Variety Friday: SWTOR is the WoW Killer...?

There’s lots of talk over Star Wars: The Old Republic being the WoW killer, but I have news for you, it’s not.  The sheer idea of a WoW killer is as fantasy as Dwarfs and Elves (as cool as they may be).  World of Warcraft has a user base of over 13Mil members and is known by pretty much everyone.  Because of WoW’s near cult following, nothing short of Blizzard going out of business would kill WoW.  The Old Republic may take a chunk of WoW’s user base, but that’s just like taking the change out of Blizzard’s couch cushions.

But the reason it’ll be able to take some of WoW’s user base in the first place is due to the similarities and improvements over traditional MMOs.  The Old Republic’s gameplay will end up similar to WoW in that it still has the class roles of Tank, DPs and etc. it still has skills and loot and all that.  The reason it could keep some of WoW’s user base is because it improves over what WoW does.  First off, story, there is over 1000 hours of unique story gameplay within The Old Republic, what the player does will hold more meaning because what they do affects the later parts of their campaign, as in all Bioware games.  This will really appeal to people like me who dislike the pointless quests and lack of story in most MMOs.

Another reason is that the classes are more different, they use different weapons and all have different ways to play them, much more than the classes in most MMOs where you have different skills but the core mechanics are the same.  If you’re a smuggler, you will be playing the game a lot differently than a Jedi, partly due to the cover system and your ranged focus.  There will be more of a variety in ways to play, which will appeal to people who may not like the slow paced combat of WoW.

But one thing that almost all MMOs that compete with WoW don’t have, is the world recognition; nearly everyone has heard of WoW, but everyone has also heard of Star Wars.  This name recognition for The Old Republic puts the MMO on a new competitive bar alone, since everyone will flock since it has Star Wars in the name, and that is backed up by how the Pre-Orders were record breaking in the first day, even though it cost $60 for the normal edition, and even so, the $150 Collector’s Edition was sold out within 8 hours.

From what we’ve heard, The Old Republic will actually appeal more to people who prefer single player than WoW does.  Since the game has a personal and unique story, as well as companions which you can program in similar fashion as you could in DA: Origins, you can be much more “anti-social” in the game than in other MMOs.  Bioware is appealing to a large audience, which will help them gain more players, even if they tend to be loners in game.

The final thing is simply how being a Clone Trooper or Sith Warlord sounds much more entertaining than a Smelly Dwarf.  The Old Republic will allow people to live the fantasy lives they have always dreamed within the Star Wars universe.  It is simply more fun to be playing a Bounty Hunter or Intergalactic Smuggler than a class in WoW, because you feel more important.  In WoW at low levels you are pretty much an unimportant pawn with your main goal being to level up to reach the legendary end game content and PvP battle, which is a long and boring process.  The Old Republic will grab on to people in the first moments, because it’ll start with the beloved scrolling text, and put you right into a story, in which your actions have outcomes.  Feeling important from the beginning is ultimately one of the biggest things The Old Republic has over WoW, because I doubt I will get bored in The Old Republic within 15 minutes like I did in WoW.

The Old Republic has story, diverse classes and gameplay, and worlds that everyone has wanted to explore on their own for a long time, but it still won’t be a WoW killer.  But, it doesn’t matter, The Old Republic will probably build up its own following of fans, so WoW will continue to be successful, and hopefully The Old Republic will as well, they are their own games, and thus, will have their own fans.  Then Both MMOs will live on in peace forever and ever…until a clone army comes and invades Azeroth.

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Feeling important from the beginning is ultimately one of the biggest things The Old Republic has over WoW, because I doubt I will get bored in The Old Republic within 15 minutes like I did in WoW.swtor credits
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