Not only was it recently announced that Darth Vader will be back in Rogue One, we also got some fun info about the voice actor. James Earl Jones is going to be back. While it’s 19 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Vader won’t be the same type of threat that we saw in A New Hope. This live action return will be small, but still welcomed by fans of the iconic villain. This comes after there were various appearances in the animated series Star Wars Rebels. According to executive producer Kathleen Kennedy, as said to Entertainment Weekly: “He will be in the movie sparingly. But at a key, strategic moment, he’s going to loom large.” According to director Gareth Edwards, the Vader that will appear in the upcoming standalone film will be more of a mythical threat than an all-powerful leader. “Within the Rebellion, it’s not commonly spoken about,” Edwards says about Vader’s…
Author: Lisa Clark
SWTOR Was 4th Highest Worldwide in Pay-to-Play Games
SWTOR ranked in the top five of the highest worldwide pay-to-play MMOs for the month of May. This is not surprising if you’ve been following the revenue and the stats but it might be surprising for people who don’t realize that SWTOR is still doing quite well. While it’s true that the popularity of the new Star Wars films may have increased the number of people looking to play the game, SWTOR still fared pretty well before. The new Star Wars craze is likely only going to increase that even more. I don’t think anyone is really surprised to see World of Warcraft still holding the top spot there. Blizzard has a real winner there and following it up with Overwatch that took the top spot in overall digital game earnings with $269 million across PC and console platforms but SWTOR is clearly holding its own in the industry. The…
Chicago Star Wars Museum Cancelled
In what would have given us another good reason to visit Chicago, we now have news that George Lucas has cancelled the plans to build a Star Wars museum. The Chicago Tribune recently reported that Lucas has halted his Windy City plans to build The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. It would seem that Lucas has spent the past two years arguing with the city of Chicago over the land the museum was to be built on. The story says that back in 2014, a group called Friends of the Parks filed a lawsuit that sought to stop the museum from being built on the Chicago lakefront. they say that anything build on the lakefront has to specifically benefit the citizens of Chicago since this land belongs to them. The Star Wars museum proposed by Lucas would not, in their opinion, specifically benefit the people of Chicago. It doesn’t make a lot of…
SWTOR Dark vs. Light Event Angers Some Vets
Star Wars: The Old Republic is getting ready to introduce their biggest event yet. The Dark vs. Light Event will unite the galaxy in one way or another, or it will tick off vets and confuse new players. There seems to be a little bit of all that going around. So we brought you the news of the latest (and seemingly biggest) event of SWTOR, the Dark vs. Light event and if you’ve been reading the forums, Reddit, and other places where SWTOR fans lurk, you may have noticed that there are some very disgruntled veteran players. So what is that all about? It’s a new event, right? This should be a good thing, right? Well, the short of it is that this huge event was clearly designed to entice new players only. There’s nothing wrong with enticing new players. This means we keep the game live, there are more…
Star Wars Galaxies Fan Fest (2005)
Back in the day, there were two Fan Fests for Star Wars Galaxies. LucasArts hosted these events as a way to honor and celebrate the many fans of the game, and also to provide a way for them to all come together and meet. The 2004 Fan Fest was held at the Hilton Anaheim in June. It was a great time to be in California as the weather is great and of course, the venue was wonderful. Players had the chance to meet one another and also to talk to developers, participate in panels, and play in in-game and live events. Tickets ran from $89-100, depending on if you pre-purchased or got them at the door. It was a lot of fun, as these types of fan events tend to be. If you played SWG back then, you will remember how close-knit the community was. In addition to it being…
Glitch in SWTOR That Will Trigger Your OCD
Out of the vault of “You Had ONE Job, Bioware”, we have more game glitches. Sometimes the glitch is just a physical issue and it doesn’t really affect the play of the game, but merely the appearance. Some people can overlook this or even laugh at it, while others find it so distracting they can’t even play. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, it’s safe to say you can appreciate on some level what this player has captured. yodacoder posted the images to imgur so you can see for yourself but be warned, once you see it, you can’t unsee it: You had ONE job! (SWTOR) Seriously, what is happening here? It’s in the Republic Fleet space station and if you’re not noticing it right away, here’s a hint: take a look at the flooring. Do you know of other glitches like this in the game? Are you the…
