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[MaddenNFL64]

The game will make alot of money on box sales, that is the easiest bet. I don't think even the most ardent hater of this game would dispute this game will sell over 5 million+ boxes.

But to keep subscribers for more than a month, they're gonna need to keep the content flowing, and make that subscription worth it to people. Easiest way to do that is lots of group content that people will want to go through.

Nothing like making a bunch of friends to make you stick around even after you're bored .

 

[Somnia]

The game will make alot of money on box sales, that is the easiest bet. I don't think even the most ardent hater of this game would dispute this game will sell over 5 million+ boxes.

But to keep subscribers for more than a month, they're gonna need to keep the content flowing, and make that subscription worth it to people. Easiest way to do that is lots of group content that people will want to go through.

Nothing like making a bunch of friends to make you stick around even after you're bored .

That's the reason RIFT is still doing good, constant content updates.

 

[BattleMonkey]

That's the reason RIFT is still doing good, constant content updates.

Yea hopefully TOR can keep up such updating. Though with the whole cutscene and voice acting thing, I'm afraid it will be harder for them to keep up unless they cut down on this stuff for future content.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Now I'm reading this: "Massive" Announcement - BioWare MMO Starwars: The Old Republic.

It really is quite incredible (to me at least) how long this game's been in the cooker. I think that's part of the reason I'm drawn to it, really. Although I remember being very disgusted by those first screens.

Jedis in leotards wielding massive toy lightsabers, can you blame me?

 

[rukland]

Yea hopefully TOR can keep up such updating. Though with the whole cutscene and voice acting thing, I'm afraid it will be harder for them to keep up unless they cut down on this stuff for future content.

The other option would be if they have been future proofing the content and already recording the VO work. For that matter with right people at the helm you could just cut up some of the dialog you already have recorded to make new stuff. But I agree the VO stuff could be the big reason to slow down post launch content.

 

[Xabora]

Now I'm reading this: "Massive" Announcement - BioWare MMO Starwars: The Old Republic.

It really is quite incredible (to me at least) how long this game's been in the cooker. I think that's part of the reason I'm drawn to it, really. Although I remember being very disgusted by those first screens.

Jedis in leotards wielding massive toy lightsabers, can you blame me?

Toy sabers aren't there anymore, but you can still find that leotard.

 

[BattleMonkey]

The other option would be if they have been future proofing the content and already recording the VO work. For that matter with right people at the helm you could just cut up some of the dialog you already have recorded to make new stuff. But I agree the VO stuff could be the big reason to slow down post launch content.

There is also them having lot of general MMO content to add.... likely some holiday type of things, more pvp content, general add ons to the game. Major raid content and such being every couple months instead unless they have saved stuff from launch just to have post launch content... which they seem to all do.

 

[Jira]

I'm more lol'ing at the people who were like "TOR IS TOTALLY GONNA BOMB." I mean, the game isn't out yet but it already has some incredible momentum. Plus, beta testing what, five/six months before final release? When has another major MMO done anything like that? Most games are lucky to have 3-4 week beta times.

It's painfully obvious this is your first MMO. Vanguard had a 17 month beta, Warhammer had a 16 month beta, LoTRO had a 7 month beta, WoW's original beta was 7 months, EQ2's beta was 6 months. I can go on with this, but the point is every MMO has a long beta test.

Now I'm reading this: "Massive" Announcement - BioWare MMO Starwars: The Old Republic.

It really is quite incredible (to me at least) how long this game's been in the cooker. I think that's part of the reason I'm drawn to it, really. Although I remember being very disgusted by those first screens.

Jedis in leotards wielding massive toy lightsabers, can you blame me?

If you're drawn to MMOs with long development times then see here:

http://www.darkfallonline.com/

8 years of development, the most in the history of the genre and it didn't turn out too well. Sandbox model aside, it simply wasn't put together very well.

 

[rukland]

There is also them having lot of general MMO content to add.... likely some holiday type of things, more pvp content, general add ons to the game. Major raid content and such being every couple months instead unless they have saved stuff from launch just to have post launch content... which they seem to all do.

