Star Wars Galaxies Launches

The Star Wars Galaxies Website has re-launched in anticipation of the Star Wars MMORPG going live today (thanks Porp). Also, Can Star Wars bring online games into the mainstream? on CNN Money speculates about the prospects of the game, and the mainstream potential of the MMOG. The game's potential is also explored in an article on TechTV.
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152 Replies. 8 pages. Viewing page 1.
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152.
 
Re: lol
Jul 3, 2003, 13:18
Re: lol Jul 3, 2003, 13:18
Jul 3, 2003, 13:18
 
Well, technical difficulties abound still. As I type this, my character has lost his server identification, and floats in limbo. After the laundry list of fixes they've been releasing every day, it's frustrating to think that there's so many bugs yet to be squished.

What exactly did the beta test resolve, I wonder? This bofa treat is most definitely half baked.

151.
 
Re: lol
Jul 2, 2003, 18:56
Re: lol Jul 2, 2003, 18:56
Jul 2, 2003, 18:56
 
george lucas = fat man in space

150.
 
Re: lol
Jul 2, 2003, 09:31
Re: lol Jul 2, 2003, 09:31
Jul 2, 2003, 09:31
 
I have a plastec Lightsaber. In fact my cousin has an original Darth Vader lightsaber, its old and out of the box, but the plastic is so strong it could kill a small animal. I myself have a cheap darth maul one and a Master Replica Anakin Skywalker FX Lightsaber.

Don't admit to it man!!!

Now half the list is going to think they're better than you ; )

-Alamar

This comment was edited on Jul 2, 09:31.
149.
 
Re: lol
Jul 2, 2003, 01:30
Re: lol Jul 2, 2003, 01:30
Jul 2, 2003, 01:30
 
Jediluke im sure you own a plastic light saber ...

I have a plastec Lightsaber. In fact my cousin has an original Darth Vader lightsaber, its old and out of the box, but the plastic is so strong it could kill a small animal. I myself have a cheap darth maul one and a Master Replica Anakin Skywalker FX Lightsaber.

148.
 
Re: New Tech
Jun 30, 2003, 13:40
Re: New Tech Jun 30, 2003, 13:40
Jun 30, 2003, 13:40
 
I have judged that the game sounds about as fun as reorganizing my rolodex. I got my fill of EQ a few months after it came out.

______________________________________________
"When the bomb drops it'll be a bank holiday
Everybody happy in their tents and caravans
Everybody happy in their ignorance and apathy
No one realizes until the television breaks down..."

- SUBHUMANS
147.
 
Re: Newb Players
Jun 30, 2003, 13:23
Re: Newb Players Jun 30, 2003, 13:23
Jun 30, 2003, 13:23
 
Yes the games launch was really bad, but 2 days later i was playing and am having a lot of fun.

Judge for yourself!

146.
 
Re: No subject
Jun 30, 2003, 10:01
Re: No subject Jun 30, 2003, 10:01
Jun 30, 2003, 10:01
 
mopic -
Couldn't find the post to which I orginally replied, so I don't know why I made the "not IT" statement. Probably because that acronym gets bandied around so much, it makes my head hurt.

The only place, in your example, that 1) and 2) should disconnect are at the subscription servers. I'm not sure, but I've been getting the feeling that they're done by a group external to development recently - so that's not in their control, and therefore the ONLY thing the developers can't be held directly responsible for (although, since it's their butts on the line, you'd figure that they'd be pretty damn insistant that it's a robust system).

I don't know how the technical departments at Verant are divided up, but I've always found it a big mistake to distance the software engineers and the DBAs. Generally speaking, since the programmers are the ones initiating database connections, they should be part of the database design process. At least, I've found that if the DBAs are free to design and optimize a system without input from the developers, you wind up with a middle-tier filled with bloated code and dead code trees - functions that are left in "just in case" the DBAs change things again - and other similar anti-patterns.

And again, though I'm not sure how Verant is set up, I imagine that the 1)s and 2)s sink and swim together - so I'd imagine they'd want to play nice, and work together to insure that neither 1) nor 2) fail.

While designers (not developers) at VI (Verant, VI is easier to type) might not have control of the subscription servers, it's such an important piece of Day 1 that you'd think they'd have their fingers in as much of it as possible. But they DO (AFAIK) have control over such things as the login servers and preparing backups for whatever fails on Day 1 - so you'd think they'd make it as robust as possible.

