I sometimes struggle to immerse myself in the game bacause of the odd little thing that happens that reminds me that this is a game, and not in the 4th wall breaking kind of way. So here is a list of hopefully minor things that can be done to make the game feel more real and more alive.

-Hitboxes that match objects (I have always wondered what sort of wall penetrating material speeders are made of)

-A little bit more random dialogue (Hutta felt real because people talked, not just awkwardly stood near eachother)

-A bit of rain/snow (how that snow on Alderaan has stayed there for so long I have no idea)

These are the only two I can think of right now but I am sure there are more... so suggest away! Try to make these SMALL THINGS.

The small thing that bugs the devil out of me, that would help is not having twins and triplets of npcs hanging about. They're all freaking identical! They could mix up the appearances of the npcs a bit better.

Surely if they're going to have 3 dudes standing together, they could atleast make them look different, or be different species.

The small thing that bugs the devil out of me, that would help is not having twins and triplets of npcs hanging about. They're all freaking identical! They could mix up the appearances of the npcs a bit better.

 

Surely if they're going to have 3 dudes standing together, they could atleast make them look different, or be different species.

Haha, I noticed this too. They didn't really use many different faces for the NPCs. When I first started the Makeb storyline with my Jedi Knight I picked all the flirt options with the main female NPC just out of habit because she looked so much like Kira Carsen.

Haha, I noticed this too. They didn't really use many different faces for the NPCs. When I first started the Makeb storyline with my Jedi Knight I picked all the flirt options with the main female NPC just out of habit because she looked so much like Kira Carsen.

Yeah, they do recycle characters faces alot, but when there are only so many to choose from...and at least half of them are 'kill it with fire' ugly...it doesn't leave alot of options lol.

This topic reminds me a lenghty post I made long time ago:

• The little things that tickles you while playing.
  
• Taxi cost is 10 times the space ship fuel cost to go from one planet to the other
  
• You can have Sith corruption on non force user characters
  
• Your ship leaves the planet when you speak to the door* (enters it).
  
• We can Holocom from anywhere but not manage emails the same way nor even browse the GTN either. So much for an advanced civilization.
  
• We can force choke or nut kick droids or even force slap turrets.
  
• Most Sith choices are about greed or fame.
  
• Texts display of dialog choices too often does not fit the spoken lines
  
• Using a lift pops up a select destination when there's only one,
  
• Non force user companions can also combat jump with as good skills
  
• Melee characters needs to keep running between mobs without a boost to compensate the needs to do so versus ranged characters.
  
• We find rare crystal nodes and artifacts in the open next to main roads.
  
• There's no distinctive icon for all various resource nodes
  
• There's no scale consistency on the maps
  
• You "can" fly over a planet but you have a fog of war on the world map
  
• Taxi use the exact same route for return travel meaning you always hit someone else coming from the same direction.
  
• A one foot rock will stop your hovering speeding bike like you hit a wall
  
• Falling down from 6 feet on a hovering speeder bike will hurt your character.
  
• You can't force jump or use jetpacks without actually attacking something
  
• Realistically speaking It's impossible to fight with the shoulder flaps
  
• Companions always gets in your way
  
• Name tags are always on top of all others graphics and there's no hot key toggle
  
• It's faster to dismiss and summon your companion than to heal it
  
• Managing mods between the character and companions requests you to write them down on a sheet of paper.
  
• You can't deactivate a saber blade in combat would you like it to
  
• Your companions can sell grey stuff but they can't sell anything else
  
• Gear vendor prices aren't written in your inventory
  
• Can't on click equip an item to a companion nor compare gear to non summoned companions either
  
• Mobs and NPCs standing still. They are lifeless. Just standing there, chilling and doing
  
• nothing.
  
• Any NPC can request a Sith lord (you) to sweep the floor for them
  
• A Moff emails you a few hundreds credits as reward... for saving a planet/the galaxy...
  
• Officers instead of grunts wears ammo bandoleer
  
• Trading with a vendor does not open inventory tab by default but last used one
  
• Some light weapon based weapons have recoil and Sniper animations include working a bolt action on the rifle, even though it doesn't need to chamber a new round.
  
• On taxi rides you are in the driver's seat but can't do anything.
  

