I brought you the story of layoffs at BioWare Austin yesterday. This was the second set of layoffs for the company this year and it seemed to come as a big shock, even to those affected. What would you do if you showed up for work one day like usual and were told to pack it up and go home? In this economy, there are probably many readers who can relate. Layoffs were first confirmed by developer Ben Marshall, who wrote the following in a status update on Twitter (the update has since been deleted): “Anyone know of a web developer position open in the Austin, TX area? Second round of layoffs at BioWare Austin and my name was on the list…” We also told you just recently about Georg Zoeller’s departure from the company. BioWare has yet to a announce replacement for Vogel as executive producer. Also announced today: EA to…
Jedi Council Podcast – First Interview with Joveth Gonzalez Since Taking Over
Hosts Brian and Jason interview Joveth Gonzalez, Online Community Manager to tell us more about SWTOR and what he’s up to since taking over this new position in the community. You can listen for yourself here. The Jedi Council asks Joveth a little about his background and history in video games and he shares some information about the companies he has worked for, projects he has worked on and more. It’s a great chance to learn more about Joveth and the games he has worked with. He talks about how he came to BioWare and why he loves BioWare games. They also ask him about the direction of the new community team, the changes that have taken place in BioWare community team and how it all works. Joveth breaks down what the different teams do and how they bring us information as well as how they process information that is…
TOR TV: Key Binding Guide For All Classes
Having trouble setting up your key binds? Have no fear, elpoetaenmiuq is hear to help. This guys has made a great video guide on how to setup your abilites effectively. Keybinding things to keys on your keyboard instead of clicking them increases your ability to react to certain situations faster than manually moving your mouse to click on abilities. Some people don’t mind clicking and are faster that way others like myself it is easier to keybind your abilites.
New Layoffs at BioWare and Rich Vogel is Gone, Too
It seems there has now been another big rash of layoffs at BioWare Austin, which truly saddens me. These are members of our community here in Austin and hard working people just like those of us who enjoy playing the games that they help to create. A big portion of the community team was laid off: https://twitter.com/VivoEstSomnio https://twitter.com/PhoenixRed https://twitter.com/MarkDouville https://twitter.com/JustinJKruger https://twitter.com/PariahLoki https://twitter.com/_Chanell_ https://twitter.com/Dalmarus One Redditor who goes by the name ‘pandas_mom’ says her family is being affected by these layoffs: My husband was one of the ones that got laid off today. Bioware moved us in April with our 3 kids from DC, we put every penny we had down on a fixer upper house, and now this. I am scheduled for 3 major surgeries on Friday, my husband just had a slew of MRI/MRA tests Friday to look for a suspected brain tumor, and our middle son who has…
HK-51 Revealed!
SWTOR/BioWare had some exciting news to reveal today. In this update at SWTOR.com, they tell us about HK-51. Buried deep beneath the icy surface of Belsavis rests an army of the deadliest, most feared machines in the known galaxy. Thought to have been lost when an Imperial freighter was destroyed, they have recently been rediscovered by a group of renegade Sith Lords. Now both the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic seek to control these dangerous weapons for themselves. Those who are brave enough to venture into the wreckage will emerge with a powerful new ally. We are excited to unveil the dangerous assassination droid HK-51! Cold, calculating, and ruthlessly efficient, HK-51 will stand by your side and loyally follow your command as you and your allies continue your journey. Journalists were given a brief preview of HK-51 at E3, but now we are happy to be able to show everyone…
Patch notes: 1.3.3 7/17/2012
As always BioWare took this Tuesday to path the servers. Not much to report other then some server stabilityupdates, that hopefully will reduce the lag we have experienced lately. With the HK trailer released yesterday I was really hoping they might surprise us with a world event or even the quest chain for the HK companion, but ohh well. Check out the patch notes below: 1.3.3 Patch Notes 7/17/2012 General Implemented optimizations to improve overall server stability. During this maintenance, we are implementing new functionality that will be used later this summer to support automatic character transfers from remaining origin servers to designated destination servers. Classes and Combat Jedi Knight Sentinel Combat Opportune Attack: This skill now specifically affects Blade Storm, Slash, and Blade Rush. Please note that these changes are not reflected in the ability text. Sith Warrior Marauder Carnage Execute: This skill now specifically affects Force Scream, Vicious Slash, and Massacre….
