I’m playing through Knights of the Old Republic for the first time after having only watched Graev play it. I’ve always known that the game is a rather linear RPG and conversation heavy. I also knew that the game was about choosing how to respond to people in conversation and relying upon those decisions to loosely determine some of the outcome of the game. What I didn’t know was how much I would like the game once I was actually at the controls or how much I would think “yeah, this could work” with a MMO like SWTOR.
Bioware is touting SWTOR’s story and narrative. I think they have every right to given how their past games have turned out. We know that SWTOR will have this same hefty dialog content which itself is a nice thing but not necessarily a guarantee of any sort of successful MMO. Putting in the same type of story and narrative would at best make it a true Bioware RPG. Even with the text and how people respond to me it’s not really a true … how to explain it… I guess there’s just more of a feeling you get that what you’re doing is having an effect rather than actually experiencing it or seeing it.
In SWTOR I think they’ll take this storytelling and hit a home run if they use their ‘world’ and content to allow the player the opportunity to make decisions with visual/physical and dynamic consequences. If I choose to kill a character or to rob from someone then I need to see that played out in the world. If I choose to be good or evil then the world and the characters within the world and story need to truly change and react to me. The use of phasing technology would be perfect.
Playing KOTOR shows me the least that they could do with SWTOR. My imagination is cranking out all these ideal ways that Bioware could take the foundation and expand upon it to fit a MMO and a more hands on approach from the player rather than it being an experience that we sit back and watch. I want to actually go out and do the evil or good acts rather than just feel like I’m doing them because I’m following a story — to an extent greater than that which is available in KOTOR.
On a somewhat different note, the people who were invited to the very small SWTOR closed beta have not all been entirely tight lipped about their experience with the game. I’ve received way more information than I thought I would and let’s just say that my interest in the game has more than doubled.
P.S. I hate Carth.
I have played Kotor (Bioware) and Kotor II (Obsidian). Bioware vouched for Obsidian and did not have any problem with them doing Kotor II. Play them both and you will get plenty of information and story line leading you into SWTOR.
I also believe you will be interacting with, fighting along side or against, some of the main characters from both Kotors when you play SWTOR. Bioware would not have it any other way.
Well, I do like KOTOR quite a lot, but just don’t see it translating particularly well to an MMO format. I mean, from the things they’ve showed recently I’m sure there will be MMO gameplay, but KOTOR with some co-op dungeons thrown in sounds like a nice normal game, not a nice MMO i’m going to pay monthly for. Granted, I’ve been saying that all along since they announced this, and I could end up horribly wrong.
@Keen
I don’t think you’ll see that kind of thing. Such things only work in sandbox games like Darkfall and UO, though I might be mistaken because… well, it’s Bioware. Bioware is one of my absolute favorite game companies as all their games have been successful (though not flawless)
Oh and everybody hates Carth.
@Thomas
SWTOR is set 300 years after the first two games. You’ll be lucky to see some of the jedis in the MMO, but I doubt it.
I just really dislike hearing voiceover. Once, a long time ago, I found it amusing and involving but the novelty wore off many years ago. Nowadays I find anything more than a few phrases for ambience just really annoying.
I can read text MUCH faster than voiceover takes to play through, I take in a lot more detail from reading and every character sounds exactly right in my head so I don’t have to contend with a variety of distracting badly-done accents.
I can’t comment on how the dialog options play out in KOTOR because although I have owned a copy for over two years, the copy protection when I tried to install it was so draconian I decided I’d prefer not to have it on my hard drive. I have a spare PC that doesn’t go online now, so I might put it on there where the copy protection can’t try and stop me doing umpteen other perfectly legal things with companies that are none of BioWare’s business.
I think the rehashed Diku combat/grouping is going to sink this ship and there is about a 1% chance they will get the story aspect right to a point where it will work with massively multiplayer and not just be a bunch of meaningless “only affects one person” crap.
@Kim You are right on the money about the 300 years Kim. Some how, some way Bioware will be connecting both Kotors just so the Kotor fans will play an MMO. Many of those players call SWTOR, Kotar III.
I think what a lot of people underestimate regarding SWTOR is that it’s being an MMO is completely and utterly unrelated to the storytelling aspect, the main way people have trouble seeing it as an MMO.
The gameplay will make it an MMO with continuing content. It may be bad and fail as an MMO or it may be good and succeed as an MMO. The story is a great catch through your first playthrough, a few subsequent ones finding things you didn’t do first, and every time there is a content update, but it IS separate from the gameplay.
Carth – Douche.
KOTOR choices and decisions didn’t really impress me, it was very black and white, and regardless of how you played it pretty much felt the same, no real rewards or punishment for actions. I thought the overall game was pretty damn solid though, and if anything SWTOR will be interesting.
Mcface,
you might try Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age out. Bioware is presenting decision making more in shades of grey than black and white these days.
Still, after a couple months there will be guides on how to get the exact results you want from every conversation 🙂
I have a sneaking suspicion that players, when faced with all the dialogue, voice-overs, narrative, and depth; will just skip through it all in a mad rush to get to endgame and the uber high level tier gear.
I truly hope there will be RP servers out there where players like me who actually “READ” quest text can conglomerate.
@Rackham:
As we say in NOLA “Yeah you right”, but that is the same in any game; I am glad that I can have fun with it. KOTOR and Jade Empire were two of my favs due to the entertaining dialogue (“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg1gTas7OAA”)
I never appreciated the idea of exp boosting items for a similar reason, as I enjoy the actual gameplay at each level as opposed to being a rat habitually hitting the reward lever. I was displeased having to level out past 10 in WAR as their battlegrounds didn’t scale for higher levels, you just had to leave them behind.
HK-47: “Statement: Now do you understand the travails of my existence, master? Surely it does not compare to your existence, but still…”
Revan: “I survive. Somehow.”
HK-47: “Commentary: As do I. It is our lot in life, I suppose, master. Shall we find something to kill to cheer ourselves up?”
HK-47: “Observation: I am a droid, master, with programming. Even if I did not enjoy killing, I would have no choice. Thankfully, I enjoy it very much.”
HK-47: “You are like a delightful random cruelty generator, master, poisoning all you touch with your presence. You are a testament to all organic meatbags everywhere.”
HK-47: “Translation: 98% probability that members of the miniature organic’s tribe are being held by Sand People, master. Doubtless he wishes assistance. [There is also a] 2% probability that the miniature organic is simply looking for trouble and needs to be blasted. That may be wishful thinking on my part, master.”
HK-47: “Recitation: First, weapon selection is critical. If I see one more idiot attacking a Jedi with a blaster pistol, then I’ll kill them myself.”
HK-47: Query: Can I kill him now, master? I’d like ever so much to break his neck. It’s been a long time fantasy of mine…
Revan: Maybe later…
HK-47: Did you hear that meatbag? “I WILL BE BACK!”
Bioware does most stuff well. Every game I have played of theirs all the mechanics work and fit together nicely. Some might not be my tastes, but non have really ever been crap.
My only worry is if the game play requires you to repeat missions/dungeons/whatever that you will have to wade through the dialog over and over again. I love that stuff the first time through, but also like to skip it if I have heard it before.