Feb 28, 2012

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Lethal Injection: We Need Factions

I originally posted this on the official TOR forums to try and get some discussion going there, but it was swiftly and unceremoniously moved to the Suggestion Box, otherwise known as where discussions go to die. So, since I had a blog that talks about Star Wars: The Old Republic, I decided it was a great place to put it after all! :)

TL;DR

Here’s the basic gist of it, so those of you that wish to flame me can get right to it:

Adding NPC factions to the game and allowing a progression mechanic for them through reputation would allow BioWare to tell stories about more and varied parts and peoples of the Star Wars galaxy. This would also assure that players with “nothing to do” would always have something to do.

With that out of the way, onward!

The Problem

One of the louder cries over on the official forums from the people that have already advanced to level cap is that there’s “nothing to do.”

There is some truth to this. Leveling is as quick as in any game, if not quicker. Normal mode Operations are designed to be very easy, and reward nearly the same gear as Heroic mode. So it’s very easy to be geared up completely in no time at all. At that point, there really isn’t much left to do.

You could roll an alt, but that has nothing to do with progressing your main character. Until we know more about the Legacy system (which is designed to incentivize rolling alts) we can’t say what else that will bring.

Of course you could also play Warzones and spend time on Ilum, which is probably the only real option at end game that doesn’t run out (unless of course you max out your PvP gear and Valor rank). But you could still PvP for fun, which it is.

The Solution

So what, then, could players in this position of having nothing to do spend their time doing? The answer is Factions.

Traditionally, MMOs have had various NPC factions scattered throughout the world. TOR is no different, actually. The key difference between TOR and some other games such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard and even RIFT is that these factions exist as a game construct that you can earn (or lose) reputation with. In other words, the game measure your interaction with these factions and provides potential rewards (items, areas, content, lore, etc.)

Back at PAX 2011, I asked Gabe Amatangelo and James Ohlen if TOR would have any of these factions and they said no. However, it looks to me as if it may have been a part of TOR’s original design, as you can see here on the Allegiances page of the HoloNet:

Factions

Looks to me that there might have been more intended for this page...

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Jan 18, 2012

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Lethal Injection: Calm Down, It’s Going To Be Okay

Lethal Injection is a regular opinion column here at Ask A Jedi. If you know Lethality, whom you may be familiar with from over on the official Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ forums, you know that he’s not afraid to share an opinion or two. Even more than that, he enjoys backing it up in the discussion that invariably follows. You can look for the same approach here in each installment of Lethal Injection, and we can’t wait to hear YOUR opinion of his opinions!

This image represents a snapshot of the General Discussion forum on SWTOR.com earlier today.

Click to embiggen!

There are, apparently, billions of players in an uproar. Everything from Mythic to SOPA and even Billy Mays are being blamed for the perceived issues with TOR. If you were to use this as the sole measuring stick to see how well-loved the game is, you’d think BioWare must be getting ready to pack up the servers right now.

I really can’t do anything but laugh, to be honest.

You Can’t Handle The Truth

You want to know the truth? Most players aren’t reading those threads, much less complaining in them. They’re not even here reading this article. What are they doing? They’re out playing the game and having fun. They’re not obsessing over microscopic details that simply do not matter in the grand scheme of things, if they notice them at all. If they come across a bug or a problem, they work around it. They don’t use it as the basis for a manifesto against BioWare. They see the big picture.

Yes, there are some issues and BioWare has acknowledged that. They’re actively working to pin down real performance issues for some users, and we know they are doing everything they can to make the grand vision for Ilum work as they intended (official thread here for feedback.) BioWare has a vested interest, obviously, to make this game the best it can be. Star Wars: The Old Republic is a well-crafted game built by a company passionate and proud about what they do.

And…?

This is all you need to ask yourself: are you having fun? If you answered yes, you may continue to do so unhindered! If not, you can do something about that, too. But posting ridiculous rants on the forums is a waste of time. If you’re searching for a reason to hate the game, you can find one. But if you truly want to enjoy it, all you have to do is let yourself. Honest.

