Interview with Bioware’s Richard Vogel

Check out this Star Wars: The Old Republic interview from Bioware’s Co-GM Richard Vogel. Please excuse the bad audio. Transcript: I am Richard Vogel and I am the co-GM at Bioware-Austin. Basically this story, umm, takes place 300 years after the original KotOR, which is what it’s based on. Uh, Knights of the Old Republic. And, uh, 2700 years before the movies. So gives us a lot of leeway to a lot of stuff we couldn’t do if we were near the movies. So, there are a lot of Jedi, for instance, in our game. But as far as classes go, we announced the Bounty Hunter, and we announced the Trooper, and we announced the Smuggler. We have been developing for about three years. We’re, uh, not ready, still not ready to release yet. We have a ways to go. Well, basically what we did is, we did, uh, we…

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The Return of the Mandalorians

The Keeper of the Jedi Archives has entered a new holorecord. Continuing his investigation, Master Gnost-Dural delves deeper into the history of the galaxy after discovering that the blockade that Hylo Visz helped end was a result of the actions of the new Mandalore. BTC 8 – During a Republic resurgence in the Great War, a bold young warrior rose to fame in the Gladiatorial arenas on Geonosis. Adopting the ancient and infamous title of Mandalore, this young leader amassed an army of Mandalorian mercenaries and bounty hunters. The new Mandalore led his forces to form a blockade and challenge the Jedi Order, effectively turning the tide of the war back in the Sith Empire’s favor. Watch the third Timeline holorecord, The Return of the Mandalorians, narrated by actor Lance Henriksen.

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STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ E3 Highlights

Star Wars: The Old Republic (TOR) kicked off at E3 with the help of the local 501st Legion. Championed by costumed Jedi and Sith from the Old Republic era, Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., and Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts, revealed the first TOR cinematic trailer, “Deceived”, at the 2009 EA Press conference. At the TOR booth, the team took E3ers through the first live demo featuring a closer look at the game’s newly revealed class, the Smuggler, as well as the combat, flashpoint, cover, and multiplayer dialogue systems. Highlighted features from the demo: TOR will be the first fully voiced MMO – Every playable character (male and female) and every non-playable character in the game will be brought to life by voice actors – resulting in several thousand speaking roles and hundreds of thousands of recorded lines…

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Star Wars The Old Republic Ingame Gameplay Footage + what we know so far

Info General: * Only being released for PC, no consoles * Seems that the Game has PvE Mode and a PvP Mode – SifiWire * Graphics are great and smooth – Mentioned in Multiple Reviews * The interface seems standardised. Hot keys on a UI Bar. – 1UP * The Majority of the Game can be done without Any help from anyone else – StarWarsMMO Demo * Space Experience will be in game, its still being worked on – Machinima * Subtitles for alien speech. – EuroGamer * BioWare is currently indicating that it will be unwilling to let players skip or read dialogue scenes- EuroGamer * The UI Can be customised!- StarWarsMMO * Naming Filters include not being able to have numbers, special characters or Star Wars names – StarWarsMMO Demo * Full Voice overs for all NPC, Companions and some extent our characters (There is a mention in…

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Star Wars The Old Republic Timeline #1 The Treaty of Coruscant

The Treaty of Coruscant marked the end of the Great Galactic War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. The two factions met on Alderaan to discuss the terms of peace, while the treacherous Sith launched a simultaneous attack against the Republic on their home world of Coruscant. The sacking and occupation of Coruscant allowed the Empire to force the Republic into a completely helpless position, leaving them no choice but to surrender to the Empire’s terms. The Republic gave up control of multiple star systems and trade routes to the Sith Empire and gained little to nothing in return. This treaty marked the beginning of a Cold War. Transcript Greetings. I am Master Gnost-Dural, keeper of the Jedi archives. The Jedi Council requests I perform a daunting task: to revise the order’s historical records in light of new revelations about the formation of the Sith Empire. Specifically, I am to trace the conflict between the Empire and the Republic,…

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SWTOR Trooper & Bounter Hunter Alpha Gameplay Footage

The story takes place in the Star Wars fictional universe shortly after the establishment of a tenuous peace between the re-emergent Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, 300 years after the events of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games and 3,500 years before the events in the Star Wars films. The Jedi, held responsible for the Sith‘s success, are forced to relocate from Coruscant to Tython, where the Jedi order was founded. The Sith control Korriban, where they re-established a Sith Academy. The game begins as new conflicts arise. A collaborative effort between Bioware, Lucasarts, and Dark Horse Comics has resulted in a webcomic entitled “Star Wars: The Old Republic: Threat of Peace” whose purpose is to set up the story as the game opens.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic cinematic trailer

