LucasArts/BioWare - Star Wars: The Old Republic Announced!

[Krella Fantana]

Ok I've seen this theme in the eurogamer article and in this latest one from IGN (both with Tom Nichols senior director of online group at LA)... the concept of everybody wants to be a jedi/hero out the door and we should've provided that in swg from the get go. Give me a reality check here you old timers... are these guys getting it right? All the things that I've read... and listened to ad nauseam from the two guys at work that got me into this game (neither of them jedi characters).. is that one of the things that was enjoyable about the game prior to cu/nge was the fact that jedi was truly an elite class, tough to get, had some mystery to it, and came with consequences. Also the appeal of being just a citizen of the galaxy doing say, tailoring, and just doing it in a star wars setting. Experience leveling system, combat system, etc. etc. I'm sure there is a ton more things everyone loved that I've only read and heard about.

The point that seems to be emerging to me is that in these interviews they keep talking about how they (and in this case consistently LA, not SOE being interviewed) have learned to listen to their community, which is where they "went wrong" with swg, but I can't help but feel that they decided to listen to just a portion of the community if all they are getting is to have a jedi class people can pick day 1.

Star Wars Galaxies
We interview LucasArts about the current state of Galaxies and the impact of BioWare's upcoming game.
by Steve Butts
October 24, 2008 -

....
IGNPC: <snip> What do you think the best lessons are that BioWare can learn from the way that Galaxies has been run over the last few years?

Tom Nichols: I think there are a couple of things. The key one is listening to the community and being sure to understand what your fans are telling you about the game and addressing that as best as possible. I think there's a lot to learn there. I think a lot of the criticism of Galaxies when it launched is that it didn't feel like Star Wars. Some of the things the game offered weren't consistent with the brand. Delivering that heroic, "I Want to Be a Jedi, and feel like a powerful person in the galaxy," just like the movies had. I think there's a lot of learning there. When you talk to the BioWare guys they certainly recognize that.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/923/923493p1.html

Star Wars Galaxies support to continue News News
by Ellie Gibson

...
Star Wars Galaxies was published by Sony Online Entertainment in 2003. SOE faced heavy criticism after releasing an update that made major changes to the game, much to the irritation of many players. According to Nichols, LucasArts will work hard to ensure the same mistakes are not made twice.

"We've learned how important it is to listen to your community and act on that feedback," he said.

"We also realised what players expect from an online Star Wars game - they expect to be that iconic Star Wars hero as soon as possible. They don't want to play for hundreds of hours just to become a Jedi."

Which is why, in Star Wars: The Old Republic, you'll be able to start out right at the beginning as a fully-fledged Jedi.....


http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=265337

Long post again, avoiding doing laundry... I'll get on that now....

[Istik]

Skipped through that earlier today.

[Iakimo]

...Give me a reality check here you old timers... are these guys getting it right? All the things that I've read... and listened to ad nauseam from the two guys at work that got me into this game (neither of them jedi characters).. is that one of the things that was enjoyable about the game prior to cu/nge was the fact that jedi was truly an elite class, tough to get, had some mystery to it, and came with consequences. Also the appeal of being just a citizen of the galaxy doing say, tailoring, and just doing it in a star wars setting....

The second point was, IMHO, the big appeal of the game. It had very little quest-based content initially -- an issue Raph Koster later admitted was one of their biggest blunders in the game's design. In the original game, the "sandbox" was the game, for good or for ill.

My impression was that many people who sampled the game and left, quit because they simply didn't know what to do and got bored. But those who stuck around, felt the chance just to noodle around in a Star Wars environment was a compelling gameplay experience in and of itself. The question is, was the sandbox so compelling that it converted players into becoming sandboxers, or did the game wind up winnowing out everyone BUT the sandboxers?

The original game had several "metagames" in it, as well. Crafting was one such. Resource-gathering was another. Playing around with your character's skillset build was FAR more esoteric and worthy of one's attention than ANY levelling grind ever could be. And then there was the Creature Handling, my personal favorite, even though by the time I'd entered the game in April '04, it had already been nerfed into near-uselessness.

As far as Jedi go, the bottom line is this: If you're going to stamp the "STAR WARS" logo on your box, it better have Jedi in it, because that is one of the defining elements of the STAR WARS mythos. The trouble, though, is that Star Wars has so damn many other neat and compelling elements to it as well: Stormtroopers, and bounty hunters, and smugglers, and wonky droids, and captive princesses, and devious politicians, and on and on. Unfortunately, people tend to gravitate to the Jedi, leaving all the rest of this other cool stuff neglected.

