I wonder if TOR uses cut scenes for their quest VO's because if they didn't, you would potentially have other players walking in front of your camera or in front of the npc's while talking. It might be a means to help the story immersion be more true to their vision in a game style that typically has a difficult time with getting players immersed in the story.
As much as I like the persistence of the online world, I'm not sure I would enjoy a game where an epic piece of the story is unfolding for me, and some player is dancing nude between me and the story. That would throw me out of the story more than anything.
They don't use cut scenes for quest VO's. I remember talking to an NPC about a quest and some player ran behind him, stopped for a second, then leapt off a wall in search of his next quest (I assume). It does have the potential to make for some very silly scenes, I wouldn't be surprised if some appeared on youtube not long after launch.
I can honestly say I never noticed this, if this is still true. I mean, I started a new Sith Warrior on the beta weekend, and ran into the little cave where there is a soldier that asks you to help him out. There was literally 30+ people standing around him, so much so that I could barely find him to click on him, and when I finally did, it seemed to zoom in and there was only me and him, and no one else visible at all around us. Did they change this recently or what?
The title sums it up. There is no doubt that Voice Overs in SW are a hotly anticipated feature, but do you think they will become a required feature for future mmo's? Ten years ago, voice overs in single player games were rare, but were quickly becoming a hot new feature as storage space went up, and costs to produce went down.
Really, the question boils down to "How important is single player immersion in an MMO?". Are the features of single player games merging with the features of mmo games to make a new and more advanced hybrid? Or, shoudl the two types of games remain separate and distinct? Clearly, Bioware is trying to merge the two, but is this something that you think will become a standard in the industry, or is it just an expensive gimmick?
I think that Voice Overs and the questing system of SWTOR is one of the most distinct features of the game. We see that big, revolutionary features tend to spread like wildfire in the mmo community. An example of this would be the public quests of Warhammer that were then implemented in some form or another to great effect in other games.
But, this is a feature that is unique to the mmo world. Will the same hold true for a feature that is considered the norm in single player games (and is very expensive and difficult to implement), and what other types of features do you think mmo's could benefit from by borrowing from the single player experience?
EQ2 had voice overs, so did many other MMOS before SWTOR. so no it isn't the "next big thing", this topic fails.
Is it nice to have? Certainly. But when we have an industry whose number one problem is pushing titles out the door before they're ready, adding voiceovers to the list is only going to exacerbate the problem. What we need is refined and improved gameplay, not more ways to try to treat a MMO as a single-player game. They're different types of games and should be treated as such.
Just about any change to the genre is going to come from outside the genre. Be it multi-player features from predominate SPG's, or single-player oriented aspects of SPG's. That's how the industry as a whole works no matter what the genre. The gaming industry has always been this way, it's due to a finite amount of ideas that can be exclusive to one genre. What makes matters worse is precendent, what I mean by that is refinement will only be reached when a better way has been discovered. People will then follow that precedent until it too becomes stale and boxes stop moving from shelves.
The Problem for people like you is, boxes are still moving from shelves, subscriptions are being paid, and companies are making money. SWTOR is estimated to already have sold over a million boxes worldwide. That's just boxes... which brings up the old adage "don't fix what isn't broke".
IMO it's time for those who want something different to stop buying what they obviously don't want, in doing so you're only enabling the trend to continue.
It's pushing a million boxes because it's Star Wars. Nothing more, nothing less. Like Warcraft before it, it has a legion of fans ready to scoop it up the moment it launches regardless of whether the game is worth the asking price or not. And I'm not saying it's not - we'll have to wait and see for that. But I haven't been impressed by what I've seen in the beta so far.
I had full voiceovers in Oblivion. I adored the game, the voiceovers were hardly a gamemaking feature. I enjoyed them, but I would have enjoyed the game without them as well. 90% of the MMORPG launches I've seen have been minor train wrecks, and it's almost always due to publishers pushing the Go button before the product is finished. Perhaps I'm just too pessimistic, but I don't think that voiceovers are going to magically avoid making the problem worse despite the hours and resources required for such an undertaking.
