In a press release, Spike TV announces that they will air an exclusive broadcast of EA’s 2011 E3 showcase event in an exclusive “Game Changers: EA 2011 Preview”. This one-hour special will premiere on Monday, June 6 at 3:30PM ET/ 12:30PM PT on SPIKE TV. Spike TV is the number one network for video game programming and today announced the exciting news that they would be teaming up with Electronic Arts for this exclusive, live commercial-free broadcast of the 2011 showcase event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). E3 is the gaming industry’s leading trade show and it’s not open to the public. But now you can see everything that happens at E3 from your TV set at the comfort of your own home. Broadcasting from the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, Gamechangers: EA 2011 Preview, so be sure to book it on your calendar and be ready to catch…
Georg talks about Smugglers and Cover
Are you hanging desperately onto every new word about SWTOR and stalking the forums for yellow posts to give you a little more insight into how rocking the game’s gonna be? Ok, maybe you’re not quite as pathetic as me but the good news is, I get to pass the interesting details on to you so you can go on and… I don’t know… have a life! Speaking of interesting details, Georg “Observer” Zoeller, Principal Lead Combat Designer for SWTOR posted recently about Smugglers and cover on the forums. According to Georg, “All Smugglers have access to cover, but depending on Advanced Class and Skill set, cover plays a less or more important role for your gameplay.” He goes on to explain the differences with a Gunslinger and a Scoundrel. For example, “A Gunslinger with lots of points in the Sniper tree will have made cover a…
Gabe Amatangelo on SWTOR’s PVP matchmaking system
The PVP system in SWTOR has been very hush, hush until lately when the hands-on reports started coming out. Gabe Amatangelo sheds a little more light on how exactly the global PVP system is going to work. Many other MMOs have tried to conquer the PVP system by allowing massive combat to take place cross server or realm. SWTOR doesn’t seem to want to take on this idea. Their thinking pattern behind having server-based PVP systems is to create cohesion between players of the same faction and rivalries from the opposing faction. When PVP is done cross-server it doesn’t make it as personal as having someone from your own server take you on. This will breed not only a better storyline for those who really enjoy it but it will take away from the anonymous feel of killing someone you’ll probably never see again. Now the biggest problem with doing…
The Guild Sphere: The Order of the Sith Lords
This week I sat down with some awesome people from The Order of the Sith Lords, a RPPvE guild that looks to be a lot of fun, hope you all enjoy. Where did your guilds name come from? Well Vandin and I as huge SW fans took the name from Bane’s Sith legacy. A lot of people started to make fun of when we first started but hey, we are still here haha. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild? Our guild mainly wants to focus on the PVE aspect of the game, we have a lot of members with a past when it comes to raiding. On the other hand we are also HUGE nerds and we will be doing a lot of RP events with other guilds. How did your guild come about? Vandin and I had been following SWTOR…
IMDB Lists SWTOR Voice Talent (Look Who’s Talking)
Thanks to The Movie Internet Database (aka IMDB) – the greatest source of film industry information available to hacks like me – we now have some idea of exactly who is lined up to play the voices in Star Wars: The old Republic Employing all of my powers of deduction and film knowledge, I’ve picked out Joseph Gatt as the most recognisable face on the list, since I’ve just seen him blued up and frozen as a Frost Giant in Kenneth Branagh’s spectacular Thor adaptation. But there are some more recognisable talents here, even if you don’t know the names or the faces: names like Jennifer Hale, who is a demi-God of the voice-work universe, and who has also already worked on a number of Star Wars videogame properties including Knights of the Old Republic. Michelle Bonilla does the voices of Huttese Alien / Nautolan Alien / Ortolan Alien /…
Georg Zoeller Clears Up SWTOR Combat Confusions
With everyone talking about SWTOR and few of us actually able to try out the game for ourselves, there have been some questions, confusions and misconceptions about certain aspects of combat. Principal Lead Combat Designer, Greg Zoeller addresses some of these on the official SWTOR forums. One issue was enemy behavior. Are those mobs just going to stand around waiting for us to kill them? Actually, they’re not! Zoeller says, “Enemies will definitely not just stand around waiting to be attacked, even though, in the end, that’s kind of their purpose in an MMO (they are enemies, after all).” He goes on to give some specific examples of what we can expect from enemy behavior: · They engage in a variety of activities when not in combat, which include patrols and overwatch over areas where that makes sense. · When traversing through hostile territory, it is usually a good idea…
