Star Wars: The Old Republic Breaking EA's Pre-Order Records

[drosalion]

Wait, we can't change the color of our lightsabers if we don't pre-order?

It's so obviously a niche game. The only people who will play it after the "I'm bored of WoW" crowd goes back home are the ones who love Star Wars enough to play an inferior MMO. It is a big group, but any mention of dethroning WoW is a running joke by now.

Declaring an MMO inferior before it comes out, fuck yeah!

Yeh you can change ur lightsaber (or rifle's blaster colour) to numerous different colours in-game, just the crystal u get with the pre-order is an exclusive bonus (they described it along the lines of a yellow/gold thing with a black core, or something).

 

[Gather]

I feel the need to add that I pre-ordered the collectors edition from Amazon and I'm happy even if the game "flops" (For me) after the first month; I managed to get myself a Darth Malgus 'collectable' when it arrives. Read the book and I loved the character so uh... Yeah, screw the other items I just want that.

 

[Vaccine]

I'm sticking with TotalBiscuits stance on this game, it's absurdly overpriced for an MMO, namely when the MMO genre is so fickle when it comes to surviving past the few first months.

I'm one of the few not buying into this game simply out of the fact I'm not letting EA gouge me for a game that MIGHT flop in the long run, shame on most of you who let EA do this to you as well.

 

[Chiefwakka]

People, in the MMO market, see Bioware as a ground breaking company, they see star wars, and they see a potential MMO that'll be different from WoW, no kidding this game is going to get hyped to the moon.

 

[Nami nom noms]

I pre-ordered already. I've been waiting for this game a long time Worst comes to the worst and I play my month of free time and it sucks... It's only 40 quid. If that is the case (which I highly, HIGHLY doubt) then there is only GW2 left that can save the mmo genre.

 

[feather240]

Don't underestimate the appeal of a star wars mmo to star wars nerds. They'll eat your internet servers for breakfast if you do.

Tell that to Star Wars Galaxies...

I'd be far more surprised if this didn't launch big. TOR really could launch on a scale that even WoW would notice, and probably will. Trick is, as others have said, in keeping hold of that playerbase after the initial hype has worn off.

I just can't see it. You can't beat WoW at its own game - that's been proven time and time again; SWG is sad proof that the IP alone isn't infallible; and relying on Bioware's to date 100% single player focused fanbase to stick with an MMO for months or years seems dubious.

All that, and launching a mega-budget subscription MMO in a year when half the western MMO market is shifting to hybrid/F2P models... I dunno... TOR just feels like it's coming to the party very late.

Um, this isn't WoW's game. While, yes, they are two MMO's at face value, each have different styles and genres. Do you really think that someone who loves High Fantasy will give a rats ass about Sci-Fi? Or even the other way around? No.

Also, it is common sense that just because you have an IP (Look at nearly every single Movie/Comic title game ever) and VERY few have been successful with just the IP. It takes good gameplay, something that Bioware has proven time and time again. (Fuck off DA2 haters).

Next, all the MMO's who are switching to F2P have... for lack of a better term, fucking sucked since its release. D&D? Sucked. Conan? Sucked. (If they didn't they would have managed to continue on its player base and not failed: Look at Warhammer online for an example).

I can go on and on. WoW has stayed on Subscription because of its solid gameplay and fanbase. I am pretty sure that the Star Wars fanbase exceeds any of Blizzards' and if the gameplay stacks up well it will survive on a Sub.

Stop comparing it to WoW. Haven't you heard? The only thing that will Kill WoW is WoW itself.

Please Note: I am not saying that ToR is going to be OMGosh A-Mazing!. I am just saying don't count it out before you tried it and don't stack it up against WoW. We (As in the MMO Market) are fucking sick and tired about "OMGosh WOW KILLER!" and "OMGosh WoW will win!" They are two completely different Genres (Sci-Fi and High Fantasy) and if you have ever been at a convention you will realize how many are actually large fans of both (IE: Not very much).

MMOs with vastly different IPs can still be ripoffs of eachother. It happens all the time. The combat in Bioware games is bad, however I think you're right about it having a good chance at succeeding. The voice acting and story will probably carry the game as long as there's a lot of content. Even if the story isn't that good it will still be miles ahead of other MMOs. People will have two reasons to stay, grinding and story.

