Do we know if SWTOR had a smooth launch or not? While some will speculate and others will claim otherwise, you can see the evidence in the game forums, as well as by playing the game itself and you will learn if it had a smooth launch. The same can be said for any MMO, as Gamasutra reminds us. They spoke with Dallas Dickinson, production director at Star Wars: The Old Republic developer BioWare Austin at GDC earlier this month and learned a few more things about SWTOR launch and how the numbers continue to grow. “The launch went really, really well. I think sort of surprisingly smoothly,” Dickinson said, with hint of real actual surprise. But it’s true: the biggest MMO to launch in years might not be perfect, but it went off with no major hitches. “A smooth launch was one of our goals,” he added. “”We had…
SWTOR
SWTOR Strategies Gets a New Look!
In order to serve you, our readers, even better we have gotten a makeover. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make the site look better for you and to give you more of what you want- great SWTOR and Star Wars related content. We appreciate you, especially those of you who have been with us for years now and we hope to continue to be your source for news, guides, fun and more. As with any transition of this grand scale, there might be a few bugs here and there. Please be patient and know that we are working diligently to ensure the makeover is a huge success. If there are features you want to see here, stories you want us to cover or if you have general feedback, remember that we welcome your input and feel free to contact us. Thank you again for reading and welcome…
Patch 1.2 and Guild Summit
If your eager to know what is coming up in swtor, you should check this out! Includes a massive summary of the guild summit. The complete list of the video: We will dive into the patch 1.2 and we will point out a list gathered. and then we move over to the guild summit! So, here is a list of things we’ll see in patch 1.2, this is taken from various Bioware releases through media. PvE New Operation- Explosive Conflict will be the first “Tier 2” raid instance. New Flashpoint – Lost Island Continues where Kaon Under Siege left off. Orange gear will become more viable as end-game gear in the 1.2 update. New Corellia Dailies PvP New Warzone – Novare Coast Ranked Warzones. Will use ELO ranking system for both solo and group play in ranked Warzones Medal Rewards will be capped to try and prevent medal farming. Entry…
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…
Drew Karpyshyn Says Goodbye to BioWare
Drew Karpyshyn promised big news on his weekly blog updatetoday but we had no idea how big this news would be. He has now announced thathe will be leaving BioWare after 12 years of working together. He notes thatthe decision was 100% his and that he is leaving BioWare on good terms. Drew writes: Forthe past twelve years I’ve had the privilege to work at one of the bestcompanies in the video game industry, side by side with the most talented andincredible group of people I’ve ever had the good fortune to know. I’ve enjoyedmy time at BioWare immensely, but it’s time for me to move on. I’mleaving to focus more time and energy on my novels and other non-video gamerelated projects. But even though I’ll no longer be working on games forBioWare, I’m not going to be severing all ties with them. Many of my closestfriends still work at…
EA Claims SWTOR Did Better than WoW in First Month
In the quarterly earnings call for Electronic Arts, they announced they had 1.7 million active subscribers to SWTOR. These are some pretty huge numbers but just what do they mean? These figures count the number of players who have subscribed to the game past the first month free trial you get with purchase. This means that Star Wars: The Old Republic has gained more followers in the first month than Blizzard Entertainment’s immensely popular World Of Warcraft (WoW) did during the same period. (via Hexus) Of course, these are just early figures and in the SWTOR vs WoW arena, Blizzard has a 7-year head start. The true test of MMORPG brilliance will come when we see where SWTOR is in the long run. Where will they be after 6 months? What about a year from release? What about 7 years? The true test of success lies in whether or not…
SWTOR Patch 1.2 Content Leak Info
Are you looking forward to patch 1.2 coming soon to SWTOR? Are you wondering what future patches might hold for the game, when certain fixes will be enabled and what kind of level 50 content and dailies might be added? Good news for you because there is some content leak info available to help us learn more about the upcoming patch. We will see a new flashpoint called Lost Island, some fun new dailies and more. Torhead has some very interesting information about the next upcoming patch for SWTOR: We already know from interviews with BioWare Employees that we are getting a new flashpoint in 1.2, but what we have uncovered are missions relating to the flashpoint… along with new dailies on Corellia and an all-new Operation called Explosive Conflict! Dailies NPCs Commander Mericci General Konya Private Taia Sergeant Karloss Councillor Torvix Ensign Navrata Agent Carhart Corsec Officer Holonet Reporter…
EA Stock Surges after SWTOR Subscriber Numbers are Revealed
More good news for those holding stock in EA and more rebuttal for the nay-sayers that SWTOR is tanking and that it is causing EA stick to drop- EA stock reportedly surges after the recent Q3 2012 Fiscal Earnings Conference Call in which it was revealed that SWTOR now has over 1.7 million active users and growing. DualShockers brought us the story that quite honestly, was not a surprise to ushere at all. YesterdayEA stock closed at $18.44. Today, on the closure of the market a few minutesago, the shares of the publisher from Redwood were priced $19.565 showing avery solid 6.1% climb. By comparison the whole NASDAQ index gained only a 0.4%. Mostof the growth actually happened yesterday during the after hours tradingsession, that started as EA’s conference call was closing. Both in the afterhours trading session and this morning in the pre-market trading session EAstock was one of…
SWTOR is Growing- Now More Subscribers than Ever!
