Development Cycle Archive

Message Edited by supa187 on 07-15-2004 01:34 PM

This is indeed disappointing. The focus on jedi truly boggles the mind. I have been playing since Beta 2, and I'll continue to play in the hopes that SWG will eventually live up to its promise.

I have played an entertainer since Day 2 of Live. I'm guessing there are a few more entertainers than Jedi, and yet we have the same songs, an unreliable buff (unreliable at least in the sense that we don't know if it's working), the same dances, and the same few of us trying to make the entertainer professions something more than an afk scantily clad twi'lek dancing in front of an afk band.

Back in beta (and before), when the path to jedi-dom was still unknown, we debated endlessly as to how one could become a jedi, and the pitfalls of the jedi system. There were many systems proposed with depth and imagination, and then we found out it was playing profession after profession until you hit the right combo. I recall the devs saying more than a few times that it's bad economics to make 95% of the special coding for the game for the benefit of 5% of the players. Perhaps the jedi code keeps people on the hook trying to make that level. Perhaps the people seeking jedi-hood makes it worthwhile. My intuition is that it would be better to improve the game as an all-around experience, than for a select few.

SWG was supposed to be different -- not obsessed with the ultra-high end game, not obsessed with the uberloot and the ultra powerful. The survival of any MMO counts on 1) a strong existing player community and 2) enticements for new players. It's true that the jedi hook might bring new people in, but it seems like if they find the experience along the way to be fun (and not like it's just grinding to make "jedihood"), it would do more to retain them. Perhaps the devs have been playing so long that they want to focus on what seems cool to them. Jedi are cool, very cool. On the other hand, the vast majority of the population just wants to play.

If I ruled the dev team, here's how I would do things:
1) Increase the population of each server. I've said since beta that there are too few people on any given server at a time. The worlds seem so terribly empty. I drive my speeder from player city to player city, and they are almost always totally empty. Even the "NPC" cities (especially the smaller ones) are mostly empty. I realize that there are massive technical limitations to overcome, but if I had the ability to change any one thing, it would be the vast emptiness.

If it's utterly impossible to increase the server populations, then give people more reasons to come together. Have more "events" populated by SOE roleplayers. Stick a few NPCs to walk around player cities. Have the Emperor stop by Bestine and have a drink at the cantina. Just do _something_.


2) Give the entertainers some new content. Okay, I'm biased on this one, but stick with me for a minute. Cantinas, starports, and med centers are basically the only places that people congregate. People expect to do a bit of chatting in cantinas, and from experience I can tell you that entertainers who speak well do better on tips (not much better, but a little). Entertainers are the social glue of the game. Those few crowded places are the only places where I feel like the game approaches the population density that it should. The more capabilities you give to entertainers to draw people into the game, the more "Star Wars-y" the game feels, and the more loyal your customers are. We ask for new songs, and we ask that something be done about afk musicians.

Oh, and thanks for the droids, they are fun little toys. And thanks for the don't-listen-to-afkers too.


3) Add player missions. Player missions were originally one of the biggest design elements of the game. They were cut ages ago -- probably it was the right thing to do at the time. Now, though, people have eaten through most of the static content in the game. Holo observed that you can never create sufficient static content, because people will burn through it. I forget the author, but the threads on player contracts are truly excellent. Player contracts would add a great deal to the game, and make it unique in a way that a jedi revamp will not.


4) GCW. I don't PvP, to be honest. I never have, and I probably never will. At the same time, many people do, and those players often tend to be the hard core who spend their time playing and bringing others to the game. I realize a similar thing could be said for jedi, but to experience jedi, you have to go through the lower ranks. The game is called "An Empire Divided" and to be honest, I don't see it. I do see rebels walking around imperials. I see stormtroopers walking around that do nothing at all. I haven't seen any massive battles between sides differing in playstyle and ideology. I do see a subtitle of a game that's been ignored.

And maybe that's the ultimate problem. The "realities" of game design and economics have conspired to encourage the safe design choices. Revising the GCW is hard. Player missions are very hard. High server populations are expensive. Non-combat professions don't bring people do the game (though I argue that they keep people). I'm super excited for JTL, and I can understand postponing the GCW in order to do it right. But for Jedi?? C'mon. Forget about the jedi for a bit. The people that play that much will stick around (sorry to those people, but it's true). Throw everybody else a bone in the meantime. Concentrate on a couple of things that will make the game more Star Wars-y for the 95%.

In the meantime, most of us will still be here, even those who say they're quitting. I have faith the game will get better. EQ eventually was a really, really good game, but by that time all the content was focused on high level content, and there were very few new players who played more than casually. I hope SWG never becomes that.

Atiknin (of Beta)
Gramon Blatt ME/MM (of Chilastra)

Step 1) Tell everyone that they will get a prize only if they stay subscribed till JTL
Step 2) Delay everything people want till after JTL
Step 3) Maintain accounts because of Steap 1
Step 4) Profit!

Well my accout is cancelled

Message Edited by eznihm on 07-15-2004 03:30 PM