Could XCOM 2 be a better game than Star Wars Battlefront? Some people definitely think so. In an opinion piece for htxt, one gamer says why he thinks it is. First, he gives us some background into XCOM 2. “XCOM 2 is the story of a group of rebels (XCOM) fighting against an oppressive regime (ADVENT). You get to control and lead a ragtag group of heroes using jerry-rigged weapons and technology to defeat the better armed and armoured bad guys. Oh, and there’s aliens.” And then he says what he thinks about Star Wars Battlefront: “Okay, hear me out. Star Wars: Battlefront is both a terrible Star Wars experience and a terrible videogame in general. Does it look like Star Wars? Hell yes, it’s eye-wateringly beautiful. And the sound assets? Absolutely superb. But it doesn’t feel like Star Wars. It wears the façade of the franchise like a slick doppelgänger. Imagine…
Author: Lisa Clark
(SPOILER) Companion Conversation Leaked
Companions add a big element to SWTOR and since before launch, this has been something that set this game apart from others. While there has been much arguing over the companions and certain features they should or should not have, most everyone who has played the game will agree that the companions can be a lot of fun. With this we get the companion dialogue, which is true to BioWare story fashion, and always interesting. Something else that has been talked about since before launch is the ability to romance companions and while that has also not been without controversy, it creates an interesting dynamic to the game. The conversations between you and your companions are also full of fun. Companion conversation for Lana Beniko was leaked. Please be warned that the rest of this post will contain spoilers. ***SPOILERS*** Breaking up is hard to do. Or is it? In…
The Correct Way to Give Out Unique Codes for SWTOR
If you have unique codes for SWTOR that you want to give out to others, great! You’re a fantastic person and we all appreciate you for it. That said, here is a word of caution: you may not want to post those unique codes openly. If you simply post them on a forum or website, they are most likely going to be bot-mined, which means no real humans are going to get your codes and be able to play an enjoy. Instead, bot accounts will use them for gold farming/selling and other exploits. If you want normal, real people to get the codes, you’re going to have to give them out directly. Does that sound like a lot of work? Well don’t worry because it doesn’t have to be. Here are some ideas for giving out your unique codes for SWTOR: Host a contest and give the winners the codes…
STAR WARS Knightmare – Old Republic Fan Film
Before Malachor 5’s destruction. One Jedi must understand the dark side’s hold over the planet… Intrigued? We are so we’ll be following this little project for an Old Republic fan film and we hope you’re follow along as well. This is a project from Star Wars fan and filmmaker, Patrick Johnson. The indie filmmaker has made several short films over the past five years and his latest inspiration has us excited too. Here is the plot: “This story set in the Star Wars universe, 10 years before the rise of REVAN and MALAK during the MANDALORIAN WARS. A story that revolves around the beloved setting of the OLD REPUBLIC in the STAR WARS EXPANDED UNIVERSE. On the planet of Malachor 5, (Before its destruction years later.) a team of mercenaries of a republic operation runs into a problem with their team’s captain; now having slipped into a mysterious COMA. A Jedi from…
New Side Project In Case You’re Bored in SWTOR
Every now and then we come across something that just really gets your giggles going. This is one of those types of posts. User djcecil2 posted to Reddit about how he had found a new side hobby in SWTOR, complete with pictures. Of dead players… See for yourself: I’ve found a new side hobby while playing the game. Taking pictures of dead people. It’s really quite hilarious! More than one commenter noted the dead faces’ resemblance to “O faces” which will probably lead you down a path of NSFW imagery and links. But honestly, it is pretty funny. How many times have you seen a dead player in a hilarious position? Sometimes it’s just the way the corpse falls and other times it can be an actual glitch in the game, like a body falling partly through the scenery, but it always makes for some laughs. I know this is such a…
What To Do with a Star Wars Hater
So you’ve got that one friend, the one who says he “just doesn’t get” what all the fuss is about. “What’s so great about Star Wars?”, he says. Or maybe he goes one step further into actual Hater Mode and starts bashing on the films or the franchise. There’s likely a friend like this in ever group (unless you’ve already purged your group of this traitor). So what can you do about? Sure, it’s okay to accept one another’s differences. We know that not everyone will like the same things and not everyone will love Star Wars as much as you might (although we cannot imagine why). Differences in people make the world go round and that is something to be celebrated. However, if you’re dealing with a friend or family member who just doesn’t “get” your Star Wars obsession, it might be time for an intervention. You can try…
The ‘Star Wars’ Fan Film Awards Are Back
It’s that time again – you can can make your own Star Wars short for fun and earn a profit from it. How cool would that be? The Star Wars Fan Film Awards are officially back and you have the chance to win one of seven $250 prize packs and you can get your short film posted online for the world to see. What do you have to do to win? Well, it all starts with making your own short film and being sure you follow all the rules. Submissions will be judged on filmmaking (or animation) talent, storytelling, character design and development, acting and voiceover talent, originality and entertainment value. There are many different great categories that winners will be chosen from so you can do the style of your choice and really make it your best. Here’s all the important info you need to know: STAR WARS FAN FILM…
Is Star Wars Rebels Making Old Republic Canon?
