KOTOR MMORPG?

[phred]

This hasn't been confirmed by Bioware.
posted at the wargamer:

A report on primotechnology.com cites a source at BioWare that confirms a MMORPG is being worked on in the Knights of the Old Republic universe. Check out the story here:

http://www.primotechnology.com/2007/...otor-universe/

[Whacker]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hate MMOs!

[UltraWar]

I'm too busy role-playing in Guild Wars to play any other MMORPG!

[Spino]

Hah! Now the motivation behind EA's generous buyout of Bioware's parent company becomes painfully obvious. Bioware was already an amazingly successful developer but the knowledge that they were about to make the jump into the MMO arena must have made the klaxon alarms in EA's accounting dept. go into overdrive. EA has made little effort to make a serious dent in the MMO market since the phenomenon known as World of Warcraft exploded onto the scene. EA's suits must be bitter and desperate to cash in on this gravy train as witnessed by their dropping a ton of cash to buy Mythic in 2006 when the early buzz on its Fantasy Warhammer based MMO was extremely positive.

Now that EA has a potentially explosive Star Wars MMO being developed by an amazingly popular and successful developer (Bioware) under its roof they're poised to experience revenue streams in 2008/2009 that would make any suit cream his custom tailored trousers.

[TevashSzat]

But isn't there a Star War MMORPG already? Wouldn't that bring up issues with liscencing or something?

[Sir Moody]

no Sony holds the rights to the time period during the movies which this game wouldnt be in

Mixed blessing here i have to say Lucasarts are mostly to blame for the poor state of affairs of SWG and they wont let anything star wars out of the door without sticking their noses into it

[Kekvit Irae]

I would like to remind you all that company bashing is a big no-no. This includes bashing EA. This forum is to talk about the GAMES, not "omg EA suxx0rz lolz!!!11one"

[phred]

More news from the Wargamer http://www.wargamer.com/news/news.asp?nid=4801

Industry News : BioWare and LucasArts Joint Project
Posted by Jim Zabek @ 11:05 EST


LucasArts and BioWare have announced an agreement to create something. We're not sure what, but it's probably cool.


LucasArts and BioWare Corp. today announced that they have entered into an agreement to create an interactive entertainment product. The product, details of which will be unveiled at a later date, will be developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, and will push the boundaries of the gaming market by utilizing the strengths of both companies to deliver an innovative, high-quality experience.

“LucasArts has a deep commitment to developing compelling stories and characters for the unique medium of interactive entertainment, and we have been searching for a developer that shares this value. We found this in BioWare,” said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. “Through our previous collaborations, we know that BioWare has an impressive ability to blend gripping stories with technological advancements, and we believe that our upcoming product will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment.”

“BioWare’s mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans.” said Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer, BioWare Corp. Added Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare Corp., “The collaboration with LucasArts allows us to combine our passion for creating high quality and innovative experiences with those of a company dedicated to bringing only the finest games to market.

The announcement can be found here: http://www.lucasartsbioware.com/

[Geoffrey S]

Rumours or not, I think this really, really is a case where a company should think about what they're best at and do that. Too often have great companies got themselves into trouble by overreaching.

[Zenicetus]

I hope this isn't a Star Wars game, but I guess chances are slim that it could be anything else, coming from Lucas.

It would be interesting to see them pull something completely out of left field... like maybe an Indiana Jones MMORPG? It would be fun to run around in the 1930's with a pistol and whip, searching through jungles and deserts for artifacts. Although I guess every other player would be running around with a pistol and whip too. Ahhh.... forget it.

[econ21]

I tend to think MMORPGs to be the antithesis of Bioware games - ie devoid of much story, dialogue or vivid characters. So it does seem a strange pairing.

But then again, if the MMORPG is to evolve, adding these quintessential Bioware aspects would make sense and who better to make it work?

The time requirement and fees of the typical MMORPG mean I won't be picking this one up, though.

[SwordsMaster]

I tend to think MMORPGs to be the antithesis of Bioware games - ie devoid of much story, dialogue or vivid characters. So it does seem a strange pairing.

But then again, if the MMORPG is to evolve, adding these quintessential Bioware aspects would make sense and who better to make it work?

The time requirement and fees of the typical MMORPG mean I won't be picking this one up, though.

