Tag: The Old Republic

The Minority Rules: Bioware Blocks Cross-Faction Chat


Cross-faction chat is a rather controversial topic. On one hand, the supporters prefer it as it allows for smack-talk, for role playing purposes, and general immersion and social interaction. On the other hand, the opposition believes that removing cross-faction chat keeps the less mature crowd from having a larger audience to talk to, with hypothetical situations such as “it’s bad enough that a group of players will stand around ganking the same guy, now he has to read their racist, homophobic slurs.”

In World of Warcraft, Blizzard has always justified this by racial-barriers. Looking at it from a lore point of view, it doesn’t make sense that the Orc and Human factions could communicate without translators, as why would the Orc teach their children to speak Common, or vice versa? (Don’t mention the Forsaken suddenly forgetting Common and being fluent in Gutterspeak. It’s magic) Bioware talked to TenTonHammer that the plans have changed and cross-faction chat is gone from The Old Republic. Why? Because when Darth Vader announced that he was Luke’s father, the emotional scarring was far worse than having his hand cut off.

We had the big argument that this isn’t like Horde and Alliance, we all speak Galactic Standard so we should just allow it. So we actually did allow it for a little while. The argument against it was that, what happens is people start saying inappropriate things to the other side. That’s just the way it is when you’re on a different side and you gank each other, people tend to say inappropriate things.

I agree. While we’re at it, let’s cut in-faction chat for that same reason. When I was playing The Old Republic, the other players on the test server were unapologetically racist, homophobic, and vulgar. So are some of the people in trade chat in World of Warcraft, and in chat in general on Runescape. In fact, block cross-faction chat won’t stop my random LFG group from telling me I’m a shitty hunter, and that I should hang myself in my living room because I can’t build a proper DPS outfit.

Essentially, if you’re going to block chat: Come up with a real reason. There is a purpose for the ignore function, and that is removing unwanted players from your chat window. Your customer service team should also be inviting active reports for offensive language, and banning offenders. I hate to play the slippery slope card, but what else is Bioware going to remove because a few immature players might utilize it to say bad words?

Cowen And Company: The Old Republic Could Sell 3 Million


Cowen and Company may sound familiar, and that is because they’ve been featured here on MMO Fallout once before. Back in June, the analyst group got a look at The Old Republic, and they weren’t impressed, quoted as saying:

“Despite promises from EA/Bioware that the title represents a major step forward in MMO design, what we saw was essentially a World of Warcraft clone with Star Wars character skins and the Bioware RPG nice/nasty dialogue tree mechanism bolted on for non-player character conversations.”

Well it appears Cowen and the rest of the company have had a change in heart, as the analyst group has recently upgraded its prediction to 3 million sales in the first year, with two million of those players staying on to continue subscribing. This comes on the heels of the announcement that The Old Republic has become EA’s fastest selling pre-order.

Read the whole article here, without falling too deep into the “Bioware is bribing Cowen” conspiracy crowd.

Week In Review: Why Hath WoW Forsaken Me?


Thanks to World of Warcraft’s seven day welcome back week, I have something to hold my attention for seven days, at least until the little girl from The Ring comes through my television set to murder me (the joke’s on her, I’ll be playing The Room on a second television. Try and brave that to kill me). Other than the thought of impending death, I’m having a lot more fun on my recreated toon than I expected. I started a new undead hunter to test out the phasing and new quests. There are a lot of major changes to the game, like the removal of weapon levels and ammunition. I’m taking notes, and I’ll be doing a “Why Aren’t You Playing” on World of Warcraft at some point.

1. Earth Eternal Is Officially Back

At least to the point where you can play it. If you head over to the Earth Eternal website, you can log in with Facebook and install the client. You will need to make sure that the previous Sparkplay version has been uninstalled before you do, as conflicting installations can cause problems. There may be an issue with the requirement to sign in via Facebook, and you may have to wait a little while before the website recognizes that you have the game installed (this happened to me), but otherwise you can jump right in.

