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Knights Of The Online Republic: KOTOR MMO Is Go
Written by Alec Meer on July 17, 2008 at 8:32 pm.
It’s a big day for Bioware. First, Dragon Age scrubs up very nice indeed, and now EA have only bleedin’ gone and revealed they’re planning Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The MMO. Yes, with Bioware at the till. [Pauses for internet-wide cheer]. “As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in rapture and were suddenly fanboys…”
It’s been rumoured for ages, but E3 saw EA’s John Riccitiello drop a conclusive bombshell. Quote’n'that under the jump.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - I’d better be able to play as a Jawa.
“We’ve got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development,” said Riccitiello. The first title, based on the Warhammer property, will launch soon. “And the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about — in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it.”
Does Riccitiello mean the oft rumored Knights of the Old Republic Online? “Yes,” he said.
“Yes” can be such a magical word.
In a way, the Bioware involvement is in many ways the least important element of this. It’s a certain seal of quality, sure - and crucially it’s the first time they’ve done Massively Multi - but what’s really big here is that it’s a Star Wars MMO. From EA. In a post-WoW climate (which puts it on an entirely different footing to poor Galaxies right from the off). In other words, perhaps the most serious rival World of Warcraft could possibly have.
We’ll be needing to hear your name suggestions now, please.
181__________________
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Azhrarn says:
IF Bioware manage to do this properly, without EA forcing them to rush it out the door, then we could have a winner on our hands.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Man Raised By Puffins says:
Lummy.
I refuse to get excited until the details start flowing. If the Mass Effect identikit side quests are to be used as a model for the quests in this, then it can sod right off.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
cyrenic says:
I guess it would be too much to ask for X-Wing/TIE Fighter type space combat as well as the main RPGish stuff?
Great to see Bioware focusing more on the PC again.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
scopie says:
“Star Wars: Stinky Knights with Cheetos Fingers”
July 17th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
heartless_ says:
@Schadenfreude
Great thing about Jedi in this period is that they are all very much different and are more than just magical flashy swords. And if they decide that players can play as Sith… yes indeedy feel the needy to dance naked at work right now.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
zanbowser says:
I find myself agreeing with most of the posts so far… especially the “X-Wing/TIE Fighter” angle. It would be great to see a real “twitch MMO” that’s not just a tarted-up Battlefield clone or a reboot of Planetside (though, that I would certainly play, as well). As much as I liked the first two, I’m actually (and I never thought I’d say this) bored of the Star Wars IP. How about a Firefly-universe MMO?
Who am I kidding - I’ll probably be in it anyway once more info comes out, despite my yawning ambivalence.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Gnarl says:
I always wanted to play as a Jawa in Galaxies. Not as a main race, more as a simplified version of play where you just wandered around stunning innocent droids. And shouting ‘Woutinni!’ of course.
So in the hope Bioware also wanted to do this, I dub thee
‘Star Wars: Revenge of the Jawa’
July 17th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Pavel says:
Great, another MMO. If they rather made proper KOTOR 3…
July 17th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
James G says:
I enjoyed KOTORI muchly, although have been putting off KOTOR II until the Sith Lords Restoration Project is finished. There has been an unsurge of activity on that front recently, my money is on a release within the next four weeks.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
K says:
They could integrate some sort of master and apprentice system so a low and high level player get some benefit from partnering up. And the X-Wing/Tie Fighter idea is excellent.
So much potential.
I’m still not going to play it, of course.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Abe says:
I’m still expecting Blizzard to announce a Starcraft MMO. They have to be at least thinking about their follow-up to WoW, and Starcraft is the most obvious contender - and probably the next best thing to a Star Wars license.
Does anybody else think we could see a big sci-fi MMO scuffle between EA-Bioware and Actizard?
July 17th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Nick Halme says:
Star Wars: Star Wars Online: The Star Wars Continue
How’s that, do you think people would get the brand message from the name?
July 17th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
KOTOR. What you get when you make Star Wars less dumb. Considering that the KOTOR period is a lot more interesting than the movie period, as far as roleplaying and Jedi-rolling possibilities go, and is a lot more Star Wars-y in spirit than anything Yuuzhan Vong and beyond, I have high hopes for this.
Might be the only MMO I would actually play beyond a free trial period.
…
Is it strange that I hold the KOTOR series in as high regard as I do Empire?
July 17th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
mpk says:
I just came on my knee
July 17th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Paul S says:
/KEEERRRRR-SPLOOODE!!!
Yowzers. Very, very excited by this. KOTOR is my favouritest game ever, Bioware are my favouritest dev house, and I’ve been dying for a good SW mmo. I’m all tingly.
And it’ll work fine with the Jedi. It’s a KOTOR mmo - make everyone Jedi. No balance issues, and in the timeframe it would make perfect sense.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
michael says:
This news brings joy to my life. I now have a reason to live.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
CitizenErazed says:
Just, for the love of god, pick one way to make people Jedi and stick to that. What really got to people in SWG was the fact that they kept changing the Jedi system - you could spend weeks grinding the system in place one month, only for it to change just as you got there.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
JonFitt says:
Urgh. Absolutely Terrible News. Now we’ll never get a good KoToR 3.
If it plays like a single player RPG then I might be interested, but the thought of wandering around Tatooine grinding Sand People so I can collect 20 Gaderffiis fills me with disgust.
