The community team at BioWare told us that we would know when the train was coming, but it came crashing through our house when half of us were still sleeping. As we reported earlier, Star Wars: The Old Republic set its launch day for December 20th for North America and December 22nd for Europe. All the fans exhaled in relief, then promptly started asking more questions.
First off, the Australian and New Zealand launch dates have not been set, and BioWare cannot commit to a launch day yet for that region. However, back in August, Senior Community Manager Stephen Reid posted on the official forums that "There are no plans to 'region lock' or 'IP block' players from the game. You may experience some latency issues if you're not playing in a launch territory." This still holds true today.
To prevent signup issues on launch day, log-ins will be throttled. However, pre-order customers will still gain early access to the game. Senior Community Coordinator Allison Berryman reported on the official forum: "The beginning of Early Game Access will depend on a number of factors, including results from our Game Testing Program and Pre-Orders, but there will be multiple days of access."
Lastly, in case you missed it earlier, BioWare did announce the subscription costs. It comes as no surprise to most MMO gamers that the first month is free with the purchase of the game. After that it's $14.99 per month (£8.99 or €12.99), $41.97 for 3 months (£25.17 or €35.97), or $77.94 for six months (£46.14 or €65.94). There have been no lifetime subscription announcements as of yet, but we will let you know if we hear anything.
Reader Comments (101)
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 11:46AM KDolo said
Ren must not be awake yet.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 4:34PM Bladerunner83 said
@Ren54
Everyone in this commenting thread knows that you will go out and buy this game. Don't deny the fact that some aspects of this game interest you. You obviously like Rift, and we know that Rift is an elaborate copy of WoW, and you have already stated the similarities of SWTOR and WoW. So everything is the same now, no reason to complain, it's inevitable, you will buy this game, you will play it for the first free 30 days, and you will reluctantly like it. Finally adding to the millions of anonymous gamers that will thoroughly enjoy SWTOR. You cannot change the likes or dislikes of a trend that has in-cultured itself into American society, just like we cannot change your passion for Rift.
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Everyone in this commenting thread knows that you will go out and buy this game. Don't deny the fact that some aspects of this game interest you. You obviously like Rift, and we know that Rift is an elaborate copy of WoW, and you have already stated the similarities of SWTOR and WoW. So everything is the same now, no reason to complain, it's inevitable, you will buy this game, you will play it for the first free 30 days, and you will reluctantly like it. Finally adding to the millions of anonymous gamers that will thoroughly enjoy SWTOR. You cannot change the likes or dislikes of a trend that has in-cultured itself into American society, just like we cannot change your passion for Rift.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 11:48AM (Unverified) said
Incoming Warcraft patch Tues before the 20th of Dec.
Yippee , we finally know, Thank you Bioware.
Yippee , we finally know, Thank you Bioware.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 1:30PM (Unverified) said
@Ren54
Once again pure speculation. But, at least if I roll an alt I will get a new starting zone and entirely different questlines, unlike *some* games out there:P
Beak
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Once again pure speculation. But, at least if I roll an alt I will get a new starting zone and entirely different questlines, unlike *some* games out there:P
Beak
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 2:02PM Spacegrass said
@Ren54
Rift couldn't even keep me interested enough to reach max level, so if I make to to 50 in SWTOR it will have been a better game. That, and rerolling in SWTOR actually looks like fun, instead of having to do the same tedious quests you did with your main.
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Rift couldn't even keep me interested enough to reach max level, so if I make to to 50 in SWTOR it will have been a better game. That, and rerolling in SWTOR actually looks like fun, instead of having to do the same tedious quests you did with your main.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 2:10PM (Unverified) said
@Ren54
Blablabla, another delusional themepark hater who can't get it into his head that not everyone is like him, and that YEARS of MMO gaming have clearly proven that people can enjoy themepark based MMO's for years, especially if they're large and filled with content.
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Blablabla, another delusional themepark hater who can't get it into his head that not everyone is like him, and that YEARS of MMO gaming have clearly proven that people can enjoy themepark based MMO's for years, especially if they're large and filled with content.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 3:39PM (Unverified) said
@Ren54
Petty Rift fans worried that SWTOR will grab those bored Rift players is far more hilarious. You're ridiculous man, and your Rift fanboism is pathetic, get out of that basement of yours and grow up. Play Rift if you like that, and let other people enjoy the games they like.
Or are you that sad a human being that you have to bash any other game for fear of your precious Rift? Are you that pathetic that you have trouble with other MMO gamers actually looking forward and enjoying another game than Rift?
Reply
Petty Rift fans worried that SWTOR will grab those bored Rift players is far more hilarious. You're ridiculous man, and your Rift fanboism is pathetic, get out of that basement of yours and grow up. Play Rift if you like that, and let other people enjoy the games they like.
Or are you that sad a human being that you have to bash any other game for fear of your precious Rift? Are you that pathetic that you have trouble with other MMO gamers actually looking forward and enjoying another game than Rift?
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 11:56AM Bolongo said
Early access is for "multiple days"?
The way they were touting it as a lure to pre-order I thought it would be a couple of weeks at least. :(
The way they were touting it as a lure to pre-order I thought it would be a couple of weeks at least. :(
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 12:11PM (Unverified) said
@Bolongo Well that's awfully silly of you. It's not like games haven't done early access before, and it's usually the weekend before the release date.
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Posted: Sep 24th 2011 12:13PM Mystal said
@Bolongo
The most that I've ever heard mentioned was 7 days, and that was from retailers that had bad/old information from before the pre order was even opened up (back when BW was still kicking around the idea of 7 days for CE/DDE pre orders and 3 days for regular edition pre orders).
BW has never actually committed to anything except "early."
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The most that I've ever heard mentioned was 7 days, and that was from retailers that had bad/old information from before the pre order was even opened up (back when BW was still kicking around the idea of 7 days for CE/DDE pre orders and 3 days for regular edition pre orders).
BW has never actually committed to anything except "early."
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 2:00PM LaughingTarget said
@Bolongo
It will be just long enough to keep everyone from crushing the starting planet.
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It will be just long enough to keep everyone from crushing the starting planet.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 11:57AM M1sterLee said
Ouch that seems like a dangerous release date for a major MMO. I guess no one at Bioware is getting any Xmas holiday this year!
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 12:19PM jealouspirate said
@M1sterLee
Yeah, it`s a shame, you just know there will be tons of Bioware employees working all through Christmas.
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Yeah, it`s a shame, you just know there will be tons of Bioware employees working all through Christmas.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 12:07PM (Unverified) said
Busy morning, still no Ren? Odd.
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 12:20PM Jediblues said
Sweet. In beta and I love this game. Can't wait to play it with my whole guild though. I'm glad I have a laptop, that way I can zip around Hutta between mouthfuls of turkey :p
Posted: Sep 24th 2011 12:30PM Space Cobra said
Well, given some of the delayed Beta test weekends, I am not surprised my speculated dates won't be hit (until a week or so ago, end-of-October was a favorite. End of November was my second choice).
Good on them to keep up the bug-squashing. At least this date will give conspiracy theorist false ammo as to why SWG is closing down Dec.15 and that they were right all along! ;P (And they aren't; one doesn't have anything to do with the other).
Good on them to keep up the bug-squashing. At least this date will give conspiracy theorist false ammo as to why SWG is closing down Dec.15 and that they were right all along! ;P (And they aren't; one doesn't have anything to do with the other).









