Star Wars: The Old Republic is EA's Most Expensive Project in History

[Mr. Grey]

The MMO market sounds like a battlefield in a larger war... the D-Day of Video Game Marketing, if you will. The fabled World of Warcraft Killer being the Sun Gun the Nazis never accomplished.

Still, I have high hopes for this game. It's in capable hands and a publisher that knows how to get a game out there and sell it, EA has learned most of its lessons and trying creatively to combat new problems... although that's probably going to turn a bit ugly...-er.

However, they still haven't given me enough proof that it warrants a monthly subscription when a game like Guild Wars 2 isn't asking for one and they aren't even asking through an item shop. If Guild Wars 2 goes well, lives up to its promises... then I'll spit in the faces behind The Old Republic should they ask for more than the initial purchase.

Is there jet packs?

[sub]I won't leave Global Agenda unless it has jet packs...[/sub]

Death from above?

 

[AWDMANOUT]

Can't wait for this game. I'm shaking in anticipation lol.

 

[Volafortis]

Well, I think TOR is definitely the MMO with the most potential to compete with WoW:

Let's compare:
Get a major, universally beloved game company to develop the game? Check. (BioWare)
Throw as much money at it as it needs? Check.
Give it as much time as it needs, and don't rush the release? Check.
Set it in a well-known and loved universe? Check.

The reason WoW hasn't been dethroned is for several reasons; the main one being universe. Warcraft was a major gaming franchise before WoW. If you knew PC gaming, you knew (and owned) the Warcraft RTS games. Blizzard tapped into that, and once it was big, the craze made it get bigger. The Star Wars universe is MORE well known than Warcraft.

However, a Star Wars MMO has been tried before, and flopped. Mainly because the development team wasn't as major a company as BioWare (one of the biggest names in RPG gaming since Baldur's Gate), but also because they didn't have the financial freedom of EA, or the patience. WoW receives all of the time and money it needs to be successful. EA recognizes that.

Also, a lot of WoW players are leaving lately, because the general difficulty of WoW has been toned down to appeal to a broader variety of gamers; while I can't say what TOR will be like, I can say that there will be plenty of MMO players looking for a new one, and TOR will probably be something they'll check out.

 

[Keava]

Many people bringing the points about less pvp focus and less end game focus. First of all allt hose are at this stage assumptions moslty because both EA and BioWare avoid spewing out details about the actual gameplay. We really dont know much about how they plan to do it yet, maybe E3 will show us the actual game and not the backgrounds.

Second thing is, if you look at any WoW statistic, and yes i will use WoW here for reference because it is - like it or not - the most succesfull western mmo, only a minority of players are really into the high end-game/pvp aspects. There are millions of casuals that never reach the top level, that never join a big raid focused guilds and that do pvp only for fun factor and not as main feature of the game.

Keep in mind that when WoW started out it had little end game content as well, it was months before anyone managed to clear Molten Core, and even then most players were still mostly on the group/small raid instances like old Baron runs or Blackrock. There wa splenty of bugs, plenty of current features not even discussed and yet it managed ot keep people long enough to wait for all that.

WoW did things right where many of mmos later failed by providing enough content for those casual players, if SW:ToR manages to do the same they can pull out people that are just bored with WoW but sticking around due to lack of alternatives. The graphics are better than WoWs, even if cartoony. They are pleasant to the eye, thats what matters, not how realistic they are. Look at AoC and their pimped out visuals..and the gameplay that didnt managed to catch attention of players.

 

[Aurgelmir]

Last time Bioware and Star Wars met it was amazing.

I have high hopes for this game. Since they stated they won't force group quests (FUCK YEAH!).

This is the only MMO to ever excite me. And I wait impatiently for it.

Well, "No forced group quests" isn't always a good thing. Champions Online tried this, and it was probably a part of why I thought the social aspect of that game sucked.

The problem with "no forced group content" is that it might lead to "no valuable group content while leveling" Which means you won't meet new people.

Then again Champions Online didn't have much the the Group content department at all when I played it. So as long as Old Republic has good group content which are rewarding while leveling up I will be happy.

Wow don't have much forced group content either anymore so I don't see what the big deal is. And Wow also do the concept of optional group content VERY well imo

 

[Corohan]

I have a feeling that WoW was a one-hit wonder, and that even Blizzard's new MMO project won't gain the same amount of subscribers, let alone SW:TOR.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Shame it's going to fail miserably...If my intuition is anything to go by. And it's usually right.

Well, it won't fail financially. But it won't be a good game.

Are you saying this because you don't like the genre? (By which I mean MMO's)

Or that you don't think this will be a good MMO?

I'm fine with MMOs...But I have a feeling this is going to suck.

Why? The only things we know about it that is different from WoW are:

1.) Fully voiced (+)
2.) Star Wars Setting (+)
3.) Developed foundation with a decade's newer technology than WoW (+)
4.) Bioware (+)
5.) Huge cash investment and flexible development time so it's not rushed (+)
6.) Obligatory minus so I don't seem TOO biased (-)

Sounds good to me, why do you think it will fail?

