PvP in SWTOR has long been a controversial topic. There are some who love it, there are some who hate it and everything in between. A recent post in the forums talked about how to improve PvP and it was written by a self-confessed old WoW PvPer. As someone who has also played hardcore World of Warcraft PvP, I can see a lot of their points as valid. However, SWTOR is a different game and I try to avoid any comparisons between two different games since it’s really different playing fields here. It’s apples and oranges- so comparing WoW PvP to SWTOR PvP just doesn’t stack up for me. However… there are some things that you can learn from doing PvP in another MMORPG, such as WoW that you can take with you into new games that you play like SWTOR. So with the spirit of that in mind, let’s…
News
New Starship Pet from Amazon Cartel Coin Cards
As of today, there is now a new pet being issued with you buy Cartel Coin Cards. It’s confirmed with Amazon card purchases to US customers and some players are reporting the same thing from Best Buy cards but I have not tested this yet. 11/12/2013 UPDATE: The SWTOR Cartel Coins bundle now features an Imperial Scout “S-12 Blackbolt Starship mini-ship. All redemptions on SWTOR.com made after 11/12/2013 at 10AM PST will get the new mini-ship rather than the old pet. You can see this yourself at Amazon: 11/12/2013 Important Note: SWTOR Cartel Coins bundle now features an Amazon exclusive Imperial Scout “S-12 Blackbolt Starship mini-ship. KEY INFORMATION: The Amazon 2400 Cartel Coins Card comes with a unique rotating in-game item. Key Redemptions after 11/12/2013 receive an Amazon exclusive in-game mini-ship, Imperial Scout “S-12 Blackbolt Starship To activate your 2400 Cartel Coins Card, follow these instructions: Go to www.swtor.com/redeem-code and follow the…
Name Renewal details from the dev tracker
community manager Eric Musco posted some clarification regarding the Name Renewal program that starts november 12, 2013. Bascially if you have a 30+ character you don’t really need to do anything, but if you have toons below that level, it will be a good idea to read the details below. Character names poll for prefered and f2p | 11.06.2013, 12:39 PM Hey Liron! I wanted to clear up how the Name Renewal will work to alleviate any concerns that you have. You are obviously a subscriber right now, this means that even if you unsubscribe today, you will be completely unaffected. The reason is that you would then become a preferred status player. Preferred players are completely unaffected as long as they logged in to those specific characters within the last 90 days. Being how the name renewal is next week, that is far less than 90 days 🙂 Here…
PSA: Dormant character names to be released back into the character name pool in november
BioWare mailed this out to the player base yesterday. Just as Bruce Maclean wrote in his SWTOR Holiday Update, dormant character names to be released back into the character name pool in november. Good thing I saved my free rename! I’ve been waiting to change my names. I was really lazy the first 6 months of launch and just made names the same but changed the ending like ee, ou, ei etc Hello, We wanted to let you know that in November we will be initiating a “Character Name Renewal” program for all of our Free-to-Play and Preferred Status players. As a Subscriber, this offers you the benefit of more character names available in the pool! We are currently in the process of identifying accounts that have been inactive for prolonged periods. If those accounts do not login to each of the potentially impacted characters within the required timeframe the…
News from BioWare – Mercenary and Shadow Top Three Answers
We’ve been in a bit of a slow phase when it comes to new news from Bioware about SWTOR but now we have some good stories coming from the devs as we rev up for 2.4. These are long, detailed and interesting posts to the official forums from the Bioware staff that help us know a little more about why they are doing some things that they are doing and what we can expect in the future. Here are some threads you need to check out if you have not already. STAR WARS: The Old Republic – Mercenary Top 3 Answers! Here is a snippet of this post: Overall, we feel that Mercenary/Commando DPS is in a fairly good place; however, we also feel that Mercenaries/Commandos could bring more to an operation as far as utility goes and that the classes pulling higher DPS than Mercenaries/Commandos are doing a bit…
The SWTOR Movement- What It Is All About?