Play Star Wars Tie Fighter in Chrome
Nothing quite beats free stuff, unless its free stuff that his an undeniably nostalgic taste to it, and which thus has the power to transport recipients back to a simpler, more magical time before Jar Jar and before everyone suspected that Mr Lucas might be in it for more than just the pleasure of creating art. And now, we have some exciting news on that front, thanks to some very clever people who have announced that you can now play Star Wars Tie Fighter – the iconic DOS game from 1994 – using only the power of Chrome. If you’re a Chrome user, you might already know of Native Client (NaCl), but if not it’s a new open-source development that allows developers “to build web applications that seamlessly execute native compiled code inside the browser”. And as I say, it looks like the technology is already being put to good…
Know your lore: Warb Null
Warb Null was a dark side apprentice and King Ommin’s armored commander of the Naddist forces during the First Battle of Onderon in the Freedon Nadd Uprising. Originally named Shas Dovos, Null was formerly an aspiring young student of metalwork, though when a sinister Sith spirit tricked him into constructing a tainted suit of armor, he became a mindless servant of the dark side. The spirit resided in the very pages of an ancient Sith book discovered by Dovos in the wilds of his native planet Onderon, and eventually the spirit fused Dovos to the dark armor and renamed him Warb Null. Null became the leader of the Naddists who raided the city of Iziz during the Freedon Nadd Uprising. They defeated the Onderonian forces, as well as a team of Jedi sent by the Galactic Republic, and successfully recaptured the sarcophagi of Ommin’s late wife Amanoa, and the former…
Faction Lore: The Hutt Cartel
The Hutt Cartel were a powerful crime syndicate- a business alliance of Hutts. It had a personal military of both an army and Starfleet and waged war with the Zann Consortium until the Battle of Hypori. History The Hutts have a rich history. During the time of the Great Galactic War, the Hutt Cartel grew displeased with the Sith Emperor because he left them out of his plans and intrigues. But the Republic was unsuccessful in getting the Hutts’ support against the Empire so the Cartel remained neutral in war, like many others who made up the criminal underworld. The Cartel had control of the Kaer Orbital Platform a few decades before the Clone Wars after they forced the InterGalactic Banking Clan off the Platform. They later abandoned it, finding it useless. Clone Wars During the Clone Wars, Boorka the Hutt held considerable power. He co-operated with Sev’rance Tann during…
What’s Your Protection against SWTOR Spoilers?
There’s nothing worse than someone ruining the ending to the movie you’re all hopped up to go see. Well, maybe one thing… someone spoiling the plot to a video game you’re super excited to play. Have you ever had a buddy beat a game before you and he just can’t keep his mouth shut about it even though you’re only an hour into the storyline? So with a game as popular as SWTOR, what’s going to happen when people start playing and gamers start talking? What’s going to happen when someone shares the next storyboard when you haven’t gotten that far along? Some players don’t care; especially in an MMORPG where some play for the experience and the multi-player aspects more than the storyline. But some players do care about the storyline and some want to be able to reveal the game on their own terms and at their own…
Fan Friday and 2011 Event Appearances
It’s Friday once again and that means that it’s time for another BioWare update for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This week brings a trio of updates starting with a new video from the recent Fan Site Summit held at BioWare’s Austin, TX studio in April. The video reflects on the event and what attendees thought of their hands on time with SWTOR. It’s nice to see BioWare developing a nice, cozy, friendly relationship with the people that will be objectively reviewing their product. Part two of this week’s update is a new Fan Friday feature, which highlights some of the SWTOR fan art from the community and a new Fan Site Spotlight featuring SWTOR Life with a brief Q&A with Serge “Mikto” Stanarevic about the site. The Fan Friday update also confirmed the 2011 events that BioWare and LucasArts will be showing off SWTOR at. Fans can look forward…
