Entertainment Weekly just shared some big news: Disney will be publishing at least 20 new books that will fill the 32-year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. The books will come in many formats: novels, storybooks, and sticker books have been mentioned (we can only hope for graphic novels). The series will be called Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The books will detail the adventures of Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewie leading up to the forthcoming film, and will contain a number of elements that foreshadow events to come. A number of different publishers will be involved, including Disney itself, DK, Marvel, and Del Rey. We don’t know what will be contained in these books, or who the authors are, but they’re sure to bring some surprises, especially with how closely the plot of The Force Awakens has been guarded. There’s no listing of the books planned or potential…
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina Tour Arrives in Anaheim, California on 18 April
BioWare just announced that the next stop in the Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina Tour will be happening on Friday 18 April at 19:00–22:00 in PDT. The event will be hold at Hilton Anaheim 777 W Convention Way, Anaheim, California 92802: We’re happy to announce that the next stop in the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community Cantina Tour will be happening on Saturday, April 18th, in Anaheim for STAR WARS: Celebration! This is your chance to join the Star Wars: The Old Republic community for a development team presentation as well as complimentary drinks*, food, and giveaways. Every attendee will also be receiving an Anaheim exclusive Prinawe Congregate vehicle code. We will also have a special appearance by the 501st, a green screen area for photos, and more! Space is limited so be sure to come early. If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and…
SWTOR Game Update 3.1.1 Patch Notes
Here are the patchnotes for tomorrows servers maintenance: Highlights Bounty Contract Week Returns! Hunt wanted criminals in this returning event. The event begins March 17th at 04:00 PDT/11:00 GMT and ends March 24th at 04:00 PDT/11:00 GMT. General The second dialogue choice when speaking to Jerwo Vhob on Rishi no longer appears blank in French and German. The Decoration “Gree Light Pillar (Blue)” now consistently appears in the Decoration UI. Numerous mounts have been updated to allow similar styles to utilize the same hook types within Strongholds. The “Orbital Power Monitor” Decoration now has a 20% chance to drop from the final boss of Kuat Drive Yards. The following decorations have been added to their appropriate faction Starfighter and PvP Decoration vendor. They cost 5 Dark Projects and 5 Universal Prefabs MK-3 each: Ship Computer: Imperial (Full) Ship Computer: Republic (Full) Applied the appropriate soundsets to numerous Nova Blades on…
SWTOR Patch 3.1.1 scheduled for tomorrow Thursday
SWTOR Patch 3.1.1 will be scheduled for tomorrow Thursday 12 Martch, if all goes as planned. Scheduled Maintenance: March 12th, 2015 | 03.11.2015, 02:36 PM All servers will be unavailable on March 12th while we apply Game Update 3.1.1. Date: Thursday, 12 March 2015 Time: 5:00AM PDT (12:00 GMT) – 9:00AM PDT (16:00 GMT) Version: 3.1.1 Preliminary Patch Notes can be found here. Final patch notes will be posted Monday, March 9th. During maintenance, all updates and additional information will be posted on our Twitter account. Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Hey folks, I have seen some questions about why we delayed the patch so I thought I would let you know what caused the delay. There is an issue that would cause character’s with certain facial features, during conversations, to have their faces become blacked out or to appear bright…
Update on SWTOR Win-Trading and Griefing in Season 4
Yesterday Eric Musco addressed the PvP forums, and updated players on Bioware’s action towards win-traders and trolls in ranked PvP. Check it out below: Update on Win-Trading and Griefing in Season 4 | 03.10.2015, 06:45 PM Hey folks, As promised, we want to keep you informed on what we are doing about those win-traders and trolls in Ranked PvP. Here is what is happening right now: Win-traders – We have been reviewing multiple sets of data, along with the private reports that many of you have been sending to the team. Any player who, through validating data, is win-trading is receiving will be receiving at a minimum, a warning. Not only are we warning these users to stop what they are doing, continued win-trading will lead to greater actions including resetting their ratings and suspension time. Griefer – Those players that seem to have that one singular purpose, to ruin…
If EA Created a New Star Wars Game
