The Sith Inquisition Marches Onward

Greetings swtorstrategies.com, we are The Sith Inquisition. Myself and the rest of my team are all diehard Imperials, and would rather shed our own blood as Sith than let the Republic overcome us. For a few weeks now we’ve been putting out Empire side news and opinion updates, recently being enhanced by a few pieces of beta video content, and now we’re happy to be invited to do a weekly column right her on swtorstrategies.com. You can look forward to a lot of news and opinion on the dark side and the Empire, although we do also like to put out general news content when it’s applicable. One thing we’ll be doing is short news broadcasts through twitter at least once a week, possible coinciding with the posts we’ll be putting up here. We’ll also be keeping you up to date on major roleplay and PvP activities that we’re emailed…

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No Need to Uninstall SWTOR Client if You Tested This Weekend

Have you recently beta tested SWTOR? If you were one of the weekend testers this past weekend, you will not need to uninstall the SWTOR client before playing the actual game. Pretty much everyone seemed to be in this massive scale SWTOR game test this past weekend so if you were dreading having to re-download the game client afterwards, you are in luck. As long as you have the most recent version of the game client installed from the Thanksgiving weekend test, you can save some bandwidth and time and just patch the game client, rather than deleting and starting new. Stephen Reid tweeted today: “FAQ: if you played this weekend you do NOT need to uninstall the #SWTOR client. We are planning to patch it to Early Game Access / Live.” Not only is this good news for those who plan to play but it’s also one more sign…

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Activision Questions Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Chances at Profitability

The days are counting down to the December 20th launch of SWTOR and as many are getting excited about the upcoming MMO, there are others who don’t quite fall into all the hype. Some are predicting SWTOR might not do as well as predicted and that even if it does, there won’t be much room for profit for EA with such an expensive game that they also have to share licensing rights with to Lucas Arts. Will there be any room left for profit from SWTOR? Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick says EA Will Lose Out with The Old Republic but could he be right? There’s no surprise that there are skeptics when it comes to SWTOR. In fact, with any big thing, there are going to be those who oppose it but how much truth might there be to the questioning? Kotick made his remarks about SWTOR at the Reuters…

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TOR TV: Jedi Knight lvl 1 – 5 with commentary

Jesse from OMFGaming have Jedi Knight gameplay video up now. The last two stories we did about Jesse and his video I said that I found him annoying. After Looking through more of his stuff, and watching the Trooper and Sith Inquisitor videos again, I take it back. The guy is absolutely amazing at what he do – playing games and comment on it. He is actually so good at the commenting that he make a living out out of it.  Check out this sample video he made. Oh, and check out the Jedi beta play though below:

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INC Gamers SWTOR PvP Preview

For many MMOs, the PvP is one of the most exciting aspects. Some players choose games based solely on the PvP aspects. We’re still learning about PvP in SWTOR but the good news is that with the past couple of beta weekends and the NDA lifted, we can learn more about SWTOR PvP than ever before. INC Gamers tells us about about three of the PvP Warzones (it’s assumed there are more). The writer, Tim McDonald talks about playing in Huttball, The Voidstar and the Alderaan Civil War and he gives an account of how he felt when playing each of these warzones. Here’s a snippet: “There currently appears to be no way to queue for a specific Warzone, so I’ve played some more than others. To be more specific: I’ve played Huttball 52 million times.” 52 million, huh? Sounds like enough to form a good opinion on the experience….

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SWTOR Graphic Benchmarks and Maximum Graphics

Are you wondering about the graphic benchmarks of SWTOR? Are you wondering how well your computer will run the game or what your max settings will let you get away with? The SWTOR Beta PCGH Nerd Test will give you some good answers to your nerdy questions. PC Games Hardware was able to take a first look at the current beta build of Star Wars: The Old Republic and they have a few things to offer in ways of benchmarks, which they were kind enough to share online for the rest of us. Some details:  “At the same time, we have first benchmark with ten different cards, and it is tested, the CPU core scaling.” “At this point must be emphasized clearly that all tests with a very early beta version of the game were made.” “Anti-aliasing is currently disabled in the game itself and the rest of the engine…