And for the record, the only game I'm paying for atm is Wizard101. I may play the trial for SWTOR six months out, but for the time being I won't be adding to the silly amount of pre-launch hype surrounding the game.
EQ2 had voice overs, so did many other MMOS before SWTOR. so no it isn't the "next big thing", this topic fails.
So much negativity. Actuallty, I was asking whether it would be a must have or a gimmick. Sounds like you believe it will be a gimmick, which is fair, but I think the topic is legit.
Also, EQ2 had limited VO's up to a certain point, and they really were pretty limited and never seen again after that. Other MMO's have also had limited VO's (AoC being the best example, but that ended with Tortage). TOR is the first mmo to fully VO nearly everything, and to really use it as an integral part of the game, which finally brings it into the main stream conciousness. What was your point again?
If SWTOR does well for a while it will be in the IMO of devs and investors.
For me it's more a nice things to have, specially for very story based quests and instances but I would rather have a better game without them, than a bad shortsighted wow wanntabe with them.
I will not play a game with a cash shop ever again. A dev job should be to make the game better not make me pay so it sucks less.
just a gimmick. I doubt even Bioware will continue with full VO's in futre content.
People thought VO in RPG's were gimmicks too. I can't grasp how you must be thinking to honestly believe that BW wouldn't continue VO in future content. They have stated the game will be fully VO, including all future content.
I think that Voice Overs and the questing system of SWTOR is one of the most distinct features of the game. We see that big, revolutionary features tend to spread like wildfire in the mmo community. An example of this would be the public quests of Warhammer that were then implemented in some form or another to great effect in other games.
But, this is a feature that is unique to the mmo world. Will the same hold true for a feature that is considered the norm in single player games (and is very expensive and difficult to implement), and what other types of features do you think mmo's could benefit from by borrowing from the single player experience?
If Swtor does well, there is no doubt that other Deveopers will see this and want to experiment with it, at least to some degree, and there is already community proof that there is demand for VO in mmorpg's. The major letdown that VO was only in tortage for AOC is an example of this.
At least, Swtor isn't the first MMORPG to use VO in their game, only the first to on this scale.
Originally posted by Herodes Originally posted by bezado How can people forget EQ2 started the VO thing like 7 to 8 years ago.
EQ2 had like 15 classes and about 14 races. It wasn´t important. I didn´t like the loading screens though. To be honest, the todays fluid polish was missing, too.
What do you mean? My post was saying how EQ2 started VO like 7 or 8 years ago, nothing I said should of gotten a reply back about it's classes or how it wasn't important, confused much?
Originally posted by bezado Originally posted by Herodes Originally posted by bezado How can people forget EQ2 started the VO thing like 7 to 8 years ago.
EQ2 had like 15 classes and about 14 races. It wasn´t important. I didn´t like the loading screens though. To be honest, the todays fluid polish was missing, too.
What do you mean? My post was saying how EQ2 started VO like 7 or 8 years ago, nothing I said should of gotten a reply back about it's classes or how it wasn't important, confused much?
Are Voice Overs destined to be the new "must have" feature, or just a gimmick?
The problem with voice overs is how big it makes the game. Its going to be huge file, but what if they had added better graphics on top of the voice overs?
It might not be a big deal for box sales, but that about trials? If you aren't sure about the game, but want to try it. A 40+ gb DL might be intimidating.
BioWare has set a new standard. Other studios can follow, adapt, improve upon or ignore it.
Its not just the voice work, but the storytelling of the writing staff combined with world class voice acting.
For the first time in a MMO, I'm really being drawn into the story and made to feel like the decisions that I make are having an effect (true or not) on that story.
Its like becoming a participating character in a book or movie.
Its the most fun I've had with an MMO.
"Don't corpse-camp that idea. Its never gonna rez" Bladezz (The Guild)
Personally, I enjoy voice overs. I do enough reading throughout the day. I enjoy being able to just sit back and listen to a story play out.