I don't see how you can pin ALL of the blame on SOE - yeah, they're responsible for pushing the game out of the door regardless of its state (as well as whatever part of the sign up/connection process they do), but VI is AT LEAST as responsible for whatever goes wrong.

You're right that most of the technical people shouldn't be shouldering the blame - IMHO, that is the primary responsibility of management. Management should be there to do their best to make the project succeed, but they're also supposed to shoulder the responsibility for failures (though I rarely see this - I generally see the developers being blamed for whatever happens).

But as a guy who does both the hardware and software side of things, I argue that they are not *totally* different skill sets

145.
 
Re: lol
Jun 30, 2003, 06:17
Re: lol Jun 30, 2003, 06:17
Jun 30, 2003, 06:17
 
While I don't agree with what Jedi said, there is nothing wrong with owning a plastic lightsaber you asshat.

144.
 
lol
Jun 30, 2003, 03:20
lol Jun 30, 2003, 03:20
Jun 30, 2003, 03:20
 
Grow up says the Jedi LOL ! Jediluke im sure you own a plastic light saber ...tard!

143.
 
Re: No subject
Jun 29, 2003, 20:20
Re: No subject Jun 29, 2003, 20:20
Jun 29, 2003, 20:20
 
That attitude is completely self-centered and immature, and it's not at all what Chuck Palahniuk was writing about... that quote is utterly out of place. Grow up.

~Jedi

142.
 
No subject
Jun 29, 2003, 17:23
No subject Jun 29, 2003, 17:23
Jun 29, 2003, 17:23
 
After unreal 2, i've gone over to the dark side of the computer gaming community. I'm not paying companys my money to play there half assed rushed games. I don't care if i'm right or wrong, my goal and mentality is: screw you. If the Corperations that puke out crappy game after crappy game don't like it they can kiss my ass. There is nothing they can do about it and they know it. Oh I bet it pisses off suits that I get all the fun at no cost, damn me for not being a good little consumer whore.

I believe it was Fight Club that said it best...

"The people you are after are the people you depend on, we cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulences. We guard you while you sleep. Do not fuck with us." -Tyler Durden

This comment was edited on Jun 29, 17:23.
"I'm too much of a narcisist to really hate stupid people."
141.
 
Re: sad
Jun 29, 2003, 09:00
Re: sad Jun 29, 2003, 09:00
Jun 29, 2003, 09:00
 
Well that's why you go to forums like these and ask people who ARE in the beta. Most of them don't care that they are under contract etc.


140.
 
Re: sad
Jun 29, 2003, 07:50
Re: sad Jun 29, 2003, 07:50
Jun 29, 2003, 07:50
 
Hard to play it before you buy it if you were not in the beta, did you ever think of that?
Just like with most new games you take a chance when you buy it because the demo or 3-free-test-days, or so, isn't available yet.
I'll take my chances..

/Njal

139.
 
Re: Newb Players
Jun 28, 2003, 23:54
Re: Newb Players Jun 28, 2003, 23:54
Jun 28, 2003, 23:54
 
Gemstone 3 set us up the bomb, thats true, but it had built in down time designed to force you to be social. Your exp had to be "learned" after you gained it, so you'd go fight, get to full exp, then have to sit and wait while you actually absorbed the xp. It was a pretty fun game, and if an MMO comes out that has as much "fluff" as GS3 then you'd have a winner. I want a house, filled with random shit, and I want cool ass items I can buy from sesonal bazaars and fairs that range from dice, to diamond encrusted gem pouches... the chance to actualy own unique items without having to go quest or camp or do anything other than the normal routine was amazingly intellegent. Why should I have to fucking sit on my ass bored as hell for a peice of fluff? Oh well I guess it's because the MMO's up to date allow almost jack shit in the way of creating an unique character... "AWSOME I GET TO WEAR A BLACK ROBE!!! JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!!! WOOOOHOOO!" Oh well the bottom line for graphics is rising and in time we might have a RPG that lets us have unique characters. Hopefully consumer awareness is rising and we'll have games that don't make you jump through hoops for bullshit prizes... one can hope?


