News: EA News Release : LucasArts and BioWare Reveal Star Wars: the Old Republic

[tk102]

LucasArts and BioWare Reveal Star Wars: the Old Republic

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LucasArts and BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced the development of Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a story-driven massively multiplayer online PC game set in the timeframe of the Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ franchise. Star Wars: The Old Republic, being developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, represents an innovative approach to interactive entertainment, featuring immersive storytelling, dynamic combat and intelligent companion characters.

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy. Players can choose to play as Jedi, Sith, or a variety of other classic Star Wars roles, defining their personal story and determining their path down the light or dark side of the Force. Along the way, players will befriend courageous companions who will fight at their side or possibly betray them, based on the players’ actions. Players can also choose to team up with friends to battle enemies and overcome incredible challenges using dynamic Star Wars combat.

“Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the most critically acclaimed Star Wars game in LucasArts history and a preeminent example of our company’s interactive storytelling heritage,” said Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts. “For a long time, we’ve wanted to return to the franchise in a grand way, and we felt that the best setting for it was an online world that would allow millions of people to participate in the experience together. We knew that the developer capable of working with us to deliver an engrossing story with a fully-realized online world was BioWare.”

“Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars - combat, exploration and character progression,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., “In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we’re fusing BioWare’s heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation – story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a triple-A massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe.”

Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder and Vice President Development Operations, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts Inc., “Star Wars: The Old Republic is set roughly 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, a timeframe that is completely unexplored in the lore. BioWare has been able to add to the Star Wars history in developing the game’s story and has created an overarching narrative that players can enjoy, regardless of their play style. Our goal is to offer players an emotionally rewarding experience that combines the traditional elements of MMO gameplay with innovations in story and character development.”

Additional details on Star Wars: The Old Republic features, gameplay and release date will be announced at a later time. For more information about Star Wars: The Old Republic and to sign up for future product updates, please visit http://www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com

[Da_Man_2423]

Was it imperative we knew what stock they were listed under?

As a matter of fact, I'm certain it was imperative for the EA/LA publicists to include that. ~tk

[Darth_Yuthura]

This is not KOTOR III, but it is essentially the death of those great franchises.

They say they wouldn't forget KOTOR... they were right. They went back and tainted it. I will NOT bother with this pathetic fake of a great game.

[Da_Man_2423]

Originally Posted by Darth_Yuthura

This is not KOTOR III, but it is essentially the death of those great franchises.

They say they wouldn't forget KOTOR... they were right. They went back and tainted it. I will NOT bother with this pathetic fake of a great game.

Not even out yet, and some of us are rushing to quick judgment. Hell, not even any gameplay videos yet.

[urluckyday]

Yeah, not 100% sure what you mean Darth...I think that you need to get some vids out and previews to judge. Now, if you didn't like the MMO genre, you can say that (I'd be with you on it too), but I don't know how it taints KOTOR (especially if we don't even know!).

P.S. DA Man...you're my new best friend...GO VIKINGS!

[Darth_Yuthura]

Well the only way I'll have ANY interest in this is if they move the timeline from 300 years to 5-20 after the original game. Anything beyond that detracts from the first two games.

Gameplay is irrelevant to me if the story only remotely touches TSL and can't be regarded as KOTOR, but takes place of its third installment.

[Da_Man_2423]

Why does the storyline HAVE to be about the KotORs? They can't do something else for awhile then come back later?

[ReplicatorJade]

Why come back later? Why not finish what they started?

I'd be like Lucas stopping in the middle of the films and decide to do something else.

They should have done a Kotor 3, and then came to this. There were too many unanswered questions in the last game. Alot didn't make complete sense.

They basically have dropped the project. And if they do end up doing it later, they will lose the interests of a lot of their pervious fans and will only attract new fans, who will feel distant from the game for not being there in the beginning.
Its like a generation skipping to me if they do this.

[Da_Man_2423]

Originally Posted by ReplicatorJade

They should have done a Kotor 3, and then came to this. There were too many unanswered questions in the last game. Alot didn't make complete sense.

The only question anyone cared about was what happened to Revan. It's not like there are thousands of missing answers that makes the whole series confusing as hell.

They basically have dropped the project. And if they do end up doing it later, they will lose the interests of a lot of their pervious fans and will only attract new fans, who will feel distant from the game for not being there in the beginning.
Its like a generation skipping to me if they do this.

