A former SWTOR developer regrets that they were not bolder and focused too much on World of Warcraft. In hindsight, it would have been better to make a Knights of the Old Republic Online.
The developer James Ohlen left his game studio BioWare last month after nearly 22 years. In an interview with GameInformer, he spoke about his time at BioWare. He also mentioned a few words about Star Wars: The Old Republic. Ohlen expresses little regret – but one thing he does regret is related to World of Warcraft.
More Knights of the Old Republic Online – less Star Wars: World of Warcraft
What did Ohlen say? When asked what Ohlen would regret, he referred to SWTOR. Generally, he is satisfied with the game, but he often received feedback from fans that they would prefer a “Knights of the Old Republic Online.” A game that was closer to BioWare’s RPG roots and not so heavily driven in the direction of “Star Wars: World of Warcraft.”
Ohlen wishes in hindsight that he had pushed the game a bit more toward “Knights of the Old Republic Online.”
This would have likely meant more freedom of choice in the story and a more tactical, slower combat system. Nevertheless, he is proud of what SWTOR has become and the direction the MMORPG has taken.
Everyone wanted to be the “WoW-killer.” Back when SWTOR was released, MMORPGs were popping up like mushrooms. Many developers sought to be “the next World of Warcraft” and were heavily influenced by Blizzard’s template. Although SWTOR was certainly not a failure, the game had to switch to Free2Play after a short time. Since then, however, it has received expansions with “Knights of the Fallen Empire” and “Knights of the Eternal Throne.”
When and if there will be a new expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic remains to be seen in a galaxy far, far away.
Do you like SWTOR as it is? Or should the game have focused more on the RPG Knight of the Old Republic?
