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Possibly Returning (Have a few Important Questions)
ShdwGamerX
Member Posts: 4
Hey there,
Alright I am an old Vet to SWG, it was my first MMO and I remember solo group grinding. As well as in the CU, Village grinding. So I left the game roughly around the NGE start, a bit after and went to WoW.
In WoW I've done hardcore raiding and had several 70s very geared out with all the useless crap as well like netherdrake mounts etc, etc. My story really ends with the fact that just yesterday my WoW Account got "Perma-Banned" due to "WoW Economy Exploitation". I have never bought gold, sold gold, bugged a mob/instance or done anything else that could possibly be considered "Illegal". I sent an e-mail to Blizzard's Account Managment and am still waiting to receive an answer on this. My point basically is that I'm looking for a new mmorpg and I'm considering coming back to SWG.
Here are my questions:
1) Instances/Dungeons/Raids:
I heard a bit about SWG implementing Instances/Raids. My question basically is, how do the instances/raids work in comparison to say WoW 25man Raiding. Are there tanks/healers/dps, CC, Off-Tanking, Boss Phases, Attunments, Guild Progression etc.
2) Gear:
Last I was around there was no real gear that mattered besides crafted sets that resembled "Plate". How is the gear itemization being handled from class to class in comparison to WoW etc. Also if there are Instances/Raids nowdays in SWG, how important are the drops? how are they being handled etc?
3) Interface/Character:
Ok so when I last played SWG it was decent but going to WoW and having played EvE for example and LotRO a bit. I can't help but wonder if SWG "feels" as smooth as current gen MMOs. Any personal input?
4) lvling/Questing/Farming:
Ok I had 2 Jedi, one from Pre-CU and one during the CU Village Grind. However I have absolutely no idea atm what the account info is on that account and I'd likely have to start a new account, so how long would you say it takes to cap lvl? Is lvling quest based now as I hear or is it still grinding? Once at cap lvl, what do people do for cash? Trader skills or farming?
5) Community:
I understand its not a high pop game but just let me know what servers are hot and which are not. This question isn't that big of a deal.
6) Your Opinion:
Self-Explanatory, what do you think about the state of the game and the future of the game (Please no crazy doomsday talk of sunsets etc)? What do you belive I should do?
*Note: I have played other MMOs but I must say that I am most familiar currently with WoW. That is the reason I ask for the "Comparison" to WoW in some questions, to help me understand. I know alot of people have played WoW so if you could throw in a "WoW Analagy/Comparison" to answer a question in regards to Instance/Raiding/Gear/Itemization, that would help.
It is not neccessary though and I do want to hear your personal input on SWG as well, regardless if its even related to the questions or not!
Tyvm in advance!
Comments
k, i'll have it a go, since like you i ditched WoW (for some time, at least till wotlk ) and am playing SWG atm. Before i played AOC (didnt really liked it ...). any way i'll try to adress your question, but need to say that i'll be linear and concise or else i might end up being called viral marketer or something like that ifi actually write anything good ... so here it goes...
1) in a way they are similar and different to wow . There are big ones likes the tuskan king or tuskan invasion, not sure about the name that is basicly an alternate version of mos espa , and there are some rather small ones.
their style differs even among themselfs. In some cases they have trash mobs before the boss, or others there are like no trash mobs (or minimal trash mobs) and you just fight the boss.
they are tunned for 8 players group. Supposedly jedi/BH/commandos are tanks. medics are healers, rest is more or less DPS/CC. From what i experienced jedi are tanks, medics healers and the rest fill the cc /dps .
Bosses tend to have phases, and like in wow, once you find a decent strategy, they become farm frags.
and yes one needs some sort of attunement for every single instance tho it is nothing like the old karazhan wow attunement. Some are really small. others more extensive.
2) well the crafter sets are armor. it is crafted. it has sockets. then you get armor/cloth/weapon attachments (similar to old skill tapes) that are made by reverse engineering. this AA's can have up to 3 mods, lests say 35 agility, 35 stamina 35 luck. Depending on your class you want to socket yourself differently. on the shirt, chest and weapon you can put AA's with what is called exotic modifiers... instead of raw stats one can have +2% dmg to the kind of weapon you use, or +x% healing potency, or +block/parry/dodge ... whatever. they are too many to list here...
the drops on instances are so so. there are some weapons or items or schematics that only drop in instances, but it is not game breaking if you dont have them. Yet when you "defeat" an instance you receive 2 things:
a) a token. and you can trade x number of tokens for what i would call it "heroic set pieces"... being the set 2 bracers. 2 rings and 1 neck piece. there are baiscly 3 sets for every prof, and 2 generic sets.