You can call this a fanboy post from a fan site if you like, I don’t mind. For the record, yes – I have some issues with the game, and I’m not afraid to express them, usually here in Lethal Injection. But I’m also smart enough to realize the difference between problems and personal preferences.

To all of the knee-jerk reactionary complainers or the band-wagoners, try to understand there’s a much bigger picture being painted than for your own, personal, self-entitled needs. There are many, many players logging in and having fun right now as you waste time here reading this rant about rants.

Just look past the end of your arm to see what’s up ahead for a change. You just might be surprised how much fun you can have.

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Dec 10, 2011

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Lethal Injection: No Grace Under Pressure, Despite Distant Early Warning

Lethal Injection is a regular opinion column here at Ask A Jedi. If you know Lethality, whom you may be familiar with from over on the official Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ forums, you know that he’s not afraid to share an opinion or two. Even more than that, he enjoys backing it up in the discussion that invariably follows. You can look for the same approach here in each installment of Lethal Injection, and we can’t wait to hear YOUR opinion of his opinions!

There’s usually no lack of unrest in any MMO community about one topic or another, and Star Wars: The Old Republic is no different. Whether it’s solo vs. group, PvE vs. PvP or nerf vs. buff, there’s always some type of revolution brewing.

This week’s firestorm in the TOR galaxy is all about the grace period. What is this grace period I speak of, you ask? Let me catch you up.

Saved By Grace

Typically when you buy a piece of entertainment software for your PC, it will come with a “CD Key” or “Game Code” which you need to enter while installing so you can be authenticated as having a legal copy of the game and the right to play it. With a traditional offline single player game, there is normally never a case where you have the game to install before you have the game code required to play it.

With a modern MMO it’s a little different. Since it’s an online game service, it’s more natural to expect to be able to download it ahead of time, install it and have it ready to connect and play the minute the servers “go live.” As most MMO vets will tell you, there’s nothing like that new MMO smell… logging into the game just as the servers come up when everything is new, fresh and unsullied by noobs.

The problem is that MMO publishers still like to sell you boxes. With physical media. And game codes. You still need to enter a game code/key in order to be able to play it. Fair enough, right? Well, yes and no.

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Apr 14, 2011

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Lethal Injection: The Drowning Pool

Lethal Injection is a regular opinion column here at Ask A Jedi. If you know Lethality, whom you may be familiar with from over on the official Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ forums, you know that he’s not afraid to share an opinion or two. Even more than that, he enjoys backing it up in the discussion that invariably follows. You can look for the same approach here in each installment of Lethal Injection, and we can’t wait to hear YOUR opinion of his opinions!


If you’re one of the TOR faithful, you’re probably aware that last week there was a press event for the game held in London. That event also included a couple of special play sessions for some lucky fans, as well as question & answer time with developers.

One of the revelations coming out of those sessions was that swimming would not be in Star Wars: The Old Republic when it ships. At first it sounded like the reports we were receiving from across the pond were inaccurate.

However the next day, Daniel Erickson made it crystal clear as part of one of his posts on the official forums:

Swimming will not be in TOR for ship. It is not a ‘free feature’ we turned off and is actually a huge amount of animation, pathfinding and AI work. Either every creature in the game needs to have water moving/fighting animations and AI to handle 3D movement or combat has to stop in the water with all the AI craziness that having safe zones you can jump in and out of entails. We have nothing against swimming but it’s never going to outrank improving combat, Companion AI or any of our other core features.

And that’s all the community needed to go off on one of its trademark diatribes… The official forums were on fire, and probably every fan site and podcast took a shot at the decision.

Now, not everyone was against the idea. There are people of the opinion that it’s no big deal that swimming isn’t in the game. And as a matter of fact lauded it, as using lightsabers or heavy armor underwater just doesn’t make sense.

Underwater

This is called precedent.

But I’m here to tell them why they’re wrong.

In an open world, massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, in which “exploration” is touted as one of the pillars upon which the game experience is built, the ability for your character to swim is absolutely essential. It’s almost elemental. Right up there next to jumping. There’s nothing more immersion-breaking that traversing a landscape and having to run around bodies of water that are much deeper than your character.

