Time to take a step on the dark side and tempt fate, ladies and gentlemen.

Many of us are anticipating TOR with baited breath; heralding it as the saviour of the genre and eagerly awaiting the long-overdue focus on storytelling and "traditional" RPG values.

But there's that tiny element of doubt, isn't there? It's there, wriggling around in the back of our minds, trying to make itself heard. We all have it; we're fans of a genre that feeds on hype and delights in sacrificing the hopes and expectations of its devotees upon the altar of business stratagem; here's my list:

Failure of the Core Concept

Like so many games, TOR has a unique selling point; Story. WAR also had a unique selling point: RvR. So did AoC: Combat + Citybuilding. They promised so much and disappointed us so utterly; what if TOR does the same thing? A fully voiced version of WoW questing where NPCs demand (in a strong "imperial" accent) that you go and kill 10 x gizka?

The Bait & Switch Endgame

Much is being made of TOR's solo-friendliness, but then WoW is solo-friendly too, isn't it? Right up to max level where the mentality has always been "Raid or Reroll" .. ! .. What if TOR is the same? Your "hero" finally reaches level 80 having completed his epic storyline and finds himself on a strange planet infested with radio chatter such as "LFM: 52 needed for PUG Emperor raid lawl. Bring consumables, force-healing specced jedi ONLY. No sabernubs ffs, we got enuff DPS."

Monochrome Morality

I'd hazard a guess that most of you have played KOTOR1+2 so will know that the actions of the character will almost certainly cause alignment shifts in TOR. I remember reading an article a little while ago that stated that strong dark/light side characters would gain special abilities which made me worry; is the much-vaulted "player choice" essentially limited to character creation?

If I start along the "light sided" path by saving a puppy rather than killing it, skinning it, baking the meat in a pie and force-feeding it to the crying child who owned it .. am I doomed to forever walk the path of the altruistic doormat for fear of gimping my character? If halfway through my development I have a moment of madness and slaughter a girl guide troupe (rather than pay 5 creds for some cookies - lightside style) will I be forced to reroll?

What about you? What's the worst that could happen?

The worst that could happen to Star Wars The Old Republic would be that it turns into another World of Tenyearoldcraft.

i think the worse that could happen in that the game turns out to be really good, and the haters constantly flame it, or it really sucks and the fanbois won't stop praising it.

The worst that could happen....

It was announced that SOE was given the game.. and Smedly states he hadn't gotten iconic enough before.  That there will be two classes...

Light Jedi..

Dark Jedi...

Then when the game finally comes into beta stage...  this is what we get...

http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?MENU=2&VERSION_ID=12444 

 TOR could have many faults, will it be as bad as WAR and AOC? I don't think so WAR learned from AOC and TOR will learn from WAR it will be better. If it is anything like our current mmo's I will not play past the first week and either will the other 1,000,000 subscribers.  

"LFM: 52 needed for PUG Emperor raid lawl. Bring consumables, force-healing specced jedi ONLY. No sabernubs ffs, we got enuff DPS."

^^^

I enjoyed that, ahah lets hope not :p

omg that game is better then the NGE!

Originally posted by Antarious

The worst that could happen....

 

It was announced that SOE was given the game.. and Smedly states he hadn't gotten iconic enough before.  That there will be two classes...

 

Light Jedi..

 

Dark Jedi...

 

Then when the game finally comes into beta stage...  this is what we get...

 

http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?MENU=2&VERSION_ID=12444 

lol. Funny stuff.

On a side note, will we only be able to create one character in Star Wars The Old Republic or is Bioware allowing more then one character allowed per account?. I hope its only one character per account.

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

The worst that could happen to Star Wars The Old Republic would be that it turns into another World of Tenyearoldcraft.

QFT

Originally posted by SonikFlash

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

The worst that could happen to Star Wars The Old Republic would be that it turns into another World of Tenyearoldcraft.

 

QFT

I don't mean to sound like a newb but what does QFT mean?. I'm definitely not up to date with the new acronyms of today's gamer lingo.

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Failure of the Core Concept

Like so many games, TOR has a unique selling point; Story. WAR also had a unique selling point: RvR. So did AoC: Combat + Citybuilding. They promised so much and disappointed us so utterly; what if TOR does the same thing? A fully voiced version of WoW questing where NPCs demand (in a strong "imperial" accent) that you go and kill 10 x gizka?

Well, I don't really see a problem. There will no doubt be typical quests to any other MMO, but Bioware  is also very good at creating long storylines that along the way have minor and major goals. 