Claudia Adams-Esgrow Former Social Advisor for Bioware Passes Away
The game industry suffered a sad and unexpected loss this month. EA social advisor Claudia Adams-Esgrow has passed away. Claudia’s wife, Julia Adams-Esgrow, shared the news in a post on Facebook, Claudia and Julia had only been married a few weeks prior. Claudia started out as an in-game support representative for Blizzard (World of Warcraft) but worked on several games throughout her career, including Star Wars The Old Republic, where she helped manage the community. She even had a stint at Trion Worlds. We’re written about the importance of community management here quite often and as someone who has experience in that field, I tend to take these kinds of roles and the people who fill them, personally. Claudia worked hard for SWTOR and the fans and she was an all-around great person. Described by friends and family as a great food lover and a passionate political activist, she was someone who cared about…
SWTOR DARK vs. LIGHT EVENT
A new event is coming to SWTOR so get ready! Starting on June 28, there will be a Dark vs. Light event. You will need to start brand new characters for this event. Previous characters and their milestones or achievements will not count for this event. There will be rewards based on each reward level you can reach: Heroic Legacy Valiant Champion Eternal Legendary The event ends this fall and you do not have to keep the character to achieve the requirements. Once you have completed the objective by receiving the achievement, that character no longer needs to be active. So you could level to 50 on a character, and then delete it. This may work for people who just want to win the awards for the event but don’t have 8 free character slots on their primary legacy server. Some other options are: Complete the objectives on a different server…
TOR TV: Star Wars Galaxies – Duel of the Fates
Fan projects are so much fun. That’s one reason I write so much about them here. We love being able to share with you the cool, fun, and sometimes funny stuff we find from other fans online and around the globe. Sometimes you send it to us via Facebook or email and we love that too. I think Star Wars fans are some of the most creative people around. Seriously, I write about a lot of fan stuff but it’s the Star Wars fans that really put their heart and souls into things and seem to come up with some of the best and most creative ideas. Here’s a little project we found that recreates the Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace using Star Wars Galaxies. It’s a fun little watch even if you never played the game but bonus enjoyment if you were a fan of SWG, too. It’s…
Crafting Ideas: Component Conversion
Those who know me as a gamer will observe that I have this thing about game economics… I like to make currency, save currency, and understand currency. I like to see how the currency will shape a game and its economics. I like comparing it to real-world situations and finances. I like finding ways to make more money so I can hoard it up or buy whatever I want. It’s weird, right? Well, I’m not alone. There are many other players out there like me who find video game economics fascinating and one of those people has a website dedicated completely to SWTOR economics. We’ve linked to it here on the site before but if you’ve missed those posts, you can check it out at swtoreconomics.com. So today, we want to talk about one post in particular. A new one from a couple of weeks ago titled “Crafting Ideas: Component Conversion”….
Advice To Those Thinking Of Raid Leading in SWTOR [Video]
I had my fair share of raid leading in World of Warcraft so by the time SWTOR came out, I was looking for an alternative MMORPG and of course, I loved the Star Wars theme but I wasn’t really looking to raid lead anymore. I know many of my friends were, even friends who had led raids in hardcore guilds in WoW but for me, I wanted a game where I could sit back and relax, soak in the new story and content, and not feel rushed for progression. There’s nothing wrong with raiding or leading, or progression. I was just at a point in my gaming life where I wanted something different. That said, there were and still are, people who love raid leading in SWTOR. If you’re thinking about becoming one of those people, mirta000 has some advice for you. It’s all compiled here in this video of about 11…
STAR WARS : FORGOTTEN FORCE A Fan Film