The Sacking of Coruscant. It was the crowning achievement of the Sith Empires ambitious military strategy and the moment that changed the history of the Old Republic forever. You may have read about it before, but our first cinematic trailer captures this event with breathtaking action and beautiful detail. Republic leaders have traveled to Alderaan to engage in promised peace talks with the Sith Empire. The most powerful Jedi have accompanied them to safeguard against an Imperial deception. The Empires real motive, however, was simply to lure the Republics strongest defenders away from Coruscant and set the stage for an audacious attack. Under the command of Lord Angral, the Sith fleet approaches the Republics capital planet for the first time in centuries. In advance of the fleet, the strongest Sith Warriors have flown a stolen Republic ship into Coruscants orbit. Their mission is critical to destroy the planets defense grid…

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Video – Diverse Worlds

Majestic forests, toxic swamplands, desert landscapes, and hazardous war zones the worlds that make up the Star Wars™ universe are unique and enriched with compelling storylines. Watch Developer Dispatch: Diverse Worlds and go behind the scenes to find out how the developers are bringing the worlds of Tython, Korriban, Hutta, and Ord Mantell to life a few of the many playable worlds in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

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SW:TOR – Latest Webcomic and Some Video Lore

I’ve never been big on comics (bad geek, I know. Please don’t hurt me!) but the Star Wars fan in me cannot help but follow the SWTOR web comic. If you haven’t seen it before, I urge you to check it out and catch up! They just put up the 3rd installment. And because BioWare loves me and wants me to fall madly in love with them, they also have put up what very well could be the best bit of lore ever. Perhaps it’s the fangirl in me, but I got chills. All MMOG lore needs to be presented in this way. Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is set during a unique time period in the galaxy’s history. Decades of war concluded with the Sith Empire sacking the Republic’s capital planet, Coruscant, and forcing Republic Senators and the Jedi Council to agree to a painful peace treaty. In the…

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Faction lore: Mandalorian

The Mandalorians (called Mando’ade in Mando’a, meaning “children of Mandalore”) were a warlike, nomadic group of clan-based people consisting of members from multiple species. Often, they served as mercenaries and bounty hunters. Their culture revolved around that of battle and war being a source of honor and pride in their community. The leader of the Mandalorians typically took on the title of “Mandalore.” Mandalorians were frequently allied with the Sith, most notably Exar Kun and much later as a prototype for the Clone trooper under the power of Darth Sidious and the Galactic Republic, though they would not hesitate to cooperate with the Jedi if it suited them. In later years Mandalorian Warriors wore very distinctive battle helmets with T-shaped visors that covered the entirety of their faces, which would provide inspiration for the helmets of the clone troopers. These helmets would eventually become strongly associated with the Mandalorian people….

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Kotor: Sleheyron Demo Mod

This mod is being developed by Sithspecter, Dan Loto and Marius Fett. This is just the demo they have released to let the public know that it isn’t a dead project. I just walked around the only module they released in this demo and talked to a few guys so you would know what the demo is like. Looking forward to the completed project. If you’re new to this project and feel lost Sleheyron is a planet that was cut from the first KOTOR game that is being restored. To find out more information, visit the official thread at Holowan Labs: http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=186244 Want to keep up whats going on? make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

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Bioware is Hiring

New from the Bioware forums: Come work at BioWare! 2 New Positions Open! We’re looking for a Senior Web Developer and Web Designer here at BioWare Austin. Do you fit these job descriptions or know someone who does? Applications and resumes can be submitted through the BioWare Austin Careers Page . BioWare offers competitive salaries and medical benefits, as well as relocation assistance. All applicants must be willing to relocate to the location of the respective studio.

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Know your lore: Revan

“You will have gone from being the Sith Lord himself, to the savior of our galaxy.” ―Bastila Shan — Revan was a Jedi Knight and General during the Mandalorian Wars. A Human male once known by the nickname the Revanchist, he was both a charismatic and enigmatic leader, a renowned tactician and expert strategist, and a hero of the Galactic Republic during the Mandalorian Wars, leading the Republic fleets to victory after victory. Ending the conflict personally, with the execution of Mandalore the Ultimate and the destruction of Malachor V, Revan led the remains of the Republic fleet deep into the Unknown Regions to hunt down the remaining Mandalorians. He returned however, as Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith. Deploying his vast armada, the very ships that had fought alongside him during the Mandalorian Wars, against the Republic fleet, Revan ignited the Jedi Civil War. Revan and his…

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The Old Republic – And Revan…

The new Starwars MMO: The Old Republic has been officialy announced and so exciting many KOTOR fans… But does the game also answers our questions on Revan? Will we ever see him again? Will we ever know what happened to him? This video is, according to me, one of finest fan movies on youtube! Want to keep up whats going on? make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed! or follow us on Twitter

