Yesterday BioWare posted a new new developer blog on the official Star Wars: The old republic website. The focuses on this blog post was on the key locations from around Makeb in the form of an SIS report. It highlights many interesting new locations, and is most definitely worth a read. You can read the whole developer update here, and see the amazing new screenshots just below:
EA Pays Probst Seven Figures, Looks for New CEO
CEO John Riccitiello recently resigned from Electronic Arts but executive chairman Larry Probst is reportedly taking the reins until a suitable replacement is found. But his temporary position of two roles will not come cheap- As reported by GameSpot, an EA filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week revealed that Probst will be paid an annualized salary of $1.03 million for the duration of the search for a new CEO. In addition to the seven-figure salary, Probst stands to earn an additional one-time bonus for his work from the Board of Directors for his temporary stint as executive chairman of the company. Of course, Probst will be abstaining from any discussion the board has on that particular topic since it would be a conflict of interest. He is also foregoing his board of directors cash retainer fees (which were $100,000 for the company’s fiscal 2012) for the duration…
ROTHC is Download Only : EA Says Digital is 50% of Sales by 2015
Chief Operating Officer Peter Moore said digitally delivered video games may account for 50 percent of sales by 2015 as more players migrate to tablets and smartphones from consoles. (via Bloomberg). As more players are migrating to tablets and smartphones from PC and tablets, mobile seems to be the way to go which means digital downloads of games. While this might be the future for EA, some hardcore PC fans are not as excited about it. ROTHC is download only but some gamers really like getting a boxed set. Our current home office is surrounded by shelves of boxed Collector’s Editions of various games that my husband and I have purchased and played over the past 10 years or so. We love getting boxed sets, expansions and collector’s editions of the games we loved because they usually contain extras such as music, figurines, posters and more. Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI)…
15-Month SWTOR Review and Never Hit Level Cap
Would you review a video game you hardly played? What about an MMORPG when you never hit the max level cap? Well, let me ask you this one- would you come back and review a game 15 months later and say it was a “Take two” on the game but then admit in this very same review that you have never experience any endgame experience of this particular MMORPG? Well, that’s exactly what one Massively writer did and it beats us why this ever got published in the first place. Now let me preempt this and say that we are not afraid to publish negative things about Bioware and SWTOR here- in fact, we’ve done it on multiple occasions. We like the game but we are also committed to the truth. SWTOR is not perfect and Bioware has made mistakes along the way. We’re not denying it. But haters hating…
Developer Dispatch: Legacy Achievements
With all the action yesterday with Disney closing down Lucasarts, We completly missed that BioWare posted a new Developer Dispatch. This time the topic is Legacy Achievements. Lisa made an extensive guide to this back in February wich you can find here. However, the article BioWare just posted does good job of explaining it as also. Achievement Completed: Breaking the Writer’s Block. Description: Wrote the first sentence of my developer blog. This achievement doesn’t reward me with a title, but it does increase my Galactic Reputation with the Community Team, so I’ve got that going for me! Game Update 2.0: Scum and Villainy introduces the Legacy Achievements system, a means of recognizing important accomplishments and milestones for your entire Legacy. Achievements are like badges awarded for completing content, defeating enemies, exploring new regions, and a whole lot more. The Achievements you gather are displayed in a new section of your Legacy panel,…
Disney Shuts Down LucasArts and Cancels Star Wars Games
(image belongs to Kotaku- see their version for funny annotations that say how we all feel) Just recently we brought you the rumors that LucasArts is facing a shutdown. While we didn’t have enough proof to call it a fact, we highly suspected the confirmation was coming soon. Today was the formal notification. According to a source reliable to Kotaku, the staff was informed this morning that LucasArts was shut down. Publicly, Disney is saying their current games could be licensed out to a different publisher or developer, but according to our source, that’s unlikely. Our source says Lucas has pursued the option for “one or both games,” but nothing happened. “”With the teams now basically being dispersed I think both games are effectively dead forever,” our source said. A second source also told Kotaku this afternoon that the chances of Lucas licensing out 1313 are very slim. The odds are “effectively zero,” the…
PSA: Class XP Boosts/Unlocks Do Not Affect Makeb Quest XP
