Darth Vader: never shy about speaking his mind
MMOs are now a well understood, and pretty well developed genre. A number of MMOs have really brought the game up, and introduced new features to make gameplay easier, more convenient, and more fun. Overall, the development of the genre has been extremely positive.
Of course, BioWare is implementing a series of unique features to SWTOR. They’ve indicated that they aren’t trying to unnecessarily re-invent the genre, but to iterate when necessary. In a nutshell, this means that BioWare is taking the best features of previous MMOs, adding their own unique touch, and implementing them in SWTOR.
And that gives rise to our question of the day: what common MMO features, found in other MMOs, do you not want implemented in SWTOR? What features in WoW, LOTRO, Everquest, EVE Online, or any other MMO you’ve played in the past have bugged you, irritated you, or taken away from your enjoyment of the game? What features were simply a bad idea?
I’ll start – “indirect” fast travel systems simply bug me. Back when I played WoW, flight routes required my character to hop on a bird, pay some coin, and then fly from city A, through the flight path to city B, then city C, then city D, in order to finally reach city E. Why? Was it so hard to implement a flight-pathing system that took me directly from city A to City E? From my perspective, it was simply a wasted of five minutes of game time, flying all over the map, seeing the sights, and then finally arriving at my destination.
So what’s your gripe? What do you not want to see in SWTOR? Share your thoughts and ideas with us – we really want to hear from you!
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I hope there are no cross-server lfg tools or pvp queues introduced. While I see they are of great benefit (to reduce waiting times) I’ve always found they damage server communities to a point where they can no longer be salvaged. I have often felt if you are going to have a player from another server join your group then you might as well just take an NPC. Which might be just what happens in SW:TOR.
Agreed
I agree with this to a certain extent, but if it is necessary then well….
The fact of the matter is that Bioware does have plans to avoid doing this if at all possible. That is the purpose of the Bolstering system that they have implimented. Hopefully that system will preclude the need to mix servers. =)
From what I can tell, the bolstering system (similar to RIFTs I take it) will only be for PvP.
I’ll agree with that.
The LFG tool is a great tool and does exactly what it’s supposed to do. Unfortunately I’ve also never communicated less in groups, or felt more than I was just doing some job with a random group of people, than when I started using it.
I shall also have to look into this Bolstering system!
I’m sorry, but an LFG tool is *vital*. Not everyone quests through the content to maximum level and then only does maximum level content with that one, or those few, characters. Eventually people get tired of levelling via. questing and want to do something different. When dungeons & FPs are seperated into brackets over just a few levels, it’s going to be utterly impossible on many servers to find parties for flashpoints below level 50 some months down the line.
I do agree with the lack of community though. So my compromise would be to have either a server-only LFG option box tick, or crossrealm-LFG level 10-49 only.
Micro transactions of any sort.
^ this, don’t want this filthy greedy business model of this kind, really hate it.
Both of the above.
Also daily quests that are exactly the same but are forced upon you
Weekly Down Times!! lol
Flight. We really looked forward to flying mounts in WoW, but they took a massive amount of the excitement out of questing, as you could just skip past mobs straight to your target. Although that sounds like it would be good, it really just felt like the game lost something essential.
MTs are a game killer for me.
The endless, kill 20 wolves, then go back and kill the leader (including the 20 just killed to reach said leader).
I am tired of all the different faction reputation grinds. Did them in WOW and still doing them in LOTRO. Give me 2 or 3 and leave it at that, just make them longer if needed.
Flying mounts, this is one of those things that just killed world PvP in WoW for me. They were cool for getting around and all but people being able to fly out of nowhere and gank low lvls over and over or just being able to fly away when after them on foot is dumb.
I agree with you on the flight paths thing. I like that I have the option of traveling like that, but not that I’m forced to waste time when it’s completely unnecessary. If it were a literal taxi, driving on roads, that would be one thing, but flying should be direct from A to B.
I agree with Zdarr’s comment on questing. If you’re going to send me after a bunch of wolves, just tell me to kill them all and the leader too. Don’t send me to the same place twice when one trip would get the job done.
My big gripe with MMO’s is limited inventory. To further that, I don’t like that my inventory is completely separate across characters. I don’t need to have the “realism” of sending a gift package to my other character when there’s literally no possibility of those two characters ever interacting in-game because they’re both on my account. I am all of my characters, and all of my characters are me. Give us some shared storage space already.
Lifeless NPCs/MOBs – We want our MMO worlds to feel alive. Having an NPC or MOB standing in the same spot 24/7 without any kind of movement is a depressing.
Mailboxes – All my mail should be able to be directed to my ship.
Quest reward items that I can’t possibly use for my character. When in doubt send credits!
