If you’re a fan who was worried about the future of Star Wars games, then you’re going to either love or hate this news that Electronic Arts has secured an exclusive deal for all Star Wars games made now and in the future.
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SWTOR Patch 2.1 Dyes modules Q&A with Bioware
Do you have questions or concerns about the new dye modules coming to SWTOR in patch 2.1? Well, you’re not alone because there is a lot of confusion about the new features, how they will work, how much they will cost, what items will be dyeable and more. So Dulfy did us all a huge favor and got with Bioware for a question and answer session that tells us all we need to know about these dye modules and the new game update. You can read the full Q&A here on Dulfy’s site. Here is a snippet: Patch 2.1 Armor dyes Q&A with Bioware to clarify on some of the questions and concerns players had with the introduction of armor dyes in patch 2.1. 1. How many different dye modules can we expect at release? Will these dyes give off different colors based on the property of the armor? (i.e….
National Star Wars Day… May the Fourth Be With You
Happy Star Wars Day! May the fourth be with you. It’s here, guys- the greatest day of the year- National Star Wars day. May 4 is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years). There are 241 days remaining in the year. It’s a great day for celebrating all things Star Wars. Whether you spend it playing your favorite Star Wars games or dressing up like your fave characters from the movies, we want you to do something extra special on this great day. Wookiepedia gives us some tips on how some fans celebrate this special day: Typical festivities consist of inviting fellow Star Wars-obsessed friends to stay over, and then watching the series in succession. Lots of snacks, bring lightsabers and Star Wars-themed toys. Lightsaber fights in the early morning hours optional. In the spirit of National Star Wars Day, Mashable brings us 10 Life Lessons from Star Wars. Let’s look at how…
SWTOR Game Update 2.1 Brings Name Updates
We know that SWTOR game update 2.1 is bringing many new customizations. With this comes the name changes we have been promised for quite some time. SWTOR-RP had an exclusive interview with Cory Butler that reveals some interesting info about the name changes: Game Update 2.1: Customization brings us a lot of new goodies to play with, among them being the Appearance Designer Kiosks which allows you to change your character’s eye color, scars, hairstyle, and even species. We had the chance to chat with BioWare Producer Cory Bulter about these Appearance Designer Kiosks and ask him a few questions about this particular feature. Read on below for this SWTOR-RP exclusive! Will the Designer’s features extend beyond the obvious to greater options like character’s name or maybe gender? Character Renames will also be coming in Game Update 2.1 and can be found in the unlock section of the Cartel Market. Gender changes…
Damion Schubert Talks about Free to Play Strategy and Respecting Players Wallets
It has been quite some time since there has been a real revolution in video game design. This is a topic I was just recently talking about with some gamer friends of mine. We are now in the midst of something new and revolutionary in the world of video games- the free to play phenomenon. Not so long ago, free to play and microtransactions were limited to the indie game sphere (and Korean MMOs). But we are seeing this game model enter mainstream gaming and honestly, most people are cool with it. The market is changing and everyone in it (gamers and developers alike) see the shift happening. Gamasutra recently reprinted an article from Game Developer magazine in which Damion Schubert talks about this topic and the changing market. Here’s a snippet: If you look at most hobbies, they allow spending to scale to level of interest. It is possible…
SWTOR 2.0.1 Data Dump
New updates on potential future SWTOR content from this SWTOR 2.0.1 data dump by Werit. As with any data dump, it’s important to remember that the data mined may not end up in the final version of the patch or update. It’s like playing on the test realms or in a game beta; you know that much of what you see does not make it into the final version of the game, or at least not in the same format. So take these data dumps with a grain of salt but they are fun and often, a lot of what is found actually comes out in the future patch. Another SWTOR patch, another data dump! I’ve expanded my data mining tools a bit, so I am grabbing even more changes than before. There are a couple of interesting entries in this patch. It looks like there are two new achievements…
Appearance Designer Kiosks and Armor Dyes in SWTOR
If you saw the latest insider video from Bioware, you might have caught your eye on the new appearance design kiosk and armor dyes they are adding to the game. This will be available in patch 2.1, titled Customization. If you’ve been wanting more customization in SWTOR or are growing tired of your toon’s look, you’re in luck. The appearance design kiosk will give you the chance to change your hairstyle, hair color, eye color, scars and tattoos and even your species. If you’re character needs a makeover, the time is now! It will cost cartel coins but there is also a permanent discount for subscribers so you can save 50% on all actions at the appearance designer kiosk if you sub. You can also choose features that you want and it works on a slider basis, meaning you don’t have to pay full price for a makeover if you’re…
Cathars Coming in SWTOR Patch 2.1!
