Originally posted by sexypanda198 thats why i laugh at those who say it will fail. almost everyone rated this game 4 or 5 out of 5"guy asked in chat". those who hated almost always got caught as WoW or GW2 fanboy that where testing. no not all where there where who did not like it but still most players loved it. this game is fun at launch cant wait year after launch or even next expansion.
Oh I am sure this game will not fail. Was it not 500k that the need to make some $ out of it? I don't play WoW nor did I ever play GW1 or plan on playing gw2 but IMO SWTOR will lose lots and lots of players after max. 3 month.
Bite me after the last weekend I cancelled my preorder. TOR has it's moments. I really enjoy some of the cutscenes but overall I don't like it that much to buy it. Maybe after the first expansion..............................
So back to skyrim and battlefield 3 (yeah I know no MMOs), oh and I would rate it with 3/5.
For example guild was 2 looks like shit. Its my opinion.Look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv6mCOo2k5k lol. This is good MMO? press 1, 1, 1, 1,1, 2 jump back. Oh no enemy getting close snare time! this combat looks even more boring than typical MMO. But thats my opinion.
Erm... I presume that's a guy leveling his guns or something?... As far as I know he can use various other combinations of weapons which means he can kill those mobs in several different ways.
What more can you do in SWTOR? ..... other than have to stand still to use skills instead
As for the numbers I was trying to illustrate how pointless it is to mention numbers as reasoning behind how good a game is.
Just because people are influenced by a various media/personal experiences/etc and mass-buy something, it doesn't mean it's good.
And just because a game/item/product caters to a niche market and enjoys much less sales/subscriptions doesn't mean it's bad.
Numbers mean nothing.
Aside from the sage all class can run and gun with some channeling abilities. And if it caters to a niche market or millions market it is still like by others. Whether or not 2 people like it or 1000000000 people like it. I like a game that others hate. Its a good game to me but not to them and vise versa. Who am i to say what others like is shit?
Again Just because i think GW2 is shit does it mean it will be bad for others? maybe or maybe not. I am a man of my own and so are they. If they like something then let them. Who am i to say that their taste sucks?
Every critique we make is our opinion and does not reprsent others. You dont like TOR that is your OPINION and not a fact. I think GW2 looks like shit and its going to be a terrible hype failure and that is MY OPINION. Am i representing anyone else's thoughts? no. And so shouldn't you my friend.
I wasn't saying what you like is shit, I was saying that numbers mean nothing.
Everything else you say is like common logic. I wasn't enforcing my opinion or telling you what to think.
Though I think you should change your signature
No i am not going to change my signature. I said looks not plays. SWTOR looked pretty bad to me too when i saw footage but once i played it it wasn't that bad. Maybe this one won't be either. But from what i see so far the game play does look really bad. And b2p if i dont like it then i got nothing to lose.
And numbers do matter my friend. That just means that it has a bigger fanbase who are willing to try the game. And if they do like it then more people will be playing and they wil lell their firends who will tell their friends. Ultimately growing the overall subscriber base.
For the week ending Nov. 26 (doesn't even count the entire beta or any time after the beta):
Total gained last week: 74,916 Total: 900,756
Remember, this is only NA and it only counts box pre-orders not digital. EU and the rest of the world aren't counted, or the many of us that ordered digital copies.
For the week this was posted for, there are 4 weeks of pre-ordering left. This number will surely break 1 million NA box pre-orders.
This is just an absolutely huge number for a new MMO release. I would be willing to bet you can double that number for world-wide sales and possibly double it again for world-wide digital sales. That's just speculation, but we will see soon enough
I'm personally not a fan of the way vgchartz does its reporting, but I have to say that the initial box/preorder sales have always expected to be huge. Lucas could make a Star Wars toilet and people will flock to buy it. Star Wars fans are almost as rabid as Apple fans (like myself) are.
No i am not going to change my signature. I said looks not plays. SWTOR looked pretty bad to me too when i saw footage but once i played it it wasn't that bad. Maybe this one won't be either. But from what i see so far the game play does look really bad. And b2p if i dont like it then i got nothing to lose.
