thoddiver Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 The best games in the world have succeeded because of one thing. The community. Blizzard learned this very early on by creating something called "The Map Editor" in it's star hit games known as Starcraft and Warcraft. This editor was so powerful that it spawned some of the most amazing player made campaigns and maps. The maps were so intricate, so in depth, that not only did Blizzard sore in profits from them, but in the end they spawned a completely brand new genre of gaming. (I speak of Defense of the Ancients, which in turn League of Legends and many others were born.) Many games with addons/mod support seem to end up in one bucket or another. One, the mods get too powerful and the game developers end up getting stuck frantically trying to figure out how to slow it down. Or the exact opposite, the game developers use the players (like little slaves honestly) to create what eventually becomes a part of the default UI. I know everyone hates to hear it... but lets look at World of Warcraft. There used to be a mod called CT Mod, and another called Quest Helper (yes they are still around). After many years though you really don't need either of those mods anymore. Blizzard has taken them and painstakingly crafted them with their pretty graphics and bug free environment to make it a part of the game. Mods and customization to the UI is a fantastic way for game developers to keep a finger on the pulse of the community. With clients like Curse they can get heavy statistics on what players want. What they are doing, what they download, and what they don't want. They can do it easily, and without huge effort. Right now the UI suffers from some, in my opinion, game breaking problems. PvP creates a fun little map on the top right, which of course covers the first few buttons. The mini map covers the very bottom button ever so slightly. Certain windows appear and then are unable to be closed, etc, etc, etc. These are all things that us, the players can fix. Not only can we fix it, but we can do it well. We can do it in such a way that it is seamless to the game itself. The most powerful tool a software company has after its game is created is the community itself. Not to mention this is Star Wars we are talking about. The most die hard group of fan boys and girls... the group that is willing to stand out in front of a movie theater to see a movie long past its prime dressed in the most provocative Princess Leah outfits, whether it be rain, sleet, or snow. (And for that all you happy fan girls... we thank you). What I'm trying to say is this, we are complaining that there are problems in the UI. Problems with mods. Statistics we want to know that we can't see... all this we can fix. If we were just given the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadysketchy Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I agree that BioWare should follow Blizzard's example, and give the Community some tools Right now, it feels almost as if we're being treated like children Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoddiver Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Yeah, I'm not saying that it has to be epic and amazing on the first try. I just think that a bit of leash slacking would be nice. People are amazingly creative, and if given a small chance will create wondrous things. Not to mention they will do it for free, and a good 60% of the tool makers go through the sort of extensive bug testing on their tools that would put EA's QA to shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snicholls Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Is this your first mmo? Mmo's never have tools like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoddiver Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Is this your first mmo? Mmo's never have tools like this. *hands you some cookies and a blanket* Must be really cold and damp under that bridge. World of Warcraft Rift Everquest 1 Everquest 2 FFX1 Mine Craft Terraria Runes of Magic Warhammer Online Age of Conan and a few others I can't think off the top of my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snicholls Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 (edited) *hands you some cookies and a blanket* Must be really cold and damp under that bridge. World of Warcraft Rift Everquest 1 Everquest 2 FFX1 Mine Craft Terraria Runes of Magic Warhammer Online Age of Conan and a few others I can't think off the top of my head. The Map Editor of course they have mods/addons, but none have map editors. Edit: you seem to think blizzard invented map editors lol? Edited December 30, 2011 by snicholls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thoddiver Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 The Map Editor of course they have mods/addons, but none have map editors. You missed the point... by at least 4 parsecs. Please read a post before you decide to troll it. The point I was making is that there are many games out there that rely heavily on community involvement. Those games all seem to do really well through that involvement. Sadly a few of those games listed are dying out due to a lack of interest in general. A lot of the ones not doing so well decided to wait till much later though before they let their community join. The map was just a tool, an example of how game companies say "hey you the player, get involved. Do something creative." According to MMORPG.com Neverwinter Nights is considered an MMO. Not sure I agree with them... buuut it does have a map editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfel Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Star Trek Online has a robust map and quest editor. EverQuest II just launched a Dungeon Builder" for players to make dungeons for other players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foczy Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Huh so it seems not all of those games had those wonderfull community featrues at launch or even a year after launch. NOW WHY DOESN'T SWTRO HAVE THEM ALREADY??!! Oh wait.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KretanMelithorn Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I hope they never let the mods in, personally. UI customization; fine. Other than that... nah. Rather not see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csward Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 /signed. Give us modding ability Bioware! Enough is enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kthx Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 George Lucas and Lucasarts maintain very tight control over the Star Wars intellectual property, which to me makes it unlikely that there will be much development in this area. Disclaimer: Personally, I am perfectly fine with the current situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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