Ever hear the phrase "Too good to be true"?

 

[Frapple]

I don't really like paying monthly subscription for instanced games, but think I'll make an exception for TOR.

Looks good, shame it isn't 'realistic' i.e. lightsabres don't cut through someone, just hit them a bit like a normal sword.

 

[Doug]

I for one am hoping it'll fail just so I can laught at EA, Bioware and all the stupid fanboys.

I'm pretty certain there will be a giant wave of people sunscribing to begin with then after a few weeks to a month it'll slowly wittle down like every other MMO.

Yes, because cheering on Activison is a smart move...oh wait.

Anywho, I have to reductantly agree - this is a huge risk EA are taking, and I'm alittle worried that if it fails (and I don't mean 'if it doesn't get at least 10 million players straight away'), then EA might well impode and take Bioware with it. And if this happens, Activison will be pretty much an unstoppable force monopolyising the game publishing market.

 

[Baron Khaine]

And yet the graphics looks like something from 2005? What the hell are they pouring all those money into?

Is there jet packs?

[sub]I won't leave Global Agenda unless it has jet packs...[/sub]

The bounty hunter has jet packs I believe.

An mmo is quite a huge game. Rendering all of it in high end graphics would tear your computer to shreds.

Take a look at these 2 videos:
TOR:gtuild
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKN4pZ0DaUc

GW2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEdr8HHJ-zU

They're both MMO's, and is both scheduled to release at roughly the same time, yet GW2 looks a LOT better than TOR.
The textures in TOR especially seems very low res and bland.

Guild Wars is not an MMO. It's more like Diablo.

Guild wars was an MMO, although I guess it wasn't full blown.

Guild wars 2 on the other hand is a full blown MMO with all the bells and whistles, and it looks like its gonna be a hell of a lot better than the old republic. From the information I've seen so far:

1. It looks better
2. The pvp is gonna be MUCH better (Will there even BE pvp in TOR)?
3. The "questing" is gonna be at least as enjoyable as TOR (Dynamic events and personal storyline means no normal MMO go fetch 10 bear asses quests)
4. The combat is gonna be better than TOR.

TOR looks like the run of the mill MMO, only slightly tweaked to make the lvling up process more enjoyable through story. GW2 on the other hand looks like its gonna take all that was good and different about GW and add proper PVE as well as a much more rich dynamic world.

Guild Wars is a MORPG.

A Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

There is no massively to it, its not in the same league as TOR.

I can see that your a Guild Wars fanboy, and i've come accross your kind before, so i'll leave by restating the obvious. Guild Wars was never an MMORPG. Guild Wars 2 will be, but they've pushed back the release date so much that only hardcore Guild Wars fanboy's (that's you) have any interest in it anymore.

 

[DTWolfwood]

not gonna hold my breath for this game but chances are good i will at least play it

 

[Admiral Stukov]

It's about time something overshadowed blizzard's once-great-monument-now-a-steaming-pile-of-shit. WoW went downhill with Wrath of the Lich King, and hopefully more of the playerbase will realise this and get as far away as possible. However given that the majority of the playerbase have IQ 75 I shouldn't get my hopes up.

Anyhow if TOR turns out badly I know that my theory about EA bosses wearing pants made 100% from dollar bills is true.

 

[steamweedlegoblin]

This means that a relatively significant portion of those WoW players have already established themselves in the community, joined guilds, levelled up, etc. Aaaaaand they will leave all of that history, experience, etc, with WoW, and start all over again with SW:TOR, at the beginning level, with no contacts, no experience, and a new control scheme? Bear in mind also that its unlikely that players will subscribe to both at the same time, due to the monthly payment nature of MMO's.

Honest question here: do people who play MMO's really think like that? Not wanting to play a new game because you have to start at the beginning of it sounds more than a little silly to me.

If've you've played the same game with the same character for 3 years, you get attached to that character and to the friends you've met ingame.
If you start on a new mmo you have to leave the character behind that you've invested so much time in. Thats why people are reluctant to leave WOW.
If people were not as invested in their chars are they are, WOW would be dead by now.

Edit: This forum doesn't even merge double posts? How fail.

I'll just file this under things I don't understand in my mental filing cabinet. The longest that I've ever played an MMO was 8 months with LOTRO. But I don't view that time as an 'investment'. I just see it as time that I spent having fun. But all of that time and even the people I got to know in-game weren't enough to keep me from the leaving once the gameplay eventually got repetitive and boring. If MMO players refuse to leave their game of choice when something new and interesting comes along just because they've invested a lot of time, then the MMO market is doomed to be forever stale.

 

[Feriluce]

And yet the graphics looks like something from 2005? What the hell are they pouring all those money into?

Is there jet packs?

[sub]I won't leave Global Agenda unless it has jet packs...[/sub]

The bounty hunter has jet packs I believe.

An mmo is quite a huge game. Rendering all of it in high end graphics would tear your computer to shreds.

Take a look at these 2 videos:
TOR:gtuild
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKN4pZ0DaUc

GW2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEdr8HHJ-zU

They're both MMO's, and is both scheduled to release at roughly the same time, yet GW2 looks a LOT better than TOR.
The textures in TOR especially seems very low res and bland.

