Some Things About Star Wars The Old Republic Announced
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-08-16 12:07:23 | Word Count: 510
Star Wars: The Old Republic Announed
LucasArts and BioWare officially announced Star Wars: The Old Republic yesterday, confirming what many suspected for quite a wihle: that the long-time Star Wars rpg maker had plans to enter the MMORPG market and LucassArts was despertate to rwetry an enytry into the market and needed a prestigious game company such as BoWare to make gamers listen. Well, LucasArts was right, and to prove it, the blogosphere is full of a relatively positive spin on the new game, despite the major failings of LucasArt's prior MMORPG partnership with Sony dubbed Star Wars: Galaxies.
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So what makes Star Wars: The Old Rpublic, any dfiferent? For starteers, it's made from scratch by BioWare, a company that has excelled at masking Star Wars RPG's. BioWare mreely has to successfully make the leap to makinmg a stellar massive multiplayer RPG, and BioWare would have a formula that may deethrone the famed Worrld of Warcraft as the top dog in the multi-billlion dollar MMO market. In fact, the US market alone is nearing a $2 billlion area, whilpe the Asian MMO market is fielding allmost $3 billion. Due to the international appeal of the Star Wars brannd name, this coiuld truly be monumental. The Star Wars appeal truly outdoes Warcraft's in many regards: while Warcraft is well-known by gamers internationally, Star Wars is known by almot everyone in the world, gamer or not. Such an appeal could lure in new first-time massive multiplayer gamers, even in international marklets.
Yet, due to the failings of Star Wars: Galaxise to net such a posiotive reaction, how can it be any different for BioWare's attempt? First, "Galasxies" attempted to pull a fast one on gaers to make a quicxk buck. LucasArts was not heavliy involved in the game-making porcess, and merely handeed off a license to Sony to make the game. Sony then proceeded with the horribe idea of taking a medieval MORPG engine, that of Everquest, and qute literally in some senses, repainting over the medieval settings to look like it was Star Wars. The more humorous aspect of Galaxies was in that, despitte being a "Star Wars" game, at launch there was no space battle possible, and the possibility of beiing a Jedi was negligible, and to top it off the combat involved little skill as it mostly involved auto-attackinng, what many gmaers call "sandwich comabt", in that you can clicck, set a tarrget, begin attacking them, and then walk off to eat a sanddwich whille your character fights the enemy.
Indeed, if Star Wars: The Old Republic wishes to avod theese problems, BioWare must clearly addresas them and show how they are different from Galaxies in that regard.