I love to see gamers getting involved and invested into their communities and sometimes this means standing up and speaking out when you’re not happy with the way things are going. Game developers today know that the consumer rules all and they need to listen to the voice of the community to keep the cash flowing. So most game developers are very good about listening to what their audience has to say. In the end, everyone wins. But what if the demands of the gamers go too far? And who gets to determine what is “too far”? There are some members of the SWTOR community who have a bone or two to pick with Bioware and I have to admit, they have some pretty good points. However, some people think they’re being a tad too demanding and a little bit condescending in how they bring these desires to Bioware’s attention….
Scheduled Maintenance: October 1st, 2013 – Patch 2.4
It’s official. BioWare will be taking down the servers on Tuesday to upload Game update 2.4. Personally I’m pretty shocked that a major game update is only scheduled to have 4 hours downtime. What’s also impressive is that these estimates are almost always accurate. There have been a few exceptions, but Bioware has been pretty great with the patching process. No patch notes yet, but remember to check back later. We will post them as soon as they become available. Here is the official post by AmberGreen: AmberGreen Scheduled Maintenance: October 1st, 2013 | 09.28.2013, 10:06 PM On October 1st, all game servers, SWTOR.com and the launcher will be unavailable as we perform scheduled maintenance. Game Update 2.4 will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday October 1st, 2013 Time: 3AM PDT (10AM UTC) – 7AM PDT (2PM UTC) Duration: 4 hours During maintenance, all updates and additional information…
Lucasfilm Will Start Using Video Game Engine for Post Production Video
Video game engines have come a long way over the years. They’ve come so far that movie producers are wanting to use them to completely replace post production techniques. If you’ve see any popular video game trailer, you can see why this technology could be used in movies. Many video games today have such high quality that you can see the pores in a character’s skin.
Star Wars Episode VII Rumors
Here we are with some more Star Wars VII rumors and the first good point to bring up is that the number of these rumors that are actually proven to be true are few and far between. However, since all we are doing is waiting for the movies to release anyway, what harm is there in following along with some potential rumors? First up we have a tidbit from Cinema Blend that Saoirse Ronan might be coming on for a “mystery role” in the film: Virtually none of the rumors about Star Wars: Episode VII have been confirmed, but a few have been repeated so many times they’re starting to feel more true, like buzz that the original cast will return or that a teenage girl will be among the main new characters. It’s that second rumor that seems most interesting on the heels of a new rumor from Latino…
Free to Play Isn’t Play for Free
Many industry experts said that SWTOR could be setting the stage for a new F2P model for MMORPGs. Other said it would be the last subscription-based MMORPG and that they expect future games of the same caliber to be based around F2P models. That hasn’t exactly happened yet. While there are more free to play MMORPGs than ever before, there are still games coming out with subs, at least for now. And this brings up a great conversation about free to play MMOs. While a game may be labeled “free to play”, this doesn’t make it play for free. You still may end up needing to pay for certain features or items you want in the game. And you might have to pay for features that subscribing members don’t have to pay for. The upside is that you only have to pay for the features you want and you can…
Cool New Star Wars Game: iOS Card Battling Game
There’s a new Star Wars game on the way and this one sounds pretty interesting for those who like card battling games. Konami just announced a brand new Star Wars-centric card battling game called Star Wars: Force Collection for iOS. “It will have more than 230 heroes, villains, and vehicles from all six episodes” which will be used to build decks to complete quests, participate in “massive battle events,” and more. They said there will even be a light and dark side system. Details are still vague at this time but there is a bullet list with some details on the game’s website. It will be interesting to see how this game will develop over time. iPhone users have been asking for a new Star Wars game for some time now. What do you think- does this sound like a game you would want to try or will you leave…
Star Wars Insider Features 10th KOTOR Anniversary
The newest issue of the Star Wars Insider has an article on the 10th anniversary of Knights of the Old Republic and the Star Wars and SWTOR community is buzzing about it this week. It’s actually a really good read and as always, it’s great to see some of our favorite games getting recognition that they deserve. Unless you purchase the digital download, there is no online copy of the article but someone did post some screenshots to an imgur album so you can read it and see the images so big thanks for that! If you look closely at the images, diehard KOTOR fans will notice a slight discrepancy with one of them. It’s on the last page- can you spot what it is? So in honor of this story and recognition of the anniversary of KOTOR, shout out in the comments and let us know what you love…
