The Dread Masters posted a warning to all players on the official forums yesterday. Personally Love it! Whoever decided to ramp up the amount of RP juiced prepatch content is brilliant! And props to the “Dread Masters” for even replying to the whiny, troll posts! Styrak may have fallen, but your victory is an empty one. We are the Dread Masters. We are your nightmares incarnate. No longer contained by the Empire or the Republic, we will terrorize the galaxy as we please. It is futile to resist. You have a choice – become one of us or be swept aside. But the magnitude of our power is more than most can bear. You must tell us why you are worthy of us. Choose your words wisely. We will be watching. One of the posts that really court my eye was this one: War and death will claim you even in…
New Owner of TORParse Revealed
Some of you may know theITfactor from Redditif you follow the SWTOR subreddit regularly. Well, we have some exciting news about TORParse and its new owners. The news comes after this post on Reddit: Hello fellow SWTOR players and TORParse users! It’s been a chaotic last two months, but I’m pleased to announce that TORParse is finally fully transitioned to its new ownership. My name’s Hayward and the other co-owner is BigBlockhead, both of us from the Jedi Covenant server and the guild Tranquility. We can’t wait to get going with the updates we have in store for TORParse, and just as James was we are always open to ideas and suggestions for making it even better. AMA! Their intro post here explains a little more of their background in the gaming community: Sam was previously a statistics admin for TORParse, working closely with James over the last few months…
AMD and Raptr Bring Us a Cool PC Gamer App
AMD and Raptr Have Created An Application To Optimize Your Games Based On Community Data. SWTOR is supported. You can check it out for yourself here. This is a pretty cool tool for PC gamers. You can quickly and easily have all the best quality and performance settings for your computer/system and based on the game you’re playing so you always get the most from your game. The app uses data from the AMD community to help you get the ultimate performance. Here is technology at its best, giving you the best PC gaming experience possible. Keep your games optimized Auto-optimization provides the best quality and performance settings for your rig based on data collected from the AMD community. View supported games » Real rewards just for playing games Earn real rewards just for using the Gaming Evolved app while you play. The more you play, the more rewards you’ll…
Patch Notes – Launcher Update – 9/26/2013
BioWare just made a small update to the launcher that seemed to be giving players a har time. Below are the patch notes: Launcher Update Patch Notes Updates to Streaming Mode Implemented a fix to prevent unnecessarily lengthy file reorganization and download times for players using the launcher in Streaming Mode. Please Note: Those currently affected by this problem will need to completely finish updating and can find more information in this forum thread.
The Old Republic Insider – September 2013
The producers of Star Wars: The old Republic posted a new Insider Video, that gives an inside look at new PvP Warzone Arenas, exciting Dread Master missions, and new Cartel Market goods coming to SWTOR next month! I have a feeling the video was made a while ago and just released now, but it is still worth spending 3 minutes on. Check it out below:
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Art & Pictures
We love Star Wars art! Actually, we love all things Star Wars around here but when we stumble across something cool like this Star Wars: The Force Unleashed art and pictures, we have to share it with you. You will find this from Creative Uncut and if you love video game concept art, this is one site you’re going to want to bookmark. You can also visit them on Facebook to keep up with the latest new galleries. Raxus Prime Ruins Raxus Prime Jedi Temple Secret Apprentice Starkiller (Galen Marek) There are also images from: Raxus Prime Jedi Temple Council Rahm Kota Battle Shaak Ti Battle Shaak Ti Battle Concept Force Lightning Environment Concept Environment Flora Concept and so much more! Head on over and take a look and let us know which ones are your favorites. And if you are a fan of concept art, let us know some…
Lucasfilm Will Start Using Video Game Engine for Post Production Video
Video game engines have come a long way over the years. They’ve come so far that movie producers are wanting to use them to completely replace post production techniques. If you’ve see any popular video game trailer, you can see why this technology could be used in movies. Many video games today have such high quality that you can see the pores in a character’s skin.