True there is plenty they can do. And while I am not jumping on the train that says this will be the best MMO ever, I really do see a solid launch coming and am looking forward to running with friends.

 

[Deadly]

They are at least playing and enjoying the game. Don't see how that is lol worthy when you have people spelling out the game's doom who have not touched it yet even many months before release or based on pure speculation and rumor.

But there are also some who have played the game and still think it is nothing special. Also if you only play a small part of a game, and you go say that the game is the most revolutionizing thing and best game ever is simply stupid.

I'm not saying the game sucks or it's terrible or anything. I'll leave that to when the actual game comes out. But so far I haven't been blown away.

 

[RetroMG]

Anyone Pre-Order from BestBuy.com? I did (to celebrate my shiny new computer,) and haven't gotten my early access code. I heard something about they go out on Friday but I want to make sure I haven't missed it. I'll even go put 5 bucks down at Gamestop if I have to!

EDIT: I may have misunderstood how this works.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

It's painfully obvious this is your first MMO. Vanguard had a 17 month beta, Warhammer had a 16 month beta, LoTRO had a 7 month beta, WoW's original beta was 7 months, EQ2's beta was 6 months. I can go on with this, but the point is every MMO has a long beta test.

Not my first but I was more referencing recent MMOs. STO had less than a month, FF14 had like two weeks, etc.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Yeah look how great FFXIV is turning out to be...

 

[Deadly]

Not my first but I was more referencing recent MMOs. STO had less than a month, FF14 had like two weeks, etc.

Considering just how those two went... Long betas should be the norm not the exception.

 

[kamspy]

See, I would buy this if I got 90 days in the box. 30 days I know I won't buckle down and finish the story content. 90 days would be the sweet spot and might even convince me to keep paying.

 

[DrBo42]

Now I'm reading this: "Massive" Announcement - BioWare MMO Starwars: The Old Republic.

It really is quite incredible (to me at least) how long this game's been in the cooker. I think that's part of the reason I'm drawn to it, really. Although I remember being very disgusted by those first screens.

Jedis in leotards wielding massive toy lightsabers, can you blame me?

So crazy reading some of my posts from 3 years ago. Glad there's nothing embarrassing in there. Haha.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Yeah look how great FFXIV is turning out to be...

Well that's the thing, it's become a rule instead of exception and now most MMO's are trash at launch. TOR doesn't follow this trend and that's why I'm so hopeful for it.

 

[MaddenNFL64]

This game looked so fucking raw in 2009 lol. That gamescom 2009 footage was fucking jank city. No idea why they showed the game in the first place back then.

The game started looking decent in late 2010 maybe? And now it looks really good. The texture work has gone up tenfold, the animations got way better. Just funny as hell to you know, watch it from then to now.

edit: went video hunting, so have fun watching the jank!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRC8exLv2lw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdzfo8zBiEc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_W5Dlgqw-I

www.youtube.com/watch?v=razzQ51WbAQ

It wasn't all bad back then. Some of that was already pretty good, just layered with umm... ya.

Recent media for ya too, just to contrast.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqxa5O7UpWY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT4cLHU3Yd0

 

[FStop7]

I'd kept myself on media blackout since 2009. It wasn't until last week that I found out the game looks much different than the original toy saber shots. I'm going in nearly entirely blind. All I know is that there are Jedi, Sith, smugglers, and bounty hunters. That's it.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Well that's the thing, it's become a rule instead of exception and now most MMO's are trash at launch. TOR doesn't follow this trend and that's why I'm so hopeful for it.

What rule? MMOs have short development times?

Hell all the ones people are looking forward to have been in development for a good while

Guild Wars 2
Blade & Soul
Tera
SW:TOR

I dunno I honestly can't think of many MMOs with short development times that have done "well"

 

[J-Rzez]

I got into this past weekend's beta, and I have to say it was pretty good. Felt like it targeted WoW in many aspects. Combat was pretty solid. Quests were the same, just with complete VO which gave it a better feel, along with the expected "choices" in replies. It felt pretty good, pretty polished, outside of the one class I was playing's main story quest being bugged and I couldn't progress through. I wrote this off, but I may give it at least a month's try and pick it up now just to play through and mess with.

