Star Wars: Commander, the recently released Star Wars strategy game, is going to receive a new update tomorrow. The update is going to include, among some yet to be fully detailed changes, support for two characters that will also be released with the update as part of a limited-time campaign – Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. They were strangely not included in the game at launch, but will come with special abilities that will bring a sound advantage to players. Star Wars: Commander has been originally released this August in soft-launch mode on the Australia App Store, becoming available in all other regions some time later. The game is a free to play strategy that doesn’t play all that differently from Clash Of Clans and other similar games, as players will have to defend their home bases by using troops and vehicles taken from the Star Wars Universe, as well as Heroes like Han…
3.0.0b Patch Notes
Servers were down shortly today, while BioWare patched the servers. Here are the patchnotes: Items + Economy All PvP Modifications sold on vendors are now Bind on Pickup. This includes Warzone and Ranked Warzone Modifications. This means – If its like other times they changed the binding in the past – that previously purchases items will now have a BoP on them, meaning that anyone that has them now has them bound. Ones on the GTN and in Guild Banks won’t be bound to anyone yet. As soon as someone buys the mod or it is returned to the seller, it will bind. The ones in Guild Banks can stay unbound for a while until someone takes them out: we have some BoP Slot Machine decorations in our Guild Bank.
Dev Blog: Welcome to Shadow of Revan!
Shadow of Revan expansion is now official live. Technically opened last week, but for non-subscribers, the formal digital launch date was yesterday. With that Associate Producer For Star Wars: The old Republic, Andrew Horwitz, wrote a blog update over at the official websites, and of course BioWare also released a new trailer to coincide with the official launch. Check it out: Welcome to the launch of our latest expansion – Shadow of Revan! The Shadow of Revan Digital Expansion is the grand culmination of the Forged Alliances story arc. Revan is ready to make his boldest move yet, and we are excited to share it with you. When we started developing Shadow of Revan, we wanted to go back to our BioWare roots and focus on the story. We know that BioWare story is at the top of the list for things players want to experience in Star Wars™: The…
New Maintenance: Update 3.0.0b
BioWare will be taking down the servers again tomorrow to apply Patch 3.0.0b. Details: DATE: Wednesday, December 10th, 2014 TIME: 3AM PST (11AM GMT) – 5AM PST (1PM GMT) VERSION: 3.0.0b Patch Notes will be available after the maintenance window. Not posting patch notes till after maintenance usually happens when they are fixing an exploit of some kind, If any of you have any idea what’s up, let is know. yes there is tons of bugs, but if there is something useful, might as well share it with the community 🙂 Timezone Start Time End Time UTC Offset Australia/Sydney December 10, 2014 10:00 pm December 11, 2014 12:00 am +11:00 Australia/Adelaide December 10, 2014 09:30 pm December 10, 2014 11:30 pm +10:30 Australia/Brisbane December 10, 2014 09:00 pm December 10, 2014 11:00 pm +10:00 Tokyo December 10, 2014 08:00 pm December 10, 2014 10:00 pm +09:00 Australia/Perth December 10, 2014…
Star Wars: Battlefront – How Does it Tie to Star Wars 7?
