One big selling point of SWTOR by BioWare is that it is fully voices and highly story-based. But is the whole “fully voiced” thing a bit overrated? Others have said it before but MMOCrunch published an interesting story on the very same topic recently. The author points out, “While it seems to be a giant step forward in terms of immersing players into the game and story-line, one quickly realizes that it’s probably going to be pointless in the long run.” Could there be some truth to this? I think the idea and the concept behind total voice acting sounds awesome but is it really going to make that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things? The MMOCrunch article goes on to say, “I know for me, unless there’s vital info in the quest description, I’m not going to read it.” Well, this isn’t the case for…
opinion
SWTOR: Why it Must Succeed but Why It Must Also Fail
Over on Massively, we found an excellent read on why The Old Republic must succeed, but also why it must fail. It’s a Soapbox column with some very valid points about TOR. It begins: “Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week’s writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you’re afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. So there’s a game coming out called Star Wars: The Old Republic. Maybe you’ve heard about it once or twice. It’s no secret that a lot of people are excited to see what BioWare’s long-anticipated title will do once it’s finally released. The title has had a huge amount of time and money poured into its production, extensive voice acting, countless demos and revelations and debates… all without having yet amassed a substantial playerbase. What happens…
‘Blasters, Beggars & Credits: Schubert Says No Infinite Money’
Lots of interesting news is coming out this week about SWTOR, much of it from SDCC. When it comes to the latest TOR news, we have got you covered. However, every now and then there is a post that someone else has just already covered better or that is exclusive to another fansite or news source but we have to bring it to you here because it’s interesting. Today, Ask A Jedi had one such post. This one comes from Momus, long-time reader and first time author. He talks economics- something that makes the MMO world go ‘round and tells us about two interesting interviews with Damion Schubert, Lead Systems Designer for The Old Republic. Important points made in the post: “Cost of sending companions on missions exceeds the vendor cost of materials returned Anticipating supply/demand economies (not a huge reveal there, I’m afraid) Won’t be able to just gather…
Is The Old Republic a “WoW Clone”?
According to Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz, SWTOR is just another “WoW clone”. After the hands-on at E3, Cowen slammed the game, calling it “highly derivative” of World of Warcraft. Despite promises from EA/Bioware that the title represents a major step forward in MMO design, what we saw was essentially a World of Warcraft clone with Star Wars character skins and the BioWare RPG nice/nasty dialogue tree mechanism bolted on for non-player character conversations,” he said. BioWare responds to the criticism and Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk insisted the game is shaping up nicely, and its E3 hands-on showing sparked positive feedback. In an interview with EuroGamer, they counter the accusations that TOR is just another WoW clone and describe how their game is unique, again with a focus on the content. Actually, Eurogamer says they counter it but I don’t actually see any reference at…
MMO: Heaven or Hell?
I can’t wait anymore! So close and it driving me crazy, I really love reading everyone’s opinion or predictions of what might happen but it’s 2011, YAY! Two years of being in aggravating pain in anticipation for the ultimate game of the next decade or this decade now. If SWTOR doesn’t release soon I’ll harakiri myself with bothan stunner. OK, that’s off my chest, I’m ready for my review now 🙂 Will Star Wars: The Old Republic it be the greatest game everyone is waiting for? Yes! I want it to. No surprise there, but if it doesn’t go well all hell will break loose and I mean that literally I will grab my plastic lightsaber and start seeing everyone else Bantha Fodder. But of coarse if it does go well you won’t see any mmo lovers or Star Wars enthusiast (which are almost the same category with a few…
Making SWTOR Not Suck – Ending the MMORPG Launch Curse
Every announcement made for Star Wars: The Old Republic sends the loyal fanbase into a new swarm of debate, concern, and excitement that causes popular opinion to fluctuate faster than the stock market. It isn’t the little things though that will win it or lose it for BioWare’s latest Star Wars game, and we have learned a few important lessons from recent MMOG flops. We will make a dozen characters before settling down with a favorite one or two so if there isn’t variety in early content, compulsive altoholics will be clawing off their faces after playing through the same twenty levels every single time they start a new character. Save us the gore and plastic reconstruction bills and just give us something new to do while we are trying to make up our fickle minds. What features will BioWare have to nail in order to win player support? Ten…