Stop. Just stop for a minute. We like to have fun here. Sometimes we even like to push the boundaries. We are not strangers to controversy. That said, I read something incredibly disturbing today and we need to take some time to discuss it. This isn’t something that is entirely new. It’s a topic we’ve talked about before. It’s related to another topic I’ve talked about on a gamer podcast in recent months: swatting. It’s something we (the SWTOR community) need to talk about. This post on the SWTOR forums talks about recent harassment of SWTOR developers: Hey folks, I feel the need to make this post after some things happened yesterday. Yesterday, John made some posts communicating our views, and looking for feedback, around the state of Sentinels and Marauders. We knew going in that some of what we were going to say might not be what players wanted…
Author: Lisa Clark
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars
Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas’s epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearstome Stormtroopers, signifying…pretty much everything. Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter—and complete with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations–William Shakespeare’s Star Wars will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This is the book you’re looking for. What would Star Wars sound like if William Shakespeare wrote it? Well, that’s a mighty fine question, especially for a fan of both Star Wars and Shakespeare like myself. It’s fun, it’s funny and it also would make a great gift idea for someone on…
SWTOR: GTN Suggestion – Regulate the Market
When it comes to MMORPGs, there will always be complaints about this or that. You will always see players who request changes are made to PvE or PvP or questing, or storyline, or whatever the case may be. In SWTOR, a common complaint is in regard to the market. This is especially true since the game is free to play and the value and cost of resources can have a large impact on the game itself and how people enjoy it. It’s no surprise then that there has been talk from the fans of regulating the market. Here is a suggestion from SWTOReconomics.com: For anyone that knows me outside of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I hope that you did not injure yourself when you collapsed in shock that my topic today is advocated for regulation of a market. I am always in favor of letting market forces drive the allocation…
KotOR 3 or KotOR Remaster!
Do you ever wish that you could bring back your favorite game? Do you ever want to find a way to express your needs for a remaster or reboot of an old classic? Video game companies are listeing today. The developers understand the importance of keeping the gamers happy. Without the fans, they have nothing. So this is why this little petition over at ipetitions.com might actually gain some ground. What could we possibly do as a community to make BioWare, Disney, EA, pretty much anybody acknowledge how much we want a KotOR 3 or KotOR remaster. Its been 12 years since the game we love so much was released, not to mention 10 since KotOR 2. Battlefront 3 is coming, but still, no mention of our beloved KotOR. Don’t they see how many people want this? Plus the amount of money they would make…hype it up with good promotions…
May the Fourth Be With You: 5 Ways to Celebrate Star Wars Day #Maythe4th
The day has come once again, it’s May 4th, also known as Star Wars Day to fans all over the world. What better day to celebrate your love for Star Wars? That is exactly what many fans all over the world are doing today. Here are five ways to celebrate Star Wars Day: Have a movie marathon. Today is a great day to pull out the popcorn and watch the movies (again). Play your favorite Star War game. Can’t pick just one favorite? Binge out and play several of your favorite Star Wars games. Dress up! Who needs a good excuse to dress up like your favorite Star Wars character? We say you can do it any day but May 4th is a perfect opportunity. Build some Star Wars LEGO. Some of the larger sets can cost you a pretty penny but even the smaller sets can be a lot…
Could the Planets in Star Wars Actually Support Life?
