Ever noticed how many times Darth Vader says No? Obviously it’s one more time than it used to be, thanks to George Lucas’ broken brain that inspires him to make precisely the opposite creative decisions that everyone wants him to, but even without that edited in addition, it’s a lot. Hardly the most cheerful of fellows, thanks probably to uniform chaffing, Vader has infamously made a name for himself with a fairly closed mind: it’s the Dark Side or nothing for this particular Sith. But now, thanks to the editing skills of the inimitable OneMinuteGalactica (who we love around these parts), Darth has decided to change his ways, and follow in the footsteps of British writer Danny Wallace, and rubber-faced acting talent Jim Carey by saying Yes a lot more. Okay so it’s hugely silly, but I couldn’t help but smile at it.
EA Gives Office Tour of New BioWare Facility in Ireland
Earlier this week wetold you about the new BioWare facility in Galway, Ireland. There has been anew addition to the story with an office tour of the facility. So if you’rewondering just what the new facility looks like, here’s your chance to find out. In the roughly 2 ½ minutevideo, we get a tourof the new facility. The tour begins with the hallway which features somereally awesome artwork like the Imperial Agent ship. The “art wall” serves asan inspirational schematic because right across the hall is where they hold their2-week training courses to anyone new who joins the team in Galway. There is an awesome “relaxing”game room for the creative, innovative and hard-working BioWare team. Can I geta pool table in my office please? Then we see the SWTORglobal customer contact center. Call this the customer service center battlestation. Working in a call center wouldn’t be so bad if this…
The Old Republic Preview from PCGamer
“The Old Republic is a monster. I can’t wait to play more.” That pretty much sums up the 1880+ word preview experience from PCGamer.com. These previews are the best things for those who have not been able to play the game for themselves yet. It gives us all a deeper look into SWTOR, what it is about, what others think about it and what we have to look forward to. Even when you think you’ve heard it all, along comes a new preview or review with info or perspective you didn’t know before. This is a great review because it does more than just recap the things we already know (although it does a little bit of that, too). It also tells us what makes this game different or unique from others on the market. When you’re looking to invest in a game like SWTOR, especially one with a monthly…
Don’t be Banned from Game Testing- Know the Rules of Beta
As more people are getting into game testing now and game testing is open to European players as well, we will hear about more people in game testing. While it is a violation to screen capture or talk about certain aspects of the game, there will probably be friends who talk and share certain pieces of info. But you better be careful about what you share and how. If you get in, you may find yourself so excited, you want to shout it to the rooftops. Be aware, however, that while you can tell the world you are game testing, you cannot tell them about what you are doing in testing or reveal things about the game itself. The SWTOR beta/game testing is the most strict I have ever even heard of and I have beta’d TONS of games over the years. You can’t use Vent, you must be 18…
Friday Update: Galaxy Map
This weeks update brings us a new updates to the SWTOR Holonet — Galaxy Maps. Now you have the chance to explore the five regions of known space in a standard or 3d view. There you can find information on all notable planets as well as a video for each. Here are the 17 planets and six starships you can learn about in the new Galaxy Map: Coreward Worlds: Alderaan, Corellia, Coruscant, Ord Mantell, Balmorra, Tython Seat of the Empire: Dromund Kaas, Korriban, Taris Hutt Space: Hutta, Nar Shaddaa, Quesh, Voss Distant Outer Rim: Belsavis, Hoth, Tatooine Unknown Regions: Illum Starships: XS Freighter, Defender, BT-7 Thunderclap, X70-B Phantom, D5-Mantis, FURY Official Devtracker Post: The Star Wars™ galaxy is massive and you will be able to visit numerous worlds during your travels in the The Old Republic™. To give you an early taste of what the experience will be, we’ve added…
SWTOR Game Tester Experience Email
“This is not the email you are looking for. Move along…” Feel like you were just a victim of Jedi mind tricks? If you got the very confusing email asking you if you enjoyed your tester experience in SWTOR and if you would like to fill out a survey to share your opinions- don’t panic! First, you are not alone. Second, you are not invited to the beta with this email. Sorry to burst your bubble… When the email came in to me last night, my cell phone, Facebook and email blew up with friends asking me if I got it, too and if I knew what it was about. (When did I become the authority on such matters?) So I headed straight over to Twitter and asked Stephen Reid (that’s his job, right?) but he was in flight coming home to Austin so it took a little while for…
Star Wars: Revan Novel Spoilers- an Unofficial Review
We found an interesting write-up about the Revan novel that contains spoilers of the storyline for SWTOR and the novel. In a post on Spacebattles.com, user “Sparris” posts, “After getting and reading an uncorrected proof of this story, pretty sure most people will think it sucks.” He goes on to give about 600 words or so of a summary of the novel that portrays it in a less-than-interesting light. However, we also have to keep in mind that this is one person’s opinion and a rough summary at that and we don’t actually see any more than a pic of the alleged cover of the proof of the novel. SPOILERS INCOMING: The poster says: There are three main characters throughout: Revan, the Exile (now named Meetra Surik,) and a Sith Lord in the Emperor’s service named Darth Scourge. Ok, fair enough. What’s next? Revan’s story is pretty simple. His dreams…
Blizzard Revealing Project Titan Next Month? – Gloves are off!
