A review of what is supposed to be the MMO sequel to Knights of the Old Republic that may come out by the end of the year. http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/04/star-wars-the-old-republic/all/1 http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/...ing-up-beautifully-months-ahead-of-launch.ars
Been looking forward to this for a while. Fully voiced, separate storylines for each class…should be something else. And companion characters that you can have with you to help you fight, which is music to my ears, since I almost exclusively solo through these games. And Bioware is Bioware; they don’t make it a habit of releasing bad games. Having said that, I’d be surprised if this is released this year. No release date has been given yet. I have to think you’d need at least a 3 month lead time from announcement to release. That takes it to the fall, and with Mass Effect 3 announced for December, I don’t think they’d release their two largest products that close to each other. I’m thinking Spring 2012.
Bioware have said that the release will be this year (probably under a lot of pressure to get it out the gate and start recouping the hundreds of millions spent on the project). While there seems to be a lot that will be done right, I see this failing quickly. The amount of focus on solo play will see the "hardcore" gamers blitz through the content fairly quickly, and unlike all the wowhammer clones of recent years, Bioware have not been prioritizing end game content. I've read reports that they have only recently begun working on the end game, so this seems to be shaping up as a game that will have an explosive first few months and then drop off a cliff. People may come for the story, but they stay for raiding and pvp.
I am really looking forward to this. They have improved the graphics since I started following the details of the game (they were lackluster), and this game looks to be promising. I also like the fact that Bioware isnt hyping (all the hype is external) it. I am not even going to address "WOW-killer" nonsense that always permeates any new anticipated release, but I can see this being the closest thing. Too bad I coudnt get into the beta.
Screw WOW, this is the first game ever that might make me ignore the fact that I lack the time to properly play a MMORPG...
I dont think hardcores will cause the failing/success of the game. THey always obsessively rush through, get bored, burn out, and then whine on forums "how boring" a game is when the majority of the player base is still working on the content. Its unavoidable really, but them being the loud minority is usually just that... I do agree that raiding and PVP is what keeps people around, but I have to assume Bioware understands this, going from the level of thought they have seemed to put into details so far. It just not be out and available as fast as hardcores would like..
Badass trailer. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyYbvVAtlWk"]YouTube - Star Wars: The Old Republic - Intro Cinema‏[/ame]
I got mine today. Sucks if you are in Europe, Canada, or Australia. From the sound of it on the forums, it isnt going to be available early. At least not yet.
I have no idea if I'll play this or not, I'd like to though so I've joined my WoW guildmate's guild and I'll decide whether to pick it up closer to the release date.
It better be available early in Europe because I've pre-ordered mine for that specific reason and it clearly states on the pre-order page that it gets me early access.
I'll try to find the discussion thread I was reading. I am sure even if there was a problme it will probablyt be remedied.
I have to say that the more previews I see, the more this game is enticing me. I've never really delved into the world of MMORPGs, just because I like the time to devote to such a game. But if any game could convince me to give it a try, this one would be it.
I spoke to someone in the game Aion that I am playing, and they said they were impressed by the beta they were playing. They said the storyline sucks you in, the combat animation is good, and they were looking forward to it. It seems to be a bit more of a PVE game which is fine by me, but some of the "hardcore" (at least they view themselves as such) PVP'ers are already frowning on it, and looking at GW2.
I think BioWare set out to recreate the gaming experience of the original KOTOR, only to add a multiplayer aspect to it all.
That's the problem since I don't really like multiplayer games. I'd rather just play the storyline and not get aggro'd by some 8 year-old. I hope they have an option where you can just go through the worlds and not have to deal with anybody except NPCs.
You are going to have a very bland experience if you try to go through the world solo. While there is a solid story for each class, you will spend a lot of time doing mundane MMO quests - collect 10 X, take this to person Y, Person Y: collect 10 z. To really get the most out of the game I recommend finding a casual, mature guild on a PVE server where you won't have to deal with the other faction killing you on site.
I agree with this. There are plenty of people who feel the same way you do, that dont want to deal with the immaturity, and all the shenanigans that is inevtiable in the MMO community. Find a mature guild that doesnt tolerate BS, and is there for the saem reasons you are.
Yeah, the problem was I played the 2 previous KOTOR games and like them just the way they were with the story line and companions with their stories and all the side quests. Was never really into PvP and MMOs. Do you know if there's a way to play the game without running into other player characters when you don't want to, or is it going to be like SWG where everybody is going to be running around with their NPC companions running around doing the same quest? The part I hated the most when I used to play SWG, which was the only MMO I ever played, is when you'd get to a city and there were so many players running around that it lagged the hell out of the game. From what I saw in the last trailer that they released was all the players were hanging out and most of them had the same NPC companion at around 3:21 in the video, which ruins the immersion of the game! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqxa5O7UpWY&feature=related"]STAR WARS?: The Old Republic? - Dev Dispatch - Companion Characters - YouTube[/ame] And how do guilds work in this game? Is it going to be like SWG where they had to build a whole new player city and guild halls and stuff like that?
I do remember reading that you could play the entire game solo if you wanted to, though it would be difficult in a few missions.
The best summary of the game is WoW in a Star Wars universe. Avoiding other players is going to be impossible, and if you really want to experience all of the content you are going to have to end up grouping up. You can have a really great experience in the right guild, on the right server. Even at its worst, MMO communities are still a far cry from the 12 year olds playing COD, or the nerdrage in DotA/HoN/LoL. Just check the official forums for guild recruitment to find a guild that suits your interests and play style. Closer to the release you will probably find server forums pop up and you can see how each server community is shaping up.
What would you give in terms of advice to a total MMO novice (apart from a two-week City of Heroes trial)? I mostly want to try this because the original KOTOR might be my favorite game of all time. But only the MMO aspect of it makes me hesitate.
There’s not going to be any way to play the game without running into other players. Bioware specifically designed it that way. They will create more instances of worlds if theres too many people to alleviate lag, but you’re not going to be able to go to a world and run around by yourself. You could try to move to an instance with fewer people, but you’ll never be alone. I can see your point. Every class for the most part has different companions, but at the end of the day, if you’re playing a Jedi Knight and you come across another Jedi Knight, there’s a chance he’ll be using the same companion as you. You’ll be able to alter the appearance of your companion, which should help, but you’ll know they’re using the same companion as you. I don’t think Bioware has really figured out what they plan to do with guilds yet. If they have, they’re not saying. The most they’ve (publically) said right now is people can create guilds, and they’ll make sure your guild and members get on the same server when it starts. They plan on doing more, but I think they’re waiting for the game to release and hear what the players have to say, then act accordingly. I‘m with you; it doesn’t take much for me to get pissed and leave a game. I don’t have much patience for jerks online. But it sounds like this game will be pretty soloable if you want to. You’ll have a companion with you to help with balance (a healer to your tank, for instance) so it sounds possible. Where you’ll run into problems is with end-game content. Most of it will be with groups of players, although they have mentioned trying to get solo end-game content in there. Just make sure you do not join a PVP server, and you’ll probably be fine.