It’s been nearly one year since the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic and we never could have predicted last year that we would be sitting where we are today. The game has changed a lot and key developers have moved on to new projects but BioWare is still working on their project, which some say is a struggling game. “When Star Wars The Old Republic made its much ballyhooed debut in December of 2011, many gamers were promoting it as the next WoW killer”, says Inquisitr. BioWare had high hopes for their game, as did the fans but not everything worked according to plan. SWTOR reportedly cost over $200 million to develop and had 800 developers on four different continents involved in the creation. Some might argue that their first mistake was trying to do too much. KISS (keep it simple, stupid). The entire project took over six years to complete and…
Game Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate – Patch notes
Servers are back up after today’s game update. Below are the patch notes. Personally I’m not really overjoyed to see the Life Day/New Year stuff being just a purchase from Cartel Market (meaning no xmas/new year event, most likely), but hey, much better than nothing. I guess the best we can really do (assuming you aren’t interested in putting in any more money than the $15 you already do) is wait for your sub + security CCs to kick in and get stuff then. At least until the initial GTN rush calms down and prices settle down once again. Highlights Ancient Hypergate, a new Warzone, is available for play! Travel to an ancient ruin built around a Gree Hypergate and battle to control the precious technology for your faction. New incredibly challenging Weekly [HEROIC] Space Combat Missions are now available! All-new Grade 7 Artifact Quality Starship Upgrades are now available from the…
Top 5 Most Popular Cartel Market Items
The Star Wars: The Old Republic new Cartel Market is getting a lot of attention for being the place to go to buy and unlock in-game items for your character. You can also buy or unlock a variety of enhancements and customizations to make the game more interesting and to enhance your online experience. So what can you get there and what’s worth the investment? While you’ll find a large variety of items in the Cartel Market, some of them are more popular than others such as the ones listed here. Here we have the top five popular cartel market items (currently). Carbonite Chamber You’ll need 720CC to buy Carbonite Chamber making it one of the most expensive items you can acquire at the Cartel Market. However, anyone who has seen it used will surely agree that it’s worth the price. This chamber makes your character unique and this gets…
Flashpoint Guide: The False Emperor
The Battle of Ilum has ended and the threat is gone but a new battle is on the way. You’ve learned of the splinter faction leader’s location aboard the stolen Sith Battlecruiser and your squad must fight your way onto the ship. However, this is not going to be an easy task. The Battlecruiser has an army of battle droids ready to go to any length to defend their leader all in the name of the new Empire. The environment on the Battlecruiser is a very unstable one where you’ll go up against 6 bosses. It’s recommended that all of your squad members are at least a level 50 because some of these battles are going to be tough. Tregg the Destroyer The first boss is Tregg the Destroyer and he has two MoBs with him. It’s easier to take out the two MoBs if the tank pulls Tregg into…
BioWare to Tweak Endgame PvP Balance
In an interview with fansite TORWars this week, we found out from Senior Designer Rob Hinkle that BioWare has plans to make endgame PvP more fun- at least, that’s their idea. They want to make the PvP stat (expertise) equal across the board, no matter what the set of PvP armor. For some players, this is a welcome change but of course, there will be those who oppose. As is typical with an MMORPG, Bioware has struggled to keep endgame balanced for all players. There is a slippery slope in giving seasoned gamers something for their hard work and dedication yet not making them so overpowered that others cannot enjoy the game as well. Hinkle said in this interview that he commonly hears from players that they enjoy levels 10-49 but that at 50 (the current level cap), things change. Many players complain about the lack of imbalance in those who are…
Cartel Packs: Why They’re So Popular