Edit-Clarification: the exp thing sucked in gs3, the rest of the game was pretty interesting, however.
This comment was edited on Jun 28, 23:55.
"I'm too much of a narcisist to really hate stupid people."
138.
 
Re: sad
Jun 28, 2003, 05:30
Re: sad Jun 28, 2003, 05:30
Jun 28, 2003, 05:30
 
Now they will use that money to make more crappy games, and more people will buy that without playing it, and with that money they will make another crappy game, and so on. Then they will all buy Ferraris and take vacations to Hawaii where they will have a big laugh at all of you.

I wish I worked at SOE.

----

Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds...

-Bhagavad Gita
----
Some people risk to employ me...
Some people live to destroy me...
...Either way, they die.
137.
 
sad
Jun 28, 2003, 04:06
Bob
sad Jun 28, 2003, 04:06
Jun 28, 2003, 04:06
Bob
 
The saddest part of SWG is that so many people bought it without even playing it first, and now SOE has gotten a bunch of money for making a piece of crap game

Now they will use that money to make more crappy games, and more people will buy that without playing it, and with that money they will make another crappy game, and so on. Then they will all buy Ferraris and take vacations to Hawaii where they will have a big laugh at all of you.

Yep.

This comment was edited on Jun 28, 04:07.
136.
 
Re: Newb Players
Jun 27, 2003, 21:30
Re: Newb Players Jun 27, 2003, 21:30
Jun 27, 2003, 21:30
 
What UO was, is and will be according to Lord British at the end of the public beta test:

q[Ultima Online Public Beta Tester (September 23, 1997)

Dear Beta testers, fellow Origin development team members, and fellow citizens of the first ever true virtual world, Britannia:
Tomorrow, the world as you know it comes to an end. We are closing the public beta test after the event planned for tomorrow.

You have just been part of something wondrous. Imagine now what you will be a part of in the future.

Consider what Ultima Online has been thus far. It has been over two years in the making: by far the largest, grandest, most complete virtual world there has ever been. Since the pre-alpha test that many of you participated in over a year ago, we have come so very far. At that time we tested a concept with some early art and some UNIX code running on a couple of servers to see if the virtual world concept could work at all. Now here we are, many months of hard work later, and the future looks bright indeed.

We have three worlds, three "shards of reality," running on server farms scattered across the United States. Each is a testament to the future of online gaming. Each shard holds thousands of Earth-based players, many times more thousands of creatures, and tens of thousands of adventures.

"But is it fun?" you ask.

Oh yes, it is. Over the past few days I have spent many, many hours traveling Britannia, sometimes openly in your company, and sometimes discreetly following and observing. What I have seen amazes me.

I have witnessed brave adventurers delve deep into deadly dungeons in search of danger. I have watched businesses and whole industries spring up to supply the needs of these adventurers. I have seen the blacksmiths auctioning off their wares in crowded squares, hiring miners with guard escorts to bring them metal to forge, hiring bards to calm the inevitable arguments and fights that break out in the fever of competition. I have seen intrepid crews take to the open ocean to seek new islands, only to be surprised by other crews on pirate ships armed with magic, ready to steal the contents of their cargo holds. I have seen people master the arcane and difficult arts of magic, and become powerful mages capable of transforming their shape and walking down city streets, terrifying the populace.

I have seen a group of artists hold auditions for their play. I have seen a wrestling pit marked off in the dirt, and crowds calling out bets from the sidelines. I have watched as scholars walked into moongates over and over, building tables of destinations, to try to unlock the patterns behind them. I have read the research into unknown magic, and waited for players to discover the hints left for them. Newspapers have sprung up, and great libraries have been founded to gather the books of the world in one place.

I have seen people build lives here. Build houses and businesses. Tame animals, and cry when they die. Bring old friends with them. Make new ones.

Found cities--shiny new ones like Mystery City, which organized its own town militia, and shanty-towns made of crates and abandoned furniture. Use whatever words you choose: people have made HOMES here. They have settled a new frontier, with all that implies--the joy of breaking new ground, and the lack of conveniences it offers. The frustration of meeting new, unknown obstacles, and the thrill of conquering them.
This game--no, this WORLD--has already become much more than any of us could have envisioned. Yet it is only now about to really begin.

