Bioware Austin.. damm more Dragons.. or Lightsabers?

[Numtini]

If you want to do some kind of early jedi-heavy SW game, the model should really be City of Heroes.

[Salamok]

I'd submit that 85% of the work is done, actually, assuming you would spend a large amount of time on the reskin.

oops, for clarification I was stating that 50% of the reskin work is already done due to there being light sabers already in game.

[Surlyboi]

I would definitely pay a monthly fee to murder Ewoks all the live long day.

I remember a lot of people espousing that view in the SWG beta days.

Until they opened up Endor for the first time. Then it was like viet nam vets having flashbacks as they sat in cantinas in Eisley and Coronet and Tatooine, HAM bars black and shivering and shouting, "They're in the trees man! Wicket's in the trees!"

[stu]

Those little bastards were deadly and they swarmed like the bugs from Starship Troopers.

[Velorath]

Straight-out DIKU has no aggro whatsoever. It was very much like a single player RPG where the 'closest' got attacked, except 'closest' in a DIKU meant the person first into the room.  Aggro is an EQ artifact that has been added-in to the mix due to the 3d nature of the game and the inability for mobs to behave intelligently otherwise.

Which is one of the reasons I think the phrase Diku gets tossed around too much.  The problems people have with most MMO's (grind, holy trinity which is largely a result of the agro system, raiding, hot key/autoattack combat, etc...) have very little to do with anything inherent to Diku.

It's a computer game, not a p&p run by a DM, you're going to have some abstraction.

Also, quit hiding behind the strawman.  Folks who would wail and gnash-teeth over any other game coming out with the same mechanics - REGARLESS of what you want to label them as - are getting tight in the shorts over it.  It's still fucking amusing.

It's not a strawman.  You whole point had nothing to do with similarities between Diku and D20 (the only similarity being that they're both RPG systems).  Essentially your post was "lol you guys hate MMO's and you're looking forward to an MMO", and I think that's a fucking retarded attitude.

[Venkman]

Actually, it wasn't the whole genre, just the part people under "DIKU".

There's really no arguing what type of game most people here like though. The proof is in the traffic. Doesn't mean we can't want more either, as there's always room for improvement. People who don't want DIKU at all have slim pickings, or aren't here at all.

[Endie]

Those little bastards were deadly and they swarmed like the bugs from Starship Troopers.

Say hello to my little (Frenzied Graul) friend...

[eldaec]

At the end of the day, so long as pistol damage doesn't stack with rifle damage, the game will be awesome.


That's the true spirit of Star Wars.

[Triforcer]

At the risk of repeating myself, and for the last time (today):

PLANETSIDE RESKINNED AND BETTER. PLZ. 

Why can't everyone see this?

[eldaec]

At the risk of repeating myself, and for the last time (today):

PLANETSIDE RESKINNED AND BETTER. PLZ. 

Why can't everyone see this?

You're so not getting planetside reskinned and better.

/chuckle

[Venkman]

You won't get louder trumpets of support for SW-skinned PS than you would from Sky and I. But that ship has sailed. The best battles are generally not Braveheart-style 500 on 500  zerg rushes, but rather the 24 v 24 or 36 x 36 variety, maybe 64 x 64 if the map is right.

You don't need a persistent world for that. You don't need a monthly fee for that. And you certainly don't need to license an IP for that.

So we gots the best big-battles we're gonna get. They're just not in this genre. And that's fine because the UI for "twitch" generally devolves to some passably excusable thing anyway, where the idea of what it could maybe be someday is more interesting than what actually installs.

[UnSub]

Didn't see this posted yet:

Bioware says, "It's just a rumour. Or is it? BWAHAHAHA!".

[stu]

It's time for f13 to send in the covert ops, Sneakers-style.

[UnSub]

It's time for f13 to send in the covert ops, Sneakers-style.

... or to just abduct a group of Bioware employees, make an "example" of one, then start asking questions about what they are hiding. They'll talk. Eventually, everyone talks.

[Velorath]

Just want to second the idea of actually PLAYING as droids.  I've never seen why not.

[squirrel]

If you want to do some kind of early jedi-heavy SW game, the model should really be City of Heroes.

I have to agree. Any sort of DIKU/D20 type model just won't work. Either Planetside:SW edition or CoH type hero/Jedi land or fuck it. Star Wars games are almost as cursed as Star Trek games. Make it count. Vader pic? Oh no, wait...

[Simond]

If you want to do some kind of early jedi-heavy SW game, the model should really be City of Heroes.

I have to agree. Any sort of DIKU/D20 type model just won't work.

Why?

[Morat20]

If you want to do some kind of early jedi-heavy SW game, the model should really be City of Heroes.

I have to agree. Any sort of DIKU/D20 type model just won't work.

Why?

I think the problem is everyone has their own ideas of what a Star Wars MMORPG should be. Some people think it should be like Battlefront, others like KOTOR, others like X-Wing Versus TIE-Fighter, and others, well, like SWG done right.