Earth Eternal is just as adorable as it was when we left it, and the game has undergone quite a substantial upgrade in the graphics department. Find me in-game, my username is Omali.

2. Bioware Hates The Heterosexuals

This falls into the category of “I wish this wasn’t true.” Over on the Old Republic boards, a poll popped up asking players what type of relationship they will pursue with their companion characters, choosing from same sex, opposite sex, all relationships, or none. Of course, this sparked a bit of a fizzle (not an explosion) on the blogosphere from the lunatic fringe, claiming Bioware was “discriminating against heterosexuals” presumably by not allowing them to spew homophobic drivel on the Old Republic forums.

What this ultimately ends up as is a matter of civil discussion, and people who don’t understand what that means. The subject of homosexuality is a touchy one, but in the context of the thread, Bioware was simply asking about your choice of partner, not your opinion on who will burn in eternal hellflame.

3. I Buy My Gold Straight From Kim Jong Il

This is an odd story, yet not all surprising. According to the New York Times, North Korea is employing hackers to break into South Korean MMOs in order to write bots for them to farm gold to sell for the government (and of course so his son can get his epic mount in World of Warcraft). The outfit that operates the bots reportedly brings in some hard cash, $6 million over two years, and is the same office that operates drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and other illegal practices for the glorious leader.

So the next time you see a gold farmer in-game, ask if you can have Kim Jong Il’s autograph. They like that. Also consider this another reason to gank bots in your favorite MMO. That gold you just looted could keep North Korea from achieving nuclear technology.

4. Firefall is Releasing Similar To Google Mail

In an announcement on the Firefall website, CEO Mark Kern has expressed his interest in launching the free to play MMO as close to the Gmail method as possible. The project is currently in friends and family beta, where it will slowly expand to allow more people. Oddly enough, Kern considers the game already “launched,” and believes that the expanded base is not bringing in new beta testers, but rather simply expanding a low-key launch to a wider audience via invitation.

First person to send me an invitation gets a free…something, I’ll figure it out.

5. Then Again, Darkfall Could See More Success

I admit, I’ve been hard on Darkfall for the past few weeks, given Aventurine’s refusal to acknowledge a wipe. I’ve hinted in the past that the wipe may have to do with the removal of certain skills, and revamping of others, explaining why Aventurine won’t call it a “wipe in the traditional sense,” or why the company feels that the issue won’t be as hot topic as players are turning it into.

What I have seen over the past few weeks is an outbreak of support for a wipe, even going as far as a full wipe. Some see it as a necessity to level the playing field, while others see it as a way to rid the game of ill-gotten gains through bugs, dupes, macroing, and exploits. Overall there appears to be equal pull in both directions on the forums, for and against a wipe of any sort.

My stance throughout all of this has not been predictive. Rather than trying to read the community and predict death or success, I’ve kept to stating the possibilities (on both sides) and citing past examples of wipes and their resulting success, or lack thereof. I’ve leaned a little more toward the death side of the fork in the road, so consider this a balancing “I still have faith this can work out” piece.

The Old Republic: Big Announcement?


With the impending (read: yet to be revealed) release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I’m finding gamers can be grouped into two categories. There is the group that can’t get enough Republic news, and the group that believes the game is being far over-hyped. For the former, The Escapist has run a story today that there is still big news to come regarding the upcoming MMO, on the scale of space battles and warzones.

Director James Ohlen would love to tell you what the feature is, but apparently Bioware’s PR department only budgets for allowing talk about what he wishes they would allow him to talk about.

Ohlen also said that players didn’t quite know about everything that The Old Republic had to offer yet. He said that while most of the game’s really big components – things like the space battles or the warzones – had been revealed, there was at least one more announcement to come on that scale. There would be a steady stream on information right up until launch, he added, but he could say any more without getting in trouble with the game’s PR department.

You can read the whole interview this article was derived from, an interview with Newsarama, at their website. The actual quote by Ohlen is:

We have some pretty exciting announcements that will be coming. I don’t think there’s anything on the level of PvP, Warzones, space battles or anything like that. Well, there’s one thing that might be at that level. Depends on what you like about the game, but it’s pretty exciting. Obviously I can’t go more into that, PR will kill me.

