Last night everyone was talking about the American Music Awards (AMAs). I have to admit that I don’t really follow them. I know who all the performers are so I recognize them when I see the highlights scroll past my feed on social media but I don’t actually sit down and watch the AMAs. I’m just not that interested. I also don’t care what kind of face Nicki Minaj was making during the JLo performance. What I did find interesting was that there was a Star Wars performance at the AMAs. I can’t say I am surprised, really, with the mainstream popularity soaring due to The Force Awakens. Pentatonix is an American a cappella group consisting of five vocalists originating from Arlington, Texas. They performed a tribute of the original Star Wars theme and we also got to see Harrison Ford himself. As for the performance, they were backed by John…
New ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Footage
We now have less than four weeks before The Force Awakens releases in theaters. This is truly the final countdown. Are you as excited as we are? It seems like the whole world is excited! As we get closer to the big movie premiere, we’re probably going to continue to see teasers and ad spots. While we were told there will be no more official trailers, we are seeing regular TV spots and Internet ads and you can probably expect to continue seeing them right up to release. This weekend we got two new TV spots to advertise the film. One was premiered during the American Music Awards (Nov 22nd) just before the performance by Pentatonix. Here it is if you missed it: This one contained some pieces of old footage with some new footage spliced in. We see Rey and how she is waiting for her family. We hear words of…
Google Invites You to Choose Your Side
The crew at Google are big fans of Star Wars just like the rest of us. VP of Product Management, Clay Bavor made a great post today on the Google Blog telling us his own personal story of becoming a Star Wars fan. He goes on to tell us a little about the Star Wars fans behind the scenes at Google offices, and then he tells us about something really cool from Google, teamed up with Lucasfilm and Disney. You can find it at google.com/starwars. It’s a place for fans, by fans, and starting today you can choose the light or the dark side, and then watch your favorite Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome and many more transform to reflect your path. Here’s a snippet from today’s blog: It probably isn’t a surprise that there are tons of Star Wars fans like me here at Google. You can…
SWTOR Companion Balance Changes
Lead Designer Michael Backus, posted a lengthy forum post that details the companion balance changes they plan to do based on feedback. Check it out: Companion Balance Changes | 11.23.2015, 05:28 PM Hello, everyone. My name is Michael Backus, and I’m the Lead Designer for Star Wars: The Old Republic. I wanted to take a minute to apologize for the recent Companion changes and address combat balance. I wanted to do so personally because as fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic and our customers, we cherish your feedback and value all of you, and I feel you deserve to hear this information directly. I would like to go over why the changes were made, what we’ve learned, and what’s going to happen going forward. There’s a short summary at the bottom if you want to skip the Why’s and get to the What’s. Why the changes were made Combat balance…
Get to Know the New Star Wars Stars with These Movies and Shows
In addition to the stars we know and love—Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew—The Force Awakens includes a number of new names that you may not be familiar with. Before the new movie comes out in just under a month, do yourself a favor and take some time to get to know them! Because the new actors in the movie don’t have illustrious careers behind them, you may not have seen them yet; but they all have at least some credentials. Here are 16 movies and shows that will help you get to know the new faces: Ex Machina: Domnhall Gleason (General Hux) and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) both have amazing performances in this AI thriller. Game of Thrones: Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma) plays Brienne of Tarth, a loyal knight and companion; Jessica Henwick (Jessika Pava) also makes an appearance as Nymeria Sand. Blue Season: Daisy Ridley (Rey)…
SWTOR Alliance Missions Silenced Hurts Companion Reunions
Many fans of SWTOR are of the opinion that silent alliance missions are hurting companion reunions. Most agree that any class meeting a former companion should be fully voiced. Other classes can have the text options but it takes away from the overall experience of the companion reunion and for many, it makes them feel so emotionally unattached that it ruins the experience. Imagine meeting with a companion after a long absence. You express how much you miss them and how happy you are to see them again and he/she just stands there blank-faced. Yeah… it’s kind of a let-down. For many players, one huge appeal to SWTOR was the voice acting. The live scripting really brings the game to life and enhances the story. For many fans, it is the one thing at the top of the list when we tell friends why they should be playing this game….
