As far as Role Playing goes, the lack of an APPEARANCE TAB is what I think detracts from roleplaying - to me at least.
ORANGE gear is NOT the same and comes with its own set of issues.
They should go the route DCUO went, or go with a system like LotRO's wardrobe.
Either of those would be a wonderful step in a direction I would enjoy. One of the main things that turned me off the game was the amount of gear I REALLY hated the appearance of. I didn't want to look at my character anymore because it looked like a joke to me.
Being able to choose what I look like is pretty important to my enjoyment of an mmo. Maybe I'm vain
Nothing wrong with being vain. I usually end up gimping my character for the sake of looking good. I have found several nice armors that I like in-game, and I hope they soon add a way to color them. That would be cool.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
Funny how people respond who think that roleplaying is looking at an npc talk at them. Sure then I guess you guys are also roleplaying when you are looking at A-Team reruns on TV. Clearly you have no idea what roleplay is, and maybe you should go back to your own little forums. You see I value your input about Swtor and its your right to defend it passionatly, but this is the roleplaying forum and we are discussing roleplay here. So go back to your own little forums and defend Swtor there and lets keep the discussion about roleplaying in this forum.
Thank you.
Wow, somebody had a rough day at school today.
We are discussing RP. As per your OP, we are discussing whether or not chat bubbles are necessary for RP. Seems like a few of us disagree with you. Don't get mad.
Yeah but i would like to keep it between real roleplayers instead of clueless people who claim roleplay is great because npc's are telling you stories. Is that to much to ask?
Back to the subject. The overall game has some other issues too. Like not being able to sit down in chairs or a lack of a wardrobe function but those issues are easy to overcome. The lack of chatbubbles however has made random RP dead on arrival. While small scale RP with a few people is still doable, anything involving a larger group is pointless. That is a real shame because as a result you won't see big events (and if you see them you wont be able to follow whats going on anyway), rp hubs like you had in wow "the cathedral and old town" are non-existant. Thus we have a game here that is unfit for roleplayers, no matter how much the npc talk at you (rolls eyes).
The rest of the game is fine. If you want to have fun go to a pve server and PVP server and forget about RP. If you want a game to roleplay in get WoW or LOTRO or wait for something else. Swtor is not for you.
I think the OPs point was exactly that the lack of a simple, seemingly incosequential feature added a serious problem to RP sessions. I can easilly see it be an issue in any populous area. Given that MMOs are already difficult to roleplay in, due to their very nature, any additional issue can be one of those straws/camelsback things.
It's not like this forum isn't absolutely filled with people for whom that one missing feature invalidates an otherwise interesting game. My sensitivity to poorly designed UIs may not be replicated in others, but for me, it is an important issue. It will cause me to not play or stop playing games. The quality level has to be much higher to make me put up with a continual irritation. Say, as in point and click to move games. I do however know that other folks may love point and click.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
As far as Role Playing goes, the lack of an APPEARANCE TAB is what I think detracts from roleplaying - to me at least.
ORANGE gear is NOT the same and comes with its own set of issues.
I like the orange gear, but I agree that it doesn't really seem to serve the purpose of getting the look you want. It just serves the purpose of LotRO Legendary Items 2.0.
They should go the route DCUO went, or go with a system like LotRO's wardrobe.
I actually don't mind what they did with the orange gear. I wouldn't go as far as calling it LOTRO legendary items 2.0 either. More like the legendary items but without the RNG stats, but still keeping the slotted relics.
This said, I would still prefer the DCUO or the LOTRO wardrobe. These systems are much easier to have a few different appearances and be able to switch them on the fly whenever you grow bored of one. The downside with the orange items is switching looks might be expensive depending on how much it costs to slot out endgame epic mods.
I'm getting beyond fed up with people that choose their games by ticking down a checklist of features, rather than whether they enjoy playing the (*&^ing thing.
