This week I sat down with the leadership of Jensäarai, a group of hardcore PvPer’s with a strong core of Raider’s/PvEer’s, one of if not the longest running guilds on the Star Wars: The old Republic forums. I hope you all enjoy reading the interview as much as I did doing it. Where did your guilds name come from? We were looking for something original that hadn’t been seen on the Star Wars: The old Republic forums and searched the Sith language and found the word Jensaarai, meaning hidden followers of truth. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild? We are a laid back group that likes to joke around and have fun, but when it’s time to get serious then we bring the pain. In gaming terms we are an end game PvPvE, Raiding Guild. How did your guild come about? The majority…
Star Wars The Old Republic Release Date
Well, it’s official- at least for now… The May 2011 issue of PC Gamer states the release date of SW:TOR will be “Autumn 2011”. While not an exact date, it’s a pretty narrowed down timeframe and well, that’s good enough for me. The cover of this upcoming issue promises to reveal a lot about the much-anticipated MMO from Bioware and EA, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Of course we all know that things could change as the game goes on in production. There are always potential holdups and delays, which is why they are holding back on giving us a definite date for release. But Autumn timeframe being officially announce in PCGamer as well as the hands-on event at London recently shows us that they are pretty darn close to being ready for a release. There’s still no official word on if or when there will be a beta but…
StarWars.com forums closing down
It’s official that the StarWars.com forums will be closing down. At the end of this month, they will become read-only so it’s time to save, copy or print anything that you deem important information because come Friday, June 3rd, it will disappear from cyberspace forever! An official announcement by Pabawan reads as follows: At StarWars.com, we are always evaluating the various features of the website in order to provide the best experience to our users. As we review new community-based interactive features for the future, we have decided that the Official Message Boards at forums.starwars.com will no longer be part of the site. April 2011 will be the last month of active message boards on StarWars.com. On Friday, April 29 the forums will be locked into a read-only mode, so that users can look through older posts and copy any they may wish to keep for posterity. On Friday, June…
G4TV ‘What We Know’ Video
For some reason this one slipped under the radar. Luckily the boys ( and girl ) over at TorWars catched it. Thursday episode of G4TV’s video gaming show X-Play featured a Star Wars: The Old Republic ‘What We Know’ episode. For those who may have missed it like us, you can check out the video below.
Facebook Image Of The Week #9
It’s wednesday again and time for a new Facebook Image update for Star Wars: The old republic. THis week we get a glimpse of the a dark temple on the Sith Planet Dromund Kaas The Dark Temple is forbidden ground on Dromund Kaas. Rumors circulate constantly among the Sith of what might be inside, hidden by the Emperor himself Remember to check out the rest of BioWares Facebook updates here.
Greedo Didn’t Shoot First! A Petition to George Lucas
Who shot first? Three simple words, and yet they mean so much more. The issue of whether Greedo or Han shot first is one of the most contentious in the Star Wars universe, and has come to represent for some the fractured and frictional relationship between Star Wars purists (i.e. those who wholly invest in the original versions of the original trilogy as the be-all-and-end-all of the franchise) against the new-bloods. In some ways it is also indicative of the love/hate relationship fans have with George Lucas, and an analogy for the two perceived versions of the director (old and new). And one thing is for sure- none of the die hard fans who debate the issue endlessly are going to be quietened on the matter any time soon. And now Paperclip Films have released a video petition via YouTube addressed to Mr Lucas, in a bid to have him…
The Guild Sphere: Imperial Army
This week I sat down with the guys from the Imperial Army, a role playing guild that focuses on all aspects of the game. Q: Where did your guilds name come from? A: When the guild was created it had the goal of representing the Army of the Empire. So it was named after that Army. Q: Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentencedescription of your guild? A: A mature close knit group of dedicated playerswho share the same passion for creating their own piece of the Star Wars universe. Military themed RP guild that partakes in all styles of play. Q: How did your guild come about? A: A group of players decided it would be fun to RP Stormtroopers, and the men and women of the Galactic Empire Military Q: What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE,PvP, RP A: The Imperial army was created…
What is BioWare’s Mysterious New Project “Zulu”?
