Star Wars: The Old Republic - Shadow of Revan Previews
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A fistful of previews for BioWare Austin's Shadow of Revan expansion pack for Star Wars: The Old Republic have hit the Internet, all of which appear to be based around a press event that EA recently organized.
MMORPG.com:
What was most exciting for SWTOR players was direct confirmation from Ohlen when I asked him point-blank whether there will be a SWTOR 4.0 beyond the end of Revan (the answer was YES!). He said that they had plenty of future stories they wanted to tell and they could finally get to it once Revan is dealt with for good. He added confirmation that SWTOR's current contract and license is now bundled under the overall EA contract with Disney and Lucasfilm and that their deal is now ongoing. All three developers were happy about where the game will be going in the future, with Ohlen pointing out that with the movies coming up, it was an exciting time. He added that we're now in a kicking-off point in the game's history and that it was not slowing down. If anything, things were speeding up, and they'll be happy to continue creating more content for the game as long as there are players around to play it.
BioWare knew that there would be questions that needed answering, especially where Revan was concerned. A much beloved character (I mean, dude's got his own cult, how adorable is that, right?), Revan has a following not just in the game, but out of it as well. Allowing players to bond with Revan in the KOTOR games naturally made it tricky regarding Revan in SWTOR. This expansion aims to not only answer some long awaited questions, but it will also serve as the final chapter in Revan's story, so BioWare may close the book on him.
Ohlen continually emphasized this idea that BioWare had other stories to tell with Star Wars: The Old Republic. So this led me to ask more about the updates to the stories. Ohlen just said there are "a lot of other stories that can be told." Does that mean that SWTOR is changing the time between updates -- a shorter cadence? That's when Maclean jumped in. "We are working on a lot of things for next year," Maclean clarified, "and we are still talking about how we are going to release those things. As we get through next month, we'll have that hardened to the point that we can talk about it."
What specifics we do know, though, are this: personal class stories are returning in a big way. Old actors and writers have been rounded up and locked into their respective booths to make them happen. The team promises that these stories will resolve any old loose ends that might have been left behind, bring closure to their players, and focus on how these characters then define themselves, and their roles, in the galaxy to come. Again, vague, but one of the greatest criticisms of the whole personal story concept was that it took such a monumental investment of resources to make it work. That the team is apparently willing to pony up that kind of capital suggests a very respectable degree of commitment to giving their players what they want.
And MMOBomb:
While new species are always an item SWTOR players look forward to, nothing has been said to confirm if the expansion would include any besides a veiled reference to one at a recent Community Cantina Tour in New York City. Maclean did confirm that the Togruta would be added as a playable species soon, as a Cartel Market purchase, but that it wouldn't be ready for the expansion's launch since (in terms of priority, our priority is Shadow of Revan.)
