SWTOR has received a lot of criticism for supposedly copying other MMOs. Well here are SWTOR MMO innovations that can't be found in the rest of the AAA MMO field:
1) Any already found binding location can be selected when using the 30 min cool down fast travel - opposed to the industry standard of making you pick a single location to be bound to.
2) Anyone can rez their allies! No need to be a healer (all other MMOs) or have a purple rez in your inventory (CoH) - and no, GW2 isn't out yet!
3) Permanently upgradeable gear - you can keep the same lightsaber all game if you like, just upgrade it's parts. Same goes for all types of weapons and armor.
4) Fully voiced with excellent voice acting!
5) Decisions put you on the spot from a moral stand point. Do you kill the NPC or let them live? Don't tell me you haven't sat there for 10 or 15 seconds on occasion trying to decide an NPCs fate.
6) Decisions affect your character. Do bad things and your character will start to look evil over time. Your crew members will judge you too!
7) The coolest mounts you've ever seen! They are actually mechanical and don't revolve around fantasy beasts.
8) Player housing in the form of an upgradeable space ship complete with space combat. Yes Lotro has housing but it's not nearly as cool and the rest of the AAA field does not! I'd almost allow STO in here but those "ship bridges" are pretty weak.
9) 17 planets so far - who knows how many they will have?
10) Crafting/Professions are beneath you - order your subordinates to do it for you!
11) Engaging story which is told to you and experienced in cinematic form.
12) Smoothest launch in MMO history.
13) If you die in the main game world, you can rez on the spot - no more ghost runs! Only punishment is a short timer and a durability hit.
14) Space combat - refined to be better than rudimentary offers in EVE/STO
15) Legacy System of levelling alts
I could go on but I have to get back in game and make sure Vette is doing as I asked. She better be if she doesn't want another shock!
I'll add more when I have more time. Please contribute innovations you have experienced in SWTOR!
Comments
Very nice summary. I am thoroughly enjoying the game!
And...be easy on Vette.
Straws, they're for grasping.
I used to play MMOs like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
This is just me bringing you down to Earth, enjoy.
These are facts, not straws.
I don't hate SWToR or anything...but that list is more of features not inovations. I suppose the deffinition of inovative is debateable, but I'd consider it to be something much more gamechanging then your list. The only one I agree with is the voice acting, thats a game changer.
A smooth launch is not an inovation...housing has been done alot..."cool" mounts aren't and inovation...etc.
And again I have nothing against SWToR...just this list.
You are clearly enjoying the game and while I dont hate it I would like to refute some of what you said.
1) has actually been done before.
3) has been done before.
4) Fuly voiced yes its a first. But AoC had the main character storline fully voiced from day 1 and the entire starter area npc's were voiced and more voices have been added over time.
5) has been done before.
7) been done before, you are just listing Aesthetics.
8) been done before, you are just listing Aesthetics.
11) been done before.
12) very debatable.....
13) been done before.
The big one being the style of storytelling. Others have focused on story, but not like this.
I would ad that the legacy system is pretty darned innovative as well. It is a system designed to reward people for leveling multiple characters. Never seen that before. It isn't dully implemented yet, so we will see what direction it takes. But yeah, an account wide experience bar that all of your characters contribute to. Pretty innovative.
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They may be facts, but that doesn't mean they are good.
Guild Wars had both your top points. Guild Wars is actually often known BECAUSE it had map travel and open ressurection.
For instance, 17 planets does not mean anything. The planets aren't actual planets... not even close. Breaking a massive land into 17 smaller masses does not equate to innovation.
It is not a fact that SWTOR has the coolest mounts ever.
Having NPC's craft for you was also done in Guild Wars, just not as polished. A true master would have his minions clear dungeons... should SWTOR make it so that your companions clear dungeons for you? Removing an aspect of the game is not innovatitve.
The launch was not the smoothest either...
I give you the voice overs, which is a really nice touch. I also give you the engaging story and choices. Both of these alone are what keeps me playing.
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If i were gonna list invotions in tor, Id start with story telling, No mmo has the depth of story tor has. Not the way its dont or the way your choices affect it.
Companions would be number 2 , they arent just pets they are so much more then a simple pet , They are almost like another character . The interactions u have with them are something thats never been done in an mmo
there take on crafting is unique and innovative. Crew skills go way beyond the nomral crafting u get in most mmo, while its not as indepth as swg, or some othrs its a unique take on it.
Id also say that they way they do questing while not innovative , does get rid of most of the grind, I actually wanna doe quests for more then xp,
Sure combat is similar to most mmos but its one diffrence is u usually arent going 1 on 1 but 1 on 3 or more.
The mechanics are basic mmos fare but the things they do diffrent make ti seem like so much more to me.
