Take the tin foil hats off people ****ing hell. EA arent some big ugly monster trying to steal your money.V4LENT1NE

[QUOTE="Gladestone1"]

Doesnt it have it at this stage any how?

wis3boi

takes place between ep 3 and 4....can we please move on from this time period. It feels like this period of time has been milked enough.

IZoMBiEI

True, but maybe this is an OLD practice? Most TV Shows, Books and Games do this. Stephen King (imo one of the best writers in history), does this a LOT in nearly every book he writes. Yes, sometimes I want to get back to the main story, but he has such a way of doing it that you take interest anyway on the side, then BAM!, he hits you with the main story again. I feel like this in SWTOR sometimes, I'm interested in the side story and then all of a sudden I get sucked back into the main story and it impacts me.FelipeInside

This is true, but let's forget about the MMO and WoW for a second then. SWTOR plays very similar to KOTOR so maybe BioWare (knowing that it was the continuation of KOTOR), just stuck to that formula which they know best (and most of their games play like) and added the MMO elements. I too would have loved more things, but you have to praise them on what they did right. (and also give them time to expand and fix things)

I agree that with the story-telling they could have done more IN SOME PARTS, I don't agree though that it's terrible storytelling. The story is fine, it's not a best seller book but far from terrible. (there are other games that can be called terrible). As for the game, it's BioWare's first MMO so it's understandable that they took points from WoW and tried to make it similar on some fronts. Didn't WoW take points from Everquest and improve on the parts (BioWare has done the same, taking the formula and improving it). I don't see this as a bad thing necessarily, there are millions playing already and having a ball.FelipeInside

Well I'm not calling the story terrible, just the approach to telling it. If you take a literature or creative writing course one of the the first things you learn is to stay focused on the plot, diverging is bad. If you're writing Little Red Riding Hood you're not going to write in a scene where she foils an armed robbery at a McDonalds in the middle of the plot nor would you praise a writer for doing so. But that's exactly what MMO's do with their stories, at least those based off the Everquest mold. They start you on the plot, force you to stop and take you in a completely different direction for a little bit, then stick you back on the plot only to take you off in a totally other direction a bit later. There's no rhythm, no momentum, no urgency or focus, basicly everything you're taught to create in a story is lacking. And that's fine for most MMO's as they're not putting the story out at center stage, it's there as a guide through the world, maybe there to earn some nice loot and cash. Unfortunatly though BioWare stuck there story out there on center stage under the brightest spotlights, dressed it up with as much glitz as possible and has it out there doing the Can Can. It doesn't make it a poor story, it just means it was poorly executed and certainly an area which deserves critcism.

In regards to the first MMO deal, come on. BioWare is under the thumb of a multi-billion dollar company, a company which has published numerous MMO's by the way, and had a budget which at this point in time would make NASA jealous. You don't think they brought in a number of people who have decades worth of experence combined in MMO development? They weren't playing it safe due to a lack of experience nor did they make glaring missteps due to incompetence. And for the numbers, it's great that people find enjoyment I'm not going to tell anyone they're wrong for having fun. But The CoD series has broken records which extends outside the gaming world, I highly doubt you or anyone is campaigning for it to be regarded and the pinnacle of entertainment for this generation of humanity. Enjoy the game, I'm sure it's good. I'm just upset with what could have been had some risks been taken and some creative thinking been undertaken and not every decision be based on stockholders reactions.

Exactly, but this happens in SP RPG games as well.

Hell, it even happens in TV Shows, where you have Episodes in between which have nothing to do with the main plot. Books too.

I just basically take interest in the side stories as well....so I'm happy and entertained with both the main story and side ones.

FelipeInside

Well, yeah. That's why I said it happens with story focused games in general, just to a lesser extent in single player games because they typically employ some form of level scaling which means level isn't as much a barrier. And it's good that you're able to take interest and maintain it with both the main story and side stories, that however doesn't really take away from the fact that it is terrible storytelling and doing something which equates to terrible storytelling is a no-no when the thing your touting the most about your product is story.

Like I said it's incredibly disappointing that with all that money being thrown around and the rather unique approach they seemed to want to take that they wouldn't build the game to be more complimentary to that approach and instead opted for the same old same old which runs in the opposite direction of that approach, it shows a lack of vision and balls. Gah ToR could have been unbelieveably amazing and unique if someone in a leadership role over at BW/EA/LA had a head on his shoulder and a pair in his pants. Such a waste.

As for the topic. Pacing is natural....they don't want u to do the main storyline in 5 hours, that's what side quests are for (and it is an MMO remember).

EVERY RPG does this....you never just breeze thru the main storyline, you go off and do sidequests in the middle to level up and come back to the main inbetween.FelipeInside

The traditional Everquest-type gameplay just doesn't play along nicely with a focused storytelling experience and it's unfortunate BioWare didn't make any effort, at least outwardly, to create something that would fit their "Story first" focus better.