First expansion this year?

[Cakka]

Am I the only one thinking we might get the first expansion this year already? There are couple reasons why I think this might be the case. All of these are pretty anecdotal on their own but put together I think they might be a hint of something:

-First of all very soon after the release Stephen Ericksson(might remember wrong who it was) said they had finished some new big milestone(ie. stuff that isn't in the game yet) in writing and would keep the Hollywood voice actors employed for years.
-They have now many times said we would see the class stories continued this year and I'm 100% sure the only time they will add new chapters to the game is in expansions, of course continueing the class story might mean something less than a full chapter.
-In beta they had all the planets and major graphical assets in months before the actual launch giving them plenty of time to already work on new art assets for the expansion(and patches obviously), also they have said they still have full staff working on the game and I think we can agree that obviously not all of them are currently working on the live game.
-I believe there was some EA shareholder info that actually clearly hinted at SWTOR expansion scheduled for Q4 but Google fails me now

[Dakia]

Given some of their statements, I wouldn't at all be surprised if we see an expansion late in the year. Now that they got the bulk of what they wanted in the game at launch released, they have stated that they are moving forward at a quicker pace.

With the recent and some future additions, the game really does have a decent foundation in place on which they can expand.

[Darsithis]

I'm not sure I'd want one this soon. I still haven't felt like I've really gotten to experience everything the game has to offer.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did do one end of year, though. It could be in the works right now.

[Profyrion]

I honestly couldn't say, so I voted for pandas.

I'd like that to be true but I haven't seen enough to know if a full expansion is a possibility. They've certainly streamlined their development process over... "other" studios. Anything is possible I guess.

[Slugfest]

Well if the rumor mill is to be believed probably not since there are supposed to be 3 more content patches incoming (1.3-1.5). 3 new patches and an expansion? I hope they don't rush it. I'm looking forward to the legacy perks of 1.3 and seriously want to see what they do with the rumored raid for 1.5.

[Dakia]

Well if the rumor mill is to be believed probably not since there are supposed to be 3 more content patches incoming (1.3-1.5). 3 new patches and an expansion? I hope they don't rush it. I'm looking forward to the legacy perks of 1.3 and seriously want to see what they do with the rumored raid for 1.5.

I had forgotten about the 1.3-1.5 leak. If accurate, that will certainly be a lot to squeeze in between now and the end of the year if the release and expansion at that time.

[Machik]

I'll admit, even though I haven't picked up the game yet, an expansion already would impress me. May have to relook at playing it.

[Cakka]

I had one more thing I forgot about, story is a huge part of this game and I don't think they can really go Blizzard route only releasing expansion every 1.5-2 years because of that alone. As I said earlier releasing significant amount of new class story for all the 8 classes is something we will most likely only see in expansions and BioWare have said they see the chapters a bit like seasons in TV shows and as we all know you get a new season every year.

[SirRobin]

Well they managed to have WAR's first expansion within the year, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do it for TOR too.

[vizzle]

There is no way there would be a fully fledged "expansion" (and by this I mean a box expansion like TBC/WoTLK/Cata) this year. There is no way, and anyone who believes so is being very unrealistic.

[notorious98]

I had forgotten about the 1.3-1.5 leak. If accurate, that will certainly be a lot to squeeze in between now and the end of the year if the release and expansion at that time.

To be fair, they did say they'd like to start pumping out content patches every month. However unlikely that may be, even at every other month, that still puts those last 3 patches out by October, giving a December expac release a high possibility. I think they'll be able to begin really pushing out the content once they fix some of the issues that need to be addressed. Namely server populations. Once they achieve a decent balance between all of their servers and the ability to character copy over to the PTS, I believe they'll have done all they can do for the time being, allowing them to focus purely on content.

[Cakka]

There is no way there would be a fully fledged "expansion" (and by this I mean a box expansion like TBC/WoTLK/Cata) this year. There is no way, and anyone who believes so is being very unrealistic.

