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Star Wars: The Old Republic

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maskedweasel Tipster Joined: 9/24/07 Posts: 6791 "Kids, try imagining how far the universe extends! Keep thinking about it until you go insane."	9/22/09 10:27:13 AM#26 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by mbd1968 Originally posted by levin70 Originally posted by RoosterNash Originally posted by levin70 Originally posted by Odela Most of the community is settled on mid 2010, with an early 2010 beta. (Maybe a beta starting this year? Who knows?) You might think that, and it would be the case if Bioware was still Bioware. But its not anymore. They have new masters, and their masters are in financial trouble. 2009 losses were a billion dollars (march ye) and Fiscal First Qtr 2009 (June Qtr) EA cash outflows from Operations were approx 328 million. Given that the Company has 1.6 billion (at June 30) in cash and no other assets they can turn into cash, they need revenues now, not a year from now. That means by the end of 2010, if they don't or can't turn things around they will have blown through their cash. Expect EA, as the new masters of Bioware to push for Holiday 2009 release, no matter what form the game is in. Bugs, warts and all, my guess is that EA will force this title out the door to stop the cash bleed from its development I chuckled when I read this. For one, it is absurd to imply EA pushing a BW game (in it's early stages of BETA) onto the shelves for the 2009 holidays. It would be a HUGE mistake on EA's behalf, since it could potentially ruin the game's turn over. I was intrigued by your first acclaim, but you closed with something inheritantly premature and preposterous. While an early release may become the inevitable future of this game, I certainly don't see it in the NEAR future. I'm sticking with MID to LATE '10 release with possible open beta coming soon. You are unfortunately making the mistake of making a rational argument from a gamers perspective. What I am telling you is the perspective from the CFO's office of EA, the owner of all assets and intellectual property of Bioware. EA is crying right now because they have major cash burn issues and they need to resolve those issues quickly. You can chuckle all you want, but it doesn't change the story that EA needs to release games in development way before they would like to stop the cash hemmorage that is occurring right now. That inevitable future is much closer than you think I hope they learnt a lesson from WAR and do not release early. If not they'll see an initial spike of box sales folowed by a steady decline of monthly subs. I don't know what this "New Masters" business is, EA has owned bioware for a couple years at least now, Mass Effect was published by EA and it did very well and wasn't rushed. This game isn't even in beta yet, and more then half the information isn't known or hasn't been revealed, some of it even on Biowares end, so to think they'll push the release for 09 is ridiculous. They won't ... period. "Loan me a Dragon I wanna see space" Fratman in regards to SWTOR "All signs point to a massive success incoming."
Fignar Novice Member Joined: 7/23/05 Posts: 414 I support my legs, because they support me	9/22/09 10:41:02 AM#27 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Just under two years, will be two come October 11th or 12th I think it was and it was the holding company EA purchased that owns Bioware. Water cooled Intel Corei7 920 D0 Stepping OC'd 4.3GHz - 6GB Corsair Dominator GT RAM 2000Mhz - ASUS RAGE II EXTREME X58 Mobo - 2x HD 5870 in Crossfire X, OC'd 0.9Ghz core 1.3Ghz RAM - Dell 2407WFP Flat Panel LCD 24" 1920x1200
mbd1968 Hard Core Member Joined: 2/21/07 Posts: 1393	9/22/09 11:36:40 AM#28 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by Moirae Originally posted by mbd1968 Originally posted by Moirae Not again. Do you have any idea how many threads there are asking the release date? Did you bother to look at the top of the forum where it says "Status: Development (est.rel N/A)"? Do you understand what that means? I don't, could you explain to to me please? Oh my god. You can't be serious. Status: IN DEVELOPMENT. THAT MEANS ITS NOT RELEASED YET. Est.rel means :ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE N/A: means THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN THE GAME WILL BE RELEASED YET. This will probably come across as rude but oh well... use your damned brain. That should have been obvious even to a ten year old. I had engaged 'sarcasm mode' before typing....
Odela Novice Member Joined: 6/22/09 Posts: 129	9/22/09 3:21:47 PM#29 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by Mazin Originally posted by Odela They said it's a 2010 release after ME2 and Dragon Age, and there's still 4 classes to reveal...AND beta. Yeah, it's not an 09 release. They never said that, I know exactly what interview your talking about and he never said that. What he did say is that right now Bioware's focus is releasing Dragon Age, then ME2 in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2010 and then TOR. He never said TOR would be released in 2010. I asked Sean at PAX. Said it's definitely not an 09 release, hinted at 2010 by saying that they're not going to be at PAX or E3 next year. The last four classes will be revealed by the end of this year, and they want to do testing "soon with a trademark." Dickinson confirmed it at one of the earlier panels, not a demo panel but sort of a Welcome Panel. Edit: Forgot to say Sean also said they run a server in Austin, France, and Germany. They have about a hundred people on the server in the US and it's like a really glitchy beta.
