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Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided Ships
Posted by
Hemos
on Thu Jun 26, 2003 06:59 AM
from the clanging-bells-and-whistles dept.
from the clanging-bells-and-whistles dept.
TJPile writes "After months and months of beta testing and years of waiting, the Star Wars version of Ever-crack is now shipping. Order your copy today. There are already plans for an expansion pack in 2004 that will feature more character races, worlds, and even the ability to buy, fly, and fight in your own spaceship. The game will set you back $50, come on 3 CDs, require Internet access, and will cost around $10 a month (service subscription fee). Right now it's Windows only." Yep, I'm hoping to play as the Pit of Saarlac: The Ultimate Camper.
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The StarWars Galaxys Experience, summed up (Score:5, Funny)
You are struck by force for 15 points by Da4th_Vad3r_P1mp
You have been slain by Da4th_Vad3r_P1mp
Da4th_Vad3r_P1mp says: kekekeke
for me to poop on (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
For those who don't get this quote... (Score:4, Informative)
Triumph the insult comic dog vs. Star Wars nerds [albinoblacksheep.com]
Parent
hehe (Score:5, Funny)
Pit_of_sarlac5116: roooaaar *chomp* *chomp* *digest*
I know that it's really sad to know this but... (Score:5, Informative)
official lore here [starwars.com]
I suppose that there would be other Sarlaccs in less famous pits, if you don't manage to camp Carkoon, which is like the beverley hills of pits.
Parent
Re:I know that it's really sad to know this but... (Score:5, Funny)
There are other Sarlaccs, but they are less mighty, such as "the Fairly Mighty Sarlacc" and "the Quite Good Sarlacc"
"The Slightly Shitty Sarlacc" was last seen inhabiting the fourteenth hole at "The Golf Course of Carnoustie", digesting golf balls and the fingers of any golfers foolish enough to attempt to retrieve them.
However, in a shock twist the fingers of famed Bounty Hunter Boba Fett escape and go on to enjoy
many adventures in order to cash-in on their bizarre popularity among the fanboys.
Or something.
Parent
worst...agme...ever..... (Score:3, Informative)
I killed jarjar many times in beta, i think thats good enough~
Re:worst...agme...ever..... (Score:5, Funny)
Gotta be worth $50 to kill Jar-Jar many times
Parent
Re:Agreed (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Not the worst, but... (Score:5, Informative)
The game is totally amazing to look at. Once I logged on and found 10 or so players just watching the Suns set on Tatooine. It really was amazing - the light actually looks like that of a sunset, and even the players' facial features cast shadows on their faces etc. I stood watching a bush blow in the breeze on Naboo for 10 minutes. When I first began to play, I spent 5 minutes fiddling with the brightness before a realised with a "doh!" that it was friggin night time.
The Character creation process is a joy - messing with all those sliders to change your appearance (from height, belly size, build, and age to eybrow shape, bushiness, nose lengh, width, protrusion, eye angle, colour, hair colour, style etc etc etc etc)
The sounds are authentic Star Wars from the inquisitive whistles of passing R2 units to the sounds of doors and blasters. I also really liked the way the game scans what you are saying to surrounding players and generates gestures to match - so saying "hi" for exmaple, will cause your avatar to wave, or typing "LOL" actually causes you to clutch your sides and er.. LOL.
The inventory system is quite nice allowing you to drag and drop items to put them in either hand.
I'm not sure I "get" this game though. Either that or it really is completely boring. As LordYuK said - this aint Star Wars. I mean, why, for example, are the inhabitants of the SWG world all expected to display a pathlogical dislike for passive grazing animals (or any animal life come to that) ? At first I thought - "that bloke's barmy - he keeps shooting at the local wildlife" until I realised that this was, bizzarely, the way your character advances - by shooting wamp rats and the like. "But I'm a friggin Scout ffs!" I thought. You seem to spend most of your time trudging about, shooting at furry animals that were minding their own business, and running errands for NPC's. I wanted to join the rebellion against the Empire! I wanted to team up with other rebllious players and smuggle guns, take out imperial installations, steal secret plans, fly an x-wing and all that. Not tame wamp rats, and manufacture cheap jewellry...