 

[Sigfodr]

I just want to say something about Companion duplication. Play an IA (or I'm guessing a SM as well) and you will much less frequently see your companion running around with other people (the skank).

 

[Confused101]

Awesome, this is exactly the computer I'll be building before release. Did you OC?

I did not OC. I know the 2500k is a monster for OC'ing but I haven't played around with it yet.

 

[Emitan]

I did not OC. I know the 2500k is a monster for OC'ing but I haven't played around with it yet.

I bought a heatsink for my 2500k so I can start OCing it and still haven't done it yet because I'm scared.

 

[Fox the Sly]

I bought a heatsink for my 2500k so I can start OCing it and still haven't done it yet because I'm scared.

OC that bitch.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Just got my ship.

This game rules so much. T_T

Space combat... could be a little better, but I like it.

 

[Gvaz]

I'd kept myself on media blackout since 2009. It wasn't until last week that I found out the game looks much different than the original toy saber shots. I'm going in nearly entirely blind. All I know is that there are Jedi, Sith, smugglers, and bounty hunters. That's it.

I'm not sure why you'd media blackout on an mmo

 

[J-Rzez]

Glad to hear Nolan North made his voice present in this game as well. Just picked it out during a quest with a NPC. lol.

 

[Emitan]

Glad to hear Nolan North made his voice present in this game as well. Just picked it out during a quest with a NPC. lol.

Holy shit. He's everywhere. What faction?

 

[jackdoe]

Glad to hear Nolan North made his voice present in this game as well. Just picked it out during a quest with a NPC. lol.

Haha. They pretty much went through nearly everyone who's VA in games before. Hell, they got a lot of the cast from MGS4 in the game as well. The first Jedi Knight conversation was particularly great because of Cam Clarke and David Hayter fanservice. At least I assume it was done on purpose.

 

[J-Rzez]

Holy shit. He's everywhere. What faction?

I heard him from a NPC while doing some IA quests in Hutta. I told my friend and he found out he has many other voices as well on the forums. Also, supposedly David Hayter is in this as well. Neat stuff.

Haha. They pretty much went through nearly everyone who's VA in games before. Hell, they got a lot of the cast from MGS4 in the game as well. The first Jedi Knight conversation was particularly great because of Cam Clarke and David Hayter fanservice. At least I assume it was done on purpose.

Yeah just read that. At least they got some good VA in there, as that's a big plus.

 

[jackdoe]

I heard him from a NPC while doing some IA quests in Hutta. I told my friend and he found out he has many other voices as well on the forums. Also, supposedly David Hayter is in this as well. Neat stuff.

David Hayter IS the Jedi Knight. And he's not doing his Snake voice so he's actually doing a very good job. Think more MGS1 than MGS Peace Walker in terms of quality of performance.

 

[Mairu]

Beta weekend is over and I'm already having withdrawals. I hope I get in the next beta ;_;

 

[nataku]

Beta weekend is over and I'm already having withdrawals. I hope I get in the next beta ;_;

Same here. I enjoyed the game a lot more than I was expecting. The end of December feels so far away.

 

[Cystm]

This game looked so fucking raw in 2009 lol. That gamescom 2009 footage was fucking jank city. No idea why they showed the game in the first place back then.

The game started looking decent in late 2010 maybe? And now it looks really good. The texture work has gone up tenfold, the animations got way better. Just funny as hell to you know, watch it from then to now.

edit: went video hunting, so have fun watching the jank!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRC8exLv2lw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdzfo8zBiEc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_W5Dlgqw-I

www.youtube.com/watch?v=razzQ51WbAQ

It wasn't all bad back then. Some of that was already pretty good, just layered with umm... ya.

Recent media for ya too, just to contrast.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqxa5O7UpWY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT4cLHU3Yd0

Holy shit. Dat head.

How is the sound in this game in your opinion, guys in the beta? In this video it seems great, how well does it come through in the actual game itself?

