this game is so themepark it makes me want to puke. why does cant everyone be a force user that has the choices to take on these rolls. even switch sides. if you wanted to be a republic whatever with force abilities you should be able to switch to sith inquisitor if you want. a major theme in starwars is switching sides. falling from the light mainly, but also switching back again. why not in this game. and whats with the obsession with story. I hate it when a game force syou to do quests. that was the worst thing about the other games. they would have been awsome if every feature was unolocked from the start. the forced missions broke the entire game for me. i hate that bioware is the company that makes the new starwars mmo. whats your ideas about this.
Seriously, dude? you sound like an ignit. Why wouldn't "Star Wars" be a them park game? that's what it is all about. We all know the story, etc, so why, in any sense of a rational mind would expect it to not be a "theme park game?" Get away from "entiltlements." we don't need those. Play a single player game or a PnP game if you want the options you want.
ive been waiting to have to say this raklaw i am being sarcastic. ie saying someone beut meaning the opposite. ussually with negative connotations. and if you dont know what a connotation is look it up in a dictionary. on another point. im not saying i am going to play the game. am am expressing my antagonism with biowares game design using examples of what i hate in the game. and yes. i have not played the game. but from past experience and the information ive heard about the game. im probably going to be forced into. im not saying im right. i am just making a theory on how the game is going to to out with current information. i know ive said the same thing twice. i hope thats enough to understand the meaning and no, i dont have a degree in english, so if ive made a mistake, please keep quite.
Sorry, this right here made no sense, especially with all the misspelled words, etc. Again, ignit, and you prove the point of being such.
ive been waiting to have to say this raklaw i am being sarcastic. ie saying someone beut meaning the opposite. ussually with negative connotations. and if you dont know what a connotation is look it up in a dictionary. No need to look it up, you might want to look it up aswell try to learn how to be sarcastic, sorry nothing showed you where, or perhaps you have a strange and very different way of showing sarcasm. on another point. im not saying i am going to play the game. am am expressing my antagonism with biowares game design using examples of what i hate in the game. Again hating a game is very silly, and if you not planning to play the game then why do you talk about it, doesn't make sense at all. and yes. i have not played the game. but from past experience and the information ive heard about the game. im probably going to be forced into. im not saying im right. You just said you not going to play the game so nothing will be forced upon you. i am just making a theory on how the game is going to to out with current information. i know ive said the same thing twice. i hope thats enough to understand the meaning If you want to make up a theory best you can do is REALLY read the information given, seems you read very little info due to what you have said in this topic. and no, i dont have a degree in english, so if ive made a mistake, please keep quite. I don't care how your English is, but if you gonna point out to people to get a dictionary then you should really make sure you do write allot better then you have done.
And can you point out some law of what makes a MMORPG, I know what I want from a MMORPG but I don't see what I personaly want to be the way they should be.
Bah, to bad that this game has so much support. There are other new and current MMO-games out there that deserves more support, games that dares to take a new way.
And no, i dont count fluffs like Voiceovers and Cinematics as inovative.
this game is so themepark it makes me want to puke. why does cant everyone be a force user that has the choices to take on these rolls. even switch sides. if you wanted to be a republic whatever with force abilities you should be able to switch to sith inquisitor if you want. a major theme in starwars is switching sides. falling from the light mainly, but also switching back again. why not in this game. and whats with the obsession with story. I hate it when a game force syou to do quests. that was the worst thing about the other games. they would have been awsome if every feature was unolocked from the start. the forced missions broke the entire game for me. i hate that bioware is the company that makes the new starwars mmo. whats your ideas about this.
Why do people have to bitch and moan and label everything.
Either it will be a good game or it won't, until you know just stfu and wait.
FFS I hate these kinds of posts.
And fyi, as soon as I read "forced mission" I fucking face-palmed so hard I have a hand print on my face.
Look at it like this: Guild Wars is something like 90% single-player, instanced, forced-story-driven, with NPC hirelings to form a group with. Don't you see the similarities here?
All of the things you mention are huge plusses for me. Yes to instancing! Yes to story-driven! Hell yes to NPC hirelings! Change the soloability from 90% to 95% and add in meaningful crafting, robust AH, quick and fun travel, and zero pointless timesinks and you have my personal ultimate MMO. Man, how I wish more MMOs could be that way.
