Must resist temptation to ignore all sense of skepticism.

bdwho

My expectations have nowhere to go but up.

ShadowMoses

"And millions of fanboys suddenly cried out in orgasm, and were suddenly silenced."

Srsly. KOTOR MMO? Im thar.

CanaryWundaboy

@undefined: Food for thought:

The development team working on it is, last I heard, comprised primarily of folks that developed the initial build of Galaxies.

My hopes are pretty high.

0bsessions

...Yay?

ME2 tyvm.

Moonshadow101

YES! YES! YESSSSSS!!!!!

and boom goes the dynamite....

rbee90

Best news all year.

Defoliantonthemoneytree

My Warhammer Online is getting cancelled if KOTOR MMO comes out and is good.

DigitalHero

Any time I see the letters KOTOR and MMO in the same line/sentence, I die a little inside. I want an honest-to-God, true KOTOR III, not an MMO. :(
I really hope once they get this non-sense out of the way, they can focus on the real game.

Erode

I loved the first two games so much, even though the Non-Bioware-Number-Two had the most confusing and broken ending ever. I hope the MMO could clear out that bad taste.

TheMurderer

This game alone is the only thing that has ever made me even consider paying for Live....Ewww paying for LIVE I feel dirty now.

hk458

I'd love to be a Jedi Hutt.

Ashurahori

i glanced through the article and where it says British, i thought i read Lord British, and that got me to thinking, what happened to Tabula Rasa, did that shut down yet?

pandafresh

At least they will know to avoid every single pitfall that was SWG.

PsycheE

I absolutly loved KOTOR I&II, even with II's F---ed up ending. But an MMO? I'm not an MMO person, so i don't quite know how it works (And monthly fees are for suckers) but I'm not sure how exactly KOTOR would translate to an MMO.
Also, this has got to be one of the worst kept secrets in gaming. Seriously, we have known about this for two years now.

Acebuckeye13

@Cojo21:
Except you will be easily scared. And return soon and in greater numbers...

Sorry I couldn't resist.

s1xsh00ter91

I wanna be a jawa. No fancy Jedi stuff for me. Or maybe a sandperson.... you know wander around the desert... kill stuff. Shake my fist or gun in the air sometimes. Make that noise, you know, that sandperson noise. Can't wait.

Cojo21

@Master Saji: @
This is like auto hyped. Sorry :/

s1xsh00ter91

I loved the first two games. And if they do a good enough job translating the lore, system, and gameplay over to the MMO setup, consider me a day one purchaser. I do hope the rumors are true for this.

PhoenixAzure

Building your own Lightsaber, ftw.......

Formula1

Must not get hyped...must not...get...

f**k...

Master Saji

I better not have to pay anything extra for this if I'm playing over Live. Other than that (which may or may not actually not exist), it sounds pretty cool.

TSlade

Hopefully this is good, though monthly fees may be enough to steer me away.

X Omega Gold

Maybe this will be an MMO I can finally stick with long-term. Hopefully they take a few design cues from the early days of SWG and blend that with KOTOR's great design and story telling.

Raziel66

I really hope the KOTOR MMO doesn't turn out to be KOTOR 3, as in This MMO is KOTOR 3 so if you hate MMOG's your screwed

Jawmuncher

What I would have given for an actual KOTORIII. Sigh.

FigNewton

Oh my god! I can't wait! Its like Star Wars Galaxies 2!

s1xsh00ter91

I'll have to add this on my radar. I'm also looking forward to All Points Bulletin (Those GDC video's were awesome). I do think Blizzard will be unveiling their next MMO possibly late next year/early 2010. As much as I like MMO's I don't know if my life can handle one.

TheFamous1

I do hope this isn't a replacement for KOTOR III. I want some closure to my Revan storyline, dammit!

mphz

I personally can not wait to get hyped up by it and ultimately become disappointed when it is SWG's CU or NGE set 2000 years earlier.

That Lamer

ill be the first to say im excited :D

mascot1063

@TSlade: Prepare to not play then.

They're going to charge a monthly fee to play their MMO, just like every other MMO. Just because you might be playing it over Live does in no way eliminate the fee for playing.

LaserJudas

@Assassin_Kensei:

Lol is that a joke?

