OH NOOOoooo!!! What did SWTOR do now? WHY ALWAYS US?!?!?!!!!! Well, before you all start freaking out, SWTOR was not included in this all out critique of the 2012 gaming world. So why am I writing an article about it, if Angry Joe’s video has nothing do with SWTOR? Because SWTOR is FREAKING AWESOME!!! That’s why! And for a few other reasons. Remember words like TORTANIC? Yeah well the ship hasn’t sunk. In fact we’re all out on deck catching some rays, dirty dancing to reggaeton! I must admit there was that scary moment when after people speed played through the game before it was even finished (EA forced Bioware to release the game unfinished until the March 2012 update which fixed that) finding the lack of end game content, causing way too many subscribers to up and leave. After some time it was like playing SWG in mid 2011…
SWTOR Game Update 1.7 – Return of the Gree Coming Soon
BioWare has announced the next game update today- date to be determined and like other game updates, it comes with a new event, new quests and new items. GET READY TO HELP THE GREE – YOUR PROWESS WILL BE GREATLY REWARDED! The new game update 1.7 is called “Return of the Glee” and will allow you to play with other Level 50 players or journey alone to assist the Gree in their continual pursuit of information. Rewards will be available to those “brave enough” to help the Gree. We also noticed there is cartel option to up your reputation gains in the upper right corner. It also looks like they cap your rep gain per week so you can’t grind it all out quickly. From SWTOR news regarding the new game update: NEW RECURRING EVENT: RELICS OF THE GREE Explore Ilum‘s contested area in the Western Ice Shelf to uncover the…
Fox News Strikes! SWTOR Segregates Gay Characters to Gay Planet
Many on both sides of the fence are displeased with how BioWare has handled the issue of same-gender romance in the game but Fox News had something to say about it yesterday in their article, ‘Star Wars’ game segregates gay characters on gay planet. Depending on who you ask, Fox News is either an excellence source for news and updates on all issues and current affairs, or a debacle of news station putting out biased and botched stories disguised as “news””. We’ll let you make the decision for yourself but either way, it’s good to see the topic getting some media attention. SGR in SWTOR has been heavily debated since before the game even launched and BioWare has always taken a positive stance on the issue, despite the complaints from some fans. BioWare’s Jeff Hickman, executive producer of ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ has said more than once, “Allowing same-gender romance…
Giant Crazy Wishlist for SWTOR- What Would You Wish For?
If you could have any features you wanted in SWTOR, what would they be? What features would you be willing to pay for if they added them to the game? Some SWTOR Reddit users have a nice thread going on about their SWTOR wishes. Everything from the practical to the ridiculous is coming out in this thread and Here are some things being mentioned in the conversation: A legacy-wide companion menu for crew skill maintenance. A legacy-wide bank. Twice as many missions available inside the crew skill selection. A way to have one companion designated for conversations while another companion is physically summoned. I’d like to be able to watch huttball while I’m queued for warzones. Legacy companion summoning. Generate a companion with the same class, items, and name as another character in your legacy with a default set of abilities associated to that class. LEGACY IGNORE. If I put…
1.6.2a Patch Notes 1/15/2013
As mentioned yesterday, BioWare took the servers down for Scheduled Maintenance today. For those wondering, BioWare diden’t add any new items at the cartel market. We did get a little patch though. Check itout below: General Implemented optimizations to improve overall server stability. Cartel Market Updated the Cartel Market art for the Skip Tracer’s Cartel Pack. The art now more accurately reflects the in-game appearance of the Fancy Reveler’s armor.