Look at it like this: Guild Wars is something like 90% single-player, instanced, forced-story-driven, with NPC hirelings to form a group with. Don't you see the similarities here?
All of the things you mention are huge plusses for me. Yes to instancing! Yes to story-driven! Hell yes to NPC hirelings! Change the soloability from 90% to 95% and add in meaningful crafting, robust AH, quick and fun travel, and zero pointless timesinks and you have my personal ultimate MMO. Man, how I wish more MMOs could be that way.
+1 for originality
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
500k? Pulling numbers out of your ass are you? Btw, WoW stopped growing, it will probably begin its decline soon. Cataclysm could royally destroy the game if done wrong. Yesterday somebody mentioned ToR on my server and all you seen was people screaming for it, there was a few that haven't heard of it, but they was quickly giving a run down on what we know and they seemed interested. It's not a matter of addiction, it's a matter of what works. WoW works, AoC, WAR, SWG did not. You say 500k I'll say 400k probably more have moved on with their lives. You should to.
- People don't like complete voice overs and video intros (with mostly loading screens) like in AoC: first time:wow, second time, yes, third time, shut please, fourth time, skip, skip, skip,skip.
So bad, seriously, you shouldn't comment on a game you have no clue about. AoC was the same thing for ever class, ToR wont be. You will get a new experience with every class and people don't generally level multiples of the same class. k?
- People are lazy to group up. Blizzard had to introduce the 2 click button method and struggled for 5 years with it. Other older MMo's just died dry after the initial 4 months leveling. Nowhere around somewhere ... lost.
That certainly doesn't explain the constant PUGs going on in my server and probably many others. LFM ToC10, LFM ICC10, hell LFM Weekly Raid. My server is also I think 3rd from the bottom in progression (it's really bad there), I'm sure grouping is far more popular on other servers. By people being lazy you mean people like yourself who complain about grouping then refuse to do so, that's the only thing I can see from stopping you, which is you. Fun fact - I've grouped more in WoW then I ever did in SWG.
- Giving NPC Henchmen to fill in tanks/healers is a straight highway to solo play. "Fxxck up you bixx, I want to level my NPC's, I have my fun", ...
OH noes people r soloing in an mmo, cry about it. Well, you already are, so check. A little advice, don't worry about what other people do. If you want to play with players then play with players, you will never have the power from stopping another in doing what he wants to do. Also, not only did you complain about people not grouping you're now complaining that people are now given an alternative. Which BioWare said would not be the best alternative. Furthermore, just because you group with an NPC won't mean much, you will still miss content. But hey, if you have a problem with a 4 man group missing a tank because they can't find one or maybe they like to stay in their little circle of friends, that's your problem. You won't be missed.
- Liniair story telling is wrong for an mmorpg. The only thing that matters is the window dressing, the big picture story telling and ... let the guilds and players make up their own 'epic" fights and story telling.
Linear* story telling is wrong, this is why AoC was so boring. But story telling where you feel like you're part of something bigger while having the options to change your future quest lines from a simple choice is far from linear story telling. In a sense you are making your story line. But I know what you're asking, you want to write a below mediocre story about your character for everybody to read on your character sheet. How very uninteresting.
- MMO's are being played to advance your avatar, not to live into a predefined story telling. they are based on repetitive play mechanics that need to be good enough to be replayable for ... years. A good designed mmo is where the players run each dungeon and each battleground 30000 times (at least). Story telling of your fights is up to the players.
SWTOR will have players advancing their characters while creating there own story. I don't understand why this is so hard for you to comprehend.
You can only tell a story ... once before it bores you to death.
Thankfully I don't plan on playing multiples of the same class. I also believe a game with story could do far better then a game without. Do you know how boring it was grinding boxes in SWG over and over again or leveling a new toon in WoW through the same zones with the same mediocre stories blizzard thinks they're good at. I beg for more voice overs in WoW, with some options on what to do, at least it could be interesting to quest.
- Story telling games (adventures or RPG's) are being played for 2 months and then - when played out- shelved.
Even DragonAge doesn't appear on the list of Xfire anymore.
