*Reposting this here because it is impossible to have a discussion in general chat at the momemnt*

 

I just reached level 16 as a Trooper and was given my starship. Zero fanfare or sense of achievement. Just a nonchalant "Hey take this thing". Minutes earlier I sat through line after line of boring voice over for glorified kill quests spread throughout an unnecessarily massive area of lower Coruscant. This all got me thinking about the main feature of this "story" driven MMO.

 

Is the trooper class quest more boring than the others? Is every class this way? Does a Jedi defeat a Sith Lord only for the quest giver to say "Yea that was cool, go do it again on the next planet". I thought the class stories were supposed to make this game unique and interesting. At this rate the class quests are like every other quest in the game, except they don't end. I would roll another character in a heartbeat if I were told that his mindless dribble doesn't extend to every other class story.

As much as I hate to admit it, it's very difficult to make every second of a story completely engaging and awesome, but the way you relate, it would seem there's a serious lack of imagination in areas that I'd expect would be fulfilling and game-changing.

As much as I hate to admit it, it's very difficult to make every second of a story completely engaging and awesome, but the way you relate, it would seem there's a serious lack of imagination in areas that I'd expect would be fulfilling and game-changing.

 

I understand not every moment can be engaging and awesome. But certain moments should be. And by level 16 and all the "events" in the Trooper's story before that point nothing really is. There is one "eh, didn't expect that". Other than that it is typical military fanfare blah blah blah crap. The only relation this class quest has to the star wars universe is their ample use of the word republic in every single line of dialogue.

Well the Sith Inquisitor's storyline has you looking for parts of a thing to construct to make it do something that has something to do with you, and in order to get the parts of the thing, you get your ship and you have to travel around to different planets, sure, this is basic, but it's Chapter 1, I suppose different things will happen in different chapters.

 

Besides, I don't know if you realise this but the Jedi don't like the Sith, so a Jedi killing a high-up Sith would be a perfectly understandable piece of storyline... It's not just jump there, kill him, jump away, you're forgetting the build up to this event which usually involves something more complex e.g. A S.I quest was to get a device in order to weaken the guy that you need to kill, and to get the device, you had to go through a lot of ****.

 

My vagueness was there fo' a reason, I wanted to avoid the Spoiler things that give things away to people who didn't know them things.

I made it to 16 Sith Warrior during the thanksgiving "beta" and was thoroughly enthralled.

I made it to 14 Smuggler yesterday and feel the same way. I like the story so far, it makes sense, I feel like I am doing something other than "go kill 20 random creatures". Right now I am

 

Edited December 15, 2011 by Artthen
added spoiler tags

Well the Sith Inquisitor's storyline has you looking for parts of a thing to construct to make it do something that has something to do with you, and in order to get the parts of the thing, you get your ship and you have to travel around to different planets, sure, this is basic, but it's Chapter 1, I suppose different things will happen in different chapters.

 

Besides, I don't know if you realise this but the Jedi don't like the Sith, so a Jedi killing a high-up Sith would be a perfectly understandable piece of storyline... It's not just jump there, kill him, jump away, you're forgetting the build up to this event which usually involves something more complex e.g. A S.I quest was to get a device in order to weaken the guy that you need to kill, and to get the device, you had to go through a lot of ****.

 

My vagueness was there fo' a reason, I wanted to avoid the Spoiler things that give things away to people who didn't know them things.

 

 

It is a reasonable quest to go on but you are still doing the typical MMO thing the entire time. I don't know what I was expecting but I might have set the bar too high. Our class quests are kill and gather quests like everything else. I don't even know what I would suggest as an alternative, I left that up to the game developers.

Only got a ship for my agent in Beta - but must admit I also expected a big story surrounding such an event and was slightly disappointed. Fully expected I would be bugging a ship that takes off forcing me to hack the droid, kill the pilot and take the ship for the glory of the Empire. Or possibly track and defeat a rogue agent and be given the skip as a hush hush for not telling anyone how our enemy betrayed us.

