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Doing things differently. (compiled list of what SW:TOR does differently to the standard MMOs)

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  • Rique9986Rique9986 Member Posts: 35

    Originally posted by Scorchien

    Originally posted by GMan3


    Originally posted by Scorchien

    Sorry .. but nothing new here .. Everything on this list has been done before...

         Really?  A completely Voiced Over MMO has been done before?  The huge utility of Companions has been done in an MMO before?  Anyways, that was not the premise of the OP.  He simply said he was making a list of what SWTOR is doing differently than most standard MMOs.  Utilizing some features that other games have used, but is not a standard is doing things differently.  Maybe next time you should actually read the post instead of jumping to conclusions.

    lol thats what yer gonna stand on .. from that massive list you are gonna hang yer hat on Voice overs.. ..Voice over been done plenty enough in other games and honestly its not that impressive in ToR either and many people will turn it before long because .it becomes annoying or for technical problems..

     

    The complete voice-over thing is a bit of a pandora's box as well.

     

    The flexability or speed Bioware will release new content is/will be hampered by HUGE amounts due to voice-overs alone, with the production cost being so high that they will mostly opt to add them to sellable expasions rather than smaller content releases.  You watch...In 6 months after everyone has burnt through the lol 120 hrs of gameplay, we will all be here complaining on how slow Bioware releases content.

  • BarakIIIBarakIII Member Posts: 800

    Originally posted by Rique9986

    Originally posted by Scorchien


    Originally posted by GMan3


    Originally posted by Scorchien

    Sorry .. but nothing new here .. Everything on this list has been done before...

         Really?  A completely Voiced Over MMO has been done before?  The huge utility of Companions has been done in an MMO before?  Anyways, that was not the premise of the OP.  He simply said he was making a list of what SWTOR is doing differently than most standard MMOs.  Utilizing some features that other games have used, but is not a standard is doing things differently.  Maybe next time you should actually read the post instead of jumping to conclusions.

    lol thats what yer gonna stand on .. from that massive list you are gonna hang yer hat on Voice overs.. ..Voice over been done plenty enough in other games and honestly its not that impressive in ToR either and many people will turn it before long because .it becomes annoying or for technical problems..

     

    The complete voice-over thing is a bit of a pandora's box as well.

     

    The flexability or speed Bioware will release new content is/will be hampered by HUGE amounts due to voice-overs alone, with the production cost being so high that they will mostly opt to add them to sellable expasions rather than smaller content releases.  You watch...In 6 months after everyone has burnt through the lol 120 hrs of gameplay, we will all be here complaining on how slow Bioware releases content.

    Wow, six months? I'll be very very pleased indeed if it takes people that long to burn through content. In most other MMOs it doesn't take nearly that long to burn through content.

    You guys need to catch a breath. Whilan isn't saying his list is new to MMOs but it's a list of things done differently. One example on his list someone brought up is accepting quests from a distance from a party member. WoW does this, but in WoW all you do is click share and the other guy either accepts or declines the quest; in TOR the quest dialogue plays out in a miniture hologram on your characters palm. That's an exampe of something done differently and it's the sort of thing Whilan means.

  • Rique9986Rique9986 Member Posts: 35

    Originally posted by JuJutsu

    Originally posted by Scorchien


    Originally posted by JuJutsu

    "Sorry .. but nothing new here .. Everything on this list has been done before..."

    Back it up. Please give one other game that's done something on the list before. If you can....

    pick somthing

     

    Companions

    Being able to influence your companion from light to dark or dark to light

    Influences your crafting abilities.

    Getting quests from your companions if you talk to them enough.

    Companions are able to go from loving you to betraying you even to crying in your ship if you are a total jerk to them.

     

    Companions

    A tool to help the anti-social be more anti-social.

    Why deal with real people in a MMO?  That's a crazy idea....

    SW:TOR...Single player RPG that just hapens to have other players mucking about.

     

    The whole companion idea is more of a precurser to DA3 imo or developed material they have for ME3 and want to get their money out of it.

  • Distopia2Distopia2 Member Posts: 574

    Originally posted by Rique9986

     

     

    The complete voice-over thing is a bit of a pandora's box as well.