As Vagrant pointed out, not an MMO. Also take note of all the wonderful sandbox games on that list, oops nvm, there isn't any. I mean holy shit, Silk Road is on that list, but no Darkfall, no SWG, no sandbox MMO at all.
Bah, to bad that this game has so much support. Huh? You want the game to have no support so that it fails? How noble of you. There are other new and current MMO-games out there that deserves more support, games that dares to take a new way. So go support those that YOU think are so innovative and deserve support. As a matter of a fact, why don't you share with us what those games are. I'll try not to laugh. And no, i dont count fluffs like Voiceovers and Cinematics as inovative.
It might not be inventing the wheel, but it's sure more fun to experience with than without them. If Bioware has the ability to add them, then why not? What would be the point of leaving out what has clearly been a strength for them so far?
You can only tell a story ... once before it bores you to death.
This gets my vote for the most inaccurate statement of the month.
Do you think no one has ever watched a movie or read a book for the 2nd time? Or 3rd? Or 4th? How many people do you think read Lord of the Rings more than once? Or watched Star Wars more than once?
You can only tell a story ... once before it bores you to death.
This gets my vote for the most inaccurate statement of the month.
Do you think no one has ever watched a movie or read a book for the 2nd time? Or 3rd? Or 4th? How many people do you think read Lord of the Rings more than once? Or watched Star Wars more than once?
I have watched SW so many times(41 in RL), I literally go to sleep now when it is on :P
These folks whining, cause TOR isnt a sandbox, crack me up. Back in Nov 05, all we heard was BW would be the savior of the PRECioUs. Now that it is 2010, all we hear is how much they hate BW.
Funny how that works.
I just ran thru the Awankenings expansion for DA this past week. Although I felt the EA influence(shorter gameplay), it was still a nice gamng experience.
Something that has been par for the course, in BW games, since I first picked up Balder's Gate back around 2000. If TOR isnt a long term sub...so be it. I know I will get great enjoyment out of it. When they launch expansions/updates...I know more fun will be available.
Let the folks whine that wish to. Those of us that have truly enjoyed the BW experience, over the years, will continue to do so.
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
So you've played this game and know its themepark? We dont know enough about the game to know what happens after the initial area or if the "story" part is just part of the initial area also. Dont be so quick to judge with little information. If you dont like Bioware making the game or your assuming its a themepark game then dont play it. Personally Im looking forward to see what this game has in store for us. (BBBBBWWWWWAAAAHHHHHH goes to bioware to have plungers put in the game. bioware tells the Raving Rabbid that plungers would be too overpowered.)
LITTLE information? We have it straight from the mouth of the devs.
They said 95% of the content is intended for a solo player to complete. You get NPC companions so you don't NEED a group to get through this content. The content is story based and instanced.
How in satans holy hell do you think that's going to be a sandbox?
Add in the fact that every single Bioware game made in the past 12 years has been a linear storyline based single player game.... it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
Are you asking the person you quoted for links on the percentage of solo-ability?
Or the fact that this isnt a sandbox?
Cause the fact it isnt sandbox is common sense.
Classes(all of which are combat), story driven content, and not even taking BW's past game into consideration all scream this isnt a sandbox. No mention of user generated content, nor that all worlds will be FFA PVP further cements it.
I dont recall seeing that the game is 90-95% solo. That I would like to see a link for as well.
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
im totally confused on the themepark vs. sandbox issue. ive heard these two terms the last couple of years and it seems like people that dont even know what the terms mean start labeling everything that comes out. let me see, themepark is supposed to be linear, quest driven, no innovation, same stupid game that has been made for ten years right. sandbox is supposed to be totally innovated brand new game that has nothing in it, you decided the story, you decide the game, no quests, no npcs just a blank world with some trees and mountains and you do the rest.
No, these aren't the right definitions for the terms.
A themepark game is a game where players are handheld and led through the game by quests, NPCs, and the game mechanics themselves. The game world is also built like a "themepark." You see that castle on the hill? You can't go there, it's only meant to be a decoration, to add atmosphere to the game. Themepark games have little to do outside of questing, combat, and a few social aspects. PvP is often kept to special PvP zones or arenas. The designers of a themepark game are expected to provide a robust "endgame" so that people don't run out of stuff to do in the game when they reach max level.
