Star Wars: The Old Republic Message Board older than one year ago

The Old Republic was going to be a big thing, regardless of how it actually turned out.

MMO launches are never flawless, even though companies have had plenty of time to learn from the mistakes of past MMOs. From most accounts, Star Wars: The Old Republic’s biggest issue has been one common to the genre: long server queues.

BioWare and Electronic Arts tried to make queues less of an issue by bringing people into the game in waves, but that wasn’t completely successful, and people have still been waiting.

“There are a lot of folks who want to play the game right now and we want to make sure they have lots of people to play with,” said live services executive producer Jeff Hickman on the game’s website. “Balancing this with figuring out when to bring new servers online to help alleviate the size of the queues is part art and part science.”

The best advice for anyone who wants to avoid server queue issues is to simply give the game some time, and wait for everything to work itself out. That said, being part of the launch rush is an attractive prospect, so telling people to not play the game they’re interested in, especially if they've already bought it, doesn’t sound too great.

“While we can’t promise that there won’t ever be queues,” continued Hickman, “we can promise you that we are taking this matter seriously and constantly reviewing them to make sure that they are manageable and reasonable.”

Unfortunately, Hickman's response sounds more excuse than explanation of how BioWare is addressing it.

Let me know about your experience with The Old Republic’s server woes in the comments.

If you're in the Early Access for BioWare's first MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, chances are you've had to deal with a wait queue. Wait times vary depending on which server you selected, from a few minutes to over one hour...

If you're tired of being denied in your attempts to boldly go where no man has gone before in Star Wars: The Old Republic, take heart! BioWare has done the Vulcan mind-meld with you, heard your distress and is trying to figure how where they need to jam more dilithium crystals to solve the problem.

"While we can't promise that there won't ever be queues, we can promise you that we are taking this matter seriously and constantly reviewing them to make sure that they are manageable and reasonable," said Jeff Hickman, executive producer of live services.

Sounds like BioWare is concerned, though not necessarily able to make a sweeping fix. In other words, they're givin' it all she's got, captain!

#starwars For the record, there will be a "grace period," in which those currently playing Star Wars: The Old Republic may still continue their character's progress on the full title they've purchased, when that arrives. Previously, BioWare had suggested there would be no such "grace period." More »

#starwars Queues lead to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering, as many now playing Star Wars: The Old Republic claim to be experiencing right now. Jedi and Sith alike are venting their spleens on Twitter and in forum threads, complaining of ungodly wait times and disconnections in the early access period for the heavily anticipated MMO. More »

Star Wars Galaxies came to a close last night. There can be only one Star Wars MMO on the block, and that's now Star Wars: The Old Republic. That doesn't mean Galaxies didn't go out in style -- we tracked down a pair of end-game videos on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

Finally, there's also a sappy letter from Star Wars Galaxies' last remaining producer. It's been a crazy eight years, hasn't it? Here's to hoping The Old Republic has as long a run.

[Note: Embedding on the second video has been disabled, so you'll need to click here to watch it.]

In a bit of a complicated story, EA and BioWare have decided to reinstate a grace period for their new Star Wars MMO. The grace period allows those who preordered physical copies of the MMO to play the game for two days after the official launch on December 20 without entering the product code. Without the grace period, those users would have to wait for the boxed copy of the game to show up in order to access the code...

#starwars If you want to play a Star Wars massively-multiplayer online game with high-quality writing, lots of lightsabers and a ton of pre-Skywalker adventure, next week's Star Wars: The Old Republic can meet your demands. More »

We've been waiting years to play the retail release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Well, for some the wait is over. As announced via the official Old Republic Twitter account, waves of invites are going out today. This is well ahead of the official December 20th release date, and gives some players who pre-ordered the game almost a week of advanced game time...

It's time to put your regimented dragon-killing schedule on hold for a while, replacing it completely with an all new Jedi-killing routine -- early access for Star Wars: The Old Republic opens up today. If you pre-ordered the game through a traditional retailer or virtually through Origin, you'll be able to hop into the game today; assuming you're lucky enough to be a part of one of the waves of entrants BioWare is letting in, periodically, until the game's official December 20 launch.

The game can't allow everyone in all at once, probably because it would crush the servers like the windpipe of a Death Star insubordinate. Persistence should win you your prize, though. Well, persistence, and a pre-order code, and a monthly subscription.

It's happening, internet. It's finally happening. For Star Wars fans, MMO fans, and BioWare fans, the wait has stretched on for what feels like, and also is, years, but Star Wars: The Old Republic is just about to launch. As IGN's resident MMO expert (or MMPrO), reviewing The Old Republic will basically be my job for the next few weeks. I realize how murderously envious that may have made you...

Did you know early access for Star Wars: The Old Republic starts on December 13? Do you know which class you're going to play? No? IGN is here to help...

#starwars Can this month's Star Wars: The Old Republic fulfill years of development effort and hype? Can the new massively multiplayer game from BioWare achieve World of Warcraft-like success? Will it survive as a subscription-based MMO or have to switch, as so many of them do these days, to Free 2 Play? More »

No more beta tests and no more character wipes. Starting on December 13, 2011 those who preordered BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic will be rolled into in the live game before the official launch date of December 20. We'll be playing as soon as we get in, and posting plenty of impressions and video leading up to the official review, which will likely appear several weeks after launch after we've had a chance to adequately explore...