Most people apparently do the instances more for the tokens/sets than the actual drops.
b) each time you make/defeat an instance you get an added bonus up to 10- so after 10 wins over the tusken invasion you have "collected" +10% crit defense.
Most people apparently do the instances more for the tokens/sets than the actual drops.
3) the interface is bellow wow, but sadly I think most MMORPG's suffer from the same.there are some 3rd party player mods that allow you to have the classic UI from pre-cu.
SWG is 5 years old. Doubt i can be classified as as smooth as the current generation mmorpg's. If you are asking if combat is fast, yes it is.
4) I have no ideia on how much time it takes to level.till the cap. it also depends on your profession. you have to find someone more qualified to talk about it since i started at lvl 90 and just killed stuff till lvl 90. There are quest that i could have done but simply i was burn out of stupid quests and static grinding that for me was fresh air just going forward killinh everything that moved.
As for cash, i also dont know, i had plenty of credits from the past and dont have much financial stress. I also end up looting everything i can and then sell it to junk dealers, both npc and players (guess i should call this ones reverse engineers) and in short have no economical problems.
5) look at the server load. there are 5 to 7 "hot " servers the rest are in settings that differ from "not hot" to "ghost town"/empty barrens.
6) I picked out SWG because i was wow burn out (and in a way burn out on the fantasy setting, and wanted some rpg with guns and shooting.) , I also was AOC depressed. I use the game was a buffer till WOTLK or Warhammer comes. Because of that I really dont pay attention to the "SWG is dead/will die/will shutdown" comments.
Several times i wanted to pick up SWG but coming here , like you did, got alot of extremely negative feedback and for months didnt tried. After AOC i just wanted to see how bad SWG was. It is better than most of the naysayers point out, but it is not a tottally pristine product either.
I feel that some people return to the game because most MMO's this days are wow look a likes, but without wow quality, and might be burned from fantasy settings. Because they played it in the past , they kind of either:
a)feel familiar with it, and forgive the short commings
b) get angry because the game was not what it was
my initial state when logging in was like "ok this is almost dead" and was prepared for the worst. Got somewhat surprised and once i dropped the "omg this worked like that 4 years ago and now doesnt" , adapted myself to the combat and re-learned the basic, started to have some fun. Of course the fact i'm a big SW fans helps also.
best regards
Thanks alot for the reply, you answered it perfectly and helped alot. If anyone else wants to add their opinion, please feel free I'll still be checking in on this thread and who knows, there may be more people in my situation.
Wouldn't mind hearing from the local celebrity "Obraik", he seems to be rather experienced with SWG.
Just so you know BH is not a tank its considered burst dps. (fast kill low tankage) The principle is the same though as in all dungeons. Get tanks to hold the attention of said mobs and everyone else pile on the damage, but dont take tank roll as a BH they are designed for the fast kill not taking sustained damage. In this game the two tanks are Light Jedi and Commando. Dark jedi can tank but dont have the hp and huge extra heal that the light has so people prefer light jedi for this. Dps these days can even include medics who are specced for that but in dungeons they prefer the pure healer type.
My main complain with this game is the interface I get stuck unable to shoot because its clunky and hard to operate, however I have played a couple of newer games with the same symptoms so I dont know if its just me and my awkward set ups being a left hander.
Like many though I find the interface to be fugly, but like any game where I put up with some fugly aspects it just is..
Meh the rest has already been answered.
