Big changes and additions are happening with SWTOR. In addition to the announcement of the new patch (1.3) coming soon, there was also a big exodus at the BioWare Austin studio. This was a huge disappointment to me because I went there, toured the studio with David Bass, saw employees hard and work and also saw how much all of the staff there seemed to care so much about their job. It really is a sad day to see so many people let go who really cared about the game and have put so many years of hard work into the game. Of course it is the nature of the game that staff gets let go from a video game project once the game is launched and less work is needed for it but letting community manager Stephen Reid go was a real blow. Why would a successful game let…
LucasArts to Reveal Secret Title at E3
E3 is coming up and we all know that this is often a great opportunity for surprises. One of the best surprises to come out of events like E3 is a new game title and that’s what LucasArts is rumored to have coming for us. As reported by 8Bit Envy: E3 is a great time for surprises, and wouldn’t it be great if LucasArts finally revealed Battlefront 3? Now I’m not saying they will, but when you get an invitation to come see an “unannounced game in development,” you can’t help but be optimistic. So, being the curious lad that I am, asked whether or not this unannounced title would have lightsabers in it. The answer wasn’t confirmed, but it wasn’t denied either. There has been numerous posts about Battlefront 3 being in the works, then being canceled, so anything is possible. LucasArts did confirm they were using the Unreal…
Population Estimates for the Top 20 US Servers
Just how many people are playing SWTOR in the US right now? We keep hearing the term “ghost town” being tossed around but is it really that bad? Here are the top 20 US servers: Top 20 US The Fatman (PvP US East) Population ≈ 2005.625 Jedi Covenant (PvE US East) Population ≈ 1140 Drooga’s Pleasure Barge (PvE US West) Population ≈ 860 The Harbinger (PvE US West) Population ≈ 840 Canderous Ordo (PvE US East) Population ≈ 690 The Swiftsure (PvP US West) Population ≈ 670 Lord Adraas (RP PvE US East) Population ≈ 620 The Ebon Hawk (RP PvE US East) Population ≈ 610 Ajunta Pall (RP PvP US West) Population ≈ 580 Jung Ma (RP PvP US East) Population ≈ 580 Mind Trick (PvE US East) Population ≈ 470 The Shadowlands (PvE US East) Population ≈ 440 Shadow Hand (PvE US East) Population ≈ 420 Zakkeg Beast…
SWTOR vs SWG Survey Results: Week 1
Remember that survey we told you about recently from Gemtrix? If you took part in the SWTOR vs SWG survey, you can now see the first week’s results. This survey will be ongoing so each week there will be updates to see how the survey continues to unfold. These results are as of May 24th, 2012 @ 9:18am EST. There are 1,096 responses in record here. Week 1 results are just the beginning. Each week this will continue. So if you didn’t participate in the survey yet, head back over and answer the questions. Your results will be part of week 2. Gemtrix.com said: There are a couple things that you should keep in mind: All questions, and responses are optional. As such, any voter is free to skips questions, vote for multiple line items, etc. This means that anyone is free to say that they prefer SWTOR, and SWG,…
TOR TV: Level 50 PvP Young Guns Music Video
This Video depicting current level 50 PvP gameplay in Star Wars The Old Republic on the Lord Ieldis server, is created by youtube user John James. The SWTOR community really needs more contributions like this. It’s a great and rally fun video – Body type 4 just makes it amazing :p Check it out: Interested in SWTOR Movies? We have new movies most weekdays here on swtorstrategies! Have suggestions for movie we ought to feature? Get in contact with us
Combat the Haters: Tell Us Why You Love SWTOR
Due to recent events, there have been many putting down the game of SWTOR and many who have lost faith in BioWare. When I tweet an update or a story, I get several responses telling me how “SWTOR has died” and the game sucks. I believe in freedom of expression and I respect the opinions of others and their rights to have such opinions but that doesn’t mean I agree with them. I’m not sure SWTOR is dead yet. I can understand the dissatisfaction some people are feeling. There are some things that I was really bummed at about the game, too. But there are also a lot of great things about the game. I feel like some people didn’t give it a fair enough chance. They tried it and thought ‘it doesn’t have everything I want’ and they quit. While some players were let down by the game, there…
‘Kinect: Star Wars’ Composers Share the Creative Process
Kinect Star Wars Composers Gordy Haab and Kyle Newmaster tell MTV more about what it’s like to create the music behind the game. Regardless of what some critics said of the game, the soundtrack gives Star Wars fans everything they want and more. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s moving and it all came thanks to two very talented composers. As gamers, we don’t always think about the work that goes into the soundtracks of games like this. Yet when we walk away from the game and go to school or work, the music stays with us. We hum it aloud or in our head and we look forward to when we get the chance to play again. MTV Multiplayer interviews the two composers about their work on the game: MTV Multiplayer: Was John Williams or George Lucas involved at all in the creation of the tracks for the game? How…
