Bioware: 'No point' to most MMOs

CVG: Bioware has criticised current MMO games for having "no point" - and pledged that mammoth creation Star Wars: The Old Republic will finally bring real story to the genre.

[NYC_Gamer]

i'm happy that bioware wants to change the face of online rpgs for the best...

[toaster]

If any developer has the skill to accomplish such a feat it would be Bioware. They are pretty much masters of WRPG and the RPG genre as a whole. With games like NVW, Mass Effect, Baldurs Gate, and many other top notch RPGs under their belt they are more than enough skill to create a masterpiece of a MMO. Blizzard set the bar pretty high for MMO games and for a 6 year old game it is still what other MMOs strive to be. I think SW: TOR will be the next big thing in MMO even though you hear that a whole awful lot for some MMOs and in the end those games are underwhelming.

I trust Bioware can make an epic game out of TOR. It might even draw in some non-gamers, just because it is Star Wars.

[Rucury]

A toast to toaster. I am very intrigued by The Old Republic, even though I barely play any MMORPGs (anymore, at least).

Will be checking into the game when it comes out.

[silvacrest]

i'm in the same boat, i used to play a certain MMO far to much until it got boring and loads of people left the game

i'm hoping the old republic gets me back in MMOs

[Reibooi]

The trash they talk about being the first MMO to feature a real story really annoys me. It seems the only MMO they played at Bioware was WoW.

Final Fantasy XI for example had incredible story lines in all of it's expansions. Complete with different story lines for each, new characters, a actually plot and cut scenes as well as a ending for each.

Bioware is NOT the first to put a story into a MMO. It's been done before and quiet well I may add. The only thing as far as I am concerned they are doing first in a MMO is having every single little thing voiced which in my opinion is a waste of time and money when only the Story need be voiced. Most of the cost of the game they are making is gonna be due to voice work and it really won't add all that much to the game outside the story. The story will be more enjoyable but we don't need every little NPC saying the same thing voiced every time we talk to them.

[Tony P]

They aren't saying MMOs have no story. They're saying the story isn't central to gameplay like in a single-player RPG. This is very true imo.

MMOs have stories, but it is certainly not the focus or in any way central to gameplay. The focus is inevitably on the long grind and the stat side of the game which disconnects the player from w/e story they've made. You can't get absorbed in the story when you're grinding for hours. FFXI is (or was, I don't play anymore) especially guilty of this.

If BioWare wants to try to dispel that, by all means. They would certainly be the first or at least among them.

[Reibooi]

It's not really. A group of friends and I started doing the CoP story line missions when they came out. We loved the story so much we grinded with the SOLE purpose of being strong enough for the next mission.

What RPG ISN"T guilty of that? There will almost always be a point in which you need to step back stop and grind a bit because the next boss is beating the crap out of you. Final Fantasy XI was no different. If it doesn't take someone out of the story in a single player game then it won't in a MMO.

Alot of games have Lore but no real story(like WoW for example) in which there is a story but it's more a behind the scenes deal instead of actually being played. But games like FFXI didn't do that. They had a story line the character was a part of and it unfolded just like a single player game does with cut scenes and what not.

I can't imagine ToR doing any of this different. There is going to be grinding and they will have story line missions dependent on the class you choose. They have basically already said this. It seems to me they are doing almost the same thing FFXI did except stories are based on the classes as opposed to having a storyline being original to a expansion pack. They are simply stating no MMO has had a story and this isn't the first time they have said it. Point is they are wrong.

They can say they didn't think stories in MMO's were very good or that they didn't like them and that's fine. But they CAN'T claim they are the first to put a story line in a MMO because they aren't.

The funniest thing about the whole thing is that Final Fantasy XIV is gonna take what XI did with story to the next level(having a much deeper story with voice over) and from what we have heard that will be out BEFORE ToR will be. Meaning SE beat them to the punch twice. So again they can't claim they are the first.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I don't play MMO too much, but I can tell you that I have seen people grind and for the life of me cannot understand how that is fun. Heck, grinding also appears in ME as scouting and collecting minerals on planets. Boring as hell and pointless, so I like the direction that Bioware is doing!

Didn't know grinding was part of the cannon of MMO! Ugh!!!