Update: In a comment to IGN, a Blizzard representative stated that its ‘unannounced MMO’ will not be talked about at this year’s BlizzCon The rumor mill is out and it looks like the long awaited “casual MMO” from Blizzard code named Titan may be revealed next month at BlizzCon 2011. Pressures from the release date announcement of SWTOR and the delay of Diablo 3 may have led Blizzard to push up the release of news about their new secret project. At least one analyst believes the news might be coming sooner than we thought. “If they are holding any juicy details, it’s going to be announced at BlizzCon,” M2 Research senior analyst Billy Pidgeon said. “”The big news is probably going to be a Diablo 3 date and a possible new announcement about one or more new properties.”” Previous reports have revealed rumors about this potential project. They tell us…
EU Beta has Begun!
It’s official- Europe now has beta testing for SWTOR! And it’s about time, right? In a post on the official SWTOR forums, Chris Collins The New Guy, European Community Manager announced: “Today, we’re excited to announce that we are sending out a batch of invites! In particular, this initial batch marks the start of a series of invites to our larger European player base, who get the chance to join the Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Testing program and provide feedback during the months up until launch. In other exciting news, we’ll be making further announcements in the coming days and weeks, as we update you on Game Testing on the European service. On top of that, we’ll also be announcing details around the upcoming Beta Testing Weekends! With the launch drawing ever-closer, we’re more excited than ever to receive your feedback on the game to help make the…
Latest Beta Patch notes
Since we are so damn close to the release of SWTOR we thought it was only reasonable to start posting patch updates so people could start getting an idea how far the game has come. These updates are only a few days old and was released september 27, and we are really down to small tweaks now. Of course there is still bugs, and there will be for years after the game is out, but BioWare is really doing a good job killing all the game breakers. Nice to see boys! General Players may now toggle their Away From Keyboard status with the /afk command Classes and Combat General Fixed an issue that caused players to continue along their movement path after being affected by any immobilizing ability. Bounty Hunter Shoulder Slam now has no cooldown and its effect on Strong enemies has been significantly reduced. Jedi Consular Tumult now has no cooldown and its…
Returning To Jedi: The Best Ever Fan Edit?