Actually most of this made me cry at the time, now I don't care anymore and even laugh about some of them.

The small thing that bugs the devil out of me, that would help is not having twins and triplets of npcs hanging about. They're all freaking identical! They could mix up the appearances of the npcs a bit better.

 

Surely if they're going to have 3 dudes standing together, they could atleast make them look different, or be different species.

-------> Clone tech was alive and well way back in the timeline we are playing in. And honestly... random scrubs standing around are perfect for placements of clones IMO.

The small thing that bugs the devil out of me, that would help is not having twins and triplets of npcs hanging about. They're all freaking identical! They could mix up the appearances of the npcs a bit better.

 

Surely if they're going to have 3 dudes standing together, they could atleast make them look different, or be different species.

Check out that cantina on coruscant... It seems to be made up almost entirely of twins and triplets.

I mean; I get it. It's a quick and easy way to do it.

But at least mix it up a bit and put one of the twins in the other end ofthe cantina...

I blame a rushed schedual and launch. They most likely were meant to be placeholders but they never got around to changing them.

-------> Clone tech was alive and well way back in the timeline we are playing in. And honestly... random scrubs standing around are perfect for placements of clones IMO.

LOL, yeah, but you'd think when they're in a pub, they might want to move about and mingle with other groups of scrubs. Guess they're a bit xenophobic lol.

Check out that cantina on coruscant... It seems to be made up almost entirely of twins and triplets.

 

I mean; I get it. It's a quick and easy way to do it.

But at least mix it up a bit and put one of the twins in the other end ofthe cantina...

 

I blame a rushed schedual and launch. They most likely were meant to be placeholders but they never got around to changing them.

Most likely that's what happened. It would be nice if they mixed them up a little bit, sometime, when they're feeling creative. Never know, it could happen. I liked when they replaced the approach to fleet...I'm rather hoping they'd update the other planets too. When they're doing this, they could also scramble up the npc twins and trips.

This topic reminds me a lenghty post I made long time ago:

 

• 
  ...
  

 

Actually most of this made me cry at the time, now I don't care anymore and even laugh about some of them.

Great list!

I'd like to add:

• The interface is blue. BLUE. For sith, smuggler, agent, sentinel, bountyhunter ... everyone
  

Totally minor... but UGH!

I hate the fact that my character can't walk up some slopes. Seriously, step up! The same goes for pipes and some small ramps.

I disagree about sith corruption though - it's actually dark side corruption, so I don't think it should be limited to sith. Anyone who does evil things should get it, in a reality where the force affects everyone.

moving npc's are a must.

i was on corelia the other day and i for the first time noticed that a speeder was moving down the road on the game and i was like "wow actual movement"

IMO once these 2 exp for this year are done (lets face it they aint gonna abandon them now) they should focus on improving the galaxy with more immerse npc's and weather or day/night cycles less static worlds and more alive worlds.

You know, for a company that praises itself on storytelling, they sure made a very dead and unimmersive world.

They copy+pasted practicly the entire game. Same space ports everywhere, same space stations, NPC's often are either twins or look rather odd.. like imperial officers with goth make up, long loose hair and other such stuff which wouldnt be tolerated by a strict regime.

Also.. we are just running through basic dungeons the entire game. No fort, base, house, sewer, etc. seems to ever be any kind of realistic. Its all just hallways with sometimes stairs or a larger room. Its only some slight decorations and the skin on the walls that tells you wether its a sewer or a house.

No sane person would ever build a fort or base the way they get build in TOR.

Dont think I ever saw a house that was actually believeable as a house.. it tends to be just an empty room with a table and a bed.

Sorry, but KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect series, and even Neverwinter Nights all gave more of an impression of lively places. Often the same bland interiours and no believeable houses, but people seemed more active. In NWN they'd even tell you to "stop waving your weapon around like a thug!" if you walk with your weapons drawn.

Looks like Arenanet is better at storytelling than Bioware, even while GW2 has terrible class stories. The world is alive at least, and it changes. NPC's do stuff instead of waiting for players to walk past and do their work. You need to help them to succeed but still, they take some darn initiative.

Brings me to another point: EVERYONE IS JUST SO INBELIEVABLY INCOMETENT!

Its rediculous.. I know that the player should be the hero, but you arent much of a hero when everyone else is braindead. Most of the time you are doing other people their jobs in this game.

