One SWTOR fan, a self-confessed altaholic, wanted a TOR simulator app and since there was not one, decided to make one himself. He calls it Datapad and it does some pretty cool stuff. The app is for Android and can be found here. A post on Reddit explains: “It’s not done yet but I wanted to let you guys know about it to get some feedback on what I should change, improve, or add. There’s a Lite (free) and a Full (paid) version, but you can check out all the features in the Lite version.” The app actually looks pretty cool with what it can do. Basics include: multiple characters (Lite is limited to 1) show class / advanced class abilities make multiple skill tree builds (Lite is limited to 1) customize the interface to show/hide stuff you don’t care about And there are some unique things that it can…
Author: Soeren Kamper
Curse Buys Darth Hater Site
The guys over at Darth Hater had some interesting news to share with fans today. They have now joined the Curse Network. In the announcement, they recapped all the work they have put into Darth Hater over the past two years, as well as reiterated the goals of the site. They explained what will and will not change now that they are working with Curse: “By working with Curse, we will provide the community with the world-class technology that we always hoped we could. Whether it is high quality in-game addons or robust out of game features and support, Curse is a well-known and respected entity in the MMO space. Additionally, their website support team will allow us to focus on creating the content you enjoy without being bogged down by the headaches of website management. Gaining access to their experience and expertise, we will be able to realize our…
Interview with SWTOR’s Georg Zoeller
The guys over at TORWars are famous for giving us good interviews on SWTOR from time to time. They recently posted an exclusive interview with Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller. It’s not the first interview we’ve seen with him but this one is really in-depth- 1,500 words worth, actually. Zoeller is full of information and knowledge about SWTOR, game design and the industry in general. This is one of the many reasons why fans love to read his interviews. He’s a class act and this interview with TORWars is direct and full of great juicy details and not your typical boring answers to the same old questions again and again. Here’s a snippet: TORWars: How do you go about designing a combat system that will keep players excited and motivated for numerous hours a day, potentially over a number of years? Zoeller: Options. The…
Friday Update: GamesCom 2011 Highlight Video
It’s friday and time for new BioWares weekly updates. This weeks update is a Highlight video of GamesCom which was held in Germany 2 weeks ago. I wouldn’t say GamesCom info, which I’m sure we have all poured over already, is much of an update. But it’s up nonetheless. Check it out below:
SWTOR Unofficial Imperial Agent Trailer
EvadableMoxie from Reddit created his own Unofficial Imperial Agent Traile. I have to say that this is the most epic fan made SWTOR movie I have seen so far. My only complaint is occasionally it was hard to hear the voices over the music, but again, it’s not made by a pro. Check it out below:
Landophiles Unite! Join The Fight For Justice
This year’s PAX (that’s the Penny Arcade Expo for the uninitiated) was overrun by a gaggle of devotees, hell-bent on highlighting a cause that they feel warrants world-wide, if not galaxy-wide coverage. These people, who are traditionally seen wearing blue capes and moustaches march under the banner of The Lando Society, and expouse better living by the teachings of Lando Calrissian, the coolest cat in the entire Star Wars universe. At PAX their devotion reared its head in a different way to usual, with the Society uniting to march on the Expo in order to protest that their hero – their swarthy, moustachioed messiah – has been cruelly left out of the SWTOR character list. Okay, so that’s not the whole truth, because Lando wasn’t born until 3500 years after the time of STWOR’s setting, but you can’t fault their commitment as they’re pushing to convince Bioware to include a…
The Guild Sphere: Sons of Anarchy
It’s Thursday and time for a new guild feature. This time “Sons of Anarchy” some old school star wars fanboys playing for the Sith empire took some time to answer our questions. Check it it out below: Where did your guilds name come from? I’m an avid fan of the show Sons of Anarchy, as I was watching the last season and following the Old Republic I began thinking how to incorporate the two. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild? Sons of Anarchy is a guild with something for everyone; the founding members of Sons of Anarchy have over a decade combine MMO experience, in PVP as well as end gaming raiding and leadership. We know that there many potential members out there that can’t play at the drop of a hat, we understand that. That’s why we have general open membership; no level requirements just a strong…
