Georg Zoeller just updated his google+ about him departing BioWare It’s time to say goodbye…. Friday marked my last day in the office at BioWare. After almost a decade and spending almost quarter of our lives in Canada and the US, my wife and I have decided to take on an exciting new adventure on the other side of the world – Singapore. It’s been an honor to work on so many amazing games with so many talented people and good friends, you will be greatly missed. If you’ve circled me because of my involvement with SWTOR, please understand that I will not be providing any more information regarding the game from this point forward and uncircle appropriately. If you stay, don’t complain about getting hit with pictures from the other part of the world from time to time. To Adventure! I kinda guessed this was coming, Georg Zoeller was one…
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Stephen ‘Rockjaw’ Reid’s New Job
Yesterday we told you the story about David Bass getting a new job for WildStar at Carbine Studios. Now we can tell you that Stephen ‘Rockjaw’ Reid has also got a new job! Great news for the Community Manager let go from BioWare Austin. It was a sad day for me because I really liked Stephen. I have a signed poster framed on my wall from him. That’s not the kind of thing you get every day. He’s funny, he’s personable and his passion for video games emanates from his pores (nope, that’s not sweat!). Stephen is blogging “while not really blogging” over on Tumblr these days and if you want to keep track fo what he’s up to, you can follow his posts. His recent post explains a bit about what he’s been up to and where he is now working: I’m back at Gazillion Entertainment, back working on…
David Bass Senior Community Manager for WildStar at Carbine Studios
I will always have a soft spot in my heart for David Bass. We met, we chatted, I have a pics of him in my phone… but he’s bid adieu to Austin and moved on to new ventures after leaving BioWare/SWTOR. Personally, I’m super happy to see he’s landed a great new job and doing what he’s so great at. If you’ve been wondering where he went, you might be happy to know he is now the community manager/coordinator for Wildstar! Massively even scored this awesome interview with him if you want to learn more about his new job and what the position entails. Here’s a snippet from the interview: At BioWare, you were the Senior Community Coordinator for guilds and fansites. How does this job differ, and what experiences will you pull from your past work into this one? Carbine’s strength is that the community team is intimately involved…
EA plan on being in the SWTOR business “for a long time”
With all the talk about server merges and the possibility of a free to play format in the future, some are getting the impression that SWTOR is a sinking ship but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Honestly, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense for a company like EA to put that much work and effort into a game like this and then just scrap it when things don’t seem to be going as well as they would like. My guess is that they will continue changing, adding and reworking things to keep the interest in SWTOR alive. No game ever sees a perfect launch and while some are more rocky than others, SWTOR wasn’t that bad at all. In fact, it was met with a successful launch but the problem came in when players loved the game so much they seemed to blow right through…
How Awesome Would it be if SWTOR Goes F2P?
There have been rumors about it from the start and some experts even predicted that SWTOR might be the last pay-to-play MMORPG. Now that they are offering a free 15 levels of play and have hinted at the possibility of microtransactions, there is a new rumor on the scene- will SWTOR go free to play? Thanks to a story from UK magazine GamesTM, the rumor mill is abuzz again. In the article, BioWare’s associate lead designer, Emmanuel Lusinchi said: “The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well,” he says. “Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.” So this has players wondering if they are going to switch to…
RMT Coming to SWTOR
EA is trying to diversify their gaming experience and increase their earnings potential. This is not really a surprise as they want to keep up with the growing gaming world and give the customers/players what they want. Since SWTOR launched, many have been saying it just might be the last pay-to-play MMO to come out and it’s hard to disagree when you see the direction that games are going in. While SWTOR is not F2P, they are going to give you a free 15 levels to try to entice new players into the game. I think this is a pretty smart move as it gives you a real good taste of the game and helps you decide whether or not you want to purchase the game for yourself. It’s also a smart move on the part of EA/BioWare because it cuts off just as the story is getting good for…
