A new community news post was made available today from Bioware that sets the stage for the upcoming Shadow of Revan Expansion. As the title implies the post takes a closer look at a Revanites’ and their impact on both Republic and Empire. The author of the report, Shroud, makes the assumption that Revan’s followers have infiltrated the two main factions in the game and are slowly working towards their greater plan to conquer the galaxy. You can read a snippet from the post below FROM: The Shroud TO: All Assets (Level 25 Encoding Active) SUBJECT: The Order of Revan I have mentioned in the past that a number of embedded Imperial and Republic assets have been eliminated. Some of these deaths appeared purely incidental, while others were very obviously assassinations executed with varying degrees of competence and flair that would not suggest a pattern. I now believe it was a mistake for me to…
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Lies, damned lies and statistics: MMO subscription numbers and SWToR
MMO subscription number tracking is a challenging venture. Most developers are extremely careful when crafting public releases relating to how many subscribers their game currently has. For better or worse, these values are considered to be a measure of success (or failure) of our beloved games and tend to offer insights on subscriber trends. Typically one would read announcements about player base increases in official websites or fansites, while occasionally quarterly reports would indicate decreases somewhere in the fine print. Some recent examples include World of Warcraft’s increase to 7.4 Million subscribers and SWToR’s announcement of having 1 Million subscribers since changing to the free-to-play subscription model. Some of the MMO subscription data MMOData.net used to offer At the same time, some community websites have attempted to track subscription numbers and offer clarity on the health of various MMOs. The most recent example is MMOdata.net that was probably one of the best community efforts out there….
Patch 2.10.2 notes – Turn your stronghold into a gambler’s paradise for only 1 credit!
About a month ago, Bioware admitted that the Smuggler’s Gambit slot machine wasn’t part of Constable Stronghold’s pack. To make up for the bug, Bioware’s community manager, Eric Musco, promised to rectify the issue by offering the before-mentioned item for purchase in-game for only 1 credit. Smuggler’s Gambit slot machine We only had to wait for a month for Mr.Musco’s promise to become reality. Patch 2.10.2 notes were recently released and among other things specify that the slot machine is available for purchase through the Binary Star Reputation Vendor. In specific: 2.10.2 Patch Notes Highlights 16-Player Operations have returned to Group Finder! We have made behind-the-scenes improvement to prevent the performance issues that we encountered when the system was initially made available. Check out the Group Finder to enjoy the faster queues and better rewards of 16-Player Story Mode Operations! General Imperial Crate (Single), Imperial Crate (Stacked), Republic Crate (Single), and Republic Crate (Stacked) have…
Get them while they last! Dark Horse Comics launches Star Wars Humble Bundle!
If you’re reading SWToRStrategies.com you know that Dark Horse comics will be transferring its Star Wars license to Marvel at the end of this year. This development isn’t stopping the former from releasing great deals on existing Star Wars publications.
Discipline calculator now available!
With the upcoming release of Patch 3.0, SWToR gamers will have to adjust to a new discipline system. The feedback received from the community has been mostly positive but the challenge of mastering the new system definitely remains. Dulfy and SWToR_miner put together a discipline calculator that helps fans familiarize themselves with the new system in addition to experimenting with new setups. The calculator is still in beta and what’s even more impressive is that it was built from information retrieved from video streams.