SWTOR Coruscant Kingpin Bounty Contract Guide
If you want to do the SWTOR Coruscant Kingpin Bounty Contract as quickly and efficiently as possible, you might need a little help. Here’s a pretty simple walkthrough First, this one happens in the Justicar Territory, Coruscant. First, talk to Tam Daral at Senate Plaza, Coruscant Spaceport. Then release Bounty Seeker Probes in Justicar Territory. You will find them and scan, and then at the end you will have to lure out and fight Samovan Bann. You will either kill him or capture him. Remember that for your first time through you will receive points towards Crime Lord Legacy Achievements. Depending on how you do it you will receive points into one of these three: Wanted: Dead or Alive Bring ‘em All In Take ‘em All Down When you find him he will land and kill some Justicars on the platform. He has two main attacks that you need to…
Seven Songs Inspired By Star Wars You Should Check Out
Star Wars has had a massive impact on pop culture around the world, inspiring fans to create their own works of art, fan films, fan fiction, and crafts. But it is in music that we can also see the influence that George Lucas and Star Wars has had over the years. Take a look at these 8 tunes inspired by the Star Wars saga: Weird Al Yankovic: The Saga Begins Amusing to many, iconic to geeks, and known to many as a Star Wars nerd at heart, The Saga Begins is not Weird Al’s first tribute to the films. He’s done a few songs, but what makes this one stand out is it came out just before The Phantom Menace – which proved one thing: just like most of us hardcore fans, Al was scouring the web for spoilers about the prequels. He did it so well; he used the…
Patch Notes – Launcher Update – 9/24/2013
BioWare pushed a small patch for the launcher today. Below are the patch notes: Launcher Update Patch Notes Updates to Streaming Mode Selecting German in the launcher no longer causes all three languages to download. If you are currently using Streaming mode and playing in German, you can remove the following files from the “Assets” directory in your SWTOR install directory: swtorfr-fr.tor and swtoren-us.tor. Selecting French in the launcher no longer causes English and French to download. If you are currently using Streaming mode and playing in French, you can remove the following files from the “Assets” directory in your SWTOR install directory: swtoren-us*.tor. The in-game progress bar will now complete to 100% as intended and no longer requires a restart before players can travel off Origin Worlds. Account names beginning with a dash (“-“) can now launch the game as intended. BitRaider (Streaming) components no longer fail to stop…
SWTOR Tatooine Kingpin Bounty Contract Guide
The SWTOR Tatooine Kingpin Bounty Contract is one of many daily bounty missions you can undertake. Working these bounties gives you achievements, which can ultimately net you some Cartel Coins. This bounty takes place on Tatooine in Jundland. Much like the other bounty missions you will be talking to a contact, releasing bounty probes to find your target and ultimately capturing or killing them. The target for this mission is Kreegan Ramar. To start out you will want to find Meerko. Depending on what side you play for will depend on where you can find them: Republic players can find Meerko in Anchorhead Market at Anchorhead Empire players can find Meerko in an area west of the cantina at Mos Ila Once you’ve found your contact you will need to speak to them to receive the next part. You will receive a mail from your Tatooine Bounty Target. Now it’s…
Angry Birds Star Wars II Released
There was a great deal of buzz yesterday and today about the iOS 7 launch but one piece of news that got lost in the hustle and bustle was the news that some pretty cool games were also released, including Angry Birds Star Wars II. You can buy Angry Birds Star Wars game keys here The long-awaited sequel to the original Angry Birds Star Wars brings some cool new features. It’s inspired by Star Wars Episodes 1-3 and produced by Rovio. One thing they give us in this version that we never could do before is the ability to play the “bad guys” if you choose. You can “Join the Pork Side” if you choose and in addition, there are many more great Star Wars characters added to the game. We can now choose from more than 30 Star Wars characters, including Anakin, Yoda, Mace Windu and even Jango Fett. You…
SWTOR Voss Kingpin Bounty Contract Guide
To do the SWTOR Voss Kingpin Bounty Contract you are going to need to head to the planet Voss where you will be hunting Eryn Talosa. In this bounty you will be given information from your contract, probes to track your target and information on where to release those probes. Eryn Talosa will either need to be killed or captured to complete the contract. You will find your contact, Sama Zo, on the bridge in Voss-Ka. Talk with Sama and then you will receive your mail containing the bounty target. You will want to release your probes near the bridge (there are a lot of trees so it’s going to be difficult to track) as this is the best chance of getting a clear shot. You will need to get the Priceless Voss Cultural Artifact from inside the Tower of Prophecy. To “borrow” the artifact you will need to interact…
Will Warzones Die When Arenas Go Live?