Just another friendly heads up. Don’t waste your credits / cartel coins on XP unlocks from the cartle market. Eric Musco just confirmed via a forum post that they do not benefit you in Star Wars: The old republic Rise of the Hutt Cartel. I believe this have been pointed out before but the BioWare developers, but since there have been some confusion was to whether any of Makeb’s quests count as class quests or not, I thought it was appropriated to do a PSA about it 🙂 As some have already alluded to in the thread, class mission bonus experience will have no effect on Makeb. Technically speaking, the missions you will be going through in Rise of the Hutt Cartel are planetary arcs, etc. and are not classified as class missions. Thanks! -eric
Gamestop/Best Buy SWTOR now sells Cartel Coin Cards
A few months back, we heard rumors about Gamestop and Best Buy selling Cartel Coin cards in their stores that would also get you an exclusive mount. So what did I do? I ran out to my local Best Buy to check it out. Admittedly, I had something else to go for that night anyway, but this just made me more motivated to get in my car and head down to the shopping center. So there I am in Best Buy when not one, but two, friendly employees came over and offered to help me but alas, there were no cartel coin cards. In fact, they didn’t even have a clue what I was talking about. That’s because the information was leaked early and they were not available yet. But these cards were in the works… And the story is that they are finally live! But there are a few…
SithTalk ep 51 – Jedi Sulu? Oh My..
Sith has just launched it’s podcast number 51 were they talk about the George Takei April Fools post as well as JJ Abrams and the Star Wars episode VII. The guys also talks about the new Log In procedures that started at the official Star Wars: The old republic website yesterday, and of course the upcoming expansion Star Wars: The old republic: Rise of the hutt cartel. Check it out below:
Reminder: Display Name Only Log In Now Live (Also Self Service Security Key)
Just a friendly reminder that Display Name Only Log In is Now Live. People are still debating if Display Name Only is more secure then email login, but they way I see it there’s now no link between your login name (Display Name) and your email address. If someone gets a hold of your swtor password, they still can’t get your email address because it’s obfuscated (shows up as m*******@gmail.com). That adds another obstacle for them to overcome to hijack your email address (the more important account imo). If someone has control of your email address, you have much bigger problems to worry about than just your swtor account. Keep in mind that their security system has always been built around the assumption that the hacker already knows your username. They’re keeping things secure by using a combination of password and security questions/key. Anyways, below is the news update from BioWare: Display Name Only Log…
SWTOR Climbing Since Going Free to Play
So has changing their game model to free to play had any impact on SWTOR for BioWare? , creative director on Star Wars: The Old Republic says yes at GDC. He revealed that the number of players has now increased to 4.5 million, up from 2 million, which makes it a rate of 10,000 new players each day. This switch to F2P has been a real game-changer for SWTOR, that was losing its player base. Ohlen goes on to explain how SWTOR had more problems on launch than just its subscription model (ya, think?) He explains that the lack of a group finder was a major downside to the game and also the poor implementation of the Public Test Realm (PTS). No group finder meant it was hard to players to get together to experience much of the content in the game and the poor PTS meant there were a…
George Takei to Star in New Star Wars Film
What’s more awesome than Abrams directing both Star Trek and Star Wars movies at the same time? George Takei acting in them both! As he shared on his Facebook wall today, George Takei will be starring in the new Star Wars films, directed by JJ Abrams: Friends, I am thrilled to announce that I’ll be starring in the Star Wars reboot directed by JJ Abrams. I’ll be playing Master Ceti Maru, a member of the Jedi High Council. The new film, entitled “Star Wars: Galactic Empire,” is greenlit and will begin filming sometime early next year. It is truly a moment for The Star Alliance. Thanks to all my fans for their decades of support. Geeks of Doom gives us more info about the famous actor’s new role: Now, the actor, best known for his role as the original Sulu in the Star Trekuniverse, revealed that he’ll be starring in a…
Scheduled Maintenance: April 2nd, 2013
Just a quick heads up to let you know that BioWare will be taking down the servers tomorrow April 2nd for Scheduled Maintenance. It more than likely is the changes to the display name only login and security key self service changes with this patch. You can read more about this here ( Display Name Only Log In – Coming April 2, 2013) And the announcement below. On Tuesday April 2nd, all game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher, will be unavailable as we perform scheduled maintenance. Patch 1.7.3a will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Tuesday April 2nd, 2013 Duration: 6 hours Time: 1AM PDT (9AM BST) until 7AM PDT (3PM BST) Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.
