Dulfy had the opportunity to interview Lead Designer Damion Schubert regarding the F2P option launching yesterday. Dulfy was good enough to take questions from the readers of her blog. reading through the interview I found some of the most interesting key points to be: Armor dyes seems to be in the pipeline No new items to the VIP/Collectors Edition vendors Cathar race will be by purchase only Returning events (i.e. sell your rakghoul items now before the word gets out) Check out the full interview over at dulfu.net or read our small snippet below: What was the biggest challenge in converting such a massive MMO into a FTP model? It would have to be giving away as much as humanly possible to our free to play players, while still ensuring that our subscribers felt like they were getting a great value. Both populations of players are a key component to Star Wars: The Old Republic’s path forward,…
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Annihilation reviews
Not sure about getting the new Star Wars: The Old Republic book by Drew Karpyshyn yet? Well this might help you out. We have collected all the book reviews we could find around the net, so you could make a decision. Personally I found the book to be awesome, but don’t take my word for it. Check out the reviews below: Eucantina: Overall, Annihilation is an extremely fun adventure filled with some humor (like a certain character’s landing on Coruscant) and nods to the films (“I owe you one.” “The Jedi don’t keep track of such things.”). I highly recommend checking it out, even if you’re not familiar with the era. Just watch out for those video game spoilers. and gives the book 4,5 out of 5. starwarsreport.com: Surprisingly I really liked this book. I haven’t been following the Old Republic Era in the books and I have not gotten into the MMO so I didn’t…
Known Issues in Game Update 1.5 and Maintenance later today.
As it often happens after a new patch, BioWare will take down the servers for an unscheduled maintenance window starting at 2AM CDT. The team also made a forum post regarding issues that they are currently investigating. Edit: Servers are now back up. Here are the patch notes: 1.5.0a Patch Notes 11/16/2012 General The first level of Legacy experience boosts no longer grant more experience than intended. Resolved an issue that could allow consumables to not be consumed as intended. ———————- Below is a coopy/paste of all the issues. You can also follow it over at the official forums here. 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…
Data Mined Chapter 4: Rise of the Hutt Cartel + Data Dump Info
SWTOR Spy found a very interesting item when looking at all the items that you can buy in the Cartel Market (cash shop that is getting introduced with the free to play option for SWTOR): Chapter 4: Rise of the Hutt Cartel Binds On Equip Grants all characters on your account access to “Chapter 4: Rise of the Hutt Cartel”” Applies the selected unlock to your Player Character or to your Account. While we are absolutely not sure what this means, the crew at SWTOR Spy has a theory: In our opinion, this means that the next content patch will bring the fourth chapter in our character’s story and it will be called Rise of the Hutt Cartel. For those of us closely following Star Wars: The Old Republic this comes as no surprise. During our interview at Gamescom 2012 we were told by both Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer of SWTOR…
Game Update 1.5: HK-51 Activated 11/15/2012
Servers are up after a long looooong maintenance, but finally patch 1.5 is here. Can’t buy cartel coins yet, though. Currently points to http://buy.swtor.com/us/, which currently only has copies of the game for sale. Below are the patch notes: Highlights Free-to-Play is here! Players can now experience Star Wars: The Old Republic up to level 50 (with certain restrictions) without paying a subscription fee. The Cartel Market is now accessible. Players can use Cartel Coins to purchase boosts, unlocks, cosmetic items, and more! Travel to Section X on Belsavis and learn why the nefarious Dread Guard has seized control of this ravaged area of the planet! Section X can be accessed on Belsavis and via the daily mission shuttles. HK-51 can now be acquired as a Companion Character! A shipment of the infamous Assassin Droids can be found in the wreck of an Imperial transport ship, The Fatality, in Section X. Reactivating HK-51 requires finding…
SWTOR Developer Blog: Section X and HK-51 Missions in Game Update 1.5
While fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of SWTOR free-to-play, the developers have been hard at work behind the scenes preparing the content for the new Game Update 1.5. In today’s developer blog, they go into more detail for us, explaining to two main portions of the game update: Section X and HK-51 missions. They also share some info about storylines and what we can expect with the new game content. Be Warned: There are also spoilers about certain in-game storylines but you can avoid this because you have to be logged into the site to see them. Game Update 1.5 returns us to the story unfolding on Belsavis. Here is a snippet from the dev blog about Section X: Section X introduces a new set of daily repeatable missions for both Imperial and Republic players, including two new Heroics. These missions offer more rewards than any previous daily…
SWTOR Goes Free to Play November 15th!
