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Catching Up With Star Wars: The Old Republic Posted By Mike on January 29, 2012
This week's TOR round-up is a bit leaner than most but there are still a few interesting links to bring to your attention in the absence of a SWTOR.com update. Remember, we've abandoned review links for the time being just because there are so many out there. We'll do periodic review round-ups in the not-too-distant-future, but until then, here is what we have...
IGN got a chance to catch up with BioWare's James Ohlen, Game Director for Star Wars: The Old Republic. In the course of the interview, Ohlen touches on being proud of the story and characters, gamer feedback, development challenges, updates, and more. See below for an excerpt from Ohlen in which he discusses free-to-play vs. subscription-based games. Then make sure to click here for the full read.
"It didn't really impact us. We felt, and we still feel, that there is a place for subscription-based games and if you're going to build a subscription-based game it's got to be huge in scope. People have to feel that it's worth paying a subscription fee every month, so the scope of the game has to be much bigger than the free-to-play games. The quality, the polish has to be very, very high, and then you need to have a plan to continue to deliver free content on a regular basis. If you do those things, I think you can succeed as a subscription-based game. Obviously, there can only be a few subscription-based games. There is a limited MMO audience and not a ton of that audience is playing more than one MMO, but I still think there's room for more than just one really successful online game. I think Star Wars: The Old Republic can coexist with World of Warcraft and other successful games like Rift. You can have multiple MMOs with a subscription being successful as long as those games fulfill the requirements of high quality, good polish, lots of content, and continuing to do high value updates on a regular basis."
Next up, Justin at MMOMFG.com (an admitted non-MMO fan) describes what it is about Star Wars: The Old Republic that's held his interest...
"With every other MMO title I?ve played in the past, the same result occurred: boredom. While the games might have been entertaining in one way or another, it was either the grind (WoW), the horrible launches (AO and AoC), or the boredom (LOTRO) that killed the experience for me. When Star Wars: The Old Republic was first announced and BioWare assured us that story would take precedent, I began to think that this could be the first MMO that keeps me engaged for more than a month. Lo and Behold, we are a little over one month in from the official launch date and my level 50 Sith Warrior is still kicking with the same amount of ferocity as when he first landed on Korriban. How has BioWare managed to keep my attention longer than any other MMO to date?"
The answer: story and progress. Click here for the full article.
In an interview with DualShockers.com, The Old Republic Live Producer Corey Butler talks about game features, TOR's future and, per the following excerpt, let's us know he plays the game.
"I do make time to play the game myself. I obviously check it up on our development servers, to see what?s coming up the pipe and then i definitely spend some time on the live servers. I have a level 45 Sith Sorcrerer that I?m playing right now and I?m really enjoying it. My favorite activities in the game, besides progressing my story, are Flashpoints? they are a big draw for me. I love that sort of short and focused group content. I also like Warzones and space combat. I do my space dailies almost every day. It?s something I can do quickly and hop out if i need to do a call or get into a meeting.
Anyway I?d say that my top right now are the Flashpoints, especially the new one that I haven?t checked online because I?m not level 50 yet (but hopefully I will be there by the end of the week). You know, the Rise of the Rakghouls is amazing. I think it?s probably some of the best content we?ve put out so far. It?s a lot of fun and I can?t wait to play it for real on the live servers."
Finally, Massively has a lengthy video interview with Lead Designer Gabe Amatangelo.
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