I highly doubt if they make a K3 later, fans who wanted one now are gonna say, "Oh, well I'm not gonna buy that, 'cause you didn't do it earlier!"

[ReplicatorJade]

Originally Posted by Da_Man_2423

The only question anyone cared about was what happened to Revan. It's not like there are thousands of missing answers that makes the whole series confusing as hell.




I highly doubt if they make a K3 later, fans who wanted one now are gonna say, "Oh, well I'm not gonna buy that, 'cause you didn't do it earlier!"

Yeah, well have you heard of people losing interest in things and becoming interested in others. I'm not the star wars I use to be when I was 12.
I'm starting to lose interest completely in Star Wars since latey any of the new productions like the prequels, the clone wars movie/series and force unleashed aren't really that good.

With how things are deveolping with Star Wars and LucasProductions, I doubt I would buy a kotor 3 even if it did come out.

How many people weren't 100% impressed with kotor 2. It was good, but nothing compared to the first.
Lets face it, Star Wars is going down the dark path...

[Negative Sun]

hmmm, I absolutely love KotOR, but absolutely hate MMOs...what to make of this? If there are no monthly fees and quests/storylines I can play solo then I might consider it, otherwise forget it...no amount of me loving SW or KotOR will make me look past that...didn't work for galaxies either.

[Da_Man_2423]

Well that's too bad. I'm gonna enjoy this game for all the money I put into it, and I'll have no regrets. Unless the game sucks of course, but it's too early to judge that, but some of you seem to be doing that anyway.

[urluckyday]

I have the same mentality as neg sun...I don't know why they have to have such high fees...I understand they have to keep the servers running, but you know what $10-15 a month is outrageous...idc how fun any mmo is...I can't condone it...if it was lowered to about $0-7 a month or so, I MAY consider it...

[Da_Man_2423]

There are other things than just keeping servers running. They're not cheap either.

[urluckyday]

Originally Posted by ReplicatorJade

Yeah, well have you heard of people losing interest in things and becoming interested in others. I'm not the star wars I use to be when I was 12.
I'm starting to lose interest completely in Star Wars since latey any of the new productions like the prequels, the clone wars movie/series and force unleashed aren't really that good.

With how things are deveolping with Star Wars and LucasProductions, I doubt I would buy a kotor 3 even if it did come out.

How many people weren't 100% impressed with kotor 2. It was good, but nothing compared to the first.
Lets face it, Star Wars is going down the dark path...

Perhaps you just expect too much...perhaps you're expecting to look at Star Wars like you are a 12 year old, but you're not. I mean, I've learned to evolve with Star Wars as it has evolved over the years. Sure, Lucasarts has ****** me off with some crappy Star Wars games before, but in all honesty, even though I didn't like KOTOR 2, it definitely didn't signal the end of good Star Wars games...and games like Galaxies were more due to bad decision making from Sony than Lucasarts...
~snipped bait

[ReplicatorJade]

Originally Posted by urluckyday

Perhaps you just expect too much...perhaps you're expecting to look at Star Wars like you are a 12 year old, but you're not. I mean, I've learned to evolve with Star Wars as it has evolved over the years. Sure, Lucasarts has me off with some crappy Star Wars games before, but in all honesty, even though I didn't like KOTOR 2, it definitely didn't signal the end of good Star Wars games...and games like Galaxies were more due to bad decision making from Sony than Lucasarts...

~snipped.

Yeah, but its not just because of Kotor 2. I really don't enjoy alot of the star wars games. And thats just me. If you all enjoy those games and this new one, then thats great.

But I really don't get into online games and the fact of the monthy fees. I don't think I want to use my money for this game.

[Da_Man_2423]

Well, your money is your business. You can do whatever you want with it, but I believe my money will be well-placed in this game. (Pending further review, however, once more details are announced)

[HdVaderII]

I just have one thing to say.
People have been awaiting and expecting a KOTOR 3, and this is not it. This is not a continuation of the KOTOR series, and should not be veiwed as one, so for people who are dissapointed, don't be, and shift out of the sequel-to-kotor mindset, and settle in and wait to see if this newest idea will be a good game or not

[Jae Onasi]

Folks, I understand some of you are going to feel betrayed that SWTOR is not K3. I sympathize with that feeling completely, because I love and adore K1 and TSL. I further sympathize with those who don't want to fork out money every month for an MMO. However, please don't give other members a hard time if they do or don't like the MMO play style.