You may have heard about Bioware’s statement concerning the Cartel Packs. When it comes to popularity among the gaming community, this item tops the list when compared to other items at the Cartel Market. Do you know why players are so interested in them or what the cartel pack contents will include? It’s speculated that their popularity has a lot to do with the rare items and the super rare items that drop into the Cartel Packs. These items are randomly placed into the packs so you don’t know which one you’ll get and there is no other way to acquire one. Here are the two options available along with the contents of each pack. The Black Market Cartel Packs sell for 180CC or $2 cash and it contains the following: a companion gift a boost item one rare item or one of the super rare items The Crime Lord…
1.6 will launch December 11th
Bioware delivering next patch earlier than i expected. Happy Holidays for us. You still have time to test out the patch on the Public Test Server, but only for the next few days. BioWare will launch the update during the Scheduled Maintenance window on Tuesday, December 11, so time to speed up my fleet commendations and WZ commendations grind! Check out the announcement below: Scheduled Maintenance for Game Update 1.6: December 11th, 2012 Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for six hours on Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 8AM CST (6AM PST/9AM EST/2PM GMT/3PM CET/1AM AEDT). All game servers will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than six hours, but could be extended. Game Update 1.6 introduces a new Warzone, Ancient Hypergate, where you can team up with other players to…
The Official Daily Blink MMORPG Feedback Form
MMORPGs are all about the community- we don’t deny this. But when does the community get a little too demanding and difficult—to-please? Um, probably always… I was just talking about this with a friend the other day. Gamers today seem to be more spoiled than ever before. We want everything done our way, when we want it and how we want it- OR ELSE! Or else we riot, send hate mail, post multiple complaint threads in the official forums, submit in-game tickets or pretty much anything else we can come up with to let the world at large know that we are disgruntled. The Official Daily Blink MMORPG Feedback Form has you covered for all of your complaints, regardless of your particular MMORPG, all in one simple form. While it’s completely hilarious and meant in jest, it does make you do a little self-checking of your own behaviors. I’ll admit…
SWTOR Flashpoint Guide: Directive 7
Recommended Level: 48-50Faction: Republic & EmpireBosses: 6 (3 mini-bosses) Directive 7 is the name given to a group of renegade droids who have joined together as one identity with one mission, which is to go through the galaxy exterminating all biological life forms. Both the Republic and the Empire have suffered at the hands of these renegade droids so both factions have a common interest in taking down Directive 7. Fortunately, for both factions, one of the Directives disagrees with the exterminating of all other life forms and offers them valuable information that will help put an end to this rebellion. Your mission is to travel with your squad of level 50 players to the small moon called Zadd, where you’ll go up against these 6 bosses in addition to one bonus boss. Here’s a vid of the Flashpoint in action: Detector Detector is the first mini boss you’ll encounter when you arrive…
Valve fixes Steam overlay to work with SWTOR
Steam overlay (shift+tab) will now work with swtor without workarounds. If you’re not familiar with Steam overlay, it allows you to use an “overlay” within games (they don’t need to be games bought in Steam either) so that you can use a browser, chat with friends, take screenshots, and more. This is very handy especially for people without multiple monitors. So when you’re in a game which you “linked” with steam, you can press shift+tab to bring up the overlay, which renders “over” the game. This is oftentimes a quicker alternative to straight up alt+tabbing (if what you want to do is possible within the overlay). As far as I know, steam overlay wouldn’t work with swtor before without workarounds. One would add it to their steam library (as a non-steam game), then when they started it Steam would “lose track of it,” such that Steam overlay (Shift+Tab) wouldn’t work….
TOR TV: Jedi on the Fly
This SWTOR Machinima was created by youtube user Metaworlds. The video shows a lone Jedi travelling around Coruscant accompanied by the sweet chillout music by Rael Wissdorf. The video really shows the beautiful scenery of the planet and how great the graphic in the game really is. If, like me, you enjoy a little chill out music while you’re grinding alone, this is definitely worth bookmarking.
1.5.2a Patch Notes 12/6/2012
BioWare closed down the servers for an unscheduled maintenance window to apply a new patch. This patch is a fix for the subscriber artifact item equipping bug. Servers are back up now, so go play. Below are the patch notes: Items Corrected an issue that prevented players from equipping some crafted Artifact (purple) quality gear.
