BioWare staff is regularly asking us what we think about certain changes and developments in the game. This is one way they keep things updated in SWTOR and give the gamers what they want as often as possible- which, in turn, keeps the subscriptions coming in. So now they have a community poll up in the forums asking: What do you think about the new changes made to global cooldown UI in 1.1.2? Joveth Gonzalez | Associate Online Community Manager says: Hi folks, We recently implemented a change to the global cooldown UI with Patch 1.1.2 and we realize that it has been a hot topic here in the Forums. In an effort to prioritize any new changes to the UI, we wanted to poll the community on their opinion of the current global cooldown UI. Please vote in the poll above! As a reminder, please only vote with the…
SWTOR Not Hurting WoW as Much as Some May Think
We just heard from EA’s quarterly earnings call that sales of SWTOR are doing great and that they have 1.7 million active users as of February 1st. This news puts something of a muzzle on the nay-sayers who were accusing SWTOR of being a flop. However, we still return to the comparison of SWTOR vs. WoW and this begs the question: Just how much is Blizzard’s cash cow WoW hurting from the success of SWTOR? A report on Venture Beat says it might not be as much as we think. They tell us that traffic reports from leading independent community websites for both of these online games show that SWTOR has actually affected WoW very little at this time. When EA reported a strong number of 1.7 million active SWTOR users on February 1st, it left many industry observers wondering how much this gain had hurt World of Warcraft. The…
TOR TV: Deflection like a boss
We know that Jedi can deflect blaster shots with their lightsabers, and have even seen Vader deflect Han’s shots with his hands. I think its obvious that using your hands would require greater command of the Force, but which method do you think is more effective? Han only shot at Vader twice, and then Vader used the Force to grab the blaster. If someone shot at a Jedi many times, do you think it would be harder to accurately block the shots with your hands? I was thinking that your hands don’t cover as much space as a lightsaber, so it may be harder to block many shots. Also, it could be more difficult to move your bare hands quickly enough to deflect shots than to simply move your lightsaber. Below video make lightsaber deflection look easy at least. Check it out: Interested in SWTOR Movies? We have new movies…
Review: Hands-On With StarWars the Old Republic (SWTOR): Part 2
My pal, Jason, was in the beta program of SWTOR (same as myself) and shortly after launch, we brought you his review of the game so far. It was a great review but based mostly on early impressions and of course, on the beta. So he has now written a Part 2 Hands-On review to give us all more insight into the game and his opinions of it. His part two covers things he missed or was unable to cover in the first review for a variety of reasons (didn’t exist in the game yet, didn’t have enough exposure to it pre-launch, etc.) In this part two, Jason covers: Single play Storyline Space combat Crafting Equipment modification Crew and crew skills Decision making So the new hands-on review goes into each of these points in more detail. On the topic of storyline he says: Having a storyline in an MMO…
The Guild Sphere: Venom
Today we had the chance to speak with Gwabin from the republic guild Venom. Venom plays on the US server “Gauntlet of Kressh”. The guild is currently recruiting all casual players looking for a fun social environment. Check out the interview below: Where did your guilds name come from? Venom came from the Marvel comics character by the same name. Also we wanted a simple but bold name to stand out on our server. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild? We are a relaxed social guild for all players who want to have a good time while playing and enjoy each others company while helping each other achieve goals in the game. How did your guild come about?. My Brother (Gonzolus), Cousin (Clloud), and I (Ekaj) decided to form a guild where we could have a good time playing the game. We had a guild…
Patch 1.1.2 Causes More Ilum Bugs – Emergency patch today!
