Who here played Star Wars Galaxies before SWTOR? I know I am not the only one. We’ve brought you coverage here of SWG and its closing ceremonies but here’s story from a player who says he helped destroy Star Wars Galaxies. What does this mean? What is this all about? In just under 2,000 words, Patrick Desjardins shares his story. He explains: Spring 2002: The first sandbox alpha builds were being tested. Over the course of spring and summer, they got a little more advanced, and I could see the game starting to take shape. I got into the friends and family alpha tests from my involvement in the online community. I made copious suggestions, everything from combat to social aspects. I complained for a week about how the zabrak horns should look. I got involved, deep. One day, I inquired as to how the economy would be structured. The…
Author: Lisa Clark
SWTOR on Big Bang Theory
If you’re a fan of Big Bang Theory and SWTOR then yourultimate nerd fantasy has come to life as SWTOR makes a cameo in the verypopular show. In TheBig Bang Theory – The Weekend Vortex, the guys decide to have a good,old-fashioned weekend video game fest. Who here hasn’t done that a time or two?(Who here isn’t even reading this article yet because they’re in the middle ofone right now?) So anyway, this episode featuresSheldon having to choose between a prior engagement with his girlfriend, Amy,or a SWTOR gamer fest with his buds. Tough call, right? “48 hours of Stars Wars gaming.” “It’s on like Alderaan!” Thus began their gamer-fest. Evenif you’re not a regular Big Bang Theory watcher, you’ll get a kick out of thisepisode as a SWTOR player. Find out what Sheldon decides and join in for a lotof laughs when you watch this episode for yourself. The…
SWTOR vendors will sell ultra-rare most-wanted white Lightsaber crystals
Remember when players really wanted those ultra-rare white Lightsaber crystals? Lightsaber crystals are one of the most-wanted novelty items in SWTOR. Who doesn’t want to have their own lightsaber? Most Star Wars fans can agree with this one. Now what if you had the option to control what color your lightsaber beam was? Again, most will agree that this is a great feature. But in SWTOR, it’s not as easy as just wishing for a certain color (where is the Force when you really need it?) Instead, you will need to obtain crystals that change your existing lightsaber color to the color of your choice. BioWare has recently revealed the very popular white lightsaber crustal will be available in the game and you can buy it from computer-brained vendors. BioWare revealed this information in a blog post about future game changes. “”In related news, a very limited number of pure white…
Blizzard Lays Off 600- Is SWTOR to Blame?
There has been news just recently that ActiVision Blizzardhad to make some layoffs. They have cut 600 employees from their BlizzardEntertainment Unit, the department that runs the popular MMO, World ofWarcraft. While Blizzard justified that the staff reductions are insync with its current organizational needs, the layoffs have many in the gamingcommunities buzzing about the state of WoW and whether or not other games (suchas SWTOR) are contributing to its decline. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone talking about SWTORnot mention WoW. Players, guild leaders and even SWTOR’s own dev team findthemselves slipping up and using WoW terminology when discussing the game. So manyof us played WoW for such a long time (and many still do) that it’s hard not tomake comparisons between the two. However, do these statistics and layoffs mean that SWTOR iskilling WoW? Not directly, no. The game has been on a decline since thebeginning of 2011…
ChewUI Coming Soon!
