The Last Jedi

Star Wars is dead,
long live Star Wars!

Beware Spoilers

Last year concluded with Star Wars month once more. So I was on appointment to go and watch the latest set of fireworks. I had prepared for this event. The night before I watched the exhilarating Star Wars: The Force Awakens and thought long and hard about the next instalment. The potential of possibilities keeping me awake through the night. It was a unifying experience, as Star Wars fans all over the galaxy lay awake with me - thinking about what next to speculate in their ongoing coverage of Star Wars on Youtube. Non-stop theorycrafting online was having more impact than the actual movie. Ratcheting up expectations beyond anything Disney could possibly imagine. The multiverse is fanmade. Yet, nothing could prepare me for the asteroid field The Last Jedi would navigate with Solo-like abandon.

Everything that flows through Star Wars needs to qualify as dogma.

It's hard to see this film in isolation, so this post is a much about Star Wars as it is about The Last Jedi. It seems just yesterday when I mentioned Star Wars' creativity deficit in my review of Rogue One. For the reason that everything that flows through these products needs to qualify as dogma. As much as I like the fiction, this form of canonization has been the bane to my enjoyment of it. If you only watch the feature films this statement may raise an eyebrow but engage with any other media and you'll notice the patterns. This especially applies to games. Where the intention is to put the player squarely inside the movies. A recent example: Battlefront 2, a game by EA, is symptomatic. In it, like an extra that overslept, the player seemingly walks on set right after the cameras were shut off. But instead of joining the other extras in the pub, shoots them with laser guns. Games, comics, series, they all share the same basic ingredients. Their sheer amount of sincere verbal and visual queues and callbacks to the movies are to me like fingernails on chalkboard. The only technical benchmark is how well the game mimics the movie. The only idea here is: "Hey, remember this?" What once felt like they were classic and original lines from unique characters are banalized as if they are phrases that are said all the time. For events that happen all the time. Said by everyone and their mother, porg and droid.

New characters are also derived from the series' archetypes. Each villain is another Darth Vader, squeaking with prosthetic and oozing inhuman menace. Every mercenary a Han Solo, self-reliant, quippy and charming. Every aspiring Jedi a Luke Skywalker with his head screwed on straight. As they repeat, the franchise railroads itself further and the universe becomes smaller - like a fractal of boring. Then there are the typical themes that have occurred forever. Some of which were concepts in the original movies. Some were solidified, even demystified, in the prequels. Extrapolated backwards in time by George Lucas in desperate need of inspiration. It's the reason every Jedi looks like a Tatooine moisture farmer.

_{Jedi Master Owen Lars, Moisture farmer Ben Kenobi, Tatooinian free spirit Qui-Gon Jinn}

The Last Jedi goes some way at least to setting the fiction free from some of its rusty conventions. As such it may be the best thing to happen to the series. In fairness, Star Wars has almost become a genre onto its own. The Force Awakens was textbook. A new iteration of A New Hope. The Empire Strikes back was the quintessential sequel. So how does this latest sequel hold up? It's rather odd even for Star Wars, like duck that doesn't quack. But in no small way less true to the formula, this needed to be the darkest entry in the trilogy, and The Last Jedi pulls if off with comedic aplomb. Everyone fails! But as Yoda said "The greatest teacher, failure is." Some characters even live to learn from their mistakes.

What does all of this mean? The Last Jedi proposes an answer: it doesn't mean anything.

What does all of this mean? The Last Jedi proposes an answer: it doesn't mean anything. Star Wars has always been a science fiction fantasy ride, but it seems to have been made it out to be something else. A profound reflection on the nature of existence. An elaborate puzzle made by a superhuman genius made to unravel the true meaning of. It never was. George Lucas seems to have bought into the hype too when Darth Vader was made out to be something of monumental significance in the prequels. Even though it was never warranted. Remember, Vader almost didn't survive the original trench run attack. He just so happened to become an iconic villain - and commercially interesting.

_{Remember him? And the other guy?}

George went where the money was and served us another helping of Darth in the form of Anakin Skywalker. The arc from well meaning brat to volatile psycho ended short of having him spout a red tail, laser eyes and fire breath. That's another thing. I'm bothered that Star Wars adheres to fairytale logic that ugly means evil. It's a terrible lesson. For one, some may mistake the good looks of yours truly for outstanding morals and trustworthiness. The prequels fully leaned into the videogame logic of the evil-ugly connection with red eyes, a head crowned with horns and a voice that sounds like a bag of crisps being stepped on. Star Wars forgot that Anakin looked the way he did in Return of the Jedi because of physical trauma and not necessarily because he was a bad man. Before you bring it up the Emperor... when he first appeared in Empire Strikes back he was basically an old man with glasses for eyes. Not a waxfaced vampire that had napped by the stove too long during Star Wars month.

_{First: Snoke, second: Kylo Ren}

The new trilogy gives us Kylo Ren, who's trying his hardest to be Evil but retains the good looks of a renaissance nobleman. Even after his puberal episode in which he tried to score a thousand dark side points by slaying his father. He has a trembling lower lip just like his grandfather at his age. But unlike him has reasons to be peeved. His misdeeds don't impress his mentor: the Supreme Leader Snoke. Soke is yet another old man and yet another victim of excessive heat exposure. He looks like he'd been left out in the sun too long, chain smoking, and when trying to douse his stub in a vat of brine, fell in. The master and apprentice relationship is another well-worn convention that goes back to the very beginning. Obi-Wan, Yoda, and eventually the Emperor. The original Star Wars only mentioned the Emperor in passing. Nothing hinted that he was anything but a politician. Vader himself at that point was nothing more than a "dark side Jedi". Not too important. Again, Vader could have easily chrashed his dingy Tie fighter in A New Hope, no matter how strong the force was with him. Yet when Empire Strikes Back was released, we learned the Emperor was Vader's master and force sensitive. There was no mention of him being Jedi-related however and 'master' doesn't mean 'mentor'. In return of the Jedi, we are informed the Emperor is a Dark Side teacher. A powerful one at that, which is meant to explain why Vader must do his bidding - which somewhat contradicts Vader in the prequels. Does Vader even have free will or is he just a tool? This utilitarian relationship was made a rule in the prequels. "Always two there are", mumbles Yoda. They are given a name too: the Sith. The members are given a title 'Darth Coolname'. The Emperor used to be just the Emperor but is now Darth Sidious. In whose employ are Darth Maul, Darth Tyrannus and then Darth Vader. All are treated as disposable tools.
Neither of new odious duo are Sith. Thankfully it's not Darth Snoke and Darth Ren. There's even the hint at other dark Jedi in the Knights Of Ren. Lucky for us, rebellious Kylo Ren would rather see his master and all that which hints at the old order disappear.

The mentor role is getting a bit stale too, and so is that of the problematic student. In the originals Obi-Wan never marked Luke's age as a problem. Later, Yoda considers him "too old" to be trained as a Jedi. At the time it seemed like an excuse for Yoda, old and tired, to not get back to work. But it also made it seem like becoming a Jedi was a life long commitment from youth. A result of this, there was Jedi preschool in the prequels. Filled with aggravating younglings served with gag-inducing child worship. The only thing to make up for Luke's lack of training was the overabundance of special destiny and his Skywalker lineage. Now take Rey who, at about the same age as Luke was at the beginning of his story, discovers her force ability more or less on her own. No special training required save for some perseverance and experimentation. No age stipulation is made, no guru figure needs to holster her power. In fact, the latest Mentor is the reluctant Luke. In a flashback to the training of Kylo Ren another reversal is shown. The mentor tries to slay the pupil. Frustratingly, we're not keyed in exactly why the desperate act happened. Which is frustrating. But it's yet another sign of Skywalker infighting. On a related note. Vader being Luke's father was a cool twist in the Empire Strikes back. But it set an expectation of hidden family lines. I wanted to claw my eyes out everytime I heard this or that pundit speculate who Rey was the daughter to. Was she a Skywalker? A Palpatine? A Kenobi? Why would anyone want this dynasty mentality? We're allowed to like new characters. No relation needed. How can a creative mind come up with anything new if it is chained to the past? It also doesn't help that force sensitivity used to be portrayed as a hereditary trait. Of course everyone is related, it's basically a requirement.