The Best Worst Foreign Versions of Star Wars
Foreign variants are a wonderful thing: in the film world they invariably provide sarcastic writers like myself with ample ammunition for ripping the proverbial out of them. And today, thanks to The Swedish Bed, we have a collection of some of the best (for that read worst) foreign versions of Star Wars. The original article lists a number of reimaginings, but I’ve just chosen the four most entertaining (for the rest, head over to The Swedish Bed by following this link). Warning, they’re not exactly as well made as the original trilogy, but then not even George Lucas managed to recapture that quality with his own follow-up trilogy, so it’s probably to be expected… Brazilian Star Wars Not really a straight reimagining, but you’ll find that none below are either, but that villain is definitely familiar… Japanese Star Wars Commercial Something tells me this one slipped through the net of…
Most Beta Testers Would Recommend SWTOR to Friends
We received a screenshot of a poll supposedly published in the beta forums for SWTOR. It’s unofficial but based on the same question that testers are reportedly asked throughout their experience in the beta version of the game. The question is: Based on your experience today, how likely are you to recommend SWTOR to a friend? They are then asked to vote on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. At the time the screencap was sent to us, 823 people had responded. Here is the breakdown of the responses: 1- 13 1.58% 2- 3 0.36% 3- 13 1.58% 4- 12 1.46% 5- 45 5.47% 6- 26 3.16% 7- 61 7.41% 8- 99 12.03% 9- 81 9.84% 10- 470 57.11% So the numbers show us that most people who are testing who took the time to find and then respond to…
Old Republic Release Date Tied to Beta, Says EA
EA says, “We don’t want to happen to us what happened to WoW,” in reference to their launch and not in reference to success, of course. EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau explained to CVG that while they have a date for the SWTOR launch, the deciding factor will rest in the hands of the beta testers. The date is tentatively set for “holiday 2011” but will be dependent upon fan reactions to the beta of the game. “We’re driving towards a date, but the very issue you raised is why we’re not announcing a date yet because you want to make sure that these services can last a decade,” the exec said. He adds, “It is definitely tied to the beta test feedback that’s ongoing and so far, so good. We feel good about the date that we’re heading towards but you’re right, you could have a Crazy Ivan show…
Facebook Image of The Week #27
It’s that time of the week again. The time were BioWare gives updates there facebook page with a new screenshot of Star Wars: The old republic. This week we get to se more Jedi action, as a Jedi Shadow strikes down a Sith soldier: Concluding a fierce battle on the battered world of Corellia, a Jedi Shadow strikes down the last of an Imperial patrol.
Guild Ships and Mini Games
MMORPG.com has an interesting article interview with Emmanuel Lusinchi up that is really worth the read. The Gamescom Q&A has a lot to offer- including info about guild ships and mini games and more. One might start to wonder what else we could possibly learn from these interviews that we don’t already know about SWTOR but usually there is a tidbit or two in each one that we find interesting. Those are the stories that we pass on to you here. At first, Lusinchi tells us what he finds the most exciting aspect of the game and again, it comes back to the story, something that BioWare is pushing hard with this title: “We wanted to make the game feel more like a story then just another level grinder, we wanted you to care about your character, so that you aren’t just playing to get more experience instead you are…
Star Wars Galaxies Saga Continues
Star Wars Galaxies is in its last days. The sun is setting on this saga and SOE hopes it will go out with a bang! The dev team is working on the final few months of the MMO and they are issuing a challenge to the Imperials or Rebels. The fate of the galaxy, once and for all. It’s all about an exciting Galactic Civil War in the game with new events and new chances to win points for your side. It’s even bigger thanks to the recent GU20 update. Before the end date of December 15th when SWG will shut down forever, the score will be tallied and there will be a winning side announced and etched into the record books for all of eternity. The ending of the game itself can be affected by which side wins so if you’re still into SWG, now is your chance to…
Sneak Peeks at Star Wars The Clone Wars Season 4
Thanks to IGN.com we have nine brand new pre-release images of the upcoming fourth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, including a first look at Karakarodon shark-man Riff Tamson and R2D2 and C3PO in full Gulliver’s Travels mode… Once more the character design team have got it spot on, and this fourth season is certainly looking good so far.