Sure, the world designers will probably make sure there aren’t any significant bodies of water that the player will come across. But that’s a design direction that seems to compromise creativity. Even in World of Warcraft, It was always a very cool moment when you realized that after all of the exploring for that next step in your quest, maybe what you’re looking for is IN the nearby water. And lets not forget where Sméagol originally found the One Ring.

And it’s really not about wanting “underwater content,” but simply the freedom to explore underwater spaces. Yes, this means that ideally there’d be _something_ underwater to see, but I don’t think that’s an unfair request for game with the scope, budget and development timeframe of TOR. Some aquatic lifeforms and some basic swimming animations for player characters are all that it would take to enhance the believability. I’m not suggesting this is trivial, but the competition has it covered. And it would go a long way toward supporting role-playing.

So how will water be handled then? Georg Zoeller offered some relative reassurance that there are no invisible walls blocking you from entering water:

There’s no rigid wall in the game at this point. You walk in shallow water, it becomes deeper as you progress, and at some point you start getting the message that you should turn back. You can continue on and ultimately drown (then respawn) or move back.

Further, he elaborates that it’s something they may revisit later:

We’ll definitely look at this again later, after launch, but if we were to decide to do it, it’d be accompanied with proper content and mechanics themed around it.

Great news, but that doesn’t help the first impression that players will get when the first log into the game when it ships and try to jump in the crystal-clear sparkling blue water on Tython. And truthfully, if the underwater environments aren’t currently being fleshed out, will there really be an effort to go back and do that on every planet in the future?

In the end, swimming isn’t a game-breaking issue, but it IS a core part of interacting with the environment and making it feel like a real place. One of the things that makes the world seem believable.

So what say you? Does not having the ability for your character to swim detract from your experience in any way? Or are you perhaps even glad that this is the decision they’ve made? Do tell.

Did the lack of swimming in TOR surprise you?

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Mar 31, 2011

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Lethal Injection: Companions Find Their Place

Lethal Injection is a regular opinion column here at Ask A Jedi. If you know Lethality, whom you may be familiar with from over on the official Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ forums, you know that he’s not afraid to share an opinion or two. Even more than that, he enjoys backing it up in the discussion that invariably follows. You can look for the same approach here in each installment of Lethal Injection, and we can’t wait to hear YOUR opinion of his opinions!


If you’ve been following Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ for any length of time, you’re aware that companion characters have been heralded as one of the key features of the game. As a matter of fact, they were first talked about way back on October 21, 2008 – the day The Old Republic was formally announced.

And It made sense. Companion characters had always been a big part of BioWare single player games. However, earlier this month at PAX East, a bit of news emerged that put may put a small footnote on the idea.

During the Developer Meet & Greet held at the Westin Hotel, Game Director James Ohlen revealed that they are currently intending to disallow companions inside of raids or Warzones – basically any area where player skill should be the determining factor:

“Right now, we’re aiming to not allow companions into end game raids and Flashpoints. We’re also currently not allowing them into Warzones. One of the big reasons is that these kinds of activities, raids, Flashpoints and Warzones, they’re all very much about player skill. And the difference between losing and victory is so slim that when something goes wrong you want it to be the player’s fault, not the fact that the companion character’s AI is two seconds too slow.”

It sounds like companions have found their place. And I couldn’t be happier.

Don’t get me wrong – I think companions in an MMO are a great idea for extending the solo portions of the game. Having a companion along while you’re out questing can add adventure, drama, comedy relief and even romance to your experience – all of the things that make BioWare stories great.

But when it comes to the bread-and-butter of MMORPG’s – multi-player gameplay – companions just don’t make sense. There are other real, live players available to fill the role of complementing your character in a group.

And it really does come down to letting those players pass or fail, as James Ohlen mentioned. Group content is not only about the individual fulfilling their role, but also about the group coming together and executing at a high level of coordination. Sure… BioWare could certainly create artificial intelligence (AI) that beats their own content every time… but why? It’s much more interesting when you introduce the human factor into the mix. It’s the unique selling point of the genre.

Be it cooperative, competitive or anywhere in between, the future of MMO gameplay will be in the evolution of multiplayer content between real players. That’s where the opportunity for innovation is. The focus should be on ideas that bring people together and work to break down whatever barriers might be preventing folks from participating in group content.

