Will you play SWG?

[Xaroc]

Pretty simple question. Yes or No and reasons. Personally I am on the fence. I hate like hell to reward stupid design decisions (1 slot/jedi bs) but it looks like it has upside (skill based/interesting universe). Right now I think I would vote no.

-- Xaroc

[Sam Jones]

"Yes", but it's a qualified "yes". I'm not touching it until they put some of the stuff in that's been recently cut out. If they announce that as an expansion pack, it's a "no sale, ever" for me. I've been turned off MMORPGs - didn't like Anarchy Online, liked Neocron, except for the people and the constant CTDs. I'm resisting the Fantasy based games as I've overdosed on it over the last year with the various offline titles released.

So yes, because it's going to be the only Sci-Fi MMORPG on the horizon. I'm not touching EVE with a bargepole after the reports from the beta*cough*alpha*cough* testers.

However, I've got a spanking new, unplayed copy of Medieval:TW to tide me over until MOO3 and Gothic 2 in a couple of weeks, so online gaming isn't high on the agenda right now.

[Mark Asher]

I will play, but only long-term if I enjoy the fighting and leveling. I have no interest in alternate leveling modes, like crafting, and the Star Wars setting isn't a grabber for me.

[chet]

Sadly I will play. I won't want to, but Erik will call me up with hours upon hours of wonderful tales of online play. I will get it and then he will admit it kinda sucks and then 6 months later we will both laugh about how it still shows up on our credit statements and we haven't played it for 5 1/2 months.

That is the exact pattern for every MMOG I have ever played.

Chet

[Ergo]

I'm with Chet--I'll probably play for 2-3 months then never look at it again. It'll be a hit regardless.

[Stroker Ace]

I too will play until I get bored - I enjoy this type of game but only when there are zillions of other new people to play with - later EQ and DAOC aren't much fun because everyone else is already established at level 50.

[Rywill]

I will definitely play. I'm really looking forward to it. I don't know if it will succeed at everything it's trying, but it looks to me like they're coming up with some good solutions to the problems with the genre. I'm also a Star Wars fan, so that helps. If it's basically EQ with Wookies, I'm sure I'll stop playing after 3 months or so. But if it's as cool as I think it might be, I'll probably stay for the long haul.

[Murph]

Probably not, for the same reason I've passed on every other MMOG: I just don't have enough time to devote to one game to make it worth paying a monthly fee for them.

[Jazar]

I'm going to wait for reviews and impressions, but I'll probably end up playing it sooner or later. The game *really* intrigues me but I've been burned with initial MMORPGS release too many times to be the first one to jump in the proverbial pool.

[Robert Sharp]

I plan to play it and I think I will enjoy it. I have always liked the flavor of these online worlds as much, or even more, than the gameplay. Thus DAoC drew me in with its world, even though I wasn't overly fond of the leveling system (it wasn't bad, but not as good as most single-player RPGs). I will probably like SW for similar reasons. The gameplay sounds promising though. I like the attempt at skill-based leveling, and I am hoping for some nice interaction among characters and such. The gameworld sounds like it will be pretty large too, which is a draw for me. I like to be able to escape from other player characters every now and then if I want. Of course, I would like to see all the original features, but I knew many would be cut. I am especially interested in space combat, but I can wait. I'm looking forward to this one...not obsessively, but I am looking forward to it.

[Veloxi]

Not I, as I only have time for one or two MMO games.

[Qenan]

I think I'll play; how long, now that's another question.

[Anonymous]

Everyone said The Sims Online would be a hit too. No one sems to be wondering if the Star Wars masses will pony up for a subscription fee. Getting 100,000 gamers isn't going to cut it for this game, and with system requirements through the roof, who's going to be able to run it?

[Jazar]

The difference is that most Sims fans are casual gamers while most Star Wars fans....

[Mark Asher]

The difference is that most Sims fans are casual gamers while most Star Wars fans....

Sure, but lots of Star Wars games are mediocre sellers.

[Guido Jones]

I'm still undecided - I'm still pretty caught up in DAoC and RvR right now, so what it will come down to is how many people I regularly play with bail to SWG or Vaporbane errrr I mean Shadowbane.

[Brian Rucker]

I'm pretty cynical about MMORPGs and after the latest announced changes (or delayed features - whatever) to SWG I'm getting pretty skeptical about it as well. This is entirely an knee-jerk reaction but one that's well earned.

That said, yeah, I'm in. I'm not at all a Star Wars or a MMORPG fan but alot of the initial decisions about SWG have the potential to make a really unique gaming experience. A massively multiplayer game actually designed around player interaction (aside from a sort of aimless Sims Online purgatory whose very anti-immersive nature kills roleplaying) and a strong, known, setting will be something worth seeing firsthand. Maybe even playing for a while.

I'm already getting my money's worth out of it (and I haven't paid a cent) by joining up with the SWG-RP (A neutral clearinghouse for IC roleplayers from all backgrounds to meet up and hang out. It also promotes the Unofficial Starsider roleplaying server) and a multi-PA city (Vagabond's Rest) and a PA there (Corellian Trade Consortium). Even if SWG doesn't end up being all that I'm hoping for I've definitely met some quality people with some interesting ideas. I plan on keeping in touch with this group for some time.

