BehemothDan's Comments

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:37:49 +0000

Exactly. As a developer coming into an extremely competitive market it would be silly to ignore any of your competition, especially the most successful competitor the genre has ever seen.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:29:14 +0000

But why can't we? They are competing for my money and as such they do not have the luxury of competing against 2004 WoW. Right now their game launches against 2012 WoW. And no matter how you feel about how Blizzard rolling out updates, their leveling process is smooth, super new-user friendly, and streamlined like nothing else. There have been so many quality-of-life features added to the game it would be hard to list them all without referencing patch notes. Bioware needs to look at these features very quickly and realize the benefit in them. I don't see myself resubscribing to WoW, but I know what I liked about the game and what I feel other MMOs should have, not because I want another WoW, but because there are things that every modern MMO should have.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

I can appreciate your analogy but I don't necessarily agree with all your points. I will definitely agree that SWTOR had a huge focus on story, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved my Inquisitor storyline. But outside of the story development, the leveling process was exactly the same as WoW. I was killing cave slugs, killing x number of humans, gathering x number of items, turning them in, and eventually progressing my class story. In fact I would attribute my fast leveling not as a race to end-game since I don't plan on it (at least as seriously as I did in WoW), but to progress my story. I went out of my way to finish quests on planets, did the bonus series, etc. What else is there for me to drink now, using your analogy? I didn't skip content for the purpose of end-game. I enjoyed every drop of the story but now I have run out of that. What is going to keep me paying for it? Bioware wants monthly subscribers, and as much as you describe it as a "fine wine", without your "hard liquor" people won't keep paying.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:13:53 +0000

While I agree with some of your points, I disagree with a couple. World PvP existing more so than any other time in WoW's history before the implementaion of honor. When people recall old city raids, Southshore/Tarren Mill fighting, and anything like that, it was all before honor. The addition of honor, and shortly thereafter, battlegrounds killed world PvP and it never returned. If I recall correctly (and through my fact-checking at WoW Wiki), Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair were actually both available at release however it took players a long time to get enough people attuned and geared to attempt the raid instances. While SWTOR needs time to grow, it has very little time to grow. I am already finding myself bored with the game, logging off after running one Hard Mode Flash Point and doing a couple dailies. And it's not boring due to lack of content, but the stuff I do every day to "gear up" is unexciting and takes a long time just to travel to places I need to do it.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:51:07 +0000

You're right, "unfortunately" probably wasn't the right word to use. Perhaps I should have said "The truth of the matter is that people expect that kind of polish." Because like you said people do, and they are ultimately competing for your money. I don't disagree with anything you said. At this point I am seeing myself playing up through February or so just to see what they have to offer, do some Flash Points with my friends, and calling it good. But until that point they have that very small window in order to convince me otherwise. One of my good friends has had his patience almost gnawed to the bone the past 2 days with a bugged class quest he couldn't finish. He has logged out of the game in frustration both nights. He tried solutions on the forums, has had a ticket open for 2 days, yet he is still stuck. At this rate they may not even get a single monthly fee out of him.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:55:19 +0000

It is very true that Blizzard has had seven years to polish WoW. But unfortunately for many people, this is the kind of polish they expect from an MMO now. SWTOR doesn't have the luxury of competing against WoW when it was released, it has to convince people that SWTOR is worth their money more than the current version of WoW. And no matter how anyone feels about certain decisions about raid difficulties or anything else, it is a very polished experience. As with any game, the community is going to have it's share of juvenile players. SWTOR already does and the general forums are easily competing with some of the worst the WoW forums ever had to offer.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:14:50 +0000

I have to disagree with the world PvP. While it may be non-existent in WoW, it is also that way in SWTOR. Most days I find myself on Ilum seeing people in general chat asking if anyone is trading nodes. There were a few level 50 Jedi ganking Imperials on Bellsavis one night, but that has been the extent of the world PvP I've seen. From what I have read most people feel the same way. There are few instances in the course of questing and leveling where Republic and Imperial leveling areas actually intersect. It feels like Bioware went out of their way to keep the areas separate. Your point about the LFG tool is true and it's hard to give a good answer. The LFG tool enabled people to run dungeons easily but as you stated, caused a huge portion of the population to idle in cities. I spend most of my play time in SWTOR on Ilum doing daily quests and queued for Warzones in order to get gear. I have been unable to find a group for regular or hard mode Directive 7 or False Emperor in 6 days. And other than Warzones, that has been my only goal. Which situation is better? Questing out in the world or sitting in cities for instances? That answer I think lies with the individual. As far as the greeting goes, it not just that. Many of the NPCs exist as fake objects. Even if they didn't greet you, as you said, they are completely non-interactive. They aren't selectable, you can't click on them, or hover over them for a tooltip. They are there but don't really exist. That is what I mean when it creates a disconnect from the world. Perhaps "mature" wasn't the right word to use? Perhaps more realistic in their expectations? The Old Republic community has a huge portion with the mentality that there is nothing wrong and nothing needs to be fixed. I think you would be hard pressed to find a person who despite the fact they absolutely love WoW would say that it is perfect and nothing needs to be changed. Thanks for taking the time to comment. If anything, I appreciate the discussion.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:16:21 +0000

