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…
Is SWToR canon or not?
One of the questions that has been asked multiple times since Disney announced the acquisition of Lucasfilm was whether SWToR should be treated as canon or not. Multiple attempts to get it answered, resulted in a number of vague replies. The most recent that we can remember was during Bioware’s Cantina tour in Seattle, where community manager Eric Musco told us that SWToR is Star Wars. Fortunately, Gamefront.com posed the same question to SWTOR Senior Producer Bruce MacLean and Executive Producer Jeff Hickmanand. The website managed to get a somewhat better answer than most of us have gotten so far. It appears that the relationship between EA and Disney’s Star Wars Story group is still in its infancy. It does sound though that Disney hasn’t made a firm decision on what SWToR/KOToR is. They certainly wouldn’t want to interrupt the amazing storytelling that Bioware has done so far while at the same time…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer to be released next Friday
After a couple of false reports over the weekend, StarWars.com announced today what was long rumored to be happening soon; Lucasfilm and Disney will be releasing an 88 second teaser trailer of the upcoming movie in 30 theaters across the US. The trailer will also be available to the rest of the world in December. You can view the full list of theaters below: AZ PHOENIX HARKINS TEMPE MARKETPLACE CA LOS ANGELES AMC CENTURY CITY CA LOS ANGELES Indep EL CAPITAN CA IRVINE REGAL SPECTRUM IRVINE 21 CA SAN FRANCISCO AMC METREON 16 CA SAN JOSE CINEMARK OAKRIDGE 20 CA SAN DIEGO REGAL MIRA MESA 18 CAN TORONTO CINEPLEX YOUNGE & DUNDAS CAN VANCOUVER CINEPLEX RIVERPORT CO DENVER AMC WESTMINSTER 24 DC WASH D.C AMC TYSONS CORNER 16 FL MIAMI CARMIKE PARISIAN 20 GA ATLANTA REGAL ATLANTIC STATION IL CHICAGO REGAL CITY NORTH MA BOSTON AMC BOSTON COMMONS 19 MI DETROIT…
New “Revan Returns” Trailer
BioWare just released a new trailer for the upcomming expansion for Star Wars: The old Republic. This trailer makes me smile so much that my face hurts – But I don’t care! Shae Vizla? Holy hell, where have you been since the Deceived trailer? This lady haven’t been in the game until now, so I bet she has some interesting stories to tell. seriously.. There is so much awesome in this trailer!
LEGO Star Wars Sith Fighter Knights of the Old Republic
There is a really cool project over on LEGO Ideas that we want to tell you about. STAR WARS – Sith Fighter – Knights of the Old Republic is a project we very much want to see happen. It currently has 16 days left and nearly 700 supporters at the time we write this. Here is some info from the description: The Sith fighter was a starfighter that formed the bulk of Darth Revan and Darth Malak‘s space forces during the Jedi Civil War, as portrayed in the videogame STAR WARS – Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), nearly 4000 years before Darth Vader’s rising to power. Revan (soon to be included in this set has a minifig) is the main protagonist of Knights of the Old Republic. As the Dark Lord of the Sith and Master of Darth Malak, Revan was led into a trap where a Jedi strike…
Things Veteran Players Wish Newbs Knew
If you are new to SWTOR, or if you know someone who is new to the game, you MUST direct them to this thread in the forums Things Veteran Players Wish Newbs Knew. We’ve all been new once, whether it was new to the game or new to MMORPGs altogether. Sometimes we forget what it’s like for a new player and how overwhelming some of the tasks that seem so simple to us may me. It’s easy to get frustrated with them, but you can do them a favor and send them to this very useful thread. “With how fast people are leveling and consequently how much game experience they are skipping entirely, then you factor in the legions of derps making threads like “The Weird people you meet in Group Finder” possible, Ive been wishing there was a thread like this (and that bioware would somehow force people to…
Fan Film: Star Wars: Threads of Destiny
Here is a nice fan video to watch on a lazy sunday. 94 years after The Battle of Yavin, the New Republic has been resurrected and democracy once again rules the galaxy. The Jedi Order is reestablished on the planet Yavin 4, and has continued to train new Jedi Knights in the art of peace and justice. But all is not peaceful in this new world. With the fall of the Dark Empire, the ancient Skenvi Empire now comes out of the shadow to make its move. The Skenvi now oppose the New Republic for control over the galaxy with their aggressively growing empire. The Skenvi seek to seize control of all the galaxy’s most valuable resources to cripple their enemies. And if a planet refuses to join them, they have been known to take very aggressive actions. Caught in between this struggle over the fate of the galaxy is…
Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles “Clash of the Skywalkers” Preview
Disney continues the releases of new Star Wars content with a TV series titled LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles “Clash of the Skywalkers”. The 2 minute preview clip offers the usual dose of humor and action found in most Lego films as well as elements from the Star Wars universe. LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles “Clash of the Skywalkers” premieres Sunday, November 23, on Disney XD.
