You know how we love bringing you great SWTOR news and interviews so here’s a good one from DualShockers with BioWare’s Cory Butler. In this 2,000 word interview with Butler, we learn a lot about the future of SWTOR. Here’s a snippet: Giuseppe: As you may have seen from my review, I really like the game, and so do many others. I gather that the launch was a definite success, but what are your personal impressions about this first month of The Old Republic? Cory: It’s gone really really well. We’ve been preparing for this for a lot of time, running fire drills, planning for the worst and working for the best. We were pleasantly surprised with the server stability and just how smooth the launch went, knock on wood. G: Star Wars: The Old Republic is a direct sequel to Knights of The Old Republic, but it’s obviously an…
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Gabe Amantangelo Interview
Totalbiscuit aka The Cynical Brit got an Interview with Gabe Amantangelo up at his youtube channel. Topics Covered Flashpoints (2:00) Questing/Immersion (5:00) Balancing skills PvP/PvE (10:00) PvP Level Brackets (13:00) Faction Imbalance/Ilum issues (14:30) UI Customization (17:30) Crafting Professions (21:15) Endgame Character Development (23:00) All of the right questions were asked, nothing new or concrete was given in return. Due to this, TotalBiscuit has mentioned that he might not do any more BioWare interviews, as it is impossible to get any interesting answers our of the company employees.
Ohlen to Eurogamer: SWTOR More Innovative Than an FPS
Some people don’t believe that SWTOR is all that innovative in terms of the gaming industry but game director James Ohlen begs to differ. He says to Eurogamer that SWTOR is more innovative than an FPS and then discusses the ways they have made strides in the industry but also why as an MMORPG, SWTOR is not too different. “It’s been a little bit of an unfair characterisation,” Ohlen remarked to Eurogamer. “”Because if you look at other game genres, if you look at a Battlefield or a Call of Duty or a Gears of War or even a Half-Life – those games use the same tried and true interface and the same tried and true game mechanics of the first-person shooter genre that’s been around for 20 years. Again, all very valid points. So many comparisons have been made between SWTOR and WoW and some believe that SWTOR is…
Ohlen Shares Details of SWTOR Legacy System
Lots of people are talking about the SWTOR Legacy System and I have to admit myself that it is a pretty cool implement to the game. I have seen far too many people (on my server, at least) trying to abuse it by creating names that are in violation but other than that, I really like the idea of it and the concept itself. But if you have questions about the Legacy System, you are not alone. Due to this, James Ohlen took some time to sit down with the guys over at GameSpot and answer some questions about the Legacy System now and plans for it in the future as well. Here’s a snippet: GS: In terms of the legacy system, how much can you say about the features we can expect out of that? JO: So the legacy system, it’s kind of inspired by the fact that the…
The Empire is Winning in The Old Republic’s PvP
Do you PvP in SWTOR? If you’re not part of the Empire, you might be getting owned. While it varies according to server, just like in any game, overall the Empire is winning PvP in The Old Republic. An article over at IGN.com tells us more about why and how the Empire is leading the warzones in SWTOR. IGN tells us: According to Gabe Amatangelo, lead PvP designer, Empire players beat Republic players in 53 percent of Voidstar and Alderaan Civil War contests across all servers combined. He said a same faction versus same faction version of Huttball, The Old Republic’s most played Warzone, will also be included. At some point in the future, BioWare will let players select which Warzone they want to play, though a timeline isn’t yet set. As it is now, when you queue up to enter a Warzone, you could be potentially dropped in any…
SWTOR Race Issues Explained
Many SWTOR gamers have questions about the race choices in the game and why we can only play certain races. One of the biggest questions “Why can’t I play a Wookie?” Well, good for us, VideoGamer.com has a telling interview with BioWare writer Alexander Freed (a personal fave of mine since I had the chance to meet him this summer). In this interview, Freed tells us a little more about the races in SWTOR and why many of them are so human-looking. Basically, it all comes down to relatability. Freed says: “You know, the reason for our humanoid range of species, it’s a matter of relatability to a large degree. The further you get from human the more difficult it is for players to get into their mindset, the more difficult it is for all the other characters in the game to relate to them the same way. There are…
BioWare’s Muzyka and Zeschuk defend subscription model of SWTOR
While no one actually asked them this time, the BioWare docs found reason to defend their subscription model once again, according to joystiq. In an interview with the BioWare figureheads, they spoke up with a defensive explanation of their subscription model for SWTOR, although the interviewer didn’t actually question them on it. Perhaps they are just so used to be grilled over the subject, it’s like a canned response to interviews. Nonetheless, it was pretty fun and their answers/explanation was interesting. “”You look at the online space in general and it’s fragmenting into all these different areas, but the core still works. The subscription model still works,” Zeschuk said. “”We know a lot of people say, ‘Oh, everything’s just going free-to-play.’ But that’s just one slice. There’s one slice that’s free-to-play, there’s one slice that’s social, there’s traditional subscription still going.” He goes on to talk about the differences between…
Interview with Stephen Reid
TotalBiscuit (The Cynical Brit) Interviews Stephen Reid from Bioware. In the interview they talk about the launch issues with SWTOR, queues and a bit on their future plans. An interesting interview with some hefty background PVP action. The interview is quite long, but really important what he talks about from 20 minutes onward. Basically saying that they’re not going to take WoW’s approach of, “if you’re bored, go roll on alt,” but instead keep building on your main character’s storyline. Good to hear that.
