james Ohlen has posted about the future of TOR. now isnt really anything new that wasn't said in the recent interviews he did but thought i would share

What’s next for The Old Republic

Welcome to Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. It’s been many years in the making and the team is very proud of what we’ve achieved. Since we’re an online game we are going to continue building on the game for years to come. You can count on us to diligently expand the game and service to surprise and delight you. We’re going to not only respond to your feedback, but also hopefully exceed your expectations on how Star Wars: The Old Republic will evolve over time.

Many of you helped make the game what it is today by participating in our testing programs. You’ve watched the game grow over the past year and have been very vocal about things you’d like to see in the game in the future.

A team is never finished building a massively multiplayer game, so we’d like to take this opportunity to reveal a little information on what the team is working on for patches coming in the near future. Our priorities have been, and will continue to be, based off of the feedback we receive from our players.

• New Content – We will be adding new content to the galaxy on an ongoing basis. These worlds will include Operations, Flashpoints and solo content.
• Guild Functionality – Guilds are important to the long term health of any MMORPG. We have a huge list of guild centric features. This will be an ongoing effort that will probably never end. Guild banks are the first thing we’ll be delivering in our plans for increased guild functionality. Eventually we even want to deliver on the promise of the long hinted at “Guild Capital Ships”.
• UI customization – You like choice. We hear you! SWTOR is all about choice. Being able to choose how you interact with an online game is something we feel is very important. We are going to be giving more control over the UI as an ongoing effort. This is a very big priority for us.
• PvP – We have an entire team dedicated to adding content and features to player vs. player. We have some of the most experienced PvP developers in the world on this team. So far very few people have seen, or know much about the stunning Open World PVP on Ilum; when you get to the high levels prepare to be blown away! In addition to that high level PVP content, expect new Warzones and new PvP features on a regular basis.
• Space Combat – We will continue to add missions to the space game. We also have a special project going on right now that will expand space gameplay in a significant way... for now the details will have to remain under wraps.
• Legacy System – The ability to select a surname for your character is just the start of something much bigger. Soon, the Legacy experience and levels you earn will grant your characters access to powers, objects and other cool benefits.
• And more – We have an entire team of developers working on future content. Right now we are focused on nothing else but Star Wars: The Old Republic, so expect new and cool things.

It is fair to say that we’re just as excited as you are about the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Not only are we launching one of the largest and most impressive games ever created, but we’re also excited about the prospect of continuing to work on the game so that you, the fans, will always have something heroic and amazing to enjoy. Thanks for playing.

James Ohlen
Game Director

I hopes it is awesome!

We have, we have, we have....promise, promise, promise.  Time is up...what you see is what you get.  Do not bet on futures.  It never works out, and this kind of false anticipation just ends in tears.

Just be happy the game launched.

BW has a clean slate when it comes to mmo's. I believe him and will trust anyone once. Dont let us down BW :)

Originally posted by Cik_Asalin

We have, we have, we have....promise, promise, promise.  Time is up...what you see is what you get.  Do not bet on futures.  It never works out, and this kind of false anticipation just ends in tears.

 

Just be happy the game launched.

I don't think you've ever played an MMO.  Developers are allowed to add stuff to the game after launch.  

Originally posted by Aquazen

BW has a clean slate when it comes to mmo's. I believe him and will trust anyone once. Dont let us down BW :)

 

Good point. WoW was Blizzards first MMO and see where it went. Maybe Bioware can do the same if they keep to the straight and narrow and don't behave like an jaded old MMO developer.

Originally posted by Ubermeh

Originally posted by Aquazen

BW has a clean slate when it comes to mmo's. I believe him and will trust anyone once. Dont let us down BW :)

 

Good point. WoW was Blizzards first MMO and see where it went. Maybe Bioware can do the same if they keep to the straight and narrow and don't behave like an jaded old MMO developer.

    They do good work, I have never witnessed them lie to me yet about anything. I am sure we will happy with the results, just dont quote me on that :)

Originally posted by Aquazen

Originally posted by Ubermeh

Originally posted by Aquazen

BW has a clean slate when it comes to mmo's. I believe him and will trust anyone once. Dont let us down BW :)

 

Good point. WoW was Blizzards first MMO and see where it went. Maybe Bioware can do the same if they keep to the straight and narrow and don't behave like an jaded old MMO developer.

    They do good work I have have never witnessed them lie to me yet about anything. I am sure we will happy with the results, just dont quote me on that :)

Well to add to this if you look at the recent disappointing MMOs from the past few years most were launched be established MMO devs.

I don't know much about Rifts devv company but I do believe Rift was there first MMO and has done better then most.

See the trend? Let me know if I am wrong.

Well this is one reason why SWTOR is on the back burner for me,i've never stated i hated it but at this moment in time i'm not to bothered,but as Bioware have very deep pockets and a lot of talent,some where in the future an announcement may sway me to buy it.

One aspect that killed it for me was space combat,if they introduce total freeform play then i think i would be in like flint so these little tid bits of info are intriuging but i need to see something solid as cash is tight these days,so picking my Mo's from solid facts haveing been burned before on hearsay alone.