Flashpoint Guide: The Colicoid War Game
Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic When you reach levels 37 to 41, you can take part in one of the most unique Flashpoints in the game called The Colicoid War Game. It’s not like any of the others because there is only one classic Boss fight at the end. However, you will go though three challenges to complete the instance and both the Empire and the Republic factions have access to this Flashpoint. First Challenge: The Colicoid Attack Waves During the first challenge, you’ll fight a large group of Colicoid warriors that will run towards you all at once. Your goal is to kill off the warriors as quickly as possible without taking on too much damage. The best defense may be to mount turrets, face the enemy and burn them down. The order you take them out could mean…
DEATHMATCH II – Darth Malgus Versus Sora Bulq
Last week we introduced Star Wars Expanded Universe expert, Jensaarai1 and featured Episode 7 of his Versus Series, Darth Malgus Versus Count Dooku. Coincidentally and almost magically as if the Force itself was involved, Jensaari1 releases his first Versus episode for 2013, episode 11, that very night – 41 minutes of calculated lightsaber dueling Sith/Jedi analysis! He uses Darth Malgus once again. This time he pits Malgus against former Jedi Master turned Sith, Sora Bulq of the Clone Wars era! Both are power houses. Who will win? Only Jensaarai1, the Nerd-Rage Ranter knows! Feel free to share your opinion on this battle. Did you disagree or agree with his conclusion? Why or why not? If the force permits, I hope to see more of Jensaarai’s “Versus Series” featuring more legends from SWTOR and even its predecessor, KOTOR. When he does, you will be sure to find out about it, here…
Reminder: Scheduled Maintenance Tomorrow
Just a friendly heads up to you all. BioWare will be performing scheduled maintenance and deploying a patch tomorrow. There for the servers will be down for a few hours. If you don’t want to do while the servers are down, you can always play some Pazaak We will be deploying a patch and performing scheduled maintenance this Tuesday, January 15th, 2013. Patch notes will be made available shortly after the servers come back up. The servers will be down for two hours on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 from 5AM CST (3AM PST/5AM EST/11AM GMT/12PM CET/10PM AEDT) until 7AM CST (5AM PST/8AM EST/1PM GMT/2PM CET/12AM AEDT). All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than two hours, but could be extended. After the maintenance, please login via the launcher to download the latest patch. If your launcher was open during the maintenance, you…
Satele Shan Cosplay from Abby Dark-Star
We have a great find for you today from Abby Dark-Star. She has a new ablum up on her Facebook page showing her Satele Shan cosplay/costume set and it has amazing detail. I’m personally a fan of Abby; she’s just a really cool, nerdy girl and her modeling is a lot of fun. She’s done some of my favorite comic and video game characters. I’m not surprised at all that pulled off a great Satele. The model is Abby Dark-Star and this is the full album on Facebook. Abby is Moderator at The Replica Prop Forum, FANgirl Blog Contributor and HXO for the Avengers Initiative. And if you really love them, you can order prints from her store here. You can request to have them signed or addressed and her prices on prints are great! Credits: Leathers from Twisted World 3D Printing for belt buckle/arm band/beads: Ed Wamser Lightsaber, soft pieces, sculpting by Zen & I….
State of the SWTOR Community
With the news that Curse has fired all the Darth Hater team, we see a spur of conversations taking place about the game, its players and the community that revolves around the game. Some are saying that this is a sign of the community falling apart, a reflection of the current state of the game and some are even saying it’s BioWare’s fault for not caring enough about their game and its community. There are lots of different opinions but one very strong opinion comes from someone who was once a very big player in the SWTOR community. The guy who runs SWTOR Extreme YouTube account had some pretty harsh critical words for the SWTOR community: “The game had a massive audience yet some of the best content on the web, whether it was videos like my own or a websites blog/article, they got so little support and none of…
Darth Hater Team Let Go by Curse – Is This the End of Darth Hater?
If you follow DartHater.com, you probably noticed they have not posted any new content since the end of December. The rest of the community definitely noticed and it seems we now have a reason. The whole staff has been let go by Curse and no one knows whether or not they are going to try to revamp it with new staff or One of the most active members of the DH team, Jaspor, admits on Reddit that he is no longer working for them but he doesn’t seem to have any additional info on what will happen to the site in the future. In fact, it seems no one really has any information at all other than- they were let go. It was just back in September 2011 that Curse bought Darth Hater and made them a part of the Curse network. Most of the community seemed happy about it…
BioWare are hiring playtesters for Rise of the Hutt Cartel!