Since the Disney buyout of Star Wars, there is one thing that’s been bothering fans and that is the direction of the story line. Many Star Wars stories have just been thrown out completely. Some of the real classic stories are still around under Legends but so many good stories are just gone. There’s so much more that could be done with Star Wars and it seems like Disney isn’t interested in changing that. There is one exception to this rule, however: Star Wars Rebels. It looks like Rebels might be bringing back the most beloved EU story canon – Knights of the Old Republic. Nerd Union has written a great piece about this. Here’s a few of the reasons they give: The ships in the holo when Princess Leia brought supplies They Keep Developing the Mandalorians The Great Scourge of Malachor For the full reasoning behind these hints, read the full article,…
Industrial Light and Magic Might Bring Virtual reality to Star Wars
Virtual reality (VR) is the rage in the tech industry this year. There was a lot of talk about it at the New York Media Festival this year and we even got to try out some of the latest VR technology for ourselves in the exhibits. But we recently heard some interesting news about Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic. As part of this year’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects arm of Star Wars studio Lucasfilm, announced that it will give a talk at the Virtual Reality Developers Conference. The event takes place on March 14 and we should know more specifics after that. But for now, there are some hints that VR might be coming to Star Wars. They don’t directly name Star Wars but there’s a good chance this is the franchise being implied here: “At VRDC, Lucasfilm Industrial Light and…
How BioWare Makes Use of Livestreamers for SWTOR
You might remember when BioWare was promoting KotFE that they brought in several well known live streamers and live video people to help promote the new expansion. They had YouTube content creators as well as popular Twitch streamers talk about SWTOR to their own fanbase. They also seemed to talk to outside streamers from other games about trying SWTOR and also introducing it to their audiences. It’s not a bad strategy, honestly. It’s something that most companies will do in a time like this but some will say it failed for BioWare in this scenario. It doesn’t look like it paid off how BioWare would have hoped because they aren’t using that tactic anymore. It’s common practice for companies to experiment with different marketing tactics to see what works and this wasn’t a bad idea in theory. I work in marketing and I know the power behind brand ambassadors and…
The Academy: How to Make Your Character Look Cool in SWTOR
There are many reasons to love MMORPGs and SWTOR has all of these features packed into one great Star Wars themed game. Of these, character customization is an important one. Sure, there are many other important elements, such as those that affect gameplay, but when it comes down to it, looking cool is important to many players. When you’re rolling characters in a role playing game, there is usually a part of you that wants to get into the character you’re playing. You want your character to reflect parts of your personality or of the personality you are role playing. Now if you want to learn how to make your character in SWTOR look cool, this great video from SWTORista’s Academy series will help you. In the video they explain the outfit designer, which is a pretty cool feature. I remember when WoW first got a feature like this. It…
Curious How BioWare Created SWTOR Classes?
