Players purchase a game, then pay a monthly fee to play in a world that persists even when they are off-line, that is populated by thousands of other real players. Players sometimes in competition with each other, sometimes co-operating, and more often than not simply players co-existing. Much like real life, and yet, not. A place where the suspension of disbelief isn't that big a stretch, which means a greater sense of immersion.
It gives players a chance to act out their inner fantasies - what I could be if I wasn't held back by, time, money, physical constraints - or laws and morals. I posted a couple of links earlier for tests to determine what sort of player you might be in these worlds. Interesting results and no surprises for me.
For about 18 months I followed the development of Star Wars: Galaxies. I'm obviously a huge fan of Star Wars and computer games in general, and here was a game setting out to allow me to live, learn, explore and socialise within the Star Wars setting and timbering that hold so much mystique for me. I was incredibly excited.
Then I saw this video and my excitement level went through the roof - these guys were talking directly to me, everything I wanted was right there in the interview.
I pre-ordered the game and installed it on the day it was released, then I played it for about 2 and a half years.
A MMO because of the nature of it's 'persistent world' status needs to be constantly tweaked to ensure that the numbers that were worked out during development remain reasonable for the calculations as people, equipment and events progress. This is normal and necessary for the game. But somewhere along the way, developers changed and what got me so excited about that video slipped away. Instead of tweaking numbers up and down to maintain the balance of the game, they began making changes to the actual mechanics of the game.
The change entitled 'CU' or Combat Upgrade was harsh, it messed with a game that I and others had developed a sense of ownership for. The graphics and mechanic changes now seemed to target the audience who were currently making Blizzard lots of money for their World of Warcraft game, and not the player base who had supported Sony through development and a year or more of subscriptions.
Then a few months back came 'NGE' New Game Enhancements. Wow. It was a whole new game, built on the same world environment. Our characters were destroyed, the essential parts of the intellectual property that was a major part of their draw were devalued, and the whole game was 'dumbed down' to the point I was frustrated with the over simplicity, yet at the same time the twitch aspect of the game was ramped up. This now played like a First Person Shooter (Wolfenstien, Doom, Quake, Unreal, etc.) not an RPG at all.
When I was on the development boards way back, I recall picking three things out as key points to why this game was for me.
- Skill based advancement
- Player driven economy
- Star Wars
This meant that there were a number of skill 'trees' and you could pick and chose which trees and which branches you advanced down. You had the choice of going with purely combat skills, purely social skills, crafting or healing, or you could mix and match. Become a two master hybrid, or a jack of all trades. The choice was yours. Not only that, but you could let go of skills to free up available learning points to advance in a new area, at any time.
I was a Smuggler and a Combat Medic. That meant I was support crew for the true fighters, I knew my skill set really well, and I was very good at it.
With NGE you have to choose your 'class' when you create your character. That character will now advance through the levels of that class as you gain experience. Any level 45 smuggler will be IDENTICAL to any other level 45 smuggler, there is no variety, and no options. You can only be one thing.
Player driven economy
Crafting was a huge part of SW:G, and revolutionary in the MMO field. It is the benchmark against which future MMO's are measured on the crafting portion of there design. Craters make all the equipment needed in the game, from clothes and food, to weapons and space ships.
For all but the very best rewards for completing quests - player crafted gear was the best you could have. You could pick up items off corpses when you fought them, but they were invariable inferior. The best of the best player items required components that could be gained as loot of corpses, so tieing the loot in to the player economy too.
Since NGE and other alterations to the game, the best of the best equipment now drops ready made from NPC (non-player character, computer controlled) people and critters. This simply cuts the crafters out of the loop and undermines the economy and the promise that the game and it's player base were built around.
Star Wars
My biggest thing with regards to 'Star Wars' is Jedi. Jedi are essential to the Star Wars feel of any medium, but the proper control of Jedi is even more essential. When SW:G launched it was a long, harrowing, and largely unknown path to reach that exalted target. It was simplified a little as time progressed - possibly with CU, possibly just as a matter of course. The simplification meant that now people knew the steps required to reach Jedi, that it was a big task, but far from impossible. It also meant dragging all the prospective Jedi to the one place where the process occurred and making Jedi 'familiar'. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Despite the difficulty involved with achieving the Jedi status, Jedi were not as powerful as I felt they should be. Now we get past my feeling of ownership for the game, and into my ownership of Star Wars. The mythos, the sacredness, tradition and history of Star Wars - you can't mess with Star Wars!!
With NGE, Jedi are now a starting option, players may choose to be a Jedi the moment they create their account. Half the population are running around in Jedi pajamas and Star Wars is dead. At the point in the Star Wars timeline where the game is supposed to be set, there are three known Jedi: Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Darth Vader had been corrupted by the Sith lord Darth Sidious - Emperor Palpatine - and sent on a pogrom to destroy all Jedi. Which he had pretty much succeeded in doing. Sure, there is space in the story for the game to allow some Jedi to exist, in hiding. But not for me to drop into the star port at Bestine, Tatooine, and see 50 Jedi waving their light sabers around. Vader and 5 divisions of ST would descent on them and crush them.
Anyway, all this rant came about because I found that video again and was reminded how much I loved the game they're talking about.
Watch the video :) http://media2.yahoo.com/player/games/?k=/genre/roleplaying/starwarsgalaxiesaned/6023592
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