According to Game Informer, it has been confirmed , that EA has laied off a smaller number of staff over at Visceral. “We made a small staffing change in our Visceral studio today to support the needs of the studio’s two current development priorities: content for Battlefield Hardline Premium and an unannounced Star Wars project,” an EA representative told us via email. “We are working to ensure the smoothest transition possible for the impacted employees.” Electronic arts did mention anything about Amy Hennig and Todd Stashwick, who are leading the work on a still not official named Star Wars game, so we don’t know if they are affected by these changes. EA declined to share specific numbers impacted by the change. In April, Visceral’s Steve Papoutsis left EA after 14 years. Scott Probst currently leads Visceral’s efforts, including work on follow-up content for Battlefield Hardline and the upcoming Star Wars game.
See What Star Wars Could Have Been Like
Like any work of art, Star Wars went through a number of versions before it become the story we all know and love. And if you’ve ever wondered what Star Wars was like when it was first born in George Lucas’s imagination, you’re in luck. The Star Wars is a graphic novel interpretation of Lucas’s rough draft vision of what would be A New Hope (it was originally published as eight Dark Horse comics). You’ll see a lot of the characters you’re familiar with—Luke, Han, Leia, 3PO, R2, Darth Vader—but in drastically different versions. Luke is in his 60s. Han is an alien. R2 can talk. The story itself is quite different, as well. Although some parts of the plot remained unchanged into the final form of the movie, there are some that were cut completely, and a few that were significantly changed. Lightsabers are all over the place in…
Changes to the Cartel Market — Tuesday May 12 – 19. 2015
Here are the weekly cartel market items on sale for the week of may 12 – May 19 2015. New Items Price Helpful links DEEP CORE EXPLORER’S PACK 250 CORE WORLDS EXPLORER’S PACK 130 HYPERCRATE: DEEP CORE EXPLORER’S PACK 5400 Items Available Again Price Helpful links BLACK AND BLACK DYE MODULE 1500 Information from TOR FASHION WHITE AND WHITE DYE MODULE 750 Information from TOR FASHION Price Change Old Price New Price Percent Change Normal Price Helpful links INVESTIGATOR’S ARMOR SET 1200 600 –50% 1200 Information from TOR FASHION MERCENARY CONTRACT: TREEK 2100 1890 –10% 1995 Information from TOR FASHION TREE CUSTOMIZATION BUNDLE 300 150 –50% 225 Information from TOR FASHION ADVANCED GREEN CORE HAWKEYE CRYSTAL 500 250 –50% 500 Information from TOR FASHION
3.2b Patch Notes
Servers are coming back up from today’s maintenance, were BioWare deployed a small patch addressing a bug with The Colossal Monolith’s “Breaking the Rift” Ability. Full patch notes below: Flashpoints + Operations The Colossal Monolith’s “Breaking the Rift” Ability now properly channels for its entire duration. In related news, the Relics of the Gree is here. Running from May12-19.
Knights of the Old Republic: Broken Souls – A Fan Film
A Darth Revan vs Darth Nihilus fan film! What more do you need?! You know how we love cool videos here, especially fan created and submitted stuff. So here we have Knights of the Old Republic: Broken Souls – A Fan Film. Here’s a little info from the description: Darth Revan and his Sith general Meetra Surik, hunt down a monster that threatens the newly established Sith Empire. Winner of the 2015 Best Visual Effects Star Wars Fan Film Award. Darth Revan has long since reclaimed his mantle as Dark Lord of the Sith. But a greater evil has emerged and if the Sith are to survive, Revan must lead an attack against this new threat. “The Lord of Hunger”“. The following film is a work of Non-Canon fan fiction. It is inspired by the alternate Dark Side Ending storyline as seen at the end of Knights of the Old Republic….
KotOR & SWTOR Costumes at Celebration Anaheim
KotOR & SWTOR cosplayers at Celebration Anaheim You know how we love to bring you cosplay stories. We can’t get enough of the awesomeness and here are a few shots of an all KotOR and SWTOR cosplayers gathering during Celebration Anaheim. Credit for photos goes to SilentMab from Jedi Order. KotOR & SWTOR cosplayers at Celebration Anaheim Now you can see for yourself all the fun that was had and you might even get some fun ideas about cosplaying for SWTOR or KotOR yourself. What do you think? Do you have any favorites in the bunch?
Did Star Wars Galaxies Fail?