If you’re as excited as us about the new UI changes andcustomization coming in 1.2 then you will be especially excited about this newsite coming to help you. ChewUI.com was founded by a one man/one womandesign/dev team that want to be able to offer players just like you and me aplace to go to find UI customization, post your own layout and more. The news of the new UI updates and customizable features wasjust released to us at SWTOR Guild Summit in Austin. This is where I met JodiHodges and Patrick Murray of the Black Bisectors (Twin Spears Server). Whenthey announcement was first made that we could customize our UIs and thendownload to an XML file, the wheels started turning for ideas. A website that would allow players to share/upload, downloadand rank other UI customizations is just what this game needs. Maybe you wantto find a good healer UI- go…
665 people worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic
Just how many people does it take to make a great MMORPG? BioWare has revealed the numbers on the team that helped make SWTOR a reality. Not counting the voice actors, 665 people worked on SWTOR. During a GDC panel, the company revealed the breakdown of the team members: 30 Production 75 Designers 80 Engineers 40 Platform 10 Localization 10 Audio 140 Artists (Both internal and outsourced) 280 QA (Both internal and outsourced) The game reportedly cost more than $200 million to make and BioWare says they are excited for what is on the horizon and still yet to come in the game. They have a dedicated team still hard at work making new content for the game. (I got to see this team in action myself at the tour of BioWare Austin this past Monday). It takes a full team of people, all working hard towards the same common…
Combat Logs and Training Dummies in SWTOR 1.2
One of the biggest questions to come out of the SWTOR Guild Summit was in regards to combat logs and training dummies in 1.2. While they have confirmed they have combat logs in 1.2, there was not a lot of information being released about it yet and in the community, there seems to also be a lot of confusion about it. So here’s what was said at Guild Summit regarding combatlogs: Combat logs were intended to be in the game in some form(those in beta will remember it before it was removed and not added to launchdue to bugs in the system). However, they do not want players judging one another basedon combat logs and stats so their solution is that players will only see their owncombat logs. You will have the opportunity to write the combat log to disk andsave it on your computer. This gives guilds the freedom…
Panels, Panels, Panels! SWTOR Guild Summit Day 2
Day 2 is by far the most eventful day of the SWTOR Guild Summit. In fact, it was so much so that many complained there was far too much crammed into one day. BioWare devs and staff agree. It seems they only had the livestream capability for one day so they put all the panels on Monday but when combined with the studio tour and lunch at BioWare as well, it made for a very, very long day. The good news is there were tons of things covered. Some ofyou were probably watching on the livestream and know some of this already butI know others have questions about certain things. So I’m going to break eachpanel down into a separate post and recap some of the most important informationto come from that post. I’ll then come back and edit this post to contain links toeach of the panels: Operations and…
Lunch with BioWare: SWTOR Guild Summit Day 2
David Bass Says “Go Nuts” on the Free Food. Woo! We headed over to BioWare Austin headquarters for lunch and studio tours. The building doesn’t look like much from the outside but inside it was rocking! They took us in about 15 at a time while everyone else had their pick of a few food trucks in the parking lot. This is one of the best parts of the design and scheduling of the Guild Summit. This is when we all have the chance to mingle and chat with one another. Since I was invited here as a guild leader and not as a member of the press, I’m trying to make the most of my time here by talking to other guild leaders and representatives, finding out what other guilds are doing right (and what some are doing wrong), discussing what they love about the game, what they dislike…
SWTOR Guild Summit Day 2
Here we are in Austin for Day 2 of the SWTOR Guild Summit. At 9am, crowds were already gathering in the lobby, getting ready for the big day of events. The doors open to the main ballroom at the DoubleTree hotel at 9:30am and at 10:00am, we begin the welcome and introductions. Many things on the schedule for today so stay tuned here and to our Twitter to keep up with all the latest news and happenings. To kick things off today, we hear introductions from Stephen Reid followed by James Ohlen with a state of the game address and a sneak peak at Game Update 2. (Video to follow) This new update is HUGE. It will be one of the largest free updates ever seen in an MMORPG. It’s the type of content you would find in an expansion to most MMOs. Some highlights: New Warzone New Operation Part…
SWTOR Guild Summit Day 1
3:45 PM – Day 1 of the SWTOR Guild Summit is here! I recently registered at the DoubleTree and there are crowds forming around the lobby as others get settled into their rooms. We’re super excited but for those of you at home anxiously awaiting updates, there isn’t too much to say yet. Tonight is more of a social event as we will leave the DoubleTree at 6pm for a screening of Star Wars: Episode 1 in 3D at the Alamo Drafthouse. Those of you not from Texas may not be familiar with the Alamo Drafthouse so I will tell you, it’s one of the coolest movie theaters around. We will eat dinner there (they serve it right to you in your movie) and it’s a lot of fun. The atmosphere is always great, fun and relaxed at any Alamo Drafthouse I’ve been to. But you won’t be getting any…
A Second Look at SWTOR from Rival Tide
As SWTOR has been out for a couple of months now, players are taking a second look at the game to see if their early impressions were spoken too soon or if the game still lives up to the expectations we all had in the beginning. Rival Tide takes a second look at the popular MMO and tells us what they think about it as it stands today. There are many things that have changed from the early impressions of the game. For one, online gameplay can change regularly. Patches and game updates will change and the dynamic player community will affect the game as well. SWTOR is no exception and Rival Tide takes a look at some of the changes in the game and the community. Some positive points: the story, the voice acting, the planets and their unique quest lines and more. Some down points: the crew skills,…
SWTOR Guild Summit Update- Got Questions?
