Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 55

Thread: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

  1. #1

    Default SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    So, I'm half listening/ half watching my boyfriend play SWTOR over my shoulder.

    It's .... extremely linear. Even walking around the world is very linear. Really?

    I mean, to the point where he started a new character to catch up to his other one just on a slightly different path and the only difference in the quests was the omission of the word 'slave' to refer to his character. Everything else was worded and pathed exactly the same.

    Maybe I'm jaded because I'm in Skyrim, but... really? Why the heck would you want tracks and rails in an MMO? How do you get enjoyment out if that?

  2. #2

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Keep in mind that for many gamers the enjoyment is not in the journey, but in reaching the end, in completing the game, in achieving the finale. Just like for some gamers the enjoyment is in the journey or the collection of things or the social aspects.
    "Alea iacta est" -- Julius Caesar

    Toot shouted, voice shrill, "In the name of the Pizza Lord! Charge!" (Jim Butcher's Dresden Files)

    "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spends it whole life believing that it is stupid." -- Albert Einstein

  3. #3

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Which is fine in theory, but you can't exactly 'beat' an MMO...

  4. #4

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Doesn't stop some gamers from trying to! XD

  5. #5

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Considering Skyrim's success, I really don't see how this would be the death of sandboxes. xD
    Avatar is of my character Akrion, snipped from Hrae's Hoard of Creatures by the excellent moss loving artist Nambroth. <3

  6. #6

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Akrion View Post
    Considering Skyrim's success, I really don't see how this would be the death of sandboxes. xD
    yes, Skyrim`s success really makes me wonder.
    ALL I know play it. Even those who never/rarely play on comp
    (the hard-core pen and paper folks). Even those who never"Play" at all (they`ve been told to try it- or regret it for rest of life^^)

    Noone I know on TOR (for the tests) only a friend wants to but- can`t affort.
    Might be some more later..
    YOU told me to play a dragon!

  7. #7

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Skyrim is just... awesomesauce.

    Everyone kept saying that TOR would be the "wow-killer", but yet...

    I haven't been hearing that much buzz about it, and WoW is still going strong. lol. It seems like the phrase "wow killer" itself is a curse. Every time someone says that, a game just flops and doesn't even meet half of the expectation. I'm glad nobody ever called Istaria the "wow killer". It is a niche game that focuses on its uniqueness, and that's why it continues to live, where a lot of others would have died.

  8. #8

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dhalin View Post
    I'm glad nobody ever called Istaria the "wow killer".
    In a small way, it was kind of the other way around. Istaria (then Horizons) was released before WoW. I remember a lot of players leaving for WoW. Of course, a lot of them came back later after negative experiences with the player base there.

  9. #9

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Ive played the SWtOR beta for a bit, but Ive been kind of... shall I say Disappointed... with the whole thing. There are basically 4 adv types.. just renamed depending on which side you are on, as well as skill names renamed for sides as well. During questing, you can skip, pretty much, all of the quest information, hitting spacebar, and just get the result questions. Choosing "light" "dark" side results are quite straight forward since they give you an icon in the quest window that tells you which answer does what. The funniest thing, you can "esc" key out of the questline, if you dont like the result, so long as the cinematic is still playing, and redo your quest answers to see if you like the result better.

    As for being a WoW killer... I can't say that. I think WoW will be it's own killer, similar to how SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) was it's own killer. Sure, there will be a playerbase that is diehard and will stick with the game just to stick with it, but seriously... WoW can only think of adding KungFu Panda to the game. Can't they figure out something more interesting to come out with?
    Elated that HZ is no longer in the hands of the Infidels.

    Now.. I may have to split my time between 2 games... CS:S and HZ...

  10. #10

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Only WoW and its Age will be the WoW Killer.

    SW:TOR was never meant to be sandbox - and to date no MMORPG has been a sandbox except for EVE (and SecondLife if you really want to call that an MMORPG which most do not).

    You can explore in SW:TOR all you want - you just gotta figure eout how to get places. Almost everywhere is explorable - doesn't mean there are quests in the out of the way places, but its still explorable =D

    And no. I don't see how a game in a genre that normally doesn't have sand-boxy elements is the death of sandbox games.

    I will say you are far more likely to get sandbox games in SINGLE player games (like Skyrim) because there are so any aspects about sandbox games that most MMORGPS just can't pull off and don't have the time to devote to doing so along side everything else.

