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Will the NDA be dropped at all?
VowOfSilence
Member UncommonPosts: 565
Title kinda says it all... Only 2 months till launch, is there any estimate when the NDA will be dropped? Or not at all?
Hype train -> Reality
Comments
Not at all. Even after the game is released you still won't be allowed to talk about it.
Either that or, the NDA will be lifted once and if OBT begins.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
If they are smart 2-3 more Beta weekends, then bam let the hype build as the game sells itself. If they are idiotic 1-2 weeks before the game releases and then watch mass unsubs as people flood the forums with qq about how it is not what they expected.
I seem to recall them saying something about there not being an open beta, due to the preorder numbers. {mod edit}
I can't see how after all this time and so much information about the game, anyone doesn't know what to expect.
I don't think it's that abnormal...
DAoC was released on 10/10/01 and its NDA wasn't lifted until 9/14/01. That's less than a month prior to release.
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
No, the NDA is not as good as down, even with those sites you think have a flurry of information.
The NDA will be down, but not likely until AFTER all the testing weekends are done, which may be at the beginning of december.
The idea is to cartwheel 1.5 million testers into the game at some point amid letting the regular testers complete whatever new fixes and feedback they are looking for in the meantime.
Honestly its a huge, daunting task and I don't know how BioWare can pull it all off in a couple months. As usual in these kinds of games, testing and fixes go on until the very last minute to make sure everything is as good as in before the game is ship-worthy.
We can only hope it all gets done and all you testers who are looking for that open beta (see: free trial) will get it.
Stay on topic, guys. Thanks.
Hey here's a great idea - let's give people all of the details and plot points of a story based game before it's released!
That way, people don't even need to buy the game to know the story!
It's like watching a movie illegally before it's released or reading the cliff-notes version before reading a book..
Seriously, how spoiled, ignorant, and clueless is the average MMO gamer?
Despite what haters on this website may tell you, TOR is NOT your typical MMORPG and I for one hope they NEVER drop the NDA so I am not as tempted by spoilers.
I know rite? I hate when mmo developers drop their NDA and then someone comes over to my house and forces me to watch gameplay videos and spoilers at gunpoint.
It doesn't take someone forcing you to do anything, all it takes is for you to get on a forum vader is lukes father and you could accidentally read something you didn't want to.
Will the NDA drop for SWTOR?
It will when Bioware gives up its Secrecy mantra.
Again. If they are smart. They want drop it until at least 3 days after the game is launched.
Jymm Byuu
Playing : Blood Bowl. Waiting for 2. Holding breath for Archeage and EQN.
Because up until the Nda is lifted the information isn't where it should be. First many people actually don't read anything but talk with friends and stuff like that, and when the information isn't clear you just spray rumors that might be so off. Second even for those searching for them actively, they will have to take the good info out of the mass of misinformation. Gamers tend to make a marmalade of very simple features, i could point many in this forum front page. Those games "mmorpg" are meant for you to dream after all.
But there is also a limit between dream and information, and clearly sometime dreams are just misinformations. And obviously game companies use that to boost their hype, sometime its just disgusting in fact. I talk in general naturally, i don't point at Bioware when i say that, most companies aren't that dirty. But they sure all use dirty tricks to boost their hype non the less, and they clearly know how to choose words in their announcements. So up until a NDA is lifted people are just crawling in miasma of info mixed with a ton of misinformation. You pretty much understand this phenomenon the first time you close beta test a game and read the beta forum, then go read the official public one. Its almost embarrassing in fact sometime.
And naturally if you lift the NDA at the last moment you obviously are literally surfing in this missinformation mess and can benefit greatly from this smoke screen.
Wait, what? What does spoiling story have to do with releasing an unadulterated, unspun account of the core gameplay? Although, I can see them sticking with that argument out of the desire to not risk the only gimmick the game has going for it.
Also, when is the last time you payed a monthly rental fee for a book?
He probably say this because this game is all about the story and not much about gameplay
No, he's saying it because story is a big part of the game, and BioWare is known for story, as well as some other awesome little tidbits of information such as mechanics on defeating bosses, or where certain items are, or strategies, companions, all that stuff that could be surprising.
Let the NDA go too early and a lot more people will flood the forums to get the information over items they can't get their hands on just yet.
Drop the NDA for a week or two before launch or early access, and when you get in, you get the full experience, not spoiled milk.
Thats exactly what i was saying, you just looked at the bright side, i looked at the dark one.
This will be the first MMO in history, where you won't be allowed to talk about the game even after playing the released version. Friends will meet excitedly about the game only to find out "Hey how is it!?" 'I'm not really allowed to talk about it...'
/sarcasm off
Of course the NDA will get lifted. Even if they somehow forget to do this after launch, it won't be a viable agreement anymore. You can't legally prohibit people from talking about what's already public knowledge (not yet anyway).
I actually already "accidently" caught wind of a spoiler in terms of story/characters and I am considering not even playing a specific class now for said reason.
This is a great example of the authoritarian themeparker mindset that most people subscribe to today. It's the idea that players need to be protected from themselves and others by the Developers at all times. And apparently not just in game either, but even in the real world too.
Ho come on, as if it was a big deal. Poeple that want spoilers will just do that, and this have no relation with the NDA. They will just check those SWTOR fan site when doing a quest and have it all explained. And you can be sure those web site will be up the our the NDA is lifted. That's how most do quest in mmos anyway. Those that don't want that just won't go to those web site, and that's it. NDA have nothing to do here, well not much at least.
Using it as an excuse for a late lift is a bit strange to me. Its at least a somewhat good excuse. But naturally if their game is so great and offer so much outside this story they won't have to fear spoilers that much isn't it?
I'm sorry but what are you blabbering about? An NDA is not part of some great conspiracy or whatever other such nonsense you seem to allude to in your post. NDA are (and have always been used as) an agreement between one or more parties to help protect a company’s IPs or trade secrets. All kinds of companies use them.
Jesus, we gamers can be such overdramatic over such little things...
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
My tinfoil hat tells me that unless Bioware drops the NDA tonight at 8:34 PM Eastern time, this game is garbage and they are trying to hide the fact it is garbage and get people to pre-order anyway.
MWAHAHHA IT'S ALL SUCH AN EVIL PLAN!!!!
Just put people on ignore like I do, and your life will be that much more serene with less trolling...
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"Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places..." ~ H.P.Lovecraft, "From Beyond"
Member Since March 2004
Just about every beta I've been in I write a pretty comprehensive conclusion once the NDA drops, and sometimes, in some cases, I'll even write a guide or two or a list of things I think new players should know.
If you look at my post history I've done that quite a few times over the years. I'll write it in a "review" form letting players know my opinions on the good and bad, but what I always omit are spoilers about quests, major objectives, boss mechanics, thorough crafting catalogs, and a whole slew of other situational information.
If you are wanting to play the game, play the damn game, if you don't want to play the game and be an armchair player and pretend you know everything thats going on, go right ahead and enjoy the spoilers, and your vicarious playing of a game you never played yourself but take interest in only to be a detriment to others.
Themeparker mindset or not, a fun game is a fun game no matter if its themepark or sandbox or single player or browser based. Spoilers are a big part of games and movies and most forms of entertainment. You'd think people would understand that after more than 30 years of gaming.