Post by Zeli on Apr 6, 2011 8:17:41 GMT -5
You’ve heard it before, and you’ve read it eloquently written across any number of gaming websites or magazines over the last few months. For better or worse, Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to change the MMORPG industry.
read it all: www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/feature/5116/For-Better-or-Worse.html/page/1
My thoughts:
I do agree that SWTOR isn't shaping up to be what I think of when I think of an MMO, but I do think it's going to be an incredible gaming experience.
I think there is a danger in overcopying the win-button and not branching out with unique developments in the genre. The been-there-done-that feeling is not conducive to holding long term subscriptions. The odd thing is that the majority of subscription funds are still supporting the old been-there-done-that model. There’s some comfort in this for gamers and there’s also a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” argument to be made. Don’t make crazy changes to something unless it’s an improvement. Changing to be innovative isn’t innovative if it doesn’t work better than what you started with originally.
I think there’s been very few well done sandbox model MMOs and the writer discounts the one that is successful only to pull it back in to make a point… okay… I have to agree on that point. But there have been very few well released MMOs at all and the argument usually is about the fan-base needing to be supportive while things develop. That’s hard to do on a subscription model. I think a free to play sandbox MMO has a better shot in the current MMO market to retain an audience that will allow time for this kind of development. Guild Wars isn’t sub based and yet they have no shortage of support and success. Why can’t a sandbox developer go that route?
SWTOR may be a “theme park monolith magically pooped out of some machine at the end of a development cycle complete and ready to be populated” of MMOs, but for a subscription based game, it’s what I expect at this point from the industry and I’m excited that Bioware is taking it on.