Just when you thought PvP on Ilum was fixed, BioWare came in and borked it again! Patch 1.1.2 is reported to have caused even more bugs in Ilum. The biggest issue: kills on Ilum are not counting towards daily and weekly quests. According to reports in the official SWTOR forums, this problem occurred after Star Wars: The Old Republic patch 1.1.2 went live yesterday. After some time of no response to the players, Associate Online Community Manager Joveth Gonzalez came in for an update, saying this: “The dev team has been investigating the cause of this issue and they’re closer to figuring out a solution. As mentioned before, we’ll keep you updated with any new developments. Thanks again for your patience on this.” Blah, blah, blah… sounds like the same old thing that really means, “Oops, we broke it. We don’t know how to fix it but we’re working on…
SWTOR PvP Endgame “A mess” Says One Gamer
Endgame content in an MMO is important. What do you do when you reach max level? It’s this content that really hooks the player and keeps him (or her) in the game. Good endgame content is needed to maintain subscribers past their initial experience. For some gamers, PvP is where it’s at and BioWare claims to offer that in SWTOR. However, there are some players who are just not satisfied with what BioWare has offered us in game yet. Some of these gamers are frustrated with the PvP, especially in Ilum- the end game PvP area for level 50s. One gamer posts on MMOsite.com how they are not pleased with the endgame PvP or Ilum in SWTOR. Pelagato presents these reasons why SWTOR PvP endgame is a mess: Population Imbalance Performance Problems PvP gear Only 3 warzones and Ilum BIOCHEM!!!! Pelagato has a video to further prove this point: So…
Video: Same Sex Relationships in Star Wars: The Old Republic
We are late once again with a news, but better late then never right?Conan O’Brien had some words to say about SWTOR offering same-sex relationships within the game. As you probably already know, there has been some controversy surrounding this decision by BioWare and there are many who are opposed to the decision. Conan reports “exclusive” footage of the game and you can see these same sex relationships for yourself. If you’re familiar with Conan, you know it’s time to get ready for the lolz. “Exclusive footage from “Star Wars: The Old Republic”, the first Star Wars game to allow same-sex relationships.”
EA Claims SWTOR Did Better than WoW in First Month
In the quarterly earnings call for Electronic Arts, they announced they had 1.7 million active subscribers to SWTOR. These are some pretty huge numbers but just what do they mean? These figures count the number of players who have subscribed to the game past the first month free trial you get with purchase. This means that Star Wars: The Old Republic has gained more followers in the first month than Blizzard Entertainment’s immensely popular World Of Warcraft (WoW) did during the same period. (via Hexus) Of course, these are just early figures and in the SWTOR vs WoW arena, Blizzard has a 7-year head start. The true test of MMORPG brilliance will come when we see where SWTOR is in the long run. Where will they be after 6 months? What about a year from release? What about 7 years? The true test of success lies in whether or not…
SWTOR Paid Subscriptions are Up
This news comes late, but according to the EA quarter earnings call last week, subscriptions to SWTOR are up- way up! Industry analysts say SWTOR is seeing some good numbers. They are reporting 1.3 million paid subscribers. If you remember another recent report, however, these numbers are just slightly off of what BioWare reported- 1.7 million. Either way, the numbers are fairly close and it means a positive thing for SWTOR and also for EA. The company has many investors hanging on to every update hoping the company will continue to succeed. A great deal of the success of the company rides on the success of this one game so you can bet that investors are seeking every bit of info they can get on it. So far, so good for BioWare and EA because the subscription numbers are high and it’s still a very new game. We can expect…
STAR WARS: DAWN OF THE JEDI #0
Following yesterdays story on Tales of the Jedi, I wanted to give you a heads up on a new comic from Dark Horse comics. Set 34,000 years before the Star Wars movies, Dawn of the Jedi is a story that begins early in the universe and helps set the stage for the Star Wars world as we see it today and also in SWTOR. #0 starts us off as a preview issue of the comic series from Dark Horse. Released on February 1, 2012, this episode is less of a story and more of a guidebook to the upcoming series. “It began with the mysterious pyramid ships–the Tho Yor–scattered to the eight corners of the galaxy, and ended with the establishment of an Order that would change the universe forever. Here’s your first look at the Star Wars of 25,000 years ago–before there were lightsabers, when the ties to the Force were new,…
SWTOR Lightsaber Hilts: Find Your Favorite
