Star Wars: The Old Republic MMOG Unveiled

[Andy Chalk]

Star Wars: The Old Republic MMOG Unveiled

The worst-kept secret in the industry is a secret no longer: Knights of the Old Republic [http://www.lucasarts.com/].

Taking place almost four millennia prior to the time of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, Star Wars: The Old Republic will tell the tale of a star-spanning war between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Players will take on the roles of Jedi, Sith, or "other classic Star Wars roles" as they follow a path to the Light Side or Dark Side of the Force.

"Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars - combat, exploration and character progression," said BioWare Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka. "In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we're fusing BioWare's heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation - story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a triple-A massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars [http://www.starwars.com] universe."

"Star Wars: The Old Republic is set roughly 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, a timeframe that is completely unexplored in the lore," added fellow Co-Founder and Bioware Vice President of Development Operations Dr. Greg Zeschuk. "BioWare has been able to add to the Star Wars history in developing the game's story and has created an overarching narrative that players can enjoy, regardless of their play style. Our goal is to offer players an emotionally rewarding experience that combines the traditional elements of MMO gameplay with innovations in story and character development."

Released in 2003, BioWare's RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was a major hit and received widespread acclaim including numerous RPG and Game of the Year awards for both the Xbox and PC versions of the game. A KOTOR-based MMOG has long been rumored, and at E3 in July this year inadvertently confirmed [http://www.ea.com] the game's existence when he said that EA, LucasArts and BioWare were working on "quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry." When asked whether he was talking about a KOTOR MMOG, he replied, "Yes."

"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the most critically acclaimed Star Wars game in LucasArts history and a preeminent example of our company's interactive storytelling heritage," said LucasArts President Darrell Rodriguez. "For a long time, we've wanted to return to the franchise in a grand way, and we felt that the best setting for it was an online world that would allow millions of people to participate in the experience together. We knew that the developer capable of working with us to deliver an engrossing story with a fully-realized online world was BioWare."

Few details about the game itself have been revealed, except that it will take place in the years following a massive Sith onslaught against the Republic. "After decades of war, a tenuous truce has been established between the Sith Empire and the Republic," the game's website says, "But events occurring in the game are leading the galaxy back to an all-out war." More information about the game - although there's precious little of it at this point - can be found at the Star Wars: The Old Republic website [http://www.swtor.com/].




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[thenumberthirteen]

"Star Wars: The Old Republic is set roughly 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, a timeframe that is completely unexplored in the lore,"

Hang on - you could set it at the beginning of the universe and that would be unexplored in the lore. But seriously it sounds quite good. I loved KOTOR and this sounds like a multiplayer version of that. I don't play MMORPGs so i don't know how other companies have done it but having story as a large element will be a problem without a definitive end to the game you can't have a good story arc that goes on for the years that the game will be played for, can you?

 

[Cousin_IT]

Guild wars with Jedi from the sounds of it; & everyone being able to play as Jedi did so much good for the last Star Wars MMO

 

[Corven]

well it sounds interesting enough that I'll give it a chance to prove itself a great MMO before I say that the game is going to be shit.

 

[Virgil]

I don't play MMORPGs so i don't know how other companies have done it but having story as a large element will be a problem without a definitive end to the game you can't have a good story arc that goes on for the years that the game will be played for, can you?

LOTRO has actually done a pretty good job of playing out a story arc as a major element in an MMO. Assuming that Bioware will improve on the technique, which is a safe bet, it will probably work out pretty well. There are certainly limitations, but careful planning and judicious use of instancing goes a long way.

 

[SmugFrog]

I hope they do this right. I don't know how Bioware can make an MMO be as good as their single player games are, but it sounds promising.

 

[Amnestic]

Now they keep saying MMOG... Seems to me that's just fancy talk to avoid saying Mumorpeger.

What I want to know is, will there be a monthly fee? Will it make sense to have 10 million Jedi/Sith in a world where only one in a billion have such powers? Will it still have HK-47? And for the love of Cheese why didn't they do PRE-KOTOR where they could have done the Mandalorian Wars?

