Do video games create sociopaths? Do shooter games make people kill people? Do violent games increase violence? These are questions that have been around nearly as long as the games themselves. This is a hot topic of political debate today and there are many who strongly believe that video games do contribute to shootings and other violence seen in the world today. BBC news tells us: The boss of Electronic Arts (EA) has denied there is any link between video game content and “actual violence””. Some politicians have very strong views about these video games and how they affect our culture: Republican congresswoman Diane Franklin subsequently proposed a sales tax on violent titles, saying the money should be used to “finance mental health programs and law enforcement measures to prevent mass shootings. Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader went further, accusing games publishers of being “electronic child molesters” and…
TOR TV: Tribute To Female Sith Warrior
At our last installment of TOR TV we got an interesting comment from our reader Elvira Bornich. Elvira goes by the name TheAzerothGirl on youtube, and have uploaded quite a few interesting videos That I would recommend you to watch. Here is her Tribute To the Female Sith Warrior. Be careful. The video contains spoilers, and Techno growling with kinky lyrics. Not sure what this music style is called? Fits awesome to the Sith Warrior class though. Enjoy!
Mtsbwy: Star Trek Meets Star Wars
This is exactly what The Verge has done in this hilarious thread that also invites you to post your own photo response. Make sure you scroll down through all the comments as well as the post itself.
The Problem with Gamers Today – An Entitled Generation
I have been gaming since I was old enough to pick up a controller. I was a child of the 80s- the Nintendo generation- but once I got my first computer and discovered PC games, I knew that would be my favorite platform. We own one of every console but I still play PC games with the most frequency. One thing that has changed a great deal about video games today is the sheer volume of options we have. There is a game for everyone and everything. Another thing that has changed in the gaming community is the overall attitude of many gamers. We have become an entitled generation of video gamers. Of course, this does not apply to everyone but I use “we” in the collective sense. Gamers today are selfish and impatient. They want what they want and they don’t want to wait for it. Many successful games…
SWTOR Reverse Engineering Can Cost a Lot
Reverse engineering is based on luck because of the random number generators (RNG) in the game. If you run across some bad luck, you could end up spending a great deal of money on your reverse engineering. If you have yet to experience it yourself, you need to read the story of this guy who wasted 20 million credits with a combination of poor Reverse Engineering luck and his own greed. He’s written about the tale in a “what not to do” blog post so you don’t have to suffer his same embarrassing fate. How I Underestimated SWTOR’S Reverse Engineering RNG from Mad Sith Assassin tells us: When rank 27 gear released with Terror From Beyond, I wanted to continue the success I had before. This is around the time two fateful events occurred. First, it became public knowledge that taking a crafted mod a player had made and…
SWTOR Space Missions Issues
Players have reported issues with SWTOR space missions recently and Amber Green, Live Community Coordinator, came into the forums to make an official response on the issue: We’ve investigated your reports and wanted to let you know that Space Combat Missions are working as designed. However, the patch notes for 1.6.3 were not fully correct, and we understand that this may have caused some confusion. These have now been updated for clarification, and we apologize for the mistake. With Patch 1.6.3, all Space Combat Daily Missions were moved to be available 12 hours later. They will now reset each day at 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET/11PM AEDT), rather than at 6PM CST the day before. This includes the new missions, of which there are 6, and they are available as follows: Tuesday – Far Cradle Strike (Imp) / Regnant Station (Rep) Wednesday – Kabal Station Defense (Imp) / Ardis Outpost…
TOR TV: T.H.E. Hardest Ever
Here is a pretty interesting Video. This was mailed to us by a reader who wish to be anomynous. It’s back from when the game was new, but still a great SWTOR Machinima. The video was made by Grumbleduck and comes with the following description: Vindex – T.H.E. Hardest Ever – Machinima Vindex – Ahto City – EU PVP Server Just a quick thing I roped some guildies into doing. It’s not been made to be ‘professional’ or anything of the sort; this video was purely made out of bordem and much needed practice. A laugh and a giggle was had! 🙂 Thank you to Zebba, Blackwrath, Brick and Bunisher for putting up with me during filming! www.vindex.enjin.com Check it out below:
EA Financial Call
Electronic Arts had a financial call yesterday. Unfortunately there weren’t much news about how SWTOR are doing, other then early indications for SWTOR F2P transition were positive. In other news coming out of the financial call, Electronic Arts said its loss for the third quarter narrowed from a year ago, mostly on lower expenses. Adjusted profit, which excludes special items, beat estimates by a penny, although revenues fell short of expectations. Moving ahead, the company detailed its outlook for the fourth quarter and revised its full year guidance. Electronic Arts third-quarter loss narrowed to $45 million or $0.15 per share from $205 million or $0.62 per share last year. Excluding items, earnings dropped to $0.57 per share from $0.99 per share last year. On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.56 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items. Revenues for the third quarter dropped to $922 million from…
SithTalk Ep 47 – For sale Pod racer! whooob whoob whoob whoob
Sith talk episode 47 is now ready. This week they cover the 1.6.3 and 1.6.3a patches. Brutis pays a visit with a new episode of the Lore Monger. Sudo takes the week off. They are also talking about playing from a F2P perspective. The guys started a free account not just playing on they normal account and playing pretend. Last but not least, they talk about the new additions to the Rise of the Hutt cartel digital expansion. Check out the podcast over at pondomatic or check it out on Youtube below: Also remember to follow the guys on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.