Maybe, just maybe if I can get my own Ebon Hawk and roam around the galaxy X-Wing/Tie-fighter style (not just a fast travel animation) then the hideous repetitive boredom that is MMOs might be worth it.
Possibly.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Paul S says:
@ Jonfit: At this point, I think we can be optimistic. If anyone can do this right, it’s Bioware. They resurrected the CRPG, practically invented the current template, and the worst game they’ve made is still a wonderful game by most developers’ standards. I swell with optimistic joy.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Ragnar says:
Although I tend to agree with JonFitt about KoToR 3, I think that if I’ll ever play a MMORPG, it will be this.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
The_B says:
Star Wars: A Lot Of Knights of The Old Republic. And The New One. And The User Created Ones. And Some Republics That Were Started But Never Quite Got Off The Ground.
Needs some work on the title.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Alex says:
If it plays like a single player RPG then I might be interested, but the thought of wandering around Tatooine grinding Sand People so I can collect 20 Gaderffiis fills me with disgust.
This is my fear too. I’m just afraid that the epic story element will be the first thing to go out the window, eventhough we’re talking about BioWare here.
Basically, I’m not interested in all this online palaver, really.
If anyone can do this right, it’s Bioware. They resurrected the CRPG, practically invented the current template, and the worst game they’ve made is still a wonderful game by most developers’ standards.
I’m not so sure.. they may have invented the template for the cRPG, but an MMO of itself is quite a different template altogether.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Paul S says:
We know nothing at all about this game yet. A bit early for cynicism, surely? Let’s see what Bioware have to say for themselves, and then we can all get started with the “WoW with lightsabers” comments. For now, though - open minds?
July 17th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
mandrill says:
Oh please, let them not fuck this up. Tell EA to keep their noses out and just sit back and count the money.
The possibilities are as follows:
Your character’s ’side’, or whatever you want to call it, is determined by how you behave in game. As in both the KOTOR games. Which means that to be properly Sith you have to be cruel and nasty to everyone even those on your side.
Space combat would be wonderful (but unfortunately will not involve TIE fighters or X-Wings, 3000 yrs before they were even invented don’tcha know).
This has the potential to be a proper mmoRPG and not a hack’em up grind fest which seems to have appropriated the name.
Mass Effect style combat would be good, twitchier than WoW and more fun. Bioware should be wary of treading the Tabula Rasa path though and actually let the player’s aim mean something.
This may be the game that pulls me away from EVE (though I sincerely doubt it, tbh)
July 17th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Pederson says:
I am deeply intrigued, but I’m not sure if the EA guy actually confirmed that it was KotOR Online, or just that the LucasArts/Bioware collaboration was the project that was rumored to be KotOR Online. I am withholding my enthusiasm until there’s some official confirmation.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Saflo says:
We know nothing at all about this game yet. A bit early for cynicism, surely?
Hello, and welcome to the Internet.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Alex says:
We know nothing at all about this game yet. A bit early for cynicism, surely? Let’s see what Bioware have to say for themselves, and then we can all get started with the “WoW with lightsabers” comments. For now, though - open minds?
Hey, that’s what can be expected when a company starts cranking the hype-machine.. they choose to drop slight hints without any real info, long long ahead of time, you’ll get speculation like this. Years of being crushed in the same hype-machine have made some of us a tad cynical, I’m afraid.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Pederson says:
Also, I want a T-series astromech. Next best thing to a Swiss Army lightsaber.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Noc says:
I’m hoping for some Space bits, too. Not necessarily X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter style dogfighting . . . but even something vaguely EVE-y would be nice. One of the things I loved about EVE was that it really nailed the sort of “Itinerant Space Pilot” feel that I got from the Star Wars movies. I think being able to own, fly, and blow things up in a spaceship would add a LOT of interest to this, and serve a couple of other purposes:
One, it would balance out the Jedi thing. If Jedi training was sort of mutually exclusive to owning and operating a space ship. Yes, I know, all the Jedi in the books and movies were also ace pilots . . . but still, this would help with balance. You want a lightsaber and borderline godlike Force powers? Well, that’s good. But you’ll need someone to fly you around.
Also on the Jedi side, they’d still be able to offer things to a ship pilot. Sensing stuff, and whatnot. So it would encourage party-based gameplay, and building relationships between pilots and capable crewmen.
Also, I think it would be important to be able to lose your ship and have to buy a new one. EVE style too, really. This makes it worth something, and also puts you in a position of having to balance risking your ship against taking on missions. Or helping the aforementioned Jedi chaps with theirs. I think THAT’s a dynamic that’s been missing from all the Star Wars games I’ve played: they let you be a Luke Skywalker type, or even a Wedge Antilles type, but there’s never been a game that lets you properly play as a Han Solo.
And I will start being very excited about this game if I get to fly a spaceship that has a crew. I want people walking into a goddamn cantina and looking to hire a pilot who won’t ask questions. I want to tell a player that he’s going to get us all killed, as he urges me to run a gauntlet of angry military ships that he needs to get by to complete his mission. I want to sit in an escape pod and float through space, and watch my ship get shot up by lasers, then drop down into the middle of nowhere on a planet I’ve never visited before, knowing the aforementioned military types are coming after me and trying to make my way either to civilization or to some ruins to lay low in. Which will undoubtedly carry their own dangers.
