While it’s not really a surprise to any of us here, we are happy to announce that Gamespy ranked SWTOR as Game of the Year: MMO Category. Released just before the end of the year after years of anticipation, the game is off to a fantastic start, breaking genre records across the board and drawing in tons of happy gamers. In what many believe to be the first MMO to rival WoW, SWTOR has made an impressive launch into the industry and now only time will tell if BioWare can keep it up for the longterm. FromGamespy: “We’restill logging hours in a galaxy far, far away to bring you our full review, butthis award should give you an idea how we feel about BioWare’s long-awaitedStar Wars MMO. From day one, the renowned RPG studio said it would set its gameapart from the competition with story, voice, and choice — and…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Pre-review from Gaming Age
Gaming Age takes a look at SWTOR for the first time and it’s safe to say that overall, their reviewer was thoroughly impressed with the game. They’ve taken the time to write up a nearly 1,000-word pre-review to explain what they think of it. This is a great “early impressions” type piece that we wanted to share with you. And if any of you have friends that still have not bought SWTOR, this is a great preview/review to send to them. The pre-review begins: “Star Wars: The Old Republic is the first MMO that could legitimately take the top spot away from the long-running champ of MMO’s, World of Warcraft.” And haven’t we heard this one before? While the haters and WoW fanboys may disagree, there are actually some really good reasons why this might be true. The reviewer at Gaming Age takes some time to tell us their opinions….
Belsavis Datacron Locations
Belsavis was a planet in the Ninth Quadrant, which was a region of the Bozhnee sector. Ice-covered, its average temperature was in the -50s. It was located on the Belsavis Run At some unknown point in the past, the planet became one of the many worlds that belonged to the Rakata Infinite Empire. During that time, the Rakata made use of the world as a prison colony where they placed many dangerous prisoners that remained trapped for the millennia. It entered an ice age around 5,000 BBY. Its inhabitants dwelt in three volcanic jungle rifts. During the Great War, the Republic used Belsavis’ prison to confine dangerous Sith lords and war criminals. Read all about Belsavis here, and check out the datacron locations below: Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic 68 – [Aim +4] X: 784; Y: 126 Z: -1929 (The…
This is Why SWTOR Matters
Ever gotten on a soapbox when it comes to talking about video games? You certainly wouldn’t be the first to do so. In fact, gamers are often so passionate about their video games that they find themselves on a soapbox quite often. Adam Harshberger of Pexielsordeath.com has a soapbox opportunity to tell us all why SWTOR matters. It seems everyone who has played the game has a strong opinion one way or another about it. For some, SWTOR is just another MMO attempting to rival WoW that will probably wither and wane just like so many others. To some, it doesn’t matter at all. However, to others SWTOR matters and here is a glimpse into why. Harshberger says: “But, regardless, Bioware has succeeded in igniting my brain in ways that only single player games have previously – and, to frank with ya’ll, I can’t stop playing it.” He says that…
Hoth Datacron Locations
Hoth was the sixth planet of the remote Hoth system. A desolate world covered with ice and snow, located in the Anoat sector, a rarely-traveled portion of the Outer Rim Territories, it became famous as the one-time location of the Alliance to Restore the Republic’s Echo Base during the Galactic Civil War. It was discovered in 3 ABY by the Empire, causing the Battle of Hoth, a major engagement that destroyed the Rebels’ base and gave them heavy casualties. Hoth’s existence was known throughout the galaxy as early as 4,000 BBY. The swamp wampas of Dromund Kaas were proven by scientists to be descended from the wampas of Hoth. It is possible that wampas were brought to Dromund Kaas during the Great Galactic War though the truth remains a mystery. Indeed the Republic suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Empire during that conflict. The two fleets included…
SWTOR Beats WoW at its Own Game- Epic Battle of the MMORPGs
We have heard talk for years now of how BioWare just might have the first MMO to rival the infamous World of Warcraft. However, it would not be the first game to make attempts to take down the Blizzard giant in the MMORPG scene. There were skeptics and there were supporters but no one could say for sure if SWTOR would measure up to the level of WoW until it happened. Here were are just a few days past the official launch and SWTOR is breaking records right and left. It would appear now that they have also beaten WoW at their own game. Daily Mail reports on the stats: Hits 1 million subscribers faster than any rival, including World of Warcraft Gamers play for 5.5 million hours over Christmas Three billion enemies are killed Dark Side is narrowly ahead: 810,000 Jedi created, 850,000 Sith While WoW boasts the title…
