Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG by Bioware

[OSCORP]

I wouldn't hold your breathe for any release date announced. Remember, The Force Unleashed was released like a year after they said it was.

Yeah but this is an MMO and different. They've been working on it since 2005.
It'll be out next year the latest, but there's a lot of speculation about it coming out this winter.

 

[Darth_Fatso]

kinda sorta... not really. You're close, but there is alot more to it.

in the EU, there is a "jedi civil war" reffered to as "the rift" or "the division". Basicly, THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS ( like 10-15K years or so) of years back, the "light side jedi" and the "dark side Jedi" worked together. Those that used the light siade focues on drawing on the power of the universe, and those that used the dark side Drew upon the power of the self.
Those who used the poweres of the universe had a very Zen-like existances, and those who ued the poers of the self were very... passionate. the problem was that in manny cases the useres of the power of the self would become unstable. As such, the jedi council ( generaly made up entirely of "light siders") Decides to abandon the teaching of the way of the self, and outlaw it. this is what spark a war between the two factions, which eventualy leads the "dark jedi" to being driven off ossus, and out of the galaxy.

the dark jedi eventualy come to the parts of the galaxy controled by the sith race. The sith race practieced use of the dark side of the force, Alchemy, and "sorcery". the sith culture Has been descrived as a fairly...agresive group of people ( think Klingons, without the honor mentality) Over a few thousand years the Dark jedi and sith Cultures slowly shared ideas and intermingleld untill both cultures beacme one. same ideals, same practices, same everything. One of the few constats was the hatrid of the jedi. the Dark Jedi's unfair treatment at the hands of their opressors, etc etc etc.

At which point Naga Sado steps in and does his thing, and the rest is history.

Funny thing, Naga Sadow in the long run regrets doing this.

Yeah I just explained the fast version. Your explaination is much better and detailed than mine. Great job!

 

[IrishJedi]

There is no way this game ships this year.

 

[lerath666]

why not? it's been in development for 4 years already most games have a 3 year development.
granted, bioware is known for slightly longer development periods, but it's still possible

 

[hairlesswookiee]

There is no way this game ships this year.

we can still hope for the best.

 

[OSCORP]

From a post on the site (makes sense to me)

When did Bioware actually begin its development?
- If you count from the very very start? December 2005

When did Bioware have a working alpha environment?
- They had it from day 1. The HeroEngine was built and ready to go when they started the project. This is the main reason that this game is a lot closer to release than anyone thinks. The HeroEngine cuts MMO development time by as much as 50%.

This is the problem I have. If a ground up MMO can be developed and released in 4-6 years why would this project, with an engine that cuts MMO development time in half be released after 6 years? The 2011 guess is way off base and makes little sense at all.

1. The Devs basically said they "hope not to" be at next years E3 with this game.
2. This game was in a PLAYABLE Alpha stage back in 2007, who has ever heard of Alpha lasting 3+ years?.
3. Bioware has never in it's history released information on a game 2-3 years before its release. They only tell people about games that are nearly complete.
4. Speaking from a marketing standpoint, it would be stupid to try and run up excitement and build a fan-base over the course of 2-3 years. It uses valuable resources that are better used creating the game.
5. We know from back when they first announced the game they had a 2009 target for release. What would cause this game to be pushed back 2 years?
6. Every writer who has seen the game-play demo say it looks great and runs smooth. Doesn't sound like a game in Alpha.

The Artwork is complete. The classes are done. The Worlds as almost done. We know the Voice-Acting is complete or close to, so we know the story, quests and NPC's are set.

If you look at everything we know logically this game could be out in time for Christmas, but if they need more time, May (The Star Wars Anniversary) would make the best time to release the game.

Q4 2009, or Q1 2010 make the most logical sense.

 

[darthviper107]

I think the main thing is the amount of content that they're creating. They've got way more planets than what was in SWG, better graphics, and every character has full dialogue, it's going to have the most recorded dialogue every made for any media.

 

[IrishJedi]

Thing is, if it were going to be released this year (even Q4) we probably would have heard something at least tentative at E3. That we didn't is pretty telling.

My guess is a tentative release date (or release window) will be announced at SDCC (probably as part of Lucasfilm's presentation) and that it will be sometime in 2010.

BioWare is handling all of the development and creative aspects of the game (thank God) but it's being published by LucasArts, and they will ultimately decide things like release dates and such (once the game is complete, of course).

And Lucasfilm does not like short marketing windows at all. And by short I mean less than 6 months.

I would be very, very pleasantly surprised to see this game drop in 2009.

