KOTOR
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More evidence that BioWare's MMO isn't KotOR [Updated]
Joystiq reported today that an EA investor report listed a new Knights of the Old Republic title and the "New MMO" separately. This is not a logical certainty, of course, but it seems unlikely that the Austin-developed MMO is KotOR if there's already another KotOR title in development, given that the LucasArts/BioWare collaboration announcement implied only one title.This comes after an industry insider specifically named BioWare as a company that's not developing a Star Wars MMO. So our hopes have become a mere whimper by now. Tragic.Well, BioWare's Ray Muzyka will be talking about the future of MMOs at the Game Developers Conference this month. Maybe he'll mention what it is now that we're fairly confident it's not KotOR. Probably not, but we can hope.[EDIT: BioWare has contacted us and informed us that the EA investor report is referring only in a general fashion to the KotOR IP; EA did not intend to imply that any specific new title is in development. The listing of "KotOR" does not speak to the existence or nonexistence of a new KotOR title. We apologize for the error.]
BioWare working on proper KOTOR sequel?
A new KOTOR game was seemingly announced at an EA Analyst Meeting this morning. At the meeting a list of what were previously BioWare/Pandemic-owned studios was presented, along with the games in production at each. While there are a myriad of games on the list, the BioWare-developed list is the most interesting by far, as the contents address a host of rumors and speculation. It seems that BioWare is developing not only an MMO but a real sequel in the KOTOR series. As KOTOR fans We can't think of anyone we'd rather have develop the third (and one might think last; trilogies and all) game in the KOTOR series than BioWare. Great news, but what does this mean about the "New MMO"? Is it Star Wars based? Is it something totally new? BioWare has had success with new IP lately ... dare we say Mass Effect MMO? [Via Joystiq]
Knights of the Old Republic (not necessarily) back in BioWare's hands
Update: EA has responded to this post, saying their report does not actually confirm the existence of a Bioware KOTOR MMO. Original post below: After a brief stint with Obsidian Entertainment in 2004, the Star Wars: Kuhniggets of the Old Republic franchise is set to return to the folks at BioWare. So says an EA investor report (yes, that one) which listed the game amongst BioWare's multiple ongoing projects. Mind you, it's listed simply as "KOTOR," so there's a small chance that the studio is actually working on Kleptomaniac on the Origami Recliner. That doesn't sound like something you'd collaborate with LucasArts on, though ...While it doesn't preclude the possibility of the company working on more than one online game (or more than one KOTOR title), the separate listing of "new MMO" in the same report does cast some doubt on earlier KOTOR rumors. We'd prefer a single-player adventure over online organic meatbaggery, but perhaps you feel otherwise.
Top 10 MIA MMOs of 2007 - part 2
The MMO landscape for next year is already looking extremely promising for all parties involved. Even in their unfinished state, games like Age of Conan, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and Warhammer Online already appear like industry trend-setters, and its only a matter of months before we're finally able to sink our collective teeth into fresh, new, massively multiplayer meat. But as we all well know, the excitement doesn't stop with those familiar names.We return once more to deliver the part two of our list of the Top 10 MIA MMOs of 2007 -- those games which we know exist somewhere out there in the ether, but which we know ... well, basically nothing about. If you missed part 1 of the list which was posted last week, make sure to go back and read over it before proceeding any further. That way, you can know for sure whether or not we skipped that big game that you're looking forward to -- and the ensuing hate mail can, at the very least, be properly informed.
Massively's gift guide for the Star Wars Galaxies player
They say pet owners look like their pets. There are enough people who put stock in their horoscope to see it put in the daily newspaper. Heck, even which Hogwarts House you identify with probably says something about you. So why not your Massively Multiplayer game of choice? Over the next few weeks we at Massively are going to do our level best to help you make holiday gift giving easy. We'll run down some of the player archetypes you might have among your friends, based on the games they play. We'll give you gift ideas perfect for that type of player and (if it seems right) even some in-game presents that might fit well with their play style.Today I've got a pile of gift ideas for that rare breed: the Star Wars Galaxies player. Playing a much-maligned game can be hard, but the folks still participating in the story of the galaxy far, far away have their reasons. Maybe it's the crafting, maybe it's the twitch combat ... maybe it's the awesome player housing. For that player - be they Jedi or Bounty Hunter, Sith or Savior - we have an idea that'll keep them happily humming John Williams music on December 25th.Read on for our gift ideas, and (please) toss out your own in the comments!
