Star Wars - The Old Republic (MMO - PC)

Grats getting the app done.

I can understand not wanting to test an unfinished game or being spoiled. I like to think of it as helping to shape a game to make it better.

 

I managed to get a beta application in...

Imagine what this game will be like on launch day, I can see it crashing for days.

This is going to be big I'm sure.

 

I hope not because a bad launch can kill your game before it even gets started good. They better have a ton of authentication servers ready to go on launch day because that's where they'll be hardest hit. The game servers should be able to handle it once people start spreading out, but that first punch is going to be a killer.

 

isnt making a mmo a terrible idea
seriously kotor 3 should be made instead of the MMO

 

More long term revenue from an MMO, if they do it right.

 

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking! Why hasn't anyone else had this same thought and said something!?

 

Tons of people have ad nauseum. The guys at Bioware even commented on that very question at E3. In their opinion the MMO is basically KOTOR 3-9 and beyond.

 

I hope that means they are going to tie up some of the loose ends from KOTOR 1 + 2

 

I would not be surprised, in fact I expect, the mythology started with Revan, Malak, Canderous, Bastila, the exile, Kreia, etc., to continue through TOR. Even with the game being set several hundred years later, I am willing to bet that the actions of the characters in the first two games will be referenced regularly.

And the devs readily acknowledge that certain droids can exist for a very long time...HK-47.

 

They could do that easily enough with flashpoints that provide flashbacks or have dialogue that references the events of KOTOR 1 and 2. I would suspect them to tie up quite a few loose ends unless they left that gap between 2 and this MMO just in case they want to go back and create a game that bridges the gap between 2 and the MMO.

 

The only thing is that I really liked the game play in KOTOR 1+2. I hope this game has similar gameplay..though you cant really hit spacebar and pause in an MMO...

 

What does microtransaction mean exactly? I read they dug up legal language that says it might be that.

 

In the MMO world, it's where a game will charge you small amounts ($3 for example) for optional game items or bonuses. It's used to decrease or remove a MMO's monthly fee, but I doubt that will be the case with TOR.

 

That sounds like a good thing to me, I think a lot more would buy it if they did that. Here's where I read they might do that-

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/10/sleuths-dig-up-microtransaction-language-in-old-republic-tos/#

 

Yeah it kinda sounds like they just mean in-game money or rewards. But who knows at this stage.

 

Just as long as it's not distinct advantage items, I have no issue with MT.

 

So does anybody know if they are going to have a monthly charge then?

 

I don't think that's been settled on or disclosed. Though I'd be shocked if there weren't a monthly fee for playing the game. There's just a lot of overhead associated with an MMO and in order to keep it viable, people are gonna have to pay for it.

I'm also okay with MT so long as the items purchased are not deus ex machinas. I doubt Bioware would go that far but you never know.

 

Guild Wars effectively keeps people from paying to play. I guess I'm just a little old school in that sense. I think if they're going to make expansions I'm going to buy them. So why charge me more to play monthly. But if it is pay to play, I understand. Just hopefully it's reasonable.

 

I think a lot more people would buy the game, and its upgrades without a monthly fee. I think they'd make more money without charging that. Games are expensive enough in store, they'd make their money.

 

Turbine is offering a hybrid model with DDO. You can either play for free and buy stuff from the store, or you can pay a sub and get everything.

 

Like what has been touched on so far, I think more people would buy the game if it wasn't pay per month. I didn't buy WOW for that very reason...instead I bought Guild Wars and was very impressed.

 

I'm actually in favor of either F2P or a one time lifetime fee. I have a lifetime account with LOTRO so I can come and go as I please and only buy the xpacs. I think you'll see more and more companies going that route. I know Champions Online also had a lifetime option before it launched.

 

Regardless, the publishing company has to have some way to cover the overhead and so there will be some sort of financial arrangements offered that will make that happen. I'd be very pleased if there is a lifetime membership option for SWTOR. What have been the price for the lifetime memberships in other MMOs? A couple hundred bucks?

 

Personally I have a bit of a hard time understanding why more publishers don't offer them, without any limits to how many people could buy them. If they would get Warcraft kind of success, in the longer time they might earn less, but considering the likelyhood that that doesn't happen, I would in their place just take the extra money.