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Knights of the Old Republic MMO Confirmed

Zafsk writes to tell us Gamespot is reporting that in a surprise move from E3 2008, EA's CEO John Riccitello announced that the long debated BioWare MMORPG is going to be a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic sequel of sorts. Currently the KOTOR MMO is slated for a 2009 release. "BioWare's first Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game was released in 2003 for the original Xbox and PC, and was named the year's top RPG by GameSpot. An Obsidian Entertainment-developed sequel was released in 2004 and 2005 on the same two respective platforms. Both critically acclaimed games are set several thousand years before the events of the Star Wars films, and cast players as adventurers who eventually become powerful Jedi Knights."

44 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Difference? by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Funny

    more importantly, which one(s) feature a planet full of jar jars and the ability to rip off their heads and shit down their necks after a slow and painful death involving pliers and sodomy?

    --
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  2. Big shoes to fill by lastchance_000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    If only it could be as good as Star Wars: Galaxies...

    1. Re:Big shoes to fill by atari2600 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You've been modded properly ;-). SWG was a lot of fun initially till it started out to be a non-paying job. Oh frick, my house is crumbling - oh frick gotta check on my machines. That and they sacrificed their current user-base in search of a new market (Blizzard is great at this - they don't alienate their current users while getting new users to sign up at the same time..mostly).

    2. Re:Big shoes to fill by mc900ftjesus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They need to take the original SWG, update the graphics, and rerelease. No other MMO is half as deep or customizable as that was. It just needed a dev team that would patch bugs instead of just looking stupid.

      The last thing we need is another mod for WoW (I'm looking directly at you LoTR).

    3. Re:Big shoes to fill by lastchance_000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I agree totally. I loved the original. My first experience with it was hanging out in the Mos Eisley cantina, playing music and socializing. The huge variety of professions (and not just different combat types) made for a very deep and varied play experience. I mock what it's become because I miss it so much.

    4. Re:Big shoes to fill by jank1887 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      short of some MUDS and MUSHs, I don't think there has ever been any real roleplaying in an mmorpg. It's simply not possible to design in that much choice flexibility and world impact. If my character's actions don't really affect the world state, it's not an RPG.

    5. Re:Big shoes to fill by Joker1980 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      buggy releases go with the territory with MMO's thats not what killed SWG. Completley rewriting the way the game played was what killed SWG

      --
      Well, Bart, your uncle Arthur used to have a saying: "Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out."
    6. Re:Big shoes to fill by Original+Replica · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's simply not possible to design in that much choice flexibility and world impact. If my character's actions don't really affect the world state, it's not an RPG.

      If some ever gets the realm vs realm thing done properly (not Warhammer, sadly) then choice and flexibility and world impact are totally possible. Although the first thing that would need to change would be the ridiculous power level differences between low and high levels. I don't see any big company having the cojones to release an MMO where three or four newbies working together can reliably take down a max level character; but to make RvR work that is what is needed, and to make your character's actions (an everyone else's) have a real impact on the game world, RvR seems the most viable solution. So look to small currently unknown companies to give you anything other than a re-themed WoW variant.

      --
      We are all just people.
  3. If we can't play it with real light saber Wii by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If we can't play it online using gaming consoles with light saber emulators, like that of the Wii controller, it's just not going to be very good.

    Half of the appeal is in emulating light saber battles.

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:If we can't play it with real light saber Wii by Dan667 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Are you that star wars kid whose movie I saw the other day?

    2. Re:If we can't play it with real light saber Wii by hansamurai · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm assuming you never played the original Knights of the Old Republic, a d20-based role playing game. Yeah, I don't know how that couldn't be fun online without waving around a wiimote.

    3. Re:If we can't play it with real light saber Wii by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because no non-Wii game has ever done melee combat right? Please.

      I spent countless hours duelling other players on Jedi Outcast and Academy online. Not because I wanted to be a wookie (I loathe, hate, despise Star Wars and have zero interest in anything do do with it, including this MMORPG) but because they really got the mouse-controlled saber battles right. It was intuitive and easy to pick up, but took real skill to master and players could actually come up with fighting styles that were completely their own.

      By the way I'm sure you have fun swinging that wii stick around your apartment, but I have roommates, and they have camera phones. I'm sticking to mouse and keyboard games, thank you.