I wrote yesterday about how some observers think SWTOR is sinking and that its subscribers are dying off. There are gloom and doom prophecies and even a haters Facebook group but no one really knew for sure how well the game was performing. However, the numbers are now out and it looks like SWTOR isnot doing so bad. In fact, they have more subscribers than ever before andboast 1.7 million active subscribers. DualShockers shared some insight on the story today. Electronic Arts had its Q3 2012 Fiscal Earnings Conference Call and CEO JohnRiccitello explained that SWTOR is actually doing quite well after all. He explains: “Star Wars: The OldRepublic is developing a committed community of players withmore than 1.7 million active subscribers and growing.” And the game also sold more than 2 million copies. This isbetter-than-expected results from the popular MMORPG, something that EA reallyneeded as skeptics feared their stock value would…
SWTOR White Saber Crystal Uncovered
At first, SWTOR coveted the magenta crystal but now there is a new favorite item in a galaxy far, far away. One high level character has been seen sporting around with a sparkling white lightsaber. The owner of this whitesaber, Catch Deathwalker, posted about it on the official forums: I would like to let everyone know that the live servers still do have the white crystals. It’s a server first for us on Prophecy of the Five… might be a game first after live? Edit: So you can see the stats. There was an instant buzz about the crystal as everyone wanted to know where Catch got it (of course) but later in the day, staff dropped in with some startling (or not-so-startling) news about Catch and his flashy lightsaber. This was released by BioWare staff: We’ve done some investigating and discovered that CatchDeathwalker did not obtain the white crystal…
BioWare Story is So Good in SWTOR- Could it Be Too Good?
Have you ever watched a great movie that moved you in some way but after it was over you felt a tad sad that it had ended? Sure, you’re glad you watched it and you’re thankful for the opportunity but you’re left with a slightly empty feeling of “what now?” Could this be a problem with SWTOR? IGN writer CharlesOnyett has some thoughts on this very topic. He talks about “fear of the finale”and how absorbed he is in the story- but that maybe this could be a bad thing. CouldBioWare have done too good of a job with the story in SWTOR? Onyett says: Mymain concern is what happens when the story ends. I’ll meet no new quest giverswho care what I do or fear what I say. I’ll run through the same corridors ofenemies time and time again for a percent chance to achieve a reward. I’ll playthe…
Operation & PVP Guide Videos
Are you having a hard time deciding between PVP specs for your Marauder? Perhaps your guild is wiping on bosses like Bonethrasher, G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator or Annihilation Droid XRR-3? Well then you’ll want to check out these video guides. Marauder PVP Guide (Rage spec): This guide covers the rage spec for the Marauder, be sure to check the annotation if you want to look at the Annihilation spec instead. Annihilation Droid XRR-3 Guide (Hardmode): This is the first boss in the Eternity Vault Operation. The guide covers both the normal and hardmode versions. Bonethrasher Guide: This is the first boss found in the Karragar’s Palace Operation. Since the video was made they have now fixed the bug where he attacks you as soon as you enter the room, which used to cause a lot of issues. His knock back has also been reduced a bit. I hope these…
EA Has Invested Half a BILLION Dollars in Star Wars
In a story at MarketWatch.com, we learn a bit of interesting news about SWTOR. It’s an article/interview about Electronic Arts’ CEO Riccitiello, 52, but contains a fun tidbit about the BioWare hit of the year- SWTOR. According to the source: In a Dec. 23 statement, EA boasted that “The Old Republic” had attracted more than 1 million registered subscribers in just three days on the market. Doug Creutz of Cowen & Co. says that Riccitiello’s tenure as CEO has featured misfires along with its successes but that “Star Wars” may represent his biggest bet of all, considering both the purchase price of BioWare/Pandemic and the development costs poured into the game since then. “I think it’s safe to say that the total all-in investment in ‘Star Wars’ is probably approaching half a billion dollars,” Creutz says. “EA has minimized its risks as much as it can on this bet, but…
SWTOR Has Neutral Plans to Come Soon