1) Who knows? Probably will have a monthly fee tbh.
2) Won't make sense, but they're trying to appeal to people. What do people want to be in Star Wars (generally)? Jedi, that's what
3) We can only hope and pray for the return of our favourite psychotic droid.
4) Because they're stupid. Having the two factions as Jedi/Republic Vs. Mandalorian Neo-crusaders would be awesome. That said, if it was set during the Mandalorian Wars, HK-47 would be definetly omitted. He was only made at the end of the wars, wasn't he?

 

[kippers and biscuits]

The screen shots look like something made about 5 years ago...
The two games I was looking forward to most starcraft and Kotor3 and they have both been pissed on in a matter of months.

 

[Flos]

I was honestly hoping that Revan would return at some point and show us what-for, but this sounds fine. So long as they can keep it from turning into Galaxy part two.

 

[Serge Drago]

HK-47 would be definetly omitted. He was only made at the end of the wars, wasn't he?

I think Revan built him during the Jedi Civil War as a way to facilitate communications and bring an end to hostilities.

 

[davidcrew]

Looks pretty cool. But as some have said, I would've enjoyed another single player experience rather than an MMO. Maybe I just hate people, but MMO's just have never been that much fun for me. I also can't deal with a monthly fee of a video game. I prefer to buy it once, and only once; not pay for it multiple times to play, or for only three installs (Spore I'm looking at you)

 

[BishopOfBattle]

I was honestly hoping that Revan would return at some point and show us what-for...

Technically he could.

Fifteen hundred years ago, the Sith civilization?s boundaries reached the Republic, and the Great Hyperspace War began... [Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow] managed to escape the carnage and fled into Deep Space with his most trusted Dark Lords... Over the course of the next thousand years, the Sith Empire recovered its strength. The Emperor developed a massive Imperial military, a fleet of advanced warships, and undertook dark rituals which prolonged his life and his undisputed rule.

If the Emporer can make it 1500 years, I'm sure Revan and the Exile can make something happen for themselves. I'm sure that's in their back pocket somewhere.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

The major issue is if they can address Jedi balance. So long as everyone starts out as a Padawan... 'course everyone will spam Jedi characters anyway, maybe they should let non Jedi characters gain EXP faster like Warhammer is doing with it's Order faction.

Meh, i'm cynical, but it's Bioware so they'll get their chance to make something awesome.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I was honestly hoping that Revan would return at some point and show us what-for, but this sounds fine. So long as they can keep it from turning into Galaxy part two.

What, as in picking Jedi or Sith at the START of the game? Queue masses of wankers with lightsabers, fastest subscription cancel, ever.

If it's even half as deep as Galaxies was to start with then it'll be good.

 

[Flos]

I was honestly hoping that Revan would return at some point and show us what-for, but this sounds fine. So long as they can keep it from turning into Galaxy part two.

What, as in picking Jedi or Sith at the START of the game? Queue masses of wankers with lightsabers, fastest subscription cancel, ever.

If it's even half as deep as Galaxies was to start with then it'll be good.

Galaxies was quite a broken game (I don't think it started broken, they just broke it over time with some alarmingly stupid moves), and it's pretty obvious that they're going to have us start out with choosing simple classes/races and work our way up to end-game. It wouldn't be much of an mmo if they didn't.

I hope they don't have everyone start off like Revan or the Exile did, too. A bunch of half-naked, amnesiac wankers with lightsabers. ._.

 

[Amnestic]

A bunch of half-naked, amnesiac wankers with lightsabers.

The more Amnestic people the better ;D

Now didn't Bioware sign with EA? If they did, it will be DRM, and yet another game I won't touch.

If it's an MMO, connecting to the server to play online will itself be "DRM", just like with WoW, WAR and all the other MMOs out there (to my knowledge).

Well, hopefully anyway. That's my assumption.