My opinion is well I play the game therefore I must like it hehe. Why do I like it? Most games put out today so far due to the majority of player pops are not as open ended as SWG. SWG is still even despite changes a game where you can live in a persistent world and be immersed in it and "make a life". You can still mold your character into what you want it to be except maybe jedi that's a pretty clear cut case to me as jedi is well jedi. I like to hunt and supply materials like hides and meats to people so basically my BH is a hunter who occassionally does some bounties as a sideline. Unfotunately since the introduction of SWG and a few other older games the ability to have a "home" and make a pretend life is limited. I think WoW ended that unfortunately, but maybe in the future someone will see that these types of game are getting old and outdated and choose to take a risk on creating a new game that has the ingredients of SWG, EQ2 and ryzom etc. SWG also has a lot more other sideline solo activities you can do now if you are into collections etc etc those help fill a playtime void. So for me value for dollar as in how many games do i need to play in order to have my idle time occupied these days I play SWG. I was playing several games at a time before I reopened my SWG account. With me seeing that SWG was repaired combat wise and playable there is enough "stuff" in SWG now for me to actually only play one game again which is something I missed.
I have come back to this game more times than any other, and leave faster than any other too. After the beginning noob experience it just so lonley (all my old friends are long gone). Then i start thinking why am i bothering its gonna be shut down soon anyhow prolly; rubberband some get shot through a wall, see 10 npcs piled in a corner of a starport and its over for me. I think its more the lack of friends there tough,,,,,
sorry for the babble, its not really what you were looking for
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington
I would agree with ^^ above post... I played before, it was bether... But only becaouse of old comunity... Its not so bad game...
Paused for 3 years... and i returned now, playing 2-3 h max (works for me)... When you drop "OMG" stance... game is fun... (worth of try...)
Now before I even start telling you a little about my return experience let me 1st say this.Its going to all depend on you and your attitude about change is.In the end its not about what the haters and the fanbois say ,but your opinion and your opinion alone.I used to be a BIG hater of the changes they did with the NGE whne it 1st came out,but after almost 2 years since it was released the game is alot better than it was then. The 1st thing you are going to notice is the ui it has changed for the worse imo. and the thing that almost made me quit and not play anymore at the start of my return,but I stayed with it and started a new toon( I think it will be essential to your opinion that you start a new toon,because it will teach you new aspects about the game and how to play your toon as you level). Starting from new is what I did and at about level 14 I was alot more comfortable with the ui and began to enjoy myself.The population depending on your server may or may not be real low so I would suggest if you are on a server other than Bloodfin,Bria,or Chilastra to start a new toon on one of these servers,or transfer your old main.I would check out your server 1st before making this decision,understand the game is quest based more than grind now and that the population looks sparse due to people being spread out over the game questing etc. Mos Eisley seems to be the main hang out hub these days. I am not going to get into detail about much else because you are going to have to make your own decision on this,I have found the game to be entertaining again and a welcome break from wow. I would suggest you try EQ2 as well it blows wow away and is better than SWG.:P and Welcome Back if you decide to return .
SO MAKE SOME NEW FRIENDS.
Jesus Christ, I've never, ever seen a game where people had such a woody for their "old friends." NORMAL people get NEW ones in a VIDEO GAME.
SO MAKE SOME NEW FRIENDS.
Jesus Christ, I've never, ever seen a game where people had such a woody for their "old friends." NORMAL people get NEW ones in a VIDEO GAME.
Ya i would but so many people are a-holes
i was playing with my RL friends, which is what i prefer being i know there cool. See i have RL friends......
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington
SO MAKE SOME NEW FRIENDS.
Jesus Christ, I've never, ever seen a game where people had such a woody for their "old friends." NORMAL people get NEW ones in a VIDEO GAME.
Ya i would but so many people are a-holes
i was playing with my RL friends, which is what i prefer being i know there cool. See i have RL friends......
Really? So do I. They don't play MMOs, so I socialize with them, and play MMOs when I'm not. Funny how that works.
i was playing with my RL friends, which is what i prefer being i know there cool. See i have RL friends......
lol i suggest you go play what your freinds switched to. freinds are always more important than a game.
also the quality of players has slipped in this game. a lot.
i was playing with my RL friends, which is what i prefer being i know there cool. See i have RL friends......
lol i suggest you go play what your freinds switched to. freinds are always more important than a game.
also the quality of players has slipped in this game. a lot.
How the hell would you know? It's pretty obvious you don't play it.
quality of players (not a mention to "skill") as dropped a lot not only in this but almost any other MMO, probably due to massification issues regarding the mmorpg genre. due to this , i can understand the point being made earlier about "playing with RL friends" and it's value,
And please, if anyone answers to this, dont take it as a defense or pro argument in relation to SWG.