SWTOR. Too much theme park?

Deleted. No point. Everyone is TLDR these days. +See Sig.

Deleted. No point. Everyone is TLDR these days. +See Sig.

Or, is it something else? It’s an honest question. Note you’re talking to a guy that still uses VCR tapes, so, I’m actually asking PLEASE talk down to me very slowly. Not ironic. I won’t get it otherwise.

(Sidebar = You’re talking to a guy that thinks shadows of any kind in a game are “fluff”, to give you the level of tech impairment I have…)

Anyways, I’d be happy to understand the problem with load screens. (Tons of them in EQ and COH… my only prior experience…and they don't bother me at all. It's not immersive. It's a necessary (?) evil. I least how I understand them.)[/QUOTE]

Great posts.

I actually agree with what you said about about the actual communication that Bioware has delivered concerning issues such as the themepark design. They have made it clear that this was their design, and that they don't want to change the fundamentals.

I guess it will remain to be seen if it stays "our way or the highway," and also how long this is true. You made a great case for why it is probable that they will not bend, and I am glad you mentioned your forum activity on CoH. I can only say that I hope this is an example of apples and oranges for my sake. I'm ambivalent about the comparison because on the one hand it was another MMO, and on the other there are a lot of other variables.

People complain about the "negative posts" on this site, but if you go elsewhere it is much worse. This may be evidence of a case building against the status quo that may result in some sort of compromise.

This game holds the only license for a Star Wars MMO that is likely to be active for a long time. As a fan of both Star Wars and MMOs I am a bit stranded here. I am not planning on leaving the game, I just want more from it.

This isn't a themepark MMO. It's more a Guided Tour MMO. In a Themepark, you have a choice of rides and order to take those rides in. In a Guided tour, you're led around by the nose from one exhibit to the next, kind of like TOR here.

In WoW (A game I detest, but is valid for this particular point) you are given a choice along the way about which zone you want to go to in order to level. Shall you level in Arathi Highlands? Maybe do a bit of Desolace?

Same with EQ2. In that game I had three or more zones at a time to choose from each with their own overall feel and narrative.

In TOR, after you get off the starter planet it's the same linear path every single time.

So like I said. Guided Tour.

The game is getting better. The upcoming improvements will make the game better.
Ill say this tho. If they delay the 1.2 patch unsub. Its a total theme park ride. Space combat is on rails. Its like the free games in GTA4. Why are there only like 3 people in Illum. Is that map in beta? When i go there its a ghost town. Its a broken game till its fixed.

I voted for SWG 2.

Could the "themepark is great/sandbox sucks poster" please in own words explain both concepts and why sandbox is completely awful and why themepark is the best thing since sliced bread, and why a hybrid MMO would not be possible.

Who says story/cutscenes are not possible in a sandbox?
Who says flashpoints and warzones are not possible in a sandbox?
Who says Raids/Operations would not be possible in a sandbox?

Do you realize that the empty server problems could never happen in a sandbox because they are connected in a shard system?

Do you realize that the heavy instancing is necessary because of way too small planet maps, with only one small city area per "planet" which would never offer enough space for so many people in a sandbox?

Do you realize that theme park design is a lot less work and less game design effort than creating a lifelike, believable sandbox universe?

No I mean people that when faced with the criticism that, say, orbital stations and such were basically an artefact of the story telling cutscene system (which you then had to live with forever after the one time they were actually used) tried to claim that said extra loading screen were there for extra immersion.

SWTOR is bizarre in that, epecially in the first few months, you couldn't criticise any aspect of the game (no matter how constructively) without being mobbed.

Even stuff that was later changed to be pretty good (the cool down system) was orginally defended like it was the second comming.

There were quite a lot of suggestions about how those loading screens could be mitigated, but sadly I think most people have now either left or just got used to them (ironically a lot of the "defenders" seem to have left the game now too).

But people trying to claim they were somehow an improvement over older MMORPGs were just being well..... silly and frankly hurting SWTOR (the cool down system would never have been changed to be as good as it is, if those same people had been listened too).

Deleted. No point. Everyone is TLDR these days. +See Sig.

Deleted. No point. Everyone is TLDR these days. +See Sig.