That’s the fun bits of Star Wars. I want to see them in a goddamn game.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Sal says:
I cried a bit…cheered…LOL’d….then cried a bit more. I think i need a hug
July 17th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Colinmarc says:
ahhhhhhhhhhhh I’m so excited
July 17th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
JonFitt says:
@Paul S
I guess I should have a little faith. I just hope this is lead from “We have a great idea about how to bring the KoToR experience to an MMO” and not “Hey, I likes money. MMO is money.”
@Ragnar
It is the most likely one I’d play if any.
@Alex
That’s always been my problem. MMOs have these quest givers giving the same “epic event story” to a huge line of heroes. Too many Kings and not enough Peasants.
Sorry, but I really don’t want anyone else bar a few people to be a Jedi. My ideal Star Wars MMO would have you all as Republic Soldiers, or Sith Soldiers and I’d sweep into the room, dispatch half of you, and the other half would gush with adoration at my amazing lightsaber skills. Then I’d destroy the Death Star thingumy and save the Galaxy.
Since I doubt anyone else would want to be my supporting cast, and AI can replace all of that anyway, what’s the point of making it an MMO?
How about just a co-op adventure?
SWG tried to limit the number of Jedi by making it an obtuse thing to get with the idea that people would become one by luck and by being something non-Jedi. That didn’t work.
Maybe they could procedurally generate a thousand worlds with a couple of Corusant-likes where people meet, so I could say screw you all and head of on my own adventures with a few friends and never have to deal with 20 “D4rth W4ng”s and “Duke Skywonker”s?
July 17th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Nimic says:
Terrible news.
How will I have time to have a Real Life (TM)?!
July 17th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Stick says:
What’s this “make everyone a Jedi” nonsense? The cool people use sneak-attack blasters. Or have rocket launchers on their wrists. Or properly fear-inspiring rusty red chassis.
Do you want a game where 90% of the non-AI runs around dual-wielding shiny red swords? 
July 17th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Leelad says:
R.I.P SWG 
July 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Nick says:
The games industry’s worst kept secret finally revealed!
July 17th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
H says:
Hmm. Well the era is known as the Old Republic, but isn’t the world “old” deemed bad marketing? So maybe “Star Wars: The Republic”?
July 17th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
FredrikFtw says:
YES
July 17th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Rook says:
Sounds too right wing.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Wedge says:
I wouldn’t say “Bioware” is making this. It’s their new MMO studio making it, which is located in Texas, and if I recall is mainly composed of local SOE devs. So don’t have much hope for this.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Noc says:
Oh, man, the more I think about this the more ideas I have.
-First, a serious faction reputation system. In other MMOs, you have to kill an impressive number of people to properly alienate a faction. Murdering one or two of them in cold blood on the off chance that they might have had something valuable on them doesn’t usually leave too much of an impression. But killing NPCs and doing quests could, perhaps, have significant consequences for your reputation with a faction. Not only does this help the “Actions have consequences” thing, but it leads to other interesting ideas:
- Factional PvP system: Bounty Hunting. PvP is usually framed in terms of war, but what about this: if a player’s racked up a negative reputation with a faction, other players can turn him in for a bounty. But you can’t tell specifically by looking at the character. There won’t be flashing lights or anything. There WILL be posted bounties, but they’ll only be for people who have REALLY pissed off a faction. Oh, and you’ll also piss of the factions the player was in GOOD with if you kill him. It encourages players to keep mum about their more illicit actions, and, if necessary, keep mum about their intentions. It also ties players closer to factions they’re allied with, because it encourages them to point out this alliance to highlight the risk someone would be taking by killing them. It’s a game mechanic that encourages, oddly enough, roleplaying. It provokes interesting dynamics between players. It splits people up into sides, and blindfolds them, then mixes them back together.
- Factional PvE: Factions you’ve pissed off will try and hunt you down. Any NPC of a faction you’ve angered recently has a percent chance of recognizing you if they get to close. Still, faction NPCs tend to stick to their own territory, so it’s worthwhile for someone who’s just completed a sabotage mission to try and book passage offworld as quickly as possible. This, hopefully, would mean relying on players with spaceships. Combine this with the previous point, and you’ve got some very interesting things going on. Things that are VERY reminiscent of the Star Wars source material. Oh, and the factions will also, as long as you’re in their territory, send NPCs with a HIGH chance of recognizing you to your general area. So you get military troops landing in the area your escape pod has touched down in. Or a crime lord’s thugs prowling through the streets of the spaceport you’ve fled to. This, in addition to causing the player to need to deal with the fallout of his actions in the classic fight-or-flight manner, also plays the game’s NPCs as something other than shopkeepers, questgivers, and stationary guards who’re only there to stop playerkilling.
- Oh, and combining the two: guards will interfere with public disturbances. But they’re much, much slower to interfere if they’re of a faction that dislikes you. On the other hand, they’ll leap to your defense if you’re in good with the faction.
Holy crap, this MMO I’m designing in my head is going to be so cool. It’s a shame no one’ll ever play it.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Jamie says:
I’m holocron grinding already
July 17th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Cigol says:
Hopefully it doesn’t spell the end for any future singleplayer iterations but may I just add to the general feeling of ‘YAZOOOOO!’. Lot of great games have been announced this month alone. Looking good.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Raff says:
Sorry, but:
Bioware’s attitude to QA + the MMORPG genre = the client will probably never even run
July 17th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Nick says:
Is no one else sick of this constant stream of MMOness? =/
July 17th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
propanol says:
Guess this means no KOTOR3, which makes me a sad panda. Then again, LucasArts has been sucking even more than usual (if that’s even possible) lately, so had there actually been a proper KOTOR sequel in the works it probably would have been console-only (because “omg we can’t be bothered with stuff like scalability”) and farmed out to some crap team.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
PetitPrince says:
I just hope we WON’T hear anything about Revan and the Exile in this MMO… because I want them in KOTOR3 !
