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Bioware - Lucas Arts Secret MMO - Why It's Star Wars.
dawitchy
Member Posts: 2
Hey everyone,
I have an interesting theory about the new Bioware/Lucas Arts Secret MMO. I don't want this to be taken as fact, but me and my friends have been discussing a theory as to why there have been talks of a new Star Wars game in 2005 yet nothing was official and how it connects to the official announcement in 2007 with Biowares merger with EA and partnership with LucasArts. Here is why I believe this partnership in 2007 was made so recently and not in 2005 and how this may tie into what the game is going to be..... namely a Star Wars MMO.
In 2005 announcements were made that Bioware was in development of a new game. They had recently moved into an office in Austin Texas, which was housing many SOE staff as well as many developers of the KOTOR programmers and developers as well. We all know that.
What we may have not known, is that Bioware may have been developing an engine for a future MMO which they didn't have a title or specific world content to it at the time. Essentially a generic engine which in fact may have been part of the development of Mass Effect as well as other games in development at Bioware.
What it seems is that Bioware probably contacted Lucas Arts during 2005 about a possibility on working on a new Star Wars MMO, but due to 2 main factors in that Lucas Arts wouldn't back Bioware until they saw their engine and development of the game, and also the ongoing license with SOE regarding their MMO; the game had no identity at the time. The engine/game was generic at the time.
Recently Lucas Arts created a partnership with Bioware, and many people assumed that this was the start of a new Star Wars MMO, or they had witheld the information until recently to build hype and keep the project secret.
I believe Bioware had to prove to LucasArts that they had a significant game/engine in development in order for the backing to occur and licensing of the Star Wars universe to commence.
Now we all know that Lucas Arts purchased a new engine in regards to a new MMO they are developing and I assume that Bioware has been developing an engine for their new MMO.
A Lucas Arts rep in this next post explains that at the time, there were no future developments in a new Star Wars MMO, but based on my theory, the main reason is because of no licensing agreement at the time with Bioware or any ofther company was in existence because Lucas Arts was taking a wait and see attitude.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=24466266
"However, what the LucasArts rep said next raised another interesting possibility--that another Star Wars MMORPG could be in the works. "We have had several developers approach us expressing interest in developing a future Star Wars online game," said the rep. (emphasis in the original.) However, if any such game is in the works, it will be a long time until it surfaces. "As of right now, it hasn't gone anything beyond that (that is, no conversations, no serious talks, no pitches, etc.)," assured the rep."
In addition Bioware is currently looking for creative development employees to make things such as character models, terrain and concept art for their first MMO.
This reinforces my theory, that Bioware had a engine in development with the possibility of making it a Star Wars MMO, and now that they have Lucas Arts approval, they can now hire creative team members to spend the last couple of years on the creative aspects of the game (ie: Characters, Planets, Lore, etc that specifically relate to the Star Wars World). Where as before, the engine Bioware was making, was just a generic shell to house any sort of world/story/setting,and which is why there was no announcement at the time from Lucas Arts about a partnership.
So to summarize, the reason the 2 announcements were made separately in 2005 and 2007, were because at the time in 2005, Lucas Arts wouldn't make a firm commitment to Bioware until they had seen some development in the game engine.And then in 2007 Lucas Arts officially gave their backing and came onboard. This is similar to how a movie director/writer makes a pitch to a production company before going into full development of the movie. This is also probably why EA purchased Bioware for so much money because they knew Lucas Arts would be on board and that a high profile MMO was on the way. Specifically a Star Wars MMO.
Comments
I think that originally, they weren't making a Star Wars MMO. But, look at the buzz; they would be stupid not to. Whatever it is they were working on probably changed to Star Wars. Just a guess, or at least, that's what I would do in their position.
The game hasn't even been announced and there is more hype over it than any games that ARE out right now. Talk about starting off on the right foot.
If it isn't Star Wars, I think many people will be disappointed and just move on, nothing else will interest as many people as Star Wars has/will.
see sig for answers.
"Don't hold breath about another KOTOR game coming from Bioware" - Chris Preistly
"Bioware is more intrested in pursueing development of it's own Intellectual properties"
- James Henly
I just hope it's not masses of zones. I like a wide open landscape.
Creator of ELTank and Nostalgia
Not to burst your bubble, but BioWare is using the Hero Engine for the current MMO they have under development. Not their own.
Source: http://www.heroengine.com/
Top middle of the page.
Edit: I can't remember where, and I did do a Google search, but I haven't slept in awhile and maybe it's just that, but I know they announced somewhere that they were using the Hero Engine too. I just can't find it at the moment.
Edit #2: I found one announcement here: http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/4349/BioWare-Gets-a-Hero-Engine . It must be the lack of sleep.
