Blizzard Exec "Wouldn't Bet Against" BioWare

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Blizzard Exec "Wouldn't Bet Against" BioWare


Star Wars [http://www.blizzard.com]-themed MMOG, saying he "wouldn't bet against" their chances of turning it into a successful MMOG.

Sams has developed something of a habit of periodically reminding everyone how difficult it is to create and run an MMOG, and he remained true to form in a recent interview with Star Wars: The Old Republic [http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=293917], Sams said, "Running this type of game, building this type of game, maintaining this type of game is exceptionally difficult. And so while we know [BioWare] has some excellent developers and some excellent leaders, time will tell as to how they can react, and how they can prepare themselves to do all the other things... There are a lot more back-office things to running a game like this than you can ever imagine."

Despite that, Sams thinks there's a very good chance that BioWare will be able to translate its well-known single-player RPG magic to the massively-multiplayer online realm. "They have as good a chance as anybody. I wouldn't bet against them, that's for sure," he said. "They are an excellent company and they're utilizing a well-known franchise as the backbone for that game. I think the combination of those two things bodes well for them, just because not everybody can say [that]."

Knights of the Old Republic, a single-player RPG released in 2003, was a major hit that helped breathe new life into the Star Wars franchise's videogame fortunes, and in the October announcement [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86954] of the KOTOR-era MMOG, BioWare's Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka promised more of the same. "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," Zeschuk said.

And as Sams pointed out, BioWare has one advantage going into this that most other developers don't, including Blizzard during the early days of EA [http://www.worldofwarcraft.com] as relates to money," he said, "And EA has a pocketbook that is fat."


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Baby Tea

Just Ask Frankie
Sep 18, 2008
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I'm really torn on this.

On the one hand, I am in love with Bioware. I would name my child Bioware if my wife wouldn't kill me. Every game I've played from them is just awesome, and some I still play over and over (Baldur's Gate series, anyone?)

But on the other hand, I really don't like the idea of a KOTOR MMO. Everyone and their pet fish is going to be Jedi/sith (Provided it's available right away), so where is the mystery in that? In KOTOR, you were one of a few Jedi (In terms of the game world. You didn't meet that many in game). Now you'll neck deep in robes, lightsabers, and patawans avenging their masters.

Hurrah.

I think the immersion will break the 9th time I run by some guy whose name is a variant of Luke Skywalker. Well hello, Duke Airsprinter!
 

DownLikeLead

New member
Nov 7, 2008
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Baby Tea said:
But on the other hand, I really don't like the idea of a KOTOR MMO. Everyone and their pet fish is going to be Jedi/sith (Provided it's available right away), so where is the mystery in that?
Agreed. There has to be some sort of level-up or training system that rewards the insanely devoted the jedi/sith abilities a la the fanfare that went on with the first jedi of SW: Galaxies. But, in doing so would BioWare encourage another section of the hopelessly devoted MMO fanbase to eventually develop bladder cancer from lack of bathroom breaks?
 

Slycne

Tank Ninja
Feb 19, 2006
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Maybe I am just going crazy, but I remember reading that the game was going to take place some 300 years after the KOTOR events. So while still in that era, they could possibly explain though exposition why there are so many Jedi and Sith around. If that makes for an interesting game is another discussion though.

Edit
"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
Star Wars The Old Republic MMOG Unveiled [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86954-Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-MMOG-Unveiled]
 

jthm

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Jun 28, 2008
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I just don't like MMORPG's in general. If I'm going to the trouble of playing a ROLE PLAYING GAME, then I want my role to be the star that the story and the game world revolves around. I don't want to wait in a queue outside a dungeon for 5 other Jedi's to come join me on a raid. Epic storytelling just doesn't happen in MMO's like it does in single player RPGs. KotoR's draw was an epic story with two different endings. This game has no ending.
 

MrSnugglesworth

Into the Wild Green Snuggle
Jan 15, 2009
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jthm said:
I just don't like MMORPG's in general. If I'm going to the trouble of playing a ROLE PLAYING GAME, then I want my role to be the star that the story and the game world revolves around. I don't want to wait in a queue outside a dungeon for 5 other Jedi's to come join me on a raid. Epic storytelling just doesn't happen in MMO's like it does in single player RPGs. KotoR's draw was an epic story with two different endings. This game has no ending.
Tabula Rasa was an MMO and it had an ending. So.... >.>