On one early session I had met up with 3 other new guys on Naboo and we'd wandered about a bit and murdered a few animals for no reason. We came across 2 storm troopers and an officer an went into a huddle. We decided after much discussion that we'd try having a firefight with them, so formed a plan and spread out in the surrounding bushes. We all leapt out.... only to discover you're not *allowed* to attack stormtroopers. Hmm not very free form then.
As a regular Quake/UT etc player I was also a bit frustrated that I didn't do the shooting myself. Choosing to attack some unfortunate creature causes your character to do the work - not you. This would be fine - but well - they suck at it! My avatar would generally not dodge incoming fire, but just spam it out with the opposition (which is usually biting your ankles) I found it bizzare that I frequently died from being repeatedly bitten on the big toe by a hamster that I'd shot 6 times with my blaster. Characters in the films were action heroes - I wanted to do all the acrobatics, blaster in hand and so on. What you atually end up being is a tourist in Sony's "Star Wars World" yeah sure you can go find the Pit of Carkoon and get your picture taken next to it, watch the twin suns set, visit the Royal palace on Naboo, or the shipyards of Corellia. Buy the t-shirt and send a postcard. Just being in the Star Wars world can keep you amused for quite a while, but evemtually, you want to actually do soemthing..
I've not played any other MMORPG's so as I said - maybe I just don't get it - but I didn't fancy being the guy who grows carrots. I mean - when you were a kid and Star
Parent
Re:Not the worst, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
Maybe, one day, I'll pick you up in a galaxy and fly you to the front lines.
The reasons you've listed are exactly why this game is not Star Wars - it is EQ with a Star Wars skin.
The Dark Forces series are the *heart* of Star Wars. The X-Wing series are the *soul* of Star Wars.
Galactic Battlegrounds is what happens when you implant the heart and soul of Star Wars into a game format that doesn't like Star Wars. Neat, but could have been much better.
I really, really wanted this to be the heart, soul, and body of Star Wars - the grim outlook that Dark Forces had, the freedom of space flight, and the persistance and interaction of a MMORPG.
Instead, I'm attacking outcast citizens near Coruscant, watching Wookies dance to relax, and taking samples of strangely-named gases and metals when I'm sick of the other two.
It is the "Star Wars:Christmas Special" of Star Wars games. Hey, the gangs all here... disturbing me... ack.
Today is a dark day for the Rebellion.
-lw
Parent
Evil that it's not working yet.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, imagine the utter disappointment of getting home and fniding that I could only create my station login and couldn't get a little jump on everyone
(Oh well)
I can't wait for this to go live today...should be really exciting (in a "i'm so lame, i have another life online which spends more time interacting with women than I do" kinda way)...again, disappointing that the addon won't come until 2004, but I imagine all the dedicated Star Wars nutters out there will find ways to keep busy until then...
Now I wonder how long until the Mac OS X port (now that EQ has finally arrived for Mac)
Correction (Score:4, Informative)
Having been in the beta for a long time, I'm going to suggest staying away from this one for at least a few months. Even in the last two weeks, servers have been going up and down daily an most things still don't even appear to work correctly. The game is not nearly completed.
From what I did play, though, I had fun with... I just won't be picking it up for a while. Besides, I've still go DAoC to keep me busy.
Re:Correction (Score:4, Insightful)
LucasArts has made a bunch of good games. My kids even enjoyed Yoda Stories, so you know that I have to like the company.
Parent
10 bucks a month my ass... (Score:3, Informative)
However, there are flaws with this game... look for a post further down...
If I can't kill Jar Jar, I'm not interested. (Score:3, Funny)
Hmm, maybe I should patent that idea.
Or maybe I should patent the idea that I thought of that idea.
Or#Y($(HJbnkHkjhgb ek7y732924283925
NO CARRIER
Not yet ready (Score:5, Informative)
Agree 100% (Score:5, Informative)
The beta testers' reviews of SWG weren't complimentary at all. There were a lot of negative posts and the most damaging evidence of that is how Sony has removed access to the old message boards (http://boards2.station.sony.com/ubb/starwars [sony.com]). However, forums at SWG fan sites have preserved some of these original, honest reviews. Check it out: SWG Fan Site with Honest Review Deleted by Sony [stratics.com]. My compliments to Stratics.com. And I'm sure other SWG fan sites will have honest reviews too.