Proof..thats all i need..then i willbe happy..but until then its all speculation
And when/if this ever comes it will be something akin to WOW with lightsabres and i hope your all ready for that becuase the moneymen say that game works so the moneymen say ALL future MMOs should/would/could/can be like that and have zillions of happy subscribers.
As I'm sure it'll probably be another level/loot style of MMO if it does turn out to be a SW title, but I do have to say that it would be an awful waste of an IP if it isn't a new SW MMO in the works.
I think most people would agree that SWG current has (at best) 100K subscriptions. Does 100K sound like a good number for a SW title? I certainly don't think so, and I'm sure LA isn't happy with those numbers either.
I expect there is still much more milking to be done from this IP, and with a new SW TV show on the horizon soon there will undoubtedly be a tie-in somewhere.
The lesson learned with the NGE should be, "even if you don't think the subscriber number you have is enough, the only way you are going to get more is to make that population really happy so that your reputation is good, not in changing the laws of physics and pissing all of them off"
You might also consider that 2005 was a crucial year for Star Wars Galaxies, with the addition of the combat upgrade (CU) and later of the new game enhancements (NGE). Perhaps because of these so called "improvements", Lucas Arts was holding off on green lighting a new Star Wars MMO until the disastrous results of these changes became apparent.
I always wonder why when some people talk about this issue they always assume it would be a good game if it came out. If you look at the MMO trend that WoW has set and been hugely successful with why would you not think it will be a clone? Hell they even tried to make SWG a clone of it. LA wants money. Do you really think that they will do something new and innovative and take a chance like SWG again? What was more innovative than SWG before the NGE? Not a whole lot and in LA's eyes Im sure they see SWG as a failure. Really how could you not? One of the most recognized IP's in the world and look at it. Its a joke of what it should have been. It got its ass kicked by a cartoony shallow game like WoW.
I just cant blame SOE for everything that went wrong with SWG. LA had their dirty little greedy hands in it too. Do you think that LA will just hand BIO the IP and say make a game we will stay out of it? I dont. LA has made some pretty fun and innovative games in the past but if the state of SWG is any indication of their MMO skills I hold very little hope for any SW MMO.
Have any of the WoW clones had the success of WoW? That's why people hope it'll be something more.
Have any of the WoW clones had the success of WoW? That's why people hope it'll be something more.
but are they more successful than SWG?
Have any of the WoW clones had the success of WoW? That's why people hope it'll be something more.
but are they more successful than SWG?
SWG's failures are as uniques as WoW's success.
Have any of the WoW clones had the success of WoW? That's why people hope it'll be something more.
but are they more successful than SWG?
SWG's failures are as uniques as WoW's success.
LOL on that I can not argue. We have not even really begun to see the WoW clones in force yet. LOTRO is about as close as it gets. I would LOVE to see a good SW MMO. Really I would. I just doubt it will happen. I hope someday you can call me an idiot and tell me how wrong I was. I would gladly admit defeat if it happened.
Okay I got to chime in here.
I was a GM for SOE back when EQ2 and WOW were coming out.
So in the same building we had. EQ1, EQ2, FFXI, and SWG being Game Mastered.
SOE had total control of the EQ stuff.
But FFXI was really run by Square Enix, And they basicaly rented space.
SWG was in theory under SOE control,but it was not. LA had ALL control and made all decisions about the game. SOE was pretty much hired to run the game and GM it. LA had so much control that GM's did not even get a free account.
Yes, SOE makes lots of mistakes. But lets lay blame where it should be.
---GM Palentuari if anyone was wondering.
There is no Absolute Truth or Absolute Reality. That Truth is whatever the majority on hand want it to be. Real Truth is egalitarian and democratic and not at all compelled to correspond to the world in any useful way. Truth has no respect for Right, What's Best, or Needs Must. Real Truth is a dangerous beast in need of caging in even the quietest of times.
Ask any prince or priest.
Real Truth was the First Traitor.
-- Glen Cook
I believe the OP's theory!
Of course, I believe there was more than one shooter on the lawn, that the US gov''t was taken over by aliens back in Roswell in 1947, and Barry's a 'natural' athelete.
I think we'd better just wait and see.
Who the hell are you, and why should I care?
Congrats! You are a victim of Trollstar!
It would be AWESOME if they were making Star Wars (with old school rulesets).
Because it would be awesome, and murphy's law is always in effect, this is probably not what it is. It's probably just another WoW clone but with Korean design and f2p with online shops for gear. HAI 2 U!!!
- Phos
With that said I appreciate the insight you've offered as that is really quite interesting IMO.
I dont blame SOE for the NGE for anything other than the crappy condition it was released in. It was SOE's job to develop a working and playable NGE. It was hardly that at its release. Infact SOE has really done a craptastic job in the way of bug fixing and development since SWG's miserable launch. If the NGE had been launched in the condition it is in today then SOE would have done their job.
