Have I mentioned what a big week this has been for SWTOR? In a way, it's a new beginning for the game. Not as in a reboot, there is no wipe or anything like that. But the news of the week could mean big things for SWTOR in the future.
When SWTOR launched, it was quite ambitious. Eight huge class stories, each different. 5 companions with their own style, dialog, and quests. Cinematic side quests by the boatload. It was pretty crazy. Untold millions spent over a number of years. As great as all of that sounds, it was also a huge weight weighing SWTOR down.
I'm sure I am not the only one who thought, "How can they possibly expand on this?" Adding two new classes (can't add just one), would be an enormous and expensive effort. Never-mind trying to add a new Chapter to all 8 of the stories. I really wonder how BioWare thought they were going to be able to do it. Did they assume it'd be a runaway hit and they could just throw money at the problem?
So we never saw the type of expansions most of us probably wanted to see. However, with the Fallen Empire announcement, that may all be about to change.
The key news is that players can now create a level 60 character, and optionally do all of the class story content. That actually puts the possibility of new classes back on the table. BioWare is no longer constrained by the massive class story requirement. Each class also does not need its own set of companions anymore, so another requirement gone. I think, if Fallen Empire is successful, we may actually see a new class in the future.
Would I have liked to see BioWare's original vision work out? Of course. Eight different Star Wars games being constantly expanded would have been amazing. It just was not to be though. So hopefully this new direction works out.