_{Rey and Mark Hamill.}

Particulary the Skywalkers are strong in the force. 'Being powerful', first uttered in the originals, became a quantifiable property in the prequels. Mi-di-chlo-ri-ans. Anakin even boasts to Dooku, in Dragonball like fashion, that he has "Become twice as powerful as when we last met.". This is yet another videogame-like system that deals in force powers and rock-paper-scissors lightsaber stances, and only stops short of Jedi character sheets populated by attribute points for strength, wisdom, courage and midichlorians. You may be alarmed to learn flocks of fans are already turning themselves into knots, arguing online about the mana cost of Luke's 'Force projection'. They're also running into problems explaining it using the established rules, adding fuel to the fire. In my opinion, the answer to the question "Who's the best?" should always be "It depends." or if I'm being honest "Who the hell cares?". Why bother, what's the use? It all reminds me of when middle aged men discuss the horsepower of their cars to detract from their receding hairline.

Literal reading of events in a movie are what kill the symbolic meaning of them. It removes a layer of interpretation and some of the magic evaporates. It's what happens when start counting medichlorians. Talk about force powers. Manacosts. The magic of the Myth is lost if we were to recognize that Achilles' armour weighed in at 15 kilogram and Hector's at 20 kilogram. Thanks to the extra mobility Achilles could move around faster and dodge Hector's attacks and was victorious even though he had to land more blows to defeat the extra armour. The rules that build tension dictate that the fight could go either way. The implication then is, for dramatic purposes, that they were each others equal in all other respects. But that doesn't justify pulling apart each aspect in order to quantify them. It's all nonsense that leads to pointless bickering! The point is that Achilles won and Hector Lost. It's what the story demands and no measure of attack can defeat plot armour.

"The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi" said Palpatine. He ostensibly said this because it would mean Luke's power level would exceed nine thousand and neither Vader nor he would be able to stop him from overthrowing them both. What superpowers that would entail was never quite clear to me. It was a vague statement that was left to interpretation. Sith doctrine (possibly no longer canon) however states that a good asset should never go to waste. Sadly, this base interpretation of the originals wasted alot of the symbolism that could have gone into the aura of a Jedi, in this case Luke Skywalker. No, might makes right. It's almost an animalistic law - and somehow thát is the biggest concern of the Emperor, a politician. In fact, it is hard to fathom that Luke's threat would be a physical one. Maybe It would have been better if Luke was considered dangerous because he could become a symbol of hope. "He could destroy us" said Palpatine, which would still be true. If Luke became a galactic paragon of all that is good, he could rally neutral forces to bolster the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. This would make Palpatine a more political/strategic thinker rather than a strong animal that fears a stronger animal. It would also have been inline with the terrifying symbol that was the Death Star. Or even the symbolic might that a person like Darth Vader projects. The Last Jedi seems to reestablish the latter. The resistance wants Luke back as a beacon of hope, to inspire allies and bolster their forces. He seems to be stuck in the old mentality of the Jedi superhero though. He interprets their question as a call of duty and refuses. Ultimately both come to pass. Though it's the symbolic act that matters. Not so much the minutiae of Luke buying time for the desperate escape. The showdown between Luke and Kylo Ren is the stuff of legends.

There are three more stand-out scenes to remember. One is a rare scene has some actual tension building before it happens. The Kylo Ren and Rey team-up. Part of the conflict here has always come from people who would get along but for their political or philosophical differences. This is contrasted against the greater conflict - a battle for how society should function. It would be very easy to imagine Rey and Kylo being the best of friends if not for some differing opinions. But the point is that dark and light don't need to be sworn enemies out for the other's extinction. This scene shows us just that. The scene calls back to when Luke and Vader put the sabers away in favor of more civilized course of action. Neither wanted the other's destruction. It is pretty well established that the dark and light are in a self-sustaining balance in The Last Jedi. Foreshadowing a union rather than a schism.

The second is a bit more political. Not even much of a scene, really. Some nuance is brought to the story with the introduction of the unnamed character of Benicio Del Toro. A mercenary with a surpluss of stat points into competence but less in virtue. A character that doesn't fit into the dark or light system. He shows Finn that both sides are being supplied by the same military industrial complex and therefore he shouldn't care for either side. "It's all a machine, partner. Live free, don't join".

The final scene is short: Rey's force vision about her parents. It's a delightfully weird sequence that tells us more about the force than it does about Rey. It's not logical and that's the whole point. How else to tell that understanding the force is difficult by showing a scene that doesn't adhere to everything we've seen before. It's linked to the universe and not to some need to be a superhero. It's not a mere tool to be used in war.

_{Here's hoping Benicio Del Toro will return to reprise his role.}

All the upsets to the canon seem to come at a cost in storytelling cohesion however. One element I'm hoping does not make a return is the liberal use of deus ex machina. The result of a few too many empty epic moments that can't be resolved in any logical way. A few examples:

• Finn and Rose are hounded by the Kanto Bight police and strand at the edge of a cliff. BB-8 saves the day with a brand new stolen spaceship.
• How did Kylo Ren and Rey resolve their quarrel? Rey steals an escape pod offscreen and flees towards the Millenium Falcon parked outside the current system?
• Finn and Rose are surrounded by a hostile army, about to die. BB-8 hijacks a AT-ST to provide covering fire and an escape vehicle.
• Finn is about to sacrifice his life for the rebels by ramming his ship into the battering laser. Rose comes out of nowhere and rams him out of the collision course. The power of love will save everyone, in the background the First Order breaches the final defensive line.
• The Rebels are stranded on Krait, the First order has land and air forces to put the pressure on. The Millenium Falcon shows up and draws away every flying First Order craft.
• The Rebels are stranded on Krait, the First order has land and air forces to put the pressure on. Luke Skywalker shows up at exactly the right time and place to draw away the land-based First Order army.

There's a built-in excuse for all of these of course: The Force is with the rebels. Or at least a select few of them. I wish fans would discuss the mana cost of the Plot Armour force power.

I'm still waiting for some time-travel or parallel universe nonsense to push things into the absolute Marvelesque absurd.

The fact that backstory is teased in The Force Awakens, or not explained at all, or seemingly postponed to a next - this - movie exacerbates fan theory madness. With no answers or pay-off in The Last Jedi there's actual madness. You could rightly say the fans take their favorite fiction way too serious. But so far that fiction has been playing it straight too. I'm still waiting for some time-travel or parallel universe nonsense to push things into the absolute Marvelesque absurd. Though it may already be there! Seeing as how much and what kind of weaponry the First Order produces, one has to wonder if they're not conjuring them out of thin air. The means to enact a comic book reset or revival of characters are already present too: cloning technology. Before you raise an eyebrow, it's not just comics. In the end the Dune novels had nothing but clones in them, all of whom had their progenitor's memories. Cloning technology and genetically determined force powers? The story could practically write itself, over and over again!

As much as Rian Johnson tries to pry open the door to a brighter future it remains far far away. Star Wars is still basically a black-and-white story about good and evil. The closing chapter of The Last Jedi tries to smooth the creases it so interestingly made. Empire versus Rebels. It doesn't really handle its characters too well either. Rather, it looks inwards and back to the original trilogy. It is Star Wars obsessed with Star Wars - not its denizens. A trait it shares with the prequel trilogy. I'm also sure this will only lead to more navel gazing by the community. It's ultimately unsatifying. In shedding its skin, the snake that was eating its tail seems to have lost more than it has gained. The scene is once again set for the next round. While we wait and speculate.

A looming danger with this sequel trilogy is that it may result in the old status quo.

A looming danger with this sequel trilogy is that it may result in the old status quo. The situation from before A New Hope. I can imagine it now. Episode 9 has the First order grows into the newly formed Empire. A Palpatine hologram, prerecorded or otherwise, congratulating Hux and Kylo Ren on a job well done. In response the resistance has no other choice but to become the new rebellion. Setting the stage like it was just after A New Hope. Allowing Disney to plow Star Wars each and every year. It would be a plan made for economy rather than any passion for telling a story. A wild guess on my part - but one needs to sketch the situation in order to see its horror.
A more definitive ending would maybe play out as follows. Proven to be an inept commander Kylo Ren is deposed and replaced by Hux. After which Kylo joins forces with Rey. The Resistance overthrows the First Order and reforms the Republic. Kylo and Rey establish a new form of Force practice that is neither Jedi nor Sith.

