We here at SWTOR Strategies thought it would be nice to bring you a sneak peak of the Cartel Market for those who will have Cartel Coins. Personally, I was pretty impressed. It’s still not available in game, but you can see it for yourself in the Public Test Server before the next update – where we will all probably be seeing the first F2P gamers joining us in this epic war across the Galaxy. First, I had to download 11gigs to enter the Public Test Server. Then I had to ease my security settings into trusting it. My rig hates changes. But after all that, I got to enter a world and make this guy. And then I got to see this. The Cartel Market! [Click on the images to see them in full detail] Welcome to the Cartel, they got fun ‘n’ games. They got everything you want….
TOR TV: SWTOR triple monitor setup
Ever wonder how SWTOR plays on 3 monitors? If you don’t do it your self, or have any friends who does it, here is your chance. In this video, the player have 3 24″ 1920X1080 Displays running SWTOR at an average of about 45fps in populated and battle scenarios. This features two of his characters found ( both RP’ers) Belak is the Trooper Perv, the other is Nathe his Jedi healer. While you may already be running two displays (every graphics card provides at least two outputs, with most motherboards also providing display output and cheap access to a second graphics card), it’s now easy for everyone to enjoy three, four, six or even 10 displays. While many people might think it’s simply unnecessary to have this many screens, triple-panel gaming and a host of demanding jobs require an amount of digital desktop space only a multi-monitor setup can provide. You…
Companions 101: Kira Carsen
Here we are for a new installment of Companions 101 and this week it’s all about Kira! Courtney Woods is our guide into the world of Kira Carsen and everything you need to know about her backstory, emotional attachments and understanding Kira. Be warned that all of these Companion segments could contain story spoilers. Here is a snippet: The best kind of padawan should challenge their master… or at least, that is what Kira Carsen believes. Kira is not your typical Jedi, raised on Korriban in the Sith Academy, she has witnessed the brutality of the Empire first hand. After escaping from Imperial Space, Kira had to look out for herself until Master Bela Kiwiiks found her and brought her to into the Jedi Order. It isn’t surprising that Kira and Kiwiiks share a special bond, but Kira was afraid to share her past until she could prove herself as…
Razer Creates Customized Star Wars SWTOR Blade Gaming Laptop
I like Razer. I currently use one of their gaming mice and I have used their products several times over the years. Well, now they have something new which is totally awesome for SWTOR fans- a limited edition SWTOR Blade gaming laptop. This isn’t the traditional Blade with some new SWTOR graphics slapped on it, however. Razer says they are pulling no punches with this laptop and that it has been built from the ground up with SWTOR gamers in mind. Razer’s Blade is a lightweight but well-built laptop for playing high-end games and the SWTOR version is painted in matte silver with laser etching all over. It’s fully customized with a backlit keyboard and SWTOR logo on the lid. Specifications include a 17.3-inch display, Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, 8GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M 2GB GDDR5 and SSD drives. If you want it, it’s going…
F2P vs Sub: The ‘Real’ Price Players Will Have To Pay
Deirdre Hollis, world renowned TORWARS pod-caster wrote an awesome article, that I wish I could of written myself. I’m so jealous! Deirdre basically predicts with the coming of SWTOR’s F2P (Free to Play) option this fall, a divide that is already surfacing between subscribers (the haves) and f2p gamers (the have nots), akin to class warfare in ancient Rome, will arise. She puts it all together much more “diplomatically” than I would have. She kept the correlations of the US government to these politically divisive affairs as insinuations. She takes it a step further and predicts that EA will see the profits of SWTOR/F2P and eventually even make subscribers try to pay for extra features like the F2P gamers. She also reminds us how the Bioware we all remember and love is long gone, and that EA is more directly in charge of the path SWTOR will take in the…
Public Test Server Down Today, Scheduled Maintenance October 23
The BioWare team have a few forum updates today. First of all they remind us that this week’s scheduled maintenance will occur on Tuesday, October 23 from 2AM CDT to 6AM CDT. servers will be down during this period and when they come back up, players may have to download a patch. When the servers come back up, we will have the latest patch notes available right here at swtorstrategies.com Check out the official thread for more info. Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for four hours on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 from 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8AM BST/9AM CEST/6PM AEST) until 6AM CDT (4AM PDT/7AM EDT/12PM BST/1PM CEST/10PM AEST). All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours, but could be extended. Another interesting piece of news is, Public test server…
How Much Do You Love SWTOR: Enough to Get a Tattoo?