Parent
Re:Agree 100% (Score:5, Informative)
of course they weren't! think about it this way: how many people who were really enjoying the game do you think there were who took the time to stop playing, go to the public forums and write a glowing review? Compare that to the number of people who were upset with the game and didn't want to log in anyway. Of course most of the "user reviews" were negative: everyone who likes the game was too busy playing the damn thing to come out and write a review thread for all the fanboys who sit on the forums all day every day bitching about how they aren't in beta! sheesh!
now, I (fortunately? unfortunately?) was never part of everquest, but I can say with a little confidence that the game is/was successful. But, at the same time I'll bet their message boards are overflowing with negative threads....
my advice to you is this: try the game yourself before you decide if it is good or not.
don't let people who will bash the game no matter what decide that for you.
Parent
Re:Agree 100% (Score:5, Insightful)
You must be kidding, are you saying that someone who likes SWG wouldn't TURN THE GAME OFF at any point and post on a message board after the NDA was lifted. Give us a break, those guys were probably writing their reviews for months. I guess you think all of the beta testers were playing SWG 15 hours a day and not doing any else. Right. Like they wouldn't take 15 minutes out of their day to talk about a game they "love" for a bunch of people online. Have you ever tried getting a gamer to SHUT UP about a game they like when they start talking about it? It's not easy.
Parent
Re:Agree 100% (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't forget as well the people who were in the beta test and honestly tried to learn to like SWG, only to finally quit in disgust or boredom. There are probably a great many people out there who had this happen, only they now have a lot of apathy toward the game and don't even care enough to post negatively against it.
Myself, I already commented [slashdot.org] on how my biggest beef with SWG is the fact that they are trying to sell a game that isn't remotely retail-ready.
I also found it interesting that even near the very end of beta, there were rarely more than a couple hundred players (out of several thousand beta testers) on the server during prime time. Such a highly anticipated game, with the free time running out soon, wouldn't you think the beta testers would be anxious to make good use of the limited free time they had left?
Parent
And don't miss (Score:3, Funny)
Shoot First!
Pricing Inaccurate (Score:3, Insightful)
Varying rates plans apply depending on your subscription.
I've heard really mixed reviews of this
Personally, I'll play the "wait and see" game. With NWN SOU just being released, I have enough game content to fill up my spare time
Better work harder on your character name (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Better work harder on your character name (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Better work harder on your character name (Score:5, Funny)
I promise to be at my post if they do!
Parent
I think Lucas is missing out (Score:5, Funny)
You know, I just mentally pictured a game with all these characters in it... and it was awesome.
Parent
Re:Better work harder on your character name (Score:5, Funny)
How about Clit Asswood?
I think I'm gonna get this game just to see how many naming rules I can violate.
Parent
Yeah, but will it be good (Score:3, Interesting)
Disclaimer, I haven't played the beta at all, simply going on comments from others, and I fully realize gaming forums aren't the BEST place for opinions. I'll probably wait for a buddy to pick it up and check it out then... in the meantime, I'll stick with Dark Age of Camelot.
you'd think sony would've learned by now... (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean, cmon. -microsoft- of all game developers has done it right -twice- now with the Asheron's Call series, and hitherto unknown Mythic Entertainment pulled it off with Dark Age of Camelot.
in my unprofessional opinion - this game is not going to strike a fire in the casual gamer market like they hope. any casual gamer will immediately be turned off by having their wookie bounty hunter continually chased all over tatooine by some fscking crab smaller than his head. the casual gamer doesn't want to spend 100 hours getting to the point where he can hunt banthas or dewbacks or sandpeople. they want to do fun stuff now.
not to mention travel. everything was laid out assuming you'd be able to get your own speeder bike or landspeeder, or bum a ride from someone. but now player-vehicles are out until god-knows-when, and the result is that the town to town running makes EQ's seem reasonable.
if star wars was an action game like planetside, that could maybe catch on - if only sony wasn't pricing it out of the realm of reasonability. $12/mo for a FPS?
SWG looks like a market dissappointment in the same vein as Sims Online.
