Recent events in SWTOR have led to a great deal of conversation about PvP in SWTOR and PvP in games in general. This is an age-old debate and you can never make everyone happy in a video game, especially in PvP aspects of it. However, there are certain things that can be done to ensure a better game experience for the players and honestly, some games just severely fail at doing so. Death Fist has some ideas about solutions to World PvP in SWTOR: To be frank, no game has nailed World PvP. And some games, like Warhammer Online, died because they couldn’t provide a meaningful, competitive World PvP game for their customers. Sadly, it doesn’t look like BioWare learned the BIG World PvP lesson from Warhammer – gamers will always travel the path of least resistance to achieve their goals. Ah, isn’t that the truth? As gamers, we depend…
Server Group Forums Now Available
As we reported was soon to come, the official SWTOR forums now have server group forums available. This is intended to make it easier for players to communicate with others from their specific server. It could be an easier way to get the information that you need more quickly. Allison Berryman explains on the official forums: Hey everyone! You’ll notice that the new Server Group Forums and the Suggestion Box are now available! We configured the Server Group Forums to require you to select a forum name tag for each thread, so there is no longer a requirement to enter your server name manually – you’ll just select it from the drop-down menu when creating a new thread. Thank you all for your patience. We’re looking forward to your feedback! Allison Berryman | Senior Community Coordinator With the new server group forums up, there is a lot of talk about…
TOR TV: A New Meme (probably the greatest machinima to date)
This may be one of the the dumbest thing I’ve watched all week – and I have had a REALLY strange week so far — but it still made me laugh out loud. Kudos I’m not sure how to describe this video, I guess you just have to watch it your self. Please help us out though and write your own description in the comments 🙂 Interested in SWTOR Movies? We have new movies most weekdays here on swtorstrategies! Have suggestions for movie we ought to feature? Get in contact with us here
Georg Zoeller on the Ability Delay Situation
As many of you may have already discovered, there were some issues with SWTOR causing abilities on cooldown to appear like they were available to the player but without actually being usable to the player. This bug was reported by many and BioWare has an official response for us today. Georg Zoeller reports: Hi everyone; I wanted to give you all an update on the ability delay situation. Thanks to constructive feedback from the community, including some great videos, we were able to identify an issue that could cause abilities on global cooldown to appear available to the player, resulting in unresponsive/ignored player input. A fix for the issue is currently scheduled to go to the public test server with our next update. Additionally, we have located an issue that would cause player input for certain instant abilities to fail in frantic combat situations, resulting in unpredictable and frustrating gameplay…
Escapist Magazine SWTOR Review
You know how we are all about giving you great reviews of SWTOR. This is partly because we want you to hear other opinions of the game, including those from other publications and fan sites. We know that gamers vary in their likes, interests, personalities and gameplay styles so hearing reviews from different sources can help cater to those different types of gamers. Escapist Magazine has a great review of SWTOR, complete with a video, to share with you and we thought it’s worth mentioning. If you have the time, head on over and read their editorial and give the video a play-through. If you can, come on back over here and tell us what you think. Were they spot-on with their review? Anything you agree with or that you don’t agree with? Here’s a snippet: Most MMORPGs have far too narrow a definition of the term “RPG.” For them,…
Known In-Game Issues with SWTOR
Are you experiencing problems with SWTOR since the patch? Do you have bugs or issues you thought would be fixed or that cropped up only after the recent update? You are not alone and if you’re wondering if BioWare knows about it or if what you are experiencing is a common problem for others, then there is a great thread about it to keep you updated and to prevent duplicate threads on reporting issues. Amber Green, Live Community Manager, shares on the forums the known issues with SWTOR since Jan 19th: This list of known issues was last updated on: January 19th, 2012 After clearing G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator in Karagga’s Palace, if Operation Groups reset the phase, the encounter will respawn and must be completed again to progress. The Operation Group will not receive any items the second time G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator is defeated.Workaround: Players must avoid resetting the phase…
Undocumented Patch Changes – SWTOR Patch 1.1
The first official SWTOR patch came out Wednesday and with it come bugs as well as long awaited fixes. There are some little things we’ve been waiting for since launch that we finally have and then there are some other things that will just have to wait a bit longer to be added/resolved. What changes have you noticed so far? Have you found any previously undocumented patch changes? One Reddit user has compiled for us a list of undocumented patch changes: This is NOT a bug list Bank items now stack when right-clicking them from your inventory Diplomacy Mission Discovery Items now include (Light) or (Dark) in their names to reflect the morality yield of the unlocked mission. Orange social sets no longer lose their stats after logging in/loading a new area Companion starter gear has a different visual on several companions You can now see the damage of your abilities while…