Community Q&A: June 8th, 2012
The answers for the SWTOR Community Q&A are here. Stubacca: Will the new Group Finder only work for solo players to find random group members, or will two or three friends that are already grouped together manually be able to still play together and fill the open spots in the group with random group members with it? Damion Schubert (Principal Lead Systems Designer): The Group Finder has absolutely been designed to allow 2- or 3-person groups to find the missing players to complete that group. It also has functionality allowing players to easily backfill a group if, for example, you start running a Flashpoint and lose a player. Elperzon: Will we ever be given the chance to ‘forget’ schematics we know? For example, I can make the base item, the 3 upgraded version (crit, power, def), and some of their upgraded versions (alacrity, surge, etc). That makes for a ton…
LFG Tool Bonus with a Pre-Made Group
You can use the new LFG tool with a pre-made group and still get the bonus. Awesome! Here’s the official work from the SWTOR community blog: Yes, you can queue for Group Finder with pre-made groups. However, only the Group Leader can queue your group as a whole. Once you are a part of a pre-made group, you will not be able to queue individually until you leave the group. If you are queued as a group and you are not the Group Leader, the Group Finder will display the content that the Group Leader queued you for. You can queue with a full group that is valid for the content. For example, for a Flashpoint, you’ll need to have characters to fill the tank and healer roles. If your Group is not valid when the Group Leader attempts to queue, it will display a message and give you the…
Clarification on the SWTOR Server Transfers
Server transfers are coming- this we know. Most of us are really excited about that fact. Now there are a few questions that remain and BioWare is setting out to make us all aware of the specifics, as much as possible. First, we know that there will be only one destination allowed. Allison Berryman | Senior Community Coordinator said on the forums: We do have more information about character transfers coming, and we’ll post a detailed FAQ that will answer many specific questions. As for being concerned about not being able to transfer to the same server as your son during free transfers, you don’t have anything to worry about. Each server that becomes eligible for transfers will have just one destination server, and you’ll be able to move all your characters from your origin server to that destination server. We’ll announce these servers at the start of the program…
Daniel Erickson Interview – Players Progress Quicker than Thought
It seems the fans of SWTOR really got one over on BioWare, progressing much more quickly than they thought they would, says Daniel Erickson in an interview with GameSpy UK. This isn’t really surprising news to most who have played the game or even followed the news and updates regarding SWTOR. We saw firsthand how quickly some players barreled through the content, hungry for more. Star Wars: The Old Republic has done a pretty good job with supplying a constant flow of post-release content. Think about it: it’s an MMORPG that has only been out for six months and we continue to get free content updates, and there are even more on the way as evidenced from EA’s Press Conference yesterday. But are these upcoming changes to SWTOR the result of plans that were made far in advance, or are they a response to player behavior? Turns out it’s a…
Game Update 1.3 is Available On PTS!
It’s finally here- game update 1.3 is on the public test realms. Not only does this mean you might have the opportunity yourself to play this new content before it is released to all players, but it also means we will start seeing news and updates coming from the PTS so we know what to expect from the game update ourselves. Here is the official announcement from SWTOR.com news: Please check out this Welcome to PTS blog for information on how to access the Public Test Server. Game Update 1.3: Allies has a lot of great new features, such as the Group Finder tool and Ranked Warzones, to name a few. One of the big focuses for us in testing this Game Update is the Group Finder tool and as such, we want to help incentivize our players to hop onto PTS and help us test it. There are two…
BIG SWTOR News out of E3 Today!
