SWG Tales

Well it was one year ago today I sat down at the character creation screen and took my pilot name from Xwing VS Tie Fighter and made him a real person in the Star Wars universe.

I have to say that I am really pleased with SWG in general and am looking forward to another year playing. I do miss "the good old days" of bustling Anchorhead and the times when players needed each other more. I do think those days will come back as my faith in the devs has not waivered. I am also beyond impressed at the skill of role playing so many of you have demonstrated in the past year.

As much as I am optimistic, I must admit to feeling a bit of sadness amongst it. WoW has really hurt this community, whether we admit it or not. Aside from people leaving the game I am also startled to see another trend where people are more and more becoming "cliquish". Over the last few months people I know from all three points of the RP triangle (Dohrian, Nocturnus, Zeal) are more and more spending time in there homes with only the few people they let through the door. This is immersive RP and I too enjoy it at times myself. It is great for the individual but I am concerned we're shutting ourselves out to new people by getting too involved with ourselves.

Despite some of my views, I am looking forward to the directions my character is going to next year. I have created a very rich background for Jabe and other people tied to him in 2004 and so 2005 can only be better. Regardless of whatever happens to the social circles in game - you can bet I will be playing. If it is with others or by myself I plan to have a great year.

Thanks everybody for a great year in RP.

Jabe

That was a candid and objective statement Jabe. Congratulations on your gaming anniversary and best regards for your character's development.

I still hope for the day when I can login with little or no reservation.

Hope you're still around then.

Good point about the cliquishness. I have seen this happen.. and I have been guilty of it myself. It is human nature to fall into what is comfortable.

I think the key is being aware that clique happens and make it a point to spend time outside your clique.


Regarding 3 cities.. Yeah, I have always thoght that one BIG community was far better than 3 smaller ones. (see RP Theory of Critical Mass)

The problem is getting people to agree on a place.. and then to move there.

Thanks Keer. I am just afraid that some lessons are learned too late...

A long ways back I got burnt out on the BBS era, you know the good old days. I was a sysop and ran relatively popular BBS in the south suburbs of Chicago. I got burnt out and on a whim I took it down. A few years later I realized I really missed a lot of people. I put my board back online and nobody called. The BBS era was over, the Internet had come and there was no point.

What I realized was, I could still have had a decent board even to that day. What killed it was that I took it down and the interest to return was nill. The lesson I learned was that if you leave something long enough, there might not be anything to come back to. For this reason, I tough out the good times with the bad on just about anything.

I really like this community, its not just about game play to me - its about people too. I am not so much interested in what the next revamp is as to how I can challenge myself to RP something that hasn't been tried before.

I am not singling out people who have left the game, nor am I implying they should stay. I am just saying its too bad that people have left entirely not even keeping their account active. I also think its too bad that player cities are encouraging smaller, disconnected communities.

Tomorrow night I am going to run the final leg of my event. If you think about it, its been a very long one. The NPC Coiyonite has been around so long he got his veteran reward yacht two weeks ago. I don't know how the event will turn out, it will either be really cool or it will be a disaster. I really don't know because it entirely hinges in player turnout. Either way I am going to trudge through it. I really wish some people who have gone MIA could be there - it will really be something to see. I will be using a new web technology I programmed to allow me to introduce my own sound tracks and effects during game play. Its called SurrelFX and I am hoping it will immerse people more than ever.

In any case, I am glad that people here are doing what makes them happy. I am just concerned about the future of what we have built here. Maybe one game is not big enough to keep the roleplayers here together. Maybe we need to embrace other games in these forums as well. I don't know - I don't have all the answers right now.

Jabe

Jabe man excellent post.

Even though SWGTales has grown to encompace 200 roleplaying members the true heart of the problem is that we still seclude ourselves in our player cities. I think the main reason for this is, as E pointed out above, humanity is most comforted when surrounded by the familiar. However, humanity is also very currious. We explore what we do not know and some time will even move to unknown lands for the spirit of exploration, and will all but forsake the familiar if it holds our interests.

So the bottom line is that what ever we do we need it to be interesting. We need to offer something that a player cann't get anywhere else. I think at the heart of it my Citizens of Mos Eisley project is that answer. Creating a rp player city is fine but how will you draw new players to it? Most of my time spent in player cities is when I'm passing through on the trail of a mark or when I'm looking to purchase a weapon or a new piece of armor. Having a player city where we consolidate the three cities together will give us a chance to meet more of the players on these forums but what then? We simply become a slightly larger click of players. My Mos Eisley project will attempt to creat an accual community that new and old players can interact with.

I understand that it will be hard to pull off but its been done before. Create a character on the Euro sever Chimera and go to Mos Eisley, they've done it. I was part of it when it first started but I deleted the character when I desided to try to stick to one server and that is where I got the idea for the CME. Hopefully it will encourage new people to rp and let the old know that there is bigger rp to be had out there. After the new year I'm really gona try to kick this off and see what happens. Every one is welcomed to help me out on this and hopefully it will result in more inclusive rp.

Jabe Adaks wrote:Thanks Keer. I am just afraid that some lessons are learned too late...

** root post snipped for brevity**

Too bad about your BBS experience, Jabe. But the lesson comparison to mine and some others' experience with leaving SWG don't qualify.

You say you got burned out on BBS. I did not get burned out on SWG. I moved on to what I considered a better product. Period.

I *wish* that I could've had the chance to get burned out on SWG. Because that would have meant I had a state of great satisfaction that I have yet to feel.

Though you're saying that you're not singling out, still the comparison was made to your BBS experience and I'm just illustrating that they're apples and oranges. At least as far as my SWG experience is concerned. That's all, no static.

The lesson that I did learn wasn't about leaving too soon, but more about holding on too long. Even before WoW there were more deserving game and non-game activites that I neglected to give time to SWG.

That lost time is the only receipt I have from buying every SWG Dev "just around the corner" promise that was made since day one. Those promises are a real candidate for a bonfire to burn out.

Different strokes...

Fun-gratulations to all whose SWG threshold is higher than mine.