Daniel Erickson interview
Ryan and Jeff from Giant Bomb did a really good interview with Lead Writer Daniel Erickson on Everything from from queues, instancing to LS/DS permanence. Daniel is great at doing these interviews, as I personally would jump up and punch Jeff for constantly interrupting me. Remember to listen to the part around 11:15 -12:15 as it is pretty much cut and paste what was happening on forums and websites as people were hearing about the game for the first time, and I still see people expressing concern that they’ll just be playing a single-player game presumably because “it’s Bioware.”””
Game Hunters USA Today brings us Interview with BioWare Doctors
SWTOR is big news these days and with the launch of Star Wars: The Old republic – we heard about it all from all directions. USA Today’s Game Hunters had a fantastic interview with BioWare doctors Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka about the game and its development. The article by Mike Snider would draw interest to even those who have not already bought the game. First, they talk a little about the undertaking and the development process for SWTOR. Then they tell us about how big of a project this is for BioWare, something that those of us who have been following the game for years definitely know already. Muzyka says “It is probably bigger in content than all prior BioWare games put together. The volume of content is going to give players a ton of different things to do and many different kinds of activities, too, so it’s really…
BioWare’s James Ohlen on SWTOR’s launch and beyond
ZAM Editor-in-Chief Chris “Pwyff” Tom spoke to SWTOR Game Director James Ohlen about launch day preparations, legacy system updates, SWTOR’s short-term development plans, and much more and they have brought us this fun interview so we all can share in the news and excitement. We’re getting closer to the days of Early Game Access, many of us are looking for ways to contain our excitement and find something to occupy us until we get in the game for ourselves. Interviews like this are one way to do that and it won’t be long now until we can say “see you in game!” ZAM asked James Ohlen if he was nervous about the big launch day. His reply? Not at all! It’s been six years of working on MMORPGs down here in Austin, so it’s been a big part of my life. Biggest I’ve ever worked on! SWTOR is definitely BioWare’s…
IGN’s SWTOR Interview: Bioware Spills about Star Wars MMO
Starting today, those who preordered BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic will be rolled into in the live game before the official launch date of December 20. The time has officially come. There will be no more beta testing, no more character wipes and no more waiting. We are down to the wire and it’s nearly time to being playing. With that said, it begs the question “What has Bioware learned from this experience?” In this exclusive interview with IGN, Bioware’s James Ohlen talks SWTOR, lessons learned, future changes in SWTOR and more. The interview is over 2,000 words long but well worth the read (or at very least a skim over the questions that interest you most). Here’s a snippet from the start of the interview: GN: During beta, which are some of the elements that changed the most and in ways you didn’t expect? I mean I saw…
MMORPG Dallas Dickinson Interview
MMORPG has an interesting interview with Dallas Dickinson for your enjoyment as you count down the days to SWTOR launch- coming oh so soon! This interview with Dallas Dickinson features post launch content, server announcements, empire/republic player ratio and more. Here is an interview snippet: MMORPG.com:Let’s kick things off by talking a bit about Game Testing. The last few weekend tests have seen a huge amount of players hitting the servers. What can you tell us about what you’ve learned from having so many users hitting your service? Were there any surprises or revelations in terms of what the service will be able to handle? Dallas Dickinson:There were actually, there were mostly positive surprises. There were way fewer surprises than we were bracing for. The servers actually did really, really well. Those who participated in the testing found the experience was relatively smooth. I think, the first night, we had…
Actress Adrienne Wilkinson discusses working on SWTOR (and Force Unleashed!)