Live Subscription fees pay microsoft, not developers.

Defoliantonthemoneytree

@Assassin_Kensei: maybe when jabba the hut can run my friend....maybe when jabba the hut can run....

Pupnasty

wooooooo hoooooooooo BEYAH!!

Jedi-iLLmatic

I hope there is no monthly fee I hope the Live subscription of $50 a year covers it.

Assassin_Kensei

Please, please, please, please, pleeeaaase be good. I know it won't ever match up to the first KOTOR, but if it can excel KOTOR II by the smallest of margins, it would be an instabuy for me.

Although I'm forgetting myself. This is an MMO, and one of Bioware's first in that genre. I get the horrible feeling that it's going to end up a horribly crippled, bastardized thing.

AvidAbey

@Jawmuncher: Like me! :(
I always thought they were screwn around when there were rumors of a KOTOR MMO. Dammit.

Superpiccolo

@rbee90: i loled...

Pupnasty

i need a change of man panties

MysteriousStranger

@Assassin_Kensei:

Seriously, why do people keep saying this about MMOs on Live? Maybe something simple like Maple Story would be free on Live, but not something like a true 3D MMO. The developer has to make something to support and maintain the servers. If PSU still charges a monthly fee, then the KOTOR MMO will be charging.

bodmodkub

wonder if this will be a PC exclusive or PC/xbox exclusive or will include the PS3 as well

Tha_Villain

@Meohfumado:

SWG was a great game before the NGE released.

Defoliantonthemoneytree

Have they announced a platform for it yet?

zdevex

@mphz: I think leaving it open kind of suites the series well. I like the whole mystery around it. The subtle hints about Revan were one of the few things I really liked about KOTOR 2.

zdevex

as long as we get to see what happens to the characters from the first 2 KOTORs then I am happy with it

DarthTauri

i love KOTOR. In the Star Wars Universe, I prefer this time era, than the movie era. I would prefer the regular RPG instead of a MMO. By the way, u should also read the KOTOR comic books. The story is pretty nice and u see lot of the characters in the game too.

tfive24

First of all, I confirmed this was in development a year ago and the Kotaku goons have yet to acknowledge that I beat them in the game of journalism and fact catching.

Secondly, one of the reasons I was able to confirm what Bioware Austin was cooking a LONG ASS TIME AGO was them hiring Gordon Walton and Richard Vogel. Vogel was in particular a heavy influence on the original design for SWG (as in, the few great things about an otherwise heavily flawed game). His involvement leads me to believe Bioware knows what was right about SWG, and so they went to the source. The skill tree was an integral part of why SWG had promise, and its removal equally integral in why it sucked ass after the NGE.

In regards to other things that were awesome about SWG and don't need to be "fixed", but expanded as much as possible... Space travel. Even though it was tacked on and had no real purpose for some time, the depth of the Jump to Lightspeed expansion was insane and another thing that stemmed from early development. As long as Bioware builds this game around a skill tree system and an equally epic customization system for space travel, their talent is bound to make the rest equally awesome and this game DESTROY WoW.

I've been following this game for a while now, but I've been thinking about the basic idea of it for much longer. As I watched SWG fall apart after beta, I recorded every little bad decision in my head, and imagined what they should have done instead. I've been waiting for this second chance at greatness since June 03 when they decided to release SWG far too soon. After what Bioware proved themselves capable of later that same year, I have faith that a Bioware team led by Vogel can only kick major ass.

As for "doubters", get over it. I'm sure someone is making an actual KOTOR 3, even if I have NO CLUE how they could ever keep up with the random continuity. The KOTOR time period means that Jedi actually make sense, and their commonplace nature means everyone else can be on relatively equal footing without it being ridiculous, as the people of KOTOR are better adapted to encountering them.

The KOTOR universe came out of the same year SWG failed us, and as such it has always been meant to save the idea of the Star Wars MMO. The Force is strong with this one.

Bobby McPresscott

Well...the bar was set exceedingly low by SWG...so it has to be an improvement....right?

Meohfumado

so dose this mean that there will not be a KOTOR 3 for console's?

konohaJounin

@Cojo21: if its anything like killing jawas in force unleashed then im gonna have a lot of fun

solosith

@Assassin_Kensei: Prepare to be saddened then.

