Here it is, an inside view of TOR in its current state

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:49 am

Below Im posting an inside view of The Old Republic based on an inside source. And no I didnt have to dumpster dive this time to get this info rofl.

Oh and before the flame wars begin, lets not forget I was dead on correct when I said Bioware was making a Star Wars theme MMO. And this was despite Bioware and LA both stating for a fact that this would not be a star wars MMO.

This is going to be long and so I'll do my best to organize what I know as best I can.

Many MMO's start out as an idea. Developers formulate a basic concept and then workshop ideas. A basic blueprint is written up and a budget is estimated. Then work begins. At this point some of the larger MMO dev houses present their blueprint to a marketing team. The team will do research to determine what kind f projected revenue they can expect and if the game will reach an intended target. Ideas are given back to the development team who may or may not revise their blueprint.

I describe this as whats normally done within a development of an MMO. I mention this because TOR didnt start in this traditional sense.

TOR was born from a business model. This business model was handed over to developers who were then asked to design a game around it. What was this business model you ask, it was a book.

This book was written by Lucas Arts and inspired by KOTOR and its success. I dont know the origins of when and why it was done but this book is the framework for TOR.

The game has been designed to play like a virtual book. Each chapter will have alternate endings based on which dialog you chose in the quests. The goal is to make the game replayable and new each time you start over.

Each chapter has roughly the same content as a KOTOR game. And there are several chapters so the game does have a ton of content.

The game is heavily instanced. If you have ever played Lord of the Rings Online, its similiar to the beginning quest sequence and some of the books. You will literally watch a story unfold in front of you in your own little world. There are several cinematic scenes in the game.

Its definitely NOT open. There are no giant worlds you can freely explore. Its sort of like Guild Wars or a variation of Age of Conan. No player cities and no housing.

There is no space content so if your hoping for a JTL in TOR you better look elsewhere. There is a few quests involving boarding a ship but you arent going to fly around in an X-Wing doing missions.

The story evolves. Think Books in Lord of the Rings. They plan on adding new chapters to the story. Here is the catch, you will likely have to pay for each new chapter. Its not really an expansion, so its more like buying some additional quests.

There are classes in the game but not in the traditional MMO sense. There isnt a tank class or a healing class really. Each class can dps and has some healing abilities.

Each class will start on its own planet and will have a unique series of quests to start the game. Once you leave the planet, the quests will be mostly the same as other classes but the dialog is unique to each class. Of course there are different possibilities based on the dialog you choose. Also cinematic sequences will be different depending on class.

You can solo through the entire game. Not to say there arent group quests, there are but you can skip them.

If you dont like questing, this game isnt for you. There really is no other means to play the game.

There is no non-combat class.

There is a limit to the number of companions you can have. And in a group you cant have two of the same companions out at the same time. Also you can only have one companion out at a time.

Crafting is very basic. You craft your own lightsaber. There is no weapons crafting or armor crafting of any kind. There are some quests that require you to do some basic crafting like fixing a shield generator or fixing a droid. There are some modifications you can add to your gear. But you arent going to make your own gear.

There is currency and you can buy consumables like health pots. There will be a standard auction house.

Its definitely a PvE focused game. PvP will be limited to duels at this point. There are no raids, at least not in the traditional sense where 25 people go into a dungeon like in wow.

combat is classic rpg with a toolbar and specials with cooldowns.

Bioware wont support addons and apparently it will be considered an exploit to use one. No idea why.

The game currently is in full alpha test mode.

To summarize the game, its not really an MMO in the traditional sense. Some people are going to be upset by the design. Others like KOTOR fans will absolutely love this game. Oh and there will definitely be RMT plus a subscription fee.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:24 am

I figured it would be just like Guild Wars. Of course EA is going to milk it for all it's worth, so a sub fee plus you have to pay for all the content, unlike Guild Wars.

It will be fun for a while but that is all. Now if it had free servers like Guild Wars one could come and go as they please and buy what content looks good. With the fee, maybe sub one or two months out of the year when enough content is released. Basically KOTOR subscription style.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:05 am

Well, sounds like a fail to me Razz

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:25 pm

Ill take your "word" with a grain of salt. But simply going by what you said it sounds like a piece of shit, normal Bioware game.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:37 pm

Sounds a lot like what we assumed it would be. People keep saying there's no information on the game, but you can tell a lot just from the little they've shown us, BioWare's past games, and the fact that this was designed to be a sequel to KOTOR. And, if you think of it like that, you might have fun. I'm just not sure if the quality of the stories is going to hold up if they're making a few hundred thousand quests.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:15 pm

There will be some seriouse pre-cu vet flaming if this turns out to be the case, hehe. Very Happy

Although i doubt this will grab that large player base, might as well just created Kotor 3,4 and 5 with that money.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:47 pm

i call BS....most of what you wrote here is the exact opposite what the devs have hinted at. PvP and RvR are supposed to be a large part of the game (that's the largest fallacy i see with this "rumor")

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:00 pm

Sounds an awful lot like Guild Wars. With Star Wars content.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:46 pm

miagisan wrote:

i call BS....most of what you wrote here is the exact opposite what the devs have hinted at. PvP and RvR are supposed to be a large part of the game (that's the largest fallacy i see with this "rumor")

Im not saying realm vs realm wont be added or full-scale pvp. At this time though they arent in the game. Dueling is it for pvp.