BioWare is working on a new secret project that might now be slightly less secret, at least according to some reports that say an entry on Microsoft’s PartnerNet service has leaked details about the game. “BioWare presents an adventure beyond your wildest imaginings – fantasy role playing action adventure in space!” The mysterious title reportedly appears on debug Xbox Live with an image and the above description. BioWare fans are all abuzz about what this new “project Zulu” might be. It appears to be episodic and does not appear to have multiplayer or co-op modes. The first episode is referred to as “Episode One: Too Many Cooks: Spoil the Broth” and there is a teaser to the second episode as well- “Episode 2: Another fun adventure to download and play.” Various sources are reporting that a new BioWare title, ‘Project Zulu’ has appeared on the development version of Xbox Live…
SWTOR Art by NitWhit
It took me awhile to appreciate the work of NitWhit. First I thought the style was way to cartoonish in a turnoff kind of way. If you got small kids like me, your your properly getting tired of kids cartoons in the morning to. But a few days ago I changed my mind. Looking through deviantart.com I kept pushing the back button and going through her art again and again. There is something about this art style that I really appreciate. It’s definitely not cartoonish as I first thought. Maby you can describe it for me. Check it out below, and remember to stop by her deviantart.com profile and say hallo. Little Red Button Fall of Coruscant Darth Drador Relic Unknown You’re Next Flying Twilek Kirali Comic Experiment Zelkin Infinium Kirali Lady of Lightning
SW:TOR -Will Darth and Lord Be Player Titles?
A long awaited question was finally answered; will Darth and Lord be player-achievable titles and if so how rare will they be? Yes. And fairly rare from what we can tell. Daniel Erickson, Lead Writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic answered the anticipated question on the official SW:TOR forums just a few days ago. The post reads: Hey Folks, Darth and Lord are ranks in the Old Republic time period and while they represent an increasingly smaller percentage of overall Sith, they are clearly not at as rare as only having one or two running around in the galaxy. There are already numerous Darths (Baras, Malgus) we’ve seen who are not on the Dark Council. It will likely not come as a surprise to most people that the titles of Darth and Lord are story-based rewards (one does not become a Darth by grinding frog-dogs) as are Master, etc….
SWTOR Fan Site Summit
They say everything’s bigger in Texas and there has yet to be a SW:TOR event as awesome as the upcoming, first-ever Fan Site Summit hosted by Bio-Ware. Early week, BioWare twittered from the official SW:TOR account with the following: “In one week, reps from #SWTOR fan sites will be in Austin, TX for the first Fan Site Summit. Official Twitter tag is #SWTOUR!” This is exciting news for Star Wars: The Old Republic fans everywhere! The first Fan Site Summit is scheduled for next weekend, from April 23-26. (Who’s skipping Easter for paddle boat rides with David Bass?) As several SWTOR fan sites are reporting their participation already, we know there will be a great deal of information coming out just after the event and we want to be the first to bring it to you right here on the site so stay tuned. We can’t wait to hear and…
Total Film’s Epic Vintage Star Wars Images
Flicking through this month’s Total Film magazine (and being wowed by their preview of X-Men: First Class in the process), I came across their website links page and a link to something tantalisingly called Vintage Star Wars Images. My interest naturelly piqued, I logged on as soon as I got home and what I found was some of the greatest manipulated images to feature a Star Wars flavour ever to hit the web. Seriously, they are a bloody gorgeous things. Now, I’m not going to steal their thunder by posting all 14 here, but I thought I’d share three of my favourites (as well as the preview image to the left there), and then direct you all over to the Total Film website to enjoy the others. That is some bloody clever Photshopping right there. Follow me on Twitter: @SiTheMovieGuy
Possible new SWTOR Warzone- The Voidstar!