With the new PvP arenas coming to SWTOR, some players have questions about what will happen to current warzones once the arenas go live. As many players already know, in current warzones, there are usually several people who run around killing, rather than doing the objective on the warzone. Such is always the case in objective-based PvP in MMORPGs. Now obviously we know that as soon as arenas go live, people are all going to want to sign up for them. But does this mean warzones will completely die off? What about the players who like the current traditional warzones? The good news is that there are several reasons why warzones will not die off when arenas go live. There are actually two different options you get when you queue: Regular: you will get the same old 8v8 warzones you’ve seen since launch or arenas. Your rating will not be affected by wins/losses in…
What Star Wars 1313 Might Have Been
Sadly, we don’t get to see Star Wars: 1313 or the amazingness it could have been but we found this interesting video that shows us what it could have been. We’re not sure who uploaded it (or why) but check it out.
Star Wars Episode VII Rumors
Here we are with some more Star Wars VII rumors and the first good point to bring up is that the number of these rumors that are actually proven to be true are few and far between. However, since all we are doing is waiting for the movies to release anyway, what harm is there in following along with some potential rumors? First up we have a tidbit from Cinema Blend that Saoirse Ronan might be coming on for a “mystery role” in the film: Virtually none of the rumors about Star Wars: Episode VII have been confirmed, but a few have been repeated so many times they’re starting to feel more true, like buzz that the original cast will return or that a teenage girl will be among the main new characters. It’s that second rumor that seems most interesting on the heels of a new rumor from Latino…
Free to Play Isn’t Play for Free
Many industry experts said that SWTOR could be setting the stage for a new F2P model for MMORPGs. Other said it would be the last subscription-based MMORPG and that they expect future games of the same caliber to be based around F2P models. That hasn’t exactly happened yet. While there are more free to play MMORPGs than ever before, there are still games coming out with subs, at least for now. And this brings up a great conversation about free to play MMOs. While a game may be labeled “free to play”, this doesn’t make it play for free. You still may end up needing to pay for certain features or items you want in the game. And you might have to pay for features that subscribing members don’t have to pay for. The upside is that you only have to pay for the features you want and you can…
Public Test Server Unavailable: 2.4 Testing Concluded
Amber took the Forums yesterday informing the community that the test servers will be taking down. It looks like we are close to Game update 2.4 Ladies and gentlemen. The announced date for game update 2.4? Is also October 1st I believe. Below are the announcement: Greetings Testers! This morning marks the conclusion of Game Update 2.4 PTS testing. The server will soon become unavailable until further notice. Thank you all for your participation, bug reports, and feedback!
World’s Greatest Star Wars Collection Certified by Guinness
Do you think you’re one of the biggest Star Wars fans in the world? You might rethink that when you see Rancho Obi-Wan, in Petaluma, California, which has over 300,000 Star Wars themed artifacts. This is officially the largest Star Wars collection known to exist on the planet. And it’s no surprise really that something this big and amazing would exist- the Star Wars franchise has inspired a lot of fans who spend most of their lives collecting memorabilia and more. Cnet.com tells us about it: Guinness granted official world-record status to Rancho Obi-Wan, longtime Lucasfilm employee Steve Sansweet’s Petaluma, Calif., collection of “Star Wars” memorabilia: The super fan who is currently able to lay claim to that title is Steve Sansweet, a journalist and author, and president of Rancho Obi-Wan, a non-profit museum in Petaluma, northern California that houses his collection of an estimated 300,000 unique “Star Wars” items….
