**OFFICIAL** Star Wars: The Old Republic Thread

[coloumb]

There seems to be a lot of people in the test forums asking for more Galaxies like features. I hope BioWare is listening.

I don't. Adding in SWG features at this stage of the game would extend testing until 2021.

I'd rather have a KOTOR 3 soon than nothing at all for another 10 years.

BTW - anyone can play SWTOR at Comic-Con this week[end] - And looks like they'll have some juicy announcements [hopefully a release date!]

http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20110715-0

===================
At 3:30PM on Thursday, July 21st our panel for Star Wars: The Old Republic will be held inside room #6BCF. During the panel we will be answering questions from the audience, giving away some items, showing new gameplay footage and making some announcements!

For people who can’t make it to the Star Wars: The Old Republic panel, they can still get some hands-on time with the game on the showfloor. Located inside the Star Wars™ Pavilion (booth #2913), we will have game stations set up for attendees to get a little bit of time exploring one of our four Origin Worlds, the starter planets for each class. These stations will be open during all four days of the show.

 

[Mem]

How the hell have you clowns not gotten kicked out of testing?

I suggest you read Forum guidelines unless you want a long vacation.

1) No trolling, flaming or personally attacking members. Deftly attacking ideas and backing up arguments with facts is acceptable and encouraged. Attacking other members personally and purposefully causing trouble with no motive other than to upset the crowd is not allowed.

 

[Mem]

My concerns are I don't think the game is ready yet,I did hear something about beta testers using an older build ie last May or something,however don't think they can fix and polish the game by September if rumour for the date is right.

 

[Mem]

I don't. Adding in SWG features at this stage of the game would extend testing until 2021.

I'd rather have a KOTOR 3 soon than nothing at all for another 10 years.

I wish ToR was KOTOR3 ie a single player game,MMORPG wise it will be ok for a month or so then players will probably get bored and leave.

It's one thing to have a KOTOR storyline but another to have a MMORPG,some players are going to be disappointed.

 

[DrunkenSano]

I don't. Adding in SWG features at this stage of the game would extend testing until 2021.

That's what is most disappointing so far, they could've made an awesome open sandbox type game since the Star Wars universe is so vast. Instead it looks like they are going linear with limited access to the galaxy. What a waste of all the development time they had before this. That's one major downside to WoW, it kills the freedom of fun for players, which makes the game very boring in the long run.

 

[smackababy]

That's what is most disappointing so far, they could've made an awesome open sandbox type game since the Star Wars universe is so vast. Instead it looks like they are going linear with limited access to the galaxy. What a waste of all the development time they had before this. That's one major downside to WoW, it kills the freedom of fun for players, which makes the game very boring in the long run.

And despite that "major" downside, WoW is still the best MMO (as far as playerbase) to date. Why would they go the SWG route again? It was clear that isn't a model for mass success. Everyone wants to option to be a jedi right off the bat, everyone wants a simple system and a fun grind to the top. End game will be what makes or breaks this game. Terrible or inaccessible end game will kill it very fast.

 

[Mem]

That's what is most disappointing so far, they could've made an awesome open sandbox type game since the Star Wars universe is so vast. Instead it looks like they are going linear with limited access to the galaxy. What a waste of all the development time they had before this. That's one major downside to WoW, it kills the freedom of fun for players, which makes the game very boring in the long run.

A more open sand box game would of been better for sure,feedback from players did suggest this and I think some players thought it would be before they started playing it.

 

[DrunkenSano]

There can only be one WoW, look at all the other WoW clones, people try them out and get bored. You keep building clones instead something innovative and new, you will end up getting a pile of crap people will have forgotten about except for hardcore fanboys digging in. Star Wars could've been a new WoW in terms of doing something a little different, that's what made WoW so successful when it opened and its continued longevity.

A more open sand box game would of been better for sure,feedback from players did suggest this and I think some players thought it would be before they started playing it.