If you’ve ever wanted to know how BioWare created the SWTOR classes, you’re in luck. There is a special guest post series on StarWars.com from SWTOR lead designer, Michael Backus that tells you all about it. You can see Part 1 here, which talks about the Republic. Blakus has been on the SWTOR team for seven years now and if you’ve ever had any interaction with him, you know that he is really passionate about what he does and it shows. So it’s great to see that he is the one doing this guest post series because I’m sure it’s going to be good. Here’s a snippet from part 1: “So I’m going to do just that. I’m going to talk about the different classes in Star Wars: The Old Republic, but more importantly, about each class’s story arc. And by this, I don’t mean spoilers about their plots, but really, what…
KOTOR is Getting a Fan Made HD Unreal Engine 4 Reboot
Attention fans of KOTOR: you are going to love this! For how long have fans been saying they want KOTOR back or a KOTOR 2? Well, you’re getting something along those lines with this KOTOR reboot. Wait, can they even do that? Actually, they can and here they explain why and how: “Engine refresh of games has been around since the 80’s and some have become very sucessful. Games like Black Mesa did it with Half Life and Renegade X rebuilt Command and Conquer in the Unreal Engine 3. This is a full conversion refresh, that being said you will have to own a copy of the orginal game in order to play Apeiron since we are using the orginal audio and music. At it’s core Apeiron is the most instense KotOR modification ever.” Apeiron is a reboot of the Knights of the old Republic that was released in 2003. Apeiron…
BioWare is Hiring for a New Game
BioWare is putting out the call once again for a new IP. Could it be a new MMO? We don’t know for sure yet but it is exciting news. It’s always great news when BioWare is planning a new game but from the sound of this one, it might be an MMO which would be good for fans. Here is what the job listing had to say about this particular project. The job description says, “BioWare is seeking a qualified Senior Lead Server Engineer for a new, unannounced BioWare IP. This role will direct a team of software engineers to create the backend systems that will drive online play for this exciting new game. The successful candidate will have expert knowledge of and experience in the design, implementation, and continuing support of large scale real-time client/server applications using primarily C++. Extensive experience with and knowledge of multi-tier client/server architectures as…
Will We See Another Star Wars MMORPG?
People love Star Wars. The recent stats of the latest film show us this without question. The popularity of the franchise is one that has crossed generations. People will likely continue to love and follow Star Wars. We also know that fans love Star Wars games. It’s something we talk about every day here on the site. Sometimes we struggle, as fans, to find decent Star Wars games. To find those iconic games that still with you for many years. The types of games that truly shape your life. It’s no surprise that Star Wars fans like MMOs with a Star Wars theme. Who wouldn’t want to be put right in the driver/pilot seat of their favorite thing? This is why Star Wars Galaxies was so popular. Then we have SWTOR. But will this be the end of the road for Star Wars MMORPGs? As we see the new films coming to…
Has Star Wars Battlefront Improved Since Launch?
So as you know, we’ve been supporters of Star Wars Battlefront since the start but not everyone has loved it as much. There were some who believed the game fell short, or simply wasn’t worth the asking price tag. Then there are some gamers who always prefer to wait on a game, rather than jumping all in from the start. Whatever camp you fall in, it’s safe to say the game has changed and improved over the past two months. Tech Times has a post about how the game is “finally worth playing” and while we agree on some points, we’re just not on the same page with others. For starters, we’ve been behind the game from the get go so I wouldn’t say it’s only now become “worth playing”. They start off by saying that when the game first launched, it was “a mess”. Well, many games are in…
Darth Revan Figure at 2016 New York Toy Fair
There was a very interesting new toy at the 2016 New York Toy Fair. Here’s a picture of the Darth Revan figurine which actually came from a poll that Hasbro organized a few months ago about the next Star Wars figurine in the Black Series. It’s a 6-inch figure that goes along with others in the popular line. It should retail for around $20. As announced at San Diego Comic-Con, evil Sith Lord Darth Revan has won the Fan’s Choice poll and will join Hasbro’s realistic Black Series line! But that’s not all… Runner-up Sabine Wren, the popular Mandalorian explosives expert and artist from Star Wars Rebels will also join the Black Series! Each year at the New York Toy Fair, we get a sneak peek at the latest new toys, trends in the industry and much more. Toy Fair is produced by the Toy Industry Association™, Inc. (TIA), the not-for-profit…
Star Wars Battlefront: 11 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
If you’re playing Star Wars Battlefront, GottaBe Mobile has some mistakes they say you should avoid. Who has ever gotten into a new game and after playing for awhile, realized things you wish you had known early on? It’s just one of the things that comes with starting a brand new game early. One reason a lot of gamers enjoy playing the beta of a game is that they get some of these mistakes out of the way early. Of course, things can still change from beta to launch game mode so it’s not a foolproof method. All of that said, it can be fun sometimes to look at the advice and tips lists of other people, whether you’re new to the game or have been playing since the beginning and that is exactly what we’re going to do here with this post on Battlefront. So here are some of…
