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SWTOR's Damion Schubert pulls some ideas off the Wall of Crazy
Many of you have already heard Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert talk about the infamous Wall of Crazy. Schubert explains it as a wall full of sticky notes, each one with an idea someone somewhere would like to see implemented into Star Wars: The Old Republic. Most of these are extra game systems that have no direct impact on the core game, such as UI tweaks or minigames. At this point in development, the ideas on the Wall of Crazy have to stay on the Wall of Crazy until after launch. However, in a recent interview with TORWars, Schubert reveals that he was able to bump the priority of a couple of ideas so that we may actually see them at release: Of particular note, the dressing room made it in (alt-rightclick to preview an equipment piece's appearance on you or your companion). The ability for group leaders to mark targets with symbols his party members can see just went in. We also have a couple of minor features we're putting in designed to make it easier for players to find and form groups -- features I'm more willing to talk about once we've vetted them as improvements to the game in general. The obvious implications of marked targets should excite any raid leader, and perhaps the dressing room is the first step toward the fabled appearance tab. We will all find out for sure when the game launches -- when is that, again?
The Old Republic maps out success
The BioWare developers have always talked about polish and immersion when designing Star Wars: The Old Republic. They have described some of the challenges of perfecting the game in their many developer blogs. Everything from art design to combat has been discussed. In the center of it all are the game testing metrics that everyone from Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller to Community Manager Stephen Reid have talked about. What do the metrics tell us is the most important part of the SWTOR user interface? Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert tells us in the latest dev blog: When Georg told the design team that maps were the most-opened part of the user interface in the game, our map specialists just nodded in understanding. They already knew that being able to find your way around the world was going to be hugely important to our success. Thanks largely to the enduring efforts of those on the map team who believe passionately in the importance of what they are doing, our maps system are a core, essential part of the adventuring experience in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Schubert tells us the details of making a proper map should not only be esthetically pleasing but dynamically help the player move about the complex environments of The Old Republic. Check out everything else Schubert has to say in the blog on the official site.
The Old Republic dev blog outlines codex system, exploration mechanics
You may have heard about the fact that BioWare is banking heavily on story as a selling point for its Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG. Narrative has arguably been the focus of BioWare's marketing campaign over the past year, and by all accounts, TOR will have story in spades. How will individual players keep track of the sprawling mythology? And how will they keep track of how their particular class-flavored vignettes fit in with the larger whole? Enter the codex. If you're familiar with BioWare's single-player RPG titles, notably the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, you'll likely feel right at home with TOR's version of the codex. In a new dev blog, TOR lead designer Damion Schubert explains how BioWare devs borrowed from Mass Effect's encyclopaedia-style codex and Dragon Age's chronicle-style codex to arrive at the perfect system for The Old Republic. Aside from being a lore dissemination tool, the codex also functions as something of a questing system, with many entries locked behind requirements such as exploring certain locations in the game world. "All of these features combine to make a nice little collection game for the player, where the reward for the act of collecting is more lore and context offering insights and depth into the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic," Schubert explains. Check out more of his codex-related insights on the game's official website.
Hyperspace Beacon: Wonderful, we are now part of the tribe!
Last week, we mentioned that multiple fan sites took a trip to BioWare to tour the Austin studio, play Star Wars: The Old Republic, and interview the developers. It is a daunting task to sift through all that information to find the golden nuggets, but I've done my best to pull the most useful (or least-covered) quotes from different developers. This is by no means an exhaustive list! If you are someone who gobbles up every last bit of SWTOR news, then none of this will be new, but for everyone else: This is for you. Before I begin, let me send my thanks to great fans of the following sites for putting this incredible information together. I cannot wait to read and hear about your PvP experiences when you release them a bit later this week: Ask A Jedi, Corellian Run Radio, Darth Hater, Fureur, Gamona, InGame, Mos Eisley Radio, SWTOR.EU, SWTOR-FR, SWTOR Life, SWTOR-UK, TOROCast, TOR-Talk, TORSyndicate, and TORWars.
Hyperspace Beacon: Sithing up for PAX East
If you haven't been paying attention, then you wouldn't know that Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to make a huge appearance at PAX East this year. However, unlike past appearances, this presentation is all about giving the fans a first-hand experience with the game. The SWTOR community team has promised Flashpoints, Jedi classes, and origin worlds that the fans can see, hear, touch, and feel. For a fan who has been following the game since before October of 2008, this is far more exciting than any on-stage performance. With all of the hoopla, it may be difficult to know every single thing that is going on. And as your guide through the vastness of hyperspace, I should give you a guideline so you do not miss a vital piece of the event. Follow me after the cut for a breakdown of the planned events and some suggestions for things to do while attending PAX.