We--all of us, game makers and game players alike--are walking down a new road together. What is this that we have made together? Is it an Ultima, with a finite plot? Is it like other multiplayer games, with a clear goal to reach for? Is it just a huge medieval theme chat zone?

No, Ultima Online is far more than any one of these, it is more than all of these put together. It is an Ultima, with an epic plot as yet largely unrevealed. It is a world. It is now our second home. A living, breathing, changing place, that will provide constantly varying experiences.

Just like the real world, the virtual economy and ecology will change--even fail in places--as players either exploit or care for it. As developers, we will be challenged by keeping up with the "holes" in the "laws" of economy that players discover, just as a government must continue to pass laws to keep the economy and ecology of the real world on an even keel.

There is so much in the world of Britannia that you have seen... and you are about to see much more. Many of the updates that we have made have not been part of the public beta test process. You have yet to see Britannia swept by rain and thunderstorms, or snow falling gently during the winter. You have not seen a crystal blink to let you know your friend is calling you with his own attuned crystal from across the world. You have not seen other things yet to come--the gatherings of necromancers building dread towers in clearings in the wilderness, the wonder of a magic carpet soaring high over the mountains, or the pride of being accorded the title "Dragonslayer" by all who meet you, your deeds known and published to bulletin boards in the local taverns across the land. It will not be long before we see the first wedding, the first day that a couple who met in Britannia send news to us of their child born somewhere here in our world, perhaps in Illinois, or Alaska, or Germany. These and many other things will be adding to the world of Britannia for months and even years to come, providing you with excitement and challenges. We have not "finished" Ultima Online. Finishing implies reaching an end. How does a world reach an end? It grows over time. It lives, it changes. It evolves. It becomes a community.

Come, join the development team, the gamemasters, Lord Blackthorn, and I, as we discover together where that evolution will lead. The world where the future of role-playing resides. The place where we have all found another home...

Come live with us in the world of Britannia in Ultima Online!

-Lord British

This comment was edited on Jun 27, 21:32.
135.
 
Re: Newb Players
Jun 27, 2003, 20:44
Re: Newb Players Jun 27, 2003, 20:44
Jun 27, 2003, 20:44
 
RE 84:
" is that why Lord British was killed due to a bug, and the fact that everyone in the square where he was killed was killed cause Lord Blackthrone Summoned Demons, yet the lag was so bad everyone just lagged out and died?"
--

Hey, UO Was great!
And the Beta was the best EVER.

Before they nerfed PvP and made it Pokèmon Carebears Online.
(and implemented skill lock, which should have been there at the beginning)

134.
 
Re: :|
Jun 27, 2003, 20:40
Re: :| Jun 27, 2003, 20:40
Jun 27, 2003, 20:40
 
reply to 96:
"All I can do is chuckle and think of how glad I was to be able to play in the beta so I didn't waste my money buying it."

--

Haha, so f*in true :-)

I hope those fanbois are in agony right now while waiting to get their 15 minutes of SWG fix before the servers go down again.

SWG Release in one word : LOL!

133.
 
Re: No subject
Jun 27, 2003, 19:21
Re: No subject Jun 27, 2003, 19:21
Jun 27, 2003, 19:21
 
JDarksun - of course those are IT issues. Separate out two things: 1) Programming on the game (graphics, sound, game systems, AI, interface, etc. - not saying those don't have problems too). Even in-game network programming falls into this category. 2) Backend stuff - subscription servers, databases, etc. Servers staying up.

Those are totally different skillsets and totally different departments at any company that does this. The huge problems at this point are 2), which would be a totally different group from 1), along with the artists and designers. It's gotta be frustrating as hell for that group to watch 2)'s f***-ups.

Game designers have nothing to do with subscription servers and those other failures you mentioned, unlike what you said there, and don't have control over the people who do deal with them. Just because "programmers" do both doesn't mean that the same programmers worked on both kinds of tasks (they don't - usually different teams altogether under one set of management).

Again, I'm not saying that those other, "game" aspects don't have problems, too - but they're not the huge problems (as you showed in your post).

Really, to be totally honest, the total failure for all of this falls on the SOE management for letting this happen. Those IT folks, as big a f*** up as this is, don't get paid enough to shoulder the responsibility.

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