     

    The flexability or speed Bioware will release new content is/will be hampered by HUGE amounts due to voice-overs alone, with the production cost being so high that they will mostly opt to add them to sellable expasions rather than smaller content releases.  You watch...In 6 months after everyone has burnt through the lol 120 hrs of gameplay, we will all be here complaining on how slow Bioware releases content.

    You're right that they will eventually need new VO work done. However initially it doesn't seem as they do. I've seen more than one statement saying they have hours upon hours of recorded dialogue they've yet to use.

    To SB fans, please stop making our demographic look bad.Stop invading threads that have nothing to do with sandboxes.

    SW:TOR Graphics Evolution and Comparison

    SW:TOR Compare MMO Quests, Combat and More...

  • BarakIIIBarakIII Member Posts: 800

    Originally posted by Rique9986

    Originally posted by JuJutsu


    Originally posted by Scorchien


    Originally posted by JuJutsu

    "Sorry .. but nothing new here .. Everything on this list has been done before..."

    Back it up. Please give one other game that's done something on the list before. If you can....

    pick somthing

     

    Companions

    Being able to influence your companion from light to dark or dark to light

    Influences your crafting abilities.

    Getting quests from your companions if you talk to them enough.

    Companions are able to go from loving you to betraying you even to crying in your ship if you are a total jerk to them.

     

    Companions

    A tool to help the anti-social be more anti-social.

    Why deal with real people in a MMO?  That's a crazy idea....

    SW:TOR...Single player RPG that just hapens to have other players mucking about.

     

    The whole companion idea is more of a precurser to DA3 imo or developed material they have for ME3 and want to get their money out of it.

    Well now you're just proving yourself to be a troll and thereby avoiding the issue.

  • ErstokErstok Member Posts: 523

    What it does differently from standard MMOs:

    Compansions: Guildwars had it and the henchmen were for people who couldn't get a group so nope useless argument already, compansions are gonna be linear and stupid. "Oh your so good I'll be good with you. Oh your so evil I'll be evil with you!"

    Interactive Story: This is a BS argument, ALL MMO's have stories. Story line stuff is only going to help blind people to the fact they are still collecting 5 sith crystals and turning them into the quest giver for a piece of gear or to advance your characters levels/stats/gear.

    Moral Choices: BS because it's linear as hell (end game still be a gear grinding regardless, story/moral choices just help with blinding people fact they are still grinding). Example of classic RPG's to the forumla used by new ones.
    image
    Classic RPGs were around the adventure and exploration. Newer ones are about leveling and gear and you know what MMO's are? Modern ones.

    Save people all the fluff and BS being pumped out by idiots and advertising. It's a standard MMO making certain preset changes and choices that will make it more individual but once you over come the outer layer of the game it will be and play like any other MMO out their just like GW2 will as well. Read a book, go outside and stop wasting your breath and energy hyping the game as a god send when in reality it's just another typical MMO.

    image
    When did you start playing "old school" MMO's. World Of Warcraft?

  • Distopia2Distopia2 Member Posts: 574

    Originally posted by Rique9986

     

     

    Companions

    A tool to help the anti-social be more anti-social.

    Why deal with real people in a MMO?  That's a crazy idea....

    SW:TOR...Single player RPG that just hapens to have other players mucking about.

     

    The whole companion idea is more of a precurser to DA3 imo or developed material they have for ME3 and want to get their money out of it.

    Tell that to people who enjoy pet classes in MMO's.

    To SB fans, please stop making our demographic look bad.Stop invading threads that have nothing to do with sandboxes.

    SW:TOR Graphics Evolution and Comparison

    SW:TOR Compare MMO Quests, Combat and More...

  • RefMinorRefMinor Member UncommonPosts: 3,452

    The most innovative thing about SW:TOR is the fact that Bioware have taken an MMORPG and turned it into a single player game, albeit allowing a few other RL people to join in each set piece.

  • PaybackXeroPaybackXero Member Posts: 33

    Originally posted by Rique9986

    Originally posted by Scorchien


    Originally posted by GMan3


    Originally posted by Scorchien

    Sorry .. but nothing new here .. Everything on this list has been done before...

