Star Wars: The Old Republic is EA's Most Expensive Project in History

[Keava]

If they dont mess up in base gameplay and finally tell us more about the actual MMO part of SW:ToR they have good chance to actuallly not sink with it.

Over last year no mmo managed to grab a decent enough bite off the market share from WoW mostly because of obvious mistakes in the developement, same time there is plenty of people still stuck in WoW and waiting for something new that will let them leave the aging blizzards product. Many dont really want something innovative either, they dont need new features that sounds awesome on paper but in relaity are not functional during first 6 months of the games life.
The simillarity of SW:ToR to WoW, EQ and the clasic type of mmos while still having something different (finally a sci-fi setting, even if Star Wars is really fantasy in space) is a good thing for majority of those looking for a chance to play something new while still having chance for simillar expierience they had when they first started with WoW.

Obviously there is market for player-firendly games while all the niche and 'hardcore' ones struggle with notable expetion of Eve-O which just happens to do things properly.

 

[Azhrarn-101]

Either this works, and it successfully carves out a niche of its own or it'll fail so horribly that it'll take down Bioware and a large of chunk of EA along with it.

So if EA is serious about the "done when it's done" stance and let Bioware do their thing, they stand a chance of succeeding, but I'm not sure if aiming this high is a good idea. MMOs grow (or explode in WoWs case) into fruition, they aren't made that way.

 

[Kiefer13]

I really hope that the investment pays off. I've not been this excited about an MMOG before. I'm not saying that The Old Republic will be a WoW killer, but if any upcoming MMO is going to seriously compete with it, it's going to be TOR.

 

[Carlston]

Well. In that case, I hope (for their sake) that this game is as lucrative as the previous kotor games and doesn't bomb like previous star wars mmorpgs.

Well galaxies was just EQ with a coat of paint over it and wookiee hairdressers. It was doomed to fail.

I just hope this doesn't turn into KOTOR Forever.

 

[zenoaugustus]

Is there jet packs?

The improper grammar is killing me. "Are there jet packs?" would have been the proper way to phrase that question.

OT: I'm thinking of getting the Old Republic, so with the awesome might of this one guy, maybe they will be able to compete with WoW.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Oooooooh boy, just imagine EA's disappointment when (sorry, "if") it tanks like every other MMORPG that tries to cross WoW's path...

edit: I'm going to be frank, I don't think SW:TOR stands a single chance against the Blizzard monolith... and I think I have a reason to believe so, too:

Think about it this way - EA is trying to directly compete with Blizzard, and that means that they're gona have to try and detract some of the WoW gamers to SW:TOR instead. Yes, some players will also be attracted by the Star Wars universe and all, but EA are still gona have to take a chunk of Blizzard's cake if they stand any chance of competing.

Now, lets think about this for a minute: since WoW has recently stopped growing at 11.5 million subscribers or whatever, we can assume that they're not having a large number of players leaving/joining at any one time, i.e. the consumer base is fairly consistent. This means that a relatively significant portion of those WoW players have already established themselves in the community, joined guilds, levelled up, etc.

Aaaaaand they will leave all of that history, experience, etc, with WoW, and start all over again with SW:TOR, at the beginning level, with no contacts, no experience, and a new control scheme? Bear in mind also that its unlikely that players will subscribe to both at the same time, due to the monthly payment nature of MMO's.

So, lets sum up here: EA really needs to pull some portion of WoW's audience away from the MMO, when many of them will already have levelled up characters, built friendships, etc, within that game.

My guess is a lot of them will be reluctant to leave all that behind...

Yes, EA will be able to get an audience from Star War's fan too, but lets remember that Star Trek: Online had a huge Trekkie fanbase to pool from too... did that really help it?

I agree with you! ^.^

The point in MMO cases, there some bad luck going on when someone save it's a'X-killer"

"Oh this will be an WOW killer!"

Everytime those words are muttered, it's get worse.

 

[Rainboq]

Is there jet packs?

The improper grammar is killing me. "Are there jet packs?" would have been the proper way to phrase that question.

*Claps hands*

Bravo! Your initiation to the hall of Grammar Nazis is beginning!

 

[zenoaugustus]

Is there jet packs?

The improper grammar is killing me. "Are there jet packs?" would have been the proper way to phrase that question.

*Claps hands*

Bravo! Your initiation to the hall of Grammar Nazis is beginning!

No dude, it happened long ago. I'm sorry, but it just gets to me. My mom is an english major, so I was honed to write as perfectly as I can.

And I'm assuming there are jet packs, because the trailer portrayed a bounty hunter with one.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Is there jet packs?

The improper grammar is killing me. "Are there jet packs?" would have been the proper way to phrase that question.

OT: I'm thinking of getting the Old Republic, so with the awesome might of this one guy, maybe they will be able to compete with WoW.

