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BioWare's MMO due in 2010/11 News
MMO News by Oli Welsh
Another snippet here from John Riccitiello's very illuminating talk with the William Blair and Company investor conference earlier this week: the EA chief noted that BioWare's MMO is scheduled to be released in "fiscal 2010" - that is, between April 2010 and April 2011.
This news slipped through the net earlier in the week, but the eagle-eyed Total Video Games picked it up.
In fact, Riccitiello did not mention BioWare, noting only that EA was "funding the MMO in Austin", but given that EA owns BioWare, and BioWare is known to be developing an MMO in its Austin studio, it's quite clear what he was talking about.
The project - which BioWare head Ray Muzyka promises will innovate - has been subjected to repeated on-and-off rumours that it is a Star Wars MMO, possibly based on BioWare's own classic RPG, Knights of the Old Republic. The story was leant credence by recent leaks from LucasArts staff who'd been let go.
However, Riccitiello mentioned the BioWare MMO in the context of "new intellectual property", which clears things up not one bit. Star Wars and KOTOR are hardly new - but then again, they would be new to EA.
2010 may sound like the distant future, but it's actually not that far away. Someone please put us out of our misery on this one soon.
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Comments: 1-34 of 34 in total
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muscleblade
20/06/08 @ 10:32
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"Yes write it off before you even know what it is, or who is making it "
I think he knows whos making it. Its Bioware. A reason not to write it off though. |
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NewbieZilla
20/06/08 @ 10:36
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"Yes write it off before you even know what it is, or who is making it
tool " It'd be strange for him not to know what it is or who is making it. The title says BioWare's MMO. So, we know who is making it, and what it is. |
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ChthonicEcho
20/06/08 @ 10:44
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I bet it's the Mass Effect MMO. Fnar fnar.
I'm almost positive it won't be a Star Wars MMO. BioWare have been creating their own worlds as of late (Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dragon Age), so I doubt they'll return to Star Wars after so long. It's wishful thinking. |
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This is an MMO I would definatly buy and possibly one of a few that could realistically compete with WoW. Bioware just know how to make incredible RPG's with broad scope and its only the limit in technology and in the genre itself that has effected the quality of their games. I have high hopes for this. A KOTOR MMO would be epic.
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2010 not far away? it is 20th june 2008. i would say its a very long wait, for a game that should have been out ages ago. i still say bioware/EA/lucas have made massive mistakes this gen with the starwars games franchise. battlefront 3 and KOTOR 3 have been on gamers wishlists for years.
Put simply they are fucking idiots. |
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Judging by what Riccitiello said, I don't think this is going to be KOTOR MMO. I have no idea what he means by "new intellectual property" but for some reason it conjures up images of a Tetris MMO, or some other puzzle game, played by millions of people across the world.
Even if KOTOR is new to EA, I don't think he would have phrased it like that if it was KOTOR MMO. It's bound to happen, as is a single-player KOTOR 3, but this is not it, methinks. |
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Sure I read somewhere Riccitiello let slip at some corporate shindig that EA and LucasArse are supposed to be co-publishing something...
And I'm pretty sure Activision's European publishing deal with LA runs out around 2010 as well. /goes off to make a cuppa (Edited for schpelling mishtks.)
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 20/06/08 @ 14:27
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GamesConnoisseur
20/06/08 @ 14:28
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Agreed that it looks so unlikely will be Star Wars universe, we could only dream of KOTOR MMO as certainly could have a scope and still do not disrupt the storyline of Star Wars I -VI as set thousands of years before.
Mass Effect is a good new franchise but doesnt capture the popular imagination the way Star Wars do. Certain BioWare would do a good job as havent really produced any stinkers to date. Jade Empire and Mass Effect do have some issues in game mechanisms but both have a very well realised worlds to immerse in. As Farfarer said, Bioware can pull off new IP and that could be better be giving us another rich universe than just reinventing and recycling old stuff we like! |
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NewbieZilla
20/06/08 @ 15:12
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Name one bioware game that has been delayed.
(Don't say Mass Effect becauseit wasn't. They kept saying they didn't have one until it was officially announced.)
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most recently on 20/06/08 @ 16:13
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Agent_Orange
20/06/08 @ 15:12
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I doubt it will be star wars, as well if made by Bioware it would kill off the sony (i'm not capitalising sony on purpose :P) star wars mmo, and im sure there would be lots of lawsuits etc from sony.
But yeh maybe some sort of sci fi one, but will be interesting to see what they can bring to the table in an mmo. Would be nice to see real time stuff I guess, ie most users will have broadband by then and decent ping times! Ie fps reaction style gameplay or something :p
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most recently on 20/06/08 @ 16:13
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KOTOR should not be turned into an MMO. KOTOR's great strenghts were its storytelling and well crafted characters. There's no way you could transpose that level of involved storytelling into an MMO. Just give us a new single player KOTOR title with fantastic graphics, a more immediate combat system, and another fantastic plot, and we'll love you even more than we do if that is possible.
Do an MMO and we cry. |
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jimr9999us
20/06/08 @ 17:56
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Bioware has certainly produced some outstanding games; KotOR remains, after Planescape: Torment, the most enjoyable time I've had with a game...
But Bioware is a pretty conservative developer, choosing to remain well inside the lines of established genres. So, Dragon Age will debut as a single player game in 2009, and the Dragon Age mmorpg will be released to acclaim in 2011. The same year as Blizzard and THQ battle over the sci-fi market with World of Starcraft and Warhammer 40k. And well before Blizz returns to fantasy with it's tail between its legs with WoW2 in 2014. Go Bioware! |
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Jigglybean
20/06/08 @ 21:34
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Only EA can deliver a MMO to challenge Warcraft. LucasArts need to bring Star Wars to that kind of level, considering the failure that has been Galaxies. Despite efforts to keep the game alive, the low numbers playing now compared to launch are very small (thanks to the NGE back in 2005).
One of the biggest licences around needs to have some of the biggest numbers - whether it will or not, remains to be seen. |
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I hope to God its not Star Wars. If ever there was a worse fictional universe, I've not seen it
I've never understood Star Wars' attraction as a universe myself. I guess it might be because it's painted in such broad accessible strokes... but I'm not expert on these things
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most recently on 21/06/08 @ 16:58
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A BioWare-made Star Wars MMO would be interesting, but unless they deal with the 'Jedi problem' (that is, Jedi running around everywhere - or Jedi being a completely inaccessible class - both of which were problems that plagued Star Wars Galaxies), it's a doomed venture, really. Nikalai88, although overly pessimistic, is also right. To make this work, they will need to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
...not to mention, to have Jedi running around going "LOLZ", randomly jumping and dancing and generally acting retarded - that won't help with the whole 'immersion' thing BioWare is so keen on establishing. Star Wars has many essential elements that can be blessings as well as curses, depending on the way they're handled. The Jedi are just the most obvious one. I honestly think that Star Wars is just about the most difficult universe for an MMO to pull off. I'll give credit to BioWare because they deserve it, and if anyone can make it work, they can - but I'm not optimistic.
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most recently on 22/06/08 @ 16:12
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That's the genius of setting a star wars mmorpg in the kotor timeline. There was an abundance of jedi etc. So, it fits the cannon and makes sense plus the cannon hasn't been fully developed back then. Unlike star wars galaxies which played extensively up until the nge. It was ridiculous watching tons of jedis wandering about mos eisley. I felt embarassed for the star wars brand.
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Comments: 1-34 of 34 in total
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