Example: Star Wars: The Old Republic will be released in October, 2010.
Yeah, guys, that was never in the wings. The fact of the matter is that the game was never delayed. You need at minimum a projected release date before something can be delayed. I personally find it pretty ridiculous that some people are worried about hype dying down for a game which they themselves thrust a false release date upon because they're so hyped up for it.
Had BioWare released most or all information on the game then we'd have a problem, but they didn't. In fact, besides a handful of planets and the classes we don't know much else about this game. Between snippets of press only play sessions and some basic discussion of the game's actual mechanics, all we really know is that Star Wars: The Old Republic is trying to bridge the gap between a story focused singleplayer game and a socially focused massively multiplayer game.
The need for some expectant fans to force responsibility on BioWare for an unfounded rumor is nothing short of complete nonsense. Once again we find that self-entitled knee jerking response, which isn't much of a surprise so much as it's slightly annoying and mostly disappointing.
I know there's plenty of you who weren't expecting the game in 2010 (Can you believe some were thinking it was going to happen in 2009?) and you very well may be the majority. It's just this group of melodramatic types that causes me to sigh and power down my computer, because to do otherwise would likely be a fruitless venture.
oh, crud.
Well anyhow, now that I'm here we may as well discuss why the hype isn't going to die down over the course of 2010 and its not-releasing-SWTOR-ness.
It's BioWare, making a Star Wars singleplayer story focused experience that's also an MMO. If there aren't a million questions to wonder about, then I'm not certain you've done enough thinking.
How will it successfully merge these two vastly contrastive designs? What will PvP be like, if not very similar to what we've already seen? What kinds of social features will the game employ? What sort of crafting system does the game have? What are SWTOR's playable races? All these questions -- and many more -- are fair game in the next year, and it's exactly through them that BioWare and Electronic Arts will keep the hype sizzling nicely.
Plus, you know, it's a new Star Wars MMO.
I keep hammering that one home because it's reason enough to keep the hype roiling until launch looms close. You guys think this is so terrible, but do you want to know real game delay pain? Try being a fan of the Splinter Cell series. Conviction, the fifth game in the series, has seen multiple news blackouts and delays since its May 2007 announcement. It was delayed again recently, a month before it was due out in late February. We're waiting until April now.
Making things worse, there's copious amounts of Conviction gameplay videos floating around the Internet which pretty much show you everything there is to know about the game. It's going to be a long three months, knowing what I know.
SWTOR is still largely a mystery, and there's plenty of lore to explore in the long term as well. We've got all kinds of things to look forward to in the coming months, and when the game does come out, we'll have the kind of quality BioWare is known for. Now, let's just hope this doesn't turn into a Dragon Age: Origins situation, because then you're all going to lose your freaking minds.
Tips? Suggestions? Complaints? Let me hear them via email at kyle AT massively DOT com!
