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SWTOR invites Australia and New Zealand into testing

by Larry Everett on Oct 11th 2011 5:30PM

Betas, Sci-Fi, News Items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

We know that Star Wars: The Old Republic is set to release in the United States and Europe on December 20th and 22nd respectively. As of yet, however, we do not have a release date for oceanic countries like Australia and New Zealand. We know these SWTOR fans are champing at the bit to get their hands on the game just as much as the rest of the world.

Today, hot on the heels of the official European testing announcement, BioWare Community Coordinator Allison Berryman announced that the latest round of testing invites just left the Austin offices. This smaller group is designed to test out the west coast server for a limited time, and much to the delight of players, the group includes players from Australia and New Zealand.

Berryman reminds readers that this does not mean BioWare has a defined release date yet for that region, but the community team will let everyone know as soon as it does.

Via: Darth Hater
Source: SWTOR official forums

Tags: Allison-Berryman, australia, beta-testing, BioWare, EA, Electronic-Arts, game-testing, LucasArts, new-zealand, Star-Wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, SWTOR, the-old-republic, TOR

Reader Comments (27)

One thing I'm really surprised about is no Asian launch. If they want/need/would like WoW numbers, they should know that more than half (I think) of WoW subs are in Asia and they are unlikely to ever reach 2 million+ unless they go into this market majorly.
Nothing to do with the game, I have my own opinions, just making what seems an obvious point.

@BigAndShiny

I love how everyone assumes they want WoW like numbers. I can bet Blizz didnt think theyd get the numbers they did. I fully expect BioWare to know that.

@Oskiee
Agree.

I've seen it a few times now that if TOR can sell 2 million boxes and get just 25% of those people to retain, that's still 500k subs. Considering they are projected to sell at least 3 million, 2 million should be cake.

Anything thinking they can't keep 25% is probably crazy or hating big time in the face of conventional wisdom.

Even Warhammer had sold just under one million "units" in the first six months and they were able to retain 300K subs as they announced in that first December.

I expect TOR to be twice as good as Warhammer PvE wise and four times as bug free content wise.

@BigAndShiny
asian numbers are simply that, numbers.

their pay by hour model is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than a standard sub, and in half of the asian countries players dont even pay for the client/expacs.

Im sure BioWare will be a lot happier (and wealthier) with 2m western subs that they would be with 8m asian players.

leave the asian market for later, its purely a PR move.

@BigAndShiny

LoL WOW numbers, WOW started with 245,000 subs (240,000 pre-order sales) at start and slowly built their player base over the months. Also not including Asia is a smart move as that is where 80% of scammers, and haackers come from and why be in a rush to include that??

SWTOR has just shy of 600,000 US Retail Pre-orders as of Monday and that is not including Europe, or Digital sales which can easily put it at 1.5 million pre-orders as of today and it still has 2 months to go.

Just checked my email, and I got in. Not sure yet if I'm going to go for it, though. I'm having so much fun in CoH and every time I hear something more about TOR I become less interested in it.

Then again, it's a way to confirm my disinterest without paying a cent and I'm sure it will be somewhat enjoyable in the short term.

/ponder

@JuliusSeizure Decide when it's free rather than waste money and rage.

@Lucidus

Actually, it's more like 'play now or don't bother until there's a trial version'.

@JuliusSeizure i'll be glad to take that invite off your hands if it's an issue :)

@Resurge

Can't do, sorry. The invite is tied specifically to my forum account, and that's tied to my secret 'sign up to stuff to keep private' email.

@JuliusSeizure Hey a lot of people are trying to get into that beta. At least log in or something...It kind of an insult to us if you don't

@Tizmah

I can decline, in which case I assume someone else will get invited in my place. I just want a few hours to think it over. ;)

@JuliusSeizure
Come on. I don't think Bioware is going to send your key to someone else if you don't use it. So, please don't waste the key. Go for it , or pass it to someone else who is dying for a beta key will you? (me :) ? )

@duyth

I think you don't understand. There are two options given at the page the email directs you to: Accept Invite or Decline Invite. Considering I could just ignore it, I don't see any reason for a decline option unless it's to send out a new invite for someone else.

Anyway, I guess I'm gonna give it a go. I like the aesthetics of the game and the voices are well done as far as I've seen. And it's not like I hate the gameplay style, just unenthusiastic.

@JuliusSeizure

"I think you don't understand. There are two options given at the page the email directs you to: Accept Invite or Decline Invite. Considering I could just ignore it, I don't see any reason for a decline option unless it's to send out a new invite for someone else."

If you accept you're able to play but you'll be removed from the beta pool and wont be invited again (since there are so many testers waiting in line).

If you decline you wont be able to play but you do go back into the beta pool and may be randomly picked again.

If you do nothing you won't be able to play and you'll be removed from the beta selection pool.

seeing all these beta invite posts and never getting one myself, even though i've been a community member at their site for close to 3 years is sorta like slow torture.....

grats Aussies... enjoy!

lol still no release date for AU..."we just cant seem to figure out how to let them digitally download unlimited copies of our game , then charge them more for an inferior service...we're going to see if we can nail it in beta."

I can confirm an Aussie account with an Aussie address just got in. :)

Good news! I wonder if this means they have changed their minds about not releasing in Oceanic regions at launch?

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments

SWTOR invites Australia and New Zealand into testing

Reader Comments (27)

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 5:38PM BigAndShiny said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:22PM Oskiee said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:29PM real65rcncom said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:42PM Fabius Bile said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 8:54PM kylowe said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 5:40PM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 5:46PM Lucidus said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:02PM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:08PM Resurge said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 7:00PM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 10:30PM Tizmah said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 10:42PM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: Oct 12th 2011 1:12AM duyth said

Posted: Oct 12th 2011 2:07AM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: Oct 12th 2011 8:33PM JoolaPrime said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:09PM Resurge said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:25PM real65rcncom said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:39PM SKYeXile said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 6:48PM mmogaddict said

Posted: Oct 11th 2011 7:28PM Tovrin said

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