So the folks over at Bioware have made great what-to-do about how important story is going to be in their upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.  And to drive home the point, they’ve embarked upon the ambitious endeavor to be the first fully voiced MMO ever released.  Not just the tutorial, not just key missions in the main storyline – but every encounter.  This past week they released some gameplay footage, and we actually got to see some typical NPC interactions take place.  And what’s clear is that it’s not just voice acting they’re talking about.  Rather, its full blown cinematic sessions with voice-acting, camera cuts, scripted NPC actions and interactions.  The amount of investment (and cost) in undertaking this effort boggles my mind.  Let’s put it this way.  For Halo Wars, we recorded over five thousand lines of voiceover.  And that was for an RTS, where character interactions mostly consist of units acknowledging your commands or informing you they’re bored.  So I can’t imagine how many thousands upon thousands of lines of VO they’re going to record, and then on top of that directing and refining each NPC interaction into a mini-cutscene.  It’s safe to say that the financial risk they’re taking in hanging their hat on this endeavor is enormous.  But is it the right one?

 
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So as some of you know (and if you don’t, then why don’t you!) I’ve embarked upon the journey of creating a company, which in turn is creating a world.  And hopefully, you can see in the first five seconds of looking at Windstorm Studios’ site, that the world we’re creating is not going to be in your typical high fantasy setting.  And we’re in good company.  Right now there are more MMO’s coming out in a non-typical fantasy setting than ever before.   With games like Jumpgate Evolution, Champions Online, The Agency, and overly wordy Star Wars: The Old Republic looming on the horizon, players will soon have more selections than ever when deciding on the type of world they want to visit.  But why has it taken this long?  And why do we still see games being released every year set in that traditional fantasy setting?  Well, it’s mostly because fantasy gives you so much for free, from a design standpoint, and doesn’t present nearly as much of a challenge as designing your game in a contemporary or futuristic setting does.

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