As we’ve probably said in the past we get sent a lot of videos here at swtorstrategies. Many of them are, shall we say, not worthy of sharing with you. Some, however, demand attention and need to be shared. Blackstar Warrior is one of those. This morning I noticed a headline which spoke of a Lando Calrissian-centered blaxploitation film, “Blackstar Warrior.”” Of course I clicked. How could I not? The trailer I discovered there — which apparently screened at San Diego Comic-Con back this summer — stars Leonard Roberts in the role made famous by Billy Dee Williams. I immediately recognized Roberts’ smirk from “Heroes” (he was phase-shifter D.L.), but some might also know him from an arc he had on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I recognize the Han Solo actor, but I can’t recall his name. Lando Calrissian is the baddest mother in space in this blaxploitation-style trailer for…
Playable Species of SW:TOR – Zabrak
Zabraks were a humanoid species born with vestigal horns native to Iridonia. They were born with vestigal horns and well-developed mental willpower. The species was divided into a number of different races, each exhibiting different horn patterns. Zabrak were also fond of intricate facial tattoos designed to reflect their individual personalities. The Zabrak were one of the earliest spacefaring species in the Galaxy. Their homeworld of Iridonia was a frighteningly harsh planet, which led many Zabrak to settle on other worlds, including Talus and Corellia. The Zabrak also maintained eight colonies throughout the Mid Rim region of space, and most Zabrak identified themselves by their colony first and foremost. Most Zabrak spoke both their native tongue Zabraki and Galactic Basic. Agen Kolar spoke in a “gentle Zabrak baritone,” suggesting that that vocal trait was common among the Zabraks. Physiology Zabrak resembled Humans to some degree, but had a number of…
How Stuff Works: Mass Shadow Generator
The Mass Shadow Generator was a superweapon used in the Battle of Malachor V. It was created by the Zabrak tech specialist Bao-Dur, under orders from the Jedi Knight Revan, in the year 3,960 BBY. The weapon was the centerpiece of a trap with which Revan hoped to bring about a conclusive end to the Mandalorian Wars. Overseeing the device’s use was a Jedi General (later known as the Jedi Exile). Revan lured the Mandalorians to Malachor and a massive fleet battle ensued in orbit. During the fighting, his loyal general commanded Bao-Dur to activate the secret weapon with a single, silent nod. Moments later, a significant portion of both fleets were suddenly drawn from orbit into a vast gravity vortex that was powerful enough to crush the countless ships into the planet’s crust and fracture Malachor V to its very core. In 3,951 BBY, the The Mass Shadow Generator was activated…
Know your Lore: Bao-Dur
Bao-Dur was a Zabrak cyborg from Iridonia who served under the Jedi Exile during the Mandalorian Wars. He was a skilled inventor and was responsible for the design and construction of the Mass Shadow Generator. Years after the war he helped the Exile in stopping the echo in the Force caused by the Mass Shadow Generator. Wherever he went he was accompanied by a small, spherical remote which he built as a child. Biography During the war Bao-Dur was a technician who fought under the Jedi Exile; years after the conflict was over he still referred to the Exile as “General.” Bao-Dur was the inventor of many new weapons, shields and other accessories. One of these included a new mechanical arm able to replace the one he lost in the Battle of Malachor V. This new cybernetic appendage was incredibly strong, and made Bao-Dur a formidable opponent in a fight….