 

I remain adamant: the original Star Wars is the best Star Wars. For as simple as the movie is, it hinted at an immense depth of potential that was gradually made more shallow with each new film. The big twist in Empire Strikes Back signalled the death spiral. It turned the whole plot onto nothing but itself. The recent Force Awakens is the only film in the series that bucked the trend. And yet. In case you haven't seen any of these movies, I'd recommend watching only the first one. Leave the untapped potential to your own imagination rather than watching the later entries. Skeptical? Look no further than the deluge of fan outrcy at the current run. Each voice louder and more indignant than the next, telling us how Star Wars should have been made instead. Solid proof of how it could be the same but different. Many will point to the pre-Disney extended universe on how things should be done. Demanding something new while expecting something old. It's a fools errand. It will never be good enough. Besides, no matter how good or bad things get. No matter how you feel about it. Remember that it's the creator's right to drive his creation into ruin.
 

 

 
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Another Star Wars Story

Rogue One

Beware Spoilers

A Star Wars Story is the first instalment in the Rogue One trilogy. Inspired by the blockbuster Star Wars movies made by George Lucas it is directed by Gareth Edwards. Set before Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, It tells the tale of how the Rebellion got the plans to the first Death Star. A key character in this story is Gyn Erso. She is the daughter of the weapon's architect and is the only one who can retrieve said plans to expose a fatal flaw in the station's design.
Right of the bat I'm annoyed by the subtitle. Will every side story need that little bit of extraneous info? This is a story of Star Wars, unlike all the other's you've seen and heard.
Rogue One opens up well enough, evil space Gandalf Orson Krennic, director of the death star program, comes to reclaim the last peon to finish the construction of the battle station. True to tradition the progression of the big project lags behind schedule. Much like every governmental program in history, in any galaxy. Krennic seems amicable at first, but a lie escalates the whole affair into cascade of shouts, violence and death. Unstoppable like a wedding band of a past marriage circling down the drain of a sink, slippery and inexorably as it slips towards its sewery doom. What I mean is that it happens too fast and is really tragic.

_{Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso}

From there the story is pretty straight forward as the film takes the universe into wider focus. Showing the state of the universe. Once again, the Empire are clearly space Nazis. Oppressive, , exploitive, ignorant. It has all the (correct) traits it had in Star Wars: A New Hope. I say space Nazis, but the Empire could quite clearly be some other state found in the world today.

_{Jedha is the site of an ancient Jedi Temple}

Our eye travels to Jedha, a planet whom's culture resembles a mix of eastern and middle eastern, its veiled and robed freedom fighters branded terrorists by the invaders. In the streets storm trooper in parade ensure the populace that they are there for safety and employ justice as their means. Two minutes later there's blaster bolts blurring the lines, rebels shooting rebels, concussion explosions, thermal detonations and a lone child crying out in agony.
All this, only moments before the Empire blows the place up with a moon-shaped drone. Sorry old chaps, all we needed was fuel!
It's a bit on the nose. We all get it.

~

Yes, this is a war movie.
Should come as no surprise, it's right there in the title! But it's quite unlike the prequels. There the troops fighting the war are either throw-away battle bots or throw-away clones. In the clone wars only the heroes actually mattered. In Rogue One the heroes are the throw-away troops (sadly, in more way than one). This rather sets the tone to tragedy. Don't bring you children to watch this movie if you were expecting Jar Jar's silly antics. Don't expect the plucky bantering of Solo vs Organa. Don't expect old fashioned romance of rogues and princesses. Funny lines are rare, involve guns and shooting people and are made by a robot on a suicide mission. These aren't the swashbuckling space adventures of old man Lucas, this is war. This is World War 2, this is the Vietnam War... in space! The rebel forces even look the part. If the movie tried to make a point about war, it even gets a little twist here.

_{Walks on snow, sand, forest ground and surprisingly: water}

Oddly, it also has a few of war game elements to it. One I'm thinking of is one scene set in a tropical beach locale... By the way: add that to the level 'theme list' too after: space, desert, ice, lava, swamp and forest. So this one scene takes place in front of a hangar bay: closed doors, an open space and then some chest high crates for the rebels to crouch behind. Ideal for dishing out potshots with the witless Stormtroopers as they run out from their spawn closets and into the enemy crossfire. This fight takes ages before Empire troops wise up and attack the rebels from one of their three exposed flanks. Akin to virgin players experiencing a round of Battlefield, not aware of their surroundings. A handful of Stormtroopers would have done the job but Command sends in a handful of AT-AT walkers, I guess to show that Rogue One speaks fluent Starwarsian, but more on this later. I laughed out loud when I saw the setup of the scene, because it reminded me of the silliness of simplistic, video game inspired action sequences. It broke my suspension of disbelief. That's not how combat works, especially not in a "war movie".
Sure enough this tactical error on the rebel's part costs them the match, but this foolishness doesn't take away one iota of drama as almost all of them die a hero's death. At least they would have, if I could remember their names and/or character. Their last utterances absorbed by their still unvanquished colleagues, just moments before they too are slain.

Saving Private Ryan is another war movie. It too had nameless soldiers that died in puddles of their own viscera. We did feel for those men, so what's the difference? Well, in the preceding shot we saw them getting seasick, puking, praying, getting themselves ready, fighting nerves. They were human beings, relatable. We would do the same things if it was us in those troop carriers. It makes the troops into nameless but unique characters. Rogue One barely even does this with its leading characters. This is one of its weakest points, in my opinion. For starters, I thought the antagonist, Orson Krennic, was a more interesting character than the protagonists: Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor. The two ambassadors to China, Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, while not bad on their own, felt tacked-on. Their scenes may have been more believable without their near jedi-like feats and aimbots. The pilot Bodhi Rook was introduced 3 times one third of a time.

Oh.

_{Also starring: Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook, Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang as Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus (source: www.imdb.com)}

It feels like we are to care for too many characters at any given time. The focus from Jyn Erso is diffused by the presence of all the others. Cassian, the ambassadors. Then there's the sarcastic robot, the defected cargo pilot, and the extremist freedom fighter. I have to look up their names because I didn't remember them. I feel that some of these could have been cut from the story to benefit the protagonist, because as a result I ended up caring for none of them. No time is given to make them really stand out in any memorable way. You won't find anything close to a blowhard, laser brained Han Solo. There's very little sci-fi fantasy going on here. The only one is Darth Vader, who is a larger than life villain. All the first billing rebels keep it very real. They're very serious and bland, 'gritted teeth' isn't a character trait.
I even have a bit of a problem with Jyn's motivations. At first she wants to deal with neither the Empire, nor the Rebellion. She even states that she kind of likes the order the Empire has brought. Her father dies due to a rebel bombardment. In a turn of events that are now lost on me, she is willing to sacrifice her life for the rebellion. It seems to me that the Death Star's threat is largely overstated in Rogue One. It's weapon of terror, not a weapon of mass destruction - yet, and only becomes so because of rebel actions. We as an audience know it will blow up a planet. That's why we buy the argument why she would make the sacrifice. Jyn doesn't know that she should. I'm not sure what's in it for her other than proving to the Rebellion that she can get the plans. Or revenge for what's been done to her. Or that her father told her so, would he have wanted her to die for it too? Seems like a big price to pay.

Does the rebellion really have that few pilots and squadrons? The Rebellion seems tiny!

In any case 'new' characters are about to fulfil their destiny. Dramatically introduced, shot from the back as they speak, letting us wonder... Ah, CGI versions of Tarkin and Leia on vacation from the uncanny vally, are here to accept the baton. Known quantities are here, because it's Star Wars.
I could have done without the X-wing pilots that were pasted in from A New Hope though, for some reason they specifically shrink the size of the universe. Does the rebellion really have that few pilots and squadrons? The Rebellion seems tiny! The many cameos also shrink the universe.
We could say that the ideas of X-wings and Tie fighters limit the scope too, but I think that isn't as much of a problem. Ordering in bulk saves funds.
This stems from a greater problem with Star Wars as a whole, and that is that the visual and ideological vocabulary of this universe is rather limited. Especially after the Disney acquisition all extra world building from the expanded universe was deemed non-canonical. So we're back down to brass tacks. Logical, how else could you expand upon the existing films? Forget the Ebon Hawk, there's only the Millenium Falcon. But this means we need to stick with what we know: X-wings, Tie fighters, the Imperial walkers, etc. Only small elements expand this vocabulary: like the newly added hammerhead corvettes, which - to my knowledge first appeared in Knights Of The Old Republic - a role playing video game.
Another new element, another tweak, is the black elite death troopers with their distorted voicecomms. So elite that they need to mask their communications from any bystanders? But the sounds they make with the scrambled grunts and wheezes, sounding very much like the combine soldiers from Half Life 2. Talking as if they had swallowed a white noise Morse code machine. It works very well, the result is an other-than-human appearance, which instills fear and makes one uneasy. Nice to see the an addition to the Empire that instills fear (and isn't Darth Vader) next to the comically incompetent regular Storm Troopers. Those almost look out of place in a war movie.

