An EA executive has confirmed that Star Wars: The Old Republic will not launch before March 31, 2011.Speaking during EA’s most recent earnings call, company CFO Eric Brown discussed the game’s future and noted that it would not ship during EA’s fiscal year 2011.?We are not assuming that we bring a major new MMO to [...]
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http://www.starwarsmmo.net/news/the-old-republic-to-miss-spring-2011-launch/)
Any delay is certainly bad news, but EA's fiscal year ends on March 31st, so the delay might not be significant.
I wouldn't expect it to TBH, in 1.5 years we have not been given any info on how the actual game works lol, just nice stories and concept art, at least this will give them time to release info.
To me it sounds like they're being conservative with that announcement, since it was the CFO who said that and he used the word 'assuming'. I think they devs know when they expect to be done better than an accountant. o_Q
Meh, it'll come out when it'll come out. If they can't pick a date then don't dangle one in front of me.
Now that I'm used to the 2011 release year, I don't mind a delay from Spring to Summer or even Fall. Whatever it takes to make the game launch bug-free and full of content. I can wait a few more months if it means the game will launch in a more perfect state.
They can take all the time they want. Don't want this game to suffer the same fate that The Sith Lords did.
Spring is March, April and May, so saying that "The Old Republic will not launch before March 31, 2011" still allows for 2 months to meet that Spring 2011 target release. This isn't any kind of delay, it's just that people, myself included, had overly optimistic views of when they'd release. And as has already been mentioned, EA's fiscal year ends on March 31st so the news is really only relevant to investors, for us gamers, we can still look to a Spring 2011 release, but it could be as late as May of next year.
Now that I'm used to the 2011 release year, I don't mind a delay from Spring to Summer or even Fall. Whatever it takes to make the game launch bug-free and full of content. I can wait a few more months if it means the game will launch in a more perfect state.
It'll never be totally bug-free at launch. There will always be bugs that slip thru the cracks in games of this scale.
But I do agree with you. The less they rush it, the more quality we will get. :)
Hopefully. :biggrin:
Man do you suck LA.
Yep...Don't become like Blizzard please...
Yep...Don't become like Blizzard please...Say what you want about WoW but Blizzard is a top-tier PC developer and I would love it if LucasArts was like them. WoW is constantly getting updates and nothing is released until it is ready and if there are bugs they are quickly fixed.
Say what you want about WoW but Blizzard is a top-tier PC developer and I would love it if LucasArts was like them. WoW is constantly getting updates and nothing is released until it is ready and if there are bugs they are quickly fixed.
I love blizzard games they are great.
I mean it in the sense of Starcraft II...constantly delaying the release date.
They've always been like that. Warcraft III got delayed a billion times.
With Blizzard it's simple, it's done when it's done :p
Say what you want about WoW but Blizzard is a top-tier PC developer and I would love it if LucasArts was like them. WoW is constantly getting updates and nothing is released until it is ready and if there are bugs they are quickly fixed.
Blizzard has also made promises they don't keep. Dance Studios anyone? Promised as a feature of WotLK in the announcement trailer, and here we are at the end of WotLK's patch cycle and still no word on new dances. Frankly, I much prefer BioWare's approach of only announcing things when they're done and playable.
I think both companies are pretty amazing and don't really agree with most of the criticism - I think fans are too whiny and expect too much.
Like my mum always says, "All good things come to those who wait".
Bummer, but as long as it's good work when it's finished, I'll live. Sadly, they are still competing against Cataclysm and Guild Wars 2, not to mention any other non-niche MMO's that may come out between now and then. Honestly, they can rush it and try to beat the big boys, and fail, or they can wait for the thrill of a less wowing WoW to wear off and pick up on people getting bored at that.
The latter is of course, a better strategy.
I'd rather wait a few extra months or year for them to get it right. It's not like there aren't a zillion other games to play in the meantime.
Bummer, but as long as it's good work when it's finished, I'll live. Sadly, they are still competing against Cataclysm and Guild Wars 2, not to mention any other non-niche MMO's that may come out between now and then. Honestly, they can rush it and try to beat the big boys, and fail, or they can wait for the thrill of a less wowing WoW to wear off and pick up on people getting bored at that.
The latter is of course, a better strategy.
I think the latter is what TOR will do. Cataclysm is going to come out this year, no doubts there. And after the initial rush of "zomg new expansion" wears off, people will start to get bored between patches, and that's when TOR swoops in. That timing is key. Can't do it too close to an expansion launch, or you start the race with a broken leg(Warhammer and Age of Conan came out around WotLK's launch, didn't help them at all). Releasing TOR sometime in Spring'2011 between WoW patches is what BioWare should do.
I think the latter is what TOR will do. Cataclysm is going to come out this year, no doubts there. And after the initial rush of "zomg new expansion" wears off, people will start to get bored between patches, and that's when TOR swoops in. That timing is key. Can't do it too close to an expansion launch, or you start the race with a broken leg(Warhammer and Age of Conan came out around WotLK's launch, didn't help them at all). Releasing TOR sometime in Spring'2011 between WoW patches is what BioWare should do.
My thoughts exactly. The lead up to Cataclysm is already starting to look like it's gonna be crazy. So the expansion fever has started to hit me hard. I'm kinda glad SWTOR got pushed out. I was worried about Cataclysm from the day it was announced. Now I have guilt free time to get a good chunk of content out of it before jumping onto the SWTOR train.
Well timed even if it is a long way out.
WoW is known for copying other successful MMOs, but TOR seems too unique to be copyable by WoW. To copy what's looking to make TOR succeed, WoW would have to add fully voiced EVERYTHING to every npc, quest, etc. That alone is well beyond WoW's scope. Plus they'd have to copy some sort of morality system, which wouldn't work in WoW's linear everything system.
So I think TOR is bringing enough unique stuff to the table that WoW won't be able to copy it even if they try.
They're already copying the WoW formula; TOR will definitely be better than WoW, but BioWare and LucasArts are trying to kill WoW, by inherently winning over as much of the fanbase as possible. Naturally, emulating sections of the game has/will happen(ed).
If this is truly a "revolutionary" MMO, then TOR would have destroyed and replaced every concept already present in the hundred+ MMOs out there. So far, the only MMO to do that was Myst Online: Uru Live, even though publishers didn't like the lack of grinding and statistic-based-reward masturbation. Just saying.
I'm not all that upset about this news. I'm pretty confident this game will rock!
I'm not all that upset about this news. I'm pretty confident this game will rock!
Agreed.... who knows, probably after a year or so out they might have space combat put in it later...
Dont get me wrong, the game will steal me away from any MMO i am playing at the time.. Just would make it better
I'm sure they'll have space at launch, they just haven't said anything yet because they don't have anything to show yet. That's been BioWare's creed with TOR since it was first announced. In an interview in July of last year, they confirmed there will be space. They're just not the type to harp on for hours about content that they don't have playable yet. I'm sure they're working on Space now and they're just waiting for a nice big convention to make the big announcement of Space in TOR, likely with a playable demo(or at least a viewable demo of space gameplay).
I'm sure they're working on Space now and they're just waiting for a nice big convention to make the big announcement of Space in TOR, likely with a playable demo(or at least a viewable demo of space gameplay).
I hope that is the case.. but if not thats ok... Still going to be a great game at launch
E3 is coming up. And if not then, then there's always Leipzig.
Delays happen IMO...and I don't see this game getting delayed into oblivion as has happened to others *cough* duke nukem *cough*
Let Bioware and LA take their time as far as I'm concerned. Bioware just hit a home run with Mass Effect 2 so we know what they are capable of and I have no reason to believe that they will produce anything other than a quality game.
Can't really say I'm surprised. Still get it right as possible before release
Yep...Don't become like Blizzard please...
Actually, don't blame them, Activision looms over their head threatening them all the time.