Sounds like any other MMORPG, then (Score:5, Interesting)
The _only_ thing to do in a MMORPG is to run around beating rats with a stick (or goblins with a sword, or whatever), to hopefully level up in the next 6 months. Lather, rinse, repeat ad nauseam. Only the next level-up will require even more hours of beating bigger rats with a bigger stick.
It's repetitive, it's boring... and generally it's not a game, it's _work_. Only I'm supposed to pay for the privilege of doing boring repetitive stuff each day, instead of being paid for that.
What's the point? Do my actions advance the plot? No, because there's no plot and no story. Does it exercise my gray cells by requiring some cunning and strategy? Well, no, because you only need to click on enemies. Repeatedly. That's the only strategy involved. Ever. Does it require reflexes, accuracy or some other skill? Well, no, because the "skills" are just a bunch of numbers on your character. As long as you can click on a rat, that's all the skill you'll ever need. Etc.
The _only_ MMORPG so far which I could somewhate enjoy was Ultima Online. And you know why? Because I could ignore the MMORPG part. The UO interface makes it wonderfully easy to communicate with people, even in the middle of combat.
So basically you can treat it like a glorified chat room with graphics. And predictably it had attracted a lot of social people, who actually used it as a glorified chat room with graphics. It was fun.
That is, until I realized that I could just go back to IRC and save the 10 bucks a month fee.
So here's my proposal. You want some online life having to do with Star Wars? Well, go find an IRC channel about Star Wars. It's free, it's got a less lot bugs than a MMORPG, and generally a far more rewarding online social experience. And it doesn't make you hit rats 50 times with a stick, either.
Parent
Another rushed SOE product (Score:3, Informative)
Erm... please do not believe the Hype. (Score:5, Interesting)
It looks and feels like Anarchy Online. It's actually a pretty boring game. So far, it's been plagued by the same kinds of problems Everquest had, including the same lack of customer support and generally shoddy game design. They've had several patches that were nothing but nerf-fests and introduced more bugs than they fixed. You've got about a one in one thousand chance of ending up with a force-sensitive character, so forget about ever playing a Jedi.
Sure, they'll iron this thing out eventually. Once a lot of people start playing it and player communities take hold, it'll probably be fun. Once they get the 100 or so feautres they left out of the initial release added, it'll be a better game. Once the playerbase beats them into submission and forces them to make a few obvious, common sense design changes that should have been in from the beginning, it'll be a better game. It'll also probably be 2007.
If this game ends up being fun, it will be in spite of Sony, not because of Sony. Just like Everquest. Remember that this is not truly a LucasArts game.
Honestly I'd hold out for Worlds of Warcraft. Blizzard will treat its customers far better than Sony does.
Another Beta Tester Comment (Score:4, Informative)
The whole crafting system I find quite interesting, and appeals to the RTS gamer in me.
The Dev's have been VERY responsive in the forums, and listen to comments people say, even the flamers.
My bro does SWG tech support (Score:5, Informative)
After 1.5 weeks of training he is supposed to work 12 hour days (including weekends) for the next couple of weeks due to the launch... then he shifts to a 9am-6pm PDT schedule.
One thing that he told me that I was very surprised to learn was how these games are specifically designed to be intensively psychologically addicting. (They are subscription-based games so they want you to keep on playing.) And many people do take the games extremely seriously... There have even been suicides over previous games like Everquest, and the Techs/Game Masters routinely get death threats, etc by the players. This was all brought out in his training...
Re:My bro does SWG tech support (Score:5, Informative)
For all you psych buffs out there, all of the MMORPGs out there now, like EQ for example are designed on the psychological principle of the Skinner Box. For an EXCELLENT essay explaining how these games aare Skinner Boxes, check out the essay [nickyee.com] at the Norrathian Scrolls website. Truly eye-opening insight into an extremely successful albeit scummy business model.
Gillette thinks they were smart by selling the razor cheap and getting people hooked on the blade refills? This makes Gillette look like a lemonade-stand in terms of a business model.
Parent
One thing I never understood (Score:5, Insightful)
Issues with Star Wars Galaxies (Score:5, Informative)
1) Its pretty. The graphics are very well done for the most part, for a while you will really feel like you are "on a Star Wars planet".
2) I've never played MMORPGs prior to this, but from what I hear, the character customization blows the others away. I was fairly impressed when I got to choose my toons eyeshadow and nose size.