Brokers Concerned about EA Stock Due to SWTOR
SWTOR is a big earner for BioWare and Electronic Arts. The extreme popularity of the game pre-launch and at launch led to great success for EA- at least from the start. All around, the company was recognized and this included with rising stock prices. However, with that fame comes great responsibility. EA has a lot to live up to with SWTOR. There are expectations not only from the gamers but also from those who have invested into the company, based on the proposed success from the game. Any sign of failure on this part will effect more than just the gamers who are playing. Recent reports of bugs and performance issues could be responsible for some investors to question their stock in EA. Could they be jumping too soon? Performance issues cause EA stocks to drop with concerns over SWTOR. This report on Market Watch explains: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) —…
Founder’s medal and title awarded to paying subscribers
We are a few days late with the story, but have you been playing SWTOR since beta or since launch? Do you enjoy the game and plan to stick around? BioWare has recently announced they have something fun for those who decide to renew their game subscription for another month and stick around. There will be a “Founder’s” medal and in-game title awarded to eligible paying subscribers. This is a fun little addition to anyone playing the game anyway and especially to those who enjoy titles, achievements and those little unique tributes in an MMO. This is an exclusive title that will not be available to anyone in the future and a great thank you from BioWare for being there from the beginning. Yesterday, BioWare writes in SWTOR news: “We would like to thank each and every one of you for helping to make Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ one…
TOR TV: REAL World PvP on Ilum Patch 1.1
Reading Reddit and the official forums yesterday I became a sad sad panda. For some reason people are more interested in broken stuff, then all the cool stuff that works really well. I don’t understand what is happening and why the community is developing in to such a unproductive sad place, becourse we all know that Star Wars: The old republic is an AWESOME game. If you don’t you won’t be reading this story in the first place. Below is a 2 hour video showing FUN openworld pvp. I don’t expect you to watch it all, but the next time you feel like exploiting or in any other way destroying open world PVP on Ilum, see a few minuts of the video, and understand that you are doing it wrong! Interested in SWTOR Movies? We have new movies most weekdays here on swtorstrategies! Have suggestions for movie we ought to feature? Get in contact with us here
New Video for what’s to come in SWTOR over the coming months!
It’s just about time to pay up for another month of SWTOR subscription, and BioWare has started teasing us with what we have to look forwarder to in upcoming patches. Personally I’m impressed, it all looks really really promising. Check it out below: See what the future holds for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ in this brand new video which showcases some of the new game content and game systems that we will release in the coming months. In it, you will be able to take your first look at upcoming game content, including new Warzones and Flashpoints. You will also have the chance to get a sneak peek at the expanded Legacy system that’s coming to the game, UI customization, as well as new Guild features!
SWTOR Unsubscribe Option Missing for Some Players
If you’re trying to get into your account with SWTOR to cancel your subscription before the auto-renewal from the free 30 days, then you might be running into some problems. It appears that the “cancel subscription” button is missing for some players from their account pages. Since tomorrow is the day of the billing for accounts thatare set to be billed after the free initial month that you get when youpurchase the game, there are some people trying to get in there and cancelthose before they get billed. Imagine their surprise when the option is notthere for them! But before we start talking conspiracy theories, BioWare isaware of the problem and insist it was not intentional and that they are workingon it right now. There are some posts about workaround options but BioWare isrequesting that if you have this problem, you call customer service to cancelyour subscription and get it…
1.1.0a Patch Notes – 1/19/2012
Due to the small “miss happenings” after yesterdays patch updates, BioWare launched an emergancy patch to fix the issues. Check it out below: Operations Karagga’s Palace Fixed an issue that caused assigned loot bags in Karagga’s Palace to distribute items with class inappropriate stats. PvP Ilum Players can no longer enter the opposing faction’s safe base area, thus preventing players from continually “camping” the other faction’s base. Turrets inside faction bases were not intended to be destroyed and are now immune to damage. The population cap for instances of Ilum has been reduced to improve performance. Implemented optimizations to improve performance on Ilum. Miscellaneous Bug Fixes Loading screens no longer appear when other players spawn nearby.
