Oct 2, 2011

Posted by in Wild Space | 2 Comments

Wild Space: Another Spin on the Release Date and Lore Updates

It’s a big galaxy our there, and Wild Space can be a dangerous place. Worry not, explorer – each week we’ll navigate you safely through the lost hyperspace routes of the Deep Core and track down the great articles and entertainment from around the SW:TOR fan community, all in less than 12 parsecs, of course!

Star Wars, in general, doesn’t have the the best history when it comes to the Christmas holiday. While I’m sure that the release date for of December 20 (NA) and 22 (EU) was chosen for a multitude of very well thought out and logical reasons, it is curious that BioWare and EA would choose to release the game so close to a major holiday when many of us will have a lot of other real life stuff going on. MrWarlock of the fansite SWTOR-Life posted an editorial exploring this very topic.

The article hypothesizes that maybe releasing the game so close to Christmas is going to be used as some sort of load balancing mecahnism. Bioware and EA must know that people will be busy during this time and some will be forced to play the game less than they normally would at any other time of the year. Having slightly fewer players on the server may help their launch day performance, but it may upset some people who hoped to devote a considerable amount of time to the game right at launch.

Also, the day that the release date was announced was also a little strange, in retrospect. Allow me to put on my tinfoil hat for just a moment: Blizzard (creators of World of Warcraft) announced on September 23 that their next big game, Diablo 3, would have its release slip into 2012; one day later, SW:TOR’s release date was announced. Coincidence? Maybe. (tinfoil hat removed)

MrWarlock’s article isn’t really positive about the release date, but I feel like this is a topic worth a little more discussion since it’s one of the few I’ve seen with a different take on the release date. Check out the full article here and let us know what you think about it and/or the release date in the comments.

I feel like that topic is a heated enough to fill an entire Wild Space article, but I did want to mention one other fansite feature. Darth Hater has not one, but two awesome lore articles out this week. The first was about the (rumored) cyborg playable race. The article talks about what makes a cyborg, what some of the positives and negatives of cyborg augmentation, are and notable cyborgs from Star Wars lore.

Second was an article about the Sith Inquisitor class. The article details the beginnings of the Sith Inquisitors all the way back to Nada Sadow and Freedon Nadd. Here is an excerpt:

Sith Inquisitors “believe the order of the universe belongs to them.” This observation by Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas is perhaps the most suitable key to obtaining a better understanding of these members of the Sith Empire. 

Be sure to check out both of these articles on the Darth Hater website.

  1. Grinstone says:

    Holiday releases do have something of a tradition, be it because it fits the season or because people are generally readier to spend money on gifts. Perhaps they’re hoping for a stocking stuffer bonanza.

    I don’t think that there’s any doubt that they wanted to get out of the gate ahead of Diablo 3. Why compete with another big title if you don’t have to?

    There could be something to the theory that they’re banking on lower volumes over the holidays to help them have a smooth launch. I definitely have my doubts about that, but then there’s a reason I’m not a betting man.

    It certainly would be titillating to know who, among LucasArts, BioWare, and EA is happy with those launch dates.

  2. The server load argument makes sense. If we had an idea of what age distribution for preorders were, we could make even more guesses. Here are two examples…

    1) By December 20th most US high schools and colleges have started their multi-week vacation…

    2) Many corporations have a mandatory vacation period between Christmas and New Years for varies reasons (i.e. decrease inventory levels, increase employee moral. blah blah blah).

    I fall under the first one :) so I should probably thank Bioware for not making me choose between finals and a lightsaber.

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