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Star Wars: The Old Republic: What We Know
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Eric Barnett kicks off a new column this week focusing on Star Wars: The Old Republic. This week, Eric gives a brief overview of the information we already have at our disposal.
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When people talk about a Star Wars MMO, a myriad of feelings erupt onto message boards. We too often look at past mistakes and assume that once an IP goes bad, it can only be corrected with a near perfect replacement. The gaming community is, like the sea, a cruel mistress; she can reward companies with a bounty of fish, or punish transgressors with a wave of wrathful scorn. A poor launch, a bad patch, straying too far from a beloved IP; these things and more can destroy a game's reputation once the bad press snowball gets rolling. One IP that has seen many ups and downs over the years is the beloved Star Wars Universe. Hopeful fans of the original MMO incarnation Star Wars Galaxies began foaming at the mouth when they heard that a new company was developing their own take on the IP. One thing I would like to impress upon these hopefuls is this; this game is an entirely different beast.
Read What We Know.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Wrong link, I believe.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
IMO this is so wrong.
I doubt anyone from SWG will play SW TOR the same way as they did that game.
SW TOR IMO is a CO - OP game with a SUB fee, just another professional company, never making a mmorpg, see the market and trying to copy a WOW with a different theme.
Wrong reasons to make a mmorpg. SWG didnt die because it was crappy/outdated, it died cause the Devs were complete retards and screwed up the game.
SW TOR will never be a replacement for SWG(SWG isnt dead yet, pre-cu
), just a 1-3 month long roller coaster, nothing more imo.
That said, these are speculations and non facts, but knowing bioware and seeing their updates thus far, I think its safe to say this game is going to be very linear, and very short lived, like any roller coaster.
I find it interesting that you were able to write up all that while the article link was broken.
In any case, the link is now fixed, enjoy!
My first smile of the day.
At least I read an article before complaining - usually.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
"heavily armed Helen Keller"
YIKES! That's a scary image!
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I still don't see much that will really make this title different.
Other than the choreography of some of the animations (which is eyewash), I didn't see anything in the combat video that hasn't been done a lot already in other games.
I'd be hesitant in calling 4 classes per side "solid", unless those classes were extremely flexible - a class only in name, and not in limitations.
Same thing with claims that the crafting will be important. Just about every game makes that claim. How are they going to do so?
It does have some interesting things about it, but it still looks like it's going to be an overly-instanced, linear game.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
As mentioned in the artical. Gamers these days really do hold a grudge. If the producers of this game who really are playing with one of, if not the biggest IP out there throw out a bunch of promises and dont deliver. This game will die a fast horrible death.
Now being a Star Wars fan, i really dont want that. Bio ware really has made some good game. While not MMO's i do cross my fingers and hope for the best.
SWG players may or may not try this game. I myself enjoyed SWG until a certain change in the game that we all know about. But as a SW fan i have to try this new game.
I guess until more is know about the game it is all speculation & hype. So i will keep my fingers crossed and dream of cutting down sith as a jedi and wait and see
I have seen nothing that leads me to believe otherwise.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I had high hopes for SWTOR when I first heard BW would be developing it. But the more features BW reveals, the more "cookie-cutter" it looks. The more way it is heading now is just like a WoW-clone, as much as I hate to say it. Face it, BW is using the exact same faction setup with the same faction-limited classes for each faction(also only 2 factions like WoW), not to mention the same toon-stylistic design for the character models and the same terrain color palette. The only thing different so far is a few animations and the voice-overs with a star wars skin to the whole game.
Hopeful fans of the original MMO incarnation Star Wars Galaxies began foaming at the mouth when they heard that a new company was developing their own take on the IP.
All I needed to make my comment on the matter. Besides, they have been doing many updates, if they think they will be fulfilling the wishes of the old SWG players, they got another thing coming. O well, SWG is not dead, if you know what I mean, cant say it though
.
Still waiting on more information before I pass judgement on this one.
I'm not here to complete my forum PVP dailies.
Good read.
I have faith that Bioware will put out a fun game. I think it will blend the fun and story elements of a console style RPG with the ability for mass interaction, fast paced PvP and other MMO elements like crafting and exploring. The graphics are fantastic, at least on an environmental level, and the character animations look fairly fluid.
I can only hope that the game will have the ability to customize your weapons and armor to some degree so everyone of a certain class doesn't all end up looking the same. Jedi may prefer the brown robes, but not all of them wear them, and the Sith always have fairly unique styles. Heck as a Imperial Agent I might want the ability to look like a Smuggler or Bounty Hunter or visa versa.
Sorry for the confusion here Izure. This statement was meant to imply that die hard Star Wars fans like myself have been waiting for another Star Wars MMO for some time now. Pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies was my favorite MMO to date, hands down; so when the game changed I left searching for greener pastures. When I first heard that Bioware and Lucas Arts were teaming up on a Star Wars MMO, I was elated and skeptical at the same time. It is true that only time will tell with this title, however from the information that has been released I admit I'm pretty psyched up for this one. If the dev team can deliver on MOST of what they are promising in interviews and Q&A sessions, then I think I have found a new place to feed my Star Wars fix.