         Really?  A completely Voiced Over MMO has been done before?  The huge utility of Companions has been done in an MMO before?  Anyways, that was not the premise of the OP.  He simply said he was making a list of what SWTOR is doing differently than most standard MMOs.  Utilizing some features that other games have used, but is not a standard is doing things differently.  Maybe next time you should actually read the post instead of jumping to conclusions.

    lol thats what yer gonna stand on .. from that massive list you are gonna hang yer hat on Voice overs.. ..Voice over been done plenty enough in other games and honestly its not that impressive in ToR either and many people will turn it before long because .it becomes annoying or for technical problems..

     

    The complete voice-over thing is a bit of a pandora's box as well.

     

    The flexability or speed Bioware will release new content is/will be hampered by HUGE amounts due to voice-overs alone, with the production cost being so high that they will mostly opt to add them to sellable expasions rather than smaller content releases.  You watch...In 6 months after everyone has burnt through the lol 120 hrs of gameplay, we will all be here complaining on how slow Bioware releases content.

    I suupose it's possible, but I won't be one of them. They could never put out a piece of content after release and I'd play forever (Or until the next Star Wars game comes out) I've spent more than 120 hours running/jumping in a circle on the roof of Orgrimmar's bank (When I played WoW). Heck, I spent 1500 hours on Oblivion one just one of my toons.

    The problem I'm going to have is everyone rolling multiple characters because they finished their original class's story. Pick a character and stick to it! I tried a game called FoM, and it allows you to have one character, one account. You can't even delete the toon, you have to run out of clones and cash out in game to make a new one. Frankly, I'm sick of alts. You're characters suffer when 105% of your attention goes in to more than one (You might be able to have multiple if you pay for extra accounts, but I still think only one can be logged in).

    The one caveat I have here is if you're playing solo 24/7. If you aren't gonna make friends or join groups/guilds, then play how you want. But if other people are depending on you because you volunarily decided to play with them, you should be stuck with one toon - that you've tricked out - forever. I know I'm only going to have one SWTOR toon. (Leaning Smuggler)

  • rutaqrutaq Member UncommonPosts: 428

    Not to sound like a Hater,  I have preordered and am anxiously awaiting launch but....

     

    Your list is nice but the only things on it that hasn;t been donre before is the Complete voice overs,  and maybe the companion alignment system.

     

    TOR isn't innovating, they are doign what WoW did, they are tkaing elements from previous MMOs and polishing them to make a great "standard" MMO.

     

    The only innvoation we will find in MMOs is with the Inide crowd, but the iinovation comes with the buggy quality of an MMO designed with a handful of staff on a shoe string  budget. 

  • BarakIIIBarakIII Member Posts: 800

    Originally posted by PaybackXero

    Originally posted by Rique9986


    Originally posted by Scorchien


    Originally posted by GMan3


    Originally posted by Scorchien

    Sorry .. but nothing new here .. Everything on this list has been done before...

         Really?  A completely Voiced Over MMO has been done before?  The huge utility of Companions has been done in an MMO before?  Anyways, that was not the premise of the OP.  He simply said he was making a list of what SWTOR is doing differently than most standard MMOs.  Utilizing some features that other games have used, but is not a standard is doing things differently.  Maybe next time you should actually read the post instead of jumping to conclusions.

    lol thats what yer gonna stand on .. from that massive list you are gonna hang yer hat on Voice overs.. ..Voice over been done plenty enough in other games and honestly its not that impressive in ToR either and many people will turn it before long because .it becomes annoying or for technical problems..

     

    The complete voice-over thing is a bit of a pandora's box as well.

     

    The flexability or speed Bioware will release new content is/will be hampered by HUGE amounts due to voice-overs alone, with the production cost being so high that they will mostly opt to add them to sellable expasions rather than smaller content releases.  You watch...In 6 months after everyone has burnt through the lol 120 hrs of gameplay, we will all be here complaining on how slow Bioware releases content.

    I suupose it's possible, but I won't be one of them. They could never put out a piece of content after release and I'd play forever (Or until the next Star Wars game comes out) I've spent more than 120 hours running/jumping in a circle on the roof of Orgrimmar's bank (When I played WoW). Heck, I spent 1500 hours on Oblivion one just one of my toons.

    The problem I'm going to have is everyone rolling multiple characters because they finished their original class's story. Pick a character and stick to it! I tried a game called FoM, and it allows you to have one character, one account. You can't even delete the toon, you have to run out of clones and cash out in game to make a new one. Frankly, I'm sick of alts. You're characters suffer when 105% of your attention goes in to more than one (You might be able to have multiple if you pay for extra accounts, but I still think only one can be logged in).