Friday Update: New Inhabitants on the HoloNet
BioWare added five new entries to the “Inhabitants” section of the HoloNet; two creatures, a humanoid species, and two droids. Here is the official news: Details on five new galactic inhabitants are now available on the HoloNet! Read up on the dangerous Terentatek and Vine Cat – you don’t want to go up against these creatures unprepared. Also, find information on the legacy of the red-skinned Sith Pureblood, descendants of the original Sith species. And don’t forget about the droids! You’ll find data about the M3-M1 Medical Droid and the S3-F5 Inclement Condition Probe. The galaxy is full of fascinating occupants, so make sure to check the Inhabitants holorecords frequently for new updates! Because it might be a bit tricky to find the new entries among the ones that were already there, let me list the links to the new entries here: Terentatek Vine Cat Sith Pureblood M3-M1 Medical…
Bioware sends out another wave of beta invites in the form of a survey
Several Users from the SWTOR Forums got the following Message via Mail Here is the official Statement from the swtor crew: Some of you may have received an email from Magid, regarding a survey concerning Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. As there has been some confusion, we wanted to let everyone know that it is indeed valid. We are partnered with a third-party agency, Magid, to conduct some focused playtests for TOR. These are part of our ongoing Game Testing Program. As part of that testing, a number of emails were sent to registered community members like you who’d opted in for game testing. What to do now? If you were sent an email and haven’t clicked through to the survey yet, well, go ahead and click. If you haven’t been emailed, don’t bother asking someone else to share; the surveys are individually linked to email addresses. If you are…
WoW Commercial Parody SWTOR Style
A parody created by Aaron G. Thompson of the Un-Official Star Wars The Old Republic Vodcast, based off of the WoW commercials (Mini Me, Mr. T – etc), and set in the SWTOR world. The Un-Official Star Wars The Old Republic Vodcast (USWTORV) hosted by Aaron G. Thompson illustrates news, current events, and community of the Star Wars The Old Republic MMORPG fanbase in a productive video format. USWTORV was created in September 10′ for the sole purpose of communicating released information of Star Wars The Old Republic (an MMORPG by Bioware) in a video format to the mass audience. Aaron G. Thompson who has worked professionally in theatre, film, and taught (improve comedy) class to groups; took on said project in hopes of sparking that artistic view he once had. Being out of the “arts” eyes for 5 years, he needed an outlet — a burst of confidence to…
No World Chat?
Currently there is a thread going on the official forums called “no world chat?” The thread is all abut how the chat system is going to work in Star Wars: the old republic . Normally threads like this is all pure speculation, but today Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert choose to give us some new goodies. Each planet has chat channels that allows you to communicate with other players on the same planet. Yes, we have different channels for general, pvp, trade, etc. You will be able to turn off the channel, flag another player as a spammer for Customer Support’s review, and ignore problem players. Disregarding whether or not they are realistic (and the presence of technology makes them much more realistic here than in fantasy games – you only have to look at a CB Radio for an analog), chat is very good for the community. Of particular…
Gamebreaker Video Podcast dissects recent QA
Gamebreaker published their “The Republic” Video Podcast yesterday. This time , they covery QA Questions from the latest Fan Update and the darkside corruption. To me Jay comes off as an Uber Nerd, but he really doesn’t know much about SW:TOR or Star Wars for that matter. He can’t comprehend that the reasons AOC and WAR failed were not because they were WoW clones, but that they were way too focused on PVP and were rushed products. Had either of those game had the time they needed and cared at all for their PVE content they could have done really well. I will say that I’m not shocked somebody else is complaining about the overzealous mods on the TOR boards killing threads. I can’t wait until the game launches and they can’t handle the massive amounts of posts on the forums. They’ll probably ease up on the insane amount of…
The lost scenes of Star Wars: A New Hope
At Star Wars Celebration V, George Lucas finally made the big announcement that the entire Star Wars saga would be released in a Blu-Ray box set in Fall 2011. Speaking about what will be included, Lucas said, “They’ll be different kinds of additional material,” adding, “I think you’ve seen enough behind the scenes (material) for a lifetime. There’s some really good material that will be included in there, (including) more deleted scenes that you haven’t seen yet.” Lucas said these newly released scenes would be kept separate from the film itself. There is lots of material that never made it into Star Wars: A new hope floating around the internet. Most of it is in so bad shape that it is almost impossible to see and understand what is going on. Some of the material comes from “the lost cut” which was the first edit of Star Wars, edited not by George Lucas but…
Playable Species of SW:TOR Miraluka
The Miraluka were a Near-Human,Force-Sensetive species. Their language was Miralukese, although some, like Visas Marr, preferred Basic. They differed from Humans in that they lacked pupils or irises, instead bearing only vestigial white orbs (or in some cases, such as Visas Marr, empty sockets), and perceived the environment around them through the Force instead of regular vision. This vision was so strong that if a Miralukan looked upon a Jedi or Sith they could “see” the Force radiation off them. For moral reasons, Miraluka hid the appearance of their eyes by wearing a headband, a mask, or similar concealing headwear. As a Force-using species, Miraluka were often quite shocked if shown life not connected to the Force. The Miraluka that lived on Katarr were strong enough that even they felt the Battle of Malachor, though it is possible that they felt not only that battle. History Their adopted homeworld…
All about The Old Republic’s PvP with TOR’s Lead PvP Designer Gabe Amatangelo
Hundar from machinima.com awkwardly cornered Gabe Amatangelo and roughed him up for all of Star Wars The Old Republic PvP info he could wring out of him. They discussed in detail some of the PvP mechanics and what they’ll bring. Swtor-life.com has summed up the highlights: There will be experience awarded for PvP There will be token awards to get “identifiable” gear (so you get recognized as PvP player) There are different levels of PvP gear (level 15 and level 50) Alderaan warzone usually lasts between 5 and 15 minutes Next warzone (derelict starship one) will have Assault type game mechanics At the point of talking about whether there will be “seasonal updates” of PvP gear (so that it gets upgraded once first set of PvP gear gets “outdated”), Gabe Amatangelo mentioned that: “Yes there will be multiple level 50 PvP sets“. This leads us to believe that Level 50 is the max level…
Everything about The Old Republic with Daniel Erickson
Picture stolen from swtor-life Hundar from machinima.com talked with Daniel Erickson about everything we can expect to see in The Old Republic… and we do mean everything!