If it doesn't have the features he wants me might not be enjoying it. If you enjoy the game and it is missing something no problem in asking for it. He is not asking for a remake of the entire game or anything. On the otherhand I agree with you that you can't have everything in one game. If you had everything everyone wanted you would also have to deal with full loot open PvP, etc. etc. etc.
Find the one that you like the best. . . but again no harm in asking.
Really? Chat bubbles? That's the best you could come up with? That's not even an issue. The real issues are the fact that you can't sit down in chairs, animations are awkward and generally terrible looking. Let's not even mention the idle standing animations. You just stand there. Doing -NOTHING-. You don't turn your head, you don't move your arms, you just... You just stand there. The world is so lifeless and boring that it kills any sense of immersion. The only reason I bothered to pick this game up was with hopes that the RP community would be worth it. After getting to level 15 and checking out some of the RP spots though... It's just terrible. I'd rather go back to WoW, honestly. But I won't. So it's back to waiting for Guild Wars 2.
Being a mmo roleplayer since UO its very very clear that sw:tor is not a roleplay friendly game at all. the amound of rp on the rp servers is just pathetic little often driven by a very very select few who do a lot of work in trying to make it work.
This is not "hate" I really wish for the game to do well and for roleplay to pick up speed but the game simply is not made whit rp even in the slightest tough of the developers. perhaps they were planning to add stuff but due lack of time chose to center the game purely toward the average pve player (the unfinished parts of the game show that they were releasing before done..take UI for example its clearly not finished.)
Chat bubbles will go a long long way in this game to resolve some rp issue's together whit sit able chairs and possible a apearence tap (tho the last whit all sets of gear being orange is kinda sorting it self out once you aquire enough of it)
fact stays, its a themepark that makes the story for you. this will always be a "problem" for roleplayers , this is not a vitural world and thus roleplayer will have to adapt to what is plausible and possible to what sw:tor offers.
For now (untill they respont to some of the request roleplayers have made on the forums) I stay whit my prediction that the roleplay servers will bleed empty fairly fast after the first month purely based on my 11 character lvl20-40 in hours of experience on the rp servers.
Plenty of rp happening on Lord Adras especially in Carrick station, yeah its a pain in the ass not being able to sit in most chairs, but one thing that is VERY cool about this game is being able to bring your party to your ship, and yes, there are sittable chairs in your ship at least in one of the rooms, and you can finagle using the sit command on the couches, beds etc. Trust me I've done it.
I am on that server mainly using my toon Amaare, and on Sanctum of the Exalted using my trooper Roc
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
I RP in the secondlife SWRP sims and have been for a very long time and i understand where OP is coming from. Chat Bubbles are clean and clear and you generally always know whos talking. But i also RP alot with my guild in SWTOR and never had an issue reading posts as we made a rules and guidelines as to how posting works so as we not get confused or lost. almost like an order system works just fine. When we rp with others we just push to follow along.
As far as apperance i think SWG had it best. Youd have your armor and equipement but a seperate tab that you could where anything you want and it would hide your actual armor. Though youd get no stats from the apperance tab.
When i played i was in an imperial guild and was a first lieutenant so i had to wear officers uniform. under it though i had my mandalorian armor.
Some people get so nitpicky about things, I can see your point but to say that you can't RP in SWTOR is a stretch for most users, I think you're in the vast minority on this one
Wrong and Wrong again, and anybody who has ever rped on the Lord Adras server would also call you wrong. Honestly right now this is the BEST rp community there is in any MMO hands down. Any night at the Slippery Slope would prove this. Now if you don't like the game for other reasons then fine. But to not like the game for chat bubbles, well that's just stupid.
Check out how active the rp community is at swtor-rp.com. Best rp community at the moment hands down, trust me.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
It's not personal when big RP events that are supposed to last hours are ruined because no one can follow chat. It's not personal when there is an overall lack of RP hubs because the lack of chatbubbles makes random roleplay feel like homework instead of a nice thing to do. I didn't do that. Its how the game is designed.