Themepark games include World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Star Trek Online.
A sandbox game is where players are given as much freedom as possible to do whatever the game mechanics allow them to do. This means that a sandbox game will often have huge open game worlds (though such things are sometimes found in themepark games too) for players to explore, player run economies, robust crafting systems, and free for all PvP systems (these can also be sometimes found in themepark games..)
Sandbox games include EVE Online, pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies, Fallen Earth, Darkfall, and Mortal Online.
For further examples: in World of Warcraft, there are often "set pieces" that are meant to add flavour to the world. Take the city of Stormwind for example. The city walls are useless for holding off sieges, if the Horde invade they just walk through the useless city gates. The castle is mostly just a big set piece with a few rooms that contain important NPCs. I couldn't ever explore every nook and cranny of the castle, no matter how magn9ificent it looks from the outside.
In Star Wars Galaxies there were huge player created cities. Players could build their own houses and shops in places they wanted and start cities that didn't contain one single NPC. Players could buy stuff from shops in the player city and store stuff in their own house in the city.
In Age of Conan, the best way to advance through the levels is by questing. When the game launched, there wasn't much to do outside the tutorial zone because a lack of quests in a themepark MMO generally means a lack of stuff for players to do. Age of Conan has no crafting until level 40 and no player economy, so the prime source of enjoyment from that game is through questing.
In Fallen Earth, a player can craft nearly anything. Instead of getting a special weapon that binds to the player when they complete a quest, the player is given the recipe for that weapon. He can then make as many as he wants and he can even sell them to other players. It is possible for anyone to craft any item in the game and it isn't unusual to have characters fully equipped with weapons and armour they made themselves.
In Star Trek Online there is no reason to ever go to planets unless you have a quest there. The planets are just set pieces for the quests players do in the game. They are too small to be explored, and there is nothing a player can do with them other than completing quests.
In EVE Online the in-game economy is almost 100% player controlled. Players craft every item and sell them, you can't go to an NPC merchant and buy anything because NPC merchants don't exist in the game. Further, the company that makes EVE, CCP, is constantly trying to find ways to make 100% of the economy player run and every single item in the game player made.
Sometimes there are a few things that are traditionally "sandbox" in a themepark MMO, for example WoW has a pretty large contiguous game world whereas many other themepark MMOs have loading screens and instances to make up their game world. Likewise, a sandbox MMO may have "themepark" elements. Despite having quite a large sandbox element to crafting and the player economy, as well as a large generally seamless game world, Fallen Earth relies as much on questing as a themepark MMO.
So, they aren't terms that mean "good game" and "bad game," though a lot of people here are quite hostile towards the themepark style of MMO. Personally, I think the perfect MMO would be a hybrid between the two, taking the very best aspects of both and combining them into a really fun game.
this game is so themepark it makes me want to puke. why does cant everyone be a force user that has the choices to take on these rolls. even switch sides. if you wanted to be a republic whatever with force abilities you should be able to switch to sith inquisitor if you want. a major theme in starwars is switching sides. falling from the light mainly, but also switching back again. why not in this game. and whats with the obsession with story. I hate it when a game force syou to do quests. that was the worst thing about the other games. they would have been awsome if every feature was unolocked from the start. the forced missions broke the entire game for me. i hate that bioware is the company that makes the new starwars mmo. whats your ideas about this.
Because theme park is where the money is at.
Bioware has only ever made linear story based games, heavily focused on the single player game.
This MMO is going to be exactly that. It's all they know how to do. Granted, this won't really be an MMO, but it'll make money, and people will probably try to copy it, and even though the MMO market kind of died with WoW, we can say goodbye to it forever if this game succeeds.
Bioware is a console game company, thier game design reflects this, they are targeting the majority of players that like the flashy graphics and go from point A to B. These players are not interested in thinking, they want to fight and claim the Uber level completion. Also they are betting that sales are going to be based on chapters, each chapter completion is going to mean return players. Very smart game design even if you dont like it, Bioware is going to make millions with the carrot and stick method.
Well I will try it, if it's just another end game progression gear grind I won't make it past the first month. I just hate raiding and raiders. So if they drop the ball I will simply Play World Of Darkness, no way CCP would ever turn their game into a Progression gear grind.
