The Old Republic – Page 4

The Old Republic First Expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel

Players are able to take on the first fifty levels of The Old Republic’s story line completely free, but what happens when that is all of the story line? The answer: Expansions. The Old Republic’s first expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel, is coming in Spring 2013 and brings with it several changes to the Old Republic game we all know and some of us might even love. The maximum level has been expanded by five to 55, and players are sent to the planet of Makeb, where they must put an end to the plot of the Hutt Cartel to become the new galactic superpower.

Free players will have to shell out $20 for the expansion, although subscribers can get it at 50% off for a mere $9.99. Preordering the expansion as a free player does upgrade an account to “preferred” status, and if either group orders the game before January 7th, they will have five days of early access to the new content. Otherwise, not a whole lot of information revealed at this stage. We can assume that the new planet will bring higher tier gear, raids, dungeons, and more space missions, and possibly more crafting options.

(Source: The Old Republic)

The Old Republic: Free To Play Requires A Subscription

Once The Old Republic launched its free to play program, I figured I’d set up a new account to see just how tight the restrictions on free players are. However, as you can see above, I’ve hit a snag: My free to play account doesn’t have an active subscription. Either an overlooked bug or some deeper metaphor giving an insight into the meaning of life.

Either way, it seems like subscribing might contradict the point in seeing what a purely free player experiences.

Bioware Isn't Afraid To Re-Restrict You Freeloaders

Good news, free players! In a recent forum post by Lead Designer Damion Schubert, based on feedback via the public test realm (where free to play is currently undergoing trial), Bioware has decided to ease up on some of the restrictions on free players. You will now be able to enjoy a second quick bar, as well as five warzones instead of three per week. Additionally, Cartel Coin item locks will be reduced to three days for free players and two for subscribers. But don’t think that these changes are permanent. If Bioware gets even the slightest hint that you are cheapening the experience for their subscribers, all cards are on the cutting board:

That being said, one of our golden rules is that the Free-to-Play experience should not cheapen the experience for paying subscribers. If it turns out that the Free-to-Play conversion results in a degraded Warzone experience once we go live for subscribers, you can rest assured that we will quickly make adjustments to the system to ensure that subscribers have an optimal experience.

With the competition of so many free to play MMOs, The Old Republic still lands somewhere on the more restrictive side towards free players, like limiting the player to two hotbars. The Old Republic will feature a “preferred” player status for previous subscribers and those who purchase something from the cash shop, that removes more of the limitations.

(Source: The Old Republic)

Bioware Isn’t Afraid To Re-Restrict You Freeloaders

That being said, one of our golden rules is that the Free-to-Play experience should not cheapen the experience for paying subscribers. If it turns out that the Free-to-Play conversion results in a degraded Warzone experience once we go live for subscribers, you can rest assured that we will quickly make adjustments to the system to ensure that subscribers have an optimal experience.

(Source: The Old Republic)

Falling Out #12: An MMO Far, Far Away

Regardless of The Old Republic, do you think it’s about time Lucas Arts lets Sony bring back Galaxies?

The Old Republic Will Sell Statted Gear, New Planets

If you haven’t heard, The Old Republic will be free to play as of later this fall. Without paying a subscription, players will have access to all of the story content from level 1 to 50, with limited access to other features and no access to the game’s warzones. Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer at Bioware, acknowledges that the transition must be performed with great care:

“I don’t want to unbalance the game by putting things out on the store that somebody can walk in on day one, buy and be the winner. Having said that, there will be some things that we put out in the store that do enhance power value in some way, but not at the top end.”

While the cash shop items have not been finalized, Hickman believes that The Old Republic will sell some form of gear with stats (although not high-end equipment) and possibly future planets, hinting that the level cap may be raised at some point.

The Old Republic Free To Play, Subscriptions Plummeted

Normally when I open an article with “to the surprise of absolutely no one,” I am exaggerating slightly. However, the announcement today that The Old Republic is heading to a free to play model should come as a surprise to absolutely no one with an internet connection and a finger on the pulse of Electronic Arts. Later this fall, The Old Republic will make its transition, allowing players to experience everything* that a galaxy far, far away has to offer. Players will have access to all eight classes, the complete story content, but will be limited in warzone and flashpoints, as well as space missions, travel functionality, and extremely limited access to the galactic trade network.

So why is Bioware suddenly choosing free to play? Well as the announcement puts it:

We feel that flexibility and choice in playing our game is important for all current and future players. For that reason, we began the exploration of expanding the game to include a Free-to-Play option.

Also, at the investor call today, Electronic Arts announced that subscription numbers dropped below one million (from the last reported figure of 1.3 million in May) but “well above” half a million. More specific subscription figures were not made available. Bioware heralded The Old Republic back in December as “one of the greatest and most ambitious achievements in video game history.”

(Source: The Old Republic)

Bioware Laying Off Employees, Executive Producer Departs

The video game media just loves a doom and gloom news story. With the launch of The Old Republic far in the past, Bioware began laying off staff in May. The layoffs are continuing with the recent restructuring Bioware Austin and the departure of Richard Vogel, Executive Producer. Vogel departs Bioware after joining in 2005.

EA released a statement describing the layoffs as rather expectant.

“As with the launch of any MMO, the size and skillset of the teams needed to maintain the game is different than the ones that built it. Starting in May, there have been staff reductions in the BioWare Austin studio. Some people have been platooned to other projects at BioWare Austin and EA SPORTS/Austin. Others have been released – qualifying personnel receive severance and outplacement assistance.”

The annual shareholder meeting will be taking place soon for Electronic Arts, which will hopefully offer more insight into The Old Republic’s activity. As always, we wish a speedy job search for those affected by the layoffs.

(Source: Massively.com)

The Old Republic Server Mergers Later This Summer

Bioware is committed to keeping server populations strong. Coinciding with their May announcement of massively increasing server capacity, Bioware has been very active in herding their population on to a select number of destination servers. In fact, Bioware wants you to transfer so much that they are handing out perks just for moving over your eligible characters. On the Old Republic Blog, Bioware has detailed plans to increase server transfers.

Later this summer, we’re taking steps to further strengthen destination server population. Ultimately, we are working to transition all players to designated destination servers in the Free Character Transfer Service.

Later on, servers will be merged anyway.

Later this summer, any remaining characters on selected origin servers will be automatically moved to designated destination servers. We will provide additional details regarding the automatic character transfer process at that time.

Just how many servers are being merged is yet to be seen, however Bioware has listed more than 100 North American and 80 European servers as “origin” servers, available for players to transfer off of with only twelve servers per region qualifying for the free transfer rewards program.

(Source: The Old Republic)

Free To Play On The Horizon For The Old Republic

The Old Republic was one of the largest MMO releases in 2011, if not the largest. The game shattered EA’s preorder record boasted 1.7 million subscribers in February. However, shortly after launch it became evident that The Old Republic’s was not growing when EA reported a 24% loss in subscribers, down 400,000 in just a month after boasting their 1.7 million. Recently the discussion has turned to servers, with Bioware increasing server capacity and opening limited server transfers for what some believe to be preparation to perform server mergers.

GamesTM recently published an interview with Bioware’s Emmanuel Lusinchi, in which the developer notes that a free to play model is indeed possible.

“The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well. Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.”

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