The Worst Couple in the Universe
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know how much we love Lars Von Trier OneMinuteGalactica. Back in December last year, we did a short interview with the guy, and we have been following his productions ever since. At this years Cannes film festival Last week we got to see OMG’s latest movie: “Melancholia antichrist” “The Worst Couple in the Universe“. At the following press conference he was good enough to answer questions about his view on Adolf Hitler about the movie and upcoming projects. Check it out below the movie How did you get the idea for this film? Well..This one is going to be my last Nerdy Instructional Film, and I wanted to end the series with another Star Wars video, to sort of make bookends. Because I had started the instructional films with a dating video starring Luke and Leia, I figured it would…
MMORPG stock market
Do you play the MMORPG stock market? Whether you play the market in the real world, or find real-world pleasures from virtual scenarios that allow you to escape from the day-to-day grind that is life, there is something to be said about the value of the MMORPG industry. More people are playing MMOs today than ever before. There is also a larger demographic- young and old, men and women, families, friends and couples are all playing together. There are also more types of MMORPGs than one could ever imagine. Your average fan could spend a lifetime trying them all out and still not get them all. From subscription based to free-to-play, action-adventure to science fiction, there are more MMORPGs to keep you happy than one could ever find the time to play. For some people, investing in a new MMO is a bit like playing the stock market. Will…
Drew Karpyshyn Discusses “Revan”
One of the most anticipated novels for SWTOR fans this year must be the Revan by Drew Karpyshyn. The books will be out later this year and should give some answers to what happened to one of the all time biggest force users. If you are like me must have been wondering what has happen to the guys, but also how strong his force powers actually is. In Drew Karpyshyn latest blog posts he addresses this issue. Apparently a book about me playing video games – being the ultimate pownzor – won’t work in books. Karpyshyn states that video games and novels works in different ways and “are meant to convey different experiences and the two representations of the character simply cannot be laid on top of each other.” – witch is kind off dull really, and might be the main reason why I play way more videos games then read books. To…
Gamasutra interviews the BioWare Doctors
Gamasutra has just released yet another excellent interview with the founding fathers of BioWare Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk. This time the doctors describes why they believe why Star Wars: The old republic stands out from other MMORPGs, in addition to talks about Dragon Age and Mass Effect. It’s a rather lengthy Q&A spreading over four pages, but well worth the read for BioWare and SWTOR fans. There are a lot of experienced people that have worked on MMOs in the past working on The Old Republic, but it’s just hard to imagine how incredibly difficult it could be for a company that hasn’t released an MMO yet to support an MMO. I think players trust the design choices that BioWare is going to make, and innovations in that area, but the support for a game like that — a game as a service — how are you guys approaching…
The Guild Sphere: KAempire
This week I sat down with Keyaindis and Semyaza from KAempire, a newer Sith guild looking to master all aspects of of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Where did your guilds name come from? When we (Keyaindis and Semyaza) first looked at SWTOR we instantly wanted to create a guild, at the time the movie Kick Ass was on, and the idea just popped up. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild? After spending the last 5 years playing in guilds in World of Warcraft that have failed to meet the standards of a “decent” guild (not implying that all guilds in wow were a failure just the ones we’ve seen), we feel that KAempire should be entertaining and maintain a balance of gameplay, as well as organization of events which was a re-occurring problem in wow. We also feel that the pressure of having…
Facebook Image Of The Week #13
BioWare updated their facebook page with a new screenshot of Star Wars: The old Republic. This time the description is: The Senate Tower on Coruscant, with its beautiful architecture, provides a sometimes contrasting background to the political maneuverings that take place within it.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Will it Survive through the Hype?