July 17th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Jonathon Halliwell says:
Holy shit, this is awesome
July 17th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Sylexus says:
Im not too worried about the whole over populated jedi thing, Im more hyped about playable Mandalorians. Bounty hunter, Commando, and Spy were my three favorite classes in Galaxies (though ive stopped playing that cause of the huge player loss after 2005). If Mandalorians are playable it will be the sweetest S*** in forever. If not:
IT STILL WILL BE THE SWEETEST S*** EVER
July 17th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
andy m says:
sideboob.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Okami says:
Wow! A Star Wars MMO! Woooooooot!
Wait. Hold on a second..
Let’s see. I don’t like MMOs, since they involve me having to put up with other human beeings and I’m deeply bored by Star Wars…
Guess I’ll pass…
July 17th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Nimic says:
This isn’t a Star Wars MMO. It’s a KotOR MMO. Trust me, there’s a difference 
July 18th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Colinmarc says:
I’m be Mandalorian. YES.
Wait, before or after civil/mandalorian war?
Mandalorians. Ah.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:18 am
SSG Dante says:
Crap. As if ole Karen wasn’t wanky enough…please let there be a Mandalorian shooting gallery. They’re bloody redshirts, not uber commandos, Traviss!
July 18th, 2008 at 12:31 am
hmmmm says:
I wonder what this will mean for swg.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Freeid says:
Jedi Ewoks, or I aint playing!
July 18th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Sir Unimaginative says:
So this will kill both Star Wars Galaxies (not a big deal) and any chance for a proper ending for the KotOR series (this sorta is, though).
In response to this, I have prepared a statement.
*shuffles papers, nudges superfluous reading glasses* Ahem.
FUCK.
Of course, the saddest part of all this is that I’ll still pay good money to play this anyway.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Nate says:
The “everyone is a jedi” problem isn’t exactly one new to MMOs. Isn’t anyone else bothered by every third face being a Gandalf analogue in every fantasy MMO?
It would work in KOTOR to just design around a jedi/nonjedi ratio of around 1/1, as long as there were sufficient NPCs.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Davik says:
This had better be fucking amazing. If it isn’t epic, I might just die.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Binho says:
When I first read the announcement, i was really excited! but about two seconds after I realized how wrong this could potentially go. I even went so far as to think it might be “WoW with Lightsabers”
I think the problem is it will probably never be as brave or creative as Star Wars Galaxies. It could be more polished and complete, but it probably will always be under the shadow of the wasted potential of SWG
BioWare need to think of something good to stop there being the endless level grind of MMORPGs. Hopefully being new at MMORPGs they will try something new, for example the whole “Everyone is a Jedi” could easily be worked to their advantage (Even though I’m no Jedi fan, and would rather have a XvT MMO):
- Make the MMO about Jedi’s and Sith/Dark Jedi (You could only be a jedi in the games anyways. It’s [b]Knights[/b] of the Old Republic, and not Merchants of the Old Republic):
- Have the tutorial be the Jedi Trials.
- Have the Jedi Council, or the Sith Lords give out missions and quests. This can potentially make for more interesting quests, if written correctly. Talk to, pacify, conquer, kill, turn, rescue, explore, save, convince, retrieve, etc.
- Make the primary storyline be the quest to construct your own lightsaber, and/or the quest to become a Jedi Master/Sith Lord. It’s an “epic quest” which would make sense for everybody…
Those are just some examples. This approach would satisfy your average players “I want to be a superhero” complex, and honestly a working Jedi/Sith system would be better than a broken Jedi/Bounty Hunter/Soldier/Medic/Merchant system. Both in terms of gameplay and immersion.
Plus, most average people like Star Wars for the Jedi anyways. Toss in some space flight (Like owning your own ship and crew), and voila! you have a recipe for a good MMO.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:29 am
omicron1 says:
They should make everyone able to be Jedi. There’s no lore-based reason not to in that period; it would help populate the Jedi counsel, there’s an interesting dynamic available (players switching alliances midgame, as with falling to the dark side), and they can make every player feel like a hero. Or a villain. Plus, it would allow for interesting “wars” if they did it right - say a Level 232 Jedi switched sides, taking a bunch of lesser characters with him, and suddenly everyone became engaged in a war for galactic dominance… or something. Sort of the whole “Darth Malak/Revan” mechanic - plus, this would mean a lot of PKers would go Sith, and act just like a proper Sith would…
Also, they should have a companion system like in Guild Wars: Nightfall. That would allow them to keep much of the same group dynamic, while allowing multiple-character customization and the ability to solo most quests.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Tony says:
Probably just horribly tainted nostalgia goggles, but I way prefer the Galactic Civil War stuff. Alas, poor SWG.
And I still haven’t actually completed KoTOR, though. I probably should.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Hmm-hmm. says:
My first thought is that this could go wrong in soo many ways (like with many MMOs, except more since.. well, this is Star Wars). And right in but a few.