You WILL be paying a monthly fee to play, otherwise the folks playing via PC won't need to be charged, either.

Want to take bets on that happening.

Simply put: just because you're paying for LIve does not mean it covers everything. All Live does is open the connection to the game. You want to play that game? You're going to pay.

LaserJudas

zomg zomg zomg *heavy, fast, erratic breathing* i neeed this!!!!!1 0.0

excaleranth

Hopefully this will be a great game. I have no doubt in Bioware's ability to make an rpg, I wonder if they can translate it to a solid mmorpg though? I also wonder if the combat will continue its d20 styling or if they'll change it up to suit an mmo style. I'm looking forward to this reveal.

Sir_Crocidile

@Bobby McPresscott: So, you 'deduced' this was in development by seeing someone you don't personally know being hired?

I graduated with someone actually working on the game, but thanks for 'beating Kotaku to the journalistic punch', as it were.

Here's your Internet. A winner is you!

LaserJudas

@Assassin_Kensei: assuming it will even be available to consoles, which is doubtful

belo

@Sir_Crocidile: I hope they don't shift closer to MMO game play considering it is universally terrible.

That Lamer

KOTOR is an excellent platform for an MMO. Just make it accessible, with stylized graphics that are not terribly demanding for current hardware. They should take their time and just ship a nice finished product like Warhammer Online did with a nice twist in combat to separate it from the rest. Oh, and all characters begin with a lvl 1 skill called instant Ewok decapitation.

gatsu

this is the best news i've heard in a while.

kevinl

@Kevin Flynn: Man, I'll say I green lit the project just to see that.

LaserJudas

............Kotor is #2 on my 'Greatest games of all time' list.....And if this turns out to be an MMO (and no single player RPG is made).....Im going to rip my heart out and beat anyone to death with it who green-lighted this atrocity.

Kevin Flynn

@Josepiphus: but Kotor was never one of the best RPGs of all time. Infact, Kotor was dissappointing because it was nowhere near the quality of Baldur's Gate 2.

Daggyter

@Cojo21:

Seriously man, I thought I was the only person who has always wanted to be a freaking Jawa.

Imagine a Jawa bounty hunter. Woah.

Captain IceKong

@FigNewton: Or 2....

Crowbot

I hate that this is an mmo. Why take one of the best rpg's of all time and make it an mmo? It's like some cruel joke.

Josepiphus

I've been without an MMO for very many months, and am doing fine. I fear this game will end that.
I'm very excited.

squilliam

The OR is my favorite Star Wars era, I'm really hoping for some comic characters (both KOTOR and TotJ) in the game alongside the characters from the game.

AlphaMoose

Good god I hope this is good and doesn't end up gimped. Why must they ruin good new additions to Star Wars with lame new crap.

hitokirimaru

Bioware + MMO = fail. I'm sorry, but Bioware should stick to their strengths, not making fetch quest filled romps that are less about story-telling and more about w007 l337 drops.

DimensionWarped

I'm pretty excited, but my expectations aren't sky high or anything. If they can put out a solid Star Wars MMO I'll be happy, and KOTOR gives plenty of potential for worlds/classes/quests/etc. Not looking for a genre-changing experience, just something that's fun enough to justify a monthly fee.

Xenigma

Kotor MMO :(

I'll hold judgment on this but it sounds awful :(

Majpain007

I'm really curious the more I think about a modern Star Wars game. The more I reflect on SWG, the more I remember how different a game it still is (well, as far as new MMOs go. Technically it is a generic POS now as well). World of Warcraft is a refined game, but it still follows the formulas set up by Ultima Online and Everquest. SWG threw a lot of those formulas out. The planets felt like planets, not long walled in paths. The leveling had nothing to do with levels at all, but with skill trees that allowed you to at any time completely reinvent yourself. That is of course until the new designers tried to mimic every facet of WoW.

The greatest MMO memories I have come from SWG, because regardless of its severe flaws and how they were "fixed" by destroying everything that WAS good about the game, the good parts were something so unique at the time (and I have yet to play anything similar) that they created scenarios you could never duplicate elsewhere. Every time I remember how I used to go prone and crawl around the outskirts of Bestine looking for Imperial players to ambush, I get a big smile on my face. Every time I remember how how the rise of buffing made PVP a completely planned out and NEVER spontaneous affair though, I cry a little.