And because of that, I am warning roleplayers here on this forum, that this game is not created with them in mind. And that they should avoid it like the plague.
I don't get the fuss about chat bubbles. I'm probably weird though, whenever I've been at a big RP events I've found that the screen becomes a mass of overlappiing chat bubbles, which is frustrating for me, so I usually turn them off and follow along in chat. You can stretch the chat window as far down as you like to make it easier to follow.
Yeah, I know I'm weird I thought I read somewhere that they were planning on bringing them back. Aha, found it:
HollowPoint: There has been a large push in the community for chat bubbles, especially with a toggle option for those who don't want them. Is a chat bubble system in the works? If so, when can we expect it to be implemented?
Damion Schubert: They're definitely on the list. We’ve got many active roleplayers in the dev team and chat bubbles have always been important to us. We actually had chat bubbles in beta, but there was unfortunately some serious performance issues that our implementation caused that, for example, made things really suck in warzones and the fleet. They’ll be coming soon, but in priority, the GUI team is focused first on GUI customization. I'll have a better idea of timing once we get past that. And yes, for people who hate them, whenever we do them, they'll be toggleable.
i think that rp'ers themselves are actually part of a community that has its own micro forms of what each person views as rp'ing. Some rp'ers think that sitting around talking ic about events outwith the narrative and plot, are one sub group. Others like to play the game ic using plot as a basis for rp'ing. Others will use the games areas to conduct rp events, having formed their own, usually guild based storylines. What appears as a seemingly trivial point made by the op actually opens up an entirely new topic. What kind of rp'er are you? Personally, i have not tried the game yet, but was hoping that a company famous for adopting the traditional form of rp games, and making excellent solo crpg's, should be bringing rp into the mainstream. I thought that this game would start to remove us from the bland nature of most mmo's, and begin to introduce strong storylines, and envirnments where traditional rp'ing would be welcomed. The concern of your character due to a certain storyline, area rich zones where random rp could take place. I thought this game should cater for the rper. Chat bubbles can make rping a lot easier, as it gives your character an easy to identify a voice. I'll be dismayed if they have actually put your character in scenes where they make them talk. However, the best result would be for chat bubbles to be the players decision. Sometimes, certain rp'ers can be the most cliquey of players. We all have our own taste in what gives us that sense of verismilitude. When there is a big rp event, it can be confusing to follow what everyone is saying and doing, and chat bubbles do help this. However, when a small clique forms and are busy 'rping' about things not relevant to anyone else, bubbles could be an annoyance. Especially as they usually are not friendly to strangers entering their rp. Personally, my idea is for ppl to stay ic, and act as though their character would. If on a quest, why would a pc go to a zone and 'rp' about trivial conversations not to do with what their character would really be thinking. For example, you have an important quest in say lotro, but your character is in bree, in the tavern 'rping' about often silly conversations. Too me the game is then an irrelevance, just an envirnment to act. Whereas, if people were concerned, implented what is happening in game to reflect their characters mood, it would add to my game. I pass someone who is concerned. I can if it's my pc's nature ask what is wrong. Dismayed, they tell me about the details of their quest, i can offer my services. We remain ic. We can remain in sync and go onwards, using the game's npcs and quests to remain ic, meet others with a similiar predicament. Before long there's a group of us. We're rp'ing through boring quests, and grinding without it seeming like such, as we're ic. Learning about each other, forming friendships ic. We take breaks to unwind, learn background, etc. Perhaps a non game plot begins, etc. So i'm playing the game, rping through quests, which rarely happens, and advancing. We all have our traits, and side stories form. But it all started because i noticed some comment made in a chat bubble. That's my way i like to rp, but like i say, we all have our own preferences. So rp'ers themselves could be split into different categories. However, i thought this game would not be like a solo crp. I thought it would take us closer to meshing a dynamic world, with original and exciting plots, ripe for rp'ing. Is this not true? And does my pc or toon, talk for himself during cut scene?