 

[Alar]

Its fucking Star Wars. What did they expect?

This is what I don't get, at all. Why are they surprised? They had to know that fans were drooling over this more than any other Star Wars property they'd seen in the past... they HAD to know that. Were they just being pessimistic or something?

 

[ravensshade]

I've already pre-ordered the standard edition, don't feel spending more than $60 on an MMO of all things - Star Wars or no. I like the gameplay and cinematic videos so far, although Aion and Guild Wars 2 (when it comes out) are likely going to keep the majority of my attention MMO wise for some time yet.

ah you still play aion? i liked it but my general meh attitude to mmo's once the quest pool starts drying up made me falter at i think level 32?
how is it these days?

 

[rsvp42]

Its fucking Star Wars. What did they expect?

This is what I don't get, at all. Why are they surprised? They had to know that fans were drooling over this more than any other Star Wars property they'd seen in the past... they HAD to know that. Were they just being pessimistic or something?

Well when you're talking to investors or whatever, it's probably better to come off as cautiously optimistic. You don't want to undersell them on the whole venture, but you don't want to go overboard either. Besides, saying "it did much better than we expected" sounds better than "it did exactly how we expected," even if the numbers are the same.

 

[Xannieros]

I consider WoW's slowly shrinking player-base to be a factor in this. (Don't get me wrong they still have millions of players.) But many are getting tired of the game.

When Rift was released they took a noticeable hit to the amount of subscribers they had, and Trion Worlds was a small name barely anyone knew about. Star Wars: The Old Republic is the next MMO to drain WoW.. Star Wars, popular. Bioware, popular.

We may see this game stick, many MMO's in the past were said to be a WoW killer and failed. But this is something different.

 

[Sennz0r]

Bah, tried to Pre-order from Origin but cant get the page to go to the UK ver, meaning i'm forced to pay the overpriced Euros and try to translate from german or get someone from back home to order for me... Origin you are NOT making me a future customer this way, even steam lets me change the bloody language at least.

Woah wait, since when are Euros worth more than British Pounds?

 

[PrinceofPersia]

Why cant the game be pre-ordered in Australia again>?

Numbers, sheer numbers of people who really want to play this game.

 

[Omnific One]

I'm really not sure who to support here. I don't like the fact that Bioware is starting to go the MMO route, but I hate WOW and Activision.

Though I do think that the number of initial subs will drop in half in the first 3 months. To a third by the end of the first year.

 

[Clonekiller]

Well, regardless of what anyone thinks of the game, it has successfully made a load of money.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

I've never had an interest in MMOs until now. I already reserved the thing and I'm gonna upgrade my rig just so I can play it. With a brand like Star Wars and a pedigree like what Bioware has this is probably going to do fine.

 

[Azmael Silverlance]

Why cant the game be pre-ordered in Australia again>?

Numbers, sheer numbers of people who really want to play this game.

Yeah ok. But by that logic shouldnt they manufacture more copies of the game to meet the demand. I mean even if the game sucks they will make alot of money from the initial sales.

 

[Craazhy]

I've already pre-ordered the standard edition, don't feel spending more than $60 on an MMO of all things - Star Wars or no. I like the gameplay and cinematic videos so far, although Aion and Guild Wars 2 (when it comes out) are likely going to keep the majority of my attention MMO wise for some time yet.

..And then Mass Effect 3 will come along and completely make me give a fuck less about any of them for about a month. Yay!

What the fuck? People still play Aion?

I do greatly look forward to GW2 though.

10 bucks tOR's servers won't be able the handle the stress for the first week or two.

Personally just going to wait till they toss out the inevitable trial period, I learned my lesson after Rift.

Let's hope they're smart enough to divert some of this preorder money to building servers. But, they're EA, so they'll probably do something very EA-y instead.

It's just a Star Wars themed World of Warcraft - Bioware said it themselves. The 300 mirrion dorrar budget was blown almost completely on voice acting. And also knowing Bioware the gameplay will suck. I can't see this lasting longer than a few months.

You can't be under the impression that World of Warcraft has great gameplay. Not that you said it, but the evidence supports that successful MMORPGs don't need stellar gameplay, it just needs to be good enough. The gameplay in KoTOR and Mass Effect fucking blows and they're two of my and many other people's favorite games. It's about the total immersion process and, for the MMO angle, the social stamina.