You know how I feel about fan films. I’ve made that abundantly clear with each one I post here on the site. But now, we have a new one and this one’s great. We also talked briefly with Tim Johnson, Misunderstood Art Company, writer and director, about the film. You can learn more or follow updates at their Facebook page. Johnson says he made the film to honor his dad, Tony, who passed away from cancer on June 19, 2011. It was released on June 19, 2016 on Father’s Day. It’s a wonderful tribute to a Star Wars fan and father and an all-around great film. We hope to see more shorts/films like this from the same crew in the future. Keep up the good work! So if you’re ready to check it out for yourself, here it is. Be sure to leave them a comment on the video or…
SWTOR: PvP Interview with Eric Musco [video]
If you’re looking to catch up on the state of PvP in SWTOR, then you will want to check out this interview with Eric Musco. Snave and Musco get together and talk PvP and while it’s a long watch (or listen), it’s worth it to see Snave pick Musco’s brain for a bit. As always, PvP is a hot topic in SWTOR (isn’t it in any MMORPG?) so there are going to be a lot of varying opinions on this. Does Musco really give any new info or is it doing the typical dance of answering-without-really-answering? I’d say he’s probably paid for the latter but there are still some tidbits you can pick up from it and some people like to read between the lines and speculate on this or that. As usual, we want to know what you think. Here you can see it for yourself: “My second interview with SWTOR…
Star Wars: Battlefront – Bespin – New Weapons & Star Cards
The Bespin digital expansion is on its way and we now have news about what you can expect. Namely, new weapons and star cards. So how about we take a look at just what you can get? As the official website explains: X-8 Night Sniper The X-8 Night Sniper is a blaster pistol with decent damage, cooling power, and range. It stands out due to its enhanced scope with heat thermal vision, capable of revealing humanoids in most weather and different times of day. The X-8 Night Sniper was the first blaster we agreed on building for Bespin, since it was wielded by Lando Calrissian in Star Wars™ Rebels™ and provided us with unique game play opportunities. It has a slick look, befitting for the clean and shiny polished levels of Bespin, and the heat vision scope provides it with a unique edge over the other primary blasters. Developer Pro…
10 Most Notorious Star Wars Urban Legends
If you’re a Star Wars fan, then you already know there are more urban legends out there than nearly any other franchise. We love Star Wars and we love to talk about Star Wars. Fans are always looking for a new little tidbit, piece of news, gossip, or some hidden fact they never knew before. We want to feel like insiders, like we know something other people don’t, and like we’re special in our fandom. That’s probably one big reason these Star Wars urban legends take off like they do. There are many of them but this video will explore 10 of the most known. Are they true? Just a myth? Let’s find out! The Millennium Falcon broke Harrison Ford’s ankle – We know he had a leg injury filming the latest film and the rumor said it happened this way but the story came out later that it was…
Wrath of the Sith: A Star Wars Fan Film
We love fan films here, or really anything done by Star Wars fans. It’s the premise this very site was founded on. We love Star Wars and we want to share news, thoughts, opinions, and more about Star Wars to other Star Wars fans. You don’t get any more in the spirit of that than with fan films. Even roughly-shot backyard productions can be a lot of fun to watch. They show how literally anyone can get into the world of Star Wars and make it come to life for them. However, with technology and the dedication of fans, we’re seeing more and more professional-grade fan films shot these days and that is definitely something to celebrate. So that’s exactly what we have for you today. Here’s another great fan film that would classify as a short. It’s just under 12 minutes long but it has a great, intriguing story,…
Star Wars Perfume: Has Merchandising Gone Too Far?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Star Wars is hot right now. The new films have created a surge in the franchise’s popularity and we’re seeing Star Wars everywhere. This can be a good thing for the Star Wars fan but can it go too far? While buying groceries this past week, I noticed all the Star Wars branded foods. This is typical of cereals and snack foods, more than anything else, at least here in the US. I saw Star Wars cereals, yogurt, Cambell’s soup cans, and even Cheez-Its with Yoda on the front. They’re on Pringles cans and ice cream, and even coffee creamers. But the Star Wars craze doesn’t end with food. Of course, there are toys and clothes. This is to be expected. However, there has also been Star Wars makeup and now, we have Star Wars perfume. Yes. Star Wars perfume….