Even if you don’t know her by name, you’ve probably heard Adrienne Wilkinson in game. She has been doing vocal performances since 2003 in games like “Command and Conquer 3”, “Star Wars The Force Unleashed” and “Saints Row 2”. She’s done some amazing work in the past and continues to make quite an impression in the gaming world as she takes on the voice of several characters in SWTOR. Pop-Gamer brings us an awesome interview with Adrienne Wilkinson about her acting experience in SWTOR as well as Force Unleashed! Here’s a snippet: PG: It certainly showed! Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming out this month. How do you feel about being part of what many are saying is possibly the next World of Warcraft?’ AW: I’m thrilled to be part of the project. The enthusiasm the Star Wars fandom is already showing The Old Republic is quite prolific –…
Star Wars Books Interviews Drew Karpyshyn
As we celebrate the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan today, Star Wars Books, has released an interview with author Drew Karpyshyn. In the interview, Drew Karpyshyn Talks about every thing from his work on the Mass Effect series, new Darth Bane stories plus goodies about the new SWTOR Book we talked about a few weeks ago. Can you reveal anything about next TOR novel you’re writing, currently set for a Fall 2012 release? I can’t really say anything right now, other than that it will take place after the events of the game. One of the criticisms of The Old Republic, based on the cinematic trailers we’ve seen, is that the technology is too similar to that of the Original Trilogy. What do you think about that? Should the technology used 4,000 years before A New Hope be extremely primitive compared to what we see in Episode…
Republic Trooper interviews Georg Zoeller about Trooper Combat
If you want to learn more about the Trooper in SWTOR, the guys over at Republic Trooper have hooked you up. They have an exclusive interview with Georg Zoeller about Trooper combat and other class aspects and they are kind enough to share it with the rest of the Trooper fans out there. They’ve asked him some great questions and really know how to get to the root of what the players want to know and they have some brand new Trooper intel you haven’t likely seen anywhere else. It’s more than 1,00 words of communication with Zoeller. Some samples of the questions the Republic Trooper guys ask in their interview: What were some of the challenges of developing ranged tanking for the Vanguard Advanced Class? We’ve spoken with some large guilds that are intending on running exclusively with Troopers. How viable would it be to attempt Flashpoints and Operations…
Sith Inquirer Interview with Daniel Erickson
Don’t you wish you could learn more about the Sith Inquisitor? Would if you could have a behind-the-scenes interview with the lead writer and ask them whatever you wanted about the class? That’s exactly what our friends over at Sith Inquirer did and they’re sharing it with us. While they originally wrote David Bass to ask some questions about the Sith Inquisitor, it was Daniel Erickson who actually gave the answers in the form of an exclusive interview with the site. Some of the questions they ask: Where did you start when thinking about what you wanted the Sith Inquisitor story to be like? What stories were your inspirations? Do any main characters tie into our own story? People like Darth Malgus, Baras and Angral from the comics and Deceived novel, Darth Jadus, or anyone else of note? Describe some of the companions, if possible? We know of Khem Val and Xalek…
‘Oh Lisa’ Interviews Cory Butler at NYCC
Here is a slightly different view from some of the other stuff we covered on NYCC and if you have not seen it yet, it’s worth the four minutes to watch it. ‘Oh Lisa’ Interviews Cory Butler at NYCC Lisa Oh! Actor, host and voiceover artist brings us a fun interview with Cory Butler (Bioware producer) from NYCC and in addition, some interesting and fun feedback on her website about her experience at NYCC and her dive into the world of MMOs with SWTOR. Cute girl- first MMO – fun interview- and apparently she’s going to blog/vlog her path from “MMO Newb to Competent Gamer”, sounds good to me! Lisa says she’s never played an MMORPG before and that she’s excited SWTOR will be her first. She writes: “As part of my jedi training, I went to New York Comic Con to play the beta version of TOR, listen to…
Interview: Daniel Erickson and Stephen Reid
Kay White had the privilege of interviewing Daniel Erickson, Lead Writer for BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic at NYCC and allowed TORWars to print the story. I love Erickson and the fun and humor he brings to every interview or chat about SWTOR so I was definitely interested in giving this one a read. On Saturday at New York Comic Con, in between some hours of being shoulder-bumped by geek-crazed New Yorkers, I got to enjoy some minutes with Daniel Erickson, Lead Writer for BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic. Mr. Erickson, with grace and animated humor, gave out details of the writing process, resolving questions that have gnawed at me since I played my first BioWare game, Dragon Age: Origins. He also discussed content balance, titles, voice actor availability, character surnames, and a skinny little bit about slave bikinis. You will need to head on over to TORWars…