How much do you love your game? Star Wars fans are notorious for going to extremes to show their love and support for Star Wars and SWTOR is no exception. While some will call the game a failure, there are others who put their heart and soul into building and creating the game and still others who were just really big fans. Some loved the game so much they got SWTOR tattoos. While a video game might not be permanent, a tattoo is so what will become of these people who love the game so much, they got a permanent reminder of it on their bodies? Let’s explore this thought for a minute. We know the BioWare doctors got launch tattoos for SWTOR and there were many other members of the BioWare Austin team who did the same. They worked hard on this project and it’s not surprising that they…
Star Wars Slots
IGT’s Star Wars slots manage to incorporate the excitement of this iconic space- themed series with some of the best graphics and rewards seen in a casino slot game. If ever there was a time to reach for the stars with a great slot game, this is it. The iconic sci-fi Movies Star Wars comes alive on the casino floor with the game of slots. The game has become a huge hit for players in Vegas and across the world where IGT’s slot games star, and manages to attract hordes of fans who enjoy combining their love of slots with this legendary space opera series which has spawned a media franchise incorporating books, films, TV shows, computer games, comic books and now, casino games. Star Wars slots features all the favorite characters that fans of this series know and love, including Chewbacca, Yoda and Hans Solo. The graphics, as can be expected from a software giant such as IGT, are…
Playing Pazaak on your Android Mobile and one day in SWTOR
Pazaak is an ancient card game from the Star Wars Universe. It’s believed by many controversial Coruscant researchers and historians that this is the origin of Sabacc or Jhabacc, a notorious gambling game frequently played by scoundrels like Lando Calrissian, Mara Jade and Han Solo. Ancient Pazaak was played for the first time, by Star Wars gamers in Knights of the Old Republic I and II. And now, is extremely popular by the deep desire of Star Wars gamers wanting to see it as part of their Massive Multi-Player Online experience, in the game Star Wars the Old Republic – which takes place not too long after Knights of the Old Republic. If you do a search for “Pazaak” in the forums of SWTOR.com you will find 4 pages of threads all asking for Pazaak to be added to the game. We’re talking about 92 unique threads all demanding Pazaak….
Subscription vs Free-to-Play Features
With the free to play model added to SWTOR, more fans get to enjoy the game. You can play as much or as little as you want without worrying about having to pay a monthly subscription or trying to “get your money’s worth”. However, the subscription model still exists which brings up the very important question of “What’s the difference?” To encourage those who want to continue paying for a subscription, there are some additional features to thank you for your time and for playing. Learn more about the differences between the two types of play. Subscription vs. Free-to-Play Features A Galaxy of Possibilities for Every Player. Preferred Status – Making a purchase will unlock access to the following features: The ability to run faster (Sprint) starting at Level 1. Cargo Hold access (Bank Slots) and higher login queue priority. Increased access to Chat and Secure Trading. NOTE: Characters must…
MTSBWY: Star Wars orchestra flash-mob
Now here is something you don’t’ see every day: An orchestra flash mob in the Wallrafplatz, in the center of Cologne in Germany. I have always been a huge fan of flashmobs, but I have never seen a full out orchestral flash mobs — that play the Star Wars Theme. I also love that they brought both harp and timpani. That’s dedication. We can only hope they show up at next July’s Celebration Europe II oh… And as a bonus video, I give you the newest Star Wars spoof from our old friend OneMinuteGalactica – The Awkward Awards. Yes, Everything is so less regal and majestic when the music cuts out:
Want to Play Pazaak for Yourself?