SWTOR Shows MMO Market is Healthy, According to Analyst
If there was any doubt that the MMO market is at an all-time high, SWTOR just took measures to highlight this for all of the industry to see. Kris Graft from Gamasutra gives us the lowdown on how SWTOR points to a healthy MMO market right now. Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian said: “”We view the early success of Star Wars as an indication of a healthy MMO market. While there is likely some shifting of usage from Activision’s World of Warcraft, we see a viable market for multiple million-user MMOs in the U.S. and Europe.” The Gamasutra article goes on to explain why the analyst says this about SWTOR and what it might mean for the MMO industry/genre as a whole. While the MMO market does have a wild history of bug launches that failed miserably, it’s safe to say that gamers in general are willing to try…
Quesh Datacron Locations
Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic Discovered by the Galactic Republic during the Great Galactic War, Quesh’s toxic atmosphere made the planet uninhabitable for many lifeforms, and was initially dismissed by the Republic. Years later, however, a young Republic chemist realized potential for some of the chemicals found on Quesh to be used for the Republic, as many of the compounds on the planet closely resembled venenit shadaaga, roughly translated as “Hutt Venom”, a primary ingredient in very powerful adrenals. After this discovery was made, it was swiftly reoccupied by the Republic who began to invest in its production. However, the Republic engineers were unable to master the process of turning these chemicals into adrenals, so they resorted to an unlikely ally, the Hutts. Three Hutt cartels lended their help in the exchange for a share of the profits. Within a…
The Sith Inquisition: iPhone app Review – Galaxy Link
Good Afternoon Sithizens, We were asked to do a review of an iPhone app by the moderators of swtorstrategies.com, and not being ones to disapoint our masters, we did so eagerly. The app is called Galaxy Link, and although it doesn’t have any links to the game itself due to the fact that Bioware has yet to put out their API for The Old Republic, the app does try to push what usefulness it can with timers, a small social networking tool, and a small encyclopedia of basic information on datacrons. The social networking tools are relatively bare bones, especially because it has no ability to tie into the game itself. It works by you entering the server and character you play, as well as answering some basic questions about them. After completing the short registration, you see a list of everyone else linked into the network, organized in multiple…
BioWare’s Muzyka and Zeschuk defend subscription model of SWTOR
While no one actually asked them this time, the BioWare docs found reason to defend their subscription model once again, according to joystiq. In an interview with the BioWare figureheads, they spoke up with a defensive explanation of their subscription model for SWTOR, although the interviewer didn’t actually question them on it. Perhaps they are just so used to be grilled over the subject, it’s like a canned response to interviews. Nonetheless, it was pretty fun and their answers/explanation was interesting. “”You look at the online space in general and it’s fragmenting into all these different areas, but the core still works. The subscription model still works,” Zeschuk said. “”We know a lot of people say, ‘Oh, everything’s just going free-to-play.’ But that’s just one slice. There’s one slice that’s free-to-play, there’s one slice that’s social, there’s traditional subscription still going.” He goes on to talk about the differences between…
Republic Fleet Datacron: +10 All Stats
To start, you’ll need the Red Crystal Artifact found on Corellia, the MGGS found on Alderaan, and a Blue Crystal that you can get right there in the Museum on the Republic Fleet (which is where the fun begins). On to the guide! To begin, you’ll need to head to the Museum on the Gav Daragon within the Republic Fleet. You can do this by heading to the “Mission Departures” elevator on the main Republic Fleet ship and taking it to “Interfleet Transport.” Take the taxi to the “Gav Daragon” and then take the only elevator you’ll see to the “Gav Daragon Bridge.” Once there, head to the right (on the map, you’ll see an elevator-like circle, but no elevator icon) and take that elevator to the “Museum.”” Museum Access Once you are in the Museum, you need to jump up to the shuttle on top of the platform (you…
Imperial Fleet: +10 All Attribute Datacrons on Ziost Shadow
