GridStream Productions

Heya all!

So the other day sitting doing some missions (and dying alot as usual ). I start to think to myself most of these missions in TSW are not very personal.
Don't get me wrong alot of the things Funcom has done with missions in this game are alot better then what alot of other mmo's been able to. But still most of them don't really make me feel very personal or attached to my character, most of what you do seems to be more service to the side you serve in the game.

Of course a storyline is always good for a game, but so is developing a story for a character. I am no expert in writing a novel or a movie script, but still most of these things develop around one or more character. And thats where I maybe Funcom failes in my eyes.

I use to play swtor for a bit after it was released as a jedi knight, and was it something about that game that did attract me it was the storyline they put in for each class in the game. You would get cutscenes that made you feel that your character over time got more aware of what it was, and they did a good job to work this into the development of the storyline itself- The jedi knight storyline (I really didnt play much of the others) was a good exampel. Early one you kill a a young sith lord sent by his father to kill you. You kill this sith lord and his father goes into a rage, so as the story continue to develop you not only faced by having to stop his evil plans, he also has a personal grugde against you.

And this is where I feel TSW fail, the starting storyline kind of make you feel that you forced into a side, there is not really a choice. You either join a side of the game or slowly loose it and die. There is no "personal" reflections on whats right or wrong or taking a mission for personal gains like the chance to advance in the ranks. It kind of feels like your nothing but a grunt, doing the dirty work for guys in suits sitting in offices hiding behind fancy titles and money.

And even though yes you do meet alot of interesting and even scary characters, you never really develop much of a connection to any of them. There is one mission where I kind of felt a moment of that, one in Trans where you run into a girl that has a guy that doesnt seem to be very nice. You get to see your characters fist and for me my whole hand burst into fire. But then a moment later it was gone.

You could probably say that I'm the kind of guy that feels a book, movie or game needs a good story to be good. And so far I feel Funcom could do alot better on that part, it doesnt really suck me into it the way for exampel The Longest Journey did or Dreamfall.

Now the reason I put this on here was because I cant get myself to post on the TSW forum, mostly of what I read there is usually 100% bs filled complains about game mechanics or getting rude and childish answers back. (Coming from someone thats rather silly himeslf )

I definitely understand your feelings on this. I absolutely LOVE SWTOR for the same reason you listed. The personal storylines are very, very well done. While I can't say enough about the awesome theme/setting/feel of TSW...it does lack a bit in the personal touch in respect to your character. I really struggled with the concept of your character being mute in dialogues, but apparently a lot of people don't like having a voiced character. I do.

I love a lot about TSW, and they did some things very well that other MMO's miss out on, but I do wish my character felt more important to me.

Ashval wrote:I definitely understand your feelings on this. I absolutely LOVE SWTOR for the same reason you listed. The personal storylines are very, very well done. While I can't say enough about the awesome theme/setting/feel of TSW...it does lack a bit in the personal touch in respect to your character. I really struggled with the concept of your character being mute in dialogues, but apparently a lot of people don't like having a voiced character. I do.

I love a lot about TSW, and they did some things very well that other MMO's miss out on, but I do wish my character felt more important to me.

ToR has really spoiled me in the "ZOMG my character talks!" line too.

I would say I have mixed feelings about my character being mute in TSW. There are plenty of times I wish she would talk. Like I really wish she'd told Kristen Geary that she's no fan of old-school hip hop. However my fear is that if she were given a voice it wouldn't match up with the one I'd like her to have and thus might feel false to me. With her being mute, I sometimes give her voice in my head and that works. To be fair though I didn't play TOR so I'm not sure how I would've felt about it otherwise.

That said I agree with a lot of what you're saying Phyxxy. I really like the story and I like the way some of the missions and dialog is written. However, I do feel disconnected from it. I wish there would be more acknowledgement and wrap up at the end of a mission. Even simple things like when you get Danny his phone back, just to hear him say "thanks" would be cool. Instead he just stands there. I really appreciate a lot of the little details they did include, but I feel like they really dropped the ball on a lot of them as well.

I'm more in favour of my character being mute.
Call me crazy, I just like it that way

I grew up on RPGs before voiceovers even existed. My childhood heroes never spoke a word. The first time I heard a main character speak, I got offended. My first reaction was "but..but I would never say that!" It was almost a betrayal Ever since main characters started talking, I've felt less and less attached to my characters. The stories have gotten better, but my relationships with the characters has been steadily dwindling. I no longer am the hero I thought I was. Now I'm just watching a story unfold around the hero, as some quiet, unknown tag-a-long. Once the character starts to speak, their past is determined. You can decide where they go, but you can never change where you came from. The greatest part about having a protagonist appear out of nowhere, out of the mists of intrigue, it lets you decide what the character did before they became 'the chosen one', you can make it your own.

TSW is an odd mix. It has the deep, developed story. It has wonderful and strange characters. It feels like a complete world. It also gives me the familiar feeling of courage and determination that I've associated with my silent champions. I once again, am part of this world. I'll admit, not having a voice sometimes is annoying, but I never found it quite as annoying as watching my character decide something on it's own. I let my character's actions define itself. Maybe it's because I'm usually a quiet person myself, maybe it's because of the games I grew up around heroes who couldn't speak.

I'm calling Phae crazy. Just because he told me to it.