Are you happy with SWTOR PvP or like many of us, do you still feel like there are some things missing or lacking? Here’s what Georg Zoeller had to say about a team meeting over PvP at the BioWare headquarters: Hey guys, A few additional notes on this topic, fresh from a meeting with Gabe and the PvP team. (a) Expertise difference between combatants is the single most important factor in time to kill in PvP. Having zero or little expertise on your gear (e.g. pure PvE gear) is the primary reason for people to experience a sped-up time to death in Game Update 1.2. While it was quite viable pre-1.2 to bring your Rakata or Columi gear without any added expertise into PvP, the increased focus on expertise in the PvP track of gear has made it much harder to compete with that equipment compared to even the entry…
Zombies in Space- Coffin Comics Fun
What is BioWare trying to tell us with this recent (the first) world event? Rakghouls are trying to infect everyone and they take a striking resemblance to zombies, as many have pointed out. Zombies in space? It wouldn’t be the first time a video game had done this. Coffinshaker from Coffin Comics has a real funny cartoon about SWTOR and the current world event going on- the Rakghoul Invasion. He also used this as an opportunity to talk about a current theme in games today- zombies: Heh, didn’t mean for a double swtor posting this week, but I wanted to get this out there before the rakghoul invasion event ended. Pretty cool stuff though! Reminds me of the lich plague in wowcrafts just before WOTLK came out. But what’s the deal with zombies anyways? They seemed to have gained quite a bit of momentum in the last few decades. Hell,…
The Lost Island Flashpoint Guide
The Lost Island is the new Flashpoint in the Game Update 1.2. If you haven’t had the chance to check it out yet, try to get yourself in a group after you read this guide (so you know what you’re doing). It’s open to both factions and it also has a normal and Hard Mode for level 50 players. It’s a lot of fun and I really like the story that is involved as well. In the story of the Lost Island, we are taken to a hidden island on Ord Mantell where we are called to end experiments by Mad Doctor. So anyway… what’s this Flashpoint all about and how do you succeed in it? First, be aware that this is a Flashpoint full of encounters that require you to move a lot. You want to be ready to move in any instant and don’t just stand around staring…
Defender 410, A Sweet Star Wars: The Old Republic Case Mod
tomshardware.com is showcasing a phenomenal case mod inspired by Star Wars: The Old Republic. The casemod Was Showcased at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas by iBuyPower. The inspiration for this case mod was the Corellian Defender-Class Light Corvette from Star Wars: The Old Republic. Check it our over at tomshardware, and let us know what you think below.
TOR TV: Be a Hero
I have known about this videos for month now, but I never knew what to write about it. So today, I drank 6 Carlsberg to make sure I had the “inspiration” I needed to make a cool story about it…. I still have no clue what to write though. The video is strangely cool but I’m not 100% sure what is is about. Let me know if you get it…
Mass Effect 3 Controversy Could Be Good for the Game Industry
Mass Effect 3 was highly anticipated and it’s no surprise that some fans called in sick to work or school to stay home and enjoy playfests. It’s also no surprise that many would beat the game quickly. Luckily most fans are respectful enough to avoid spoilers (or at least without an alert first) but still, you have to be careful the story isn’t ruined for you with so many racing to the finish line. So imagine how I felt when I started to see the Tweets, FB messages, blog posts and other video game news complaining about the ending of ME3? I didn’t want to click on anything that talked about the ending. I didn’t want to see any spoilers. And yet… it was everywhere! In what would become one of the biggest video game controversies of all time, the fans were angry at the ending of ME3 (or at…
The Rakghoul Outbreak is Here
We told you about the in-game event going on in SWTOR right now. If you have yet to try it out yourself, it’s a lot of fun. And there is an additional bonus- you get an in-game pet. There is a mission to earn a Rakghoul pet on completion. This is fantastic for anyone who loves collecting non-combat pets (like myself). There is also a fun video to go along with it. This from SWTOR news today: “Visit the in-game News Terminal, located on Carrick Station or Vaiken Spacedock, to discover the mystery behind the spreading plague and begin the mission to earn a Rakghoul Pet!”