One thing the video doesn’t really make clear is that all 5 magnetic stabilizer buttons have to be active in order to get to the final door. This means that the first two are clicked, allowing the other two players to hookshot to their buttons and push them, then everyone hookshots to the middle one, and one person hookshots to the final button. All this has to be done within about 30 seconds. Also, the hookshots are very unreliable — you can be teleported back to your starting point or even fall to your death if you hookshot from a slightly wrong location. Generally speaking, you want to do it from as far back as possible so the angle is shallower. Also, once you have gotten the datacron, your red and blue crystals are destroyed and it is impossible to pick them up again. This means you can’t help anyone…
AMA on Reddit with Stephen Reid
Ask Me Anything! AMA on Reddit with Stephen Reid @Rockjaw today was really exciting, lots of fun and brought us some fun and interesting stuff. My only complaint is that many of the questions were regarding issues that have already been publicly discussed. I would have preferred to see more personal stories, insider info and insights into the game and the making of the game. Anyway, it’s still good info. If you missed it happening live, that’s a-ok because I caught it all and we’re here to give you the highlights. Reid started the event with a few caveats: I’m not in charge of any design decisions on the game – if you are looking to get something changed, ask nicely on the official Forums 🙂 I’m not aware of every single bug in the game, or the status of their resolution – although I am happy to hear about…
Ability Delay — Character Responsiveness Can Make or Break SWTOR
While every new game will have some bugs, there are bugs that are much more serious in game than others. Some, in fact, can be completely game breaking and this is frustrating for someone who enjoys the game but then gets caught by a bug like the ability delay that is slowing character responsiveness in SWTOR. A thread on the official forums breaks down this very important issue that could make or break SWTOR. The original poster explains the issue: “The “Character Responsiveness” for lack of a better term, is how “smooth” the game plays from your avatars perspective. I have played SWG and EQ to a lesser degree as well as Warhammer Online and several other MMOs and I must honestly say that Bioware has gotten this all too important aspect much better than any previous MMO that I have experienced (with the obvious exception, to which we will…
SWTOR “fastest in history” MMO to 1 million subscribers
Star Wars: The Old Republic “fastest in history” MMO to 1 million subscribers – or so says Geek.com. I am not surprised in the slightest to hear of these statistics. Even if I wasn’t a personal fan of the game, it’s easy to follow the history of the game to date and see the great popularity of it thus far. It has the makings of an incredible, stat-breaking game or a failure of epic proportions if it lets the gamers down. So far, it’s leaning towards the former. Sure there are gamers who just aren’t that impressed with SWTOR and that’s ok. To each his own, right? But still, there are millions who are into the game and appreciate it for what it is and what it might be. Can you believe that SWTOR has 1 million subscribers already? This makes it the fastest MMO to reach this feat. Geek.com…
Intergalactic Intel: Choosing a guild
“WHY DIDN’T YOU HEAL THE TANK!” I shook in fear. “WELL?” Caps locks usually didn’t frighten me, but since this was a new game it did. I had no reputation. I was just a nobody. “Well, the druid was a higher level…and you weren’t going to stay up much lon-” “-NO. YOU HEAL THE GOD DAMNED TANK. SCREW THE REST OF THE GROUP!” That’s when the druid stepped in. “NO. We would have been just fine.”“So what you yell at the healer because he decided to do his best to prevent a wipe? Only two people died.” “What are you his friend?” I had never met the druid before now. “Screw this I’m out of here. Go learn and heal you crappy priest.” The player who had been yelling at me quickly left group. I swallowed hard. “Don’t worry. You did fine.” I looked in confusion. Though my character could…
Alderaan Datacron Locations
Alderaan was a Core Founder of the Galactic Republic in 25,053 BBY and one of the anchor-points for early hyperspace exploration. Alderaan was headquarters of Alderaan Royal Engineers, an early Republic shipwright. Alderaanian colonists settled Nim Drovis. During the Mandalorian Wars, the planet was threatened with invasion by the forces of Cassus Fett, but the entire invasion force was prematurely decimated, due to misuse of an ancient Sith artifact. Read all about Alderaan here, and check out the Datacron locations below: Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic There is a Specialty Goods vendor that sells 2 items required to get 2 datacrons on this planet (and a couple others on other planets.) She is located in the Juran Mountains. There are a lot of dotted trails on map in the southern section, look for the one that is a counter-clockwise tilted “T”….