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Leia and Han Solo in SWTOR

While we have to admit that what this guy did is pretty cool, we also have to admit that it’s going to be very annoying to see loads of Star Wars movie characters running around the SWTOR universe, especially for those who are serious about their storyline and roleplaying. However, if you’re looking for something fun, here’s how one guy created Han Solo and Leia with the character creator of SWTOR. You can probably play around with the settings and controls and try to create other Star Wars characters that you recognize as well since there is so much customization available in SWTOR. He even tells you the slider numbers so you can make them yourself. And here’s some more fun from Starfleet Dental:

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TOR TV: Sith Inquisition on Nar Shaddaa

The Sith Inquisition have submitted 3 beta videos showing some action on the smugglers moon of Nar Shaddaa. These vidio’s introduces us to the basic story premise of what the Sith Inquisitor is up to on this planet, as well as some space mission action in the last of the 3 videos. Unfortunately they are recorded on a pretty crappy computer ( I belive it’s recorded on a lab top), but the commentary adds up for most of it. Check it out below:

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The Guild Sphere: Mobility Gaming

Today’s guild feature is something different then what we are used to feature here on swtorstrategies.com. Mobility Gaming is a Multi-Gaming organization focusing on many other game types then MMORPG’s. Check it out below, and remember to drop us a line, if you wan’t your guild featured on our website. Where did your guilds name come from? Mobility is the first part of the name for the Multi-Gaming organization we form part of (Mobility-Gaming.com). Also, Mobility is another name for “Movement” which is important because we want to be The “Movement” in Gaming. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild? Mobility-Gaming is a PvPvE guild dedicated to Highend PvP and End Game Raid Content. We’re Hardcore Minded, but understand gaming is not a “second job.” We want to enjoy the game most of all, but we think that winning and downing bosses is the best way to have fun. What…

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Will SWTOR Steal Players from WoW and RIFT?

Millions of people are anticipating the release of SWTOR on December 20, 2011 but there many who wonder just how popular this game is going to be. Will it live up to all the hype? Will SWTOR steal players from WoW and RIFT? WoW has been around for a long time and it has many loyal players who won’t leave but many have grown bored with this style MMO and they’re searching for something fresh, which is what The Old Republic offers. Rift is a great game that is growing in popularity due to the quality of the game and its well thought-out updates. But will it lose players to SWTOR? A news story from MMOSite reports, “Blizzard admitted that they started to lose World of Warcraft users from the beginning of 2011. Specifically, they lost 600,000 WOW users in Q1 2011, 300,000 in Q2 and 800,000 in Q3.” They…

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Intergalactic Intel: Smuggler and Sith Inquisitor

I tapped my foot impatiently. “Hurry up!” “I’m coming!” My friend, Varric, exited his apartment with his massive tower in hand. “Why are you so eager to start?” “There was a 2 hour wait to get on yesterday. I don’t want waste any time. Besides everyone else is already set up.” He opened his mouth puzzlement. “How many people are over there?”“Mmm about 6 of us…” This was gonna probably be the best beta weekend yet. Welcome to another installment of Intergalactic Intel! I apologize for the late article post, with the Thanksgiving weekend, and beta weekend I have been quiet busy. Even now as I type this my friends are telling me to stop and throw the ball in hutt ball. A few reminders, the NDA has been lifted so I’ll be trying to blab as much as I can about the Sith Inquisitor and Smuggler classes today. In…

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How to Create a SWTOR Guild In-Game

If you will be playing SWTOR with a group of friends, it makes sense to form up your own guild so you can all play together and take advantage of any guild perks and benefits right from the start. There are two basic ways to form a guild in SWTOR. One is only available pre-launch and you have to be sure your guild is registered with swtor.com‘s guild HQ. This is what we have done for my WoW guild which has many players who will be moving over to SWTOR to play together. For this option, you need to create an account and have at least four people from your guilf who have pre-orders of the game. These pre-orders will only count if they players who purchased them entered their early-access pre-order code. If you purchased the game and did not redeem your code, you have a limited amount of…