The time has finally arrived- time for SWTOR to go free to play. Tomorrow is the big day and those who have been waiting for the F2P options to return to the game or to check it out for the first time will not have to wait any longer. While we await the free to play model of the game, the developers have been busy ramping things up for the new update- 1.5. This isn’t just a game switch to free to play; they also have new content, new zones and missions and loads more story. So if you’re just now getting into the game, there’s no better time. To try SWTOR for yourself for free, just visit the official website: SWTOR.com They currently have free to play preview videos, news and updates, info about game update 1.5 and information about cartel coins and what is being awarded to those…
Maintenance November 15 : Game Update 1.5
As we announced last week, Game Update 1.5 will launch on November 15, 2015 ( Tomorrow!). We dide’nt know the schedule for the release, but yesterday BioWare announced the maintenance window for the patch deployment, and this is going to be a long one guys. check out the full announcement on the official forums, or our copy/paste below: BioWare Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for twelve hours on Thursday, November 15th, 2012 from 12AM CST (10PM PST/1AM EST/6AM GMT/7AM CET/5PM AEDT) until 12PM CST (10AM PST/1PM EST/6PM GMT/7PM CST/5AM AEDT). All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than twelve hours, but could be extended. Explore Section X, a brand new area on the prison world of Belsavis, where you will not only embark on a galaxy-wide…
The Old Republic Annihilation Releases Today!
The time has finally arrived and The Old Republic Annihilation is released today! We’ve been bringing you the updates as we waiting, unsure of the exact date for the book release but knowing it was coming soon. Now that day has finally arrived. Drew Karpyshyn himself tells us a little about this story and why he is excited for its release: I’m very excited for Annihilation to come out, because it’s a bit of a different take on the Star Wars universe for me. For startes, Theron Shan – the main character – isn’t a Jedi or a Sith. That’s a pretty big change from characters like Bane and Revan, who are in large part defined by their relationship with the awesome power of the Force. But Annihilation also has a different feel than some of my previous novels. The Publisher’s synopsis of Annihilation tells us more about the general story: “”The Sith Empire…
SWTOR Free-to-Play: 6 Reasons You Should Try It
SWTOR free-to-play is coming in just two more days on November 15th. If you have always wanted to play the game, now is the perfect time. If you played in the beta or even tried it when it first came out and quit, there are some very compelling reasons why you should consider trying it again now that it’s free to play. Let’s take a look at 6 reasons you should try SWTOR: It’s Free- What better reason is there than “free”? There is nothing to risk in a free game. How can you be sure you get more than you pay for? Play a free game, of course. There will be subscription options for those who want to upgrade and getting something more from the game. Great value for a free game- Okay, free is cool but let’s face it; we all know that you get what you pay…
Spike TVs Ink Master – Star Wars Forever episode
Today Tuesday, November 13 at 10 PM, ET/PT, nine remaining artists on Spike TV’s hit tattoo competition-reality series “Ink Master” will have to use their Jedi powers and feel the Force flowing thru them in a special “Star Wars” Forever episode. In this “Star Wars”-themed episode, the artists will be tested on their ability to use contrast in their designs, specifically the way they enhance dark and light areas and use opposing colors, forms and lines to make their tattoos bold. As always, “Ink Master” starts off with a fundamentals skill test called the Flash Challenge. In this week’s Flash Challenge, the artists must create a unique design using contrast on a Clone Trooper Helmet. All the finished helmets were displayed and auctioned off at “Star Wars” Celebration Six with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and as an added bonus, the winning Clone Trooper helmet was signed by…
“Star Wars Episode VII” Audition Tapes
Following up on Lisa’s Star Wars 7 Rumor Roundup from yesterday, Conan O’Brien has been running these Episode VII ‘audition tapes’ from various directors. Some of them are extremely hilarious, yet I would love to see how Lars Von trier would do a Star Wars movie. Kevin Smith: Woody Allen: Wes Anderson Michael Moore: Todd Philip and my favorite the Infamous horror director Tom Six, make of one of the most absurde movies ever The Human Centipede:
Star Wars 7 Rumor Roundup: Harrison Ford returning to Star Wars? … and much more