A lot of us thought it would be, with just WoW features but so far it's been very disappointing. Any feedback now would be too late since you can't change the core of the game in Beta. :|

 

[Mem]

And despite that "major" downside, WoW is still the best MMO (as far as playerbase) to date. Why would they go the SWG route again? It was clear that isn't a model for mass success. Everyone wants to option to be a jedi right off the bat, everyone wants a simple system and a fun grind to the top. End game will be what makes or breaks this game. Terrible or inaccessible end game will kill it very fast.

They could of added best parts from SWG,ie areas for housing,guild towns etc more social content , SWG had excellent economy content,plus ToR is suppose to be MMORPG...I can't see players paying for a sub every month so they can replay it 8 times with different storyline and charcters,that'll get boring real quick and is not what makes a MMORPG.

 

[DrunkenSano]

They could also have player owned shops and establishments, not just for housing, really opening up the game where communities can be made and be more interactive with each other. Player made bounty hunting guilds, cantinas, smuggling rings, black markets, etc. A good chunk of the game could be built on the backbone of a player made (with NPC balancing) economy. War between Sith and Old Republic could effect various planets due to blockaded goods and whatnot, then you get smugglers who have to sneak in goods to sell at a good price.

So many things they could've done with a more open game instead of just giving you one path to play and force you to try to enjoy endgame. Banking on a continually developing and expanding endgame with a dash of battleground PvP is no longer the answer to success. That's one of the main reasons long time plyers of WoW left that game.

 

[Wordplay]

They could also have player owned shops and establishments, not just for housing, really opening up the game where communities can be made and be more interactive with each other. Player made bounty hunting guilds, cantinas, smuggling rings, black markets, etc. A good chunk of the game could be built on the backbone of a player made (with NPC balancing) economy. War between Sith and Old Republic could effect various planets due to blockaded goods and whatnot, then you get smugglers who have to sneak in goods to sell at a good price.

So many things they could've done with a more open game instead of just giving you one path to play and force you to try to enjoy endgame. Banking on a continually developing and expanding endgame with a dash of battleground PvP is no longer the answer to success. That's one of the main reasons long time plyers of WoW left that game.

Honestly once they started to talk about story so much I knew the game would be like WoW. I'm not sure if you can have a big story based game with it being a sandbox MMO. They want you on a path to see the story all the time and they did that by killing gamers imagination. Also I am mad since there appears to be no pazaak mini-game.

That sounds like epic PvP waiting to be had right there. That is how TOR should be played. Not like having a greater evil always show up like in WoW were we have a common enemy. The opposite faction is the enemy and we are at war damn it!!!

 

[Mem]

Honestly once they started to talk about story so much I knew the game would be like WoW. I'm not sure if you can have a big story based game with it being a sandbox MMO. They want you on a path to see the story all the time and they did that by killing gamers imagination. Also I am mad since there appears to be no pazaak mini-game.

That sounds like epic PvP waiting to be had right there. That is how TOR should be played. Not like having a greater evil always show up like in WoW were we have a common enemy. The opposite faction is the enemy and we are at war damn it!!!

It'll been interesting to see how the final version of ToR turns out,I wonder how much EA had control over ToR etc....?

 

[DrunkenSano]

I think the biggest thing EA have and will have on TOR is how hard they will be pushing for the product to be released. Which will most likely make it worse than it should be, do to rushed deployment.

 

[Red Storm]

I think the biggest thing EA have and will have on TOR is how hard they will be pushing for the product to be released. Which will most likely make it worse than it should be, do to rushed deployment.

This, unfortunately.

 

[Mem]

This, unfortunately.

Tomorrow is the big day we find out what the news is on ToR,I'm betting it will be pre-order info and dates,I guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

[darkewaffle]

Players that play betas and write 10 page feedback are not where the money is.

