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Editorial
11/21/09 11:04 PM -
Getting to the Second Pillar 
by Dover
, posted November 21st, 2009 at 11:04 PM
One of the mantras of the marketing team behind Star Wars: The Old Republic has been "the four pillars" that make up an MMO: exploration, advancement, combat and story. TOR has made a splash in the MMO community with a marketing emphasis on story, however the recent change in direction, hinted at by Jake Neri, is what we should be paying attention to. With many months of narrative buzz words behind us, we may be entering a new phase in the news coming out of Austin. Could it be that we are finally approaching the second pillar?
 

During our time in San Francisco we were able to watch a live demo of the Imperial Agent and see first hand how combat takes place in The Old Republic. Throughout the demo we were reminded again and again that we were specifically learning about combat and the skills used to dispatch our foes. Later in the evening, Jake Neri reminded us that they knew what the fans were asking for and that the worries of their community would soon be addressed. All of this adds up to a new emphasis on what type of news is being revealed by BioWare and LucasArts.

If this is true, then it also implies a great deal about how information will be presented to us as we continue onward throughout the rest of the development cycle. If we are indeed in the second-pillar cycle of TOR's marketing then it could mean that we need to accept certain things will not be revealed to us about the remaining pillars until "combat" has been thoroughly exhausted. This would mean that learning about "advancement" and "exploration" is something we should not be looking forward to until the combat of every class has been comprehensively addressed.


This could also be implying a great deal about the design philosophy being used to create The Old Republic. We have been constantly reminded that information will not be revealed until they are certain said information will exist in the game. We could be seeing the play-by-play process of development behind TOR, each pillar being focused on one at a time. This would make reasonable sense considering the nature of the project. With the story is being fully voiced by actors from across the globe, they would need a gratuitous amount of time to make sure all of the audio was ready, and the first step in that process would be hammering out the story.

Whether or not this is indeed the marketing philosophy being used for Star Wars: The Old Republic is something only time will tell. We have heard our fair share of marketing lingo behind the first pillar and hopefully the combat insight revealed by the Imperial Agent demo is a sign of things to come. Either way, it sounds like BioWare and LucasArts are listening to the community and that will hopefully be good news for everyone following The Old Republic.
 
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8 Comments
Comment by Deidare made on November 23rd, 2009 at 6:16pm
I happy that there finally shifting away from "You can have story in this game!" Really? I didn't notice! But I'm not trying to be rude, but we understand by now that is fully voiced, you build your characters story blah blah, thats good. But its about time we moved on to mechanics, like combat. And Its good to know that Bioware and LA are listening to their players and giveing us what we want. Now thats a really promiseing and great thing to do thats one reason this game will turn out great

Now because were on the mechanic of combat, that means we'll get to see alot of things, like PvP combat, PvE. All that good stuff, now we might not get to see how thouse systems are set up, becuase thats more of the "Advancement" pillar, but we'll get to see a fair amount. I'm just hopeing they'll announce "races" in this time too, becuase they've still had yet to say the playable races. But I think that might be more under the "exsploration" pillar, thats yet to come. ;)
 
Comment by Flagg made on November 23rd, 2009 at 7:18am
Combat, mechanics, skills, mutant kittens, I don't much care. I am just happy they have moved onto a new "focus" area of the game. It seems to me a lot of us were approaching our "all we REALLY know is it's story driven" threshold. But all in all, still a sound marketing tactic. With STO's open beta in Jan-feb..or whenver they said it was, and blizzard with 3 potentially huge staggered releases this year (SC2/DIII/Cataclysm) That tosses a new huge MMO/ORPG/ORTS Fanbase with it's online component into the ring every quarter. Add on SOE's Agency, Jumpgate (not holding my breath on that vaporware), Global Agenda, Guild Wars 2, and the new Final fantasy this year, and BioWare/Ea are REALLY going to need to ramp up their "appeal" advertising. It's very well known blizzard markets DIRECTLY against competition, and will shoot for some for of major release when SWTOR goes live: My guess being Cataclysm. Until then we need good info and a steady flow of news. God knows enough heads will turn when Diablo hits. I just don't want BioWare to get boxed in by blockbusters. That could be bad....
 
Comment by Fedaykin made on November 23rd, 2009 at 4:48am
Much hasn't been revealed about in-game mechanics, though it's officially confirmed that tentacle-wielding races such as Togruta, Nautolan and Twi'lek will have an increased chance to critically hit against japanese schoolgirls.

On a more serious note: Yes, they've blattered on about story long enough for us all to know "Okay, guys. We know the story is going to be AWESOME. Now show us the game". I'm glad they took the hint.

With The Old Republic it always feels a little 'too good to be true', on alot of points. I'm always looking for a draw back or a certain lack in the game. As in: It won't have professions, or it won't have mounts, or it won't have raiding - but it seems that, dispite critisism, this game will be a complete MMORPG simply with story ADDED.

I'm already impressed, but I'm going to be totally impressed if they pull it off in the end. As if it matters, it's already obvious I'm buying the game.
 
Comment by Deidare made on November 23rd, 2009 at 6:22pm
You’re absolutely right, there do seem to be a lot of, "as if it can't happen" or "too good to be true", but so far they've made it work. But I think a lot people on the forums are just thinking BW is gods or something, saying ridiculous stuff like, having a space ship and "Space ship battles. I agree I'd love for this to happen. Unfortunately it most likely won't. This is an MMO after all, and Its not like they can just slam everything into. But I'm impressed and either way, I too will buy the game
 
Comment by RogueJedi86 made on November 23rd, 2009 at 3:47am
Wait, at the start of the article you listed the Pillars as Exploration, Advancement, Combat, and Story. That means Advancement is the Second Pillar, but you talk in this article like Combat is the Second Pillar, when in that order it's the Third Pillar. That means learning about the Advancement part wouldn't be after Combat is explained, but before.

And to get off criticizing the article, I want to see focus on the Exploration Pillar, namely in details of how large the worlds will be. I want huge worlds to explore, on an SWG-style scale, or at least larger than WoW. I love to explore and find tall peaks with a great view of the world around me, for beautiful screenshots.
 
DH Team
Comment by Dover made on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:48am
I think you took that list of four just a little too literal there. lol That is the order they are used in the quote, but if you would like to get semantic then you should consider that the list is counting down, 4,3,2,1... ta-da!
 
Comment by Zioni made on November 22nd, 2009 at 11:46pm
Woot Woot for mechanics!
 
Comment by Some-Brazilian made on November 23rd, 2009 at 9:21pm
Amen brother! or sister?