The Digital Continuum: Five potential Star Wars settings
This isn't a "Top Five" list, but rather a list of five possible settings for a Star Wars MMO that I've complied for your reading pleasure. With the rumors flying around about a Bioware Star Wars MMO, the topic of just where in the Star Wars timeline the game would even be set appears to be absent from discussion. Everyone is assuming that Bioware would just sit back and do another Knights of the Old Republic game because they've had previous success with that property. However, it is possible that if Bioware is indeed developing a Star Wars MMO they're placing it in an entirely different era altogether. I know that if I'd already made a fabulous game set in KOTOR I would probably want to explore other avenues of interest that have yet to truly be touched on.Follow the jump for an overview on five of those places.
BioWare likes WoW but thinks it can do better
GameInformer published an interview with BioWare President Greg Zeschuk and CEO Ray Muzyka in its December 2007 issue. Most of the questions in the interview focused on the EA acquisition, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, but one did probe for information on the (KotOR?) MMO in development at BioWare's Austin studio.Both Zeschuk and Muzyka admitted to being players and fans of World of Warcraft, but expressed dissatisfaction with the way that making progress in the game is so time-consuming that "it's almost like having another job." They said they are thinking about ways to make the genre more accessible and easier to "pick up and play and have fun.""We certainly like the games," said Muzyka, "but the staying power hasn't been as strong. They totally enthrall a certain set of people, but we thought about how to make it an experience where you don't have to have a massive investment of itme."Blizzard had similar aspirations with World of Warcraft, and it succeeded in its goal; WoW is far more accessible than previous entries in the genre. Can BioWare expand the appeal of MMOs even further?
Bioware seeking you to write their MMO
The latest Penny Arcade comic (which, for the record, also features a little hiring humor) has a news update that will probably be super interesting to those of you thinking about a career writing videogames, specifically MMOs. Daniel Erickson, the lead writer over at Bioware Austin, is looking for people from all walks of life to come help him write the new Bioware MMO.Erickson says that it's the biggest project Bioware has ever done (ever), and that he expects the story to take the efforts of "a double digit writing staff working for years" to get done right. Additionally, he says that many of their greatest writers have come from weird career places, and so whether you're working the fry line at Dairy Queen or finishing up your own indie RPG, Bioware is willing to check out your work and see if you'd join them. There's more deets on their website-- basically, besides the normal job application stuff, they want you to create dialogue inside a Neverwinter Nights scenario, and make it good. There is one drawback, however-- if you do get the job, don't forget that you'd be working for EA.Even if you're not applying, this little letter (reprinted after the break) is interesting-- they ask specifically for "Baldur's Gate 2, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights" style game dialogue. Does that mean that this isn't the KotOR MMO we've all been expecting? Is Bioware putting together a Forgotten Realms MMO? If so, I call Entreri!
MMOGology: The next big thing
I remember the excitement I felt back in 2001 when World of Warcraft (WoW) was announced. I greedily read early previews as new details were released in magazines like PC Gamer and Computer Gaming World (now Games for Windows). I savored each scrap of gameplay information and every gorgeous screenshot. It seemed so different, visually and conceptually, than all the other MMOGs I had played to that point. Yes, Blizzard was taking tried and true gameplay techniques from Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, and other popular MMOGs at the time, but it was keeping the fun concepts and removing the painful ones. It was a somewhat foreign concept at the time to focus on making the fun factor the focus of the game. Some people will undoubtedly argue with me, but running naked while avoiding agro on a twenty minute corpse run in Everquest was not my idea of fun. Blizzard's game was also the only MMOG I knew of that promised it wouldn't discourage casual and solo play. Apparently I wasn't the only one excited about World of Warcraft. Six years after WoW was initially announced, and on the eve of its three year launch anniversary, WoW has somewhere between eight and nine million subscribers. WoW is clearly the current king of the massively multiplayer mountain; at least in terms of populatiry. With one expansion under its belt, another set for release in 2008, and constant upgrades along the way, it's clear that WoW has a lot left to give. But there's always one thing you can count on when you're the king of the mountain; you'll always have a challenger aiming to steal your crown. Inevitably it will happen. Something will replace the WoW so many of us MMOG players know and love. It might be another Blizzard creation, a WoW 2.0 or a World of StarCraft. Or it might be something entirely different by another developer. It's a question that will continue to be asked until WoW is finally replaced. What will be the Next Big MMOG?
Tobold looks back at WoW, wonders what's next
Tobold's MMORPG Blog is one of the most popular online gaming blogs in the series of tubes, but Tobold suggesting that he and a lot of other online gamers are in a "gaming slump." World of Warcraft transformed the industry and expanded the market by leaps and bounds, but its appeal might be winding down, Tobold said. He could be right. Blizzard has been reporting active player numbers as high as ever, but a big chunk of the numbers comes from the enormous Asian player base. North American and European players might be ready to move on.But what's next? Most games these days are WoW clones, and many of them haven't done as well as expected. Does the genre need a Battlestar Galactica-esque total reboot? If so, what will do it? The new Blizzard MMO, as Tobold suggests? The fabled KotoR MMO? The Elder Scrolls Online? What are your thoughts, dear readers?
