Star Wars: The Old Republic

[keg in kc]

Don't believe there's a dedicated thread, and since they're starting to release information now, I figure it's time for one.

[bowener]

Originally Posted by bowener

These 6 minutes were better than all 3 of the Prequels combined.

Originally Posted by Bowser

No shit, whoa.

Those trailer vids are better than the freaking prequels all rolled into one.

Hey now... you owe me royalties for intellectual property or something....

[keg in kc]

Beta impressions from Penny Arcade:

First of all, a lot has been made about the new “fourth pillar” of story telling. Is it really all they are making it out to be? In my personal opinion, yes, it really is a big deal and let me tell you why. In the short time I’ve been playing SW:TOR I have already given more thought to my character than I ever did in all the years I played WOW. I’ve had to make hard choices with my Bounty Hunter that have made me honestly think about who he is and what he’s like. At first I intended to play him as a real asshole but some of the moral quagmires these quests put you in just aren’t that black and white. Do I do what gets me the most credits? Do I stay loyal to the person who gave me the job even it means hurting Innocent people? As a result of all this I have a character that is a hard ass bounty hunter who has a soft spot for people in trouble and children. The only thing I could tell you about my WOW character Dudefella is that he was a mage and a hell of a good dancer.

Of course all MMO’s now are going to have you taking quests but I think the big difference here is that I tend to care more about these quests. I will admit I am not a quest reader when I play an MMO. I click and click until it’s accepted and then read the breakdown on my way out to wherever the wolf bladders are. Playing a class in SW:TOR is like playing a single player Bioware game. People are talking to you and you’re deciding how to respond and making dialog choices. Turning the quests into an interactive experience makes me care a lot more about them. A quest is still a chance to get XP, money and loot but it’s also an opportunity to advance your character towards the dark or light side based on your decisions. In most MMO’s taking quests is what you do so that you can go play. In SW:TOR, taking quests is playing.

(more at the link)

[Huffmeister]

Sounds cool. I'm a habitual quest text skipper when I play WoW. As a result, I know next to nothing about the lore of the game. I always tell myself that I should start taking the time read through the quests. But after about 7 quests of "There's a big bad guy over that we need to kill! But first we need some new thatching for our roofs. Go and collect 12 twine from those smaller bad guys over there." I go back to just skipping over the text.

At first I wasn't that impressed with the amount of dialog that will be in SWTOR. But the more I think about it, I hope it will help to provide a more immersing experience.

[keg in kc]

I'm a text-skipper as well. Even if it's a game where I'm interested in the lore (which I was in lotro at one point), I've never had much of a desire to read walls of text, so I end up tuning out what's going on so I can get back to combat or grinding or whatever other mind-numbing MMO activity I'm doing that day.

[Pants]

Wasn't much lore in WoW quest's unless the quests were for an instance or a huge world event. I read all that. The more local quests had some interesting themes (like when you first travel to Theramore). WoW's lore did have some really awesome heroes and that's what I think made the game so special. My WoW universe nerdiness had me so ****ing excited when I first heard rumors that we would find Tyralion in Burning Crusade. /shame

I freaking loved the WoW lore and I loved visiting all the unique little places in the world.

I also never really understood why the Undercity was alive with little stories and subplots and constant little events taking place in the city while Ogrimmar, Darnassus, Iron Forge and Stormwind were just so meh. It's like they started to design the game with the Undercity, got done with that and were like "**** working so hard on the cities, just throw some shit together for the rest of them and let's start on the rest of the world."

[keg in kc]

I was big into WoW lore when the game first launched lo those years ago, and they had the book trilogy leading into the game.

[keg in kc]

[Barret]

Something that might add fuel to the fire of when they are releasing TOR to the public.

I was big into Star Wars Galaxies before the dreaded NGE took place. I have been off that and addicted to WoW waiting for a new Star Wars type game. Anyway for those of you that played SWG or know about the game, Sony just released a statement to everyone stating they are stopping the SWG servers as of December 15th. Here is the email I got.

Dear Star Wars Galaxies™ Community Member,
We write to you today to inform you that on December 15, 2011, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and LucasArts will end all services (MMO and Trading Card Game) for Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). The shutdown of SWG is a very difficult decision, but SOE and LucasArts have mutually agreed that the end of 2011 is the appropriate time to end the game.
We are extremely grateful to all of the SWG fans. We have had the rare opportunity to host one of the most dedicated and passionate online gaming communities and we truly appreciate the support we've received from each and every one of you over the course of the past eight years.
In recognition of your incredible loyalty, we are extending special Fan Appreciation offers to the current SWG community. We also plan to go out with a bang with a galaxy-ending in-game event in December and hope to see you all there. The details relating to these offers and events as well as the timeline and specifics regarding the discontinuation of the service, are provided below.
Again, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our player community for making SWG one of the best online communities in gaming history.
Sincerely,
Sony Online Entertainment & LucasArts

Now there is more detail in the email but I didn't want a text wall to assault your eyes. Needless to say I guess Lucas Arts is putting all their eggs in 1 basket instead of trying to keep both Star Wars games up and going.

Bioware and EA have been very quiet on when a release of TOR will happen. I am wandering if they were waiting for this shoe to fall before they could actually say anything.

[Bowser]

Has there ever been a game hyped as much as this one?

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Has there ever been a game hyped as much as this one?

SWG, WoW, EQ2, Vanguard, AoC were all hyped out the yin-yang pre-release. Those are just a few off the top of my head.

I think the difference with TOR is that the game was announced extremely early (Feb '09 IIRC), and they've been giving weekly updates for nearly that entire time, so it's been constantly in the public eye. And they've seemed far more willing to let people play the game at conventions than any other game I can remember. People were I think playing early builds as far back as Gamescom in late 2009, and it was extremely well-received even that far back. I can't think of any real negative reactions to gameplay from anybody in the media whether it was 2009, 10 or 11.

And they've also been, since day it, solidly behind the idea of "it'll be done when it's done", so it's the rare MMO that (so far...) hasn't been rushed to market. As I recall the original estimated release date was Holiday 2010. So if that's an actual delay (no way to know because they've never even hinted at a release date...), then the game's been in development for nearly an extra year, which is a lot more time for hype to build. Although with a lot of us (including me) we're to the point where we're tired of hearing about it and want to play it. Hell, I'd probably be thrilled with playing a buggy TOR at this point.

[keg in kc]

[kcxiv]

One thing i learned being in the MMO scene for all these years, is that if it takes an extra year or 2 to get it right. I have no problems waiting! Alot of mmo's that came out rushed that had some much potential, but all shot to hell by an early release.

Keep it in alpha /beta til its ready!

[Son of Logical]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

One thing i learned being in the MMO scene for all these years, is that if it takes an extra year or 2 to get it right. I have no problems waiting! Alot of mmo's that came out rushed that had some much potential, but all shot to hell by an early release.

Keep it in alpha /beta til its ready!

My buddy got selected for the beta, and I have had a chance to play it, and it is amazing. It definitely has some bugs to it right now. That said, if they released it as is right now, I would play it (bugs and all). Being perfectly happy doing so. It is incredible.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

This game is just so wide in scope and replay value through the main story, the MMO aspect just pushes it into the realm of the potentially All-Time Greats.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

More timeline please...