And numbers do matter my friend. That just means that it has a bigger fanbase who are willing to try the game. And if they do like it then more people will be playing and they wil lell their firends who will tell their friends. Ultimately growing the overall subscriber base.
But what you're saying is numbers are important because they'll bring more numbers
Numbers aren't important.. especialy when you have so many games to choose from.
In fact, numbers probably do more harm than good to the genre.
There's so many people who look at the popularity of the game instead of looking at the game and decide on that alone whether to play it or not. So low populations games remain low..even though they might offer very good gaming experiences.
Developers who invest these huge amounts of money on a game will chose the safe way of copying an allready existing game. So that's why we have so many WoW clones. It's not that only EQ/WoW gameplay is good and everything else is bad... it's just that it's a proven recipe that works on masses. Combine that with SW lore and you have a lot of money in your pocket.
But we as gamers get stuck with the same gameplay...
I'll never understand how some people dislike variety
If bioware add lateral content and not just new raids or battlegrounds every few updates i can see it being a great game, it all depends on where the live team will focus their updates.
No i am not going to change my signature. I said looks not plays. SWTOR looked pretty bad to me too when i saw footage but once i played it it wasn't that bad. Maybe this one won't be either. But from what i see so far the game play does look really bad. And b2p if i dont like it then i got nothing to lose.
And numbers do matter my friend. That just means that it has a bigger fanbase who are willing to try the game. And if they do like it then more people will be playing and they wil lell their firends who will tell their friends. Ultimately growing the overall subscriber base.
But what you're saying is numbers are important because they'll bring more numbers
Numbers aren't important.. especialy when you have so many games to choose from.
In fact, numbers probably do more harm than good to the genre.
There's so many people who look at the popularity of the game instead of looking at the game and decide on that alone whether to play it or not. So low populations games remain low..even though they might offer very good gaming experiences.
Developers who invest these huge amounts of money on a game will chose the safe way of copying an allready existing game. So that's why we have so many WoW clones. It's not that only EQ/WoW gameplay is good and everything else is bad... it's just that it's a proven recipe that works on masses. Combine that with SW lore and you have a lot of money in your pocket.
But we as gamers get stuck with the same gameplay...
I'll never understand how some people dislike variety
Varity means na da to those who are discovering MMORPG genre through SWTOR onlly because they are Bioware fans. You won't believe how many players i met in SWTOR who popped their MMO cherry (yeah i know but had to say it) with this game.
You guys always talk about variety and 'gimme something new naoo' as if MMORPG players have peaked in numbers and there is no new players left to join. I am pretty sure thousands of players discover MMOS everyday and for them WOW and SWTOR could be very well their first MMO.
Innovation is overrated as it neither gurantees fun nor success. I don't dislike variety because i have plenty of it already.
looking thru the history on that site i am beginning to wonder if the pre order of boxes only account for a minority of pre order espically for mmorpg games since wow cata had only 500k pre order 1 week from launch .pretty sure in NA alone at least 1.5m copies digi or boxed version of the game were sold.
so yes nearly 1 million copies of boxed sales for swtor is pretty huge.
looking thru the history on that site i am beginning to wonder if the pre order of boxes only account for a minority of pre order espically for mmorpg games since wow cata had only 500k pre order 1 week from launch .pretty sure in NA alone at least 1.5m copies digi or boxed version of the game were sold.
so yes nearly 1 million copies of boxed sales for swtor is pretty huge.
Yeah the WoW numbers on that pre order thing don't count digital and probably not world-wide. The pre-order is only North America, however, and only boxes not digital.
For a better picture of wow's sales, look at the weekly records. It's on there for week 1 sales and a little bit later for week 2 sales. Much higher numbers.
And next to all those multipliers I am damn curious about the "pre-order people v.s. launch-buyer people" ratio. Personally I am more of a launch buyer, even when I do keep a close eye on games during development.