    4. Re:If we can't play it with real light saber Wii by girasquid · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have roommates, and they have camera phones.

      That just means you should aim for those first. Sheesh.

    5. Re:If we can't play it with real light saber Wii by Chris+Burke · · Score: 3, Funny

      When you played the table-top game it didn't involve you waving around your 'wiimote'?

      Guess that was just us then...

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  4. With all apologies to Sir Alec Guinness by MalleusEBHC · · Score: 5, Funny

    I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of hours of my free time suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

  5. Trend in the industry? by djveer · · Score: 4, Funny

    It almost seems like every company has to convert their previously-loved RPG titles into MMORPGs just for anybody to look at them. MMORPGs seem to provide a sort of depth and play experience that single player RPGs have difficulty matching. I don't see this trend stopping any time soon.

    1. Re:Trend in the industry? by Hatta · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, I was just thinking the same thing for the opposite reason. MMOs have a watered down grinding gameplay, they can't match the depth and complexity of a single player RPG. They're also a lot worse at telling stories. How can you have a good 'teenage kid discovers he's the chosen one and saves the universe' story, when there are thousands of protagonists?

      MMOs are popular, not because they're better than single player RPGs, but because they have a good gimmick. To the hardcore fan, the single player, turn based, often tactical CRPG is obviously superior.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    2. Re:Trend in the industry? by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And CRPGS are watered down PNP RPGS. How can you have a huge quest in front of you, but instead end up terrorizing the towns people and never get on to the actual quest in a CRPG? Maybe that was just indicative of my play group, but we hardly ever found the actual quest, but still had fun.

    3. Re:Trend in the industry? by servognome · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, I was just thinking the same thing for the opposite reason. MMOs have a watered down grinding gameplay, they can't match the depth and complexity of a single player RPG.

      Actually it's a little of both.
      Single player MMO play is horrible, they have stories and gameplay about as complex as what you'd find on an Atari 2600.
      "Raid" co-op type gameplay is very complex, in depth, and more interesting; though not necessarily more fun, depends greatly on implementation.

      How can you have a good 'teenage kid discovers he's the chosen one and saves the universe' story, when there are thousands of protagonists?

      Why does everybody need to be "the chosen one"? Han Solo had a pretty interesting time, characters who weren't Frodo had important roles in LOTR. So long as each character has a unique and interesting heroic path their stories can make them compelling heroes.
      In fact you don't even need to be a hero, there was a large fanbase for SWG because it was a good sandbox game. Roleplaying doesn't necessarily mean playing a hero, just look at all the people who roleplay in forums without stats and numbers. Good roleplaying can just take the form of adopting a different character from yourself, just look at all the folks at the renaissance festival, sometimes it's fun being random serf #214.

      MMOs are popular, not because they're better than single player RPGs, but because they have a good gimmick. To the hardcore fan, the single player, turn based, often tactical CRPG is obviously superior.

      MMOs are popular because of their communities. For many it's socializing online, with a neat little goal for you and your friends to work towards.

      --
      D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
    4. Re:Trend in the industry? by jadin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I prefer MMOs for sheer scale of the games. I get bored with single player RPGs, but with an MMO I have access to months if not years worth more of game play.

    5. Re:Trend in the industry? by x1n933k · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's funny but we've been battling this kind of thing in MUDs for decades. It's a similar environment and you end up having a few power-users, a few hardcore RPers, and a a lot of in-betweens that just hack'n'slash because it is fun for them.

      Galaxies attempted to give the player a reason to be a average Joe with professions and a classless system. Although I didn't play it extensively I think like most players out there, if the developer give us a reason to be part of the Universe instead of being the Universe than we'll be happy to. Keeping multiple servers based on game play preference like in WoW would be useful, so long as you enforce them, which WoW doesn't do. RPers can run the story where they want, PvPers can power there way through skills and fight each other Good vs evil, and In-betweeners can play on a Wow like quest realm.

      Lots of developement? You bet, but it would be finally taking the lessons from the other MMORPGs and making something good for a change.

      [J]

  6. WTF is the summary on about? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 2, Funny

    So I'm reading the summary, and as I see that TFA is about a planned KOTOR MMO, I noice there's a blockquote (apparently from TFA).