We’ve been waiting on a new race and we’ve talked about the Cathar here before. Now we finally have the news that Cathars are coming in SWTOR Patch 2.1! Bioware teased previously that the Cathar were coming but then they left us hanging and wondering. A second post filled in more of the mystery for us and now finally, we know they are coming with Patch 2.1.While they officially announced the new playable species last year, we now know that they will be coming to the game and available for purchase with Cartel Coins (no surprise there, right?) The Cathar will be unlockable via the Cartel Market for 600 coins and you can either reroll a new character or you have the option to convert an existing character to the new species. One bonus is that the unlock is account-wide and not just legacy-wide, meaning you can apply it to…
EA Pays Probst Seven Figures, Looks for New CEO
CEO John Riccitiello recently resigned from Electronic Arts but executive chairman Larry Probst is reportedly taking the reins until a suitable replacement is found. But his temporary position of two roles will not come cheap- As reported by GameSpot, an EA filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week revealed that Probst will be paid an annualized salary of $1.03 million for the duration of the search for a new CEO. In addition to the seven-figure salary, Probst stands to earn an additional one-time bonus for his work from the Board of Directors for his temporary stint as executive chairman of the company. Of course, Probst will be abstaining from any discussion the board has on that particular topic since it would be a conflict of interest. He is also foregoing his board of directors cash retainer fees (which were $100,000 for the company’s fiscal 2012) for the duration…
Disney Shuts Down LucasArts and Cancels Star Wars Games
(image belongs to Kotaku- see their version for funny annotations that say how we all feel) Just recently we brought you the rumors that LucasArts is facing a shutdown. While we didn’t have enough proof to call it a fact, we highly suspected the confirmation was coming soon. Today was the formal notification. According to a source reliable to Kotaku, the staff was informed this morning that LucasArts was shut down. Publicly, Disney is saying their current games could be licensed out to a different publisher or developer, but according to our source, that’s unlikely. Our source says Lucas has pursued the option for “one or both games,” but nothing happened. “”With the teams now basically being dispersed I think both games are effectively dead forever,” our source said. A second source also told Kotaku this afternoon that the chances of Lucas licensing out 1313 are very slim. The odds are “effectively zero,” the…
Gamestop/Best Buy SWTOR now sells Cartel Coin Cards
A few months back, we heard rumors about Gamestop and Best Buy selling Cartel Coin cards in their stores that would also get you an exclusive mount. So what did I do? I ran out to my local Best Buy to check it out. Admittedly, I had something else to go for that night anyway, but this just made me more motivated to get in my car and head down to the shopping center. So there I am in Best Buy when not one, but two, friendly employees came over and offered to help me but alas, there were no cartel coin cards. In fact, they didn’t even have a clue what I was talking about. That’s because the information was leaked early and they were not available yet. But these cards were in the works… And the story is that they are finally live! But there are a few…
Reminder: Display Name Only Log In Now Live (Also Self Service Security Key)
Just a friendly reminder that Display Name Only Log In is Now Live. People are still debating if Display Name Only is more secure then email login, but they way I see it there’s now no link between your login name (Display Name) and your email address. If someone gets a hold of your swtor password, they still can’t get your email address because it’s obfuscated (shows up as m*******@gmail.com). That adds another obstacle for them to overcome to hijack your email address (the more important account imo). If someone has control of your email address, you have much bigger problems to worry about than just your swtor account. Keep in mind that their security system has always been built around the assumption that the hacker already knows your username. They’re keeping things secure by using a combination of password and security questions/key. Anyways, below is the news update from BioWare: Display Name Only Log…
