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LohKey wrote:

SWG is a 1st person shooter in space so it is also a 1st person shooter game DuH, I'm just saying to expand, you guys hit thenail on thehead though, make SWG also for people who like battlefront and americas army why can't it be for players who like both 1st person shooter and RPG? Overall I have a feeling that sony would do a better job than either of those games and on top of that have it wraped up in the SWG enviroment. Think of all the people who would come from americas army and battlefront and the tons of other games.

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Yeah Planetside has already been made...coincidentally by SOE....

I agree with the OP to be honest. I love MMORPGs more than all other games, but the combat in ALL of them needs an upgrade.

FPS style would be the first obvious way to go. Those games are typically some of if not the most successful games on the market. While I would also loathe the PwNzrP0wRl33Td00dz invading SWG, to be quite honest, they are already in this game and every other MMORPG I have played.

Something like this would be great for SWG 2 imo. In fact, I think ifsomeone did a few things along these lines, it would push the entire MMO industry forward. I , for one, am pretty tired of the "tried and true" Everquest-esque conversion of PnP RPG type rulesets andround combat crap equating to combat skill. Planetside has been moderately successful it seems. It's still around after several years afterall, people are still playing it. Battlefront is a good start towards a "lifelike" Star Wars Gaming experience I think. Though I dont know if the 2nd one is out yet, I have seen screenies and read a bit about some of their concepts ( such as field commander type stuff ala battlefield 2) and really don't see any reason why a crafting system like the one SWG has now (though buggy, it's still the best I have encountered among all the MMO's I have played), profession based skillset system,multiple factions, quests, missions, space/ground contentcouldn't allbe coded into making what , imo, would be the greatest of all online role playing games.

My thoughts:

Imperial vs. Rebel = To be an Imperial would mean that you were permanently overt. Don't join the military if don't have FPS combat skills. There would be methods to hide this though : Stealth abilities, Fake Identification, Aliased-names, Stolen Access codes for bypassing enemy blockades etc. and ways to counter them for the opposing faction : Droids that recognize BIO-sigs, expirations on forged codes, stealth-jamming equiptment/sensors. Penalties could be : Bounty's placed on your head for players to try and collect ( capture or kill ) , confiscation ofillegalgoods, death (resets all infractions), or a mild prison sentance. How do you make prison in a game fun? Well, chat wouldn't be disabled, nor the ability to craft items while "locked-up". The sentance would never last more than 1 hour actual online time and during that period, your buddies could always come and try a prison break. Is experience loss for Jedi any different really? I mean, they die, they lose time right? Well, here everyone that violated the law and were caught/had a bounty on their head would be in jeopardy of a similar, although amendable fate.

The rebellion would work the same way. Join the Alliance (which would actually be an alliance made up of different factions under different political leaders) and Your faction becomes overt. Obviously, there would have to be an NPC based "rebel alliance" to get it all started: Enter all your favorite folks from the movies, EU etc plus made up NPC's just like we have now.

Some of these NPC's should even be attackable...just not killable. One of the things that irks me most is that Darth Vader doesn't draw a lightsaber nor forcechoke me for failing him. Sure, he will lightning me (something that is just...wrong seeing how "he's more machine than man") if I /slap or /flail at me. But that is just funny, not immersive. I'd much rather try and fight the bastage and get owned by his saber skill/use of the force. Vader, Luke, Han, Chewie, Boba Fett, Jabba (Rancor pit anyone?) etc should all be attackable, just not killable and you would die to them regardless of how good of a fighter you are hehe. Attack Princess Leia? Sure she probably shouldn't be able to kill you, though she wasn't bad with a blaster, but all those rebels around her, and most importantly Capt Solo and the Wookiee will certainly kill you....quickly too.

Both Armies and Navies would have arank system. To aquire certain high level perks (capital ships, space station, ground bases, vehicles for example) a high rank would be required both on the ground AND in space. Faction for ground, Prestige for space (using SWG's current mechanics).

At a point, your rank would make you permanently overt to the opposite faction. So you would be best to hang around your stormtrooper friends ( anyone in faction gear would be overt regardless of stealth apps.)

Neutral would be the obvious choice for crafters, but there should not be just one neutral faction and those factions shouldn't ALWAYS be neutral. I am thinking Trade Federation, Techno-Union, Banking Clan, Hutt and several other "criminal" factions, among other non-combat oriented factions for people that wouldn't want to be involved in combat.

the catch to this: Missions/Quests would be available from both GCW factions and taking in part of one would result in a TEF flag that would last until you completed/failed the mission. Failure could result in player bounties (capture or kill, bounty hunters choice), confiscation of illegal items (forged ID etc.) Smugglers and Criminals (new profession) would particularly be dangerous professions to play since nearly every action available to them would be illegal resorting in TEF's from the Empire. Bounty Hunters (players) could capture them for a big payout or kill them for a significantly smaller payout.