#starwars With only four days left before the launch of the early start program for Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare gives hopeful Sith Inquisitors some rather fetching outfits and tactics to look forward to. More »

EA has revealed details of its early access scheme for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it's better news than expected...

#starwars Upcoming Star Wars MMO Old Republic isn't even out yet. It's still in a beta. Yet over the Thanksgiving weekend in the US over 725,000 people logged on and played the thing. More »

EA has revealed that over two million players have participated in Star Wars: The Old Republic beta testing. According to EA, this makes the game "one of the biggest beta tests in history." The figure comes via the Global Media and Communications Conference, where EA revealed that each beta tester played an average of twelve hours over Thanksgiving weekend. Over nine million hours were played cumulatively during the same period...

#starwars Looking for a little intergalactic conflict music? Every day leading up to the game's December 20 launch BioWare is passing out free tracks from Star Wars: The Old Republic, perfect for endlessly looping while you stare at your calendar. More »

#starwarstheoldrepublic Australia's classification board has received an application for an M-rated game entitled "Paper, Scissors, Stone," to be published jointly by Electronic Arts, BioWare and LucasArts. As amusing as the concept is, this is most likely Star Wars: The Old Republic, which will not include Australia (nor any countries outside North America or Europe) when the game launches Dec. 20. More »

#starwars Having done a lot of business with Lucasarts—Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Star Wars: STFU—Activision boss Bobby Kotick knows who comes out ahead in that relationship. It ain't the publisher, he said, when asked his thoughts on Star Wars: The Old Republic. More »

Next month, Electronic Arts will release its second title this year meant to undermine the hearty foundations of cross-industry rival Activision. Last month Battlefield 3 went "above and beyond the call" - though notably didn't go above and beyond Modern Warfare 3's sales numbers or Xbox Live rankings - and next comes The Old Republic, which hopes to provide lapsing World of Warcraft subscribers with a Star Wars-flavored MMO-ternative.

"Lucas is going to be the principal beneficiary of the success of Star Wars," Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said at the Reuters Media Summit, referring to EA publishing partner (and more importantly Star Wars license owner!) LucasArts. "We've been in business with Lucas for a long time and the economics will always accrue to the benefit of Lucas, so I don't really understand how the economics work for Electronic Arts."

Earlier this year, EA said half a million subscribers would be all it needed to make the immense investment in The Old Republic a profitable one. With more than 1.1 million players abandoning Azeroth between March and November of this year, EA won't have a hard time hitting that minimum, but longevity is the true sign of a successful MMO and something that WoW has in spades.

While analysts and investors worry about Activision's lack of diversity in its portfolio, Kotick points out that Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure has outperformed expectations and the game's superpowered figurines run the risk of selling out. "(Skylanders) are in high demand," Kotick said. "Retailers across the board are concerned that they will be out of inventory well before Christmas." But can't Santa just make more? [Image credit: Flickr user yum9me]

Bobby Kotick, the outspoken CEO of Activision Blizzard, has questioned whether high-profile sci-fi MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, can be economically viable for rival publisher Electronic Arts...

In video games there's little worse than coming to the realization that your chosen MMO class doesn't work very well after weeks of play, so to ensure I wasn't wasting my time entirely this December when The Old Republic launches I've been playing a Sith Sorcerer in the latest beta phase. A few months ago I decided I wanted to try a healing build in the final game, and this way I could at least test the class out to make sure it was enjoyable...

#starwars This weekend I finally spent several uninterrupted hours in the heavy boots of one of Star Wars: The Old Republic's more ruthless classes: The Bounty Hunter. Did the experience change my opinion that BioWare's upcoming MMO is more akin to a single-player game that just happens to have other people in it? Not exactly. More »

#starwars Total Biscuit has posted a video taking an in-depth look at the various races and character classes in BioWare's upcoming Star Wars MMO The Old Republic. He breaks down the classes and the race restrictions (for example, a Cyborg can only be a bounty hunter or a trooper). More »

#starwars Would-be Jedi and bounty hunters will finally be getting the chance to jump into the beta of the long-brewing Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. The clip above highlights the kinds of massive conflicts that you'll find your TOR avatar embroiled in. Force powers, blasters, giant robots and jetpacks… good ingredients for a tasty action stew. We'll see how good they taste once The Old Republic beta goes live. More »

Have you been keeping up with coverage on BioWare's upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic? If not, we captured a bunch of video from the ongoing beta test, which you'll find posted below. Right now you'll find video of how combat works for the Inquisitor class, crafting and companions, character creation and The Old Republic's unique Huttball mode...

An important part of becoming immersed in an MMO is creating the character that will basically eat up all of your time from that point forward. It needs to be a character you can identify with, and will suit your playstyle. If all else fails, it needs to be hideous to the point of comedy, because a goofy character can be a great ice-breaker...

Over the years there's been a lot of coverage on IGN about BioWare's Star War: The Old Republic. Most of it dealt with combat on the ground the mechanics of each class, the companions that join your cause to fight and craft items, as well as dungeon and player versus player scenarios. Until recently none in the office had a chance to play around with the flight missions and space combat...