Star wars doesnt have chat bubbles? You can still RP though if people just keep their eye on the chat log? I really want to play this game. I hope I can try it this week!
From the first second its against RP,character creation is so limited that chatbubbles wont save it "high, my name is Yoda Fett -Azeroth Legacy- ,but i really dont look like this at all,actually feels like everybody on this planet looks like me"
Chatbubbles. Or rather the lack of them. Never realised they where so important until I played the first game that didn't have them. Swtor. It's literally killing RP.
Until they implement this, roleplayers looking for a new place to RP in should avoid Swtor.
If the lack of chat bubbles is making it so you cant RP, you arent a RP'er in the first place.
I personally hate chat bubbles. Have you ever been in a big group (SWG) and had 100's of those chat bubbles covering your screen? It is annoying in my opinion.
i think that rp'ers themselves are actually part of a community that has its own micro forms of what each person views as rp'ing. Some rp'ers think that sitting around talking ic about events outwith the narrative and plot, are one sub group. Others like to play the game ic using plot as a basis for rp'ing. Others will use the games areas to conduct rp events, having formed their own, usually guild based storylines. What appears as a seemingly trivial point made by the op actually opens up an entirely new topic. What kind of rp'er are you? Personally, i have not tried the game yet, but was hoping that a company famous for adopting the traditional form of rp games, and making excellent solo crpg's, should be bringing rp into the mainstream. I thought that this game would start to remove us from the bland nature of most mmo's, and begin to introduce strong storylines, and envirnments where traditional rp'ing would be welcomed. The concern of your character due to a certain storyline, area rich zones where random rp could take place. I thought this game should cater for the rper. Chat bubbles can make rping a lot easier, as it gives your character an easy to identify a voice. I'll be dismayed if they have actually put your character in scenes where they make them talk. However, the best result would be for chat bubbles to be the players decision. Sometimes, certain rp'ers can be the most cliquey of players. We all have our own taste in what gives us that sense of verismilitude. When there is a big rp event, it can be confusing to follow what everyone is saying and doing, and chat bubbles do help this. However, when a small clique forms and are busy 'rping' about things not relevant to anyone else, bubbles could be an annoyance. Especially as they usually are not friendly to strangers entering their rp. Personally, my idea is for ppl to stay ic, and act as though their character would. If on a quest, why would a pc go to a zone and 'rp' about trivial conversations not to do with what their character would really be thinking. For example, you have an important quest in say lotro, but your character is in bree, in the tavern 'rping' about often silly conversations. Too me the game is then an irrelevance, just an envirnment to act. Whereas, if people were concerned, implented what is happening in game to reflect their characters mood, it would add to my game. I pass someone who is concerned. I can if it's my pc's nature ask what is wrong. Dismayed, they tell me about the details of their quest, i can offer my services. We remain ic. We can remain in sync and go onwards, using the game's npcs and quests to remain ic, meet others with a similiar predicament. Before long there's a group of us. We're rp'ing through boring quests, and grinding without it seeming like such, as we're ic. Learning about each other, forming friendships ic. We take breaks to unwind, learn background, etc. Perhaps a non game plot begins, etc. So i'm playing the game, rping through quests, which rarely happens, and advancing. We all have our traits, and side stories form. But it all started because i noticed some comment made in a chat bubble. That's my way i like to rp, but like i say, we all have our own preferences. So rp'ers themselves could be split into different categories. However, i thought this game would not be like a solo crp. I thought it would take us closer to meshing a dynamic world, with original and exciting plots, ripe for rp'ing. Is this not true? And does my pc or toon, talk for himself during cut scene?
Dude. Wall of text..bad!
On topic, though, for the OP who demands chat bubbles, did he ever think to simply get a private channel for RP'ing? Does Old Republic allow private channels?
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
Comments
Nothing wrong with being vain. I usually end up gimping my character for the sake of looking good. I have found several nice armors that I like in-game, and I hope they soon add a way to color them. That would be cool.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
Yeah but i would like to keep it between real roleplayers instead of clueless people who claim roleplay is great because npc's are telling you stories. Is that to much to ask?
