Star Wars Galaxies: "Ahead of it's Time"

[Iknar]

SWTOR: Wanna do a war zone or an instance?

 

SWG: Wanna go bounty hunt Jedi, kill kryat dragons, find an awesome spot to place these harvesters, unlock a holocron, go destroy rebel PvP bases, build an entire city of houses with economy taxes guild hall and strategic housing placement for PvP tactical advantage, drop swordsman and pick up architect (or one of 36 other professions), Duel Jedi from opposing factions and slay them to gain rank up the Jedi council, Start a vendor in my house with custom items that nobody else in the galaxy sells, camp the acklay spawn, or be anything you want to be with almost no limitations.

 

 

Anyone who played SWG pre update before Sony sent the game into a downward spiraling apocalypse knows that this game had some of the best features to hit the MMO scene of all time. While SWG had its flaws like any other game Sony managed to keep us inthralled by the sheer openness of the game. 36 professions? Yes 36 different professions that your character could set out to master from the start of the game. The weapons and armor in the game were all one of a kind, no items had the exact same stats unless made by the same crafter with the exact same materials. This set your character apart from everyone else in the galaxy by weilding a weapon with "unknown power" as you slayed your foes in battle. One of the greatest features SWG managed to nail on the head was their player city's and town government system. Making your own house come to life with furniture, vendors, and having rare items hanging on your walls gave your character a home and a meeting place to gather with your friends before setting out on the days journey to slay the mighty Kryat Dragons of Tatooine. These are just a few nimble recants of the glory days in the original SWG.

 

Before you go off on me saying what does this have to do with TOR? Or why don't you go play SWG if you liked it so much? The point I would like to make is why arnt we seeing these types of features in MMO's anymore? Every MMO that has been released recently has been a cookie cutter World of Warcraft play it safe to make money Video game. I quit WoW a Long time ago and while I remain loyal to TOR in hopes that the current gameplay experience will improve, I still remain blown away by the fact that none of these developers are stealing ideas from the amazing open world feel that SWG used. All I can say is I hope that one day a developer will share the same feelings that I do towards the current MMO standards. Thanks for taking the time to read my 2 sense on why SWG was "Ahead of its Time."

Edited January 1, 2012 by Iknar

[ModestBiscuit]

I loved SWG, It makes me sad that it is officially dead. I hope that SWTOR does use ideas from SWG such as housing and most importantly space combat. For all who have played SWG you'll know what I mean. I miss player made cities and farms the most.

[Rhyltran]

SWG wasn't really ahead of it's time. It's a different type of game. It's a sandbox and similar arguments can be made with all sandbox mmorpgs. The flaw of sandbox mmo's and the reason they're not for everyone is that "complete" freedom can also be boring. Camping spawns isn't everyone's cup of tea, grinding isn't either, people want a sense of purpose. A sense of direction. There's many who find sandbox mmo's to be dull and boring. I disagree. I like both styles. The problem is that Sony created a sandbox. The sandbox wasn't perfect and sure it wasn't everyone's cup of tea but then they tried to make their sandbox into a themepark alienating those who watched the game develop and enjoyed it's style.

[LordRelyks]

I had many emotions tied to SWG. I loved it, the community, and also made many friends. So far, at level 36, I've only made one friend on SWTOR.

[engindeniz]

I had many emotions tied to SWG. I loved it, the community, and also made many friends. So far, at level 36, I've only made one friend on SWTOR.

 

this :/

[Theodwulf]

SWG had some interesting elements BUT it also had horribly broken elements. SWG's biggest problem is they let the Game mechanics define the setting, which is fine with a generic sci-fi or fantasy setting. This doesn't work with a well established setting like Star Wars , which is the actual draw to the game. The only reason I picked up SWG was Star Wars..it was my first MMO..ironicly enough I picked up TOR ..wait for it...because it was supposed to be Star Wars...at this rate it will be my last MMO as the genre has collectivley jumped the shark .

 

 

SWG was not some mythical land of Milk and honey, not Pre-Cu , or the CU or the NGE, they were all pretty crappy in the scheme of things and not close enough to the movies to get a Star Wars fan , who was not a gaming fan to become a gaming fan even for a Star Wars game.

[Wolfninjajedi]

I like how all these threads of "SWG was a great game!" "SWG was awesome!" "I miss SWG" have happaned AFTER SWG IS DEAD.

[Ceogar]

I like how all these threads of "SWG was a great game!" "SWG was awesome!" "I miss SWG" have happaned AFTER SWG IS DEAD.

 

Eh.. they have been around ever since SOE destoryed our home ( NGE )

 

I have given up and i have realized there will never be such a game again. Everything will be like wow, swtor and so on. Fun for a while but then there is nothing to keep you here except just the same thing over and over again.

[Wolfninjajedi]

Eh.. they have been around ever since SOE destoryed our home ( NGE )

 

I have given up and i have realized there will never be such a game again. Everything will be like wow, swtor and so on. Fun for a while but then there is nothing to keep you here except just the same thing over and over again.

 

You mean just like SWG where you did the same thing over and over again? No matter what it was, doesn't matter if its a sandbox your still doing the same things over and over again.

[TalkingDinosaur]

My god, the amount of "I miss SWG QQ" threads here is atrocious.

 

SWG = Sandbox MMO

TOR = Standard MMO format

 

They're different stop begging Bioware to get all of SWG's content into TOR.

[Wolfninjajedi]

My god, the amount of "I miss SWG QQ" threads here is atrocious.

 

SWG = Sandbox MMO

TOR = Standard MMO format

 

They're different stop begging Bioware to get all of SWG's content into TOR.

 

****.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A TALKING DINOSAUR!!

[Darth-Malice]

Too quote Bones. "It's Dead Jim." Let it go.

[Helixagon]

http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/652

 

Games like SWG sound great when you put it like that. You can 'do' so many things. But ultimately, when it comes down to it, games are about gameplay. Going out and fighting krayt dragons is all well and good, but the combat was terrible. Post-new stuff, it was just mediocre. Missions felt depersonalised. Yeah, there were lots of professions, but the actual gameplay of so many of them was awful. For example, you could be a dancer, and sit in a cantina all day waiting for tips and /flirting with people. Or you could be a crafter, and craft all day. Sometimes that's people's niche, but it's not something I would pay a monthly fee to do.

 

If you don't have a job, and you need something to spend your time on, fair enough, but when I get off work I want to do fun things that won't take all day, not sit in front of a spreadsheet or spend hours getting to a location to have a clunky boss fight. Yes it felt more realistic, and in many ways more immersive, but realism =/= fun.

 

I would love to have the option to have some more open-world parts that allow player housing and other more creative options, but that's obviously not TOR's focus. When you introduce those kinds of features, you have to ask: what's the benefit to the player for spending so much extra time? Then you have to balance it in line with the rest of the game. That introduces all kinds of end-game problems for people outside of the 'hardcore' minority who have the time to play all day. That is not TOR's main audience.

[Trineda]

Hey there!

 

We're closing this thread, as it is off-topic to this forum. Please keep all threads and topics in General Discussion directly related to Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

 

Thanks!