It is one of the things I love about the ES games, every citizen has a voice and will interact with other citizens without me having to do anything but be close enough to hear them.
Being some1 who learns more from voice rather than read, i think VO's r absolutely awesome! I get incredibly bored of games that give quests by walls of text!!! Cant stress this enough...
I have been playing WoW for 7 years now and i still don't know what the hell happened to the series since WC3. I get the gist of it but thats about it. after playing 2 character in TOR up to lvl 20 i know who my character is, what are his role in this world and what is he trying to accomplish.
After playing SWTOR I find all other MMO just feel dead and lifeless.
I have to agree with this. It's not that TOR's worlds are immensely more vivid and filled with life than other games, because really they are about the same for various reasons imo, but other games just seem so... silent. We finally have an mmo that from start to endgame and beyond actually brings some of the cinematic qualities of AAA single player games to reality. I think this is a pretty big deal because they actually took it and ran with it.
Besides that, I actually enjoy the game for everything else it offers, which is a polished themepark style mmo with some neat features. If I didn't enjoy the game for everything else it is, I doubt the VO's would do it for me alone, but because the game is well done, the story they have presented becomes all the more enjoyable.
I have been playing WoW for 7 years now and i still don't know what the hell happened to the series since WC3. I get the gist of it but thats about it. after playing 2 character in TOR up to lvl 20 i know who my character is, what are his role in this world and what is he trying to accomplish.
DEFINITELY gimmicky. Game still feels extremely non-immersive and themeparky.
I read this to my wife and asked her what she thought, ya know if the voice overs are "gimmicky".. her response,
..."No , SW:TOR doing voice overs is trying to breathe life into the MMO world , giving me care to pay attention to the story the developers wrote. Now, if you want "gimmicky", World of Warcraft doing commercials with Chuck Norris... THATS a gimmick."
Comments
I can honestly say I never noticed this, if this is still true. I mean, I started a new Sith Warrior on the beta weekend, and ran into the little cave where there is a soldier that asks you to help him out. There was literally 30+ people standing around him, so much so that I could barely find him to click on him, and when I finally did, it seemed to zoom in and there was only me and him, and no one else visible at all around us. Did they change this recently or what?
EQ2 had voice overs, so did many other MMOS before SWTOR. so no it isn't the "next big thing", this topic fails.
To the OP: Just a key feature of SWTOR and part of the game they have developed......... Nothing more nothing less.
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Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel
It's pushing a million boxes because it's Star Wars. Nothing more, nothing less. Like Warcraft before it, it has a legion of fans ready to scoop it up the moment it launches regardless of whether the game is worth the asking price or not. And I'm not saying it's not - we'll have to wait and see for that. But I haven't been impressed by what I've seen in the beta so far.
I had full voiceovers in Oblivion. I adored the game, the voiceovers were hardly a gamemaking feature. I enjoyed them, but I would have enjoyed the game without them as well. 90% of the MMORPG launches I've seen have been minor train wrecks, and it's almost always due to publishers pushing the Go button before the product is finished. Perhaps I'm just too pessimistic, but I don't think that voiceovers are going to magically avoid making the problem worse despite the hours and resources required for such an undertaking.
And for the record, the only game I'm paying for atm is Wizard101. I may play the trial for SWTOR six months out, but for the time being I won't be adding to the silly amount of pre-launch hype surrounding the game.
So much negativity. Actuallty, I was asking whether it would be a must have or a gimmick. Sounds like you believe it will be a gimmick, which is fair, but I think the topic is legit.
Also, EQ2 had limited VO's up to a certain point, and they really were pretty limited and never seen again after that. Other MMO's have also had limited VO's (AoC being the best example, but that ended with Tortage). TOR is the first mmo to fully VO nearly everything, and to really use it as an integral part of the game, which finally brings it into the main stream conciousness. What was your point again?
Gimmick? Adding voice is the next logical step, see progression from silent movies to now for example.
