Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO Announced

[Prime]

After much speculation and verbally violent discussion the announcement has been made that Bioware and Lucasarts are developing an MMO called Star Wars: The Old Republic.

You can check out the announcement video at
Gamespot. Here is the official blurb in the setting:

The true Sith have spent centuries building their strength in the depths of unknown space. The Sith Emperor patiently planned for the day when his Sith Empire would repay the Jedi for the humiliating defeats of the past. In that time, generations of Sith have come and gone, working hard and devoting their lives to the dream of vengeance.

With dark discipline and meticulous execution, the Sith's first assault on their enemies succeeded to near-perfection. They sliced through the Jedi and their defenses as if they weren't even there. Though their aggressive advances were eventually slowed, the Sacking of Coruscant settled any questions about whether the Sith were victorious.

In the years since the treaty, the twelve-member Sith Dark Council has overseen the consolidation of the Empire's new domains and the restructuring to put practical matters in the hands of the Imperial military so the Sith Lords can plan for the future. The Sith Lords' focus has now turned to recruiting and training new acolytes to increase the Empire's power. When the final battle with the Jedi comes, the Sith Lords plan to be prepared. There will be no mercy.

In the vaulted halls of the Sith Academy on Korriban and in the deep tombs of the great Dark Lords of the past, potential Sith must face arduous tests to prove their worthiness. Even if they survive this deadly training, though, their greatest challenge lies in the cruel competition of their fellow acolytes, as each vies for the favor of their Masters. Ultimately, only the strongest will become Sith; the others will simply die trying.

[Prime]

We'll have to see how it all pans out, but here are some points of interest I took away from the video:

• Bioware has a lot of experience playing MMOs. LOL.
• This is really KOTOR 3,4,5,6. The SRPG series is dead.
• Normally MMOs don't have a lot of story, this will focus on story. I'm really wondering how they are going to make this work.
• Companion characters with dialog. They'll have to have them saying things like "I iz so l33t" and "U iz lamerz" to fit in with the rest of the world.
• More story content than every other bioware game put together.
• Personal story, affected by your choices. How does this work? Do your choices affect everyone else and they affect your's?
• No release schedule.
• **** you Galaxies players.
• The True Sith are dead. (Thank goodness)

I guess it is time to hug KOTOR 1 and 2 and go back to playing them.

[txa1265]

I will undoubtedly buy it, use the 30 day initial time, and never play it again because it is an MMO and I hate MMO's. But hopefully I will play enough to justify the $50.

[Prime]

I would tend to agree, but the idea of a story driven MMO has me intrigued where other MMOs don't, but so far I can't quite see how this would be done without tripping over the downfalls that drive me away.