We know the Star Wars franchise is big on imagination. This wonder and mystery is one thing that made it so appealing to fans. Amazing creatures, large vast planets and creative characters are some of the key elements that made Star Wars so great. That said, there have always been those who would question the logic behind the Star Wars story. One thing that makes the planets of Star Wars stand out is the unique environment that each one had. Whether it was vast barren stretches of sand or a planet covered in ice, there was always some unique feature that stood out in each planet. This begs the question: Could any living thing actually survive there? Wired.com has a very interesting piece where they cover some of the popular planets of Star Wars and consider whether or not they would actually be able to support life. Here is an…
Star Wars: The Holiday Special Review
The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television film set in the Star Wars galaxy. If you have never heard of it, don’t worry. You are not alone. This “holiday special” was (probably deliberately) buried after it aired back in ’78 and finding a copy of it today is no easy task. While some may call it a “Christmas special”, it was actually about the Wookiee holiday of Life Day. The premise was good but the actual execution… well, we will leave you to form your own opinions on it but since it’s not so easy to just see the film, I want to share with you a great review done by the Nostalgia Critic. If you’re not familiar with NC, well… that’s just an additional treat for you. Check out the video to see all you need to know about this holiday special and find some movie…
Star Wars is ‘Unbelievably Racist’, Says Hoaxer on BBC Radio
We’ve heard and reported on a lot of crazy things about Star Wars and funny enough, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard it called racist. However, this IS the funniest way we’ve ever heard it called racist, among other things. BBC World News explains: The BBC fell victim to a hoaxer in a phone-in discussion of the new Star Warsmovie, describing the films as “rooted in homophobia and casual racist stereotypes” in which “the only female ends up in a space bikini chained to a horny space slug”. The World Service item on its discussion show, World Have Your Say, took an unexpected turn after it invited Godfrey Elfwick to talk about Star Wars’ return after a producer spotted him talking about the film on Twitter. Godfrey tweets: I’ve never actually seen #StarWars but the fact that the bad guy was all black and ate watermelons was unbelievably racist…
How BioWare Built Enough Content to Fill The Old Republic
We know it’s not easy creating and operating a massively multiplayer online game like SWTOR. That said, it can be equally as difficult to keep it filled with enough content on a regular basis so that players do not get bored. Have you ever wondered how BioWare built enough content to fill The Old Republic and how they continue to give us great content again and again. Some of you might remember back in 2011 when BioWare designer Georg Zoeller did a talk at GDC Online about Star Wars: The Old Republic and explained how spatial analysis can be used to support a rapid content iteration process during the late stages of MMO development. For those of you who heard the talk, he goes on to explain how BioWare’s homegrown ‘HoloProjector’ spatial visualization toolkit was used in the day to day development of the game. It also helped the BioWare devs with decision making, content validation and…
Revan vs Darth Malgus
Now we have another great versus matchup for you: Revan vs Darth Malgus This one is told in 4 parts so you will need to watch each video to get to the exciting conclusion. This is actually one that can really get the fans riled up since people tend to have very strong opinions about these characters and who would win in a face-off. See the first video here: Intro, History & Physical Round of the battle for the Old Republic! Part 2: Force Round of the battle for the Old Republic! Part 3: Dueling Round of the battle for the Old Republic! Part 4: Verdict of the battle for the Old Republic! What do you think after seeing this? Did your expectation come out the victor? Who do you think would win?
Making KOTOR 2 Beautiful
You know how I just love to share really awesome things the fans do. Well, here we have something very interesting. This is a collection of images from KOTOR 2 making Peragus/KOTOR more beautiful. You can check it out for yourself below. A description from the creator: “Welcome to my collection of heavily modded kotor 2 playthrough part 1. I am currently suffering a game breaking bug at the end of Peragus but as soon as that’s fixed I’ll put up some screenshots of the rest of the playthough if there is any interest in them! I will post the mod list as soon as I can. There is lots of amazing work being showed here and they all deserve all the credit in the world.” Peragus in HD So there you have it in high definition. We think it’s pretty awesome. If you were a KOTOR fan, let us…
Designer Makes His Own BB-8 Star Wars Droid
