Czerka Corporation, founded as Czerka Mining and Industrial, was a galaxy-spanning business. It controlled interests on Korriban, Kashyyyk, Taris, Tatooine, Telos IV, and countless other planets. In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II—The Sith Lords, although not the primary villain, Czerka is presented as an amoral entity; not only they are allied with the Sith but frequently use underground means for their ends, such as stealing from rivals, having financial motivation for everything, using violence and slavery, hiring mercenaries, smuggling of weapons, etc. They will often ask the player some jobs which are generally “dirty.” In general, Czerka are the secondary villains, and the player follows the Czerka quests if he chooses the dark side options. However, that doesn’t mean that Czerka is a representative of the Dark Side or her employees are inherently evil: the Tatooine quests are the…
Author: Soeren Kamper
Planets of Star Wars the old republic: Nar Shaddaa
Nar Shaddaa was the largest moon of Nal Hutta. More commonly known as the Vertical City, the Smuggler’s Moon and Little Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa was similar to Coruscant in that its surface was entirely overgrown with city sprawl since 24,500 BBY But unlike Coruscant – which was only relatively dangerous on the lower levels of the world city – Nar Shaddaa was filthy, polluted, and infested with crime throughout. History When the Hutts left their homeworld of Varl, they displaced the Evocii, native to Nal Hutta, to Nar Shaddaa in 25,000 BBY and immediately destroyed the remaining Evocii agriculture after the Evocii’s eviction from their own homeworld. Eventually the moon was annexed by the Hutts, who started to force the Evocii into slave labor, building spaceports and docking bays across its surface, some stretching out into orbit. Although the moon’s urbanized construction had just started, it quickly began to prosper,…
Know your lore: Loppak Slusk
Loppak Slusk was a male Quarren crime boss on Citadel Station representing the Exchange, an intergalacitc crime syndicate. Instructed by G0-T0, the Nar Shaddaa crime boss, Slusk came to Citadel Station over Telos to try and integrate the Exchange into the new Telos. Making an alliance with the Czerka Corporation brought the attention of the Jedi Exile, a Jedi who happened to have a bounty on her head. When Slusk tried to collect the bounty, the Exile resisted, and Slusk’s operations almost came to an end. He appeared in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Biography Around 3,951 BBY, Slusk was instructed by his boss, the Exchange crimelord Goto, to start a new Exchange cell on Citadel Station. After the planet Telos was bombarded by the Sith Empire, the massive Citadel Station had been constructed to serve as a home for displaced Telosians as well…
Star Wars Rarities: Han & Leia Deleted Scene from Episode V
Here is a great deleted scene. It takes place on Bespin (Cloud City) as they are struggling with trusting Lando. I think it’s a great scene because it really does a better job at establishing the romantic relationship between Han and Leia. For your eyes only: I squealed with girlish delight as I watched it! I wish they hadn’t taken it out. There’s just something about a Scoundrel and a Princess that makes my heart melt every time I think about it. If you didn’t see the lost scenes of Star Wars a new hope, check em out here.