EA changes Origin EULA
Gamers have been ticked off since the news got around that EA’s Origin basically contained spyware. GameSpot reports that EA has now changed the Original EULA. But is this enough for some people? According to the GameSpot report: “Earlier this week, Electronic Arts became a subject of controversy after customers took exception to the end-user license agreement in the publisher’s Origin downloadable game service. While EA did not return requests for comment at the time, it did amend the EULA in question in ways that may address some of the users’ concerns.” The current agreement now says that “EA would never sell your personally identifiable information to anyone, nor would it ever use spyware or install spyware on users’ machines. We and agents acting on our behalf do not share information that personally identifies you without your consent, except in rare instances where disclosure is required by law or to…
SWTOR Weapons List
If you’re curious about what weapons will be in SWTOR (like many of us are) then there is a great list put up by The Old Republic or Die that lists the ones that are currently known about. The list has been gathered from around the Internet, various posts and playtime that people have written about. It is not complete yet but they say they will be adding to it as information comes in. It’s worth the time to head over there and see the list and be sure to add more if you know of weapons that are not listed. The current list is as follows: Sith Swords Lightsaber Double-bladed lightsaber Forked lightsaber Lightsaber staff Blaster Blaster rifle Blaster Shot Gun Heavy Blaster Cannon Dual Pistols Dual Wield Guns Slugthrower (rifle) Slugthrower (pistol) Grenades Sniper Rifle Staff Double-bladed sword Sword Flamethrower Vibrosword Double-bladed vibrosword Vibroknucklers Stun baton Axe Disruptor…
PAX Prime 2011: James Ohlen Interview
FORCE Junkies got an interview with James Ohlen at PAX Prime. If you have been living under a rock, James Ohlen is Game Director of Star Wars the old republic. James and force junkies talks about wide range of topics spreading from combat, to flashpoints and operations to crafting. Check out the video below:
Tim Bertram added to RepublicTrooper.com Team
RepublicTrooper.com has added Tim Bertram to their team. Tim is an aspiring author, with one completed novel already under his belt and he is writing a fan-fiction novel based on the Republic Trooper exclusively for their site! The title of the novel is “Lost Tales of the Old Republic”””. They already have the first two chapters from him – over 20,000 words, and each Monday they will posting a new portion of the story. The first portion of Chapter 1 can be found here. It begins: The entire craft shook so hard that you could hear the teeth of the assembled troopers chattering together, causing several of them to insert mouth guards as they finalized last minute preparations before decent. Staff Sergeant Jarrek Gageiz; Gage to his friends and fellow Non Commissioned Officers, and Staff Sergeant ‘G’ to his troopers held on tightly to a handhold along with several other…
PAX Prime 2011: SWTOR panel
I know we are late with this story, but it has been hard finding decent footage of the SWTOR Panel from Sunday. Luckily Dustin from Guild Vendetta got a recording from the panel were it actually possible to understand what is been said. As we all know lot’s of new interesting stuff was revealed, like the Beta weekend and open battlefields. Thanks to Dustin for sending this over. Check it out below:
The Guild Sphere: Guild Vendetta
Little later then normal this fine Monday we present to you this weeks first guild feature. This time Vendetta, A republic guild aiming ti explore both PVE, PVP and RP is in the spotlight. Where did your guilds name come from? The name Vendetta was picked agreed on since it sounded cool, short, and tells people we are a PvP guild. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild? Vendetta is going to be slightly different from any guild out there. We plan on being a hardcore style guild that demands quality players, but with an undertone of casualness. What I mean by an undertone of casualness is that even though quality will be the demanding factor to be a guild member, maintaining a schedules of 40+ hrs a week of game time and things of that nature are not a requirement for the guild. How did…
Republic Trooper checks in from PAX
RepublicTrooper.com is at PAX Prime and they are updating their site with exciting first impressions from the events. First up is a great article of the Trooper class based on their hands-on experience of the game at PAX. If you’re interested in playing a Trooper, learning more about the Trooper or just learning more about the game, then this is worth the read and then some. Highlights: “From the beginning Bioware has gone with what it has calls “stylized realism” for the overall art style of the game. While parallels can be drawn between the feel of the TOR’s graphics and that of other titles already on the market, I believe that those run more in the vein of color palette than actual art style. The game clearly has its own unique and brilliantly clean look about it.” Oooo, this is the kind of stuff we like to hear. Don’t…
PAX Prime 2011: Huttball gameplay
Attendance at this year’s PAX had the opportunity to try out the new warzone “Huttball” that was announced a few weeks ago. Below we will post all PVP videos we come by, so Bookmark this post, if you can’t wait to play Huttball. Jedi Sentinel POV: Sith Sorcerer POV: Bounty Hunter POV: Trooper POV:
PAX Prime 2011: Cory Butler Interview
Nvidia got an interview with BioWare’s Cory Butler regarding details on the Beta and the limited release roll out. Check it out below:
Let’s Blame Walt Disney For the Inferior Star Wars Prequel Trilogy!
It seems we have Walt Disney, or more appropriate his corporation to blame for the relative poorness of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy thanks to their forceful backing of a 1998 change in copyrighting law that saw the period of copyright protection extended to “the lifetime of the author plus 70 years” (having originally been just 28 years). Because of that change, George Lucas was able to continue his vice like grip on the Star Wars universe, like a beardy Darth Vader, only with more success in the taking-over-the-galaxy stakes. According to the excellent, enigmatic CP Grey: George Lucas was completely within his rights to make those movies into the sterile, toy-marketing vehicles they were. He owned Darth Vader and could tell the origin story as he wished – and that’s the only version you’ll ever get to see. He goes on to muse about what fantasy world delights would…