The big day is almost here- the first even SWTOR Guild Summit kicks off tomorrow evening (for a social gathering) but the real good stuff begins on Monday morning. I’ll be there live in Austin, Tweeting from the scene and also live-blogging so check in throughout the day for updates, photos and more. So before I head out for all the fun, what questions do youhave? What do you want to learn from the guild summit? I’m going to be diggingin my heels and getting all the info I can share with you and I will try to askany questions I get the opportunity to. We’ll also learn from the questions ofother guild representatives and of course, there’s also a chance to play 1.2 livefrom Austin. Here’sthe full livestream schedule: 10:00AM CST (4PM GMT) – Welcome and Introductions 10:30AM CST (4:30PM GMT) – State of the Game and Game Update…
Georg Zoeller Talks Economic Changes in Patch 1.1.5
If you missed his blog post on the official forums, Principle Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller had a very interesting post that talks about the changes in Patch 1.1.5. Basically, he gives the players a look into changes to the economy coming soon and how this will affect us. He provides it in-context and also with some lore. (He’s always been great at the story-telling.) Here is a piece of what he said in the blog post about colorcrystal changes: It’sbeen reported that Operatives of the Republic Strategic Intelligence Servicehave recovered several new variations of color crystal prototypes during adaring raid on a cutting edge Imperial Science Bureau outpost on Ilum. Amongthe items recovered are a number of rare, purple-hued color crystals, usuallyexclusive to Imperial-held worlds. Republicscientists are confident that they will be able to reverse-engineer andpotentially replicate the captured Imperial technology, including the colorcrystals, in a matter of weeks….
US PvP Server Population Statistics and Data
Just as promised recently, Dulfy has some statistical data on US PvP and RP-PvP server population for us. If you want to know which PvP server to join, how many people are on your PvP server or what the server balance is between factions on your server then this data will help you out. From Dulfy: Thereare only 44 PVP/RP-PVP servers so the data collection took a bit shorter, butit got delayed by a day cuz I didn’t know typing “fleet” and”the fleet” in the who list window give different results – I wastyping in “the fleet” after typing in all the warzones – “thepit, the civil war, the voidstar etc” – this gave much lower numbers (atfirst I thought it was cuz the players on PvP servers are less “lazy”and don’t sit around on the fleet as much hehe). I had to erase all the dataand start over. 7planets…
INC Gamers Reviews SWTOR after 2 Months
SWTOR has been out for about 2 months now and some of us have been playing since beta or since the launch. If you’ve ever played a newly launched MMO before, you know that the first few months are sometimes the rockiest. There are usually game bugs and other kinks to iron out. Sometimes the community is out of balance or has not had time to stabilize yet. The economy can be wonky as servers balance and players learn how to work things and what the value of things are. So here we sit, two months in and what better time than now to take a look at what is happening in SWTOR? The crew over at INC gamers have an in-depth review of SWTOR- 2 months in. It’s more than 1,800 words of thoughts and impressions on the game thus far. While they published a positive early review of…
May the schwartz be with you: Star Wars Yoga
Are you looking for something to do when the SWTOR servers are down? Are you searching for ideas to help you keep in shape when you spend many hours a day on the computer in a galaxy far, far away? Holy Kaw has something great for you: Downward Darth: Star Wars yoga
SWTOR Legacy System Guide: The Basics
The Legacy system in SWTOR can be a bit confusing even to those who have already chosen their surname. This guide is designed to help you understand why the system was put in place and how it can benefit players. There will be changes to the legacy system in the future and we will update this guide and provide additional guides as needed to help you understand. The legacy system is one based on the principal of family. Many of the characters in the movies were related in one way or the other so the guys that made SWTOR decided to make it where the characters you create in the game are related. Some of the main relations are brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, wives and husbands but there are a few others. When you choose the relationship between your main character and a new one that you make, it has…
BioWare Wants YOU! (To Test Game Content)