Everyone is talking about Star Wars: Episode 7, what it’s going to be about and who will play key roles in the new film in 2015. According to sources linked to the sequel, Harrison Ford is open to bringing Han Solo back to the big screen. Entertainment Weekly Inside Movies has more: “Harrison is open to the idea of doing the movie and he’s upbeat about it, all three of them are,” said one highly placed source, referring to Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher, the trio that made a hyper-speed jump to global fame on May 25, 1977, the opening night for George Lucas’s original Star Wars film. The actor, now 70, is plenty proud of Indy, Jack Ryan, John Book, and Dr. Richard Kimble but in the past he didn’t disguise his disdain for Solo. “As a character he was not so interesting to me,” the frosty Ford explained in…
Cartel Coin Reward Program Extended
BioWare announced that former subscribers coming back to Star Wars: The old republic to try thee Free To Play version of the game, have until December 20th to re subscribe and still obtain their Cartel Coin rewards! Check out the full announcement below: Today we are excited to announce that the global launch date of the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Free-to-Play option will be November 15, 2012. This release will be simultaneous across all of the territories and countries The Old Republic™ is available. If you’re a paying Subscriber at the launch of the Free-to-Play option on November 15th, you will be granted all of the Complimentary Cartel Coins currently listed on your Cartel Coin Ledger page, plus a one-time grant of 250 Complimentary Cartel Coins! Additionally, we are extending the Rewards Program! All former subscribers who reactivate their subscription by the new date of December 20, 2012 at…
BioWare Tweets SWTOR Free to Play Releases November 15
If you’ve been waiting for the set date for the new free to play model of SWTOR, it’s finally here. BioWare released a press conference call to major gaming outlets/ fansites yesterday and this morning, they officially tweeted the news about the date. Star Wars: The Old Republic Free-to-play option is coming November 15, the same time as Game Update 1.5! — Electronic Arts UK (@electronicarts) November 8, 2012 In addition to the news that Free to Play will officially be here next week on the 15th, we also know that it’s coming with the official launch of game update 1.5, which is set to be a huge turning point in the game with many new features and loads of new content. In this press conference call, BioWare revealed some great info about game changes and details. Christine and Producer Cory Butler discussed F2P and Update 1.5 with us yesterday. They explained…
“Should I Play SWTOR?” A Review after Ten Months
We’re not quite at the 1-year anniversary of SWTOR and there have been some major changes and additions to the game. While some will say SWTOR struggled after launch, others will say it’s actually a good thing to see a game grow so much in the first year. It shows the staff is willing to do what it takes to make a game the players enjoy. BioWare has asked for a lot of feedback from the players along the way and that feedback has gone into making the game what we see today. One major development that has come from these changes is the new free to play model. Personally, if someone asked me if they should play a game and it’s free to play, I would always recommend just trying it to see for yourself. You won’t risk anything- just invest a little of your time. But not everyone…
Developer Update: Free-to-Play Option by Damion Schubert
With Free-to-Play going live later this month, Lead Designer
Celebrating 4 Years of SWTOR Strategies
The big day is here again and we’re breaking out the confetti and party balloons and sharing some virtual cake with all of you- our loyal readers! SWTOR Strategies is celebrating 4 years on the Net today. Last year on this date, we were still looking at about 2 months for the launch of SWTOR. It’s amazing how far things have come in just one short year. Not only did the game launch with a bang, but we’re seen some very rocky roads since then. In the past 10 months, players have loved and hated SWTOR and now with the 1 year anniversary of launch on the way, the game is looking to go to a new free-to-play model which many fans are very excited about. This new F2P option may bring back a lot of players who left the game as well as draw in new players who weren’t…
Developer Dispatch: HK-51 Activated