1UP weighs evidence for and against the KotOR MMO
The gaming community has been a-buzz with all sorts of speculation since LucasArts and BioWare announced that they'd be partnering up for a new project. The most popular theory: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is going massively multi-player. This theory isn't a total shot in the dark, but it's not without its flaws either, and if you're looking for conclusive answers, you won't yet find any. But maybe you just can't let it go. Maybe you can't wait until LucasArts and BioWare officially say something one way or the other; the possibility of a KotOR MMO is so cool, it nags at you, even if you won't get to play it for two long years. 1UP feels you. That's why they've written up a succinct overview of everything we know (and don't know) so far.You'll still be left wondering, but hey, at least it will be a sort of informed wondering, if that makes any sense at all.[Via TenTonHammer]
LucasArts, BioWare announce the KotOR MMO ... maybe
So far rumors that BioWare's super-secretive MMO project is a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO have been subtle but nevertheless hard to ignore; it's almost as if we've felt a disturbance in the Force. There's been an anonymous leak here, a clue there, but we've not yet heard anything in official channels about BioWare's Star Wars plans ... until now (maybe). LucasArts and BioWare jointly posted a press release that says the two companies are sharing both development and publishing duties on a new project, with details to be unveiled "at a later date." The spin is that the game "will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment." Whatever that means. There's no way to be certain, but this might be the KotOR MMO. We're not the only ones who are suspicious about it.If it is, then we may have learned something exciting about the project. Each company's president provided a blurb quote emphasizing storytelling in games. If this mystery title is the KotOR MMO and not KotOR 3 , then it's clear that both companies want to adapt BioWare's proven expertise in character-driven storytelling to massively multiplayer gaming. That would be notable change of pace compared to most recent MMO titles. Of course we wouldn't expect anything less from BioWare, but it's an exciting clue nonetheless.[Via Joystiq]
LucasArts, BioWare collaborating on...something
With the dust only just now beginning to settle from Mass Effect developer BioWare's acquisition by industry powerhouse Electronic Arts, many of us believed that it would be some time before we got wind of the company's next project. It would seem, however, that we were wrong, as both BioWare and LucasArts issued a joint statement today announcing that the studios are working together on "an interactive entertainment product," stopping just shy of cluing us in on just what it is exactly that they are building behind the curtain.The two bedfellows, which have previously worked together on KOTOR, revealed next to nothing about the new project, stating only that it will "deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment." So, is this project the oft-rumored Knights of the Old Republic MMO, or something else entirely? The wheels of speculation are turning.
Rumor: BioWare's mystery MMO based on KOTOR
That's the 2003 role-playing game and not the town in Montenegro, mind you. While an MMO based on the beautiful coastal establishment of Kotor would indeed be a unique and thoroughly refreshing prospect, we don't fancy its chances against World of Warcraft. The Star Wars brand and universe, however, might fare better -- as long as it's not Galaxies. Instead, it'll be Knights of the Old Republic, according to Primotech.Citing a "source close to BioWare," Alex Petraglia reports that BioWare's mystery MMO -- due in 2009 and reliant on Streambase technology -- will be set in the universe established by the critically acclaimed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series of role-playing games. The first was developed by BioWare, while the second arrived courtesy of Obsidian Entertainment. The first title especially was hailed for its engaging plot, substantial characterization and general hostility towards organic meatbags. In other words, an exemplary single-player experience.An important question then (besides "Is this for real?"), is "How do you translate that to an MMO?" The cynical answer, of course, is "You don't. You make World of Warcraft with lightsabers." More questions are raised when considering EA's recent acquisition of BioWare -- would that not create some publishing intricacies for a game only expected in 2009? The central group in such a deal would be LucasArts, but alas, "LucasArts doesn't comment on rumors or speculation." Oh, but you can, dear reader.
Bioware and the KotOR MMO
Primo has just confirmed some juicy news about the Bioware Star Wars MMO project we have been hearing rumors about. Well, if you've perhaps been living under a rock, let me summarize: people have been talking about the possibility of Bioware working in conjunction with Lucas Arts to build an MMO set in the Star Wars universe that isn't, you know Star Wars Galaxies. I'm here to tell you that we now know this game will be based on the incredibly popular Knights of the Old Republic.Now, despite my firm belief that George Lucas is a hack of a writer, he has some brilliance when it comes to world building and the marketing of those created worlds. To that end, I admit that this non-Star Wars fan is kinda excited about this news. It remains to be seen if the new Star Wars MMO will suck less than the current iteration of SWG. But then again, it is Bioware we are talking about, and that bodes all kind of well for this project.