When I think about how the economy originally relied on what I'd call "trade settlements" springing up in the wilderness, I remember the great times I had searching the listings for someone selling what I want out in the desert, traveling to their house to buy it and then being so relieved to get back to a real city afterwards to hang out in the cantina. Walking was horrible, but if I knew then what I know now, I would traded the addition of vehicles for never having to deal with player cities, which destroyed the game's social aspect in an instance as every point of interest now had a shuttleport, thus dividing the player base over many random points on the map rather than being focused in the real cities.

These memories are obviously bittersweet, but they also seem incredibly outdated ones in this day and age. I could point out what this new MMO should and shouldn't do, but I am thinking about a sequel to SWG rather than a modern MMO. The idea of an MMO in this day in age is simply a refined version of what it was before SWG came out. When SWG released, EQ was still the de facto MMO. These days, it is WoW, but WoW is simply a game based on the same basic ideas of EQ's gameplay. SWG tried to break the mold entire, but clearly failed as WoW is the singlular name in MMOs these days.

So it makes me think, even given the fact that they hired Richard Vogel... What type of MMO is this? Is it the spiritual successor to the failed promsie of SWG, or is it simply another WoW clone using Star Wars as a gimmick? SWG may have a very ugly history, but the designers behind its original design had a bold dream that has still never been matched. While they may never have touched the stars, the moments where they reached for them are still far more memorable than anything I have ever done in any other MMO.

If this game is truly the second coming of SWG with the talent of Bioware behind it rather than the meddling of SOE, it will be the greatest MMO ever made. Period. If it is another game based on the tried and true EQ/WoW formula though... What can possibly be that memorable about it?

For a while I didn't get people's seemingly severe disdain for a KOTOR MMO. Now I think I get that I simply see something completely different. A large majority of people have never played an MMO like SWG, and even of those who did the number who saw it before post release subscriber demands turned it into a massive POS with no memorable qualities is much lower.

I think that if more people remembered the SWG of beta 3, the one I remember most fondly, they'd see the promise I do. They'd remember what it was like on the final day of beta when every Imperial on Tatooine marched from Bestine to Anchorhead and hundreds of fearlessly overt soldiers fought each other without fear of pointless expenses like armor decay and the cost of buffing. They'd remember all the days before when they could always sneak into Bestine and find an Imperial to sneak up on, and the primal joy of escaping before his buddies could counterattack.

They'd remember not having to concern oneself with the best possible build, and simply picking a direction without fear as they knew they could always start over completely if they wanted to. They'd remember the seemingly endless different career choices, and how no matter how narrow of a field it seemed at first glance, each advanced tree offered a completely different way of playing the same game.

Most of all they'd remember that one MMO where battle really was irrelevant if that wasn't the path you want to go down, and you could play the game without ever leaving the cantina. That's the game I remember, and that's the game I've missed ever since those assholes destroyed it with a seemingly endless number of horrendous decisions followed by ultimate death at the hands of the NGE.

That's the game I want the KOTOR MMO to be built upon. Not some cash in on the proven formula of EQ which will have been going strong for over 10 years by the time this game comes out. Give me a KOTOR MMO that utilizes the grand successes of SWG and fixes flaws such as an overarching story progression and balance of combat without relying on generic fix-all's, and you will have what could easily be the greatest MMO ever made.

This month, we find out which path this game took. Seeing as it's Bioware, I trust that the Force is with them.

Bobby McPresscott

Hope it's good.

Here's to some JE and ME news soon...

Vecha

@s1xsh00ter91: DOn't ever say that again... KOTOR will never be that bad!

mascot1063

Bioware. Star Wars. MMO.

Why even write something? I'm there.

HumanResources

If it isn't perfect, I'm going to cry myself to sleep every night for the rest of my life.

collider

I love reading news about news that's about to come. Time. Well. Spent.

Simple_Man

Colour me excited...but sceptical. As any self respecting Brit knows, anything published in the Daily Star is complete bollocks.

