Search Results for: DICE

Smuggler Class Changes in RotHC

Soeren Kamper

BioWare posted a lengthy developer update today, regarding Smuggler Class Changes in Rise of the Hutt cartel.  In this update,  BioWare Senior Designer, Austin Peckenpaugh goes through what to expect: Check out the full developer update over at the official Star Wars: The old republic website here, or read the snipet below:    If you missed any of the other class updates posted this week, you can check the out here: Smuggler Class Changes in RotHC Imperial Agent Class Changes in RotHC Jedi Knight Class Changes in RotHC Sith Warrior Class Changes in RotHC Trooper Class Changes in RotHC Bounty Hunter Class Changes in RotHC Hello everyone. My name is Austin Peckenpaugh, and I’m a Senior Designer on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, responsible for class design and combat systems. As such, I’m here to shed some light on the changes to the Smuggler class in Game Update 2.0. We’ll be writing about recent class changes…

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Guide to Patch 2.0 Commendation Changes

Lisa Clark

As we have already been told by the devs and also seen on the PTS, Patch 2.0 is bringing changes to the game in several different ways. One of these changes will be to the commendation system of SWTOR and this has been a source of confusion for many players so we have set up this little guide to help you understand a bit better. Here is what you can expect to see from the Patch 2.0 changes: Endgame Commendations- Some changes have been made to the endgame commendations you get at level 50. These changes are similar to the planetary commendation changes (described below) and now all of the older comms will be melded into one type. Tionese, Black Hole, Columi and Daily, etc. will now all be called “Classic Commendations”. Once the patch comes out, they will be converted according to this chart: ·      Black Hole – 1:1…

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New Locations for the Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina Tour

Soeren Kamper

BioWare just announced that whey will continue with there Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina Tour. Today 8 new  Cities was revealed covering covering seven places around the United States, and one place in Europe –  Cologne, Germany when the video game conference is on. Today we are excited to announce that the Community Cantina Tour will be visiting eight more cities in 2013! Starting with Dallas, TX in May, we will be continuing our series of Community Meet & Greets. If you haven’t been able to attend an event before, these meet & greets are a chance for fans to meet, drink, and talk with our community team and developers. Before each event, we will be publishing a community blog and forum post with detailed information about the location, date, times, and how you can RSVP for the event. Please take a look at the list below to see if a Community Cantina Tour is coming to…

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Fox News Strikes! SWTOR Segregates Gay Characters to Gay Planet

Lisa Clark

Many on both sides of the fence are displeased with how BioWare has handled the issue of same-gender romance in the game but Fox News had something to say about it yesterday in their article,  ‘Star Wars’ game segregates gay characters on gay planet. Depending on who you ask, Fox News is either an excellence source for news and updates on all issues and current affairs, or a debacle of news station putting out biased and botched stories disguised as “news””. We’ll let you make the decision for yourself but either way, it’s good to see the topic getting some media attention. SGR in SWTOR has been heavily debated since before the game even launched and BioWare has always taken a positive stance on the issue, despite the complaints from some fans. BioWare’s Jeff Hickman, executive producer of ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ has said more than once, “Allowing same-gender romance…

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1.6.2 Patch Notes 1/8/2013

Soeren Kamper

Servers are back up after today’s maintenance, and BioWare to the chance to push a new patch. This time we get tons of bug fixes were the biggest seems to be “The “Unify to Chest” armor color option now works correctly for players and companions. Also Tinsel Bombs can now be used on both friendly and hostile targets (Oh, it is on)! This new patch also ads two new armor sets to the cartel market and they look awesome! Check them out: ( Patch notes below the images) Cartel Market New Items Players can now unlock additional character slots! Cost: 600 Cartel Coins. The Newcomer Bundle is now available! It contains a wide range of items to help new players expedite their travels. Cost: 405 Cartel Coins (discounted by 50% for a limited time!). Two new armor sets, the Interstellar Privateer Armor Set and Clandestine Officer Armor Set, can now be purchased. Each…

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Jeff Hickman Interview

Soeren Kamper

The guys and girls over at TORWars got an Exclusive Interview with Executive Producer of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s, Jeff Hickman. In the interview mr. Hickman answers questions from the readers of TORWars and while he do dodge a few questions, he also answers some questions so well, that it get’s me very confident in the future of the game we all love so much. TW: The studio has seen some staffing changes over the past year. Do you feel you are at a good staffing level now? JH: Absolutely. The core of what makes the game and studio great are still here; quality in our game and in our workplace, people that are passionate about both, a camaraderie with each other that helps us support one another, and people who continue to help us carry the banner of BioWare and who are dedicated to help evolve and improve…

