Star Wars: The Old Republic Will Actually Ship This Year

Or you can wait 6 months after release for the free to play version,since yet another mmo thinks they can charge money and people ofcourse will not pay.

I am both excited and surprised by the release date. I played a good chunk of the beta and the game seemed playable...but far from release worthy. Even just leveling 1-12 there were quite a bit of bugs. And not many people made it close to the max level, so I bet there are even more bugs higher up.

I still don't believe it will be out this year. That date is too close to the end of the year for it not to be delayed a little bit, especially if the beta shows some big problems in the game.

...but of course.  LucasArts often forces developers to release at Christmas, for the extra sales.  Take the incomplete Kotor 2 for example...  Well at least in the case of an MMO, they're next to certain to continually patch it, and add in anything they didn't have time to.
 
I'm sure this game will turn out well, but I don't think I want to do another MMO quite yet.  The last one devoured too much of my time.  (WoW)

@lizzard2 said:

Or you can wait 6 months after release for the free to play version,since yet another mmo thinks they can charge money and people ofcourse will not pay.

Just because you and your vocal douchbaggery-kind are too cheap/stupid to pay for content on a subscription basis instead of a microtransaction based doesnt mean that there arent MILLIONS of people who are willing to do so.

Reminder that this game is just going to be spacewow and will probably fail like every other MMO.

Tell me when it goes F2P.

@Frostwolf: Your right. I totally imagined the player-specific 'forcefields' that would make us to go our separate ways during the story quest. I made up the 15/20min it would take us to regroup after doing said quests due to the poor travel mechanics. I lied about the abundance of dungeons evenly distributed throughout the game.

Thanks, I'm so glad I could get all those lies off my chest!

But, on a serious/non-sarcastic note, if you've played a more recent build (my beta run June though to July) and they've changed things, I would love to be corrected.

Edit: Ahh never mind, I've just read your insult-laden reply to lizzard2. It's obvious you're one of 'those' types of internet people. Best of luck to you.

So who's going to review this over the Christmas break?

A December 20th release date is crazy to me. I thought people outside of working retail took Christmas vacations?

@Zaph said:

@Frostwolf: Your right. I totally imagined the player-specific 'forcefields' that would make us to go our separate ways during the story quest. I made up the 15/20min it would take us to regroup after doing said quests due to the poor travel mechanics. I lied about the abundance of dungeons evenly distributed throughout the game.

Thanks, I'm so glad I could get all those lies off my chest!

But, on a serious/non-sarcastic note, if you've played a more recent build (my beta run June though to July) and they've changed things, I would love to be corrected.

its inaccurate because the small amount of time dedicated to the main story. I duoed with someone for 30+ levels in the last build with no giant anger issues regarding the amount of time i was alone, maybe 20 minutes every few levels? It is however more drastic in the first 10/15 levels because of how fast you're moving through the levels.

@Sooty said:

I'm waiting for Guild Wars 2 myself. That way if I don't like it at first, I can later try it again further down the line without having to pay money to re-subscribe!

Thiiiiis. Plus, it looks a lot more interesting than TOR.

What's the betting EA don't send out review copies till day of release? This means to due to Xmas break, reputable sites probably wont be able to review the game properly till after the Xmas break. By which time, lots of poor Star Wars fans and gamers would have been suckered into making an ill-informed purchasing decision.

What an odd release date... Smell the desperation as they try to catch the extra holiday sales.

While I don't entirely agree with them capitalizing on trying to make as much profit as they can by offering Early Game Access knowing that large numbers of the gaming community will indeed partake, I totally understand the reality of business and the need to show profit, especially to investors. Still, it doesn't mean I agree with it.

I pre-ordered it. It seems more like a single player rpg than other mmos out there.

No thanks to the 60 dollar price tag on a MMO plus fees. TOR will be the last of this type of business model. I think they are making a bad decision to price it so high.

Oh another crap Star Wars game...

@Zaph: Some of the information you've given is different than what I've been staunchly following through the course of development. To be fair, I haven't played in beta, and indeed, am on the fence about a few features (space mini game, mostly. Hoping it's built into something of more substance post-launch).

As I understand personal quests, and please correct me if I'm off the mark here, you can have friends with you as you do them, and as of the last beta build, they can see the conversations, but not participate in them. Really, the only incentive for grouping during class quest phases is to help a friend complete something important to their character, and the combat looks enjoyable enough for me as a hotkey-based MMO to lend a hand without the promise of 'EPIC LEWTZ'. Really, though, that's just a personal opinion. In the current age of MMO games, such things can be taken as taboo by some of the playerbase, I suppose.

