Alrik spotted this Venturebeat interview with Charles Boyd - Star Wars: The Old Republic’s lead designer:

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s lead designer: Players want to do more in less time

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GamesBeat: How is the MMO space different today than when TOR launched?

Charles Boyd: Great question!  We are seeing a couple of interesting trends in the industry. Players want to do more in less time, advance at their own pace, and plan ahead — players today are leading busy lives, and they want to maximize the opportunity to have fun and get rewarded every time they play.

This was a big factor in our move to an episodic storyline as it allows players to experience the story the way they want to and with maximum flexibility. Players are even more savvy now, and they want to know that there is a next chapter coming and appointment set for when — so we actually started announcing our “next” chapter the week after the current chapter releases to meet that goal.

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