SWTOR: With the expansion come story, cinematics, decisions, new content every month

Star Wars: The Old Republic is experiencing a major expansion this year with Knights of the Fallen Empire. What the developers had in mind and how it is supposed to affect the long term has now been revealed.

At Gamescom, there was a lot of talk about SWTOR: KOTFE, and some details about the planning and goals of the expansion were published. Gareth Harmer from mmorpg.com had the opportunity to conduct an extensive interview with Game Director James Ohlen. During the conversation, he revealed a lot of interesting information that we will examine in more detail for you.

Shadow of Revan was a testing ground

With the last expansion “Shadow of Revan,” the quality of the cutscenes was significantly improved. They were presented better, integrated more seamlessly into the game, and overall did a much better job of telling the story in an engaging way. According to Ohlen, a point has now been reached where they feel comfortable and can give players what they want: Lots of story, supported by atmospheric cutscenes and choices that have real impact on the game world and the further course of the story. Some of these choices will inevitably relate to the companions.

The changes to the companions

In the early version of SWTOR, players could make really big decisions. Sith Inquisitors, for example, had the option to kill the trusting (and naively clueless) Ashara instead of turning her into a Sith. Other classes could also get rid of certain companions or be forced by decisions made to forgo specific companions. In the live version, this feature was abandoned because it would put players at a disadvantage in PvE. However, they have now come to the conviction: That’s not really true.

For this reason, the decisions in KOTFE will be more significant and will also impact your companions. Those who ruthlessly betray their companions’ friends shouldn’t be surprised if they eventually turn their backs on the player. Basically, this is also “typical BioWare,” as seen in Dragon Age and Mass Effect – and loved.

No major paywall for individual chapters

Another aspect that was very important to the developers is the continuity of the story. Although large parts of the storyline will already be told with the launch of the expansion in October, they want to continue these chapters with monthly updates. The individual chapters, just like the expansion itself, will not cost extra money, but will only require a subscription. Anyone who starts later in KOTFE and subscribes can seamlessly and without interruption play all chapters published up to that point.

According to Ohlen, it would tear the community apart and make it difficult to reintegrate into the game if they charged money for additional chapters. “We are planning for the long term,” he says in the interview, “and want to create a world that remains for many years to come.”

Not the last expansion?

Although they plan to release new chapters for a while after KOTFE to continue the story, they do not rule out the possibility of releasing more major expansions in the future. The team is very motivated and would love to create a new expansion every year if time allows. They already consider it very likely to be able to talk about exciting future content again in 2016.

SWTOR seems to be on a good path with the new expansion to satisfy the player base and give them exactly what they have wanted for a long time: story, freedom of choice, and impact. Expectations are high, but so far, everything looks like BioWare could meet them.