The good news is, just because I'm actively playing with friends, it doesn't mean we're attached to each others' hip. Grouping matters to me most in the context of group content, With the flashpoints they have available now, plus the inclusion of two more in the last beta build, I'll have an opportunity to see every piece of content with a good and personally feel it's at a good place for launch. As with any MMO, I'd expect a stream of content updated and added post launch.

Surely with this being a hotkey based MMO, I don't have any expectation of it reinventing the wheel, and having a decent number of friends and guildmates (and new friends to meet!), is a part of what flourishes the excitement for me.

On the other hand, when I actually play it, I may find it a complete disappointment and just plain boring. Hard to know without having hands-on time.

Either way, for those of us anticipating it, it's a wonderful time and quite exciting. For those that hate the premise/gameplay/MMOs in general, it's a non issue since they won't play it anyway. Everyone wins!

They're pushing it out at Christmas to try and recoup some of the massive capital they spent on the game. After this they will keep working on the game through patches in an attempt to keep the player base that didn't leave after 1-2 months.

@JCTango said:

@Pr1mus said:

Will wait for the inevitable switch to f2p. No subscription based MMOs will be successful ever again. Not on the scale EA needs this one to be at least.

Yeah, I'm really wondering if they will do this too. I highly doubt it though, judging by how much they invested into this project. We'll wait and see.

I'm with Pr1mus, it's going to go f2p eventually, but I think it'll be a solid year before that happens. So if you're willing to wait that long then alrighty.

@Hailinel: All MMOs could use more dance fighting.

canceled my pre order, post around that week is an absolute nightmare no point getting it online... pretty clever if you ask me, people wont get the game if they ordered non digital online so less people to que up there servers

Pending announcement of subscription fees, I might buy a month of this and give it a shot.

@sp1der1976 said:

What's the betting EA don't send out review copies till day of release? This means to due to Xmas break, reputable sites probably wont be able to review the game properly till after the Xmas break. By which time, lots of poor Star Wars fans and gamers would have been suckered into making an ill-informed purchasing decision.

Yep. More proof EA hates you.

day after my birthday. I'm hopeful for the game. But we'll see. I expect it to do at LEAST as good as Rift. But it won't even approach WoW in subs. (which I'd like to be wrong about, but I don't see it happening)

I wonder if GB will cover this game at all, would be nifty to get another "set phasers to fun" type mini video series. Not that I have any interest in playing the game myself at all. WoW killed my ability to ever be seriously interested in an mmo again.

Sounds forced but I hope it does well. My roommate has the beta and it reminds me of KOTOR and WOW mixed.

@RE_Player92 said:

So who's going to review this over the Christmas break?

The only man suitable for such a large task. GamerDad.

Or Mr. Jeff "Waiting to Die" Gerstmann.

@Lazyaza said:

I wonder if GB will cover this game at all, would be nifty to get another "set phasers to fun" type mini video series. Not that I have any interest in playing the game myself at all. WoW killed my ability to ever be seriously interested in an mmo again.

You should probably read the article.

"As for us, I'd like to do a series of regular videos that involve us playing the game for a somewhat extended period of time, sort of like we did for Star Trek Online. We'll have to see how that goes, because a December 20 release date puts it pretty close to our crazy Game of the Year process as well as, you know, Christmas and stuff."

I do agree that this pricing model will likely doom the game. With all these MMO's in the market, it just doesn't make sense unless you've crafted the most awesome experience ever. Sadly, under EA, I doubt that will be the case.

15$ a month is really huge for a single game. Probably to pay for all those meaningless, over the top CG movies they made.

@sp1der1976 said:

What's the betting EA don't send out review copies till day of release? This means to due to Xmas break, reputable sites probably wont be able to review the game properly till after the Xmas break. By which time, lots of poor Star Wars fans and gamers would have been suckered into making an ill-informed purchasing decision.

The number of units of the game is limited anyway so there won't be any at launch who haven't pre-ordered before any reviews are out anyway.

From everything I've read and heard it seems like the kind of game I like so I don't really care about reviews. The gameplay of WoW mixed with the story and feel of KotOR sounds like a great game IMO.

This could be good not sure yet, the problem for me is I dont really like star wars other then the original movies.

but if its good ill try it out

That release date pretty much seals its fate for me. I hated their arrogant pricing structure anyway, so they've done me a favor. Now I can stop considering buying it.

Too bad for them that they started making this when WOW was at its peak, only to have interest in WOW begin to wane since cataclysm was released.

Quality aside, when guild wars is released; the subscription based model will be completely irrelevant to new games post-WOW, if it isn't already.

With a monthly fee, a developer can churn out patch content at any rate they like and still get money regardless, whereas with guild wars, the onus is on arenanet to get high-quality content out as fast as possible so people can pay them for it. In my opinion, a much better model.