SWTOR Smuggler Gunslinger Leveling Build For 1.2
Today we have another build form the guys over at www.swtorsavior.com and continuing the trend of builds for 1.2 that will help you if you need a hand leveling up fast. This one is for the Smuggler and the Gunsliner advanced class. Here is the build: SWTOR Smuggler Gunslinger Leveling Build: Here are some rotations you can use with the build: Your best bet on a companion with this build is Corso Riggs or Bowdaar. Here is the rotation to use from level 10-20: Aimed Shot > Sabotage Charge > Vital Shot > Charged Burst > Flurry of Bolts At level 20 you will get a skill named Shock Charge and your rotation to use is: Aimed Shot > Sabotage Charge > Shock Charge > Vital Shot > Charged Burst > Flurry of Bolts Lastly at level 40 you will get a skill called Incendiary Grenade and at that point…
What is This Stuff Coming in SWTOR Game Update 1.4?
Sure, we’re all excited about 1.3 because this is coming up next. Server transfers and group finders are top of the list and we also get more updates and expansions to the Legacy System (Legacy Perks) but at the end of their latest video, they also give us some teasers of what we will see in 1.4 and beyond. Here are some screenshots: But what the heck is it? The first image definitely looks like the Foundry. This could be interesting but how will they bring it into the game? A new Flashpoint, perhaps? I’m thinking the station could possibly have something to do with guild ships as well. Maybe we have to build these up over time to earn the ability to build our guild ships. Or maybe it is some sort of access to a guild hall of sorts (Beam me up Scotty!) What do you think it…
Daniel Erickson reveals plan to merge into super-servers!
Here is an interesting piece of news. In an interview with PC Gamer, our main man Daniel Erickson, spilled the beans about the upcoming serve transfers. Answering a question about the upcoming changes in patch 1.3 regarding the group finder tool, Mr. Erickson had an interesting answer: From the interview: PCG: Will they be cross-server at launch? Is that planned for the future? DE: They will not be cross-server as we are coming up on a huge move to servers with massively higher population caps than we have today. So is that how they’re going to (more or less) avoid the stigma of server mergers? Best they could do, I guess. No more low-pop servers, same-server Group Finder viable… nice! I, for one, will welcome our new super-server overlords.
BioWare layoff updates
It has been a sad couple of days for many BioWare employers as many have to look for a new job. Today we can confirm that Stephen Reid was in fact one of the of the team members who have to look for a new job. On his Facebook and Twitter he gave the following statement: Today my life’s next chapter starts. Lost track of how many chapters so far… but time to turn the page. I was one of those affected by layoffs at BioWare Austin yesterday. I got to build an amazing team while I was there, and miss them already. I’m also going to miss #SWTOR and the community we created. Sure, I know some of you hated me, but hey, I still worked hard for you. 🙂 I’ll be Twitter-quiet for a bit, but I’ll be back soon-ish. Doing something, somewhere, and talking about it here. I hope we keep talking. Last but…
SWTOR Patch 1.3 Interview with Daniel Erickson
BioWare’s Daniel Erickson, Lead Designer for Star Wars: The Old Republic revealed some interesting information in an interview with SWTOR Hub about patch 1.3 and what we can expect in the future of the game. With many players and skeptics questioning whether or not there will even be a future of the game, this is as good a time as any for BioWare staff to come out with more info to keep players interested. Here is a snippet: Ten Ton Hammer: Is the developing team satisfied with the current direction of the game or can we look forward to the game moving into another direction, like harder content with more prestige items? Daniel Erickson: The best thing about a live MMO is that you have a living, changing game. SWTOR will continue to evolve and improve across the board. Harder content outside the operations is a personal passion of mine…
MTSBWY: Darth Schwarzenegger
With all the sad news of BioWare Layoffs I thought it was time for a smile. Therefor I present to you a new “may the schwartz be with you”, this time with oldie but goodie. What you are about to see, is an earlier casting of Star Wars IV: A New Hope were Arnold Schwarzenegger put a juvenile, jealous and rather perverted spin on Darth Vader’s explosive personality. George Lucas had second thoughts and cast James Earl Jones instead. Enjoy these exclusive clips from the “lost tapes” archives of Skywalker Ranch. You kids are soft… You lack deciplin! ” it’s time now to turn this mush into muscles! STOP Being such a pussy NAOW!