You know how we love to bring you cool stuff made by fans. Here is a very talented designer who has created an awesome little BB-8 Star Wars droid. We had to share this with you because not only is it awesome, he tells you how to make it for yourself. Christian Poulsen is currently in the process of finishing his degree in Industrial Design at Brigham Young University and not only has created this cool little project, but is also telling us how to do it. And if you want to do it for yourself, he even posted it to MakeZine.com with full instructions so you too can have your own BB-8 Star Wars Droid. He’s an industrial designer who has taken his love of Star Wars and combined it with his talent to create something pretty awesome. Here he explains why he did it: As an industrial designer, I’ve been…
Star Wars: Battlefront Will Return to the “Roots and Ethos” of the Franchise
As we all anxiously await the release of Star Wars: Battlefront, we enjoy finding any and all information we can about the game. According to DICE general manager Patrick Bach, the upcoming shooter is so much more than a big-budget Battlefield mod. Bach says they are going back to the roots and ethos of the franchise with Star Wars: Battlefront, something that many fans of the series are going to be very happy to see. Eurogamer spoke to the DICE GM about the game and what the studio is doing to make it more than just a “big-budget Battlefield mod.” “Let me go back to when we got our hands on it, when it all started,” Bach said. “The whole idea of building a Star Wars Battlefront game is about two things. First of all, it’s called Star Wars Battlefront for a reason, so [we’re] going back to the roots and the core ethos…
Satele Shan VS Darth Maul
Satele Shan vs. Darth Maul – Here’s another versus matchup video we think you might enjoy. Who do you see the victor in this showdown? If you ask me, I say Satele has it by a long shot but it could be just because I am such a fan. This is not to known on Darth Maul. He was an amazing duelist. In fact, were it not for Satele’s ability with The Force, she could easily finish him off. Some will argue that since Shan is a grandmaster, this isn’t even a fight and she would take it by a landslide. However, Maul was very powerful and skilled with the sabers and I still believe would put up a good fight in a versus battle such as this. A lot of it also comes down to timing, and where in their story each is when they are pitted against one…
Five Things to Know about Ziost
A new planet is coming to SWTOR with update 3.2 and you might be surprised at how it was eerily predicted years ago. Those of us who have been following and writing about SWTOR since launch (or even before launch, as is the case with us here at SWTOR Strategies) know that the game has experienced quite the evolution. There are also some fun and interesting memories that have been made along the way. Larry Everett from Hyperspace Beacon knows about this very well and his recent post about Ziost is a good indicator of this. During pre-launch, we were all still learning about what planets would be in the game. Many fans had ideas and suggestions but not all of these would line up well with SWTOR’s time in history. Bespin was mentioned, as was Kashyyyk. Of the many popular planets, some just would not make sense to the time…
Treek Affection 0-10k in 10 minutes
If you have yet to play Treek enough to get her to higher affection, you might not be much of a fan. A lot of SWTOR players are not too fond of her until they see more of her story arc. I admit I am one who started to take more of an interest once I learned more about her background and story. If you’re looking to raise Treek affection, here is a very handy guide that will help you do so in as little as 10 minutes. How awesome is that? So whether you enjoy Treek or not, you can get her affection up quickly and easily. It starts by telling you gifts of interest, then companion gifts, and total affection from story conversations. The guide will definitely save you a great deal of time. Also, if you have not put any previous time into listening to Treek’s story,…
Playing SWTOR with the Xpadder Controller
We’ve talked before about playing SWTOR with a controller. Have you seen the Xpadder? Has anyone tried playing with it yet? We know that playing with a console controller is not how SWTOR was created and that for some gamers, this just feels “off” but there are many who just love the feel and control of these handhelds and for those players, there are some options, with the Xpadder being one of them. But how do you make the controller do all the things you get with a full sized keyboard in the game? A Reddit user had some good advice for using the Xpadder: So a couple of months ago i found an xpadder profile made for SWTOR. I decided to test it out with my Dualshock 4, and to my surprise it worked surprisingly well. It takes ALOT of time getting used to, no doubt. But once you…
Know your Enemy: The Simple Guide for Class Symbols and Stances
If you want to have one great visual source for everything you need to know about the different class symbols and stances, you are in luck! While it is color coded and contains images and icons as well to help you know, the main goal of this Know Your Enemy guide is to match the stance to the spec. Have you ever struggled to figure out what your opponent’s spec was so you knew how to properly combat it? Some hybrid classes can be really challenging when it comes to figuring this out. So now you have this handy dandy chart to help you Know Your Enemy! From the creator: I tried to keep it simple. So if a Discipline have a number of AoE skills i marked it as a AoE. Focus/Rage is close to Burst, but as Smash still have some minor AOE capabilities and some AoE buffs…
Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Darth Malgus 3-Part Series