Sith Talk Episode 41: Prochain patch Français et allemand font depuis que nous espérons
Sith talk is back with a new episode of theire fault mouth ( just kidding guys 😉 ) podcast. This week they cover their week and cover the feedback from YouTube views. Sudo come by with the next chapter in hes series. They also cover some new and future changes to F2P and Preferred player statuses. as well as the new patch notes 1.5.2, and much more. Cant make out the title no worries use Google translator after hearing the news and enjoy the joke. See you in the PIT !!!! Remember to follow the guys over at their facebook page here
Flashpoint Guide: Taral V
If you’re looking to do the Flashpoint Taral V, it helps to know just what you’re getting into before you get started. It begins when you and your team travel to the Imperial held planet of Taral V and steal the star charts that will lead you to the space station. The recommended level for this Flashpoint is 33 and there are 6 bosses plus a bonus boss (optional). Many of the trash mobs can be skipped if you are looking to do a quick run but killing them for the extra experience and chance of loot is great if you have the time. Now let’s take a look at those bosses: Handler Gattan As his name suggests, the handler has pets- two Vinecats that you will have to fight during this battle. Gattan’s cats will attack random party members and they are immune to crowd control. The technique is…
Jonathan Crow Answers forum Questions
Last week, Gameplay Analyst Jonathan Crow received the spotlight stared in a meet the developers column over at the official website. Following up on this, he took questions form the community that is now up on the official forums. His answers includes interesting statistics regarding player behavior and performance, some of which you diden’t see comming… Check out the full Q&A below or the real forum thread over at the official forums. Q: Has the boss vs. player death ratio in EC changed much since 1.5 was released? Jonathan: It has changed a little bit since 1.5. In general it seems to have worsened a little, but that’s mainly because most level 50 players are busy playing around in Sector X and doing the HK-51 missions, which makes getting a full group harder. We all know that PUGs tend to not perform as well in Operations when compared to well-organized groups who have been farming the…
The Importance of Player Feedback with the New Free-to-Play Option
Jeff Hickman posted a news update yesterday regarding Free to Play restrictions. Looking at the Feedback BioWare got from the community with the New Free-to-Play Option, BioWare are making changes starting yesterday: Starting today, Preferred Status Players will see an increase to their default Quickbars from two (2) to four (4). If you’ve already purchased additional Quickbars, don’t worry: we will be refunding your Cartel Coins for any Quickbar-related purchase. Additionally, in an upcoming patch (no exact date yet, but players won’t have to wait long), Preferred Status Players will be given four (4) additional character slots, which means that they will have a total of six character slots. As always, Free-to-Play Players can reach Preferred Status simply by purchasing anything from our online store or purchasing a physical copy of the game. Last but not least, I wanted to share the news that the 50 character limit on Global Active Characters for Subscribers will be…
TOR TV: Hate-Me Rises: The Alpha Subject
Hate-Me Rises: The Alpha Subject is a SWTOR Machinima by HateMeGaming. Guild Hate Me travel to the Post-Apocalyptic Swamps of Taris. Sent by their Masters to face a deadly foe and to advance to the next stage of their training. The Video includes the take down of World Boss, Subject Alpha. This is the first of a Six Part Series by GraveWurm & Spyke
Free Fireworks to celebrate 1 year
To celebrate SWTOR’s first birthday anniversary, all players will get 25 complementary of faction specific fireworks over the game’s in-game mail system. This will happen on December 11 for valid accounts as of December 10. December 20th marks the 1st Anniversary of the official launch of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™! To thank our community for their continued support throughout this memorable first year, we’re happy to announce that all players with a valid Star Wars: The Old Republic account as of December 10th, 11:59PM CST will receive 25 complimentary stacks of faction-based fireworks! Fireworks will be delivered via in-game mail on December 11, 2012 to all qualifying players. Wow! Hard to believe it’s only been a year. One year, four end game Ops, four warzones and tons of fun.
