Here is a video by Vulkk. This video has two simple goals – to show the great new screens and design-art of the new worlds as well as tell us a little more of their History & Lore, to prepare us for the exploration and adventures awaiting us in Shadow of Revan 3.0. In the end of the video Vulkk have the notes from the Q&A section during the NY Cantina Event. The Devs gave more information and hints on what is to come with the next Expansion to SWTOR. Learn more about the History & Lore of AVIN 4 & RISHI, the 2 new Worlds in SWTOR 3.0 Shadow of Revan . Check the NY Cantina Q&A for more new info on the expansion in the end of the video: ► VIDEO DESCRIPTION This video will tell us a little of the History and Lore of the 2 new planets…
Developer Blog: Bedtime in Concordia
Bioware released yet another Developer blog today titled “Bedtime in Concordia”. This time around the blog focuses on Shae Vizla‘s story – a Mandalorian who was credited for working with the Sith Empire and helping in storming the Jedi Temple in Coruscant. Shae Vizla Bedtime on Concordia A blazing campfire cast three shadows across the open plain. The longest stretched from the angular form of a man still clad in the armor of his people, the fire’s light stumbling and bouncing across decades of pockmarks and scrapes in the Mandalorian iron’s surfaces. The other shadows’ figures were clad in training gear, their bodies still growing too quickly for proper armor to fit for long. Galron watched his twin daughters over the flames. Tayn and Mari had done well in the day’s hunt, handled their weapons and gear properly, and shown great patience. He would tell their mother that they were growing…
Limited time Cartel Market items are now available
Community manager Eric Musco was once more at the official SWToR forums providing updates about upcoming content releases. In this case, Mr.Musco provided a quick update on some cartel market items that are going to be available for a limited time only. In specific: I wanted to let you know about some new items coming to Cartel Market later today. These are each of the items and their Cartel Coin price. Note that these items are only available for a limited time and will come off of the Market on 11/4. Walkhar Trickster – 1800 CC Ghostly Magus Armor Set – 1000 CC Ethereal Rakling (Minipet) – 140 CC Phantasmal Rakling (Minipet) – 140 CC Statue of the Agonized (Decoration) – 150 CC Thranta Trophy (Decoration) – 130 CC Infected Tree (Decoration) – 120 CC Returning Item! TRK-R Treatment Chamber – 1200 CC While no date was provided as to…
Blast from the past! X-Wing, Tie-Fighter to be re-released for modern PCs
For those of us who are of a certain age, there was a period where using your computer required using MS Dos, floppy disks and in some cases dial-up modems. Gaming in that period introduced us to some legendary Star Wars titles from Lucasarts such as X-Wing and Tie-Fighter – two amazing space combat simulators that are still being talked about today. While many DOS emulators exist, one of their main drawbacks is that they’re not very intuitive and difficult to use. At the same time though since most of these games run on either 5¼-inch or 3½-inch floppy disks (remember those?), few people have held on to their games from 20 years ago. A screenshot from X-Wing in a all its Super VGA glory! Good Old Games (GOG) decided to address these issues by re-releasing both X-Wing and Tie Fighter as downloadable content for $10 each. The former also includes the Imperial Pursuit and…
TOR TV: Starfleet Dental – Pop Muzik
I admit that this video isn’t recent but it’s definitely one of the better made SWToR fan videos that deserves some extra attention. It’s titled Pop Muzik and it was originally released back at launch when the game (and the hype) were flying high. “Pop Muzik” is probably the fastest and most musical way to experience all SWToR locations in a short period of time.
