Please upgrade your browser for the best possible experience.

Chrome Firefox Internet Explorer
×

The Planets Feel Too Static


Page 10 of 12 « First < 8 9 10 11 12 >

Caramel_Ham's Avatar


Caramel_Ham
01.20.2012 , 04:39 PM | #91
I thought it weird that the drones didnt come trolling into this thread....then i reached page 6...yup, sure enough, they smelled it.

This thread is just a repeat of other past threads i've read and posted constructive criticism in...only to be closed/forgotten because the trolls came in.

A short list of the problems that lead to the world feeling dead:

1)Mobs stand there waiting to be killed.
2)Nothing going on in the world as you pass by
3)single player designed worlds
4)sharding
5)day/night cycles
6)Most NPC's doing absolutely nothing

A forum member, who i dont remember the name, expressed the feeling as if BW had put the game on "pause" which i do agree with.

BW has shown that they are listening to the players. Hope that BW has listened and has put this problem on their list.

Kharvok's Avatar


Kharvok
01.20.2012 , 04:46 PM | #92
The easiest way I know to sum it up is this.

The planets do not feel so much like a "world". They are far more like static "maps". They are highly restrictive. This is not a feature of modern MMO's. They really missed the mark with this part of the game.


I would kill for World of Warcraft or Darkfall world design in this game. TOR just simply plays too much like a single player game. The single player elements are then half-done because of the restriction of the game being an MMO (ie. character dialogue choices not having effect on the game enviorment) This is why once I level to 50, I most likely won't be sticking around.



EDIT: Also, I absolutely abhor "sharding".

Tal-N's Avatar


Tal-N
01.20.2012 , 04:58 PM | #93
Just for the record, day and night cycles would add absolutely nothing to my enjoyment of the game. Seeing more NPC activity however would.

eimi's Avatar


eimi
01.20.2012 , 05:00 PM | #94
Quote: Originally Posted by Kharvok View Post
The easiest way I know to sum it up is this.

The planets do not feel so much like a "world". They are far more like static "maps". They are highly restrictive. This is not a feature of modern MMO's. They really missed the mark with this part of the game.


I would kill for World of Warcraft or Darkfall world design in this game. TOR just simply plays too much like a single player game. The single player elements are then half-done because of the restriction of the game being an MMO (ie. character dialogue choices not having effect on the game enviorment) This is why once I level to 50, I most likely won't be sticking around.



EDIT: Also, I absolutely abhor "sharding".
What seems wierd to me is that AoC, despite alot of the early maps being restrictive and linear, manages to feel much more alive and part of a world than TOR. I mention this because they are both recent mmos, so easier to compare than like FFXI, and they both are cut by loading screens. Yet AoC manages to make the world feel lived in, and part of an actual environment, whereas TOR I never felt like any place was anything other than a place for me to kill things for the purposes of leveling up.

I wish I could easily pin it down to one thing, and I want to say its because mobs only exist for quests, quests are extremely organized to the point that you go to a location, get quests to kill things immediately outside, then proceed to location b to repeat ad infinitum.

SnakeBites's Avatar


SnakeBites
01.20.2012 , 05:03 PM | #95
I agree with the OP here.

I can't quite put my finger on why the worlds feel dull & lifeless to me.

The only reasons i can come up with are:

-Lack of ambient music,
-Lack environmental sounds
-Too many loading screens
-Many of the mobs are static

Daemonjax's Avatar


Daemonjax
01.20.2012 , 05:04 PM | #96
Quote: Originally Posted by HiddenPalm View Post
A cool trick I like to do is set my LOD to -3. I use ATI Tray tools. Nvidia has another tool. This actually allows for the floors and walls in buildings and ships to become reflective, which is cool. There is an article on it in swtorstrategies.com
I don't understand how people can do that in games, and not notice the horrible texture shimmering and moire effects it produces.

Upping your AF up from 8x to 16x will increase surface reflectivity in games. Too much, imo.

carnac_fett's Avatar


carnac_fett
01.20.2012 , 05:10 PM | #97
This issue is the main reason I didn't renew my subscription.

I'm a huge fan of atmosphere in games. If a game can immerse me in the world, I'm more likely to want to remain in it for a long time.

SWTOR has a great story component but is horrifically lacking in atmosphere.

I was smack dab in the middle of Tatooine when it really struck me. I was standing in a quest hub, a bustling city, and there was no sound. Occasionally another player would run by and activate an ability that made noise, or zoom past on their speeder, but aside from that I couldn't hear a damn thing. No desert wind, no jawa chatter, no industrial noises coming from the spaceport behind me.

I can recall the ambient noise from pretty much any region in World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings Online. The dry, dusty wind of the Barrens or the howling wind and shivering branches of Mirkwood.

But SWTOR is so lifeless. Combat sounds great with plenty of laser noises and explosions, but when you're just kind of running around, all you can hear are your own footsteps. It got to me after a while.
Safeguard - Jedi Guardian - Harbinger (US)

SnakeBites's Avatar


SnakeBites
01.20.2012 , 05:13 PM | #98
Quote: Originally Posted by carnac_fett View Post
This issue is the main reason I didn't renew my subscription.

I'm a huge fan of atmosphere in games. If a game can immerse me in the world, I'm more likely to want to remain in it for a long time.

SWTOR has a great story component but is horrifically lacking in atmosphere.

I was smack dab in the middle of Tatooine when it really struck me. I was standing in a quest hub, a bustling city, and there was no sound. Occasionally another player would run by and activate an ability that made noise, or zoom past on their speeder, but aside from that I couldn't hear a damn thing. No desert wind, no jawa chatter, no industrial noises coming from the spaceport behind me.

I can recall the ambient noise from pretty much any region in World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings Online. The dry, dusty wind of the Barrens or the howling wind and shivering branches of Mirkwood.

But SWTOR is so lifeless. Combat sounds great with plenty of laser noises and explosions, but when you're just kind of running around, all you can hear are your own footsteps. It got to me after a while.
This is pretty much how i feel.

owenthorn's Avatar


owenthorn
01.20.2012 , 05:15 PM | #99
it is a lie, they aren't really planets, they are small areas of a map, called a planet, since you only do something in this one area, never run over the whole planet, then leave the planet for a new area

Stenrik's Avatar


Stenrik
01.20.2012 , 05:23 PM | #100
Quote: Originally Posted by SDCowboy View Post
A lot of it is just the problem with a scifi setting. They feel cold, dead and lifeless. It's one of the reasons fantasy settings typically make much better MMOs.
As a sci-fi fan I have often expressed frustration that there's such an imbalance of fantasy to scifi in mmo's. I think that, besides being easily dated, scifi definitely is vulnerable to looking sterile.

However I think that man-made objects can just as easily sparkle with life if done right.

How about:
--Little hoverdroids, apparently cameras or something for communication. Not attackable, just occupying manmade areas like wildlife.
--Make the lights that line so many corridors and doorways blink a bit, or at least brighten and dim.
--Have distant lit windows in the cities occasionally turn on or off.
--NPC's on speeders going down the roads. (I remember wondering at all the wide roads in Ord Mantell but with nobody using them.)

For those who think this would stress some people's systems, how about an "ambient occupants" checkbox or something.
Page 10 of 12 « First < 8 9 10 11 12 >

Reply
STAR WARS: The Old Republic > English > General Discussion
Terms Archive | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | FAQ | EUALA | Rules of Conduct | Online Safety | Contact Us
LucasArts, the LucasArts logo, STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks in the United States and/or in other countries of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © 2011-2012 Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. or Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. BioWare and the BioWare logo are trademarks of EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. EA and the EA logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.