Star Wars: the Old Republic Launches

Today marks the official launch of Star Wars: the Old Republic, a new MMOG from BioWare, EA, and LucasArts. The game's population has been building throughout the week as players who pre-ordered were granted early access, but now the gates have been thrown open to everyone. By using the Star Wars universe and a 'story-driven' approach to MMO gameplay, BioWare hopes to draw in a new group of players who don't typically consider themselves MMO gamers. Since the game is still largely unexplored, comprehensive reviews have yet to be written, but Shack News has a write-up about the early game. An article at Eurogamer discusses whether this sort of game launch marks the end of an era for the MMOG industry — the game's budget is estimated to be as high as $100 million, and it relies on a traditional subscription model when many games are making the switch to free-to-play.

Re:So, when did subscriptions become traditional?

[MBGMorden]

And fully voiced quest interactions with very good writing.

I personally burned out on WoW a good while back. Several months before Cataclysm came out I quit playing. When it came out I resubed and leveled one character from 80 to 85, but then quit again shortly thereafter. I've tried many of the free-to-play games, Rift, EVE Online, and many others in the meantime. Nothing grabbed my attention.

I got early access to SWTOR 5 days ago and have already played at least 15 hours and can't wait to knock off work so I can play again.

I can honestly say that I see myself leveling at least 1 character of every class to max just to see the quest chains. Its that good.

Re:WoW 2.0

[Moheeheeko]

It's the best leveling experience I've ever experienced in an MMO.

This. I dont even pay attention to my level so much, I just wanna get that sonofabitch who STOLE MY GODDAMNED SHIP.

Re:WoW 2.0

[MBGMorden]

Indeed. I've leveled just about every character class in WoW. I can barely remember any of the quests. The only one that comes to mind is the Lolita-like quest between Duskwood and Westfall. Other than that, it was just a bunch of "Collect 6 Bear Pelts" quests with completely uninteresting text thrown in just to say they gave the story telling a try. Leveling was a chore that was to be endured so that you could get a class to end-game.

SW TOR is different. I literally have no desire at all to do anything at end-game. Raids and such are the last thing on my mind. I just want to quest. Any game that makes questing actually the thing I log in for rather than a penance I must pay to get to the "real" game deserves a nod.

Re:So, when did subscriptions become traditional?

[bloodhawk]

What a load of crap, as someone that played in 2 of the betas for SWTOR and is in the game now as an imperial agent, "Wow with light sabers and laser guns" is actually a perfect description. The game is much richer in story with a lot more effort put into the quest dialogue and story but apart from that it is a skinned version of wow. It is a nice change but even as a star wars fan I don't think this game will last as the "just another wow clone" syndrome will hit this game hard within a few months.

Re:So, when did subscriptions become traditional?

[bmwEnthusiast]

I agree %100. I was in the last beta weekend and logged 10 hours playing to level 15. WoW with lightsabers and blasters and speeders instead of flying horses. Want to know why this game is an epic fail? There is no free space flight. It's all scripted combat on rails. DUMB. The name of the game is called STAR WARS... yet your ability to have a war amidst the stars on your own terms does not exist. I canceled my pre-order shortly after the beta weekend. Will wait for the first expansion that adds free space flight.

Re:Irking

[Stormtrooper42]

Do you really have to play games as soon as they're out?

You could buy them a year (or 2 years) later, when they cost $15.

It's just a matter of preference. For the same amount of money, would you rather play 1 game all year long, or 10 different games?

Re:So, when did subscriptions become traditional?

[Ubergrendle]

GW1 sold around 7million copies and is now a major franchise. A few things it didn't bring to the table was a persistent, instanced world and large (20+) player 'raiding'. Both of these have been addressed in the sequel that just entered beta testing... and still with no monthly fee.

SW:TOR bring the RPG back to MMORPG. But I think GW2 has the chance to be truly revolutionary -- it destroys the 'holy trinity' model, no monthly fee, and the graphics and gameplay look to be a substantial improvement over the current generation of 'hotkey' MMOs.

Re:WoW 2.0

[Kjella]

So you're tired of the genre, it's like saying you're tired of running around with guns shooting people - well then all FPS games are going to suck for you. I loved Skyrim, but you could say it's exactly the same as almost every other RPG, you got your fighter, mage and rogue skills, same old go into dungeons and beat the crap out of the usual assortment of bad guys and monsters, level up, get better gear and so on. Yay another game with a fireball spell. There's just a limited way of doing things, a lot of things have changed between I played Civilization 1 and Civilization 5 but a lot more stayed the same. It's the same discover technology, found cities, build units and buildings, deal with other nations and all that stuff. Or all the "Tycoon" games, they all more or less work the same even if you're building a roller coaster or a hospital. If you've tired from that basic game play no game is going to satisfy you.