But who knows. Maybe they’ll be able to make a good MMO out of it.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:12 am
araczynski says:
let me be the only intergeek then who thinks bioware has been going down hill for years now.
this dragonage stuff if disappointing, and i’ve never liked the stop/go ‘action’ of KOTOR so i have nothing to look forward to with this KOTOR mmo.
sucks to be me, well not really, just two less games to not waste time with.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:26 am
ScubaV says:
This will fail. Not epic fail, but fail.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:36 am
DSX says:
*prays* Dear Lord, don’t let them screw it up.
KOTOR + X-Wing (EVE style) = WoW Death.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Steven says:
YES! I LOVE MY LIFE!
July 18th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Rhade says:
As far as I’m concerned, this isn’t a KOTOR sequel.
It’s a Star Wars MMORPG made by Bioware and Lucas Arts.
Which makes me wet my pants in excitement. I CAN’T WAIT!
July 18th, 2008 at 4:20 am
tmp says:
I wouldn’t say “Bioware” is making this. It’s their new MMO studio making it, which is located in Texas, and if I recall is mainly composed of local SOE devs. So don’t have much hope for this.
So, it’ll be Star Wars: KotOR Episode III: Revenge of the SOE?
July 18th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Jigglybean says:
I’ve heard that LucasArts/Lucasfilm registered a bunch of domains a while back and starwarstheoldrepublic was amongst them.
July 18th, 2008 at 5:59 am
DG says:
Rather than being KOTOR, it likely is a new intellectual property set in the Old Republic. Search the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Lucas just registered 3 new trademarks on July 3rd.
STAR WARS SAGAS
STAR WARS LEGENDS
STAR WARS THE OLD REPUBLIC
In the description of the trademarks, they all say: “Entertainment services provided on-line by means of global and local area networks, namely, providing interactive computer game software, interactive video game software and interactive computer games and interactive video games, all on-line by means of global and local area networks”
Sounds like these new trademarks are for the Star Wars MMO.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Erlam says:
I really hope they tier this in a way that allows non-Jedi to have an entire game to themselves: I.E. you can play as Luke Skywalker and massacre people in Jabbas Palace, or you can be Han Solo, and cart stuff around in jolly space-faring adventures.
I know, timewise, yes, yes, but I mean in terms of stuff you can do outside of swing a Lightsaber at a giant monster for 5 minutes.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:20 am
RichPowers says:
Gah, I wish the world would stop using the phrase “intellectual property.” What an absurd concept.
They should include a Death Star and allow you to vaporize the newbie starting area planets. Harharhar
July 18th, 2008 at 7:29 am
DraconianOne says:
Hmmm: KOTORO - sounds like a Mortal Kombat boss.
Kotoro wins! Banality!
July 18th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Sturdee says:
It’s a shame these developers have gotten such a bad wrap for these games. I mean, it would be nice if it did turn out awesome , but even if it doesn’t, won’t we all still be those nerds playing it anyway?
And why is everyone so upset about no Kotor 3? I was under the impression they were doing both?
July 18th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Nny says:
“KOTOR + X-Wing (EVE style) = WoW Death.”
Don’t those two things contradict each other? X-Wing games had really engaging combat which which took skill and wits to be successful in, EVE is just boring point and click…?
July 18th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Dante says:
On the contrary I think Bioware being at the helm is the most important thing here. I’d love to see their take on the MMORPG, because I suspect it’ll be slightly different from the ‘kill five wolves, now kill five slightly different wolves’ fare.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Lu-Tze says:
*hopes that Droid is a player class*
July 18th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Dante says:
If I was at E3 for this I’d just be asking:
“Is HK in it?
“Really?”
“You promise?”
“Don’t toy with my emotions here”
July 18th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Malagate says:
Freeid says: “Jedi Ewoks, or I aint playing!”
I’d only play if I could duel your Jedi Ewok with my Sith Wookiee. That would be possibly the best fight ever.
As this MMO could never live up to such a lofty dream I will live in hope of Noc’s awesome ideas. I really do like the idea of factions which put out bounties on players, especially if you could travel around the place and team up with people who you later find out are wanted by your faction. Do you stun his ass and haul him in, or let him roam free because you’ve been teamed up for awhile now and he’s saved your life more than a few times?
Now that’d be a proper dilemma.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:01 am
NickVader says:
About the whole Jedi issue…there should be a random chance of a character becoming Force sensitive every time they level up, and before they can become a Jedi, they have to seek out a master for their training. And I want to play an HK-47 type character.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:49 am
H says:
Actually, SW Legends doesn’t sound so bad.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Warthog2k says:
I want to see X-Wing vs Street Fighter (or X-Men vs Tie-Fighter).
JEDI HADOUKEN!
July 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am
pauleyc says:
Looks very promising. And it doesn’t have to ruin the unfinished KotOR saga; there is still time for a third and final RPG installment before the MMO launches. Which of course also means it could be as rushed as Obsidian’s part 2.
Time will tell, sooner or later, time will tell…
July 18th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Keith says:
>> How about a Firefly-universe MMO?
This. Definitely this. Excited about KOTOR: Race Of The Ontar Kerber? Yes, I am.