J.J Abrams talks Episode VII
I’ve been a fan of Abrams for a long time now but these days, when you mention the name JJ Abrams, one question comes out of everyone’s mouths: “When will we learn more about Episode VII?” It’s safe to say that Star Wars fans all over are excited about the new movies and while Abrams was able to work on Star Trek with some level of objectivity, we have to wonder if he will do the same with Star Wars. He is admittedly a big fan and it begs the question of how he will approach this very big task. Empire Online had the chance to sit down with Abrams for a bit and ask him a few questions about Episode VII and his plans for the movie series: “I don’t know because we’re just getting started. So it’s a great question that I hope I’ll have a good answer…
SWTOR Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer PVP Build For 2.0
This post will give you a PVP build for the expansion pack 2.0 in SWTOR. The class we are going to focus on is the Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer. Point Allocation: 2/2 Will of The Sith 3/3 Calcify 2/2 Disintegration 2/2 Parasitism 3/3 Force Horrors 1/1 Death Field 3/3 Sith Efficacy 1/1 Madness 2/2 Corrupted Flesh 1/1 Wrath 1/1 Deathmark 2/2 Haunted Dreams 2/2 Lingering Nightmares 2/2 Lightning Burst 3/3 Creeping Death 2/2 Devour 2/2 Focal Lightning 2/2 Shapeless Spirit 1/1 Creeping Terror 3/3 Seeping Darkness 2/2 Force Weaver 2/2 Reserves 2/3 Electric Induction You can also see how to allocate the points here: For complete leveling guides and build guides updated for 2.0 head over to http://www.swtorsavior.com
Tales from the Imperial Fleet
Major Brelga shifted uncomfortably. Sith Lords were always unsettling – a fact someone serving the Empire quickly came to terms with – but Lord Veskis made him especially uneasy. “So Major,” hissed the hooded figure. “Do we have a deal?” “… so I slammed the Jedi against the cliff face, then turned and sliced his padawan nearly in half! The soldiers with them wet themselves and ran!” “My dear, you’re so beautiful when the bloodlust rises in you <3” “Did you see the new robes Darth Jiannis was wearing? It looks like she skinned a Varactyl for them.” “Ugh, I know. It’s like all the good fashion designers work for the Republic.”” “Reports say the base was obliterated. Excellent work, hunter! My Lieutenant objected to collaborating with savage aliens. But he was wrong about you and your team!” “Ah yes, Lieutenant Orbos. A real… shame he didn’t survive the battle….
James Ohlen at Game Developers Conference 2013: TOR is one of the largest micro-transaction money-makers for EA
Following our recent post about Bioware’s Creative Director James Ohlen and his speech on the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC), additional details have emerged over at Massively. Bioware’s Creative Director James Ohlen The site has posted a detailed account of Ohlen’s presentation at the event where the latter covered the challenges Bioware faced during launch, its conversion to Free to Play (F2P) and the concerns the Austin-based developer had about Guild Wars 2 and Mists of Panderia. He also went into details about what the studio went through when the game started losing subscribers and how they managed to turn it around with F2P.
How non-paying players can positively impact a game’s success
Since Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) changed its subscription model to Free-to-Play (F2P), a lot of opinions were raised about whether it was the right thing to do or not. Some quickly labeled SWToR as a failure that didn’t live up to the hype , while others saw this as a necesary change that helps the game’s long-term growth. Whether this change was successful or not remains to be seen, however first indications as reported by James Ohlen and the recent EA investor’s call are positive. Free-to-play might not be such a bad thing after all! A new article over at Gamasutra.com, argues that non-paying players, actually help the growth of such games. The author of the article cites three major reasons for opening up a game to freeloaders. Among other things F2P players help bring in other new players that eventually will turn into subscribers, they show their appreciation…
Game Developers Conference 2013: James Ohlen talks about SWToR’s woes during launch
Bioware’s creative director James Ohlen recently spoke at the Game Developer’s Convention about SWToR’s launch and provided a plethora of details about the game’s launch. Among other things, he mentioned that Bioware significantly underestimated how quickly players can burn through content and found itself in a difficult spot. The development team originally expected that story lines would keep gamers engaged for at least five months – an expectation that as we all know didn’t prove to be true. Bioware’s creative director James Ohlen During launch, subscribers spent an average of 40 hours per week playing SWToR, while in some cases they would reach 80-120 hours on average per week. These extended gaming sessions lead to having close to half a million players at endgame content within a month’s period since launch.