After fans got to see the trailer for the upcoming “Star Wars 7”, various questions have popped up regarding the future of the franchise – but one in particular has been quite prominent on most discussion boards. Many fans are wondering to what extent the events from the new film will be related to the upcoming “Star Wars: Battlefront”, and whether there will be any special reason to go see the film if one is primarily interested in playing the game. So far, it’s known for sure that the new game will be official part of the canon. This has been exciting news for fans, as it means that the “Star Wars” universe is about to be expanded significantly, on one hand with the new storyline in the seventh movie, and on the other, with the game. One of the problems that the developers from DICE are facing is that they…
3.0.0a Patch Notes
All servers are now back up. Below are the patch notes: General Ability Costs have been removed from the game. Fixed a display bug that caused Prefab Decorations to not appear in the Decoration UI. Chests on Rishi and Yavin 4 no longer give too many Credits. Imperial Agent players will now get the appropriate Shadow of Revan introductory cinematic if they have completed Chapter 3 of their Class Story. Missions + NPCs The tree used to summon the Tonitran Beast during the Mission “Jungle’s Bounty” will no longer become unusable in certain cases. Corrected an issue with certain phases of the fight during the Mission “The Enemy Within.” Players who are defeated on the Mission “The Enemy Within” and return to a Medical Center can now re-enter the battle. Numerous Mission Reward Gear Packs have been fixed and now reward the appropriate items. Flashpoints + Operations The final encounter…
Maintenance: December 9th, 2014
BioWare will be taking the servers offline tomorrow on December 9th in order to apply Patch 3.0.0a. Details: DATE: Tuesday, December 9th, 2014 TIME: 3AM PST (11AM GMT) – 5AM PST (1PM GMT) VERSION: 3.0.0a This patch includes fixes and adjustments for the following issues: “The Enemy Within” encounter issues. Mission Reward Gear Packs giving the wrong/incomplete gear. The tree used to summon the Tonitran Beast on the Mission “Jungle’s Bounty” becoming unusable. “The Ravagers” final encounter not giving loot. “Temple of Sacrifice” final encounter not giving loot. This is not a complete list and full Patch Notes. We will post them here on the site when they become available after the maintenance window. Timezone Start Time End Time UTC Offset Australia/Sydney December 09, 2014 10:00 pm December 10, 2014 12:00 am +11:00 Australia/Adelaide December 09, 2014 09:30 pm December 09, 2014 11:30 pm +10:30 Australia/Brisbane December 09, 2014 09:00…
TOR TV: House of Cards SWTOR Intro
Youtube user EggsGamerTag has created a very cool House of Cards SWTOR intro that we just had to share with you. If you are not familiar with House of Cards, you are missing out. The show is an American political drama television series, developed and produced by Beau Willimon. It is an adaptation of BBC’s mini-series of the same name and is based on the novel by Michael Dobbs. The entire first season, thirteen episodes, premiered on February 1, 2013, on the streaming service Netflix. A second season of thirteen episodes premiered on February 14, 2014. On February 4, 2014, ten days prior to the release of the second season, Netflix announced that the show had been renewed for a third season, which will be released on February 27, 2015. For some reason, it also goes really well with Star Wars: The old Republic. Check it out yourself:
Training cost is a thing of the past in SWToR
Bioware’s community manager Eric Musco, posted a very interesting thread at the official forums today relating to training costs. Musco, responding to a number of fan threads requesting the removal of training costs from the game, decided to take action and bring forward the suggestion to developers for consideration. After discussing the matter internally, they decided to remove training costs all together! So,when you login next week you won’t be required to pay any credits for your training! Eric’s complete post follows below: Hey folks, Let’s talk a bit about training costs for your characters abilities. One thing has become clear from the player feedback in not only this thread, but since launch: players do not like training costs. It is a situation where every level you will see your hard earned credits go to a holographic Hutt doctor in order to make yourself a bit stronger. We have been talking about…
Potential Star Wars Episode VII Leak from 4Chan [Warning: Possible spoilers within. Read at your own risk]
These new leaks supposedly comes from a Lucasfilm employee who provides some details on various aspects of the upcoming Star Wars movie: The Force Awakens. We cannot verify if any or all of the rumored information provided in this post is considered new material or if it is just a roundup of existing rumors that have already been posted before, but it is still a quite interesting read. The film is dystopian and darker than Empire. Some 30-40 years have passed since Return of the Jedi, and the Empire and New Republic have been locked in a war of attrition. Everyone is languishing and sick of the war. The script, which is described as “too good for JJ Abrams”, begins in space, above a desert planet — presumably Tatooine. The opening crawl details the ongoing turmoil in the galaxy. How the fall of the Emperor left a void of power,…
Star Wars TV: A tribute to Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie is a name that doesn’t need any introduction to any Star Wars (SW) fans. He was the concept artist responsible for designing beloved characters of the franchise, such as Darth Vader, Chewbacca, C3-PO and R2D2. In addition, he designed a lot of Star Wars concept paintings like the arrival of R2D2 and C3PO on Tatooine. Aside from Star Wars, McQuarrie has worked on E.T, Close Encounters of the 3rd kind, Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future and Star Trek IV. To celebrate his contributions to Star Wars, the official SW website has posted an extremely interesting 40 minute tribute on Ralph McQuarrie’s that’s definitely worth of your attention.
