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Bioware to Make a KotOR MMO?: Kill WoW, Please...; Posted About 1 year ago by Coop

Not every rumor that pops up on the Internet can actually be considered "newsworthy." However, when Bioware, Knights of the Old Republic, and Massive Multiplayer Online RPG pop up in the same story it not only earn deserves to be written about, but deserved to have gamers squealing like schoolgirls at the very prospect.

"A source close to BioWare confirmed to us today that the studio’s upcoming untitled massively-multiplayer online RPG will be centered around the Star Wars universe, specifically that of Knights of the Old Republic, which the developer released in 2003. The game garnered critical acclaim and spawned a less-popular sequel, released by Obsidian two years later." -Source

If this news is true it could be the first game that has a fantastic chance of taking a large chunk of the World of Warcraft audience. KotOR was a fantastic game and the sequel suffered more from a mediocre plot that tried, in vain, to top the original then it did from bad gameplay.

So here is how I imagine it going: Bioware is going to separate itself as far from humanly possible from Sony Online Entertainment (also known as design kryptonite). Instead it is going to throw its hat into the high stack of hats of Electronic Arts. In turn, Electronic Arts goes into the MMO market full force with literal boatloads (or Corellian Corvetteloads) of cash and more advertising then you could shake a lightsaber at.

I really, really hope this pans out. I mean, there are plenty of fun MMO games to take in the meantime (Fury, Pirates of the Burning Sea) but this is really a different level.

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Wargath: Nov 29, 2007 06:15PM; Exactly my thoughts and by the way, we have launched a Wiki Knowledge Base that will be continuously enriched with information about BioWares's upcoming next-generation MMO. Everyone is welcome to visit the KotOR MMO Wiki at http://kotor.mmolab.com.

veryseriousman: Oct 23, 2007 05:45PM; The issue shouldn't be the fact that its a STAR WARS mmo, but the fact that it is a BIOWARE mmo.

Bioware is probably the one company that could make a game that could pull me away from WoW.

matthew: Oct 23, 2007 04:15PM; I loved Star Wars Galaxies, played it faithfully from release till C-Day [combat upgrade day] and i stilled played it, a few weeks into it and was very disappointed and with WoW right there, there was no reason for me to suffer the tradgity that SOE bestowed upon the SWG community.

They didn't even ASK us if we wanted a combat upgrade. We meant nothing to the corporate juggernaut only interested in gaining new casual players while shunning out the hardcore, long time paying, customers.

Coop: Oct 23, 2007 01:47PM; Servers are shut down for games all the time, EA is not even close to being the only one. Capcom shut down the servers to Resident Evil: Outbreak for the PS2 and that game is practically online only. Plus, EA has a massive check book - its not like they wouldn't get new servers for an MMO they would make. Them turning off the online servers for the PS2 Madden 2004 and them creating an MMO haven't even the slightest bit in common.

There really are not enough MMOs to base the assumption that "Old Things Turned into MMOs suck" on. Star Wars Galaxies was amazing when it came out and did fantastic, Lord of the Rings: Online is still doing very well, as is Dungeons and Dragons: Online. Planetside was terrible, and percentage-wise more MMOs tank that are original IPs then ones based on previous franchises/IPs.

Spacecowboy: Oct 23, 2007 11:41AM; Haven't we been down this Star wars and MMO road before?

If not im having a serious case of deja vu.

matthew: Oct 23, 2007 11:23AM; LOTR Online did great for a short stint. Now where is it?

User Assimilation Droid: Oct 23, 2007 11:16AM; MMOs based on older things usually don't ever turn out well... All the well-done MMOs that you know of are usually unique. Everquest, WoW (yes i know there is warcraft, but i mean OLDER things), Planetside.. they are all original.

matthew: Oct 23, 2007 10:55AM; yeah, i'm sure EA could find a way. especially if Warhammer Online takes off, they can see a big profit to be made on MMOs.

User Assimilation Droid: Oct 23, 2007 10:51AM; Good point, but EA is the only company that I know of that has ever shut off a PS2 game server before... I still play R&C:UYA on there :)

matthew: Oct 23, 2007 10:47AM; the big difference between a sports server being shut down and not being able to support an MMO server is that MMO's tend to have a source of income, subscription fee, to play.

User Assimilation Droid: Oct 23, 2007 10:41AM; EA doesn't have the servers to handle an MMO... They already shut off all the '06 sports servers because they didn't feel like taking care of them anymore.

matthew: Oct 23, 2007 10:10AM; i loved the second kotor.. :[ let's hope if they make another SW MMO, they don't SOE it and make me cry ant night