SWTOR Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer 2.0 Leveling Build
In this post we are going to give you a build for the Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer that you can use with the new 2.0 expansion. This build has been developed using the PTS so there may well be some changes but it should get you started. 3/3 Calcify 3/3 Force Horrors 2/2 Disintegration 2/2 Oppressing Force 2/2 Parasitism 1/1 Madness 1/1 Death Field 3/3 Sith Efficacy 2/2 Corrupted Flesh 2/2 Haunted Dreams 1/1 Wrath 1/1 Deathmark 3/3 Creeping Death 2/2 Devour 1/1 Surging Speed 2/2 Shapeless Spirit 1/1 Creeping Terror 3/3 Seeping Darkness 2/2 Force Suffusion 1/1 Sap Strength 1/1 Lucidity 3/3 Electric Induction SWTOR Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer 2.0 Leveling Build: Still a mock up leveling build and this may change but if you are looking for a headstart to get ready for patch 2.0 this should help. Thanks to the guys over at http://www.swtorsavior.com/ for this one.
Is LucasArts Facing a Shutdown?
There is gossip around the Internet about LucasArts- the kind of gossip that makes fans a bit uneasy. After the cancellation of The Clone Wars, there have been fears that LucasArts is facing a shutdown. Reports tell us that there are incoming Layoffs for Lucasfilm Animation and it only makes sense now that Disney is on the scene to get rid of the department that does the very same thing they already do. While fans are really bummed about the cancellation of The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm has promised that the bonus content will still be made available to fans. But this isn’t the only reason people are whispering about LucasArts… A report from GamesIndustry International says that LucasArts told them that everything is going according to plan and that the rumors are just that- rumors. But not everyone is buying that, including ex employees. One ex-LucasArts employee said: “The ‘business’…
Developer Update: Legions of Scum and Villainy
BioWare posted a new Developer update yesterday. From the title, I thought it was going to be a post about the official forums, but apparently it’s about the new Operation players can try out with game update 2.0: Rise of the Hutt Cartel. Legions of Scum and Villiany will be for level 55 players and continues the story line from the trail of the Dread Masters after Operation: Terror from Beyond. Both the Republic and the Empire have heard rumors of a gathering of mercenaries, arms traders, and war beast handlers on the remote desert planet of Darvannis. Intelligence points to the Hutt Cartel as the organization that is gathering an army for an unknown purpose. Both Republic and Empire forces know that the Hutt Cartel must be stopped. Read all about it at the official website. Players arrive outside of a city built into a protective canyon, in the midst of…
1.7.3 Patch Notes – 3/26/2013
BioWare went on and posted that patch notes before server maintenance this time. Pretty awesome thing to do actually, and looking through the patch notes, they are equally awesome. Ready check & Personal Star ship and Finally fixing the double bladed saber issue. This is going to be a good day 🙂 Check out the patch notes below: Highlights Ready Check is now available! Group and Operations Group leaders can initiate a Ready Check by using “/rc” or “/readycheck” chat commands or via the context group menu. Each member of the group will then receive a pop-up prompting them to respond. Responding will place a visual cue on the raid frame or group frame of that player. At the end of the Ready Check, chat feedback indicates whether the group is ready or if not, and lists any non-ready players. Cartel Market General Cartel Market Certificates have been changed to Bind on Legacy. New Items…
Making of Rise of the Hutt Cartel: Part 2
With the big announcement today that Rise of The Hutt Cartel digital expansion will be available on April 14, Bioware also released an interesting video providing more details on the expansion. Among other things, Bioware developers gave out additional information on the continuation of your personal story line as it relates to Karraga the Hutt and the new planet on the expansion called Makeb. The video also provides hints on villains we will face on the new planet and their impact on our game play.