TOR TV: Republic Trooper Tribute – Burn it Down
This video might contain *Spoilers* Do not watch if you don’t want spoilers!!! This video is a few month old now, but it is definitely still worth a watch. The video is uploaded to youtube by SaiTorrsVideos and piece together most of the trooper cut-scenes from the storyline’s act II and act III. Mix that with Linkin park and you got a good time 🙂 I have a level 50 trooper and I personally enjoyed the story. Trooper story perfectly nails the life of a soldier and the hard choices one is forced to make. Troopers get some pretty hard ones during the 3 Chapters. At times it took me over an hour just to make a decision; that’s how much I was into the story.
Flashpoint Guide: The Streets of Cademimu
Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic The Streets of Cademimu Flashpoint takes place in the city of Cademimu and it’s for level 29 players or higher. Some of the NPCs in the area are not aggressive so you can just bypass them but you’ll notice that a lot of them are fighting each other. For this reason, you’ll need to move fast and tag them first so you can get your XP points and the loot. You will go up against 3 bosses but to reach the first one, you’ll need to go down the elevator until you reach a green marker. When the elevator stops, the first thing you’ll see is a group of NPCs fighting. You’ll need to run into them to get the instance to update the objective. When you look on your map, you’ll notice that you…
Cartel Coin Conversions- How Much Does it Really Cost?
Are you wondering how much that item in the Cartel Market really costs? While the Cartel Market operates on Cartel Coins, those coins have to come from somewhere and subscribers get a small amount each month but everyone else will have to buy them with cash. This isn’t a new concept to come to MMOs as many have been using this model for quite some time. However, since it’s new to SWTOR, many players want to know how they can get the most from their cash spent on CC. So here’s a little breakdown of how much certain items would cost you (on average) from the Cartel Market. These prices are based on a ‘per character’ purchase. If you choose the ‘account wide’ option, it will cost more. Carbonite Chamber: 720CC= $6.48 More Quickbars: 250CC= $2.25 10 GTN Sale Slots: 125CC= $1.13 Additional Crew Skill: 420CC= $3.78 Now let’s take…
JJ Abrams Confirmed as Director of Star Wars VII, Speaks on the Role
It’s official: Abrams is directing Star Wars VII How does Abrams feel about being selected as the director for Star Wars: Episode 7? Reports say he called it “as surreal as it is exciting.” Abrams spoke with some press before heading into the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday night where he was there to accept the Norman Lear Achievement Award for such television works as “Felicity” (1998-2002), “Alias” (2001-2006), “Lost” (2004-2010), “Fringe” (2008-2013) as well as the current series “Person of Interest” and “Revolution.” Abrams is also known for his movie directing of “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible.”” He was on my personal shortlist for directors I wanted to do this early on but he initially said he wasn’t interested. Supposedly, the former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy (who will produce the films) convinced him to change his mind in early January after visiting him at the Santa Monica offices of…
5 Reasons You Should Be a SWTOR Subscriber
If you’re still holding back on the decision to become a SWTOR subscriber, it might be a good time to go ahead and take the plunge. When you look at all the benefits that come with a sub, you just might ask yourself why you didn’t do it earlier. Honestly, if you’re really into the game and play on a regular basis, it just makes sense to subscribe. Here are five reasons you should be a SWTOR subscriber: Subscriber Benefits in the Cartel Market: Another reason you should be a subscriber is for the Cartel Market benefits. You get access to all 6 quick bars, a minimum of 500 Cartel Coins per month to spend, 10 additional character slots per server, unlimited access to all warzones, flashpoints, space combat and operations, earlier access to sprint and speeder piloting, ability to queue your crafting items and much more. You Get 50%…
SWTOR Takes Top 10 Video Game Marketing Campaigns
