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I really hope the game sucks. That way I won't be tempted to sell my soul to another MMO. Again. Planetside and WoW....I'm looking at you.

BioWare + Lucasarts = PWNAGE

Its bound not to suck. The only thing that would guarantee suckage is if they hired the current and former Star Wars Galaxies devs.

Star Wars is an inevitable cash cow when handled correctly.

tanker27 wrote:

Star Wars is an inevitable cash cow when handled correctly.

So very true and Sony screwed the pooch big time with Galaxies, that has to be one of the all time biggest screw ups in MMO history.

Bring it on Bioware, you rule!!!

IGN posted a bunch of videos highlighting several classes and some of the gameplay mechanics.

I think Bioware have really done it, they've ended the SW curse! It looks to be about another year out, sadly, but what they've got so far looks really good. Choices matter in the flashpoints/instances, which is something interesting. The classes seem fairly balanced, too, with each offer a different story line and starting world. I mean, that's fricken awesome!

tanker27 wrote:

15 bucks per player per month is chump change when it comes to buying and providing millions of players with the bandwidth needed to play the game. It pales in comparison.

That's a rather strange assertion, considering that the business model is profitable. Why are you trying to imply that MMO companies are all money-losing charities? The monthly charge is substantially greater than the technical upkeep costs or profitable MMOs could not exist, which they do.

Saber Cherry wrote:

tanker27 wrote:

15 bucks per player per month is chump change when it comes to buying and providing millions of players with the bandwidth needed to play the game. It pales in comparison.

That's a rather strange assertion, considering that the business model is profitable. Why are you trying to imply that MMO companies are all money-losing charities? The monthly charge is substantially greater than the technical upkeep costs or profitable MMOs could not exist, which they do.

I am basing this on by the fact that I see the monthly upkeep cost for my company's server farm in the form of millions. (theres always Hardware to replace... legacy, etc. Even with redundancy built in) And the fact that we pay AT&T over 1.2 million annually for our backbone is significant. Then add in salaries and other overhead. Now transfer all of this to a MMO setting, 15 bucks is such an insignificant number per player. I am not saying a free MMO is not viable.

However Free MMO's are at a disadvantage when it comes to generating cash flow for its operations and employees. They have to find funds in different ways.

tanker27 wrote:

Now transfer all of this to a MMO setting, 15 bucks is such an insignificant number per player.

Not at all, when you have millions of players as well.

Just research Guild Wars. That's an entirely successful franchise for the parent company, which has generated enough profit for the parent company that there will now be a sequel. No monthly fee at all.

Just research Guild Wars

And while researching, go check out some of the dozens upon dozens of MMO's that failed miserably. Why all this talk about "millions of players"? TOR doesn't have millions of players. One should instead be discussing such topics as "risk of failure" if one is trying to understand why certain choices are made.

The Beta sign-ups are up.....well sort of. I was able to sign up, but now the site seems to been have taken down: http://www.swtor.com/user/register

edit: spelling >.<

Well considering that KOTOR, Jade Empire and Mass Effect aren't exactly deep transcendental RPG experiences and that they each were progessively more like action/adventures with by-the-numbers gameplay, I'm definitely not even considering this game until I've read many player opinions and seen some gameplay. I see MMOs as sort of the polar opposite of a single player game experience from an interactivity and influence standpoint and I'm not at all into the typical MMO gameplay.

I thought Kotor 1 was pretty good. *shrug* Almost as good as the old Black Isle RPGs.

Here's the Link

But I can't get it to work, if you have let me know!

Came right up, no desire to register though.

Lets keep all the stuff SWTOR related to one thread please.

As of 0600 EST the link did work.

Sorry, my thread was less about the game and more about not being able to get all of the way through the registration process. I've been trying since last night, and I haven't gotten further than the system inquiry page without being sent back to the beginning, with none of the prior information saved. I've tried about 20 times, and always been sent back to the front, if I even get that far before timing out, and I was wondering as I posted above if anyone else had gotten all of the way through yet.

I got all the way through. There are people stating to update your Java and use IE instead of Firefox or another browser.

I can't get through the registration... after the beta testing agreement page I just get sent back to the create account form .