The Old Republic Breaks EA Record For Preorders


That image is getting old. This is an odd piece of news, Electronic Arts did its Quarter 1 financial call for the fiscal year ending in June. The Old Republic did not go on sale until a few days ago, likely leading many of you to ask: How is this being included in their last quarter’s report? Right in the title, man:

Star Wars: The Old Republic Breaks EA Record For Pre-Orders

Despite this being in the header, there is no other mention of sales, likely because of the sales being part of the current quarter. During the conference call, they did confirm that the team is ready for whatever sales the players throw at them:

2:29: Question on capacity management in SWTOR? EB: We’re in good shape to do that, we have the ability to scale for multiple millions of users. We’re looking at stuff coming in as far as marketing and pre-order promotion. We have a lot of capacity to do that.

In the words of the Gman, we’ll see about that.

Week In Review: Too Much Ravioli Edition


I hope Bioware can survive its community, and I mean this with the sincerest of honesty. I’ve had a full month of experience playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, and although I sent a good amount of feedback to Bioware via their surveys included with the demonstration copy, I want to issue one of my famous ultimatums: Your community is labeling the game the next WoW killer, and that needs to be stomped out faster than the people who expected this game to be Pre-CU Galaxies Part 2. Now, The Old Republic is going to be the biggest release of the year (assuming it isn’t pushed back until January), no doubt about that. Bioware has relatively high expectations for box purchases, and more importantly expectations for subscription retention following month numero uno.

And forget the discussion about the price of the collector’s edition, that is completely irrelevant. The only thing that can cause Bioware to collapse upon itself is when the game launches and all of those fun launch day issues come to light. Lag, server queues, game-breaking bugs, content that isn’t in at launch, etc. Content aside, The Old Republic will have lag, it will have game-breaking bugs that aren’t apparent until launch because they only come to light with said encumbering lag, and it will have server queues. That’s the rope you walk buying early into a game that everyone is buying into early.

1. Yea, I Get It, Expensive Statue…How About Two Free Months?

If I’m going to pay $150 for the collector’s edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic, with a twenty dollar “fee” just to preorder the thing, I think Bioware should bite the bullet and give an extra two months of free game time to Collector’s Edition buyers. A hundred and fifty dollars is an insane price for something that, much like Halo Reach’s massive monster edition, will likely be on the 50% clearance rack at my local Target a few months after launch. Given the high price of the collector’s edition, Bioware should include an extra month or two of subscription.

Think about it this way, someone who pays that much money is likely more susceptible to buyer’s remorse in that first month than someone who paid less. Given a couple extra months to play might be just what that person needs to embrace what the game has to offer, and in the long run that extra time could keep him involved and keep that subscription going when the time comes to renew.

Any good drug dealer knows you give just enough for free to get them hooked, then you open your wallet and let the cash fly in.

2. You People Set Your Expectations Too High When You See Me In-Game

Being the creative soul I am, I name almost all of my characters “Omali.” As a result, and as MMO Fallout has gained popularity over the last two years, I’ve had people recognize my username in various games as being the “Omali from that website” as one person put it. It’s interesting being recognized as the celebrity I am not, and not only because half the people want to know if I can get them free stuff from the developers.

People tend to assume I’m some industry insider and that I keep this website small because I have all these secrets, when the truth is I don’t. MMO Fallout is small because I’m still expanding upon it, and I have limited funds to do so. I’m not even a blip on the radar of most of these companies, that’s why the only guy stupid enough to think I carried the influence to “ruin his reputation” with my opinion articles, and warrant sending me a note through his lawyer was David Allen, the guy who managed to get fired and then publicly humiliated by his own company.

Overall, I know maybe a handful of industry people. At the moment I’m under three nondisclosure agreements. For what I cannot disclose.