    The one caveat I have here is if you're playing solo 24/7. If you aren't gonna make friends or join groups/guilds, then play how you want. But if other people are depending on you because you volunarily decided to play with them, you should be stuck with one toon - that you've tricked out - forever. I know I'm only going to have one SWTOR toon. (Leaning Smuggler)

    Ugh, that sounds HORRIBLE! I personally love having alts.

  • TardcoreTardcore Member Posts: 2,325

    Hey Whilan, you left out two of SWTORs major unique features.


    1. It makes Sandbox gamers cry

    2. It makes GW2 fanbois cry

     

    image

    "Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • LobotomistLobotomist Member EpicPosts: 5,960

    1. It makes Starwars Fans cry

    2. It makes GW2 Fans laugh



  • PrecusorPrecusor Member UncommonPosts: 3,589

    Originally posted by Lobotomist

    1. It makes Starwars Fans cry

    2. It makes GW2 Fans laugh

    Why would starwars fans cry?

  • BarakIIIBarakIII Member Posts: 800

    Originally posted by Timukas

    While I honestly don't like companion crap and I'm worried about MMO in SW:TOR I still blieve that this game may be the first after long years where you can explore again and get mystery moments. All MMOS released during past 4-5 years have been as small as shoe boxes where even resource nodes spawn at exactly the same spot every time. Then again if EA wants to compete with WoW we can as well see this game watered down in no time and made so easy that half of brain cell makes you an elite there.

    Btw, no need to call me a hater because I pre-ordered and still have high hopes. I'm talking about MMO trends. 

    Sorry, but having a pre-order doesn't diminish the hater in people image. I'm  not necessarily saying you are a hater, I'm just saying it wouldn't negate the fact if you were. There are lots of haters of this game on these forums that have already pre-ordered, and they'll deny they're haters as well, but every post they make concerning the game is negative. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. I don't know why they get the game, it makes little sense, I guess they just can't help themselves and have to see for themselves. Perhaps some are just looking for an opportunity to say 'I told you so'. Of course they'll do that whether they turn out to be right or not. Yes, I really am that cynical. image

  • Rique9986Rique9986 Member Posts: 35

    Originally posted by PaybackXero

    Originally posted by Rique9986


    Originally posted by Scorchien


    Originally posted by GMan3


    Originally posted by Scorchien

    Sorry .. but nothing new here .. Everything on this list has been done before...

         Really?  A completely Voiced Over MMO has been done before?  The huge utility of Companions has been done in an MMO before?  Anyways, that was not the premise of the OP.  He simply said he was making a list of what SWTOR is doing differently than most standard MMOs.  Utilizing some features that other games have used, but is not a standard is doing things differently.  Maybe next time you should actually read the post instead of jumping to conclusions.

    lol thats what yer gonna stand on .. from that massive list you are gonna hang yer hat on Voice overs.. ..Voice over been done plenty enough in other games and honestly its not that impressive in ToR either and many people will turn it before long because .it becomes annoying or for technical problems..

     

    The complete voice-over thing is a bit of a pandora's box as well.

     

    The flexability or speed Bioware will release new content is/will be hampered by HUGE amounts due to voice-overs alone, with the production cost being so high that they will mostly opt to add them to sellable expasions rather than smaller content releases.  You watch...In 6 months after everyone has burnt through the lol 120 hrs of gameplay, we will all be here complaining on how slow Bioware releases content.

    I suupose it's possible, but I won't be one of them. They could never put out a piece of content after release and I'd play forever (Or until the next Star Wars game comes out) I've spent more than 120 hours running/jumping in a circle on the roof of Orgrimmar's bank (When I played WoW). Heck, I spent 1500 hours on Oblivion one just one of my toons.

    The problem I'm going to have is everyone rolling multiple characters because they finished their original class's story. Pick a character and stick to it! I tried a game called FoM, and it allows you to have one character, one account. You can't even delete the toon, you have to run out of clones and cash out in game to make a new one. Frankly, I'm sick of alts. You're characters suffer when 105% of your attention goes in to more than one (You might be able to have multiple if you pay for extra accounts, but I still think only one can be logged in).