A German magazine recently revealed a possible new warzone called The Voidstar, as mentioned in a SWTOR post on the official forums. The article says, “Warzones, these are the PvP Battlegrounds translated in The Old Republic. So far, only one was known and that the civil war on Alderaan (more on page 18), but now Bioware still the PvP battlefield “The Voidstar” announced that will offer a Conquest mode. More will follow as we lead designer told PvP month, Gabe. (Google Translate).” Hmm… does anyone reading speak German? Perhaps you can give us a better translation. It was then covered on the official forums in a post by Elboc and opened up for discussion. The information found on a SWTOR forum post cannot all be verified as fact so before you read, be aware that much of this is speculation. There might also be some translation issues since the post…
Know your Lore: Cay Qel-Droma
Cay Qel-Droma was a Jedi Knight during the Great Sith War. Born to a great warrior family on Alderaan, Cay and his brother, fellow Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma, were instructed by Master Arca Jeth at his training compound on Arkania. Cay’s first mission came in 4,000 BBY, when, along with his brother and fellow trainee Tott Doneeta, he was sent to Onderon to put down an uprising of the savage Beast Riders. The Jedi succeeded; however, Cay’s career in combat was just beginning. He fought in the Great Sith War not long after, a galaxy-spanning conflict that started when the Krath attacked Onderon, home to the dark side-using Naddists. During the war, Ulic turned to the dark side, becoming a Sith, and second-in-command under Exar Kun. In 3,996 BBY Cay was forced to duel his brother on Ossus. Ulic killed Cay; however, this act stunned Ulic enough that he abandoned the…
Star Wars/Rebecca Black Parody “Primeday”
You have to admire when inter-net creatives like those behind the TeddieFilms YouTube channel apply their obviously considerable talents to parodying one of the worst songs ever to come out of a human mouth, especially when the result has the kind of impressive production values visible in the video below. And add to that the fact that they have turned their attentions to melding Rebecca Black’s horrendous, ear-bleed-inducing “pop song” with the Star Wars universe, and you have yourself a recipe for much mirth. I’d even suggest that the dude playing Leia has more charisma than Black does in her original version… Seriously, while the original song needs to be exterminated immediately, this spoof is actually pretty damn hilarious- and the lyrics arguably make more sense than Rebecca Black’s obviously chimp-on-a-typewriter version as well (they’re helpfully listed on the video’s Youtube page if you want to sing along). Seeing Boba…
BioWare Auctioning Off Exclusive Goods for Japan Relief
If the thought of donating to charity for Japan relief without getting something in return doesn’t really sit well with you, Bioware have you covered. BioWare is holding a charity auction, and all proceeds go to the Red Cross to aid Japan and it’s citizens in light of the recent disaster. The items being auctioned are as follows; two Dragon Age 2 custom painted PS3′s complete with signatures from the founders of BioWare Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, two Dragon Age 2 custom painted Xbox 360s also signed by the founders and ten Mass Effect hoodies signed by the team that created Mass Effect. All of these items are exclusive to the auction, so be sure to check it out and bid on these incredible items for a worthy cause. If you’d like to help out, the auctions can be found here.
Selling Currency to a Game Not Yet Released?
Apparently you can buy SWTOR credits now, even though the game has not yet released. For gamers who partake in gold/currency-buying, this might be good news. For others, it’s an early sign of the annoying “gold-spammers” might cause in the increasingly popular game. Companies selling Star Wars: The Old Republic currency for real-world money are already on the Net and bartering their goods, months before the expected release of the game. Popular gold seller IGXE (Internet Game Exchange) recently released a press release about their placeholder pricing on SWTOR credits at £650 for 1000 credits. A simple search online will show you many other companies getting in the SWTOR action with promises of credit/gold to players. Just a few examples of the existing domains hawking non-existent credits include: starwarscredit.com, swtorforsale.com, swtorsell.com, swtorgolds.com, swtorgold.net, cheapswtorcredit.com, buyoldrepubliccredits.net, and cheap-swtor-credits.org. The closer it gets to launch time for the game, the more we…
The Ideal Guild Quiz Helps You Find the Right SWTOR Guild
The newest version of the Ideal Guild Quiz has been released and if you’re a guild leader who has not signed up yet, it’s time to get your name in the hat. There are about 32 guilds registered as of the last time I searched so those looking for a guild will be a little limited at first until more guilds sign up. However, it’s also important to note that those who are already getting into this are those who are truly serious about playing and advancing in SWTOR. So what is this quiz exactly and how does it work? If you’ve ever had to try to find a good guild in a very popular game (Think, World of Warcraft here), then you are familiar with the frustration of sifting through thousands of guilds to try to discover that perfect one for you. It is equally frustrating for a recruiting…
Making of SWTOR Book Removed from Amazon’s Listing
If you’re looking for the book, The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic, you might not be able to find it any more, at least not on Amazon. Last month the official SWTOR forums were abuzz about the book but now it seems to have disappeared. The release date for the book was listed as November 1, 2011, leaving many fans to speculate that this could be the same time the game is expected to be released. So why did The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic get pulled from Amazon’s listing? No one knows yet exactly why the book was pulled. We just know that it went down quickly after the new about its existence began to spread around the Internet amongst Star Wars fans. There are several different reasons why Amazon might pull a book that was listed but not released yet….