BioWare Talks Future of RPGs and Narrative Maturation
What does the future hold for Bioware? They have made a name for themselves in the world of RPGs with titles like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Star Wars. What might the future hold for them and the genre? The game environments are changing dramatically and companies that want to keep up will need to be able to move with the progression. Can BioWare continue their trend of successful RPGs? In speaking to Sarcastic Gamer during the Eurogamer 2011 Expo, BioWare boss Ray Muzyka said they intend to “broaden the genre.” These days, there are different approaches to take and more options available. “The vision for us is a broadening of the genre. We see a lot of other genres incorporating features of RPGs and in turn RPGs are incorporating features of other genres. There are more action elements, there’s different ways to tell a story, there’s different ways to…
Daniel Erickson interview with a French fan site
The French guild Chimaera uploaded a video with Daniel Erickson from his French community visit last week. Here’s the recap for you: Daniel Erickson walked onto the stage with two Storm Troopers (fun!) to talk about Star Wars the Old Republic. He started by listing off many achievements they have reached with this game including one of the Guinness Book of World Records for “Biggest Voiceover Production” in entertainment history. With accomplishments like that, there’s no wonder why so many fans are amped up for this game’s release in December. The release date for Europe is December 22, 2011. Erickson was quoted as saying “The biggest story RPG in history”, which gives me a lot of hope for the depth of the lore that we will find when we boot up our computers and run Star Wars: The Old Republic for the first time, and hopefully every time thereafter. In…
BioWare Founders say “We make the decisions, not EA”
Many fans are critical of BioWare when it comes to certain inadequacies that blame on Electronic Arts. But the founders have a stern message for those doubters- they are still calling the shots on the games they make. “I always chuckle because we are EA, we’re BioWare — we’re both, and we still have huge autonomy in terms of what we do,” co-founder Greg Zeschuk recently told Eurogamer. BioWare founders say they make the decisions, not parent company, EA. They appear passionate about the fact that they still have a direct hand in the games that they are creating. There are some things that have changed, however. “Way, way back, years ago, we didn’t even consider those [commercial elements], we just made stuff,” Zeschuk explains. Point well taken. Back then, the commercial elements also did not matter so much. Video games were not such big business. The market was smaller…
BioWare: ‘We have an aggressive post-launch plan’
SWTOR fans have been asking “When will the game finally launch?” and now that this massive question has finally been answered, we see new questions creeping up in the minds of players everywhere. One thing that players want to know is what is going to happen post-launch. We already know how much is being put into launching a fantastic game but is it going to last? What happens next? How many other MMOs have we seen launch successfully but fall short post-launch? In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, BioWare’s Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk discussed their plans for the future of SWTOR and they definitely have a post-launch plan. “””We have a really aggressive plan post launch to build content and take the feedback to heart that we’re getting from players and what they want for continued expansions, and use that feedback to build new content,” Muzyka promised. The…
Interview with Chris Collins
The guys over at www.swtor-europe.com did an interview with Chris Collins about European Community during Eurogamer Expo. It’s great to see some info other then the release date coming out of the Eurogamer Expo, but I guess Chris Collins don’t have much experience doing interviews, or he just weren’t allowed to give out any new information. With blessings from www.swtor-europe.com we are posting the full interview below, but joine the discussion on the article right here! Hi Chris, thanks for taking some time to talk to us, I know it’s very busy here today. No problem, good to hear from stwor-europe, I like the site. Now firstly I’d like to kick off with some questions that specifically concern the European fanbase, one of which is whether the Red Zone territories will have access to the game, or if they will be IP blocked. Any official word on this? So, if you check on the FAQ, anything official is held within that. I…