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Game Update 1.6 space combat mission prview

Soeren Kamper

The crew over at DarthHater have been really busy recording video footage from the upcoming   Space Combat missions in Game Update 1.6 on the Public Test Server. With the footage also comes a pretty interesting Impressions article that you can read it here. Here is a snip : While we all were somewhat expecting to be underwhelmed by the new missions due to BioWare’s admission that this is not the new Super-Secret Space Project, I can say that I was even a bit more disappointed than expected by the fact that the environments themselves stayed the same. I certainly did not expect them to go all out with these new missions (eleven in total, ten playable (five per faction) as discovered in the DB “leak”) but I always hoped that they would go back and make new environments. However, it is not a deal breaker for me as I am just grateful…

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Meet the Developers: Hall Hood

Lisa Clark

This week’s Meet the Developers post from SWTOR features Hall Hood, Lead Writer on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. In each “Meet the Developers,” they introduce a new developer, ask them some questions about their background and their place on the SWTOR team and then they publish it all on the forums in a specific thread so you can read and ask more questions if you want. I was excited to see this week’s was with Hall Hood. I always love hearing from the writers on the team and I knew he would have a lot of insight into the game and storylines. Here’s a snippet of the interview: Who is your favorite companion? Why? Risha, hands-down. She’s so much fun to write, and Tara Strong’s voice acting blows me away every time. What has been the most enjoyable thing to write for SWTOR? I’m a big fan of our companion…

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It’s a Star Wars Halloween – Star Wars and SWTOR Themed Costumes

Lisa Clark

Did you show your Star Wars support for Halloween? There were SWTOR and Star Wars themed costumes all over my neighborhood and even more found in the online communities such as Star Wars and gamer forums and Reddit. A friend of mine goes every year as a Jedi with a homemade Here are some other great SWTOR and Star Wars costumes:costume and an amazing lightsaber he made himself. This year, his daughter went with him in costume as well.The Ewok and his dad photo we found from a post on Reddit. Both costumes were handmade and it looks like this father and son had a really great time! We saw baby Yodas and young Jedis, a Wookie, Sith Sorcerer and Princess Leias. Taking to the Internet, we found some families going together in theme, friends pairing up to attend holiday parties as their favorite characters from the game and more….

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How Will the Star Wars Expanded Universe Be Affected by the Disney Buyout?

Lisa Clark

Everyone is talking about the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm since the news was revealed yesterday but one question that we have on our minds is what will happen to the Expanded Universe now that this buyout has taken place? It’s far too early to say for certain so all anyone can do is speculate but this does bring up some important questions. A sequel trilogy would cause an upheaval in the galaxy far, far away for sure. It may disturb the continuity that has been part of the community for a very long time now. There are fans of all types and all age ranges out there who have spent their time in a post-Return of the Jedi atmosphere that could very well be turned on its heels. While we don’t know any more than the fact that there will be another movie, we cannot begin to guess what this…

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The BioWare Doctors Leave BioWare- What Does this Really Mean?

Lisa Clark

We brought you the news this week that the doctors, co-founders Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are actually leaving BioWare. The company has brought us some of the greatest names in video games and losing the doctors will definitely be a blow to BioWare. Analysts that GamesIndustry International spoke with appeared to have mixed feelings on how this will affect the company. “Yes, it’s a blow to EA,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told GamesIndustry. “The company hasn’t created many hugely successful new IPs outside of what we’ve seen from BioWare and DICE, with Dead Space probably the sole exception. These two were instrumental in creating Mass Effect, Dragon Age and SWTOR, and I think that talent like theirs is hard to find.”” Colin Sebastian of RW Baird agrees that it’s tough for EA to deal with the loss of the BioWare founders but adds, “It’s clearly a loss to…

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Coming Soon from BioWare: Dragon Age III

Lisa Clark

One of the most popular BioWare series is Dragon Age. There are those who love it and those who loved only one (the original but bit DA2, for example). The game series has a large following who are probably excited to hear about Dragon Age III: Inquisition. There is now more information coming out about this latest title from BioWare and what we can expect from the game. On the official site of DA3, we can find an open letter from Mark Darrah the executive producer. In this letter he confirms the game is coming (not completely news to all of us): I am pleased to confirm that we are, in fact, working on the next Dragon Age game. Not a big surprise to most of you, I know. We have been working on it in some way for about two years now with the bulk of our efforts ramping…

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BioWare’s Doctors Announce Retirement from Gaming