    The one caveat I have here is if you're playing solo 24/7. If you aren't gonna make friends or join groups/guilds, then play how you want. But if other people are depending on you because you volunarily decided to play with them, you should be stuck with one toon - that you've tricked out - forever. I know I'm only going to have one SWTOR toon. (Leaning Smuggler)

     It's not the "jumping around in the bank waiting for raid" that is the issue as much as how many months are you willing to do it?  

     

    One of the saving graces or claims to fame that Trion (Rift) has atm is the ability to churn out content as a good rate.  This keeps players interested.  I cannot see Bioware having this ability mainly due to voice acting.  Unless they plan to drop the vioce-over feature with new content releases (that would be a bad move imo).

  • TardcoreTardcore Member Posts: 2,325

    Originally posted by Precusor

    Originally posted by Lobotomist

    1. It makes Starwars Fans cry

    2. It makes GW2 Fans laugh

    Why would starwars fans cry?

    Some Star Wars fans don't feel that Biowares Old Republic universe, or much of anything outside the films, is truly Star Wars cannon. I can understand that.

    Also quite a few Star Wars fans feel that Bioware's themepark direction is too narrow focused and does not give the players the freedom to create their own adventures and stories in what should be a truly massive sci fi universe. I can understand this as well.

    Neither of those will stop me from having a good time in SWTOR, but I can see why they would be a detraction for others.

    image

    "Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "

  • JackdogJackdog Member UncommonPosts: 6,321

    I was going to go see a movie this afternoon but looking at the paper I found everything was either a comedy, a war movie, a western, or a drama so why bother. I have already seen at least one of each of them.

    I miss DAoC

  • TardcoreTardcore Member Posts: 2,325

    Originally posted by Jackdog

    I was going to go see a movie this afternoon but looking at the paper I found everything was either a comedy, a war movie, a western, or a drama so why bother. I have already seen at least one of each of them.

    Wonderful sarcasm. Sadly though the closer reality is every film is either a remake, a prequel, a sequel, or a indifferently made tentpole.

    image

    "Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "

  • KuinnKuinn Member UncommonPosts: 2,072

    Pretty much everything in every game has been done in some way or another already, what's important is how well they are done, and are the features a good mix that works together.

  • KuinnKuinn Member UncommonPosts: 2,072

    Originally posted by Lobotomist

    1. It makes Starwars Fans cry

    2. It makes GW2 Fans laugh

     

    No game will ever be so good that you'd shed tears of joy for it, even if you are hardcore fan of it!

  • just1opinionjust1opinion Member UncommonPosts: 4,641

    Originally posted by BarakIII

    Originally posted by Timukas

    While I honestly don't like companion crap and I'm worried about MMO in SW:TOR I still blieve that this game may be the first after long years where you can explore again and get mystery moments. All MMOS released during past 4-5 years have been as small as shoe boxes where even resource nodes spawn at exactly the same spot every time. Then again if EA wants to compete with WoW we can as well see this game watered down in no time and made so easy that half of brain cell makes you an elite there.

    Btw, no need to call me a hater because I pre-ordered and still have high hopes. I'm talking about MMO trends. 

    Sorry, but having a pre-order doesn't diminish the hater in people image. I'm  not necessarily saying you are a hater, I'm just saying it wouldn't negate the fact if you were. There are lots of haters of this game on these forums that have already pre-ordered, and they'll deny they're haters as well, but every post they make concerning the game is negative. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. I don't know why they get the game, it makes little sense, I guess they just can't help themselves and have to see for themselves. Perhaps some are just looking for an opportunity to say 'I told you so'. Of course they'll do that whether they turn out to be right or not. Yes, I really am that cynical. image

     

    Why is having something negative to say being equated with being a "hater?"  Negative things CAN simply be TRUTHFUL things.  For example....I'm really lazy about vacuuming.  Does me saying that make me a hater?  No...it's simply a statement of fact. 

     

    This is one of my pet peeves on this site....the number of words that are wrongly defined.  A hater is someone who dogs something repeatedly with misinformation and outright prejudicial statements that are not factual, but rather turned negatively by their subjectivity, making it easy to spin them.  Haters are trolls.  They will say  things simply to stir shit.  However, if what someone is saying is FACTUAL.....that does not a hater make.  It only makes someone who is stating facts that other people might not LIKE.