We have talked at length here before about Star Wars Galaxies. A good number of our readers were Star Wars: Galaxies fans for sure. So if you have yet to read Raph Koster’s write-ups on SWG, you are missing out. His final post in the series is Did Star Wars Galaxies Fail? and brings up some good points about the game, the community and what has become of it now. A snippet: So, was it a failure? Well yes, of course. And also, no. It depends how you ask the question. There are a lot of assumptions out there about how the game did, particularly in its original form. So, let’s start by tackling some of those: Galaxies actually had the best one-month conversion of any game at SOE, by a double-digit percentage. More new players decided to stick it out past one month. Given the one-month period, you can’t…
Star Wars Battlefront Won’t “Feel Like or Play Like” Battlefield, Discusses Space Combat
Some Star Wars fans have been concerned that Star Wars: Battlefront will be no more than Battlefield with a Star Wars theme. According to DICE producer Jesper Nielsen, this is not the case at all. Mr. Nielsen goes by “TheBikingViking” on Reddit. Nielsen responded to Star Wars fans on Reddit about the concerns over similarities between games. He stated that they may share some similarities, but they will stand out alone from each other well. Nielsen addressed a concern from a gamer who felt he was “robbed” by purchasing Battlefield Hardline. “I simply don’t get the Battlefield re-skin comment; from what we’ve shown, in what way does it look like Battlefield? Are you seeing tanks, lots of destruction, etc? This will not feel like or play like Battlefield. That’s never been our intention. Its fine you’re disappointed. Ok, so from what you’ve heard and seen, the game is not what…
Boba Fett to Get Standalone Movie?
Since we first heard about the Star Wars spin-off movies, there’s been a great deal of debate over what they’ll be focused on. We didn’t know if we’d be getting films on Han Solo, Boba Fett, the Death Star (looks like that rumor was right), or some combination of these and others. Now that the Rogue One teaser is out, speculation has already started about the next standalone movie, and a few people have been saying that it’s likely to focus on Boba Fett. This seems like an obvious choice for Disney, as Fett has one of the strongest fan followings in the Star Wars universe—people love him, and a Fett movie would almost certainly be a success. An interesting rumor that’s going around (it surfaced back in 2014 on Latino Review) is that Lawrence Kasdan didn’t like the idea of Boba being a clone, and has proposed a story…
Harassment of SWTOR Developers
Stop. Just stop for a minute. We like to have fun here. Sometimes we even like to push the boundaries. We are not strangers to controversy. That said, I read something incredibly disturbing today and we need to take some time to discuss it. This isn’t something that is entirely new. It’s a topic we’ve talked about before. It’s related to another topic I’ve talked about on a gamer podcast in recent months: swatting. It’s something we (the SWTOR community) need to talk about. This post on the SWTOR forums talks about recent harassment of SWTOR developers: Hey folks, I feel the need to make this post after some things happened yesterday. Yesterday, John made some posts communicating our views, and looking for feedback, around the state of Sentinels and Marauders. We knew going in that some of what we were going to say might not be what players wanted…
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars
Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas’s epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearstome Stormtroopers, signifying…pretty much everything. Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter—and complete with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations–William Shakespeare’s Star Wars will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This is the book you’re looking for. What would Star Wars sound like if William Shakespeare wrote it? Well, that’s a mighty fine question, especially for a fan of both Star Wars and Shakespeare like myself. It’s fun, it’s funny and it also would make a great gift idea for someone on…
SWTOR: GTN Suggestion – Regulate the Market
When it comes to MMORPGs, there will always be complaints about this or that. You will always see players who request changes are made to PvE or PvP or questing, or storyline, or whatever the case may be. In SWTOR, a common complaint is in regard to the market. This is especially true since the game is free to play and the value and cost of resources can have a large impact on the game itself and how people enjoy it. It’s no surprise then that there has been talk from the fans of regulating the market. Here is a suggestion from SWTOReconomics.com: For anyone that knows me outside of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I hope that you did not injure yourself when you collapsed in shock that my topic today is advocated for regulation of a market. I am always in favor of letting market forces drive the allocation…