Lisa Clark

BioWare founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzkya both announced their retirement via posts online Tuesday afternoon. Known as the “doctors”, they founded the company in 1995 after receiving their medical degrees at the University of Alberta. They are also credited as executive producers for Baldur’s Gate series, Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Shattered Steel, Jade Empire, and the Neverwinter Nights series. They are well known and well loved in the gaming community, especially among BioWare fans but it looks like SWTOR would be their last project. The official BioWare blog posts: Today, BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have announced they are retiring from BioWare. Both have written blogs to discuss their retirement – click HERE for Ray’s and click HERE for Greg’s. Please join us in wishing them all the best in the future. Also, Aaryn Flynn, General Manager of BioWare Edmonton & Montreal shares his thoughts about Ray and Greg and what is coming up for…

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SWTOR Community Q&A: July 23rd, 2012

Soeren Kamper

Last Fridays Community Q&A were postponed and released yesterday. This time the BioWare devs answers questions about Campaign gear,class balance and other PVP issues. Chimerashot: The way Campaign gear is set up, some DPS classes have the Armoring with more Endurance instead of their main stat. Can we expect this to change /what was the reasoning behind this? David Hunt (Systems Designer): It’s an undesired interaction between the distribution of the mods and the move to set bonuses on the armoring. Future gear provides set mods will use the primary stat over Endurance for all DPS classes. Achyllis: Why don’t cool downs all reset on death in PvP? Austin Peckenpaugh (Senior Designer): Doing this would encourage a couple of things that, so far, we don’t necessarily want to encourage. When you take a position from another player or group of players in a Warzone, holding that position is harder when…

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Build of Master Satele Shan’s Lightsaber

Lisa Clark

How would you like to own Master Satele Shan’s lightsaber? To me that sounds like just about the coolest thing on the planet! I’m not the only one who thinks so because this guy made one for his wife. That kind of sets a new precedent for husband-to-wife gifts, don’t ya think? It wasn’t an easy task but boy is it awesome! If you’re not familiar with Sloth Furnace, he creates some amazing pieces of functional art/props. These lightsabers don’t just look pretty- they are exact replicas and they work with lights and sounds. On average, he says it takes him 6 months from conception to completion on one of these. He details the entire process in photo with captions of how he created this fantastic lightsaber, down to each and every detail. It’s pretty fantastic. It’s all from the minds and the hands of Bradley W. Lewis, video game developer…

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SWTOR Scapper Smuggler PvP Guide- Understanding Stealth

Lisa Clark

If you’ve played a stealth character in other MMOs, expect things to be a little different in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The main difference is in the way you engage your target and in the stealth detection. At first, it may seem a little awkward and harder but once you understand the concept, you’ll probably enjoy the gameplay even more, especially if you like a real challenge. Engaging Your Target The way you engage your target is much different from what you’re probably used to. When you engage a single target and they die, you can restealth immediately as long as you have not attacked another target and no one else has attacked you. In this scenario, you’re considered “out of combat” when you send out the deadly blow. However, if you engage someone else or if anyone else engages you before the cool down period is up, you’re…

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Community Q&A: 7/13/12

Soeren Kamper

BioWare have a new Community Q&A for us, and this time it delves into deception Assassins, Operatives, and the new planet of Makeb. Lik elast week it’s pretty short but indeed a worth a read. Check it out below:  Posted by: Community Q&A: July 13th, 2012 Anzel: Credit Sinks appear to be one of the hot topics in the community right now. Are there any chances of severely lowering or possibly removing some of these at this early stage in the game? Damion Schubert (Principal Lead Systems Designer): Now that 1.3 has been out and legacy perks have been in the system for a while now, we will be looking at our credits sinks, particularly the perks, to see how they are performing. It is quite likely we will make some adjustments based on what we’ve learned. BobertCole: Could you elaborate please on what role you see deception Assassins playing? Are they close…

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Pachter: “Subscription MMOs have peaked. If Star Wars couldn’t do it, no-one can do it.”

Lisa Clark

Industry analyst Michael Pachter says that MMOs have peaked. He says that if Star Wars couldn’t make it happen, no one can. It’s an interesting theory from one of the biggest experts in the field but is it true? PC Games explains more: “”I thought Star Wars: The Old Republic would make it big, but it didn’t. It looks like subscription MMOs are as big as they’re going to get – there are only 6-7 million people willing to spend $15 a month. If Star Wars couldn’t do it, made by Bioware, then no one can do it.”” He continues to explain the reasons he believes EA’s stock is dropping. Supposedly, he candidly tells John Riccitiello why no one is buying their stock. I told him: ‘the reason your stock is in the toilet is because you’re in the fifth year of a three year turn around’ says Pachter. He…

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The Old Republic is Coming to Comic-Con!