THE DREAD WAR and interview with Baron Deathmark
BioWare posted a new update regarding the upcoming game update 2.4. The release date for this upcoming patch is still not yet available, but the infomation on what to expect is starting to come in. The new patch will feature new death match arenas, a new mission areas, and new level 55 Operations. In the first operation named The Dread Fortress, we get to fight one of the Dread Masters in person. In the other operation named The Dread Palace, the epic story of the Dread Masters’ saga concludes. The news update also includes news about the upcoming arenas, including a funny interview with Baron Deathmark – the commentator on the new arenas. The guy actually posting in the thread with a swanky animated avatar even. The read the full story here and the interview with Mr. Deathmark here GATHER YOUR ALLIES FOR NEW OPERATIONS, STORY MISSIONS, AND WARZONE ARENAS CONFRONT THE DREAD MASTERS AND COMPETE IN THE WARZONE…
Majestic Planets of SWTOR- Cool Art
There are few things I love more than fan art. Here we have art made around the 20 planets that currently exist in SWTOR. And we just might see it grow when there are more planets added! It’s really a cool concept and I love how he chose to implement it. From LordXidiin on Deviant Art, we have the Majestic Planets of SWTOR. Here is the description telling us more about this design: Inspired by a similar League of Legends montage of the champion profile pictures: kamekpwns.deviantart.com/art/L…, I present to you the cavalcade of planets in Star Wars The Old Republic. These are the worlds of our lives in TOR. From left to right, the 20 planets are: Balmorra, Hutta, Corellia, Coruscant, Quesh, Tython, CZ-198, Ord Mantell, Belsavis, Dromund Kaas Oricon, Nar Shaddaa, Makeb, Tatooine, Korriban, Ilum, Taris, Voss, Alderaan, Hoth “Go then, there are other worlds than these…” “”You must…
Germany Cantina Tour Thumbdrive Assets
The latest Cantina Tour just happened in Germany and like the others, they gave out some awesome thumbdrive assets once again. The great thing about following these events is that we seen things at one event that might not have been revealed at another so it’s an extra little sneak peek into what is coming up soon.
Oricon on PTS
Lots of good stuff still to come in the Summer of SWTOR. For example, Oricon is now on the PTS. This means we all get to see a touch of what this new area is going to be like. This will be an actual zone, with quests and new story. This is a welcome surprise for many players who may have been growing a little bored with the current game content. Fresh content is always a good thing, right? Oricon is where you confront the Dread Masters at the end of the planet story/weekly. The two operations “Dread Fortress” and “Dread Palace” are based here. In the first operation, you kill Dread Master Brontes. Second operation, you kill the other four Dread Masters and Dread Council. It’s supposed to be coming with 2.4, probably in October but we don’t know for sure exactly when this game update will launch. Here…
Republic CZ-198 Jump Guide
Are you looking for instructions on how to do the new daily area CZ-198? Well, ask and you shall receive! I never cease to be amazed by how awesome SWTOR players and fans are. Here we have an excellent guide on imgur that walks us through this area. The game has several platforming puzzles where you do get a reward and then others like this that are just for fun. But for many players, the reward is just completing it.
THE OFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL SWTOR PLAYER SURVEY
Do you want the opportunity to share how you really feel about SWTOR, the classes and the storyline? Would you like to see stats on what real players think of the game versus the stats that BioWare gives out? Well, now is your chance! From the post on Reddit: PLEASE UPVOTE FOR VISIBILITY, SELF POSTS YIELD NO KARMA, RESULTS MUST BE THOROUGH FOR IT TO BE A PROPER SURVEY https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-h14ZOP1vEPO-3G-SNqnCNm1T521qaTShAUB-AcM_fQ/viewform PLEASE FILL OUT ALL QUESTIONS, AND WHEN SPEAKING OF SPEC E.G. DARKNESS OR MADNESS, USE EMPIRE VERSION, SO NO RESULTS ARE DUPLICATES. Results will be posted next sunday. This survey is set up via Google Docs so it’s really easy to complete and submit the questions. You can take your time and answer at your own pace but be sure to get it in before the deadline if you want it to count torward the results that will be read…
BioWare Writer Quits Due to Death Threats to Family: Exaggeration
UK website Metro wrote a controversial post yesterday titled BioWare writer quits after death threats to family. If all the facts within the article were true, it would be pretty astonishing news. Unfortunately, while true, it was more of an exaggeration with some facts withheld. But before we go into this, let me say that I believe the fact that people are so willing to accept the story at face value says a lot about the gaming industry today and the state of people on the internet. Trolls and bullies run rampant and the gaming world is no exception. It’s up to those of us who have been a part of this culture for a long time, and who truly love and care for it, to push out the bullies and trolls and show them they are not welcome on our playground.