FlyLikeAMouse

@FlyLikeAMouse: Eh, we knew it was KOTOR, and we knew it was an MMO. They were gonna announce it eventually.

Krackatoa

Kool! Kotor 1&2 were the only star wars games i properly played. Lets hope the mmo will be successful.

Emperor

So is it Xbox 360 exclusive or is it for the PC (and maybe PS3)?

If it's on the 360 with no subscription fee then I'll be slightly happy but I'd prefer a new RPG KOTOR. It's sad but I bought a 360 for a select few series
Morrowind (no longer exclusive), DOA, NG (seems to have only had one more), Kingdom under fire (got an action game instead of an RTS), KOTOR (now MMO) and Halo.

Llost

@That Lamer: huh well if your trying to call me a troll then your wrong, I'm actually a devout 360 fan as many people get angry at me for my preferance of the 360 (considering it fanboyish). I was just saying the 360 didn't turn out like I expected, not that that's bad cos I love the new JRPG's coming to the system but I just don't want to have to pay a subscription to play an MMO version of a great game I enjoyed on the original Xbox.

Llost

@Llost: How do you people keep finding your ways out of the woods? Unless korean MMOs start publishing to live market place, you're not going to play an MMO on the 360 for the cost of live subscription.

That Lamer

Please be awesome

Sparkyuk

YUCK!

This sucks, I can't stand MMOs and KotOR (1&2) are in my top 5 all time favorite games.

:'(

Oh well.

Shandy706

Can't believe only one person so far has pointed out that one of the sources is a complete load of bollocks. The Daily Star can't be called a newspaper, it's a daily piece of garbage consisting of titties and sports. I imagine all they do in their office is stare at jugs all day, while it sounds like an awesome job I still doubt their journalistic integrity.

Odin

@LaserJudas: I didn't see, but is this supposed to be a console MMO?

On one hand I feel like that would be a disaster, as most people wouldn't pay both fees, but on the other it's a brilliant move to keep out of WoW's realm.

C4Dillon

@X Omega Gold: Monthly fees for a game that could potentially save you from wanting to buy new games could be cost-effective, on the contrary.

I know it has been for me since DAoC. I know a -lot- of people who used to refuse to pay monthly fees for a game.

C4Dillon

@mascot1063: We can only hope. KOTOR at least can afford to have lots of jedi out of the gate.

C4Dillon

sold.

fooliosis

Woooooot!

T_Spoon_UK

@LaserJudas: I just cannot in any way bring myself to pay for ONE game on a monthly basis even if it is KOTOR. Can't do it.

TSlade

Im honestly just waiting to get disappointed...cause I really doubt thats its going to be like the OG swg at ALL =(

but there is still some "last hope" left in this young jedi...

khuntilla

What about being a jedi wookie, or a jedi jawa? Those cute little guys... death by cuteness! Instead of *waves hand* "You didn't see anything" it would be like *puppy eyes* "Awwww~ It's ok little guy, go on through! :D"

I'm just glad it's Bioware...

anoriel

@Llost: I don't care what console you swear to and I'm not calling you a troll, I'm just saying its a bit naive to think there wouldn't be an additional subscription fee for a western produced MMO. The only western MMO to do this was guildwars, and it is about as deep as most korean MMOs, which are the only other MMOs to offer a free model (with cash shops)

I suppose I could have been less hostile about it but there's already been 3 other comments tantamount to this.

That Lamer

There is just one thing I really, truly want from this game, one thing that will make or break me buying it: RP Servers.
Normal gamer types can have their servers where they loudly talk about 'tanks' and 'dps'. I want a server where not-in-character talk *has* to be kept in private chat, and normal chat is all in-character.

Unlike basically everything that's already been made into an MMO, KotOR is a RPG with emphasis on the 'RP'. Part of the beauty of K1&2 (esp. 2, imho) is living your character, getting in their heads and making their choices, and public gamer-talk would ruin that. I can't see how it wouldn't.

Please BioWare, please.
P.S. Also, keep the equipment setup from K2. It's much better.

eskilla

"-and while waiting, build yourself an intricate series of overblown expectations that the final product can never hope to live up to!"

I know what your talking about. I liked KOTOR, didn't like the combat though, didn't like the qeue... que... queu... however the hell you spell it.

Utmu