 

I got a tiny cutscene with no story at all basically. Yes - it felt like an oversight considering the story surrounding every other little thing I did.

 

Also confused as to why I was being given a spaceship at 16 yet had to wait unttil 25 and xxxx amount of money for a land vehicle. Surely even in a galaxy far far away interstellar space ships are more expensive than speeder bikes?

Only got a ship for my agent in Beta - but must admit I also expected a big story surrounding such an event and was slightly disappointed. Fully expected I would be bugging a ship that takes off forcing me to hack the droid, kill the pilot and take the ship for the glory of the Empire. Or possibly track and defeat a rogue agent and be given the skip as a hush hush for not telling anyone how our enemy betrayed us.

 

I got a tiny cutscene with no story at all basically. Yes - it felt like an oversight considering the story surrounding every other little thing I did.

 

Also confused as to why I was being given a spaceship at 16 yet had to wait unttil 25 and xxxx amount of money for a land vehicle. Surely even in a galaxy far far away interstellar space ships are more expensive than speeder bikes?

 

Exactly. This happened earlier in the troopers story also on ord mantell. A defining plot point gets a short cutscene only for you to have to run 20 miles back where you came from and turn something in again. How about a little in game cinematic scene? I don't have to control every single second of gameplay. How about the option to transport me back to the quest giver after a major plot point? That would keep me more engaged than having to fight a hundred trash mobs on the way back to continue it.

It might just be the trooper story then, because I've played BH, JC, and Smuggler up to ranging between 10-18, and I love the stories! I'd say the smuggler was my favorite; when that guy does that thing at the beginning, I agreed with my smuggler "Yup, he's SO gonna die! I'm going to hunt him down, kill him, and enjoy every second of it." As for the BH, so far the class quests have been bounties which literally are just go and kill something; HOWEVER, they do NOT feel like "kill x and return to quest giver." They're a real character, not a faceless npc.

It is a reasonable quest to go on but you are still doing the typical MMO thing the entire time. I don't know what I was expecting but I might have set the bar too high. Our class quests are kill and gather quests like everything else. I don't even know what I would suggest as an alternative, I left that up to the game developers.

 

I'll be honest, in the beta, there was not a quest that bored me, since every quest (apart from Bonus Quests) has a partial bit of interactive story, I would dive into the quest as if it was actually a part of the story and as if I was making an Impact, and it felt quite like it too, now sure, you have the same quests as WoW, Rift, Aion or any other MMO but to be quite honest, ToR does it like none of them, in usual MMOs it's just Accept Quest -> Do Quest -> Get Reward, and whilst this is the same, it's the interactive story that adds to it like none other, so sure, you're doing the typical MMO thing, but in a way, you're doing the typical MMO thing in an untypical way, which I find quite unique and interesting.

So let me get this straight:

 

You have played this game for maybe 1-2 days and suddenly you presume to know everything about the story? Of course there's gonna be some parts that are less immersive and compelling than others.

 

Furthermore, don't flatter yourself. Just because YOU didn't like so and so parts of the story, doesn't automatically mean that nobody else will. People see things differently.

 

I respect your opinion and I will try to see if there's some merit to it, once I'm in the game as well. But please don't put words into my mouth or anyone elses for that matter. You opinion is your opinion, and of course it's valid. But not everyone elses.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Zoroth

I never got as high a level on my trooper at the thanks giving beta weekends, however I did with my smuggler and beyond a good few levels too and I have to say it was really enjoyable up to and including my class quests to get the ship.

 

Maybe it's the Trooper I don't know but for me it was pretty cool but was hard trying not to do the side quests at the same time cos I just wanted to experience my own ship.

 

Needless to say the first thing I did was go to Tatooine and it looks mighty impressive.

It is a reasonable quest to go on but you are still doing the typical MMO thing the entire time. I don't know what I was expecting but I might have set the bar too high. Our class quests are kill and gather quests like everything else. I don't even know what I would suggest as an alternative, I left that up to the game developers.

