Hi all,
I'm a total Bioware fanboy. As far as I am concerned they produce the best games I have ever played. I also enjoy MMO's, particularly Rift and World of Warcraft and I love Star Wars. So Bioware + Star Wars + MMO = Nerdgasm amarite?
Well yes and no.
The thing is you can put three awesome things together and get a lump of turd. At the moment if I am frank I don't know what to think. Whilst I am expecting awesomeness I am also bracing myself for a huge let down. To make it clear here are the main reasons why it will be awesome followed by the 3 reasons it will suck donkey.
Awesome the first: It's Bioware baby!
Screw Valve, forget Blizzard and goodbye Infinity Ward; there is only one game studio on the planet who have never made a misstep as far as I am concerned. That company is Bioware. This is the company that produced Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic and my personal favourite Mass Effect. Their games are like crack to me, I just can't get enough. They provide a style of game that is perfect as far as I am concerned, user friendly gameplay, fantastic plots, memorable villains and the best characters in any games that have ever been published. I can't think of any character that is quite as awesome as Minsc except possibly Mordin Solus. They can't possibly screw this up right?
From what I've seen no. The companion characters look awesome and I look forward to running around with a rocket launcher wielding Jawa.
Awesome the Second: A return to the Old Republic
Star Wars is great and all but there's a load of Lucas inspired bullshit in there as well. Ewoks, Jar Jar Binks, Lucas' continual tinkering with the original trilogy (seriously stop that shit) and of couse the immortal "I love you because you're not sand" speech from Episode 2.
The Old Republic setting has none of the Lucas bullshit, only the core stuff that people actually want to see. Jedi vs Sith, smugglers, scoundrels and galactic war on a massive scale. Seriously, that's the stuff of Star Wars and Bioware have proved before that they get this.
Awesome the Third: Fully voiced storyline.
Holy crap dudes! An entire MMO with cinematic cutscenes, distinctive characters and fully voiced quest givers? Sign me up right now! Oh there's more? Quests that change depending on your choices in dialogue? Alignment to the Dark or Light side that's not dependent on faction but rather actions? Companions that can go off and do stuff for you whilst you sleep or go to work furthering the storyline whilst you do other things?
If all this is true, wow, just wow...
But like the light side there is also a dark side: Reasons it will suck:
Suckfest the first: An MMO? Seriously?
Massive is fine, Online is fine. It's the Multiplayer bit I don't like. I have no idea how this game is going to work but I do not want to see something like this:
Luke: How did my father die?
Obi Wan: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and mur...
WOKKIEBOI: LF2M for Caves of Ossus!
Yeah...
The problem with MMO's is there is not roleplaying involved, just numbers. The general idea from most people who play is to treat it as a game to beat. That's all well and good but Bioware win because of their immersive plotlines and intricate characters. I remain to be convinced that the Bioware style will survive 13 year old tossers shouting bollocks on chat.
Suckfest the Second: Old Republic now, Mass Effect later.
This may be paranoia on my end but it's noticeable that the launch of SWTOR has put back Mass Effect 3. This does not make me a pleased lapin.
It may be Bioware's usual "it's ready when it's ready" stance but that's not a good precedent to set.
Suckfest the Third... Seriously though, an MMO?
I can see it now. I finish installing the game, create my character and step out into the bright galaxy of a movie series that defined my formative years. I can feel the excitement rise as I examine the interface, looking around for my first quest giver. Boldly I stride forward ready to make my mark on a galaxy I have loved since I was a child.
What will I be asked to do? Duel Sith Lords? Rescue a princess? Break a planetary blockade? I click my mouse with a mixture of eagerness and reverence...
And they ask me to kill 8 wamp rats...
Seriously, none of that shit Bioware...
So will this turn out to be a spectacular realisation of greatness for Bioware or will it suck arse? Are you girding your loins for awesomeness or are you biting your lip in fear of what may come?
Your opinion is always welcome in the comments.
Your frustrated Jedi
Fall of Camelot
As regards the three flaw points:
ReplyDeletePoint 1) Kids and things...
Hard to avoid, but hopefully this will appeal more to a slightly older generation for whom the star wars films are more notable. The new films were '99-'05, so hopefully a lot of the kids who saw them will now be hitting university and be able to act a bit more sensibly.
To be fair, it's not a problem I've encountered much as my main mmo (ddo) tends to appeal primarily to old school gamers, so I rarely encounter anyone under 20 on there.
Point 2) ME3
I don't think this is actually SWtOR related - the timing on it was too close to the mass hysteria about DA2, so I personally subscribe to the suspicion that the actual reason for the delay is that ME3 was going down some of the routes that were loudly declaimed after DA2's release.
Point 3) Kill X wamp rats
Doubt they'll go this route. Actually I can see the flaw they end up with being more the one DDO has - scripted unique quests are a wonderful thing until you realise that, well, it leaves you with sod all total content by MMO standards. The average computer game is quite acceptable at 40-50 hours gameplay, whereas most MMO players will be doing easily twice that in a month and want to be continuing for months on end. Some players will be doing that in a week...
It's why the entire "go kill 5 kobolds" thing exists in games like WoW in the first place - it doesn't matter what company it is, no one has the resources to release enough individually crafted quests to prevent people having to repeat stuff to stick with it, which in turn is where the entire grinding thing comes in.
It was however nice to see that they've removed the grind from their crafting system...
Yeah didn't get the anti DA2 feeling. I preferred it to DA:O.
ReplyDeleteAs for point 3 actually that's what I want, I couldn't give a rat's arse about the time sink aspect of MMO's- it's boring. Give me a story, with plot and characters. I want immersion, pretty landscapes don't do it for me anymore, WoW gave me enough of that.
I want to add subtitles to Star Wars making Chewbacca into WOOKIEBOI. There's nothing to prove that he isn't talking like that the whole time.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both DAO and DA2 myself, thought the complaints were largely pointless.
ReplyDeleteAs to the time sink aspect, unfortunately for the majority of players that's what's needed. Without some means of keeping people active, either through repetition or making the wamp rat style quests, the game will die pretty quickly as people do everything and don't see the point in continuing.
Personally, I'd agree I prefer the customised quest style - it's one of the three aspects that have kept me on ddo for so long. SWtOR will have another of the three in the fact it seems a lot of the game is oriented around group play, but does appear to have WoW style combat which I find somewhat off-putting - I far prefer the much more interactive and tense combat present in DDO.
I agree with you actually. But I don't see how the Bioware style meshes with the MMO genre.
ReplyDeleteWe will have to wait and see.