ZAM Editor-in-Chief Chris “Pwyff” Tom spoke to SWTOR Game Director James Ohlen about launch day preparations, legacy system updates, SWTOR’s short-term development plans, and much more and they have brought us this fun interview so we all can share in the news and excitement. We’re getting closer to the days of Early Game Access, many of us are looking for ways to contain our excitement and find something to occupy us until we get in the game for ourselves. Interviews like this are one way to do that and it won’t be long now until we can say “see you in game!” ZAM asked James Ohlen if he was nervous about the big launch day. His reply? Not at all! It’s been six years of working on MMORPGs down here in Austin, so it’s been a big part of my life. Biggest I’ve ever worked on! SWTOR is definitely BioWare’s…
SWTOR List of Slash Commands and Emotes for In-Game
With prelaunch coming, what better time than now to come across this list of slash commands and emotes for in-game SWTOR? Slash Commands: Assuming they are still accurate when the servers go live (which we cannot guarantee at this time), here are some slash commands you can use in-game: Numbers like /0 /1 /2 /3 will represent chat channels /coverbar /date /dismiss /dnd /duel /e /emote /flag /follow /friend /gabdicate /gdisband /general /ginvite /gkick /gquit /gremove /group /grp /guild /hideui /inspect /invite /lag /logout /me /nameplates See the complete list for more slash commands. If you are a veteran MMORPGer, you will probably be familiar with many of these already so a good policy is just to test slash commands you know to have worked in other games in the system of SWTOR and see if they work for you. Chances are, they probably will (if nothing changes on launch)….
SWTOR Launch Events Incoming
There are some exciting events coming soon to SWTOR. You can be a special part of the launch experience on December 20th with the community events announced here on the SWTOR news page. There will be events in both North America and Europe to help you celebrate the launch of the game along with BioWare and LucasArts. For example: In the US, we have partnered with Best Buy to host launch night events at the Best Buy Union Square in New York City and the Best Buy South Austin in Austin, Texas. Members of the Star Wars: The Old Republic development team will be on hand at each location, including BioWare Co-Founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk in New York, as well as James Ohlen and Rich Vogel in Austin! Fans attending these events may be able to get their hands on swag, take part in Q&As with…
Pre-Order Breakdown: Where are You on the Pre-Launch List?
If you’re anxiously awaiting when you will get into the game, here is some interesting information about the pre-order breakdown, number of people who have pre-ordered and where you might be on the list. Now you can see a very generalized guesstimation of where you might be on the list. While it’s fun and interesting to see it in graph format, we say “guesstimation” because these stats are not 100% accurate. This is only box sales from North America. It does not include digital copies or copies from Europe. That’s a great deal of numbers missing. In fact, it could be only half of the actual numbers of the game that have been preordered. Anyway, the stats from vgchartz.com may not be completely accurate. It also includes the disclaimer that it is just intended to give a general idea of where you might stand on the list. For that purpose,…
IGN’s SWTOR Interview: Bioware Spills about Star Wars MMO
Starting today, those who preordered BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic will be rolled into in the live game before the official launch date of December 20. The time has officially come. There will be no more beta testing, no more character wipes and no more waiting. We are down to the wire and it’s nearly time to being playing. With that said, it begs the question “What has Bioware learned from this experience?” In this exclusive interview with IGN, Bioware’s James Ohlen talks SWTOR, lessons learned, future changes in SWTOR and more. The interview is over 2,000 words long but well worth the read (or at very least a skim over the questions that interest you most). Here’s a snippet from the start of the interview: GN: During beta, which are some of the elements that changed the most and in ways you didn’t expect? I mean I saw…
Server Assignments are Here! Guild Pre-Launch Deployment
Today is the big day for everyone awaiting pre-launch guild server announcements, as we told you earlier. The emails finally came in so if you’ve been sitting there refreshing your inbox over and over, you can now relax. The emails are out and not just guild leaders/guild masters got them. Anyone registered in a pre-launch guild who pre-ordered should have gotten the email. In addition to checking for the email, you can skip a step and go straight to the guild page for your status: http://www.swtor.com/guilds You should be able to see the page title: Guild Headquarters The Pre-Launch Guild Program has Ended Member of: (Your Guild) Assigned to Server: (Your Server) NOTE: The official SWTOR site is so busy today that you will probably get put in a “waiting room” as you try to enter but mine was only 20 seconds long at the longest point so I didn’t…
Guild HQ Update Coming Today