_{Death Troopers, as the name suggests, are scarier than regular Storm Troopers}

This is one of the downsides of the Star Wars vocabulary, change too much and it starts to sound different and unfamiliar. It makes some sense to pick and choose from the former expanded universe to see what fits well enough to carry over.
This, if nothing else, is something that could be attributed to the prequel trilogy: it quite literally expanded the universe, there was a smattering of ideas thrown into the mix. Even going too far some cases (mi-di-chlo-ri-ans).

~

Rogue One is subservient to Star Wars: A New Hope in every way.

Rogue One is subservient to Star Wars in every way. I don't think this movie can work without A New Hope existing. Compare this with last year's The Force Awakens, that movie carries more weight and is allowed to come up with new ideas. In contrast, R1 is slanted towards Star Wars fans, panderingly so. "Remember how awesome this or that was?" So while it can't come up with much new, it can elaborate a bit on vested ideas.
Remember the Force? Here Rogue One sheds a bit more context on how it still exists under the Empire. The line in A New Hope "Your sad devotion to that ancient religion" suddenly makes more sense now. With the passing away of the Jedi, the force has changed from the practical to the mystical, and with the mystical comes religious belief. It validates the common use of "may the force be with you" too. A common use of well-wishing and wishfull thinking, which starts to sound hollow the more it is used, and turns into just something people say.

Remember Darth Vader? Because I simply can't let this post go without mentioning Darth Vader. Neither can any Star Wars movie, really.
I find that the position Vader is put in interesting if a bit problematic. There's a clear discrepancy when it comes to Vader in Rogue One and Vader in A New Hope. In the former he's met with fear and respect because of his acumen, in the latter he is mocked for being a relic and a bully.
In A New Hope it comes as a surprise that he force chokes the general. Didn't this general know that Vader is a big deal? Didn't he see the prequels?
Of course we need to remember that A New Hope (1977) was written as a stand alone. There had been no mention of the Sith. The concept of the Sith didn't exist in the movie. The Emperor might as well been a force-less tyrant. Vader at that time was nothing more but a 'Dark Jedi' in comparison to Obi Wan, a 'Light Jedi'. Both follow the same "ancient religion". Vader also doesn't have much more use than being a strongman for the Empire. A special unit, a powerful tool. A commanding officer, an ace in the hole. He seems valuable, but still expendable. Only by sheer luck does he survive the end of the first Death Star.

DARTH VADER!!¡!

In Rogue One (2016) we have the entire prequel (1999 - 2005) baggage to consider. Vader is regarded as the stand-in person of the Emperor. Which he is in a way - he's Sith royalty. He's the one who should, if all goes as to tradition, replace Palpatine by way of regicide. Therefor he is much more akin to the crown prince of the Empire, if the prequel stated goal of the Emperor is for the Sith to rule the galaxy.
In this story it seems pretty much affirmed that Vader's power is well known. In a callback to Return Of The Jedi, Tarkin even warns Krennic that he is the more amenable of the two, shielding him from Vader's ire should things go awry with the super weapon.
But then, in Rogue One, he is also shown here in the super unit, strongman role of ANH. Granted, its awesome to behold. Not only that, his opinion matters when it comes to military and political issues. Krennic asks Vader if he is still in charge of the Death Star project - over Grand Moff Tarkin. Who's really in charge here? Did Vader get demoted in ANH for failing to get the plans back, so now Tarkin gets to hold his leech? Did Imperial military command campaign against Vader with propaganda for being a costumed clown? It seems to me that connecting the dots from 'awe-inspiring' to 'ridiculous' could be very hard.
Honestly, I do like how the movie portrays Vader as an unstoppable, unnatural force. Why he should be feared. That red light saber igniting , which it thankfully only does once, is a sign of an impending slasher scene... in space!
Quite a contrast with the 'hands on hips, assessing the mess the boys made on the blockade runner'-Vader we see mere moments later in ANH. Presumably the battery on his suit runs low that late in the day. In short, the final Rogue One scene with him is straight out of a comic book. It is awesome, exclamation mark, exclamation mark.

~

_{Some (battle)scenes feel very much like those in Return Of The Jedi}

I was surprised to see the movie ends mere moments before A New Hope Starts. Accept the new cast of characters and keep rolling. The old cast... well I had a feeling they would be expendable and I wasn't wrong. No lose ties means no breaks in consistency. The Death Star is a convenient way to clean up the mess the movie makers made in Rogue One. No stone is left unturned to ensure that none of the new characters make it past the credits and into Episode 4. It's a tease too, since it doesn't blow up any planets yet. That reveal is left to the main attraction.
I liked the plot's simplicity. No obvious plot holes. Nor unexplained mysteries, which would be fine for a "new" story, but would makes this one ask questions that would remain unanswered in ANH. In fact I thought it felt very much like the final part of Return Of The Jedi, minus the Luke storyline. There's a space battle happening as ground troops complete their mission.
Ultimately Rogue One rectifies one of the sleights you could make against the story of A New Hope, "why would the Empire let be such an obvious flaw" by answering "It was done on purpose". Which is one of the best reasons to excuse yourself of anything is saying you meant to do it like that all along. In this case: embed a subtle flaw into the Death Star Systems.
To me A New Hope always felt a bit more unique to the rest of the trilogy, and therefor a bit more distant when compared to its sequels. If nothing else, Rogue One helps to tie its spiritual second act to connect with more with the universe it spawned. Makes it feel like a focused chapter in the bigger story.
Just don't think of it as a snake eating its own tail...

Mind of the BeholderPart 2

Level Up!

"Endurance +1, intelligence +3, wisdom +1, charisma +2"

The Role Playing Games genre is unlike any other. Not only has the face of games with the label changed considerably over the years, it has even been applied to games that aren't RPGs at all. The simple reason is that RPG elements have made it into other genres. Even in Need For Speed: Shift players drive for experience. No, this isn't the advertised Real Driver Experience but the numerical indicator on the top of the screen that climbs higher and higher to suggest your driver's level.
Call of Duty 4 is another example, as one of the first games that kicked of the trend. A brilliant game, unique in the way how it's remembered for its story campaign. However, the multiplayer design in particular stuck with the series, structured a bit like an RPG. It also stuck with EA's Battlefield series, EA's Medal Of Honor series, EA's Titanfall series, Crytek's Crysis series, THQ's Homefront series, Sony's Killzone series. And so on.

What is Prestige mode?

Entering prestige mode in Call Of Duty is the ability to reset one's progress. The player loses all unlocked items, experience points, the ability to make and use custom classes. The idea is to revert back to the very beginning of the multiplayer game. In exchange the player obtains an emblem beside their name to show off their prestige level. This can be repeated about 10 or 15 times, depending on the game.

Safe to assume this system was universally considered a good idea, it enthralled its gamers. To some it ruined the First Person Shooter genre - adding an XP grind for items and prestige system which enabled online boneheads to boast about their levels as if it wasn't an indicator of time played but of actual rifleman skill. The real crux of the matter is if this system makes people play the game because of good gameplay or because of the carrot dangling fifteen minutes in front of their crosshairs. This question isn't as innocent as it may appear: if an opponent prevents our brain from getting the dopamine fix we are expecting, like animals we rage. You can't blame the person for this because that's how people work. Critisism befalls the game. Other than this, CoD really isn't the worst offender: the XP grind to unlock all is short, prestige mode: optional for those with time.

I generally distrust any game where "level up" or any similarly worded bullet points make up part of the main features. Nor do I enjoy the marketing that raises level caps as if the grind to come is something very enjoyable. I say this because I've never found theme park MMOs to have anything resembling a worthwhile story. I'm not averse to theme parks. But if a game is made up of roughly similar looking attractions and I have to ride said attractions until they start boring me, about 3 times, the theme park quickly becomes a vision of hell, where everything that was once enjoyable becomes as stale like food without taste of which no amount will ever satisfy your desire. Until the bell of the next level-up rings, not as a reward but as the sign that the ride on the caravan of the damned has one less stop to make towards the end of the line. Logically, I don't think it speaks in favor of your game design if the host of the game allows you to take a mercy shot taking you to the end of the line if you pay the price of the game over one more time - logical if it means you won't pay to play the game for another few months this way. Only fair to make up for lost revenue, right? Well, your RPG should be a game, not a damn business model.