[Tony P]

@Rei: Every RPG has grinding. But you can't tell me that MMOs don't make players devote far more time to it than a single player affair. It's so obvious it's not worth debating.

Compare FFXI to any other FF for instance. I don't have to stop experiencing the main story in FFX for example to run to Valkurm so I can hit my 20s, then get the subjob quest so I can *redo* level 1-10/20. I don't have to spend hours in FXII camping a rare monster for rare loot so I can afford a new pair of boots. I can't believe you'd think to compare RPGs and MMOs as equals in that area...

It's great you liked the story in FFXI and dedicated time to it. But that doesn't change the fact that hours of grinding are a huge barrier to entry. The issue BioWare aims to fix exists, contrary to your denial.

[Spydr07]

Actually, Tony P, Rei's right. You either overlooked something in the article or just can't read. The guys over at Bioware said that there was NO story in MMOs. None. Zip. And FFXI did have a story. You can actually go to gamefaqs (I think) and read all of the storyline for that game and it's fairly massive.

But your point is half true. Yes, initially you do have that stupid grinding or you'll just be "Too weak to be worthwhile" to progress in the storyline. However, once you hit 75 with a job there really isn't a need for that anymore and you can do the storyline to your heart's content. You don't have to grind anymore. Yeah, it sucks, but you only have to do it one time and all the expansions and whatnot are grind free.

I myself never really cared for the storyline because it was too annoying to do (Shouting in Jeuno/Whitegate anyone?). The game's storyline would have been much more interesting for me if it could have been done alone. I wound up going the HNMLS route.

Meh, in any case, Rei's right about Bioware being wrong. You're right about MMOs lacking some general accessibility. I'm right about how you guys spent too much time arguing when you weren't even arguing the same thing. So, everyone's right and everyone wins. Oh, happy days. YAY!

[Alcon Caper]

Still don't know why consoles haven't come out with a successful MMO grind. If they could make something as tight as WoW, then they'll have it made. I get the feeling that it will end up taking over the final years of this generation of consoles...

[thehitman]

Sony has an onlsaught of them otw. They have exclsuive deal with NCSoft to bring some MMO's to playstation and have their own studios making games like DCUniverse/TheAgency.

[Reibooi]

Consoles have had a successful MMO. It was called Final Fantasy XI.

The game in it's heyday was played by people on PS2 more then people on PC.The game was also on Xbox 360 and still has a pretty good player base on that platform as well.

[Tony P]

There are a lot of reasons. But most importantly, money.

A lot of genres get a good chunk of it going console. MMOs however see potentially less going that route. Piracy isn't an issue so there's no point in subjecting your game to the expensive and restrictive process of publishing it on a major console. It's very unattractive.

The few third-parties that break the mould are Japanese, which makes sense considering PC gaming is not a huge thing over there.

[SuperStrokey1123]

I always thought the point was fun...

[mushroomwig]

There is no "point" to any form of gaming, we do it because it's fun.

[Redempteur]

Bioware : " anything we do is the most original and innovative in the world , Everything rpg not done by us is classic , lame and garbage ... "

I'm happy that they talk .. but sometimes some respect or sense while talking about things as a whole would be GREAT

[Letros]

Well in their defense, every game they have made was a critical success, 3 of their games have spawned indirect sequels from different developers, their in-house engines have been used for many other hit titles. I'd say they are allowed to speak freely.

[Redempteur]

Sorry , there are develloppers with a clean track record ( let's say blizzard who hasn't done a BAD game ever , or quantic dream who have made so far 3 good/great games )..
I think also to polyphony digital who avoided that kind of talk like plague even when they were attacked and should had answered back ..

Having a clean record doesn't justify spoutting nonsense whenever you like ..
Defending your own game is great but downplaying other games is sad.. and it becomes awefull when it's done in a row ...

[ClownBelt]

Bioware and their big mouth.

[tdogchristy90]

I loved swg until the nge. so heres hoping bioware can give me the same feeling.

[Gun_Senshi]

Please Make a Balaur's Gate Universe MMO!

[maka]

I dont even play most of thier game, most of thier games is like the game is trying to have a conversation with you, I just want to play games and have fun , not have a conversation with my TV. f#@k Bioware