    Then I read the blockquote. It refers only to previously released games. WTF? Can't you at least give us something about the planned MMO in the summary?

    I don't know who you are "Zafsk" (if that's your real name), but I resist your crude attempts to force me to RTFA.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  7. Why'd they have to ruin that? by Celarnor · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Both KOTOR and its sequel were absolutely wonderful single-player games.

    I'd been playing through KOTOR II on the PC recently (good luck achieving that on Vista; you have to replace a bunch of dlls in the game directory to get sound to work); the storyline, the influence system, everything is just absolutely spectacular.

    I'd really hate to see it become another crappy MMO; I just want to be able to sit down at the end of the day and pretend to be a leet Jedi for a while. Turning that into an MMO really ruins that if you don't have the time to commit to the damn thing.

    1. Re:Why'd they have to ruin that? by AnonChef · · Score: 2, Funny

      I am the psychotherapist. Please, describe your problems.
      shut up
      Why do you say shut up?
      will you please just shut your fucking star fags loving mouth?
      I would appreciate it if you would watch your tongue!
      star fags is shit
      Perhaps you could avoid such unwholesome thoughts.
      i shit it out everyday
      Please, get your mind out of the gutter.
      the only thing more disgusting than adults talking about star fags like it matters is adults reading comic books
      What makes you believe that?
      shout your star fags mouth
      Maybe your plans have something to do with this.
      it's fucking faggotry
      Are you afraid of sex?
      i piss on it
      Is it because of your life that you say you piss on it?
      fucking retard
      Tell me about something about your sexual history.
      just shove this shit up your ass
      Such lewdness is not appreciated.

  8. Re:"Eventually" become powerful Jedi knights... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Well, the training is one thing, but you also have to run a bazillion errands on the wookie home world where you have to watch the same cut scene at least 6 times.

    That's a real midichlorian booster.

  9. Re:Difference? by aztektum · · Score: 3, Informative

    Please provide links to info for all the other Star Wars MMO games in development by or licensed out by Lucasarts?

    The only other Star Wars games I know of in the works are NOT MMO games.

    --
    :: aztek ::
    No sig for you!!
  10. Re:Difference? by g0bshiTe · · Score: 4, Funny

    That of course assumes that the SPORE Penis monsters don't get them first.

    --
    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  11. No info by Paxam · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The article doesn't provide any real details, and says that Bioware refused to comment directly, so the only thing we have to look at comes from EA... I hope that Bioware make a Star Wars MMO deserving of the franchise, but I don't see it happening. Especially not now they're part of the EA family.

  12. Bioware MMO? by Idgit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One of my favorite things about Baldur's Gate and KOTOR was the fact that it was single player. I've played my fair share of multiplayer games and MMOs, but sometimes you just want to play a game where the whole universe revolves around you. Where your actions alone determines the fate of the world. Those are the kind of games that Bioware makes and I kind of think they were forced to make this MMO because EA wants a piece of Blizzard's pie. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing what Bioware manages to comes up with.

    1. Re:Bioware MMO? by Paxam · · Score: 2, Interesting

      MMO's are where the money seems to be, at the moment, in the PC games market. BioWare did well with "premium modules" for NWN, but even that can't compare to the constant income one receives from a body of subscribers each paying a tenner a month. MMO's don't have to be vastly popular to be profitable (as shown by LotR:O), wheras a single player game nowadays has to be successful for the publishers and developers to see a return.
      I can see why LucasArts chose BioWare to make the Star Wars MMO, as they've made what is arguably the most successful Star Wars game in recent history, but I wonder how many of the people working on this project will be from the team that did KotoR, and how many will be outsiders?

  13. Re:Thousands of years by hostyle · · Score: 2, Funny

    Its called a recession. Welcome to today!

    --
    Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
  14. Re:Penny Arcade.. by vico · · Score: 2, Informative

    Penny Arcade called this out many years ago, but I'll be damned if I can find the strip. It is kind of amusing to think on it, though. Any PA nuts out there that can find this please?

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/03/29/

  15. Re:The second one was not critically acclaimed by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 4, Funny

    There was an ending on the second game?