GDC 2011: Impressions of the conference and what 2011 will bring
The 2011 Game Developer's Conference is behind us, and as we all recover from sleep deprivation and carpal tunnel syndrome, we can't help but reflect on our overall impressions of the event. This year saw a more efficient conference with the show floor consolidated into one hall and the usual Career Pavillion, Game Career Seminar and Game Connection events set up to help job-seekers find their dream careers in game development. But for the games press, most of the action happens off-site, where studios and publishers rent conference rooms and hotel suites to show off their latest game demos and conduct interviews. So while GDC is nothing like your E3s and PAXes, it is a place to gather info and get a feel for what to expect in the coming year. Follow along after the jump to see what I thought of this year's MMO offerings.
GDC 2011: BioWare's Damion Schubert on designing for loners
Nothing stirs up a good MMO debate like the age-old question of whether or not the genre should cater to solo players. BioWare's Damion Schubert, lead systems designer on the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic, recently added a bit of fuel to that particular fire during a presentation at last week's GDC in San Francisco. Schubert's talk focused on loners in the massively multiplayer space, and while it's no surprise to anyone that TOR is being built with the solo player in mind, it may come as a bit of a revelation that BioWare isn't aiming to "dumb down" the MMORPG as some fans have suggested. On the contrary, Schubert states that MMOs feature "hardcore stuff. This is hardcore gameplay, and we have to figure out how to get the solo player in a position where they want to take part in this, where they feel comfortable with the social circles, where they feel like they can be contributors."
Hyperspace Beacon: Rule of one
I hate doing this. I really do. But sometimes one little phrase stands out way too much. One tiny thing a developer says can create an oh-@#$% moment. "Your ship's cargo hold is, indeed, your bank." That small phrase uttered by Lead Combat Designer Damion Schubert on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forum was one of the phrases that made me do a bit of a double take. The concept of SWTOR changed for me. I began to question -- again -- whether this is truly a multiplayer game. We know the developers at BioWare have stated that they hope to put the RP back into the MMORPG; however, are they taking out the MMO? We know now that your bank is on your ship. Although they can be utilized from just about anywhere, Crew Skills are centered around your ship. There will be PvP and Flashpoint queuing, which can be done from your ship. Your companions are on your ship. What isn't on your ship? Trainers? Leveling quests? Many developers have said you don't have to group for your leveling quests, implying that they can be completed solo from beginning to end. It appears to me that perhaps there is something that I am missing. What part of the game is going to require -- or at very least, encourage -- me to actually play with other people? Force leap through the cut and let's discuss this further.
SWTOR fans ask whether Sith are evil and how Crew Skills work
It is always refreshing to fans when developers sit down with them to answer their questions. In recent months -- specifically, when the community team added David Bass -- many Star Wars: The Old Republic fan podcasts, websites, and the official forums have received more traffic from developers. Corellian Run Radio aired an interview with Senior Community Coordinator Joanne Laroche; TOR-Talk spoke to Senior Community Manager Stephen Reid; the TOR Syndicate also had a guest appearance from Stephen Reid. This week is no exception. SWTOR fan site AskAJedi.com was able to sit down with Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert to talk about Crew Skills. Lethality asks some very specific question regarding how a player earns different types of crew skills, what effect Crew Skills have on companions, and how player hubs will survive with so much activity happening on individual ships. Schubert shies away from none of those questions. On the official forums, Lead Writer Daniel Erickson confronts the are-Sith-evil question head on. "We can get into endless philosophical discussions about whether anything is actually evil or actually good but if we are speaking from our modern, western view on the concept of evil then the Sith clearly qualify," Erickson explains, further clarifying that this does not limit the path of your character. Check out the full Crew Skills Q&A on AskAJedi and Erickson's complete explanation on the official SWOTR site.
Damion Schubert philosophizes about SWTOR's death penalty
Nothing in the world is certain, except death and taxes. The same is true for video games. If there is a game in which you don't fail completing a mission at least once, then it is probably too easy. We know "death" is going to happen, so how a game designer handles this death penalty can make or break a player's fun -- and ultimately the success of the game. Damion Schubert, Lead Combat Designer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, jumped on the SWTOR official forums today to discuss his philosophies behind the game's death penalty. He believes that the penalty for failure has to be balanced. If it's too harsh or too light, it is no longer fun for the player. There should be a separation between challenge and punishment, according to him. "I would rather our challenges be gated by whether or not you have the skill, the gear, and the teamwork to succeed than whether or not you have the credits and/or time to wait out the forced downtime in between, you know, the fun part," Schubert explains in the post. Catch the whole discussion on the official forums and let us know what you think.