May the schwartz be with you: Volkswagen’s ‘Star Wars’ Ad Campaign Has Gone to the Dogs
Coming off of last year’s wildly successful Star Wars themed Passat Super Bowl commercial, Volkswagen is out to continue that success once again. Ahead of the big game on February 5th, the automaker has just released this new teaser featuring another bit of Star Wars reference, only this time it features dogs and not a nine-year-old kid.You have to listen carefully (we had to listen twice to pick up on it), but the canine chorus is barking a very familiar tune. VW claims that the commercial will all make sense come game day. Until then, the teaser is a great laugh and we’ll see if this intergalactic canine bark fest can beat out last year’s fantastic young Darth Vader commercial.
Star Wars: Old Republic plans to cater to casual fans
Casual fans will be happy to hear the news that BioWare is planning new future content to high level casual players. With so many games pushing to the hardcore fans and players, it’s nice to also see a game that address the casual players- those in school, moms and dads with jobs and family responsibilities or those players who are also playing other games at the same time. Speaking to VideoGamer.com, the MMO’s lead PvP designer Gabe Amatangelo stated in the future he hopes to introduce new elements that will help high-level casual players play through difficult content the game. “…One thing I wanted was to make the Normal mode very accessible to casual players,” he explained. In the interview, he says they have plans to regularly release new Flashpoints, new planets, and other solo content in the future. He describes the process that goes into creating the content that…
SWTOR’s New Patch Created a Mess on Ilum
While some were celebrating the new patch today (SWTOR Patch 1.1), others were frustratingly being farmed on Ilum as they attempted to complete daily and weekly PvP quests. What resulted was a bit of a disaster if you’re on the wrong side. And even if you weren’t, it created some pretty severe system load from all of those people in one area. “”We’re currently investigating potential issues related to the Ilum open world PvP area post-1.1. We understand that this is a topic of much discussion and we ask that you please direct all discussions to this thread,” writes Joveth Gonzalez on the official SWTOR forums. He also reminds everyone of the forum rules when posting on this issue: “As always, we ask that the community keep the following things on mind when responding: No insults, name calling, or personal attacks Please stay on topic. If someone violates the Rules…
EA Has Invested Half a BILLION Dollars in Star Wars
In a story at MarketWatch.com, we learn a bit of interesting news about SWTOR. It’s an article/interview about Electronic Arts’ CEO Riccitiello, 52, but contains a fun tidbit about the BioWare hit of the year- SWTOR. According to the source: In a Dec. 23 statement, EA boasted that “The Old Republic” had attracted more than 1 million registered subscribers in just three days on the market. Doug Creutz of Cowen & Co. says that Riccitiello’s tenure as CEO has featured misfires along with its successes but that “Star Wars” may represent his biggest bet of all, considering both the purchase price of BioWare/Pandemic and the development costs poured into the game since then. “I think it’s safe to say that the total all-in investment in ‘Star Wars’ is probably approaching half a billion dollars,” Creutz says. “EA has minimized its risks as much as it can on this bet, but…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Patch 1.1
SWTOR’s first major game update is now live! The updates goes under the name ‘Rise of the Rakghouls’ and features a number of additions to the game, including a brand new Flashpoint titled ‘Kaon Under Siege’ and an expansion to the ‘Karagga’s Palace’ Operation that more than triples its size! In addition to the new playable content and new item sets that you can acquire, Game Update 1.1 includes a number of bug and other various fixes which you can see in detail in the Game Update 1.1 Patch Notes below: Edit. SWTOR-Tanking.com did a small video going over the patch notes: General Anti-aliasing is now available and can be enabled in the preferences menu. Classes and Combat General Healing caused by crowd control abilities no longer generates threat. Tooltips for abilities modified by skill points now display correct damage values. Guard This ability now transfers to a new friendly target without…
March Update Will be Huge for SWTOR