Friday Update: Starship Design, Fan Q&A
BioWare has posted two updates on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site today: a Fan Friday segment and a Studio Insider article that contains a developer Q&A and an in-depth look at the creation of the X70B-Phantom starship. The Studio Insider article contains the meat of today’s update. Senior Concept Artist Ryan Dening and Senior Environment Artist Christopher Reeves provides a ton of detail on how an in-game ship is created, and the Q&A with Senior Producer Blaine Christine answers some interesting questions that were submitted by fans on the official forums. Community Q&A We took some of your questions from the last Community Q&A thread to Senior Producer Blaine Christine to get answers, and here they are! Q: How diverse can I expect the enemies to be? (asked by mattjorgdbb) A: Our Design team and Artists have been putting a lot of time and effort into ensuring that…
Fan Friday
As always, the Fan Friday segment contains New Fan Stuff by the Geeks to the Geeks. The most noteworthy portion is the announcement that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be present at PAX East this year. The convention will be held from March 11-13 in Boston, Massachusetts. Other then that you can find tons ofother cool stuff: New Smilies and avatars pics for www.swtor.com. Dont miss the New Studio Insider this month for an in-depth look at the design of the Agent starship and more Community Q&A answers. If you have some talents you wish to share then visit the community forums. Greighson from the SWTOR forum community created Sith-themed propaganda. Another member named Crypticgrrl detailed close-up portraits. They look really awesome. There are Some really nice Fan Fic work. The story’s called Final Ex a member named Kharnis. If I finish any of my Star Wars stories then…
Georg Zoeller reveals more info on healing
On the official German Forums for Star Wars: The old republic – Georg Zoeller (Zöller??), Principal Lead Combat Designer – did some more explaining about healing in SWTOR Quote from Bench Alright , but i don’t believe in healing Troopers, Jedi, Sith or Bounty Hunters Georg: Two Healers are in that listing. Who exactly? Sorry, won’t tell just yet Georg: To be a little more precise than in the English forums Each Side will have four starter classes with 2 advanced classes each , starting at lvl 10 Three of those starter classses can choose an advanced class that’s a full value healer with the respective abilities Check out the original post here (scroll down to his post) Below is the German version: Um ein wenig praeziser zu sein als im Englischen Forum. Jede Seite hat vier Start Klassen mit jeweils zwei Erweiterungs Klassen waehlbar ab Level 10. Drei dieser…
Fan made Bioware videos
Here is a Couple of Videos put together by fans, I believe you guys might enjoy. This first one is called “Star Wars: The Old Republic – This is War.”” The Second one is called “Bioware Montage”, and is a blend of all the greatest Bioware games.
Warzones, Aren’t They Grand?
Instead of capturing your enemies flag to rack up points, in this battle ground you take control of massive cannons that you use to destroy enemy aircraft. The more you attack your enemy with the cannon supporting your allies fighting in close combat the more you drive enemy to retreat from said battle field. But remember don’t leave one guy with cannon alone or some sneaky scoundrel will take a shot at his head and you will be the ones running for the hills. More on this by Rich McCormick over at PC gamer. Here is a snip: The Old Republic’s warzones are the game’s PvP arenas. When you and your buddies elect to bash some fellow humans, you’ll hop into a warzone from your current location; once complete, you’ll zip back to where you were, resplendent in your new and useful gear. So far, so MMO, but The Old Republic…
Star Wars Rarities: Donny and Marie Star Wars Tribute
A friend of mine sent me this link today and dared me to watch all 10 minutes. For those too young to remember, Donny and Marie Osmond had a musical variety show in the ’70s called, appropriately enough, The Donny And Marie Show (she was “a little bit country” and he was “a little bit rock ‘n’ roll”). I was in elementary school at the time and actually watched it pretty regularly. But I don’t remember this incredible moment: Donny and Marie lead an all-star cast in this number. Kris Kristofferson plays a too-cool-for-school Han Solo, while the comedian Redd Foxx plays Obi-Wan Kenobi and Paul Lynde is an Admiral with the Empire. There are also dancing Storm Troopers. Wow. I can’t take my eyes off it.
New SWTOR Screenshots from the Gamestar Article
Last month we posted a story about German Computer magazine Gamestars hands on with Star Wars: The Old Republic. It turns out the article has a bunch of new unseen ingame screen shots. So for your viewing pleasure here they are:
Interview with Georg Zoeller
Torocast hat a chance to sit down with Georg Zoeller, the lead combat designer at Bioware and ask him a bunch of questions. TOROcast: Early in development, BioWare said that they were doing something unique and special with healing. What is happening that is different compared to a typical MMO design? Georg Zoeller: In Star Wars: The Old Republic, improving your character’s Presence attribute, which governs healing ability, also improves the character’s active companion in various ways. Coupled with the ability to adjust companion behavior and equipment, this enables the player to function as a healer; even in solo situations.
Funny, How?