It seems like everytime SOE would patch the game to fix a bug they would create new bugs and then it would take them months to try and fix the new bugs while the original bug the patch was designed to fix stayed in the game. Its almost laughable.
LA having all control and making all decisions means they had the power to veto anything and set release dates. But if you meant something other than that, then please give us an example or two. Not saying you're wrong, I have no idea. But, all the information known leads mostly to SOE, and its producers.
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
Well, I don't think it will be a clone because of Bioware's track record. Besides, the people that tried to clone WoW into SWG was SOE/LA not Bioware.
That being said. I do agree that it will most likely still be a level/gear dependent game like most MMO's (which is kinda sad) but hopefully, if Bioware follows its own vision (KOTOR, Mass Effect etc.) Then maybe they will come up with very nice twists to the overdone WoW clone UI and make it stand out on its own. I mean look at CoH's dual wielding combo as an example. Their UI is still similar to WoW's and yet they were able to do something different an unique with it.
Of course LA wants to make money. That's why they went to a solid company like Bioware. To do what SOE failed. Make a kick ass Star Wars MMO.
As for speculation. Let me simplify.
Bioware announces the austin team designing a unamed space theme mmo
Bioware/LA announce their deal to make a new game.
If this is not KOTORO May I be first to say this would make both Bioware and LA the dumbest 2 companies ever NOT to make KOTORO.
If you remember KOTOR broke records in sales. They don't need to follow WOW. If they do follow wow I sure as hell will NOT be playing it. I'll stick with EVE
Last. The only reason this isn't being announced yet is because LA is releasing Forced Unleashed. They need time to push this game out first.
SHOHADAKU
More than likely another Star Wars MMO will be developed. Who, what, when, and where it's developed is anyones guess. The current SWG is already 4.5 years old and not nearly as popular as a SW IP should be. If another SW MMO is developed, I highly doubt it will be the complex game that most people on these forums are hoping for. The problem with creating a MMO based on a popular IP is more than half of your players will be new to MMOs and the learning curve will already be high.
[note: cats and keyboards do not mix, going to try retyping everything I just wrote that went away with the step of a paw on they keyboard
]
Not relying on Bioware's MMO to be Star Wars based but a few thoughts:
-- do we know that the project LA and Bioware are working on is a MMO and not a single player game or even a single player game with multiplayer features?
-- LA and Bioware recently announced their partnership but do we know when it actually started, officially and/or unofficially
-- does anyone remember when rumors were going around in SWG around the time of CU/NGE of a new SW MMO? I remember not being as excited about the possibility as others because I knew it probably wouldn't be the same as pre-cu (it is also possible that these rumors were actually referring to the upcoming...at that time...NGE)
-- does anyone remember a certain phone call that supposedly took place between LA and ....umm....a group of people that shall remain unnamed? remember what that group of people (or at least people claiming to be a part of the group) claimed happened in the phone call? supposedly they were sworn to secrecy but LA was going to make an announcement at some point in the future and whatever that announcement was suppose to be was the reason LA was will to allow a certain...umm..."project" to continue
-- as others have stated, if Bioware is not making a SW related MMO, they may be hurting their future MMO by not squashing any and all rumors to that effect because of they disappointment that will occur after all the hype
-- related to the above, why is Bioware not announcing what their MMO will be? why announce they are working on a MMO and still not have given more information about it (according to dates in this forum, 2 years later)? if it is to increase anticipation, too much anticipation/hype can be a bad thing; so much hype can be attached to a game that there's no way the game can actually live up to it; if the MMO is connected to the same IP as another game they are publishing, I can see not wanting to effect the sales of the single player game by people deciding to just wait for the MMO but if it were Mass Effect, my understanding is they are already planning two more Mass Effect games with the character you develop in the first carrying through the other two so that would be a long time before they are done with the single player Mass Effect games...and once again why even let people know you are working on a MMO if it's going to be YEARS before you can even say what it's about?
-- personally, I keep an eye on any MMO that looks like it might be of interest but the fact that a game would be based on Star Wars is no longer enough to make me excited about it; said this in many posts before and it's still true...pre-cu basically ruined me for other MMOs because I'm now wanting a game that lives up to it and more (a polished, less buggy, expanded pre-cu so to speak)
I gotta admit that I do find it very interesting that Bioware's new MMO has received so much hype even though we don't actually know what it is. As someone pointed out, it's gotten more hype than some MMO's that are currently out there. I'm hoping Bioware won't disappoint and will deliver a solid game. If there's at least one thing I can say they should learn from WoW (which I know many just hate the mention of it) is that they will deliver a polished and fast game just liek WoW. Honest, with today's technology, bug riddled, laggy games like EQ1, vanguard and SWG to name a few, should be at an end.
Anyone ever accuse you of pussyfootin' around the issues? : )