 

[Thoraxes]

How is the sound in this game in your opinion, guys in the beta? In this video it seems great, how well does it come through in the actual game itself?

I like it at least. The effects are nice, timed properly, and overall the music direction is wonderful too.

However, I wish they had looping enabled or something, because when its gone, you really notice the lack of it.

Also overall, I feel that this is the first game to really acknowledge what WoW has brought to MMOs and tries to build off that success rather than trying to just simply emulate it.

I went from not giving a shit about this game to being super hyped for the launch.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Agreed with Thoraxes, the ambient sound just feels empty and boring. The actual music though is wonderful, sounds straight from the films (and of course takes a few cues from them as well, without just ripping it off.) It feels like Star Wars but is also its own thing.

 

[FStop7]

I'm not sure why you'd media blackout on an mmo

It wasn't really intentional, but now that I know that it's a lot different I'm staying away from previews to avoid things like details of flashpoints, shots of environments, etc. Some of my favorite WoW moments came from exploration and seeing places like Org for the first time.

 

[Gvaz]

Holy shit. Dat head.

How is the sound in this game in your opinion, guys in the beta? In this video it seems great, how well does it come through in the actual game itself?

It's good, though it feels a bit repetitive (at least the sound effects I think)

Some of my favorite WoW moments came from exploration and seeing places like Org for the first time.

An environment you see within 20 minutes? I'd me more concerned about not seeing level 85 zones previously

 

[Thoraxes]

It wasn't really intentional, but now that I know that it's a lot different I'm staying away from previews to avoid things like details of flashpoints, shots of environments, etc. Some of my favorite WoW moments came from exploration and seeing places like Org for the first time.

If you want a text description of my response, here's this (I don't think it's terribly spoilerly, but you may want to stay away if you are 100% on blackout):

I would say that a lot of it (set design) is... well, kind of forgettable right now. There are some really cool looking things in the game, but none of it is completely distinct from the rest, and it all just kind of blends. Like in WoW (because you've mentioned that) you have visual landmarks. When in Org, you have the Cleft of Shadow, Valley of Strength/Honor, etc, and in other zones you have things like Sunken Temple, Karazhan, Mankrik's Wife, etc.

I guess the main point is that aside from the map, I really didn't have a clue as to where things were. It was really hard to tell where some things were even judging by the map, and a bunch of times I found myself having to backtrack for 3 minutes because I couldn't reach a path that showed on the lower level of a plateau (on the map), when in reality it was on the upper level. I think landmarks in an MMO are ridiculously helpful, and help all players out. It would've been nice to rely on the map a little less, but man, there's definitely a reason why it can be opaque too.

Like, it's more a condensed version of the Barrens, with some cool things here or there.
The major gathering areas however, were very cool the first time I saw them (and Coruscant almost reminded me of Silvermoon City). Everything that isn't an actual city hub (from what i've seen thus far) just blends with everything. I guess you could say it just feels more organic, which isn't a bad thing, but I think it lacks some distinct flair, aside from capital cities/ships.

Also keep in mind, I only played through all starting zones, and got every class (except for one) up to level 15 in just those 3 1/2 days.

 

[bathala]

played it once. I really like the voice acting.

but Dark Souls consumed my time :S

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Holy shit. Dat head.

How is the sound in this game in your opinion, guys in the beta? In this video it seems great, how well does it come through in the actual game itself?

I really liked the music on Hoth. It's simple and minimal but really effective.

 

[Stormwatch]

Did anyone else get 6 emails in a row stating that the Beta was over for this weekend? Seems like they are having mail server problems again...

 

[BattleMonkey]

The game sounds great, but they need to work on when the music plays and cuts out. Had so many cases of "epic combat music" blaring and not turning off long after fighting and having moved onto a rest/peaceful area.

 

[Dash27]

So after playing this over the weekend, I'm not sure why people were saying it's a WoW in Space MMO. To me there is more than just a little Mass Effect / KOTOR in it. Companions, cut scenes, dialogue choices and general "feel". The flashpoint I did in particular was a nice change of pace from your typical 5 man dungeon. It felt like the logical next step in scripted events.

