Fingers crossed we could be looking at the new KOTOR game. MMO or not? Something's happening in the board room. PLease God, let it be the next KOTOR game. Star Wars-related at least!
A release says that the product, details of which will be unveiled at a later date, will be developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, and "will push the boundaries of the gaming market by utilising the strengths of both companies to deliver an innovative, high-quality experience."
We're getting dizzy just thinking about it. A KOTOR MMO has been rumoured before, could this be it? Although quite how this fits in with the recent EA buyout of BioWare and Sega's Sonic RPG, we don't know...
"LucasArts has a deep commitment to developing compelling stories and characters for the unique medium of interactive entertainment, and we have been searching for a developer that shares this value. We found this in BioWare," said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. "Through our previous collaborations, we know that BioWare has an impressive ability to blend gripping stories with technological advancements, and we believe that our upcoming product will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment."
Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare, added, "BioWare's mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans. The collaboration with LucasArts allows us to combine our passion for creating high quality and innovative experiences with those of a company dedicated to bringing only the finest games to market."
I agree, please let this be KOTOR III, and on the Xbox 360 as BioWare know the architecture through Mass Effect...however, with EA as BioWare owner this could be whored to all formats hope not. Where this sits with LucasArts is interesting though, sure EA would love to get their hands on the Star Wars license
The first two were classic single player affairs and I see no reason to break the mold. Not all of us gamers want multi player, and certainly not on a series that's still got a lot of single player potential left in it.
KOTOR online? Like, a proper Star Wars online, like Galaxies could've been? For real?
Naaah, no chance.
There's a bit more to it though. Bioware's Austin, Texas office was set up to work on an MMO. They have announced no details at this point other than that it's an MMO and they're trying to come up with an innovative way to work story into the online space. The same week that they announced the formation of that team, a huge rumour was making the rounds over the tubes that Lucasarts were going to yank Sony's Star Wars license, since Galaxies blows hot chunks.
That didn't happen. Yet. However there has been constant rumbling that Bioware's MMO project is Star Wars. I can't personally think of any other developer who has as strong a chance to actually pull a Star Wars MMO off, either. I dearly hope that it's a where-there's-smoke-there's-fire situation. It would certainly justify EA's interest in Bioware too.
That said, I'd be happy with anything from them. While I'd personally prefer to see Obsidian do KotOR III, albeit with less bugs - I prefer Chris Avellone's writing - another single-player KotOR from Bioware would be quite acceptable. Especially one using the Mass Effect engine.
Also, just to throw the possibility out there: Indiana Jones RPG. Or a resurrection and reinvention of Monkey Island.
if it is kotor3 it better be single player. i think online play would just mess it up. and no straying from the turn based combat. keep the gameplay similar.
Sounds like this deal could be one of the reasons that EA decided to snap up Bioware/Pandemic. It makes sense. Lucasarts realises what a steaming turd their one and only MMO is due (I suspect) Sonys screw ups in development then subsequent mis-handling of the whole updating thang. Austin gets a new studio for MMO's, Lucasarts signs a new deal with Bioware.
All seems waaaay to convienent not to be a new Star Wars MMO.
Give it a month and we'l be proved spectaculary wrong! Probably be an Ewoks platform game for the DS!!!!!!!
A KOTOR mmo would be amazing if they gave it the 'Guild Wars' treatment of being mainly instanced and highly story-based, with a definite ending and a strong PvP element, and only the 'safe' city and space station areas being full of real people.
a 'current gen' KotOR in the mass effect engine is just scary. Do people even remember how good KotOR was back then? it was given game of the year awards left and right.
Star Wars fans might be dismissing mass effect a little as the universe and characters to them are a bit meh (well its not star wars is it), but I've read the 'prequel' book which does a nice job of fleshing things out and introducing you to the main characters, I think its going to be great. I think I read somewhere they will release a book between each game (mass effect is supposed to be a trilogy?) to fill in any gaps in story.
I think Mass Effect looks fantastic and I'm really looking forward to picking it up - Dragon Age too. But then this is BioWare we're talking about - never made a less than classic game.
This announcement can only mean one of two things: KOTOR III or a KOTOR MMORPG. I would infinitely prefer the first option, but either would be very, very exciting.
if it is an MMO....i hope its better than SWG...well,its gotta be better than SWG
Mate, anything, but ANYTHING has gotta be better than SWG. Tried playing it about 8-9 months after release and couldn't get into it, then I tried again after the massive overhaul and guess what? Yep, it sucked even worse!
You know, just as most magazines nowadays seem to penalize a game's review score if it's single player-only, they really ought to penalize the score if a game is multiplayer-only. That should go some way to reflecting the fact MMOs suck.
A KOTOR mmo would be amazing if they gave it the 'Guild Wars' treatment of being mainly instanced and highly story-based, with a definite ending and a strong PvP element, and only the 'safe' city and space station areas being full of real people.
I really dont like this idea. Part of the fun of Kotor is that you were solving everyday problems in a society, so therefore a safe-house style game with instances would make a very linnear guild wars clone. I feel that Kotor would work well if the story was more contributed to by players, however there were Staff members involved in each servers story so as to guide it along and perhaps make it more interesting.
What I've said so far isnt clear, hopefully this is.
For example, in SWG you had to grind and complete loads of quests to become a Jedi and it was entirely up to the gamer to achieve becoming a Jedi, therefore everyone could become one. However with staff members roaming around the server, perhaps they see someone who's roleplaying really well and meets the criteria to become a Jedi, perhaps he's a really interesting fellow, who knows. The Staff member grants this player the force, perhaps without the player even knowing it apart from a line saying "You feel a faint tingling" and then it goes on from there.
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hope not. Where this sits with LucasArts is interesting though, sure EA would love to get their hands on the Star Wars license
