BioWare Keeping Old Republic Release Date Under Wraps to Work on Launch

[Logan Westbrook]

BioWare Keeping Old Republic Release Date Under Wraps to Work on Launch

The director of The Old Republic says it would be terrible if something went wrong just as the game was getting going.


After so many years of work on Star Wars: The Old Republic BioWare wants a smooth, bug-free launch, and that's one of the reasons the studio hasn't announced a launch date yet. Game director James Ohlen says that BioWare is keeping quiet about release dates in order to give itself the time to make sure that the game lives up to expectations.

He said that with so much excitement and hype around the game - The Old Republic is apparently breaking EA pre-order records [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111932-Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Breaking-EAs-Pre-Order-Records] - it would be devastating if the game's servers went down or some other catastrophe occurred. Not just for the fans either, the development team - some of whom had been working on the game since 2006 - would be pretty disappointed, too, if something went wrong.

Ohlen also said that players didn't quite know about everything that The Old Republic had to offer yet. He said that while most of the game's really big components - things like the space battles or the warzones - had been revealed, there was at least one more announcement to come on that scale. There would be a steady stream on information right up until launch, he added, but he could say any more without getting in trouble with the game's PR department.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is available to pre-order now, and theoretically comes out later this year.

Source: Newsarama [http://www.newsarama.com/games/sdcc-2011-star-wars-old-republic-james-ohlen-interview-110802.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Newsaramasite+%28Newsarama.com%29]


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[Hungry Donner]

I wish more studios did this, but then I wish most games weren't even announced until 6-8 months before release.

 

[Tyras612]

On the edge of my seat for WoW in space.

 

[FPSMadPaul]

On the edge of my seat for WoW in space.

On the edge of my seat for a KOTOR MMO.

 

[LavaLampBamboo]

I personally think they are keeping the release date from the public because they are worried. Yes, it might be the most pre-ordered EA game ever, but they have been receiving a bit of flak for some of the game design.

I supposed at this stage, unless the game is ABSOLUTELY fantastic, people will have some gripes with it. I think three years in development is the point of no return; either perfect or hell to pay. Example; Duke Nukem, Daikatana... Other games I can't remember. I'm sure someone will call me up on a game that breaks this rule.

Half Life 2 took years to make, but it was fantastic. I just don't see SW:TOR attaining the same lofty heights.

Alternatively, I could be completely wrong. But we'll see I suppose =)

 

[Alfador_VII]

On the edge of my seat for WoW in space.

Sitting back for a few months, seeing how the launch goes. If it IS just WoW in space, meh. I might still give it a whirl at some point for a while.

 

[Alfador_VII]

Stupid double post, sorry.

 

[Discord]

Well it sure does show how committed they are to the game, I applaud there effort and work. Still won?t stop me predicting a Holiday release? (Late November 2011 I?m guessing).

OT sorta On Topic - Been checking around some Old Republic Clan Sites, (At lease I think there were clan sites) seems alot fo players are going Jedi/Republic/Light Side... Kinda makes me wanna go Dark side just for some Variety.

 

[Faela]

I want this game so much, but stupid staggered launch... *grumbles* EA are being jerks, stop being so cautious, no game is perfect at launch!

 

[Tyras612]

On the edge of my seat for WoW in space.

On the edge of my seat for a KOTOR MMO.

 

[alinos]

me thinks that the whole it will be out by the end of 2011 thing is biting them in the but

 

[uguito-93]

glad to see this is looking like its gonna be the antithesis of FF14, geez that ended up as a horrible mess.

 

[Worgen]

its pretty much impossible to have a totally smooth mmo launch but considering how much ea is putting in this Ill bet this will be about as close as you can get to one, I still dont really care though, next mmo Im getting is guild wars 2

 

[Petromir]

they've made no secret in the past that they fully understand the need for a smooth launch for an MMO.

the vast majority of initial players make up their mind about a new MMO off the back of the first few weeks or in other words the old adage "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" is widely recognised to apply when it comes to MMO launches.

in fine with "it'll be done when it's done" tbh.
it'll be good for both players and the game.

smooth Launch isnt everything, even for an MMO don't recall Wows being all that smooth. Not to say it doesnt help, if the games there it'll weather a reasonable amount of turbulance in a launch, if its not then no matter how smooth it is it wont eb a sucssess.

 

[Petromir]

they've made no secret in the past that they fully understand the need for a smooth launch for an MMO.

the vast majority of initial players make up their mind about a new MMO off the back of the first few weeks or in other words the old adage "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" is widely recognised to apply when it comes to MMO launches.

in fine with "it'll be done when it's done" tbh.
it'll be good for both players and the game.

smooth Launch isnt everything, even for an MMO don't recall Wows being all that smooth. Not to say it doesnt help, if the games there it'll weather a reasonable amount of turbulance in a launch, if its not then no matter how smooth it is it wont eb a sucssess.

when wow launched the MMO market was small and forgiving.

in a post WoW "casual" filled MMO market that is not the case.
"casual" players just want the damn thing to work.

True to a point, but most of the shoddy launches I've seen its still the game thats killed them not the launch per say.


on topic

Sometimes I wonder if people who run stress testing have worked out what the term means. Most of the ones I've participated in as a player, they rely on pure player numbers to break shit, and never get the numbers to tryly attempt this. They also seem to ony stress test things when they're working, the amrk of a decent stress test is to not only try and overwhelm it with players, but to try things like have someone deliberately take things offline or break components, and see how the system responds under load to this, and the techies respond to fix it.

 

[Roserari]

Duke Nukem Forever Returns

That's what I think of it. No matter what's going to happen, the game will not live up to expectations. It is a BioWare game after all. Like how I expected Mass Effect 2 to be the second coming of christ, taking the reviews in consideration. but it turned out to be rather mediocre at best.