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…

Read More

TORParse and TORCommunity are looking for more developers!

The new owners of TORParse are making a lot of changes and improvements and now they need help. TORParse is looking for additional developers! They made a post on Reddit to point back to their own blog which requests help in the future development of the website as well as the in-game client. So if you have developing or coding skills and you’re a fan of SWTOR and want an opportunity to help out the community, this might be perfect for you. Here is the info from that blog post: Hey everyone! The owners here at TORParse are currently looking for several individuals interested in helping with the future development of both the TORParse website and the TORParse in-game client. To be a part of the TORParse website development team, you will need to be highly proficient in the following areas: HTML 5 CSS 3 PHP 5 MySQL Additional experience…

Read More

Star Wars Total Franchise Revenue and Stats

Have you ever wondered just how much Star Wars really earns? Have you wondered about which parts of the franchise actually make the most money? Where is Lucasfilms reeling in the cash? Some newly releases statistics show us all this and more about the Star Wars franchise revenue and earnings. While the films themselves are big time earners (of course), there are also other areas of revenue, as shown by the charts below. This shows where the franchise has brought in money over the past 37 years. Statistic Verification Source: Forbes, Lucasfilms Research Date: 10.27.2012 Total Star Wars Franchise Revenue $27,000,000,000 Movies Revenue Star Wars : Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace $924,317,558 Star Wars : Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones $649,398,328 Star Wars : Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith $848,754,768 Star Wars : Episode 4 – A New Hope $775,398,007 Star Wars : Episode 5…

Read More

Patch Notes – New Feature – 11/5/2013

Servers are back up, and a new feature has been added. As we mentioned last week, it’s now possible to buy cartel coins ingame. As we also mention last week, Subscribers receive a 50% discount on the first purchase made using the in-game feature, so hurry up and get your 5500 Cartel Coin’s with a 50% discount! – Just a heads up though. The system don’t support Paypal yet… New Feature Patch Notes Highlight New Feature! Players can now purchase Cartel Coins through the “Add Coins” interface within the in-game Cartel Market: * Players must enable this feature for their account before it can be accessed.  For additional details, please refer to this News Article. All major credit and debit cards are supported payment methods for in-game Cartel Coin purchases.  PayPal and other payment methods are not supported at this time. Subscribers receive a 50% discount on the first purchase made…

Read More

Jawajames Reads Star Wars: The old republic Annihilation

If you haven’t read Annihilation by Drew Karpyshyn yet, your are missing out. The book have been out for about year now, and reviews have been positive. Annihilation with the possible exception of Revan also written by Drew Karpyshyn is quite possibly the best novel based around Star Wars: the Old Republic video game franchise. While it is not free of it’s flaws it is very enjoyable to read and easy to do so. It was one of the few Star Wars books that I have read recently that kept me turning pages. The best part about the novel is its characters. Theron Shan, first introduced in a the Old Republic comic series, is an intriguing character considering his background, lineage, and the fact that he is not a Jedi. However, I thought that his character lacked a measure of conflict. He seemed too at ease with his position in…

Read More

Speculative Documentary: Space Wars

Last week I wrote about our plans to put up a weekly column on more nerdy stuff, that is not really part of the Star Wars universe.  We still don’t know what to call it, but the plan is to post documentaries, images or articles, on space and speculative discussion on future technology. Last week i promised we will post something new each Saturday, and already I broke my promise. I have been out almost all weekend, but now I am here, and here is a new documentary from National Geographic. This one is called Space Wars, and is part of the “the universe” series. This one was aired back in 2009 and has scientist speculate on future space weaponry and battle tactics. So far no country has put weapons into space but they can shoot down satellites. If weapons do become part of space, how will they work, how effective will…

Read More

Ingame cartel coin purchase coming Nov 5

It looks like it will be possible to buy cartel coin ingame, starting Tuesday November 5. At least that’s what Amber Green writes in her forum post yesterday: On November 5th, all game servers will be unavailable while we perform maintenance. The In-Game Cartel Coin Purchase feature will be implemented during this downtime, and there will not be a new patch to download. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday November 5th, 2013 Duration: 2 hours Time: 3AM PST (10AM GMT) – 5AM PST (12PM GMT) Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Amber also confirms via Twitter, that subscribers wil get 50% off their first ingame CC purchase as BioWare promised. Personally I am going to buy 5500 coins and save them for when I need them. I’m hoping they add a higher quantity to maximize the 50% savings. Also remember that…

Read More

Ranked Season 1 Details via Customer Service

Still not sure what Ranked Warzones is all about? The in-game help center might clear a few things up. It sates: Ranked Leaderboards and PVP Season 1 What are Ranked Arena Leaderboards? Our Leaderboards are where players can go to compare themselves against all other players in STAR WARS: The old Republic. Comparisons are based on a Players’s Rank. How are Leaderboards categorized? SWTOR Leaderboards are defined by Advanced Classes, and each Advanced Class across the two Factions shares a Leaderboard. How is Rank determined? A player can generate two types of Rank: Solo & Group Rank. When a player plays a Ranked Warzone in either of these categories, their respective Rank will be affected depending on the outcome of the match. The higher a player’s Rank, the higher they will be categorized on a Leaderboard, relative to all other players’ Ranks. What is Season 1? Season 1 is a…