Extra Life 2014: Playing for a Good Cause
Have you ever wanted to do something good for someone else? What if you could play the games you love and have it benefit a good cause? That is exactly what’s happening this month! Don’t ever let anyone try to tell you gaming is a waste of time. Extra Life 2014 is a charity campaign that happens each year since 2008 where tens of thousands of gamers from all over the world come together to save the lives of kids through a charitable organization. It happens on a Saturday in Autumn and this year the big date will be October 25th. Play Games. Heal Kids. Here’s how it works: Originally designed as a 24-hour marathon of gaming, Extra Life has evolved to mean different things to different people (though most of our participants still attempt the marathon). To participate you need only sign up (free) and gather the support of…
Developer Update: Introduction to Disciplines
With the announcement of Game Update 3.0 coming soon, the developers have decided to give us some more info about new aspects of the game. First up is an introduction to Disciples on the Developer Blog today. This will be the new version of the class system in SWTOR and will change how we give abilities and skills to our classes. This looks like it could be a good way to Here’s a snippet from the blog: Greetings! Today, we bring to you Disciplines, a major overhaul to the class system that will be coming live with Game Update 3.0! At its very core, the Disciplines System replaces the current Skill Tree system while offering a wider array of impactful utility choices to expand their character and the ability for a character’s identity to surface much earlier in the level path. The Disciplines System changes the way we think about…
SWTOR Shadow of Revan Expansion Announcement Trailer
The long awaited day is here! Announcement day for the Shadow of Revan expansion in Star Wars TM: The Old Republic TM has finally arrived. Check out the announcement video below for more and there will be an upcoming livestream from Bioware to tell you even more. The countdown begins – 2 months to go! Revan has returned. Prepare to face Revan and his fanatical followers as you adventure through five new levels of story-driven Star Wars™ missions, reach new heights of power at an increased level cap of 60, explore exciting worlds and fight in new high-level Flashpoints and Operations in the Digital Expansion, Shadow of Revan, launching December 9th! Highlight of things to come in Shadow of Revan: – 5 more levels (level cap now 60). – 2 planets: Rishi and Yavin 4. – Disciplines – 2 new role-neutral Flashpoints. – 4 Hard Mode Flashpoints. – 2 level 60…
Datamined: “Shadow of Revan” is the name of the new SWToR expansion
SWToR_Miner, isn’t letting recent developments stop him from posting news about upcoming releases and content details. With the new expansion being right around the corner, everyone is trying to guess what the expansion is all about. Mr.Miner, took some of the guessing out of the equation by revealing the name of the new expansion…
Patience you must have! Expansion announcement delayed…slightly
It’s the last day of the month and of course speculation is high about what the next SWToR expansion announcement is going to be. Fans have been talking about it in various places, including the official SWToR forums where Bioware is always keeping a close eye on what’s going on. One SWToR fan’s excitement caught the eye of Bioware and solicited a response from Senior Producer, Bruce McLean:
Incomplete “Clone Wars” series episodes now available online for free
When the acquisition of Lucasarts and in extension the Star Wars Franchise, was completed by Disney one of the immediate effects of the deal was the cancellation of the sixth season of the Clone Wars animated series. The series always had a following and its abrupt end left a lot of story lines without a definite end. Disney however didn’t want to leave fans with their questions unanswered so they’re releasing the last four incomplete episodes of the series.
Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion movie now available to stream
“Star Wars Rebels” is the earliest sample of Disney’s collaboration with Lucasarts after the latter’s acquisition by the former. The series is set 14 years after Episode III and 5 years before Episode IV, when the Empire is trying to firm its grip on the galaxy. While the official series premier is set for October 13 on Disney XD, fans have the chance to watch the opening to the series in the form of a short 45 minute movie titled “Spark of Rebellion”. You can stream the movie through Disney’s XD page once you enter your cable provider’s information (in the US).
There is no death, there is the Force..
For some who never considered playing games like The Old Republic, the act of gaming is considered a wasteful task. On the other hand, some others might engage in gaming just to seek out a few hours of enjoyment. In many cases however, playing games like SWToR is all about the community around the game and the connection between people who share a common interest and passion in Star Wars and, in extension, SWToR. When a member or a group within this community experiences hardship then in many cases the community steps up and offers assistance or sympathy.
TOR Radio: A galaxy of podcasts!
We’re back once again to cover the latest and greatest SWToR podcasts from the always active community. With the (rumored) launch of Patch 3.0 a lot of podcasters are wondering what Bioware has in store for them and their favorite MMO. It’s definitely no surprise that most of the shows that aired over the last week, focused on the upcoming expansion teaser trailer.
SWToR up six spots in Raptr’s August Rankings
The latest expansion of Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) seems to be paying dividends for Bioware. The recent content release called Galactic Strongholds, pushed the Star Wars themed MMO to the 14th spot in game rankings for the month of August according to Raptr. Other notable MMO appearances in the list include World Of Warcraft (no.2), Guild Wars 2 (no.12) and Final Fantasy XIV (no.1o). It’s worth noting that WildStar dropped off the list for the first time.
Bioware addresses network connectivity issues
Bioware’s production community coordinator Tait Watson was once again at the official forums today addressing server issues that affected SWToR gamers today (9/24/2014).
