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Do you support a Mac OS X client in Star Wars the Old Republic?


Pencilvania

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I would support it if BioWare thinks it's a good business decision. If they weigh the cost of producing and supporting a mac client (probably HIGH) against the number of new sales they'll get for directly supporting mac (can't count people who already use BootCamp or similar in this; probably LOW) and can find profit in it, then they should probably code it.

 

If they'd make the Mac version downloadable like the PC version, I think many people who runs the game through Windows on Mac would get the native client. Making people purchase another copy to play would be stupid.

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Sure. I support a Mac client. Why not? I think anything that will make the game more accessible to more people is worth some effort.

Now, I don't know what type of development would be involved so maybe it would be prohibitive. However, given the state of the industry and the continuing popularity of Apple products, I would suggest it is better to bite the bullet now, create the client and have a framework for other things in the future.

 

If this game and games like it are truly going to be a part of BW/EA long term strategy, build the Mac client now.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I am currently using a late 2011 MacBook Pro '13, running SWTOR, and I can honestly say, it would be a hell of a lot easier for me to just be able to run TOR in OS X. Switching back and forth is just a hassle, and honestly, Windows is installed on my Mac just for SWTOR. I think there is a decent market for this game in the Apple community. We don't have many MMOs. The only noteworthy MMOs we have are WoW, EVE Online, and eventually The Elder Scrolls Online. Other developers have begun to embrace Macs and OS X. It would not be terribly hard to create a Mac client. EA has experience with games for Mac, and has the resources to do it. I know the concern here is profitability, but I would slap down another $60 for a Mac copy of the game.
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  • 2 months later...
somebody got news or facts - Mac Client??? yess, no, perhaps, of course, never ever ????

 

Never ever, no new news, just the game situation decrees that. From 2.4 million to less than 500k.. no way.

Edited by Roalmo
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I am currently using a late 2011 MacBook Pro '13, running SWTOR, and I can honestly say, it would be a hell of a lot easier for me to just be able to run TOR in OS X. Switching back and forth is just a hassle, and honestly, Windows is installed on my Mac just for SWTOR. I think there is a decent market for this game in the Apple community. We don't have many MMOs. The only noteworthy MMOs we have are WoW, EVE Online, and eventually The Elder Scrolls Online. Other developers have begun to embrace Macs and OS X. It would not be terribly hard to create a Mac client. EA has experience with games for Mac, and has the resources to do it. I know the concern here is profitability, but I would slap down another $60 for a Mac copy of the game.

 

This mirrors my experience too.

 

Though the PC side would also get to see the new Xcom next month too!

 

QS :D

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If they do, they need to make a Linux client too.

 

And while they are at that, why not make a OS/2 client

 

Heck, go for broke and make a DOS client.

 

People say it's a hassle from doing Bootcamp for just this game, they should get a PC for just this game and deal with it or stay Bootcamped. Nobody put a gun to their heads to make them buy those Macs, right?

 

How about all the things made for iPhones become available for Android, Apple? And Bioware has some IPhone stuff not on Android last I checked.

Edited by Jacen_Starsolo
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  • 2 weeks later...

It seems not doing a mac client isn't a great idea.... Maybe they wouldn't have lost so many subs... who knows? ;)

 

Wow, a lot of uninformed people about Mac... One thing, third party hardware companies can release drivers for Mac OS... nVidia just released Mac OSX drivers. "http://www.tonymacx86.com/257-nvidia-releases-mountain-lion-10-8-2-graphics-drivers.html" And there are a fair amount of hardware companies that make hardware for the Mac and develop drivers for them... This isn't an exclusive Mac or PC world... Mac is great for a lot of things and appeals to people that like style, function and ease of use with good technology that doesn't get in the way. PC's are really just about function and not much style...it's all about function and cost. I wouldn't call stupid looking Alien cases style.

 

Anyway, as some people have stated, high end PC's cost the same or more than Macs do and you really don't get much more function or performance. The new Macs are equal with PCs...heck they are PC's...They run Intel CPUs...

 

Oh and who said Mac OS cost $800 to Windows $100-$200? Uh, Not sure what cool-aid you're drinking, but OS X Mountain Lion cost $19.99 for upgrade at the App Store. Try to buy a Windows Upgrade License for that? And by the way, you did have to buy the hardware for that PC as well...so tack on that $100-$200 on to the hardware cost of the PC as well... There isn't that much of a difference...

 

Also, Mac is the leader in the laptop market at ~27% (just counting MacBook Pro and MacBook Air). That's a lot of Mac OS's out there.

 

Why so much hate toward Macs? I use both PCs and Macs. I prefer Macs simply because they are form, function and performance...and they just work.

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I would really like to see the game have a client for OS X. Seeing ArenaNet is doing it for Guild Wars 2, I'm pretty sure BioWare can do one for Star Wars: The old Republic as well.

 

And I'm pretty sure the game would see an increase in players, since there is many fan of Star Wars on the Mac-platform. But I might have it all wrong.

 

All in all, the Mac is not here to die quite yet.

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If they do, they need to make a Linux client too.

 

And while they are at that, why not make a OS/2 client

 

Heck, go for broke and make a DOS client.

 

People say it's a hassle from doing Bootcamp for just this game, they should get a PC for just this game and deal with it or stay Bootcamped. Nobody put a gun to their heads to make them buy those Macs, right?

 

How about all the things made for iPhones become available for Android, Apple? And Bioware has some IPhone stuff not on Android last I checked.

 

I am a retired IT worker and worked with MS mostly.