Tatooine Datacron Locations
Tatooine (pronounced tætu’in) was a desert world in a binary star system in the Arkanis sector of the Outer Rim Territories. It was inhabited by poor locals who mostly farmed moisture for a living. Other activities included used equipment retailing and scrap dealing. The planet was on the 5709-DC Shipping Lane, a spur of the Triellus Trade Route, which itself connected to the Sisar Run. The planet was not far from the Corellian Run. It had its own navigation system. However, it would still play a role in galactic events, serving as the home of Anakin Skywalker. It was here that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn recognized Anakin’s potential to become a Jediand where he introduced him to Obi-Wan Kenobi, his future master and mentor. Tatooine was also the home of Anakin’s son, Luke, where he lived until his early adulthood. The planet built up a very bad reputation, often being…
Star Wars: The Old Republic Patch 1.0.1 12/27/2011
Here is yesterdays patch notes, already named “The Great Slicing Nerf of 2011:” Classes and Combat Combat Bug Fixes Fixed a bug that could cause the global cooldown to display incorrectly in the UI. Abilities that require Companion Characters now always correctly require a companion. NPCs no longer attempt to engage vanity pets in combat. Imperial Agent Operative The tooltip for Acid Blade now displays the correct information. Companion Characters Kira Carson Fixed an issue that could cause Kira Carsen’s affection progression to become blocked. Bug Fixes Companion Character dialogue now plays at the correct volume. Crew Skills Gathering Skills Slicing Rewards from Slicing have been reduced to bring them into balance with other skills. Adjusted incorrect values for medium slicing boxes. Bug Fixes Corrected an issue that could cause some gathering nodes to appear as unharvestable. Flashpoints and Operations Mandalorian Raiders Crowd control immunity has been removed from several members…
SWTOR Damage Meters Coming Soon
Like to analyze your game stats? Want to keep track of how much damage you do? Trying to get your guild “raid-ready”? If you agree that SWTOR has been lacking in the stats area, then you will be happy to hear the news that Massively reports on upcoming changes and additions to SWTOR. Massively tells us: Players on the Star Wars: The Old Republic official forums have dug up a Fansite Summit Q&A session with the game’s lead combat designer Georg Zoeller in which he suggested that some new features will be coming to the game post-launch for those who want to ensure they’re getting the most out of their character builds. During the talk, Zoeller claimed that combat log parsing and other such performance analysis features were “very high on [BioWare’s] priority list.” This sounds really promising, especially to the type of MMO gamer who wants those stats and…
Nar Shaddaa Datacron Locations
Nar Shaddaa was the largest moon of Nal Hutta. More commonly known as the Vertical City, the Smuggler’s Moon and Little Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa was similar to Coruscant in that its surface was entirely overgrown with city sprawl since 24,500 BBY But unlike Coruscant – which was only relatively dangerous on the lower levels of the world city –Nar Shaddaa was filthy, polluted, and infested with crime throughout. Read more about the planet here, and check out the Datacron guide below: Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic 33 – [Aim +3] X:-3361 Y:3313– To obtain this Datacron look for a street lamp with support cables attached to it. Go north and around the corner. Look for some stacked crates with the top even with a brown street canvas. Climb the crates, and get onto the canvas. From there go up the support…
Remote Skillin’ from iPhone and iPad, Legit?
Want to level up your crew skills but you have to leave for work? Bummed that you’re missing SWTOR over the holidays while you do family stuff? While there are many great reasons to cherish and appreciate family time, it’s also normal to miss this hot new game while you’re away. There is no real surprise then that gamers would find a way to get the best of both worlds (or at least as close as possible). If you cannot play SWTOR while on the go, you might be able to log in remotely and do a few activities, such as leveling your crew skills. If you have an iPad or iPhone, you might be able find an app that allows you to check in and deploy your crew while you are not actively in the game enjoying it. You can level up your crew skills from anywhere you can…
TOR TV: Tutorial on Combining Matrix Shards (Empire)
theSWTORguys has made a A tutorial on combining the Datacrons also known as Matrix Shards. Matrix Shards are items that can be used on the relic slots of your character and boost multiple stats. This guide don’t explain what the different colors actually do, so I have added that below the video. What this vidoe does is explaining about the crafting station which is Still quite useful as it is not explain very well in-game. Here is the currently known list of Matrix Cubes color combinations: Level 15 Blue, Yellow, Green = 8 Strength, 18 Endurance Red, Blue, Yellow = 11 Strength, 15 Endurance Red, Blue, Green = 15 Aim, 11 Endurance Red, Yellow, Green = 15 Endurance, 11 Willpower Level 24 Blue, Yellow, Yellow= 11 Aim, 24 Endurance, 9 Defense Green, Blue, Blue = 17 Aim, 22 Endurance, 6 Crit Green, Yellow, Yellow= 22 Endurance, 17 Cunning, 6 Crit Red,…
Balmorra Datacron Locations
Balmorra was a factory world that was located within the Nevoota system, situated in the Colonies region at the border of the Core Worlds. Wide plains surrounded the planet’s capital, Bin Prime. Balmorran metal parasites feasted on metals in the urban areas of Balmorra. During the settlement of Balmorra, while the Republic was still in its infancy, Balmorra quickly established itself as a haven for renouned weapon and battle droid manufacturers. While determined to remain independent of the Republic, they became strong alllies supplying the Republic and the greater galaxy with advanced droids and weapons. Read more about Balmorra here, and check out the datacron locations below: Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic 28 – [Aim +2] X:-1018 Y:-1517 Okara Droid Factory – On the Main Level of the droid factory go to the far West elevator that leads to the Assembly Line Group Area. Go…