We love Star Wars games around here and most of you will know that there has been no shortage of ideas for them but very few that make it to completion and then stick around for any period of time for people to actually enjoy them. This can be very frustrating for the Star Wars gamer fan. How many games in the past couple of years have we seen scrapped? (Stop it already developers!) So here is a question to ponder: If EA was to create a new Star Wars game that isn’t part of an existing series (like Battlefront, Rogue Squadron, etc.) what would you want it to be about? If you could write the plot and script for a new Star Wars game, what would your game be about? Would you be looking for something with more of a Star Wars Galaxies feel to it or would you…
Changes to the Cartel Market — Tuesday March 10 -17 2015
Here are the weekly cartel market items on sale for the week of Feb 24 – Mar 04 2015. Items No Longer Available Helpful links GOLD SCALENE ARMOR SET Price Change Old Price New Price Percent Change Normal Price Helpful links LEGACY UNLOCK: SITH PUREBLOOD 300 600 +100% 600 LEGACY UNLOCK: MIRALUKA 300 600 +100% 600 THE ARNECLIN MASTERPIECES 600 1000 +66% 1000 DESCENDANT’S HEIRLOOM SABER 350 500 +42% 500 Information from TOR FASHION DESCENDANT’S HEIRLOOM DUELSABER 350 500 +42% 500 Information from TOR FASHION WEEKLY PASS: OPERATIONS 240 180 –25% 210 WEEKLY PASS: WARZONES 240 180 –25% 210 APPEARANCE MODIFICATION STATION 110 55 –50% 82 Information from TOR Fashion APPEARANCE OPTIONS: HUMAN HAIRSTYLES 1 240 120 –50% 180 CYBER ASSAULT CANNON 600 360 –40% 480 Information from TOR Fashion UNLOCK: ADDITIONAL LEGACY STRONGHOLD STORAGE BAY 750 450 –40% 600 GALACTIC TRADE NETWORK (WALL) 120 90 –25% 105 Information from…
SWTOR Patch 3.1.1 Delayed to later this week
Tomorrows SWTOR Patch 3.1.1 has been delayed, and will first be deployed some time later this week. Here are the details from Tait Watson: Scheduled Maintenance: TBD | 03.09.2015, 05:33 PM Hey everyone! We are going to be pushing the maintenance window to later this week. I don’t have all the details right now, but this thread will be updated when I do. Thank you for your understanding! -Tait
SWTOR: Territory Map of the Galaxy
Here is a very thorough territory map of the galaxy with each zone color coded and labeled. You may need to make it bigger to really see all the detail and to read all of the territories. But you’ll see it’s really well done and he’s also been taking suggestions from viewers on how to improve things. This is the post from imperator-hadaril explaining: Hello everyone! I’m a long time SW:TOR player and fanatic about the Lore of the game. I have been working on a territory map of the galaxy (A map that would show Imperial, Republic, and Hutt Space), in the hopes that it would be a valuable resource to the community of the game, especially to those that are interested in the Lore and or Role-play. Here is a link to the map: http://joeltopian.deviantart.com/art/SW-TOR-Galactic-Territories-514624133 In order to provide accurate information about the borders, I used the wookiepedia pages on…
Behind-closed-doors footage of Star Wars Battlefront gets “standing ovation” at GDC
Many fans around the world are expecting something fresh and new with DICE’s new Star Wars: Battlefront, which is set to release late in the year. The game will be in big competition with the Call of Duty series and their new game to be released later in the year as well. After fans of the Battlefield series ranted about Battlefield 4 being a major let-down, the franchise is taking time to create something better. With Hardline set to release in a few weeks, the pressure building on Star Wars: Battlefront to perform during the holiday season is rising. Besides a few concept images and the developer talking about the game reenacting some of the most famous battles in the Star Wars universe, we have not seen very much. However, this could be changing soon. Footage from Star Wars: Battlefront has been shown to retail reps at a private event…
SWTOR Operation Speed Run Challenge
A player known on the forums as Death_By_Smiley has decided to do the speed run challenge for himself, since the official tournament was cancelled. If you’d like to participate, the rules and guidelines are listed for you and it’s open to anyone. Goal: Be the fastest guild to clear operations! Sounds fun, right? Well, it depends on whether or not you have a guild that can pull this off and if you like this sort of thing but there are many players and guilds who like a little side competition and this could be just the right project to keep you and your members entertained in the game. Here are some details. Learn more and ask your questions here. Session #1: Current Operation: The Ravagers (from March 3, 2015-March 17, 2015) Special notes: To ensure the Coratannni bug does not occur, if you have one person leave the instance after Master/Blaster, it…
Scheduled Maintenance – 10 March 2015 – Patch 3.1.1
BioWare will be taking down the servers on March 10 to preform scheduled maintenance. Below are the details: Scheduled Maintenance: 10 March 2015 | 03.06.2015, 03:45 PM All servers will be unavailable on March 10th while we apply Game Update 3.1.1. Date: Tuesday, March 10th, 2015 Time: 5:00AM PDT (12:00 GMT) – 9:00AM PDT (16:00 GMT) Version: 3.1.1 Preliminary Patch Notes can be found below. Final patch notes will be posted Monday, March 9th. During maintenance, all updates and additional information will be posted on our Twitter account. Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Preliminary Game Update 3.1.1 Patch Notes: General The second dialogue choice when speaking to Jerwo Vhob on Rishi no longer appears blank in French and German. The Decoration “Gree Light Pillar (Blue)” now consistently appears in the Decoration UI. Numerous mounts have been updated to allow similar…