Inheritance Legacy Gear found from 340 Investigation Missions
Are you looking to build and collect your Legacy Gear? Do you want to give some items to an alt to get leveled up with good gear? There are several ways to do this and crafting missions are a good start. Some players have found that running 340 Investigation missions give pieces of Inheritance Construction Kits. But that’s not all… it’s pretty safe to say that all 340 companion missions from all skills have a chance to drop Legacy tokens. Birthright can drop from 340 missions as well as standard missions and standard missions can drop Legacy Gear. Gathering missions will also drop Legacy Gear. You can also kits as drops from mobs which are considered rare drops but I’ve gotten one already myself. It does seem they are trying to give us several ways to get this gear and Inheritance Construction Kits. One beef some players have with the…
TOR TV: SWTOR Explained – Revan’s Backstory (Pre-Kotor) and his involvement in the Mandalorian Wars
xZeroTolerence55x is back with a new SWTOR backstory, and this 9 min video is worth a watch/listen. This time he tells the story of one of my all time favorite force user – Revan. This will be the first part of a series of videos covering the guy. In this first one ZeroTolerence55 covers the details of Revan’s early life, his involvement in the Mandalorian Wars, and the beginning of his descent to the darkside. Check it out below:
Healer Survey from ForceHeal for 1.2
Game update 1.2 brought many changes to SWTOR. It also brought changes that would affect healers. Would these changes be a good thing or would they just make things worse? This is definitely the big question among healers. I’m a healer myself (mainly in PvP) and I know that I don’t think the way some healers do because we don’t all play the same way. For example, all the complaints over names and titles making it hard to heal in PvP- never a problem for me. I just use my UI raid/warzone windows for healing and never have problems. Anyway, you can never be sure just what a community is thinking or feeling unless you ask them and that is exactly what Force Heal decided to do. They put up a healer survey about SWTOR 1.2 to find out who is happy with healing in 1.2 and who thinks the…
1.2.0c Patch Notes 4/19/2012
Servers are now back up after some Unscheduled Maintenance. Considering that this patch was more or less done for the event fixes alone I’m glad they tossed in a pile of extra fixes. As we talked about a few days ago, BioWare did some fixes to the Warzone also this time. The warzone commendations are significantly increased. Even for a win. I just won a Voidstar, Novare Coast and an Alderaan. Got 154, 141 and 120 warzone commendations. Check out the patch notes below: 1.2.0c Patch Notes 4/19/2012 General Corrected an audio issue that could cause a loud, perpetual “jet engine” sound that is most noticeable on the Republic and Imperial Fleets. Corrected a rare issue that could cause players to be unable to access their guild. Classes and Combat Bounty Hunter Mercenary Heatseeker Missile: This ability will now only gain extra damage from your additional stacks of Heat Signatures and…
EA Denies SWTOR Job Cut Rumors
If you heard the news this week about Electronic Arts, then you may have heard they are laying off a lot of people. While it is true that the company is making some cuts, they are not “layoffs” in the traditional sense and they are not downsizing because SWTOR has failed. Actually, EA, like many gaming companies, has a huge variety of projects going on at different times. They may increase staff while they finish up a game project and then let those people go to other departments or let them go completely once the game is completed. This is how the industry works. Most game designers, writers and artists are hired on a project-by-project basis, not as actually company staff members. EA itself has basically said as much when the rumors spread about the layoffs: “There are no lay-offs as such, we always have projects growing and morphing,” EA…
Awesome UI Customization with 1.2
1.2 lets you completely customize your UI like never before. This was one of the most anticipating upgrades to this game update. However, there might be some things about the UI customization that you didn’t know. For example, one of my biggest peeves was one window closing out when you open another. Let’s say you want to compare an item that you have to one that you see on the GTN but when you try to open your character window, it closes out your GTN window. Frustrating! Or let’s say that you want to send your companion on a mission while you are browsing the GTN or have other windows open. Something is going to close out and then you have to open it back and find where you were before. Well, now with 1.2, this is not a problem. All you have to do is go to the UI…
Server Merges Still Possible as BioWare Responds to Criticism
“Are server merges a possible solution? Absolutely. Are character transfers a possible solution? They’re a definite solution and we’re going after that first. But all things are on the table. Our entire goal is to make sure that players are playing in the environment they want to, with the type of community and the size of population they want, and we are driving towards all of that,” says Lead Designer Daniel Erickson to Now Gamer. BioWare has been working hard to boost the game, bring in new content and bring back old players with game update 1.2, yet players are still complaining that server population is dropping. So now BioWare is looking at ways that they can combat the low server populations in SWTOR. Being part of a low pop server is no fun at all when you want to do something with other players (and this is an MMO,…
Devs Admit Players were Right on Warzone Scoring and Rewards
Players have been complaining since the launch of 1.2 that some things just didn’t seem right in PvP. At first, BioWare denied any problem but now, the devs have come forward to address the issue after more investigation. BioWare says they are aware of some of the problems with warzones and that they appreciate the feedback. As usual, they said they are working on a solution to complaints. But is there proposed solution going to be the kind of fix most players are looking for? Lead Game Designer Daniel Erickson had this to say on the forums: Hey folks, Some follow up news from observations of play and feedback over the weekend. In the next couple of days we will be deploying a small patch that will address the following issues: As discussed, minimum medals to gain rewards will go from 3 to 1 to better reward those who are…
TOR TV: Moves like Twilek
Following up on yesterdays dance moves we got another groovy video for you — This time with some hot Twilek bootie. This video was made by German DJ groundhouse. You should really check out his channel, if you are into dubstep, as he got some really nice white labels, you won’t find anywhere else.
Brand New SWTOR Website!