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Friday Update: Jedi Consular Class Progression

In this weeks Friday Update, Bioware highlight the character progression of the Jedi Consular with a new video. Will you choose to don the dark, stealthy robes of the Shadow; or take the lighter path of the Sage? As your character grows more powerful, you will see them gain new skills and abilities to complement the superior gear they acquire. Channeling the power of the Force to give them strength in combat and clarity in diplomacy, Jedi Consulars are respected for their leadership on the battlefield as well as their evenhanded demeanor at the negotiating table. While many devote themselves to uncovering the ancient secrets of the Jedi and use their command of the Force to defend and protect their allies, others use the Force as a means of slipping into the shadows and becoming powerful servants for the Republic. Watch just a few of the many ways the Jedi…

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TOR TV: Jedi Consular Beta play through.

I must have been living under a rock the last week, or maby I have just been in a constant swtor video overload, but I should have posted some videos from this guys earlier. I just came about this guy on youtube today. he goes about the name B.R. Brainerd, and in these videos he play Jedi Consular and do commentary. B.R. enters the world of Star Wars as a Jedi Consular, showing you the game’s opening cinematic, server selection, character creation, and gameplay! B.R. continues his foray into Star Wars: The Old Republic. After exploring the conversation mechanics in the game he ventures through the starting area, receives his first two quests, and engages in combat! We learn more about the abandoned Jedi holocrons as the main quest takes us to the Jedi Temple and a nearby Twi’Lek village. Hilarity ensues. B.R. completes a ritual ceremony for the Twi’Leks and gathers…

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EA Makes Right the Wrong of BF3 and Battlefield 1943

A few days ago I brought you the story of EA being sued by disgruntled gamers over their BF3 fiasco. It seems they are taking the issue seriously and have decided to remedy the problem. They have issued a statement on their website that all owners of Battlefield 3 on the PS3 will get a free copy of Battlefield 1943 starting this month. Full details on who is eligible and how to get your copy is available from their site. Do you think this is a good enough response to the whole debacle? Has EA taken the right steps to resolve the matter and smooth things over with gamers everywhere by correcting their mistake and quickly making the game available to those who originally thought they would get it via a promotion? It’s a nice little bonus to anyone who just bought BF3 and might not have even known about…

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Beta Patch notes: 0.742.16

Here are the latest patch notes for SWTOR. Only a Few minor changes is all Bioware did to prepare their game for the stress test today. Check out all the fixes below. Bounty Hunter Bug Fixes Neural Dart now properly functions to taunt enemies. Crew Skill Bug Fixes Crafting materials that are no longer usable will now display as “Obsolete Crafting Material” and the item description will now properly read “This item is obsolete. Sell it to a vendor.” Fixed an issue that would sometimes incorrectly display which Crew Skills a character has learned. Items Bug Fixes Players will now be properly notified when they do not meet the requirements to equip an item. Flashpoints and Operations Bug Fixes Fixed an issue that was causing players to freeze or see a black screen while in Flashpoints. Missions and NPCs Missions Republic Doomsday: Players will no longer see the environment disappear…

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Last Chance to Finalize Your SWTOR Guild

This is your last opportunity to finalize your SWTOR guild before Early Game Access begins! Phase 3 of our Pre-Launch Guild Program had begun a few weeks ago and according to the news reminder from the official SWTOR site, you are running out of time to finalize your guild. If you are a guild leader, now is the time to make sure you have everything in order for launch. If you have at least 4 members of your guild who have preorderd the game and you want to get guild early access, you will need to finalize the last details of the guild before it is too late. This is your last chance to: Make any changes to your guild Ensure your guild meets requirements for deployment into the game Designate your guild’s Allies and Adversaries Review and accept pending guild applications So what do you have to do? “It’s…

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Your guide to this weekend’s beta.