Im not gonna say its the most innovative game on the market, id say right now thats rift and maybe gw2 will prove to have more innovation then ive see so far
that said people claim dynamic events in gw2 are innovative when rift beat them to it, They claim combat with dodge is innovative when tera beat them to it, So i guess fans will claim stuff is innovative even if it isnt
Im a huge tor an but while mos stuff is standard mmo fare they do some things diffrent and are innovative in certain things.
Good god, It took me 5 minutes to read that, and re-read that, and then read it out loud over Ventrilo. If it matters any, my friend is making his Vindictus motto, "Im a huge tor an but while most stuff".
Also if it matters any to you, Guildwars had projectile physics, but you had to physically move your character out of the way, there was no active dodge key.
Why is it everything you listed as a positive I see as removing the M from MMO? Crew skills turns crafting into a lobby based game. Story is all about you with noone else helping and once you get to 50 it ends. It does not continue it just ends and the dailies start.
These are more like "tweaks" to your standard mmo rather than true innovation. I mean the couple about story and companions is innovative, but really this isnt ground breaking. I dont exactly hate the game or have any intention of playing, but considering the money gone into the game, it seems like a waste when another studio could have taken those resources and made something truly creative and thats what i find disapointing about a game like this being released in a time where we've already played this mmo in a hundred different forms before it. Atleast some people are getting some fun out of it.
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The reverse engineering system is great. Whetting up five companions and keeping them going takes a lot of effort.
It's not the deepest crafting ever, but it is much deeper than any other themepark I can think of.
The synthweaving, for example, can make heavy, medium, and light armor, but if you want to craft the absolute best items you have to reverse engineer and get better recipes. This is quite costly to do, and pretty much prohibits being able to do all three. So you pick the one you are able to wear, and it takes a lot of effort to get the mats to be able to RE everything you need to get the purple schematics.
The recipes you get from your trainer are pretty much vendor trash. It takes a lot of work to fully realize your crafting potential.
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Asherons Call did active dodging hmmm 1999 was it ............just sayin
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I do like your list, but I think you are trying too hard to hype up the game.
There is also the romance arcs to consider, this one is obvious.
In testing companions used to be able to die permanently in som situations or abandon you. People absolutely hated it. Bioware went with what testers wanted on that one. An overwhelming majority hated it.
It would be cool if it was like skyrim and there were all kinds of companions out there, but they are designed to be a part of your story. They have their own personality and affect on the conversations.
If I lost my tanking companion, my character would be really screwed in this game. I wouldn't want my character to be broken because I let him die in a conversation. This is what testers told Bioware as well. It seriously gimped your character.
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Why do people not know what innovative means...... It means something new.
Im still on the fence about a fully VO game being innovative. VO's have been around for a long time. Its just bioware took the time and spent the money in developing it to full VO's.
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It would be cool if you could go to a cantina, chat up some NPC's to see if anyone is looking for work. It worked in games like M&B and Skyrim as for them being apart of the storyline. I think if at the end of the storyline you were a complete arse to them, they could tell you to take a flying leap and walk away, force you to go get somebody to replace them. It is cool that some of your actions make a difference on how the behave and what not, but it should have more of an impact. Just my opinion.
It also important to remember that all of the companions are fully voiced as well, and they all have their own story arcs. Having an unlimited number of them would probably be quite the challenge for Bioware.
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Not quite. New is new, innovate is improving off of a previous structure that "was" new. Too innovate is to making something better, to make it like new again, or to do something that exists in a way that hasn't been done yet, and be good enough people to create a demand for it.
If people are playing SWTOR and enjoying these new or changed features, on a scale that is successful within the market, that is successful innovation.
Taking on the project of full VO in a mmorpg would be classified as a form of innovation. So would the multiple aspects of PVP in regard to player scaling, and crew skills, and the companion approach in general could be seen as a form of innovation. I think if we look at all the small little things that are approached differently from past mmorpg's, you will find quite a lot of subtle innovation in Swtor, along with the major and obvious VO.
Still, like BW said, they aren't exactly going for innovation to begin with, they are going for a solid Theme-Park that people will enjoy. Which so far it seems they have succeeded.
Nice one i really enjoy the game i just want to see this game with high textures and shadows and an optimized antialiasing and a better optimized performance cause there are some places that performance drops for no reason.
Space combat needs some improvement and some combat mechanics need to be worked out but overall it's a great game.
I wonder what will happen if they add some dx 11 features on it.
They're more facts than they are innovations.
As in, please look up the word INNOVATION before using it poorly.
Unless English is your second language, or that you admit personally that you're easily distracted by flashing lights. In either case, continue.
But if neither is true, you're a liar.
I used to play MMOs like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.