In specific…
SWToR Miner and (possibly) SWToR fan sites get a challenge from Bioware
You might have never heard of his name before, but if you have a moderate interest in SWToR you probably read about his work somewhere. SWTOR Miner is one more passionate fans of the game with a special skill. Every now and then he data mines SWToR source files for clues of what Bioware has in store for us next. In many cases, his findings get published In fan sites that are eager for more information about Bioware’s MMO.
Results for Conquest Week 4 – The Dread War
I run swtorconquest.com and I have been asked to be a guest writer summarizing the conquests each week. Full reddit post here Week 4 of Strongholds are officially over. I wanted to point out a few interesting bits. The Harbinger once again shows that have some seriously dedicated guilds. Their lowest score by the wampa stampers beating the highest scores on most other servers. Once again on Jedi Covenant; Rancor Bait , Working as Intended , Hellbent , and Holocron get early leads on each of their planets and never drop below first place. Early on in the week they had first place secure. On Jung Ma the battle for Section X and Oricon were close. Until Sunday Umbra seemed to have first place secure. But late on Sunday the remnants of hope finally managed to get past them and get first place. On Oricon, Uncharted Space and nightmare squadron kept going back and forth for first place. Few…
Former Electronic Arts (EA) CEO predicts free-to-play model evolution
Former Electronic Arts (EA) CEO, John Riccitiello is a controversial figure among gamers, especially with SWToR fans. During his tenure at EA, he spearheaded the strategy to develop and promote free-to-play games, an approach that Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) fully embraced. During a recent interview with Gamespot. Mr. Riccitiello predicted that both premium and free-to-play pricing models will continue to exist with the later possibly evolving. He also stressed out that both models (and possibly others we haven’t seen), will continue to co-exist without one gaining the upper hand over others.
Cartel market bug leads to Slot Machine sale!
Bioware recently released a new cartel market pack called Constable Stronghold’s pack as part of Patch 2.10. The pack includes the Smuggler’s Gambit Slot Machine that apparently a lot of SWToR fans were eagerly awaiting to become available. Unfortunately, yet another bug prevented cartel market shoppers from obtaining their slot machine as community manager Eric Musco confirmed at the forums earlier today.
Preferred access for Strongholds has an eventful start
Today was the day that Preferred access members were going to receive access to the latest SWToR expansion called Galactic Strongholds. Unfortunately the roll out wasn’t uneventful… Early Tuesday, gamers took it to the forums to inform Bioware that the much-expected expansion wasn’t available to them. This problem elicited a quick response by Bioware’s community manager, Eric Musco.
Conquest Week Watch – Results for week 3
SWToRConquest.com compiled the final results for week 4 of Conquest Battles in SWToR. As a reminder the battle lasted from September 9 to September 15 and saw multiple guilds fighting over planet dominance.
Out of the five planets that were available for invasion this week (Tatooine, The Black Hole, Quesh, Nar Shadaa and Makeb), two (Tatooine and Nar Shadaa) offered the most closely-fought-battles. The closest-one, took place a the Harbinger server where more than 5 guilds went neck-in-neck right up to the last minute.
Expansion Initials Revealed – SOR Teasers
We have some exciting expansion news today as we look at the teaser images and video file names, we see some leaked hints at the expansion title. This isn’t data-mined info but rather what Bioware themselves put out on the official news site. You’d think they had learned their lesson about this sort of thing in the past, or maybe they did it on purpose to stir up some more hype for the new expansion. If you at the file names for the images in the news post, you will see they are saved as “SORTeaser”, meaning the new expansion will be called SOR. See for yourself here: http://www.swtor.com/sites/all/files/en/vc/09162014_SORTeaser/SORTeaser_550x120.jpg http://www.swtor.com/sites/all/files/en/vc/09162014_SORTeaser/SORTeaser_854x480.jpg http://www.swtor.com/sites/all/files/en/vc/09162014_SORTeaser/gt_sor_FINAL_US.mp4 So what might it stand for? Forum members and Redditors are taking their guesses and we have one of our own. Shadow(s) of Revan sounds like a good bet to us since it also fits well to the Forged Alliance…
No patch Tuesday & other news!
Community production coordinator Tait Watson, took to the forums today (Monday) to confirm some information that was already known for the most part.
In detail Watson, highlighted that…