If you were waiting for new updates from E3 on SWTOR, then the wait is over. There were some very exciting things just announced at E3. Here’s an overview: New Space Mission: Space Station Assault New Operation: Terror from Beyond New Companion: HK-51 New playable species: Cathar New Level cap and combat abilities New Warzone: Ancient Hypergates New planet to explore: Makeb Free to Play to Level 15 (that should get most players to their ship and main storyline of Act 1) New abilities for classes Here’s the trailer: Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ – Preview Exciting New Reveals from E3! Pretty exciting news. I wonder if this will entice some players back who have left the game or gotten bored with the content. And with free to play to level 15, I think a lot more people will try out the game to see if they feel it’s worth…
SWTOR Server Merges and BioWare Austin Layoffs Bring Out the “I Told You So’s”
With SWTOR server mergers imminent and the big layoffs at BioWare Austin, many SWTOR haters are coming out to say “I told you so!” This really has me thinking, is SWTOR really that bad or are some people just bored or vindictive and looking for something new to troll? While some circumstances do seem to show SWTOR on a decline, there is no solid evidence at this time that the game is sinking, going under or failing. There are still many active players and subscriptions and with all the new promised content, there’s no reason many more players won’t join or come back on board. BioWare responded to the layoffs but as Massively reports, the response was a little weak: Despite the layoffs, Lusinchi said that the development team is still “one of the biggest” in the industry and has detailed plans for SWTOR’s future. Still, that didn’t make dealing…
Unlimited Free Trial and 1.3 Patch Info Released
SWTOR game update 1.3 is coming. Are you ready? The latest patch will hit the test servers very soon and lead designer Daniel Erickson and technical design director Emmanuel Lusinchi have some info for us to help us get prepared. The peeps over at ZAM have a really great article and interview that tells us many of the things we can look forward to such as unlimited free trial (for certain levels) and a new weekly world boss with missions coming in 1.3. Here’s more: Game Update 1.3 – Allies – introduces a strong blend of tools intended to make forming groups much easier, along with even more ways to customize how we play. Currently undergoing internal testing, the update should be available on the public test server soon and live later this summer. Here are some things the update will have: Game Update 1.3 includes a group finder to…
BioWare Announces New Community Team Members and Position Changes
There are some changes happening at BioWare after certain staff members were let go and the BioWare SWTOR team want to let us know about these new team members, new positions and other changes we have to look forward to. In this Community Blog Post they shared a general update as well as introductions of different members: As many of you may already know, Community Coordinator Eric Musco will be taking over for Sr. Community Coordinator David Bass as the community liaison to fan sites and guilds. Eric and David have been working closely together over the past few weeks to ensure a smooth hand off. While we’re sad to see David leave, we wish him all the best in his new endeavor. They go to share some introductions: My name is Joveth Gonzalez and I’m the Online Community Manager. I’m currently overseeing the development of our new community initiatives,…
New Star Wars: The Old Republic Novel Cover Revealed!
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Annihilation from New York Times bestselling author (and Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ writer) Drew Karpyshyn was revealed at last year’s New York Comic-Con and scheduled to be released in November 2012. It’s his second novel and now the cover has been officially revealed. In addition to the cover image reveal, SWTOR.com brought us a great interview with Karpyshyn about the new book. *SPOILERS AHEAD* Here’s a snippet of the interview: Do you recommend that people finish their storylines in Star Wars: The Old Republic before picking up the book? Annihilation is set after the events of the class stories in Star Wars: The Old Republic, so there are things that I reference and mention that may serve as spoilers to people who haven’t finished the storylines. The balance of power between the Empire and the Republic has changed quite a bit by the time…
Want to Playtest Game Update 1.3?
Are you interested in what’s coming to SWTOR in game update 1.3? Your chance to playtest the new features to the game are coming up soon and BioWare is asking for testers. SWTOR.com put out this call for testers: Game Update 1.3 is almost ready for deployment onto the Public Test Server. We still need to finalize a few things, but we wanted to let you know that the Public Test Server will be coming down soon so that we can prep Game Update 1.3 for PTS deployment. You can expect the Public Test Server to come back up with Game Update 1.3 in the next few weeks. They said that 1.3 will be focused around the Group Finder function that helps you get other players to group up with for Flashpoints and Operations more easily. There will also be more updates and content added to the Legacy System. For…
BioWare CS Agent Might Get Canned – Threats Made to PvPers
If you saw the drama unfolding live, you know how funny it was that a BioWare GM apparently threatened action against world PvPers on the Fatman (a PvP server). The alleged threats were done in general chat channels which these appalled players took screenshots of (good going guys!). When they first brought the matter to the forums, they were accused of making it up and their accounts were yet again threatened. Joveth Gonzalez, Associate Online Community Manager said the investigation showed no proof of their claims against this BioWare staff member. At first it seemed like yet another troll attempt on the game and at this point, with subs and popularity dropping, is there really any need for that? But then… The drama was not yet over because Gonzalez came back to report that a further investigation proved the accusations against the BioWare GM to be true! Ouch, BioWare… that’s…
Q &A for Friday May 28- Ranked Warzones is on track for 1.3!