3. The Alganon Comic Review Was Real

And to prove it, here is a small image from a page not found in the previews. Remember, the Alganon comic was distributed at Comic Con, so it is publicly available in a print fashion. I, on the other hand, was supplied a digital copy by Quest Online for the purposes of the article, which I noted in the article itself. What I should have noted in that article is that Quest Online didn’t approach me, I asked for it. I contacted Smart initially with a request to purchase the comic (at this point I was unaware of a digital version coming) for the purpose of writing an article, and was supplied with a digital copy. I have a copy of Crimecraft’s comic (that I purchased when it went on sale four months ago) which I will also be writing a review of.

4. Icarus and GamersFirst Sitting In A Tree

Those of you who play Fallen Earth are already aware that you will have to set up a GamersFirst account starting August 1st in order to have continued access to the game. This is the first phase of the system changes that will bring free to play to Fallen Earth, and players who transition early will have the opportunity to net some free G1 tokens for their prompt response.

What you may not be aware of is that Icarus Studios is working on an upcoming MMO based on the UNITY 3D engine called Hailan Rising, to release this fall. The game is billed as a fantasy title focused on PvP, with players choosing from eight classes to battle it out over territory and resources. The game will be stat-based, which for some reason is still billed as non-conventional and “grind-less.”

5. Stat-based Games Are NOT Grind Free!

Going straight from number four to number five, I want to shout this from my rooftop every time I hear it said in a press release: Having stats over traditional levels does not remove the grind, because in most cases rather than grinding a single experience bar for levels, you find yourself grinding many experience bars for levels. Rather than attacking trolls, for example, and obtaining 100 experience each time, I might fight a troll and simultaneously gain endurance while swinging a heavy sword, sword experience for doing damage, stamina for taking damage, and heavy armor experience for fighting in heavy armor. Same grind, but rather than leveling up and seeing +25 health, +3 strength, +5 stamina, +1 intelligence, I gain those levels over a period of time.

With so many more skills, obtaining end-game can take even longer than a traditional level game. Runescape, for instance, takes longer to attain 99 in one skill than many traditional games take to hit end-game overall, and each skill in itself is a heavy grind.

The Old Republic: Now With Limited Quantities


Good news, fans of Star Wars, The Old Republic, and Bioware: Starting today, you may preorder EA’s upcoming MMO through selected retailers. While supplies last. Yes, if you want to preorder through Origin.com, you will have to go through the arduous “I’m not worthy” process of submitting a request to pre-order, waiting for your confirmation, and hopefully getting a spot. Oh and there’s a $5 “fee” to preorder, and a $20 fee to pre-order the collector’s edition (which is now out of stock).

Don’t worry, the limited supply is not because of something technically related, Bioware is artificially limiting supply:

BioWare has always had a history of delivering high quality experiences for our customers and we are dedicated to making sure that track record continues with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Our focus is on not only delivering a high quality game, but also in developing a thriving online environment. In order to ensure a great user experience we have decided to limit initial launch supply. Further supplies will be released post-launch.

It should also be noted that Origin is not accepting orders from Australian or South American users. But still, The Old Republic must be a great game if players are being billed a “fee” for the privilege of getting in line to possibly preorder a game, right? This is how EA plans to beat Steam in the digital distribution market? It is unknown how this is affecting stores outside of Origin, if at all.

How About An Authenticator In The Standard Edition?


Dear developers,

You cannot say that you are in tune with player security and then only include one of the best security options available (authenticator) as an exclusive item with the collector’s edition. When Final Fantasy XIV was released, Square only allowed players to obtain the authenticator through the $79.99 collector’s edition. With the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic, the details of which were just confirmed today, the authenticator will only be released with the $150 collector’s edition.

Now, games like World of Warcraft allow you to buy the dongle separately, while games like Rift opt for digital versions (iOS and android devices). That isn’t to say Bioware won’t have the authenticator on sale at their store after the game launches, but given the standard edition already carries the premium-console price ($60), adding an authenticator could help justify that extra $10.