Friday Updates: Environmental Polish and Class Q&A
BioWare returns this week with a two-part update for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). The first part of the update goes behind the scenes with Senior Environmental Artist Robby Lamb, who details how the game environments evolve and transform. Lamb details the creation and polish of environments in SWTOR and how he works and re-works the content to make it as epic as possible while maintaining the best game performance. The second part of the update comes in the form of a Community Q&A, which addresses a number of different questions from the community. To summarize, each class will have a number of companions from each archetype. Players can choose which of those will become their main companion and can enhance them through the use of kits. Bounty Hunters will not be able to use jetpacks outside of battle and the Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior will have no…
Do you need to read the books to understand the game?
Star Wars and BioWare are both characterized by an enormous amount of Lore and stories. So far two novels and a bunch of web comics has been released describing the characters and surroundings in the massive universe of Star Wars: The old republic. The first book that was released was Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams. The second – released a few weeks ago – is Deceived by Paul S. Kemp. At least one more novel is in the works by Drew Karpyshyn – but that is still nameless. Other then the above novels and webcommics, Darkhorse has released countless of printed comics and Del Rey lot’s of books describing famous lore characters Such as Exar Kun, Ulic Qel-Droma, Freedon Nadd and so on. Taken this into account, it’s obvious that some people get nervous that they won’t get a clue when they start up the game if they aren’t prepared. A forum poster by the name…
EA conference webcast Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Electronic Arts Inc. will release its financial results for the fourth quarter fiscal year 2011 after the close of market on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. In conjunction with this release, Electronic Arts will host a conference call to review its financial results for the fourth quarter, discuss its outlook for the future and may disclose other material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. Listeners may access the conference call live via a dial-in number or audio webcast. Hopefully investors will ask many questions regarding Star Wars: The old republic, and if we are really lucky, we might get one step closer a release day – One can dream! The conference call will be hold Wednesday, May 4, 20112:00 pm Pacific Time (5:00 pm Eastern Time) Webcast: http://ir.ea.com Press release: Electronic Arts’ financial results release will be available after the close of market on May 4, 2011, on Electronic Arts’…
The Guild Sphere: Wrath
Earlier this week I had a chance to talk to some of the leadership of Wrath, some serious hardcore raiding Sith. Check it out below. Where did your guilds name come from? Wrath was born from a prerelease World of Warcraft guild named Reign of Elysian. Elysian meaning “Heaven”. When we decided to make the switch to Sith for Star Wars: The Old Republic, we decided we wanted something a bit Angrier, so we changed the name to Wrath of Elysian, though we always just go by Wrath for short. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild? Wrath is an endgame PvE progression guild dedicated to the server first mentality How did your guild come about? Answered this in #1, but basically we’ve been a gaming community for almost 8 years now. What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE, PvP, RP? PvE is…
SWTOR Open Beta closing in!!! … Not!
For 12 long hours I was so psyched! TorWars pointed me to a great interview GameInformer.com did with Dr. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk from Bioware. The Interview was original about Mass Effect 3, but the interviewer also had some interesting questions on the chance of an upcoming Star Wars: The old Republic Beta. On this the good doctors answered in the a more possitive way then ever: “You’ll have to watch our website and see. At this point we’re still in more of a closed beta period. We’re definitely making great progress on it. The feedback’s been great. There’s always lots to do, but it’s really really shaping up. Before too long you guys will get a little crack at it. Keep an eye out for that.” What was that? Wait a second. You said what? Did I here that right? What was that again? Before too long you…