    But death of sandbox?? um...no..lol. There are different types of games for different tastes - that is all. Skyrim and SW:TOR are apples and oranges.
    Frith-Rae BridgeSol
    Great Elder of Keir Chet K'Eilerten
    Iea has returned.

  11. #11

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Fratricide View Post
    WoW can only think of adding KungFu Panda to the game. Can't they figure out something more interesting to come out with?
    *twitch*

    Pandaren existed in WoW-verse long, long, LONG before Kung Fu Panda (the first one) was released. So it tends to mildly annoy me when people compare Mists of Pandaria to Kung Fu Panda. If anything, KFP should be compared to WoW's Pandarens, as WoW did it first.

    Pandaren have been a part of WoW Lore dating way back to WC3: TFT IIRC.

    That, and Blizz said they wanted to add them in the Burning Crusade (three expansions ago) but couldn't find a viable way to add them in just yet.

  12. #12

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Frith-Rae View Post
    and to date no MMORPG has been a sandbox except for EVE (and SecondLife if you really want to call that an MMORPG which most do not).
    SWG and SOR were very sandboxy. Not to the extent EVE is but you're certainly not stuck on rails or told outright 'you can't go there because you're not high enough'. I'd event count EQ2 to some extent in that there's several areas to level in so you're not stuck with doing the same quest over and over like in current games like CO, RIFT and DCUO... so no current/new MMO?

    Maybe I'm missing something, but "We have to shut down all these beacons." just shuts off any will to level more than one character on ANY game. (If you don't get the reference, just know it's a very annoying line that you are hearing that repeatedly every time you level a new character or even just make a new costume to show off to friends. ._. )
    Last edited by Shian; November 29th, 2011 at 01:46 AM.

  13. #13

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    i played it only a few hours and it felt just like every other MMO out there. not sandboxy at all. it was a bit boring to be honest.

  14. #14

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shian View Post
    SWG and SOR were very sandboxy. Not to the extent EVE is but you're certainly not stuck on rails or told outright 'you can't go there because you're not high enough'. I'd event count EQ2 to some extent in that there's several areas to level in so you're not stuck with doing the same quest over and over like in current games like CO, RIFT and DCUO... so no current/new MMO?

    Maybe I'm missing something, but "We have to shut down all these beacons." just shuts off any will to level more than one character on ANY game. (If you don't get the reference, just know it's a very annoying line that you are hearing that repeatedly every time you level a new character or even just make a new costume to show off to friends. ._. )
    SOR? Not sure what that stood for .

    And SW:TOR does have options - as far as leveling asyou said, in the EQII way - there are multiple planets you can choose to level up from past a certain point (but no not in the starting area) - much like WoW or EQII does. But you are right in that there are still quests that lead to quests tha tlead to other quests and you cant go "out of order" if you want to get to all the quests.

    And no..I haveno clue what the beacon thing is you are talking about and what that has to do with leveling a character or showing off a new outfit...? LOL

    (As for alts, I dont play them in any games I play - sandbox or not - I am not an alt person LOL).
    Frith-Rae BridgeSol
    Great Elder of Keir Chet K'Eilerten
    Iea has returned.

  15. #15

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    SOR is Saga of Ryzom. I do miss that world. It was pretty.

    The beacon reference is the most annoying quest in Champions Online. It's at the end of the tutorial and the main NPC repeats this line over and over while you scramble to get 4 beacons in each corner of a room to get him to shut up.
    Champions' glory is in it's character creation. Unfortunatly this means you have no option to skip the tutorial even if the only reason of keeping that character is to show of it's design.

  16. #16

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Frith-Rae View Post
    SOR? Not sure what that stood for .

    And SW:TOR does have options - as far as leveling asyou said, in the EQII way - there are multiple planets you can choose to level up from past a certain point (but no not in the starting area) - much like WoW or EQII does. But you are right in that there are still quests that lead to quests tha tlead to other quests and you cant go "out of order" if you want to get to all the quests.

    And no..I haveno clue what the beacon thing is you are talking about and what that has to do with leveling a character or showing off a new outfit...? LOL

    (As for alts, I dont play them in any games I play - sandbox or not - I am not an alt person LOL).
    While there are multiple planets in SWTOR (my friend calls it sweater) I feel a little lied to by Bioware who make it sound as if you can choose to level on one planet instead of another or pick a different planet for your alt. While there is some leeway in what level you arrive at a planet your storyline, and very often the level range of the planet, means you have to visit them all in a certain order.