Same here. For me, as for econ, the selling point of the KotOR games was the storyline, character interaction and depth. So if those are not present, I won't be playing it...

[Spino]

I tend to think MMORPGs to be the antithesis of Bioware games - ie devoid of much story, dialogue or vivid characters. So it does seem a strange pairing.

But then again, if the MMORPG is to evolve, adding these quintessential Bioware aspects would make sense and who better to make it work?

The time requirement and fees of the typical MMORPG mean I won't be picking this one up, though.

It all depends how Bioware executes their design but I have faith that they'll inject the genre with a breath of fresh air.

The bad thing about MMOs is that there's an amazing lack of originality in the current generation. Games like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes/Villains, Lord of the Rings & Vanguard are really just evolutionary rehashes of the basic PvE grind, free-for-all PvP systems of the previous generation (i.e. Everquest & Ultima Online). Only Guild Wars and Dark Age of Camelot seemed to push the envelope by deviating a fair bit from the established equation.

Excellent storytelling and MMOs are not mutually exclusive things, it's just a question of how much risk a developer & publisher is willing to take. Keep in mind MMOs are even costlier to develop and run than your average single player game.

I must say I am really keen on Mythic's upcoming MMO 'Warhammer: Age of Reckoning'. WAR looks to take faction based PvP (or, as they call it, RvR or Realm vs Realm) combat to a whole new level while minimizing the grind and banal crap that plagues most MMOs.

[Sarathos]

But isn't there a Star War MMORPG already?

Yeah, Star Wars Galaxies. but Bioware and EA are sure to look for anyone great Star Wars title and redeem the RPG from the flop of KOTOR 2. Shame they changed publishers for that cause Bioware did an awesome job on the first game but the second was quite an embarressment. I am really looking forward to what the storyline, characters and graphics will look like.

[Kekvit Irae]

I wouldn't mind an Indiana Jones or Maniac Mansion MMORPG (Remember, LucasArts made more than just Star Wars games)

[Sarathos]

I wouldn't mind an Indiana Jones or Maniac Mansion MMORPG (Remember, LucasArts made more than just Star Wars games)

Oh yes, LucasArts makes much more than just Star Wars games. But they are the only line popular enough to sell.

[Geoffrey S]

I want a good new Monkey Island or Full Throttle game, but I'd rather they don't if they'll be like the recent Sam & Max games.

[Kekvit Irae]

Oh god, the things I would do for a Monkey Island MMO...

[Geoffrey S]

I remember at the time being struck by the remarkable resemblance the 'plot' of Pirates of the Caribbean has to that of Monkey Island; kind of hoped it would lead to renewed interest in the series, but no such luck.

[Zenicetus]

I love the historical/geographic setting of the Indiana Jones movies (at least the first two), but I doubt a successful MMO could be based on a storyline with just one main character and a minor sidekick. There just aren't a wide range of characters like there were in Star Wars to identify and build a character base from. A server full of kids running around with fedoras and whips doesn't cut it.

Monkey Island could be fun. Anything pirate-based, if done well, could be fun. Getting the balance right, so every player has something to do and can be a hero of some kind (even a minor kind, when leveling) is the tricky part.

[Geoffrey S]

It'd be interesting to see insult sword fighting online...

[Spino]

You can all begin touching yourselves... the KOTOR MMO has just been unofficially confirmed by the head of EA...

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/po...ing-kotor-mmo/

[Sarathos]

Mmm, now that has been 'unofficial' confirmed, have they actually specified a release date?
Have they even start the project? Because the report only says that there will be/is a project.

[Praxil]

When The Boss is speaking like that, the possibility of that being the truth is highest possible in my opinion. If you read it well he's actually grinning about it. Despite that this is not an official announcement in any way. Some are aware that Duke Nukem Forever is coming, however as far as I know it it has never been officially announced.

I wonder how EA being a partner in this project will effect the game. I'm more than sure that BioWare got the deal to make the game long before EA bought BioWare.

[AggonyDuck]

Mmm, now that has been 'unofficial' confirmed, have they actually specified a release date?
Have they even start the project? Because the report only says that there will be/is a project.

Knowing Bioware they have already been working at it for some time and I'd bet the earliest that we'll hear anything more about it should be after Dragon Age is released.