The negotiator versus the warlord. Who will come out on top? Strength and resilience, or defense and pacifism? In his Versus Series, Antoine Bandele asks this question and presents a possible answer. The part YouTube series is part of the very popular Versus Series that has pit characters such as Vader vs Voldermort and Anakin Skywalker vs Galen Marek together in a duel. Then there was one of my personal favorites: Darth Sidious vs Jar Jar Binks. The videos are very well done, some are silly and some are serious, but all will keep your interest. So up today, we want to show you the three-part series of Obi-Wan vs Darth Malgus. Check them out below and let us know if you agree with the ending. Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: So there you have it! After that exciting conclusion, tell us your thoughts. Do you agree? Disagree? How would you have…
Top Five Best iOS Star Wars Games
In light of the Star Wars films all coming out on digital release this week, TouchArcade has compiled a list of their favorite five iOS Star Wars games. I’m not a big Apple fan myself, as an Android phone owner, but we have iPods in our house and I have tried most of these myself. I love pinball and of course KoTR for mobile is a win. I appreciate all of the LEGO Star Wars series and since this one is free, you can’t beat it. What other great Star Wars iOS games are there and did they make the list? Their picks? Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions, Free Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, $9.99 Star Wars™ Pinball 3, $1.99 LEGO® Star Wars™: The Complete Saga, Free Star Wars: Commander, Free Head on over to their post to read why each one made their list and to get…
Euan Morton (male Inquisitor) Narrates STAR WARS Tarkin
Now here is a voice that might sound a bit familiar to you. The audio book STAR WARS Tarkin is narrated by Euan Morton, the same guy who make the voice for male Inquisitor in SWTOR. How cool is that little nerd fact? Here’s a little sound bite for you: Now Tarkin is written by James Luceno, who is a champion of the Dark Heroes in the Expanded Universe and has a number of stories out including Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader and Darth Plague. Tarkin is a great character and one interesting thing about the story is that the Force is not a part of it at all. While the Dark vs. Light theme is prevalent in Star Wars, it’s also nice to see interesting, compelling stories that don’t overplay these concepts. Tarkin is a story that you’ll likely find yourself getting lost in and it makes sense now why Morton was…
Disney Launches Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions.
You know how we love to talk about Star Wars games! Well, there is a new one coming from Disney, with the help of Kanata and we’re not sure what to make of it yet. It’s too early to tell but we definitely like Here are some details: Star Wars lovers and game creators at Kanata company Gigataur celebrated the launch of the newest Star Wars game on March 27, after working with Disney for 16 months to create it. The mobile gaming company, formerly Glitchsoft, secured a contract to make the game alongside Disney animators and writers, resulting in Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions. The game, based on Disney’s new digitally animated TV show, Star Wars Rebels, is set five years before Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, and focuses on rebels opposing the tyranny of the Empire. Coming out nine months before the anticipated release of the new Star…
PEGI Announces Two Classic Star Wars Games Coming to PS3
The Pan European Game Information board (PEGI) has some news about the release of two games fro the PS3. Rumor has it these are re-releases of two classic Star Wars games. These titles were originally released for the PS2 and Xbox. Stevivor tells us: Assumedly heading to the PS3 under the PlayStation Classics range are Star Wars: Starfighter and Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, both recently reclassified by PEGI. Both titles were originally released on PS2 and Xbox. The original Jedi Starfighter had some interesting features and upgrades. Here are some points from LucasArts when the game first released. Single and dual player action in over 15 story-based missions. Fly all missions co-op with a friend – or in single-player mode – in a variety of craft. Sneak a peek at Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones thrills! Fly the new Jedi Starfighter and get a preview of characters, story connections, craft…
Star Wars Movies Release on iTunes and other Digitial Platforms this Week
Great news for fans who have been waiting for the Star Wars movies to finally release on digital platforms. They’re coming to iTunes as well as Xbox and Playstation this Friday. There are also supposed to be some new special features for each movie with these new digital releases. For example, the theatrical cut of the podrace from The Phantom Menace is available. The first six movies will all be available on iTunes for $19.99 each starting on Friday, April 10th. You can only buy them, and they’re the same editions as on the Blu-ray versions of the movies. They are also coming to Xbox and the Playstation. CinemaBlend explains: Sony kept its Star Wars announcement brief, limited to a single tweet that simply reads: “All six Star Wars films are coming to PlayStation Video April 10! You’re overdue for a marathon anyway.” The folks over in the Xbox camp, however,…