Want to learn more about Pazak and how you can play it for yourself from your computer any time you want? Are you a Star Wars fan or former KOTOR player? In the era of the Old Republic, Pazaak was the most popular card game of an enormous number of sentiently creatures and most Star Wars fans know all about it. While it has yet to make it into SWTOR, you can play the game online at: http://www.pazaak.org/play You don’t need to download any software, as Pazaak Cantina Online runs directly in the browser. If you haven’t played it, are you wondering what Pazaak is? Let’s explore. Pazaak, an ancient game dating back to Old Republic times, was a popular card game in which the goal was to reach 20 without going over, or at least come closer to it than the opponent. (Sounds a little like Blackjack, no?) The player with…
Cartel Coins Ledger
BioWare have news regarding the upcoming Cartel Coin system that hits together with the game going free to play. Head over to the When the game goes free to play. Now you are able to check out how many Cartel Coins you will get next month. Check it out here. BioWare and LucasArts are excited to announce a new Cartel Coin Ledger page on www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com. This new web page is located on the left hand navigation bar within the “My Account” section. It gives you a detailed list of all the Complimentary Cartel Coins you could potentially receive at the launch of the Free-to-Play option! You will receive Complimentary Cartel Coins for all your previous and current subscription months. There are additional grants for the purchase of a Collector’s Edition or a Digital Deluxe Edition, as well as a one-time reward at the launch of the Free-to-Play option. You’ll only receive your…
Jesse Sky Answers Questions From Community
Yesterday Lead Flashpoints and Operations Designer Jesse Sky took on the forums and answered questions from the community. Jesse Sky was highlighted in the recent Meet the Developers post. Included in the topics answered are Flashpoints, Operations, and more. Hello everyone! Here are answers to some of the questions you had for Jesse! Thanks for participating in our first Meet the Developers feature – you can expect to see more of these in the future! Q: With an Art History degree, how did you get into the role of a gaming developer? Do you have an additional qualification which enabled you to get into that position or was it purely from interest? Jesse: When we interview a design candidate, college degrees are footnotes compared to your gaming pedigree, especially published games, mods, and independent projects that you’ve worked on. Looking around the studio, I can tell you that I work with many of the most…
SWTOR 1.4.2 Patch Notes 10/16/2012
Servers are back up after almost 12 hours of maintenance today. Not sure what took so long yet, but hopefully the fixed the memory leak some of us suffers from. Below are the patch notes. Classes and Combat Bounty Hunter Mercenary Sweeping Blasters now correctly causes the player to face the ability’s target. Smuggler Gunslinger Sweeping Gunfire now correctly causes the player to face the ability’s target. Companion Characters General Some companion abilities now show more descriptive failure error messages. Flashpoints and Operations General The UI for lockout tabs (for groups and lockout timers) now displays correctly. Operations Explosive Conflict Some terrain has been adjusted to prevent players from skipping some encounters in this Operation. The Defected Imperial Commander no longer occasionally becomes untargetable. Items Consumables that have an activation time are no longer consumed on a subsequent activation even when that activation is canceled. Missions and NPCs Class Missions…
Reminder: Scheduled Maintenance Tomorrow
This week’s scheduled maintenance will occur tomorrow on Tuesday, October 16 from 2AM CDT to 8AM CDT. SWTOR servers will be down during this period while a patch will be deployed. When the servers come back up, we’ll have the patch notes available here. Check out the original forum post here or below: Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for six hours on Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 from 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8AM BST/9AM CEST/5PM AEDT) until 8AM CDT (6AM PDT/9AM EDT/2PM BST/3PM CEST/11PM AEDT). All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than six hours, but could be extended. This weekly maintenance is done in order to make general improvements and to check performance of the game so that we can continue to provide a consistent, quality experience. Quite often (but…
GDC Online 2012: SWTOR’s Damion Schubert Dissects Story as a Mechanic
This is a spinoff of the story we just recently brought you from Gamasutra but it goes back to the original source, Damion Schubert and what he has to say about SWTOR and story as a mechanic in the game. It’s definitely a different approach than other MMOs have taken at the game mechanic and we know how important BioWare places their storyline so if anyone could pull it off, we suspect it would be them. However, I bet no one knew exactly how hard it would be to pull it off and to sell it to the gamers. At the Game Developer’s Conference right here in Austin, Schubert talked about this challenge in more detail. Massively had a nice story covering what Schubert says at the conference and their own take on it. Massively reports: At the Game Developers Conference in Austin, Texas, this week, Schubert spent an hour explaining the…
TOR TV: My Sith is a Jerk #9
TheDrunkAndThePwned is back with a new installment of “My Sith is a Jerk”. As always they are funny as hell. I’m pretty sure my next alt will be a sith inquisitor – because damn! they got some funny one liners. It’s also nice to see how the production quality from TheDrunkAndThePwned is improving. Anyways, check out the video below and learn to deal…
Are UI Mods Killing MMORPGS?