[Derek Smart [3000AD]]

Maybe I missed something, but if you can't have vehicles and space craft, whats the fucking point then of this SW themed MMOG?

This just looks like another disaster waiting to happen.

[Matthew Gallant]

Maybe I missed something, but if you can't have vehicles and space craft, whats the fucking point then of this SW themed MMOG?

Well, you can be a wookie tailor. I myself have some interesting bandolier designs that I'd like to bring to the table.

[Gladguy]

]Maybe I missed something, but if you can't have vehicles and space craft, whats the fucking point then of this SW themed MMOG?

This just looks like another disaster waiting to happen.

I'm with Derek on this one.

I think MMOGs as a general rule are doomed from the outset. There's only so many dollars out there from marks... err, customers who are prepared to pay monthly. And Mark's comments about the Star Wars license not necessarily translating into big sales in very valid.

Empirical data would suggest that the subset of gamers who are stupid.... err, enthusiastic enough to pay-to-play are quite happy with Everquest and maybe one other (DAOC? Certainly not Sims Online). Adding more MMOGs isn't going to expand the market; it's only going to dilute it.

Personally, I've never paid for an MMOG, and I never will. The very nature of the gameplay -- regardless of the universe -- bores me to tears. Not to mention the fact I'm a cheap bastard, and see no reason to pony up $10-$20/month to play a game online. I have plenty of other, more exciting/stimulating/challenging/etc. games I can play online for free.

[Anonymous]

Just a few points:

-There won't be vehicles or space travel at launch.

-There will be player housing and crafting at launch.

-Yes, you can be a wookiee fashion consultant. If you want. With housing and furniture in place, you can play a mini-game of The Sims to furnish your home by buying couches and other junk, then moving it all around...which might appeal to female players (especially those female players who want to be wookiee fashion consultants).

-Becoming a jedi will (supposedly) be damn hard because every single nerd in the world wants to be one. When you are a jedi, you will (allegedly) be hunted down ruthlessly by Imperials. According to interviews with the designers, they decided on going this route, rather than let everyone easily become a jedi (because then, the entire game would consist of nothing but jedis).

-There are no character levels in Galaxies. Only skills.

[DrCrypt]

I don't know anything about Star Wars except from pillow talk that time I got Carrie Fisher to fuck me with cinammon rolls duct taped to the side of her head by hypnotically waving a syringe of heroin in front of her glazed, dilated eyeballs. So can one of you guys explain to me how jedis can be roaming around the horizon like Jewish tinkers when the Imperials have already thrown them all into concentration camps? I thought the Imperial Non-Jedi Proliferation Treaty outlawed Jedis, along with Federation cloaking technology, long before this game is supposed to be taking place. Did Zorba the Hutt cover this somewhere during his Greek farting fit in Return of the Jedi, or does having jedis in this game make as little sense as it seems?

[Anonymous]

So can one of you guys explain to me how jedis can be roaming around the horizon like Jewish tinkers when the Imperials have already thrown them all into concentration camps?

I'll field your question, but I need a second to recover from the inherent hilariousness (and brilliance!) of that flippant reference to concentration camps. I don't think that joke will ever get old. So, bravo.

Wait. Wait for it.

OK, now I'm good.

The idea is that, like I mentioned, if it were easy to be a jedi in SWG, every nerd on the face of the earth would want to be a jedi in the game. And the designers apparently decided it would be ridiculous to see an entire game full of idiots all waving around lightsabers while shouting for a group, or whatever. Apparently, they decided they wanted jedi to be very rare and mysterious, so the way they approached that goal was to make being a jedi very difficult. You have to unlock a "force-sensitive" character slot in order to have a chance at even making a jedi character, and the idea is that the imperials (who are headed up by Darth Vader and The Emperor) want to hunt down and kill all other jedi, because they see all other jedi as opposition. (One of the features that was cut, I mean, delayed until after launch, was evil jedi characters. So you can only be a jedi of the peaceful, zen-thinking, Alec Guinness variety at launch.)

So, if your question was about why, exactly, the Imperials would want to hunt down jedi, it was apparently part of the designers' way of making jedi characters extremely rare, and apparently, the idea of having the Empire ruthlessly hunting down other jedi was considered acceptable within Star Wars canon.

[Sean Tudor]

Personally, I've never paid for an MMOG, and I never will. The very nature of the gameplay -- regardless of the universe -- bores me to tears. Not to mention the fact I'm a cheap bastard, and see no reason to pony up $10-$20/month to play a game online. I have plenty of other, more exciting/stimulating/challenging/etc. games I can play online for free.

I'm with you Gladguy. MMOG's are nothing but a huge money sink. And if I want levelling I can always fire up my Diablo II or NWN without having to put up with anti-social PK morons ruining my gaming experience.