Darth_Osor Apprentice Member Joined: 2/17/09 Posts: 1029 Just because you are unique does not mean you are special	9/23/09 8:42:29 AM#30 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by Odela Originally posted by Mazin Originally posted by Odela They said it's a 2010 release after ME2 and Dragon Age, and there's still 4 classes to reveal...AND beta. Yeah, it's not an 09 release. They never said that, I know exactly what interview your talking about and he never said that. What he did say is that right now Bioware's focus is releasing Dragon Age, then ME2 in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2010 and then TOR. He never said TOR would be released in 2010. I asked Sean at PAX. Said it's definitely not an 09 release, hinted at 2010 by saying that they're not going to be at PAX or E3 next year. The last four classes will be revealed by the end of this year, and they want to do testing "soon with a trademark." Dickinson confirmed it at one of the earlier panels, not a demo panel but sort of a Welcome Panel. Edit: Forgot to say Sean also said they run a server in Austin, France, and Germany. They have about a hundred people on the server in the US and it's like a really glitchy beta. LOL at anyone that thinks TOR is coming out this year.
levin70 Apprentice Member Joined: 5/21/07 Posts: 54	9/23/09 3:07:18 PM#31 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by fcazares The problem with the premise of such an early release is that BioWare has 2 other extremely sought after titles being released. Dragon Age is being released on Nov 2nd this year and ME2 likely in January 2010. Those two titles will be big sellers and lovely little cash cows. They will buy BioWare plenty of time to do TOR right. The problem isn't floating bioware, the problem is floating electronic arts, a much much larger company than bioware that is in financial distress. Newsflash - seekingalpha is reporting that rumors are going around (significant call buying action today) in EA that MSFT (Microsoft) is looking to buy EA. That would obviously solve the cash flow problems, but unsure of what would be the effect on games in development.
efefia Novice Member Joined: 1/08/07 Posts: 654	9/23/09 3:22:11 PM#32 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by levin70 Newsflash - seekingalpha is reporting that rumors are going around (significant call buying action today) in EA that MSFT (Microsoft) is looking to buy EA. That would obviously solve the cash flow problems, but unsure of what would be the effect on games in development. Link? ...The spread of secondary and latterly of tertiary education has created a large population of people, often with well developed literary and scholarly tastes, who have been educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought.
nariusseldon Elite Member Joined: 12/21/07 Posts: 4486	9/23/09 4:25:26 PM#33 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by levin70 You are unfortunately making the mistake of making a rational argument from a gamers perspective. What I am telling you is the perspective from the CFO's office of EA, the owner of all assets and intellectual property of Bioware. EA is crying right now because they have major cash burn issues and they need to resolve those issues quickly. You can chuckle all you want, but it doesn't change the story that EA needs to release games in development way before they would like to stop the cash hemmorage that is occurring right now. That inevitable future is much closer than you think LOL .. TOR is NOT the only game EA can push out to make some cash. Corporate america does not run on one paragraph reasoning like yours. They have teams analyzing everything. They would be much better off releasing other more ready games early than TOR. Plus, they can always borrow money. Treasury depts in corporations look at ALL alternatives and releasing this single game early is NOT the only alternative that they have.
Halpot Novice Member Joined: 2/09/09 Posts: 205	9/23/09 4:29:28 PM#34 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by efefia Originally posted by levin70 Newsflash - seekingalpha is reporting that rumors are going around (significant call buying action today) in EA that MSFT (Microsoft) is looking to buy EA. That would obviously solve the cash flow problems, but unsure of what would be the effect on games in development. Link? Keep it here please and don't derail the thread.
axhed Novice Member Joined: 9/17/09 Posts: 45	9/23/09 4:37:18 PM#35 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by levin70 EA is crying right now because they have major cash burn issues and they need to resolve those issues quickly. hi, my name is madden, it's nice to meet you. have a blessed thread.
levin70 Apprentice Member Joined: 5/21/07 Posts: 54	9/23/09 9:38:36 PM#36 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by axhed Originally posted by levin70 EA is crying right now because they have major cash burn issues and they need to resolve those issues quickly. hi, my name is madden, it's nice to meet you. Thats interesting. How many times do they release a madden title? Oh yeah, that would be once a year. Even with madden, they are losing boatloads of money. Once again, its the cash drains they need to deal with. Those would be in development titles. Given that their release of the next madden title is in 2010, they need to and will do everything in their power to slow the cash burn rate.