I'm definitely not saying this is a sure thing or anything but plenty of MMOs have launched their first expansion quickly, eg. EQ2 had 2 full fledged expansions out by 1.5 year mark.

[moff]

To be honest, I do not think that would sit well with many players. they should just release big content patches and bugfixes this year, and certainly not a full priced addon.

next year, sure.

[guardian_titan]

Well, Bioware did say new races would be available by the end of the year. How better to release those than in a new expansion? That then gives them the ability to add in new starting planets for those new races as well as additional story, the SGRA companions, and planets for level 50+. Possible we could even see a few alternate leveling planets so we don't have to do the same leveling path every time although I'm not really betting on that one. And if the space combat revamp isn't released by patch 1.5, that will also likely be in the expansion.

If Bioware can keep up this patch (and expansion) release rate for years to come, they'll have a lot of content to keep players occupied for years. The game is largely based around story so they don't really have the luxury of waiting 2-3 years to release an expansion. Content patches have only expanded the main story but not the class stories thus far. I don't know about you, but I want to see how my story pans out in the scheme of things. Let's be honest, many players are just spacebarring through the main story or skipping it all together. The class story is what players tend to pay attention to.

[Octaboom]

In reality, although I voted for pandas, is that I don't really know if BW/EA with give an expac this year.

I like the arguments that reminded us of BW's goal for patches every month, and expected content from 1.3 to 1.5 in the "near" future. I don't see BW being able to do a patch a month, but every other? Maybe. Going on the 1 patch every 2 months: 3 patches would put at 6 months out, so October/November at earliest for end of 1.5 debut. Doesn't make logistical sense to have an expac avail at that time, I can see one coming in Jan or Feb of 2013, but no earlier. But perhaps my insight is way to limited to judge accurately.

[Forsedar]

I'm not sure I'd want one this soon. I still haven't felt like I've really gotten to experience everything the game has to offer.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did do one end of year, though. It could be in the works right now.

I'm with you there. I'm currently waiting for the Nightmare modes to come out but afterwards I think I'll be bored since we're literally doing everything the game has to offer. The rest of my server is still basically in the old tier so that is a sign that an expansion probably should not be that soon.

[vizzle]

I'm definitely not saying this is a sure thing or anything but plenty of MMOs have launched their first expansion quickly, eg. EQ2 had 2 full fledged expansions out by 1.5 year mark.

That EQ2 example doesn't really support your statement considering it's more than a year...

[Derah]

Nah, I don't think its possible.

They have a lot on their plate atm, they still need to fix several issues and add more QoL features before working on an expansion. Besides, expacs need to have more than just "ohh look, more quests" in order to be attractive, we're talking new races, new worlds, new dungeons/raids, maybe even new classes. Considering they still have to work on at least 3 more patches, its just not possible.

I fully believe they can release more chapters for the character classes without an expansion. For all we know, patch 1.5 could had 2 new planets, and these 2 new planets would have the "Chapter 4" for each class.

An actual, boxed, expansion pack, I just don't see it. Not right now. Using wow as a comparison, wow had to go all the way to patch 1.12 before they released TBC. That's rigth, TWELVE major patches before they were ready for an expansion.

Be patient, SWTOR is just a baby game, it must first learn how to walk before it can run, and then fly. I'll admit it had a fantastic start (anyone saying otherwise is just deluding themselves) but it needs to develop more before tackling an expac.

Improve the vanilla first :P

[notorious98]

That EQ2 example doesn't really support your statement considering it's more than a year...

Does this make you feel better? Their first expansion released after 10 months. Their second was 1 year and 4 months. Argumentative responses are argumentative.

[Solzan Nemesis]

I hope not, I do not have the money. I hope they wait at least two years. paying for SWtOR alone I keeps me off of WoW, if they do bring it out this year I would not even have the money to get MoP.