I'm suprised at the VAST number of people I know who game and simply don't do preorders for any game no matter what.
Hard core Madden fans, CoD fans etc. that never pre-order anything.
Most of the people I know who are going to be playing TOR haven't pre-ordered either.
Was actually kind of challenging to find two more people (besides my brother and I) who had pre-ordered. 'twas crazy.
The OP's theory that the number of digital pre-orders + physical box + people who haven't pre-ordered and will just go buy is going to be massive... this could and I think will very easily be the largest launch in MMO history.
Retention after 6-12 months who knows, that all depends on Bioware's post-release schedule.
For the week ending Nov. 26 (doesn't even count the entire beta or any time after the beta):
Total gained last week: 74,916 Total: 900,756
Remember, this is only NA and it only counts box pre-orders not digital. EU and the rest of the world aren't counted, or the many of us that ordered digital copies.
For the week this was posted for, there are 4 weeks of pre-ordering left. This number will surely break 1 million NA box pre-orders.
This is just an absolutely huge number for a new MMO release. I would be willing to bet you can double that number for world-wide sales and possibly double it again for world-wide digital sales. That's just speculation, but we will see soon enough
take out the star wars name, and you dont see this happening. clearly this initial wave has everything to do with one thing -- that star wars name. after launch, after a few months, the game will have to stand on its own. we shall see.
As Supersoups said, it's meaningless to want something new under the sun. Enjoy what is right infront of you. However, I do think Bioware had all the assets to innovate or at least reinvent the genre somehow, especially when one takes into account how immensly rich the Star Wars universe truly is. Not to mention its huge following. Actually, when I come to think of it, Bioware had a certain responsibility to do exactly that; to improve the genre by rebelling against the MMO establishment, as the Star Wars books and movies have done for their genre. I try not to overthink this, as I'll probably end up hopeless all day, but I can't help but honestly feel this game could have been the foundation for newly-improved MMOs of the future. But it isn't. So we're stuck with another WoW look-a-like we've seen too many times before. And we keep buying them anyway.
That means a lot of people enjoy her music? she sells out venues like madison square garden and yankee stadiums you know. Same can be said about Justin beiber. While i don't like pop music and i am more of an old school Rock, metal and rap guy (Metallica, Iron maiden, Run DMC, Public Enemies, NWA, Eagles etc.) I am not gonna deny that billions of people buys lady gaga album and goes to her concerts. At the end of the day my music taste is just opinion and billions of people who buy lady gaga album are their opinion on what good music should be. Just like its your opinion if a game is good or not and not a fact.
For example guild was 2 looks like shit. Its my opinion.Look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv6mCOo2k5k lol. This is good MMO? press 1, 1, 1, 1,1, 2 jump back. Oh no enemy getting close snare time! this combat looks even more boring than typical MMO. But thats my opinion.
For the week ending Nov. 26 (doesn't even count the entire beta or any time after the beta):
Total gained last week: 74,916 Total: 900,756
Remember, this is only NA and it only counts box pre-orders not digital. EU and the rest of the world aren't counted, or the many of us that ordered digital copies.
For the week this was posted for, there are 4 weeks of pre-ordering left. This number will surely break 1 million NA box pre-orders.
This is just an absolutely huge number for a new MMO release. I would be willing to bet you can double that number for world-wide sales and possibly double it again for world-wide digital sales. That's just speculation, but we will see soon enough
take out the star wars name, and you dont see this happening. clearly this initial wave has everything to do with one thing -- that star wars name. after launch, after a few months, the game will have to stand on its own. we shall see.
Nah... even in a couple months it still has the Star Wars name... Star Wars fans, bio ware fans, and unsure gamers will all eventually jump in and try it out.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
How dare you make me watch this again... must control drool.
edit:
Furthermore I'm sure there are others like me who are waiting on GW2 but will play SWTOR until GW2 launches, this doesn't make the game bad... I'm a PvPer and for whatever reason much like PvEers can do it for hours on in and it never gets old. I cant dungeon crawl or do raids daily but I can do a 5v5 league of legends match for 2 years straight. Now GW2 has no subscription so it is possible I and others could/would maintain their swtor subscription but I presume thats dependent on the content updates and/or the PvP end game.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
The important bit is the trend: orders per time period have been going up and up and up as more and more people have gotten access to beta. More sad days to come from haters...