There are a nuumber of great Fan Edits available for the Star Wars films – the most famous of which is probably The Phantom Edit which righted the many wrongs of George Lucas’ first prequel film (chiefly by removing Jar Jar Binks influence), but by far the best, in terms of the effect the edit has on the viewing experience of the original film has to be Jambedavdar’s Returning To Jedi. The edit is effectively a ‘commentary documentary’, combining existing behind the scenes footage with a newly created audio commentary and text facts, and despite not having all of the details released as part of the Complete Saga blu-ray release (yet) it still stands as one of the most in-depth and informative companion pieces to the entire Star Wars universe. And the good news for all Star Wars fans is that Returning To Jedi is now available in its entirety…
Hands-on Preview: Star Wars: The Old Republic
In this article, Leo Stiles of Joe.ie tell us about his hands-on preview of SWTOR. Now that more and more players are getting access to the game, we are hearing a lot of different reviews and previews but it never hurts to get another opinion on the game. From the moment Leo chose his class as a Bounty Hunter, he got treated to a wonderful cut scene displaying some graphics he can only describe as “remarkable”. If the cartoon style graphics have you on the fence then you should really see them in action as everything flows perfectly together. According to Leo, the questing is so well done you won’t feel like your simply “gathering” materials or “counting kills” because they are minor parts to the larger story. Fulfilling the quests in the game are so in depth to the story line that they are entertaining and not a level…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Sales Predicted To Hit 3 Million In Year 1
Now that we know a release date for SWTOR, we see more and more people talking about just how popular this game will be. Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz predicts that the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic will sell 3 million units in its first year. The numbers expected in the first year are at an incredible million with the following year bringing in about million. These numbers are astounding as before the release date the projected sales were considerably lower. The new numbers are based off of the projected pricing plan for the game. Star Wars: the Old Republic will be released in the US on Dec 20, 2011 and in the UK on Dec 22, 2011. The announcement of the release date brought many unseen Star Wars fans rushing to the stores to quickly preorder their copy of the game. This is what increased the number…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Will Feature Achievements at Launch
Many MMOs that we have come to love feature achievements andStar Wars: The Old Republic will notbe any different. However, the type of achievements will be a little differentfrom what you may be used to, at least at first. These are not your typical WoW-typeachievements. At this time, Daniel Erickson, the lead writer of Biowarestated that “achievements” would appear in SWTOR when it launches. However, theones that appear with the launch will be detailed achievements for doing heroicthings such as fighting the bosses on each planet. Just what kind of achievements are we going to see on ship? Erickson explains to DarthHaterat Eurogamer Expo: They’renot going to be the achievements, the crazy achievements that you have to placeeverywhere, that are like, “Hey if you drink 6 beers and fart in acantina,” those are not going the achievements to go in. Version 1 of theachievement system which go in, which is…
Stephen Reid Clarifies Misunderstanding of Shack News Article
With the news of an official release date for SWTOR out there, one huge milestone is now passed. Now we have many new questions erupting as players want to know exactly when they are going to get their own chance to play. A misunderstanding had many players worrying they would not get to play due to possible staggered releases. User Darhan posts in the official forums: It seems that not only are they preparing for stable servers by keeping pre-order numbers limited, but even for those of us who have pre-ordered: our access to the game may not be granted as fast as we had hoped. In the article, they discuss slowly granting access to the game over an undisclosed period of time to the point that some folks may barely recieve any early access to the game, if any at all. Of course, this is all for the sake…
Facebook Image of The Week #31
BioWare have updated there Facebook page with a new Screenshot. This time it’s an image from the planet Voss. The Gormak, in their never-ending bid to dominate Voss, have built large complexes underneath the planet’s surface.
BioWare: ‘We have an aggressive post-launch plan’
SWTOR fans have been asking “When will the game finally launch?” and now that this massive question has finally been answered, we see new questions creeping up in the minds of players everywhere. One thing that players want to know is what is going to happen post-launch. We already know how much is being put into launching a fantastic game but is it going to last? What happens next? How many other MMOs have we seen launch successfully but fall short post-launch? In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, BioWare’s Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk discussed their plans for the future of SWTOR and they definitely have a post-launch plan. “””We have a really aggressive plan post launch to build content and take the feedback to heart that we’re getting from players and what they want for continued expansions, and use that feedback to build new content,” Muzyka promised. The…
Is SWTOR the Avatar of Gaming?
