

Well I don't want something exactly like the damage types from previous games, but I think adding additional damage types would enhance the game.

 

Yeah Pazaak and swoop racing has been requested for years and the reason why we don't have them in the game is because Bioware is nortorious for giving fans things that they don't want. During certain missions, mixed with certain music, I feel like I am playing a KOTOR game. However, most of the time, I don't feel like I'm even playing a Star Wars game. I think Bioware needs to give the fans the things we want....

[JediRelentless]

The devs have already stated that they've worked on developing a racing feature but lag issues prevent it from being something they would add to the game. I think the speeder stuff we see on Ziost are the leftover elements of what they worked on.

 

I know that Pazaak has been requested but I don't think it's something that most players would get excited about. I would rather see the devs working on something more impactful. Pazaak had nothing to do with why I thought KOTOR was great.

Edited May 28, 2015 by JediRelentless

[azudelphi]

I know that Pazaak has been requested but I don't think it's something that most players would get excited about. I would rather see the devs working on something more impactful. Pazaak had nothing to do with why I thought KOTOR was great.

 

While they were kinda fun distractions, for the most part the primary reason I bothered with Swoop Racing was for the credit rewards.

[VixenRawR]

Nah Pazaak would be great, something to do between ques. You could make bets between players, do rare missions, travel to far locations, to gather unique pazaak cards. Craftable cards, cartel cards. Something haha. Would be great to play high stake games though. Like put a mount up for gamble and go at it or something. I think it would be fun, and not very hard to add considering the rules of the game have already been decided?

[Crimson_Merc]

The devs have already stated that they've worked on developing a racing feature but lag issues prevent it from being something they would add to the game. I think the speeder stuff we see on Ziost are the leftover elements of what they worked on.

 

I know that Pazaak has been requested but I don't think it's something that most players would get excited about. I would rather see the devs working on something more impactful. Pazaak had nothing to do with why I thought KOTOR was great.

 

Then the developers of this game need to be fired and banned from the industry. Whenever people want something in this game- they give the excuse of lag. Sorry, but I don't buy it when other top level MMOs have more features then we do. Can we get chat bubbles? No because it will create lag. Can we get swoop racing? No because it will create lag. Can we combine the servers so there is just 2 servers for North America (east coast and west coast)? No because it will create lag. Can we get Pazaak, a card game that was in the older KOTOR games? No because we don't feel like it. Either they built the game on a terrible engine, which I doubt, or they are just lazy and don't really care. The reason MMOs like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy a Realm Reborn are so popular is because the developers give the fans what they want. I have noticed that besides Harbinger, every other server in NA is pretty much a ghost town.

[jamyz]

Also, to achieve this, SWTOR needs to use the KotOR songs more often. It's really different playing in Belsavis while fighting playing the Dxun Battle theme from KotOR II than the music from SWTOR. It will not hurt to get better, new music in this game. The actual one is dull, sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn't. I personally don't like the SWTOR soundtrack. I gave it a try and nope. This message is not because I hate or don't like the SWTOR soundtrack, don't take me in that way. It's because the KotOR soundtracks were way better and produced such feeling on the player. Just go to see for yourself the youtube comments of the players from KotOR. A suggestion to improve the music of this game is what I am doing here. This, to get a more KotOR I and II feeling.

[Crimson_Merc]

Also, to achieve this, SWTOR needs to use the KotOR songs more often. It's really different playing in Belsavis while fighting playing the Dxun Battle theme from KotOR II than the music from SWTOR. It will not hurt to get better, new music in this game. The actual one is dull, sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn't. I personally don't like the SWTOR soundtrack. I gave it a try and nope. This message is not because I hate or don't like the SWTOR soundtrack, don't take me in that way. It's because the KotOR soundtracks were way better and produced such feeling on the player. Just go to see for yourself the youtube comments of the players from KotOR. A suggestion to improve the music of this game is what I am doing here. This, to get a more KotOR I and II feeling.

 

I 100% agree. The soundtracks are very hit or miss. I don't even think it would take a lot of effor to add some of this stuff to the game. Its up to you Bioware!