SWTOR’s alignment system is one thing that sets it apart from other games, gives it that added edge and makes it more exciting and more personalized for the player. The only thing that got in the way of the alignment system in SWTOR is the fact that there was gear designed specifically for Light Side (LS) and Dark Side (DS) points but nothing for neutral. I’ve found on my first character that when I just played the storyline the way I wanted, answering by instinct, I ended up more neutral than one side or the other. I guess that means I am a fairly balanced human in general, which is probably cool for my friends and others around me, but it’s no good in SWTOR when it means I cannot use any of the gear that I’m getting because I don’t have enough LS or DS points. Ok so it…
SWTOR Makes the Record Books
Star Wars: The Old Republic has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records which is a very cool honor indeed. Just shortly after its launch on December 20, 2011, the popular MMO was awarded a spot in the latest Guinness World Records 2012 Gamer’s Edition. The big title? the Largest Entertainment Voice Over Project ever. More than 200,000 lines of recorded dialogue were performed by several hundred voice actors, making it a far more ambitious recording project than any undertaking for a feature film. (via MMOSite.com) Because the record is such an awesome one, it received a full 2-page spread in the book, which I try to get every year because it’s great fun to read and have around. Here you will find a tribute to 30 years of Star Wars gaming with fun facts, new records, figures and more – all about Star Wars. The new Guinness World Records…
The great hunt: Annihilation Droid XRR-3 (Eternity Vault 8man HM)
Ready to start raiding in SWTOR? Well you’ll want to check out this guide to the entry boss in the first available “operation” (raid) in the game. It covers both the normal and hardmode versions for a 8man set-up. There are three levels of difficulty available, normal, hard and nightmare. You can also go as a 8man group or 16man. Right now the difficulty shifts the damage done, the health of the boss and the speed/danger of some of his abilities. Swtorextreme will be bringing you guides on all the bosses through the next few weeks so make sure you don’t miss them. We hope to also bring you nightmare mode guides as well, but even we need some time to get them down! 😛 It’s also worth mentioning that we are now Live Streaming our raids (as well as other things such as pre-mades in PVP) over on Twitch….
TOR Wins MMO Game Of The Year From GameSpy
While it’s not really a surprise to any of us here, we are happy to announce that Gamespy ranked SWTOR as Game of the Year: MMO Category. Released just before the end of the year after years of anticipation, the game is off to a fantastic start, breaking genre records across the board and drawing in tons of happy gamers. In what many believe to be the first MMO to rival WoW, SWTOR has made an impressive launch into the industry and now only time will tell if BioWare can keep it up for the longterm. FromGamespy: “We’restill logging hours in a galaxy far, far away to bring you our full review, butthis award should give you an idea how we feel about BioWare’s long-awaitedStar Wars MMO. From day one, the renowned RPG studio said it would set its gameapart from the competition with story, voice, and choice — and…
Swtor Extreme: Revan’s Saga & Fate (Spoilers)
Do you know who Revan is? Did you play Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2? Perhaps you have forgotten everything since you played it so long ago? Maybe you want to know the final fate of Revan and you can’t wait to play both Republic & Sith to 30+? Well no worries, I have an excellent series of videos which will help you on all of these fronts. Dalagrath from Swtor Extreme decided to start a series called “Know Your Saga”, where he details important characters which will appear in SWTOR. The first of those characters chosen was Revan. The character you play as during the Knights of the Old Republic RPG game. If you’d like to learn about who Revan is, and what happened to him during KOTOR 1/2, then head over to part 1 & 2 of the saga by clicking the video below: (Part 1…
TOR TV: The Inquisitor Takes You Through Athiss
Greetings good Sithizens and other lowly Jedi. Normally we make our Sith Inquisition posts here on Thursdays, but we just finished production on a very impressive video yesterday and we wanted to share it with all of you. This is a full playthrough of the Planet Athiss flashpoint from the perspective of the Inquisition’s Lord himself. We go through all three major bosses and get a basic grasp of the mechanics, as well as the trash and mechanics of the flashpoint overall. It’s just under an hour long, and brought to you in full 1080p eye bleeding quality. Feel free to ignore the chatter throughout the video, we were discussing the flashpoint, some basic mechanics, and other happening during the last day of beta, but I turned it down specifically so the audio of the flashpoint could be heard. You can find more great videos of The Old Republic Here!