     

    Just my opinion, but I do get sick of hearing "hater" attached to anyone who isn't in LOVE with some game.

    President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club

  • GormokGormok Member Posts: 379

       Ok to all these people coming in here ripping on the OP about ToR putting a different take on the standard MMO features, saying it's been done before. Yeah it has been done before and BW is adding it's own twist to it, the same can be said about GW2 as well. A-net isn't doing anything new everything they are doing has been done before, yet they are adding their own twists to the features. But people seem to herald GW2 as the next great revolution, well I am here to tell you that it's not, some of the stuff GW2 is doing was done back in 1999 so get over yourselves.

     

        This genre has been going for well over ten years and everything in ir has pretty much been done, there has just been different takes on it. WaR introduced PQ's, Trion took it a bit farther with Rifts but it was still the same concept. GW2 is going the route of dynamic quests, they are the same as PQ's and Rifts but taking a bit farther. Actiony combat has been done in AoC, DCUO, TERA, and a number of F2Ps, GW2 is adding this feature it has been done before yet they are adding their own twist to it.

     

       Voice acting has been done in LoTRO, AoC, EQ2, and DCUO, but yet ToR, GW2 and TSW are adding this feature, yet they are expanding it farther than their predecessors ToR even farther. So everything in the genre has been done at some point or another, the different companies are just adding their own flavor and twists to it. There is nothing innovating about any of the upcoming titles just refinements to old systems that have alread been established. As long as MMOs are developed where you have to sit infront of a computer screen, look at a 3d world and input commands thru a keyboard and mouse, there won't be anything innovating about MMOs.

     

       The sooner people get this thru their heads the better. Until I am able to stand inside the world and do things based on my own body movements, like turning my head to look at something and seeing that object like I would in the real world. Nothing is going to be innovating about today's 3d keyboard and mouse MMOs, so just enjoy it for what it is: rehashes with different takes on what has worked in the past. If you can't do that than it's time for you to get out of the genre, because you are pretty much burned out on the genre or have some really high unrealistic expectations.

  • LokbergLokberg Member Posts: 315

    Originally posted by Zezda

    Originally posted by whilan

     

    Combat: The big one,mind as well start here. 

    Duck and cover: yes two classes get this but it's still a new way to do combat.  How it works is that you select an enemy then hit the duck and cover button to roll behind cover. While you are behind cover (provided the cover is high enough) the enemy will basically hit the cover instead of you causing you to take no damage. But if you come out of cover to say...take a shot at the enemy, you are at risk of getting hit yourself. This provides a different way of combat from the straight up tank, the blasting of a mage or the use of invis to get behind the target. Think cops and robbers type thing.

    Been done in lots of other MMO's which uses an arguably better system via line of sight mechanics. Mostly things like darkfall and such but also others. Even CORPG's like GW1 have had a feature like this - labeling it duck or cover doesn't make it much different, let alone the fact it's only for 2 classes.

    CC immunity bar

    If you continue to get hit by CCs either by other players or NPCs you will become immune which is different from other games where the CC immunity is more basd on stats and if you are not skilled in resisting the stat that the enemy is using there is a good chance (especially with players) that you can be locked down becoming completely ineffective.

    Many MMO's include a system to reduce the timer on CC's eventually leading to immunity. WoW does it, for example.

    Heavy use of pets

    Most MMos tend to have one or two pet classes here everyone is, and they are highly customizable from anywhere from looks to AI control to types to being able to equip them to the same complexity as your main character. Thus spliting your character into two seperate parts.

    Cant think of any ither MMO's off the top of my head which let pets go into this complexity but unless it is done well it could be just adding needless complexion (Like GW1 or Rift's skill systems). Gonna have to play the game to get a better idea on this one I think.

    Lets move on to crafting

    Companions are involved in crafting. Their abilities tell who is better at crafting certain items better then others thus providing a bit more complexity to crafting then normal. Most games have the character actually crafting. Some are more complex but in most cases the game requires you to gather mats, the blueprint then hit craft and voila you have the mats. Rarer is when their is a timer on said item allowing for a more realistic crafting time as it takes time to put things together.