Friday Update: Flesh Raiders, and Fan Friday
Yes! It’s Friday again, and that means two things: Weekend with lot’s of beer and more news from Star Wars: The Old Republic. This time we get the monthly “The Studio Insider” wich gives us a glimpse of what it takes to produce a multi-million dollar MMO. In this issue of the Studio Insider, concept Artist Diego Almazan shares another step-by-step demonstration of the creation of the Flesh Raider, from base sketch to fully tricked-out creature. When starting a concept, it’s important to get as much information as possible to help make the creature or object fit best in its place in the game. For this concept in particular, I was excited to take on the task of creating an alternate Flesh Raider which would fit alongside the current set. After gathering and studying art work and other assets related to the Flesh Raider, I started off with a base…
Interview with Stephen Reid
Star Wars – The old Republic has a new Community Manager. His Name is Stephen Reid and everybody wants to have an Interview and of course everyone wants to know : ” how is the game progressing and how do you like it ?”. Massively is introducing the new guy on the ship and his opinions about the game. Massively: We just had an article come out that was about whether or not the community should be agitating for the devs to change things to suit future players’ desires. That’s like the big community debate now… do you think it’s a worthwhile effort? Reid: This is kind of an eternal debate, especially for MMOs, which tend to have long development times, and especially for games like this one [that] have had a long announcement cycle, too. I absolutely think that healthy discussion and debate around a game’s development is fine…
Interview with Daniel Erickson on companion integration
In a recent Interview with Darth Hater Daniel Erickson covered the Crew Skills. Now he is going a little deeper into the companion integration and recipe mechanics.
When Should You Talk To Your Kids About Star Wars?
It’s never too soon to teach your kids about the power of The Force. Unless their heart is full of fear and anger. We don’t need another Darth Vader. This is A public service announcement for fathers who are looking to introduce their children to Star Wars.