Fan Made KOTOR Remake is Making Progress
Remember when we told you about the remake of Knights of the Old Republic by a group of fans? Well, there is good news that the project is still going and we can see updates as indicated by their Twitter. Apeiron Game is working hard to make this dream a reality for fans just like themselves and it’s coming along nicely. They even have openings for volunteers if you want to help out. You can contact volunteer@apeirongame.com with “Volunteer” in the subject line. They’re not accepting anymore voice actors or writers at this time, however. You can see for yourself here in this Twitter update: Working on the 3rd person cam angle, with our derpy placeholder model. #Kotor #Apeiron. pic.twitter.com/jwjVwAp9z2 — Apeiron Game (@apeiron_kotor) May 28, 2016 And if you follow them on Twitter, you’ll never miss any notices or updates so you’ll always know where they are at in the process. Of course,…
How Gamers Consume MMO Content
It comes as no surprise to most regular MMO gamers that players consume content at a rapid rate. Just how fast that is might surprise some, however. It certainly caught Bioware off guard back in 2011 when SWTOR first launched. They put a lot of work into the game but had no idea just how quickly gamers would actually be able to consume the content. Some players blasted through the content very quickly and once they reached end game, there was nothing for them to do. They were bored. The game was old. They needed a new challenge. This leaves developers like Bioware needing to constantly be three steps ahead of the gamers or they just might lose them. An old PC Gamer article dated March 28, 2013 entitled GDC 2013: BioWare expected players to take three to five months to hit SWTOR’s level cap lays out James Ohlen‘s confession…
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens Coming This Summer
If you’re a fan of the LEGO Star Wars series like me, then you’re going to love this info that was recently released. We’re getting a new game this summer – on console, PC and portable platforms. Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t see The Force Awakens yet (and what Star Wars fan hasn’t?) then you’re going to want to watch it before getting this game. Disney is working with Warner Bros. and developer TT Games, and together they’re bringing the vision of Lego Star Wars characters to life. That means we get the best you can expect from the parody series with puns and humor galore. There is exclusive content from Episode VI and TFA but per usual, this isn’t canon. This is a hilarious and fun take on the series that only a LEGO Star Wars game could do. You can see the trailer below but if you have the PS4, you can even download…
EA Announces Next 4 Star Wars Games: 2018 and Beyond
What does the future look like for Star Wars games? Well, it seems it will be very, very bright. As predicted, we’re not going to see the end of Star Wars games any time soon. With movies plotted to release over the next number of years, we’re also going to see new games – four new Star Wars games, to be exact. EA has a plan and they’ve now released at least some information about that plan to us. As a part of this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), we got short glimpses at each one of these new games. The teases were part of the EA press conference and as we already know, EA has the publishing rights to Star Wars titles for the next 10 years. So what are they doing with it? Well, here’s what we know about the released titles so far: A Star Wars VR…
Introducing Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission
This year is all about the virtual reality (VR). I went to an electronic and gaming convention in NYC late last year and there was a lot of focus on VR. We’ve also been hearing about it more in the gaming community, for obvious reasons. Now not everyone I know is on the VR hype train. A lot of fans feel like it’s not all its cracked up to be and better time could be spent on making more games with better content. Regardless of how you personally feel on the matter, the industry dictates where it wants to be and right now, VR is hot. You’re likely only going to see more and more of it as other companies try to keep up. With that in mind, let’s talk about Star Wars games and virtual reality. Now we just got news about Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission from Jame…
Star Wars: Battlefront’s Next DLC launches June 21
Star Wars Battlefront’s second round of premium DLC, Bespin, launches June 21, Electronic Arts has announced. This release date is for the people who hold season pass subscriptions. It will go on sale for everyone else two weeks later. So now that we know when we are getting it, what can we expect from this update? Bespin is set in and around Cloud City, a tibanna gas mining operation you might remember from The Empire Strikes Back. With this, we’re going to see the ever-popular Lando Carrissian. This will actually be his first non-Lego console video game appearance since 2002 with Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast (who remembers that game?). Fans of Lando are pretty pumped up about this and I can see why. So who’s the bad guy in this new content launch? You can play as Dengar, the bounty hunter. And of course, there will be new weapons. The X-8 Night Sniper and the…
EA Star Wars: A Look Ahead
EA Star Wars has given us a new video that talks about what we can expect in the future from EA regarding the Star Wars franchise. In just about 3 1/2 minutes, we see some great highlights of what is to come, as well as the team behind these amazing games. You’ll hear from representatives of DICE, BioWare, Motive, Visceral Games, Capital Games, and Respawn Entertainment. There’s not really any footage into any of the games, although we do see some brief footage of the design process. We do hear story from people from these teams, what Star Wars means to them, and how they put that passion into the games they create for us, fellow fans. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the video for yourself below, then take a minute and tell us what you think. Take a look at what’s going on with some of…