SWTOR Imperial Agent Sniper 1.5 Leveling PVE Build
This post will give you a decent leveling build for the Agent in SWTOR and we are covering the Sniper advanced class. The build is optimized for patch 1.5 and we will give you step by step point allocation as well as some rotations that you can use while leveling. SWTOR Imperial Agent Sniper 1.5 Leveling PVE Build 10 – 11: Energy Tanks 2/2 12 – 14: Gearhead 3/3 15 – 17: Explosive Engineering 3/3 18 – 19: Engineer’s Tool Belt 2/2 20: Interrogation Probe 1/1 21 – 22: Efficient Engineering 2/2 23 – 24: Cluster Bombs 2/2 25: Imperial Methodology 1/1 26 – 27: Experimental Explosives 2/2 28 – 29: Calculated Pursuit 2/2 30: EMP Discharge 1/1 31 – 32: Energy Overrides 2/2 33 – 34: Augmented Shields 2/2 35 – 37: Electrified Railgun 3/3 38 – 39: Deployed Shields 2/2 40: Plasma Probe 1/1 41 – 43: Lethality…
1.5.2 Patch Notes 12/4/2012
Lot’s of fixes this time including 4 quickbar slots for preferred players! Bioware don’t get much love when this game is concerned, but looking at these patch notes, you can tell they are listening and reacting to community feedback. Cartel Market New Additions The Covert Pilot Suit has been added to the Cartel Market! This adaptive armor can be worn by any class at level 1. General A confirmation dialogue is now displayed for Cartel Coin purchases made outside of the Cartel Market. It shares the same “never show again” option as the confirmation for purchases made directly from the Cartel Market. Attempting to purchase an item or unlock your character already owns or cannot use now displays a more appropriate warning dialogue. An issue that prevented some Cartel Market purchases from being delivered correctly has been addressed. Several errors in the French and German Cartel Market tutorials have been corrected. Items…
Ben Cousins Paying to Win Talks about F2P Game Model
In November 2009, EA hit the headlines when the BATTLEFIELD HEROES team made sweeping changes to their in-game economy and virtual item catalogue that many felt would completely destroy the game, as Ben Cousins explains in his “Paying to Win” talk that covers the free to play gaming model and if and how it works. While consumer press, forum users and players claimed that the new game model ruined BATTLEFIELD HEROES, economic statistics would show EA otherwise. Despite the predictions of destruction, over a year on, BATTLEFIELD HEROES continues to be a powerhouse in the free-to-play space, with nearly 7 million registered users, no declining trend in active users, and it long-term future assured. So, what happened? In this talk, Ben Cousins, General Manager of Easy (the EA studio behind BATTLEFIELD HEROES) takes us through the story of this controversy. Through the development of BATTLEFIELD HEROES and the early performance…
SWTOR World Boss Guides
World bosses are a big part of any MMO and Star Wars: The Old Republic is no exception. You’ll need a full raid party to beat these bosses so be prepared to work together as a team. Throughout the galaxy, you’ll encounter several planets with these raid level bosses and they do yield some nice loot and a codex entry. After taking down a boss the reset timer usually last around two to three hours for each. All of the bosses in SWTOR have what is called a “Terrifying buff” that will yield any companions incapacitate as soon as you initiate the fight. For the most part the bosses will be stronger as you move up in levels. For this reason, if you’re having trouble with the lower level ones, you may need to build up more before tackling the higher-level raid bosses. Here are the planets in STWOR where…
SWTOR Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer Leveling Build For 1.5
In this post we are going to give you a leveling build for the Sith Inquisitor and the advanced class of Sorcerer for the new 1.5 patch. We will give you the build and then we will give you some rotations that you can use with the build as well: SWTOR Sith Inquisitor Sorcerer Leveling Build For 1.5: 10 – 11: Reserves 2/2 12 – 14: Electric Induction 3/3 15 – 16: Subversion 2/2 17 – 19: Convection 3/3 20: Chain Lightning 1/1 21 – 22: Lightning Barrage 2/2 23 – 24: Exsanguinate 2/2 25: Lightning Storm 1/1 26 – 27: Lightning Effusion 2/2 28: Lightning Spire 1/1 29: Lightning Barrier 1/2 30 – 32: Forked Lightning 3/3 33: Conduction 1/1 34: Polarity Shift 1/1 35 – 39: Reverberating Force 5/5 40: Thundering Blast 1/1 41 – 43: Seeping Darkness 3/3 44 – 45: Will of the Sith 2/2 46 –…
Scheduled Maintenance, December 4th
Just a friendly remember that there will be scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, December 4th. Hopefully BioWare will adress the Reverse Engineering Schematics Bug and the HK-51 bug. Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for four hours on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET/11PM AEDT). All game servers will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours, but could be extended. This weekly maintenance is done in order to make general improvements and to check performance of the game so that we can continue to provide a consistent, quality experience. Quite often (but not always) after a maintenance period there will be a patch to download. After the maintenance, please login via the launcher to download the latest patch. If your…