EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

[Mar 15, 2011, 8:14 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

IndustryGamers hears from EA Games Label President Frank Gibeau on the topic of competing with the World of Warcraft juggernaut in the MMORPG market, and he explains why he thinks Star Wars: The Old Republic has a chance of doing just that. "It operates across multiple classes from Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitors, bounty hunters, spies, troopers, to Jedis… it’s a really fantastic world," he tells them. "On multiple levels we’re highly differentiated and different from World of Warcraft. We’re not being slavish or imitating them at all. We’re doing our own thing. We’re doing our own unique way. BioWare and Blizzard have been around for almost the same period of time. They’ve built incredible audiences. They have their own unique cultures, and they do things very differently. They’re both very successful RPG developers."

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18.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 21:51

Yifes

Elessar wrote on Mar 16, 2011, 11:24: These comments are so generic and single-minded it's not even funny. It's like saying: Battlefield is CoD with vehicles, cause they both have guns. Most games are derivatives of others. Simply because they have similar MMORPG elements like classes, talents, abilities (core RPG elements, mind you) doesn't mean they can't be entirely different from another game. Not to mention the stories, lore, settings will all be completely different. I could go on, but I shouldn't have to. You are right that most games are derivatives of others, and certainly TOR distinguishes itself with its setting, player choices, and storytelling. The problem I have with TOR, is that it still copies the MMO 1.0 gameplay model popularized by WOW. Just look at the gameplay innovations in FPS games. Sure we still shoot thing like in DOOM, but now we have games like Portal, Battlefield, and TF2. Meanwhile in TOR, you will still be killing 20 of X, standing there running through spell rotations as a DPS, managing aggro as a tank, watching health bars go up and down as a healer. It's old, it's boring, and frankly, I'm sick of that shit. And the other thing TOR copies from WOW, is the end game grind. The end game is the most important and time consuming part of a MMO, and in TOR it's still about the gear treadmill. It doesn't matter if there's a great story when you play the same shit over and over again. TOR's innovations do not make the end game better, and it will undoubtedly have significantly less content than WOW. TOR has not changed the style of gameplay or the mentality of the endgame. For the vast majority of gametime, it will play just like WOW, which is why I say fuck that. This comment was edited on Mar 16, 2011, 22:12.

17.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 11:24

Elessar

Creston wrote on Mar 16, 2011, 00:06:
Ehm. Even as someone who's never played WoW, I can see that KoR is just WoW in (Star Wars) space. How exactly are you different?

Creston

Cutter wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 20:37:
Obviously it's very different! It's WoW in Space!

These comments are so generic and single-minded it's not even funny. It's like saying: Battlefield is CoD with vehicles, cause they both have guns.

Most games are derivatives of others. Simply because they have similar MMORPG elements like classes, talents, abilities (core RPG elements, mind you) doesn't mean they can't be entirely different from another game. Not to mention the stories, lore, settings will all be completely different. I could go on, but I shouldn't have to.

This comment was edited on Mar 16, 2011, 11:43.




"You don't get what you deserve, you get what you get."

16.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 09:43

Yakubs

I'll never buy another MMO until someone ditches the absolutely ridiculous aggro mechanic (and its cause: the lack of collision detection or at least the ability to control space tactically). Aggro started as a band-aid fix and is now a staple mechanic which single-handedly annihilates any hope of thoughtful combat in an MMO. You can see the symptoms when the best minds at Blizzard come together to think of a way to actually _challenge_ a raid group and their best effort is "dont stand on the lava." You can see SWTOR falling into the same trap when they do the boss fight and the ultra-innovate mechanic is that you need to kill both bosses at the same time cuz otherwise they buff each other. Gee, I wonder where I've seen that before.

15.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 09:29

eunichron

Darks wrote on Mar 16, 2011, 01:57: The difference is, you need to go and watch the complete walk through at lv 32 for four players. This is a perfect example of how the game is different. Yes there are going to be similarities, but I play wow with a very good guild. From watching that video I can see all the differences. There is a lot more story driven quest with full on dialog. go to Fileplanet and download this video and watch it. I think you might be surprised. Search for this text, I would post the link ,but its telling me its too long. Star Wars: The Old Republic 'Taral V Walkthrough' Trailer As a long time WoW/MMO player, I was not impressed by that video at all. While the story driven questline looked neat, it also looked invasive and obnoxious, in that it took control away from the player for too long. The combat itself looked bland and uninteresting, just blasters and saber swings. Despite the commentators insistence that "this is a very tough boss! these guys probably wiped several times!" it didn't ever look like the group, and individual players, were ever in any real trouble of wiping or suffering any consequence. How many times did a mob just get stuck on the healer, and the healer never dropped below 50% hp? I realize that was probably a highly scrutinized and staged dungeon run... but don't make claims to the opposite when it's not what is being shown. Overall it did just look like WoW 3.0 with blasters and sabers. Another minimal effort MMO with no risk vs. reward component, just all reward.