Originally posted by Cthulhu23

Originally posted by Cik_Asalin

We have, we have, we have....promise, promise, promise.  Time is up...what you see is what you get.  Do not bet on futures.  It never works out, and this kind of false anticipation just ends in tears.

 

Just be happy the game launched.

I don't think you've ever played an MMO.  Developers are allowed to add stuff to the game after launch.  

Unfortunately history tells us that "miracle" patches never exist, and the developers always, always, always...say that they plan on doing and this and that, and that reality is always, always different from what is said and done.   So it is better to not get ones hopes up and the players of SWToR should be greatful the game is actually up and running...and they are not dealing with this...

WoW Queue Dance

Um there have been fantastic patches/updates to several MMOs.

In any event people seem pretty happy with it as it is and launch is going smooth.

so.. IN YA FACE!

Originally posted by Teala

Originally posted by Cthulhu23

Originally posted by Cik_Asalin

We have, we have, we have....promise, promise, promise.  Time is up...what you see is what you get.  Do not bet on futures.  It never works out, and this kind of false anticipation just ends in tears.

 

Just be happy the game launched.

I don't think you've ever played an MMO.  Developers are allowed to add stuff to the game after launch.  

Unfortunately history tells us that "miracle" patches never exist, and the developers always, always, always...say that they plan on doing and this and that, and that reality is always, always different from what is said and done.   So it is better to not get ones hopes up and the players of SWToR should be greatful the game is actually up and running...and they are not dealing with this...

WoW Queue Dance

Well, I'm not sure if you are just playing the bad guy, as I have seen most of your posts be rather neutral. I'm not sure why you would bring up a "miracle" patch, anyone who has played SWTOR would know it really doesn't need one. The fundamentals are there, there is a solid foundation which to build from, which is what BW is refering to when they are looking to the future.

  This isn't Mortal Online, Darkfall, or even Age of Conan.  Steady content, and solid work is all that is needed for the first 6 months. Obviously there is no promise that things wont just fall apart once everyone hits the cap, but again, this isn't Age of Conan.

Yeah, there is a big difference between a miracle patch (which isn't needed), and a mention of things they are working on that will be added.

Originally posted by kiern

Yeah, there is a big difference between a miracle patch (which isn't needed), and a mention of things they are working on that will be added.

^This.^

Miracle patches are for games like Tabula Rasa and Age of Conan, maybe Darkfall.  Not... the smoothest launch MMO in existence.

While I obviously would not expect a specific date, I would like to get some sort of target timeline of when these things might appear.

Basically, is this stuff we can expect to see in 3 months, 6 months, next year?

Originally posted by Loekii

While I obviously would not expect a specific date, I would like to get some sort of target timeline of when these things might appear.

 

Basically, is this stuff we can expect to see in 3 months, 6 months, next year?

I think they won't do that because the game is not released yet. I think they will do some hardcore bug fixing over the next month or so. Lots of people, lots of emergency fixes, and such. Things and priorities might change once more people get high level, and then it sucks to have promises. 

People start crying when a deadline or even hint of a deadline is not meant. Just look at this debacle. There is no end to the people who are crying over everything.

List is very conservative. I like it. Not very special. UI will probably come first. Along with Guild Banks. Probably a Operation here and there. 

Guild Capital Ships + Space(open space) is probably first expansion(Return of the Space Gungans). Too big to be meaningful. I don't think the ships will go by itself. Would be strange.

Legacy system is really what I am questioning. How will it expand? What is the deal with that, and when? 

OMG He never promised us a rose garden!

But yeah, this is echooing exactly what he said in the IGN interview; no reason to doubt their intentions on this list I just hope that their hush-hush space-game content will be free, open and challenging enough, for both PVE and PVP and that they completely break away from the space-on-rails concept.

Group based pve on rails (gunners, pilots, all in one ship) or space warzones would be fun but that won't cut it for me; really hoping on free roaming, exploration, mining and "world" pvp content in an open space format.

Will they add more to the world to make it more immersive - more ambient sounds, critters, NPC's walking around and conversing?  What about the atrocious combat animations - they still are terrible from beta...Jedi's sliding when attacking at a wrong angle or trying to attack while moving...it just looks bad.  Will they add high res textures( and fix terrible ones like the desert texture of Tatooine - that still looks bad)?  What about adding non-combat skills to players skill trees?   Will players ever be able to customize their ships?  What about allowing others onboard your ship during space mssions to man turrets?  See where I am going with this? 

Yep sign me up for that please DarkPony, that would be great to see.

Originally posted by Teala

Will they add more to the world to make it more immersive - more ambient sounds, critters, NPC's walking around and conversing?  What about the atrocious combat animations - they still are terrible from beta...Jedi's sliding when attacking at a wrong angle or trying to attack while moving...it just looks bad.  Will they add high res textures( and fix terrible ones like the desert texture of Tatooine - that still looks bad)?  What about adding non-combat skills to players skill trees?   Will players ever be able to customize their ships?  What about allowing others onboard your ship during space mssions to man turrets?  See where I am going with this? 

Yeah your going down Nitpick Lane into Obsession Street with that.