EA quotes '200 hours of gameplay per class' in SWTOR

@Temploiter
No Treadmill Bioware is planning on frequent content updates...no they will not code to the no lifes that spend 24/7 playing the game, but the average player can expect a steady stream of content updates..they already have a Ten Year road-map laid out.

I think where this game is going to be different is Bioware is willing to say okay you done everything? Unsubscribe and come back when we have something new for you. Which is infinitely better than throwing out a bunch of lame whack the loot piñata Raids

@Temploiter

After those 200 hours, reroll or quit and change game.
I'm always baffled by the concept "MMORPGs must last forever": it's something designer wants and try to accomplish by introducing various grinds, but grinding (such repeating the same raid for months for better gear) isn't something that a sane person would define fun.

@Dunraven

You just contradicted yourself: on the one hand you say they promise regular content updates (yeah, who doesn't? How'd that turn out for DCUO?) and on the other you say they "won't cater to no-lifers" and they'll be "happy for you to unsub."

I doubt they want you to unsub. And, similarly, they wouldn't bother with content updates all that regularly, since ultra-casuals would probably never raid in the first place, nullifying that.

Also: source your info or no dice. 10 year roadmap? The unsub is fine idea? Where's this from your inklings of what goes on at BioWare or cold, hard facts?

The true challenge would be to create a meaningful, diverse and above all * interesting* treadmill, not just say "screw you guys who play more, here's some more sparkle ponies to buy."

@Dunraven

"I think where this game is going to be different is Bioware is willing to say okay you done everything? Unsubscribe and come back when we have something new for you. "

Really? Where did you get this idea from? If TOR is a subscription based game, and it looks like it will be, they will never think it's okay for people to unsubscribe. They will want enough updates to keep people subbed, or they'll do what many games (ie WoW) do and put up arbitary barriers and daily tasks to keep you subbed. Maybe I sound cynical, but I simply cannot believe that Bioware and EA are spending a fortune to make a subscription based game where they tell players it's okay to unsubscribe whenever they feel a little bored.

@Sephirah

Why is it baffling?

For every other service that requires a subscription, you expect it to last a while, so that it's actually worth paying a sub. If BioWare wanted to release KOTOR3, I'd accept that it was a single romp through a story.

It isn't. It's an MMO. They're meant to last a while. They're meant to be something you can live in and enjoy.

I have absolutely no intention of playing through the 200 hours and saying "right what next?" I expect more from an MMO. I expect there to be things to work towards, and if that involves good, meaningful raiding, all the better.

If you consider raiding a grind, I have to ask: what DON'T you consider a grind?

@Sephirah

Why make it an MMORPG then? Why have a subscription fee if they don't want to keep you playing and paying? Just price the box at 200 bucks and walk away.

To all the people down-voting me, I'm going to laugh when you realize that this is just like every other single MMO on the market with an end-game treadmill. Oh, new content? We just moved your treadmill over here, it will take you a couple of hours to get to it, then you can start running in place again.

@Dril

I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves. There's no evidence that TOR is a play-it-and-leave-it-experience or that BioWare wants people to take breaks.

But there does need to be a reality check among hardcore players that exhaust all the content: eventually it's going to feel like a treadmill. They can release new quest chains and other original content, but soon those will be old news and it's back to the repeatable content. It can't seem new and fresh forever, you do anything that many times it gets old.

@Mattx0x
You don't have that option in this game because it's all voiced. Nothing to read.

@Puremallace yeah there are subtitles, The key is that weather you read it or listen there is hopefully some context, i just hope the writing team is as good as they say they are.

@vinnypop Good, because I'm someone who doesn't care for voice unless it happens while I'm playing. For example, GlaDOS talking to you in Portal while you're heading to the next puzzle. When the game stops you to deliver voiced quest text, I just want to read the subtitles, since I can read faster.

@Mattx0x You can "spacebar" through the VO. This has been confirmed by BioWare and by players at E3. 200 hours is the average - and does not include raiding or PvP. Some people will be faster and some people will be slower. Some people will PvP. Some people will raid. Some won't. Just as some people will play all 8 different Class stories - each with an average of 200 hours of play. Now 8 * 200 = 1,600 hours. At 4 hours per day = 400 days. 365 days in a year - so 1 year, and a little over a month, if a person plays all 8 classes (with ZERO PvP and ZERO raiding).

@(Unverified) if you play 8 hours a day (which pretty much confirms you have no life) it would take you 25 days per class, and that doesn’t take into account Flash points Heroic arch quest, Raids, and PVP. The first content update is going to be one month after launch with a steady stream of content updates after that.

The thing to keep in mind here is no company can give you content that you can play 24/7 indefinitely.

@Dril Not misinformation guy I'm currently in beta and am a active member on the beta forums...Bioware has been clear about this, every-time a no lifer starts crying about burning through content too fast Bioware flat out tells them the game wasn't meant to be played 24/7.

Of course, that assumes that an individual wants to play all the classes.

@Issmir
Then again, if you buy a game with the intention of only playing a subset of the content then you probably shouldn't complain about a lack of content since its purely self imposed.