Back to the subject. The overall game has some other issues too. Like not being able to sit down in chairs or a lack of a wardrobe function but those issues are easy to overcome. The lack of chatbubbles however has made random RP dead on arrival. While small scale RP with a few people is still doable, anything involving a larger group is pointless. That is a real shame because as a result you won't see big events (and if you see them you wont be able to follow whats going on anyway), rp hubs like you had in wow "the cathedral and old town" are non-existant. Thus we have a game here that is unfit for roleplayers, no matter how much the npc talk at you (rolls eyes).
The rest of the game is fine. If you want to have fun go to a pve server and PVP server and forget about RP. If you want a game to roleplay in get WoW or LOTRO or wait for something else. Swtor is not for you.
I think the OPs point was exactly that the lack of a simple, seemingly incosequential feature added a serious problem to RP sessions. I can easilly see it be an issue in any populous area. Given that MMOs are already difficult to roleplay in, due to their very nature, any additional issue can be one of those straws/camelsback things.
It's not like this forum isn't absolutely filled with people for whom that one missing feature invalidates an otherwise interesting game. My sensitivity to poorly designed UIs may not be replicated in others, but for me, it is an important issue. It will cause me to not play or stop playing games. The quality level has to be much higher to make me put up with a continual irritation. Say, as in point and click to move games. I do however know that other folks may love point and click.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
I actually don't mind what they did with the orange gear. I wouldn't go as far as calling it LOTRO legendary items 2.0 either. More like the legendary items but without the RNG stats, but still keeping the slotted relics.
This said, I would still prefer the DCUO or the LOTRO wardrobe. These systems are much easier to have a few different appearances and be able to switch them on the fly whenever you grow bored of one. The downside with the orange items is switching looks might be expensive depending on how much it costs to slot out endgame epic mods.
If it doesn't have the features he wants me might not be enjoying it. If you enjoy the game and it is missing something no problem in asking for it. He is not asking for a remake of the entire game or anything. On the otherhand I agree with you that you can't have everything in one game. If you had everything everyone wanted you would also have to deal with full loot open PvP, etc. etc. etc.
Find the one that you like the best. . . but again no harm in asking.
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
Really? Chat bubbles? That's the best you could come up with? That's not even an issue. The real issues are the fact that you can't sit down in chairs, animations are awkward and generally terrible looking. Let's not even mention the idle standing animations. You just stand there. Doing -NOTHING-. You don't turn your head, you don't move your arms, you just... You just stand there. The world is so lifeless and boring that it kills any sense of immersion. The only reason I bothered to pick this game up was with hopes that the RP community would be worth it. After getting to level 15 and checking out some of the RP spots though... It's just terrible. I'd rather go back to WoW, honestly. But I won't. So it's back to waiting for Guild Wars 2.
Being a mmo roleplayer since UO its very very clear that sw:tor is not a roleplay friendly game at all. the amound of rp on the rp servers is just pathetic little often driven by a very very select few who do a lot of work in trying to make it work.
This is not "hate" I really wish for the game to do well and for roleplay to pick up speed but the game simply is not made whit rp even in the slightest tough of the developers. perhaps they were planning to add stuff but due lack of time chose to center the game purely toward the average pve player (the unfinished parts of the game show that they were releasing before done..take UI for example its clearly not finished.)
Chat bubbles will go a long long way in this game to resolve some rp issue's together whit sit able chairs and possible a apearence tap (tho the last whit all sets of gear being orange is kinda sorting it self out once you aquire enough of it)
fact stays, its a themepark that makes the story for you. this will always be a "problem" for roleplayers , this is not a vitural world and thus roleplayer will have to adapt to what is plausible and possible to what sw:tor offers.