MTSBWY: Galaxy of Passion 2 – Telenovela
OneMinuteGalactica returns with a sequel to hes former masterpiece Galaxy of Passion – A Star Wars Telenovela. This time we get more Italien sexy love story, as Armando and Esmerelda in the Floating City of Lust.
A Balance Sage SWTOR PvP Guide
What the balance Sage lacks in glamour and color, it makes up for by being one of the deadliest DPS on the field when played correctly. The developers describe the Sage as a perfectly balanced class because you can contribute to the gameplay in a positive way no matter what type of situation you end up facing. This awesome class is hard to catch or kill and it’s very fun to play. PvP Balance Sage Playstyle As a balance sage, you’ll need to use a combination of techniques when in a PVP setting in order to come out on top. This includes using snares and other forms of crowd control (CC) while kiting until your enemy stops in their tracks, which is when you’ll want to start nuking them. If your sage is being used as a healer, you should also use these techniques to help keep your opponents at bay…
SWTOR Course of the Force Machinima Made by Bioware
Remember when we told you about Course of the Force the other day? “Course of the Force concludes at The Balboa Theatre in San Diego as Chris Hardwick, Ashley Eckstein, Alison Haislip and Alex Albrecht live stream the lightsaber making its way to it’s final resting spot.” BioWare has a great fun lightsaber relay race where they have taken characters in the game of SWTOR and programmed them to run the relay. We see Satele Shan a shifty Smuggler, Darth Malgus and more. But that’s not all… the video also checks in with Matt and Johan from the Nerdist podcast. Ever wonder what they’d be up to in game Then Alison Haislip and Alex Albrecht talk about the Jawa Pleasurebarge, the King of Fast, and more. And of course, there is a highlight reel for those of you who were not there who want to catch up on everything that happened at Course…
Community Q&A: 7/13/12
BioWare have a new Community Q&A for us, and this time it delves into deception Assassins, Operatives, and the new planet of Makeb. Lik elast week it’s pretty short but indeed a worth a read. Check it out below: Posted by: Community Q&A: July 13th, 2012 Anzel: Credit Sinks appear to be one of the hot topics in the community right now. Are there any chances of severely lowering or possibly removing some of these at this early stage in the game? Damion Schubert (Principal Lead Systems Designer): Now that 1.3 has been out and legacy perks have been in the system for a while now, we will be looking at our credits sinks, particularly the perks, to see how they are performing. It is quite likely we will make some adjustments based on what we’ve learned. BobertCole: Could you elaborate please on what role you see deception Assassins playing? Are they close…
Reminder: Lapsed Players have until July 17th to Check out the Game for Free!
Did you quit SWTOR but now you want to check it out again? Have friends playing and talking about the new stuff but you let your account lapse? All you have to do is log in through the launcher! Now you have some time to check out the game for free and see if it’s worth getting your subscription going again. This post on SWTOR Facebook explains: “Haven’t checked out SWTOR since Game Update 1.3? With Group Finder, Ranked Warzones, and higher population servers, the gameplay experience has never been better! Returning players can check out the game for free up to July 17th (provided that you left on or before June 20th). Just start up the SWTOR launcher and log in now! For more information, check out this handy Help Support page. What are you waiting for? Try it for free! Be sure to share this status and spread…
KOTOR and other Star Wars games is on the The Steam Summer Sale
The steam summer sale is on, and as expected, the servers are crashing. There are tons of great games on the list, but due to the nature of this blog, we will only list the Star Wars games. For a complete list of all games available, check out Greg Voakes article over at Forbes. I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of dollars cried out in terror and were instantly spent. Star Wars Collection: $49.99 (-50% off) Star Wars Battlefront II Star Wars Jedi Knight Series Star Wars Republic Commando Star Wars Starfighter Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes Star Wars The Force Unleashed Series Star Wars: Dark Forces Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Star Wars: Empire at War: Gold Pack. Just a friendly heads up to people contemplating buying a game. If it is not one of the daily deals, do not buy it until the last day of the sale….
Maintenance: Friday the 13th
BioWare is taken down the servers tomorrow for an unscheduled maintenance (hmmmm…) Am I smelling a new event here? For the official announcement, head on over to the SWTOR forums. BioWareWe will be performing an unscheduled maintenance this Friday, July 13th, 2012. This maintenance is for restarting the servers to maintain and improve stability. After the maintenance, there will not be a new patch to download.On Friday, July 13th, 2012 we will be bringing down the game servers and SWTOR.com for a brief maintenance period for two hours from 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8 AM BST/9AM CEST/5PM AEST) until 4AM CDT (2AM PDT/5AM EDT/10AM BST/11AM CEST/7PM AEST). 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.