Well I will try it, if it's just another end game progression gear grind I won't make it past the first month. I just hate raiding and raiders. So if they drop the ball I will simply Play World Of Darkness, no way CCP would ever turn their game into a Progression gear grind.
I agree. From the looks and sound of it, SWTOR will be another game whereby the majority of the effort of players game-play contribution is just showing up and then being showered with rewards. A big yawnfest if that happens, though I dont see lasting nutrition on yet another mmorpg here. Not to mention that after more than a decade in this genre, the ignoring and lack of a Broad player-valued crafting/resource system, player housing/cities and non-Combat Professions is a big miss.
Comments
Seriously, dude? you sound like an ignit. Why wouldn't "Star Wars" be a them park game? that's what it is all about. We all know the story, etc, so why, in any sense of a rational mind would expect it to not be a "theme park game?" Get away from "entiltlements." we don't need those. Play a single player game or a PnP game if you want the options you want.
Sorry, this right here made no sense, especially with all the misspelled words, etc. Again, ignit, and you prove the point of being such.
gigget can you tell which law says that a star wars game has to be story driven and if that law is international
And can you point out some law of what makes a MMORPG, I know what I want from a MMORPG but I don't see what I personaly want to be the way they should be.
Bah, to bad that this game has so much support. There are other new and current MMO-games out there that deserves more support, games that dares to take a new way.
And no, i dont count fluffs like Voiceovers and Cinematics as inovative.
Why do people have to bitch and moan and label everything.
Either it will be a good game or it won't, until you know just stfu and wait.
FFS I hate these kinds of posts.
And fyi, as soon as I read "forced mission" I fucking face-palmed so hard I have a hand print on my face.
*applause*
Yeah well, there's also something called "fear mongering" that alot of people are using on here. YOU DON'T KNOW SO STOP PRETENDING THAT YOU DO.
All of the things you mention are huge plusses for me. Yes to instancing! Yes to story-driven! Hell yes to NPC hirelings! Change the soloability from 90% to 95% and add in meaningful crafting, robust AH, quick and fun travel, and zero pointless timesinks and you have my personal ultimate MMO. Man, how I wish more MMOs could be that way.
All of the things you mention are huge plusses for me. Yes to instancing! Yes to story-driven! Hell yes to NPC hirelings! Change the soloability from 90% to 95% and add in meaningful crafting, robust AH, quick and fun travel, and zero pointless timesinks and you have my personal ultimate MMO. Man, how I wish more MMOs could be that way.
+1 for originality
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
- People don't like complete voice overs and video intros (with mostly loading screens) like in AoC: first time:wow, second time, yes, third time, shut please, fourth time, skip, skip, skip,skip.
So bad, seriously, you shouldn't comment on a game you have no clue about. AoC was the same thing for ever class, ToR wont be. You will get a new experience with every class and people don't generally level multiples of the same class. k?
- People are lazy to group up. Blizzard had to introduce the 2 click button method and struggled for 5 years with it. Other older MMo's just died dry after the initial 4 months leveling. Nowhere around somewhere ... lost.
That certainly doesn't explain the constant PUGs going on in my server and probably many others. LFM ToC10, LFM ICC10, hell LFM Weekly Raid. My server is also I think 3rd from the bottom in progression (it's really bad there), I'm sure grouping is far more popular on other servers. By people being lazy you mean people like yourself who complain about grouping then refuse to do so, that's the only thing I can see from stopping you, which is you. Fun fact - I've grouped more in WoW then I ever did in SWG.
- Giving NPC Henchmen to fill in tanks/healers is a straight highway to solo play. "Fxxck up you bixx, I want to level my NPC's, I have my fun", ...
OH noes people r soloing in an mmo, cry about it. Well, you already are, so check. A little advice, don't worry about what other people do. If you want to play with players then play with players, you will never have the power from stopping another in doing what he wants to do. Also, not only did you complain about people not grouping you're now complaining that people are now given an alternative. Which BioWare said would not be the best alternative. Furthermore, just because you group with an NPC won't mean much, you will still miss content. But hey, if you have a problem with a 4 man group missing a tank because they can't find one or maybe they like to stay in their little circle of friends, that's your problem. You won't be missed.