SWTOR Dev Blog: The Final Trial
BioWare published a new short story titled The Final Trial featuring Lana Beniko. Check it out: Lana Beniko woke with heavy lids, her mind and body brittle against the cold stone of Tulak Hord’s tomb. How long had she slept? The strain in her limbs told her not long enough, but she feared it had been days. Hunger clawed at the lining of her stomach, but Lana shook it off. She needed to keep moving, keep searching. To stay here was to become just another lifeless relic of the tomb. Dark soil stained Lana’s fingernails as she pushed herself to stand. The air was drafty, chapping her already raw lips. “You’re awake,” a hoarse voice stated. Lana had forgotten she wasn’t alone. Bensyn knelt at the entrance of the alcove they had chosen as a resting spot, his red Sith Pureblood skin easily recognizable. Kagan was curled next to him still…
Veteran BioWare Writer Moves to Secret New Project
Mr. David Gaider, veteran KOTOR writer, has announced he is making a major change. A few days ago, he announced on Twitter that he is leaving Dragon Age and the team so that he can work on a secret game from BioWare. While it’s hard to leave Dragon Age behind, 10 years is a long time to work on any one project. I decided it was time for something new. — David Gaider (@davidgaider) March 3, 2015 Mr. Gaider worked on many different BioWare games including, Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars the old Repubublic. He also worked on Dragoan age Origins, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition , as well as older games like Neverwinter Nights. Because he stated that he cannot discuss the new game this suggests to us that it’s an unannounced title. BioWare is currently working on a new IP and this could a project…
Disciplines Calculator English Version Launched
The team over at The-Old-Republic.ru have updated their Disciplines Calculator and created a new English version. Here you can see their brand new fast and useful Discipline Calculator. This is actually a really cool calculator and those of us from English-speaking countries are happy to see them invest the time into creating a calculator that will work for us as well. Here is their official post explaining the announcement. Hey! As some of you might have seen last week, we showed the design of our new Disciplines Calculator on /r/swtor. We released the Russian language version back in December and now we have finished the English version. Our team hopes you enjoy the tool and find it fast and useful. We apologise for any mistakes in the translation; we are not native English speakers. If you find anything awry or want to submit any comments/feedback, please feel free to let us…
Pencak Silat to Appear in The Force Awakens?
If you’ve seen The Raid, The Raid 2, or Merantau Warrior, you’ve seen Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian display their impressive martial arts skills. And while there’s been a lot of noise around the fact that Simon Pegg could show up in The Force Awakens, not nearly enough people are excited about Uwais and Ruhian. Along with Cecep Arif Rahman, another practitioner of the Indonesian martial art known as Pencak Silat, these two have been announced as “performing fight work” in the upcoming installation of Star Wars. Exactly what this means isn’t clear—whether they’ll actually be featured in the film, if they’ll be serving as stunt performers, or if they’ll be involved in fight choreography (Uwais was the lead fight choreographer behind the amazing fight scenes in The Raid 2) is unknown. No matter how they’re involved, it seems likely that the influence of Silat could be seen in the fight scenes of The Force Awakens. While Merantau Warrior didn’t get…
SWTOR PTS 3.1.2 Update #2 Patch Notes
BioWare have updated the SWTOR Public test servers wiht a new patch. This update is focusing on class changes. Check it out below: Jedi Knight Guardian Focused Defense now grants 12 charges (up from 10) and lasts for 15 seconds (up from 10). Sith Warrior Juggernaut Enraged Defense now grants 12 charges (up from 10) and lasts for 15 seconds (up from 10). Jedi Consular Sage Redesigned the Upheaval utility: Project gains a 25% chance to produce a second Project that deals 25% damage. Telekinetics Fixed an issue that caused Tremors to apply Unshakable early, negating interrupts. Shadow Infiltration Kinetic Field now increases damage reduction by 3% for 15 seconds (up from 2%) when dealing critical damage. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer Redesigned the Chain Shock utility: Shock gains a 25% chance to produce a second Shock that deals 25% damage. Lightning Fixed an issue…
Battlefront Footage Shown to Retailers Behind Closed Doors…Oh, Come on!
