Swtor

[Corran]

all the talk is January before get to play the real thing. But it all based on beta which means could be anytime from December I reckon. Doubt it be before as they need the European servers set up and tested as well as the american stress tests. Gonna guess they will do the weekend tests in the US to stress test the setup before sorting out the EU servers.

At the end of the day I will happily wait for this. In no real rush for it. Just hoping it isnt an xmas release as that will mean I be required to take my PC to the inlaws for the 2weeks or so i likely be there. lol

 

[Cyradix]

EU weekend beta tests and general EU beta postponed by a week or so :

STAR WARS: The Old Republic - EU Testing - we need info! *UPDATED* - Page 42

 

[old.Tohtori]

I'm hoping the early access is a bit more meaty then in previous titles. 2 days before launch is hardly a "reward of loyalty" if you catch my drift.

 

[svartalf]

all the talk is January before get to play the real thing. But it all based on beta which means could be anytime from December I reckon. Doubt it be before as they need the European servers set up and tested as well as the american stress tests. Gonna guess they will do the weekend tests in the US to stress test the setup before sorting out the EU servers.

At the end of the day I will happily wait for this. In no real rush for it. Just hoping it isnt an xmas release as that will mean I be required to take my PC to the inlaws for the 2weeks or so i likely be there. lol

American consumers make a big deal about the holiday season (christmas) being an important period in terms of game releases, but I've seen a lot of games miss release dates around this time with no problems in terms of their success.

In summary: I have nothing to add. I just like to waste your life.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Also don't forget that every month they delay the launch is a god amount of cash lost in subscriptions. One month for wow would mean over 12 million lost bucksies

 

[old.Tohtori]

Just noticed highly speculative, possible, downtime frame for the game. The swtor homepage is down for "scheduled maintenance" at the moment, so this might be a time when weekly downtime happens.

 

[Cyradix]

They are based in Texas, so it's just nightly maintenance/backups/whatever...
Most modern mmo's don't really have weekly scheduled downtimes anymore I think.
Even WoW only did it every 2 weeks when I last played

 

[old.Tohtori]

They are based in Texas, so it's just nightly maintenance/backups/whatever...
Most modern mmo's don't really have weekly scheduled downtimes anymore I think.
Even WoW only did it every 2 weeks when I last played

Every week, nightly maintenance(night for us europeeons) in wow.

Last i noticed it

But yeah, either it's night for us if they need crew to do it, or it's early daytime if they cn automate it. bSome form of cleansing/quickfix is needed anyway at times.

 

[Ctuchik]

Every week, nightly maintenance(night for us europeeons) in wow.

Yep, from 5:00 to 11:00 AM GMT+1 every Wednesday...

Unless there's a patch, then it's from 3:00 AM and onwards.

 

[Fafnir]

They are based in Texas, so it's just nightly maintenance/backups/whatever...
Most modern mmo's don't really have weekly scheduled downtimes anymore I think.
Even WoW only did it every 2 weeks when I last played

Lotro is having maintance durin early morning US time, forgot what time zone, but last time was 2-3 weeks ago and servers where down between 11:00-17:00 CET.

 

[Ctuchik]

STAR WARS: The Old Republic - Romance Arcs

I just totally lost interest now...

*sigh*

 

[old.Tohtori]

STAR WARS: The Old Republic - Romance Arcs

I just totally lost interest now...

*sigh*

I was actually hoping there would be some form of relationship options with companions. Makes it more of an mmoRPg then just your usual "bashy stuff get loots"

 

[Ctuchik]

If you want to roleplay a romance, approach a player?

More fun and there's no walkthrough for it...

 

[old.Tohtori]

It's no different from a mass effect/ dragon age romance muguffin. It's optional. It's hardly a reason to go "Well i'm not interested" at the whole game.

Not to mention it doesn't remove from the P&P RP, but adds another level to the solo gameplay and overall story.

And who in their right mind uses walkthroughs...

 

[Ctuchik]

It's no different from a mass effect/ dragon age romance muguffin. It's optional. It's hardly a reason to go "Well i'm not interested" at the whole game.

I know but i was hoping they would leave it out of MMO's.

And about me not being interested any more: i've steadily been losing interest for quite a while now so it's not like i went from a banboi to not interested over this one thing.

 

[old.Tohtori]

I know but i was hoping they would leave it out of MMO's.

And about me not being interested any more: i've steadily been losing interest for quite a while now so it's not like i went from a banboi to not interested over this one thing.

The thing is; why not?

It's not like it changes other players world, it's optional as said, it's fun for those who enjoy it and adds more novelty to a rather stale genre.

You comment on totally losing interest seemed more overkill then, fair enough.