Read More

Swtor Data mined patch 2.4.2

SWTOR_Miner made a small updated with data mined game information found in the latest patch.  The info comes in XML- format, so there is not much use if you don’t know how to read that.  These are the new cartel items I spotted in the list: AD-14 Heavy Blaster JM-30 Assault Cannon MR-39 Sniper Rifle Advanced Yellow Blue Hawkeye Crystal Advanced Yellow Blue Indestructible Crystal Advanced Yellow Blue War Hero Crystal Balmorran Arms Corporate Shirt Camp Fire: Set up a camp site. You regenerate health and your class energy pool while submerged. CD-36 Blaster Rifle Czerka Corporate Shirt Dark Purple and White Dye Module Deep Brown and Black Dye Module White and Dark Green Dye Module Emote: Funky Emote: Nod Off Emote: Pbj Time Emote: Toe Touch¨ Mount: Gurian Rose Mount: Ikas Flamethrower mount: Ikas Shark Mount: Ikas Spear Mount: Morlinger Imperator Mount: Rendili Shadow Mount: Swamp Tauntaun Infected Treek…

Read More

Patch Notes – 2.4.2 – 10/29/2013

As we told you a few days ago, the servers are going down for maintenance tomorrow.  Patch update 2.4.2 will implemented during this downtime, and below are the patch notes. “The mysterious floating box on the Imperial Fleet is no longer mysterious, because it is no longer floating. ” It’s smartass notes like these that make me love the devs that much more “A new item, Kick the Huttball, is available in the Cartel Market! This item modifies the “Throw the Huttball” ability, allowing players to kick the ball, thus breaking the number one rule in Huttball. Cost: 400 Cartel Coins.”This is awesome. Game Update 2.4.2 Patch Notes General Quick Travel terminals throughout the galaxy now display proper indication when they have not yet been discovered. All Oricon Quick Travel terminals remain unlocked after being discovered. Cartel Market General The description for Cartel Market Certificates has been updated to clarify…

Read More

Star Wars Episode VII Rumor Roundup: Han Solo is back!

What’s happening in the development of Star Wars Episode VII? There are some new rumors heading around the rumor mill right now and you know how we love to bring you rumors. So here’s a roundup. Keep in mind that we never know for sure if these are true- at least not until the movie actually releases. Anything can change between now and then. But one rumor tells us that Harrison Ford has deal for Episode VII as moves made towards fifth Indiana Jones film. There’s something fans of Ford and Star Wars can enjoy. Jedi News tells us more about this rumor: Now THIS is how you start the new week. The news we’ve all been hoping for has reached us from the mysterious Jedi Master SQL. Han Solo, Harrison Ford, is back and onboard for Episode Seven, but that’s not all. As part of the deal, steps have…

Read More

Speculative Documentary: Evacuate Earth

Last week we posted a story about the images carried by the spacecraft Voyager. This was so well received by you – our readers – getting more then 300 likes on Facebook. Therefor  we thought we will follow up on it, and start a new column on this more nerdy stuff, that is not really part of the Star Wars universe.  We don’t know what to call it yet, but the plan is to post documentaries, images or articles, on space and speculative discussion on future technology. This first video we are posting is named “Evacuate Earth”. It is a National Geographic Channel documentary, that tells the what-if story of the evacuation of the planet Earth which is due to be destroyed by a rogue neutron star. The documentary goes into the technical and social complications of building an Ark to save humanity and other Earth life, and moving them…

Read More

Scheduled Maintenance: October 29th, 2013

Just letting you know, that BioWare will be taking down the servers on Tuesday October 29th, to perform maintenance. Patch update 2.4.2 will implemented during this downtime, but there is no info on what to expect yet.  The big thing about 2.4.2 was the start of ranked Season 1, but thats delayed so i’m guessing this patch is just a bunch of fixes. Maby a new Rakghoul plague? Anyways, below is the announcement: On October 29th, all game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be unavailable while we perform scheduled maintenance. Game Update 2.4.2 will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday October 29th, 2013 Duration: 4.5 hours Time: 3AM PDT (10AM UTC) – 7:30AM PDT (2:30PM UTC) 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™

Read More

DELAYED** Season 1 of Ranked Warzone Arenas

Eric Musco posted an update on the official SWTOR Forums, regarding the upcoming Season 1 of Ranked War zone Arenas. These will unfortunately bee delayed, as the devs found a game breaking bug with them. Surprised this happened? Not overly. Glad they caught it? Very. A bug like this could have cause major problems if it hit the live server. DELAYED Season 1 of Ranked Warzone Arenas | 10.25.2013, 08:22 AM Hey everyone, The last time we talked about Season One, we said that it was targeted to begin on Tuesday, October 29th. Unfortunately, we are going to be delaying the start of Season One. I know that this is the absolute last thing any PvP players will want to hear, but we have good reason. We have discovered that there is a major issue with how ratings are being awarded in Ranked matches currently. This bug can cause some very serious “rating…