NYCC 2014: Star Wars Rebels discussion panel and exclusives
The New York city Comic Con ended earlier this month and videos from the event are starting to surface on the web. Of particular Star Wars interest is the one for Disney’s latest TV series called Star Wars Rebels. In the four-part video posted below, we take a closer look at the connections between the original Star Wars movies and the series as well as the back story of Rebels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo2u1gJJhos&index=2&list=PLZRd3qFud5ts40VL4OarQ2sLQgVKaxDWj During NYCC, Disney also revealed an exclusive clip titled “Phantom Chase” that you can watch below. SWToRStrategies is certainly watching “Rebels” with a lot of interest. The show has the right balance to appeal to both new and long-time Star Wars fans. It is Star Wars done right. One can certainly see the connections between the original movies throughout all the episodes of the series. Voice is acting is extremely nicely done. The dynamic between Hera and Kanan remind us a lot of Princess Leia…
SWToR revenue surpasses $100 million for 2014
Superdata research released yet another report looking at the most popular Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games. In the past, the same firm had published information relating to the top 10 PC games by free-to-play earnings for 2013 which set SWToR at no.8 with $139 million right behind World Of Warcraft with $213 million. This report, in addition to others, signaled a come-back for Bioware’s first attempt at MMOs and was source of excitement for fans of the game. SuperData’s research data for 2013 The latest report released covers January to September 2014 and looks at the top 10 MMOs by revenue for the year. While SWToR didn’t make the top 10, it still remains at a respectable no.12 with $106 million in revenue, right behind Elder Scrolls Online with $111 Million. Keeping in mind that Shadow of Revan is yet to be released, one would expect to see a significant increase over the last 3 months of the…
Community Stream updates fans on in-game commendations changes
Bioware shared some additional details on upcoming commendation changes during the regularly scheduled Community stream. The SWToR ommunity team made up by Eric Musco, Courtney Woods and Hillary Nicole shared information about what’s going to happen to in-game commendations after Shadow of Revan goes live. In detail: Ultimate and elite commendations are staying the same: While Musco admitted this is subject to change, he reassured that fans won’t lose any commendations either ways. Earning commendations: Some slight changes will occur impacting how fast you can earn the before-mentioned commendations. More details will be released next week. Three types of commendations become one: Every other type of commendation (excluding warzone) – classic, basic and planetary will be collapsed into a single type of commendation called basic. As mentioned above, Musco was quick to point out that these changes are not confirmed and could change as a result of testing before Shadow of Revan goes live….
Bioware teases with details about “Shadow of Revan”, new playable race, solo Flash points and more!
Massively, Hyperspace beacon, MMORPG and Ten Ton Hammer were treated to a unique opportunity by Bioware recently. During a livestream, lead writer Charles Boyd, producer Bruce MacLean and Game director James Ohlen shared more information about what’s coming to the latest SWToR expansion. Some of the highlights included: There will be a Patch 4.0 – there are more stories to be told (and probably more expansions in 2015) SWToR development is speeding up – expect to see more exciting announcements after the release of Shadow of Revan Patch 3.0 might expand to other locations other than Yavin IV and Rishi Togruta will be the next playable race and will be a Cartel Market item Solo flashpoints confirmed – A droid companion will be available to carry players through tough fights Class missions return – you can now play your unique class mission story
Star Wars: Episode VII Concept Images Leaked Online
In our regular quest for more information about Star Wars: Episode VII, we have an update about more leaked images. In this case, we’re talking about dozens of Star Wars: Episode VII concept images being leaked online. This post from Entertainment Weekly Inside Movies tells us about an anonymous Imageshack account by the name of “themillenniumfalcon” that posted 32 drawings from the upcoming J.J. Abrams movie that revealed some major details from the film, due in theaters Dec. 18,2015. If they are, in fact true, these photos tell us some interesting things about the film. WARNING: Potential Spoilers Ahead Remember this is just a rumor. We don’t actually know if the leaked photos were real and even if they were, they are just concept images. There’s no guarantee this is what will actually end up in the final movie product anyway. With that in mind, here is a snippet of what Inside Movies…
Episode 7 Ready for Post Production?
According to Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, filming on Episode 7, the much-awaited Star Wars movie sequel, is about three weeks from being completed. Most of the footage is apparently done, and after the actual camerawork is finished, the movie will enter post-production, where the special effects, the sounds and the score shall be added, which will apparently take about another year to complete. Given that the above said announcement was made about a week ago at the Industrial Light and Magic Studio opening in London, it is safe to assume that the movie is indeed on track: great news for fans of the series as well as for the fans of the upcoming Battlefront title currently under production by DICE. While the actual plot tie-ins between the Episode 7 and Battlefront will be few and far between, the release of the two titles will apparently be timed to more or less…
TOR Radio: A galaxy of podcasts!