The important bit is the trend: orders per time period have been going up and up and up as more and more people have gotten access to beta. More sad days to come from haters...
The numbers next week will really go up, all I know got into beta this past weekend, and they all preordered, including me.
SWTOR will be a nice little game untill GW2 arrives sometime next year
thats why i laugh at those who say it will fail. almost everyone rated this game 4 or 5 out of 5"guy asked in chat". those who hated almost always got caught as WoW or GW2 fanboy that where testing. no not all where there where who did not like it but still most players loved it. this game is fun at launch cant wait year after launch or even next expansion.
i tested it and i aint no GW2 fanboy or WOW fanboy..and i didnt like the combat..just because someone dislikes the game does'nt mean they are fanboys of another game..that being said i did like the interaction with the storyline and such..i was quite impressed with that.on the fence atm has to wether or not i order..got lotro lifetime sub and playin rift atm and havin a blast.dont know if i can find the time for 3 mmo's lol.
Vgchartz doesn't even include all of the US box sales, only the brick and mortar ones. None of the Amazon sales are included, and that is probably the single largest source of box sales.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.
I've been tempted several times to preorder but so far haven't given in for a couple reasons.
One reason is with certain games, especially if it is a game I may be playing for a long time, I like to have a box copy. So I have resisted the digitial preorder. If it had been on Steam I probably would have gotten a preorder though. I guess I've become comfortable enough with Steam having used it for awhile.
Second reason, Best Buy changed their preorder policy and no longer sell a box with preorder. Now you have to go to a kiosk and go through a computer menu and bla bla bla. Salesman told me that and I just walked out of the store. I drove over to Best Buy specially for that, but lack of customer support due to busy day and combined with a new preorder system that I don't feel comfortable with, I didn't preorder.
Third reason, I have had zero problem picking up games on launch day in last couple years. Plenty of outlets in my area, and most games I'm interested in tend to have their own shelf with 20 to 50 copies. I usually not only get a copy of game on launch day, but I can indulge my OCD and find one with the perfect box, not scuffed, edges crisp, with the price sticker placed unobtrusively so as not to obscure the graphic or damage a vital area upon its removal.
Fourth reason, so many people have gotten preorder it will probably be just as jam packed as launch day. Maybe a little less so, but definitely busy.
So like or dislike of TOR or its potential has had nothing to do with me getting a preorder. And having not played the beta in a few days I find myself missing my smuggler and BH. Especially the BH as I want to know what happens next.
As Supersoups said, it's meaningless to want something new under the sun. Enjoy what is right infront of you. However, I do think Bioware had all the assets to innovate or at least reinvent the genre somehow, especially when one takes into account how immensly rich the Star Wars universe truly is. Not to mention its huge following. Actually, when I come to think of it, Bioware had a certain responsibility to do exactly that; to improve the genre by rebelling against the MMO establishment, as the Star Wars books and movies have done for their genre. I try not to overthink this, as I'll probably end up hopeless all day, but I can't help but honestly feel this game could have been the foundation for newly-improved MMOs of the future. But it isn't. So we're stuck with another WoW look-a-like we've seen too many times before. And we keep buying them anyway.
Okay, how is it BioWare's "responsibility to do exactly that; to improve the genre by rebelling against the MMO establishment"? The only responsibility this company has is to it's shareholders and that is to make the largest profit possible. They do this by making a quality game that a large number of people will like and buy, then hopefully stay subscribed to. Bioware has done this by following the same basic recipe that most themepark MMOs use and putting there own spin on the game. Then they went and made it much larger that almost any other MMO at release, both in world size and content amount. Then they decided to strive for a good gaming experience at release. So basically, they followed the model and use the Star Wars name for a large number of people to be interested in, then added there own flare, then aimed for quality. Pretty good plan over all.