When Star Wars: The Old Republic launches, it will be one of the biggest launches since Aion, and that means every gold farmer and their brother is going to be phishing, hacking fan sites, and launching every attack they can to steal accounts. We see this in World of Warcraft, Aion, Lineage, and all of the big name MMOs: Where player activity is high, so is rampant account theft (the goal, for the unfamiliar, is to wipe the account clean and sell items for cash before the player can recover it). If Bioware wants to be known as the company that entered the MMO market swinging, they need to get serious about account security, as in starting yesterday. Otherwise they’ll be spending a lot of resources beefing up customer service to deal with all the incoming requests.

I say the same for Square Enix with Final Fantasy XIV, although the price of the game has dropped so dramatically, picking up the collector’s edition is a $25 investment at my local stores, so obtaining the authenticator is hardly out of one’s grasp like the $150 TOR edition.

Bioware: No, TOR Is Not A Sandbox


Star Wars: The Old Republic is not a sandbox title. Let me say that again for emphasis: The Old Republic, developed by EA/Mythic/Bioware, is not. a. sandbox title. That is a very simple recipe of “this is not Star Wars Galaxies 2.” I don’t know why Bioware needs to reiterate this on a constant basis, but once again the usual troop of Galaxies vets have come in to make demands that the developers never promised and only they were expecting to begin with.

Although granted, we had this same conversation with Clone Wars Adventures, where I had to point out that the game is for children. Over on the Old Republic forums, Georg Zoeller posted in a thread asking for sandbox elements, to clarify once again that TOR is not a sandbox game.

There will certainly be out-of-combat player activities and activities that promote social interaction in the game, but you will not be able to take a job as a moisture farmer on Tatooine and simulate the life of such an individual in our game.

Zoeller states that concepts like player built housing are not completely off the table, just low priority. As far as MMO terms go, you can pick up your tickets at the booth, because TOR is about as theme-park as it gets.

In short: Uncle Owen and his life is not the kind of heroic journey we’re going for with this game. (The jawa’s with their rocket launchers wouldn’t make that a very fun activity anyway).

The amount of misinformation around The Old Republic is less surprising when you recognize that it’s looking to be one of 2011’s big players.

Bioware: Fansites? No Advertisements Anywhere!


Class 3 Bankruptcy

Back in the age of gaming magazines, getting an exclusive was really a privilege, as the other newspapers would have to wait until the next month’s (gaming magazines primarily printing monthly) print in order to keep up. In the age of the internet, however, exclusives simply mean an hour or two ahead of the competition. Developers have always had a pretty tight system of rules for offering information, and that system has (for the most part) been fair. Don’t unfairly trash the game, give ample screen time, and that is about it.

Operating a fan site (a decent fan site) is expensive work. Between managing databases and active users, the costs of bandwidth and storage space can get pretty high, and virtually any fan site not backed by some conglomerate (and many that are) offer some form of advertising to help pay down costs.

With regards to the upcoming The Old Republic, Bioware is having none of that. If you run a fan site and want any hope of Bioware talking to you, or promoting you through Twitter/Facebook, you may not accept any income whatsoever, either from advertising or from donations. None, nada, zilch. If your fan site pays its writers, you’re going to have to foot that bill yourself. If your fan site operates off of revenue from Google Ads or some other advertising, guess you’re not getting that promo or exclusive information.

Websites, especially the popular ones (which I would know nothing about), can reach bandwidth costs into the hundreds of dollars per month, and many go even higher. To demand that your fans not supplement their websites with some form of payment means that only a select few, those operated by wealthy groups of players, will have any hope at getting that sweet sweet Bioware nectar.

Of course, you could always list yourself as press and bypass that restriction. According to the website that broke the story, Toroz, Bioware is looking into the situation, and this policy may see some alterations in the coming months. That being said, when you’re about to launch your first MMO, you can’t do much worse than giving your potential customer base (given many of your fan sites wouldn’t have the funds to stay afloat without advertising revenue and donations) the middle finger and chastising them for being poor.

I’ll be following this story in case Bioware comments, and given MMO Fallout doesn’t offer advertising, perhaps I’ll have better odds at getting a statement.