Game Update 3.0 Known Issues
Tait Watson have posted an update with a a handful of Known Issues that you may encounter while progressing through the Shadow of Revan content. This is by no means complete, and will be updated as needed. Grouped players attempting to start Shadow of Revan from another player’s ship will encounter a number of issues associated with the cinematics. Workaround: Until we resolve these issues, please start Shadow of Revan from your own player ship Mission Console and then group with other players upon reaching the planet surface. The final boss of The Ravagers does not provide any loot. When grouped, players who interact with the Mission Console of the group leader’s ship will receive an error message or not see the Mission “Chapter 5: Shadow of Revan” as available. (3.0.1) If a player walks near the edge of the platform in the Trader’s Causeway, they will be killed. The…
Game Update 3.0: Shadow of Revan Early Access
The day we were waiting is finally here! “Shadow of Revan” is now available for download for anyone who purchased the expansion before November 2, 2014. The rest will have to wait until December 9 to get full access to Bioware’s latest expansion. Some highlights: All levels can now reach Level 60 New locations added – Yavin IV and Rishi Two new level 56-60 flashpoints Two new level 60 operations Dromund Kaas and Coruscant Strongholds can now be purchased for 3 credits! New class system (disciplines) Players can now send 6 Companions on Crafting Missions at level 56 (up from 5). …and much, much more! I have to admit that the list of changes is quite extensive and it does seem that Bioware took community’s feedback to heart. A lot of the features listed on their post are things that prominent members of the community have being asking for quite some time….
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – the John Boyega Storm Trooper Controversy
According to some, racism has again reared its ugly head in regards to Star Wars lore elements newly introduced by Episode 7. More precisely, what happened was that actor John Boyega was shown as a storm-trooper in The Force awakens teaser, and some of the fans and critics voiced their objections to the presence of a black storm-trooper. Boyega was quick to address the criticism through Twitter, essentially telling everyone to just “get used to it”. While this is definitely not the first (and probably not the last) time that a movie’s cast led to racial back and forth, the question remains whether Boyega’s critics can indeed be considered racist, or they’re just Star Wars canon-nazis. Star Wars fans are notoriously touchy when it comes to tampering with their storylines. The lot critical of the black storm-trooper will probably point it out that all storm troopers were the clones of…
And now something different… Wanderers – a short film by Erik Wernquist
I admit that the short movie below doesn’t have to do anything with Star Wars or The Old Republic. It does show however a future where the ability to travel from planet and planet is the norm just like Star Wars. After all, nothing tells that today’s science fiction isn’t going to be tomorrow’s reality. The short film, depicts a less sci-fi and more realistic future and uses Carl Sagan’s voice to narrate its content. If you got about four minutes to spare, it’s certainly worth a look. You can also find a shot-by-shot description of the movie under this link as well as a link to the creator’s website right here.
TOR Radio : A galaxy of podcasts
TOR Radio is back with the latest and greatest SWToR podcasts from across the community. With the imminent release of Patch 3.0 a lot of podcasts are focusing on upcoming changes and various community news. It’s certainly encouraging to see new SWToR community podcasts launching like “HOPE cast” and “Beyond the Stars” listed below. 1. Bad feeling podcast – Episode 42 (Released: Nov.24,2014) : Even though the crew of the podcast took of this week due to Thanksgiving but still managed to publish a “best of” podcast. 2. Star Wars Beyond the Stars – Episode 12 (Released: Nov.15,2014) : This week the show hit a little snag in our editing process so the show is coming out pretty late in the week. “Beyond the stars” discussed quite a few interesting things in this week’s off topic rants. 3. Corellian Run Radio – Special Episode (Released: Nov.24,2014) : Join Jason and Heather as they share their…
Did the Force Awakens trailer reveal its link with Star Wars Rebels?
Like all Star Wars fans we watched in amazement today the new teaser trailer for Star Wars the Force Awakens. The 88 second trailer offered a first glimpse on what J.J.Abrams has in store for the beloved franchise. Reading through the comments posted in various social media, it appears that the general reaction is very positive while the excitement is certainly very high. The trailer lit up twitter, reddit,facebook and many other social media the moment it was posted online. Dissecting the trailer one can find a lot of hints that were rumored to be true in the past but obviously there was no official confirmation. One that really got my attention however, was during the very first scene of the trailer. Spoilers below from Star Wars Rebels and the teaser trailer if you haven’t seen it. The trailer opens up with a view of a desert which one would assume that’s…
Cartel Market Black Friday deals are now live!