Synthweaving Leveling Guide 1 through 400
The patterns in this leveling guide for Synthweaving are obtainable from a Synthweaving Trainer only. After you complete a step, train for the next level by visiting the Synthweaving Crew Skill Trainer. The Sith Inquisitor, Sith Warrior, Jedi Consular and Jedi Knight are the classes that can use Synthweaving crafts gear. The primary gathering skill used in Synthweaving is Archaeology using artifact fragments and power crystals. The secondary mission skill needed is Underworld Trading with underworld metals and luxury fabrics. As of now, there are no specific level requirements needed before you can learn and level the patterns to the maximum. The requirements that you’ll find here are the ones needed to use the gear that you craft. Reverse engineering is an option you can use on anything you make. It will allow you to use about 20% fewer materials for this craft than what you’ll find listed in this…
SWTOR: True Server Merge Coming Later this Summer?
While they are still not saying “merge”, it seems a true merge is incoming later this summer. Many people are talking about a server merge on a greater scale and while BioWare is not actually using that terminology, it does seem like this might be what’s happening coming soon. And will it be such a bad thing? Seems like all the players I have talked to say if it makes the game better and gives them more people to play with, they’re ok with whatever BioWare needs to do. In a blog on the official servers, BioWare explains more about the Free Character Transfer Service, server populations and what that means to you and me: Hi everyone, We want to thank all players that have participated in our Free Character Transfer Service. With strong destination server populations, we hope that you’re enjoying the improved gameplay experience and are excited about…
SWTOR: New mount reveal and continuous free trial
As we told you yesterday, BioWare made some big announcements yesterday. Announcements to show that they are serious about bringing new subscribers to the game and also keeping current SWTOR players happy. The first of the great news is that their Free Trial program no longer has a time limit. It will be a continuous free trial so you can download and play up to level 15 for free for as long as you want. You can play all of the game’s eight classes up to level 15 for free to see what you think of them. This is similar to the perpetual free trials other MMOs offer. Also like other games, there are some restrictions on these free accounts: access to the Galactic Market ability to use in-game chat can’t send and receive mail from players However, they will receive in-game mail such as the messages and rewards sent by…
Pachter: “Subscription MMOs have peaked. If Star Wars couldn’t do it, no-one can do it.”
Industry analyst Michael Pachter says that MMOs have peaked. He says that if Star Wars couldn’t make it happen, no one can. It’s an interesting theory from one of the biggest experts in the field but is it true? PC Games explains more: “”I thought Star Wars: The Old Republic would make it big, but it didn’t. It looks like subscription MMOs are as big as they’re going to get – there are only 6-7 million people willing to spend $15 a month. If Star Wars couldn’t do it, made by Bioware, then no one can do it.”” He continues to explain the reasons he believes EA’s stock is dropping. Supposedly, he candidly tells John Riccitiello why no one is buying their stock. I told him: ‘the reason your stock is in the toilet is because you’re in the fifth year of a three year turn around’ says Pachter. He…
1.3.2 Patch Notes 7/10/2012
Servers are back up after this weeks maintenance, and BioWare have deployed a new patch. The best news of all is that the refer-a-friend mount is in and retrospective. On top of that, I’ve just picked it up on my lv10 Marauder who has the first rank of legacy vehicles (i.e. can ride a rank 1 speeder at lv10) and not only can he use the Kurtob Alliance, it actually gives him 110% speed. So, 40k credits for an epic speeder if you can convince your friends to subscribe! Also remember that the Play free to level 15 starts today. Patch notes below the new refer-a-friend mount screenshot. 1.3.2 Patch Notes 7/9/2012 General The new free trial allows anyone to create a Star Wars: The Old Republic account and play up to level 15 free of charge with no time limit. Classes and Combat General Stat bonuses derived from buffs that increase attributes and ratings are now…
Georg Zoeller leaves BioWare
Georg Zoeller just updated his google+ about him departing BioWare It’s time to say goodbye…. Friday marked my last day in the office at BioWare. After almost a decade and spending almost quarter of our lives in Canada and the US, my wife and I have decided to take on an exciting new adventure on the other side of the world – Singapore. It’s been an honor to work on so many amazing games with so many talented people and good friends, you will be greatly missed. If you’ve circled me because of my involvement with SWTOR, please understand that I will not be providing any more information regarding the game from this point forward and uncircle appropriately. If you stay, don’t complain about getting hit with pictures from the other part of the world from time to time. To Adventure! I kinda guessed this was coming, Georg Zoeller was one…