Battlefront a “Unique” Beast of a Game Set to Sell 9-10 Million Copies
The upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront is one of the most hotly anticipated games of the last few years, and while the developer has apparently spared no resources in its creation, EA are expecting to cash in big time come November 17, when Battlefront is scheduled to be launched on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. According to CFO Blake Jorgensen, the sales estimate on the title is some 9-10 million copies, in EA’s 2016 fiscal year alone (which wraps up in March 2016). Obviously, the long-term potential for the title is much greater. Jorgensen also sought to allay potential fears tied to the actual launch of the product, fears which have been somewhat justified since the problem-ridden, botched launch of Battlefield 4. According to Jorgensen, EA have learned their lessons then, and there aren’t any such unpleasant surprises to be expected with Battlefront. In other Battlefront news: DICE have made…
SWTOR Patch 3.2.1 Sentinel and Marauder Changes
BioWare have started several discussion threads on the official SWTOR forums, to discuss upcoming changes to Sentinel and Marauder. As far as we know, players can expect quite a few changes comming with patch 3.2.1, and the game developers are trying to explain why. Here are the news from SWTOR System Designer John Jarynowski: 3.2.1 Marauder/Sentinel Insight: Defensive Forms | 05.06.2015, 02:42 PM Hey everyone, We’ve been following the discussions regarding the Annihilation/Watchman changes since the last PTS patch, and I wanted to take a moment to lend some insight on a few points and discuss potential improvements. We will start by discussing the 3.2.1 changes to Defensive Forms. Defensive Forms: We know that this has been a sensitive topic for some time and found it pertinent to reassess the Utility and expand its functionality. By dividing the original buffs among multiple Utilities and removing the stance requirement, we aim to…
SWTOR Taking Down a Credit Selling Ring
In a joint operation across the world, Police BioWare investigators have tracked down hundreds of accounts and confiscated their total assets of more 9 billion credits. All accounts are now in jail, and awaiting the death penalty. Good work boys! Here is the official news from Eric Musco: Taking Down a Credit Selling Ring | 05.06.2015, 06:12 PM Hey folks, Over the past few months there have been many issues with Credit sellers and Advertisers. As you have noticed lately, we’re communicating more about what’s going on behind the scenes, so this is another area where we plan to keep you informed. Last week, we took action against an entire selling ring. Over multiple weeks, we investigated and compiled evidence about a large Credit selling ring which spanned across hundreds of accounts and a variety of servers. To help thwart any possible reactions from this group, we simultaneously actioned every account…
Star Wars Battlefront will let players play as a female Storm Trooper
According to DICE’s general manager, Patrick Bach, Star Wars: Battlefront will have the option for the player to play as a female Stormtooper. “Male or female characters are separate from customization,” Bach said. The design team wanted to stay true to what the fans would want to be able to customize. “You can’t do it in crazy ways. You can’t have a pink Darth Vader,” he said. “You want the Stormtroopers to look like Stormtroopers,” Bach added. When you look back to the time of the Palapatine’s ruling there were females included as Stormtroopers, and this choice falls in line with the established canon. “Our customization is tilted toward what makes sense,” Bach told us. Seeing that Stormtroopers, no matter what sex, where the same uniform, we could have seen female Stormtroopers in games before without realizing it. Star Wars: Battlefront is giving gamers the choice from the beginning and…
Why Star Wars Battlefront Snubbed The Prequel Trilogy
DICE decided to let fans know why Star Wars: Battlefront will not include the prequel trilogy of movies. Jesper Nielson, Star Wars: Battlefront’s producer, spoke up on Reddit and told fans why the game doesn’t include the prequels or Clone Wars. “Sometimes you have to make choices, and those choices may be hard. We are the ones making the game and have to making hard choices sometimes. One of them was to focus solely on the Original Trilogy. The reasoning I’d rather have someone like Figge comment on” The reason for this may have something to do with DICE being on a strict time constraint. Star Wars: Battlefront really needs to be released this year because of all the hype surrounding the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. If the game became delayed to 2016, sales wouldn’t be as great. Mr. Nielson decided to also talk about the Star…
KotOR 3 or KotOR Remaster!