3) It sounds good. The blasters sound like blasters, Stormtroopers talk ('move along') as you walk by, jawas chatter.
Now the Bad.
1) Its not Star Wars. Its EQ in Space, only there is no Space, so its basically EQ with Wookies. Let me clarify. When I think of Star Wars, I think of sweeping adventures, romance, intrigue, blaster fights that get my heart pounding, SPACE. The battles in SWG are bland, and consist of little more than spamming you're best special attack until the creature is daed. The thing that bothered me most was that the Brawler (hand to hand) had more varied moves than the Marksman (pistol, carbine, rifle user). I found that I actually used 3-4 moves with the Brawler and just Bodyshot 2 (yes, thats the actual name of the attack) with my Pistoleer. Combat consists of fighting enemies such as "diseased Nunas", "tusk cats", crazed butterfly like things, ape like "squalls", and swooperless swooper gangs. You could pop off one of the gang members and the rest of them would generally just stare at you. Weee...
2) Roughly 90% of the world that isnt in a city is random. Compeltely random. It changes almost hourly, based on mission spawns, and rarely changes "back". Not very immersive, I'd say.
3) No loot (well, very little). Very little incentive to go out and fight stuff, other than XP. Well, if thats my sole motivation, then why bother? I mean, I could kill a womp rat 1,000 times 10 feet out of town and level up or I could walk 45-60 minutes to get to one bigger creature (more often more than 1 bigger creature) that I have no chance to take and get about 10 more XP points. Okay, so its not quite THAT bad, but there is little incentive to go out and hunt, after the first "I just want to see it" hunt.
4) Classes not finished. Classes such as the Commando were not properly tested because resources crafters needed to make thier weapons werent avaialable in the beta. That means they will probably be totally unbalanced, which puts them in with the other classes. Note there were hundreds and hundreds of topics about the Medic class having severe issues (any of you who buy this game, go medical forage and tell me if you can make a StimA) and they were never addressed.
5) Its not very innovative. Right now, we're already looking at one expansion (space due 0-18 months from now) to provide features that should have been there since day one, vehicles. Its just a MMORPG, with a Star Wars skin. If I wasnt in town, I would have never known I was in the Star Wars world. Except for the Womp Rats and Dewbacks, there were very few Star Wars feeling moments in the wild.
6) Get ready to hoof it. It takes about 20-40 minutes to get from town to town (or town to mission, one way) if you dont take a shuttle, and at the moment there are no land vehicles (and shuttles dont go everywhere). So you hit autorun and point.
I wont go into the roleplaying features, because we could role play here if we so choose. Roleplaying, while part of the game, is only part of the game as much as the players want it to be.
SWG was a huge disapointment, I look forward to WoW.
Re:Issues with Star Wars Galaxies (Score:4, Insightful)
That would be the deciding factor to me.
The fact is, that I'd play a Star Wars game because I want to be in the movies. I don't give a wamprats ass about building up my character, completing quests and so on. I want to be a Jedi, I want to fly spaceships, I want to travel to exotic planets and so on.
The game that defined the Star Wars experience for me was Jedi Knight Dark Forces. Despite being primarily a first person shooter, it had most of those ingredients. I could be a Jedi AND use the force powers. I could travel to exotic locations. It even had a plot with some (albiet weak) character development!
I last played it (completed it) years ago, but I still remember many of the missions, settings and atmosphere. It had a quality sound track, classic Star Wars style, with the tracks tailored to each level. When you were creeping about infiltrating an Imperial base and trying not to get spotted, it was quiet and spooky. When you were trying to escape a Rebel base under attack from legions of stormtroopers, it was fast and frentic.
Even though the gameplay was basically shooting things, the world was epic enough that I felt I was in the movies.
There was only two problems. It was single player, and it was focussed too much on blasting stuff (well, that was the genre).
What I want is not a MMORPG. They bore me. Real life is boring. A poor fake of real life on Tatooine even more so. I want you to sell me a game like Jedi Knight, with a plot, with vast levels and worlds with convincing characters, that I can play with a group of friends. Not a big group. A small one is fine. We can get together online and play it in sessions, like how we all go round to a friends flat on Sunday nights to watch TV.