Read More

TOR TV: Makeb Endurance Datacron, just say no

Here is a little tale of a SWTOR Player trying to get the endurance Datacon on Mekeb: Actually it’s a nightmare first time but once you know the way it’s easy, you just have to be careful and not rush it. First time I failed 10 times or so, now for the alts I get it on first or second try and it’s actually fun to do. Best thing is when you do it in group and watch the others fall. If you haven’t found them all yet, we have a comprehensive datacron list here. I suggest getting most of them as you level, just because I find it easier, personally. However, there are a few that you’ll have to make a trip back during the planet’s bonus series or later. Nar Shaddaa has some in the bonus area and can be a pain to get at during your first…

Read More

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…

Read More

List of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ Easter eggs explains why you’ll find Nazis on Tatooine

Anyone capable of telling the difference between a bantha and a ronto will know that StarWars’ C-3PO and R2-D2 appear in hieroglyphic form on a wall in Raiders of the Lost Ark. But you might not know that Harrison Ford carried a bullwhip in The Empire Strikes Backas a nod to Indiana Jones a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark was released. Or that a Nazi tank appears in The Phantom Menace. Fortunately, Today I Found Out’s Tegan Jones has compiled a list of these Indiana Jones / Star Wars crossover easter eggs, and many more.

Read More

How New Players Get into Galactic Starfighter

The official announcement has come for the new space game, Galactic Starfighter, and players are asking a lot of questions about how it will work. For example, people are wondering how you will get into the new space game. How will it be integrated into the current game system and how will it affect players are just joining SWTOR or who are just playing the trial. It looks like it will be something like the vehicle-based F2P shooters out there today that are so popular. And on that note, how will BioWare keep the shooter fans from joining SWTOR just to try out the Galactic Starfighter? And do they want to keep these players out? Perhaps they are looking at it as one more way to bring new player demographics in? There is already a system in place that means new players don’t have to download the entire game client…

Read More

KOTOR Machinima Film – Episode 2

Hello KOTOR fans! We have something really cool to share with you from a loyal reader and talented Star Wars/ KOTOR fan. Kevin Smets’ KOTOR machinima film – Episode 2 is getting a screening on the big screen at this upcoming MAGFest (a videogames and music festival in January). You can see the main MAGFest site in the coming weeks for the exact show time and we will keep you posted on news and updates as the time gets closer. Here’s the official movie poster for Episode II: The wait is almost over… it’s been three years since the release of Episode 1, and now, the Veil of the Dark Side is about to fall! Enjoy the official theatrical trailer for “Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic Episode II: Veil of the Dark Side. KOTOR Episode II is **not** made for money, it is a NON PROFIT project. It…

Read More

Scheduled Maintenance: October 22nd, 2013 – Patch 2.4.1b

Just a heads up to let you know that servers are going down tomorrow to preform Scheduled Maintenance. When servers are back up, you need to download a small patch. Check out the announcement and patch notes below: AmberGreen Maintenance: October 22nd, 2013 | 10.21.2013, 01:09 PM On October 22nd, all game servers will be unavailable while we perform maintenance. Patch 2.4.1b will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday October 22nd, 2013 Duration: 2 hours Time: 3AM PDT (10AM UTC) – 5AM PDT (12PM UTC) Patch Notes General All objects now update properly and become clickable when they are part of a mission step. Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Time Zone Start Time Scheduled End Time UTC Offset HST Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:00 AM Tue Oct 22, 2013 02:00 AM -10 hours AKDT Tue Oct…

Read More

No space PvE in the forseeable future

An interesting debate was started on the official forums the other day. Some players was still hoping the new expansion coming to Star Wars: The old republic titled Galactic Starfighter ( in case you didn’t know), would have a PVE element to it. But according to an announcement that was made by the Unnamed SWTOR Podcast, who had spoken to BioWare’s Damion Schubert, Andrew Horwitz, and Eric Musco at a recent Community Cantina event that not going to happen. I asked him about the possibility that the current, that Galactic Starfighter was designed with PvE in mind. He said no, it was not. That is far far far far far down on the wall of crazy, is PvE Starfighter. He said the biggest problems would be with scripting and 3D AI; things that they dont have in the game they would basically have to write fresh. The good thing about PvE is…

Read More

New SWTOR dev blog talks about Galactic Starfighter (Sorta)

BioWare have posted a new new Star Wars: The Old Republic dev diary on the official website. This time it’s about the the recently announced Galactic Starfighter expansion. Lead designer Michael Backus is the blog author, and he writes the first of what surely is going to be many posts about the background and development of Galactic Starfighter. This first blog on the subject doesn’t contain much in the way of gameplay info, but hopefully we get to read much more about this in the future. Check it out over at the official website, or read it here below: Galactic Starfighter Development, Introduction: Part I 10.18.2013 Introduction Greetings Starfighters, Let me welcome you to what will be the first of many Developer Diaries delving into the background and development of Galactic Starfighter™ and its place within the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ experience. Before I get into the details of…

Read More