SOE Working on New Casual Star Wars MMO?


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PAX 2009 hasn't even started and there's already talk of new games and expansions. One big rumor that we were able to confirm with an inside source at PAX is that SOE is working on a new and likely more casual Star Wars MMO property. Read on to see what juicy details we could discover in Loading... A New Star Wars MMO?

From time to time we get to hear some juicy tidbits while we travel from event to event. With crowds of adrenaline-pumped gamers, and energetic developers, lots of conversation takes place, and every once in a while we hear something that causes everyone?s ears to perk up.

The latest of such incidents: Ten Ton Hammer has learned from an inside source that Sony Online Entertainment has once again partnered up with LucasArts to do another Star Wars MMO. While we have not yet learned the title of the upcoming game, it sounds like SOE is planning to use the browser-based Free Realms engine to power the game, and the game?s setting will be the Clone Wars. Does this mean Star Wars mini-games within the game, like the holographic chess-like game as seen in A New Hope? Unknown, but it would be cool to hit up a cantina with some buds and sit down for a few mini games.

A casual Star Wars MMO property was probably obvious in hindsight. Look no farther than LEGO Star Wars for proof that a fun, stylized version of Star Wars can sell big, attracted kids and adults alike. Plus, there was an unusually large focus on Star Wars Galaxies at this year?s Fan Faire, and perhaps this was in attempt to rekindle the SOE/LucasArts hype.

Too soon? Former and current Star Wars Galaxies players can still remember the sting of the NGE that changed the face of that game for everyone. SOE has repeatedly said that they have learned from their mistakes, and plan to not repeat them. If SOE isn't expressly targetting the hardcore segment this time around, they (unlike BioWare) won't have quite the same initial level of expectations to deal with.

Don't let us give you the impression that SOE plans to take on BioWare, and their highly anticipated MMOG debut, The Old Republic, particularly given the engine the game is rumored to be based on. More plausible is that it will be based off the Clone Wars CGI animated film, offering a more stylized approach to the universe. Free Realms boasts over four million registered players, and a lot of this can undoubtedly be attributed to the accessibility and polish of the web-based engine. The initial download is exceptionally small, as the client downloads content as players explore the world. This formula seems more and more to be a key component to popular MMOGs, if the success of Free Realms and to a larger extent, World of Warcraft, is any indication.

So who?s the target audience of the game? Again, it?s unknown. It?s possible, though quite unlikely, that it will be aimed at a younger audience. More likely it will target a casual crowd of several generations who have had Star Wars ingrained as much into their culture as Burger King and McDonalds.

What do you have to say about SOE doing a new Star Wars MMO?

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hmm. If done right it could be alot of fun.. But like others I really worry about anything SOE does with the Star Wars name in it from now on.

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What do you have to say about SOE doing a new Star Wars MMO?

omg please don't do it SoE

for the love of god do not do another star wars MMO

as crappy as SWG was... i do have to give them credit for two things: non combat classes and the crafting system

but everything else about SWG just made me want to /wrists

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