[Toru-chan]

George Lucas' movie franchise has long hit rock bottom. The only thing it didn't stoop to was cameos (and in N'Sync we nearly got that). But with the exception of a few bad apples like the crappy 'Rebel Assault', the Game Franchise has ranged from fairly to very good. The games vary a lot across titles, from the immersive KOTOR to the no-brainer first-person shooter BattleFront, but the quality is always there.

EA have announced that BioWare's upcoming MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online, like EverQuest/World of Warcraft) will in fact be a KOTOR title.

Mixed feelings about this. Bioware/Pandemic have done some great Star Wars titles in the past, but this will be the first since they were bought out by EA (Electronic Arts); a game company that pushes bland cookie-cutter franchises and has a reputation for treating its workers like slave labor. Creative companies always tank after a take-over. It's safe to say Bioware/Pandemic's best years are behind them.

Also, it's a bit late in the day for another MMO. War of Warcraft owns that market, with a few niche players like Eve Online. Hundreds of companies have scrambled to cash in, but they've all crashed and burned. It's a bit like saying "Wow! Coke and Pepsi are making a lot of money, so I'm going to launch me a cola-based soft drink". You'd fail. While KOTOR did get a good name, I think its the sunset years for the Star Wars franchise.

If I did decide to waste the next year of my life playing an MMO, it would probably be Eve Online (a space simulator with a pretty active community).

Then there's Sony's Star Wars Galaxies MMO. This was a brave attempt, lead by Raph Koster, a veteran in MMO design. Koster broke a lot of new ground in the design of MMO by trying to make it a truly interactive galactic community. Sadly, quality was a big issue and Sony panicked, firing Koster and turning it into a brainless first-person shooter, alienating its fan base. What will happen to Star Wars Galaxies. More to the point, will anyone care? One thing it taught us is everyone wants to be a Jedi, but you can't have an MMO where everyone is a Jedi. It just doesn't work. I hope EA crashes and burns on this one. They're long overdue to collect on their their bad karma.

http://www.gamespot....estnews;title;1
http://games.slashdo...8/1948222.shtml

PS. What the frack is up with the ChefElf forum? Supposedly there are hundreds of people reading these threads, but hardly anyone posting. There hasn't been much Star Wars news out there worth reporting. GL should have made a new franchise when he had the chance. Ah well. I may be the last man standing, but "Hi" to the old regulars who still lurk out there.

This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 18 July 2008 - 07:11 PM

[Slade]

Firstly, you don't need to write a whole essay. But I won't "too long; didn't read" you.

Secondly, I agree that EA eating Bioware has pretty much guaranteed that the company is mostly ruined, and there's not much room for a new MMO. I had a friend who was into SW:G for a while, and it seemed like they'd patch the game and fundamentally change gameplay and character development every other week for a while. It seemed like an interesting take for what I saw. I don't like MMOs because they all turn into one big grindfest eventually, where you're stuck dodging whiny twelve year olds in search of good groups, just so you can kill more stuff or make more money.

This whole thing is one big facepalm, even with all the weight EA has to throw around.

Lastly, I don't know what to tell you about the forums. We apparently always have a million lurkers, but never more than a few members logged in and posting. I'm hoping we get an influx of interesting/new/active people soon, and outside of the SW and FR sub-forums, so I actually see them.

[Vesuvius]

Well, there's a KotOR I'm not playing. I was waiting for the Xbox 360 to have a new SW title (especially KotOR) but looks like that won't be happening. Glad I didn't purchase any new game systems yet. None of them look like they have anything interesting on them.

BTW, I just got into the SW Battlefront series, the second one for Xbox. It's alright, but now that I see that EA has bought out Pandemic and BioWare, well... now there's nothing left really.

MMO's ...hmmm, Slade put it in the best words possible.

[Toru-chan]

Firstly, you don't need to write a whole essay. But I won't "too long; didn't read" you.

Excuse my rambling from the corner table. I didn't think there was anyone else left in the saloon.

BTW, I just got into the SW Battlefront series, the second one for Xbox. It's alright, but now that I see that EA has bought out Pandemic and BioWare, well... now there's nothing left really.

