SWTOR limiting In-Game access at launch

EA is going to restrict pre-orders to 500,000, and will only guarantee the first 50,000 get immediate access to the online game.

So Star Wars:  The Old Republic is now limiting the number of people who can access the actual game at launch.  This seems like a cheap ploy for EA to get more pre orders. Wow there are going to be a lot people crying at release, "WAAAAAH I paid for this game and I can't play, FU EA!!!!!".  I'm not too impressed they are using this technique to get more pre-orders, sadly it will work.

An EA rep told Game Informer, that when they reach their cap they will quickly work to expand the game's server capabilities and allow new players in. But the representative didn't know if that would take hours, weeks or months.

Really?  This massive of a company pushing out one of the biggest hyped MMO's in recent history doesn't know it's server's capabilities?  C'mon, this is just total BS marketing crap.  I'm starting to get more negative about this game, I guess my first instnct that EA is involved is right, they can take anything, even Star Wars and ruin it.

Original Article: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/22/7441863-cant-wait-for-star-wars-the-old-republic-better-move-jedi-fast

"The wait is over, Pre-order now available" for SWTOR

I love waking up to SWTOR Email!! Received this in my inbox this morning !

More information here: PRE ORDER STAR WARS THE OLD REPUBLIC

They had me at "early access", going to pre-order now!

Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) shutting down for good in December 2011

Star Wars The Old Republic MMO is already making it's presence felt with it's release date looming late this year Sony Online Entertainment has announced it's shutting down SWG for good.

This is due to the lisencing complications of having two Star Wars themed MMO's running at the same time. SWG has been around for 8 years now, it had it's big decline when it changed it's PvP system and saw it's population start to diminish greatly. They've had to resort to merging the servers due to not enough players, but of course they put a positive spin on that somehow:

"Populations have stayed pretty steady for a long time now. In fact, we recently merged a bunch of servers to help the prime-time population," said John Smedley of Sony Online Entertainment.

"The decision to shut down SWG is first and foremost a business decision mutually agreed upon between SOE and LucasArts."

"There's another Star Wars MMO entering the market, and I think it's going to be terrific," he said. "It's going to fill a large hole, and we're certainly happy to see Star Wars players be taken care of and get into a game that's going to be great." Smedley said.

They are pretty confident that these current subscribers will move to SWTOR as Sony seems to think this will be a suitable replacement. Which I tend to agree with, if the current player has chosen to stay this long it's because they truly love the Star Wars theme and will continue to play even though all of their hard work to level up characters becomes worthless.

Let's hope Sony can redeem itself with SWTOR, they really need to after the Playstation hack and now shutting down SWG and being forced as playing SWTOR as a replacement.

Great article on the SWTOR developer blog last lines of dialogue completed for SWTOR.

Excerpt from Star Wars The Old Republic writer Ian Ryan:

"Writing is complete on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. The last lines of dialogue are off for recording and translation; only pickups and polish remain. But at BioWare, a writer's job doesn't stop at the written word. I'm Ian Ryan, a Writer on The Old Republic, and I'm going to show you some of the many ways a BioWare writer continues to shape our game’s stories long after the writing is finished.

There are no less than seventeen planets in The Old Republic. Each one was conceptualized with a rich story, built by our talented world designers then lovingly brought to life by our art team. However as the game's final pieces fall into place, some areas don't perfectly reflect the stories that take place within them: a field is peaceful when it should be battle-scarred, or a residential district lacks the feel of a neighborhood.

As writers, we know the stories and the worlds they play out in. Armed with that knowledge, we set out to provide feedback on each planet’s art as it relates to story. While other teams continue working hard to finish The Old Republic, the writers log in to play the game. A tough life, but someone has to do it. We begin our art passes, giving notes and suggestions to highlight the mood, function and story content of particular areas. For instance, if a luxurious cantina was built in the middle of a devastated warzone (not that we’ve seen that so far...) the writers would ensure that got changed."

               (Source)

You have to love seeing the new artwork and hearing the writers are done writing the final dialogue.  This is that period where not many updates are being released and you know a lot of is being written and tested, but we just have to try and be patient and wait for the new updates.

"But at BioWare, every designer is a storyteller. Writers begin the process with words, only our jobs don't stop there. We know the universe, we know the stories and with that knowledge we help the rest of the team create a cohesive whole out of millions of different parts. In a galaxy as rich and massive as the one in Star Wars: The Old Republic, that task is as colossal as it is rewarding."

I hope they create a great storyline that translate into a playable end game.  Hurry up and open beta already the MMO mob is growing restless!

SWTOR will compete with WoW ? Yes according to BioWare who may be slightly bias

I don't think there is a chance in hell that SWTOR will surpass WoW in subscribers, but it will be successful because of the Star Wars franchise. 

BioWare is very confident in it's product:  (quotes from BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka)

"The results from consumer testing are incredible, a fantastic response - really high net promoter scores, extremely high desire to subscribe from the player base, and in fact it increases over time,"  "The higher the level they get in the game, the more they want to play and the more they want to tell their friends."

 "World of Warcraft has helped to grow the audience for us and as a seven year MMO now, we're launching some really innovative differentiating features that I think we'll have an opportunity to capitalize on," he said. "I have tremendous respect for the folks at Blizzard, but I think we're building a product that will more than compete."

I see their point of WoW making MMO's more recognizable to the masses, but it seems they are a little too confident.  Maybe they have an amazing marketing scheme whipped up because I don't think they are relying solely on gameplay and content to draw in subscribers.

Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.  The confidence from those quotes does make me want to try, but I'll wait until the user feedback sounds that confident until I get excited about it.

quotes pulled from (http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Star-Wars-MMOG-World-of-Warcraft-The-Old-Republic-Ray-Muzyka,12915.html)

SWTOR Cinematic Trailer

Star Wars:  The Old Republic cinematic trailer

RELEASE DATE FOR SWTOR

So the latest on this is that it's been pushed to the 2nd half of 2011.

Hopefully they are not just adding more fluff and actually making a decent MMO that will last and include an end game that doesn't leave something to be desired.

The problem with MMO's now a days are that they clone World of Warcraft and don't come up with any original ideas.  The gear grind and pvp in WOW are not what I'd call fun.  PVP should be about skill not who has the best gear.  I could never get into WOW because the PVP just wasn't for me.

I have high hopes that this game will prove me wrong, but I'm not optimistic it will stand the test of time.  The fact that it is Star Wars is enough for me to try it at least.  I tried Star Wars Galaxies for several months when it was released and I actually really liked it.  I quit because I didn't have enough time, but I think the main reason I liked it was being able to immerse myself in the Star Wars world.

BioWare Introduces Jeff Hickman As Executive Producer, Live Services

Excerpt from (http://darthhater.com/2011/04/28/bioware-introduces-jeff-hickman-as-executive-producer-live-services/)

In the wake of BioWare Austin's Co-Studio General Manager Gordon Walton leaving Star Wars: The Old Republic developer for Playdom, there were big shoes to fill. Many wondered who would fill Gordon Walton's shoes and now we know. During the Fan Site Summit event, Stephen Reid explained that Jeff Hickman joined BioWare to take on the role left open by Gordon Walton's departure. Many of you may know Jeff Hickman from Mythic Entertainment where he worked on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and Dark Age of Camelot. By completing the transition to BioWare, Jeff Hickman's new title becomes Executive Producer, Live Services for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

From all of us at Darth Hater, we wish him the best during his time with BioWare on SWTOR and look forward to interviewing him in the future.