It all depends on the launch, and whether they can maintain the initial player base long enough for those players' friends to start playing because their friends are playing and exponentially develop a digital society, or to do what made World of Warcraft successful. And if their leveling process is as immersive and diverse as they claim they've made it, it's reasonably possible for SW:TOR to be the next successful MMORPG and become the Pepsi to Blizzard's Coca-Cola.

 

[Ruairi iliffe]

Bah, tried to Pre-order from Origin but cant get the page to go to the UK ver, meaning i'm forced to pay the overpriced Euros and try to translate from german or get someone from back home to order for me... Origin you are NOT making me a future customer this way, even steam lets me change the bloody language at least.

Woah wait, since when are Euros worth more than British Pounds?

They arnt, but prices for games in germany are high if you take into account most shops/publishers dont ajust prices to the increase on the euro over the last 2-4 years.

Thus if something is £40 in the UK and 60 euros in germany, it dosnt take into account you are effectivly paying £10-15 plus. Thats why even though i work in a german Dev. not a single sole buys locally and from the UK.

Pisses me off to no end.

 

[Sixcess]

Also, it is common sense that just because you have an IP (Look at nearly every single Movie/Comic title game ever) and VERY few have been successful with just the IP. It takes good gameplay, something that Bioware has proven time and time again. (Fuck off DA2 haters).

Good single player gameplay. I remain sceptical that Bioware's undeniably impressive track record in single player RPGs will really transfer to an MMO.

Next, all the MMO's who are switching to F2P have... for lack of a better term, fucking sucked since its release. D&D? Sucked. Conan? Sucked. (If they didn't they would have managed to continue on its player base and not failed: Look at Warhammer online for an example).

Wait? WAR hasn't failed? First I've heard of it. Snark aside, WAR has trodden a path that I could easily see TOR following - big launch followed a year down the line by server mergers as population drops off. Admittedly WAR really suffered from the diminishing population because of its high PvP aspect, but still, it amazes me that WAR hasn't gone the full F2P route yet, or died altogether.

I can go on and on. WoW has stayed on Subscription because of its solid gameplay and fanbase. I am pretty sure that the Star Wars fanbase exceeds any of Blizzards' and if the gameplay stacks up well it will survive on a Sub.

Stop comparing it to WoW. Haven't you heard? The only thing that will Kill WoW is WoW itself.

Agreed, but...

Tell that to EA. They've poured a ton of money into this game and if there's not an EA exec sitting looking at these pre-order figures and dreaming that this will be the "WoW killer" to himself then I'll eat my PC. EA is greedy enough to go up against COD with Battlefield 3, and I fear they'll be greedy enough to go up against WoW with The Old Republic.

I don't want TOR to fail, really. I think it would be bad for the MMO genre in general if such a hugely hyped, long awaited and high profile title didn't do great business, but I can easily envisage a scenario where EA push it too hard - by having too many servers at launch setting up the dreaded server mergers consolidations a year down the line, or being too eager to get the cash shop up and running too quick (sub or no sub, I'll be astonished if they don't have a cash shop, and soon.)

That's my biggest fear for this game - that greed, arrogance, over ambition and just straightforward corporate stupidity will force it to try to be everything to everyone and end up being nothing to anyone.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

I've already pre-ordered the standard edition, don't feel spending more than $60 on an MMO of all things - Star Wars or no. I like the gameplay and cinematic videos so far, although Aion and Guild Wars 2 (when it comes out) are likely going to keep the majority of my attention MMO wise for some time yet.

ah you still play aion? i liked it but my general meh attitude to mmo's once the quest pool starts drying up made me falter at i think level 32?
how is it these days?

Well, I've got a level 55 Templar that does regular Beshmundir Temple runs (keyed for SW, of course), and a rather awesome legion that uses voicechat on a daily basis as well. Most of the people I play with are rather casual and social, so I do enjoy my time on there.

As well, being level 55 negates the whole "quest grinding syndrome" ordeal with MMO's, as I can pretty much do whatever I want now. As for how the game itself is doing mechanically, go to Aion's website and look up patch 2.5 that came out in May. Patch 2.6 is coming out on August 3rd as well, so new content very shortly.