I did like Battlefront as a good mindless shoot-em-up, though the AI is poor. There are no coordinated attacks. Every trooper fights as if they're the only trooper on the field and there was no story. I was looking forward to Battlefront 2 to fix those, but it was so similar they might as well re-released the same game with a '2' label stuck on the front.

MMO's ...hmmm, Slade put it in the best words possible.

Yeah. Too bad. LucasFilms and EA Executives are pointing to a poster for WoW saying "I want that! Get me some of that!" These guys couldn't innovate their way out of a wet paper bag, and they don't understand (as Raph Koster found out) that innovation doesn't kick in overnight.

Glad I didn't purchase any new game systems yet. None of them look like they have anything interesting on them.

Yeah. Companies are all either chasing the MMO Cash Cow or doing their Nth version of some earlier franchise. Time for some new ideas.

This whole thing is one big facepalm, even with all the weight EA has to throw around.

Maybe even because of it. EA and LucasFilm are both lowest-common-denominator companies.

Lastly, I don't know what to tell you about the forums. We apparently always have a million lurkers, but never more than a few members logged in and posting.

Topics come up on occasion before, last with "The Bond Wars". Conclusion from the regulars has generally been that there's little left to talk about in the SW Universe. The wheels have fallen off the franchise, and Lucas latest efforts like the Clone Wars Cartoons have generated little interest. I guess if Lucas had talked Harrison Ford into staring in a new Star Wars movie we might have something new to talk about? Until then we wait for the inevitable remake, probably by someone other than George Lucas. Given how Hollywood is for remakes, it will happen one day.

This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 21 July 2008 - 06:43 PM

[Vesuvius]

Until then we wait for the inevitable remake, probably by someone other than George Lucas. Given how Hollywood is for remakes, it will happen one day.

Heh, Peter Jackson is sitting in his cave right now with the Ring of Power, biding his time, waiting patiently for Lucas to exhale his last, and finally, the deception and tyranny of the PT will be made over. And here's the thing, Peter Jackson will make the PT over, and treat it like these events actually happened, much like his secret to LotR.

I don't doubt that PJ could even put the OT to absolute shame! So long as he makes it believable and gets rid of entirely, the midichlorians.

[Toru-chan]

Now that would be an interesting though experiment... What if PJ did PT and what the heck OT too? One of the reasons PJ did such a great job with the LOTR films was he was a huge fan of the books to begin with, and had a strong vision. Of course he was also a huge fan of King Kong and that didn't do anywhere nearly as well. I never saw that (because my interest in the King Kong concept is limited and the reviews weren't very kind - although interestingly Ebert liked it http://rogerebert.su...S/51203002/1023 ). But yeah; if PJ did do the PT films he would have kicked GL's ass. I heard an interview with Spielberg once where he said he begged GL to let him direct one, but they're GL's baby and he won't let anyone else mess with them (ironic really! ;-)

This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 27 July 2008 - 08:18 PM

[Vesuvius]

I heard an interview with Spielberg once where he said he begged GL to let him direct one, but they're GL's baby and he won't let anyone else mess with them (ironic really! ;-)

Ick! Spielberg doing SW?! No, I can tell you already the all too repetitive layout of the film...

Jedi are good people, Sith are bad people, Jedi do some cool things to progress the story, the Sith do some bad things to progress the story. The Jedi I caught somewhere where something huge is coming at them, they narowly escape this rehashed obstical. The Sith hunt the Jedi. The Jedi hide somewhere really small and confined, you know, like War of the Worlds, and Jurrasic Park? The Jedi get free through some sort of "technicality." The Jedi and Sith maybe fight a bit, but we all know that the Sith live amidst their own problems, (Like dinosaurs on an Island, or aliens catching a cold) and the Jedi come to terms with whatever they did earlier in the film. (Think Obi-wan "Another happy landing!")

There would be nothing new here and I'm sure Lucas knows it. Bleah!

[Toru-chan]

Interesting. Spielberg's explanation (and who knows how many variations this story may have been through) was that "Star Wars is George's Baby and he wasn't going to me touch it" (I'm quoting from memory). Was GL really thinking "Spieberg do it? Puulllleeaze! LOL! GTFO!"