EA Ups Sales Estimate for Battlefront
While The Force Awakens does not release until December, many fans awaiting something new Star Wars themed have jumped onto Star Wars: Battlefront to hold them over and help pass the time. One of the most eagerly awaited games of the year, EA had predicted sales of 9 to 10 million but have since upped that estimate to 13 million. NY Times reports: “While “Star Wars” games have a checkered reputation for quality and sales, the new game, published by Electronic Arts, has created a buzz with its photorealistic graphics. The game allows players to engage in pivotal battle scenes depicted in the three original “Star Wars” movies. Electronic Arts, emboldened by demand for Star Wars Battlefront, recently bumped up its sales estimate for the game during its current fiscal year to 13 million units, from a previous estimate of 9 million to 10 million. —Nick Wingfield” While this may be what EA…
Treek DPS at Influence 50
There has been much discussion about companion stats and whether or not they are too overpowered at level 50. Before we heard a lot of players asking not to ad level-sync. They wanted to be able to clear mobs with their companion, operate on “easy mode” and plow through things. But then we heard people complain, “It’s too easy” and ask for companions to be nerfed. Let’s take a look at level 50 Treek for some perspective. Treek Influence 50 What do you think? Is it overpowered? Should players be able to use their companions to essentially farm through content? They’d still have to level up the companion and gear them out to max for it to even work anyway. Yet some people are saying the comp stats are way too high. In some cases, the companion could have as much as 700% more health than the player character. Player…
Bespin Is Finally Unlocked in Star Wars: Uprising
Ever since Star Wars: Uprising was released on Android and iOS electronics around two months ago, it’s certainly gotten a loyal fan base of people who just want to free the Galaxy from Imperial enslavement. Of course they also want to collect all of the items, upgrade their crew and characters, and earn a ton of credits while they play. When the game was released it had five playable planets and they are Burnin Konn, Hoth, Anoat, Mataou, and Bespin. However, the fifth planet, Bespin, stayed out of every players reach. The game lets players have the chance to push the boundaries of where the story will go next. Every player has the opportunity to play five assault missions every day. When you repeatedly attack imperial settlements for a few days, the bar for “sector battles” will rise on each planet that is being attacked. Once the bar reaches its…
BioWare will announce changes to SWTOR companions on monday.
The BioWare devs have been going through the companion feedback, and will announce upcoming changes on Monday. Eric Musco just announced that BioWare have Hey folks, First off, we want to thank all of you for your feedback about Companion balance following 4.0.2. As we go into the weekend, we wanted you to know that we have gone through this thread, the forums, Reddit, and social media to gather everyone’s perspectives. We have come out of this with quite a few action items that we are going to take, including buffs for Companions. On Monday, we are going to release a forum post highlighting our plans to address current Companion balance, along with the state of Heroic Missions and Star Fortress. Thank you all once again for your feedback. -eric
George Lucas Explains Why He Doesn’t Want to Direct Any More ‘Star Wars’ Movies
A very long time ago, George Lucas was just an experimental filmmaker. However, once Star Wars came along, it took over Hollywood and Lucas’ life. The filmmaker says there will be no more and he is done. “You go to make a movie and all you do is get criticized,” Lucas told Vanity Fair. “People try to make decisions about what you’re going to do before you do it. It’s not much fun. You can’t experiment. You have to do it a certain way.” He went into more detail on his remarks to CBS News. “The issue was ultimately, they looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans,’ ” Lucas said, presumably referring to Disney, which purchased Lucasfilm — including the “Star Wars” franchise — in 2012.”People don’t actually realize it’s actually a soap opera, and it’s all about family problems; it’s not…
Awesome Dad Builds 23-Foot Death Star
So we’re not sure how his neighbors felt about it but we think this father is pretty awesome. For Halloween 2015, and in preparation for the release of Star Wars: Episode VII, Colby Powell and his kids build a 23-foot death star and placed it on the roof of their house. He says he plans to leave it up for sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas and then he might store it or sell it on eBay. He said he is also considering sending it to Burning Man. All construction on the death star began as a family project until it grew to a point too large for the kids to complete and he had to bring in some bigger guns. he reports that he also had people driving by who would stop and ask if they needed help and that about two dozen people contributed to the assembly without even knowing just…
New ‘Star Trek’ TV Series Warps Into Action in 2017