Are you living in the Austin area? BioWare Austin is hiring temporary playtesters for the “Rise of the Hutt Cartel” digital expansion coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic. Current and former players of all experience levels are encouraged to apply. SKILLS/REQUIREMENTS Must be 18 years of age or older Must not have previous professional game development experience Strong verbal communication skills Comfortable giving objective feedback (positive and negative) in a group setting Passion for SWTOR or other massively-multiplayer online games Available to work weekends
Damion Schubert Speaks on Phantom and Spymaster Gear Changes
If you spend any time in the forums the past day or so, you probably know that the community was upset regarding some changes to gear bought from the Cartel Market. Many players want their money back after spending cash in the Cartel Market for Phantom and Spymaster gear based on how it looked, only to have the appearance changed later. They see it as a bait-and-switch and while BioWare claims it wasn’t intentional, we can definitely see the point these players are making. So we were holding on to see when BioWare would chime in with a solution to this problem. Lead Designer Damion Schubert piped in to this thread about the issue: Hey, guys — We care a lot about the fact that you care about the appearances of your characters. In fact, the Mod system is my baby, largely because it allows players to customize their appearance…
Purchase More Character Slots for SWTOR
As we discovered recently, you can now purchase more character slots for SWTOR from the Cartel Market. This is great for people like me who suffer from alt-it is and like to have lots of different characters in the game. Massively brought us to news: Star Wars: The Old Republic’s 1.6.2 patch notes are now live on the game’s website. Along with a laundry list of tweaks and bug fixes, there are a couple of blurbs that might interest free-to-play players concerned about character slots. First of all, slot restrictions are now being enforced, so free players should see a maximum of two per server. Preferred status players get six slots per shard, while subscribers get 12. If you must know, the global active character limit is 350! The Cartel Market is selling additional slots at a cost of 600 Cartel Coins. But there are some players who are having issues with different…
TOR TV: Colicoid War Games – Solo
DISCLAIMER: You can potentially get banned for doing this as it falls under a game exploit. There are forum posts of people claiming to have been banned for doing stuff like this. My personal opinion is that this is very unlikely. Sure, he is getting to areas that he might not be supposed to be in, but it doesn’t really get you anything tangible, a couple thousand credits for 20 minutes maby? Regardless of this being an exploit or not, it’s still pretty awesome,
1.6.2 Patch Notes 1/8/2013
Servers are back up after today’s maintenance, and BioWare to the chance to push a new patch. This time we get tons of bug fixes were the biggest seems to be “The “Unify to Chest” armor color option now works correctly for players and companions. Also Tinsel Bombs can now be used on both friendly and hostile targets (Oh, it is on)! This new patch also ads two new armor sets to the cartel market and they look awesome! Check them out: ( Patch notes below the images) Cartel Market New Items Players can now unlock additional character slots! Cost: 600 Cartel Coins. The Newcomer Bundle is now available! It contains a wide range of items to help new players expedite their travels. Cost: 405 Cartel Coins (discounted by 50% for a limited time!). Two new armor sets, the Interstellar Privateer Armor Set and Clandestine Officer Armor Set, can now be purchased. Each…
Darth Malgus Versus Count Dooku DEATHMATCH
by FrelsAreN, DeviantART by lelmer77, DeviantART Jensaarai1 aka the Nerd-Rage Ranter, a video blogger on YouTube, is probably one of the greatest experts on Star Wars I have seen in some time. He appears to be well versed in all the movies, both of the Clone Wars series and the comic book series (Dark Horse). I have not heard him mention the novels in his analyses, but I wouldn’t put it passed him. Rest assured he is an expert on the Expanded Universe of Star Wars, which pretty much trumps those who only know about the movies when it comes to general Star Wars knowledge. What really impresses me is his unique knowledge on everything that is the lightsaber, which is impeccable. He made a 10 episode series throughout 2012, called the “Versus Series” where he pits Jedi against Jedi, Sith against Sith and Jedi against Sith in “what…
Attack of the guild
I am Elrik of the Alpha Strike Force (ASF) guild on the Jedi Covenant server and this is the newest column of SWToRStrategies.com called Attack of the guild. This monthly column will cover, different aspects of running a guild, offer hints and tips on guild management as well as insights on all the things they didn’t tell you when you signed up to become a leader in the guild. I have been running guilds/clans for about 5 years now and I have certainly seen my fair share of very rewarding as well as challenging times.