The Bait & Switch Endgame

Much is being made of TOR's solo-friendliness, but then WoW is solo-friendly too, isn't it? Right up to max level where the mentality has always been "Raid or Reroll" .. ! .. What if TOR is the same? Your "hero" finally reaches level 80 having completed his epic storyline and finds himself on a strange planet infested with radio chatter such as "LFM: 52 needed for PUG Emperor raid lawl. Bring consumables, force-healing specced jedi ONLY. No sabernubs ffs, we got enuff DPS."

Yes, they will offer raiding, PvP etc. for those who do not like to reroll. You can also take a break and continue once the story for your character has been continued. 

You clearly hate raiding, it is quite funny, but I remember a funny quote from SWG before it launched, "Wookie looking for a Yoda raid in Dagobah!"

I honestly would like to hear your ideas about meaningful end-game for a MMO. I have few, but I know some would not like them either. Unfortunately, majority of MMO players seem to prefer the loot grind ala WoW - PvP and raid. WoW for this crowd is all about destination and not about the journey. Bioware games tend to be just the opposite, but I think they have to add something to the end as well - and most likely it will have to be repetitive content, like WoW raids or WAR scenarios. 

Monochrome Morality

I'd hazard a guess that most of you have played KOTOR1+2 so will know that the actions of the character will almost certainly cause alignment shifts in TOR. I remember reading an article a little while ago that stated that strong dark/light side characters would gain special abilities which made me worry; is the much-vaulted "player choice" essentially limited to character creation?

If I start along the "light sided" path by saving a puppy rather than killing it, skinning it, baking the meat in a pie and force-feeding it to the crying child who owned it .. am I doomed to forever walk the path of the altruistic doormat for fear of gimping my character? If halfway through my development I have a moment of madness and slaughter a girl guide troupe (rather than pay 5 creds for some cookies - lightside style) will I be forced to reroll?

What about you? What's the worst that could happen?

Well,  I kinda agree with you on this. People do not tend to see the world as black and white (well. some do), but I think they have gotten better since then. KOTOR was Bioware's first attemp on moral choices. KOTOR 2 was not their game. Mass Effect was already slightly better, and apparently Dragon Age will have even better system

The thing is that you cannot really expect all teenagers to understand how complex morality is as an issue when most adults have very black and white view on it (see religous fundamentalism or partisan politics). You cannot expect youngsters and teenagers to  appreciate novels like A Game of Thrones when they still struggle with books like Harry Potter.

We also have an indication that this game will not have subscriptions. So I think it will be easier to pick up by more traditional gamers.  The number of players will no doubt fluctuate with new content releases, which should be much more frequent then in current breed of MMOs. We have to wait for more information on this.

Even if this game does not hold people for more than 2-3 months, I would not say it was a failure. But I know many will, many.

You mention AoC in your post, which by the way, is a pretty solid game now. While it might be a failure in terms of number of subscribers, it can still be a pretty good game. It might not be your cup of tea, but that does not mean it's a failure or a bad game.  

Whatever Bioware does they will not be able to please everyone, and since this game is most likely to be somewhat different than let's say WoW or WAR, people will not like it. Just like the sandbox crowd and SWG-vets already do.

The most important difference to traditional MMOs, like I mentioned before, will be that this game no doubt will be more about a journey than a destination. 

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

Originally posted by SonikFlash

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

The worst that could happen to Star Wars The Old Republic would be that it turns into another World of Tenyearoldcraft.

 

QFT

I don't mean to sound like a newb but what does QFT mean?. I'm definitely not up to date with the new acronyms of today's gamer lingo.

Quoted For Truth.

the worst thing it could happen is that the game turns to be a very good sigle players from bioware :P and you would be bored after 100 or so hours :P either way a good game :P 

Originally posted by Eunuchmaker

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

Originally posted by SonikFlash

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

The worst that could happen to Star Wars The Old Republic would be that it turns into another World of Tenyearoldcraft.

 

QFT

I don't mean to sound like a newb but what does QFT mean?. I'm definitely not up to date with the new acronyms of today's gamer lingo.

 

Quoted For Truth.

I always thought QFT was meant as Quit F*** Trolling. lol well good to know now.

The worst that could happen is not enough content, or enough content updates. Since this game is story driven, new content needs to be released regularly, or boredom and leaving will ensue.

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Time to take a step on the dark side and tempt fate, ladies and gentlemen.

Many of us are anticipating TOR with baited breath; heralding it as the saviour of the genre and eagerly awaiting the long-overdue focus on storytelling and "traditional" RPG values.

