Why did Bioware design such a big (almost sandbox) planet Alderaan?

[Chiricahua]

My previous planets, Typhon, Coroscant, and Nar Shadaa were losers. Tatooine was borderline. I hope in any new expansion, and new planets, that they use Alderaan as an example. Have you tried traversing Alderaan on a speeder? It takes a long time.

[Jett-Rinn]

They told us that they would add sandbox elements later

 

Alderaan seems the logical place

[scrynen]

My previous planets, Typhon, Coroscant, and Nar Shadaa were losers. Tatooine was borderline. I hope in any new expansion, and new planets, that they use Alderaan as an example. Have you tried traversing Alderaan on a speeder? It takes a long time.

 

Yes and it's funny, because you still end up just going from hallway to hallway.

[Arkimor]

Yes and it's funny, because you still end up just going from hallway to hallway.

 

Yup. Game is about as linear as the original Super Mario but with more doors than a hotel.

[Apoxie]

My previous planets, Typhon, Coroscant, and Nar Shadaa were losers. Tatooine was borderline. I hope in any new expansion, and new planets, that they use Alderaan as an example. Have you tried traversing Alderaan on a speeder? It takes a long time.

 

This is a themepark MMO, not a sandbox, so no i dont agree that Alderaan is great.

[FormlessOne]

They told us that they would add sandbox elements later

 

Alderaan seems the logical place

 

If BioWare doesn't get their act together, there won't be a "later." The game's missing even basic elements expected by MMO players, especially the large guild contingent these folks courted long before release.

 

Guild chat barely works, there are no other guild features to speak of, even basic features like a guild bank, and the best information we've received so far from BioWare with regards to a timeline for these basic guild features is "soon."

 

It's hard to play as a guild in SWTOR. Heck, with all of the missing features, it's hard just to play SWTOR. Sandbox elements are, indeed, sorely needed, but they should be lower in priority to the basic game features even the meanest of MMOs support at this time.

[AJediKnight]

I thought Alderaan was just horrible, actually. Tat was way better designed.

[Dekadez]

Alderaan 'sandbox'? Sure, you can traverse the playing field without truly feeling like they move you from corridor to corridor on a leash, but there a ton of invisible walls in Alderaan within a single area, preventing you to drop from ledges or rocky outcrops to a lower situated quest area.

[MajikMyst]

Yup. Game is about as linear as the original Super Mario but with more doors than a hotel.

 

Hmmm.. All good stories are linear too.. Typical speaking.. In any book.. You start with chapter 1 and continue on in a linear manner..

 

So it is supposed to be linear.. I fail to see why people complain about this?? If you don't want a game that is based on story.. Then don't play it.. But story makes it linear..

Edited December 26, 2011 by MajikMyst

[Ilsildor]

If BioWare doesn't get their act together, there won't be a "later." The game's missing even basic elements expected by MMO players, especially the large guild contingent these folks courted long before release.

 

Guild chat barely works, there are no other guild features to speak of, even basic features like a guild bank, and the best information we've received so far from BioWare with regards to a timeline for these basic guild features is "soon."

 

It's hard to play as a guild in SWTOR. Heck, with all of the missing features, it's hard just to play SWTOR. Sandbox elements are, indeed, sorely needed, but they should be lower in priority to the basic game features even the meanest of MMOs support at this time.

 

lol yeah this game definitely needs a lot more guild functions. No Guild Notes? Can't even copy+paste from the panels as a member. No log? !!

[Knighty]

Boy, if you guys don't like Alderaan, you are going to hate Hoth with a passion . (I actually loved Hoth, very barren with a ice wasteland feel, just how it should be, but that's me.)

[MajikMyst]

Boy, if you guys don't like Alderaan, you are going to hate Hoth with a passion . (I actually loved Hoth, very barren with a ice wasteland feel, just how it should be, but that's me.)

 

Agreed!! I love Alderaan, Balmora, Tatooine, Tythone, Hoth, and any other.. They are all unique.. I love them all!!

[smitysmit]

Because princess leia is from there?

 

Edited December 26, 2011 by smitysmit

[Arkimor]

Hmmm.. All good stories are linear too.. Typical speaking.. In any book.. You start with chapter 1 and continue on ina linear manner..

 

So it is supposed to be linear.. I fail to see why people complain about this?? If you don't want a game that is based on story.. Then don't play it.. But story makes it linear..