 

The Mac can do things that are just not possible to do even in Windows 7.

Added to that is the fact that I can steal Linux stuff and run it on my Mac in OS X.

 

Now what is the advantage?

Free well done apps that do not cost a fortune to fix or get help.

Most popular apps were in Linux first not MS Windows. Sorry to burst your bubble but this is just a fact.

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Now that the game is about to go F2P, they may need to rethink the need for a Mac client. The reason there are so many apps for iOS is that the people who own Apple products are proven to spend more money on apps. They typically have more disposable income, are a younger demographic, and are extremely loyal. EA could invest some in the Mac client in order to access this market. I believe it could be pretty profitable for them.

 

Or maybe not.

 

Anyone have thoughts on this? Just thinking out loud here.

Edited by Voemel
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Now that the game is about to go F2P, they may need to rethink the need for a Mac client. The reason there are so many apps for iOS is that the people who own Apple products are proven to spend more money on apps. They typically have more disposable income, are a younger demographic, and are extremely loyal. EA could invest some in the Mac client in order to access this market. I believe it could be pretty profitable for them.

 

Or maybe not.

 

Anyone have thoughts on this? Just thinking out loud here.

 

Honestly, I lost hope for a Mac client of this game. After all the layoffs and the change to free to play, I don't believe BW will have enough staff and money to make an OS X client. I ended up buying a desktop PC with the parts I wanted and cheaper than any desktop Mac with specs anywhere near. Don't get me wrong, I love Macs and I have one but for gaming specwise they are a pathetic. Maybe you can game decently on the high end iMac during the first months but you're stuck with a machine where you can't upgrade the most important computer part for games: the GPU.

 

Cheers!

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Although I'm not against it I would personally rather the development team focused on improving the game and adding new content/features rather than focusing on getting the game to run on Mac OSX. I originally had just an iMac, but after my new found hobby for PC gaming I decided to get a Windows computer aswell.

 

So I'm not against it at this moment in time, but I think possibly when it comes to the game being F2P then I think yes Bioware would benefit from having a mac client.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Honestly, I lost hope for a Mac client of this game. After all the layoffs and the change to free to play, I don't believe BW will have enough staff and money to make an OS X client. I ended up buying a desktop PC with the parts I wanted and cheaper than any desktop Mac with specs anywhere near. Don't get me wrong, I love Macs and I have one but for gaming specwise they are a pathetic. Maybe you can game decently on the high end iMac during the first months but you're stuck with a machine where you can't upgrade the most important computer part for games: the GPU.

 

Cheers!

 

True that...

 

I bought an iMac for my parents at Xmas last year for just over 2k, and it has an Intel 2.5 Ghz CPU, 4 GB of RAM, and a Radeon 6750M GPU. I built myself a PC for just under 1k and it has 32 GB of RAM, an AMD 4.0 Ghz processor, and a GeForce GTX 570 HD GPU. It make a no sense to buy a Mac for the gaming.

 

That being said, I still support a Mac client for SW:TOR.

Edited by iHumanist
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In order to do a Mac client, they would need an entirely new game engine. The one used for SWTOR does not support the Mac. The same goes for Linux.

 

http://www.heroengine.com/heroengine/heroengine-client-specifications/

 

Note: That doesn't mean I don't support the idea of a Mac client, it's just not possible using the current engine.

Edited by Valethar
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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't think there is any coincidence that Blizzard games are as successful as they are AND happen to support both windows and mac.

 

There are a lot more people than the arrogant PC users think that use mac or were forced to use mac growing up because their family owned it for this reason or that.

 

Speaking from my own experience, I was given Starcraft and Diablo 1 for christmas because they were the only games that would work on the computer my parents owned at the time. Since then I have been loyal to Blizzard because of this fact.

 

Making a game accessible to a wider range of platforms is simply logical as it makes it more accessible to more gamers.

 

Do it.

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I'm sorry, this thread is ridiculous.

 

Mac users will be the first to tell you how much better desktop graphic design, video editing, etc are so fabulous on a mac, but explain why their platform is inadequate for gaming and they get all indignant. Macs don't do games or Flash. Whether you agree with this or not is irrelevant, it's just how things are.

 

All the mac supporters can do is cite Apple stock and growing marketshare (not in desktop pc's btw guys) and whine about no support when there's already a software solution for them.

 

It's this simple: there are technical hurdles for native mac support. A publicly-held company (EA) no doubt did some kind of analysis to determine if developing that native support would yield an appreciable profit over the costs involved. Since they announced that there will be no mac support, we can assume the analysis didn't show a big enough number.

 

It's not like you can't play the game, because you can. The sooner mac users embrace the fact that their platform doesn't have widespread support for gaming, the sooner you can calm down and just enjoy the game. Since your computer is so much more awesome than a PC, swtor runs great, right?

 

Ugh.. My MacBook plays Flash content just fine... :confused: News to me.

 

Mac supporters exist because Macs just are better for a certain kind of person. The build quality on my MacBook is excellent. Ya know: there are a lot of Windows laptops and ultra books floating around. Some of them have excellent keyboards; some of them have excellent trackpads. Some of them also have excellent screens. None of them nail all three. There is a reason why Apple products retain a high resale value. With that said, PCs are good to. I'm just tired of them myself. As for Mac OSX: I think all operating systems are annoying in their own little ways. I've used Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. I just prefer Mac OSX's version of annoying over the other ones.

 

I'm playing TOR on a Mac as well. Bootcamp is annoying so a Mac client would be ACE :cool:

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