Posts Tagged ‘Starwars Galaxies’

4 MMORPGs That Should Have Been Great

15 April 2008 | 5 Comments » | LHStaff

Starwars Galaxies

Probably the biggest disappointment in MMORPG history. The Starwars universe just screams MMORPG, how can you possible mess up a game like this. Well we all got the answer when the game was released on June 20, 2003. No Jedis, no space combat and boring quests. Seriously, are you sure this is based on Starwars? It would be 7 MONTHS before the first player unlocked the Jedi class and another 9 months for the first expansion, Jump to Lightspeed, allowed players to finally jump into the pilots seat of an X-wing or TIE fighter. Future changes to the combat system and a reduction of playable professions would completely lay waste to what was so far a decent game. However there is no arguing that even it you consider Starwars Galaxies a good game, it should no doubt have been one of the best MMORPG of all time.

Matrix Online

What can I say about the Matrix Online, another franchise that should feel right at home being a MMORPG. However when The Matrix Online launched it seems Agent Smith was wreaking havoc because the game was extremely buggy. Reports of crashes, random disconnects, being stuck in walls and falling through the world are just a few. Aside from the bugs the missions were painfully repetitive. Go here, find something or someone, perhaps kill them, come back. Rinse and repeat. To make things worse all the buildings looked similar and were very boring to explore. However the biggest disappoint was that you don’t actually fight the machines or agents. Seriously that’s like Starwars with no Jedis, oh wait. :?

Planetside

This is one game that definitely did not reach its full potential. Hundreds of players in a FPS fragging each other for territory with a crap load of weapons and vehicles to choose from, whats not to like. Unfortunately this game wouldn’t be on this list if there wasn’t anything wrong with it. Planetside’s problem was that the terrain was boring, all the bases looked the same and no one ever won. It was just a three way tug-o-war battle that would rage on forever. Future expansions added new mech vehicles that altered the games balance and not in a good way. Planetside unfortunately never recovered and is a dying game. Perhaps the upcoming Huxley or Earthrise can fulfil all our MMOFPS desires.

Dungeons & Dragons Online

For many D&D fans, this was the MMORPG they were waiting for, too bad for them it was just an average game. D&D Online concentrated on group play, the problem with that is many players that were looking to solo couldn’t and unless you were in a large guild or had a lot of online friends you would spend almost as much time looking for groups as you would playing. Lack of content and repeating quests is also a major issue. It doesn’t matter how good the dungeons look, after a dozen times your going to get bored. Speaking about dungeons I think they should have called the game Dungeons & More Dungeons Online.

Hey, I Know This Place!

8 April 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

From Starwars Galaxies to Lord of the Rings Online, MMORPGs have allowed players to visit and explore some of the most famous fictional locations every created. MMORPGs created from an IP (intellectual property) that is beloved by millions of fans can be difficult for developers as they have to live up to fan expectations, but done right it creates an atmosphere that engulfs the player into that fantasy world.

For me, the first time this happened was with I played Starwars Galaxies and arrived on Tatooine. Like most players the first place I searched for was the cantina at Mos Eisley. I wanted to walk in and experience the same feelings that Luke Skywalker felt when he walked in and I wasn’t disappointed. On my first visit there were musicians playing for tips, bounty hunters resting, as well as a slew of other characters all visiting one of the most famous locations in the Starwars Universe. I swear, I think some people only played SWG to hangout at the cantina. Sadly I only played SWG for 3-4 months and didn’t get to visit many other famous locations as the game was seriously lacking and I decided to move on to something else.

Then there was Lord of the Rings Online. I really have to say they outdid themselves with the locations. Walking through the front gates of Bree for the first time felt like I’ve already been there. I knew that a bit down the road on the curve would be the Prancing Pony, the inn that Frodo and friends stayed at and if I traveled east I would eventually get to Weathertop and then Rivendell. Being a huge LOTR fan, it’s hard not to get excited when visiting one of these locations for the first time. And for those of you interested, yes I’m still playing LOTRO, just not much lately.

There are others like The Matrix Online, Age of Conan, World of Warcraft and I’m sure more that give players the opprotunity to visit famous locations based on movies, books or past video games. It’s really a cool feeling when you first visit a location that you already know about and you get that “I know this place” feeling.

New BioWare MMO to be in Starwars Universe?!

26 October 2007 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Primotechnology has an article about a rumor that a new MMORPG based in the Starwars universe is in the works by BioWare.   The story says that this new MMORPG will be based in KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic), which was release in 2003 and later followed up with a sequel.  Having played both KOTOR and Starwars Galaxies I’m definitely excited about BioWare making this game cause seriously Starwars Galaxies sucked.  If this is indeed true I’m sure it will be welcomed news to all Starwars fans who are looking to play a good MMORPG.  My only worry is that since EA has recently acquired BioWare they might stick there noses in there and mess it up.  But I trust BioWare, there good people.