Time heals all wounds, except decapitation... nothing really heals that.
True, it is a star wars game, but nothing what the sandbox SWG could of been/was if sony didnt ruin it.
Though like I said, there is still hope for SWG, out of sony hands
.
Fans of SWG tend to foam at the mouth for no reason at all. OMG you mean they aren't going to make it just like SWG pre-CU? The sky is falling!
They're looking for a bit larger of an audience than those 50 or 60 SWG vets who've been holding their breath for that SWGemu, which, by the way, is no big secret.
Im getting so sick of these WoW cookie cutter comments. WoW wasnt the original messiah of MMOs, they took features from previous MMOs, improved on them and streamlined some UI. Cookie cutter? Like grinding creeps? Or what, please say what you actually think is copying and then ask if copying that feature is such a bad thing. WoWs UI was pretty good. And what the hell are you talking about only two factions just like WoW, I can bring you a list of SO many MMOs with two factions. Thats pretty standard in the MMO world.
I think it's a combination of jumping to conclusions and disgruntledness from SWG that's bugging the haters. If Bioware had been in it to lie and make a quick buck, they'd have released all the info by now, making a ton of promises like almost every developer out there.
People assume Bioware will only make a themepark with tons of instances, simply because BioWare has stuck to Singleplayer games so far. However, they fail to notice the many skilled MMO devs working on the project, and presume BioWare's design policies in singleplayer games will apply universially to their MMO. The game will be 90% open world. Story doesn't = instances... and so far, only the Dev walkthrough has been in an instanced area.
The Crafting remark was made by the lead designer in Community: The Third element by the lead designer, not by a combat designer. In the same post it's clarified that it's neither a themepark nor a sandbox, but something in between... but people will probably not believe any of it simply because they want to dislike it, or till the reviews start rolling in.
Finally, someone shows us that we actually know very little about the game. Definitely not enough to make final decisions on whether its going to e a good game or not. Too bad it won't matter to some who seem determined to scare people away.
I personally am looking forward to this game. Have been since it was announced. I do wish there were a couple more classes pers side but the Smuggler will do nicely. I for one wish SWG was dead, I am so tired of hearing the "woe is me" sob stories of SWG fans. I played it, it was Ok and that's it. It's all done now, move on.
I'm sick of the hate toward SWG vets, I'm an SWG vet I really haven't played an MMO since, as none have filled the void. Yet I'm not foaming at the mouth over anything, even the NGE...
There's a few posters who are bitter who have stuck to their ways of bashing anything and everything SOE or star wars, that didn't have the words Pre-cu roll-back following it. Stop associating these posters with the rest of us. They're nothing more than an anomally, just like the tram hating UO vets everyone used to see all over.
Most SWG vets are nothing more than gamers who enjoy multiple games and styles of them. I'm very much looking forward to TOR, as I'm sure many other SWG vets are. As we played SWG because it was Star Wars, not because it was a sandbox, or Koster designed it. That was irrelevant to a lot of us.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
"but we are promised by Lead Combat Designer Damion Schubert, that "We've spent quite a bit of time discussing how to ensure that crafters, true dedicated crafters, can make a name for themselves and be important in their community.""
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
What will make me play this game...
Add enough complexity to the game to make it so its not like playing on an early learning centre game for 4-8 year olds..
What many others and I loved, and have not since found in any MMO is the diversity and complexity that SWG had with its crafting and character template systems. I’m not expecting it to be like SWG with professions etc.. But I see no reason why they could not make a complex crafting and resource system like that of SWG… Resources that are mined and have stats like conductivity and durability.. That when used to make X weapon produce Y results.. Add experimentation and customisation..
Make it so its NOT a simple Tab 1 click 2 click 3 click repeat combat system!!!! God help me I will never play another MMO that is this mind numbingly simple…
Summery: I will buy the game play the trial month if its shit, simple, and nothing new I will not play it past the trial period.
According to the blog entry in which the comment about crafting comes from, Shubert is Principal Lead Systems Designer
http://www.swtor.com/news/blog/20100402_001
If you had read what the poster before me had said you'd see that 'Foaming at the mouth' were his words and not mine, so I was refering to him, rather than you.
My good friend Shakespeare would say, 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks.' as you responded to my post with a defensive rant that only manages to scream the exact opposite of what you are trying to say.
Nice puff piece.
Nothing wrong with recycling back all the developer's press releases but a little bit more critical judgement would have been nicer. Quoting the "Lead Writer's" opinion that it's going to be "a sandbox kind of experience" when all the imagery and footage we have seen so far - plus the much more restrained opinions of Bioware's programmers and producers on this subject - shows precisely the opposite, is not good for your credibility.