And all these possible features sound just spiffy when you rattle them off like that but completely ignore how exceedingly difficult they would be to design and implement; balancing issues, scaling issues, player distribution, faction equality and more. Not to mention they would still probably end up incredibly under utilized. Most players just want to swing a lightsaber, shoot a laser gun and wander around a bit in the Star Wars universe.

 

[Mem]

Players that play betas and write 10 page feedback are not where the money is.

And all these possible features sound just spiffy when you rattle them off like that but completely ignore how exceedingly difficult they would be to design and implement; balancing issues, scaling issues, player distribution, faction equality and more. Not to mention they would still probably end up incredibly under utilized. Most players just want to swing a lightsaber, shoot a laser gun and wander around a bit in the Star Wars universe.

SOE did it with SWG so not that hard,plus when you look at Bioware and EA as large organization plus the time ToR has been in development you can't blame players for expecting more.

 

[coloumb]

I don't think EA had much control over SWTOR - just by watching the videos, reading the forums, etc - it feels like they wanted to bring KOTOR game into a multi-player world.

Video up on the front page - if they can pull all of that off, I think a lot of people will stick around to play at least for awhile - yet, a lot will go back to WoW because it's the current defacto standard of MMO and they'll miss the trade chat off topic arguments.

 

[Mem]

coloumb did you managed to get your issues fixed ie play ToR?

 

[DrunkenSano]

Pretty much, it seems like all that time and money they used to develop ToR was a waste when they pretty much just made a WoW clone. They could've used all that time and resources to design and balance a game with all those spiffy features, thus setting the new bar for all future MMOs like WoW did. Most players want more than just swinging a lightsaber, shoot a laser gun, and walk around in a small ingame universe. Atleast those that play MMOs on PC, on a console that limited amount of gameplay is just fine.

 

[Wordplay]

Tomorrow is the big day we find out what the news is on ToR,I'm betting it will be pre-order info and dates,I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Well considering the specs, box art, and all that stuff has leaked I would say yes. Hell even on the official site they are allowing links to those pictures to stay up.

If the rumor is true, is anyone going to buy the pre-order from origin so they can get the early access? Supposedly not that many will be available for the official pre-order.

 

[BoberFett]

That's what is most disappointing so far, they could've made an awesome open sandbox type game since the Star Wars universe is so vast. Instead it looks like they are going linear with limited access to the galaxy. What a waste of all the development time they had before this. That's one major downside to WoW, it kills the freedom of fun for players, which makes the game very boring in the long run.

It's Bioware, the kings of RPGs on Rails. Did anybody really expect anything different?

 

[Wordplay]

It's Bioware, the kings of RPGs on Rails. Did anybody really expect anything different?

Yes, some people did.

 

[BoberFett]

And despite that "major" downside, WoW is still the best MMO (as far as playerbase) to date. Why would they go the SWG route again? It was clear that isn't a model for mass success. Everyone wants to option to be a jedi right off the bat, everyone wants a simple system and a fun grind to the top. End game will be what makes or breaks this game. Terrible or inaccessible end game will kill it very fast.

The SWG model wasn't a failure, SOE was. Even with virtually nothing to actually do in the game, the people who played it made their own fun. There were so many things that SOE could have done but didn't. There was thread after thread on the official forums of simple ways to make the game fun. Ways to give the players tools to create more of their own fun. Stuff for smugglers, bounty hunters, crafting, you name it. Instead they prompted the Jedi grind rather than change the way Jedi are unlocked and then changed the game entirely.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

This thread just makes me want to renew my SWG account, however many years later. I have only rose-colored memories of that game. The player driven economy was unlike any other game I have ever experienced. Every player made item was unique...everyone wasnt a clone of each other, carrying the same "epic" armor and weapons. So awesome.

I think I left right around when the NGE was going on. But I left because of World of Warcraft...which brings up a question: Did SWG die because of the NGE or did it die because of WoW? I am not sure on the timeframe of those two events but they seemed pretty close to me.