levin70 Apprentice Member Joined: 5/21/07 Posts: 54	9/23/09 9:42:53 PM#37 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by nariusseldon Originally posted by levin70 You are unfortunately making the mistake of making a rational argument from a gamers perspective. What I am telling you is the perspective from the CFO's office of EA, the owner of all assets and intellectual property of Bioware. EA is crying right now because they have major cash burn issues and they need to resolve those issues quickly. You can chuckle all you want, but it doesn't change the story that EA needs to release games in development way before they would like to stop the cash hemmorage that is occurring right now. That inevitable future is much closer than you think LOL .. TOR is NOT the only game EA can push out to make some cash. Corporate america does not run on one paragraph reasoning like yours. They have teams analyzing everything. They would be much better off releasing other more ready games early than TOR. Plus, they can always borrow money. Treasury depts in corporations look at ALL alternatives and releasing this single game early is NOT the only alternative that they have. Teams don't mean jack when your burn rate means you run out of cash in 5 and half quarters. As someone who has done cash crisis work for a living, teams of analysts are meaningless. The Company right now is trying to think of every possible means by which they can either (a) reduce cash outflow rates and (b) increase cash generating activities. Given lead times with game titles (of the mmo type) the only way to do either is to put titles in development into limbo to conserve resources or kick those that they can out the door even if they aren't done yet.
User Deleted	9/23/09 9:45:23 PM#38 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) EA will be fine, BioWare will be fine, your credibility went out the window when you said the game will release this year.
Blazer6992 Apprentice Member Joined: 4/27/05 Posts: 322 Shit Happens !!!	9/23/09 9:49:28 PM#39 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) You'll be lucky if it's released in 2010. I'm thinking more like spring of 2011, with closed beta starting in fall of 2010.
syztec Novice Member Joined: 12/21/07 Posts: 102	9/25/09 1:18:33 PM#40 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Im going with a late fall release in 2010. On the fact Mythic devs will be helping Bioware in testing as both companies are under one roof (EA).
Aercus Novice Member Joined: 8/28/09 Posts: 800	9/25/09 2:05:13 PM#41 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by levin70 Teams don't mean jack when your burn rate means you run out of cash in 5 and half quarters. As someone who has done cash crisis work for a living, teams of analysts are meaningless. The Company right now is trying to think of every possible means by which they can either (a) reduce cash outflow rates and (b) increase cash generating activities. Given lead times with game titles (of the mmo type) the only way to do either is to put titles in development into limbo to conserve resources or kick those that they can out the door even if they aren't done yet. That's if you look at last quarters cash flow only.. No one does that at that's just plain dumb. The last 5 quarters cash burn has been $88m each quarter. Let's say it increased to an average of 100m. That gives them 22 quarters, or 5.5 YEARS of cash before having to ask for a refill from banks or stockholders. If they double their burn rate they still have 3 years worth of cash. I hate EA and most of their titles, but financially they are sound and we most like have to suffer through a massive amount of below average EA titles in the future too..
rowainagant Novice Member Joined: 8/03/06 Posts: 16 C3PO '' But Sir !!! the possibility of successfully marketing the NGE is 3220 to 1 !!!!!	9/25/09 4:11:51 PM#42 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Anyone else get a preorder form through to their emails today ? 20% from direct2drive.com to preorder ToR ?
SignusM Advanced Member Joined: 5/07/06 Posts: 2227	9/25/09 4:15:52 PM#43 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by rowainagant Anyone else get a preorder form through to their emails today ? 20% from direct2drive.com to preorder ToR ? Seems they already know that their game is shallow and they're trying to make their profit off of pre orders... I don't know why so many people are looking forward to a single player game. Darkfall Travelogues!
syztec Novice Member Joined: 12/21/07 Posts: 102	9/25/09 4:52:01 PM#44 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by rowainagant Anyone else get a preorder form through to their emails today ? 20% from direct2drive.com to preorder ToR ? I've only had the 25% off Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic PC digital download email.
Darth_Pete Hard Core Member Joined: 6/03/07 Posts: 563	9/25/09 4:58:21 PM#45 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by SignusM Originally posted by rowainagant Anyone else get a preorder form through to their emails today ? 20% from direct2drive.com to preorder ToR ? Seems they already know that their game is shallow and they're trying to make their profit off of pre orders... I don't know why so many people are looking forward to a single player game. Single-player games can be good too and there is already proof that this is more than a SP game.
Blazer6992 Apprentice Member Joined: 4/27/05 Posts: 322 Shit Happens !!!	9/27/09 1:29:58 AM#46 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by syztec Originally posted by rowainagant Anyone else get a preorder form through to their emails today ? 20% from direct2drive.com to preorder ToR ? I've only had the 25% off Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic PC digital download email. Yes, that's what everyone got. It's not for the MMO coming out like most people think.
Alivada Novice Member Joined: 6/09/08 Posts: 88	9/27/09 10:13:41 AM#47 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) I'm hoping next year, but sometime after cat as there is no point trying to compete with it.
Odela Novice Member Joined: 6/22/09 Posts: 129	9/27/09 7:57:59 PM#48 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Originally posted by SignusM Originally posted by rowainagant Anyone else get a preorder form through to their emails today ? 20% from direct2drive.com to preorder ToR ? Seems they already know that their game is shallow and they're trying to make their profit off of pre orders... I don't know why so many people are looking forward to a single player game. Someone's nervous.