Origin Online Exclusivity Won't Hurt The Old Republic, Says BioWare

[Sylveria]

Think I'll be waiting until after the game launches to see if physical copies of the game force you to use Origin before I buy. I'd rather not have EA rooting around in my computer to see what they can dig up. The whole thing really reeks of them datamining to see if you're using pirated EA games.

Though I have to give EA credit, I used to think between them and Activision, they were the lesser of the two evils. Proved me wrong.

 

[Cenequus]

Origin Online Exclusivity Won't Hurt The Old Republic, Says BioWare

BioWare's co-founder says The Old Republic is actually almost too successful right now.

Greg Zeschuk thinks that Star Wars: The Old Republic [http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Old-Republic-Pc/dp/B001CWXAP2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314217680&sr=8-2] will do just fine, despite digital sales of the game being limited to EA's Origin service. He says that Origin is "pretty slick" and that the game has reach it needs, even without other online retailers.

If anything, Zeschuk thinks that The Old Republic will do almost too well, and that if people don't hurry, they might not be able to play at all when the game launches. "We're going to be at capacity," Zeschuk said. "we're telling people is that if you don't pre-order a copy you may not even get in in the first month just because there's so many people on the servers that if you don't get it you may not play for a while." BioWare and EA have admitted that they are deliberately capping the capacity at launch however, so whether it should really be used as a metric for success is debatable.

Zeschuk is a high-profile EA employee, so it's unlikely that he's going to turn around and say anything bad about Origin. That said, it's unlikely that Origin will actually be bad, at least, not if EA really wants to compete against the likes of Steam. Unfortunately, it seems that Origin has something of a curious streak [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112559-Internet-Explodes-Over-Origins-Invasion-of-Privacy ], by which I mean that the terms and conditions give it permission to mine your computer for information and sell it to advertisers. That's going to put some people off, no matter how good The Old Republic actually turns out to be.

Source: PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/08/23/bioware-origin-wont-hurt-the-old-republic/]


Permalink

Great view but you missed one little thing. Origin isn't required at all to install or play the game,for both hard and digital version. Here's the piece you missed :
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8488436#edit8488436

 

[Rawne1980]

I don't think it's going to do anywhere NEAR as well as EA thinks it's going to do. Hell, I don't see it making a profit at first.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/313335/star-wars-the-old-republic-pre-orders-breaking-records-15-new-screens-here/

It will make a profit for them.

Depends how well it takes off and how fast they fix bugs as to how long that profit keeps coming in.

 

[docSpitfire]

Am I the only one who read this and decided I might be better of waiting for it to come out later?

"Oh the servers will be so full that we won't have room for everyone"
translates to "LAAAAAAAG... omg screw this noise /logoff" no?

So by their estimates it'll be a month or 2 after release that this game will be bearable to play?

 

[Nicolairigel]

So, this origin thing is not going to harm the old republic? I have no idea what it is, but its lost my purchase. Just kidding, I just never pass up a chance to say how much I hate this game and hope it will burn for killing one of my favorite series of all time...

 

[DeadlyYellow]

I can't help but wonder if this will run down the first month play period for early box purchasers even if they can't get into a server. That would be a laugh.

 

[Woodsey]

snip

Stephen Reid from BioWare has confirmed you won't need Origin itself to play, even if you buy from the store:

"Regardless of what other games may choose to do in their integration with Origin's desktop client, here's what our situation is:

You are not required to use the Origin desktop client to download, patch or play the game client for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

This applies whether you purchase The Old Republic via Origin.com or from a retailer in boxed form. You will not be forced to install the Origin desktop client.

There are still various consumer benefits to the client itself, but it's not required for The Old Republic."

I know you didn't say that, but people will inevitably assume.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8488436#edit8488436

Anyone intersted in TOR should join The Escapist user group here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-SW-TOR

Am I the only one who read this and decided I might be better of waiting for it to come out later?

"Oh the servers will be so full that we won't have room for everyone"
translates to "LAAAAAAAG... omg screw this noise /logoff" no?

So by their estimates it'll be a month or 2 after release that this game will be bearable to play?

That's why they're limiting copies initially, so the servers cope.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

So once Origin's ToS reaches total internet saturation, what do you think that The Old Republic's projected profit margin will be?

 

[teisjm]

I can't decide if they are just pushing pre-orders (technically unnecessary), trying to distract from a potential capacity problem (uh oh), or are idiots.

I think it's too much optimism, personally. Bioware has been really over-estimating how popular their games will be for a while now.

I don't expect the servers will be over-crowded on launch, because I expect they are using some kind of metric like "every person who has pre-ordered a copy will attempt to get on SIMULTANEOUSLY". They may be close to full during peak hours.

I kind of hope TOR does reasonably well, but I personally have no interest in actually playing it.

The problem with launch will be everyone having to complete the same quests, while stuck in the same starter zones.

I remember getting WoW:TBC at launch night, there was so many people trying to complete the same quests in the same starting zone, luckily it was a PvP server, so it added some different kinds of fun.