0 aggro circle – If a MOB is X many levels below you it well never attack. Worse thing I have ever seen in a game. I mean are we invisible after a certain level? I can see lowering the range but if you are occupying the same space they should at least growel at you or something.
I’ll reply to both Varrodne’s comments here.
0 aggro circle – some kind of response could be nice, but at some given point I’d rather a creature or NPC did not react than attack me. In WoW it’s always been a source of annoyance to me that some level 2 wolf will attack – and HIT! – my level 80 or 85 character. Every time that happens I think to myself, “Right. If I took a level 2 character and tried to…”
Lifeless NPCs/mobs – a necessary evil for some NPCs. NPCs that I have to chase after to be able to finish reading the quest text, accept the quest, choose my quest reward, sell or buy items, etc., are a huge peeve of mine. If they move within a defined area and stay put once I interact with them until I’m done, well and good. Otherwise, no thank you. The only NPCs or mobs I expect to have to chase are those I need to kill.
Mailboxes – access to mail from the ship: grand. Access to mail when away from the ship: also grand. Access to mail no matter where I am: perfect.
Quest rewards – totally agree, as I stated below.
I actually wrote and read a significant number of these on the general discussion thread on the SWTOR forums. It’s likely gone past 2000 posts already. Suffice to say, all the things we hate about MMO’s are the things WoW have tried to lure people in for deliberate long term investment that worked, or felt obnoxious and still worked, or were horribly broken, yet still worked.
NO FREE EPIX
Agreed on the WoW flight paths. It’s like hitting a commercial break in the middle of playing your game.
Reputation/currency grinds – if you must make it a path long enough to test the patience of saints for me to be able to access the next dungeon, quest hub, raid, operation, or Slurpee, for the love of Pete don’t make me walk that path by doing one or more of the same half dozen quests over and over and over. Instead, please have the courtesy to make it a halfway engaging quest chain.
(Incidentally, this caused my latest break with WoW. I like my alts and will tend to have many of them. With the latest expansion I actually began to dread the thought of going through the same onerous point and reputation grind multiple times.)
Quest rewards – if the quest giver doesn’t have something my character can use, show me the money. Getting useless quest rewards once in a while is okay, and can make for color as an additional storytelling element, provided it doesn’t happen for two out of three quests.
Quest Giver: Thank you, Hero 43752! Here, take this amazing quest reward! It was my grand-grand-grandpappy’s hunting rifle. Best one he ever made, ayup!
Hero 43752: Uh… You do realize I’m going to go sell this off at the nearest pawn shop, right?
P.S. What’s with the special characters in the Captcha? Right now I’ve even got stuff in there that looks like it might be Hindi or something.
Lifeless NPCs/mobs – I totally agree that once you engage in a conversation,buy/sell window or whatever with a NPC they should not move. Just give em some kind of animation so they don’t seem totally lifeless.
Unisex factions/races – unless there is some in-game reason for a faction or race(!) to be all-male or all-female, let’s get some diversification going on. We’re all equally opportunity killers over here, right?
Lore – would it create some kind of time-ending paradox for there to be quests or missions during which you learn more information about some faction, race, or organization? Preferably not by the quest giver telling a story around a campfire.
Gathering quests – Boars. Livers. Need I say more? If they must have them, at least add some compelling element so that I don’t feel like I’m looking for Mrs. Weatherly’s cat’s favorite toy in her rumpus room. Again.
HEIRLOOMS! People want to stand out. Heirlooms are like uniforms in low level dungeons, not to mentioned completely overpowered.
GUILD PERKS! If someone doesn’t want to be in a guild, Blizzard, Bioware or anyone else shouldn’t force them. It just puts a lot of opportunists in casual and social guilds.
DIFFICULTY! Endlevel raids in most games tend to be too difficult. I usually play heroic or hardmode with my main, but I prefer to ‘chillax’ with my alts in PUGs or with friends in social guilds. There is no reason the wide majority of paying customers should not have a taste of endgame content.
PVP ONLY STAT! Making it a boring grind to start PVP’ing, where you are constantly the victim. I understand the technical reasons for adding such a stat – preventing people from using PVP gear in PVE, or vice versa in terms of arena and rated BGs – but ideally I would like to see gear removed from PVP completely, and players issued a standard healthpool and damage output via the bolstering system.
I also agree with most of the points raised above with the exception of the complete banishment of crossrealm LFGs under maximum level.
Heirlooms. I disagree with you there, they add something for people to buy, and it makes it easier for leveling. Granted it may be a little OP, but if you are in a dungeon with these people who cares if they are OP that just makes it easier for you.
Guild Perks. They have said that they are adding this post game. And I dont blame them. This is an MMORPG not just a RPG. You could play the game by yourself the entire time. But that wouldn’t be very fun or practical.
Difficulty. They already said that there is going to be an easy mode that drops “heroic” (for lack of a better term) gear and then hardmodes that drop the real raid gear.