SWTOR Mosaic – What to Do with 13,000 SWTOR Screenshots
So what would you do with 13,000 SWTOR screenshots from the beta? There are probably a lot of ideas you can come up with but will any of them be as cool as what this player did? Michael Guy (t0liman) created a fantastic SWTOR mosaic out of all of this screenshots from the final beta weekend. He captured over 24 hours of game time on the final weekend of SWTOR beta and also created a 35 minute montage video from the screenshots: This is how he says he did it: “Using “Foto-Mosaik-Edda” to do the heavy work of rendering the mosaic, I then reduced the size to fit the 10mb file limits for twitter using Photoshop (Plus, finding the point between juggernaut 200 megapixel posters and “instantly crash all apps in windows” with 8GB RAM, 400 megapixel’s, then working out how to resize 900mb PNG’s to 9mb, is fun) the…
Leia and Han Solo in SWTOR
While we have to admit that what this guy did is pretty cool, we also have to admit that it’s going to be very annoying to see loads of Star Wars movie characters running around the SWTOR universe, especially for those who are serious about their storyline and roleplaying. However, if you’re looking for something fun, here’s how one guy created Han Solo and Leia with the character creator of SWTOR. You can probably play around with the settings and controls and try to create other Star Wars characters that you recognize as well since there is so much customization available in SWTOR. He even tells you the slider numbers so you can make them yourself. And here’s some more fun from Starfleet Dental:
1.6 Million WoW players ‘could switch to Old Republic’ according to surveys
The battle between SWTOR and WoW rages on and as we get even closer to the launch date of TOR (December 20th) we continue to hear talk of WoW players who are or are not planning to jump ship and trade one game for the other. “Analyst house Lazard Capital Markets thinks World of Warcraft could lose between 900,000 and 1.6 million players following December’s Star Wars: The Old Republic launch”, as reported on Computer and Video Games. The stats aren’t really that surprising when you think about it. People are getting tired of WoW. It’s something we’ve written about many times and this also wouldn’t be the first analyst or expert to make such a prediction. The story explains: “A recent survey conducted by the firm in conjunction with Peanut Labs found that over 50 percent of 381 respondents have grown tired of Blizzard’s game.” This really isn’t a…
“BioWare Bets Big With the Old Republic” Says Fast Company
Star Wars: The Old Republic is scheduled to launch December 20, 2011 and BioWare’s expectation for its future is huge. With all the time and energy put into this MMO, BioWare bets big that it’s going to be a big hit. The SWTOR headquarters is located in Austin, Texas. This seems fitting to some since the Lonestar State has the slogan “everything is bigger in Texas” and SWTOR is one of the largest MMO to ever be released. Fast Company tells us how BioWare bets big with SWTOR. Is it a bet that will pay off in time for the company? BioWare has put 6 years of testing and debugging into the game and logged 4.6 million hours of beta testing. They are now ready to see if the efforts they’ve put into the game are going to pay off. Will gamers respond to this MMO the way they expect…
Will the Novelty of SWTOR Stand the Test of Time?
As we draw close to the biggest beta weekend in the history of SWTOR, we take some time to look at all the things that make SWTOR great. It’s an awesome game from a popular title wrapped up in a pretty bow with all the bells and whistles. The amount of polish that has been added to the game is the one thing that sets SWTOR apart from other MMOs that have come before and will likely come after as well. Without this polish and the Star Wars name, it’s just another MMORPG and for many gamers, that’s nothing so special after all. It’s the little details that make all the difference in SWTOR. The voice acting, the animation and of course, the story are all things that make this game stand out from so many others in the market. They make you feel that your character is more important…