    Bioware also stated that they wanted you to feel like a Sith, Jedi or a Bounty Hunter, someone who isn't run of the mill. Now while you aren't running off to catch some rats for an insane pirate gnome in the tramway you are still running off to kill/catch/interact with x amount of y. I still felt like I was running errands, just further up the chain of command.

    The stories are great, what I have seen of them, I only got my bounty hunter to 50. However when you get to 50 it's the usual round of dailies, both pve and pvp.

    One of the first quests you do on Dromund Kaas is go and turn off/on some beacons.

    If you want sandbox then all I can suggest is that you keep an eye to the skyline, the only one I know about (besides Eve) is another CCP creation that won't be around for a few years yet.
    Russet Autumnsong - Satyr, female, obsessive crafter.

  17. #17

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shian View Post
    SOR is Saga of Ryzom. I do miss that world. It was pretty.
    Is pretty. They've recently done some interesting patches and some good live storyline events. Ahhh, live storyline events in MMORPGs...the coffin of that concept is what SWTOR is hammering nails into.
    "Ohoh...someone is actually trying to sell something, I see an attunement coming. LOL" - Teto Frum


  18. #18

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Honestly I think "live" storyline events (if they are what I am thinking you are referring to) are really almost impossible to do well and fairly in large games. So I dont blame SW:TOR for this, because WoW tried it in their first world event (much teh same way Istaria had always done it) and it was a DISASTER for 99.9% of the players (who never got to really partake in the event itself outside of grind-donating cloth..wee?).

    Again if "live storyline" events are what Im thinking of - like Istaria's server-merging events or even random blight spawning and popping mobs in player towns and such?

    If you mean something else - please clarify cuz Im not sure what you are referring to .

    But yea if thats what you mean, that is almost impossibly hard to do and make it fair when its not a small niche game. The idea that millions of players can participate fairly and evenly (and easily) particiipate is a very difficult task to pull off (much less pull off successfully) LOL.

    And yes Miykala, while I dont feel lied to (cuz I am pretty good at reading dev-double-talk - esp pre-release games) I agree its crappy the way the level-zones are setup. I really thought it wouldnt be SO ON RAILS the way it is even between zones. I thought at least they would provide two zones for each level group - hence all those planets.

    But no..no you dont really get two zones. I was shocked myself. 140 Million dollars and..this is all they got to? Dang.

    Stupid voice-acting. Its doing exactly what I feared. Costing in every single other part of development of a GREAT game. Voice-acting does not make a game...*shrugs*
    Frith-Rae BridgeSol
    Great Elder of Keir Chet K'Eilerten
    Iea has returned.

  19. #19

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Xoshara View Post
    Is pretty. They've recently done some interesting patches and some good live storyline events. Ahhh, live storyline events in MMORPGs...the coffin of that concept is what SWTOR is hammering nails into.
    Wait what? o.O I thought the game got cancelled in like '05 or something? Not that I can afford yet another game, but oh happy day!

    And 'sweater' does have the beacon thing in it. I forget the planet but as a sith you go out and fight a Jedi and she says her line over and over and over during the entire fight. Rargableksfrindith! I hear they fixed it recently but I heard it on my boyfriend's comp yesterday. Kill it! Keel it with FIRE!

  20. #20

    Default Re: SWTOR: the death of sandboxes?

    So I dont blame SW:TOR for this, because WoW tried it in their first world event (much teh same way Istaria had always done it) and it was a DISASTER for 99.9% of the players (who never got to really partake in the event itself outside of grind-donating cloth..wee?).
    Each expansion has had a world event tied to it.

    Burning Crusade: I didn't see this one as I wasn't high enough level at the time, but I heard it had to do with fighting demons down near the Dark Portal and stuff.

    Wrath of the Lich King: Oh God, the zombie invasion. LOL. The first part of that was pure chaos, though many players used it as a giant griefing tool. Even after the plague part of it was taken out, it was still a neat invasion, as flying necropoli would spawn at random points through the world and you had to fight lots of undead and you'd get rewards for doing it.

    Cataclysm: The elemental attacks on the cities. Nice when they actually worked well, but a lot of times they bugged up. Meh. Also, special bosses which dropped decent (at the time) gear.

    And it sounds like there'll be events to come with the next expansion, too! Though these will likely be more PvP-oriented sadly.. not much into PvP myself, but meh.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •