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Bioware did big mistake making SWTOR PC only?
NoNic2
Member Posts: 21
I was thinking something, since this could be most expensive game ever made and many people would like that this title become big success, did Bioware made mistake in making it PC only title? Some people also expect this game to be biggest challenger to WoW but imo Bioware could have much bigger chance in dethroning WoW if they played their cards little differently and by that I mean releasing TOR as PC/PS3/Xbox360 title. If we look at some recent Bioware sales seems Dragon Age sold 3.2 + million copies and Mass Effect 2 3.9 + millions wordwide but PC sales alone were probably smaller then consoles versions. Going by this numbers I would guess TOR as PC only title will sell ~2 million copies,and if game is disappointment subscriptions will drop below 1 mill. in few months time. TOR released as multiplatform game could brake 4 million sold in first 2 months with tendensy to grow over 5 million and more very easily and basically overnight becoming EU/NA mmorpg game number 1. Console market never had mmorpg of this magnitude and timing would be apsolutely perfect which combined could lead to same market dominance and success as WoW is seing now. FF11 on PS2 was not at perfect time as market was not mature enough. Also all rescent Bioware games Mass Effect 1 and 2, soon Dragon age 2, Star Wars Kotor1 and 2, Jade Empire were made with console gamers in mind first with only excepcion being Dragon Age 1 as it begun its life as PC only title so big part of Bioware fans could skip TOR altogether. Also TOR itself will probably target same casul-frendly market as WoW is targeting since Wotlk which would sit perfectly with console crowd.
Comments
Put it on consoles as a B2p mmo with DLC and it would generate more people playing it than WoW.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
i dont think so, most MMO-ers arent on the console. In fact if you look at DCUO's facebook page alot of them that are going to / want to play on the PS3 are bitching about the monthly fee, which tells me the still just don't understand what they are going to play and that market might not be ready for it.
If you put it on consoles it just opens the door for more immature kids then we already have in games like WOW. I would rather have less players and a higher proporation of mature players. I don't care if Bioware makes less money lol.
There Is Always Hope!
While I see the merit in your point, more platforms only increases the possible number of subs but let's face it if they are shooting for WOW numbers they only need to follow that pattern. Meaning if WOW can gain 12 million subs by being pc only then so should Bioware and TOR.
To be honest I think I'm so used to the different gaming experience between mmorpg's on pc and the console market I prefer things kind of stay that way, I don't mind hopping on the pc and firing up my favorite mmorpg while unwinding with my PS3 and quite honestly the mess that SE has created is making more skeptical of games that try to do that.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
I think they may be testing the waters. In case it becomes a success, they might think about expanding to other platforms.
Everything I have read has Bioware being dodgy at best on the subject so who knows maybe it will be a console game. I would imagine that if they are in talks with Microsoft on the subject they wouldn’t want to say anything until it’s finalized. I do agree that they are cutting a large amount of their fan base off by making this a PC only title. I believe Dragon Age and Mass Effect both outsold on the 360 over the PC versions. From what I have read Microsoft has been hesitant to allow a MMO on the 360 but if anyone could convince them it would be EA/Bioware/Lucasarts.
I have played games on the PC and 360 and can’t say the maturity level is really that different between say Modern Warfare 2 and Global Agenda.
Actually, I think they did something right by not making it a console game, at least yet.
There are other games that had considered going the PC and Console route, but found that it takes a sigificantly larger amount of development time to do both. Not just, because it's more work, but because it's a vastly different interface.
They are smart about doing the MMO as a PC based platform first, because MMO players are largely PC users. So they're targetting a larger more familiar consumer base.
Not only this, but they are saving development time and money by doing only one platform first. Say this game somehow turns out to be a big flop. At least then they can work on trying to salvage the game without worrying about the fact that the game is failing on another platform as well.
If the game, becomes highly successful the game will build hype and perhap interest more console users which will be beneficial for if/when they decided to bring consoles into the picture.
Someone already brought up a rather good point, that console players are not as open to subscription costs, because they expect all consoles games to be the same. I pay for the box, I get to play all I want at no additional cost. That struggle isn't as pronounced with MMO PC players, because it's a familiar concept to them.
They're making the right move currently. It would be a mistake not to take the game to consoles after this game, because a big success, but only then.
FF14 tried it and failed pretty hard. The controls are said to be a rather large portion of the problem.
Given the scope of the game, i highly doubt there are any consoles currently available that could actually run the game, so its not a case of 'if they put it on the console' but whether they can - if it was possible im sure it would have been done. Isnt there also an issue with FFXIV still not able to run on consoles? i think one of the things that people forget is that even consoles like the PS3 are a bit dated now, when it comes to modern hardware, so unless there is another console release - its likely that fewer games in the future will be console compatable, unless of course, game developers ignore hardware and software advances that are possible with the PC. One of the biggest issues with MMO's is their evolving nature, rarely a month goes by on most games, without some form of patching or content upgrade, this isnt really something that consoles handle well either.
Untrue.
Are you serious??? Consoles = more immature players? One of the best games ive ever played mmo wise was Everquest Online Adventures.. It had its fair share of clowns but as far as immaturity went in terms of flaming and chat spam you hardly seen it.What you had in EQOA was people who would want spawn points to themselves and would literally train loads of mobs to the lower level groups in the area to prevent competitive spawn camping. Other then this EQOA was by far the more mature game ive played in terms of players being helpful and friendly. I never knew how immature a game could be until i first started questing in the Barrens and now whenever you play any mmo on pc and any for of trolling whether its chuck norris jokes or just random crap it says something when its usually referred to by someone as Barren's Chat.Then you get all the anti-wow clowns complaining about people referencing WoW and then you get a whole other spam session from the original.
Disliking consoles is one thing but blaming them for making games worse is silly.
I doubt whether Microsoft would be all that against the idea, if it wasnt for hardware issues, simply put, the games too large to fit on a single disc (even a blu-ray one) and switching discs partway through the game is not an option, so the entire game has to be loaded onto the hard drive, and given the sheer volume of data that is likely on this game, its not unreasonable to assume a 30+ gb installation - with the possibility of additional content being added.. i think its likely that Microsoft even would take one look at that and say don't bother.. forget the ps3 .. its not even close to being capable.. Most MMO's these days, have large installations, even WoW apparently is going to be 25+ gb with cataclysm.. and im assuming the graphics on SW:TOR will be a bit more detailed than WoW's and of course all those voice overs.. cinematics.. etc. etc.. i think its safe to say that we won't be seeing a console release anytime soon...
But we really don't know the actual size of the game yet, or has that been mentioned somewhere?
im not sure why people assume that console owners are less mature than pc owners.. frequently you have pc owners also having one or more consoles.. .. maybe if they were talking about the nintendo ds
Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say I dislike console games. What I was basically saying is the average age of PC players is probably higher then the average age of console players. I have no facts to support it, its called an OPINION. I just know that when I go to my nephews or nieces, or my friends younger siblings homes or their nieces and nephews, they are usually playing console games, not MMORPG games on PCs
There Is Always Hope!
they havent stated how large an installation it will be.. but its possible to make a few educated guesses, on the low side it will probably be 25 gb.. but i wouldnt rule out it being much larger. possibly even 40gb + .. games these days do seem to be getting bigger and bigger ... personally i think its only a matter of time before game installations start hitting 100gb. computers usually have a HD of at least 500gb these days, frequently over 1tb.. hard drive memory is about as cheap as it gets after all.
people always bitch about the monthly fee. doesn't matter if its console or PC. some games are worthy of a monthly fee, others obviously aren't. You shouldn't be surprised that there are people out there that are not aware that some games are p2p or even what a MMORPG is. The only thing that matters is if they like it. because if they do. they will pay.
Unfortunately you should be comparing EQOA to EQ players.
You basically said this:
Which I repeat is untrue. There are many couples I know who own a console and yet they are not... immature kids.
it was a light hearted generalization. Give my apologies to that couple and thanks for posting the word untrue twice.
There Is Always Hope!
Yea. Just thinking about it, the development investment and complexity of making a full breadth and depth of massively-multiplayer involved mmorpg for the console has got to be enormous; particularly if you were doing one for PC and Console at the same time.
It would probably be a different story if SWTOR were a third or first-person shooter, or a rudimentary rpg or mmo like Torchlight. But I dont see it happening any time soon for SWTOR.
Blu-ray has the potential to hold Hundreds of GB's. Pretty sure MGS4 was on a 50GB disc. But if one disc can hold it, it would be a blu-ray.
As for the OP, not they did not make a mistake. Development for this game on PC AND consoles would push the cost even higher than it is now.
Given that Xbox live makes Barrens chat look like paradise, I'd say there's a fair chance it's true.
Maybe on a next gen model of xbox or ps4? The Kinect stuff out now looks pretty badass, could do lots of things with that im sure.
In my opinion this is the best way, cost wise to do it. First let it come out on PC just as it normally will. To change it this close to release is a bad idea in my opinion, might make them look desperate or something. Yes i believe this is too close if it's planing to come out mid year about 6 months from now.
So let it come out on PC just as it normally does. Then when about 4-6 months pass just enough time for the hype of the games release wanes rerelease it on the other platforms. That way it refreshes peoples minds again and you got hype going nearly to the end of the year, well long enough to support the PC and the other platforms. Also the 4-6 months gives them time to make a control scheme for the console users that doesn't interfere with the PC, that way you avoid the problems that come with the FF games.
Just my opinion on this.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.