Guild Wars is not an MMO. It's more like Diablo.

Guild wars was an MMO, although I guess it wasn't full blown.

Guild wars 2 on the other hand is a full blown MMO with all the bells and whistles, and it looks like its gonna be a hell of a lot better than the old republic. From the information I've seen so far:

1. It looks better
2. The pvp is gonna be MUCH better (Will there even BE pvp in TOR)?
3. The "questing" is gonna be at least as enjoyable as TOR (Dynamic events and personal storyline means no normal MMO go fetch 10 bear asses quests)
4. The combat is gonna be better than TOR.

TOR looks like the run of the mill MMO, only slightly tweaked to make the lvling up process more enjoyable through story. GW2 on the other hand looks like its gonna take all that was good and different about GW and add proper PVE as well as a much more rich dynamic world.

Guild Wars is a MORPG.

A Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

There is no massively to it, its not in the same league as TOR.

I can see that your a Guild Wars fanboy, and i've come accross your kind before, so i'll leave by restating the obvious. Guild Wars was never an MMORPG. Guild Wars 2 will be, but they've pushed back the release date so much that only hardcore Guild Wars fanboy's (that's you) have any interest in it anymore.

What? They've never set an official release date, so I dont see how it could be pushed back.
The reason there hasn't been much interest untill now is simply because noone knew anything about the game.
They've now released a lot of new information, and interestingly enough it seems a lot of ppl are now interested in the game. What a surprise!

I know its hard to accept, but its looking to be a lot better than the TOR. Guess it doesn't always help throwing buckets of money at something.

 

[Raithnor]

2. The pvp is gonna be MUCH better (Will there even BE pvp in TOR)?

They've actually demostrated PVP, it's just they haven't made a feature specifically how it works.

Near as I can tell other than the four starting planets (Tython, Nal Hutta, Ord Mantell, and Korriban) the entire game is open world cross faction. Some of the planets are more PVP friendly than others. (Balmorra, Tattooine, Hoth, Voss)

Now the hard and fast details of how the PVP work I don't know, but they have released footage of people PVPing in the game though.

 

[Danpascooch]

Shame it's going to fail miserably...If my intuition is anything to go by. And it's usually right.

Well, it won't fail financially. But it won't be a good game.

Are you saying this because you don't like the genre? (By which I mean MMO's)

Or that you don't think this will be a good MMO?

I'm fine with MMOs...But I have a feeling this is going to suck.

Why? The only things we know about it that is different from WoW are:

1.) Fully voiced (+)
2.) Star Wars Setting (+)
3.) Developed foundation with a decade's newer technology than WoW (+)
4.) Bioware (+)
5.) Huge cash investment and flexible development time so it's not rushed (+)
6.) Obligatory minus so I don't seem TOO biased (-)

Sounds good to me, why do you think it will fail?

Ever hear the phrase "Too good to be true"?

I don't think it's too good to be true, considering how much they're spending on it, and the fact that it's probably gonna be about $15 a month, I think it's just better than what's out there in terms of MMOs

 

[Bigeyez]

And yet the graphics looks like something from 2005? What the hell are they pouring all those money into?

All MMO's have to make sure their games can run on low end comps, which is why most MMO's go for the cartoonish stylized graphics. Even Aion, which is one of the prettiest MMO's out there doesn't look much better then the Star Wars stuff we've seen so far. Besides it's gameplay that matters not graphics.


Anyways the problem with Star Wars is going to be perception. People will call the Old Republic a failure if it doesn't come out the gate and gain millions of subs in the first 3 months, which is hardly fair considering WoW itself only reached 10 million+ after 5 years...

Heres hoping Bioware at least claim the 1-2 million subs they need to launch the game successfully, make a profit, and keep plugging along. I'd love for this to end up being my MMO of choice for years to come.

 

[Feriluce]

2. The pvp is gonna be MUCH better (Will there even BE pvp in TOR)?

They've actually demostrated PVP, it's just they haven't made a feature specifically how it works.

Near as I can tell other than the four starting planets (Tython, Nal Hutta, Ord Mantell, and Korriban) the entire game is open world cross faction. Some of the planets are more PVP friendly than others. (Balmorra, Tattooine, Hoth, Voss)

Now the hard and fast details of how the PVP work I don't know, but they have released footage of people PVPing in the game though.

If this is true, how will they realize their promise that your story will be completely unique to your class and have persistent effects on the world? I see no way they'd be able to do that without instancing.

 

[Feriluce]

I don't think it's too good to be true, considering how much they're spending on it, and the fact that it's probably gonna be about $15 a month, I think it's just better than what's out there in terms of MMOs

From what I've seen of the game its gonna be a completely standard MMO (See WoW, WAR, AoC, Aion), with its apparant focus on story as the only thing that makes it stand out.
The hype for TOR looks a lot like the hype for these other games as well, and we all know how that went.

I simply dont think they have enough newness to get us MMO-burnouts to give a damn about it, and it probably wont pull that many ppl away from their current mmo of choice for very long.