How Star Wars: The Old Republic tackles the grind
Star Wars: The Old Republic systems director Damion Schubert hosted a panel at GDC Online 2010 this week about that excruciating aspect of gameplay known as "The Grind," which he defined as any time developers ask players to do something they don't enjoy in order to open up something that they will enjoy. Most developers use the grind to fill out gameplay content -- handcrafted, "gold standard" content is much tougher to make, whereas grindy content is cheap to put together. But sometimes it comes in handy, said Schubert. While making SWTOR, BioWare actually found that it was putting "too much gold-quality content into the game." Players would be confronted with a Star Destroyer to fight through, a lost Wookiee to save, and a Sith quest to complete; and Schubert said that "we had, by jamming all of this good stuff together, actually made it grindy." So to fix the issue, BioWare first cut some of the least powerful stories (the lost Wookiee didn't make the cut, Schubert confirmed), and then spaced the rest of them out. Additionally, a feature called "bonus quests" will create optional tiny grinds -- players will be offered extra grind-style goals ("Kill 10 Stormtroopers") while running other quests. That "keeps the activity level up, but lets the gold-standard content breathe," according to Schubert. He admitted that the grind isn't always a bad thing -- developers sometimes have great reasons to add grinding, and there's a perception factor to consider, as well (one player's maximum effort is another's boring grind). But developers should be able to balance the grind with content and activities that players do care about, Schubert urged, creating a full experience that requires different kinds of efforts for equally different kinds of rewards.
Hyperspace Beacon: Community guide to SWTOR
The Hyperspace Beacon is a weekly guide and discussion by Larry Everett about the yet-to-be-released game of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Welcome, Massively readers! You, too, must be itching like a freshly shaved Wookiee for the latest news about the greatest thing to hit the MMO world since Al Gore invented the internet: Star Wars: The Old Republic. This game hopes to be the pinnacle of modern storytelling and gameplay. Of course, you can count on me -- along with the rest of the Massively team -- to be on the lookout for the latest news and producer propaganda. But the Hyperspace Beacon will take you beyond the hype and hoopla and delve deeper into the story behind the story, the people behind the production, and the meaning behind the mechanics. (Is that enough alliteration for you?) So if you're ready, angle the deflector shield while I make the calculations for the jump to lightspeed. Hyperspace beacons are unmanned outposts in space which freighters and other starships use to traverse the reaches of the known galaxy in Star Wars. Just like one of those buoys in the black, this first installment will guide your Internet-class cruiser past the space debris to what I believe to be some of the best places to find the SWTOR information currently available for your consumption. Okay, Chewie, punch it.
Newest SWTOR dev diary talks about designing MMOs
MMOs are an incredibly diverse form of entertainment, with something out there to suit nearly every gamer's tastes. From the business model to the genre to the style of gameplay, players are able to pick and choose their preferences from an ever-increasing library of titles. One choice is that of a game versus that of a world. "Sandbox" is a term we see popping up more frequently the past few years as more developers move away from the quest-and-storyline driven style of game. Some players just prefer to explore the world on their own terms, rather than follow a set series of quests and such. So developers need to choose which sort of game to design -- one or the other, right? Not necessarily, according to some of the minds behind Star Wars: The Old Republic. Principal Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert thinks it's possible to have the best of both worlds in one game, and this new developer diary talks about how Star Wars: The Old Republic is attempting to find that middle ground. "I've long advocated that moderation is the way to go, and I believe on The Old Republic we are successfully travelling a middle path, a centrist path that takes the strengths of both: provide a directed and balanced game experience inside a lush, free-form Star Wars world." Can BioWare find that middle ground and keep both the sandbox fans and the quest fans happy? We can't wait to find out. For now, take a look at the full developer diary to read the rest of Schubert's thoughts on the matter.
SWTOR's Trooper development and morale abilities
BioWare's lead combat designer Damion Schubert discusses creating the Trooper class today over at the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website. It's not too difficult to understand the heart of the Trooper: he's got a huge gun and makes everything in his path explode. The difficult part of the Trooper was making it something that could go toe-to-toe with Sith both in the actual game and in players' minds. It had to be cool, exciting and a whole lot of fun to play.Of course, as Damion points out at the end of his journal, the Trooper isn't all about massive amounts of firepower. The class packs an assortment of morale-themed party buffs too, which are able to strengthen himself and the party. While this feature was assumed on our part, this is the first we've heard of morale-based class abilities. Consider us curious to find out more in the future.In case you missed its debut over the weeked, we've embedded the dev video on The Trooper after the jump.%Gallery-35033%
MUD history dissolving into the waters of time
While many modern MMO users may never have looked at a screen of white text on a black background and typed "go north," multi-user dungeons, or MUDs, were the forerunners to modern graphical MMOs. Without their appeal and gameplay concepts, we wouldn't be playing World of Warcraft or even EverQuest. So, logically, we should make sure to preserve the histories behind the many MUDs which began our conquest of the online playing field, right?Well, it appears Wikipedia does not think the same way we do on this matter. The online encyclopedia powered by user contributions has begun cracking down and removing articles on MUDs, citing inability to provide verification along with reliable sources. Currently on the chopping block is the entry for Threshold, one of the oldest MUDs still active to this day. This isn't the first time Wikipedia has put online games under fire -- already pulling out the entries for BYOND, LegendMUD, and even removing the article on dragon kill points (DKP) for a time. The removal for the entry of LegendMUD is particularly painful, as there are other articles on Wikipedia that reference the LegendMUD entry, yet are still apparently viable on their own.
