BioWare announced via their facebook page this morning, that they are going on a road trip called Community Cantina Tour. The first meet and greet event will happen on Thursday, October 11th, 2012 in New York City. Check out the whole annoncement below Today we’re very excited to announce the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community Cantina Tour! Starting with New York Comic Con, we’re going to embark on a series of Star Wars: The Old Republic Community meet & greets so that fans will get the opportunity to interact with our community team and developers! Before each meet & greet, we’ll be sure to publish a blog with detailed information so that you don’t miss out on complimentary drinks & food, a highly coveted code for an in-game Tauntaun Fawn, giveaways, and more!* After each event, we’ll be publishing a meet & greet summary blog so that those of you that aren’t able to attend will…
TOR TV: How to gear an alt fast
Youtube heltidsluffare made an interesting video showing how he geared his latest alt in SWTOR. The same day as he got level 50 he was fully geared to do anything. Personally I can definitely foresee some people really appreciating this video. However… 1.4 made his weapon choice much easier! You can use the ranked warzone commendations to get a war hero lightsaber immediately at 50 instead of down-ranking them to buy the battlemaster lightsaber. You get a better product, and you pay less. I know you made your plans before the patch, but it is such a significant change that players today need to be aware of. Still a great watch. Check it out below:
1.4.0b Patch Notes
BioWare is back to a normally schedule with maintenance each Tuesday . Servers are now back up, and below are the Patch notes. Looking at all the known issues with game update 1.4 I must say I had expected a bigger update this time., but I guss little is better then nothing. Check out the path notes below: 1.4.0b Patch Notes 10/2/2012 General Improved performance for players using NVIDIA graphics cards in an SLI configuration. (Please use the default SLI setting or AFR2, as AFR1 will result in poor performance with SWTOR.) Corrected an issue that could prevent players from exiting their personal starship after completing Group Finder content.
Wife Makes Husband Cool SWTOR Phone Cover
Do you want to show your love of SWTOR outside the game? There are many options for flair these days, including great SWTOR t-shirts and accessories. But one woman make a very unique SWTOR phone cover for her husband and he took to the Internet to show it off. It’s basically a vinyl sticker which means it is also removable and you could make (or purchase) different designs and switch them out when you need something new. She used an electronic craft cutting machine. Then she copied an image of the symbol into the software and traced it, then cut it out of vinyl. It only takes a few minutes and then you’re ready to apply to the phone. So what do you think of it? Pretty cool design and simple idea? Would you try one yourself or would you use one if you could buy it?
TOR TV: Lore of The Old Republic Part 2: The Planet of Coruscant
TeamTargran is back with a new video covering the lore of Star Wars The Old Republic. This time they continue with the story of Coruscant. SWTOR is a vast story-driven MMO, but did you ever wonder how much lore there actually was in the game? Did you ever wonder, but was too busy to read about it? We are here to help you. We are going to explain basics of lore to you in form of short videos, which you can watch and listen to rather than spend hours reading through the internet. For our first episode we shall we talking about The Sacking of Coruscant, which is marked as the starting point for this MMO. If you have any requests for future videos, let us know in the comments section below.
Did Doctors Leave BioWare over Mass Effect Fan Negativity?
