For those people out there who have yet to hear about SWTOR, USA Today brought them the news this morning in a feature piece about the very popular MMORPG. According to their report by Mike Snider, “That disturbance in the Force is millions of voices crying out in delight as they join the battle of Jedi vs. Sith in Star Wars: The Old Republic, a huge new online game and universe.”
While regulars to this site already know about SWTOR, it’s great to see a mainstream media source reporting on the game and its popularity on launch day.
First, they tell us a little about BioWare:
“The Edmonton, Alberta-based developers are hardly video-game padawans. BioWare’s recent role-playing successes include series such as the fantasy Dragon Age and the sci-fi saga Mass Effect. And the company has a history with the Star Wars universe, having developed 2003’s Knights of the Old Republic, a highly regarded role-playing game set in the Star Wars timeline before the events in this new release.”
Then they tell everyone a little more about the game itself:
“The Old Republic, however, is a “persistent” world that exists even when you stop playing, and after an initial 30-day period, it requires a monthly subscription ($14.99, or $77.94 for six months). So the design must embrace players early and invest them in their characters.”
The report also talks about the size of the game, it’s competition in Blizzard’s WoW, the backstory, the developers and more. It’s a great in-depth explanation of the game that even non-gamers can appreciate.
Even if you already know everything that the USA Today story says about SWTOR, there is something to be learned about the news organization covering the game in the first place. When a game is that big and has such an impact that it gets a feature spot on USA Today, we can see not only how far this game has come but also how far the video game industry continues to progress.