I want to be able to fly in space, and I'd like a stronger focus on convincing worlds and missions, and less on shooting things (though it should still have fights), ie the balance should be more like in the movies. We should be able to work together or compete as major characters. It should be like going to the movies together, except that we're in the movies together.
It should have a clear beginning, middle and end. When it's over, then you can sell us sequels. Like the films.
That's all I want. It's not all that hard. Jedi Knight wasn't hugely far off, and that was years ago. Why does nobody do this?
Parent
And so it begins (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds great.
First hour of play (Score:5, Funny)
Go to Mos Eisley Spaceport: mass of people randomly firing blasters
Go to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters: mass of people randomly firing blasters
Go to Aunt Beru's kitchen for some blue milk: mass of people randomly firing blasters
Hide from stormtroopers in the Millennium Falcon's hidden bay: mass of people randomly firing blasters
Go to appeal to the Imperial Senate for trade rights: mass of people randomly firing blasters
Jump in the X-wing to defeat the Death Star: fly through a trench filled with a mass of people randomly firing blasters to fire proton torpedos.
(Three months later, after everyone becomes a Jedi, replace "firing blasters" with "waving lightsabers")
Checklist (Score:5, Funny)
2. Kids: Military school. Check.
3. Dog: Euthanized. Check.
4. Cats: Who cares? Check.
5. Friends: Gone. Check.
6. Phone: Disconnected. Check.
7. Doorbell: Ditto. Check.
8. Food: $500 worth on Top Ramen in pantry. Check.
9. Breaks: 10 cases of adult diapers. Trash can with lid next to computer. Extra liners. Check, check, check.
10. Power bill, ISP; Paid ahead for the year. Check, check.
11. Job: Hmmm. Reconnect phone. Dial. Ring. "Hi, Dave? It's me. Yeah. Yeah. Listen. I quit. No, no time to explain. Do whatever you want with the crap on my desk. Later." Re-disconnect phone.
Well, that's about it. Time to rip open that CD. Good-bye cruel world and all that. Hmm, I wonder if /. karma erodes due to lack of use. Guess I can check that in a couple of years.
Mycroft Kenobi, Obi-Wan's smarter (and better looking) brother is about to kick the Force's ass!
Re:Checklist (Score:5, Funny)
* Mycroft Kenobi has been banned by gamemaster. Reason: Violation of name rules - #7 and #11. [slashdot.org]
Parent
Nail in the Coffin (Score:5, Interesting)
The list included....
learn the game so as to not look like a newbie.
master your class
visit all the planets
do a theme park on every planet (theme park = mission generated by someone like "jabba")
there were others, but (and this is quote from the Beta boards)
"in a product designed for my amusement, I shouldnt have to go looking for fun."
I see the Beta posting trolls have migrated (Score:5, Interesting)
I was in beta pretty much from the beginning, and while there were naysayers from the get go
The people you hear griping about this game, while allowed their opinion, are also the people who were more intent on *PLAYING* the game in beta instead of testing, were the ones who would complain *BITTERLY* about the constant character wipes, and the folks who would *WHINE* on the development boards about how the Developers were hell-bent-out-to-get-them-by-ignoring-this-issue-
In the last 4 weeks of beta I saw *SO* many posts along the lines of 'if you don't do X, I'm not buying the game.' This was from the folks who when discovering a flaw in the game, would say 'hmm
In all honesty, SWG has the feel of Ultima Online more than EverQuest. Its open ended, there is no defined way to 'WIN' the game. It, like the theory behind ANY MMORPG exists so its fun to *play*.
Saddly, many folks were taught that level based games like EverQuest were the mold. And unless you have 'SuperSword, AwesomeArmour, and UberSkillX' your simply a looser.
Does SWG have bugs ? yes. Will they be fixed ? yes. Will new ones pop up ? yes. However the developers for this game have been more open and upfront about Star Wars Galaxies than in *ANY* other beta I have participated in. [And I have been in almost every MMORPG beta except Meridian59] They care about this project, most of them are HUGE fans of the films themselves, and they have been pulling 24 hour days ever since Sony Online Entertainment announced 'You have no more time
All these sour grape X-Beta posts you are reading, are people who lost track of what they were supposed to be *DOING* in beta. Something im shocked to see people admitting on
How can you form an opinion of a game thats not finished ?