It was big news for BioWare when the founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk announced they would both be leaving the company for good, and to pursue other avenues in life. However, as we said when we first brought you the story, it seemed like there may be more to it than that. David Lynch for Now Gamer writes about some reasons why the doctors may have actually left BioWare. After speaking with Ex-BioWare co-founder and Baldur’s Gate developer, Trent Oster they obtained some information that might indicate there is more behind the doctors’ departures. “The last time I met up with [Greg], I felt his exhaustion,” explained Oster. “Punch out, eject, get the hell out”, was my suggestions to him and it hit closer to the mark than I had realised. I also think the Mass Effect 3 fan reaction and the Old Republic fans negativity was just too…
Known Issues: Game Update 1.4
If you’ve been playing SWTOR after 1.4, then you already know there are some bugs and issues. Well, BioWare staff are aware of them as well. This is to be expected any time a large new game update comes out but if you’re wondering whether or not you should report a problem or if it is already a known bug, they released a thread today to help you. Here are the known bugs and issues in Game update 1.4 from Amber Green: Hello everyone! We appreciate you joining us to play Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, and we hope you enjoy the game. As MMORPGs are large and complex projects, inevitably we do discover issues that may affect gameplay. We’re working constantly to fix anything that will affect the player experience, but for now this is our current list of high priority in-game known issues. Please note that this is not…
Star Wars: The old republic Encyclopedia trailer
The SWTOR Encyclopedia we have talked about so much in the past, has now got it’s own trailer video. The Cover Art of this book was revealed back in june, and DK Publishing has published illustrations from the book a few times also. Fist time we wrote about it was back in june were we posted these pictures, and less then a month ago we posted these. Several of the writers who have worked on the game, are also credited as authors of the book, Including Hall Hood, Joanna Berry, Charles Boyd, Ian Ryan, and James B. Jones. Anyways. The Encyclopedia should be interesting. Check out the trailer below: The book is to be released on October 12, 2012.
TOR TV: Lore of SWTOR: The Sacking of Coruscant
Star Wars: The Old Republic is a vast story-driven MMO, but did you ever wonder how much lore there actually was in the game? Did you ever wonder, but was too busy to read about it? TeamTargran are here to help you. They are going to explain basics of lore to you in form of short videos, which you can watch and listen to rather than spend hours reading through the internet. In this first episode they are talking about The Sacking of Coruscant, which is marked as the starting point for this MMO
Game Update 1.4: Terror from Beyond developer blog and launch trailer
With all the excitement around game update 1.4 , we forgot to update you about a new Developer Blog by James Ohlen and a new laucnhed trailer for Terror From Beyond just released. In the Developer Blog James Ohlen writesabout the release schedule for new content going forward for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This Game Update is also the start of a new release cadence. Our strategy so far has been to release big updates every few months. But this leaves long periods of time where you, our fans, don’t have anything new. So we’re moving to a model where we release Game Updates on a much more regular cadence. Our initial aim is for something as close to every six weeks as we can get. I’d promise an exact schedule, but in a live game we need some flexibility as the stability of the service trumps the release of an…
Game Update 1.4: Terror From Beyond patch notes
The highly awaited Patch 1.4 Available for Download! Just opened your launcher and start downloading the patch. Seems to be around 850 mb. Below are the patch notes: Highlights Terror from Beyond, a new Operation, is now available! Travel to the remote planet of Asation, where the Dread Masters have commandeered an ancient Gree Hypergate in order to unleash untold horrors upon the galaxy. Terror from Beyond features 5 powerful new boss encounters that can be challenged in 8- and 16- player Story or Hard Mode, offering some of the most challenging group content yet! A new set of PvE gear is available! Dread Guard gear is now the most powerful PvE equipment in the galaxy. It can be acquired from deep within Terror from Beyond (Hard Mode). Significant changes have been made to crowd control to address the amount of control a player can be subject to at once. See the…
SWTOR Game Update 1.4 is Coming!