SWTOR Climbing Since Going Free to Play
So has changing their game model to free to play had any impact on SWTOR for BioWare? , creative director on Star Wars: The Old Republic says yes at GDC. He revealed that the number of players has now increased to 4.5 million, up from 2 million, which makes it a rate of 10,000 new players each day. This switch to F2P has been a real game-changer for SWTOR, that was losing its player base. Ohlen goes on to explain how SWTOR had more problems on launch than just its subscription model (ya, think?) He explains that the lack of a group finder was a major downside to the game and also the poor implementation of the Public Test Realm (PTS). No group finder meant it was hard to players to get together to experience much of the content in the game and the poor PTS meant there were a…
George Takei to Star in New Star Wars Film
What’s more awesome than Abrams directing both Star Trek and Star Wars movies at the same time? George Takei acting in them both! As he shared on his Facebook wall today, George Takei will be starring in the new Star Wars films, directed by JJ Abrams: Friends, I am thrilled to announce that I’ll be starring in the Star Wars reboot directed by JJ Abrams. I’ll be playing Master Ceti Maru, a member of the Jedi High Council. The new film, entitled “Star Wars: Galactic Empire,” is greenlit and will begin filming sometime early next year. It is truly a moment for The Star Alliance. Thanks to all my fans for their decades of support. Geeks of Doom gives us more info about the famous actor’s new role: Now, the actor, best known for his role as the original Sulu in the Star Trekuniverse, revealed that he’ll be starring in a…
James Ohlen at Game Developers Conference 2013: TOR is one of the largest micro-transaction money-makers for EA
Following our recent post about Bioware’s Creative Director James Ohlen and his speech on the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC), additional details have emerged over at Massively. Bioware’s Creative Director James Ohlen The site has posted a detailed account of Ohlen’s presentation at the event where the latter covered the challenges Bioware faced during launch, its conversion to Free to Play (F2P) and the concerns the Austin-based developer had about Guild Wars 2 and Mists of Panderia. He also went into details about what the studio went through when the game started losing subscribers and how they managed to turn it around with F2P.
How non-paying players can positively impact a game’s success
Since Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) changed its subscription model to Free-to-Play (F2P), a lot of opinions were raised about whether it was the right thing to do or not. Some quickly labeled SWToR as a failure that didn’t live up to the hype , while others saw this as a necesary change that helps the game’s long-term growth. Whether this change was successful or not remains to be seen, however first indications as reported by James Ohlen and the recent EA investor’s call are positive. Free-to-play might not be such a bad thing after all! A new article over at Gamasutra.com, argues that non-paying players, actually help the growth of such games. The author of the article cites three major reasons for opening up a game to freeloaders. Among other things F2P players help bring in other new players that eventually will turn into subscribers, they show their appreciation…
Making of Rise of the Hutt Cartel: Part 2
With the big announcement today that Rise of The Hutt Cartel digital expansion will be available on April 14, Bioware also released an interesting video providing more details on the expansion. Among other things, Bioware developers gave out additional information on the continuation of your personal story line as it relates to Karraga the Hutt and the new planet on the expansion called Makeb. The video also provides hints on villains we will face on the new planet and their impact on our game play.
Aggregated 2.0 Fan Site Interviews & Information for ROTHC
There’s an official date for ROTHC and the BioWare PR team has also been in full swing doing interviews with a number of fan sites about SWTOR and ROTHC. To help ensure all the hard work from these interviews is seen, we’re going to try to aggregate all the links here. We’ll be updating this often as more information and posts come out but if you see an interview we’ve missed, feel free to add it to the comments so we can update the list!