[gelfling]

Don't forget that SWG was supposed to be set at a time when Jedi were supposed to be rare whereas SWTOR is set at a time where they are not

Star Wars fans care very much about the storyline and Lucas' NGE blatantly ignored it for the sake of cash.

It was appropriate to be able to play a Jedi in KOTOR I and II so it will be appropriate to play one in SWTOR though you won't catch me playing one unless they make all of the Sith look like Palaptine

[Iakimo]

Don't forget that SWG was supposed to be set at a time when Jedi were supposed to be rare whereas SWTOR is set at a time where they are not

Star Wars fans care very much about the storyline and Lucas' NGE blatantly ignored it for the sake of cash.

It was appropriate to be able to play a Jedi in KOTOR I and II so it will be appropriate to play one in SWTOR though you won't catch me playing one unless they make all of the Sith look like Palaptine

So, you'll play a sith even if they make all but one of them look like Palpy, but that one like Jar-Jar Binks, then?

[Toucan]

here's a question?
think it'll run on a mac?

i'm sniffing around new computers and quite fancy trying one out,
never had one before

[gelfling]

It may do, Touc, but these days you can install Bootcamp and then install Windows onto your Mac so you can switch between the Mac and PC Operating Systems on the same computer. Quite a few people do that so they can play MMOs like SWG and LOTRO as well as single player PC games that were not released for the Mac.

[gelfling]

Don't forget that SWG was supposed to be set at a time when Jedi were supposed to be rare whereas SWTOR is set at a time where they are not

Star Wars fans care very much about the storyline and Lucas' NGE blatantly ignored it for the sake of cash.

It was appropriate to be able to play a Jedi in KOTOR I and II so it will be appropriate to play one in SWTOR though you won't catch me playing one unless they make all of the Sith look like Palaptine

So, you'll play a sith even if they make all but one of them look like Palpy, but that one like Jar-Jar Binks, then?

Pffft you should know me well enough by now.....

[Toucan]

new video with gameplay footage
http://www.swtor.com/media/vidcasts/vid ... eid=ea2829

nice
very very nice
i'm gonna have to go get me a new pc to play this i think

[Toucan]

http://www.swtor.com/info/classes/bount ... eid=ea3253

bh details are up


fighting whislt flying a jetpack = awesome

[Istik]

http://www.swtor.com/info/classes/bount ... eid=ea3253

bh details are up


fighting whislt flying a jetpack = awesome

Yeah that is cool. A Jetpack which acts like a Jetpack, rather than suddenly shows up in the air above your head.

Assuming combat is free aim rather than target-locked auto-aim. Otherwise it's really only for show.

[Molten Prominence]

Im gonna check this game out when it releases. Im glad it looks like bh will be big part of the game.

[Flatulance]

I had my doubts about this game, but the bh does look very cool. Im hoping this is the game I always wanted to play but hadnt been made yet.

[wapuwapu]

This sounds almost too good to be true. I remember one of the original phrases in the first game installation was that the greatest adventure was about to begin.....yours.... I, like many others, miss the completely customizable professions. I never did the holo-grind and only came to understand it after it went away but I think that Jedi should be hard to achieve. I can't wait to see if they screw this one up too.

[Toucan]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-star-wars/49936

that is all

[Lores]

That's cool and all but what about the things that made SWG special such as: Crafting, Harvesting, Dropping houses, hybrid classes et al.

[Toucan]

apart from class hybriding (which i'm pretty sure this wont have) i dont care about any of the rest of it

[Lores]

Bah, when will you broaden your horizon?

[Toucan]

if i wanted to cook and makes dresses i'd buy the sims

[Lores]

Bah! SIMs FTW! Wait, I dont mean that. Although I am playing a girlie game atm. Dreamfall

[Molten Prominence]

From viewing the vids it seems that unlike SWG, TOR is really focused on Good vs Evil...Sith vs Jedi...with smuggler and BH roles mixed in. So I was thinking if it makes more sense in the game to join a guild that is "Sith" or "Smuggler" oriented then that would make it hard for Mobsters to play in the same guild in that game.

Of course there is always multiple toons playing in multiple guilds etc.

Your thoughts?

[Istik]

A proper Good Vs Evil fight was always lacking from SWG. Everything was far too nice. MOB used to be an Imp Guild, and if there was a need to pick sides, i'm sure we would have maintained that, but as there was no need, there was no point.

[Lores]

My initial thought is that just is not a good ideal and will just muddy the water. I think I will reserve final opinion until I know more. Im trying not to be resistant to change.

[A'Ton Sands]

Well I certanly will give SWTOR a try, if its as good as KOTOR then it should be a winner imo.
Has anyone heard anything about space yet?

IMO that is one of the big things in SWG, SPACE!!!!