In the world of MMORPGs, there are many tools designed to help us advance in the game more quickly and enjoy the game more. Mods and addons allow us to do this and often take on a life of their own with the many things they allow you to do in the game. UI mods are especially popular, changing the look of the user interface and allowing you to personalize your game like never before. I have been playing WoW since beta and long before the days of mods that currently rule the game. GameSpy has a really interesting piece about World of Warcraft mods and how they are affecting the game which has me thinking about how they affect MMORPGs in general and how we see them. Have we become dependent on these addons to enjoy our games fully? While I’ve been one to enjoy my fair share of…
SWG Emulator- Check it Out!
Are you a Star Wars Galaxies fan who was sad to see the game go? Well, you’re not alone- which you probably know already- and there are actually many communities devoted to doing more with the game and making it live on in more than just our memories. If you want to learn more, just head on over to their website where they explain what they are all about: SWGEmu is an acronym/abbreviation for Star Wars Galaxies Emulator. Star Wars Galaxies is a massively multi-player online role playing game introduced by Sony Online Entertainment in the year 2003. It is the game this project focuses to recreate at a specific milestone referred to as Pre-CU, or Pre-Combat Upgrade. The Combat Upgrade was a set of game changes which radically changed the game-play, to the dislike of thousands of players. These changes led to the founding of this project, in an attempt to “recreate”…
Game Update 1.5 on PTS!
Game Update 1.5 is now live on the public test servers. This is the one were we get our new playable companion: HK-51! This means BioWare really will be delivering new content every 6 weeks – nice to finally see them delivering on that promise!! below is the press release from BioWare, and below that is data dump of the new patch. It looks like HK-51 will be a ranged tank or dps from the new cybertech schematics data mined. Game Update 1.5 is Now Live on PTS! Game Update 1.5 is now live on our Public Test Server! For those of you that already have high level, copied characters on our Public Test Server, we encourage you to explore Sector X, Nightmare Explosive Conflict, and the other new features on the Public Test Server right now. Get on, check everything out, and give us your feedback by posting on the Public Test Server forum. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to…
Whiners Need to Quit Playing Video Games! Says Pachter
We’ve talked about Michael Pachter here before (many times) and one thing we know about the Pach man is that he does not hold back. He’s passionate about the video game industry and for several years now, GameTrailers has played host to Pach Attack, a weekly, 7-minute Q&A segment featuring games industry analyst Michael Pachter as he answers related questions submitted by viewers. But what he said in this week’s episode, hosted on Saturday, might strike a chord with some gamers. He talks about the closure of Pandemic and the departure of BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk and says: “”I think that we’ve seen a lot of nasty stuff lately,” he said. “I think that the whining about the ending of Mass Effect 3 really very much could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the doctors. I mean, if you look back at the BioWare…
Ask Mr. Robot Character Profile and Combat Logs are updated for 1.4!
If you’ve been waiting on an update from Ask Mr. Robot, it’s here now. Ask Mr. Robot Character Profile and Combat Logs are updated for 1.4! So now you can insure that you are getting the right gear for your toon and taking your gear in the proper direction. Newly updated for 1.4 so you can stay up to date on your characters, use their character build, browse the armory or even use the SWTOR skill calculator to plan your character or see that you are making the right choices in your character. Ask Mr. Robot is a fantastic tool to have in your SWTOR toolbox. Their team works very hard to stay up to date and give you what you need, when you need it. Mr. Robot’s Star Wars: The Old Republic Tools: Character Builder Build your SWTOR character! Includes gear, companions, skills, crew skills, guild, server, and more….
SWTOR’s Complex Challenge: From Gamasutra
“BioWare’s Damion Schubert is a systems designer, not a writer. Yet he ended up dealing with those elements anyway, as the first designer with MMO experience on a team of traditional BioWare writers. His job was to tell them what elements of an MMO need to be considered in the story design process.” This is from an intro to a story from Gamasutra about SWTOR and the challenges they have had to face with the game. They talk about the complex challenge that SWTOR faced- BioWare story in an MMO world. One thing that I love so much about Gamasutra is the quality in which they can make a point. Some will say that SWTOR failed, although there are still many hardcore fans who stand by the game. There are others who believe it failed on a subscription model but is going to do just fine as f2p. But when…