Rediscovering Boba Fett’s coolness in Star Wars Episode V
Boba Fett is one of the most talked about and beloved characters of the Star Wars universe. Since his appearance in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, he has fascinated fans with his persona and overall coolness factor. Youtube user “Cyborgcommando” recently discovered an additional element that adds to Boba’s mythos; an ‘easter egg” that was hiding in plain sight for many years and very few people have noticed.
Star Wars Rebels – a Hot New Cartoon to Sink Your Fangs into
Star Wars Rebels started out as a rather inconspicuous little cartoon anchored in the Star Wars universe of which few people expected much upon launch. Now 7 episodes old, the Series keeps delivering pleasant surprises week after week, and it is increasingly looking like we have something seriously entertaining on our hands in it. Its last Episode, titled “Empire Day”, introduced a concept the previous 6 episodes hadn’t dabbled in yet: that of a multi-episode storyline. While this will remind some Star Wars fans of The Clone Wars storylines, each of which unfolded over 3-4 episodes, a practice which grew quite irksome towards the end, in Rebels, this facet of storytelling will apparently not be abused. Empire Day was a wonderfully entertaining bit, not too long or short, and featuring just about enough action for one episode. The parade, no one really wanted to be at, organized to honor the…
SWTOR is 12th Most Played PC Game in October According to Raptr; Up from 15th in September
As you can see from the chart, Wildstar and ESO are not even on the chart anymore and GW2 has dropped below SWTOR. TF2 is still in the top 20 but just barely, after dropping two ranks. We have two new entries on the list with Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Another entry in the top five that I’ve personally decided to check out is ArchAge. Battlefield 4 and Minecraft are in the top 10. WoW really picked things up (with their new expansion out now, it’s no surprise) but they still didn’t come close to taking the lead from League of Legions, reigning the top spot with a playtime increase of 2.78% compared to September. WoW was, however, up 16.32% in October versus last month.
SWTOR Game Update 3.0 Class Changes: Sentinel + Marauder
Today from the SWTOR Developer Blogs we have yet another 3.0 Game Update class changes post. In this one, Sentinel and Marauder. If you play a Jedi Knight, it’s time to learn about the changes coming in the 3.0 update. Here’s a blurb from the blog that you really need to read for yourself to ensure you don’t miss anything. We’ve put together this blog to inform Jedi Knights of the major changes that are coming in the 3.0 update. Just a couple of disclaimers before we jump in: this blog is not a comprehensive list of every single Jedi Knight change. Also, please note that the content described in this blog is still under development, so anything mentioned throughout this blog is still subject to change (especially any exact numbers or percentages that may be mentioned). Okay, let’s get started! In 3.0, the most significant change found in the…
Inquisitor/Consular SWTOR 3.0 Changes – Livestream Notes
What changes will we see to Inquisitor/Consular with Game Update 3.0? Well, now we have some information to help us answer this question. Most of the livestream went over utilities and disciplines and Dulfy has a great breakdown of the whole thing for us. You can see SWTOR Disciplines Calculator built by swtor_miner. This calculator currently only displays Classes and Disciplines that have been shown on Official Livestreams. See it here. Utilities Overload now heals a max of 8 targets. It is a smart heal (picks the lowest HP % targets to heal). There is a trait now to allow Cloud Mind to increase your damage reduction by 25% for 6 seconds. Bubble stun is now an utility and available to all sorcs. Lighting Barrier – increases your Force Barrier amount by 10% only (down from 20%). Corruption Roaming Mend is the new Corruption ability and grant 3% internal and elemental damage reduction…
Game Update 3.0 Class Changes: Sage + Sorcerer
The latest update from the SWTOR blog gives us news about some Game Update 3.0 class changes to Sage and Sorcerer. It’s not surprising that this update will bring changes to the various classes in the game but previously, we were not sure what those would be. Now, as we draw closer to the date, we get more information on just what we can expect. For the base Class changes, please see the Shadow blog here. As for Sage, here is a snippet from the post: Sages have seen some changes to their baseline ability package. Deliverance is now only accessible to Seer Sages, but all Sages now have Rejuvenate. Force Studies now increases the Sage’s maximum Force pool up to 600, rolling in the extra 100 Force from the now cut Mental Longevity skill. All Sages can now train the following passive ability: Inner Strength: Reduces the Force consumed by Force…