Going Gently Into That Good Knight - Procede With Caution

No, this is not another Dark Knight post, though I was tempted to follow up with critiques of my own. But seeing as the prior post covered most of my issues with a fabulous movie gone awry, I’ll move on to another Knight that’s near and dear to my heart. More specifically Knights, as in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series.

There are generally few things I am fanboy-ish about these days. You could potentially argue Spider-Man, but it’s hard when I haven’t purchased a current Spider-Man comic in 3 years. I like Final Fantasy, but I still haven’t beaten XII.

The one clear exception is Star Wars. I haven’t fallen so far as to put on robes and swing around a plastic lightsaber, but I read some of the comics and frequently discuss the movies. I’m counting down until the Force is Unleashed.

If there is any section of the Star Wars universe I have to put my fanboy hat on for, it’s the Knights of the Old Republic series. I played the first game while a senior in college, played the second game soon after and was hooked for life. I have replayed those two games more than any other RPG with the possible exception of ChronoTrigger, surpassing even my Final Fantasy VII fetish. Currently I’m waiting with bated breath for the Sith Lords Restoration project to finish so I can play the sequel as it was intended, while waiting until the next Knights of the Old Republic comic issue is released.

So naturally when I heard rumors of a BioWare/LucasArts collaboration, I started to get excited. Could my beloved Knights series be returning for a long-awaited third installment? The answer was no; instead it was going to be a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game for those who don’t speak dork). That whooshing sound you just heard was the air rushing out of my balloon.

Now I know what you’re saying; if you love Knights so much how can you not be excited? Fanboys take anything, right? It may not be a true sequel, but it’s still a Knights game. And given the large fan base, this game could be an immense success.

All true in theory; but then to quote Homer Simpson: “In theory communism works, in theory.”

The problem that many people seem to miss is that MMORPG does not equal "single player RPG experience with more people." Actually I take that back; MMORPG does not equal standard American RPGs. The trademark of the MMORPG is the level grind; you have to wander around doing middling tasks for small experience bonuses in order to build your character into something worthwhile. This is something that can often be found in Japanese single player RPGs but less so in Western ones. And if you played one of the three more recent BioWare big ones, Knights, Jade Empire and Mass Effect, grind was never something that should have entered your mind. It’s a good place to start on why I’m fearful of this adventure into the online world and much better sounding than “I have to play this game with people” who generally tend to be MOA: Massive Online Assholes.

Grind is essential to MMORPGs. It's what keeps you coming back for more. It can take different forms; the basic killing of things in games like World of Warcraft, or working for cash in something like Second Life. Whatever form it takes, all MMORPGs have it and it is slow, arduous work. But part of what makes Knights and other Bioware games fun was that it was possible to become strong without grinding. Sure there were still leveling tricks you could use, but in the end it wasn’t necessary. Level smart and you’d kick ass.

But if the grind is necessary, you run the risk of taking the game away from what makes it popular. That can be fine, change isn’t always bad after all, but if you lose what makes the game fun in the process, the game sucks.

For example, the Sims and the Sims 2 have been two of the best selling PC games of all time. Yet, Sims Online was a failure (in fact EA just shut it down August 1^st). This seems impossible; it has the elements that Second Life would incorporate and turn into a success. Ultimately, the problem with the game however was that people who played The Sims found an inferior experience to the one they had with their single player game. The most important element that makes The Sims fun was removed for the online version: control. The Sims games give you ultimate control over everything in your sims’ existence. In the Sims Online you had to get a job, interact and function in a Sims world with people other than yourself. If I wanted that, I could walk outside anytime for free. In essence, you were paying 20 bucks a month to play a limited version of real life! So after a few months, most people said no thanks.

A Knights RPG likely wouldn’t be doomed to the same failure because the Star Wars fan base is more diehard than the Sims one, which features many “casual gamers." Plus, I can't levitate things with my mind in real life (yet). However I can see one very big problem on the horizon. That’s brutal issue that one has with any Star Wars MMORPG; what is to be done with Jedi?

The Knights games are good. Real good. But let’s be honest; what part of the game does everyone hate? The first section. In Knights of the Old Republic you were a lowly soldier until you got off Taris. The game doesn’t pick up until you become a Jedi, naturally. I mean it’s called Knights of the Old Republic. The Sith Lords tried to give you Jedi powers from jump, but sans lightsaber it does not feel complete.

My point? No one plays Knights of the Old Republic to be a scoundrel. You might have some crazed fanboys wanting to be Mandalorian, but no one wants to be a Republic Soldier or Sith cannon fodder. Carth Onasi or Darth Revan? Please. The choice is obvious.

But an MMORPG’s strength should be diversity. If everyone is the same two classes it sucks. That means BioWare/LucasArts will have to nerf the Jedi’s abilities. Except that also means the whole reason you play as a Jedi is removed.

Why do we love the Knights series? Because on the Star Forge, legions of Dark Jedi fall before the awesome powers of Darth Revan. Whether you are cutting through them, blowing them away with force lighting or some combination of the two, you are still in awe of the character’s power. The ultimate feeling of charging up the skywalk in Onderon in the Sith Lords blowing back a whole army with Force Wave; that is the fun of Knights. You just aren’t a Jedi, you are the Jedi.

In an MMORPG you will not only be simply a Jedi, but Jedis themselves will be weakened. They have to be; otherwise it will suck to play as any other class. Maybe BioWare differentiates the Jedi classes, giving bonuses and weaknesses to each; but that would likely only matter on lower levels. Unless you are going to bar Jedi Guardians from upper level powers (like Force Lightning) eventually enough people will get leveled high enough that they’ll blow though everything anyway.

The Knights MMORPG will have success, especially early on because the ability to break your Jedi abilities out in a virtual world to show how incredibly awesome you’d be at slaughtering younglings will be too tempting for many to pass up. Even I admit the fact that BioWare's track record tempts me to potentially give it a try if/when it is released. Done right, a Star Wars MMORPG could be incredible. Even if the window for success is tiny, I give Bioware the best shot of any non-Blizzard entity of pulling it off.

But my expectations are tempered and my enthusiasm less than it should be. I wanted Knights of the Old Republic III. I’ve longed for a good single player RPG experience that completes arguably the second best Star Wars storyline ever made- that includes the prequel trilogy. I wanted to be able to take it to the True Sith with incredible force powers, feeling at least in game form that I was the most powerful Jedi ever, without having to spend 100 hours of my life to do it.

Sadly, at least for now, my dream will have to wait.