There’s good news for all the Trekkies out there. Star Trek is making a return to TV in 2017! CBS Television Studios announced on November 2nd that a new “Star Trek” series will launch in January 2017, with the premiere episode airing on CBS’s television network. The series is still unnamed at this time but the rest of the episodes are to air on CBS All Access first. This is the first new Trek TV series in 12 years. Since Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled in 2005, fans have been waiting for something new to come along. “The brand-new ‘Star Trek’ will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966,” CBS representatives wrote in today’s announcement. Who is behind this new Trek-venture? The executive producer is Alex Kurtzman, a co-writer and…
SWTOR Companion Change Feedback
BioWare want’s your feedback on the companion changes they made with game update 4.0.2: Check out the patch notes here, if you forgot what it was all about. Companion Change Feedback | 11.19.2015, 10:13 AM Hey folks, Following the Companion changes we made Tuesday in 4.0.2, we want to gather your feedback on your gameplay experiences. We hope by this point you have had some time to jump in and get your hands on the changes yourselves. First, before we get into the feedback we are looking for, let’s talk a bit about our specific design goals related to Companions: Leveling Content – Challenge Level: Low. To complete this content, a player should have a basic understanding of game mechanics and have level-appropriate gear. Their companion’s role shouldn’t matter. KotFE Chapters – Challenge Level: Low. Like leveling content, a player should have a basic understanding of game mechanics and have…
Ten of the best Star Wars apps and games
No matter if you want to roleplay as a Jedi warrior or record your very own Star Wars scene, the app stores will always provide. There are Star Wars fans all around the world that are hoping that the new film The Force Awakens will be as good as its promotional clip makes it look. The sales for early tickets suggests that there is quite a bit of optimism at this point. With less than two months to go until the new movie hits theaters, how can you possibly fill the time? There are plenty of Star Wars themed apps for that. Actually, Star Wars has generated an entire mini-industry of mobile games and apps in its very own right. The following is a list of 10 of the best apps to fuel your Force and anywhere you see “IAP”, it means in-app purchases. Star Wars: Free Android/iOS There are…
Star Wars: Battlefront – The Verdict
For months (or even for what seems like years) I’ve been keeping a close watch on the development of DICE’s newest Star Wars title through ups and downs, latching onto every crumb of rumor and soaking in every second of published game-footage with great thirst. The time has apparently come though to deliver a full and fair assessment of the game, a sort of objective review without regards to my status as a fan of the universe/canon. Star Wars: Battlefront is indeed here in all its glory and while some of its aspects are truly awe-inspiring, in some respects the mark is missed. I’ll admit that I was so taken in by its positives that I found it extremely difficult to pinpoint any of its faults, but having logged enough playing time, some of the problems do indeed poke through the thin fabric of perfectionist authenticity covering the game. This…
Free Star Wars Book: A Force to Contend With
Just released last week, a new Star Wars book from John Erik Ege may give you something to do while you await the release of the newest film. This 360-page book can only be considered “fan fiction” as this time, as it has not yet been sanctioned by Del Rey or Walt Disney. I have yet to read the book in full so I can’t really provide a review at this time, nor can I find any other reviews, aside from one commenter who says “Gr8 book”. I’m also not familiar with the author, although his profile shows he has written several Star Trek fan fiction books as well. At the end of the day, it’s Star Wars and it’s free, so why not give it a go? About: Explore the Force as it brings together a group of individuals who have all their lives severely impacted by the travesties…
New ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Photos in EW Exclusive
If you are just itching to see more of The Force Awakens while we await the actual release of the movie, you’re going to love this exclusive from Entertainment Weekly. While we’ve seen one or two of these in the trailers already, most of the imagery is new, giving us another little taste of what we can expect from the film. The Marketing for The Force Awakens is in full swing and from now until the big reveal day, we can expect to see many more little goodies released. In these exclusive images, we see some amazing scenes from the film. There’s a Resistance X-Wing flying overhead as two Stormtroopers are met with demise. “We had women in stormtrooper costumes in the movie,” Abrams says, so audiences will be seeing a mixed gender fighting force from The First Order whether they realize it or not. (The armor isn’t form-fitting, of course.) We see some amazing scenes…
The Force Unleashed 3: What Might Have Been