For now (untill they respont to some of the request roleplayers have made on the forums) I stay whit my prediction that the roleplay servers will bleed empty fairly fast after the first month purely based on my 11 character lvl20-40 in hours of experience on the rp servers.
Plenty of rp happening on Lord Adras especially in Carrick station, yeah its a pain in the ass not being able to sit in most chairs, but one thing that is VERY cool about this game is being able to bring your party to your ship, and yes, there are sittable chairs in your ship at least in one of the rooms, and you can finagle using the sit command on the couches, beds etc. Trust me I've done it.
I am on that server mainly using my toon Amaare, and on Sanctum of the Exalted using my trooper Roc
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
I RP in the secondlife SWRP sims and have been for a very long time and i understand where OP is coming from. Chat Bubbles are clean and clear and you generally always know whos talking. But i also RP alot with my guild in SWTOR and never had an issue reading posts as we made a rules and guidelines as to how posting works so as we not get confused or lost. almost like an order system works just fine. When we rp with others we just push to follow along.
As far as apperance i think SWG had it best. Youd have your armor and equipement but a seperate tab that you could where anything you want and it would hide your actual armor. Though youd get no stats from the apperance tab.
When i played i was in an imperial guild and was a first lieutenant so i had to wear officers uniform. under it though i had my mandalorian armor.
There's a reason why chat bubbles are not implemented and that everything is fully voiced:
Cos nobody at Bioware can actually read
Some people get so nitpicky about things, I can see your point but to say that you can't RP in SWTOR is a stretch for most users, I think you're in the vast minority on this one
If you play MMORPG's you gotta check <a href="http://www.gametasks.com">This</a>; out!
Wrong and Wrong again, and anybody who has ever rped on the Lord Adras server would also call you wrong. Honestly right now this is the BEST rp community there is in any MMO hands down. Any night at the Slippery Slope would prove this. Now if you don't like the game for other reasons then fine. But to not like the game for chat bubbles, well that's just stupid.
Check out how active the rp community is at swtor-rp.com. Best rp community at the moment hands down, trust me.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
I don't get the fuss about chat bubbles. I'm probably weird though, whenever I've been at a big RP events I've found that the screen becomes a mass of overlappiing chat bubbles, which is frustrating for me, so I usually turn them off and follow along in chat. You can stretch the chat window as far down as you like to make it easier to follow.
Yeah, I know I'm weird
I thought I read somewhere that they were planning on bringing them back. Aha, found it:
HollowPoint: There has been a large push in the community for chat bubbles, especially with a toggle option for those who don't want them. Is a chat bubble system in the works? If so, when can we expect it to be implemented?
Damion Schubert: They're definitely on the list. We’ve got many active roleplayers in the dev team and chat bubbles have always been important to us. We actually had chat bubbles in beta, but there was unfortunately some serious performance issues that our implementation caused that, for example, made things really suck in warzones and the fleet. They’ll be coming soon, but in priority, the GUI team is focused first on GUI customization. I'll have a better idea of timing once we get past that. And yes, for people who hate them, whenever we do them, they'll be toggleable.
http://www.swtor.com/blog/community-qa-feb-17th-2012
Yeah, I know soon™, if the customization thing is in 1.2 like they've said, bubbles will come back sometime after that.
Star wars doesnt have chat bubbles? You can still RP though if people just keep their eye on the chat log? I really want to play this game. I hope I can try it this week!
From the first second its against RP,character creation is so limited that chatbubbles wont save it "high, my name is Yoda Fett -Azeroth Legacy- ,but i really dont look like this at all,actually feels like everybody on this planet looks like me"
Let's internet
If the lack of chat bubbles is making it so you cant RP, you arent a RP'er in the first place.
I personally hate chat bubbles. Have you ever been in a big group (SWG) and had 100's of those chat bubbles covering your screen? It is annoying in my opinion.
Dude. Wall of text..bad!
On topic, though, for the OP who demands chat bubbles, did he ever think to simply get a private channel for RP'ing? Does Old Republic allow private channels?
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.