AGDC08: Exploring the Endgame
The words on the first slide of the first talk at AGDC are evocative enough. "Damion Schubert, Lead Combat Designer, BioWare." Damion is a well known commentator on the MMO industry, a prolific writer and an entertaining blogger at the Zen of Design site. Last year his 'Casual vs. Hardcore' talk was one of the highlights of the event. This year he's returned to discuss the challenges and design decisions that go into making the final challenges in a Massively Multiplayer game. Endgame gameplay, elder gameplay, is a mandatory and compelling part of the genre's equation. In fact, in Damion's opinion complex elder gameplay exemplifies what makes the massive genre what it is. Read on for notes from his engaging talk, with ... possibly ... some hints about what might be coming from the minds at BioWare.
Age of Conan: mostly armless
Damion Schubert, a long-time game developer, runs a personal website called Zen of Design, where he tackles any number of issues in MMO design. Sometimes, though, he just throws out random bits of goodness like this Age of Conan experience: Tonight in Age of Conan, someone jumped me while i was doing something else, then proceeded to perform a fatality on me. It was one I hadn't seen before, and it involved him chopping off my arms, then chopping off my head. Which is cool and all, but after I respawned, I didn't have any arms. It was a purely visual bug - I could still fight and quest and whatnot. Still, I spent the next hour trying to find out which animations looked goofiest with stubs cut off at the elbow (dancing is good, stealth is better). Unfortunately, it was only an error on my screen, which meant that me screaming 'It's only a flesh wound!' in town probably made little sense to those who passed by.Given how new Age of Conan is, bugs and glitches like this are likely to keep turning up. Has anything similar, or funnier, happened to you in Age of Conan?
The unintended consequences of MMO design (and cars)
Veteran game designer Damion Schubert put up an interesting post to his personal site discussing some of the unintended consequences of design choices. Just as the seemingly simple decision to allow objects to have collision properties resulted in Ultima Online towers being robbed, design elements in other fields can have unexpected results. Schubert points out the dangers of the Prius as a perfect example of these unexpected results. The fact that the hybrid vehicle is incredibly quiet probably didn't seem like a big deal to the Toyota designers. In fact, they may have seen that as a plus. A plus for everyone except those without sight, of course. The result is that the vehicle's designers are now considering how to add more auditory feedback to the vehicle. Check out the post and the attendant comments for some additional MMO design elements that seem, in 20/20 hindsight, kind of obvious.
Austin Game Developer's Conference announces speakers
This year's Austin Game Developer's Conference, slated for early September, sounds like it will be a good one. Though the ION 2008 event was a fantastic MMO-focused design and development thinktank, AGDC traditionally fills that roll. CMP (the event's organizer) has announced some of the speakers that will be participating in the event. The list includes industry heavyweights like Nexon America's Min Kim, BioWare's Damion Schubert, and Cryptic's Gordon Wei.We're particularly interested in Mr. Schubert's talk. Last year his Zen of Online Game Design discussion was one of the highlights of the conference, and his discussion for this year sounds equally engaging. Entitled "Endgame: How to Build High-End Gameplay for Your Most Devoted Players", it would seem to be tackling one of the issues that a lot of MMO players find very pressing. Make sure to check out the descriptions of the events, and if you're thinking of going make sure to register soon. Early registration is only open through the end of July. And, of course, you can look forward to extensive coverage from Massively.com; we'll be at the event in force!
The Digital Continuum: Daringly duo
There were a great many things I took away from my experience at ION 08 this year. I learned how amazing community managers can be. I also learned how much they put into their communities -- if you're wondering, it's quite a lot. Among all the waves of information I soaked up there were little leaks of ideas to take away as well.During the "Online Games in 2013" panel there was a point of Damion Schubert's presentation that piqued my curiosity. It was his prediction that MMOs will see far more "Duoing" content. The fact that playing with a friend or two -- along with playing solo -- could become much more ubiquitous fills my heart with hope. If you're wondering why, I'll be more than happy to explain.