Mass Murder 101: How to be a hero
It's a fact that the majority of what we do in World of Warcraft is kill things. Nearly all the supplementary activities we engage in, from shopping to crafting, are all basically to help us improve the effectiveness of our violent capabilities. Many players have noted that if WoW were at all real, then nearly every one of our characters would be considered a genocidal maniac for all the people and creatures we have killed, and yet we view ourselves as heroes.The idea is, of course, that most of the lives we take are really evil anyway, so we're actually doing the real good guys a favor. We kill tons of demons, ghosts, zombies, dragonkin, giants, and rabid beasts -- even most of the humanoids we kill are bandits or wicked cultists of one sort or another. This way we do lots of killing, but still feel as though we are heroes.There are some situations in the game, however, that turn things around for us, in which our character is not the hero. While there are some higher-level instances such as the Black Morass, or the new Caverns of Time: Stratholme, in which one could argue either way whether what we're doing is good or evil, most of situations in which you are clearly the bad guy, as far as I am aware, have to do with the undead, and to a lesser extent the blood elves as well. Of course, you can argue that in general, undead are just misunderstood, and the blood elves are just tragically misled, but as in the case of quests in Hillsbrad that ask you to go slaughter human farmers, or help develop a new plague, there's really no denying that your character is doing something "morally wrong."
Pre-Order Pushers explores retailer fibs
You're reading Joystiq, so you're probably used to knowing more than the guy on the other side of the counter at your local game store. You may have noticed a few times when they haven't been strictly honest with their spiel ... or strictly intelligent. Now instead of cursing the darkness you can allow yourself to vent at Pre-Order Pushers, created by Nathan Smart of The Game Rag fame with help from our own Kyle Orland (or Ky-Ky Baby as he's known in the office.)There are already some real gems here. We're particularly smitten with the manager who, in the quest to get a Spider-Man 2 pre-order, told customers that the game was like a hybrid of GTA and KOTOR that allows you to punch pedestrians, fill up your evil meter, transform into Venom and infect people with your symbiote to have them fight for you. Yeah, Spider-Man 2. If you're a game store clerk you may be tempted to get your dander up -- don't. They're not talking about you, they're talking about the bad ones. Just think of this as the spiritual counterbalance to Acts of Gord.
Jade Empire: Special Edition goes gold
The "Special Edition" part referring to the PC (and potentially politically correct) version of BioWare's KOTOR-but-with-Kung-Fu epic, Jade Empire. The 2K-published RPG, which now boasts higher resolutions, improved AI, an extra difficulty level, an art book and a poster, has officially gone gold and should be in North American stores by February 27th. Europe will receive the game a few days later on March 2nd. Of course, no Jade Empire press release is complete without referencing IGN's frothing demand for the 2005 Xbox release. It scored a 9.9, you know.
Mass Effect release date spotted on official Xbox site [update 2]
Update: Microsoft sent us another statement, this time ruling out the date entirely. "An incorrect release date for Mass Effect was inadvertently posted on Xbox.com Australia and has since been removed. We will keep you posted on the ongoing development of Mass Effect, however, we have no announcements regarding the game's release date at this time." According to the Australian section of the official Xbox website, we may be finding ourselves incinerating aliens and threatening suspicious bartenders before the year reaches its midpoint. A product blurb dedicated to BioWare's galaxy-spanning sci-fi RPG, Mass Effect, currently lists a release date of 18 May 2007, a bit more specific than the "2007" placeholder appended to the likes of Forza Motorsport 2 (which is set to arrive sometime in May). It's worth noting that Microsoft has yet to announce an official release date. At the time of writing, they had not yet responded to our request for comment.[Thanks, Thomas]
KotOR franchise to continue, says LucasArts
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/KoTOR_franchise_to_continue_says_LucasArts'; Not sure how I missed this one last week. All that turkey and football must have conspired with the dark side to cloud my awareness of all things Star Wars. In an interview with Next Generation's Colin Campbell, LucasArts VP Nancy MacIntyre mapped out her company's plans to continue delivering Star Wars goodness to Force-sensitive geeks like me over the next few years. "Our fans want a logical progression of the Star Wars story line, so we are committed to only two Star Wars experiences a year," says MacIntyre. This must be a new policy moving forward because there have been no fewer than 25 Star Wars titles released in the past seven years (not counting handhelds), and at least one of those games had some serious continuity problems. Still, the best news is the continuation of an old favorite, as MacIntyre confirms: "We've also got Star Wars franchises like Knights of the Old Republic ... that we will not leave behind. It's very important to us that we grow those franchises." It's important to us too, Nancy! The big question now is, will Obsidian return to helm the Ebon Hawk? Feargus Urquhart indicated earlier this year they would be happy to work on KotOR 3, but whomever LucasArts selects, let's hope enough time is allocated to finish the next installment properly. See also: Mod community strikes back, restoring KotOR2