Star Wars R2D2 Computer Case Mod
I am a huge fan of DIY projects. I even have a couple of websites devoted to this sort of thing. As readers here will know, I am also a fan of Star Wars. So when a project like this comes along, it’s going to capture my attention. This is such an awesome project for a custom case for his little boy. I love R2D2 (most people do, right?) and I’ve also noticed that kids really take to the little guy, same as kids of today fall in love with BB-8. There’s something about a little beeping droid that kids can identify with, especially when they often become the hero in a situation. I know I would have LOVED a computer case like this when I was 7. So this Star Wars R2D2 modded computer case was built by a dad with and for his 7 year old son. He…
Free DLC Packs that Star Wars Battlefront Needs
Not everyone is fully enamored with Star Wars Battlefront. Others have jumped onto the Battlefront bandwagon but they have a few requests they would like to see coming in future DLC packs. Like, why can’t we play as Yoda? EA has been forced to give us more content and for the most part, it’s been good. Fans have been eating it up and EA and DICE will need to work hard to keep up with this growing demand for content from existing as well as new players. What Culture explores this topic and lists seven free DLC packs the game needs. Here are a few they have on the list: New villains Prequel maps Weapon and vehicle upgrades New heroes They do more than just list the suggestions; they also go into depth about why each one should be there. I have to agree, this is a good list of…
Star Wars Commander Soars in China
Chinese mobile game company, MGE, said that Star Wars: Commander has become a No. 1 hit in China, generating more than 1 million downloads in just four days. This is a huge sign that Western content is popular in China and that the love for Star Wars is truly universal. The Chinese love Star Wars as much as we do. Venture Beat goes on to explain a little more about this: Licensed from Disney, CMGE (China Mobile Games and Entertainment Group) tailored this Clash of Clans-like strategy game for the Chinese market and promoted on the many app stores in that country. That’s consistent with a trend of Western developers partnering with local Chinese companies to take their work to China, which has become the biggest market in the $30 billion mobile gaming industry. The Chinese mobile game market is about 51.4 billion renminbi, or about $7.8 billion, and it has more than…
Things SWTOR Can Learn from Other MMOs
MMOs are not new and as such, there are many things that one can learn from another and we often see those features that are really working being carried over from one game to another. Such is the case with SWTOR also. There are some elements of SWTOR that are typical of a Bioware game and there are also elements that we can see are modeled after other games that have done well. This is actually really common in the industry but let’s look at some ways it might be beneficial for Bioware to take some lessons from other games. Some fans over on Reddit had their own suggestions about things SWTOR could learn from other MMOs. Here are some things that made the list: Warframe: Community communication. I think the key to Warframe’s community success is that the developers and the producers are one and the same. They have…
Star Wars Rebels is Disappointing Fans
We try to bring you the latest and greatest about Star Wars films, Star Wars games and everything else that Star Wars fans will love. We hate having to report on the disappointments but sometimes it happens. Right now, Star Wars Rebels is really letting their fans down. They’re going down a path that true fans just can’t follow and it’s heartbreaking for those who truly care about Star Wars, Rebels and Jason Ward, editor-in-chief of MakingStarWars.net really explains it best for all the fans. ““Star Wars Rebels has really disappointed me. I feel like just closing the door on it and sticking to the films, comics, and novels. In a day and age when people torrent so much television, one would assume the consumers that refuse to take those paths would be respected, revered, and rewarded by the content creators. Star Wars Rebels has done the exact opposite this week.” So what exactly happened?…
Making Star Wars: Battlefront Authentic
Most Star Wars fans will agree that the only thing better than watching Star Wars would be to actually be there yourself. This is why Star Wars games have tried for decades to create as much of a real, immersive experience as possible. They want you to feel like you’re really there. They want you to experience Star Wars. Star Wars: Battlefront is the most recent game to attempt to take us to a galaxy far, far away. One of my favorite gaming/tech sites, Gamasutra tells us about how they captured the iconic look and sound of Star Wars in the game: Released just a month before The Force Awakens made its theatrical debut, Battlefront tasked EA DICE with bringing Star Wars to life like never before. The challenge was clear: capture the essence of Lucas’ revered original trilogy and rekindle the romance after the bitter break-up that were the prequels. The consensus…