The time is almost here. Everyone has been waiting and waiting for SWTOR game update 1.4. Now the time is nearly here. The servers are going to be down for around six hours but the good news is there will be something great coming after those hours have passed. This means 1.4 is finally coming and with such a big update, it’s going to take a few hours to get the content loaded and ready to go. And of course, expect that you will see some bugs and problems from the first day or so that the new content is up. But let’s see more than BioWare has to say about it and the downtime. BioWare has this update to offer tonight: Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for six hours on Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 from 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM…
Corellian Defender with Satele Shan, Qyzen Fess, & C2-N2
How would you like to see this as a new Lego product? It’s the Corellian Defender with Satele Shan, Qyzen Fess, & C2-N2 and this guy has a project up for funding. If they get $10k in support, it could get produced by Lego. So far there are over 500 supporters and nearly 20,000 views. If you like the project, help out by donating and/or by sharing the page for more SWTOR and Lego fans to see it. Here is some info about the Lego set from the project description: This is the Jedi vessel from the game Star Wars: The Old Republic. Satele is a character from The Old Republic. Based on her use of the Double-bladed lightsabre her class is likely Jedi Consular. She already exists as a Lego Minifig. C2-N2 is a support droid that resides on the Corellian Defender. Qyzen Fess is a Trandoshan and is…
Drew Karpyshyn’s The Old Republic: Revan in paperback out today
If you haven’t already got a copy of Drew Karpyshyn’s Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan, now might be our chance. Randomhouse just released Revan as paperback for a price of $7.99. You can order the book directly from Random house. We have previously wrote about this book, and you can read an interview with Drew Karpyshyn about the book here or read an excerpt from the book here, any way I recommend you to check it out, if you are into reading or Star Wars Lore. Excerpt: Hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior—the man called Revan has been all of these. He left Coruscant a Jedi, on a mission to defeat the Mandalorians. He returned a Sith disciple, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was the loss of his memories. All that’s left are nightmares—and deep, abiding fear. What happened…
No Maintenance today
Normally we are used to Tuesday scheduled maintenance, but today is different. Community Manager Joveth Golzalez did a Twitter update to announce the lack of a scheduled maintenance: TheCantinaBand asked if this meant that game update 1.4 was near by, and Mr. Gonzalez responded with, “keep an eye on the swtor.com website!” We will keep you update if any news on patch 1.4 emerge.
SWTOR Livestream Q&A Transcript and Video
Are you looking to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes at SWTOR and what is coming up with the new Game Update 1.4 then you need to check out the SWTOR Livestream Q&A with Community Manager Joveth Gonzalez, Senior Producer Blaine Christine and Senior Designer George took place on September 21 – 4 to 4:30 PM CST. If you missed it, there is now a video and a transcript up to help you catch up. There’s no mention of dual-spec, something a lot of people have been asking a lot about but they do cover a great deal of information about operations, 1.4, free to play, PvP and much more. You can see the video yourself here: If you would rather read than see the video, Dulfy has a full transcript available as well. Here’s part of it. To see the transcript in full, visit Dulfy’s site….
Interviews from the SWTORspere
With Game Update 1.4 on the way, we are seeing more information coming out about the new features, free to play model and other changes happening within SWTOR and the community. One of the highlights of this information is the great interviews that usually come out from BioWare staff. This is our chance to learn more about what’s really going on and sometimes, to get the very questions we want asked, asked. We have a nice roundup this week of interviews with Gabe Amantangelo, Joveth Gonzalez and Lead System Designer, Damion Schubert. Chris and Anexxia interview SWTOR Community Manager Joveth Gonzalez and get the scoop on what his first few months on the job have been like, find out what his team has in store for us over the next couple of months as we lead up to the launch of the free-to-play option and more. You can listen to…
All the SWTOR Classes in Legos
What’s better than Legos? How about all of the SWTOR classes in Lego? User dfsniper uploaded these great pictures of the SWTOR classes in Legos. There are four images in all to give you a better look and if you want to see them large and up close, head over to the original posting here. I’ve always been a Lego fan and so are all of my kids. My sons have huge full sets of Halo Mega Blocks, Star Wars Legos and more. What we do not have a lot of yet are the SWTOR Legos but I’m looking into fixing that very soon. While the kids get a lot of fun out of playing with them, they also make great collector’s pieces for adult collectors. Do you think the Lego versions look anything like the real versions? Do you consider these toys or collector’s pieces? And here they are from…
The BioWare Doctors Leave BioWare- What Does this Really Mean?