I finally got through and got my account earlier today, but like I said above I had the process reset about 25 times before it finally worked, and got an email.

Pre-orders are up now at the usual suspects places. Oh and it includes beta access

tanker27 wrote:

Pre-orders are up now at the usual suspects places. Oh and it includes beta access

I'm pretty sure that it doesn't give you access to the current beta, unless they're really wanting to stress test their servers.All of the information states "Early Game access". Historically, that means that you get to play for a few days before the game is launched to the rest of the world.

The Beta forums are saying differently. But you may be right, for me its a moot point since I have been doing the closed beta off and on for certain aspects of the game.

Got my pre-order in and registered my code.

Dont care much about playing in the Beta because you have to start over when the game launches and that annoy's me.

Whoever is writing and directing these trailers needs to be making Star Wars movies, not Lucas.

I am also waiting for a release date and very excited about this game.

http://www.mtoag.com/

Scorpiuscat wrote:

Whoever is writing and directing these trailers needs to be making Star Wars movies, not Lucas.

QFT. Not to derail this thread from the game but I just wish Lucas would release his grasp a bit on the IP and let someone else do it.

BioWare used to be very good at story-driven RPGs. In the past few years, each new release from their studio has been more dumbed-down for console audiences.

The game trailer on the SWTOR website has ugly graphics (about like the 8-year-old Knights of the Old Republic looks on my PC). Maybe there will eventually be a decent-looking texture pack for it like there was for Dragon Age 2?

What turns me off at the very beginning is the price.

BioWare wrote:

The price for Star Wars: The Old Republic differs based on the edition you purchase. The Standard Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition (exclusive to Origin) and Collector’s Edition have a suggested retail price of $59.99 (£44.99 / €54.99), $79.99 (£59.99 / €74.99) and $149.99 (£129.00 / €149.99), respectively.

A monthly subscription is required to play Star Wars: The Old Republic. Players will be able to select one of three different subscription options:
1 Month Subscription: $14.99 (£8.99/€12.99)
3 Month Subscription: $13.99 per month (one-time charge of $41.97/£25.17/€35.97)
6 Month Subscription: $12.99 per month (one-time charge of $77.94/£46.14/€65.94)

So, for one year of game play, you could pay anywhere from $216 to $330.

Same subscription prices as WoW. I guess $10 more for the regular edition game?

I just got a beta invite for this weekend. My interest in TOR has waned the more I found out about it. I'm a huge fan of the KotOR games, but I have been worried that the multiplayer nature of an MMO would ruin Bioware's storytelling. I guess I get to find out now.

I can't really see myself paying $300 a year to play any game. It's been more than a year since I last spent $50 on a game. The beta will probably be my only time with this game, so hopefully it will be meaningful.

I never got beyond a trial subscription to WoW, either. However, I played over 2400 hours of Guild Wars. You can buy that whole game for $27.64 + $12.99, with no monthly fees.

If the story of SW:tOR is as great as BioWare used to do and the graphics turn out to be much better than their video shows, this could be a game that I would really like. I'd still feel guilty and used paying that much for it.

If this game was everything that I loved about KotOR, then I would have no problem dishing out $300 a year to play it. The problem is that MMOs simply can't tell good stories. There can't be any real conclusion otherwise you won't keep coming back.

In a movie, there's a clear beginning, middle, and end. In television there's sometimes a beginning, which is usually one episode. Then there's 40 episodes of middle. And if you're lucky, then there's an end with a series finale. If you're unlucky, then the series ends with Gilligan still on the island, no better off than he was in season one.

In MMO games, there can be a beginning, but there can never be an end for business reasons. You can't tell a story without a conclusion. The only way an MMO can be compelling is if each of the instances or raids tell an interesting story, though they tend to not be long enough to do so well. Each little story would have to have its own arc, which is difficult to do in an hour or two. Keep in mind that most people don't want to have to commit 3 hours to play.

In MMO games, there can be a beginning, but there can never be an end for business reasons. You can't tell a story without a conclusion.

They tend to tell a bunch of stories to a bunch of conclusions. I'll make no comment about the individual quality of each story.