This week’s Q&A is a special edition because we have great info on the upcoming 1.3 game update. One thing that many players are very excited about is the inclusion of ranked warzones. But that’s not all that we should expect for game update 1.3. Let’s see more of this special edition Q&A to find out. Here’s a snippet: >llesna: Can you please tell us why the upcoming Legacy additions for Game Update 1.3 are character-specific rather than Legacy-wide? Daniel Erickson (Lead Game Designer): Legacy Perks have a different purpose than global unlocks and are specifically designed to enable players to customize each individual character. Since you may not care about Space XP or running the Bonus Series missions on one character it is important that you’re not paying a premium that is calculated at the expense of 8 or more characters all gaining this benefit. This also means the…
BioWare layoff updates
It has been a sad couple of days for many BioWare employers as many have to look for a new job. Today we can confirm that Stephen Reid was in fact one of the of the team members who have to look for a new job. On his Facebook and Twitter he gave the following statement: Today my life’s next chapter starts. Lost track of how many chapters so far… but time to turn the page. I was one of those affected by layoffs at BioWare Austin yesterday. I got to build an amazing team while I was there, and miss them already. I’m also going to miss #SWTOR and the community we created. Sure, I know some of you hated me, but hey, I still worked hard for you. 🙂 I’ll be Twitter-quiet for a bit, but I’ll be back soon-ish. Doing something, somewhere, and talking about it here. I hope we keep talking. Last but…
BioWare Layoffs
It’s not news that Electronic Arts was about to layoff a large amount of people in the future. It was mention at the EA conferance call. What we diden’t know though was going to affect BioWare and Star Wars: The old republic. Today we learned otherwise as the doctors posted on the official SWTOR Forums. Hey folks, since you’re reading this you may likely have heard that we’ve done some restructuring here on the SWTOR team. Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality. Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect. Looking back at launch, we all came together and did something historic. We executed one of the largest, most successful and stable launches of any MMO yet in industry history. That is not an easy…
Star Wars: The Old Republic’s 1.3 Patch Revealed
We finally have some more details about the next SWTOR game update. Patch 1.3 is coming this summer (soon) and we have a bit of information to get us started regarding what we can expect from the game. IGN has an interview with BioWare lead game designer Daniel Erickson that gives us some more detail about 1.3 and what it has coming with it. Here is a snippet of that interview: IGN: The recent Rakghoul Plague Outbreak was the first world event in The Old Republic. How did you expect players to react, and how did that compare with the actual reaction? What are your plans for future world events? Daniel Erickson: We were hoping for three things: to surprise the players, to create community interaction, and encourage open world PvP on the PvP servers. All three were far more successful than we had any right to hope for. The…
Patch 1.3 Crew Skills Changes: Q&A with SWTOR Systems Designers David Hunt and Patrick Malott
Inquisitor Roadhouse has an excellent Q&A with SWTOR Systems Designers David Hunt and Patrick Malott and has shared that with us on their site. This is by far the clearest interview/explanation I’ve seen yet on this topic and it’s well worth the read. Complete with screenshots and answers directly from the BioWare staff, you can get a clearer explanation of the Crew Skill changes incoming with 1.3. Anexxia posts: Q: On the official SWTOR podcast, we heard that Augment stations were going to be added to the game with Patch 1.3. Could you talk a little bit about what they are and how they will work? A: Our goal with the modification system has always been to allow players to use any gear they choose and have it function at maximum statistical efficiency. Most of the major itemization changes we’ve added have been moving towards this goal, such as moving set…
Why So Many Guild Leaders Play Tank Roles
Here’s a good MMO topic to ponder. It’s something I had noticed before but put less thought into until I attended the 2012 SWTOR Guild Summit in Austin. As we were mingling and meeting other guild leaders, it occurred to me that a great number of guild leaders play tank roles in MMORPGs. A huge percentage of the guild representatives at the Summit were tanks. I brought this up on a bus ride with Ian from Jinx who brought up a great point. He said that guild leaders are usually your Alpha players and this made perfect sense. As a guild leader, I’ve played the tank role but I’ve also healed and done DPS, many times coordinated a run or raid from those various roles. However, the traditional situation in an MMORPG is that the tank is the leader of the run/raid/instance/flashpoint. This is the person who calls the shots,…