Top Ten Why YOU Don't Want to Play SWG (Score:5, Interesting)
Top Ten Reasons:
Why YOU donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
10. If youâ(TM)re mad that you cannot fight Darth Vader so you can show youâ(TM)re l337, then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
9. If youâ(TM)re mad that you cannot play a Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker or some other SW character, then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
8. If youâ(TM)re mad that you cannot jump âoefor real,â then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
7. If you ordered the game âoeagainst your better judgment,â then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
6. If youâ(TM)re mad because you are choosing to pay $15 a month, but you live paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford to spend $144 for $12 a month, then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
5. If youâ(TM)re mad because you have to give up lower skills to attain higher ones thus preventing you from having your uber-ultra-hella-mule-bounty-hunter-survey-medic character, then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
4. If youâ(TM)re mad because you may or may not get your game on the 26th because of limited quantities, then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
3. If youâ(TM)re mad because you did not like something in the beta, vented on the board, but refused to saying anything âoebecause of the NDA,â then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
2. If youâ(TM)re mad because the server you decided to join will not be up in first batch of galaxies and all your friends are dumping you to join other servers (hence really arenâ(TM)t your friends), then you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
And, the top reason why you shouldnâ(TM)t be playing SWGâ¦
1. If youâ(TM)re so mad over a frickinâ(TM) videogame, because you have so little perspective on life, that you have to vent your rage on a web page, you donâ(TM)t want to be playing SWG.
Two friends of mine were in the beta and I wish I had been. I'd go over one of their houses and watch, play and talk about the mechanics of the game. The one thing we all always walked away thinking was how refined the game mechanics are compared to UO. Here are some important points:
1. Combat is "real-time, turn based." Having the fastest connection with a machine at 270 fps is no better than one with 15 fps. If you're smart, though, you'll use the MULTITUDE of combat moves to appropriately shift your stance for range, weapon, defense, etc. You don't have to be fast, you have to be smart about your combat and you will have to interact as teams to take down big creatures or goals.
2. You cannot have an uber-character. Another cool thing is that you have to give up lower skills to continue to gain higher ones. The days of all the characters you have making you self-sufficient and having no reason to interact with lower characters is gone. You will have to interact with lower characters to continue your trade.
3. The skills are interwoven such there isnâ(TM)t an unimportant trade. You can heal yourself, you can learn new skills and you can get things you need yourself, but to do it well and fast requires other people. Dancers to remove battle fatigue, combat medics to support you in combat, artisans to make better weapons (there are no lootables on creatures as far as weapons, shields, etc), leaders group squads and, of course, combat specialists in hand-to-hand, pistols, rifles and carabineers. You will have to interact with other characters to get things done.
4. There are NO NPCs that can sell goods. Players must craft all goods and there are taxes on various things. The rampant inflation that is common on other MMOGS, in theory, should not happen because it will based on the actions of the players. It will not be forced up people using tricks in the game to force up generation of money, plus the richer you are the more you have to do to support tha
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Re:I see the Beta posting trolls have migrated (Score:4, Interesting)
There were a lot of unconstructive negative posts in the Beta forums. And many of them were quite insignificant gripes in the larger context of beta testing.
I think one large issue that many people are missing with SWG is that it's balance in bartle spectrum is much better than most other MMO games. This means the socializers and explorers will enjoy this game a lot more than most games, since that aspect of MMO games is usually left at the very end of the priority list.
I think a lot of the frustration many MMO veterans have with SWG is that the bartle-defined killer type players do not get an overwhelming portion of the attention of the developers. In this game they do get a fair share of attention, but this game is certianly not going to cater to the FFA PvP type of crowd.
People who enjoy socializing, crafting, exploring, and the non-hardcore PvP types will probably find this game enjoyable, since a lot more time has been invested in these kinds of activities than most other MMO games.
I do, however, I share the disclaimer with many other beta testers, that new players who have little patience for bugs should probably not jump right into the game in the first month or two...
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how to play..... (Score:5, Informative)
Guide to Starting out solo in Star Wars: Galaxies, by
an_anonymous_eq_player00
Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) is a group based game, but it is possible,
and possibly more enjoyable for the casual gamer to make some progress
without banging too hard against the numerous artificial time sinks in
SWG.