So?

Allow him to type the way he wants, the internet is not like a novel.

Besides, there already a thread for that nerd rage.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.197615-U-instead-of-You

 

[Galaxy613]

I wonder if eventually they will drop it just like Mechwarrior 3025 and Earth & Beyond...

 

[Rainboq]

Is there jet packs?

The improper grammar is killing me. "Are there jet packs?" would have been the proper way to phrase that question.

*Claps hands*

Bravo! Your initiation to the hall of Grammar Nazis is beginning!

No dude, it happened long ago. I'm sorry, but it just gets to me. My mom is an english major, so I was honed to write as perfect as I can.

And I'm assuming there are jet packs, because the trailer portrayed a bounty hunter with one.

No, I mean the Escapist's! [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Grammar-Nazi-Guild]

 

[Simalacrum]

Snippeties

Haha, thats possibly true, actually

I think that (yeah, thats right, I have even more rant in my guns XD) a lot of analysts who predict "WoW killers" on the basis of their superior tech, gameplay, etc, are ignoring the social aspect of the whole thing, which is arguably the biggest aspect of an MMO...

The reason why WoW is so popular is because it got ahead of the pack - sure, other MMO's were around before WoW but Blizzard's game was the first to solidify the genre. WoW has time on its side - the player base is loyal to the point of addiction because they've established friends and connections on the game.

And, lets be honest, friends will ALWAYS pwn superior technology.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Hmph.

If only they could use all this money for a side project..

Maybe they could call it Knight of the Old Republic 3, huh?

*massive death glare.*

Give it up. KotOR 3 (or even 2.5, for that matter) aint happening. There's not even a plausible story that could justify a third KotOR now (though they could do a prequel for the MMO that took place during the actual war, it would probably loose much of what was loved about the previous two games).

On topic, I think this potentially says two things about EA:

1) That they truly value the project and have completely turned around the way the company works to produce really good games (albiet at much higher production costs), or

2) They were real cheapos before this project.

Oooooooh boy, just imagine EA's disappointment when (sorry, "if") it tanks like every other MMORPG that tries to cross WoW's path...

edit: I'm going to be frank, I don't think SW:TOR stands a single chance against the Blizzard monolith... and I think I have a reason to believe so, too:

[reasoned argument supporting his thesis]

As the point was made earlier, SW:TOR is the only game that even has a chance of competing with WoW in terms of both scale and success. For this reason alone, I think that it's worth looking at as a possible success.

Even better, it is acutally following the very formula that WoW used to build it's initial user-base: making a game off a loyal following using a franchise that players are already familiar with and hungering for more of.

At the same time, the point should be made that TOR is not ment to be a WoW killer, but rather an alternative to those who don't really want to play WoW, were scorned by WoW and now want something else in a MMORPG, or have grown tired of WoW (not the same group as the previous one). The more Sci-Fi-oriented asethetic of the game is a direct contrast to the "orcs and elves" concept of the WoW fanchise (yes it's a over-simplification, but that's also why people went nuts over the rumor of a Starcraft MMO to complete with WoW).

And kudos to the Working! avatar, xavierxenon.

 

[Rainboq]

Is there jet packs?

The improper grammar is killing me. "Are there jet packs?" would have been the proper way to phrase that question.

OT: I'm thinking of getting the Old Republic, so with the awesome might of this one guy, maybe they will be able to compete with WoW.

So?

Allow him to type the way he wants, the internet is not like a novel.

Besides, there already a thread for that nerd rage.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.197615-U-instead-of-You

You shush, I need my grammar corrected, it helps for English classes, XD!

 

[zenoaugustus]

No, I mean the Escapist's! [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Grammar-Nazi-Guild]

I think I'll pass. Hahaha

So?

Allow him to type the way he wants, the internet is not like a novel.

Besides, there already a thread for that nerd rage.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.197615-U-instead-of-You

I just made the correction. I never told him how to type. It is an OCD type thing for me. Sorry that I was just trying to correct someone's mistake and possibly improve their grammar.

 

[Jared]

Well here is hoping dosnt go all belly up for them!

 

[IamQ]

And yet the graphics looks like something from 2005? What the hell are they pouring all those money into?

Is there jet packs?

[sub]I won't leave Global Agenda unless it has jet packs...[/sub]

The bounty hunter has jet packs I believe.

An mmo is quite a huge game. Rendering all of it in high end graphics would tear your computer to shreds.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Shame it's going to fail miserably...If my intuition is anything to go by. And it's usually right.

Well, it won't fail financially. But it won't be a good game.

 

[Stone Wera]

If it's that big it must be awesome!
Because game developers have never let us down! EVER!!

OT: I do hope this is good, though... I won't be playing it, I just hope it's good for those who are paying for it.