Well that is awesome too. I haven't played every MMO in existence so I don't pretend to know every feature they all had. I was merely commenting that SWTOR is the first MMO that I played with it and it is awesome. You probably shouldn't get so mad at stuff on the internet as your fake email suggests. :)

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Mon, 9 Jan 2012 18:16:44 +0000

I think there is content. Plenty of Hard Mode Flash Points to run and things like that. I might even have more fun in warzones if combat that snap to it that I've come to expect in an MMO.

Behemoth Gaming : Why The Old Republic has made me miss WoW

Sat, 7 Jan 2012 00:13:45 +0000

That's what I hear. I know there are a few standing offers for Dro if he came back too. :) I think the main thing that would prevent me from resubbing WoW is my desire to raid again. One of my main motivations of quitting was that I wouldn't be able to give enough time to raiding with work, friends, and a baby boy. And I had become so accustomed to having raid-quality gear and seeing the content that it would be hard to be playing and not get that gear. Right now I don't have that raiding desire in SWTOR, which I guess is a bonus? Heh

Behemoth Gaming : Drotara the Bloodpoint

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:48:12 +0000

I know. I freakishly excited about it. :D

Behemoth Gaming : Star Wars: The Old Republic for WoW Players

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:27:43 +0000

I think that is an excellent way to look at it. Even if it doesn't end up with the ability to hold me for 6 years or so, the very least is that it is a Bioware RPG which I love so much. :) I plan on being a healer this time around. If you are interested, you can look us up, we are rolling on Mandalore the Indomitable, a West PvP server.

Behemoth Gaming : The Super Mario Party

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:22:31 +0000

Awesome! Let is know how it turns out!

Behemoth Gaming : Catering to the Console

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:35:49 +0000

That's a great point. More games add RPG elements all the time. They become selling points about inventories, item variation, character customization, etc. Then the games that should be focusing on those elements are dumbing them down.

Behemoth Gaming : The Super Mario Party

Thu, 12 May 2011 20:22:07 +0000

You can get a hold of me at dan@behemothgaming.com or use the contact form here: http://www.behemothgaming.com/contact/ Glad you liked it. :)

Behemoth Gaming : Moral Choices in Video Games

Tue, 3 May 2011 01:24:55 +0000

I think you make an excellent point. When someone dies in a video, outside of a main character, their deaths are quiet and unobtrusive. And as you said, let's face it, most of the time people get shot, they do not die quietly. The absence of the agony of death does make it much easier to be evil in most cases.

Behemoth Gaming : The Joy of Portal 2

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:38:22 +0000

The idea of a map maker SDK is mind-numbingly awesome. The type of things the community would come up with keep the game being played for ages. The ending is one of those things you always wish you could do in other games thinking "Man, if I could do this it would be awesome." And finally you could. So cool. :D

Behemoth Gaming : Moral Choices in Video Games

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:17:42 +0000

That's true, skills are class based. The Paragon/Renegade is only dependent on how you convince people to help you and dialog options. There was a logistic reason for being Light-side in KotoR. The light side super skill was vastly superior in my opinion. :)

Behemoth Gaming : The Problem with MMO Interviews

Thu, 7 Apr 2011 20:08:01 +0000

Exactly. It's so rare to find an interview that actually covers that information. Unfortunately.

Behemoth Gaming : Minecraft 1.4 Released Today

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 19:21:18 +0000

Imagine like Legos really. If you were a Lego fiend as a kid, you can find enjoyment in Minecraft. While games like GTA might talk about a sandbox world, Minecraft is as close to a real sandbox as you can get. But it definitely isn't for everyone. There is no end-game goal. It never ends. It just says "here ya go, have fun" and turns you loose.