Huffington post in honor of the coming 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi on May 25th, published an excerpt from the soon to be released (October), “The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” by J.W. Rinzler. It was from a meeting held in the summer of 1981 which describes the prequels from the mind of George Lucas. It’s interesting to see how ideas changed and evolved between 1981 and 2005, in particular the birth and first two years of the twins including Yoda’s lightsaber skills. Also notice the keen eye on writer Lawrence Kasdan whose imagination helped Lucas evolve the vision right here in this meeting. He is also confirmed as a consultant for the upcoming 2015 Star Wars films. The preview of the book is direct from Huffington Post, the film images are added by me to coincide with the 1981 meeting. REVENGE OF THE JEDI…
Suspensions Over Cartel Color Crystals Going Out?
The SWTOR community was in an uproar yesterday over unexpected bans regarding the trading of Cartel color crystals. The confusion came in over whether or not it was within the rules to copy the crystals and send them to alts. It seems some players copied them and then attempted to sell them but players who copied and sent to their own account’s toons should not have been affected. However… some were reporting that they, too, were hit with the ban-hammer. There were threads on the official forums (that were locked) and threads on Reddit discussing the bans as players who had been banned from the game Eric Musco, Community Manager, then came in and made this post: Hey folks, I made a post about this here but I know it will lose visibility off the front page. I have no information right now but we are actively investigating your reports. I may…
SWTOR Community Cantina Coming to San Diego Comic Con!
You read that right. BioWare Austin will be holding a Star Wars: The old republic Community Cantina on Thursday, July 18th, in San Diego – just in time for Comic Con. As I live in Europe, and money is to tight to mention, I won’t be going. Make sure to let us know if you will be going though. We’re happy to announce that the next stop in the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community Cantina Tour will be happening on Thursday, July 18th, in San Diego! This is your chance to join the Star Wars: The Old Republic community for a development team Q&A as well as complimentary drinks* and giveaways. Every attendee will be receiving a highly coveted Tauntaun Fawn code. If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and hang out with us! Venue: The Commons Bar Date: Thursday, July 18th, 2013 Time: 7-10PM PDT Address: 901 4th Avenue…
Want a 10-foot-tall painting of ‘Star Wars’ Action Figures?
Artist Rob Burden is itching to create epic oil paintings of vintage Star Wars action figures. How about a 10-foot Hoth scene in your living room? It would make a great addition to a personalized man-cave or maybe to your home theater room. But if you’re looking at getting this type of one-of-a-kind art for yourself, you better have deep pockets.
New LEGO Star Wars Game Free Download but Compatibility Issues
I was super excited when my son (yes, my 6 year old) told me about LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles and when I looked it up to find out it was free in the Play store, I was excited. The LEGO Group has released more than a dozen Android titles already but their first tie-in game is LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles. This might give us our Star Wars fix with a break from Angry Birds. I was all about it!
Server Transfer News: Transfers available with patch 2.2 – hopefully
Eric Musco took on the forums today sharing some news on when players can expect to have character transfers go live. At the same time he also shed some light on when Players get the chance to leave the APAC servers. Game update 2.2 is expected release date is 6/11 so if you have any toons stuck on servers with no friends on, it’s time to moove them. No information on pricing or details on what will be transferred over yet though, but I expect it will be on-par with other games, so probably around $25 per character. They want it to be accessible enough that people who really want to can do it, but expensive enough that it doesn’t impact server populations. Hey everyone, I wanted to give an update on paid character transfers as I know it is something that everyone has been chomping at the bit for. The reason for our silence…
Community Cantina Tour – Dallas May 17th writeup
Doing last weekends Comic-Con in Dallas, BioWare took the opportunity and hold a a Community Cantina. If you haven’t read about the Comic-Con yet, Lisa had posted a few interesting reads about it. You can check them out here and here. No one from swtorstrategies was at the Community Cantina, but luckily Crafter over at ootinicast.com posted a lengthy write up of what was said by the developers. Some of the most interesting news is: Guild Ships will come eventually – When they look awesome ( They are Damion Schubert’s baby) A big PvP patch is coming soon Same-gender romance was not part of the original design team’s implementation, so it didn’t get included. Moving forward they will not make the same mistakes. Additionally more story content is coming, but no ETA We will probably never get flying mounts Check out the full write up over at ootinicast.com
Star Trek Costume Designer to work on Star Wars VII
How many SWTOR fans are also fans of the Star Wars movies? Are you excited about Star Wars VII? In a fun and interesting (but not necessarily surprising) turn of events, Star Trek and Star Wars come together once again. Michael Kaplan, the man behind Star Trek Into Darkness’ distinctive costume designs, revealed that he is also joining the production crew of Star Wars VII. In an interview with Buzzfeed, the famed designer whose credits include Blade Runner, Star Trek (2009), and Fight Club says, “I’ve just learned I’ll be working on the new Star Wars movie, again with J.J. Everything just got formalized [last week], I haven’t even had the chance to talk to anyone about it all other than to be told ‘welcome aboard.’ Personally, I’m excited about the news. He’s a great costumer and I bet JJ had something to do with bringing him on board the new team. I’ll think…
TOR TV: Fan made Jedi Consular Story Trailer
Youtube user Gabriel Deleon, made this Jedi Consular Story Trailer This is pretty well done and make me seriously want to play Consular now. The music really took me back to being a kid and playing KotOR. It evokes alot of depth. I really love some of the cutscenes in SWTOR. Now that I think of it, I wish the Jedi Knight had a slight touch of counselor added to the story. For instance you could find your own crystal as well, and not just get everything you needed… and all that jazz.