The back of the box of World Of Warcraft reads:

A World Awaits...
Descend into the World Of Warcraft and join thousands of mighty heroes in an online world of myth, magic and limitless adventure. Jagged snow peaks, mountain fortresses, harsh winding canyons, zeppelins, epic sieges - an infinity of experiences await. So what are you waiting for?

Ask any guildy for the reason why they can't come play in your party and chances are high he won't repeat the box quote but will say... "I'm leveling." Again, WoW isn't the worst offender. Blizzard made old content a lot more rewarding enabling players to do one quest instead of twenty to progress to newer areas - saving time and keeping their playerbase at the latest zones.

_{Star Wars the Old Republic started out spectacular but imagine what if this was the intro to a Mass Effect-esque Knights of the Old Republic 3 instead.}

I don't really mind the limited range of things a player can do in a game (fetch quest, kill quest, escort quest, collect quest, etc) as long as the motivation is right. Proof of this is Star Wars the Old Republic, where the story missions were as highly enjoyable as the ones you'd find in a single player RPG. The fully voiced cast of companions and related NPCs draw you into a world that has more to offer then any vendor-trashable quest reward ever could. However, set foot outside the neatly drawn line of the story areas and you won't see its kind again for literally hours while you, a level 43 imposing and life-destroying Sith Lord, would listen to NPCs whisking you along with their petty sorrows and requests, to get kittens out of the old Bantha tree by either shooting the kitten, cutting the tree down or climbing up there, a right Sith monkey - each solution with its proper light and dark side implication.

Who knows, maybe in-between battles Achilles also had to mend the sandals of scores of Greek villagers in order to allow them to yield unto him the required amount of frustration that would allow him to angrily slaughter his King's enemies on the next battlefield.

Hardly the stuff of legend, but who knows. Maybe in-between battles Achilles also had to mend the sandals of scores of Greek villagers in order to allow them to yield unto him the required amount of frustration that would allow him to angrily slaughter his King's enemies on the next battlefield. No, The Old Republic tragically and quite literally bored me to tears near the end, so I got off the snail train through Purgatory. The uninspired way EA/Bioware decided to turn it into an micropayment advertisement insulted my sensibilities and previous dedication so it lost me as a player too. I could come back to the game, it has many saving graces such as customizable companions, but only if I was convinced the slow progression wouldn't dampen my enjoyment. Unfortunately the game has already caused some offence when it culled my ingame funds when it (partly) transitioned to F2P, deleting everything above the limit - an eye-watering amount.

Another MMO I played for a few months is Wildstar. An impressive design, limited skill bar, creative classes, great art style. It's not even big on grinding - in the sense that you're able to blaze through content rapidly if you have the right class and setup. I clocked in at about 2-3 weeks of intensive playing to take a character from the creator to the endgame. Again, I'm stressing the leveling in this game because there's nothing else to propel you forward. This game has no story, heroes nor villains, no endgame content save for a couple of areas where the player repeats daily quests - another theme park from hell. Each town hub has its own set of quests, with a small narrative red line, but nothing that stands out. The game is made up out of Sci-fi and Spaghetti Western tropes - much more tired than witty. I don't see myself picking it up again even though I really liked the class designs.

No game should consist of boring stuff to pad out playtime. That task should fall to the co-op or competitive PVP modes. No game should be played for the sole reason of gaining XP. If the experience bar is reduced in such a way that all it basically does is exchange rewards or trickle content for time played, why keep jumping those hoops? Real RPGs have levels to roughly indicate where your character should be in regards to the story or place in the world. Each level brings with it more tricks and solutions to tackle the game's challenges. It usually also brings an increase in stat points making the characters stronger in order to cope with increasingly stronger enemies. When the player gets relatively stronger due to more tools and superior stats, there should be satisfaction: all the thinking, building and strategizing is paying off in a real way. Some games don't even need the experience track for that.

_{Despite its age, Guild Wars Factions still stands as one of the finest RPGs I have ever played. Expect it to show up a few more times in this series.}

One of such is Guild Wars. With a top level of twenty that was never raised by expansions mandating their purchase. The game is quite big, yet max level is reached about halfway through a single story, concluding an introductory period. After that the game truly breaks open. You'll become competitive in PVP multiplayer matches, explore zones to hunt for useful elite skills learned from vanquished foes, forge armor that doesn't infer any special benefits other than look splendid. Al the while the XP bar becomes a detail that pops off every so often to announce another spendable skill point has become available. None of this is insanely time-consuming so a player is invited to create a new character and replay the game. Before you ask: character slots are limited to one of each class. Additional slots, one of many but far from necessary convenience items, come at a small fee. The only real cost was the game's box. It didn't waste your time because that would cost the developer. Nor did it chain the player to the game with subscription fees. Considering all it had to offer, Guild Wars as an MMO comes closest to the single player RPGs that came long before.

In its undiluted form, the traditional cRPG, exist mostly in the past. Venerable names such as Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, Ultima, Icewind Dale are nearly a decade and half old and have yet to get proper successors. Only now with indie developers and without the nay of big publishers, do we see a resurgence - to slake the thirsty and arguably aging masses. That is not to say that I have a cRPG shaped hole in my nostalgia that absolutely needs to be filled. The bigger need is that of good game design, an engaging story or universe dealing with interesting issues. To drive the point home one more time: none of these old masterpieces even considered wasting their player's time. To nostalgic players these new classics do away with the dictated, often unwanted (in the case of SWtoR) megalomaniacal multiplayer component found in MMORPGs and focus on what RPGs should be about: story, characters, universe building and challenging combat supported by a solid foundation of game mechanics.

Related posts:

• Mind Of The Beholder, Part 1, where I talk about past RPG experiences.
• Mind Of The Beholder, Part 3, about how RPGs are being influenced, by example, design and market.
• Mind Of The Beholder, Part 4, simplicity in RPGs and the evolution thereof.

On Star Wars: The Old Republic

Only a master of evil, Darth.

Hoth: a planet in need of conquering, solely for its iconic look.

Long time readers, by which I mean I write long posts, will remember I wrote a considerably insightful post about The Old Republic when it was first announced. Some of the elements I divined were actually in the game, so allow me to gloat, if just for a few seconds. You same long time readers, by which I mean you're probably the same person, will remember I had a hard time avoiding writing about Star Wars. I eventually did, but I'm glad to break my streak by talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic. I have been playing since January, or more aptly put and regrettably too: since I stopped writing more blog posts. Prior to signing up for ToR I finally finished up on the original Knights Of The Old Republic, and despite it being a very old game I enjoyed it a whole lot. Needless to say, I was pretty psyched for Old Republic. After much thinking and deliberating I settled on making an Imperial (of course) Sith Pureblood Warrior who I'd want to make into a Juggernaut, the Darth Vader archetype.
I knew in advance that this wasn't the typical MMO due to the voice acting and storytelling. I curbed my expectations but wasn't disappointed at all. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the voice acting, the animation and the, subtle, cartoon-like art style. This was much more of a cross between Mass Effect and the Star Wars animated series then I'd originally thought. The action was snappy and responsive, all nicely animated, the frame rate kept up. The effects and combat: very satisfying.

The story, twisting and turning in great Sith fashion, took me across the galaxy. I built my team of companions, upgraded my ship and my gear. About a month of intense gaming later, the story finally closed up in an open ended galactic stalemate. This isn't much of a spoiler as the game requires two factions, neither of which can win the War of Stars lest the game end.
Since then I have made 3 more characters. A Jedi Knight Sentinel, an Imperial Agent Sniper and a Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer. Yes, It has been a busy few months. I am currently in one of the most prominent PVP guilds where i'm joined by generally great, smart people. I have some renown as a PVP player so I'm pretty happy to be where I'm at in this game.

These last few months months though, despite added features with the Legacy System the game has been in somewhat of a decline. The server seems to hold less and less players. Given the nature of an MMO, less people is bad. Especially since there are a lot of servers with the same low population. There are a few more problems affecting the game, making it seem like a less desirable choice compared to other games. Like World Of Warcraft. As I said, one of them is the population. Only so many games can vie for the time of hardcore MMO players, which is a limited group of players. Solve this by making playtime more valuable or get more (new) players into the game. The latest big Idea is to change the monetizing of the game. Such as Free To Play. This doesn't improve the quality of the time spent with the game but at least you won't have to pay for filler content. So you can feel a little better for not having to pay for time-wasting fetch quests. To be fair in this case, ToR makes a little more effort to make the filler more interesting by tying quests to the overall story line. The level design also helps. In most cases players pick up all relevant quests for an area at the starting point, go into the zone and finish up all quests in one run. The run usually isn't really short, but at least you don't get the nagging feeling you're wasting time by running from A to B.
Considering that the game is very much designed with efficiency in mind, it still takes about a month of full time playing (about 4 hours every day) to get a character to maximum level. It's no understatement to say that the game is huge.
Yet, maximum level is generally the desired place to be because it opens up high level PVP, operations, gear... All of which demand a lot of time if a player is to really become powerful. All of this is where the game has a bit of a problem.

