Star Wars: The Old Republic Previews, Video Interview
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BioWare roleplaying games are typically built on four pillars -- combat, exploration, progression and story. The first three are already a big part of the MMO landscape and are areas in which BioWare has excelled. But the excellent stories that BioWare has consistently delivered in their single-player roleplaying games haven't really found a reliable expression online. Ray and Greg want The Old Republic to focus on the fourth pillar of adding story and character within the MMO genre. Moreover, they actually want the game to leverage the social aspects of the MMO to drive the narrative in ways that haven't been possible in their single-player games.
Fans who are concerned that they're not going to recapture the magic of the original Knights of the Old Republic may be comforted to learn that The Old Republic team is made up of many veterans, not just of Knights of the Old Republic, but many of BioWare's roleplaying games. James Ohlen seems to have had a hand in designing every game the studio has made, from the original Baldur's Gate right through to Jade Empire. Not surprisingly, we've been told to expect that The Old Republic MMO will feel and operate like a BioWare game. There will be a big focus on character, on digital acting, on moral flexibility, on a lively and reactive world.
While the other is at Ten Ton Hammer:
Officially announced only a few minutes ago, LucasArts has opted to give the Star Wars franchise another attempt in the MMOG space, and this time they've set their sites squarely in an era of Star Wars that is much more conducive to a popular player experience. The new MMO, which is titled Star Wars: The Old Republic, takes place thousands of years before Star Wars: Episode I and has the potential to harbor thousands of Jedi and Sith per server. While the details are still coming in regarding the exact use of Jedi and Sith in SW: TOR, it's safe to assume that LucasArts and Bioware aren't going to make the same mistakes that a Star Wars MMOG made in the past.
Yet as this announcement breaks through the cloud cover of the San Francisco Bay, the rest of the MMOG industry is trying to determine how this game will affect the rest of the gaming space. As stated previously, a huge percentage of the U.S. population has seen one of the seven officially released Star Wars movies, and that is an audience that EA and Bioware obviously hope to tap into with the release of their upcoming MMO. While there will probably be some fallout from previously released MMOGs, I don't envision that every subscription to World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, or Warhammer Online will end simply because of the release of a Star Wars-based MMOG.
However, the video interview at GameSpot is probably the most informative, as BioWare's Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk and LucasArts' Tom Nichols talk about the game's early decisions, why they decided to go with an MMO instead of a single player KotOR III, and a lot more.
