User:Tentaka/SWG - The Non Combat Side Part 6: Summary And About The Author

From SWG Wiki

SWG - The Non Combat Side

Part 6 Summary And About The Author

As far as I know there are no MMORPGs that fully employ the creative talents of their own customer base in a coherent and intelligent manner. Certainly if such a game exists it would not compare to SWG in terms of universal appeal and personal identification. People know the Star Wars universe the same way they know any mythic environment. They know it because the mythic is the human experience.

A friend of mine once commented that he knew his way around Bestine better than he knew his way around his own home town. For him, the game was a way for him to explore his own capabilities in a safe environment. In my own experiences in-game, I have seen young people come out of their shell, become emboldened and begin to speak up where otherwise they would have remained silent. I have seen people who were socially awkward start to overcome their shyness or clumsiness simply by interacting with others through the game. It is of a certainty that the interactivity, the community and the social nature that is possible in Star Wars Galaxies that makes such personal development possible. Like the mythic, interaction with other people is also the human experience.

Further, people want to be there. During the year of game play prior to the NGE my traders were hired frequently to decorate player homes. My entertainer was hired for private parties in homes and aboard ships, for birthday parties and for city-wide parties. These parties and desires to establish residences and even the vast popularity of player cities signifies the player's desire to be a part of the game in an absolute and intrinsic manner. A MMORPG of this magnitude is personal and experiential. In many ways it is mythic in its own right.

Finally, in understanding the fullness of what is the mythic we must understand that the heroes journey is only one aspect of the mythic experience. It is easy to perceive the Heroes Journey through the eyes of a combat profession. However, the heroes journey is a part of a much larger story. This larger story is the mythic story; it is the mythic experience. In the final analysis the mythic experience is the human experience. If the NGE is to successfully achieve it's goal of making Star Wars Galaxies more like the experience of the films, the NGE must incorporate the human experience into the NGE. There is no more appropriate foundation, no more clear access to the human experience in that virtual world, than the non-combat professions implemented through the player cities.

Thank you for taking the time to read this series of articles.

About The Author

I am a published author. I have spent the past decade as president and CEO of a small software development company. I have been a student of sociology with a specific set of studies relating to the sociology of religion and mythos. I am currently working on finishing my first novel.

I would like to invite comments or questions either through the Station Forums or personally through the game itself. I can be reached on Ahazi Server most commonly though any of the following characters: Chrisopher, Mattai, Jonthen, E'lie, Andee or Davied. (Please note the spelling - it's ChrisOpher not ChrisTopher, JonThen Not JonAthen and so on.)

Once again, Thank you for taking the time to consider my ideas and I look forward to hearing from you.

Navigation

SWG - The Non Combat Side Forward

SWG - The Non Combat Side Part 1: The Mythic Environment and Non-Combat Essentials

SWG - The Non Combat Side Part 2: The New Player City As The Foundation For The Mythic

SWG - The Non Combat Side Part 3: The Trader Profession's Basic Concepts

SWG - The Non Combat Side Part 4: The Trader Profession's Advanced Concepts

SWG - The Non Combat Side Part 5: The Entertainer And The Politician

SWG - The Non Combat Side Part 6: Summary And About The Author