The purpose behind this final weekend beta, is to gauge performance of the game’s current server architecture. Previous betas have had some minor problems with performance, and this test will be the final chance for some meaningful feedback for launch scenarios. So, what can you do to help the most? Attempt to log in AS SOON AS YOU CAN. We want to hammer these servers to hell and back, don’t let up if you have the time to spare. Keep trying to connect if you have problems. Be ruthless. The more performance issues we catch during this beta mean that BioWare will know what to tackle before launch. Don’t start a post on reddit, or the official forums saying “the servers aren’t letting me log in””. Just keep attempting to connect, the server logs they’ll gather will tell them you can’t log in. Severe lag? Log out and use the…

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1.6 Million WoW players ‘could switch to Old Republic’ according to surveys

The battle between SWTOR and WoW rages on and as we get even closer to the launch date of TOR (December 20th) we continue to hear talk of WoW players who are or are not planning to jump ship and trade one game for the other. “Analyst house Lazard Capital Markets thinks World of Warcraft could lose between 900,000 and 1.6 million players following December’s Star Wars: The Old Republic launch”, as reported on Computer and Video Games. The stats aren’t really that surprising when you think about it. People are getting tired of WoW. It’s something we’ve written about many times and this also wouldn’t be the first analyst or expert to make such a prediction. The story explains: “A recent survey conducted by the firm in conjunction with Peanut Labs found that over 50 percent of 381 respondents have grown tired of Blizzard’s game.” This really isn’t a…

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TOR TV: Trooper lvl 1 – 5 playthrough with commentary

Jesse from OMFGaming have a new video up showcasing some SWTOR Trooper Gameplay. This time he plays the first 5 levels while commentating on it. As last time he get’s a little annoying at times, Like I don’t see why has has to use 8 minutes choosing how his character should look. While that being said, it’s still a great video, and not a bad way to spend a good hour. Especially if you want to play the trooper when Star Wars: The old republic comes out next month.

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The Guild Sphere: Vivid

It’s Thursdays and time for this weeks second guild feature. Today the guild, Vivid — a fine US East guild —  took the chance to answer our questions. The guild will focus on the depths of hardcore raiding and competitive PvP. Although they have a strong passion and desire to fullfill these goals, at the core of it all, they are all friendly nerds, who love a personable environment and STAR WARS! If you want your guild to be features on swtorstrategies.com get in contact with us here.  Check out the interview below, and have a happy thanksgiving, if you are celebrating it in your part of the world! Where did your guilds name come from? When we originally sat down and thought about developing a guild, the three of us collaborated and decided we needed a strong, meaningful guild name. We chose Vivid because it’s powerful, short, and unforgettable, like…

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SWTOR for the Holidays

If you’re looking for a popular game choice this holiday season, is there really any surprise that SWTOR tops the lists? Entertainment Weekly has named STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ one of their 15 Must-Have Videogames this holiday season and The New York Times has placed STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ on their 2011 Holiday Gift Guide! With the timely release of SWTOR slotted for December 20, 2011, it’s the perfect opportunity for family members of Star Wars fans or MMORPG lovers to snag a copy of the anticipated game for Christmas. It’s also a great opportunity to do something with that cash or gift cards you get for the holidays. I think it’s a safe bet to say that we will start seeing SWTOR show up on even more holiday wish lists and “best of” lists as we draw closer to the holiday season. For those who have preordered,…

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“BioWare Bets Big With the Old Republic” Says Fast Company

Star Wars: The Old Republic is scheduled to launch December 20, 2011 and BioWare’s expectation for its future is huge. With all the time and energy put into this MMO, BioWare bets big that it’s going to be a big hit. The SWTOR headquarters is located in Austin, Texas. This seems fitting to some since the Lonestar State has the slogan “everything is bigger in Texas” and SWTOR is one of the largest MMO to ever be released. Fast Company tells us how BioWare bets big with SWTOR. Is it a bet that will pay off in time for the company? BioWare has put 6 years of testing and debugging into the game and logged 4.6 million hours of beta testing. They are now ready to see if the efforts they’ve put into the game are going to pay off. Will gamers respond to this MMO the way they expect…

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