I think maybe you're getting out of it what you put into it. I mean, if your problem with the story seems to be that missions can all be grouped into "kill", "collect", or "deliver" then I think you'll find that accurately describes every mission in every game you've ever played (even ones that are considered paragons of storytelling).

 

Engagement is a very personal thing, so maybe the correct complaint is just that you're not engaged by this particular story, so let's narrow that down. Maybe you just find it difficult to empathize with any of the characters, or you simply find them unlikable? Are you concerned maybe that your choices aren't making a difference to the story? Is it that the nature of the genre (being an MMO) means that you can't fail, and that you'll be delivered to the end of the story one way or another, no matter how much you invest into the characters?

 

Those are all valid, but I figure we should zero in on it.

Edited December 14, 2011 by FlashbackJon

So let me get this straight:

 

You have played this game for maybe 1-2 days and suddenly you presume to know everything about the story? Of course there's gonna be some parts that are less immersive and compelling than others.

 

Furthermore, don't flatter yourself. Just because YOU didn't like so and so parts of the story, doesn't automatically mean that nobody else will. People see things differently.

 

I respect your opinion and I will try to see if there's some merit to it, once I'm in the game as well. But please don't put words into my mouth or anyone elses for that matter. You opinion is your opinion, and of course it's valid. But not everyone elses.

 

So by your logic we should not have fun with the story until a predetermined amount of play time? That does not make sense. And in case you did not notice, I did ask what others thought about the stories, because my opinion is not the only one. Get your own story straight.

I liked the Sith Warriors starting Area... with the questioning and the backstabbing friends or not...

 

Can't comment on the Trooper but I really enjoyed the 3 charactors I played (IA, SW, JK).

 

At least you can always make an alt and know that it won't be all the same

I think maybe you're getting out of it what you put into it. I mean, if your problem with the story seems to be that missions can all be grouped into "kill", "collect", or "deliver" then I think you'll find that accurately describes every mission in every game you've ever played (even ones that are considered paragons of storytelling).

 

Engagement is a very personal thing, so maybe the correct complaint is just that you're not engaged by this particular story, so let's narrow that down. Maybe you just find it difficult to empathize with any of the characters, or you simply find them unlikable? Are you concerned maybe that your choices aren't making a difference to the story? Is it that the nature of the genre (being an MMO) means that you can't fail, and that you'll be delivered to the end of the story one way or another, no matter how much you invest into the characters?

 

Those are all valid, but I figure we should zero in on it.

 

I think what you are saying is more accurate. I just do not like the trooper story so I am probably not making any attempt to get into it at this point. I was hoping for someone to maybe say "Hey I didn't like it much either, but check this one out". At least it seems like I am the minority and the story thing is not as bad as I thought.

"Hey I didn't like it much either, but check this one out".

If you're shopping for a new one, the general consensus from the beta seemed to be that Imperial Agent was by far the best.

I think the Trooper story is one of those loved it or hated it things. BW was going for the whole military fanfare, and "gear in the machine" style story with the class. Its predictable in the sense that they showed us

followed by story elements showing the

that ultimately led to there decision. OF all the classes, trooper is probably the one you'll have to engross yourself in the most to get the maximum enjoyment out of story.

If you're shopping for a new one, the general consensus from the beta seemed to be that Imperial Agent was by far the best.

 

I will take that into consideration, thanks.

I think the Trooper story is one of those loved it or hated it things. BW was going for the whole military fanfare, and "gear in the machine" style story with the class. Its predictable in the sense that they showed us

havoc teams turned traitor

followed by story elements showing the

dissension and corruption in the republic

that ultimately led to there decision. OF all the classes, trooper is probably the one you'll have to engross yourself in the most to get the maximum enjoyment out of story.

 

If this approach is reliable and accurate -and I have no reasons to doubt it- then the TR storyline should be more than an engaging story...

 

Smoda, what is your opinion about Pemmin's very remark?