Humor is good part in any story even if it seems to be that everyone likes it because they like happier moments in the story unless you’re a cold-hearted Imperial Agent that enjoys his work way to much. That would be comical to she the Agent laugh even if it was forced. Daniel Erickson has made it known that every class has their moments of humor and that each class has their own writer to concentrate their complete attention to. Drew Karpyshyn creator for my favorite Star Wars books “The Darth Bane Trilogy” is someone that has experience in different areas in the SWTOR project and he has been helping out everyone with what he knows. If he told you what he was doing personally for the game, there would be spoilers.
EA CEO Claims Cloud Gaming Is Not The Future
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello has announced that he thinks cloud-gaming is not necessarily the future, and that games issued on disc are still the best way for consumers to enjoy gaming. In an interview with Industry Gamers, Riccitello claimed that discs will be around for a long time to come as they are still the most practical and reliable way of accessing games quickly. “I think the consumer…doesn’t care what the technology is, what lives behind the veiled curtain; they just want it to work,” Riccitello said. He explained that streaming a game is often not the most efficient way of processing the experience. He pointed out that relying on an internet connection means that users would be unable to access games if their broadband was down and that there are lag issues with slower connections. “The point, though, that I’m making is that sometimes you’re not going to…
MMO: Heaven or Hell?
I can’t wait anymore! So close and it driving me crazy, I really love reading everyone’s opinion or predictions of what might happen but it’s 2011, YAY! Two years of being in aggravating pain in anticipation for the ultimate game of the next decade or this decade now. If SWTOR doesn’t release soon I’ll harakiri myself with bothan stunner. OK, that’s off my chest, I’m ready for my review now 🙂 Will Star Wars: The Old Republic it be the greatest game everyone is waiting for? Yes! I want it to. No surprise there, but if it doesn’t go well all hell will break loose and I mean that literally I will grab my plastic lightsaber and start seeing everyone else Bantha Fodder. But of coarse if it does go well you won’t see any mmo lovers or Star Wars enthusiast (which are almost the same category with a few…
Buy Cheap Star Wars: The Old Republic Credits… WTF?
Here is something strange. There is still a few month until Star Wars: The old republic will be released, but already the gold-sellers are setting up there shops ( and spamming my inbox). This morning I got a mail about Swtorcreditsale.com selling 1000 credits for only 10$ – what a bargain! They also have a professional Star Wars The Old Republic items Online store, that provide us with a wide range of SWTOR items. I’m sure there will be plenty of gamers willing bankroll their way to a uber character, but do we know anything about the games currency system yet? Do we have imperial and republic credits? Will Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa have it’s own money? Who knows One thing is for sure, gold sellers starting up early means that they have high expectations of the game to. Is this a good or a bad thing? PS. This is not a…
Star Wars Fan film : 3 Minutes
Short, Sweet and action packed. Graduate of San Diego State University’s film program Ross Ching, put together a small 3 min fan film. It’s not really a star wars movie, but it got lightsaber combat and sweet moves. I liked the idea of this short story called “The Most Dangerous Game” so I adapted it back when I was in film school, but when I made it back then I didn’t have many people to help me make it so it didn’t turn out too great. After being in the industry and living in LA for a few years now, I got a chance to make new friends and really take advantage of their professional talents. The producers of the piece, George Wang and Don Le were in talks with Harry Shum Jr. to collaborate on something when I met them. They brought me on the project, and were initially…
Faction lore: The Exchange
The Exchange was a criminal organization active around 4,000 BBY, and possibly the most powerful of its time, that dealt in spice smuggling, extortion, weapon trafficking, slave trading, and bounty hunting. The organization was active on many planets and employed notorious bounty hunters such as Calo Nord. During the First Jedi Purge, they posted a huge bounty on live Jedi, large enough to purchase an entire planet. 300 years later, during the Cold War, the Exchange was engaged in a galaxy spanning crime war with the Hutt Cartel centring on Nar Shaddaa. History The organization was active on many planets and employed notorious bounty hunters such as Calo Nord. Some branch heads included Davik Kang, the crime lord of the planet Taris, Loppak Slusk of Telos IV, and Goto of Nar Shaddaa. The Exchange was an extremely powerful criminal organization that operated throughout much of the Outer Rim Territories. The…
Know your Legends: Davik Kang
Davik Kang was head of the Exchange on Taris, an intergalactic criminal organization, during the Jedi Civil War. His headquarters were in the Upper City of Taris. Kang employed dozens of mercenaries and enforcers to keep Taris under his unofficial control, most notably the former Mandalorian Canderous Ordo and the bounty hunter Calo Nord. Davik collected the stuffed heads of ferocious creatures hunted and killed by Nord, but his most prized possession was his smuggling vessel, the Ebon Hawk. Davik resented the Sith presence on Taris because their planet-wide blockade had halted his his inter-galactic operations, but he knew well enough to avoid bothering them. After rescuing Bastila Shan from the Black Vulkars, Revan (whose identity was secret) was approached by Canderous, who offered Revan the chance to leave Taris, provided he could retrieve the necessary planetary launch codes from a nearby Sith military base. Revan agreed to steal the…
May the schwartz be with you: Star Wars Chariot
This was not In the prequels. It might actually be older then the internet itself. It’s still funny as hell though. On Dasher, on Dancer, On Prancer and Vixen, on Comet and Cupid, On Donner, and Blitzen.