[ReplicatorJade]

Yeah, Jae Onasi, is right.

Please anyone who have ready my posts on this site as not personal. I only mean to express how I feel towards the Star Wars Universe and its creators. I just find it frustrating that hearing all the Bioware saying it was a Kotor project and to find its not...

I think those Internet games are cool, I just happen to not be into MMO's.

So, those who are excited and thrilled about this new game, I think that's great. I hope you all enjoy it.

[Rev7]

Originally Posted by Negative Sun

hmmm, I absolutely love KotOR, but absolutely hate MMOs...what to make of this? If there are no monthly fees and quests/storylines I can play solo then I might consider it, otherwise forget it...no amount of me loving SW or KotOR will make me look past that...didn't work for galaxies either.

QFT

I really don't know what to think about this one. I don't really thinkt aht it is a great move on their part, but what can I do about it? Nothing really.

If it is free, I will play it. If you pay, no way!

[knight 12167]

Please tell me this is not going to be a version og galaxies a coupl of tousand years before.

If you have to pay and the storyline is crap this would be pathetic

I hope it is going to be ok

[Tommycat]

Strangely enough, I understand where the aversion to paying a monthly fee comes from. I mean you don't pay for cable TV on a monthly basis, because the regular TV stations are enjoyable. I mean why would you pay for something on a monthly basis. Why would people pay a monthly fee for satellite radio?

sorry, I just find that argument very old and annoying. Many people already pay monthly fees to get entertainment. Generally far greater fees than 10 to 15 a month. How much do people pay for internet? While the internet is useful, most people use it for entertainment. Before MMO's I spent more time at bars. 40-50 minimum a night at a bar. Why do we pay for video rental instead of buying the DVD? How much do you spend a month on entertainment altogether?

Now, we have removed the monthly fee from the argument, lets focus on the other arguments.

Gameplay: Haven't seen it, so we have no basis.
Graphics: We've only seen a few screenshots of early alpha, so it's still too early to tell.
Story: We only have a basic outline, but we haven't had much info at all about that.
content: all we know is that they say it will have more content than all of Bioware's games combined.

What other arguments are there against it?

[EnderWiggin]

I'm kind of glad SWTOR seems to be unrelated to the KOTOR franchise. Gives them the opportunity to come back if they want to, and 300 years separates it enough for me personally so that I can think of it as another game entirely.

I'll wait and see - especially for the price

_EW_

[Rinku]

Ya (what you said) having the TOR game 300 years after the KOTOR series leaves enough room for them to make a it (at least I hope) completely different. Who knows maybe some of the updates that they will come out with will make the game have connections to the KOROR games (hopefully not).

I am just waiting to see if this MMO comes out for Mac...

[Prime]

Originally Posted by Negative Sun

hmmm, I absolutely love KotOR, but absolutely hate MMOs...what to make of this?

You and me both. I guess it will all come down to how much gameplay is decided by interaction with people I don't want to play with. The comments of it being story focused are intriguing though...

[M@RS]

Nice, it looks cool, but I don't do the whole giant online games like WoW...

[Negative Sun]

Originally Posted by Prime

You and me both. I guess it will all come down to how much gameplay is decided by interaction with people I don't want to play with. The comments of it being story focused are intriguing though...

I agree, I don't mind having to play it online as long as I can play it solo and it has some good storylines and char progression/feats/classes etc...

And all I pay for is the game, not extortionate server "fees" a company like LA doesn't need to keep servers running.

[RyuuKage]

I want K3, but this seems to have the potential every other MMO lacks. I'll give it a chance on one condition: NO PAY-TO-PLAY! that's total bs...

[K_Kinnison]

THe only problem is that everyone, their brother, and their sister are now going to be Jedi and want to be doing things that they could do in FORCE UNLEASHED, then whine about it when they can't, and keep whining til they get their way. So we end up that all the non-force users turn into nothing but tools of the force users.

[Rinku]

Originally Posted by RyuuKage

I want K3, but this seems to have the potential every other MMO lacks. I'll give it a chance on one condition: NO PAY-TO-PLAY! that's total bs...

I hope this has an appeal, (for me) which WoW did not have. WoW seemed to be missing something...

