Are you excited for Star Wars: The Old Republic? It's not much of a shock if you've turned into a salivating, highly anticipatory fan. If so, don't feel too bad, you're most assuredly not alone. BioWare's been firing calculated salvos of videos, screens, reveals, interviews and developer blogs. Don't get too excited though, because for all we do know about this undulating, unborn behemoth, there's so much more that we don't know.

Actually, there's a lot.

Today I'm looking at what we still don't know about Star Wars: The Old Republic, and how it correlates to an expected release date. This isn't the first time I've speculated on this game, so you can safely assume I've spent far too much time thinking and discussing this and many other topics with friends and colleagues. I aim to entertain and enlighten where possible, but most of all I hope to quell potential future outrage.

Nobody – not even BioWare – knows the game's exact release date, you can bet on it. Yet the developer most definitely has a clear-cut release window, and what's even more likely is that it's something they're keeping a close eye on. Keeping close to a schedule and meeting goals is of the utmost importance, especially with gargantuan projects the likes of this game.

The shockingly high production quality of the developer dispatch videos certainly rings true of an MMO that's closer to release than suspected. BioWare has done such an amazing job at making it look as though they're deep into development, but looks are very deceiving. A game of this magnitude definitely requires a respectable amount of time. Even Blizzard reportedly took four-to-five years to nurture World of Warcraft into release state. Presuming SWTOR has been in development since BioWare Austin was announced in March of 2006, the game has been in development for a little over three years.

So other than those already given, why do I think the game isn't coming until the first half of 2011?

While BioWare was wise enough to hire skilled, veteran developers at their Austin studio, they also had the foresight to keep the game a secret as long as possible. Since EA's chief executive, John Riccitiello, casually revealed the game out of nowhere to a business-focused news outlet, something tells me their hand was shown earlier than they'd have liked. It's likely that, originally, the game was set to be revealed to the public at this year's E3 event.

Assuming you saw the footage (if not, see it here for reference) of BioWare arriving at the EA press event in complete Jedi garb – even BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Myzuka got dressed up – it was obvious they'd long since wanted to make a big deal of their game. Now, just imagine how much more fanfare there would've been if an official reveal was made. Some people were wondering why they put on such a big spectacle. A lot of it was definitely from everyone on the team being super excited and wanting to share it with the world via E3. It's equally likely that originally, they'd planned on revealing SWTOR at or shortly before E3 2009. These unexpected things happen, and from what I've heard, read and seen in the MMO industry, are the biggest contributing factors of delayed release dates.
 

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www.massively.com/2009/07/27/the-digital-continuum-swtor-is-in-a-year-far-far-away/

I think the primary reason for the fanfare was to get media coverage that would appeal to Star Wars fans who are not currently MMO gamers.

ughh, 2011 is so far away if I have to wait that far I can honestly say I will stop checking out shit about this game. I will have a career by then and will not be looking into this game.

Also the next gen systems will be out then, so Bioware would not be smart in waiting that long.

and the fact that they are using an engine that is already finished would make me believe that they are more finished then they are admitting to.

I would have to say late 2011 or 2012.

Bioware isn't going with WAR's approach of releasing loads of info all at once and making promises they can't keep, it doesn't mean the game is going to take longer to make through Mythic's talking head, Paul Barnett.

Patience is a virtue.

 My money is on Q3 2010.

At this point I'm more interested to hear about they subscription model they are planning on using, than anything else. It'll be more telling about the game than any preview we've seen so far.

Originally posted by Xasapis

At this point I'm more interested to hear about they subscription model they are planning on using, than anything else. It'll be more telling about the game than any preview we've seen so far.

I'm going to make a guess here that it will be subscription + pay for extended storylines (like mini-expansion packs).

Like Everquest 2, sort of? Or like Guild Wars?

Neither of those models sound very appealing. I much prefer EVE's approach, charge more per subscription but release all content for free.

I say late 2010 (perhaps a Christmas release so we PC gamers have something to buy) to about this time in 2011. Times are changing people no longer like being told an annocement of a game only to wait for years for it to be eventually released.

There was a post on the TOR forums stating from bioware that the group actually started on this project in October? 2005

Originally posted by Swanea

There was a post on the TOR forums stating from bioware that the group actually started on this project in October? 2005

They may have started with design and story concepts in late 2005, they didn't license the Hero engine until mid to late 2006 (forget the exact date).

I think the release window is somewhere between Apr-Oct 2010...18-24 months from forum launch seems reasonable.  Some of the fanbois on the official forums are totally delusional and think a launch this year is probable even though the game isn't even in beta yet.

 My guess is some where in the Q3 2010 - Mid 2011, much like the article stated. 

My thinking is that the more important issue they have once the game is basically done is a good release window were they have the spot light to themselves and no other games (competition) coming out at the same time.
 

Originally posted by Xasapis

Like Everquest 2, sort of? Or like Guild Wars?

Neither of those models sound very appealing. I much prefer EVE's approach, charge more per subscription but release all content for free.

I would rather just have a flat monthly payment too, but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that the way they are doing the quest chains does not have a massive overhead.

That's why I said we'd probably have to pay a small amount for extended quest chains in addition to the normal monthly payment.  I guarantee TOR's quest development is exponentially more expensive than any other MMO on the market.

Honestly if I had to choose between paying $20 a month for TOR or $15 + $5-10 every few months for a new OPTIONAL storylilne, I would choose the latter.  Also, from a business standpoint, lower upfront costs are almost always the better option.

As far as the release date goes, I'm with the majority here I think.  Q4 2010 - Q1 2011 seems like a logical guess.

My money is on Q1 2010.

     Wait Wait.. How does a company get nominated or win a game award for 2009, when it's not even slated for release.. ???  I'm sorry, the logic escapes me here..   This would be like nominating LoTR for best picture while it's still being filmed in New Zealand, and not slated for release for a few years... WTF is wrong with peole these days?  I wonder if JD Power and Associates are going to select the 2012 Honda Civic as the 2010 car of the year?..  

     I'm sick and tired of awards being given out based on HYPE.. Why is it that the computer gaming industry seems to be the only ones that do this..  Stop the hype awards and start grading things on END product..

     PS..   This is July 29.. I nominate Ohio State as "Team of the Year" for NCAA football.. and I nominate T. Pryor for the Heisman.. Both have the hype, so why should we care what they actually preform this coming season..

well considering they announced that they will have a playable demo for the public at each of their next 2 conventions (1 in germany and the other in seattle) i think they are a lot closer that people think so i'm going to have to say a closed beta announcement by october with 3-6 months of testing with a release date Q2 of 2010

i can wait..in the meantime...i still got EVE :D so i am in no rush

Since I don't think they're anywhere near release. I'll have to say the release will be more around October-December 2010.

I'm thinking this also, because it's s typical release time for much anticipated games, and it's the holiday season.

 Q2 or Q3 2010. Currently leaning more towards Q3, but I'll hold off judgement on that till after I've visited GamesCom this year to see what they show us there.