Flashpoint Guide: The Black Talon
Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic The Black Talon is the first Empire flashpoint you’ll encounter and it has the longest dialogue chain of any instance in the game. Since this is your first flashpoint, you’ll find it to be very easy but after your character reaches level 50, you can return and run this instance again in Hard Mode for a real challenge. For the first run, you’ll need to find a partner that you can work well with because it requires at least two people. Shortly after entering this flashpoint, you’ll have to make a decision of whether to allow the captain and the general of the ship live or to kill them. If you kill them, you’ll receive 200 Dark Alignment points and if you let the live, you’ll receive 200 Light Alignment points. Black Talon has a…
George Lucas Engaged- Congratulations and May the Force Be With You!
Good news for Star Wars creator, George Lucas. His firm announced this week that he is official engaged to long-time girlfriend, investment firm president Mellody Hobson. This is great news for the “Star Wars” and “Indian Jones” creator who has been dating Hobson for more than six years and it seems he may finally be in a position where he can commit to marriage. Known as a man who has been married to his work, it will be nice to see him have time to fully settle down with someone special. Hobson serves as chairwoman of DreamWorks Animation and is a financial contributor to ABC’s “Good Morning America” so she is no stranger to the film industry either. We wish the both of them the best in their upcoming nuptials and for a long and happy life together! Congratulations Lucas and Hobson! “”Star Wars” creator George Lucas will marry his longtime…
Not Everyone Supports SGR in SWTOR
It’s no surprise that not everyone likes same gender romance in SWTOR. It’s been battled before in other games and it has been opposed in SWTOR previously as well. But with the recent update from BioWare about their intentions to add it to the game, there was one forum user who became exceptionally vocal about it Reddit, after being banned from the SWTOR forums for 7 days for “hate speech””. Missandei believes that being gay is an illness. Before we completely jump on the guy, he also says that doesn’t make them bad people; just sick people… His belief is that he doesn’t care if you’re gay if you keep it to yourself and not try to “infect others” but when you try to convince others your gay ways are right, he feels intruded upon. He says, “I am against any promotion and any advertising of the unhealthy behavior such…
TOR TV: Baby Got Bubble
Jason Barnett is back with a new swtor parody. This time Sith Sorcerers get a little dose of Sir Mix-A-Lot. I haven’t played Sith Sorcerer my self yet, but this video was still funny. “”I aint talkin about ranked games, caus those dont happen anyway” lol Keep up the good work Jason.
Flashpoint Guide: The Foundry
The Foundry is the Imperial equivalent to the Maelstrom Prison Flashpoint and you can access it after completing the Dorin’s Sky/Boarding Party Flashpoint. The Foundry is an ancient weapon with the ability to create mass destruction. After a high level Republic master Jedi prisoner escaped and made his way to the Foundry, it’s your job to track him down, defeat him and claim the Foundry for the Empire. It’s recommended that everyone in your group be at least a level 35 or above before tackling this flashpoint. You’ll encounter 3 bosses and 2 mini-bosses throughout this instance. First Boss: The Foundry Guardian The first boss fight happens right at the beginning of this instance when you encounter The Foundry Guardian. He is a large droid with 71K HP but don’t be intimidated by his size. This is the standard tank and spank battle. However, he does have a channeled ability…
The SWTOR Community Cantina Tour Arrives in Paris and London!
Finally BioWare is coming back to Europe. This time with the Community Cantina Tour were they will be visiting London and Paris. So if you are in Paris Friday, February 1st, or London Saturday, February 2nd, 2013, you should definitely stop by and say hello. Check out the full announcement below: We’re happy to announce that the next two stops in the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community Cantina Tour will be happening on Friday, February 1st in Paris and Saturday, February 2nd in London. This is your chance to join the European Star Wars™: The Old Republic community for a development team Q&A (featuring Executive Producer Jeff Hickman) as well as complimentary drinks*, food, and giveaways. Every attendee will be receiving a highly coveted Tauntaun Fawn code and a code for a rare item from the Cartel Market. Additionally, you are invited to join us before the events at the Louvre and the London Film Museum to check out…