But there's that tiny element of doubt, isn't there? It's there, wriggling around in the back of our minds, trying to make itself heard. We all have it; we're fans of a genre that feeds on hype and delights in sacrificing the hopes and expectations of its devotees upon the altar of business stratagem; here's my list:

Failure of the Core Concept

Like so many games, TOR has a unique selling point; Story. WAR also had a unique selling point: RvR. So did AoC: Combat + Citybuilding. They promised so much and disappointed us so utterly; what if TOR does the same thing? A fully voiced version of WoW questing where NPCs demand (in a strong "imperial" accent) that you go and kill 10 x gizka?

The Bait & Switch Endgame

Much is being made of TOR's solo-friendliness, but then WoW is solo-friendly too, isn't it? Right up to max level where the mentality has always been "Raid or Reroll" .. ! .. What if TOR is the same? Your "hero" finally reaches level 80 having completed his epic storyline and finds himself on a strange planet infested with radio chatter such as "LFM: 52 needed for PUG Emperor raid lawl. Bring consumables, force-healing specced jedi ONLY. No sabernubs ffs, we got enuff DPS."

Monochrome Morality

I'd hazard a guess that most of you have played KOTOR1+2 so will know that the actions of the character will almost certainly cause alignment shifts in TOR. I remember reading an article a little while ago that stated that strong dark/light side characters would gain special abilities which made me worry; is the much-vaulted "player choice" essentially limited to character creation?

If I start along the "light sided" path by saving a puppy rather than killing it, skinning it, baking the meat in a pie and force-feeding it to the crying child who owned it .. am I doomed to forever walk the path of the altruistic doormat for fear of gimping my character? If halfway through my development I have a moment of madness and slaughter a girl guide troupe (rather than pay 5 creds for some cookies - lightside style) will I be forced to reroll?

What about you? What's the worst that could happen?

Why saddle a game that hasn't been released yet with so much negative baggage from other games? are you some kind of MMO guru that has the inside scoop on what is actually going into the game and how it's playing right now?

Look at Biowares past games, I have loved every one of them and the story has always been a very important part of their games and for me personally they have always managed to give me plenty of hours of entertainment, why shouldn't their talent in storytelling be any different for SWTOR?

So what if the game can be solo'd to max lvl, and yet miss out on the hardcore mode of the game becuase you choose to play that way, don't we all have different playstyles that need to be catered for, some prefer to do things their way while others like to raid raid raid, if an MMO is to offer just one type of gameplay it would become pretty boring fast. It's all down to personal choice at the end of the day, I want the chance to be able to accomplish things on my own when I don't want to grp, but I also want to have content that requires team work, I want the best of both worlds, not just to be forced to do one or the other.

What game does not suffer from Cookie cutter syndrome? everyone and their dog looks for the perfect build and will copy/paste it, ppl are basically lazy and most want to take the route of less resistance, not all but most. If you enjoy doing bad things in a game then your going to pick those options that enabled you to take the dark path, if you enjoy helping and being on the side of good then your going to pick the options that suit your playstyle, I don't see how these choices will hinder you as you progress through the game, unless ofc you have a split personality, then basically your probably going to be fubar'd. People tend to stick with either black or white choices, just as some ppl always play healers and some play tanks, it's either in your nature to do the right thing or the wrong thing. I don't see an ethical quest system being much of a problem so long as you understand that it's going to lead you in one direction or another.

Originally posted by OldAgeJunkie

On a side note, will we only be able to create one character in Star Wars The Old Republic or is Bioware allowing more then one character allowed per account?. I hope its only one character per account.

i think we will be able to make a phew per server (4 - 8)

bioware wants the player to live the story and seeing we have 8 classes meaning 8 different stories (with each having multiple paths) you will be allowed to make multiple characters

and tbh i think having only 1 char for 1 account is pritty lame (looks at ffxi)

well i have 2 fears of for this game

1) after youre main story, what will you do? will there be enough endgame to satisfy the player? or will you need to reroll an alt...

2) will jedi/sith be overpowered? and if so there will probably be 50% of the people who will play either of those classes

Worst that could happen is it sucks like all the other mmorpgs and that means theres nothing else on the horizon that we know about looks any good.

I think the bait and switch concept that you brought has got to be one of the worst things that could happen IMO.  Also, if it becomes so themepark like WAR and you pretty much just go through a leveling game without much else to do besides level.

QFT is  Quit F****** Trolling

QFE is what they should be using, which means, Quoted for emphasis.

This is from the late 80's, just newer internet kids start making up there own acronyms.