BioWare have released a new Developer Dispatch regarding the upcoming contents that will be added to the game with update 1.5. In the video, Associate Designer Matt Pucevich and Senior Development Director Bruce Maclean talk about Explosive Conflict Nightmare Mode, the new Section X daily mission area, aswell as the new world boss + phat lewt. Check it out below: Check out the latest Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Developer Dispatch to get a first look at the story behind Game Update 1.5: HK-51 Activated. Watch as they discuss the dangerous missions that await you in the new Section X area on Belsavis. Discover how you can embark on a galaxy-spanning hunt for clues on how to unlock one of the most deadly Assassin Droids, the HK-51 Companion! Take a sneak peak at the final pieces of the Dread Guard gear set and see a rare new mount that your…
New Developer Blog: Jeff Hickman Discusses State of the Game
Executive Producer Jeff Hickman took the stage yesterday in a new developer blog titled: State of the Game. In this, and future blog posts he will be discussing concerns the community has with SWTOR. In this first blog he addresses issues such as the turning from a subscription based game to free to play model, aswell as staff leaving the company and bugs in game. Check out his full post on the official site or as a copy paste below: Jeff Hickman When we decided to go Free-to-Play earlier this year, we had weeks of discussion with everyone on the team about where we thought the game was going, what we thought was going right and what was going wrong. We uncovered a lot of issues, but three things really stood out: 1. Our game is awesome. People love it and want to play it. 2. The subscription requirement was driving away huge numbers of people who do not want to…
Community Cantina Tour – Austin, TX
BioWare is continuing there road trip, and this time the event bus hit’s Austin Texas. Below are the Austin information. We’re happy to announce that the next stop in the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community Cantina Tour will be happening on Friday, November 16th here in Austin, home of the game’s development team! This is your chance to join the community for a development team Q&A as well as complimentary drinks*, food, and giveaways including highly coveted codes for an in-game Tauntaun Fawn! If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and hang out with us! Venue: Mister Tramps Date: Friday, November 16th, 2012 Time: 7-10PM CST Address: 8565 Research Blvd Austin, TX 78758 We look forward to seeing you there! -The Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Team * THIS IS AN ADULT EVENT AND ALL ATTENDEES MUST BE OF LEGAL DRINKING AGE TO PARTICIPATE. PLEASE…
Unreleased Star Wars Video Games
Do you ever wonder what happens to all of those great video game ideas that never make it to production? Here are some Star Wars video games that never actually existed but it sure would be fun if they did! Star Wars The Empire Strikes Dak for Atari Pitfall! Sarlacc Edition for Atari Is it Operational? For NES Uncle Owen’s Moisture Farm Tycoon for Xbox And more! Now that we’ve had some laughs, here’s a real unreleased Star Wars video game: Super Star Wars is an unreleased platform game developed by Brain Bug that was originally supposed to be the PC port of LucasArts‘ SNES game of the same name. It all began in 1994 while most people of their team worked on another game, Lollypop. Since the SNES version of Super Star Wars was one of their favorite games and Softgold – the publisher of Lollypop – had a…
Daniel Erickson hires Emmanuel Lusinchi to Bluepoint Games
Could some of the old BioWare team get back together to work on a new project? It’s a theory we tossed out there back when the news of many key BioWare players leaving was first revealed. Well today Twitter gave us a little more insight into this very topic! A tweet from former BioWare develop Daniel Erickson today confirms Emmanuel Lusinchi has left or will be soon leaving BioWare to start work at Bluepoint as a Lead Designer. There were previous rumors about Lusinchi leaving but nothing solid or in the public until this tweet today: — Daniel Erickson (@DanielAErickson) November 5, 2012 I have to admit that it’s tough to see how passionately these developers and designers talked about SWTOR earlier this year at the Guild Summit and now they are dropping off like flies. These are people who put their heart and soul into their work and for those of…
TOR TV: Video Guide to Voiced Emotes on the PTS
The guys over at swtorface.com created a short video showing all the voiced slash commands currently available on the public test server. This is slash commands like /apologize /cheer, /chuckle, etc etc etc. It’s apparently not complete yet, as it is possible to find more sound files when you data mine the client. In this video you can listen to (and see the actions of) Smuggler, Jedi Knight, Trooper, Bounty Hunter and Imperial Agent SwtorFace will be updating this as more commands become available. You can follow there progress here.