4 posts · 2005-08-31 00:18:00 to 2005-08-31 11:13:00
Thats the one major gripe that I do agree with, and can understand why hardcore fans of SWG or people who play for RP/storied reasons would get a little ticked off...
However i've never been the biggest of Star Wars fans; yes I do enjoy the films, quite a lot actually, but up until now thats where it stopped (Except from the limited edition golden Star Wars NES game I owned about 15 year ago...)
Whats compelling me to play SWG more than MxO is the unbeleivably immense level of content and the insane vastity of everything. It just seems to have those shiny bells and whistles that MxO is lacking...
I am more than aware that no matter what game you play, there will always be a point when you grow bored of it. With a MMO there is the tendancy to try and battle that boredom for the sake of remaining a part of the community you have grown to know during your gaming time. Through stretching out your inane frustration with the game, you then grow to despise so much more about it... I've seen threads by people leaving MxO that are exactly the same as some of those leaving SWG.
However as of yet, i'm balancing the two. I'm fortunate to have quite a bit of spare time on my hands as I managed to save and take a sizeable career break - So I can spread my time between the two games... right now, the complete lack of content and the simmering down of RP caused largely by time zone issues means I have spent a lot of this week in SWG. The tide may very well swing and I could spend most of next week in MxO, especially if Pandora's Box makes its appearance on Friday.
One thing I can say about SWG is that it makes you realise how inept MxO is in terms of features... if SOE can implement even a small portion of SWG's features into the Matrix, then I would officially dedicate my life to the game and change my religion to Syntaxian... ok maybe not that far but you get the drift.
Heres hoping
*end threadjack*
This is more directed towards Dare regarding my experience as a complete 'noob' to SWG. I too play MxO because I'm a Matrix fan, not an MMO fan, and as its my first ever MMO I never really had anything to compare it to other than console games...
Its difficult to compare MxO to SWG... everything in SWG seems so much... richer...
You have 11 (could be wrong on that one) planets to explore, each with vast terrains and environment that completely blow the linear constraints of the Megacity out of the water. Yes you do have transportation, which is a step up on MxO - obviously speeders etc would look out of place, but comparitavely player controlled cars, motorcycles etc wouldn't.
The "grind" is so different... In MxO, you kill a NPC, you get XP, that adds to your XP meter, once that fills, you go up and level and rinse, wash and repeat.
Basic example of the SWG "grind" as I've experienced it these last few days...
You're wandering outside of Mos Eisley and spot a Womprat scuttling around, so you pull out your rifle and shoot it to hell, it puts up a struggle and you have to quickly try and heal yourself mid-combat... eventually you beat it down. You then harvest the bones from the corpse.
As you walk away, you notice a suspicious pile of garbage... So you shoot at it just in case.. Suddenly a swarm of Womprats attack you... you manage to fend them off, and harvest their hides and also the bones of a few of them.
You're battle weary, so you walk further into the distance and decide you need a rest. So you use the bones and animal hides to build yourself a camp. You notice you have a few injuries, so call on one of your medic buddies to come and treat you. While you are there you decide to play him a little music on your Slitherhorn as a 'thank you'... by playing, you gradually build up an 'Inspiration boost' which adds 10% success rate to various statistics.. by listening to you, your medic buddy also earns this boost...
During the course of this, your character has earnt Rifle Weapons Experience, Combat Experiance, Medic Experience, Scouting Experience and Entertainer experience. These all contribute to different potential professions that you could choose to follow... whether you want to be a Master Scout, and Entertainer, a Bounty Hunter, Rifleman or a Combat Medic, everything you have done during that little episode has given you a little nudge forward towards your future career.
You may decide to veer off those tracks and become an Architect, maybe build your own house, your own weapons, your own starships... start your own city, become Mayor, become a politician...
This may or may not be a good example of how wide the game spreads, but to me, it sure as hell beats having one generic XP guage, and makes things seem less repetative.
MxO is at a standstill right now and has been for a while. I'm not leaving it, simply because I still have high hopes for the game and especially seeing what SOE are capable of with SWG I am even more enthused for the potential that MxO holds... however
I am not a star wars fan... I like the movies, but nowhere near the degree of how much I love the Matrix. I have always spent a lot of time in MxO - extremely lengthy periods of time where I am pretty much doing nothing other than socialising and taking part in the odd spot of RP. Perhaps if I could only play for an hour or two a day then the inane boredom that comes with having zero actual gaming content wouldn't be so apparent.
Yes, the players are meant to make the most of the situation, however all the work should not be down to us. The things that players do within the Matrix to maximise their gaming experience should be an addition, not a necessity. At the minute it is tantamount of paying to enter an empty swimming pool and being made to fill it with water ourselves.
There will be more added to MxO, without question, and at that time, I will be spending most of my hours playing it... however I now know that as soon as I get bored, I can return to something that so far is satisfying my gaming needs. Will I get bored of SWG? More than likely... thats the nature of gaming... however right now, my MxO shelflife has probably been extended by SWG rather than inhibited by it.
Message Edited by kingcaw on 08-31-2005 08:14 PM
Message Edited by kingcaw on 08-31-2005 08:15 PM