BioWare has been hard at work the new game update to SWTOR, rolling out the Legacy System, listening to player feedback and revamping things to keep us all interested and enjoying their game. Today they revealed one more piece of fun and interesting news- a new website design! This just in from SWTOR.com news: We are excited to unveil the brand new Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ website! We’ve completely rebuilt the website from the ground-up, with the intention of providing you with the latest game updates in an easy to navigate way. In addition to all of the latest news and information that is released, we’re also going to give you much more information about in-game content. Right now, you can check out our updated Flashpoints page on the Holonet, which includes information for each of the seventeen Flashpoints currently in the game. In addition to information on every…
Former Players: Play the LEGACY update at no charge until Friday
In yet another step in the Legacy Promotion by BioWare, former players now get to try the Legacy update at no charge until Friday. As I mentioned briefly in another article, BioWare released the following statement about free play for prior players: Former Players Come Back And Play Now On Us: April 13 – April 20 In honor of Game Update 1.2: Legacy, we are offering former subscribers the chance to come back and play on us. Just load the game and log back in to your account– no credit card required. Play at no charge*** beginning Friday, April 13, 2012, 12:01AM CDT, 5:01AM GMT through Friday, April 20, 2012, 11:59PM CDT/ Saturday, April 21, 2012, 4:59AM GMT. To qualify for the play period you must have formerly had an active subscription. Really it’s an ingenious idea. BioWare has the opportunity to offer some free play time to gamers who…
Guardian Angel: 1.2 Updates
Now that patch 1.2 is out, we can start adjusting our Guardian Tank game play accordingly. This patch did not have a ton as far as Defense Guardians go, but it changed enough for us to re-examine a few elements in the Guardian’s build. Defense Guardian Changes: Guardian slash was the ability affected the most by this recent patch. Command took a nerf, which now makes it a worthless talent in PvE, and the tree as a whole got slimmed down. It now takes less skill points put into the Defense tree to get all of the relevant tank skills. Master Strike also received a buff in both damage and channel-ability. The attack can no longer be interrupted. This makes it more relevant in the Tank Guardian’s priority line, since more damage means more threat. Master Focus also adds to Master Strike damage and Single Saber Mastery now works in…
1.2.0b Patch Notes 4/17/2012
BioWare are using today’s server maintenance to push a small patch. They fixed the codex entry for the World Event and fixed the errors on the Tionese/Centurion gear which had Defense Rating stats on DPS/Healer gear. General An issue that prevented players from receiving the final Codex entry for the event has been corrected. Players that previously defeated Urtagh but did not receive the Codex entry and associated title will need to defeat the boss again in order to obtain it. Items Tionese and Centurion gear have had their stats corrected to pre-update 1.2 values.
TOR TV: Sexy and I Know It
When ever I see big strong men dancing in SWTOR, I always think of Khalirei’s video: “SWTOR Episode I – A New Meme“. The bounty hunter in the video still cracks me up 🙂 Khalirei isn’t the only one who likes the “big strong muscle man fantasy”. Here is something sexy from Night45Fox.
The Guild sphere: Errant Venture
Today I had the chance to speak with Zainitopia from the republic guild Errant Venture. Errant venture plays on the server Space Slug and is an all purpose republic guild, from the hardcore to the casual, being both accomplished in raiding and pvp. With over 100 members, we focus heavily in all aspects of gameplay – leveling(alts), warzones, flashpoints (hardmode), and of course raiding! Essentially they are looking to recruit raiders for patch 1.2. they used to have 3 x 8 mans running and actually got a server first kill on SOA NiM as well. Since then they have had to scale back to 1 group and have been raiding every week since. They are a casual group that loves to raid (only 2 nights). At one point they were very well respected in PVP as well. Although the emphasis for recruiting is for raiding, they take all gameplays into the guild, whether that…
SWTOR World Events are Happening: Rakghoul Plague
As if we hadn’t all had enough of the Rakghouls leveling up, a new secret event is here with game update 1.2- The Rakghoul plague, which BioWare invented for the original Knights of the Old Republic is somewhat like a zombie apocalypse in a Star Wars world. Becoming infected can happen with a simple scratch and it will turn you into a hungry, hulking monster of a being. Trust me, you don’t want to be a Rakghoul. The Rakghoul plague has been a part of the SWTOR for some time now but this world event (the first of many to come) puts a new twist on it. There is a event going on right now, with UGTAH – (Infected by Rakghoul virus) level 50 world boss wandering the Outlaws Den. Just north of the Republic outpost in the Dune Sea on Tatooine you will find a crashed ship that is…
TOR TV: Goodbye Azeroth (I’m Gonna Be A Sith Lord)
This video is fairly old and for some reason it slept under our radar. This song is for anyone who has grinded their life away in WoW and now does the same in SWTOR 😉 Check out the lyrics below the video. I can’t fight in the Ruins of LordaeranI’m preparing for the day we blow up AlderaanBlow up Alderaan. My days are over as a spellcasterIt’s time for us to strike and kill the Jedi MastersJedi Masters Because I know I’m going to the Dark Side…. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, AzerothI’m gonna sleep inside my tauntaun on Hoth.Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye to the HordeI’m gonna be a Sith Lord… If I ever wanna be like Darth Vader,I’ll have to slaughter villages of Tusken RaidersTusken Raiders So I won’t have time to fish in DalaranI’ll be attending the academy on KorribanOn Korriban Because I know I’m going to the…
