Star Wars is on the rise and SWTOR is doing great. The developers are excited about the future.
In a few days, the next expansion of Star Wars: The Old Republic will launch. Starting December 2nd, fans can experience the 9 new story chapters of “Knights of the Eternal Throne” – or KotET, as the cool Sith say – and continue the epic story. The colleagues at Venturebeat had the opportunity to talk to SWTOR’s Creative Director, Charles Boyd. We have filtered out and translated the most exciting statements from the interview for you.
Meanwhile, SWTOR is almost 5 years old and has gone through some tough times. There were often rumors that SWTOR was on the verge of extinction – but the developers want nothing to do with that. When asked if there was ever a point where they didn’t know if it would continue, Boyd replied:
“I have been involved with the project for almost 10 years now. So: No, there was never a point where we thought it wouldn’t continue. We were always set on “full steam ahead” and wanted to create the next story, the next expansion for the players.
There was never any doubt, at least not for me, but I don’t think in the team either – we have always wanted to move forward, improve and try to respond to player feedback to give them what they want. We have always looked for ways to incorporate new and cool things into the gameplay that we had not yet implemented.”
Story prefer in one go like on Netflix
One of the biggest criticisms of Knights of the Fallen Empire was the episodic release of new chapters. Many fans did not like that they received almost an hour of story per month and then were left with a cliffhanger like in a TV series.
“What we learned from the feedback of the fans is that players really loved the story. They enjoyed playing through the campaign, but they really loved being able to play all 9 chapters at once. They liked this “Netflix binge-watching” experience where they can choose their own pace – all at once or spread over several days.”
For exactly this reason, KotET will be released all at once. All 9 chapters will be playable from day 1, and the story can be completed immediately.
Cortyn says: Especially with the transition to the Free2Play system, there were significant concerns in the community, as such a shift was typically seen as a death sentence for MMOs. However, SWTOR is one of the few positive examples that, despite (or perhaps because of) this change, has gained a lot in quality and content. Hopefully, this will continue for many more years, as the story of “Knights of the Fallen Empire” was exceptionally good – even if it was more RPG than MMO.
Have you seen the Cinematic for Knights of the Eternal Throne yet?