Star Wars Rebels, the animated series
Rebel Intel Officer by The First Angel, DeviantArt The animators of Star Wars: Clone Wars are back with a brand new project, Star Wars Rebels, to air Fall of 2014!!! Like most of us, I was pretty upset about the Disney cancellation of the final 6th season of Star Wars Clones Wars especially since I knew it was already in production wondering how many episodes were ready to be released but will never see the light of day. After all, it is the true ending of that story, which will now never be told. At the end of season 5, an anti-war element was being introduced into the story which excited me immensely being that I was a real life anti-war activist myself, not just a Star Wars fan and a fan of Joseph Campbell. From the moment Bush Jr dropped his first bombs, I was at the very first…
SWTOR Jedi Consular Sage Leveling Build For Game update 2.0 and on
Here is a new leveling build from swtorsavior.com. This build is a Jedi Consular Sage Leveling Build and focus on talents and abilities with potential for burst and utility and/or talents that augment Focus preservation to limit downtime. These talent builds are designed to boost instant and channeled abilities. Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic Check out the build below: 2/2 Jedi Resistance 2/2 Will of the Jedi 3/3 Empowered Throw 2/2 Focused Insight 3/3 Drain Thoughts 2/2 Critical Kinesis 1/1 Force In Balance 2/2 Mind Ward 1/1 Telekinetic Balance 1/1 Presence Of Mind 3/3 Psychic Barrier 1/1 Force Suppression 2/2 Mind Warp 2/2 Rippling Force 3/3 Mental Scarring 2/2 Psychic Absorption 2/2 Telekinetic Focal Point 1/2 Mental Defence 1/1 Sever Force 3/3 Inner Strength 2/2 Mental Longevity 2/2 Clamouring Force 3/3 Penetrating Light Stat Priority: Willpower >= Accuracy (110%) > Power > Surge…
Damion Schubert Response to Collections Set Restrictions
Sometimes there are times when a company representative just needs to come forward and admit that they goofed. BioWare did that today in regards to collections set restrictions. In this official developer post, Schubert explained the situation.
Dallas Comic-Con May 17-19, 2013 Interview and Pictures
Dallas Comic Con was this weekend and despite storms and tornados that ravished the area, many managed to have a great deal of fun at the event. One of those somebodies was a friend of a good friend of mine, named David Gillaspy who was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the event. And he even shared some awesome photos with me! I’m so jealous because I really wish I could have been there but thanks to David, I get to share a little piece of it with you. Here’s a short interview I did with him, along with some of his photos: What was your favorite costume/cosplay? I would have to say it was the guy who came in the working Warmachine armor from Iron Man 2. Did you get any cool autographs? Yes, Ernie Hudson was the first guy we met when we got there…
Star Wars at Comic Con: Stormtroopers on a Mission
Star Wars was featured at Dallas Comic Con this weekend and local members of the 501st Legion—“The world’s definitive imperial costuming organization,”—set up with a very surprising mission: to do good. Star Wars was featured at Dallas Comic Con this weekend and local members of the 501st Legion—“The world’s definitive imperial costuming organization,”—set up with a very surprising mission: to do good. As shocking as it might be considering they’re … well… Stormtroopers, the 501st are actually some pretty cool guys and gals. We had the pleasure of meeting some of them last year and my son has a collectible trading card as a souvenir. But they had a very specific mission at Dallas Comic Con Saturday. Led by the Star Garrison, which covers three states, and the North Texas Squad, they sponsored “Blast-a-Stormtrooper for Charity.” It was all in honor of Kari Giles, in treatment for stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,…
Mass Effect: The Movie
Are you a Mass Effect fan? If you love the story then you’re really going to appreciate seeing it brought to life- literally. YouTube user xxTDGPainxx has done something really awesome with the Mass Effect series. This guy has taken all the Mass Effect in-game cinematics and conversations and made them into movies. How cool is that?
Dark Horse: Digital Give Away 1 Million Free Comics For 2nd Anniversary!