PvP Stats. So why PvP ? If there is no reason to get the gear from PvP whats the point ? .. I mean its fun and all, but with no reward its not as enticing as PvE. P.S its already in the game
No faction grind.
No daily quest grind.
Those are not fun in any kind of way.
Thing’s I don’t want:
Group Finder (kills server community, people in random pugs don’t give a crap, ninja and leave if they can)
Flying Mounts (never saw anyone full on flying around in Star Wars. Jump packs and speeder bikes were limited in duration/range)
Micro-transactions (Not even for vanity crap, everything obtainable should be obtainable by virtue of me paying $15 a month already)
Teleport hubs (I guess space travel hubs will function this way, but I am weary of them breaking immersion if they took this principal too far)
Town Portals / Hearthstones (just doesn’t fit with the universe. I am ok with finishing a dungeon, hitting a button and your back outside of it or in town finishing the quest, but you shouldn’t be able to magically port back to home base from wherever.)
It’s late enough that my brain is turning to jelly, so I have to ask…
Regarding picking up and finishing quests, which also peripherally involves teleporting or hearthing back to town for said purposes: has there been mention of being able to call or communicate with quest givers at range?
I know that if you aren’t by a conversation in a group and the rest of your group is you can holo call in. I dont know about calling them while you are alone. Im sure there will be a feature
I certainly hope calling in to quest givers is, or will soon be, possible. With the technology available to communicate with someone halfway across the galaxy it’d be a tad odd if you can’t get in touch with someone on the same planet.
Hell, I’d buy a communicator for a cheapskate NPC if it saved me half an hour of running back and forth because he forgot to tell me that he wanted me to pick daisies while I was out there killing womp rats.
Dumming Down.
I understand making the game easier for casual players but wow has been made way too easy. I remember feeling happy that I finally got keyed for x dungeon or managed to acquire y item. Wow seemed to listen to the qq’ers too much and removed so many requirements for things that it just made the damn game too easy.
But then I actually miss EQ (and only know one other person that shares that) but I miss having to gauge aggro from experience instead of addons, corpse runs that often required skill to pull off.
I also hate joining a dungeon queue and being so limited. Can’t group with anyone etc – to help them with sOmething for instance.
Oh yeah and only being able to see “trade” I’m main citys. Don’t get me wrong I dislike trade a lot but when I’m keeping an eye out for a raid or something I don’t want to be stuck in a city all night.
I’d love to see some of the original star wars mmo features tho (harvesting/shops/speeders) but that’s for another day
No easy epics, i want to work for my gear so when i do actually achieve it it feels worth it. I dont want every tool running around with full purple gear.
Nothing too easy, particuarly instances, ive been watching videos of people running a few of the instances and they seem way too easy, so its pull cast a few spells, the healer chucks 1 or 2 heals and everyone just goes through the grind. I want challenge (i’m a healer) i wanna be on my toes watching peoples health, watching for mechanics. I need challenge in a game, i like to stimulate my mind not numb it, if i wanted that id get stoned.
P.S. it feels so good getting through a challenge with friends and creates a real sense of accomplishment and bonding. So yer i get some people are lazy so how bout hard/normal mode for instances for level 1-50 as long as the loot for hard id far better
Speaking of gear, there is one gripe I have with the common gear paradigm.
Frangible me, I’m nude!
In most games with gear, if you take off that gear your character is a babe in the woods. Suddenly you have to think twice about taking on that fluffy squirrel because maybe, just maybe, it’ll be your match. Rather than the typical +20 -> +80 -> +212 bonuses on gear I’d prefer to see gear which provides percentage based boosts. Sure, they might also have some of the straight +20 Strength stat boosts, but the main buff comes from the percentage, e.g. +5% Strength.
If the total bonus is limited to no more than 20% or 25%, then even without any gear the character will be a force to be reckoned with. Why is this important, since scarcely more than a handful of people will be interested in going questing in the buff?
It’s important because I want my character to feel heroic. I want a heroic character. I do not want a random chump with heroic gear. I’m not playing the gear. I’m playing the character.
Clearly this will have some interesting implications. A piece of lowbie +10% gear will be a much more powerful item for a high level character than for someone in the level range it was designed for. This could lead to much greater freedom in mixing and matching gear. However, higher level gear will still need to be made more interesting, which would likely come in the form of better damage mitigation and defense (Focusing on armor’s primary function? I must be mad!), as well as secondary stats that are not intrinsic to the character (+range, as a random example).
No bleeding flying mounts, arenas, cross-server wargames/dungeons or microtransactions!
I agree 100% with the NPCs just sitting there all the time! I understand not wanting people to get lost but it didn’t feel real, when I play RPGs I like it to be real, to some degree