 

[plasmid303]

Did Bioware mention a public beta of any sort? I'd imagine a public beta would be the only realistic possibility of gamers getting their hands on TOR in 2009.

 

[lerath666]

Thing is, if it were going to be released this year (even Q4) we probably would have heard something at least tentative at E3. That we didn't is pretty telling..

bioware's known for playing things pretty close to the chest. Also, an MMO is an entirely different beast, not to mention new territory for them. Things can change, or go wrong really fast, and cause masive delays.

Having said that, they've already GOT the game engine, and have had it since the begenning. THIS more than anything else makes me think it's about ready to go.

Something else that's pretty standard about MMO's. they tend to get released to the public at 70-80% completon, and they finish the game through patches. Once an mmo hits the market, you've generaly got 2-6 months before anyone is at the endgame, and that gives you time to polish off the endgame and get it ready. In addition, the endgame typicaly goes in Tiers. the first tier being a group tier, the second, third, 4thh, and so on being "Raid" tiers. And you need completion of each tier in sucession to progress safely to the next. MMO's typicaly launce with the group tier built in, but the raid tier still in development.

For those of you that play wow, the comparison of group and raid tier would be as follows

Original Release

Dungeon Set 1
dungeon set 2 ( added with a patch after Raid set 2 was addded)
Raid Set 1 Added with first major patch
raid set 2 Added with second major patch
raid set 3 Added with third major patch
__________________________

Buring crusade expansion
Dungen set 3

Raid set 4
raid set 5 ( required a major quest to unlock the raid where this equipment came from)
raid set 6 ( added with a major patch)
_______________
Wrath of the litch king

Dungeon and faction gear
Raid set 7
Raid set 7.5
Raid set 8 ( added with first major patch)
raid set 8.5

For those of you that are COMPLETELY lost, at the endgame, accumulation of higher end equipment is the only method of charcter advancement at the endgame ( when you reach max level) Getting this equipment is generaly spaced out from a combination of killing specific bosses in group ( 5-6 player) and raid ( 10-40 player) "Dungeons". to be able to survive playing in the next biggest dngeon you need your "gear" from the previoous dungeon for your player class. as each boss only drops a few things, and never something for everyone ( the loot tables in an mmo are random) getting 6-40 peope geared out ( depending on the size of the next raid or group based dungeon) can take a considerable amount of time. As such, they only need the first tier of Dungeons ready at game launch, buyng them and additional 3 mons or so of time BEYOND the amount of time it takes for people to GET to max level.

I have no idea where player crafting will come into play, but lets say it plays as large a role in this game as it did in Star Was Galaxies ( i doubt it however, Galaxies is considered a failure as far as MMO's go. A Profitable failure, but still, a failure. as such, i don't see Bioware borrowing from it very much) Then you would likely need items dropped by said bosses, yielded from quests, whatever to Craft the big, end0game gear.

so like i said, unlike a standard, single-player game, they do not need to be 100% finished when they release it. VERY FEW MMO's have been, and I doubt this will be any different.


Also, I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Bioware does open Beta's. I THINK I remember reading that they do al that in-house.

 

[OSCORP]

If it is to be release this winter, i'm sure the date is not set in stone. That's most likely why they didn't say anything at E3. Being an MMO and all, it's not unusual to get pushed back. Bioware having said at the beginning that the target was late 2009 gives me at least some hope that it could be this winter. (but 1 year from now we will all be playing this i'm sure) For me the sooner the better, i trust Bioware. I can't wait to play this, i just hope my comp will run it.

 

[lerath666]

new class was announced appearently. a ranged dps/ group buff class. friend of mine is follwoing this religiously, just told me about it. anyone care to elaborate?

edit: nevermid, here's a link
https://www.swtor.com/info/holonet/classes/trooper

 

[IrishJedi]

Again, BioWare is making this game but they do not call the shots when it comes to marketing and release. That's all Lucas.

 

[IrishJedi]

Did Bioware mention a public beta of any sort? I'd imagine a public beta would be the only realistic possibility of gamers getting their hands on TOR in 2009.

From their FAQ:

We have not yet scheduled the Beta Test for Star Wars: The Old Republic. We recommend subscribing to the newsletter or keeping an eye on the official website so you can be one of the first informed when this information is released.

So, the Beta will be open (somewhat) but still hasn't even been scheduled.

 

[lerath666]

Again, BioWare is making this game but they do not call the shots when it comes to marketing and release. That's all Lucas.

And i'll wager it's going to be handled by lucasarts no differently than any other mmo.