Massively noted their top 10 memorable marketing campaigns and no surprise, SWTOR Flash/Freeze mob made the list at #8. Video game makers have to market and advertise just like any other business today. However, they are finding, just like other markets, that they have to get more creative with how they advertise and how they spread the word about their brand. Because of this, some video games have had some pretty interest campaigns to help draw attention to their game. SWTOR was no exception. Here’s what Massively writer Justin Olivetti had to say about it: “Despite your feelings on the game, you have to admit that this flash mob is just a brilliant piece of advertising. I don’t know what I love more: the incredibly detailed costumes, the decision to pose all dramatically instead of staging a hackneyed fight, the fog that comes up, the dad who just yanks his…
JJ Abrams to Direct Star Wars Episode 7?
UPDATE: This has since been confirmed true by Disney and Lucasfilm. Yay! Rumors have been buzzing the internet since Thursday evening when the news broke that JJ Abrams would direct Star Wars Episode 7, despite his earlier comments that he was not interested in directing the film. However, we’ve been unable to find confirmation from Abrams’ representatives, Disney or Lucasfilm that the rumor is actually true. The news was spread by multiple trade reports, including The Wrap, which has now pulled its Abrams story. The Hollywood Reporter still has their Abrams story up which says “Sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter that the Star Trekdirector is negotiating to direct Episode VII, the next installment in the fabled sci-fi franchise.” But this doesn’t tell us who their sources are and with no official confirmation, we cannot be 100% certain it’s not a rumor. All of the stories we find by official news sites like ABC…
Patch notes 1.6.3a 25/01/13
Servers are back up and BioWare has finished patching the servers. Teral V is now playable again and stuff on the Cartel Market seems to be back to normal. Now go play! Cartel Market The following armor sets will no longer incorrectly list helmet as part of the set description: Sanctified Caretaker Armor Set Malevolent Interrogator Armor Set Clandestine Officer Armor Set Interstellar Privateer Armor Set Valiant Jedi Armor Set Sith Raider Armor Set Flashpoints and Operations Taral V: Players will no longer be prevented from completing this Flashpoint on the step “Defeat General Edikar.”
Sexy Skins for Male SWTOR Characters
Why is it the female characters get all the sexy gear in SWTOR but the males are all covered in their armor? Where is the male eye candy for us ladies (and some guys)? One SWTOR fan has an answer and he’s posted it in the fan art section of the SWTOR forums. Forum user Ixum brings us “The We Want Skimpy Gear For Male Characters” Thread and it’s a riot. If you have not seen it already, it’s well worth stopping by. Whether you want to see male SWTOR in sexy outfits or you just want to get some lolz, you’ll enjoy browsing through the thread that is now 63 pages long and growing. Whenever he hits a milestone in views, he also does a special edition picture. Check out the 6K views leopard bikini, for example. While the thread has been around for quite some time, it’s actually…
Unscheduled maintenance tomorrow January 25th, 2013
Just a heads up. BioWare will take down the servers tomorrow morning to apply a patch. No words on what they will be fixing yet, but it is highly likely they will be fixing Taral V wich have been buggy since last patch. After killing PD-44 and speaking with Kilran you are trapped in the room. Normally, a door to the right would be open but it is closed and you cant open it. Happened on HC and SM. Below are the notice; We will be deploying a patch and performing an unscheduled maintenance this Friday, January 25th, 2013. Patch notes will be made available shortly after the servers come back up. The servers will be down for two hours on Friday, January 25th, 2012 from 7AM CST (5AM PST/8AM EST/1PM GMT/2PM CET/12AM AEDT) until 9AM CST (7AM PST/10AM EST/3PM GMT/4PM CET/2AM AEDT). All game servers will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected…
Global SWTOR Cosplay Swag
