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Facebook Track of the Day #8

Continuing the inexorable march to release, BioWare released the 8th in their series of music tracks from Star Wars: The Old Republic today.

Today BioWare brings us a new music track from STAR WARS: The Old Republic, Dromund Kaas, The Seat Of Power, composed by Mark Griskey, Jesse Harlin & Gordy Haab. You can listen to the embed on Facebook, download the MP3 directly, or listen via the Youtube below.

BioWare is releasing one track each day from the game until launch, and it’s of note that these are tracks that are not included in the Collector’s Edition sound track! So if you gotta get ’em all, make sure to check back every day! And don’t forget to “Like” TOR on Facebook to have them delivered right to your wall.

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Countdown To Launch: Facebook Track Of The Day #6

Marching onward toward the 20th, BioWare released the 6th in their series of music tracks from Star Wars: The Old Republic today.

Today the new music track from STAR WARS: The Old Republic is Nal Hutta, The Glorious Jewel, composed by Gordy Haab. You can download from this link or listen to the embed on Facebook, or with the Youtube provided below.

BioWare is releasing one track each day from the game until launch, and it’s of note that these are tracks that are not included in the Collector’s Edition sound track! So if you gotta get ’em all, make sure to check back every day! And don’t forget to “Like” TOR on Facebook to have them delivered right to your wall.

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Electronic Arts CFO Claims 2 Million Beta Testers – 725,000 Over Thanksgiving

In an article over at Gamespot, Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown is quoted during the annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York as saying that TOR attracted 2 million unique Beta testers, and that the Beta testers themselves have logged over 9 million hours of testing time.

“The game itself has a huge pre-existing fan base. We had about 2.4 million people register for the Star Wars fan site, over 2 million of which volunteered to do [beta] testing for free,” said Brown. “In terms of peak concurrent users, we had just over a quarter of a million people playing the game simultaneously.”

He also added that 725,000 unique players logged time over the Thanksgiving weekend, with each player averaging 12 hours of playtime.

Brown also took the time to comment about how advertising for the launch of TOR differs from other titles, aiming squarely at attracting new customers:

Brown told the conference that this high “preregistered and built-in” demand for the product would mean a launch advertising campaign considerably different from those for other high-profile EA titles, with the focus instead on attracting new customers for the long term (“two to four years”) and the critical percentage of players who renew their subscription from month to month.

For those that were on during the weekend, they can easily answer questions about the stability and playability of the game during that, but I know I personally ran into no issues in those regards. And of course, this comes as great news to EA, who has claimed it only needs 500,000 monthly subscribers to have TOR stay profitable.

Check out Gamespot for more.

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Countdown To Launch: Facebook Track Of The Day #5

Marching onward toward the 20th, BioWare released the 5th in their series of music tracks from Star Wars: The Old Republic today.

Today the new music track from STAR WARS: The Old Republic is Ord Mantell, The Battleground, composed by Gordy Haab & Mark Griskey. You can download from this link or listen to the embed on Facebook, or listen with the Youtube provided below.

BioWare is releasing one track each day from the game until launch, and it’s of note that these are tracks that are not included in the Collector’s Edition sound track! So if you gotta get ’em all, make sure to check back every day! And don’t forget to “Like” TOR on Facebook to have them delivered right to your wall.

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BioWare: A Force To Be Reckoned With

Fast Company, a magazine dedicated to progressive entrepreneurship and business, takes a look at BioWare and just how big of a bet Star Wars: The Old Republic is for Electronic Arts:

The stakes are as big as the game. For BioWare and its parent company, Electronic Arts, the release of The Old Republic is nothing short of transformational, according to Michael Hickey, senior analyst at National Alliance Capital Partners.

But beyond the financials, the article also takes a nice look at what makes BioWare great, from the writing to the ethos:

BioWare has become something akin to Pixar: a boutique production studio that wins critical acclaim for its rich storytelling, despite the less refined reputation of its parent company. If BioWare’s narrative magic works for the MMO genre, the game could be a blockbuster.

The article closes with the white elephant in the room: what if it fails?

Given the high degree of peril involved with this project, do Muzyka and Zeschuk worry The Old Republic might flop? “We have a pretty healthy sense of paranoia, so when we’re testing a game we know what problems to anticipate,” Muzyka says. “It’s something we’re used to as doctors–there’s always something new to learn in medicine.” His expression is open yet reveals nothing. “Besides,” shrugs the avid poker player, “I’ve played the game. I know it’s fun.”

Head on over to Fast Company for the full read – it’s a must for TOR fans, BioWare fans and entrepreneurs alike!

 

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