Story diversity is a lie

It does seem that way for a lot of people.

Most people I know in this game have more than 2 level 50s... what are you talking about? Just spacebar through the story and go grind on some mobs, this is nothing different from WoW. By the 8th time I was doing the same quests in the same order in Borean Tundra, I wanted to die. THIS IS NO DIFFERENT.

So, if you're not looking to troll, what with the out-of-context signature? If that's not a prime example of trolling, I don't know what is.

Funny how you just chopped of the next sentence: "It's been a big challenge making sure that we can put in all of those features into our game at game launch or shortly thereafter."

You do realize that it would be impossible to add entirely different stories and missions for each class right? That would be like a whole seperate game and would double the amount it costs to make it, do you use your brain at all?

The features are not in, and they are not going in shortly thereafter. At best a few may go in at 1.2, but its not looking promising.
I dont think I can fit the entire article in my sig, but feel free to go look at the interview yourself, of do you think people cant do that?

I'm not looking to troll.

I'm quite prepared to accept you have fun with the game, and I respect your reasons for doing so.

Personally I am disappointed that a supposedly AAA mmo is lacking in so many features and polish that it feels like it belongs in 2004 not 2011. I am disappointed that a star wars MMO of such promise turned out like this.

If you cant handle that, fine, if you disagree fine. Dont accuse people of trolling. Or shall I just call you a biodrone fanboi?

This is one of the basic issues that prevents clear communication on the topic; some people are thinking of mechanics but speaking about stories.

The simple facts are these: mechanically, there are only a limited number of ways we can interact with the world in SWTOR, and there are only a limited number of ways that these interactions can be described.

We can:

* Kill things
* Click on things
* Talk to people (click on them)
* Move around
* Use our character's skills
* Pilot vehicles
* Yeah, that's about it really.

Mechanically speaking, every single quest in game involves some combination of the above. There's no real getting around this, either; these limitations are quite common and every MMO works with and around them.

From a narrative point of view, there are similar restrictions once your perspective is wide enough. If you want to make things abstract enough, there are only a few basic types of quests in RPGs, overall (e.g. the FedEx quest, kill 10 rats, etc).

Put another way, in SWTOR, you're going to take a LOT of shields down, and put data spikes in a LOT of computers, because those are common ways to interpret "player clicks on item".

What differentiates these quests from each other, most especially in SWTOR, is the story; the wrapper. How well does that work? Well, it really comes down to how much attention you pay to it; the more you care about the story, the more difference it'll have in your game. If the story is fairly irrelevant to you, then yes, from a perspective sufficiently abstracted into game design, every quest in SWTOR is the same as every other quest. The same is true in WoW, and LotRO, and AoC, and WAR, and DCUO, and every other MMO.

I like to duo with a good friend of mine. Although I have other chars, I've run a Sith Juggernaught with his Sith Sorcerer (both dark side), and a Sith Sage with his Sith Guardian (both light side), and I can say that the stories are absolutely, positively different to me. Not only is the SW story dissimilar from the SI story, but the mirror classes aren't mirrored at all from a narrative point of view.

To get into specifics...

There's a reason why even the class quests are so similar, and it's at the core of the game. This is a multiplayer game. Some people do actually level with friends.

My main is a Marauder, my girlfriend's main is an Operative. If we want to level together, how exactly are we going to do that if her class quest chain takes her to Tatooine and my same-level class quest chain takes me to Quesh? If we go to two different planets, there's no way we can effectively quest and level together.

Ok, so now we're both on Tatooine. What if her class quest chain takes her to the far East side of the planet, while mine takes me to the far West? And the non-class quests on that planet take us to the far North? That still gets annoying to quest together, as we spend a lot more time traveling just so one or the other of us can get our class quests out of the way.

So, now we're both in the same building. How different can you make things when each class progresses through the exact same locations at the exact same time? Bioware's answer is phasing, and to the extent it's been implemented so far I think it's at least decent.

Sure, there could be more diversity in class quest objectives, but to keep it an experience that can be enjoyed by multiple people simultaneously, there has to be a certain level of consistency - at least in objective location.

There IS some differentiation in class quest objectives when transitioning between planets. For example:



I understand that more diversity is always good, but anyone who thinks this game has less replay value than some other MMOs is being disingenuous, intentionally or otherwise.

"Don't accuse people of trolling?"

Do you even know what trolling is? Is blatantly obvious that you're doing it. You're quoting people out of context in an attempt to get an emotional reaction. That's a textbook definition.

You can call it something else if it makes you feel better, but that's exactly what it is. And if you want to call me a "biodrone fanboy" for pointing out such an obvious fact (even though I haven't said anything to you about Bioware, or how much I do or do not enjoy this game -- all I've done is expose that your quote is taken out of context), well, that would be another obvious example of trolling, wouldn't it?

I don't really have a problem with you finding fault with the game; I do too. But at least be honest about what you're doing.

Haha, my sentiments exactly, i mean just look at his post history, everything checks out

No. You may feel that, and fine thats ok, but please dont pretent to know my thinking.

I quote that as I think its a relevant point. I think Ohlen himself if correct. Players dont understand.

This forum is full of, how shall we put this....slightly rabid supporters of swtor? who use the tired "its only just released" and "you cant compare it to XXXmmo, its been out XXyears, you need to give SWTOR time" arguements. Which that quote from Ohlen shows is NOT BWs approach.

Thats why its my sig. It shows BW dont think that way.

Now you can disagree with whether its fully featured, or whether features will come "soonTM" or not, But thats your opinion, I am entitled to mine.

I do worry that you call people trolls based on your own interpretation of a quote of Ohlen himself. Defensive much?