I agree pay-to-play games are not worth anything to me. If they want to really make money off of this then it should be free because more people will buy the game (knowing they can play it for free). They will probably have a thing where instead of giving free update, we will have to pay "a small fee" to get it so they can keep the money coming in.

Originally Posted by K_Kinnison

THe only problem is that everyone, their brother, and their sister are now going to be Jedi and want to be doing things that they could do in FORCE UNLEASHED, then whine about it when they can't, and keep whining til they get their way. So we end up that all the non-force users turn into nothing but tools of the force users.

Well hopefully they will make "checks and balances" for each class so it does really not matter what class you are. Also TFU had "Force Unleashed" in the name for a reason, it is called TOTALLY AMPED UP FORCE POWERS (hence UNLEASHED after force). So if anyone does whine I would just say, "If you want that, then go play The Force Unleashed." and walk away. And LF really has not listened to us whine anyway. The only reason they would change anything, is if the testers say that the game needs certain features changed (and with TOR only being in alpha stage, I would not start whining).

[John Galt]

This looks to be made of epic and win.

Also, I am back.

[Hallucination]

I like how before the game was announced everyone was like 'BAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW I DON'T WANT IT TO TOUCH MAH KOTOR ERA' and now that it is announced everyone's like 'BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW IT MOST LIKELY ONLY HAS THE VAGUEST CONNECTIONS TO MAH KOTOR ERA'.

~snipped~ --Come on, Hall, you know better.... --Jae

Edit: @John Galt: Welcome back.

But Jae, I was just applying his logic to his post!

[Steve-O Kreesh]

Bioware, you have officially sold out. Your string of successful games ends NOW!!!!!

[Prime]

Originally Posted by Negative Sun

And all I pay for is the game, not extortionate server "fees" a company like LA doesn't need to keep servers running.

I don't think there is anything extortionist about it, NS. This big servers are expensive to run and maintain, and the cost of the game really only covers the development costs.

[Maphisto86]

To be honest I am in the anti-MMO camp. It's not that I hate MMO's per say but I don't have the time to invest in playing them. AKA "I have a life" . Seriously though, I have a hard time just finding a couple of hours to spare playing the KOTOR and it's sequel, let alone an online multiplayer game with other live players that can effect the experience. However I heard from another poster around here that there is a single player mode which might help things somewhat for us antisocial players. If I play online, it's usually quick rounds of shoot em up games like Call Of Duty, Red Orchestra or Halo.

I commented on the art style as well but like many of you I am going to wait until I see more then make a final judgment. I can understand why we did not see a KOTOR III (although we may see it yet). I mean those games seem obsolete compared to the MMO games out now which are far more marketable. Even Fable II has a co-op mode online on Xbox Live. The developers have obviously seen the writing on the wall. Whether they will be able to take this franchise to a different level successfully is a different matter.

[Rinku]

If I remember correctly, when I first started here that I asked if there was a way for someone to make a game that was basically SWG but Kotor...hmm I wonder if anyone read that (probably no but it still is interesting).

I found the thread that I was talking about here

[Negative Sun]

Originally Posted by Prime

I don't think there is anything extortionist about it, NS. This big servers are expensive to run and maintain, and the cost of the game really only covers the development costs.

I don't know about that...I mean NWN was up and running for ages, with continuous patches etc...the only thing I ever payed for that was the game and the expansions...I suppose it's different if it's a dedicated MMO game, but it's still hard to justify the costs when they could do other things like release expansions or premium modules like NWN.

I suppose it's hard to justify for myself as well since I'm only really a casual gamer and I like to pick up and play a game whenever I want...

But anyways, since seeing the gamespot interview with the devs I'm actually really excited now, it all sounds very promising and - most importantly - very story-orientated!

Can't wait for more info!

[LordOfTheFish]

Originally Posted by Padwon_link

If I remember correctly, when I first started here that I asked if there was a way for someone to make a game that was basically SWG but Kotor...hmm I wonder if anyone read that (probably no but it still is interesting).

I found the thread that I was talking about here

Seriously?

[Ztalker]

Originally Posted by Padwon_link

If I remember correctly, when I first started here that I asked if there was a way for someone to make a game that was basically SWG but Kotor...hmm I wonder if anyone read that (probably no but it still is interesting).

I found the thread that I was talking about here

Whahaha T7nowhere:
"There will never be a kotor multiplayer"

Epic!