For the commoner, the last (and first) glimpse at actual Star Wars: Battlefront in-game footage came at the 2014 E3. Since then, while the team behind the project was obviously busy churning out content, not much else saw the light of day about the game, save for some rumors here and there, just enough to keep the hype-machine chugging along. A few days ago though, a select few were granted the privilege to take in some Battlefront magic, as retailers were finally shown some game-play, and fortunately for the community, at one of these events organized for GameStop, EA COO Peter Moore decided to fire out a few rousing tweets. According to him, the audience gave a “superb ovation” to the footage shown, which is pretty much what happened back at the E3 last year too. Having said that much though, Moore didn’t bother providing any other details, leaving the…
Crowfall; A new MMO from creators of Ultima Online and SWTOR
ArtCraft Entertainment currently has a new MMO game in production called Crowfall. The game is getting much support on the ever popular crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter. The team includes Gordon Walton and J. Todd Coleman, who have worked on games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Sims Online. Gamers have their hopes high on this new MMO. Crowfall is being described as a Throne War MMO and some inspiration from Game of Thrones is blended into it. In the game the heroes are immortal and they are constantly fighting through different worlds that only exist for a limited time or until a certain condition is met. The games world has four different seasons it goes through, just like here on earth: Spring, summer, fall and winter and with each change of season the map becomes harder. After winter has finished, a winner is announced and the world goes…
More speculation on the Star Wars battlefront release date
The new upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront has been confirmed for release in winter of 2015 for PlayStation 4 consoles. There is still no specific date for the third installment of the Battlefront game series. However, we do know that the game’s release is set to coincide with the release of the new Star Wars movie. The game is being developed by DICE after Free Radical Design lost the rights for development, according to Expert Reviews. DICE is majorly known for their work with many first person style shooters. There is another report from the Master Herald that says DICE is determined to build a game that has a combination of familiar features from the Battlefront series but they also want to put their own style in it. During the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2014, an official teaser style trailer was released for the game. This trailer showed the public a…
SWTOR 3.1a Patch Notes
Patch notes from today’s maintenance is now available. Check them out below: 3.1a Patch Notes General The Achievements for Hard Mode Battle of Rishi and Hard Mode Blood Hunt no longer reset on logout. Flashpoints and Operations The Ravagers Players must now begin the Coratanni encounter by interacting with the door to her arena before every attempt. It is no longer possible for players to get stuck in a state where there are unable to return to the Coratanni encounter. Saber Reflect no longer deflects Floor Vent damage during the Torque encounter.
Changes to the Cartel Market — Tuesday March 04 -10 2015
Here are the weekly cartel market items on sale for the week of Feb 24 – Mar 04 2015. New Items Price Helpful links SOLUS SECANT 1500 Information from TOR FASHION GOLD SCALENE ARMOR SET 1440 Information from TOR FASHION Items No Longer Available Helpful links HYPERCRATE: ARCHITECT’S STRONGHOLD PACKS Pack contents from Dulfy ARCHITECT’S STRONGHOLD PACK Pack contents from Dulfy SENESCHAL’S STRONGHOLD PACK Pack contents from Dulfy HYPERCRATE: SENESCHAL’S STRONGHOLD PACKS Pack contents from Dulfy Price Change Old Price New Price Percent Change Normal Price Helpful links LEGACY UNLOCK: CHISS 300 600 +100% 600 LEGACY UNLOCK: TWI’LEK 300 600 +100% 600 HEARTLESS PURSUER ARMOR SET 720 1440 +100% 1440 5-PACK: MAJOR EXPERIENCE BOOST 270 360 +33% 360 COLLAPSIBLE BOWCASTER GREK 100 400 +300% 400 Information from TOR FASHION LEGACY UNLOCK: SITH PUREBLOOD 600 300 –50% 450 LEGACY UNLOCK: MIRALUKA 600 300 –50% 450 THE ARNECLIN MASTERPIECES 1000 600 –40%…
Operation Victory Tournament Canceled Due to Bugs with New Operations
BioWare is canceling the SWTOR operation speedrun Tournament sponsored by ESL due to bugs in the Coratanni encounter. Operation Victory Tournament – *Cancelled* | 03.02.2015, 09:14 PM Hey folks, I will cut right to the chase, we are cancelling our ESL Operation Victory competition. Our reason revolves around the Coratanni encounter. I know many of you raised concerns about the issues related to the encounter, and we agree. We spent a lot of time this week testing bug fixes to see how viable the fixed version would be in a speed running environment. We have applied improvements to the Coratanni encounter as of tomorrow’s patch but there are still situations that could impact players focused on a timed run. We thank you for your feedback around the contest and should we decide to do something like this in the future, we will let you know. Also, let us know your feedback on…
TOR TV: “How to Increase Speeder to 200% Speed”
Do you want to know how to increase your speeder to 200% speed? This video has all the answers (and a lot of laughs). Sometimes you just have to take a break from all the seriousness and give yourself a good chuckle. That’s really what playing games should be all about in the first place- having fun. Sometimes we get so caught up in game objectives and goals that we forget to have some fun. Videos like this are a good little reminder to take time to smile each day. Have you seen anything fun, silly or fan-created about SWTOR that you want to share with us? Let us know in the comments!