- Liniair story telling is wrong for an mmorpg. The only thing that matters is the window dressing, the big picture story telling and ... let the guilds and players make up their own 'epic" fights and story telling.
Linear* story telling is wrong, this is why AoC was so boring. But story telling where you feel like you're part of something bigger while having the options to change your future quest lines from a simple choice is far from linear story telling. In a sense you are making your story line. But I know what you're asking, you want to write a below mediocre story about your character for everybody to read on your character sheet. How very uninteresting.
- MMO's are being played to advance your avatar, not to live into a predefined story telling. they are based on repetitive play mechanics that need to be good enough to be replayable for ... years. A good designed mmo is where the players run each dungeon and each battleground 30000 times (at least). Story telling of your fights is up to the players.
SWTOR will have players advancing their characters while creating there own story. I don't understand why this is so hard for you to comprehend.
You can only tell a story ... once before it bores you to death.
Thankfully I don't plan on playing multiples of the same class. I also believe a game with story could do far better then a game without. Do you know how boring it was grinding boxes in SWG over and over again or leveling a new toon in WoW through the same zones with the same mediocre stories blizzard thinks they're good at. I beg for more voice overs in WoW, with some options on what to do, at least it could be interesting to quest.
- Story telling games (adventures or RPG's) are being played for 2 months and then - when played out- shelved.
Even DragonAge doesn't appear on the list of Xfire anymore.
As Vagrant pointed out, not an MMO. Also take note of all the wonderful sandbox games on that list, oops nvm, there isn't any. I mean holy shit, Silk Road is on that list, but no Darkfall, no SWG, no sandbox MMO at all.
It might not be inventing the wheel, but it's sure more fun to experience with than without them. If Bioware has the ability to add them, then why not? What would be the point of leaving out what has clearly been a strength for them so far?
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
This gets my vote for the most inaccurate statement of the month.
Do you think no one has ever watched a movie or read a book for the 2nd time? Or 3rd? Or 4th? How many people do you think read Lord of the Rings more than once? Or watched Star Wars more than once?
This gets my vote for the most inaccurate statement of the month.
Do you think no one has ever watched a movie or read a book for the 2nd time? Or 3rd? Or 4th? How many people do you think read Lord of the Rings more than once? Or watched Star Wars more than once?
I have watched SW so many times(41 in RL), I literally go to sleep now when it is on :P
These folks whining, cause TOR isnt a sandbox, crack me up. Back in Nov 05, all we heard was BW would be the savior of the PRECioUs. Now that it is 2010, all we hear is how much they hate BW.
Funny how that works.
I just ran thru the Awankenings expansion for DA this past week. Although I felt the EA influence(shorter gameplay), it was still a nice gamng experience.
Something that has been par for the course, in BW games, since I first picked up Balder's Gate back around 2000. If TOR isnt a long term sub...so be it. I know I will get great enjoyment out of it. When they launch expansions/updates...I know more fun will be available.
Let the folks whine that wish to. Those of us that have truly enjoyed the BW experience, over the years, will continue to do so.
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
LITTLE information? We have it straight from the mouth of the devs.
They said 95% of the content is intended for a solo player to complete. You get NPC companions so you don't NEED a group to get through this content. The content is story based and instanced.
How in satans holy hell do you think that's going to be a sandbox?
Add in the fact that every single Bioware game made in the past 12 years has been a linear storyline based single player game.... it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
link please.
Pepsi1028
PEPSI!!!!!
Get out of your box already...
Pepsi...
Are you asking the person you quoted for links on the percentage of solo-ability?
Or the fact that this isnt a sandbox?
Cause the fact it isnt sandbox is common sense.
Classes(all of which are combat), story driven content, and not even taking BW's past game into consideration all scream this isnt a sandbox. No mention of user generated content, nor that all worlds will be FFA PVP further cements it.
I dont recall seeing that the game is 90-95% solo. That I would like to see a link for as well.
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
No, these aren't the right definitions for the terms.
A themepark game is a game where players are handheld and led through the game by quests, NPCs, and the game mechanics themselves. The game world is also built like a "themepark." You see that castle on the hill? You can't go there, it's only meant to be a decoration, to add atmosphere to the game. Themepark games have little to do outside of questing, combat, and a few social aspects. PvP is often kept to special PvP zones or arenas. The designers of a themepark game are expected to provide a robust "endgame" so that people don't run out of stuff to do in the game when they reach max level.