A lot has been said about SWTOR already and it’d be a great understatement to say the game will be good. Just how good it will be is still up for debate. The Daily Mailsays it could be the video game version of James Cameron’s billion-dollar blockbuster, “Avatar”. Wow! That’s a pretty big claim but SWTOR just might be the game to be able to live up to such prophecies. The Daily Mail points out: The game is among the most expensive ever made – rumoured to have cost games giant Electronic Arts more than £100 million. But it could ‘earn billions’ say game industry insiders – dwarfing even the amounts earned by cinema blockbusters such as Avatar. World of Warcraft has had up to 11 million monthly subscribers, earning the company a reported $500 million a year in subscription fees – on top of disc prices for the game…
BioWare Opens New Customer Service Center in Ireland
EA announced yesterday that they will be opening a new customer service center, this one in Ireland. EA Senior Vice President Ray Muzyka spoke at the inaugural event in Galway, Ireland said, “MMO launches are complex, and we are determined to set a new standard for a high quality, stable, smooth launch for our fans. Our new BioWare facility and team in Galway is critical to ensuring we deliver on that goal. We’ve got a solid base of people here already in Galway . . . we’re looking for more. From Ireland . . . from the rest of Europe to support our German and French customers . . . from all over the world. We want you to join us here at BioWare Ireland.” This will be a first for BioWare and it can mean big news for the company as well as for European gamers. This will be BioWare’s…
Eurogamer Expo Gains Attention thanks to SWTOR
Eurogamer Expo’s time has come, says Patrick Garratt and it is in part due to BioWare’s The Old Republic announcement yesterday. VG247 is a media partner of Eurogamer Expo, and is partially owned by Eurogamer Network. They had an interesting write-up on the Erogamer Expo and what SWTOR has done for it in recent days. Sometimes all it takes is one popular topic to put an event on the map. This is especially true when it comes to entertainment and media. In the video game world, people, including media, are often drawn to what they know. They won’t always go out of their way to visit or report on expos, conventions or events until they are made “big business”. Sometimes an event just needs that one thing to come along to put them on the map. And that’s exactly what SWTOR did for the Eurogamer Expo. As Patrick explains in…
Craig Morrison on SWTOR Launch and Success
Craig Morrison (Game director of Age of Conan) talks about the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic on his blog and brings up some really good points about the potential success of SWTOR. His very thorough (long, but worth the full read) post brings up some very good points. He addresses different reasons why the game is showing early success, how it compares to the massive MMO hit from Blizzard and also, where it might go in the future. A snippet: The game will most likely sell extremely well out of the gate, almost certainly the most successful first month sales of any MMO ever, and probably by a wide margin…it will then possibly even retain over a million subscription customers (something it should be remembered no game other than World of Warcraft has managed)…truly massive numbers…unless the game somehow collapses it is going to post seriously impressive numbers…yet…you…
Interview with Chris Collins
The guys over at www.swtor-europe.com did an interview with Chris Collins about European Community during Eurogamer Expo. It’s great to see some info other then the release date coming out of the Eurogamer Expo, but I guess Chris Collins don’t have much experience doing interviews, or he just weren’t allowed to give out any new information. With blessings from www.swtor-europe.com we are posting the full interview below, but joine the discussion on the article right here! Hi Chris, thanks for taking some time to talk to us, I know it’s very busy here today. No problem, good to hear from stwor-europe, I like the site. Now firstly I’d like to kick off with some questions that specifically concern the European fanbase, one of which is whether the Red Zone territories will have access to the game, or if they will be IP blocked. Any official word on this? So, if you check on the FAQ, anything official is held within that. I…
Bioware: No Lifetime Subscription Option For Star Wars: The Old Republic
Now that we finally have a release date for SWTOR, many gamers are planning their playtime and devotion to the game. Some so much so that they are ready to pledge themselves to a lifetime subscription to the game or at least wondering if there will be an option to do so if they end up loving the game as much as they are predicting they will. I enjoy following Stephen Reid, SWTOR’s Senior Community Manager on Twitter because he is always a wealth of information in a hilarious package. His snarky responses when people try to get snippy with him can be pretty funny, too. Ultimately it’s a great source to get your quick-hit SWTOR questions answered and you can learn a lot from the answers he gives to others as well. On the topic of lifetime subscription options for SWTOR, Reid clarified that they do not have any…
Did EA Capitalize On the Diablo III Delay by Announcing the Release Date of Star Wars: The Old Republic?
The guys over at DualShockers.com had a really interesting theory on the announcement of SWTOR coming after the Diablo III delay. The piece they wrote on the day after the SWTOR announcement describes a possible connection between the news about Diablo III and the release date announcement: “Yesterday Blizzard announced the delay of Diablo III to early 2012, today Electronic Arts announced the release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic for December the 20th, on a Saturday. Extremely convenient. Even a bit too convenient, maybe.” I’m not usually the conspiracy theory type but it’s a pretty good point they make here with the linkage of the two announcements. Did EA/Bioware see this as their ideal time to jump on the announcement of the official release date? Sounds like a good theory to me… The article gives some pretty compelling ideas about why this theory might be true: “Thirdly, by…