Then again, they did cancel Star wars galaxies a year before it was released, and started over from the ground up, but released the canceled version anyways. so who knows.

 

[OSCORP]

I've heard rumors that the beta will be very small and short 3-4 weeks. (take that as you will)

Anyone ever remember seeing SWG commercials in 2003? Me neither, i think online was all i ever saw. It don't really matter, by mid summer (if they start to release more and more info in the coming month or so) i think we will know one way or the other about a 4th qtr release. But it will not be any later than 2nd qtr 2010, i'd bank on it. But if they can get it out by xmas i'll be more than happy.

 

[OSCORP]

Well we know 2009 was the target at least.

GameSpot - Jan 13th, 2007

BioWare MMORPG landing in 2009

Last year, BioWare announced its entry into the massively multiplayer role-playing game market. The Canadian developer has enjoyed over a decade of critical and commercial success with its single-player RPGs for the Xbox and PC, such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, little is known about its first MMORPG, which is currently in the works at its Austin studio.

Now, a little more is known about the BioWare MMORPG. The most recent issue of Information Week contains an article examining some of the technology behind the project, which will reportedly use enterprise software from StreamBase Systems. In the course of the article, BioWare technical director Bill Dalton revealed that the MMORPG is currently slated to ship in 2009. As of press time, BioWare reps were unavailable to confirm the date for the game, which currently has no title, genre, publisher, or platform associated with it.

In the past, Massachusetts-based StreamBase has made headlines because it is partially owned by a company that provides technology to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). BioWare's MMORPG will use StreamBase's powerful software for "complex event processing" to sustain massive gamewide events involving thousands of players.

"With a multiplayer online game, you don't know whether you're going to have 1,000 people playing or 50,000," Dalton told the magazine. BioWare will also use StreamBase software to identify cheaters, prevent code hacks, and keep track of the MMORPG's customer base.

BioWare technical director Bill Dalton revealed that the MMORPG is currently slated to ship in 2009.

 

[lerath666]

THAT"S THE NOTE I WAS LOOKING FOR! Thanks for finding it Krayt.

 

[OSCORP]

THAT"S THE NOTE I WAS LOOKING FOR! Thanks for finding it Krayt.

After doing some more research it's clear the target at least was/is indeed 2009.

"Primo Technology is claiming that a "source close to BioWare" told them the company's mysterious MMORPG is in fact set in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic universe.
The game is being developed by the company’s Austin studio, formed in 2006 and headed by BioWare Creative Director James Ohlen, whose past credits include the first KOTOR, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur Gate’s I and II.
Expect the game sometime in 2009.
Santa Clause, if you are out there, I still believe. You hear? I still believe!"
https://www.actiontrip.com/rei/commen...l?id=102207_11

And another-

E3 2008: EA CEO confirms KOTOR MMO
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Jul 17, 2008 2:08 pm PT
John Riccitiello tells Conde Nast Portfolio that BioWare's mystery massively multiplayer project is a third installment in the Star Wars series.

Ever since it was announced in 2006, BioWare's massively multiplayer role-playing game has been shrouded in mystery. Though the Canadian developer opened a satellite studio in Austin, Texas, just to develop it, its cofounders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk maintained an iron wall of silence. However, Electronic Arts knew enough about the title to help convince the company to buy BioWare/Pandemic for $860 million last year.

Today, as E3 2008 wound down, the fog hanging around BioWare's MMORPG appears to have dissipated. Less than 72 hours after presiding over EA's own press event--where the project was nowhere to be found--CEO John Riccitiello almost casually revealed the MMORPG in question is a sequel of sorts to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

"We've got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development," Riccitiello told Conde Nast Portfolio magazine. "The first title, based on the Warhammer property, will launch soon. And the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about in partnership with Lucas [Arts is] coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry." When contacted by GameSpot, BioWare reps declined to comment further.

BioWare's first Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game was released in 2003 for the original Xbox and PC, and was named the year's top RPG by GameSpot. An Obsidian Entertainment-developed sequel was released in 2004 and 2005 on the same two respective platforms. Both critically acclaimed games are set several thousand years before the events of the Star Wars films, and cast players as adventurers who eventually become powerful Jedi Knights.

Currently, the Knights of the Old Republic MMORPG is set for release sometime in 2009. Once it launches, it is unclear what will happen to LucasArts' current massively multiplayer title, the Sony Online Entertainment-developed Star Wars Galaxies https://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/starw...yadded;title;1

 

[Chimera 1]

Any word on if this is subscription based?