Did Stephen Reid just get Canned?
EDIT. Yes he did. Here is the article. Yesterday we told you about upcoming restructuring at the BioWare Austin studio. All the the details are still extremely sparse, and We do not know the numbers, nor do we know of any specific staff members who are affected. Rumors are starting to spread around the internet though, as people like Stephen Reid updated his LinkedIn page to read that his tenure with BioWare ended on May 2012… Tina Wall, a former BioWare QA tester also had a few tweets yesterday worth noticing. @ChemicalPink: I am sitting at a very large table of newly unemployed people. We’ve all ordered booze. @ChemicalPink: Despite the overtones of sadness at the table, most everyone is fairly optimistic and seems to be dealing well. This article on the layoffs, the development team consisted of eight hundred developers across three cities and two countries. That’s absolutely MASSIVE team! Too many cooks in the kitchen, that many…
Coming Soon to STAR WARS: The Old Republic
Yesterday we updated you on what to expect with Patch 1.3 which will be titled ” Allies”. Today, same day as BioWare goes public with there layoffs, BioWare get a small video with a patch Overview. See what the future holds for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, as Game Director James Ohlen highlights some of the new game systems coming in Game Update 1.3, as well as some of the playable content that will be released in the coming months. In this ‘Coming Up’ video, you will learn about the new Group Finder and Character Transfer systems, as well as new Legacy Perks and other features that are coming in the next Game Update, Allies. Side note. I feel bad for him having to read off those scripts. They need to give their developers time to read over scripts before putting them in front of a camera. It makes them sound like William Shatner: “And…the new…features…
BioWare Layoffs
It’s not news that Electronic Arts was about to layoff a large amount of people in the future. It was mention at the EA conferance call. What we diden’t know though was going to affect BioWare and Star Wars: The old republic. Today we learned otherwise as the doctors posted on the official SWTOR Forums. Hey folks, since you’re reading this you may likely have heard that we’ve done some restructuring here on the SWTOR team. Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality. Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect. Looking back at launch, we all came together and did something historic. We executed one of the largest, most successful and stable launches of any MMO yet in industry history. That is not an easy…
Guide to End Game Stuff
I just can’t say enough how appreciative I am of Dulfy from Dulfy.net and all the great game content she brings us for SWTOR. So she does all the things I want to do but don’t have the time to. And now, she’s done it again with a great list if leveling heroics, bonus series and their associated rewards. Empire list: http://dulfy.net/2012/05/13/heroic-quests-bonus-series-and-their-rewardsempire/ Republic list: http://dulfy.net/2012/05/13/heroic-quests-bonus-series-and-their-rewardsrepublic/ She also explains as follows: For every quest there are 1) Torhead tooltips for the mission so you can see the steps or get more details. 2) Name of the NPC to start the quest (first name recorded only) 3) Location of the NPC (Both the area and the exact coordinates) 4) General and class specific rewards. As you can see, this is a very useful resource so bookmark the URL that applies to you (or both if you play both sides) and refer to…
SWTOR vs. SWG: Place Your Vote Now
Gemtrix has brought us an interesting survey that they say they will leave up indefinitely to serve as a guideline for what people think about Star Wars: An Empire Divided vs. Star Wars: The Old Republic. This 73-question survey asks you to give answers to questions about each game. All questions are optional but the more you answer, the more data we all have about the games. Here is what Gemtrix has to say about how this will work: We are going to leave this survey up indefinitely, so as time goes on, we hope it will serve as a set of data points that bloggers can use when talking about these two games. The results will be posted weekly, so check back next week for the first set of results.