It sounds like BioWare is working on endgame content. Joveth Gonzalez , Associate Online Community Manager has some good news for SWTOR fans in the Austin area: The Star Wars: The Old Republic team is looking for skilled SWTOR players in the Austin area to test out brand new content in the BioWare Austin office. We are looking for players that are experienced with endgame Operations, Warzones, and Flashpoints. Players that meet this criteria may fill out this survey and qualifying candidates will be contacted for more information. This is a temporary paid position and will require at least a weekend a month of your time. Thank you! This is really cool for those of you who live here in Austin with us- a chance to check out new game content AND get paid for it. It also shows us that BioWare is serious about finding out what the players…
SWTOR Game Review by Capsule Computers
We’re all about bringing you SWTOR news here and part of that involves capturing the opinions of others. If you play, you have to decide for yourself how you feel about the game but it’s still good to hear what other players have to say about the game. Do you have complaints? Maybe someone else has the same complaints? Are there things you love about the game? Maybe others feel the same. Still haven’t bought the game yet? Then reviews may have an even bigger impact on you. Capsulecomputers.com has a few things to say about SWTOR as it stands now: “Star Wars: The Old Republic follows the individual tale of each player character inhabiting the game within the games universe. This means that players will get a more personalised experience from the games story, unlike other MMORPGs that seem to skimp in this department. Using the warring galaxy as…
Drew Karpyshyn New Novel Coming Soon
While he recently announced his official departure from BioWare, Drew Karpyshyn hinted he has a new novel in the works. Before now, there was not a lot known about the next novel in the Star Wars The Old Republic series but an announcement on publisher Del Ray’s Facebook page indicates otherwise. Del Ray announced on their Facebook page: First, DARTH BANE and REVAN author Drew Karpyshyn is cranking away on his next novel, STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC: ANNIHILATION. Republic agent Theron Shan and his Twi’lek compadre, Teff’ith (from Dark Horse Comics’ STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC: THE LOST SUNS) must contend with a Sith Empire counter-attack against the Republic, spearheaded by the lethal apprentice of Darth Malgus. Satele Shan and Jace Malcolm co-star in what will be a fast-paced and tension-fraught tale based on the award-winning video game from BioWare and LucasArts. This is great news for Karpyshyn fans…
Players Created a Premature Oceanic Server with Guild System
Gamers often go a long way to get what they want and this story from Massively explains just what some SWTOR fans will do to get their server to play on. We are never lacking for creative and ingenious gamers who find workarounds for all of their problems and issues. The early lack of Oceanic and Asian servers led some players to get creative and find their own method around it, using BioWare’s own system to their advantage. Many MMOs have unofficial servers for regions and rulesets, but pulling them together can take an incredible amount of work and still end up halfway done. However, Oceanic and Asian players wanted to make sure that they all rolled on the same server right on launch day, so guilds began to get in contact with each other and use BioWare’s own guild registration system to link Republic and Empire groups together in…
SWTOR Flashpoints: New Player’s Guide
As a new SWTOR player, you need the basics of flashpoints so you can get started in the game and learn the ropes. This guide is designed to help you do just that. Here you can find all the information you need to get started and to advance in the game to become an intermediate player. It includes the basics to get you started. What this guide is not: This guide is not a specific breakdown or walk-through of any specific flashpoint. Rather, it is an overview of what you need to know to succeed in flashpoints, especially if you are new to the game. Let’s begin… First, you should know that flashpoints are the same thing as dungeons in other MMO games. This is where you’ll find the best loot drops and it’s where the hardest fights take place. Normally, you’ll get a quest for the flashpoint before entering…
Asia Pacific Server Names and Launch Timing
Are you looking for more information about launch timing for SWTOR launches in Asia? Now that the game is launching in several new territories, players from these regions are trying to learn more about the launch times, servers and more. Stephen Reid posted in the official forums about the Asia Pacific Server Names and Launch Timing: Good morning, or to those of you on the other side of the world, good morning… for tomorrow. This week we officially launch Star Wars: The Old Republic in several new territories, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. Lots of more information on all aspects of the launch will be released tomorrow in an update to our official FAQ, but as we’ve heard requests for server names and timing, we thought we’d give you those details a little earlier. Here’s our official launch timing. All servers will be online simultaneously at approx…