A new community news post was made available today from Bioware that sets the stage for the upcoming Shadow of Revan Expansion. As the title implies the post takes a closer look at a Revanites’ and their impact on both Republic and Empire. The author of the report, Shroud, makes the assumption that Revan’s followers have infiltrated the two main factions in the game and are slowly working towards their greater plan to conquer the galaxy. You can read a snippet from the post below FROM: The Shroud TO: All Assets (Level 25 Encoding Active) SUBJECT: The Order of Revan I have mentioned in the past that a number of embedded Imperial and Republic assets have been eliminated. Some of these deaths appeared purely incidental, while others were very obviously assassinations executed with varying degrees of competence and flair that would not suggest a pattern. I now believe it was a mistake for me to…
SWTOR
TOR TV: SWTOR – What The Game Could Have Been
Youtube user Kid Lee has posted an extremely interesting video about how much the game has changed since the original SWToR beta. He provides video and screenshots to demonstrate the features that never made it into the game. While one can only speculate why these elements never made it to the game, it’s certainly interesting to see what got left out. You can follow KidLee on: Twitter: http://bit.ly/1fDcU1X Facebook: http://on.fb.me/RpNZDP Tumblr: http://bit.ly/1fUxQMB or Email: KidLeeASF@Gmail.com
Lies, damned lies and statistics: MMO subscription numbers and SWToR
MMO subscription number tracking is a challenging venture. Most developers are extremely careful when crafting public releases relating to how many subscribers their game currently has. For better or worse, these values are considered to be a measure of success (or failure) of our beloved games and tend to offer insights on subscriber trends. Typically one would read announcements about player base increases in official websites or fansites, while occasionally quarterly reports would indicate decreases somewhere in the fine print. Some recent examples include World of Warcraft’s increase to 7.4 Million subscribers and SWToR’s announcement of having 1 Million subscribers since changing to the free-to-play subscription model. Some of the MMO subscription data MMOData.net used to offer At the same time, some community websites have attempted to track subscription numbers and offer clarity on the health of various MMOs. The most recent example is MMOdata.net that was probably one of the best community efforts out there….
Patch 2.10.2 notes – Turn your stronghold into a gambler’s paradise for only 1 credit!
About a month ago, Bioware admitted that the Smuggler’s Gambit slot machine wasn’t part of Constable Stronghold’s pack. To make up for the bug, Bioware’s community manager, Eric Musco, promised to rectify the issue by offering the before-mentioned item for purchase in-game for only 1 credit. Smuggler’s Gambit slot machine We only had to wait for a month for Mr.Musco’s promise to become reality. Patch 2.10.2 notes were recently released and among other things specify that the slot machine is available for purchase through the Binary Star Reputation Vendor. In specific: 2.10.2 Patch Notes Highlights 16-Player Operations have returned to Group Finder! We have made behind-the-scenes improvement to prevent the performance issues that we encountered when the system was initially made available. Check out the Group Finder to enjoy the faster queues and better rewards of 16-Player Story Mode Operations! General Imperial Crate (Single), Imperial Crate (Stacked), Republic Crate (Single), and Republic Crate (Stacked) have…
Get them while they last! Dark Horse Comics launches Star Wars Humble Bundle!
If you’re reading SWToRStrategies.com you know that Dark Horse comics will be transferring its Star Wars license to Marvel at the end of this year. This development isn’t stopping the former from releasing great deals on existing Star Wars publications.
Discipline calculator now available!
With the upcoming release of Patch 3.0, SWToR gamers will have to adjust to a new discipline system. The feedback received from the community has been mostly positive but the challenge of mastering the new system definitely remains. Dulfy and SWToR_miner put together a discipline calculator that helps fans familiarize themselves with the new system in addition to experimenting with new setups. The calculator is still in beta and what’s even more impressive is that it was built from information retrieved from video streams.