Soeren Kamper

Yesterday Lisa wrote about Course of the Force, an Olympic torch style relay run with lightsabers, where participants will make a journey from Santa Monica to San Diego while benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The vent is leading up to San Diego Comic Con that starts later this week. BioWare is co sponsors of this event,. and will also be at Comic-Con, having a few events. Check out the press release below: ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- San Diego Comic-Con, the single largest pop culture event in North America, is only a week away! With hundreds of thousands of passionate comic book, movie, and video game fans converging on the San Diego Convention Center, BioWare and LucasArts will be there to represent Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ in a big way! Throughout the four-day show, attendees will be able to come by the Star Wars: The Old Republic booth located inside the Star Wars™ Pavilion (booth #2913). Throughout…

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Game Update 1.3: Allies Patch Notes

Soeren Kamper

All servers are up and ready for Game Update 1.3: Allies. This update brings many many new features to SWTOR including the much debate Group Finder tool and Legacy Perks! This Game Update will also include an update to the Alderaan Warzone, Adaptive Gear, and more. Highlights Group Finder is now available! Players can use this feature to find groups for Flashpoints and Operations! New Legacy perks are now available! Perks offer bonuses for your character and can be purchased with credits after reaching specific Legacy levels. The Alderaan Civil War Warzone can now be played by two teams of the same faction. Players can now add augment slots to items at modification tables by using an augmentation kit and paying a credit cost. Pre-Season One Team Ranked Warzones are now available! Teams of 8 level 50 players can now compete with other Warzone teams to earn Ranked Warzone Commendations and…

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Gabe Amatangelo updates us on Ranked Warzones in Game Update 1.3

Soeren Kamper

Gabe Amatangelo, Principal Lead PvP Designer on Star Wars: The old republic, have just posted a blog update on the Ranked Warzone feature wich is introduced with game update 1.3. It’s an interesting read, were Mr. Amatangelo explains how the system is going to work. In the current Game Update 1.3 PTS build, you’ll find a new button in the Warzone queue window: Queue Team Ranked. This button is available to any player that is in a group of eight level 50 players, and allows that group to queue up for Team Ranked Warzones with a single click. Team Ranked Warzones can only be participated in by a full team of eight players. If any player drops out of the queue before a match is made, the team will need to find a replacement and re-queue. It all sounds awesome, but in the end of the blog post, Gabe ask…

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BioWare Layoffs

Soeren Kamper

It’s not news that Electronic Arts was about to layoff a large amount of people in the future. It was mention at the EA conferance call. What we diden’t know though was going to affect BioWare and Star Wars: The old republic. Today we learned otherwise as the doctors posted on the official SWTOR Forums. Hey folks, since you’re reading this you may likely have heard that we’ve done some restructuring here on the SWTOR team. Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality. Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect. Looking back at launch, we all came together and did something historic. We executed one of the largest, most successful and stable launches of any MMO yet in industry history. That is not an easy…

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Star Wars: The Old Republic’s 1.3 Patch Revealed

Lisa Clark

We finally have some more details about the next SWTOR game update. Patch 1.3 is coming this summer (soon) and we have a bit of information to get us started regarding what we can expect from the game. IGN has an interview with BioWare lead game designer Daniel Erickson that gives us some more detail about 1.3 and what it has coming with it. Here is a snippet of that interview: IGN: The recent Rakghoul Plague Outbreak was the first world event in The Old Republic. How did you expect players to react, and how did that compare with the actual reaction? What are your plans for future world events? Daniel Erickson: We were hoping for three things: to surprise the players, to create community interaction, and encourage open world PvP on the PvP servers. All three were far more successful than we had any right to hope for. The…

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Future Upgrades to Space Combat

Lisa Clark

One thing that I was super excited about before the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic was the space combat. I was not the only person who felt quite let down by what we ended up with. I wasn’t expecting it to be EVE Online but I did expect something a bit more than what we got. The good news is that BioWare is listening to player complaints and they have many plans in mind to improve space combat and features in the future. Until recently, they have remained fairly tight-lipped about this portion of the game but recently, Lead Designer Daniel Erickson revealed some secrets in an interview with Now Gamer. ”Full 3D space battles’ topped a recent poll of new features that SWTOR players want to see in the MMO; when asked how many new features were  still due to hit the game Daniel Erickson told NowGamer…

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