What is one of the coolest things about playing a Star Wars game? Well, getting your own lightsaber, of course! The good news for SWTOR fans is that there are many different types and styles of lightsabers in the game, with different colors, stylized hilts and some that even make different noises when you wield them. Here’s an interesting render of the many lightsaber hilts in the game, allowing you to compare the different styles and help you if you’re a collector. The different styles consist of the color crystal, emitter matrix, hilt, power crystal and the focus lens and they produce different color lights and sounds. The standard lightsaber has a straight hilt and slots called “item modifications”. You can modify your lightsaber by using different mods in these slots to make them unique. There are a variety of ways to get lightsabers in SWTOR. You can obtain lightsabers…
From BioWare: New Community Blogs- Weekly Q&A + Dev Tracker Summaries
Are you looking for more news and updates about SWTOR from the official website? You’re in luck because BioWare has just announced two new community blogs to help keep us all informed and updated. Community News of the official site explains: “We’re very happy to announce that we are adding two new weekly blogs to hopefully give you more insight into development and keep you up to date on developer comments you may have missed.” This will be two new community blogs to help keep you updated on happenings with SWTOR. This is just one more way that BioWare is working on their customer service and things that they can do to keep us updated on happenings in the game. They have also told us repeatedly that they want to hear our feedback- but keep it constructive. They want to hear what we think about the game, changes and other…
TOR TV: Aric Jorgan is a !@#$%& CAT
ThisIsRefmo is back with a new video that hangs Aric Jorgan out to dry. Aparently this cat is a pervert! Did you hear that? A pervert! He is also a cat. Last time we heard from ThisIsRefmo they were arguing that paying customers should have an easy mode for getting datacrons. In this new video, I especially love the “nope nope nope nope nope” part while she’s running to the ship. Had me in hysterics. And I wish my ship droid would stop talking whenever I told him to shut up like hers does. 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
Incoming Ads for SWTOR
I know a thing or two about marketing- it’s part of my job in many ways. I often write advertising copy, help with social media marketing and article marketing and run online advertising campaigns for clients. This experience in marketing allows me to understand one common problem with many MMORPGs today- they lack the proper marketing to get noticed by the masses. Blizzard has the resources and the funds for a huge marketing campaign. They have ads everywhere you look, often right under our noses when we don’t even realize it. The problem is that most developers just don’t have the resources to compete, especially with a giant like Blizzard in the MMORPG world. But EA is preparing to carpet bomb you with SWTOR ads, as Dual Shockers explains: Thanks to a transcript of the Q&A Session held during the conference we can get a little more insight on what…
1.1.2 Patch Notes — 2/7/2012
Here are todays patchnotes. This patch fixes SO many issues like the Rakata weapons wich are now a correctly rated 140 – so finally time for a weapon upgrade. There are also a few “but why” updates in the patch, like this one: “Rakata reusable stims and adrenals have been reduced in power, providing buffs equal to Energized stims and adrenals. However, the tooltips for these items have not been updated and will still display old values.” – WHY? Anyways. Check it out below: Classes and Combat Combat Ability Responsiveness Further improved response time for ability activation requests, especially in low-framerate situations. The activation bar now appears at the correct time (when the activation of an ability begins) and disappears when activation is complete. Instant combat abilities no longer occasionally start their combat animations twice, resulting in jerky behavior on the executing player’s client. The display of the floating text from instant healing…
Guardian Angel
Hello, fellow Star Wars fans. My name is Kiran and I will be writing a new column for the Jedi Guardian class, which is my favorite class in SW:TOR. From the very first moment I saw the trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic back in 2008, I was obsessed with the Jedi Guardian. The man on the screen was named Ven Zallow, and even though he was defeated, he resembled the kind of Jedi I always dreamed of being. I was all but ecstatic when I was chosen to participate in the beta. Since then I have dedicated countless hours of research and tinkering to playing and maximizing the Jedi Guardian class. Even though I started with my heart set on a Vigilance DPS build, I fell in love with the Defense tank Guardian, which is build I will be covering in this blog. Here are just a few…
TOR TV: Dromund Kaas – SWTOR Rick Ross parody
This machinima/parody was created by long time youtube user Propostris. This guy has been active in the machinima comunity for a while creating both World of Warcraft Machinima, aswell as lot’s of other parodies and general commentary in the past. This video is a parody of a song by Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj called “You the Boss”. Original he is a music artist from Tulsa, Oklahoma. His parodies have been played in Tulsa and Houston, Texas radio stations, and he have opened up for Ludacris and T-Pain. You can check out his personal blog here for news and info on upcomming material. 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