James Ohlen Interview about fans, free to play and more
In a fascinating 2,500 word interview, James Ohlen tells Games Industry all about SWTOR fans, the subscriptions and free to play to level 15. We’ve seen interviews with James before but this one is really a lot of fun. It comes across like two pals chatting and you’re really learn a lot more about James and SWTOR from this interview. Here is a snippet from the very thorough interview: Q: You’ve worked on so many epic, single-player games for Bioware where you’ve had almost free reign to produce entire worlds – switching to an MMO in one of the best known universes out there must have been a huge change, and a huge challenge. James Ohlen: Well the great thing is that I had experience of working in the Star Wars universe before, when I worked on the Old Republic. So I’ve had worked in the Old Republic era too. I…
The Guild Sphere: Alpha Strike Force
It’s been a while since our last Guild feature, but I hope we can start it up again. Get in contact with us if you are interested in getting featured on our website. We have interviews all kinds of guilds in the pasts, big and small, so don’t hesitate to contact us. Today Elrike the guildmaster of – Alpha Strike Force on the Jedi Covenant Server sat in the hot chair answering all our questions. Enjoy! Where did your guilds name come from? The guild was named Alpha Strike Force by our founder, ASF Zebra a retired NASA engineer and military veteran with tours of duty in Vietnam and Afghanistan. The selection of the name was influenced by his extensive military experience since an Alpha Strike Force represents an elite military unit. The name also fits well with the Star Wars mythos since Strike Force Alpha was an Imperial brigade during the Krantian Civil War.. Can you give me…
The LEGO SWTOR Sets are Now Available in the US
If you’re a fan of LEGO or Star Wars collectibles, you might already know about the Star Wars LEGO sets. We have several in our home and now, LEGO has released their newest two LEGO SWTOR and summer series sets. While Toys R Us is also carrying them, Amazon is the clear choice of where to get them because they have all the set in stock for retail price, no tax to most states and free shipping on orders above $25. My kids are huge LEGO fans and Star Wars fans so I’m thinking we’ll have to save up for sets for them and for us. These will make a fantastic collector’s piece. LEGO Star Wars 9500 Sith Fury-class Interceptor LEGO Star Wars 9497 Republic Striker-class Starfighter Amazon has both building sets and planet sets as follows in their summer collections. Building Sets: Desert Skiff (reg.$24.99) Saesee Tinn’s Starfighter (reg.$29.99) Republic…
SWTOR on Sale until the 10th- Great Time to Join!
If you’ve been thinking about finally joining SWTOR or maybe you want a second account or an account for a friend or family member, then there is no better time than now. There are great new additions to the game, free to play up to level 15, server transfers to increase server population and so much more. And now, for a limited time only, you don’t even have to pay full price for your copy. SWTOR on Gamestop on Sale If anyone was thinking about jumping in, Star Wars: The Old Republic is $19.99 at GameStop until the 10th. SWTOR on Amazon on Sale And if you prefer to make your purchases from Amazon, it’s also $19.99 on Amazon currently but it doesn’t say how long it will stay at that price so buy it now while you can. Remember Free to play up to level 15 starting the 10th of…
The Old Republic is Coming to Comic-Con!
Yesterday Lisa wrote about Course of the Force, an Olympic torch style relay run with lightsabers, where participants will make a journey from Santa Monica to San Diego while benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The vent is leading up to San Diego Comic Con that starts later this week. BioWare is co sponsors of this event,. and will also be at Comic-Con, having a few events. Check out the press release below: ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- San Diego Comic-Con, the single largest pop culture event in North America, is only a week away! With hundreds of thousands of passionate comic book, movie, and video game fans converging on the San Diego Convention Center, BioWare and LucasArts will be there to represent Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ in a big way! Throughout the four-day show, attendees will be able to come by the Star Wars: The Old Republic booth located inside the Star Wars™ Pavilion (booth #2913). Throughout…