Do you ever wish that you could bring back your favorite game? Do you ever want to find a way to express your needs for a remaster or reboot of an old classic? Video game companies are listeing today. The developers understand the importance of keeping the gamers happy. Without the fans, they have nothing. So this is why this little petition over at ipetitions.com might actually gain some ground. What could we possibly do as a community to make BioWare, Disney, EA, pretty much anybody acknowledge how much we want a KotOR 3 or KotOR remaster. Its been 12 years since the game we love so much was released, not to mention 10 since KotOR 2. Battlefront 3 is coming, but still, no mention of our beloved KotOR. Don’t they see how many people want this? Plus the amount of money they would make…hype it up with good promotions…
SWTOR Ziost Ending and the 2 New Boss Encounters
Today after a little bit of a delay Bioware launched the 12x Epic XP Boost. A bit earlier the remaining Story content on Ziost became available for players to explore and complere. Players now have access to: ♦ A couple of new Cinematic Cutscenes showing the end of the Patch 3.2 Ziost Story Arc and a daily area on the new planet with a few quests; ♦ New World Boss called Worldbreaker Monolith; ♦ New Operation Boss called Colossal Monolith with Story and Hard Modes available for both 8 and 16 players. In the videos below you will see the updates through the eyes of Vulkk (Sentinel, Republic Light Side). Ziost Republic Story ENDING Apocalypse on Ziost. The Emperor Vitiate is determined to eraze every creature or plant standing on his way. This epic conclusion of the Ziost Story Arc builds up the tension and prepares us for the greatest…
SWTOR Developer Blog – The Epic Story XP Boost
Community Manager for Star Wars: The old Republic Eric Musco, posted a developer blog about the new The Epic Story XP Boost. This XP boost is a subscriber only bonus, that will let you run through level 1-50 doing only your class quests. Check it out: Hello everyone, let’s talk about the Epic Story XP Boost and how it’s an improvement over our 12x boost that we gave prior to Shadow of Revan. Our Epic Story XP Boost allows all subscribers to level from 1-50 by playing only their Class Missions and from 50-55 on Makeb by playing only the Rise of the Hutt Cartel main storyline. This Boost does not affect Shadow of Revan as it was already designed to be a more streamlined leveling experience. If you have never played the original 8 Class stories, there has never been a better time to dive in! With the Epic…
The amazing ‘Star Wars Galaxies’ Jedi mode that never was
Raph Koster, creative director for the 2003 MMO Star Wars Galaxies game began his discussion on the problems that the design team were up against was this: “Well, my opinion is Jedi are evil.” Many fans decided to give up on the game back then because a third major patch added a Jedi as a character. The problem is that Jedi’s are too powerful and rare to be successfully added in. Before the game ever launched, the design team went over many ways to make a Jedi playable in the game and Koster said that there was one solution, “the crazy idea I still wish we had done.” Inspired by Diablo’s Hardcore mode, the system was “that affectively gave a different way to play the game. A method that kept Jedi rare, powerful, and yet allowed everyone a shot,” Koster stated. However, this solution was not a solution after all….
Alexander Freed confirmed as writer for Comming ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ Tie-in Book
We all know by now that Star Wars: Battlefront will not have space battles, more than five planets, a single-player campaign, or even setting from the prequel trilogy, but it does have something that no other games in the series has: a tie-in novel. After Disney took over Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise, they decided to remove the “Expanded Universe.” This includes every novel, comic book, TV show, and other non-film Star Wars material that was made over the years. This media will be published still, but it shows up as part of the “Legends” line. Lucasfilm is started from scratch and building up the Star Wars franchise with a fresh start. As of now, the new Star Wars canon includes a few comic books by Marvel and a line of books from Del Ray books. Two books have been published and half a dozen are still waiting to…
May the Fourth Be With You: 5 Ways to Celebrate Star Wars Day #Maythe4th
The day has come once again, it’s May 4th, also known as Star Wars Day to fans all over the world. What better day to celebrate your love for Star Wars? That is exactly what many fans all over the world are doing today. Here are five ways to celebrate Star Wars Day: Have a movie marathon. Today is a great day to pull out the popcorn and watch the movies (again). Play your favorite Star War game. Can’t pick just one favorite? Binge out and play several of your favorite Star Wars games. Dress up! Who needs a good excuse to dress up like your favorite Star Wars character? We say you can do it any day but May 4th is a perfect opportunity. Build some Star Wars LEGO. Some of the larger sets can cost you a pretty penny but even the smaller sets can be a lot…
SWTOR 12X Event 2015 – How to Best Use It (Tips and Suggestions)
On May 4th 2015 the 12x Class Mission Experience Boost is returning to SWTOR. To fully and best benefit from it, you need to know a few simple and not so basic things. How to gear up your character – at which level to visit the vendors for upgrades, which classes fair better if you want a speed leveling or rather slow and careful playthrough. Who is best suited. How much is this event beneficial for new players and what are the possibilities of it being helpful or harmful to the personal experience with the game. Having gone through the first 12x XP Class Boost event in late 2014 helps a lot to prepare for the upcoming Summer Leveling Madness. Watch and hear what Vulkk has to share. Hopefully, you will find the ideas, suggestions and tips useful. If you have something more to add, don’t hesitate to leave a…