SWTOR to Finally Get a Group Finder
It’s been said and said again that SWTOR should have been launched with a group finder. So many players who have left the game say they did so because the lack of a group finder made it impossible to get a group together. Some have also said that if a group finder option was added, they would consider returning to the game. The memo must have made its way to BioWare because James Ohlen promises we will finally get our group finder and it might be sooner than you think. As Stephen Reid previously hinted on his Twitter, we could see server transfers and a group finder very soon. James Ohlen, Game Director of SWTOR, also took to Twitter to answer the cries of frustrated gamers. He Tweeted: “We’re hard at work on group finder and character transfer. We know how important it is to get these systems into the…
Star Wars: The Old Republic’s 1.3 Patch Revealed
We finally have some more details about the next SWTOR game update. Patch 1.3 is coming this summer (soon) and we have a bit of information to get us started regarding what we can expect from the game. IGN has an interview with BioWare lead game designer Daniel Erickson that gives us some more detail about 1.3 and what it has coming with it. Here is a snippet of that interview: IGN: The recent Rakghoul Plague Outbreak was the first world event in The Old Republic. How did you expect players to react, and how did that compare with the actual reaction? What are your plans for future world events? Daniel Erickson: We were hoping for three things: to surprise the players, to create community interaction, and encourage open world PvP on the PvP servers. All three were far more successful than we had any right to hope for. The…
SWTOR Armormech Orange Schematics gallery for the empire
Following up on the Complete Custom Synth Images we posted the other day, I thought it was time we posted some similar images for Armormech. The below pictures includes all the Sith patterns. Hopefully we will have all the republic patterns for you later this month. Heavy Armor, Level 11 Heavy Armor, Level 15 Heavy Armor, Level 19 Heavy Armor, Level 23 Heavy Armor, Level 27 Heavy Armor, Level 31 Heavy Armor, Level 35 Heavy Armor, Level 39 Heavy Armor, level 43 Heavy Armor, Level 47 Heavy Armor, Level 50 Medium Armor, Level 11 Medium Armor, Level 15 Medium Armor, Level 19 Medium Armor, Level 23 Medium Armor, Level 27 Medium Armor, Level 31 Medium Armor, Level 35 Medium Armor, Level 39 Medium Armor, Level 43 Medium Armor, Level 47 Medium Armor, Level 50
Patch 1.3 Crew Skills Changes: Q&A with SWTOR Systems Designers David Hunt and Patrick Malott
Inquisitor Roadhouse has an excellent Q&A with SWTOR Systems Designers David Hunt and Patrick Malott and has shared that with us on their site. This is by far the clearest interview/explanation I’ve seen yet on this topic and it’s well worth the read. Complete with screenshots and answers directly from the BioWare staff, you can get a clearer explanation of the Crew Skill changes incoming with 1.3. Anexxia posts: Q: On the official SWTOR podcast, we heard that Augment stations were going to be added to the game with Patch 1.3. Could you talk a little bit about what they are and how they will work? A: Our goal with the modification system has always been to allow players to use any gear they choose and have it function at maximum statistical efficiency. Most of the major itemization changes we’ve added have been moving towards this goal, such as moving set…
Intergalactic Intel: Analyzing Boss battles
“Ugh this is impossible!” I heard over the vent channel. “What’s impossible?” I was curious, what “This damn OPS boss!” I chuckled. “What’s going wrong?” “Everything!” Welcome back to another intergalactic Intel! Sorry for the lack of articles, I’ve had a busy past few weeks! If any of you remember, one of my original posts was about raiding. How to become one, and how to do well. Recently I’ve been looking at a bunch of posts on Diablo 3 boards, The Old republic and World of Warcaft boards about bosses. These posts have inspired my next set of articles, the Art of Raiding. I’ll go over, how to build a raid group, leading, tanking, dpsing and healing raids. Today’s is probably the most important one of all. Analyzing fights. Every fight is unique. Only because one fight has a similar mechanic doesn’t make it any easier. Each new encounter is…
TOR TV: Unnecessary Bleeps – Sith Inquisitor
Back in february we did a TOR TV on Unnecessary Bleeps in SWTOR. Back then it was a trooper version. Today we have new one, this time with the Sith Inquisitor. For people who don’t know what Unnecessary Censorship is, it refers to the practice of adding censor bleeps, mosaic blurs or black bars to source materials that were neither profane or explicit to begin with. The bleeps are typically dubbed over words to make it sound as if they were explicit. Mosaic blurs and black bars are placed over people, objects, or text to make it appear as if they are covering up pornographic or explicit material. And in !@#$ing me, you !@#$ the Emperor… golden Interested in SWTOR Movies? We have new movies most weekdays here on swtorstrategies! Have suggestions for movie we ought to feature? Get in contact with us