Win a Darth Malgus Premium Format™ Figure from YN and SSC
Here’s a really cool fall giveaway that we just have to tell you about! If you’re a Star Wars fan, you want to get in on this right now for your chance to win. Yodasnews.com and Sideshow Collectibles have this great giveaway with a grand prize of a Darth Malgus Premium Format™ Figure by Sideshow Collectibles! The giveaway starts today (9/16/2013) and runs for two weeks, ending on 9/29/13 at 11:59pm EST. If you want to get in yourself, there are three different ways you can enter. You are welcome to enter for each of the three (for a maximum of 3 total entries) but only once for each. Multiple entries will void all entries. Please read carefully below on how to enter. This from Yodasnews about the ways to enter: Gain 1 Entry – First, Like our page, then LIKE and SHARE this Face Book image Note: All 3 Tasks (Like our Face…
Star Wars The Old Republic “The Return” – Behind The Scenes – Motion Capture
Here is a pretty cool video we stumbled upon. While it’s not new, it’s new to us and this is some really awesome stunt skills at work. It’s really cool to see how this all comes together in motion capture. We can only hope that the new Star Wars films will have some really awesome fight scenes like this. Credits: Stunt /Fight Coordinated By Philip Silvera Rigger Joe Ross Equipment Sponsored By Action Factory Stunt/Motion Capture Performers Melissa Barker Roberto Gutierrez Eric Linden Steven Oyoung Derron Ross Joe Ross Philip Silvera Jade Quon
Maintenance: September 19th, 2013 – Patch 2.3.3a
EDIT: Maintenance: September 19th, 2013 [CANCELLED] BioWare will be taking down the servers tomorrow and push a small patch. Below you can read Ambers forum post and the new patch notes. Today , 01:47 PM | #1 This is the last staff post in this thread. QUOTE On September 19th, all game servers will be unavailable while we perform maintenance. Patch 2.3.3a will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: >Date: Thursday September 19th, 2013 Duration: 2 hours Time: 3AM PDT (10AM UTC) – 5AM PDT (12PM UTC) Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. 2.3.3a Patch Notes General Corrected an issue that caused poor performance on CZ-198. Space Combat Taspan Ambush (Imperial)/ Syvris Evacuation (Rep): Player starships will no longer be smashed by an asteroid preventing the completion of these missions.
Electronic Arts names Andrew Wilson new CEO
Electronic Arts named sports and digital games division head Andrew Wilson its new chief executive on Tuesday, filling the top job after a six-month search to replace John Riccitiello. Wilson took over EA Sports in August 2011 and has been with the company for 11 years. “I envision EA as the World’s Greatest Games Company,” Wilson said. “This is not about what we are aiming for or what we will become. Rather, it is about an unfaltering commitment to what we will be every day. This is an attitude that must drive our culture as one team.” “I also believe EA’s strategy is sound. Our focus on our talent, our brands and our platform together with our investment in next-generation consoles, mobile and PC free-to-play, as part of our ongoing transition to digital, is right. But we have plenty of work ahead to ensure our collective success.”” Wilson, 39, will…
Class Representatives Update!
Eric Musco Has taken on the forums, to update the community regarding the future of the Class Representatives. Since BioWare have not yet made any actual class changes since the initiative began, the dev team have chosen to put the class Rep initiative on hiatus after the Assassin/Merc answers. This will go on until their next set of class changes that apparently comes with game update 2.5. Does this mean that Game update 2.5 will be a mini update? Who knows. The Forums are going mad about how this is the end of the game and all – You know how it always goes. Personally don’t care one bit about this. Always thought the Class Reps system wasn’t much more than a way to placate the uber-whiners on the forums with a “yes, we’re listening to you!” bone tossed to them. Eric and the rest of the CM team always will…