Star Wars : The Old Republic. What are we hoping for?

I've just been watching the mini-video documentaries over at Bioware's Star Wars : The Old Republic website. I'm excited. Star Wars gaming fans are excited. At last we get to adventure in the Star Wars mythos, MMO style. This is a dream come true. What can possibly go wrong? A lot unfortunately, if history is any guide.

Star Wars Galaxies had the potential to be where World of Warcraft is now. Back in 2003, the MMORPG market was not saturated and Star Wars done right is a license to print money. The problem is that Galaxies is Star Wars done..well wrong.

The game has never tempted me, and frankly if a Star Wars game cant get the likes of me, its prospects are not good. Jedi Master Lucas can usually mind-trick me into any Star Wars purchase, but the aura of 'new gamer experience' (aka fan-base screw-over) and a general fail-vibe has kept my interest level low. And Im not the only one apparently, going by the reported mmogchart cellar-dwelling subscription numbers

So here's an action plan to make sure Old Republic stays strong with the Force:

1. No over-instancing. Star Wars is about a universe of mythology. Its a world. Age of Conan showed what happens when you instance everything. You suddenly lose any immersion in a world, and your game starts to look like a bunch of levels hacked together.
Loading Screens = Dark Side of the Force.

2. Working together is fun. Disturbing trend see I do of late. Yes. Massive multiplayer games are morphing into single player experiences. World of Warcraft's success and its design mantra of being able to solo to maximum level is probably at the heart of this situation. Lets get back to relying on each other to have fun. If we are soloing this , a disturbance in the force will be.

3. Space and lots of it. Im yet to see any information about space action. Light Sabre fights are of course compulsory. More the merrier. We also need space-faring adventure as well. And Im not talking about relegating space as just a 'cut scene' travelator between locations - planets. Warhammer Online guilty as charged.

A Galaxies type mis-step is unlikely at this stage, considering BioWare's strong pedigree. I'm just uneasy. The Star Wars franchise has taken a lot of 'Jar Jar' hits of late, it needs some tender loving care, my inner-Star Wars kid needs this one to be a home run.