Pro Tips for SWTOR Double XP Weekends
Do you want to make the most of the SWTOR double XP weekends? Just in time for the next weekend on the way, we have some tips and ideas for getting the most from your Double XP weekend. Double XP weekends will be held at the following times: March 15, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to March 18, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET (passed already) March 22, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to March 25, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET March 29, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to April 1, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET April 5, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to April 8, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET There was an exploit that allowed you to go to Ilum and get powerleveled up especially quick. One guy claimed he hit a record of 1-50 in under 16 hours. As one poster explained: …
Electronic Arts launches new cross-game pet promotion!
In an effort to draw more attention to other Free-to-play (F2P) titles, Electronic Arts (EA) recently started a new cross-game pet promotion for Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR). EA’s catalogue of free games is quite extensive and using a popular game like SWToR certainly makes sense. To get these pets, all you need to do is register with the games listed below by April 1st and you will receive an in-game pet. The mini-droid pet you get for Battlefield It’s worth noting that this listing is incomplete since only the following games have been confirmed. This doesn’t mean that other EA F2P titles aren’t eligible. (In parenthesis is the name of the pet) Command & Conquer Tiberium Alliances (2C-TA Commander) Battlefield Heroes (J9-BH Mercenary) Battlefield Play4Free (BF-4F Warrior) Need for Speed World (N4-SW Runner) Lord of Ultima (LU-20 Builder) Does this mean that SWToR’s conversion to F2P is yielding the expected for EA results? If…
Can’t Get What You Want on the Cartel Market?
The Cartel Market seems to be a winner for BioWare because just recently, they issued another game update with yet another change to the Cartel Market. The problem is not all players are happy with this system. Before we get to that, it’s important to note that nearly every update since November of 2012 has brought updates to the Cartel Market. The Spry Minds says best what a lot of players are already thinking: Why can’t I buy what I want? Here’s a snippet from a post they did on this very topic: In the latest game update, Bioware has released some of the best gear creation the team has done to date and of course it’s only available for purchase outside of the game. ot surprisingly, they are only available via Cartel Packs, which is nothing short of playing slot machines at your local casino. Put your money in…
What is Your Plan for SWTOR Double XP Weekend?
It’s Friday! And this weekend, that means double XP in SWTOR. It’s here to kick off the Relics of Gree event and if you have been away from SWTOR for awhile, it’s also an opportunity to come back with preferred status AND the double XP. This is the first of four double XP weekends coming up as follows. Double XP weekends will be held at the following times: March 15, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to March 18, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET March 22, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to March 25, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET March 29, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to April 1, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET April 5, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET to April 8, 2013 at 3:00 a.m. ET These double XP weekends are lining up with the Relics of Gree event in game and gives you…
Bioware releases The Old Republic Insider Episode 5
Bioware released today the latest episode of The Old Republic Insider that covers the latest news about their game. The brief 3 minute video covers some of the new Cartel Market items including the Luxury Skiff Speeder and the Contraband Shipment, a set of five Cartel Packs! It also offers a glimpse on upcoming updates as well as the new operation coming with Game Update 2.0: Scum and Villainy.
SWTOR Developer Blog March 13: Cartel Reputation
03.13.2013 – We have some updates on Cartel Reputation from the Developer Blog this week. See a snippet below: Developer Blog: Cartel Reputation In Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree, we released our exciting Legacy Reputation System, allowing players various rewards for their interactions with many different organizations across the galaxy. Now, with Game Update 1.7.2, the nefarious Hutt Cartel wants a cut of the action. The Contraband Resale Corporation Representatives from the Contraband Resale Corporation have convinced officials from both Republic and Imperial Fleets to allow them to set-up business. The Cartel’s blockade of Makeb has created some exceptional business opportunities for everyone, including a brand new Shipment from the Cartel – the Contraband Packs. The Contraband Resale Corporation is looking for ways to reward its most frequent customers by tracking the Reputation they gain. Players increase their Reputation with the Corporation through the acquisition of the new…