After a brief hiatus for 2 weeks, we’re back with the latest and greatest SWToR podcasts out there. Obviously Shadow of Revan is the most talked about topic this week as well as Eric Musco’s recent interview with Snave and upcoming PVP changes. 1. OotiniCast – Episode 170 (Released: October 16,2014) Hosts discuss Patch 2.10.1c, the various answers flowing from the New York Community Cantina, and include many tips for making the most of 12x XP. Community News Holofeed News 2. Old republic Radio – Episode 83 (Released: October 21, 2014) The cast finally catches up with all the 3.0 updates Review of Cantina event in New York In SWTOR 101, the cast go over thoughts for all those returning to the game after a long hiatus 3. TOROCast – Episode 217 (Released: October 20,2014) Snave joins SWTOR Miner and Road to talk about Community Management Leveling with x12 EXP…
More Cancelled Star Wars Games
In the land of Star Wars games, many never make it to be played and enjoyed. It’s a cold, hard truth of the industry and one that we have seen happen time and time again, to the frustration of many onlooking fans. We experienced this with Star Wars 1313 and now you can add a cancelled, complete Rogue Squadron game for the Wii to the list. A recent interview on IGN’s podcast “Nintendo Voice Chat” we hear from Julian Eggebrecht, President of Factor 5 (now defunct) about where his team was at working on different Star Wars games for multiple platforms. In this interview, Eggebrecht says, “As you might remember, it leaked from LucasArts that we were working on a trilogy compilation, and that was actually for the [original] Xbox.” This trilogy was to contain: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader Star Wars Rogue Squadron…
SWTOR Datamined Abilities [Spreadsheet]
If you’re looking for some info about the new SWTOR class abilities, then this data-mine is for you. Not only is it chock full of useful info, it’s done in a fantastically organized manner, in a Google Doc spreadsheet that anyone can look at. It’s sorted by class and neatly organized for you to find all the information you need in one neat location. This is a resource you’re going to want to bookmark. I don’t know how many hours of work went into this project but it is very useful and well done. This spreadsheet is loaded with data, all carefully sorted into neat categories for you. List of datamined abilities, sorted by class, discipline and level (All Imperial classes) can be found here. A user on Reddit also highlights some interesting points obtained from this spreadsheet and the abilities: Couple of General comments about the new abilities: All…
Enhanced guild conquest option now available
Patch 2.10.2 was released yesterday and Bioware discovered (!) an additional feature they implemented as part of the update. According to Community Production Coordinator Tait “pariahloki” Watson the enhanced guild conquest option is: Hey folks, After doing a check to see what else was pulled into 2.10.2, we found that the ability for Guild Masters to allow other Ranks within the Guild to start Invasions was also put in! GMs can set this permission within the Ranks tab in the Guild window. I’ll put that in as part of my Patch Note update as well. -tait It’s good to see Bioware working hard to implement additional features in the game based on the feedback they receive from the community.
Community News: The Revanites’ Ascendance
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…
TOR TV: SWTOR – What The Game Could Have Been
Youtube user Kid Lee has posted an extremely interesting video about how much the game has changed since the original SWToR beta. He provides video and screenshots to demonstrate the features that never made it into the game. While one can only speculate why these elements never made it to the game, it’s certainly interesting to see what got left out. You can follow KidLee on: Twitter: http://bit.ly/1fDcU1X Facebook: http://on.fb.me/RpNZDP Tumblr: http://bit.ly/1fUxQMB or Email: KidLeeASF@Gmail.com
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.
Battlefront 3 Footage Available?
Well…yes and no…you see, apparently, well before DICE got the fate of one of the world’s most anticipated titles in gaming to fall into their laps, another crew had a run at Battlefront, and they actually put together a nearly-finished product, which – due to a set of unfortunate circumstances – never really got the see the light of day, or rather that of the screens of computer/console users world-wide. The company behind the effort was Free Radical, and according to some, they were about 99% finished with the project when they were forced into administration and when they finally closed for good in December 2008. Later, Crytek picked up the enterprise and transferred the team to various other projects, as Battlefront was cancelled, up until DICE came into the picture earlier this year to step up to the plate. Now then, why exactly is this bit of the game’s…
Interview with community manager Eric Musco
Twitch user Snave1208 had the chance to interview BioWares community manager for Star Wars: The old Republic, Eric Musco. It’s a pretty good interview, were Eric talks about what he do, and were SWTOR is heading. Snave1208 don’t let Musco off easy when he was trying to dodge answering some of the questions. But i do sound like the games PVP wont get much better in the future. Personally I am not surprised or remotely happy with the PvP answers but I partially understand where Musco is coming from. He has a rough job. Their “better than cross-server” is likely to be something like “Queue for 500 matches this month and get the rest of the Baron Deathmark gear!” This is the mentality that they have, and it’s harmful. Hopefully iy will change in the future though!
TOR TV: REVAN (History & Lore before SWTOR 3.0)
Vulkk have uploaded an excellent video about on History, Lore & Facts about one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars Universe – REVAN. The video also includes Biographies of Theron & Lana prior to SWTOR 3.0. In this video he got Teo from Ootinicast to do the narrations. He did an outstanding job and I hope you will enjoy watching this vide as much as I did. Check it out: Hey, everyone! After hours of hard work, research and gathering somewhat (!) good pictures, I present you my History & Lore video about REVAN – one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars universe. It deals mostly with the events in his life prior to SWTOR. For this episode I have asked Teo from Ootinicast to do the narrations. He did an outstanding job and I hope you will fully enjoy his readings. The last few mins…