The problem with your opinion is that more often than not, the "new" stuff is basically a niche crowd looking to buy it and seldom makes a large profit. Don't believe me? Just look how long it took Eve to get a nice sized fan base. Heck, I am looking forward to the new "World of Darkness" MMO in development, but I know that is a niche game as well and very unlikely to make a huge profit.
Niche crowds do not make for a good game since few investors will take the risk. Investors will, on the other hand, take risks with games like Star Wars which is good, since like them or not, that game at least has small innovations all over it. This way the MMO market can continue to evolve and maybe you will get the game you like someday.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
For the week ending Nov. 26 (doesn't even count the entire beta or any time after the beta):
Total gained last week: 74,916 Total: 900,756
Remember, this is only NA and it only counts box pre-orders not digital. EU and the rest of the world aren't counted, or the many of us that ordered digital copies.
For the week this was posted for, there are 4 weeks of pre-ordering left. This number will surely break 1 million NA box pre-orders.
This is just an absolutely huge number for a new MMO release. I would be willing to bet you can double that number for world-wide sales and possibly double it again for world-wide digital sales. That's just speculation, but we will see soon enough
Triple the number for worldwide release and digital sales? Complete conjecture on your part and I strongly doubt this. SW is biggest in US so for sure the biggest chunk will come from US alone and I have yet to see any reasons for why digital sales would equal box sales, unless it is significantly cheaper.
In any case, all we know for sure is that there are atleast 900k pre orders. Anything else is just pure speculations.
For example guild was 2 looks like shit. Its my opinion.Look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv6mCOo2k5k lol. This is good MMO? press 1, 1, 1, 1,1, 2 jump back. Oh no enemy getting close snare time! this combat looks even more boring than typical MMO. But thats my opinion.
Comments
Oh I am sure this game will not fail. Was it not 500k that the need to make some $ out of it? I don't play WoW nor did I ever play GW1 or plan on playing gw2 but IMO SWTOR will lose lots and lots of players after max. 3 month.
Bite me after the last weekend I cancelled my preorder. TOR has it's moments. I really enjoy some of the cutscenes but overall I don't like it that much to buy it. Maybe after the first expansion..............................
So back to skyrim and battlefield 3 (yeah I know no MMOs), oh and I would rate it with 3/5.
No i am not going to change my signature. I said looks not plays. SWTOR looked pretty bad to me too when i saw footage but once i played it it wasn't that bad. Maybe this one won't be either. But from what i see so far the game play does look really bad. And b2p if i dont like it then i got nothing to lose.
And numbers do matter my friend. That just means that it has a bigger fanbase who are willing to try the game. And if they do like it then more people will be playing and they wil lell their firends who will tell their friends. Ultimately growing the overall subscriber base.
Currently Playing: SSFIV AE, SFxTekken, SWTOR, WoW. Waiting for: GW2, Resident Evil 6.
I'm personally not a fan of the way vgchartz does its reporting, but I have to say that the initial box/preorder sales have always expected to be huge. Lucas could make a Star Wars toilet and people will flock to buy it. Star Wars fans are almost as rabid as Apple fans (like myself) are.
But what you're saying is numbers are important because they'll bring more numbers
Numbers aren't important.. especialy when you have so many games to choose from.
In fact, numbers probably do more harm than good to the genre.
There's so many people who look at the popularity of the game instead of looking at the game and decide on that alone whether to play it or not. So low populations games remain low..even though they might offer very good gaming experiences.
Developers who invest these huge amounts of money on a game will chose the safe way of copying an allready existing game. So that's why we have so many WoW clones. It's not that only EQ/WoW gameplay is good and everything else is bad... it's just that it's a proven recipe that works on masses. Combine that with SW lore and you have a lot of money in your pocket.
But we as gamers get stuck with the same gameplay...
I'll never understand how some people dislike variety
..Cake..
Shhhhhhhhhhhh dont tell anyone but i bought 1 for my daughter in 01.
The following statement is false
The previous statement is true
If bioware add lateral content and not just new raids or battlegrounds every few updates i can see it being a great game, it all depends on where the live team will focus their updates.
Varity means na da to those who are discovering MMORPG genre through SWTOR onlly because they are Bioware fans. You won't believe how many players i met in SWTOR who popped their MMO cherry (yeah i know but had to say it) with this game.
You guys always talk about variety and 'gimme something new naoo' as if MMORPG players have peaked in numbers and there is no new players left to join. I am pretty sure thousands of players discover MMOS everyday and for them WOW and SWTOR could be very well their first MMO.
Innovation is overrated as it neither gurantees fun nor success. I don't dislike variety because i have plenty of it already.
looking thru the history on that site i am beginning to wonder if the pre order of boxes only account for a minority of pre order espically for mmorpg games since wow cata had only 500k pre order 1 week from launch .pretty sure in NA alone at least 1.5m copies digi or boxed version of the game were sold.
so yes nearly 1 million copies of boxed sales for swtor is pretty huge.
Yeah the WoW numbers on that pre order thing don't count digital and probably not world-wide. The pre-order is only North America, however, and only boxes not digital.
For a better picture of wow's sales, look at the weekly records. It's on there for week 1 sales and a little bit later for week 2 sales. Much higher numbers.
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I'm suprised at the VAST number of people I know who game and simply don't do preorders for any game no matter what.
Hard core Madden fans, CoD fans etc. that never pre-order anything.
Most of the people I know who are going to be playing TOR haven't pre-ordered either.
Was actually kind of challenging to find two more people (besides my brother and I) who had pre-ordered. 'twas crazy.
The OP's theory that the number of digital pre-orders + physical box + people who haven't pre-ordered and will just go buy is going to be massive... this could and I think will very easily be the largest launch in MMO history.
Retention after 6-12 months who knows, that all depends on Bioware's post-release schedule.
So it's just an estimate of a website? OK.
Anyway if the estimate is valid, they will reach 2 milion copies easy, multipilied for 80$ average price (out of my a**) = 160.000.000$... not bad lol
An honest review of SW:TOR 6/10 (Danny Wojcicki)
take out the star wars name, and you dont see this happening. clearly this initial wave has everything to do with one thing -- that star wars name. after launch, after a few months, the game will have to stand on its own. we shall see.
As Supersoups said, it's meaningless to want something new under the sun. Enjoy what is right infront of you. However, I do think Bioware had all the assets to innovate or at least reinvent the genre somehow, especially when one takes into account how immensly rich the Star Wars universe truly is. Not to mention its huge following. Actually, when I come to think of it, Bioware had a certain responsibility to do exactly that; to improve the genre by rebelling against the MMO establishment, as the Star Wars books and movies have done for their genre. I try not to overthink this, as I'll probably end up hopeless all day, but I can't help but honestly feel this game could have been the foundation for newly-improved MMOs of the future. But it isn't. So we're stuck with another WoW look-a-like we've seen too many times before. And we keep buying them anyway.
seen this video?
Nah... even in a couple months it still has the Star Wars name... Star Wars fans, bio ware fans, and unsure gamers will all eventually jump in and try it out.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
How dare you make me watch this again... must control drool.
edit:
Furthermore I'm sure there are others like me who are waiting on GW2 but will play SWTOR until GW2 launches, this doesn't make the game bad... I'm a PvPer and for whatever reason much like PvEers can do it for hours on in and it never gets old. I cant dungeon crawl or do raids daily but I can do a 5v5 league of legends match for 2 years straight. Now GW2 has no subscription so it is possible I and others could/would maintain their swtor subscription but I presume thats dependent on the content updates and/or the PvP end game.
Everything I say is my opinion or personal preference. You may or may not find it useful to your cause but regardless I am entitled to it.