Themepark games include World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Star Trek Online.
A sandbox game is where players are given as much freedom as possible to do whatever the game mechanics allow them to do. This means that a sandbox game will often have huge open game worlds (though such things are sometimes found in themepark games too) for players to explore, player run economies, robust crafting systems, and free for all PvP systems (these can also be sometimes found in themepark games..)
Sandbox games include EVE Online, pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies, Fallen Earth, Darkfall, and Mortal Online.
For further examples: in World of Warcraft, there are often "set pieces" that are meant to add flavour to the world. Take the city of Stormwind for example. The city walls are useless for holding off sieges, if the Horde invade they just walk through the useless city gates. The castle is mostly just a big set piece with a few rooms that contain important NPCs. I couldn't ever explore every nook and cranny of the castle, no matter how magn9ificent it looks from the outside.
In Star Wars Galaxies there were huge player created cities. Players could build their own houses and shops in places they wanted and start cities that didn't contain one single NPC. Players could buy stuff from shops in the player city and store stuff in their own house in the city.
In Age of Conan, the best way to advance through the levels is by questing. When the game launched, there wasn't much to do outside the tutorial zone because a lack of quests in a themepark MMO generally means a lack of stuff for players to do. Age of Conan has no crafting until level 40 and no player economy, so the prime source of enjoyment from that game is through questing.
In Fallen Earth, a player can craft nearly anything. Instead of getting a special weapon that binds to the player when they complete a quest, the player is given the recipe for that weapon. He can then make as many as he wants and he can even sell them to other players. It is possible for anyone to craft any item in the game and it isn't unusual to have characters fully equipped with weapons and armour they made themselves.
In Star Trek Online there is no reason to ever go to planets unless you have a quest there. The planets are just set pieces for the quests players do in the game. They are too small to be explored, and there is nothing a player can do with them other than completing quests.
In EVE Online the in-game economy is almost 100% player controlled. Players craft every item and sell them, you can't go to an NPC merchant and buy anything because NPC merchants don't exist in the game. Further, the company that makes EVE, CCP, is constantly trying to find ways to make 100% of the economy player run and every single item in the game player made.
Sometimes there are a few things that are traditionally "sandbox" in a themepark MMO, for example WoW has a pretty large contiguous game world whereas many other themepark MMOs have loading screens and instances to make up their game world. Likewise, a sandbox MMO may have "themepark" elements. Despite having quite a large sandbox element to crafting and the player economy, as well as a large generally seamless game world, Fallen Earth relies as much on questing as a themepark MMO.
So, they aren't terms that mean "good game" and "bad game," though a lot of people here are quite hostile towards the themepark style of MMO. Personally, I think the perfect MMO would be a hybrid between the two, taking the very best aspects of both and combining them into a really fun game.
Because theme park is where the money is at.
Bioware has only ever made linear story based games, heavily focused on the single player game.
This MMO is going to be exactly that. It's all they know how to do. Granted, this won't really be an MMO, but it'll make money, and people will probably try to copy it, and even though the MMO market kind of died with WoW, we can say goodbye to it forever if this game succeeds.
Bioware is a console game company, thier game design reflects this, they are targeting the majority of players that like the flashy graphics and go from point A to B. These players are not interested in thinking, they want to fight and claim the Uber level completion. Also they are betting that sales are going to be based on chapters, each chapter completion is going to mean return players. Very smart game design even if you dont like it, Bioware is going to make millions with the carrot and stick method.
Well I will try it, if it's just another end game progression gear grind I won't make it past the first month. I just hate raiding and raiders. So if they drop the ball I will simply Play World Of Darkness, no way CCP would ever turn their game into a Progression gear grind.
I agree. From the looks and sound of it, SWTOR will be another game whereby the majority of the effort of players game-play contribution is just showing up and then being showered with rewards. A big yawnfest if that happens, though I dont see lasting nutrition on yet another mmorpg here. Not to mention that after more than a decade in this genre, the ignoring and lack of a Broad player-valued crafting/resource system, player housing/cities and non-Combat Professions is a big miss.