SWTOR tweeted this weekend, “Eager to find out what server your #SWTOR Guild will be placed on? Your Guild HQ update is coming on Monday!” So we’re all awaiting the news but boy are they cutting it close on this one! Since early access is supposed to begin on Tuesday, this is cutting it really close for guild leaders to get the info and organize things with their guild. However, it doesn’t really matter since as soon as you log in your character that is signed up with that guild, you will gain access to wherever the guild is at. Your guild will be assigned to a server, not the player so when you log in to the server (and faction) your guild belongs to, you will be automatically in the guild. You are still free to make alts and place them on any server you choose. SWTOR Twitter feed…
MMORPG Dallas Dickinson Interview
MMORPG has an interesting interview with Dallas Dickinson for your enjoyment as you count down the days to SWTOR launch- coming oh so soon! This interview with Dallas Dickinson features post launch content, server announcements, empire/republic player ratio and more. Here is an interview snippet: MMORPG.com:Let’s kick things off by talking a bit about Game Testing. The last few weekend tests have seen a huge amount of players hitting the servers. What can you tell us about what you’ve learned from having so many users hitting your service? Were there any surprises or revelations in terms of what the service will be able to handle? Dallas Dickinson:There were actually, there were mostly positive surprises. There were way fewer surprises than we were bracing for. The servers actually did really, really well. Those who participated in the testing found the experience was relatively smooth. I think, the first night, we had…
Ten Tips for Transitioning WoW Players
Are you a World of Warcraft player transitioning over to SWTOR? You are definitely not the first. There are loads of WoW players making the move to SWTOR, including the majority of my WoW guild’s most active players and raiding members. If you’re one of these players, you need to learn about the differences in the two games (aside from the obvious) so you understand what to expect and what not to. While we have all heard the comparisons about all the similarities, there are still some things that are very different in the two games. SWTOR Hub has some tips for transitioning WoW players which covers the following points: No U.I. Mods Terminology Overload We’re Not in Arathi Basin Anymore Not Every Quest Must You Do Strength in Numbers Quest Text Matters So Does Alignment Dungeons, Instances and Everything Else Don’t Travel Alone: Companions Class Choice…
The Guild Sphere: Carnage
Carnage was establish in Vanguard, back at the dissolution of two of the servers largest guilds. Carnage was formed with one tenant in mind; progression through teamwork. They are a group of like-minded, friendly individuals who want nothing more than to achieve the pinnacle of what Star Wars: The old republic has to offer. Forming as a pre-release Launch guild, they are striving to have a full raid force ( EST) ready for launch in a few days. Check our guild feature of them out below. Where did your guilds name came from? Carnage was a compromise between a number of dedicated gamers. Decided on almost a week after we were formed, Carnage was the most accepted name among our ranks. Knowing our name would be unimportant in the long run, we decided to focus on substance from the inside, rather than having a flashy exterior. It worked out…
Hands-On SWTOR Review
My pal Jason Thibeault has a great hands-on SWTOR preview to share and with the pre-launch only a few days away, it’s a great way to pass the time and get yourself in the SWTOR mood. This is also an excellent preview for anyone who missed game testing or is just now hearing about the game (have you been under a rock?). We have brought you a lot of SWTOR previews and reviews here and I guarantee you I have read tons and tons of them but there are some things in particular that I really like about Jason’s review. For example, he has a lot of screenshots. These aren’t just typical gameplay shots- he has some great shots of the character selection process and appearance customization which is great for those who did not have a chance to see this in the game for themselves. He also explains the…
TOR TV: Video Profession Guide for Biochem & Bioanalysis!
Early Access starts in a few days, and not much information has been gathered on crafting. Here is a quick concise guide for Biochem & Bioanalysis. Arguably the best crafting profession for both hardcore PvP’ers and Raiders alike. Give it a look if you wanna be better prepared at launch or if you just enjoy male narrated guide videos. Biochem – Biochem is the skill involved in crafting medical supplies, performance-enhancing chemical serums and biological implants. Biochemists can create medpacs to restore health, stimulants (single-use injections) that provide a boost to physical abilities, and biological implants that enhance combat prowess by stimulating neural networks and regulating brain stem functions. Biochemists can reverse engineer their crafted implants and possibly discover new ways to improve implant creation. The gathering skill Bioanalysis provides crafting resources for Biochem. As of Launch the Mission skill Diplomacy will sometimes provide rare supplies used in Biochem recipes.
