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The latest patch 5.4 newsLucasArts: Star Wars MMO will be bigger than WoW
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 27th 2008 at 4:00PM
You may have missed this story last week (we wouldn't blame you if you were busy fighting off the living dead), but there was a big announcement in the world of MMO games. BioWare, makers of Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, and last year's terrific Mass Effect, announced in conjunction with EA and LucasArts that they were going to make their first MMO, set in the same universe as their critically acclaimed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. Massively's got tons of news about it if you're interested (and even though we won't see it for years and years, I definitely am).But LucasArts didn't stop there -- years before the game is even scheduled to come out, they're ready to say the game will be bigger than WoW. Now, we get it -- WoW's the 800 lb. gorilla of MMOs, and thus they make the biggest target you'll find. But please, can we see some actual gameplay before the hype machine gets rolling?
If they don't actually release the game until WoW's servers are turned off, then sure, they'll be bigger than WoW, and hey, maybe if BioWare is able to make their game casual and accessible enough (we're looking at you, Mass Effect inventory system), they'll be able to come close to WoW's current peak of almost 11 million players. But LucasArts, let's get the game working before we start bragging about how big it's going to be.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Humor
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 7)
Saelorn Oct 27th 2008 4:15PM
I never understood the appeal of a prequel story. If this game takes place before Return of the Jedi, then we know that the ultimate outcome is not something we can change.
Sure, you can have a lot of cool or entertaining things happening in the past, but none of it will ever really carry the weight of, for example, killing off the lich king.
joh Oct 27th 2008 4:20PM
Bioware builds great character based stories that keep you engaged. You want to know what happens to that character even though you know the ultimate outcome.
That's sort of like saying "why do people find Roman civilization interesting to study when they know before hand it falls apart at the end?"
Jaysonn Oct 27th 2008 4:50PM
From all I've read on it (which isn't much), the timeline for the KoTOR games were 4000 years BEFORE the movies. This game is supposedly set only a few hundred years after the KoTOR games, which would give plenty of stuff to do that's epic without impacting the canon and story of the other games/movies/books/whatever it is crawling around George Lucas' head that gives him silly ideas.
Saelorn Oct 27th 2008 4:58PM
@Jaysonn
Yeah, that's exactly what I meant. If our characters are wandering around four thousand years before anything in the movies, then nothing we can possibly do will have any impact on anything down the line.
Not only will we be unable to influence anything from the more familiar "current-era", but it's entirely likely that anything we do will be long forgotten by that time; nothing we can possibly do would matter in the long run.
RogueJedi86 Oct 27th 2008 6:01PM
Saelorn, you're looking at it the wrong way. Since nothing we do in SWTOR will affect the original movies, BioWare has unlimited freedom to do pretty much whatever they want. The Sith could kill all the Jedi and rule the entire galaxy and it'd be okay, since it wouldn't ruin the movies. And 4,000 years is a damn long time, nothing has repercussions 4,000 years later. Just think of it more for unlimited freedom to do anything they want.
Haderic Oct 27th 2008 4:16PM
Do or do not, there is no try
couldn't resist
Fletch Oct 27th 2008 4:15PM
I'm not a great fan of games set in space, but Bioware has developed some very good titles, and it has a lot of scope to be interesting. Pity EA have got their fingers in it though.
chilisizzle Oct 27th 2008 4:20PM
Plenty of games have had the "potential" to be bigger than WoW. Pretty vague statement.
And anyone who thinks it will be released before 2010 is dreaming. So enjoy your time in Azeroth while we wait for the next "WoW killer".
retron Oct 27th 2008 4:17PM
When I read the headline, I assumed they meant in terms of content size it will be bigger. That I could believe. But subscriber wise, I kind of doubt it. Don't forget that something like half WoW's subscriber base is in China, where I doubt Star Wars has quite the fanatical following it does in the West. This just sounds like EA and LucasArts cranking up the hype machine as early as possible...I wonder if Greg and Ray of Bioware share this hyperbolic optimism.
SaintStryfe Oct 27th 2008 4:16PM
Make me Mac version.
I love WoW, but I'd love to try these games. But I'm not rebooting my computer just to run a game. Make a Mac version. I'd really enjoy to try something other then WoW, but ony Blizz seems to understand a few million Macs out there would love something else to run.
Michael O. Oct 27th 2008 4:53PM
They have already said it will be PC-only, thereby ditching any shot at the million or so Mac-using WoW players that Blizzard collects $15 per month from.
The heck with 'em, at least Blizz acts like it wants my money.
SaintStryfe Oct 27th 2008 4:56PM
At least I'll save time not reading about the game.
fkraft Oct 27th 2008 4:18PM
The first Star Wars MMO? Anyone remeber Galaxies and what a HUGE success the was? :P /end sarcasm
darian Oct 27th 2008 4:19PM
KOTOR, like Han, shot first.
Xtyle Oct 27th 2008 5:35PM
SWG was a HUGE success. Just shortlived.
The problem, as any early SWG player can testify, came with the games development. It was out of ballance, as any MMO is in their early stages. The balancing process left folks alienated and quite frankly, started to kill the game. When the developers gave up on the original game 'system' and completely redid the way the game was played. Mass exodus occurred. The game was solid and had potential, SOE drove it into the ground.
The game has been "dead" for years now, yet it's constantly used as a benchmark of sorts. That's success, my friend, albiet short lived. The same way folks compare to UO or EQ, SWG was a pioneer for many MMO game mechanics we appreciate today. It wasn't a rehash of the "same old thing."
When SWTOR was announced, a lot of folks sat back and daydreamed about their early experiences of SWG and had "a new hope." (ok, i pulled out the cheese card, sue me!)
For certain though, they have SWG's history to overcome (learn from), WoW to compete with (learn from), KOTOR as a foundation story and game engine concepts (learn from) and some of the most reliable financial backing a new MMO could dream of. I'm excited to see what they bring.
Shadown Oct 27th 2008 4:18PM
Since when has Lucas Arts made anything good? Pass.
joh Oct 27th 2008 4:20PM
Lucasarts is just the publisher and aren't the ones developing the game. If you want to judge it based on past creations then bioware is full of success.
darian Oct 27th 2008 4:24PM
Long ago when such things as "VGA" were newfangled dreams of the future there was a studio known as Lucas Arts. They made games, excellent games, and there was much rejoicing.
Then Star Wars Episode 1 released and it all went to hell.
Alas, the heydays of Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max are long since past, though some threads linger.
zappo Oct 27th 2008 4:29PM
Tie Fighter is one of the most awesome games ever.
oldwisemonk Oct 27th 2008 5:19PM
Ahhhh, Full Throttle ... I loved you so.