SWTOR Developer Update: Warzone Arenas
There was a BIG update from the SWTOR developer blog today. It’s all about PvP- and we’re excited to share this with you today. Here are the highlights: Arena PvP play is coming with deathmatch-style gameplay, where the only objective is to defeat the enemy players first. The setup will feature 4v4 where the best out of three rounds wins. Three Arenas currently exist: Corellia, Tatooine, and an Orbital Station There will be a deterrent for those who try to stalemate a match in the form of a poison gas cloud. Ranked Arenas will feature both a Solo and Group queue in Game Update 2.4. They’re getting rid of 8v8 Warzone The target testing date for PTS is August 16th so those on the test realms won’t have to wait long to see it. And while all of this is pretty exciting, here’s the real highlight of the update: But…
SWTOR Community Cantina Chicago Details Emerge
IIt’s another SWTOR Community Cantina and we are finding details from the new thumb drive and exclusive info being released to those who were present. Lucky for us, the fansites and news sites who are there are releasing some exciting sneak peeks of what we can see to come soon in SWTOR. I really love that Bioware continues to hold these Community Cantinas and get the community and fans involved. TORWars has some great details from the Chicago Community Cantina and exclusive thumb drive assets. Their gal at the event, Jean, shared some pics from the thumbnail which you can see over on their site and also some info about a new Operation or Flashpoint with all the palace concepts, bad guys and it appears, a new boss. And what about a new mount? That’s something that gets players pretty excited. Well, it sounds like we’re getting one of those,…
Facebook Connect is Now Live!
BioWare have now added a Facbook connect service, that make it possible to spam your friends with all your awesome in-game accomplishments. If you don’t want to keep your mmo life and real life as separate as possible that is. I guess it works well with the new Friends of SWTOR Program though. Check out the announcement below. Remember also to check out our own facebook page to follow our daily updates. Facebook Connect is Now Live! Now, reaching out and connecting with Facebook friends from your Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ account is faster than the Rakghoul Plague can spread! Connecting to your Facebook account is easy: Log in to your account Visit your My Account page Click on the Facebook Connect link in the left-hand navigation bar and within seconds you’re connected! You can share your awesome in-game accomplishments and invite friends to join you on your saga! Get ready for more…
SWTOR Companion Guide: Treek
We are super excited about the new SWTOR companion, Treek. We’ve written about her here before and we’re super excited to tell you now how you can get her for yourself! This cute little female Ewok is the companion that everyone wants and lucky for us, BioWare has given us several ways to obtain her. In this blog post from staff, we learn of the different ways to get Treek companion: Our first new Companion Character since HK-51, Treek, arrives with Game Update 2.3: Titans of Industry. This mysterious alien mercenary is available for all character classes, and can be earned in-game or purchased directly from the Cartel Market. To help clarify these different options, here is an explanation of the different means to acquire Treek. All methods begin with acquiring Treek for a single character: From the Cartel Market: The first step to gaining Treek is to purchase the…
Some SWTOR Players Not Happy about Ewok on Cartel Market
Recently BioWare revealed to us that Treek, the new Ewok companion from Game Update 2.3, will be coming to the Cartel Market in August. But as the word spread, it sounds like some players are not as thrilled with the news as BioWare may have thought. Just Push Start tells us about how some SWTOR players are not happy with BioWare’s decision to put the Ewok on the Cartel Market: When the Ewok companion was originally revealed on the Public Test Server, many found out that one of the ways to get the new companion is by having the legacy level of 40 and be able to pay one million credits. A lot of people were pleased to that decision as it gave players motivation to play and level their legacy level up to get the cute companion. However, when the news broke out that Treek will be making its…