QUOTE
Dubbed Star Wars: The Old Republic, the massively multiplayer online game will allow players to choose between Jedi and Sith Empire factions, with each having unique races and classes. Only a PC version was confirmed in today's announcement. The story-based MMO will be set roughly 300 years after BioWare's 2004 single-player RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC, Xbox) and the Obsidian-developed sequel, or 3500 years before the beloved film series, which would be 3480 years before the crappy prequels.
http://www.shacknews...ticle.x?id=1032
http://www.shacknews...article.x/55926
http://www.shacknews...ticle.x?id=1032
http://www.shacknews...article.x/55926
But unlike Lucas increasingly puerile attempts, sounds like these guys have at least a vague understanding of storytelling:
QUOTE
"We're making KOTOR 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and beyond--this game is that big, it's got that much content in it," explained BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka. "It's very innovative--it's story based." The game has seen a team of 12 full-time writers producing content for the past few years, according to IGN, with each class getting its own story arc as "not everybody's fantasy was to be Luke Skywalker." "You get to choose many things in the game--your faction, your class, good and evil, how your story unfolds," explained lead designer James Ohlen.
"[Companion characters] are something that we're bringing to this game, and really the way we've described how companion characters work is the same in this, they're the lens with which you see the world," Zeschuk elaborated. "If you remember in the movies you had Han, Luke, and Leia," he continued. "But they also had their own personal stories...that's the dynamic we want to create in this game. For players to have their own personal stories, but to come together with other players and have their stories together." "No one wants to be just a guy," added art director Jeff Dobson. "There's nothing special about that. So we spent a lot of time really thinking about how the characters are going to look."
"A new Sith Empire has emerged from deep space and has gone to war against the Republic," furthered lead designer Ohlen.
"[Companion characters] are something that we're bringing to this game, and really the way we've described how companion characters work is the same in this, they're the lens with which you see the world," Zeschuk elaborated. "If you remember in the movies you had Han, Luke, and Leia," he continued. "But they also had their own personal stories...that's the dynamic we want to create in this game. For players to have their own personal stories, but to come together with other players and have their stories together." "No one wants to be just a guy," added art director Jeff Dobson. "There's nothing special about that. So we spent a lot of time really thinking about how the characters are going to look."
"A new Sith Empire has emerged from deep space and has gone to war against the Republic," furthered lead designer Ohlen.
Ummm... that would be a Sith Empire of *two*.
Looks like Raph Koster's Star Wars Galaxies, so spectacularly ass-raped by SONY Online, will be taking a late night swim with concrete boots:
QUOTE
As for the effect this could have on Sony Entertainment's existing Star Wars MMO Galaxies, BioWare dodged the question, noting that "today we're just focusing on the Old Republic."
Some things are best left on the big screen...
Hmmm... A lot of MMOs have tanked this year. The reason often attributed is crappy betas. Companies rush out a crappy product into beta, ignore the beta feedback, then go 'gold' on the expectation people will pay a monthly subscription fee to test it.
QUOTE
No release date was given, with BioWare stressing that the game has no release window, though a past report suggested it would launch in 2009. The studio is "definitely planning" an open beta, BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk confirmed.
Lots and lots of MMO flops, and WoW still rules the roost. Why do they bother?
http://hellforge.gam...O-Crash-of-2008
http://www.brokentoy...6/perspectives/
(Worst of these is Tabula Rasa, for which Lord British Richard Garriot - who hasn't had a success since the original Ultima - hoodwinked the South Korean makers of Tabula Rasa to pay to send him into space for 'publicity', during which I don't recall him mentioning the game once.)
Really, how many MMOs can the market support? WoW is king, and that shows no sign of changing. Unlike SONY's botched EverQuest sequel, Blizzard have the brains to recognise when a formula is working don't mess with it.
http://www.videogame...-2008-9928.html
Bioware got lots of praise for their original KOTOR, but I've got to wonder if there's room for one more MMO? Those screenshots with stylized cartoons here that look much like that awful Clone Wars TV Series don't exactly bode well.
This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 18 January 2009 - 05:01 PM