    I don't remember an ending at all. You just fly off into the nebula and then

    --

    ---
    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  16. Re:Difference? by Ben+Newman · · Score: 4, Funny

    So there's a chance I can kill Jar Jar's great great great great great great great great great great grandfather and make it so the prequels never happened? This really could be a WOW killer, it would be the most popular MMO in history if that was an option.

  17. Re:Difference? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2, Funny

    Abuse? If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, this is Arguments!
    Abuse is through the door, line on the left, one cross each.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  18. Re:The second one was not critically acclaimed by Sparckus · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well at least somebody is trying to fix the fucking thing. Lucasarts should really have had its arse whipped for the state of the game. As for this MMO, they're owned by EA now so it'll likely be shit and have a half arsed release every 12 months.

  19. Amnesia by EnsilZah · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, but how are they going to explain a whole world full of amnesia patients with a dark mysterious past?

  20. Re:The second one was not critically acclaimed by Original+Replica · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Lucasarts should really have had its arse whipped for the state of the game.

    Lucas should really have his arse whipped for the state of the franchise. FTFY

    --
    We are all just people.
  21. Re:The second one was not critically acclaimed by Joker1980 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now theres an EA slogan "Its just a game"!!!!

    --
    Well, Bart, your uncle Arthur used to have a saying: "Shoot 'em all and let God sort 'em out."
  22. Re:Thousands of years by mcvos · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The thing that bugs me about the KotOR story line is it implies a very, very lengthy period of technological stagnation.

    It is as if the technological capacities of all sentient species simultaneously "capped out," and all that was left was to apply the same principles on successively grander scales.

    The universe ran out of novelty and room for new discoveries. That kind of makes me sad.

    It's a staple of SF. Read Asimov's Foundation, for exmaple. Star Wars never struck me as a universe where lots of new research was being done, and long periods of technological stagnation or even retardation are common in many SF settings.

  23. Re:Thousands of years by mcvos · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just to clarify, by middle ages I meant what is usually called the early middle ages or the dark ages. That's from approximately 500 AD to 1000 AD.

    Of course the dark ages might not have been as dire as it's made out to be but it definitely was a period of slow or negative technological growth.

    I don't think that's actually the case. Before 500 AD, Saxons, Franks and all those other Germanic tribes didn't build anything bigger than a farm or a wooden fort. After 1000 AD, they built huge gothic cathedrals. Construction technology definitely advanced during that period. Especially for the Germans, who were not the direct descendants of the Romans of Greeks (who did have impressive construction tech, but still not good enough for a gothic cathedral).

    Between 500 and 1000 AD, Charlemagne founded his empire, invented the feudal system, and built lots of great cities. Vikings roamed the seas and travelled further than anyone before them. Metalworking improved, resulting in better armour and weapons.

    It may not have been a very civilised age compared to the Greeks or Romans, but technologically, lots of interesting stuff was happening.

  24. BioWare wrote stories by YourExperiment · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It was the stories they told that made BioWare great. MMOs don't have stories, by definition. Sure, they have quests, but they don't have grand over-arching storylines. It's a limitation of the medium.

    I fail to see how the fact that BioWare are writing an MMO is anything other than a cause for commiseration. Another great development studio has been subsumed and repurposed. Thanks EA.

  25. Re:Thousands of years by hardburn · · Score: 2, Informative

    A lot of the really interesting stuff was happening in places that weren't Europe, though. Like almost all mathematical development.

    People should stop pointing to European Middle Ages as a "dark age". Whenever it's brought up, someone always points out some development or another that "proves" that it wasn't a dark age. I think that's cherry picking, but a better example is the Greek dark age, a time period where Greece lost its original written language (later to be reinvented by borrowing from the Phoneticians).

    --
    Not a typewriter
  26. Re:The second one was not critically acclaimed by aztektum · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is the second post on here talkin' about EA busting balls to force Bioware to make something. The other being about them forcing Bioware to make an MMO, which they were making over a year before the EA merger.

    To clarify, EA had no say in the previous KOTOR projects. It was between Bioware/Lucasarts for the first one and Lucasarts/Obsidian/Bioware (offering tech support/advice on the toolset) for KOTOR2.

    Now if you meant it was Lucasarts brass that HAD TO HAVE THE GAME OUT NOW then OK, I've heard that plenty myself. The second game was released in 2005, 2 years before the merger.

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    :: aztek ::
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