SWTOR: Getting around
One of the main things Star Wars Galaxies lacked at launch was vehicles! Surprising I know. For a game that boasted such vast landscapes, players had to run everywhere – unless there was a shuttle/starport close by. There were no player cities or mounts.
With this in mind, SWTOR must have a decent amount of vehicles at launch so players can move around the planets surface with ease – or will it go down the World of Warcraft route and players need to be a certain level to obtain a ride?
Must a player need to be of a certain level before being able to jump on the back of a horse? However, it is done for good reason – time! Because you have to journey between quest givers and then to point(s) where the quests are, this takes up valuable time allowing players to get some familiarity with their surroundings and of course, putting some time delay to stop players becoming level 80 within hours, rather than days.
Although there hasnt been any word from Bioware or LucasArts about vehicles and mounts, as any Star Wars fan knows – these play an important part in any players game experience. I see there being a couple of options for players and one of them wont go down too well.
Option One -
Vehicles and mounts from day 1. However, in Star Wars Galaxies, obtaining a Land Speeder forms part of an early quest, where you get used to the combat system and certain locations on the starting planet of Tatooine. This would be a useful introduction to the game and allow players to get their hands on a basic speeder until they build up enough funds to purchase a better one (like a Speeder bike/Barc speeder for example) from a Vendor.
Option Two -
The dreaded level requirement. Personally, I feel that players should be able to explore where they want and how they want and limiting that experience by having an enforced level requirement would be a total pain in the rear!
Option Three-
Microtransaction! This would probably be the most controversial option of all. If players are charged real life cash for items in game, it will certainly create a game of the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ meaning that those players who can’t afford to purchase in game items could get left behind in terms of levelling up simply due to their own financial circumstances – something that could put some players off. But maybe microtransactions can play its part in possible vehicle customisations as this wouldnt have a detrimental effect on the players overall gaming experience.
Either way, there is still alot of time to go before we see SWTOR hitting the stores (hopefully 2010) so I guess it will be a waiting game…
SWTOR: Getting around
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Vehicles/Mounts are an important thing to consider. Hopefully it’s not like SWG with no mounts and hopefully not like WoW with no mount till lvl 40. Microtransaction would be a horrible idea. That should be reserved for doing things like…customizing the way an item looks…changing character gender…etc.
I would just prefer them to not have wide boring expanses of nothingness. If they keep you occupied and having fun while traveling it wont seem that big a burden or time waster. If you look at the screen shots or concept art they don’t really give you much room for a speeder. I think they might go for the Griffon system in EQ2 and WoW. You pay a small fee and you get fast travel to a point on the planet. Or they could just go with the SWG thing of you call your ship and land somewhere else.
My personnal preference would be the Griffon system because it isn’t that expensive and you don’t have to worry about being pissed off about a limit or price, and it can still slow you down a bit to enjoy the game instead of flying through it.
Having the ability to pilot a vehicle, or climb on a creature and ride it is pretty paramount. So long as the requirements to do soemthing like that are not too high, like in WoW, or non-existent, like in Guild Wars, we should be ok. RMTs would are a horriffic idea.