A couple of days ago, I shotgun blasted a couple of thoughts on twitter in a fit of righteous rage. It seems only fair that I elaborate a bit, right here.

Make the game free to play and boost the population. Stop wasting all those costly servers.

At launch, EA and Bioware opened up a bazillion servers to cope with the immense demand of new players jumping into the game. This avoided frustration from long waiting queues. And it worked, I never, ever had to wait to get onto a server. As time went along players finished the content, got bored and left. If the game content doesn't grow at the rate players are consuming it and the endgame isn't there, or isn't interesting enough to keep them busy. They will leave. This is what happened and now many servers are ghost towns, where everyone else knows you by your first name. Which is no exaggeration, at times when I see a new character on the fleet, I see traces of the naming convention a player has made for himself, identifying the character as an Alt. In fact, we all do this.
Being stranded describes it tragically well, because there are no server transfers and no cross server matches or grouping options. If you want to play on one of the populated servers, you need to create a new character and spend another month to get it to a competitive level.

While writing this article Bioware has started server transfers for selected servers. Players on said servers are able to get their characters to a destination server. A change for the best in the worst possible way. Players who don't transfer will be even more alone if they stay, or will be in for a rude awakening if they missed the memo. There's also a lot of caveats attached to the transfer. You will lose all your "loose ends" such as in-game mail, auctions, guild and friends list. I guess simple server merges were either too complex technically or too damaging to the company or game's image.

Boost XP gain so players don't have to slog through the filler, and let them experience the character stories. Monetize the stories.

Spending time is what generates revenue on a subscription based MMO. But to keep people playing, and not spend more budget than people will actually pay for, the creators have to fill the game with some trite content to prolong the gaming experience.
Bioware set out to differentiate the game from the competition by telling good stories. And again to be frank, the stories are interesting and really well made. Each class has it's own story line, so there's a potential of 8 separate stories. If you were a dedicated player it would take more than 8 months to get through them all. Unfortunate then that many players left the game in the first few months. Wasting the potential.
To explain it in more detail. There are two active story lines at all time, the class story (such as Sith warrior) and the faction story (Imperial of Republic). The story line is made up out of a series of quests big and small. Each planet has it's own part of the story line. Every area on the planet has a small plot point area which only the relevant class can enter, or all classes in the case of the faction story line.
All other quests are side quests and are the water to the fine wine that is the main story line. I would even say the faction story plays second fiddle to the class story line and should be lumped in with the side quests. In almost all cases it comes down to something like this. "My Lord! I know you are on an urgent personal quest for vengeance, but while you're here, could you win this war for us?". Then you do and once you finally arrive at the next planet, Imperial or Republic incompetence goads you into winning the war again, and again.
The downside is that planets have a level requirement associated with them. For instance: on Tatooine a character must be at least level 25 to survive. And you can't get to level 25 if you do not complete all main and side quests on all previous planets. At least if you don't do a lot of PVP or flashpoints besides playing the story, which takes at least as much time. This makes the side quests not quite as optional as you would think.
For me, the meat of a game like this is in its PVP content, because it's far more interesting to play against humans than the AI. The side quests get in the way. On a bad day, I wish I could just make a lvl50 character.

And yet... and yet. I was really amused when I found out that my Jedi knight character's story was about cleaning up the mess "my" Sith Warrior left behind. Only after playing a couple of characters do you realize the story lines are actually linked in more ways than one. Making it extra fun to play alts and experiencing different story lines. The more is to pity that I can't bring myself to slog through the filler content to see all the story lines. I can't just play SWtoR. Time is too valuable and it's not the only game worthy of my attention.
It's clear that story is a very strong point for SWtoR so I think it would be best if EA/Bioware allowed for players to just play the story lines and keep to the good stuff, skipping the side quest filler.
They could even get away with selling the game in chapters at a reduced price, where one chapter could be a character class, and its story line. Or even break down that story line per act for a smaller price. If SWtoR is 8 times a KotoR game, sell it as such, but at a reduced price. That way, players won't feel the frustration of paying for content they'll never get to experience unless they invest their life into the game.
I should hasten to say that the game becomes substantially faster and easier if you have a partner to play with. But lately there are very few people to play with (see my previous point) and no real life friends of mine play the game, so I am forced to play a single player MMO.

Remove expertise, stop making PVE&PVP separate games with separate gear grind. Us with a disposable income don't have time to grind.

The success of World Of Warcraft made it the blueprint for SWtoR. Bioware had no qualms in copying liberally, including the gameplay mechanic that is expertise (resilience in WoW). Expertise gives a bonus to damage and defense vs other players, and a healing bonus to friendly players. And is only present on PVP gear, where it takes the place of the bigger non-expertise stats on PVE gear. Gear, much like character level, is a requirement for high level operations of PVP - without it you won't survive for 5 seconds. So where PVE is more powerful in general, PVP gear is stronger against other players. Making both variants nearly useless in the mode they weren't intended for.
WoW had evolved this kind of system over time because players would whine about the fact that either PVE or PVP made it easier to get top level armour, effectively gimping either PVE or PVP players who'd rather play that mode. I had never gotten far enough into WoW to even know about this. But I had played Guild Wars for years, a game that had no need for such a system because the game was more fair. My mind was sufficiently boggled when I heard about the need for this dodgy gameplay mechanic.
But Bioware copied the thing anyway, further carving the game into smaller compartments of players. The only time to break out of the compartment is to spend even more time with the game and get both PVE and PVP armour sets. Woe is the player that has to get multiple armour sets to fulfil more than one combat role. I feel that Guild Wars would have been a better role model for ToR. Where PVE and PVP sets are the same, the only difference is that the PVE sets look cooler, but take a bit longer to get.

Make the Legacy bonuses free upon completing the XP requirement, don't ask 1 mil+ creds for them after unlocking.

One of the big features that would further set SWtoR apart from the competition was the Legacy system. A set of perks for a player's account, which includes all characters on a server, unlocked through playing the game. It would fit with the Star Wars philosophy that your characters are somehow related. Just like Luke and Vader. Opening up the possibilities of inheriting items, talents, etc, on all characters at once. It would stimulate the creation of more characters to the benefit of all. On paper it sounded very promising. Some of the perks were very cool indeed! XP benefits, faster travel speeds, better items. It held the promise of making playing through the game easier and quicker. As an avid player my legacy level was quite high so I was eligible for many new perks. In the back of my mind I was already creating backstories for my future alts, which would soar through the game's content, making my legacy a force to be reckoned with. Yet it was not to be. And this has pissed me off quite a bit. The alleged unlocked bonuses were merely unlocked for purchase. This wouldn't be so bad if it was for a token amount of credits. But to my horror, the costs ran from 250.000 to 2 million credits. This for a bonus of +2% XP gain? To me, this was more proof that SWtoR is an exercise in greed for EA.
It takes about 1 week of daily missions to get around 1 million credits. The daily missions themselves take from 3 to 5 hours to complete, many of which can't be played without a group of players. Want to spend multiple millions of credits on legacy bonuses? You'll be paying many monthly fees to get them! After which you'll pay for many more if you want to actually experience the bonuses. The legacy update has forced me to adjust my expectations for the game. If future updates will be this lackluster or restricted, the game's future looks grim.

It's disappointing to see that a game which was "made for the fans" is becoming a desperate grab for money, no matter what the PR says. Players won't stand for it and now the game is getting its comeuppance. Players are leaving, servers are emptying. The production costs were astronomical and needless server costs aren't really helping. The pride Bioware once displayed when showing off the game has traded places with thinly veiled apologies, hollow numbers and the promise of features that should have been present on release in order to make the game on par with the competition (by which I mean WoW).

But pay no mind to the hushed tones of the audience, and the forced tone of Dr. Ray Muzyka in the following clip from E3 2012, last week.

Enjoy indeed.

