Talking about the release date:
X2-PB wrote:
Personally, I think most of it's completed and they're going through a long beta, which I wouldn't expect to end until Q3/4 this year. All they're doing is stringing releases out until nearer the release date.
The release date for TOR slipped. If it was ready they would never willingly miss a target release date. Originally EA/Bioware wanted to release TOR this spring. According to EA’s Q4 earnings call May 4th TOR is scheduled to release Q2 FY2012 or Q3 FY2012. Q2 FY12 = July through September 2011. Q3 FY2012 = October through December 2011. The Developers are saying it is expected to launch in the second half of 2011. However there is a remote chance that it could release in January yet still satisfy the forecast given in the recent earnings call.
I am betting on a calendar year Q4 release. However there is much left to be done. They are staying one build ahead of the testers, I keep hearing of bugs in the tester build that seem to always be corrected in the current dev build. That is a good thing, but until the delta between the Dev build and the tester build is closer, I would not say there are not "mostly complete".
There are still many place holders graphics, still many major skill changes, still nothing major to see concerning crafting.
Many of the major equipment and subcontract expenses are forecasted for the very end of the year. Seems like you need those servers online for release... if you are forecasting them for the end of the year, you must not be expecting to need them until the end of the year. Therefore you must be expecting to release the game at the end of the year… or slightly later.