Spielberg can do well (the original Raiders), but he can also stuff it up terribly (Temple of Doom). That was a bad movie. I already knew much of it before I saw it from that famed Variety Interview I read with George Lucas. Back then he described it as stuff he originally wanted to put into the original Raiders movie, but didn't have room for and dropped. He didn't talk about it in the sequel, but when it appeared I recognised it. Despite the material, Temple of Doom was a really bad movie.

I was also a little surprised to learn that Spielberg and Cruise were big advocated of the Invasion of Iraq. I didn't learn that until recently. I though Spielberg was all peace, love and understanding. There's another side to him. The South Park Creators said he wrote an abusive letter to them which they described as the "nastiest nice letter they ever received."

[Vesuvius]

I was also a little surprised to learn that Spielberg and Cruise were big advocated of the Invasion of Iraq. I didn't learn that until recently. I though Spielberg was all peace, love and understanding. There's another side to him. The South Park Creators said he wrote an abusive letter to them which they described as the "nastiest nice letter they ever received."

Well, it was Spielberg that did "Saving Private Ryan." I see it as, one has to be pretty interested in something in order to do an entire film about it. And c'mon, movies without violence are seldom cool. Violence like sex, sells a lot. How much fun would SW be without lightsaber battles or TIE fighters?!

Hah! Was the South Park letter about the episode where they make fun of Spielberg and Lucas adding a bunch of computer effects to RotLA?

[Toru-chan]

With the darker side of Spielberg now out in the open, I'm wondering how ET and CE3K ever got made?

As for the letter, yeah. It was for the episode South Park made taking the p*ss out of Lucas and Spielberg. Can't find the original refeference, but this blogger sums it nicely:

For days afterward, it was all that people in Hollywood could talk about: "Did you see this week's episode of 'South Park'? Man, they totally trashed George and Steven. Made them both look like greedy idiots."

And Lucas and Spielberg didn't like being thought of as greedy idiots. Being the subject of this much ridicule really didn't appeal to these two filmmakers. Which is why George and Steve supposedly began talking about whether it was actually wise to go forward with the redo of "Raiders." To leave themselves open to this sort of criticism.

Mind you, Lucas and Spielberg wouldn't ever admit that this particular episode of "South Park" was what eventually persuaded them to leave "Raiders of the Lost Ark" alone. If anything. George and Steve made an elaborate public show out of shrugging that particular program. Insisting that - yes - they got the joke. That they were both honored and very flattered to be the subjects of such ripe satire on Comedy Central's No. 1 program.

Spielberg even went so far as to send a letter to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, thanking them for including him in their show. Matt described Steve's note as being almost schizophremic. "The nicest, nastiest letter I've ever gotten."

http://jimhillmedia..../10/21/149.aspx

I've never seen it, but after reading that I just have to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hat

[Vesuvius]

Heh, nice. I rarely watch the show (south park), but the funniest ones are when they say something about GL, SW, or something either of the two mess up.

[Toru-chan]

They announced it Today. Again.

How many times can you "Announce" the same game?

http://games.slashdo...21/238250.shtml
http://www.gamasutra...php?story=20757
http://www.gamespot....ws/6199726.html

Too little. Too late. As every other MMOG developer has found, WOW own the market.

[Dr Lecter]

They just mean that they are revealing actual game content, not just talking about it anymore. But yeah, you know they are clutching at straws if you have to make an MMO out of a franchise.

This post has been edited by Dr Lecter: 22 October 2008 - 09:37 AM

[pandora114]

<fast reply>

Yes I'm a n00b to these forums, no I'm not a n00b to forums in general I just don't feel like posting an intro.

Anyway, this MMO will probably turn out to be similar to the "Starwars Galaxies" game, attract a bunch of 13 year old n00bs who constantly refer to "Rogue" as "Rouge"

Like Rouge squadron? Isn't that a name for a space brothel or something?

[Toru-chan]

Like Rouge squadron? Isn't that a name for a space brothel or something?

When I'm bored one evening I will make my own dub of the star wars movies:

"Rogue three, this is Scoundrel one. Heel four reports no sign of Cad seven. Over."