BioWare executive producer Jeff Hickman posted a new state-of-the-game update for Star Wars: The Old Republic. In it, he talks about many topics, including: upcoming features and the fact that SWTOR have had over 2 million new accounts created and have thousands of new players jumping in every single day since free to play was launched. Check it here below! Hi everyone, With the launch of the Relics of the Gree event behind us, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about the general state of the game and the launch of our Free-to-Play option. Judging by the conversation in the forums and elsewhere, there appears to be a level of curiosity among many players to learn how things are going at the studio since the launch of the Free-to-Play option. Of course, that’s natural. We’re now about 120 days post-launch and more than 5 months into our new series of content…
Jeff Hickman
Jeff Hickman Interview
The guys and girls over at TORWars got an Exclusive Interview with Executive Producer of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s, Jeff Hickman. In the interview mr. Hickman answers questions from the readers of TORWars and while he do dodge a few questions, he also answers some questions so well, that it get’s me very confident in the future of the game we all love so much. TW: The studio has seen some staffing changes over the past year. Do you feel you are at a good staffing level now? JH: Absolutely. The core of what makes the game and studio great are still here; quality in our game and in our workplace, people that are passionate about both, a camaraderie with each other that helps us support one another, and people who continue to help us carry the banner of BioWare and who are dedicated to help evolve and improve…
The Importance of Player Feedback with the New Free-to-Play Option
Jeff Hickman posted a news update yesterday regarding Free to Play restrictions. Looking at the Feedback BioWare got from the community with the New Free-to-Play Option, BioWare are making changes starting yesterday: Starting today, Preferred Status Players will see an increase to their default Quickbars from two (2) to four (4). If you’ve already purchased additional Quickbars, don’t worry: we will be refunding your Cartel Coins for any Quickbar-related purchase. Additionally, in an upcoming patch (no exact date yet, but players won’t have to wait long), Preferred Status Players will be given four (4) additional character slots, which means that they will have a total of six character slots. As always, Free-to-Play Players can reach Preferred Status simply by purchasing anything from our online store or purchasing a physical copy of the game. Last but not least, I wanted to share the news that the 50 character limit on Global Active Characters for Subscribers will be…
New Developer Blog: Jeff Hickman Discusses State of the Game
Executive Producer Jeff Hickman took the stage yesterday in a new developer blog titled: State of the Game. In this, and future blog posts he will be discussing concerns the community has with SWTOR. In this first blog he addresses issues such as the turning from a subscription based game to free to play model, aswell as staff leaving the company and bugs in game. Check out his full post on the official site or as a copy paste below: Jeff Hickman When we decided to go Free-to-Play earlier this year, we had weeks of discussion with everyone on the team about where we thought the game was going, what we thought was going right and what was going wrong. We uncovered a lot of issues, but three things really stood out: 1. Our game is awesome. People love it and want to play it. 2. The subscription requirement was driving away huge numbers of people who do not want to…
Bioware Executive Producer Jeff Hickman on SWTOR’s upcoming move to F2P
The team over at Zam spoke to BioWare’s Executive Producer for Live Services about introducing a free-to-play option, future updates and the impact of Hero Engine. In this interview, they talk about the upcoming f2p model for the game as well as how they will be attracting new players to the game with a premium experience. They talk new updates, additional content brought to the game and more. It’s a good read while we await these changes. Here’s a snippet: I started off by asking about where the idea for SWTOR’s free-to-play option came from, and what influenced the team in deciding to offer it alongside the existing subscription. Hickman explained that, while they’ve been aware of what other MMOs were doing, it was player feedback that encouraged them to choose this route. “We knew that there were other models out there, and they’ve been successful, and it’s kind of been…
Jeff Hickman Interview
With the news of SWTOR going free to play, there are many who want to learn as much as they can about the game or any changes being made in the upcoming updates to the game. Even those who are already fans are listening with eager ears to anything new. This interview with Jeff Hickman didn’t have any big secret reveals over the game but it did have some very interesting topics and some insight into the very experience Jeff Hickman and his work on SWTOR. RPG Site says: With a background rooted in Mythic Entertainment, Hickman has a long history with MMOs – first on Dark Age of Camelot and then on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We quizzed him not only on the future of The Old Republic, but of the MMO genre in general. Here’s what he said. They came prepared with some great questions and Hickman…
Jeff Hickman Interview from GamesCom
During the biggest gaming event in Europe, GamesCom gaming convention in Cologne, Germany, SWTOR Life had the opportunity to interview Jeff Hickman and ask some questions about the game. Mr. Jeff Hickman, the new Executive Producer for Star Wars: The Old Republic sat and answered some interesting questions. You can see the video here: And here are some highlights of the interview from SWTOR Life. Introduction of Mr. Jeff Hickamn and his previous work as well as his tasks in the future His thoughts and plans on how to make the Free to Play model a reality When will Free to Play launch? Correlation between announced content (new warzone, raid etc.) and launch of Free to Play Once Free to Play goes live, will subscribers ever have to pay for anything (like a big expansion/content pack)? Will Makeb increase the level cap? How do you introduce a cash shop into a…
SWTOR update 1.1 Valor Bug Patched- Exploiters Punished
The first SWTOR update, patch 1.1 was a rocky one indeed. While there are many great things that came with Rise of the Rakghouls, there were also some bugs and issues. The biggest of which was the open-world PvP zone of Ilum. The new patch allowed the easy exploitation of this zone and some players took maximum advantage of the opportunity to farm up large amounts of Valor points. Game Zone actually previously predicted this would happen: When the patch first went live, our very own Andrew Clouther wrote in his initial impressions that the new system would fail due to server imbalance – predicting the faction with more players would crush, camp, and “make the other factions’ life hell””. And sure enough, that is exactly what happened with this patch. As GameZone reports: In some cases, people were rumored to get as many as 20 Valor levels in about…
BioWare Announces Jeff Hickman to be Executive Producer, Live Services
For those of you who have been wondering who will fill BioWare Austin’s Co-Studio General Manager Gordon Walton’s shoes, we now have an official answer. BioWare announced that Jeff Hickman will be Executive Producer of Live Services for SWTOR. During the Fan Site Summit event, Stephen Reid explained that Jeff Hickman joined BioWare to take on the role left open by Gordon Walton’s departure. Hickman is known for his roles in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and Dark Age of Camelot. However, some fans are concerned about his role in SWTOR after the somewhat flop of WAR and the early launch problems the game had. But maybe the skeptics are being just a little too tough on Hickman. I mean, WAR struggled for many more reasons than just that and Hickman was not solely responsible for the issues that happened anyway. He was just following orders on what he was…