But sheeeeee: a Firefly MMO/RPG? A chance to play in a universe which is easily understood, deep, and practically unexplored? Yes please.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Iain says:
I almost hope that this is going to be rubbish. Because if it’s any cop at all, I might as well say goodbye to my girlfriend, social life and career right now…
July 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Simon says:
zanbower:
They might base an MMO on the Firefly universe, but Fox would just cancel it.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
DarkeSword says:
I have a feeling that this game isn’t going to take place in the TotJ/KotOR era (around 4 thousand years before the movies), but in the New Sith Wars era (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/New_Sith_Wars), which was detailed in Jedi vs. Sith, Path of Destruction, and Rule of Two (the latter two being books written by Drew Karpyshyn, the writer for KotOR and Mass Effect).
It’s a relatively fresh era in the Expanded Universe, taking place around 1000 before the movies; it’s a time when there were lots of Jedi and lots of Sith fighting a big war, and it ended with Darth Bane taking the Sith into hiding. Karpyshyn laid a lot of groundwork with his two novels, and it’d be a perfect setting for a faction based MMO (Alliance = Army of Light, Horde = Brotherhood of Darkness).
July 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
KingMob says:
I refuse to get excited about this.
That said, I’ll be playing as a HK droid.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
SANE says:
Wow. Wow. And… Wow.
I almost don’t care what era it takes place in, as long as it’s a Jedi and Sith lush era. The mistake of SWG was the era, and all the foul-ups later on.
Warcraft should be shaking in it’s T6 boots, unlike before this Star Wars game is being done by a proven RPG developer, and in-theory will be in a proper era for massive amounts of Jedi and Sith. Everyone wants to play those. Lots of people love Star Wars.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Pus Filled Sac says:
Enough with the MMOs already.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Fumarole says:
“Mass Effect style combat would be good”
I cannot believe I just read that.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
jayndsun says:
OMG like OM Fing G!!
IF and a BIG IF, if they do this right say SWG at launch-like in regards to skills… I really hope its skill based..
also LOVE the faction idea.. PVP could be like current SWG overt depending on how bad you are or how “good” you are in defeating bad guys.. .Deaths would have to be worked out.. nothing perma I don’t like the idea of an MMO death item penalty… then the best players can/would farm the casual players and they’d never catch up.
I personally think this is a good thing casual fans a drawn to Star Wars because of Vader, Luke ie Jedi.. now us g33k fanboys and girls, while we LOVE Jedi would play other classes as well.
I hope the classes are simular to KoTR .. then you can have tank Jedi, Buffer/support Jedi and all around Jedi or any of the aforementioned combination.
This was the best news all week.. I really hope this comes to fruition
July 18th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
James T says:
Speaking as someone who has never played a Star Wars game and feels no pressing need to… would it be viable for a Star Wars MMO to make Jedi knighthood the culmination of levelling/other progression, rather than its own class? So everyone would start in their various trades, and then at some point around, I dunno, level 50, they can decide to continue with their class and become a Level 60 Gunfighter, or they can start to go down the Jedi path (and the Jedi would presumably have their super-piloting skills nerfed so a pilot class wouldn’t be redundant). It’d reflect the ‘eliteness’ of the Jedi, although I guess it’d turn off all the people who wanna be a Jedi RIGHT NOW… (and it contradicts all that ‘younglings’ crap from the mythos/prequels, but then, hey, so did Luke!…)
July 18th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
brandon says:
thats all well and good but i would personally like to know what happen to revan and the exile and i don’t see them explaining all that in an mmo they should finish off the story before making and mmo out of the series. and if they do make an mmo out of kotor where does that leave the people who want to know what happen to revan and the exile
July 18th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Mandalore says:
A KotOR MMO? What the fuck are they thinking? If it’s just taking place in that era then ok, but if it’s supposed to be the sequel to KotOR II they can take it and shove it up their ass!!
–Mandalore–
July 18th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Nimic says:
After the initial thrill, I have to admit I’m getting increasingly disenchanted by the thought that there might never be a proper KotOR 3. I was hoping for something like “Where did Revan go?” for plot. If we’re lucky, if they do it right, then this is set in the KotOR Universe, but doesn’t directly deal with the plot of either game. For that matter, it could be set before the events of KotOR, when Revan was a bad guy (or even before that, when he was good (AGAIN). Mandalorian wars, and all that. It could be fun.
Ok, I’m excited again.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Schadenfreude says:
One thing to worry about; Bioware Austin is being run by Gordon Walton and Richard Vogel; both ex - Sony Online Entertainment.
Basically the guys who made Galaxy are heading up this game too.
July 18th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Paul S says:
Ah.
That is bad news. To understate mildly.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
kadayi says:
The whole MMO space is like TV ratings. There is a large audience for it, but it’s a finite audience, but unlike TV, the shows are on all the time and they demand near religious devotion from their participants to the exclusion of anything else. I can’t see what a KoToR MMO is going to do save leech the bulk of it’s player base off of SWG, if nothing more than for the allure of better graphics and a slicker engine. Also much as I liked KoTor as an RPG game, there didn’t seem a heck of a lot of difference between the galaxy 4000 years before Star wars save the ships were a bit uglier. The lightsabres still zipped, the Blasters still blasted and the Droids still beeped. Different period, same shit.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Paul S says:
@kadayi:
No difference? That was the point - the freedom to tell the biggest story and whatever story they liked in a setting that was basically the same. The playa could then be The Hero of the galaxy, and you really felt like you were playing in one of the films. They had Darth Vader, Yoda, stormtroopers and the Death Star analogues, and it worked wonderfully. Will that translate as well to an MMO? No idea, but let’s hope so.
