I agree with your analysis of the OOC design of SWG; developing the system and then adding the content. It's why the game doesn't *feel* like Star Wars, though it certainly looks like it. The art is great, the gameplay is not, at least for the setting. It's why I never bought SWG, even though I was REALLY looking forward to it - I'm a huge SW fan, I saw the original movie in the theater over 30 times - but after seeing the gameplay, I thought 'what's the point?' (A buddy of mine was in the beta, and subscribed for a year, so I got to see how the game worked, and not just looked.) At the time, I didn't think of the design process of course; I just knew the game would be a waste of money for me, it wasn't what I had been hoping for.
If they had done a better job, and made a game that actually fit into the Star Wars mythos instead of a fantasy rpg with blasters, I'd have played it. And would probably STILL be playing it. I suspect that I'm far from alone in this, that the game would have been far more commercially successful if they'd gotten it right.
Here's hoping the LotR Online people don't make this mistake too. Middle Earth is arguably a stronger myth for our culture than Star Wars. (Though perhaps it's easier to make a formal system fit a fantasy setting, at least that's where most of the development has been so far.) If you have any thoughts on that upcoming game, I hope you'll share them here.
A good system perhaps, but the wrong place for it
I agree with your analysis of the OOC design of SWG; developing the system and then adding the content. It's why the game doesn't *feel* like Star Wars, though it certainly looks like it. The art is great, the gameplay is not, at least for the setting. It's why I never bought SWG, even though I was REALLY looking forward to it - I'm a huge SW fan, I saw the original movie in the theater over 30 times - but after seeing the gameplay, I thought 'what's the point?' (A buddy of mine was in the beta, and subscribed for a year, so I got to see how the game worked, and not just looked.) At the time, I didn't think of the design process of course; I just knew the game would be a waste of money for me, it wasn't what I had been hoping for.
If they had done a better job, and made a game that actually fit into the Star Wars mythos instead of a fantasy rpg with blasters, I'd have played it. And would probably STILL be playing it. I suspect that I'm far from alone in this, that the game would have been far more commercially successful if they'd gotten it right.
Here's hoping the LotR Online people don't make this mistake too. Middle Earth is arguably a stronger myth for our culture than Star Wars. (Though perhaps it's easier to make a formal system fit a fantasy setting, at least that's where most of the development has been so far.) If you have any thoughts on that upcoming game, I hope you'll share them here.
Never go on an adventure without a hat!
Indy