Character Creation:
Even if you are planning on creating a combat based character (killing
things is why most people seem to play these games, a thought
seemingly lost on the design team), it's best to start out as an
artisan or medic in order to receive the crafting station and
surveying kits. It's important to note here that the starting stats
for the various profession templates are vastly different, so first
make a combat profession character (brawler/marksman), write down the
stats - then back up and select medic or artisan.
I chose medic when I started, mostly because I received the white
jumpsuit rather than the rather bland artisan clothing. Also the
medic starts with a wholly inadequate supply of stimpacks, which are
helpful in reminding you how annoying it is to play a medic in this
game.
Create your character, and BEFORE you select the travel terminal to
select a starting planet, take advantage of the free stat migration to
return your stats to the ones more suited for blasting or whacking
things, which you wrote down in the step above.
First thing you'll need to do in the game is find the trainer of your
craft of choice and train the profession you really want to play
rather than the almost as fun as paint drying selection you have made.
Quick overview of the available professions at starting time:
a) Medic - contrary to the name of this class, medics don't actually
heal people very much and as a rule are not terribly needed in
fights. As a medic you'll spend most of your time either a) looking
for resources to craft medicine or b) crafting said medicine. Sure,
medics heal people - but usually by standing around in a hospital
begging for the solo player to pay them to continue their main task,
being crafting.
b) Artisan - the true soloers of the game, the artisan is the
profession which is the least dependant on the other professions. If
you really enjoy watching paint dry, this is the profession for you.
They gather their own materials for crafting (the only class capable
of doing so), usually as a result of long repetative macros which
allow a player to Survey through the night unattended. After mining
plants to death, the artisan then spends their time making shoes,
1,000s of necklaces, and 100s underpowered newbie weapons in order to
advance to their true goal - placing structures on top of your
favorite hunting grounds. If you see an artisan, the best thing to do
I find is help them out by ensuring that their profanity filters are
working properly.
c) Entertainers - somewhat similar to artisans in that they can be run
by macro's or with the assistance of a group - entirely while AFK.
The only difference is that they can act out lesbian porn much more
accurately. They also require people standing around watching them
while they go afk. Thus making them remarkably slower to level.
d) Scout - the scout is not really a profession in the standard sense
in that you can't actually advance in it unless you receive other
training. Scouts advance by harvesting resources from dead creatures,
which it turns out, are awfully hard to come by unless you have a
reliable method of making said creatures into the dead state that they
need to be in. As a result, the entire scouting profession is used
near exclusively by people like yourself who want to kill things, get
frustrated by the utter lack of objects which appear on the corpses of
the things you kill, and pick up scouting. Scouts can technicall
Re:Linux (Score:5, Interesting)
This game is put out by Sony Online Entertainment and for all intents and purposes Sony doesn't appear to believe in the existence of anything but Microsoft Windows and the PS2 in regards to producing games.
It could potentially hurt their bottom line to produce anything but a Windows or PS2 version of SWG or EQ. Since it forces someone wanting play such a game to buy a Windows PC or PS2, which increases the chances of Sony selling a PS2 or Vaio Computer System.
Hey, I wish it wasn't so, but that is the nature of the beast.
Of course, I am fairly certain that if you were to gather close to 100,000 close friends to not only sign a petition, but to also kick in a $50.00 "donation", you could likely persuade Sony to build a Linux client with the condition that you would be providing them with the big pile of money that you would then have.
Then again, there is likely a larger chance of Microsoft freely, with no strings attached, seeing the error of their ways and providind EVERY spot of source code ever produced as Open Source.
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Re:Does ANYONE like it? (Score:5, Informative)
I base this on how I felt about UO after participating in the Ultima Online beta (same head developer btw.) and how the game progressed after it went live.
I also can compare it to how I felt about everquest after the EQ beta (i was actually in that one from alpha
overall , the game is free flowing, camping is alsost impossible, and there is forced interaction between the players.
you are not 'stuck' in the profession that you pick as an uneducated new player
Personally, I LIKE the game, I
Keep in mind, that until yesterday morning when the servers shut down, most of the people who LIKED the game, were in the game play testing it. Only the negative opinioned folks were out-and-about posting.
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