As for the MMO glut - yeah, too many, too similar. But players will sort the wheat from the chaff, and the crap will die out, and eventually people will realise that they can’t just bash out a game and get Blizzard’s vast mountains of gold, but that massive backbreaking effort is involved. Then the slew will stop, and we’ll see fewer, better MMOs. Like the post-Doom, pre-Quake years when you couldn’t move for crappy Build engine shooters.
Probably.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Dolphan says:
Do it right. Do it right. Please, please, please do it right.
And wouldn’t an e-mail every time someone responded to an RPS post sort of swamp your inbox?
July 18th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
kadayi says:
@Paul S
I understand what KoToR did as an SP RPG, but my point is that the contrivance behind it really serves no good purpose when it comes to reinventing another SW game in the MMO space. The one thing that never really made much sense with KoToR was why it needed to be set 4000 years before Star Wars, why not 400 or even 40? Save to make it sound grandiose. There existed no really visible technological, social or economic gulf between either game tbh (in 4000 years on earth we’ve gone from Pyramids to Microchips). If that’s true of the single player, who much difference is there going to be with the MMO compared to SWG. Better engine perhaps, different leveling system but what else?
Also another problem with the MMO space is that it’s often forgotten by people that much of the fun derives from the experience being a shared one, often to the extent that the game becomes secondary to player interaction. It’s all very well a development team making a killer Sci-fi MMO game that appeals to WoW regular Joe, but unless Joes guild mates have an interest in giving it a go how likely is he to give up on WoW and jump ship past the first month or so? Esp if he’s invested a considerable amount of time already into his WoW character. The inclination if you’ve buried 2 years solidly into something already esp if you’ve a lot of friends in game isn’t to throw it, and them all in for a new love.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Thorkahn says:
While I would like this to be true, until Lucas Arts comes out with an “official” announcement, this is all just BS and rumor.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Paul S says:
@kadayi
The contrivance does serve a purpose. The character cannot be an important hero on the expected scale in SWG because those heroes already exist - Luke et al. 4000 years gives space, distance, and a blank canvas, story wise. The setting doesn’t change, because no-one wants it changed - what would be the point? The setting is the reason for playing, after all. It also sounds grandiose - again, this serves the setting. Star Wars has never been particularly understated. I think you’re mistaking what people want from a Star Wars game.
Of course, there are a whole raft of other issues - no player can be The Hero in an MMO anyway, etc - but it does give everyone breathing space away from “canon”.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
kadayi says:
@Paul S
It serves no real purpose in an MMO (my point as stated in the previous post) because as KoToR is simply, Star Wars reinvented without the existing heroes/Villains what’s the actual gain, save the breathing space from canon? The complete lack of real differential (in terms of existing tech etc) between the two periods might of suited the SP RPG in order to satisfy ‘you be the hero’ SW fantasies, but it doesn’t really make the game universe that distinctive from SW, in my view.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
oilypenguin says:
More than likely, this game will not take place after kotor 1&2, it will take place before; during the jedi/sith war so people will have the option to have as many jedi or sith characters as they want.
In keeping with the spirit of kotor, remember that both of the games were produced on an rpg model adapted from the D20 star wars game. Ergo, the possibility that they might do the same thing for this one is… well, actually I don’t know how strong it is but the possibility is there. If they do that and base it off the newest “saga” edition of the game, Force using characters are actually balanced with the non-force classes, making for much better fights. In the original d20 games, force users were so over-powered it was insane. Bad for a pen and paper rpg (at least for the mundane characters and the gm) but really good for a single player rpg where you’re forced to be a jedi.
Chances are, this game will follow the character arch-types of the pen and paper game while expanding and slowing character progression so they can charge us $15 a month for at least half a year. I hope that there’s a focus, like in SWG, on characters that can do more than just cut things in twain with a lightsaber but if this game is limited to simply picking a side (jedi/sith) a class (guardian/sentinal/consular) and then a prestige class (master/weapon master/watchman), I’ll still play it and be pretty happy about it.
Maybe there will be a ton of factions like the Mandolorians, sith, jedi, republic, the exchange, etc. It’s an aweful big galaxy.
I only hope Bioware isn’t miffed at Riccitiello for letting such a bombshell drop without a big show. True, this is a game that requires no additional hype, but I would have liked to see some kind of official unveiling for it. For the love of palpatine, give me a screenshot or even concept art.
Also, I’m going to need the option of being a droid and referring to people as “meatbags.” That is all.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Paul S says:
@kadayi
Breathing space is the gain, MMO or no. There are other pitfalls waiting, but it gives Bioware space to do what they want in the universe.
Finally - the game universe is not supposed to be “that distinctive from SW”. That’s the point.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:13 am
RJ says:
YES!!!!!!! As much as I would love to hear about KOTOR3, a MMO is just as well. I’m burnt out on WoW, and loved the KOTOR games. They’re pretty much the only reason I still bother with my Xbox.
July 19th, 2008 at 3:58 am
GeorgeR says:
I’m definitely looking forward to this if it is done right. And hey not all of us want to be jedi.
Wookie engineer all the way.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Dr. Bough says:
They should make it more player controlled, like the leader of Czerka or something is an actual player.
But this might destroy any chance of a storyline.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Derek K. says:
Welcome to the internet indeed.
I think RPS is the only place where the majority of responses range from pessimistic to downright bile filled….
