BioWare Dates SWTOR Beta Test Weekend

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

BioWare will launch a Beta Weekend for Star Wars: The Old Republic after Thanksgiving.

Star Wars: The Old Republic senior community manager Stephen Reid said via Twitter that the game's Beta Test Weekend will begin on Friday, November 25 and conclude on Monday, November 28. Gamers who have already signed up for testing the upcoming MMOG prior to November 11 will receive an invitation next week.

Last weekend BioWare said that this would be its largest Beta Test Weekend to date, and will be specifically designed to help the team stress test the game's servers in preparation for the launch. Fans who have yet to sign up for the limited demo can still score a spot by heading to one of the partner sites listed here. In North America these include IGN, Massively, MMORPG, Ten Ton Hammer, ZAM and our sister site Curse.com.

"Keep your eyes on these sites for your chance to get a Beta Test Weekend Code, as well as how to redeem the code and get into the Beta Test Weekend," BioWare said.

One unnamed source currently within the beta reports that the game is extremely polished for a beta, but the client-side software still needs some optimization, as it launches rather slow. "I don't know if they aren't using the release version of the graphics engine, or I simply didn’t have the graphics turned up on my end, but the visuals look cartoonish," the source said in an email.

The gameplay was also described as a "multiplayer Knights of the Old Republic. "My prediction is, the game will launch big, but steadily taper off and become an average helping in a sea of average MMOGs," the unnamed source states.

Guess we'll find out soon if the Force is really strong with this one... especially with World of Warcraft and Rift peering down like hungry Sith lords ready for blood.

Kevin Parrish
12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • sheeplolz
    thanksgiving really? terrible date.
    Reply
  • jonyb222
    and our sister site Curse.com.
    Really? I did not know that.
    Reply
  • dormantreign
    If you haven't seen gameplay i got in the beta the other day and did a preview of it. The video is unlisted but i don't mind sharing it with the community here. Hope you like.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75VO9bLJzjs
    Reply
  • Yargnit
    As soon as they announced this beta, designed specifically to stress the servers, Thanksgiving weekend seemed like a given for the timing of it. Not only is it a holiday weekend which usually means heavier server loads, but it's also just 3 weeks prior to early access opening, meaning they need to start nailing down the number of servers they'll have available for launch.

    Can't wait!
    Reply
  • dark_knight33
    Cartoonish Graphics? What is he smoking? The graphics are awesome. The epic intro is photorealistic. The gameplay itself is polished, but still needs tweaking/balancing (i.e. BETA!). It is the anti-grind MMO, and unique among a sea of mediocre titles. It launches fine, loads fast as well; it changes areas faster than LOTRO, and is on par with Eve in terms of loading new areas for me. I have never had an issue there. Kevin, your source needs to STFU, he does not know what he is talking about.
    Reply
  • davewolfgang
    I don't know why a bunch of people are complaining - a long weekend where more people don't have to work means more people can play. And "family plans"??? If you are a gamer you plan AROUND gaming! :-p
    Reply
  • everygamer
    "The gameplay was also described as a "multiplayer Knights of the Old Republic. "My prediction is, the game will launch big, but steadily taper off and become an average helping in a sea of average MMOGs," the unnamed source states."

    Whats the point of even putting an unnamed source into an article. "The guy who writes this article is a tool" said an unnamed source .... ?

    From the gameplay videos that Bioware has released the graphics are a little cartoonish, I think that was the style they were going for. Based on WoW's success, players really don't seem to have much issue with cartoonish graphics in an MMO.

    My bet is that it will find its niche and have a subscriber base large enough to sustain a monthly pay service, WoW will likely continue to have 9 million subscribers, and free to play games will make up the rest of the market allowing those who play WoW & TOR with a monthly payment enjoy those other games with micro payments when their interest peeks.
    Reply
  • guardianangel42
    sheeplolzthanksgiving really? terrible date.
    Thanksgiving is in October in Canada...

    But yeah, for those of us in the US, the date sucks.
    Reply
  • jakelangelier
    @dark_Knight33, OMG graphics are really not that good. Of course it loads fast. But it looks like WOW. Seriously, after trying the BETA im thinking about cancelling my Pre-Order...i hope it's not too late...I wasn't impressed at all by the game.

    ps: Characters customization is really limited. Kind of a suprise from Bioware.
    Reply
  • dark_knight33
    jakelangelier@dark_Knight33, OMG graphics are really not that good. Of course it loads fast. But it looks like WOW. Seriously, after trying the BETA im thinking about cancelling my Pre-Order...i hope it's not too late...I wasn't impressed at all by the game.ps: Characters customization is really limited. Kind of a suprise from Bioware.
    I disagree. They aren't OMG graphics (in-game), but they are better than wow. Depth of field, Anti-Aliasing, less "pointy" edges on characters, clothing flows well with movement, etc. It's not crysis, but it's also an MMO and has a lot more area that it has to keep active at once. The eye candy is more subtle than OMG motion-cap faces, but it's there, and it definitely edges out wow.

    Is the game a "wow killer"? I don't think such a thing exists. No, the genre is too different; SW isn't everyone's favorite thing. It simply won't have the same playerbase. Not to mention, 7 years in, many are quite established in wow and won't leave for anything. If wow were coming out now vs already being successful, I think it would have a harder time competing against SWTOR, but the games are just too different to share the same audience. Really, the massively multiplayer aspect is the only common component between the two. The games are starkly different beyond that.

    Comparing them is like comparing Mass Effect 3 with Battlefield 3. Both have multiplayer, both have "shooting", but both are vastly different experiences.
    Reply