    Timer

    This is a differnet way to go about crafting, it's been done before but not often enough to feel stale or done to death so it sort of fits.  Crafting takes time (as i outlined above) to do. If you gather the mats and the blueprints. When you hit craft you have a timer until the item is complete. THe player doesn't really have any control over the item but it's a middle road between player control and just hitting the craft button and getting the item. Think Fallen earth here.

    These aspects of the crafting have been done before and it is very much upto the game on wether or not it turns out better or worse than 'standard'. Going to be another wait and see thing.

    Crits

    While not completely new, it's different from most MMOs i've seen where you either get the item or you don't. Here appearntly you can get a better version of the weapon. (this one is debatable on the list, so far 3 MMOs have been listed)

    Crits have been done in quite a few games, including Aion. For the most part it is nothing but frustrating because the non-crit version of items are vastly inferior and vastly cheaper than the crit items.

    Lets move on to character customization, this one i'm going to have to split into parts because theres a good bit here.

    Light and dark allignment

    Your allignment has a few effects on character customization. Note this is as far as i know purely cosmetic so it doesn't change how well your character does.

    Light/dark allignment changes your skills: this gives your character a more defined look as your skills change as you slide up and down the allignment changes.

    Armor dependant on your alignment: some armor is dependant on your allignment, such as some armor requires a certain ranking of light/dark to equip

    Your face for force users changes based on your allignment allowing for a different look for your charcther if your really dark sided your face distorts and looks...well evil.

    NPCs react to your dark and light allignment

    Some dialog options close off based on your allignment

    I can't think of another MMO that has matched TOR in this respect but we do all need to admit this sort of interaction has been standard affair for RPG games for a few years now. So while it may be new to MMO's it certainly isn't new for Bioware. It does fit the setting well though as it's one of those things that wouldn't work in every game (See it wouldn't work very well in GW2 for example since there isn't a good vs evil thing going on)

    Equipment customization.

    Equipment is based more solely on what mods you have in your weapon and armor rather then the equipment itself, equipment more solely bases on how many mods are allowed in said equipment that will then depict your stats from there.

    The mods you have in your weapon/armor depict your weapons sound and color (ala lightsaber colors or blaster fire)

    These two basically (assuming you can take mods in and out at will) allow for you to make any weapon you want provided you have the original, even take a low level weapon and armor such as if you like the brown robe from level 1, you could improve it to the stat where you can use that same brown robe for end-game.

    This has been done to varying degrees in many MMO's, one of the more successful and recent being Aion. In Aion a large portion of your stats and such came from manastones and people often carried multiple sets of gear slotted with different sets of stones for different situations.

    Questing

    This is probably the biggest change and departure and where all the focus/innovation is coming in.

    Voice over, as much as people might like to try and deny or say it's a passing phase theres a differnece between just text and voice acting.  Most games have some voice acting and some not, but no game has the level of voice acting this game does.  Thus it's a very big depature on how they do quests.

    Interaction with npcs, such as talking back and forth with them, even being able to hit them.

    Choices in quests allowing you to take different versions of the quest which result in different experiences when you play out the quest, and even different rewards. Most MMOs have you simply doing a quest for said reward, however here what you do in the actual quest when taking progressing and turning in change how the quest ends and what rewards you get.

    Pursasion is an optino in questing, allowing you to attempt to get the upper hand by using a stat you invested in to get better rewards that might not be available to one who doesn't.

    multiplayer dialog, to my knowledge this is an innovation but people are free to correct me if they've run into this before. But allowing a person to affect someone elses quest via dialog seems a pretty big depature from how normal MMOs do it where you can either do the quest and complete your own or help someone else do theres but the interaction stops when they go to turn in the quest, not so here, group interaction is not only allowed but encouraged as you get rewarded for doing group dialog and interacting in others quests.

    This is TOR's big seeling point, it's good. But after you go through that wonderful cut-scene and get the same quest objective as 5 other people who are doing the same thing it kills the immersion a bit. I can still appreciate it but we have been getting this sort of stuff out of single player games for over a decade (Planescape: Torment was wonderful for these sorts of dialogue choices). We will need to see how this works for the game as a whole.

    Hologram system

    This allows you to not only turn in quests remotely but allows you to join in others peoples quest even if your not close but are still on the same planet. Far as i know the way this is implemented with being able to make decisions in others peoples quests without having to actually be there hasn't been done before.

    A similar system is employed in WoW to share and hand in quests.