@Draxyle said:

I do agree that this pricing model will likely doom the game. With all these MMO's in the market, it just doesn't make sense unless you've crafted the most awesome experience ever. Sadly, under EA, I doubt that will be the case.

15$ a month is really huge for a single game. Probably to pay for all those meaningless, over the top CG movies they made.

I almost wish this was free to play but making all of the 1337 chotchkies (pets, armor dyes, weapon particle effects) cost money.

That way it could die in the most gloriously fashionable manner befitting a space soap opera.

@Benny said:

Too bad for them that they started making this when WOW was at its peak, only to have interest in WOW begin to wane since cataclysm was released.

Quality aside, when guild wars is released; the subscription based model will be completely irrelevant to new games post-WOW, if it isn't already.

With a monthly fee, a developer can churn out patch content at any rate they like and still get money regardless, whereas with guild wars, the onus is on arenanet to get high-quality content out as fast as possible so people can pay them for it. In my opinion, a much better model.

Agreed

I laugh at all the people who say this game is doomed, WoWs success has blinded you. A MMO game doesn't need several million subscribers to be successful. Look at Anarchy Online. 'Nobody' is playing that, and yet it makes enough money. Even Galaxies has continued for many years, and everyone hates that game.

The Old Republic will probably me a massive hit in the first few months, due to the name alone. Just look at how well the remastered Star Wars blurays did this week.

Even if most of the subscribers drop after that, it will still make money.

From what I have seen of this game, it's looking incredibly mediocre. Shame that they used the Star Wars license for this.

@sahest said:

I laugh at all the people who say this game is doomed, WoWs success has blinded you. A MMO game doesn't need several million subscribers to be successful. Look at Anarchy Online. 'Nobody' is playing that, and yet it makes enough money. Even Galaxies has continued for many years, and everyone hates that game.

The Old Republic will probably me a massive hit in the first few months, due to the name alone. Just look at how well the remastered Star Wars blurays did this week.

Even if most of the subscribers drop after that, it will still make money.

Except that there has never been an mmo with the budget this game used.

Well how about that.

@Buckfitches said:

From what I have seen of this game, it's looking incredibly mediocre. Shame that they used the Star Wars license for this.

Haha the Star Wars license has become the symbol of mediocre since the prequels.

@blueduck: I'm still waiting on my sequel to Star Wars Episode 1 Racer.

I'm really looking forward to this. Great news.

@VicRattlehead said:

canceled my pre order, post around that week is an absolute nightmare no point getting it online... pretty clever if you ask me, people wont get the game if they ordered non digital online so less people to que up there servers

You make a good point. Half the people probably won't even get the game in the mail around that time of year.

Hmm. I hope they're not rushing the game to get it out faster. I've sunk a fair amount of time into the beta, and while most aspects of the game were good, there were a few rough spots. Hope most of those get smoothed over before the release.

@blueduck said:

Haha the Star Wars license has become the symbol of mediocre since the prequels.

This is certainly true unfortunately, with a few minor exceptions.

I am a hardcore Star Wars fan, but even I realize that George Lucas does not care about the "universe" he created as much as we do, which is understandable and happens all the time. I'm sure he did at one time, but with the passage of said time, these things simply become more of a business property and less a creative property or labor of love. He has done what he set out to do, and is enjoying the success, I get that.

I'd like to do a series of regular videos that involve us playing the game for a somewhat extended period of time, sort of like we did for Star Trek Online.

THAT would be awesome!

actually, I don't understand MMO why I have to pay even more after buying. subscription? my ass. once you paid for it, you don't need to pay more if it is not DLC. that's why I never play this kind of bullshit including WOW, possibly Diablo 3 or whatever. what a stupid people are! they don't even realize that they pay even more and more. one time you buy. that's all. don't want to waste my damn money for nothing.

@Benny said:

Too bad for them that they started making this when WOW was at its peak, only to have interest in WOW begin to wane since cataclysm was released.

Quality aside, when guild wars is released; the subscription based model will be completely irrelevant to new games post-WOW, if it isn't already.

With a monthly fee, a developer can churn out patch content at any rate they like and still get money regardless, whereas with guild wars, the onus is on arenanet to get high-quality content out as fast as possible so people can pay them for it. In my opinion, a much better model.

Interest in WoW is dying because the game has been out for years, not because people are tired of the style of gameplay. They just want that style in a shiny new wrapper. What the mass market wants is basically WoW in a brand new setting. That's essentially what this game is offering.

You're insane if you don't think it will be successful.

GW2 is innovative and will most likely be a more engaging game, but it won't sell anywhere near as much as The Old Republic. Quality does not equal sales.

they annouced this at todays eurogamer expo in london, and gave all those at the developer event access to the game. all fans, not press. which was nice