BioWare Sneak “Night At The Roxbury” Scene Into Star Wars: The Old Republic?
Pop culture references done right in a video game can be loads of fun. If there’s any company who can pull this off the right way, it just might be Bioware. While it’s not completely new news, there is rumor going around that Bioware have snuck a scene from “A Night at the Roxbury” into SWTOR. There have been some videos going around YouTube that supposedly depict this. It’s a scene from the game in a cantina with some characters who look like they are acting out the SWTOR version of “A Night at the Roxbury” skit. I am pretty sure I completely missed this in the game as I was busy leveling and writing about the game but it’s really cool. You can judge for yourself from watching the videos but it sure does look like a reference to it to me! While they said in the past that…
May the schwartz be with you: Hitler Vs Vader: The Rap Battle Rematch
Just over a year ago, we brought you the greatest Rap Battle face-off since B-Rabbit faced those other ridiculously named made-up rappers in 8 Mile, as the two darkest Dark Lords faced over across a mic, spitting ill and questioning each other’s sexual orientation and the moral integrity of one another’s mothers. And now the men behind the first video have returned with a second season of Epic Rap Battles of History, thawing out Adolf Hitler in the process for a tent-pole curtain raising rematch against Darth Vader. It all started with a teaser… And the ERB team have now posted the match-up in full. They said they’d come back bigger and better, and they weren’t lying. Who won? Well, we did. The lyrics are sharper, the style more refined and Hitler has never sounded quite so much like Eminem before, which is a good look for him. But seriously,…
SWTOR Tweaks (Including a Chat Bubbles Toggle!)
Are you looking for some SWTOR tweaks to help customize the game fully suited to your needs? Good news for the rest of us, there are a lot of dedicated fans helping us all find ways to get more into the game. One such fan posted some great SWTOR tweaks over on Reddit and it even includes a chat bubbles toggle. Here is a snippet: The following can be added to youraccountname_Account.ini in C:UsersUSERAppDataLocalSWTORretailclient If chat bubbles are not in during Early Access you should be able to force them. Social_UseOverheadChat = true Social_ChatOverSelf = true GUI Map Fog of War toggle. GUI_MapHideFoWMasks = false Attack Based on Focus Target? Controls_InheritedTargeting = true Volume Controls! X = 0 to 100 VolumeAmbience = X VolumeMaster = X VolumeMusic = X VolumeSFX = X VolumeVoiceover = X Old Nameplates in this video: Head on over to Reddit if you want to…
SWTOR Rules of Conduct
If you’re going to be playing SWTOR in just a few days along with the rest of us, it’s a good idea to make yourself familiar with the posted rules of conduct. Most of it is traditional MMORPG and online game play stuff but there are a few things that really stick out to us and honestly, a couple of things are downright frustrating. For example, macro software is not allowed but Bioware has no problem whatsoever with you paying 0 for the Razer keyboard to do the exact same thing. Is this really fair to those who don’t want the Razer or to those who cannot afford it? Anyway… here are some of the ROC (rules of content) that you need to be familiar with: To keep the Service a compliant, fun, fair and safe gaming environment for everyone, you may not engage in any of the following behavior:…
SWTOR Beta End Game Review for Level 50 from MMO Champion
With the launch date for SWTOR scheduled for December 20, 2011, Star Wars/MMO fans are interested in learning more about this game. The excitement continues to grow with each passing day and if you’re like most players, you’re searching for all the inside information you can find which is why we want to bring you as many awesome SWTOR reviews as we can before the big day. MMO Champion has a very interesting review on their beta experience end game for level 50. A lot of testers were never able to get that far in the game so it’s pretty interesting, all in all. It talks about some of the things there are to do once you reach level 50 (max level). You can learn a little about the bosses in the game, operations, raiding and crafting. You’re going to get some facts and details with sprinkles of opinion from…
Swtor Extreme: Revan’s Saga & Fate (Spoilers)
Do you know who Revan is? Did you play Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2? Perhaps you have forgotten everything since you played it so long ago? Maybe you want to know the final fate of Revan and you can’t wait to play both Republic & Sith to 30+? Well no worries, I have an excellent series of videos which will help you on all of these fronts. Dalagrath from Swtor Extreme decided to start a series called “Know Your Saga”, where he details important characters which will appear in SWTOR. The first of those characters chosen was Revan. The character you play as during the Knights of the Old Republic RPG game. If you’d like to learn about who Revan is, and what happened to him during KOTOR 1/2, then head over to part 1 & 2 of the saga by clicking the video below: (Part 1…
May the schwartz be with you:The SITH that stole Christmas!