Damion Schubert, BioWare Lead Systems Designer on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ may have said it best during his recent GDC talk about solo players in MMOs (PowerPoint download):

“One of the things we have to acknowledge as MMO designers is that our magic — our secret sauce, this stuff, the raids — this is hardcore stuff. This is hardcore gameplay. Even a basic raid is incredibly hard for players to grasp and get comfortable with. This is hardcore gameplay, and we have to figure out how to get the solo player in a position where they want to take part in this, where they feel comfortable with the social circles, where they feel like they can be contributors.”

So, if you’re really looking for a group of computer controlled buddies who show up on time and don’t stand in the fire, I heard Dragon Age 2 just came out.

Do you disagree? Is your perspective on the topic a little different? I’d love to hear about it below!

No Companions

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Jan 31, 2011

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Lethal Injection: Flashpoints: To Exist Or Not To Exist, That Is The Question!

Lethal Injection is a regular opinion column here at Ask A Jedi. If you know Lethality, whom you may be familiar with from over on the official Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ forums, you know that he’s not afraid to share an opinion or two. Even more than that, he enjoys backing it up in the discussion that invariably follows. You can look for the same approach here in each installment of Lethal Injection, and we can’t wait to hear YOUR opinion of his opinions!


Last Thursday, GameSpot was lucky enough to be able to reveal a Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ gameplay trailer of a brand-new Flashpoint entitled Taral V . The video is great, and really shows the intense group combat that BioWare is working hard toward delivering. If you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading this and watch it now. And then please come back. :)

As we spent more time diving in and dissecting the piece, the question came to mind: Is this a Flashpoint on a planet called Taral V, which has yet to be revealed? Or is the planet itself a Flashpoint? The answer came a few hours later in a post from BioWare Senior Community Manager Stephen Reid on the official forums:

To answer the question, Taral V is just a Flashpoint location.

With that confirmation, my heart skipped a beat.

After all, this is an MMORPG with a massive open world in which we’re going to explore, adventure and basically spend a lot of time. Why would a planet exist only in an instance, and not in the open game world? And just how many instanced locations (fauxcations?) like this would exist in the TOR galaxy?

So, why is this such a big deal?

Well, from a gameplay standpoint, it isn’t. Honestly, this could potentially open up many more locations for gameplay than would otherwise be possible by having BioWare need to fully realize a planet in order to adventure there.

But, if the location and the story are important enough to be written, then shouldn’t it be important enough to exist in the game world? It just doesn’t feel right in an MMO context that we’ll be adventuring in places that don’t really exist. To me, this feels more like how a single player, linear, closed-world game might present content to a player.

Taral V

Taral V

And to be clear, I’m not asking for a planet like Taral V to be fleshed out with all of the niceties of other planets. It doesn’t need resource nodes, alien civilizations or quest hubs. But players should still be able to travel there, even when they’re not doing that specific Flashpoint. If players want to travel there just to look at the sky, they should be able to do that in the spirit of freedom that an MMO world affords us.

Now, we don’t know for sure how BioWare will handle this. I’m working on an assumption that since it’s been described as a Flashpoint-only planet, we are unable to travel there the same as we would to other planets via the in-game starship navigation system (and actually, at the time of writing, we don’t know for sure how BioWare handles that either.)

The bottom line for me is that this tends to create a sense of disbelief. It breaks the immersion that is otherwise being so painstakingly crafted. Gabe Amatangelo, Lead PvP Designer on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, mentioned this when describing how they wanted to hide the “gamey” aspects of Warzones.  So why introduce something seemingly as “gamey” as adventuring in location that really isn’t there?

For an MMORPG, I feel that a primary design goal should be to create a sense of place, as well as offer freedom to players and facilitate immersion at every opportunity. Traveling to a planet in an instance, that you can’t otherwise travel to, seems counter to that ideal.

So, what do you think? Does it matter to you that certain locations will be presented this way? And how many could be like this before it would be a concern to you? Or perhaps, you think this is the greatest idea in the history of ideas! Take a minute and let us know your thoughts below…

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