You might think I'm enjoying bashing a game, and I usually do, but not this time. It's not so funny when you see the potential of a game absolutely squandered and paying a monthly fee for it only makes matters worse. For the same amount you could get a game that has more content, more features, more players, better service, better performance, funny pandas, less bugs but worse storytelling. The competition is murderous.

Stop aping WoW, learn from Guild Wars. Better hurry, Guild Wars 2 is right around the corner. If you think the Diablo 3 release hurt...

When Diablo 3 was released there was a pretty substantial drop in SWtoR's activity, at least on my server: Hydian Way. Which goes to show that the audience for the game is limited. I too have played a lot less in favour of Diablo 3.
I can only imagine what will happen when Guild Wars 2 is finally released. I imagine EA/Bioware being absolutely petrified. My Republic Guild has already promised to reform in Guild Wars 2 and my Imperial Guild has only a small percentage of players dismissing it a priori. Chances are that they will eventually jump ship anyway, to keep the group together.

A few days ago, and to my surprise while writing this article, an Old Republic designer told the press they were looking into F2P options, but I really hope for their sake, that it isn't too little too late. The classical MMO genre is getting stale as it is, while MOBA games are on the rise, so playing catch-up alone might not be enough. The willingness to change is a good sign though. So I hope that in the future, we'll look back on the first half-year of SWtoR as the beginning of the game.

Bioware's The Old Republic and storytelling in an MMO.

In an MMO, everybody shares the same gameworld, there can be no definitive change. Not only does the environment have to stay the same, the storyline and quests have to remain the same aswell. It's pretty much a one way street, from the gameworld to the player.
So in the past, MMO's haven't bothered much with story. Which leads to fetch quests and "kill x-amount of this or that"-quests. I think we can all agree that it's time to pull the MMO genre out of the hunter gatherer stage of it's evolution.

Bioware is next up to have a go at pulling the blade from the stone Blizzard put there.
They will inject the element story to the MMO genre to enthrall the player. I hope they do this at the expense of the tedious grind quests mentioned above. It goes without saying that yours truly won't be having with those. Grinding reminds me of the sound of time slipping through the hourglass, reminding that my life is getting shorter by the millisecond.
A meaninfull story on the other hand, might have some merit.

Some proof of the importance of story can be found, for instance, on 1up where Anthony Gallegos did an interview with Bioware founders Dr. Ray Muzyka, Dr. Greg Zeschuk, principal lead writer Daniel Erickson and studio creative director James Ohlen.

Some people have been scratching their heads about how they will let players progress along their own "unique" storyline.
Fear not my loyal readers, all two of you, for I have stared deeply into this cup of coffee and have come up with a satisfying and likely solution to this mystery.

Every player will choose their own path of quests through a series of actions and choices.
These choices will string together the many quests that will shape the story of each player. Some quests will be shared, and so will some story elements. But as a whole, the experience will be quite unique.
Proof in favor of this statement is Greg Zeschuk saying there will be real concequences for players in SW:TOR.
Players will encounter less and less players "sharing" their quests because with every fork in the road, the available players will be cut in half.
Given the fact that this is Star Wars there is a basic division between Light and Dark side. Unique quests could be available to each seperate character class. Choices in the quests themselves could further influence future quests.
Companions have long been a staple of bioware RPG's, so I think we can count on some companion related quests as seen in Baldurs Gate, Mass Effect...

The character creation will set up the basic game, the big picture.
Proof of earlier signs of this development, we can find in, again, Mass Effect, where players select a personal history and a psychiological profile for their character. These choices eventually introduce their own sidequests into the main story.

So there you have it, the cat's out of the bag.
Fortunatly for Bioware it's not easely copied, since you need good writing in the first place to make this work well. This isn't a problem since Bioware is leading the pack when it comes to storytelling.
It also staggers the mind how much quests and dialogs will have to be written. The pitfall here is that quests could become really isolated or rather, really stand-alone. Opportunity exists however, to reward players with unique skills tied to said quests.
Bioware has licenced the HeroEngine, which is said to allow for easy updating and modification. Which could suggest that TOR might be rather short when it's first released, but constantly updated with new content and new quests. Like reading a book while it's still being written.
This might also be in line with the business model they plan to use. No monthly fees, but micro-payment for unique items. Players might let the "lack of content" slide just because there are no monthly fees - and thus no pressure or obligation ( "why else did I pay for this?" ) to play.

We might also come to expect personalised instancing of parts of the ingame world. Just like Blizzard has done with WOW. They call it "phazing". A simple and elegant solution. An evolution that is likely here to stay. Frankly, it's a mystery why no MMO developer has thought of it before.

Next post will not be related to Star Wars. And less speculative.
Unless I'm lying.

Coup de force.

I used to think that when the first force-feedback joystick was put on shelves, it would be the perfect controller for a lightsaber. And it would be just perfect for Dark Forces2: Jedi Knight. Which, admittidly, I played with a Joystick. At the time I felt there was similarity between holding a lightsaber and holding a joystick.
Only later did I adopt the mouse. You must understand, I was a huge Flightsim buff before that. Either way, that game was awesome. Even with my rather unusual control style.
But I was wrong. About 10 years later the Wii came into being, and along it the Wiimote. It has been said over and over. The Wiimote would make for a perfect lightsaber. At last all the pieces were poised to fall into place. But I was wrong again. At least for now. Let's make amends.

Let us use our most remarkable human gift of reason to try and solve this problem.
Here goes.

We all remember Lucasarts much maligned Star Wars: The force unleashed and The Clone Wars: Lightsaber duels, yes? They are lacking, to say the least.
Krome Studios made both said games in respective order.
Logic would have you think that the second go would be a better one then the first, right? Wrong.

What I think happend is, Lucasarts dropped the ball. Into a toilet. Then accidentally flushed it. On the long way down it got shittier and shittier. Eventually an aligator ate it. The aligator commended himself on being able to digest anything, very slowly.
Since then, Lucasarts and it's variable minions have prodded the austere aligator for a long time in hopes it would regurgitate the ball. Often the reptile would crap into the wet sand behind it and the minions would scoop up the seeping waste, mistaking it for the much coveted ball. Then they release it in gamestores everywhere.

So Listen up Lucasarts and Krome.

A bit of free time and a sugared up coffee has produced this little brainstorm session.

The lightsaber combat game works like Metroid Prime 3, "lock-on" viewpoints with 1 on 1 movement (Wii motion plus included if it helps).
Locking on sets the player in "guard/fight mode" allowing for combat moves. The lock keeps the opponent dead center in view, this eleminates the need to manually adjust your character's direction, or the camera's, on the opponent. I honestly can't imagine a viewpoint in a duel where you'd want to have your opponent somewhere in the corners of your eyes while fighting.
Locking off makes the player more mobile. This so he can better move around and reposition, jumping on platforms, running away, etc. If Third person, this also makes the camera zoom out a bit.

Further controls.
A pointer or Crosshair controls the camera and look direction - pitch and heading when not locked on. Not locking on puts the saber and the sword arm in an idle state. That way you don't have arms waving every which way when controlling the camera.
Strafing and forward and backward movement are controlled with the analog stick. Lock on button is mapped to the Nunchuck's Z button. You don't want to press and hold a button on the controller you're waving about.

The game might not be able to know just where your hand is, nor where your arm is.
The wiimote and the wii are not equipped to gauge the absolute position of the wiimote in space. The player will have to adjust his movements to the "hand position" shown on screen. This opens the door for additional gameplay, we might be able to set the hand of the character on screen via combat styles. A bit like the combat stances in Jedi Knight 2. For instance a more defensive position has the saber placed in front of the viewpoint, allowing for easier blocking. The trade-off here is that the player is unable to make huge swings, making for weaker attacks. Reverse the previous situation and we have an agressive combat style.

First person view might work for this concept but third might be better.
Perhaps a view not too far out as not to be disconnected from the battle. Something of a closer view Jedi Knight 2 had. Over the shoulder might work too, but only if overview remains.
The reason third person works well is that it's {the "narrative of the combat"} focussing on the characters, their "bodies". As opposed to the first person view that makes the body something of an afterthought.
Third person gives a player more awareness of their environment right away. Mirrors Edge made a solution but it didn't incorporate combat all that much. For instance Metroid Prime had people jumping out of good faith, rather then exact knowledge. And it became something of an instinct. But again, MP has no melee combat.
In a lightsaber fight though, it might be necessary because of acrobatics, force jumps, etc.
Maybe this is one of the reasons Jedi Knight played so well in third person view, limited though it might have been. In it Gunplay didn't work well because it lacked a more zoomed in view, like the "over the shoulder" viewpoint we see so much and works so well.