While we were all awaiting Patch 1.1, which was delayed, there is news that in the not-too-far future, there will be a huge update for SWTOR. The second release, planned for March, is expected to be much bigger in scope- “huge” in fact, in terms of what it will add to the game. SWTOR Game director James Ohlen, who told CVG in a recent interview that Game Update 2 will include three major pieces of content, as well as “full” Legacy game content. He tells CVG: “Game Update 2 is much bigger in scope. It’s further out from launch, so we can have much more of the team focused on it. There’s Part 2 of Rise of the Rakghouls, a brand new planet called Denova which has an 8-16 man Operation and a new Warzone. “We might also be able to get some new space game missions into it. In…
HeroEngine Technology, Critical to SWTOR’s Successful Launch Now Used by Thousands of Game Developers
The HeroEngine Technology that was so critical to the development of SWTOR and its success which follows is not helping with many other video games across the industry. Thousands of game developers are now finding a way to make use of this technology in their own games. Business Wire reports: “Developers are seeing a significantly reduced time to market. The Star Wars MMO was a major, multi-year undertaking, but other MMO games have shipped on our platform in as little as 15 months.” HeroEngine Technology was designed to help with large multiplayer scalable games like SWTOR. It has development tools that allow real time updates and that helps streamline the process of creating the game. But BioWare is not the only game developer to take advantage of this technology. More from Business Wire: There are already thousands of developers using HeroCloud and according to President and COO Neil Harris, “Developers…
Republic Trooper Interview of Jeff Dobson
Graphics are a huge part of any MMO and it’s something that I look for when choosing a video game to play. Good graphics greatly enhance the gameplay. SWTOR has a lot to be proud of when it comes to the animation and visual effects of the game. The art team at Bioware did an excellent job with the graphics but I sometimes wonder how it’s even possible to create such amazing artwork. RepublicTrooper.com went right to the source and did an interview with Jeff Dobson, TORs Art Director to ask a few of the questions that gamers like me often wonder about but never have the opportunity to ask. One of the questions Republic Trooper asked was “How many different types of artists are there and what are their roles?” Dobson answered by saying, “We have concept artists, character artists, environment artists, VFX artists, GUI artists, animators, and technical…
Tuesday 1/17/2012 Maintenance Delayed
Today’s scheduled SWTOR Update has now been delayed to a future date. Here is the official news from Amber Green, Live Community Coordinator via the Official Forums: Hello everyone! Because we careabout ensuring that Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ provides you with aconsistent and quality game play experience, we will be postponing weeklymaintenance this week. Downtime was originally scheduled for Tuesday, January17th, 2012 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) to 10AM CST (8AMPST/11AM EST/4PM GMT/5PM CET) and will now occur at a later date due to issuesrequiring additional testing that have been discovered with the Game Update 1.1content on the Public Test Server. These issues were primarily brought to our attention by the diligent players onthe Public Test Server Forums. Your participation in testinghelps to improve the game as a whole, and we appreciate your discussion andfeedback. The bug reports you provide are a valuable part of the…
TOR TV: 2V-R8 Infomercial
Imperial players have 2V-R8 and Republic players have C2-N2. Both of them are known to be most annoying thing in SWTOR. Some people find them so annoying that they are afraid to enter their ship. Wish they add the disable option for for this retarded robot. Pro tip, below this video is a elegant pathing to avoid conversation…
Bioware Puts Focus on story-based Flashpoints for SWTOR Future
Stay Classy, Consular… It has been almost a month since the release of SWTOR and the first patch, 1.1 is due out next week. Many players, like me, are anxious to know what new content the patch will add to the game. Some players love all the MMO instances they can get so they can fight bad guys for loot and XP to level up faster. Others prefer story based flashpoints where they can concentrate more on their character. It really depends on the player and your gamer style. Gamesradar.com interviewed Bioware Gabe Amatangelo and asked the question, “Do you think, moving forward, you’ll be focusing on the story-based flashpoints more than the traditional MMO-style instances?” Amatangelo answered by saying, “We’re taking a look at metrics, but we’re inclined to do more of the story ones.” How do you feel about that answer? Are you excited to hear Bioware’s upcoming…