 

[ImprovizoR]

Yeah, I'm not installing that spyware on my PC. Sorry EA. I don't like you and I don't trust you. You haven't given me a reason to.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, to be honest I think ToR has a lot of potential, but sadly it seems like it's on it's way to becoming a bit of a train wreck for a while.

See, when I'm hearing all of this stuff about server capacity caps, and people not being able to play an MMO of all things for the first month, and so on, it really gives me a bad taste in my mouth. Basically your looking at really incompetant management not wanting to prepare for a rush of people they know ahead of time is coming (hence the warnings), because they can't be bothered to close servers down or whatever should the popuilation drop, OR your looking at them making claims of this sort simply to try and pressure people into buying the game as opposed to waiting to see how it turns out, which is pretty much douchebaggery at it's finest.

The stuff with Origin is just icing on the cake. In general they seem to be talking out of both sides of their mouth about whether the service will be required. Over the last few months I've seen official sounding claims and quotes saying differant things.

Interestingly my immediate reaction to this is that the game not requiring Origin is only a relief if the game client does not itself do the same basic thing. How much is that client that I run game through going to dig through my system while I play Old Republic Online... "purely to support our game". If that client winds up doing all of the same stuff except it's not technically called Orion... well we'r eback to Square #1. I have no evidence that this is the case, but it does occur to me that they are very specific to talk about Origin and not to actually say that they have no intention to data mine their MMO players which is the actual issue, not the specific software being used to do it.

I hope to play ToR and have my pre-order in, and we'll see what happens with me in the long run, but really I think people need to look past the "Origin" label to the company policy that is the issue, it doesn't matter what they call the software being used to mine the data.

 

[Sixcess]

If anything, Zeschuk thinks that The Old Republic will do almost too well, and that if people don't hurry, they might not be able to play at all when the game launches. "We're going to be at capacity," Zeschuk said. "we're telling people is that if you don't pre-order a copy you may not even get in in the first month just because there's so many people on the servers that if you don't get it you may not play for a while."

I'd love to know what they're really saying about TOR behind closed doors. That TOR will have a huge launch is a given and there's no cause for them to pat themselves on the back about it. It doesn't matter though. What matters is the numbers six months or a year down the line.

I just wish they'd stop being so bloody smug and self congratulatory about the damn thing. Shut up about how awesome it's going to be, Bioware/EA, and just get it out the door and then we will see how it really performs.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

The two BioWare games I've played were bad, and Origin is bad... so, meh... I don't see the problem...

 

[Ghostkai]

Seems that people are still over looking this:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.308993-The-Old-Republic-will-NOT-require-Origin

Yes, I know I posted it... But, it's pretty important, so many people are acting like TOR requires Origin.

IT DOES NOT. It is not required to Install, patch OR play the game. I'm not reposting the link again, it's getting tired now, stop overlooking this fact people. Thanks to people linking it as well in this thread.

 

[Baresark]

I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed. I was looking forward to this, but I really dislike EA. I mean, I was looking more forward to BF3. I didn't even mind Origin till I discovered they could harvest data from me without my direct consent.

Then, TOR is going to be intentionally capped? That is just so stupid. Also, the idea that you don't "need" other sellers because the game is already "too successful"? I have to say, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. It's like some kind of ridiculously transparent reverse psychology. So.... I guess... fine, you don't need my business, I can live with that. There are lots of great games coming out over the course of the next few months, the last thing I need to do is find something else to spend money on.

Good luck to you EA. May you grow some business sense.

 

[Baresark]

Seems that people are still over looking this:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.308993-The-Old-Republic-will-NOT-require-Origin

Yes, I know I posted it... But, it's pretty important, so many people are acting like TOR requires Origin.

IT DOES NOT. It is not required to Install, patch OR play the game. I'm not reposting the link again, it's getting tired now, stop overlooking this fact people. Thanks to people linking it as well in this thread.

People are still allowed to not buy the game because they don't want to support EA, right?

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

The Origin EULA complaints are still silly (all EULAs are ridiculous, it's just that no one bothers to read most of them), but artificually limiting the population is just dumb.

Trying to artificially limit supply to drum up demand is incredibly manipulative and unethical past a point that even I'm comfortable with.

I mean, I'm still going to be pre-ordering, but I'm pretty unhappy with this announcement. It's not like game servers are a scarce commodity that they can't get their hands on or like adding more imposes a particularly huge or unfair burden on the company. They clearly just want free advertising and reputation resulting from the frustration of their future consumers. Abusing the knowledge that a lot of consumers will wait and still buy it later if necessary strikes me as particularly dispicable.

 

[deathyepl]

My issue with Origin is based on EA's past online behavior... I don't TRUST them to still have Origin running in a few years after it hasn't performed as well as they'd hoped.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

I'm guessing these guys didn't study their Greek tragedies, because right now, they need to be concerned with a magical little something called hubris.

You sir have earned an Escapist cookie!
*Hands you a M&M cookie with all blue M&Ms*
All the Ms have been turned into Es. How?
We turned them.
Enjoy!

 

[Antari]

These idiots really don't have much of a grasp on how much people hate EA and Origin do they? Even if Origin isn't required for the games operation the fact that Origin is installed on my computer to get the game is enough to prevent the sale.