Friday Update: Three New Biographies Added to HoloNet
Today’s Friday update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare has added new information on three notable characters to the Biographies section of the HoloNet. Here are the details: In these new holorecords, you’ll learn about Supreme Chancellor Janarus, stalwart protector of Republic ideals and source of hope for its people. Opposite Janarus, hidden in the shadows, you’ll discover the enigmatic puppeteer of Imperial Intelligence, Darth Jadus. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the cold-blooded bounty hunter Jewl’a Nightbringer ruthlessly hunts down slavers, gangs, and crime lords who manage to catch her attention. Some might remember Jewl’a Nightbringer from the one of the first gameplay walkthrough videos BioWare released. She was one of the bounty hunters that the NPC Mako identified as a winner of the Great Hunt – A bounty hunter thing. Another interesting thing about this update is the Aurebesh Translation’s. You can read more about them over at…
Star Wars on Blu-ray!
Darth Vader announced the release of the Star Wars Saga on Blu-ray. This announcement was a lavish event held at the Panasonic Booth at CES. Not only did Darth Vader show up with his “friends,” but major representatives from 20th Century Fox and Amazon.com were on hand. Check out the press release below: LAS VEGAS (Jan. 6, 2011) – The most anticipated Blu-ray release ever – the Star Wars Saga – emerges from light speed this September 2011. For the first time, all six of George Lucas’ epic films (Episodes I-VI) are united in one complete set. Fans worldwide are able to pre-order now with online retailers. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release Star Wars in three distinct sets to meet the needs of every Star Wars fan: Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray (9-disc Set includes all six films) Star Wars: Prequel Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set includes…
First Person Experience
Writer Nick Kolan from IGN received some solid gaming time playing Star Wars: The Old Republic during the recent “Jedi Immersion Day. His first experience was playing the Sith Inquisitor class at last years E3 but wasn’t given the time that is needed for such an involving game, but luckily he was able to play a second time as the Jedi Consular the exact opposite of the previous class with much more time. He experience an array of Force attacks that the Jedi is equipped with as well as he noticed that the Force Points regenerate with out the need of Mana potions. As a fellow gamer he barked upon some kill and gather quests that for him didn’t seem to bother him at all which in other games are known to be quite the chore. “My experience with the Consular was ultimately far more positive than my brief time…
WoW Killer or WoW Failure?
Is there room for 2 incredibly powerful MMO’s on the market, can Star Wars: The old republic out shine World of Warcraft where every other MMO has failed to be #1? Maybe… It might be too late though, with WoW already being as big as it is. But we’ve seen game play after game play in anticipation for Sw:Tor to shine brightly in our hands making us the rulers of our own destiny with a lightsaber or Two. If Tor cannot succeed in drawing you in as promised with it’s epic story telling than we might see millions of dollars and hours just thrown away, but I’ve always had faith in the Bioware franchise ever since Balder’s Gate pretty much the only thing I do have faith in. “So where does that leave EA and BioWare Austin? Possibly up a creek given how much money has reportedly been poured into…