 

You really don't know why people complain about this? Really?

 

It's a MMO! I've never complained about Kotor I & II being linear, but the Kotor series weren't MMOs! Fallout, the Elder Scrolls series, GTA....all MUCH less linear than this....and this is a MMO!

 

See the point yet? Making a linear game is fine and well, and there's nothing wrong with it; unless you're making a MMO, a world were people are to roam, explore, PvP, etc. It's like the whole thing is simply funneling us to our city hubs so we can go to an instance warzone, or instance raid.

[Swift]

It's hard to play as a guild in SWTOR. Heck, with all of the missing features, it's hard just to play SWTOR. Sandbox elements are, indeed, sorely needed, but they should be lower in priority to the basic game features even the meanest of MMOs support at this time.

 

Really? I am not having any issue playing TOR and neither is anyone in my guild.

[Swift]

You really don't know why people complain about this? Really?

 

It's a MMO! I've never complained about Kotor I & II being linear, but the Kotor series weren't MMOs! Fallout, the Elder Scrolls series, GTA....all MUCH less linear than this....and this is a MMO!

 

See the point yet? Making a linear game is fine and well, and there's nothing wrong with it; unless you're making a MMO, a world were people are to roam, explore, PvP, etc. It's like the whole thing is simply funneling us to our city hubs so we can go to an instance warzone, or instance raid.

 

If you only follow the main stories of Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and GTA, they are still very linear games. The difference for those games is that there are alot of different stories being told at the same time.

 

So no, I do not see your point yet. You can play even the biggest sandbox games in a very linear fashion if you choose to follow the main story.

[Arkimor]

If you only follow the main stories of Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and GTA, they are still very linear games. The difference for those games is that there are alot of different stories being told at the same time.

 

So no, I do not see your point yet. You can play even the biggest sandbox games in a very linear fashion if you choose to follow the main story.

 

They're not linear at all. I think you don't quite get what people are talking about when they use the word "linear." In a story, things happen in succession of one another, you don't start reading a book on page 30, and skip to 42, then 58, yes. However, this isn't related to that at all.

 

When we talk about the game being linear we're talking about the environments and the way the worlds are laid out. In those single-player games I mentioned, there were endless routes to get to your next story objective, when you stood on a mountain you could point to a spot in the distance and go there, and you could always adventure elsewhere. However, in Swtor we're questing down a long hall. There's only one way to get to objectives with everything laid out in front of you like a trail of candy. Ew, a piece of candy!

 

Also, because it's so linear, there really isn't a reason to go back. Sure you can do the codex entries or platforming-based datacron things, but these activities only take a few minutes. It's just a very linear series of quest hubs.

 

Again, this is a problem because it leads to only 2 real places in the game: strings of quest hubs that offer zero exploration and the fleet stations.

[aeterno]

 

When we talk about the game being linear we're talking about the environments and the way the worlds are laid out. In those single-player games I mentioned, there were endless routes to get to your next story objective, when you stood on a mountain you could point to a spot in the distance and go there, and you could always adventure elsewhere. However, in Swtor we're questing down a long hall. There's only one way to get to objectives with everything laid out in front of you like a trail of candy. Ew, a piece of candy!

 

 

Um no, the route to the next central story objective was just as linear. And very much short.

 

The only difference is that all the content is there for you if you choose to ignore that linear story.

 

It works. But it only works cos it's a single player game as the environments can scale to you.

You can "finish" the main quest of Skyrim in a ridiculously short time, I think someone youtubed himself doing it in 20 min. Or you can take XXXX hours doing all the sidequest in the game world, as they scale to your advancement.

 

You can't do that in an mmo cos its by definition a persistent world. Devs can allow you to trek to the high level zones but mobs there will violate you sexually since they're tuned to give a challenge to max level players. Thereby de-facto shoehorning you. There is no other way in a persistent game world that doesn't revolve around YOU (player).

 

It's ironic and I've pointed it out often. MMOs will always be more linear than a SP RPG. Even KOTOR with its star map chase was more non-linear than TOR could ever have hoped to be. Sure it gives you a "choice" of 2 planets, but you see the mob levels... It's obvious where you're "expected" to go next, simply cos the other alternative is a wee bit too hard. Your only option at that stage is to gain a few levels via space combat/pvp.

Edited December 27, 2011 by aeterno