They aren't a must have. They don't trump some of the things Bioware passed on to make their game.
If SWTOR does well for a while it will be in the IMO of devs and investors.
For me it's more a nice things to have, specially for very story based quests and instances but I would rather have a better game without them, than a bad shortsighted wow wanntabe with them.
I will not play a game with a cash shop ever again. A dev job should be to make the game better not make me pay so it sucks less.
Moderators? Why was my post deleted on page 2-3?
What are you doing here?
People thought VO in RPG's were gimmicks too. I can't grasp how you must be thinking to honestly believe that BW wouldn't continue VO in future content. They have stated the game will be fully VO, including all future content.
If Swtor does well, there is no doubt that other Deveopers will see this and want to experiment with it, at least to some degree, and there is already community proof that there is demand for VO in mmorpg's. The major letdown that VO was only in tortage for AOC is an example of this.
At least, Swtor isn't the first MMORPG to use VO in their game, only the first to on this scale.
I think resources can be spent better elsewhere.
Maybe if they were using a different development engine.
What do you mean? My post was saying how EQ2 started VO like 7 or 8 years ago, nothing I said should of gotten a reply back about it's classes or how it wasn't important, confused much?
What do you mean? My post was saying how EQ2 started VO like 7 or 8 years ago, nothing I said should of gotten a reply back about it's classes or how it wasn't important, confused much?
But at a cost of game quality. VO is a step foward but some will argue that it was 1-2 steps back due to neglect of other vital qualities.
The problem with voice overs is how big it makes the game. Its going to be huge file, but what if they had added better graphics on top of the voice overs?
It might not be a big deal for box sales, but that about trials? If you aren't sure about the game, but want to try it. A 40+ gb DL might be intimidating.
BioWare has set a new standard. Other studios can follow, adapt, improve upon or ignore it.
Its not just the voice work, but the storytelling of the writing staff combined with world class voice acting.
For the first time in a MMO, I'm really being drawn into the story and made to feel like the decisions that I make are having an effect (true or not) on that story.
Its like becoming a participating character in a book or movie.
Its the most fun I've had with an MMO.
"Don't corpse-camp that idea. Its never gonna rez"
Bladezz (The Guild)
After playing SWTOR I find all other MMO just feel dead and lifeless.
Personally, I enjoy voice overs. I do enough reading throughout the day. I enjoy being able to just sit back and listen to a story play out.
It is one of the things I love about the ES games, every citizen has a voice and will interact with other citizens without me having to do anything but be close enough to hear them.
Being some1 who learns more from voice rather than read, i think VO's r absolutely awesome! I get incredibly bored of games that give quests by walls of text!!! Cant stress this enough...
I have been playing WoW for 7 years now and i still don't know what the hell happened to the series since WC3. I get the gist of it but thats about it. after playing 2 character in TOR up to lvl 20 i know who my character is, what are his role in this world and what is he trying to accomplish.
Currently Playing: SSFIV AE, SFxTekken, SWTOR, WoW. Waiting for: GW2, Resident Evil 6.
I have to agree with this. It's not that TOR's worlds are immensely more vivid and filled with life than other games, because really they are about the same for various reasons imo, but other games just seem so... silent. We finally have an mmo that from start to endgame and beyond actually brings some of the cinematic qualities of AAA single player games to reality. I think this is a pretty big deal because they actually took it and ran with it.
Besides that, I actually enjoy the game for everything else it offers, which is a polished themepark style mmo with some neat features. If I didn't enjoy the game for everything else it is, I doubt the VO's would do it for me alone, but because the game is well done, the story they have presented becomes all the more enjoyable.
^^THIS!!!
I read this to my wife and asked her what she thought, ya know if the voice overs are "gimmicky".. her response,
..."No , SW:TOR doing voice overs is trying to breathe life into the MMO world , giving me care to pay attention to the story the developers wrote. Now, if you want "gimmicky", World of Warcraft doing commercials with Chuck Norris... THATS a gimmick."