Why? Because everyone has an aspect of Star Wars they really want to play -- epic Light/Dark Jedi battles, epic piloting, serious roleplaying, just fucking living in the IP. It's why IP based games rarely do well. You can't please everyone, and the bigger the IP the more picky the fans are. And when your fans want 5 mutually exclusive things, what the hell do you do?

I can say this: it won't be virtual world, it won't be space-sim, and it probably won't be twitchy or Planetside like. It'll be some D20 DIKU variant, because that's what MMORPG makers know works. Which is kind of sad, as frankly people would be better off (in the face of WoW) offering something different.

[Lum]

Anyone can write anything on a blog.

It's much more telling to read his game credits:
Games Credited

    Shadowbane (2003), Ubi Soft Entertainment Software
    The Sims: Online (2002), Electronic Arts, Inc.
    Meridian 59 (1996), 3DO Company, The

Also, I hear he drowns puppies.

I'm pretty sure he destroyed Christmas.

[SnakeCharmer]

It ain't Star Wars / KOTOR.

[Venkman]

You can't say that unless you are allowed to say what it is. Even when Trippy does that he has to back it up :)

[Bunk]

It ain't Star Wars / KOTOR.

:hands over ears: mblambalmblambalmbalmbalmbalmbalmbalmbalmbalbmalbmalbmalbmalmbalmbalmbalmblambal

What? No, sorry, still can't hear you

mblamblambalmbalmbalbmalbmalbmalmbalmbalmbalbmalbmalbmalbmalbmal

[schild]

It's not?

[UnSub]

Anyone can write anything on a blog.

It's much more telling to read his game credits:
Games Credited

    Shadowbane (2003), Ubi Soft Entertainment Software
    The Sims: Online (2002), Electronic Arts, Inc.
    Meridian 59 (1996), 3DO Company, The

Also, I hear he drowns puppies.

I'm pretty sure he destroyed Christmas.

Both things are required to be hard enough to develop PVP systems.

[UnSub]

It ain't Star Wars / KOTOR.

The tears of a million internet hopefuls disagree. They all know that KotoRO would be the best game evah, solve the Israel / Palestine crisis and find the real killers on behalf of OJ.

[Simond]

Actually...I'd prefer no KOTORO because that'd leave a sliver of hope for a KOTOR 3 single-player RPG.

[stray]

Exactly. Wtf is wrong with the rest of you anyways? An MMO..? Sheesh

[Montague]

It ain't Star Wars / KOTOR.

The tears of a million internet hopefuls disagree. They all know that KotoRO would be the best game evah, solve the Israel / Palestine crisis and find the real killers on behalf of OJ.

Pretty much. Give me a fluid combat system that doesn't feel like WoW underwater plus Star Wars/KOTOR lore and I would gladly submit monthly moneyhats to our EA overlords, Diku or no Diku. And I don't even have any SW costumes in my closet.

[Driakos]

It ain't Star Wars / KOTOR.

It'll be Old Republic set Star Wars, whatever the title ends up being.

[stray]

What exactly is it about Bioware, Kotor, RPG's, or the Austin MMO development world that would make you think this would have "a fluid combat system"?

[SnakeCharmer]

You can't say that unless you are allowed to say what it is. Even when Trippy does that he has to back it up :)

It ain't Star Wars / KOTOR.

:hands over ears: mblambalmblambalmbalmbalmbalmbalmbalmbalmbalbmalbmalbmalbmalmbalmbalmbalmblambal

What? No, sorry, still can't hear you

mblamblambalmbalmbalbmalbmalbmalmbalmbalmbalbmalbmalbmalbmalbmal

It's not?

Give me one good even remotely plausable reason as to why BioWare would make a Star Wars (regardless of timeline, setting, etc) MMO?  And "why not?" can't be the answer.

[schild]

Give me one good even remotely plausable reason as to why BioWare would make a Star Wars (regardless of timeline, setting, etc) MMO?  And "why not?" can't be the answer.

Huh? Who said this was about reasons? What's wrong with just knowing what's going on?

[SnakeCharmer]

What?

Noone knows whats going on, but I can think of a hundred reasons as to why it's NOT SW based, and not a single one why it IS.

[HaemishM]

What?

Noone knows whats going on, but I can think of a hundred reasons as to why it's NOT SW based, and not a single one why it IS.

I can think of one reason why it's Star Wars.

MONEY!

Seriously, Stars Wars Turd in a Box makes money, why not an MMOG?

[Miasma]

Noone knows whats going on, but I can think of a hundred reasons as to why it's NOT SW based, and not a single one why it IS.

Money?  People like money and the Star Wars franchise is a license to print it.  You are completely blinded by your SWG hate.

Edit: Beaten.

Seriously, here are a few reasons off the top of my head:
- We know it is a major IP.
- Bioware has been involved with Star Wars and Lucas Arts before.
- What else would they risk the massive amount of cash needed to start an MMO on?
- No KotOR 3, not even any plans to do it.  It was a huge success and the only reason they wouldn't be doing 3 is if it is the MMO.
- I'm guessing one of the main reasons they still haven't announced the IP is that SOE has some sort of exclusive agreement which hasn't expired yet.
- I doubt EA would have bought them if the IP is some huge let down.
- Common sense.