This just in from our pal One Minute Galactica, a great video to get you in the Star Wars holiday spirit. From the same guy who brought us What if Those Scanner Guys Were Not Such Wimps, The Worst Couple in the Universe and more, we have an especially fun, seasonal video. If you’d like to learn more about OMG (OneMinuteGalactica), check out this interview we did around this time last year. Now for The SITH that stole Christmas! He has all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile.
The Poll to End All Polls: What Class Will You Play?
If you missed it on the official forums, we have the “Poll to end all polls” ( Gone with the official forums now) which discusses class, species, role and alignment. This was a really popular user-created poll that brings up some important stats about the game and the people who will play it. The poll asks “What will your FIRST character be?” and has LOADS of responses. Take a look before the forums get wiped because this poll is the ultimate poll for SWTOR. About the Poll: It started back in April and as of today, it has over 11,000 votes and pages and pages of comments. It gives us some real insight into the playerbase and what you all want from the game. This will show you who you will likely be playing with and what kinds of stats we can expect in the game. To help you understand…
Friday Update: Sith Inquisitor Character Progression
Yesterdays Friday update brought us the last remaining character progression video, featuring the Sith Inquisitor. This is kind of a historic update, as it is the last update before early access begins. As you progress in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, your character will acquire new skills and abilities that complement their more powerful weapons and armor. Feared across the galaxy for both their mastery of the Dark Side of the Force™ and their ability to manipulate those around them, even those within the Empire know to watch themselves when in the presence of a Sith Inquisitor. Some acolytes who complete the trials use their newfound powers to channel the Force into devastating mental and lightning attacks. Others command the Force to deceive their enemies both in conversation and on the battlefield.
Actress Adrienne Wilkinson discusses working on SWTOR (and Force Unleashed!)
Even if you don’t know her by name, you’ve probably heard Adrienne Wilkinson in game. She has been doing vocal performances since 2003 in games like “Command and Conquer 3”, “Star Wars The Force Unleashed” and “Saints Row 2”. She’s done some amazing work in the past and continues to make quite an impression in the gaming world as she takes on the voice of several characters in SWTOR. Pop-Gamer brings us an awesome interview with Adrienne Wilkinson about her acting experience in SWTOR as well as Force Unleashed! Here’s a snippet: PG: It certainly showed! Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming out this month. How do you feel about being part of what many are saying is possibly the next World of Warcraft?’ AW: I’m thrilled to be part of the project. The enthusiasm the Star Wars fandom is already showing The Old Republic is quite prolific –…
Editorial: SWTOR Collector’s Edition Elitists
A reader wrote in to us recently with a pretty interesting thought about the types of gamers who have pre-ordered and will play SWTOR. He says, “People who pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition think they’re more important than everyone else.”” He even offers some evidence of why he believes this: 1- A signature bragging about the CE. 2- A post saying CE buyers are entitled to being better in-game. Honestly, I never thought a whole lot about it at first but it’s a good point now that it’s been brought up. Sure, this is a generalization and I’m sure not every single gamer to buy the CE acts this way (I don’t and I love buying CEs of my games) but at least a good portion of them do. I have seen this type of behavior in the game and its community so far, too. I’ve also seen it in other…
SWTOR Review and Cool Stuff from ZAM
Have you had enough SWTOR reviews yet? Now that the beta testing phase is over and we are counting down the days to the eventual launch of the game, it’s a great time to read over all the good reviews and previews we can find. We’re going to continue to bring you some of the best ones, as well as our own SWTOR guides and strategies to keep you informed and entertained before launch- and beyond. In yet another SWTOR review, we have this from ZAM.com. This is a very long 2-part series of a review/preview of SWTOR based on their beta experiences. Editor-in-Chief Chris Tom talks about what makes SWTOR unique and gives some final thoughts on his experiences. He says: “Yesterday, I went in-depth with SWTOR’s story and gameplay, as well as how it all fits with the MMORPG genre. Today, I’ll be talking about some of the…