Understanding the Legacy Experience
There are quite a few questions out there about the Legacy system in SWTOR and it’s no surprise that people want to know what it is and how to succeed. If you want to level up your Legacy system, it will require some work on your part. You need to gain legacy experience which can then be used for rewards, based on a multiplier system. Here are some basics to understanding the legacy system: Introduction to the Legacy System What do you think of the Legacy System so far? We’ve been told that future updates will continue to flesh out the system so we will keep you updated on this and more as the system develops over time. This blog post on the official SWTOR site explains more about the Legacy System and what it does. The legacy system “will grant your characters access to powers, objects and other cool…
The Guild Sphere: Lucidic Kings
Today I had the chance to talk to David (King), guild leader of Lucidic Kings. Lucidic Kingswas originally formed as a DCUO guild, but has now also started a SWTOR division. The guild is semi-hardcore Empire guild that is focusing on getting the players for Operations. At the moment they are recruiting all classes and roles of all levels. Lucidic Kings is active on the West coast US server Vornskr. Check out the full interview below: Where did your guilds name come from? My old roommate Lucide and my character King in DCUO.. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild? We’re pretty laid back, sometimes offensive. We just enjoy making fun of each other… How did your guild come about?. My old roommate and I wanted a league in DCUO when it came out so we put our first toons names together, Lucide and King, and got…
Piki Geek Reviews SWTOR
Matt Wells of Piki Geek has been fascinated with the Star Wars world since KOTOR was released back in 2003. He says it renewed his fascination with Star Wars lore and that everything became new once again for him. He’s a true fan and was super excited when BioWare announced SWTOR in 2008. He says, “The biggest feature that SWTOR brings to the table is a completely fleshed out storyline that will greatly differ depending on which class you choose. It’s an incredibly tall order and definitely a stroke of luck that the first developer to take on such a task is none other than BioWare.” Piki Geek explains why SWTOR is great for KOTOR and Star Wars fans who appreciate the lore: Fans of the original KOTOR will be pleased to see many familiar names, faces, locations and environments. The hardcore fans of the lore will also be able…
SWTOR Draws in a Newbie- A Review
Darren Zenko was a self-professed MMO newbie. Until a couple of weeks ago, he was a near-total MMORPG virgin but something changed this- he got his hands on SWTOR. BioWare’s ability to interweave story and single-player elements into a multi-player format has drawn more than their fair share of newbies into the game, most of who were satisfied after giving it a chance. In a special to The Star on Toronto.com, Zenko shares his opinions on SWTOR and how he believes the game drew in a newbie like himself and why you might want to give it a try, too (if you have not already). Most of you reading our site here at SWTOR Strategies are already playing the game. However, we love to bring you these reviews for a variety of reasons. For one, they are interesting and helpful to those who may not be playing the game yet…
Companions Miss You When You Don’t Play for Awhile
What happens when you don’t log into SWTOR for awhile? Probably not much- the world goes on and your account sits dormant, right? Well, actually, when you don’t play for awhile, your companion misses you and you just might get an email like this one inviting you back. Is this a smart move on BioWare’s part or a waste of time? I have to say that it sounds like a pretty good idea. Not everyone who gets the notices will come back to the game to play but the honest truth is that there are some people out there who just get so busy, they forget to log in the game. You might get so wrapped up with busy life that you forget how long it has been since you logged in. A small message like this could be just the thing you need to refresh your memory and make…
Crafting Changes Live on Test Server
Developer commentary on crafting changes that just went live on the test server, as well as hints at what to expect from patch 1.2 can now be found on the forums. Georg Zoeller popped in to explain a few things about crafting, upcoming changes to the crafting systems and more. I wanted to drop some notes on the changes made to the BioChem profession in the patch (1.1.2) that just went onto the Public Test Server, how they fit in the big picture and how we are proceeding forward with crafting professions in endgame in general. Zoeller adds: It is our intention to gradually, over multiple patches, reduce the impact of situational consumables on endgame combat resolution and shift the factors which determine the outcome of combat more towards personal skill. As part of this effort, specifically for PvP, we are also working on changes that will reduce the gear…