Extra Life 2014: Playing for a Good Cause
Have you ever wanted to do something good for someone else? What if you could play the games you love and have it benefit a good cause? That is exactly what’s happening this month! Don’t ever let anyone try to tell you gaming is a waste of time. Extra Life 2014 is a charity campaign that happens each year since 2008 where tens of thousands of gamers from all over the world come together to save the lives of kids through a charitable organization. It happens on a Saturday in Autumn and this year the big date will be October 25th. Play Games. Heal Kids. Here’s how it works: Originally designed as a 24-hour marathon of gaming, Extra Life has evolved to mean different things to different people (though most of our participants still attempt the marathon). To participate you need only sign up (free) and gather the support of…
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Take the Survey
Jedi News has an interesting survey up right now about Star Wars: The Old Republic. It has some very simple questions and won’t take up a lot of your time. Best of all, you don’t have to do any pre-registering or jumping through hoops in order to participate. It’s fast, it’s simple and it’s easy to have your say about SWTOR. They even give you a space to fill in your reasons for why you answered a certain way. Questions include: How likely is it that you would recommend STAR WARS: The Old Republic to a friend or family member who likes those types of games? How likely are you to discourage others from playing STAR WARS: The Old Republic? Some questions about what games you’ve played recently. Just check them off. It’s that easy! We love SWTOR and we encourage you to go over and tell them what you…
Developer Update: Introduction to Disciplines
With the announcement of Game Update 3.0 coming soon, the developers have decided to give us some more info about new aspects of the game. First up is an introduction to Disciples on the Developer Blog today. This will be the new version of the class system in SWTOR and will change how we give abilities and skills to our classes. This looks like it could be a good way to Here’s a snippet from the blog: Greetings! Today, we bring to you Disciplines, a major overhaul to the class system that will be coming live with Game Update 3.0! At its very core, the Disciplines System replaces the current Skill Tree system while offering a wider array of impactful utility choices to expand their character and the ability for a character’s identity to surface much earlier in the level path. The Disciplines System changes the way we think about…
SWTOR Shadow of Revan Expansion Announcement Trailer
The long awaited day is here! Announcement day for the Shadow of Revan expansion in Star Wars TM: The Old Republic TM has finally arrived. Check out the announcement video below for more and there will be an upcoming livestream from Bioware to tell you even more. The countdown begins – 2 months to go! Revan has returned. Prepare to face Revan and his fanatical followers as you adventure through five new levels of story-driven Star Wars™ missions, reach new heights of power at an increased level cap of 60, explore exciting worlds and fight in new high-level Flashpoints and Operations in the Digital Expansion, Shadow of Revan, launching December 9th! Highlight of things to come in Shadow of Revan: – 5 more levels (level cap now 60). – 2 planets: Rishi and Yavin 4. – Disciplines – 2 new role-neutral Flashpoints. – 4 Hard Mode Flashpoints. – 2 level 60…
Results for Conquest Week 5 – Flashpoint Havic
I will come back to do an in-depth post but I wanted to post the results here. The big news however is the insane points that Trumph and WOOK got on The Shadowlands http://www.swtorconquest.com/servers/8/conquestweeks/11
SWToR Streams and vids
We’re back with version of Streams and Vids! The last two weeks of September proved to be very busy for all SWToR streamers and, in general, content creators. Maybe it was the full release of Galactic Strongholds to preferred members or maybe it is the anticipation of Patch 3.0 and the new expansion. Either ways, SWToR fans as well as Bioware hit Twitch and streamed their latest work.
Datamined: “Shadow of Revan” is the name of the new SWToR expansion
SWToR_Miner, isn’t letting recent developments stop him from posting news about upcoming releases and content details. With the new expansion being right around the corner, everyone is trying to guess what the expansion is all about. Mr.Miner, took some of the guessing out of the equation by revealing the name of the new expansion…
Patience you must have! Expansion announcement delayed…slightly
It’s the last day of the month and of course speculation is high about what the next SWToR expansion announcement is going to be. Fans have been talking about it in various places, including the official SWToR forums where Bioware is always keeping a close eye on what’s going on. One SWToR fan’s excitement caught the eye of Bioware and solicited a response from Senior Producer, Bruce McLean:
SWToRStrategies: The Wall of Crazy….or…it was a dark and stormy night!
SWToRStrategies: Wall of Crazy (WoC) is the latest column that aspires to look into certain concepts and ideas that could make into our favorite game. The term “Wall of Crazy” is something that Bioware used in the past to describe crazy ideas that developers have during meetings and could eventually materialize if given the right resources. The most recent example, is the implementation of the Guild Capital ships and Guild Battles.