During a recent livestream Bioware’s Community manager Eric Musco, mentioned that in-game Cartel Market store will be receiving some discounted deals due to Black Friday. While originally there were rumors that these deals will change from hour to hour, it doesn’t seem to be the case with the offers listed below. Other than Eric’s mention during the official livestream, we haven’t heard anything else from Bioware so there could be more coming our way (Cyber Monday is just around the corner after all). Currently the following deals are offered through the in-game store: Hypercrate: Freelancer’s Bounty Pack – 5500 CC – 28% OFF Hypercrate: Enforcer’s Contraband Pack – 5500 – 20% OFF Hypercrate: Blockade Runner’s Cartel pack – 5500 – 25% OFF Hypercrate: Gatekeeper’s Stronghold Pack – 2520 – 50% OFF Black and Black Dye Module – 1500 CC – 25% OFF White and White Dye Module – 750 CC –…
Update (x2): Star Wars The Force Awakens trailer now available via iTunes / Youtube
We recently posted that November 28 will be the day that we get a first glimpse of the upcoming Star Wars movie via a teaser trailer. Starwars.com originally tweeted that the trailer would be available in US movie theaters, however, they also announced the following The Force is with you on #BlackFriday when #TheForceAwakens teaser hits@iTunesTrailers. — Star Wars (@starwars) November 26, 2014 So if you didn’t feel like heading to the movies or don’t live in the US, head to iTunes and get ready for tomorrow! SWToRstrategies.com will be posting updates as those become available. Update 2: The trailer is now available under this link or below via Youtube:
Happy Thanksgiving!
The staff of SWToRStrategies.com would like to offer a special Thanksgiving greeting to express to you our sincere appreciation for your continuous support and readership. We are deeply thankful and extend to you our best wishes for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day!
SWToR Stats: 1 million active players, 57 million characters created and that’s just the beginning!
Bioware published a very nice infographic today providing random stats about the game and to thank SWTOR fans for their support. SWToR’s anniversary is approaching fast and the Austin-based developer is definitely increasing its community presence with frequent releases about Shadow of Revan and hopefully more reflections about the three years of the game’s existence.
Patch 3.0 commendation conversion rates announced
Community manager Eric Musco posted today some additional information relating to how Patch 3.0 is going to affect commendations. In response to his post a number of different fansites have posted online commendation calculators where you can calculate how the changes are going to affect you. The changes in detail: Here goes everyone. Here is the information on the conversion rates around Basic Comms and what will happen when 3.0 launches. Just to reiterate for those unaware, here are the basic changes coming to Commendations: All PvE Commendations will become Basic Commendations in 3.0. The Commendation types “Classic” and “Planetary” are being removed from the game. The types “Elite” and “Ultimate” will remain but the current Comms you have will become Basic. Warzone and Ranked Warzone Commendations remain untouched. Here are the conversion rates for all Commendations. 2 Classic Commendations = 1 Basic Commendation 1 Basic Commendation = 1 Basic Commendation…
Meta Preview: SWToR Shadow of Revan
With the imminent release of Shadow of Revan, Bioware’s PR department is working overtime. A number of different fansites were invited to take a look at SWToR’s upcoming expansion and write their thoughts about it. In addition, EA’s “The Beat” column also devoted a complete article on the upcoming expansion, along with well-established gaming sites that published their reviews. Below you will find links to all the before-mentioned articles Electronic Arts: Dig Into SWToR Shadow of Revan Gamefront: Shadow of Revan Puts The Old Republic’s Focus Squarely on Story IGN.com : Revan is out for blood in SWToR’s new expansion MMOBomb.com : Darth Times Ahead – our SWToR: Shadow of Revan Preview MMORPG.com: Star Wars: The Old Republic Previews: Shadow of Revan – A Look at Flashpoints ShackNews: The Old Republic – Shadow of Revan preview: sins of the past Swtorista: Shadow of Revan Developer Q&A Swtorista: Shadow of Revan Press Event Coverage at EA…
SWTOR Game Update 3.0 Class Changes: Guardian + Juggernaut
With Game Update 3.0 coming soon, we’ve been getting updates from the SWTOR developers about the various class changes taking place. This week we got an update about Guardian and Juggernaut. This will help you to see what changes are coming to these classes in the game in more detail. There is also opportunity for discussion, should you have any questions or concerns about these changes and how it will affect how you play the game. Here is a snippet from Guardian. Please check out the Sentinel blog for the base Class changes coming to the Jedi Knight. Now that Guardians have Riposte all to themselves, we have slightly modified how it works to suit them better. We put Riposte back on the global cooldown, which allowed us to lower the focus it consumes while also increasing the damage it deals, so it now consumes less focus and deals more…