[Anonymous]

i have a question, how do u make something rare in a video game?

what i mean is how do u make a jedi rare? especially in the freaky socially aborted geek kingdom that is the mmog?

[Xaroc]

Personally, I've never paid for an MMOG, and I never will. The very nature of the gameplay -- regardless of the universe -- bores me to tears. Not to mention the fact I'm a cheap bastard, and see no reason to pony up $10-$20/month to play a game online. I have plenty of other, more exciting/stimulating/challenging/etc. games I can play online for free.

I'm with you Gladguy. MMOG's are nothing but a huge money sink. And if I want levelling I can always fire up my Diablo II or NWN without having to put up with anti-social PK morons ruining my gaming experience.

I have run into a few anti-social people but in most MMOGs you can't just PK anyone you please. you have to go out of your way to play on a PK server or turn on a PK flag or go to the designated PvP area or duel someone before you would be in harms way. I had a far worse time with Diablo and PKs to the point of only playing on passworded servers. People who pay a monthly fee and could lose their account and all that time invested are far less likely to mess with you than some punk with nothing to lose on Bnet.

I am not trying to convince you to play MMOGs but that reason is totally unfounded and patently false for any game other than maybe UO.

-- Xaroc

[Anonymous]

i have a question, how do u make something rare in a video game?

what i mean is how do u make a jedi rare? especially in the freaky socially aborted geek kingdom that is the mmog?

I just...posted a big long explanation of how the developers are trying to do this. If you want, you can scroll up a couple posts and see.

I'm with you Gladguy. MMOG's are nothing but a huge money sink. And if I want levelling I can always fire up my Diablo II or NWN without having to put up with anti-social PK morons ruining my gaming experience.

I have run into a few anti-social people but in most MMOGs you can't just PK anyone you please. I am not trying to convince you to play MMOGs but that reason is totally unfounded and patently false for any game other than maybe UO.

Xaroc is entirely correct, and Sean and Gladguy may be out of the loop as far as PK/PVP (player-killing, player-versus-player combat) goes in online RPGs. Ultima Online was a pathological example of how freeform PVP can ruin everyone's day if anyone can walk up to you and PK you, so EVERY SINGLE ONLINE RPG after UO has made PK/PVP optional, in many cases making PK/PVP nearly impossible to do, depending on what server you play on. In most online RPGs since 1999, you have to either sign on to play a PVP-specific server (where PVP rules are turned on for all players), or enter into a PVP-specific area, like an arena, or the frontier areas of Dark Age of Camelot. The majority of people who play online RPGs today fear and hate PVP, and they don't participate in it because they don't have to. In other words, the days of the "anti-social PK" are over, at least until Shadowbane, Ubi Soft's full-PVP online RPG, finally comes out. In other words, the days of the "anti-social PK" are over.

[Robert Sharp]

And why badmouth MMORPGs in the first place? If you have played them and don't like them, fine. If you haven't played them, you are right--you DON'T know what the value of them can be. I have enjoyed several of these games, and they are VERY different from playing a single-player game. Knowing that so many of the other characters in the world are actual people changes things a lot. Most of them are interested in the same thing you are, which is social interaction and having a good time, within the rules. Some are idiots, but I haven't run into that many annoying people actually. These games are getting better at handling such people too, which helps.

I don't buy the argument that there is no room for more MMOGs either. People said that when Anarchy Online and DAoC came out, but both seem to be doing well enough. Will games ever reach EQ proportions again...well, percentage-wise, probably not. But c'mon. Having 100K subscribers paying you $10-$15 a month to play, on TOP of the $50 for the orginal game, is pretty good. I think you could make some money in that scenario. Once the world is set up, the costs aren't as bad as some might think. Plus, more people are getting into gaming, many because of online gaming, whichis apparently all sexy right now.

SWG has a pretty good chance for success, IF the developers do it justice.

[Qenan]

]Maybe I missed something, but if you can't have vehicles and space craft, whats the fucking point then of this SW themed MMOG?

Um, maybe because the rest looks fun? I'm not a space sim fan. I couldn't care less about vehicles and space craft. I just want an interesting setting with varied, interesting things to do with other people.

I admit I'm not a Star Wars fan, but I still have some interest in the game.

[Rywill]

I really don't get the Gladguy/Sean Tudor argument. My experience has been that, assuming you cancel the MMOG once you're sick of it, MMOGs provide more bang-for-the-buck than other types of games. For example, I played EQ for like 10 months, and I think I only bought one or two other games during that time (whereas I normally buy a new game every 4-6 weeks). If I can get a month's worth of entertainment from EQ or DAOC for $10 (or $12, or $15), that's way better than blowing $50 on a new game. If your argument is "Yeah, but I wouldn't be blowing $50 on a new game either, because I'd just play multiplayer games with the stuff I already have," then your argument has nothing to do with MMOGs, because ANY money you spend on computer games is "wasted" by that logic (and, in fact, MMOGs would still be a better value because you waste less money that way than you would by buying new games).

I guess maybe it's that you don't buy new games that often? I dunno. They always seemed like a great value to me.