There is no death, there is the Force..
For some who never considered playing games like The Old Republic, the act of gaming is considered a wasteful task. On the other hand, some others might engage in gaming just to seek out a few hours of enjoyment. In many cases however, playing games like SWToR is all about the community around the game and the connection between people who share a common interest and passion in Star Wars and, in extension, SWToR. When a member or a group within this community experiences hardship then in many cases the community steps up and offers assistance or sympathy.
TOR Radio: A galaxy of podcasts!
We’re back once again to cover the latest and greatest SWToR podcasts from the always active community. With the (rumored) launch of Patch 3.0 a lot of podcasters are wondering what Bioware has in store for them and their favorite MMO. It’s definitely no surprise that most of the shows that aired over the last week, focused on the upcoming expansion teaser trailer.
SWToR up six spots in Raptr’s August Rankings
The latest expansion of Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) seems to be paying dividends for Bioware. The recent content release called Galactic Strongholds, pushed the Star Wars themed MMO to the 14th spot in game rankings for the month of August according to Raptr. Other notable MMO appearances in the list include World Of Warcraft (no.2), Guild Wars 2 (no.12) and Final Fantasy XIV (no.1o). It’s worth noting that WildStar dropped off the list for the first time.
Bioware addresses network connectivity issues
Bioware’s production community coordinator Tait Watson was once again at the official forums today addressing server issues that affected SWToR gamers today (9/24/2014).
In specific…
SWToR Miner and (possibly) SWToR fan sites get a challenge from Bioware
You might have never heard of his name before, but if you have a moderate interest in SWToR you probably read about his work somewhere. SWTOR Miner is one more passionate fans of the game with a special skill. Every now and then he data mines SWToR source files for clues of what Bioware has in store for us next. In many cases, his findings get published In fan sites that are eager for more information about Bioware’s MMO.
Results for Conquest Week 4 – The Dread War
I run swtorconquest.com and I have been asked to be a guest writer summarizing the conquests each week. Full reddit post here Week 4 of Strongholds are officially over. I wanted to point out a few interesting bits. The Harbinger once again shows that have some seriously dedicated guilds. Their lowest score by the wampa stampers beating the highest scores on most other servers. Once again on Jedi Covenant; Rancor Bait , Working as Intended , Hellbent , and Holocron get early leads on each of their planets and never drop below first place. Early on in the week they had first place secure. On Jung Ma the battle for Section X and Oricon were close. Until Sunday Umbra seemed to have first place secure. But late on Sunday the remnants of hope finally managed to get past them and get first place. On Oricon, Uncharted Space and nightmare squadron kept going back and forth for first place. Few…
SWToR Community delivers once more; Sniper’s PVE guide!
It’s always great to see certain members of the SWToR community coming forward and sharing their knowledge of the game. The latest example is, SWToR forum member “DieGhostDie” who posted a very interesting PVE Marksmanship guide for the Imperial Sniper. He is currently part of the 8-man progression group in the Intrepid guild of the Harbinger server and he decided to share his experience and expertise with the rest of the community. Even though he admits the guide is work in progress, his work starts with the basics, and expands to key abilities and rotations among other things.
TOR TV: Lose yourself to dance
Who said Imperials are too stiff, formal and don’t know how to party? Want proof? Then watch this awesome SWToR video shot under the tunes of Lose Yourself to Dance by Daft Punk (ft. Pharrell Williams). The clip is extremely well-made and it’s primarily shot in Nar Shadaa and the Harbinger server.
Former Electronic Arts (EA) CEO predicts free-to-play model evolution
Former Electronic Arts (EA) CEO, John Riccitiello is a controversial figure among gamers, especially with SWToR fans. During his tenure at EA, he spearheaded the strategy to develop and promote free-to-play games, an approach that Star Wars The Old Republic (SWToR) fully embraced. During a recent interview with Gamespot. Mr. Riccitiello predicted that both premium and free-to-play pricing models will continue to exist with the later possibly evolving. He also stressed out that both models (and possibly others we haven’t seen), will continue to co-exist without one gaining the upper hand over others.