 

[Soazak]

meh, i don't see a problem with romance...if it's in it's in, it doesn't change anything for those not interested. If anything, even though it doesn't interest me it's a good thing that they're putting it in, it adds more fluff for those that it does interest, and possibly makes the game appeal to more people

 

[Ctuchik]

The thing is; why not?

It's not like it changes other players world, it's optional as said, it's fun for those who enjoy it and adds more novelty to a rather stale genre.

I don't know, it just bothers me to see that there is a need for NPC's to handle ingame "romances".


It's just one more nail in the social part of MMO gaming's coffin... It's not a very big nail, but many drops makes a river...

 

[old.Tohtori]

I don't know, it just bothers me to see that there is a need for NPC's to handle ingame "romances".

It's just one more nail in the social part of MMO gaming's coffin... It's not a very big nail, but many drops makes a river...

Perhaps if the gaming community was a bit more openminded and not so homophobic(for lack of better term), there might be no need for NPC romances. But as it stands, well, if your client base ain't as big as WoW, you're hard pressed to find a female unit to RP with and if you do it with a female character as a male, you're going to get a LOT of flack for it.

Telling how you finally got in the pants of that female marauder with friends is a lark, just some hurhur fun, but tell that you finally kissed that certain player and you're most likely to get a gay comment or two. From the community itself no doubt. Now tell you did it with a female toon and ho boy.

In short; if the MMO scene wasn't such a closeminded sausage fest, romance RP could work on a meaningful scale, but now this is an option that opens a lot of doors for people.

You can still have P2P romances and those who have the patience to find, allocate time and are lucky enough to find some WILL do so, as much as in any other MMO, but thiw simply adds the choice to a larger audience. Might even move a few individuals from the usual PVE grind to a more RP style of gameplay.

 

[svartalf]

I actually laughed at this. It's a well-made video. I love that flying helmet.
Star Wars: The Old Republic | Trailers

 

[Fefner]

Space combat in swtor is on a fixed route.
Watch this for more details :

SWTOR Space Combat - PAX East 2011 - YouTube

Well for a Star Wars mmo i would of expected alot more form the space combat system, yes it seems like it could be fun to break up things but this isnt Star Wars is it? It's more like Star Fox.
If they would of placed in a free roaming space combat system id probably pre order and play it for years to come but for now i think i'll keep my money.
With the technology out there they could of made possible the best mmo around but sadly i think they choose the cheaper/faster release option.

 

[svartalf]

Well for a Star Wars mmo i would of expected alot more form the space combat system, yes it seems like it could be fun to break up things but this isnt Star Wars is it? It's more like Star Fox.
If they would of placed in a free roaming space combat system id probably pre order and play it for years to come but for now i think i'll keep my money.
With the technology out there they could of made possible the best mmo around but sadly i think they choose the cheaper/faster release option.

I disagree. I honestly don't think they've made a cheap game, nor have they rushed it. I also believe that it'll be heralded as the best MMO around at least until GW2 comes out.

Having said all of this, I think you're correct in that it appears (judging by the video) that they have created a space invaders (i.e. just a distraction, something to do on the side) minigame, rather than something more connected with the rest of the story. One core element of narrative is that each scene progresses the plot, and this doesn't seem to do that. I may, of course, be wrong.

 

[Corran]

I think they have simply gone and focused on what they do best... cheap MMO? It the most expensive mmo in history iirc so i wouldnt say that they have gone cheap. They are keeping the option of extending the space battle portion but they know that the main focus has to be the ground portion of the game in order to maximise the potential.

I probably will enjoy the current space distraction because i cant be bothered with twitching within the MMO. Though I do like that they have stated that expanding the space portion is a possibility, however no reason in further delaying the game just for a small portion of it... and that is all space combat will ever be.

 

[Ctuchik]

If they don't release the game with proper space combat i'm pretty sure that will be in their first expansion. It's to big a part of the franchise to not have.

 

[svartalf]

Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games

EA Studies WoW Carefully For The Old Republic's Post-Launch Pipeline

by Frank Cifaldi [Console/PC, Social/Online, Business]





September 7, 2011

While preparing for the launch of its upcoming BioWare-developed MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Electronic Arts says it is looking closely at the lifecycle of World of Warcraft, ultimately concluding that user experience during an MMO's launch is the most important factor in its potential success.


"We've actually studied WoW pretty carefully," CFO Eric Brown said at the Citi 2011 Tech Conference on Wednesday.



"We spent a lot of time studying the first twelve months or so of WoW, and just to be clear here, when they initially launched, they did not launch in dual geographies. They went North America only."


According to Brown, particular attention is being paid to the game's initial customers.