I only posted what my source knew to be facts at the time. There are suggestions that a WoW type battleground will be added at some point.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:58 pm

Trubaduren wrote:

Although i doubt this will grab that large player base, might as well just created Kotor 3,4 and 5 with that money.

Well, fans of KOTOR will buy it, and MMO fans will buy it. Plus, unlike the single player games, where people slap down $50 every three years or so, you have people buying the $50 box and then paying $15 a month for it. So they're making more money, and they're using a lot less effort to do it.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:11 pm

Bissrok wrote:

Trubaduren wrote:

Although i doubt this will grab that large player base, might as well just created Kotor 3,4 and 5 with that money.

Well, fans of KOTOR will buy it, and MMO fans will buy it. Plus, unlike the single player games, where people slap down $50 every three years or so, you have people buying the $50 box and then paying $15 a month for it. So they're making more money, and they're using a lot less effort to do it.

Honestly I will still play it. I like Star Wars, and I don't have as much time to dedicate to playing MMOs like I did years ago. I want something I can jump into, play a bit, and go about my life. Even if it still played like Guild Wars, I would play it. I remember asking a few people that, If TOR was like guild wars would you play blah blah. It was a mixed reaction. I'm not sure if this BS, honestly at this point in my life, I don't really care.

Anyways this was Sean's post on this rumor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeanDahlberg
So, instead of just saying "this is a rumor" and leaving it at that, I'll also tack on that sometimes the best fallacies have truths etched into them. While there are some things I cannot comment on at this time (because labeling them a truth or a lie basically announces it), there are some things listed in that which are apparently not true.

What I will say is discover if the information we release sounds like a fun game to you. In these times where information is light, rumors and speculation get more attention because it is something to glom on to. But, as I stated in another thread, we will be opening up the flow of information shortly now.

Then you can decide for yourself what you think of TOR and if its something you'd like to play.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:26 pm

From a philosophical point of view, this discussion is rather fun. You like object A (star wars) but you don't like how it's handeld.

Like a hot chick, but stupid as hell. Will you go for it? Most likley. Will you stay with her? Probably not.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:31 pm

Trubaduren wrote:

From a philosophical point of view, this discussion is rather fun. You like object A (star wars) but you don't like how it's handeld.

Like a hot chick, but stupid as hell. Will you go for it? Most likley. Will you stay with her? Probably not.

In the end as with any game, the real question is "Is it fun for you when you play it?" If not, move on. If it is, then it shouldn't mater what others say or think, right?

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:42 pm

stupid mmorpg.com removed my post on this and gave me a warning. I violated the NDA according to them. Not sure how they figure that considering I never agreed to one. Nor am I a tester

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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:03 pm

Vanive Talon wrote:

Trubaduren wrote:

From a philosophical point of view, this discussion is rather fun. You like object A (star wars) but you don't like how it's handeld.

Like a hot chick, but stupid as hell. Will you go for it? Most likley. Will you stay with her? Probably not.

In the end as with any game, the real question is "Is it fun for you when you play it?" If not, move on. If it is, then it shouldn't mater what others say or think, right?

True, but i was referng to an early state of the game, since none know it's fun or not Razz

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:27 pm

If its like guild wars but with actual shit to do, it will be ok. But this game will never hold 200,000 subs if this is true.

There is a 99.2% chance this entire post is bullshit if you go by SeanDahlberg response. Im willing to guess the "no space" and "no freedom to explore" are the biggest lies that Sean is pointing at.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:40 pm

Not adding space would be pretty stupid. It doesn't have to be that advanced to begin with, JTL wasn't really a piece of art, but stilla fun moment from time to time. Just something different from the day to day gameplay.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:54 pm

Trubaduren wrote:

Not adding space would be pretty stupid.

The KOTOR games didn't really have space (aside from those short minigames. SWG didn't have space for all of the time I played. They'd be alright without it.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:29 pm

It would work without space, but it would get alot more subs if you could cruise around in a YT-1300-look-a-like.

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:33 pm

Trubaduren wrote:

It would work without space, but it would get alot more subs if you could cruise around in a YT-1300-look-a-like.

That would be a Dynamic-class freighter. Aka the Ebon Hawk from Kotro 1 and 2. Although the Ebon Hawk was insanely modified to levels that makes the Millenium Falcon look like a teenbois honda.