Players could only be deathblown/captured while incapacitated and capturing would take more time and specific tools (hand-cuffs for one)than deathblowing.

Mercenaries (new profession) would be able to stay neutral and hire themselves out to either side or a criminal organization resulting in TEF status while under contract.

Bounty Hunters would always be neutral , unless under contract, at which point they would become TEF'd to the opposing faction, their mark and ALL other bounty hunters with the same contract. Only one BH couldactually fulfilla particular contract.

Politicians: All politicians would have to report to an Imperial Governor. Though he would carry the Imperial tag, he actually be a "faction" recruiter for all neutral factions.

Political Factions would vie for control of the various aspects of planetary government (land ownership, militia, prison system (not the Imperial prison system) Space Stations, space ports) through the process of negotiation through : Influence (points gained in influence due to voting by players), Bribes and ......hrmm ok im stretching here lol

Combat:

FPS style combat - the Jedi Knight series and Morrowind come to mind here with perhaps some Fighting Game-typecombinationmoves implemented for Melee combatants. Alsocomplete with Atmospheric flight, vehicular ground based combat, space combat. Capture of vehicles/ships be permissable, but never permanently impounded and only destroyed when decay reaches 0.

Jedi: Jedi would have to be tougher than it is now certainly and I think FPS controls would immediately make it so. Especially couple with that some of the combo type moves mentioned above and they would have to control their use of the force. All Jedi would be permanently overt to all factions (exceptRebel Alligned Factions...see below)and would not be allowed to join the Empire at all. I don't mind supporting an "unlock" the Jedi system such as we have now.

Jedi would be able to be light or dark. As stated before they would be permanently overt. They "would" be able to make use of the illegal means of hiding their identities, thus at least temporarilyeliminating this status but the catch is this: Smugglers/Criminal players that the Jedi was PvP enabled to would provide these, in order to get them, you would have to earn that persons trust FOR REAL. Meaning, you find a smuggler that can help you, you have to convince that player that you will not attack him before, during or after the exchange. Success would earn you points with whatever faction was involved in the transaction (again no Imperials, sorry, they don't like Jedi nor Force users that do not abide by the Sith teachings. And Sith are unstable and kill each other in the blink of an eye) eventually leading to PvP disabled vs. that faction. Jedi wouldbe "overt" towards all Rebel NPC's and PC's however, the converse would not be so, that is, Rebel Players/NPC's would NOT be able to openly attack the Jedi unless the Jedi initiates combat. If a Jedi does this, they lose faction, therefore losing connection with the lightside of the force, and subsequently if this behaviour continues, they fall utterly to the dark side of the force and are consumed with their malice forcing them into a permanent overt status to all factioned players and all factioned NPC combat mobs/droids. Trust and connection to the lightside could be re-established , very slowly, by rectifying your past actions through good deeds/self control ie. Not going into town and killing everyone in sight but helping police an area. To be a Jedi in this system would pretty well force Jedi to act like a Jedi would act.

Jedi would be powerful, but difficult to play as their mechanics would have to incorporate FPS Melee Combat skills, Fighting Game style Combination moves and use of force powers such as it is in the Jedi Knight series. Not to mention the social interaction issues mentioned above.

pets All kinds of squad based FPS games out there these days using well coded AI bots. Limitations on faction pets based on Rank. Droids available to everyone and they would have much more functionability in a FPS system. Think about a "guided-missle" from a FPS where you control the missle. Now, change that missle into a droid and use it for : attacking, recon, spying, blowing other players cover, tracking bounty targets, finding resources for crafters, harvesting and carrying resources for crafters using a waypoint system, and acting as a translator as "basic language" would only be useable by logical races that speak it ie. Humans, MonCal, Bothans, Twi-leks etc.

anguages would be comprehended through the use of protocol droids and eventually learned through this use to where they could be spoken by non-native speakers : certain limitations would apply of course :wookiees, Rodians, Sullustan for example would be able to comprehend basic and learn to speak it as well, but if whom they were speaking with did not understandRodese, Shryiiwook or Sullustese,nor have a protocol droid , they would not be able to communicate in the standard chat interface. Make email available for everyone in English or whatever language you use so that communication would be easy, just somewhat "slower."

Anyway I am rambling and hijacked this thread enough already...thanks forreading if you did

Also, nearly every aspect of what I wrote has been implemented in some way in a video game that is on the market or has been on the market. When a development company grows the balls, has the resources and most importantly the patience, to make a game of this scale (and these are just a few of the ideas I have...much less what others have come up with) they will push the MMORPG genre to the "next level" of gaming goodness.

I nominate Lucas Arts, SOE (yep, despite the troubles with SWG and their CS) and the Star Wars Franchise