In multiplayer though, I can see why a conservative studio might want to place the fighting on a 2D plane. But in order to coordinate exact movement, it's best to have the camera squarely behind the character.
So might I suggest a split screen? Preferably a vertical split.
Online play is a must. No more excuses.

Setting.
Personally I'd rather see the game in a timeframe where there's more then just a handfull of hero characters. Which brings about my next point.

High customization.
Players choose their race, gender, clothing combinations (robes or armor - mobility, defensive trade-offs?).
player gets to create a lightsaber, customise it's properties, choose the colour of the blade. To keep it fair, offer the "canon" colours in different shades.
Add chrystals and mods. More power - less defense. More speed, less damage. The usual.
Unlocks might be considered, though not along the lines of "unlock a more powerful version of this modification" rather "unlock a different kind of modification".

Force powers are there, but limited. Force push sounds like a given. If you must include more then that, stick to force choke, lighting and healing. Also, blinding as a light side power could be cool. Force power could be stored and accumulated like the power meter in the Street Fighter series. On a side note: super moves on a full powerbar could be cool, if they are not overpowered. This would be a good risk-reward move. Or when the fight starts to favor one player it might even the odds a bit.
Jumping and running could be a possibility, but have a stamina limitation, this to prevent people from endlessly running and jumping around. Keep the game about the duel!

Hurdles to overcome.
-Multiplayer lag.
-Possibilties for Local multiplay. (split screen?)
-Noobs slashing their way to victory (link stamina meter?).
-Huge expectations could jeapordise the gameplay, the game doesn't have to make you Darth Maul to make it fun.
-Graphics on Wii are a problem for some. As always choose style over technique. Cartoony graphics with a very limited polygon budget will work best. Have background that are functional first, and look pretty second - like making them in grey or earthy tones. A lot can be done with very rudimentairy geometry and simple textures. That way the combatants and their coloured lightsabers stand out more. Silhouettes are important, stance of the feet, positions of the arms tells the player their combat style, etc.
Photorealism is so far out of the Wii's reach, don't even think about getting there. Think World Of Warcraft rather than Doom 3.
-If there are no canned animations to count on, putting the movement of the player into animation might give a huge disconnect between the movement of the saber and th that of the character. Which in turn might favor a first person viewpoint.

Under- or overambitious? You might have similar ideas. Feel free to sound off.

Additional References:
Wii Controller for Virtual Reality

Comfort games.

After a long busy day at the office, it's nice to get home, make yourself a cup of coffee and fire up one of your favorite games. Comfort games are the games you usually fall back on when there's nothing else to do. This might not be the best game in your collection, but it's the one that never ceases to entertain you. You might have a few, or you might even just have one. I guess this is true for a lot of people who play World Of Warcraft, with more then 10 million subscribers, it has the population that even some countries have not. Since WoW is such a time sink, it's not unlikely that some of these people don't play much else. And rightly so, WoW has a lot to like.

So you might think about this, what is your comfort game, do you have more then one? These are the games that you should score an A+ or a 10 on your personal scale. I should say, that a developer that has you playing and enthralled for years, have done a very good job indeed.
You could even make the comparison with other media. What TV program or soap has eaten up hours upon hours of your life, what movie has you viewing it at least a couple of times a year? What books? It doesn't matter if it are public favorites or not, I'm not talking about commercial successes per se. Your favorites could be critically acclaimed, or they could be despised by the critics. For instance The Force Unleashed (yes, it is odd that I bring up Star Wars again - could it be a comfort franchise? I guess in time I will have to explain why it's interesting to keep bringing it up) is doing pretty good in sales, despite scoring average marks. It's almost a given that a lot of children and teen out there will have favorable memories of it later on, and if you ask them about the game in a few years, chances are they will label it "awesome" anyway. It's the experience that counts for the most part. On a side note, I played SW:TFU on Wii and wasn't very impressed by it (although admittedly, the story made into a movie could have the potential to be the best in the series). Chances are low of it becoming a comfort game for me, but it might be for some kid out there that gets home from school and pines to throw about a couple of Storm troopers, perfectly understandable.

Some of my comfort games? I'll indulge you. I had my fair share of comfort games over the past, must have been about, 12 years. So I will contradict myself and say that comfort games have come and gone. Change of hardware, evolution of game design. I will still vouch these games for being great, great games in the past. That doesn't necessarily mean they are as great today. Mind, I've been playing games since NES days, but in those days, a game was a game. It didn't have critical acclaim hanging in the balance, it was all good fun. Though our child minds still had the equipment to detect a stinker. So with that said, some past highlights.

First off was Jedi knight: Dark forces 2 (oh snap, Star Wars again). I played through the story numerous times, building my character differently discovering all the secrets. It was my very first online addiction, and to clarify, I played it competitively.
I should praise this game on another blog post, or this one will become rather lengthy. Anyway, if you have the ability to play it, you probably should. And I've got an extra incentive right here.

Along came Sacrifice, in my opinion Shiny Entertainment's masterpiece. It was a hybrid between an RTS, RPG and Third person action. That might seem like a strange combination, but it made for great gameplay. Top notch voice talent and some pretty good story telling. An art style that holds up today (and will do so in the future). In all, it made for a solid universe. For all those who wish to experience this unsung classic, go buy it over at Good Old Games.

Another chapter in my personal gaming history, Guild Wars.
One of the most successful MMOs out there. I was deeply involved in the game. Played in a highly ranked guild that got to and held third place on the world ladder. Which can be an indicator as to how engaged I was into the game. Unfortunately for the game (do not read as "the ingame world"), once I joined the workforce, I quit playing. I log in from time to time to see what's happening in there. It's sort of like visiting the place you grew up in, albeit not quite as profound.
Some highlights in the game which would be a must see for anyone with a taste in gaming art, Kaineng city and the Jade Sea (factions) and the Realm of Torment (nightfall). The art direction in Guild Wars is an exquisite blend of real world locations and the artistic interpretations of said locations.

Finally, some current games I fall back on. It's hard to invest into a game these days, since there's not that much time for gaming as there used to be.
I spend a lot of time shuttling between work and home, so there's a big portion of mobile gaming at this point. So I either carry a GBA micro or a DS to work.

Advance Wars has been a comfort game for me for years now. I own and have played through every game (barring the games before GBA that never came to the west) in the series multiple times. The gameplay, the happy-go-lucky art style, the music, the over the top vibe to it all. I think all this is material for another blog post.

Recently, I've been looking into casual games, both from a personal and professional interest. And one of these games has me hooked. Puzzle Quest.
It's a match three game, which on it's own is quite simple. But PQ adds a few more layers of RPG gameplay that directly involve and influence the match three gameplay. Upgrading your character with skills, spells and equipment make it all the more addicting. It's an ideal game for quick and short game sessions. It's not quite a comfort game just yet, but it could become one. Only time can tell.

FACTS 2008

In a time where escapism can be self-evident, it's interesting to walk through Facts in Ghent. This is the biggest Belgian pop-culture fair, fantasy, comics, manga, Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, Star Trek, games, cosplay, table top gaming, etc.
Barring the highly commercial aspect, I got the vibe that this is an event by and for happy people. Ok, watching furries frolic in the open might not be the best thing for one's sanity, but there's smiles as far as the eye can see. It's refreshing to catch a glimpse of these alternate realities, given the bleak perspective ours has - with the economy in shambles and all.
It got me wondering. So what if it's time for a new world order? Why couldn't we make it in the shape of, for instance, the Star Wars universe? Scantily clothed women on chains, robes as everyday clothing, hover cars, helmets with fins on them, stormtroopers on the battlefields, bad guys dressed in black, good guys dressed in white, a moral system based on the greater good, sounds alright by me! Maybe this would be a society with a neatly designed look to it, finally an image we can display to the greater universe!

_{From left to right, people cosplaying as The Joker, me, naruto, a blonde porn actor.}

I met comic artist John Mcrea, had a nice chat with the man. He was very enthusiastic talking about his craft, and I was genuinely impressed by his drawings. It's also the first time I've had to get my hands on some original frames of comic pages. His style, from what I saw at FACTS is somewhat exaggerated but quite clean, a closer look at his work revealed more realistic styles. Cool to see that one artist is this flexible. Do check out his work if you're interested in comics. Among others, he has done work for fan favorites such as Star Wars (dark horse) - he draws one sinister looking Darth Vader - Spider-Man (Marvel) and Batman (DC).