14.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 05:24

Asmo

The kiss of death for a MMO is when someone starts going on about beating WoW... Seriously, WTF does it matter if you beat WoW or not if your game is enjoyable to your userbase and you make money? Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Star Trek Online have all, due to their use of quite popular settings and marketing hype, been tipped to be wow killers. And every one of them became an 'also ran'. Keep your eye on your own game and dev it to the best of your abilities and mebbe you'll slay the titan incidentally...

13.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 05:09

Tehol

i am planing to sacrifice a goat; hoping this republic mmo tanks. take that bioware/EA.then maybe we can get kotor 3. man can dream.

12.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 01:57

Darks

The difference is, you need to go and watch the complete walk through at lv 32 for four players. This is a perfect example of how the game is different. Yes there are going to be similarities, but I play wow with a very good guild. From watching that video I can see all the differences. There is a lot more story driven quest with full on dialog. go to Fileplanet and download this video and watch it. I think you might be surprised. Search for this text, I would post the link ,but its telling me its too long. Star Wars: The Old Republic 'Taral V Walkthrough' Trailer

11.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 01:55

Xoxotl

Frankly, at this point I want less talk, more game.

I'm getting tired of hearing about how Old Republic is going to pwn. I want to actually get a chance to try it out. C'mon guys, start the open beta.




Don't start anything you can't finish. Preferably to component atoms.

10.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 16, 2011, 00:06

Creston

Ehm. Even as someone who's never played WoW, I can see that KoR is just WoW in (Star Wars) space. How exactly are you different? Creston

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 23:26

D4rkKnight

pythian wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 22:38: Wait, which RPGs are Blizzard known for? EA thinks Dragon Age 2 is an RPG, therein lies the problem. By their standards, Call of Duty is one of the deepest most complex RPG's ever released.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 22:38

pythian

Wait, which RPGs are Blizzard known for?

No subject

Mar 15, 2011, 22:24

AnointedSword

Did someone say Titan? Oo




If you were right, I would be agreeing with you.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 22:16

Sepharo

Yifes wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 22:12:
space captain wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 22:07:
Riker wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 22:00:
A very ugly, overly-cartoony, un-Star-Wars-y suit.

yeh star wars is so gritty and dark, and super realistic

When Luke lost his hand, I was liek, OMG!

Having just watched nearly all of IV today (wanted to see a specific scene and ended up watching much more) I was surprised with how meaty Beru/Owen's skeleton was during that scene. Didn't remember it being like that but this was 1080 copy.




[I'm not trolling I'm just] tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. -TrollinThundr

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 22:12

Yifes

space captain wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 22:07: Riker wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 22:00: A very ugly, overly-cartoony, un-Star-Wars-y suit. yeh star wars is so gritty and dark, and super realistic When Luke lost his hand, I was liek, OMG!

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 22:11

Yifes

"[Our game] is more about talking to characters, learning what’s going on, investing in it, getting emotionally attached to it. You can still go in accessible ways and grind out quests if you want, but at the same time there’s a higher-level story that’s carrying you through The Old Republic" WOW also has a higher-level story. The problem is that when your player retention depends on the end game gear grind, nobody gives a fuck about your story. Who gives a shit when your jedi master tells you an emotional, fully voice acted story on why you should go out and collect 20 bantha pelts for your daily quest. It might be fun to play the game once, but bioware's story innovations does nothing for lasting end game appeal.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 22:07

space captain

Riker wrote on Mar 15, 2011, 22:00:
A very ugly, overly-cartoony, un-Star-Wars-y suit.

yeh star wars is so gritty and dark, and super realistic




Go forth, and kill!

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 22:00

Riker

I see far less of a difference than I expected and hoped for, especially from BioWare. I loved WoW and KOTOR, but this game just looks like WoW in a KOTOR suit. A very ugly, overly-cartoony, un-Star-Wars-y suit.

Re: EA on The Old Republic vs WoW

Mar 15, 2011, 20:37

Cutter

Obviously it's very different! It's WoW in Space!




"Peter, breakfast for dinner is anarchy!" - Lois

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