I like that they’re making a story driven game and I think they’re going about that in the right way. They’re not forcing a specific, predetermined story on anyone. They’re making this sort of like those choose your own adventure books. You get to choose your own path and your actions have consequences. How can someone not enjoy being able to complete a quest the way that they want to complete it as opposed to one specific way that was predetermined by the developers?

How many MMO’s has everyone played where nothing you did ever mattered? You can kill a million kobalds or orcs or ogres or whatever, and they still just keep respawning in the same spot. You can raid the same instance a million times and nothing about the world ever changes.

I want a game that has meaning to it. I want to know that what I do, the decisions I make, have an impact on the world. SWTOR looks like it will do just that, give players meaning. There are already too many MMO’s that have the same stupid “kill x number of y enemies” quests from level one to the level cap. I’m glad to see that someone like BioWare realizes how stupid stuff like that is and is going to exclude that from their game.

Obviously this game is still a ways away from being released but I think that the more that we find out about the game, the more people are going to want to play it. Like I said before, it looks like a fresh, new, innovative MMO that is at the very least trying to move the genre forward.

Thank you, that is all.

My name is Tonk, and I approved this message.
http://www.hammerfistclan.com

There are MMO players that don’t care about storyline, and you can pull out statistics on age ranges that affect this, etc. However, there are a large number of WoW players (I’ve played two characters to level 70) that have expressed the, “Do I really have to do another 10 creature kill quest at level 65, just like I did at level 20?” Then it’s just a level grinding experience.

It can get monotonous and boring.

The quests in the KOTR MMO promise to be more involved and less two dimensional. Although the developers weren’t specific, they definitely want to get away from the “grinding.”

I think this is the type of storytelling that the developers have been discussing in other Q&As, setting them apart from other MMOs, i.e. the NPCs storylines won’t revolve around retrieving “X” creature skins for the majority of your level progressions.

1) Exploration.
2) Combat.
3) Customization/Character progression.

This three pillar description is comparable to the definition you give in regard to the traditional/typical MMO experience. I.e. “Get to top level gather uber items defeat end game content and get a sense of satisfaction”.

Bioware is looking to move beyond the traditional MMO, but not apart from it. What sets Bioware apart from other MMO developer’s is that they come to the MMO space with a really excellent track record of incorporating compelling stories into their games.

If anyone should be able to move beyond the traditional MMO and incorporate a compelling Story into the MMO, Bioware is at the top of my list –provided– that they establish the other three pillars.

Bioware is a very heavy hitter when it comes to story. That said, developing for the MMO space is somewhat new for them and they may find it more difficult to establish the three pillars than they expect. In my ideal world, Bioware and ArenaNet would be working together toward a no subscription MMO incorporating four pillars.

No doubt about it, Bioware has taken on a very, very ambitious project. I am hoping that they succeed and lay down this four pillar MMO. That would be an MMO I would love to play! I love Story!

If they do succeed, I think that there are some interesting opportunities to combine “New Media” type productions with the MMO space. I examine this possibility on my blog, Prime Time For Change.

Thanks for the post, AJ Glasser.

Any Age of Conan player will tell you that they LOVED the destiny quests, but the rest was just a grind.

SWTOR won’t have your typical grind quests/errand boy missions but will be more like KOTOR in the sense that you are following a story, a destiny for your character specifically, and each choice you make will alter your fate.

You won’t need to do 50 quests where you have to kill 10 unnamed creatures each, but instead you may be sent to a droid factory to disable and destroy it because it’s been spitting out droids to attack a frigate building plant owned by the Republic 1 mile away. By doing this deed, you are rewarded with your own ship that you can pilot to Typhon to advance your Jedi teachings, etc etc. On the other hand, you may wish to cherish the droids and instead take out the ship factory, meaning you can instead gain a powerful assassin or utility droid companion that has knowledge of the whereabouts of an even better and faster assault frigate, of course this means sacrificing some support from the Republic, however. You’ll most likely level up for each major choice/twist/turn you take in your story, making each level actually mean something and not an actual grind.

Honestly, this game looks like it’ll be KOTOR, except with about 10 times more content per alignment+class combination that is ever-increasing and you can play with human players instead of NPC companions. The cost is your individual effect on the galaxy as a whole, but all your choices will affect you and your companions.