Star Wars: The Old Republic Pre-Orders are OpenFollow

Dunno when the actual release date is, but I've heard It's Q4 2011.

Anyway, there are 3 pre-order options.

Option one is just pre-ordering the game from any retailer. For doing so, you'll get early game access (which is always kinda neat) and a Color Stone that lets you change the color of your blaster lasers and lightsaber.

By pre-ordering on Origin (EA's new-ish online Steam-equivalent, which you can download for free) will get you both those bonuses as well as a few others:
-A flare gun, which will let you shoot flares into the sky. Dunno if it has any deeper purpose.
-A training droid, which says in the description it will hover at your side for combat assistance. But no info on what that means, or if it is actually just a non-combat pet.
-A holo-dancer, which is exactly what it sounds like.
-A Space-Cam, which will let you record your journeys as videos (so no need for fraps?)
-A STAP (Single Trooper Aerial Platform), which is a personal vehicle.

By pre-ordering the Collector's Edition, you'll get all of these bonuses plus:
"-The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural: 111 pages of notes and sketches by the revered Jedi Master from the early years of the Great Hyperspace War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Features never-before-seen artwork and all-new information.
-Darth Malgus statue: The villainous Darth Malgus comes to life with this exclusive 9 in. collectible statue from Gentle Giant studios.
-The Old Republic Galaxy Map: 14 x 20 inch at-a-glance look at the known galaxy.
-Security Authentication Key Fob: Keep your Lightsaber and credits safe with this custom Security Authentication Key Fob for your game account.
-Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD: Seventeen orchestral music tracks from Star Wars: The Old Republic.
-Star Wars: The Old Republic Game: The Star Wars: The Old Republic game on DVD-ROM in a collectible metal case."
-A Mouse Droid (which is in all likelihood a non-combat pet).
-Access to the in-game Collector's Edition store. "Unique in-game vendor with a dynamic assortment of items available only to purchasers of the Collector's Edition."

As is normal, pre-order is at least $5 down. Not gonna lie, I may go for the CE...

Without knowing anything more about this game than what I've read in a handful of online articles, I think it's hilarious that people are so excited about the possibility of a Star Wars MMORPG. It's almost as if they've collectively ret-con'd the last Star Wars MMORPG -- which was horrendously awful -- out of their memory.

Still, if it's anything at all even close to KOTOR, it'll be immediately better than 95% of the MMOs out there today.

Meh, there's a lack of quality MMOs on the market right now. WoW's getting old. Rift is decent, but if you are bored of the fantasy setting it's not gonna do much for you.

And the last Star Wars MMO wasn't awful until they destroyed it with their New Game Experience update.

Plus, it's being made by BioWare. I've yet to play a game by them I didn't at least enjoy. And they've clearly spent a lot of time and money on this game, so I hope it's going to be good.

And from what I'm hearing, they have no intention of releasing it early. And thank god for that, because it's one of the worst mistakes a MMO developer can make.

And, like, it's star wars...

Yeah, realistically, I'm not going to get the CE. There is some stuff in it I really want, yeah, but not badly enough.

The only thing that really sucks is that the Signature edition has some nice goodies too. But I have no interest in getting it through Origin... I'm just gonna have to go without my vehicle and training droid, it seems. At the end of the day, the thing I want most is the color stone, anyway.

I was going to pre-order and try it out but after hearing about how the game is going to be priced I will pass on this one until people can report on the quality of game play. Honestly it is pathetic they are charging what they are.

How is there no Mac version? Are we still living in the 1990s?

Don't make me get my ********* than my new iMac) PC out of storage just to try a game, please.

Well, Rift launched at $50. And $60 is the going rate for new games.

And considering what their costs of development must have been, I'm not surprised they are charging more. Like every other MMO, you'll probably see a price drop 3-6 months after launch, if you are adverse. Many have been offering superior subscription plans to the early birds though, so you might actually end up saving overall if you buy early in that case.



MMOs definitely have some very different dynamics, but have you been keeping up to date on this game? From the start, BioWare's goal has been to provide a great single-player experience even in the context of an MMO. That's not like in the WoW sense, where there's little reason to group.

But, for example, there are fully voiced scenes where you interact with a character before an instance (possibly elsewhere, too, I've only seen a video of it in this context*). It uses a conversation system very much like other BioWare games, where you can choose aggressive or peaceful options, etc. Your whole group takes part in that one conversation. The game automatically rolls to see who actually speaks--so you'll be one of a group taking part in each mission, and what info you get will depend on what answers people choose and which the game chooses to use.

*Note* I know you have these same options when talking to NPCs, I just don't know if it will use the same group system if you aren't solo.

Which really brings me back to my previous point about pricing. Don't go into this expecting a game identical to every other MMO except that it's Star Wars. I really doubt it will be in this context. They've clearly invested a ton of money in this game, essentially offering the same amount of content (or more) you would expect from a single-player game, without using the MMO genre as an excuse not to.

And that means not slacking on the story either. The entire context of the game, from the start, is Sith Empire vs. Galactic Republic. You get to pick your side but, on top of that, you get to choose (and operate on) your own sense of morality. Hopefully that give them the avenue to create a really dynamic story experience that they can keep momentum with for many years.

Instead of, y'know, tossing big dragons at you over and over while you spend the whole time wondering why the two groups aren't just f*cking working together, since the only reason they are surviving is by working through co-factional third parties to get sh*t done. (/wowrage)

Not gonna lie--I have really high hopes for the game. I'm trying to keep them stamped down, because I could definitely be disappointed (and I'll love it more with lower expectations). But it's hard, because it's Star Wars and BioWare and has clearly had actual effort put into it.

OK, but what black magic are they going to weave to have a lot of this content? It's going to run out so fast it'll give you the bends.



I said this last post and you didn't seem to get it, so I'll rephrase: a large single player game is a tiny MMO, in terms of play length. The same amount of play time as ME2 won't last long at all if you're playing and paying every month.

Edited, Jul 25th 2011 3:45am by Kavekk

Yeah bro, totally.