Bioware writers, world designers: George R R martin is your new god. Follow his lead and start writing characters and settings that are believeable instead of giving us all this saturday morning cartoon garbage.

Or make a game thats for ages 6-12 instead of 16+

What the hell happened to the KOTOR writers? that game had a mature feel to it. Realistic people, with realistic problems. It didnt shy away from a little mature humor. Such as it being hinted at that a woman used her droid sexually. NPC's werent complete morons, and villains where not cartoon villains with doomsday weapons.

You know, for a company that praises itself on storytelling, they sure made a very dead and unimmersive world.

 

They copy+pasted practicly the entire game. Same space ports everywhere, same space stations, NPC's often are either twins or look rather odd.. like imperial officers with goth make up, long loose hair and other such stuff which wouldnt be tolerated by a strict regime.

 

Also.. we are just running through basic dungeons the entire game. No fort, base, house, sewer, etc. seems to ever be any kind of realistic. Its all just hallways with sometimes stairs or a larger room. Its only some slight decorations and the skin on the walls that tells you wether its a sewer or a house.

No sane person would ever build a fort or base the way they get build in TOR.

 

Dont think I ever saw a house that was actually believeable as a house.. it tends to be just an empty room with a table and a bed.

 

Sorry, but KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect series, and even Neverwinter Nights all gave more of an impression of lively places. Often the same bland interiours and no believeable houses, but people seemed more active. In NWN they'd even tell you to "stop waving your weapon around like a thug!" if you walk with your weapons drawn.

 

Looks like Arenanet is better at storytelling than Bioware, even while GW2 has terrible class stories. The world is alive at least, and it changes. NPC's do stuff instead of waiting for players to walk past and do their work. You need to help them to succeed but still, they take some darn initiative.

 

Brings me to another point: EVERYONE IS JUST SO INBELIEVABLY INCOMETENT!

Its rediculous.. I know that the player should be the hero, but you arent much of a hero when everyone else is braindead. Most of the time you are doing other people their jobs in this game.

 

Bioware writers, world designers: George R R martin is your new god. Follow his lead and start writing characters and settings that are believeable instead of giving us all this saturday morning cartoon garbage.

Or make a game thats for ages 6-12 instead of 16+

 

What the hell happened to the KOTOR writers? that game had a mature feel to it. Realistic people, with realistic problems. It didnt shy away from a little mature humor. Such as it being hinted at that a woman used her droid sexually. NPC's werent complete morons, and villains where not cartoon villains with doomsday weapons.

Four years ago I was visiting friends at Ubisoft and met one of their colleague who told us he was in the process of highlighting to the senior producers how important it would be to add architects, historians, even people like geologists as consultants on the projects.

Funny thing is just before that I was just telling to my friends how this was totally lacking in too many games.

Then SWTOR launched and well we noticed how unconsistent was the polishing of the game, especially the fact that nothing was nicely tied together and too many things made no sense at all. OK the game was rushed out of the door.

One could argue in Sci-Fi you can do anything you want, still the human brains needs to tie elements to things he can relate and makes sense to it.

For example if you've been in the army and look at most the military outposts in SWTOR none of them pass the reality check test.

Another example is in the trailer not only it's totally stupid for a Trooper to drop his weapon and charge a Sith with... a knife but it's not better to leave a higher position to jump into melee with the enemy especially when they are expert at close combat.

Now if you look carefully into the SW movies, especially the first ones (episodes IV-VI), you'd see how detailed and "logic" is everything. You can feel thousands of hours have been spent to tie everything nicely.

Then if you had the luck to check out the real stuff, for exemple @the SW identities expo (pics), you'll realize even more how detailed is everything.

So much that one could think this stuff is actually functioning.

Note: for Han fans check out his belt and even more his pants if you want to see the real stuff

I personally loved the speeder bike details.

Then it reminds me how Daniel Erickson explained how they had meeting with all the writers and if, for example, they did not see Vader doing it in RL, it would not be in game. To end with NPCs asking Sith Lords to sweep the floor for them...

Pretty sure the writers are sad of too many of the dialog in this game.

Anyway it's just a game but well sometimes it hurts that it's supposedly set in a SW galaxy.