We brought you the news this week that the doctors, co-founders Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are actually leaving BioWare. The company has brought us some of the greatest names in video games and losing the doctors will definitely be a blow to BioWare. Analysts that GamesIndustry International spoke with appeared to have mixed feelings on how this will affect the company. “Yes, it’s a blow to EA,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told GamesIndustry. “The company hasn’t created many hugely successful new IPs outside of what we’ve seen from BioWare and DICE, with Dead Space probably the sole exception. These two were instrumental in creating Mass Effect, Dragon Age and SWTOR, and I think that talent like theirs is hard to find.”” Colin Sebastian of RW Baird agrees that it’s tough for EA to deal with the loss of the BioWare founders but adds, “It’s clearly a loss to…
Quality of Life Improvements in Game Update 1.4
With Game Update 1.4 on the way, many people have questions about how the game will change. BioWare has released some more information about specific changes coming in 1.4, this time, talking about things that will improve the quality of life in the game. On top of the major features the staff does to give the fans a fun gaming experience, they also try to work in the smaller features that really make a player want to stay with the game. These small improvements can greatly improve the quality of life for the players, which of course, makes players want to stay with the game (and refer it to friends). Here’s some of what the SWTOR blog had to say about these quality of life improvements coming soon: On top of the major features that we work on and deliver to the fans, we also try to work in smaller…
Irish BioWare Support Center for SWTOR Converting to General EA Use
The BioWare facility that was just built last year in Galway, Ireland to be a support center for SWTOR is now expanding and will become the home to EA’s European customer service needs. Basically this means that it will be general EA use and not strictly SWTOR support. They will offer support from this facility to all of EA’s major titles. They have dropped the BioWare Ireland name and will be hiring more than 300 new employees over the course of the next few months. The Irish Government looks at this as a good opportunity for job growth and is supportive of the expansion and what video games can do for their economy and job force.
Bioware Hiring Temp Testers for SWTOR F2P Model
If you live in or around Austin like me then you probably already know that there are often opportunities for testing with BioWare. Well, here is a fun opportunity for SWTOR fans. They are seeking temporary usability testers for the free to play model of SWTOR. You can see the original call here and apply if interested. Career Opportunities: Usability Testers (10832) The BioWare Label is a division of EA which crafts high quality multiplatform role-playing, MMO, social, play-for-free and strategy games, focused on emotionally engaging, rich stories with unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world’s most critically acclaimed titles and franchises, including Baldur’s Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™, Mass Effect™ and Dragon Age™. BioWare currently operates in eight locations across the world, including Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec, Canada), Austin (Texas), Fairfax (Virginia),…
TOR TV: New patch 1.4 Emotes (male and female)
Emotes are a big part of MMORPG’s. It makes your character feel more alive. F2P is gonna be like a new launch. SOME new content, Lots and lots of polish. Already seeing this with shadow optimization, facial expressions and not emotes. Cant wait for armor dyes! Nov-December will be glorious! I really like the new set of emotes, how many other MMORPG’s have they actually implemented a “mood” feature for your character? None that I can recall at least, and that is excactly what the new emotes is about, setting up a mood for your character which can be changed at any time. The new emotes (emoticons) that will come in swtor patch 1.4.0 – Male 00:07Female 02:08 – Theese emotes are based on various moods. Here you will see all of them for both female and male. The moods you will find is the following: Neutral, Alarmed, Annyoed, Astounded, Awed, Cheery, Dejected, Depressed,…
Bioware Executive Producer Jeff Hickman on SWTOR’s upcoming move to F2P
The team over at Zam spoke to BioWare’s Executive Producer for Live Services about introducing a free-to-play option, future updates and the impact of Hero Engine. In this interview, they talk about the upcoming f2p model for the game as well as how they will be attracting new players to the game with a premium experience. They talk new updates, additional content brought to the game and more. It’s a good read while we await these changes. Here’s a snippet: I started off by asking about where the idea for SWTOR’s free-to-play option came from, and what influenced the team in deciding to offer it alongside the existing subscription. Hickman explained that, while they’ve been aware of what other MMOs were doing, it was player feedback that encouraged them to choose this route. “We knew that there were other models out there, and they’ve been successful, and it’s kind of been…