I’m not sure I really ‘get’ Huttball. The themepark style is obviously never going to try hard to immerse people in the setting, but I like when there is at least an attempt made to keep players in the mindset consistent with the setting and story. Huttball is super gimmicky, but maybe that’s the point (hence why I do not get it and I’m likely to get a bunch of people commenting that they love it). My style is just a little more on the persistent PvP with lasting consequences are purpose, rather than the jump into an arena and nuke some guy to take the ball.
Hopefully it’s more fun than it looks. I get really bored just watching the video. Maybe it’s one of those things that when you play you can’t wait to jump back in and play again. Hopefully the rest of the PvP, which I admittedly have not watched more than 5 minutes of, is either a complete non-factor or at least a little more interesting. Anyway, that’s just a quick thought I had while catching up on the news. I can’t help but think they’re jumping the shark.
Graev has a more positive outlook on it. Bioware had the time to add something like Huttball as a “fun side thing” which is nice since a lot of the time games come out having scrapped a bunch of stuff. He thinks it could be a lot of fun as a side attraction. I can see his point entirely.
Worst idea, ever. I’m torn on SW:TOR as of late. Part of me wants to embrace my inner Jedi and forget the fact that this game will, in numerous ways, probably disappoint me. Part of me wants to say, “screw you EA”, “screw you Origin”, “screw you Bioware”, and avoid it like the plague. Part of me – the smallest part – believes that somehow this game may pleasantly surprise me.
But then that little part of me sees something like Huttball. It’s about as close as Bioware could come to making “Quidditch” prt of SW:TOR. It’s silly in a way that makes Jar-Jar Binks look like an esteemed Oxford professor, in contrast.
I’m trying to really think hard about it. I can skip it entirely and there would likely be no impact on me or my character at all. But the fact that it even exists, I think, is the issue.
Graev has a more positive spin on it thinking that “it’s cool they had time to add extras. Usually games have lists of stuff that doesn’t make it in, and SWTOR has this side stuff.” Then he said, “but if the game sucks we’ll be like how did this make it into the game and xyz not?”
I dont know im kind of torn now after seeing some of the details on world pvp that they announced at PAX
SWTOR world pvp? Do link me.
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/news/read/21699/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-World-PvP-Details-Revealed-at-PAX-Panel.html
Sorry for long link im terribad at linkage.
Like I said kind of peaked my interest but not enough yet need more details.
http://torwars.com/2011/08/28/pax-video-open-world-pvp-presentation/
Should really check out that video from PAX, the bases in this remind me of Guild/Player cities from SWG and big Guild vs guild fights we had. Looks awesome. Between this and the recent Eternity vault video from Gamescom can’t say i’m torn anymore, game looks great.
* Many different neutral planets that players can fight over, with territory control.
*There will be bases, turrets, and other objectives that players can control on these planets (Ilum is one example planet).
*Can call in bombing runs on the enemy base once planetary defenses are down.
*Valor (and other) rewards for players who participate. ‘Mercenary’ commendations can be earned via World PvP to purchase the best PvP gear.
Wow, planets to control and bases to fight over? Sheesh. That’s awesome.
Im sold ill be pre ordering tomorrow.
They’ve built a more advanced version of an old Unreal Tournament map, in an MMO. It is good pvp back in the day, but the treatment as HuttBall is cornball.
This has the same feel as the bloody Podracers – who a shiny concept that has far to much screen time.
@TyphoonAndrew
I don’t think anyone disagrees with you, but as Keen said, it was probably put in as an extra, i don’t think they expect anyone to take it seriously, the other warzones and the world PvP along with the PvE endgame is where the meat of this game is at.
Not sure if you were aware as well Keen, but they also mentioned at PAX that the “Beta Weekends” which i would assume are basically stress tests are starting this upcoming Friday, September 2nd. They also stressed that most people should anticipate an invite at some point this month during one of the weekends, which i believe is going to be 4. I think that implies that a new group of people will get invited each weekend. Unless they want to gradually put more and more onto the server and really try out it’s limits lol.
I’m excited to finally give the game a chance. SWTOR beta has been eluding me for far too long.
It may just be a version of Goblinball, which I found too simpleminded to continue playing, but as always it might be cool if properly executed. With no actual experience I can’t form an opinion if it will be good. Sidegames can be really fun, I just hope that there isn’t some instrinsic reward system to make players feel compelled to play it in order to advance their toon (vs just for the fun of it). A Huttball grind wouldn’t be appealing…
Ever since I took a deep breath and ordered this game (CE Amazon), I haven’t been able to shake the cloudy feeling of… is this going to be worth it?
Thanks for your links guys and I am now feeling so relieved and anticipating more info on this great news! I won’t get my hopes up too high, but things are looking up.
Oh and on Huttball, looks like a bit of fun imo.
Something tells me that these other planets are a map. And winning control means to achieve an objective within 15 minutes. Then the next round starts. Just a hunch.
These types of side games are good for MMOs. Funcom said the same thing about bar fights in AoC, which never actually happened. In the end, mini games like “Huttball,” are only fun if they are different from the core gameplay. In this case, it isn’t–it’s just PvP with some extras (traps and a ball).
If you’re going to add something like this to give players something else to do, it should be different. Speed bike racing, for example. A card game that you can play, similar to the ones in the Final Fantasy games. These are social experiences that break up the routine that plagues MMOs.