Also, guys, I hate to break it to you, but this MMO thing is here to stay.
Also also: How can you *not* be excited about this?
July 19th, 2008 at 5:19 am
BJ Blazkowicz says:
Here we go again.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Larington says:
I think this will probably be worth watching in a “will they try to re-invent the genre” kind of way, if the answer is yes, this should be VERY interesting to watch.
I am somewhat concerned at the possibility that EA is doing this A) because ActiBlizzard has an MMO so they have to and B) that MMOs supposedly print money. My concern is based on the risk that publisher may force an early release or that the developer will be over/under ambitious, resulting in a game thats either boring to play or incomplete and too buggy to play for a month - AoC has made me very tired of MMOs in the sense that they often get rushed/lazy and cut content.
On the whole though, this is promising, despite the risks that you’ll get from any games development project, small, medium or MMO.
Err, in any case, it’s probably going to be a while before its released, there isn’t any clear indication of how long the games been in development, which means we could be looking at not playing this until 2010.
July 19th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Jochen Scheisse says:
I think RPS is the only place where the majority of responses range from pessimistic to downright bile filled…
You…you have been to the internet before?
July 19th, 2008 at 9:46 am
kadayi says:
@Derek
I’m pretty sure we are all aware that MMOs are here to stay. The real question is whether they are ever going to evolve from the grind based, Disneyesque theme parks of looping quests/instances the vast majority presently are (Eve being the most notable exception). In a world without persistence of action, player actions ultimately mean nothing and it’s only through loot drops that any sense of achievement is gained, which is a shame because it means MMOs have devolved into little more than badge collection exercises, compared to SP RPGs. In a single player game you might rescue the princess, or save the village and your only reward might be a better reputation, a loaf of bread or a roll in the hay. The reward isn’t so much the loot drops, as having achieved the goal (the loot is the sweetener, not the motive alone).
@Paul S
So why change up if your playing SWG save for a better engine? Why move to a game where you get to fight Not-stormtroopers or Non-rebels instead? If the fundamentals are so radically unaltered I’m not really seeing much incentive. If your ultra powerful in SWG and played it for years, why throw it all away for a game that offers little more, and strips out much of what you love about SW in the first place (the familarity of the films). What’s the market audience for KoToR online? The SP games sold fairly well, but I suspect there are far more SW fans who didn’t play them than did, and only a small percentage of SW fans play SWG. It’s a case of diminishing returns.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Mogs says:
“Dragon Age scrubs up very nice indeed”
No.
July 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Real Horrorshow says:
I haven’t played an MMO I like, but if anyone can do it, it’s Bioware. I have supreme confidence.
July 19th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Jimbo says:
I suppose its too much to ask for Jedi Knight II style combat in an MMO setting. Nevertheless I’m super excited about this
July 19th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Juvenihilist says:
*agrees with Jimbo* Please give us something new besides the “autotarget and kill stuff””
July 19th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Paul S says:
@kadayi
Because SWG wasn’t Star Wars. It just wasn’t. It got the atmosphere of the films completely wrong. KOTOR got the atmosphere of the films completely right. Also, SWG just wasn’t a good game and it wasn’t fun to play. With KOTOR, they have a chance to do over, in a free space, while keeping the Star Wars atmosphere. Everybody wins!
Except SOE, natch.
July 19th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
kadayi says:
Paul
I hate to break it to you, but unless Bioware are going to attempt to break tradition and try something radical that doesn’t cater to the usual MMO player demands then I’m not seeing it, and given they are in cahoots with EA, I’m not seeing the prospect of radical being remotely on the cards. EA seem to have raised their game a bit recently under Riccitiello, but given development costs of an MMO are on the wrong side of frightening ($80 - 100 million by now?) , I’m not expecting KoToRO to be anything but what the highest player demographic wants, so expect near instant in game travel between locations (so you can easily get to your buddies), interstellar chat (so you can talk to your buddies) and the endless ever resetting instances always near by for you and your buddies to traipse though. Different dress, same girl.
July 19th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Chris says:
Here’s hoping that it isn’t a WoW clone where nothing you do has any real meaning and grinding for XP is more important than player interaction…
Perhaps make force sensitivity a random trait which might pop up at some random point in the game, making Jedi reasonable rare but not impossible to find (similar to how SWG started out), give a genuine penalty for death, such as loss of equipment, and make it so anyone can attack anyone anywhere, but in high security zones doing so incurs the wrath of law enforcement, while in low security zones it’s always a possibility.
To use Eve Online as an example, there’s nothing quite as good at getting the heart pumping as trying to get a shipment of goods through (PC, not NPC) pirate-infested space. Especially when you know that if you get blown up, you’ve lost your ship, your equipment and your cargo. I’ve yet to see any other games in which going through dangerous areas is actually dangerous, either because the only danger is higher level mobs or because death holds no meaning in the game.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Paul S says:
Kadayi.
We should stop. I think we accidentally stopped talking about the same thing a while ago. Suffice to say, I really wasn’t talking about SWG until the last post, but I think it’ll be easier for both of us if we let this one lie.
You raise perfectly reasonable points though. I’m not even sure I disagree with that last post. It wasn’t really what I was talking about though…
July 19th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Nice. Wonder how they’re going to deal with everyone and their mother wanting to play as Jedi though? And least in the Old Republic setting it makes sense to have hundreds of Jedi scurrying about but they still shouldn’t outnumber everyone.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:39 pm