Ask Massively: Let's just look at more cats edition
If I haven't mentioned it before, looking up cats on Wikipedia is dangerous for me because I love cats. I know that the above is a small group of feral cats, but my first instinct is to try to individually cuddle each and every one of those cats. Really, if I could afford more cat food, I'd basically have a home stuffed to the brim with rescued cats. So let's just all look at cat pictures and possibly get up from the computer to say nice things to your own cat.
Or dog, if you just have a dog. I don't have the same degree of affection toward dogs.
But you're not just here for cute animals, are you? You're here for this week's installment of Ask Massively. This week, we're answering yet another question about Star Wars: The Old Republic and the terminology of expansions. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future column, leave it in the comments below or send it to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for brevity and/or clarity.
Jejeune asked: What's the difference between a patch for a free-to-play game and an expansion?
Marketing, really.
From a technical standpoint, there's no real difference to the two; games like EVE Online and Lineage II have released several large content drops called expansions without charging subscribers. The difference is that "expansion" conjures a certain image in the mind of the listener, one taught by years of playing video games. Expansions are big, they are good, and if they're technically just large patches, who's the wiser?
Free-to-play games, of course, take everything a step further when it's clear that they will never have an expansion for you to purchase. But it's a lot more exciting to talk about the game's new expansion rather than the game's new major patch, and it tends to engender a bit more goodwill if your game releases only "expansion" patches with content and minor bugfix patches along the way. So they're functionally identical but named differently. The more you know!
J45neoboy asked: Will Star Wars: The Old Republic continue to rise in subscription numbers throughout the year?
Answer hazy, try again later. Say around March 20th, actually. Most games experience a surge, followed by a drop after around three months, followed by a plateau. We're still in the "surge" phase for SWTOR, meaning it's too early to do anything but guess about future performance.
And no, whether or not you canceled your account is not prognostication.
drginger asked: Is the felis catus depicted in the photography owned by Mr. Lefebvre?
No, my cat is a nebelung, as previously explained. But as also explained, I like cats.
Looking for some advice on which class is best for soloing in Aion? Not sure who this Raph Koster fellow is? Curious about the release date of NCsoft's newest MMO? You've come to the right place! No one knows MMOs like we do. If there's anything you'd like to know about the MMO genre or the site itself, Ask Massively is here to help every Thursday afternoon. Just ask!