There has been much debate about how SWTOR will stack up to other MMO’s, especially Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. The debate isn’t just about how it will measure up but if SWTOR should even be considered an MMO in the first place. With a supposed completely character-driven storyline how can it be an MMO? David Radd reports that these issues are both good and bad. MMORPGs generally have less story-driven content and more gear, co-operation and gold driven content. SWTOR has set to change that completely but it might come at the price of player numbers. Your average MMO player right now is used to going out and doing X thing to gain Y item. They’re under no illusion that their actions will actually make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Most MMO gamers are used to doing simplistic tasks to get what they want. So if SWTOR…
Species of Starwars – Mon Calamari
An amphibious species with fishlike faces and huge eyes, the Mon Calamari are among the galaxy’s most peaceful and intelligent beings. They are a colorful species, with skin tones ranging the full spectrum of known hues. Many Mon Cal are also marked by vibrant spots or stripes. The Mon Calamari are native to a watery world of the same name. They can survive underwater for long periods of time and are powerful swimmers. The Mon Cal are also psychologically attuned to their environment. When visiting wet, cool planets they become very energetic and cheerful; in contrast, they may be quite depressed and languid on hot, dry worlds. The idealistic Mon Cal enjoy a progressive society that promotes the values of justice and peace. They are tireless explorers, but seek out other planets for knowledge rather than conquest. As individuals, they may seem soft-spoken, gentle, determined, and generous. They control their…
All 106 Star Wars Books to Go e-Book Format
If you’re ready to get your Star Wars fix in an electronic book format, then you are in luck! Random House and Lucasfilm recently released the news that all Star Wars books will now be released as e-books. There are currently 30 Star Wars titles available via e-book. However, beginning June 28, all 106 will be available for download. Now it will be easier than ever to keep your Star Wars reading collection in one place. You can enjoy them on the go on your favorite e-reader and of course, you can also store them on your personal computer. It’s never been so easy to ready- and enjoy doing it! The Star Wars series of books have been so popular that not a single one has gone out of print in the 30 years since the first one was published. The books have been published under the Bantam…
How Stuff Works: Blasters
Much of the following technical info is taken directly from Del Rey publisher’s “Essential Guide” series, and I highly recommend them to any fan looking for more. BlastersA blaster was a ranged weapon that fired bursts of particle beam energy called blaster bolts from a replaceable power cell. The most commonly used weapon in the galaxy, blasters’ intense beams consisting of compacted high-energy particles and intense light could kill or paralyze their target, depending on their setting. Blasters ranged from compact pistols, all the way up to large, heavy rifles and starship-mounted blaster cannons. The oldest known type of blaster was used by an ancient droid of an unknown model employed by the Rakatan Infinite Empire. This weapon was considered to be extremely up-to-date compared to the blasters of the year 3,956 BBY. Technical informationThe term blaster was often used interchangeably with the term laser in everyday conversation, both denoting…
The Guild Sphere: Raze
This week I sat down with the leadership from Raze, a Hardcore PvP that enjoy’s PvE, crafting and many many other aspects of the game, I hope you all enjoy the interview. Where did your guilds name come from? The name “Raze” originates from an old Vanguard pre-release Hardcore PvP guild. We were very involved in its community and loved what the guild stood for. But, unfortunately Vanguard crapped out, and the guild fell apart, aside from ourselves. So, when we finally figured, “hey what the heck, let’s make a Star Wars: The Old Republic guild”, Raze would be the perfect name, and we would pick up off the guild’s old values, with a few tweaks of course. The word Raze, if defined, means to tear down, which is kinda fitting for a hardcore guild, right? Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild? Raze is…
SW:TOR Meet and Greet in Los Angeles during E3
David Bass, Senior Community Coordinator posts on the official forums about the “meet and greet” for SWTOR fans in LA: Hi everyone, Since E3 isn’t open to the public, we’re considering holding a meet and greet in Los Angeles during the expo so that fans who are in the LA area can meet up with us one night and chat with the developers. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t be able to have the game playable at this meet and greet, but you’d get a chance to chat with those of us who’ll be at the show, and hear about some of the cool things that are happening inside E3. We’d like to get a better idea of the size of group we’re looking at for an event like this, though. If you’d be interested in coming downtown one night between June 6-9 to meet up with the SW:TOR team, let us know…
Danish Shops are starting to promote SWTOR
It pays to preorder SWTOR, at least if you order from certain Danish shops. This neat little find shows that many countries are already promoting pre-orders of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The sign says: “Order now – it pays off” “Double bonus points if you pre order” The Bonus points are a point system the shop has. You can trade the bonus points to discounts on games. (As if we needed more motivation to buy SWTOR!) Most video game stores and shops around the globe have similar deals and discounts in the works. There’s no word yet on whether or not BioWare will be offering special deals or discounts to Other gaming sites around the globe have had preorder deals up for as long back as 2010. play.com says : Star Wars: The Old Republic £29.99 Free Delivery Pre-order. | Due for release on 28 Oct 2011 (later changed…