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Full Star Wars Timeline

Can be found here: Star Wars Expanded Universe Timeline If you are a fan of the modern phenomenon that is the Star Wars Expanded Universe, you know that many have attempted to make sense of the vast media palette that represents the fictitious history of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Hundreds of stories by nearly as many authors now color (some might say litter) the canvas of Star Wars outside the films. And if you are like me, you discovered fairly early on that it would take some effort to make sense of the whole mess. I’ve looked in a few places and think this is the most comprehensive out there right now. He did say that he is adding quite a bit more later this year.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Focuses on the Player, Says BioWare

The MMORPG genre is a pretty big one, but one of the most popular themes that appear on this market is the space one. Although EVE Online is currently the most popular space-themed game, a lot of other titles are beginning to show promise and will certainly make this genre very popular. One of the most ambitious projects is the Star Wars: The Old Republic title, which is currently being developed by Electronic Arts’ BioWare studio, makers of the original RPG series Knights of the Old Republic, and LucasArts, the owners of the Star Wars IP (Intellectual Property). Even though fans are eagerly anticipating any tidbit of information, the developers haven’t really made any big statements, only saying that it will dominate the space-themed MMORPG genre, and that it will make a big dent in the World of Warcraft user base. However, Greg Zeschuk, one of the co-founders of the…

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Know your Lore: HK-47

HK-47 was a Hunter-Killer assassin droid and Jedi hunter constructed by Revan towards the end of the Mandalorian Wars to kill those who Revan believed would destabilize the galaxy. Revan gave up the droid shortly before his redemption, and HK-47 went from owner to owner, many of whom he slew himself, before being unwittingly reunited with his master. The droid went on to help Revan destroy the Star Forge. Later, HK-47 was damaged, and his schematics were stolen by the droid G0-T0 to produce HK-50 units. Five years later, the Jedi Exile repaired HK-47, who went on to defeat G0-T0 with help from HK-50 droids he persuaded to join the Exile. Four millennia later, HK-47 was found on the planet Mustafar and given a new body. HK-47 turned on those that had created it for him, who were forced to disable HK-47’s new droid army and the factory producing them….

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TOR Lore: The Jedi Order

The Jedi have been the noble peacekeepers and diplomats for the Galactic Republic for 22,000 years. While law-abiding citizens look to the Jedi with respect and inspiration, the Galactic Republic’s enemies regard the Jedi with suspicion, fear, and anger. The success of the Sith Empire’s military campaign during the Great War saw the deaths of thousands of Jedi. During the sacking of Coruscant, six Masters of the Jedi Council were killed, and in the time since, the Sith have started their own recruitment campaign to seek out Force-sensitive children around the galaxy. These catastrophes have damaged the Galactic Republic’s faith in its legendary protectors, but they are far from defeated. Overwhelmed but fearless, the Jedi have returned to their ancient homeworld of Tython, recommitting to their timeless principles and looking to the future, hoping to restore balance to the Force and peace and justice to the galaxy. Despite their intentions,…

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TOR Lore: The Galactic Republic

For more than twenty thousand years, the Galactic Republic has been the most civilized and advanced power in the known galaxy. Governed by the Galactic Senate with representatives from hundreds of star systems and planets, the Republic has been the center of peace and progress, a bright beacon in the darkness of outer space. The revered Jedi Order has sworn itself to defend the Republic, to battle the darkness, and to bring peace and balance to the greater galaxy. The Jedi have served for millennia in this capacity, and in that time they have earned themselves the admiration of their allies, and the hatred of their enemies. Less than a century ago, the greatest of those enemies returned… The onslaught of the Sith Empire caught the Republic and the Jedi completely by surprise, and during a long and arduous war, the Republic was broken. After the capital planet of Coruscant…

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The Sith Empire

The true origins of the Sith remain shrouded in mystery. The Sith race was, in fact, largely unimportant until three thousand years ago, when Dark Jedi exiles arrived on Korriban and subjugated the Sith beneath their rule and their philosophy. As the years passed, the Dark Jedi intermarried with those they ruled, and within generations, the word “Sith” took on new meaning. This powerful new civilization began expanding rapidly, led by a growing population of ambitious dark Force-users. Fifteen hundred years ago, the Sith civilization’s boundaries reached the Republic, and the Great Hyperspace War began. Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow led his armies in an aggressive campaign to destroy the Galactic Republic. Though the Sith were successful at first, the Jedi Order rallied back to defeat their dark counterparts, systematically destroying the Sith civilization on Korriban. Unbeknownst to the Jedi however, the last Emperor of the Sith managed…

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