Edited December 14, 2011 by cunctatorg

Look if you dont like the story you are playing then stop and reroll, find somethin you like. This game has choices and options, and iam sure the what ever you do will have a way of coming back to you later in the game good or bad from the choices you made. That being said, its a MMO with story content givin to you, my suggestion is build your own story. The devs have made a effort to make it player friendly and epic if you asking me why we cant do insane crazy omg crap at level 10 g i dont know becuase the game would get way to trivial by 25 so they are story pacing.

Some stories are better than others.

 

Bioware really dropped the ball overall. Sad.

I am playing through the Jedi Knight arc and enjoying it immensely.

I also played a bit of the Imperial Agent during one of the beta events and quit because I didnt want to ruin it when the game went live.....

 

I just killed my jedi to roll my IA

 

back to the game !

*Reposting this here because it is impossible to have a discussion in general chat at the momemnt*

 

I just reached level 16 as a Trooper and was given my starship. Zero fanfare or sense of achievement. Just a nonchalant "Hey take this thing". Minutes earlier I sat through line after line of boring voice over for glorified kill quests spread throughout an unnecessarily massive area of lower Coruscant. This all got me thinking about the main feature of this "story" driven MMO.

 

Is the trooper class quest more boring than the others? Is every class this way? Does a Jedi defeat a Sith Lord only for the quest giver to say "Yea that was cool, go do it again on the next planet". I thought the class stories were supposed to make this game unique and interesting. At this rate the class quests are like every other quest in the game, except they don't end. I would roll another character in a heartbeat if I were told that his mindless dribble doesn't extend to every other class story.

 

99% of the quests stories are lame and if you want to "level" and "enjoy" the story you have a paradox. Lightside points or darkside points?

 

Crap. Gotta work to level cap... guess I am answering c.) here. Whoops. That made my companion mad. Escape key, restart conversation.

 

I want a mod to just answer the questions to give me max darkside and max companion points. I don't need to click when you've already told me by design not to choose certain options if I want to optimize.

It is a reasonable quest to go on but you are still doing the typical MMO thing the entire time. I don't know what I was expecting but I might have set the bar too high. Our class quests are kill and gather quests like everything else. I don't even know what I would suggest as an alternative, I left that up to the game developers.

 

Yea, I hate to say it but you are correct in your assumptions. The voice acted quests you get in the game are just a veneer of what you've experienced in other MMOs. Kills, fetch, deliver, etc.

 

The alternative, IMO, as I had suggested during BETA was to mix up the 'cycle'. Right now your cycle is talk to an NPC, go through the dialogue, take the quest, run or speeder to the area and do the quest, and bring it back for more dialogue. Now where I will give them credit is they did a great job of laying out the storyline quests and side quests in a fashion for a player to do them both in the same area knocking out several quests in one cycle.

 

But what they could have done is changed up that cycle in a way that makes you feel like you're doing something different. Granted, it's merely an illusion, but at the end of the day the developers are limited in how they can allow you to interact with the world they created: Keyboard and mouse.

 

So what would be the alternative? Well let's say you're Empire and you've been given a quests to go smack down the Republic backed natives outside your base. So that means talk to NPC, get quest and hoof it out on your feet or on your speeder to Spot A and kill the bad guys. Why not put you up in air ship or one of those big AT walkers and let you blast things on your way to Spot A? Maybe get "air dropped" behind the enemy lines to take out those "sensor/radar array" at Spot B? And on your way to Spot B, make the ride a bumpy one with flak hitting the ship and ground targets you can shoot at? Again, you're still ultimately doing the same thing... using a mouse and keyboard to target things and press an ability.... the illusion comes with that ability being something with a light saber or a cannon.... but it does help keep things from feeling like a "cycle".

 

PS: I'm not saying I don't enjoy the game, I do. I love the storylines, but I'm also very aware of the veneer of the dialogue.

Edited December 14, 2011 by BrimstoneAshe