The pvp was good too, although it's tough to form an impression at a low level and short play time. I liked it though, had fun and looking forward to playing some more.

 

[Chindogg]

So after playing this over the weekend, I'm not sure why people were saying it's a WoW in Space MMO. To me there is more than just a little Mass Effect / KOTOR in it. Companions, cut scenes, dialogue choices and general "feel". The flashpoint I did in particular was a nice change of pace from your typical 5 man dungeon. It felt like the logical next step in scripted events.

The pvp was good too, although it's tough to form an impression at a low level and short play time. I liked it though, had fun and looking forward to playing some more.

Dialogue's fun until you're going through 5min of dialogue to collect each quest for the 100th time and your 8th consecutive quest in that town; especially when the majority of choices you make in said conversations mean absolutely nothing. Even the LS/DS decisions really don't impact non-force users (outside of useless titles that you seem to get a dime a dozen for following certain quest trees). Same goes with cutscenes, they're nice until you have to watch them for the 100th time then they just become a slightly longer wait for the next level to load.

Companions are really awesome though. They basically tank or heal for you. Too bad you have to use them to do any crafting (which btw is the worst crafting system in any MMO I've ever played).

I'm hoping that its because its only beta, but after Esseles every other flashpoint I've done (I'm lvl 30 right now) are extremely barebones and pale in comparison to the polish Esseles had. I'm hoping that the experience is eventually polished and refined because right now it's like playing WoW with DA2 style storytelling (not a good thing.)

 

[maabus1999]

Dialogue's fun until you're going through 5min of dialogue to collect each quest for the 100th time and your 8th consecutive quest in that town; especially when the majority of choices you make in said conversations mean absolutely nothing. Even the LS/DS decisions really don't impact non-force users (outside of useless titles that you seem to get a dime a dozen for following certain quest trees). Same goes with cutscenes, they're nice until you have to watch them for the 100th time then they just become a slightly longer wait for the next level to load.

Companions are really awesome though. They basically tank or heal for you. Too bad you have to use them to do any crafting (which btw is the worst crafting system in any MMO I've ever played).

I'm hoping that its because its only beta, but after Esseles every other flashpoint I've done (I'm lvl 30 right now) are extremely barebones and pale in comparison to the polish Esseles had. I'm hoping that the experience is eventually polished and refined because right now it's like playing WoW with DA2 style storytelling (not a good thing.)

Crafting and Mod system is in flux right now and is the area they need the biggest polish on.

Besides that, the crafting with companions with reverse engineering, multi-queing, and critical hits make it possibly a very deep system. Add in the fact crew skills come into play one the new flashpoints and I think they have "possibly" a great system when polished up.

 

[tokra2003]

Too bad you have to use them to do any crafting (which btw is the worst crafting system in any MMO I've ever played).

Why ? U said your lvl 30+ so you know that u got more than one companion so if one currently crafting you can use the other. How simple is that

 

[BattleMonkey]

Dialogue's fun until you're going through 5min of dialogue to collect each quest for the 100th time and your 8th consecutive quest in that town; especially when the majority of choices you make in said conversations mean absolutely nothing.

You do know that you can skip these dialogues?

Too bad you have to use them to do any crafting (which btw is the worst crafting system in any MMO I've ever played)

How is it the worst crafting system in any MMO? It's essentially the same as many others but with flexibility of EVE's where you can assign tasks to be handled while you are offline. You also don't have to invest your own time into doing menial collecting tasks and have your companions handle it for you you instead.

 

[maabus1999]

It's painfully obvious this is your first MMO. Vanguard had a 17 month beta, Warhammer had a 16 month beta, LoTRO had a 7 month beta, WoW's original beta was 7 months, EQ2's beta was 6 months. I can go on with this, but the point is every MMO has a long beta test.




If you're drawn to MMOs with long development times then see here:

http://www.darkfallonline.com/

8 years of development, the most in the history of the genre and it didn't turn out too well. Sandbox model aside, it simply wasn't put together very well.

You forgot to add that sometimes they "extend" the Beta past release a couple months