What’s up everyone out in the Star Wars diaspora! We here at SWTORStrategies have previously brought to your attention some epic SWTOR Cosplay models bringing the vision of SWTOR to real life, with menacing smiles, banging blasters and deadly lightsabers! Legendary SWTOR journalist Lisa Mason, wrote these previous articles on two cosplay masters, who brought excellent renditions of Grand Master Satele Shan to planet Earth. Shanoa Abby Dark-Star But these aren’t the only two who did the work for costume design, photo shoots and even some post image production effects. Today, we’re going to share some of those masterpieces which come from numerous countries like Spain, France, New Zealand, the United States and the Netherlands. I’m going to have to look deeper into Japan’s Cosplay movement, because I know I missed some of their work. Though I don’t believe SWTOR was ever released in Japanese. If you find yourself impressed,…
1.6.3 Patch Notes 1/23/2013
Servers are back up after today’s server maintenance. BioWare took the chance to deploy a new patch and updated the game to version 1.6.3. This update also added 3 new outfits and a pod racer mount to the cartel market. Below is a screenshot of the pod racer and armor sets: Below are the new armor sets: 1.6.3 Patch Notes 1/23/2013 Cartel Market New Items The Czerka CR-17 Incendia, is now available. The protection provided from being knocked off this vehicle is greater than Speeder Piloting III. Cost: 1,800 Cartel Coins. Three new armor sets, the Sand People Pillager Set, The Sanctified Caretaker Set, and the Malevolent Interrogator Set can now be purchased. These sets of adaptive armor can be worn by any Class at level 1. Cost: 1,440 Cartel Coins each. The Preferred Access Bundle is now available! This bundle offers the player a selection of popular unlocks and customization options. Cost: 972 Cartel…
Rise of the Hutt Cartel: First Look Video
BioWare just released a new trailer for the upcoming expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel. The video is only around 1 minute long, but shows some interesting footage of the planet and what seems to be new armor. At the same time as the release of this video, BioWare have updated the RotHC homepage RoTHC pre-orders now get a mini-pet, Title, and Holo-statue. All players that pre-order Rise of the Hutt Cartel will receive an exclusive Title, Holostatue, and Mini-Pet when the Digital Expansion launches. The Dr. Oggurobb Hutt Holostatue Train under the illustrious Hutt scientist Dr. Oggurobb with this portable training device that he created in his own image. “”Scourge of the Hutts” Title Republic and Imperial forces that adorn this title will be feared and revered across the galaxy. The Makrin Seedling Mini-Pet Get your very own Makrin Creeper to follow you around and “creep” out your enemies! Possessing bark-like skin and grass-like nerve-rich…
SWTOR Flashpoint Guide: The Esseles
Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic The Esseles is the very first Flashpoint for the Republic faction and you’ll enter it as soon as you leave the prologue planet. You’ll be asked to board the transport ship the Esseles headed for the capital of Coruscant. Players must be at least a level 10 before you are allowed to enter the transport. While you can go this instance alone, it’s more beneficial if you have at least two players and your companions. Going it alone can be difficult and you will miss the opportunity to fight a bonus boss. It also helps if both players have chosen their advanced class and if one of you is a healer. This is a story based Flashpoint so there’s many cutscenes and dialogue that will earn you social points and there are several bonus missions…
SWTOR Cartel Market Items Guide and Overview
If you have yet to fully explore the Cartel Market, you might have some questions about what’s it in, how much it costs and if it’s worth it. While each player is different and what is worth it to one player can vary with another, it does pay to do a little research into what you can get. So here’s an overview guide of the items in the Cartel Market available for purchase. Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic Cartel Packs There are two types of cartel packs that you can purchase and they contain an assortment of the goods and crafting materials. In addition to these, you can receive some very rare bonus items that you can’t find anywhere else. Crime Lord’s Cartel Packs– for 360 CCs, you’re guaranteed to receive two rare bonus items and you have a chance…