The important bit is the trend: orders per time period have been going up and up and up as more and more people have gotten access to beta. More sad days to come from haters...
The numbers next week will really go up, all I know got into beta this past weekend, and they all preordered, including me.
SWTOR will be a nice little game untill GW2 arrives sometime next year
i tested it and i aint no GW2 fanboy or WOW fanboy..and i didnt like the combat..just because someone dislikes the game does'nt mean they are fanboys of another game..that being said i did like the interaction with the storyline and such..i was quite impressed with that.on the fence atm has to wether or not i order..got lotro lifetime sub and playin rift atm and havin a blast.dont know if i can find the time for 3 mmo's lol.
Vgchartz doesn't even include all of the US box sales, only the brick and mortar ones. None of the Amazon sales are included, and that is probably the single largest source of box sales.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
I've been tempted several times to preorder but so far haven't given in for a couple reasons.
One reason is with certain games, especially if it is a game I may be playing for a long time, I like to have a box copy. So I have resisted the digitial preorder. If it had been on Steam I probably would have gotten a preorder though. I guess I've become comfortable enough with Steam having used it for awhile.
Second reason, Best Buy changed their preorder policy and no longer sell a box with preorder. Now you have to go to a kiosk and go through a computer menu and bla bla bla. Salesman told me that and I just walked out of the store. I drove over to Best Buy specially for that, but lack of customer support due to busy day and combined with a new preorder system that I don't feel comfortable with, I didn't preorder.
Third reason, I have had zero problem picking up games on launch day in last couple years. Plenty of outlets in my area, and most games I'm interested in tend to have their own shelf with 20 to 50 copies. I usually not only get a copy of game on launch day, but I can indulge my OCD and find one with the perfect box, not scuffed, edges crisp, with the price sticker placed unobtrusively so as not to obscure the graphic or damage a vital area upon its removal.
Fourth reason, so many people have gotten preorder it will probably be just as jam packed as launch day. Maybe a little less so, but definitely busy.
So like or dislike of TOR or its potential has had nothing to do with me getting a preorder. And having not played the beta in a few days I find myself missing my smuggler and BH. Especially the BH as I want to know what happens next.
Okay, how is it BioWare's "responsibility to do exactly that; to improve the genre by rebelling against the MMO establishment"? The only responsibility this company has is to it's shareholders and that is to make the largest profit possible. They do this by making a quality game that a large number of people will like and buy, then hopefully stay subscribed to. Bioware has done this by following the same basic recipe that most themepark MMOs use and putting there own spin on the game. Then they went and made it much larger that almost any other MMO at release, both in world size and content amount. Then they decided to strive for a good gaming experience at release. So basically, they followed the model and use the Star Wars name for a large number of people to be interested in, then added there own flare, then aimed for quality. Pretty good plan over all.
The problem with your opinion is that more often than not, the "new" stuff is basically a niche crowd looking to buy it and seldom makes a large profit. Don't believe me? Just look how long it took Eve to get a nice sized fan base. Heck, I am looking forward to the new "World of Darkness" MMO in development, but I know that is a niche game as well and very unlikely to make a huge profit.
Niche crowds do not make for a good game since few investors will take the risk. Investors will, on the other hand, take risks with games like Star Wars which is good, since like them or not, that game at least has small innovations all over it. This way the MMO market can continue to evolve and maybe you will get the game you like someday.
"If half of what you tell me is a lie, how can I believe any of it?"
Triple the number for worldwide release and digital sales? Complete conjecture on your part and I strongly doubt this. SW is biggest in US so for sure the biggest chunk will come from US alone and I have yet to see any reasons for why digital sales would equal box sales, unless it is significantly cheaper.
In any case, all we know for sure is that there are atleast 900k pre orders. Anything else is just pure speculations.
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Cherry-picking FTW, eh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0J4J2F-f9A&feature=related
Now show me a SWTOR video that can come close to 1/10 of this, and this video is not even the best
Two words: Subscriber retention.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing