BioWare - Star Wars: The Old Republic Announced
As expected, BioWare and LucasArts unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic at a press event yesterday. Here's the press release:
LUCASARTS AND BIOWARE
REVEAL STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLICOCTOBER 21, SAN FRANCISCO – LucasArts and BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced the development of Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a story-driven massively multiplayer online PC game set in the timeframe of the Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ franchise. Star Wars: The Old Republic, being developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, represents an innovative approach to interactive entertainment, featuring immersive storytelling, dynamic combat and intelligent companion characters.
In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy. Players can choose to play as Jedi, Sith, or a variety of other classic Star Wars roles, defining their personal story and determining their path down the light or dark side of the Force. Along the way, players will befriend courageous companions who will fight at their side or possibly betray them, based on the players’ actions. Players can also choose to team up with friends to battle enemies and overcome incredible challenges using dynamic Star Wars combat.
"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the most critically acclaimed Star Wars game in LucasArts history and a preeminent example of our company’s interactive storytelling heritage," said Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts. "For a long time, we’ve long wanted to return to the franchise in a grand way, and we felt that the best setting for it was an online world that would allow millions of people to participate in the experience together. We knew that the developer capable of working with us to deliver an engrossing story with a fully-realized online world was BioWare."
"Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars - combat, exploration and character progression," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., "In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we’re fusing BioWare’s heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation – story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a AAA massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe."
Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder and Vice President Development Operations, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts Inc., "Star Wars: The Old Republic is set roughly 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, a timeframe that is completely unexplored in the lore. BioWare has been able to add to the Star Wars history in developing the game’s story and has created an overarching narrative that players can enjoy, regardless of their play style. Our goal is to offer players an emotionally rewarding experience that combines the traditional elements of MMO gameplay with innovations in story and character development."
Additional details on Star Wars: The Old Republic features, gameplay and release date will be announced at a later time. For more information about Star Wars: The Old Republic and to sign up for future product updates, please visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com.
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While a few sites have covered the announcement, the first proper preview article we can find is up at IGN, with BioWare emphasising their "fourth gameplay pillar" of story:
Twelve full-time writers have been working on the content for this game for years already. The writing department was the first priority when it came to staffing so these writers have been working on the game longer than anyone. There's a whole galaxy to tell stories in, and unlike Star Wars Galaxies or The Lord of the Rings Online, The Old Republic isn't tied down to an intricate series of events and settings. As a result, they have a bit more liberty to fill in some of the dark places in the lore and to draw interesting connections between the elements that already exist in the Extended Universe.
If you're wondering how you get a good story-driven MMO, it appears the trick isn't any huge innovation beyond tailoring story-arcs for different classes:
The solution is to give each class its own story arc. While it means the writers have to create a lot more content, it also pays tribute to the fact that "not everybody's fantasy was to be Luke." There's plenty of opportunity to tell equally interesting stories for other possible character types like smugglers, bounty hunters, politicians and moisture farmers. Okay, well, maybe not so much with the moisture farmers, but those other possibilities seem like they'd have experiences that are every bit as exciting as you'd get as a Jedi.