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Future Plans for SWG?
Warcry has a short article with impressions from someone who was asked to participate in a Star Wars Galaxies focus group. The moderator evidently presented several options, and the group responded. From the article: "The final question/topic was whether we'd choose any one of the pamphlet outlines to add to the game, or if we'd prefer for them to work on bringing things back that were taken out. As soon as he was done talking, the group said 'Rollback' almost as one. The moderator seemed like he saw that coming, because he'd probably heard the term a dozen times already from the other groups."
No, seriously, please. Just move along. For the love of the Force, our dev team has been raping your childhood memories like a Gungan on crystal meth for over three years now, and the only thing we've done that was even remotely cool was sending 1200 donuts to Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade last week.
And you're still here?
Please. Move. Along.
Cautiously optimistic? Don't make me get Ackbar out here.
I've always thought the best strategy for building a Star Wars MMO would be to combine something like City of Heroes with World of Warcraft. Yes, I know this seems obvious. "Wow, combine two great game ideas! You're a genius!" But here's what I mean:
Every player character is a jedi. You can totally customize your race, appearance, and style of force use. In fact, you don't even have to use the force if you don't want. But you start out with force potential. And the players can go around the Star Wars universe being good or bad guys, doing quests and unlocking new force powers and crafting interesting weapons.
The reason I say this, is because it makes every player feel like an important part of the action. I can only reallly speak for myself, but I'm not going to pay money for a game just so I can experience the simulated thrill of eeking out a living as a dancer, or a baker or some crap. I want a gun, a lightsaber, and directions to the nearest enemy. I want to be a part of the Star Wars adventure and kick some ass. I don't need to meet Han Solo every ten minutes to remind me I'm in Star Wars, but neither do I want to spent 345 hours farming pubic hairs on some remote moon in the yadda yadda quadrant.
I've never designed a game so my opinion amounts to approximately ass, but I just feel like Star Wars Galaxies was designed by people with no concept of human psychology or game design theory. [shrug]
Seriously, the NGE have provided a much better experience for both vets and new players. The game is much more exciting, challenging, and rewarding. The subscriptions are actually on the rise and I think this game will get back to its glory days in no time. I am vet, since beta, and I completely support the NGE and the direction this game is heading. The game was stale before NGE hit and I can wait for what SOE has in store in the future. I am in no way affiliated with SOE or Lucas Art, just a humble fan of this great game.
- Smed
Seems that someone who claims to have taken part in the "Los Angeles SWG research focus group" yesterday has posted details about the 2 hour session. From their post: "The discussion began with a round-robin introduction and telling what we felt the best and worst aspects of Galaxies are. Then the real discussion began. The moderator brought out three pamphlets. One, which I believe was entitled Paths To Power, outlined the implementation of a Dark Side/Light Side path a la KOTOR, for every profession. It also went into detail about re-doing missions as either side and seeing the different view on things, different abilities for each, etc. The group was very much interested. The second was entitled "The Galactic Civil War" and I'm sure you can imagine what it outlined: bringing the GCW back to prominence. It discussed controlling Star Destroyers and Blockade Runners, but also seemed to deadlock players as either Imperial or Rebel. The third outline basically discussed morphing Galaxies into Battlefront II, complete with having iconic characters not only immediately available during your mission, but for you to be able to -- yes, you're actually reading this -- play as movie characters. The group was not pleased. Then he told us that these were possibilities for expansion packs, not publish updates. The final question/topic was whether we'd choose any one of the pamphlet outlines to add to the game, or if we'd prefer for them to work on bringing things back that were taken out. As soon as he was done talking, the group said "Rollback" almost as one. The moderator seemed like he saw that coming, because he'd probably heard the term a dozen times already from the other groups. So there you have it. They're either going to continue the trend of "Expansion Packs aren't necessary (nudge nudge wink wink)", or, if they go by what the focus group asked, we will see a rollback of some degree. The number one issue brought to the moderator when he asked about the biggest negatives in Galaxies was the lack of diversity in professions and the overwhelming letdown that was the NGE for people like musicians, creature handlers, smugglers, etc. He was finishing sentences for us because he had obviously heard quite a bit about it in the previous groups. THAT'S ALL FOLKS" Hmm... Light/Dark side for EVERY profession? Awesome, because what SWG really needs is some Sith Lap Dancers. Keep that to Jedi only please. The Galactic Civil War has never been prominent. Unless you are talking about the Imperial Crackdown publish, which may as well have given Rebels 100,000 Faction Points everytime they logged in? As for the third discussion point, If SWG players wanted to play Battlefront II, they would be playing Battlefront II. It also saddens me to hear that the choices at the end were "Pay for stuff you don't want" or "Pay for stuff you want for many, many more months as we try to milk every dime". A rollback will never happen. If a rollback to Pre-NGE does happen, I'm sure I can look up some old Dev posts to find creative ways to say "That's not what I said" or "You're taking that out of context" or "That was a true statement at the time I made it".