Do you love free comics? As part of their two-year-anniversary promotion, Dark Horse Comics gave away 1 million free comics. How awesome is that? Were you able to snag some of these free comics for yourself? If so, we want to hear about it. What titles did you get? As they state on their blog, “As part of the celebration of the second year of the company’s digital initiative and proprietary storefront, fifty free single-issue comics were made available for only forty-eight hours. In that time, thousands of fans took advantage of the offer and downloaded their favorite Dark Horse titles, to the tune of a million copies!”” This is really a fantastic example of the growing interest in digital comics as a new way to enjoy some classic comics and new releases alike. If you’re new to digital comics, you will have to try it out for yourself. While nothing…
Cory Butler respond to patch 2.1 criticism
Many people, especially subscribers, have been upset about patch 2.1. People are mad about this patch being a cartel market update only. But players are also forgetting that BioWare already announced how the coming two games updates is planed out. Still Cory Butler found it necessary to post on the official forums explaining what the developers have in mind. Check it out below: Howdy, folks. Cory Butler here to follow-up on some of your concerns that have been surfacing in the forums and on social media sites around Game Update 2.1: Customization. First, it’s important to know that 2.1 will not affect the cadence of our game update schedule. 2.1 was the second half of our Cartel Market implementation plan. So, do not expect to see this type of Market-driven update on a regular basis. This release was comprised almost entirely of cosmetic options that have no impact on combat balance or gameplay….
Gree Event Returns May 21 – May 28
Great news! BioWare just announced that the Gree Event will return next week. I guess it’s time to build a ton of rep whit them again and get them sweet sweet items. Here is the story: Gree In-Game Event Returns – 05.17.2013 The ancient Gree starship, Gray Secant, returns to Ilum between May 21 and May 28 bringing with it great rewards, including unique armor, pets, weapons, and more! Join with friends for another chance to earn valuable Reputation points and become a living Legend as you fight for the Gree’s grand mission. This is a great time for players at level 45+ to jump into the event before the event returns at level 55 in the future. Visit the in-game News Terminal located on Carrick Station or Vaiken Spacedock to get started on your adventure! CHECK OUT THESE FEATURED REWARDS Scalene Armor (Blue, White, Red) Collect all three armor sets!…
Community FeedBack Process
Eric Musco has an interesting forum post today, on how BioWare handles feedback. Basically he is saying that SWTOR developers are indeed listening to what the community have to day, but it’s not easy to implement what the players want, or do not want. There is a technically part to the game, and let’s also be honest, most people on the official forums are insane! Reading through the forum thread started by Eric, I can’t stop laughing. Many people are now writing stuff like “Well, since you said you do listen…ANSWER ME THIS!” and ask a random concern that they believe is the biggest problem of SWTOR right now. I would shoot myself if I was a moderator over at swtor.com. I guess it’s true that you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. Reminds me of the good old Jeff Woods rant Check out the full lenght forum post…
2.1.0b Patch Notes 5/17/2013
Patch notes are up. We were almost right yesterday. It was a bug fix with he crystals. People were more or less printing money off this bug, as you could vendor crystals that you could get for “free””. No event unfortunately. Check out the patch notes below: 2.1.0b Patch Notes 5/17/2013 General White Color Crystals can no longer be Reverse Engineered. The vendor value of Color Crystals that are tracked via the Collections UI has been reduced.
Maintenance: May 17th, 2013 – Patch 2.1.0b
BioWare will be taking down the servers tomorrow to preform maintenance as well as deploying a new patch. Patch notes are not available yet, but giving the developer responses on the forums, it’s probably some kind of exploits / bug thing they need to fix fast. Might have to do with the collections crystals “bug” (mainly because I don’t know if it’s considered a bug) where you can essentially get free crystals from the cartel market. On the other hand.. Patching up to a weekend, might be because of an event? Below are what we know: On May 17th, all game servers will be unavailable as we perform maintenance. Patch 2.1.0b will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows: Date: Friday May 17th, 2013 Duration: 2 hours Time: 3AM PDT (10AM UTC) – 5AM PDT (12PM UTC) Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.
TOR TV: SWTOR / Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer!
Youtube user TraiIerRedux made this awesome, awesome, AWESOME ( No… this is good! ) mashup trailer of SWTOR and J.J. Abrams Star Trek into the Darkness. I bet you have seen so many mashups of the cinematic trailer mashups with Star Wars the old republic by now, so you are thinking – “no more, I’m going to puke!”… But trust me. This one is worth it! At least I still have a hard on after watching it, and you ask my wife, that don’t come easy no more. Stuff like this Makes me 10x more excited for a J. J. Abrams helmed Episode VII. Check it out:
SWTOR New Dyes- Random Packs is a Crapshoot
If you’ve had any experience in the new SWTOR armor dyes found in the Cartel Market, then you might already know there are some issues with getting the colors you want. The dye modules are preset combinations, for one thing, and you have to be lucky and get the colors you’re looking for, or you have to keep buying until you get what you want. There’s a real gamble to get the Primary/Secondary/Third color settings that you want, especially on the first go at it and some players are not happy about it at all. They feel it’s a ploy from BioWare to get more money. Why, when people are already willing to spend real cash in the Cartel Market, don’t they just make it possible to buy what you want when you want it? Some players are flat-out boycotting the dye kits in the Cartel Market for this very…
2.1.0a Patch Notes 15/05/2013
BioWaer is pushing a small client side only patch today. So don’t panic if you have to do a small download when you launch the game. The patch is here to fix an issue windows XP users are having when they start the game. Again, This is a client side only patch. No server downtime is needed. General Corrected an issue that prevented many players with Windows XP from launching the game.