Have you ever thought about what might have been if the developers ever got the chance to finish making The Force Unleashed 3? It’s a realistic question for fans, especially fans of the series, and now we might have a few answers to our speculations. Former LucastArts Creative Director Haden Blackman spoke with Cinelinx.com about the games and also what could be in store for the franchise in the future. Here is a snippet from the initial post by cinelinx: The Force Unleashed games were a big deal, and became multi-media endeavors for Lucasfilm, serving as a “canonical” tale set just before the events of the original trilogy. While that’s since been changed, the games are still something fans think about, mostly because of the way it told a new Star Wars story. While many fans weren’t pleased with the rushed and too short The Force Unleashed II, many have wondered what…
Happy Life Day! The Star Wars Holiday Special Anniversary
Today marks the anniversary of The Star Wars Holiday Special. I wasn’t alive back in 1978 but as a long-time Star Wars fan, I heard about it and of course, wanted to see it. While November 17, 1978 marked the first AND last time this two-hour musical variety show would be aired (thank you CBS), it is still possible to find it on the Internet if you’re so inclined. While the special was intended to capitalize on the success of the 1977 movie and hold fans over until the 1980 release of The Empire Strikes Back, things did not go as planned. It ended up being a terrible flop. I mean, really terrible. Reportedly, George Lucas was only tangentially involved in the production and he hated it so much, he tried to make it disappear. Leave it to the Internet to revive what should be left to die, but I digress. The basic premise of the…
Game Update 4.0.2 Additional Patch Notes
While the official swtor website is up, but the game servers are still down. Apparently there with client patching. Therfor BioWaer have put out a PSA: don’t try and patch yet! ” We recommend not attempting to patch the game while we are investigating the ongoing issues. If you are already in a stuck state, we will update you later on what needs to be done to resolve your issue.” Along with this message comes some additional patch notes also. Check it out below: General It is no longer possible to use the Guild Flagship to summon guild members to the Maintenance Shaft section of the Gav Daragon in the Republic Fleet. Missions + NPCs Players are no longer able to speak to C2-N2 or 2V-R8 on Odessen until they have completed Chapter VIII.
Bioware explains Companion Healing Nerfs in SWTOR
With today’s patch 4.0.2, companion healing power will be nerfed. Here is an explanation why. Companion Changes in 4.0.2 | 11.16.2015, 08:19 PM Hey folks, If you haven’t yet seen the 4.0.2 patch notes, you can view them here. There are some patch notes that we wanted to highlight and talk about specifically. Companion base stats have been reduced. Companion damage and healing output has been reduced. Some of you will certainly ask, why the need to nerf Companions? This is something that we definitely saw the community be divided on, and it was good for us to hear feedback from both sides. Ultimately, this decision came down to our own goals for Companions, along with data on how they were performing. What we saw in those instances is that Companions, simply put, were just way too good. Their healing and damage output could be greater than that of a very…
All the Playable Heroes and Their Abilities in Star Wars Battlefront
It’s truly the best time to be a Star Wars fan because this coming Tuesday, fans will be able to play the retail version of Star Wars: Battlefront. You are able to play as infantry where you can jump into many different vehicles and you can also control popular hero characters like Han Solo and Boba Fett. All six of the playable heroes have their very own different abilities and they vary widely from each other, so now we are going to take a look at what their abilities are. Luke Skywalker His abilities are as follows: Saber Rush: With a shot of quick speed, Skywalker blitzes forward with his light saber. This can be a very useful tool to shorten the gap between enemy soldiers. Force Push: This ability throws an explosive force that blasts at enemies, and it instantly kills enemy troopers in front of Skywalker. Heavy Strike:…
SWTOR Game Update 4.0.2 Patch Notes
Patch notes for tomorrows game Update 4.0.2 is now here: General Missing Matrix Shards have been returned to their rightful owners. Vendor Map Icons now display correctly when in a phase of Solitaire. All planet and companion names and descriptions now appear in the French and German clients. Companions now correctly follow players on Guild Flagships. The Blaster’s Path Cantina Quick Travel location on Rishi now persists after log out. Players starting the Shadow of Revan Mission chain on their ship now see their Companions react more specifically to their klondike solitaire relationship status. Imperial Agents are now granted the Red Blade codex entry during the Mission “Nothing is Ever Easy” on Hutta. The Achievement “Alderaan Civil War: Punching Bag” is now awarded properly. Fixed an issue that was causing certain areas to appear extremely foggy when using Very Low graphics settings. Fixed typos in the Alliance and Companion &…