And in today’s news-that’s-going-to-have-fanboys-shouting-about-stuff, EA’s Frank Gibeau has compared World of Warcraft’s gameplay to checking off items on a shopping list.<\/p>\n
“When I play World of Warcraft, you go and get your quests, and you go and do your quests, but it feels more like doing a shopping list at times,” Gibeau told Industry Gamers<\/a>. “[Our game] is more about talking to characters, learning what’s going on, investing in it, getting emotionally attached to it. You can still go in accessible ways and grind out quests if you want, but at the same time there’s a higher-level story that’s carrying you through The Old Republic. It operates across multiple classes from Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitors, bounty hunters, spies, troopers, to Jedis… it’s a really fantastic world.<\/p>\n “On multiple levels we’re highly differentiated and different from World of Warcraft. We’re not being slavish or imitating them at all. We’re doing our own thing. We’re doing our own unique way. BioWare and Blizzard have been around for almost the same period of time. They’ve built incredible audiences. They have their own unique cultures, and they do things very differently. They’re both very successful RPG developers.”<\/p>\n EA and BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO is scheduled to drop sometime in 2011.<\/p>\n