What’s different about Huttball is that it won’t just be Republic teams vs. Empire teams, but that Empire vs. Empire and Republic vs. Republic match-ups can happen when one side’s PvP queues are over-populated. It’s a release valve for the over-populated side, and therefore freaking brilliant in concept alone, if not entirely brilliant in execution (which I will reserve judgement on until I’ve played it, though I think it looks like a lot of fun). Even if some find it “immersion breaking” it will be appreciated when the other PvP queues can pop more often.
The problem is that it will still play exactly like the other PvP offerings in the game. So, while it may help in terms of ques, it offers no further gameplay value.
Wasted opportunity, in my opinion.
BioWare can easily write a story to make sense for the whiny RPers. Just make it so that the Republic and Empire are trying to earn favour with the Hutt and thus, he wants warriors to compete for his entertainment. There, eat that whiny RPers. Now go play some Huttball!
I think its nice they are doing something different for one of the battlegrounds, to many games rehash the same old map types.
will be a nice change of pace in amongst the other types of pvp
Huttball is a brilliant idea. How many times and how many games of the same CTF can we really stand before we go out seppuku style 😉
I can’t help think that nobody will bother to play this minigame and if they do they will all ignore the ball and spend their time scrapping in the centre.
I was really looking forward to SWtoR, but the more I see, the less interested I have become. The combat looks really stale in the videos; worse than WoW imo.
Jedi and Sith participating in a sport against each other just seems really lame imo. Maybe it will be amazing, but I will not be pre-ordering this game. I will take the wait and see approach.
GW2 was not on my radar a couple of weeks ago. It has really peaked my interest after watching some of the videos from Gamescom and Pax Prime.
I am read for something new and fresh, but I am still on the fence as far as both of these games go. Hopefully these developers can catch magic in bottle like Blizzard did with WoW.
@Wickidd yeah same here: I actually only got interested and ordered TOR once I saw that everyone got a cool starship.
Since then I’ve seen many videos of PvE and PvP which just look weak. It just looks very dated even pre-launch!
Meanwhile GW2 videos have made me want that game despite GW1 being something I avoided like the plague back in the day.
@Wickidd;Intruder313
Not exactly sure what either of you are seeing, b/c frankly the combat in this game looks fantastic to me, granted i think it looks like WoW’s just on steroids, so it’s nothing innovative but i never anticipated this game to do anything revolutionary. But then again WoW really never did that either, SWTOR is essentially doing what WoW did nearly 7 years ago, capitalizing on what past MMOs did just everything slightly better. The combat is far more fast paced and reactive, partially due to the lack of an auto attack.
“it looks like WoW’s just on steroids”
I watched the video again. It does look like WoW, but I fail to see the steroids. I’m sorry; this just does not look like a next gen game to me. WoW already exists; so why would I want to spend my money on a WoW clone with a sci-fi skin. I understand that the story is the focal point for SWtoR, but I am a pvp focused player.
I really like what I have seen from GW2. The combat looks to be very responsive and visually stunning. I like the fact that you can cast while moving and actively dodge attacks. Maybe I am wrong, but there just seems to be a bit more to the combat in GW2.
GW2 combat looks fun. SWtoR combat looks tired and stale. That is my opinion.
I don’t really see the hype in GW2 honestly, sure the dodging thing is cool, but combat in general doesn’t excite me that much, probably b/c i was so over hyped for the game. GW2 is already setting them up for failure b/c far before any videos surfaced they talked about “revolutionizing” the holy trinity of Heals/DPS/Tank and frankly they haven’t done that.
TOR i think the combat looks great, I am very happy with the graphics, b/c after RIFT i completely changed my previous opinion of wanting realistic graphics, b/c RIFT came out just this past March and it already looks dated. Which is why I’m perfectly happy with TOR’s graphics, they’re comic book like to an extent, but they still look sharp and they’re not a cartoon cut out to the extent of WoW’s. As for combat, not only do i see how reactive the combat is b/c as I previously said a lack of a auto attack so you’re more involved in constantly hitting, but the animations for not only attacks themselves, but have you not seen how insane the other effects? Such as how the saber will deflect gun fire at a completely random rate, it isn’t scripted what so ever, to watch a character reflect laser beams at a completely random spots, rates etc is stuff that gets me really immersed, but like you said that’s your opinion and this is mine.
Cant say that I am suprised. Looks even more likely I’ll be skipping this altogether. Im sure it will be polished and fun but after 2-3 months it will be jsut like what Ive played the last 6+ years in WoW and Rift.
Cant wait til la solid AAA sandbox’ish PvE game comes out in the next 298 years lol.
As Alex Taldren and others have said, this game mode falls short on the most important point – it doesn’t actually change up the core experience as much as it pretends to.
Basically this is CTF (or WAR’s take on murderball), but you can pass the object by clicking on other players. Big deal! It’s a bloody ball, at least use some physics for the throwing and have the thing bounce around like mad. Set up specialized rules of engagement or something – you know, rules; sports have them. As it is, this will probably just turn into a big deathmatch in middle, while a couple people run the ball around the edges…
On to of that, I think this is a game type more suited for GW2’s engine; holding the ball could give you a special set of skills (I always loved braining enemies with the skull in Halo), which would at least add some strategy to who carried the ball beyond “give it to the tank”.
*
Personally I can overlook the other silliness of the idea – that Jedi would team up with Sith to *maim people* on the other team with *laser swords*, for example – but I can’t look past the failure to inject unique gameplay into the experience. Combined with their overall attitude towards innovation, this signals that they’re content to just make the same old MMO all over again, which is just not something I have any interest in.