Weather Report: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
Cristian “Kit” Paul Made these excellent weatherer forecasts from A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I burst out laughing at Alderaan‘s report. But expected Dagobah to be a lot warmer. Also, Hoth was never threatened by the Death Star, too far away to be reached from the galactic core. But the little Tauntauns were cute. Tatooine At the moisture farms in the Dune Sea on Tatooine every day is double-sunny and double-hot, including today. There are 38 degrees right now and this is as hot as it’ll get for the day. Expect a few squalls kicking up desert sand. Double-fine day on Tatooine. © Cristian ·Kit· Paul. Hoth An icy cold night tonight at Echo Base on Hoth—with a slight chance of flurries, light snow showers and annihilation. Please make sure that no tauntauns are left outside or they’ll turn into popsicles. A waning crescent Death…
Know your lore: Freedon Nadd
Freedon Nadd was an ancient Jedi apprentice. He later fell to the dark side of the Force and apprenticed himself to Naga Sadow, an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith. Freedon Nadd claimed the rank of Dark Lord by murdering his Master, and crowned himself as the King of Onderon. After his physical death, Nadd’s spirit attempted to resurrect himself and have revenge on the Jedi. Nadd was completely destroyed on Yavin 4 by Exar Kun, the would-be Dark Lord. Freedon Nadd was the first Dark Lord of the Sith after the fall of the Old Sith Empire. Biography Freedon Nadd as seen in Vodo Siosk Baas’s Holocron Ambitious Jedi Freedon Nadd was a Jedi student trained at the Jedi Temple on Ossus around 4,400 BBY. He was amazingly open and willing to touch the Force, which may have inevitably led him down the dark path. While strong in the…
Riding Hyperspace Into SWTOR
Lagwa has an excellent article on the wait for Star Wars: The old Republic and their take on the hype/anticipation buildup. A great read, and for the most part, I tend to agree. We’ve seen this stuff a thousand times before — get your expectations too high, too unrealistic, and it doesn’t matter how the game actually ends up, it’s going to suck for you. What especially caught my attention is that he commented on a possible parallel marketing strategy-slash-hype train to Warhammer Online. This is s a perspective that’s worthwhile to examine, although I don’t think SW:TOR’s current buildup exactly mirrors Warhammer online. WAR came out of the gate swinging. These guys had a hype machine to match no other. They called out everything MMO gamers railed against, said they had a better way. There were videos, big personalities, high production values. Prominently displayed on their front page was…
SWTOR – Crafting and Crew Skill Interviews [Update]
Both Massively and Darth Hater, spoke to Lead Writer Daniel Erickson about the Crew Skills and the Crafting component of Star Wars – The Old Republic. Bioware revealed a new Trailer yesterday, which was introducing the main facts that were announced at EA’s Winter Showcase last week. On Darthhater, Daniel Erickson is speaking about everything from the video with some ingame references while the massively interview is more like a Question and Answer talksession with a comparison of SWTOR and SWG crafting , and more insight in PvP and Recipes. So we would get recipes that are super rare? Yes. There are elite, rare recipes. People who want to dabble in crafting, can, and can be successful in it and make themselves a little bit better. People who are not terribly interested in crafting can do the mission system and still get some cool stuff out of their companion characters….
New Reviewer – MizzeeOH
Hello! My name’s MizzeeOH – or Opal – and I’m going to be reviewing all kinds of things for the site soon. I’ve always loved Star Wars, with Empire Strikes Back being my favorite movie – in fact, the thing that got me into the EU was the original Knights of the Old Republic game. I’ve been interested in The Old Republic for quite some time now, so you can definitely count me in to play that when it comes out. I like to consider myself both a gamer and a book worm, as both of those fronts have drawn me into the EU so much (and of course, I like other non-Star Wars games and books too), but I tend to gravitate towards the novels more, such as the New Jedi Order series. I do reviews for Man in Black Reviews and NJOE as well. May the Force be…
Damion Schubert Clarifies on crafting
Yesterdays update on on crew skills has fueled a hefty debate about the games most important non-combat activity. With yesterdays new information about the system, comes many new questions. Luckily Damion Schubert took some time to answer some last night: To be more precise, players can have up to three crew skills but only one of those can be a crafting skill. The fictional reason is that you only can have room for one crafting table on your ship, but the real reason is that we don’t want all players to be self-sufficient. We call the system Crew Skills because they are skills possessed by your amorphous crew as a whole. If your crew can go treasure hunting, you can order any of your crew members to run treasure hunting missions. Vette may have a bonus to treasure hunting (being a native treasure hunter and all), but to be honest we currently…
New Planet Nelvaan ?
The guys over at thegalacticstruggle.com has some sharp eyes as they discovered something really interesting (that might not have been intended to be discovered) in the video from yesterdays Friday update. In one of the diplomatic missions – the planet Nelvaan can be seen as a mission in the log. A new planet reveal soon? In the brand new Crew Skills video, at 1.53, you can see one of the diplomatic missions is to the planet Nelvaan. According to starwars.wiki – the planet is – A planet in the Koobi star system, Nelvaan is a primitive world of low gravity experiencing the onset of an ice age. Three moons orbit Nelvaan. It was in close proximity to Tythe. A world without a terrible amount of gravity, it was home to several massive life forms, including the vicious Horax. Nelvaan is also dominated by a landscape of precarious mesas that would have fallen in standard gravity…