    Companions

    Being able to influence your companion from light to dark or dark to light

    Influences your crafting abilities.

    Getting quests from your companions if you talk to them enough.

    Companions are able to go from loving you to betraying you even to crying in your ship if you are a total jerk to them.

     Another single player staple put into the MMO. Going to have to wait and see on this one as well I think.

    Dungeons (aka flashpoints)

    Changing dungeons based on choices in the dungeons

    Players can get access to alternate paths and different bosses if they of the right class

    Different loot at the end of flashpoints based on the decisions made in the flashpoint

     I don't see the point in making things class based but this is one of the few things that hasn't really been done well yet in a MMO. Of course GW2 is going to have their dynamic events inside dungeons but for now I can't think of another MMO that does it.

    PvP

    As mentioned above there is a CC immunity bar that everyone must be aware of and it's visable which gives for a more tatic route. Also this keeps players from being stun locked by another class merely because they lack the resistance to overcome said CC.

    Warriors and healers can actually preform the desired role they want in PvP they did in PvE as they get rewarded for doing said role.

    Warrior taunt works in PvP by making it undesirable for people to attack others besides the tank as their damage is severaly reduced.

    Warhammer had a wonderful tank system with taunts and skills to help them be the focus of attention and so have other games. Having recieved damage and healing dealt counted is in quite a few games from what I understand and affects things like your ranking in a PQ in WAR, for example.

     

    Exploration

    Exploration in this game give you several rewards including,

    Datacrons (which give permanent stat boosts): This isn't normal as i think only one other game did this and it was more of a grind thing where as these are more of a reward for exploration

    options for dialog with your companions: Again this is tied in with the companion but getting to certain exploration areas can give you new oppertunities for dialog with your npcs as they comment on the areas

    codex entries: Your lore background

    The exploration thing I don't see as a good feature at all. First thing PvP'ers will want to do is go explore to min/max their stats.

    Codex is in quite a few games but the dialogue for companions isn't really in any other MMO. It's another one of those things we have had in single player for a long time.

     

    Misc

    We finally get to the misc category which is basically everything i didn't feel fit into th other categories or wasn't enough to warrent a whole new category

    Codex entries: This is where you get all your lore from anytime you run into some you can easily look back at this codex to get a refresher, this can include anything from a temple to a boss to companions or items which tend to be quite descriptive.

    Codex entries are in a few games and it's a really nice feature, it should be done in every game imo.

    No loading for instances: When you do eventually enter a instance in the game there is a green barrier which indicates an instance, this is completely instantanious and does not require loading, so you can go into your instance do what you want walk backwards walk forward enter someone elses instance, do their thing then back up and walk forward back into your instance all without ever hitting one loading screen...ever.

    That's phasing, it's being used in quite a few games now instead of having load screens and server transitions.

    Cheoregraphed combat: This one might be cosmetic but most games have you just swinging away as if you were swining at air. EQ2 was the biggest offender i've ever seen of this where you have literal gap where you can clearly see that not only are they not synced with each other but not even close but still hitting each other. In this game you can actually clash swords which makes things more beliveable.

    That's another one of these things taken from single player games and I've seen a few cases now where people take damage from attacks while the animation shows swords clashing etc, It's cool but we will need to see how it stands upto the test in PvP and such like.

     

    Thanks for the effort compiling the list - My replies are in red, it's a good list but I think either TOR will do well or bad depending on the quality of all these 'Yeah it's been done before in game x and y'. If it feels samey then people will get bored and stop, if they changed it up enough to keep people interested then it will help retain people longer.

    There's lot of stuff in there ported from single player games and to be honest most of it is going to have to be played a lot to see if it fits within the MMO style. I know personally that if I have done a quest in ME or DA before I skip all the talking as quickly as I can so I can just get on with it. So depending on how many quests branch across to other classes will determine how quickly the voice overs get old and people start skiping them.

    There's tons of potential in the game but even if it is executed to perfection I still wouldn't feel like it would be a safe bet that I would be playing it for years to come. Of course everyone's mileage may vary but with the sort of titles queing up for release now sticking with the traditional MMO could be risky in the long term.

     

     

    Well i for one love exploring and i think the developers want people to go and and see what they have worked so hard on to create for us, not just sit in town spaming the bg button ^_^

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