Star Wars: The Old Republic

This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

When SWTOR was announced, it was supposed to be the real deal, the ultimate WoW killer. According to some people. Realistically, it was to become a formidable rival to World of Warcraft, the largest and most respected MMO out there. For a moment, this seemed to be the case. For three months after its initial launch, it gained new subscribers faster than any other MMO had ever gained. It even beat WoW. Journalists and reviewers praised it before its launch, telling the public it was the best thing to ever happen to Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games.

It seemed inevitable. This game was going to be the true WoW killer. Within ten years, people would forget WoW even existed and younger players would laugh at former hardcore WoW veterans, whose game had been dethroned of its place. But then, it happened. WoW launched its Mists of Pandaria expansion. And Guild Wars 2 was released. Within months, SWTOR had fallen from the most rapidly rising MMO ever to a free-to-play game with only a few thousand players and a playerbase who sticked only because they were hardcore Star Wars fans. The sad tale of Star Wars: The Old Republic was over.