"We really want to make sure that the first group of users into Star Wars has the best experience," he said.


"For example, when they log on, they have instant access. [Even] when they're playing in a densely-populated world, the bandwidth and response time is excellent. So quality of service is really important to us."


So important, in fact, that the company recently announced that it would limit the number of copies available for sale at launch, in order to ensure that the initial customers get the best experience possible.


"In the short term, we would [opt] for a higher level quality of service versus a sheer numerical count of subscribers, because we're quite confident that, with a great game experience at launch, we'll get this viral effect," Brown explained, saying he hoped the game would attract "whole groups or squads or clans" of players from other MMOs.


Post-Launch Plans


Of particular interest to the publisher is WoW's post-launch strategy. As Blizzard recently admitted, subscriber churn for the leading MMORPG has been a significant issue of late, as experience players are able to consume new content much more quickly than in the past.


"[BioWare] has built in a very extensive development plan to make sure there is enough content coming out in intervals," said Brown. "We haven't specified it, but industry norm is 18-24 months. And the idea there is to keep the game fresh and interesting for all of the players."


"So the BioWare team, I think, has demonstrated with a number of its packaged goods titles, a really rich, detailed post-launch DLC plan for their console games. They have a similar detailed and rich expansion plan for Star Wars," he continued.


Even with these post-launch plans, Brown also said that the company expects that "a lot of people are going to burn through the content as quickly as possible, they'll be left ... waiting for the next expansion pack installment."


Star Wars: The Old Republic does not have a formal release date set, though Brown confirmed that internally, the game is expected to ship during calendar Q4.

Interesting stuff at the end there. A 1½-2 year timeframe on the vanilla version of the game.

...and they still expect to ship before Christmas.

I'm pessimistic as to their (and any developer's, for that matter) understanding of the implications of an expansion. IN MY OPINION Eve has done the best job, keeping their expansions "free" and avoiding complications in terms of those with interacting with those without the expansion pack. WHen expansions are brought in, I often feel as thought it has put a barrier between respective sections of the player base, which is never a good thing.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Here's to hoping that expansions are expanded(hur) across the level board, not just stacked on like in wow. An across the board expansion would be the best option for all, even if "pro" players(they don't get paid damnit) would whine like a tellytubby in a microwave

If the game has content to last 2 years, by all means keep the expansions away and add a few bits and pieces with patches.

 

[svartalf]

Here's to hoping that expansions are expanded(hur) across the level board, not just stacked on like in wow. An across the board expansion would be the best option for all, even if "pro" players(they don't get paid damnit) would whine like a tellytubby in a microwave

If the game has content to last 2 years, by all means keep the expansions away and add a few bits and pieces with patches.

When will developers understand that they don't need more content? All they require is a PvP environment that is fun. Vanilla DAoC survived for years on end simply because of and without changing their RvR.

If they absoutely HAVE to have new content, then it content should just be for PvE and not be applicable in PvP. The reason I argue this is because the new and inevitably more powerful gear which is introduced in an expansion simply isn't part of the balance equations that were made for the core game. This is just one (of several) reason why Expansions are Bad™.

 

[Ctuchik]

DAoC survived with pvp only because most people that played MMO's did it because of the pvp.

That is no longer the case.

I can probably even safely claim that there are more pve'ers playing MMO's now then pvp'ers.

 

[svartalf]

DAoC survived with pvp only because most people that played MMO's did it because of the pvp.

That is no longer the case.

I can probably even safely claim that there are more pve'ers playing MMO's now then pvp'ers.

I'd suggest that there are now MORE people playing PvP than ever before, but proportionately, in terms of how many people PvP compared with how many PvE, I'd say you could well be correct. More people play MMOs now than when DAoC was in it's prime.

It's my firm belief that a game could survive for longer without ever introducing any new content than if it did, providing it's PvP element was compelling enough. I have lost count of how many times new changes have made a game less fun.

 

[old.Tohtori]

When will developers understand that they don't need more content? All they require is a PvP environment that is fun. Vanilla DAoC survived for years on end simply because of and without changing their RvR.

If they absoutely HAVE to have new content, then it content should just be for PvE and not be applicable in PvP. The reason I argue this is because the new and inevitably more powerful gear which is introduced in an expansion simply isn't part of the balance equations that were made for the core game. This is just one (of several) reason why Expansions are Bad™.

They do need more content, since the PVE side would be dead in a year/two. Now then, PVE gets content so...PVP crowd cries for content.

If a developer said "No content for pvp, just for pve", you know it wouldn't go down like a louisiana hooker.

Expansions aren't bad, they just rarely expand. Expand everything, ground up, level 1 onward, add add add and never take away.