If it’s been awhile since you logged into SWTOR then you probably have seen one of the creative emails they send asking you to come bad. CAD Comic had a little something to say about that very topic today. In addition to a hilarious cartoon, they also bring up a very important point about the game- why so many players left after 50. The post below the comic says: I applaud the extra mile they went to tug at my heartstrings, but if they’d put as much effort into SWTOR’s endgame they wouldn’t need to be sending me this email in the first place. Don’t get me wrong… Level 1-50 is absolutely the most fun I’ve ever had leveling up in an MMO. Bioware set the bar pretty high for questing and leveling in that regard, and I’m spoiled for every other MMO. Unfortunately all of that enjoyment hit a…
SWTOR
Florida Family vs SWTOR on LGBT Characters and Storyline
While many fans of SWTOR are anticipating the upcoming changes to the storyline that allow for some same-sex relationship arcs, there are others who are not so pleased with the decision BioWare has made to add these options to the game. (<- THIS is an action figure…) Florida Family says, “Will the makers of Star Wars video games create Darth VaPaula, a (mock) transgender version of Darth Vader – RuPaul, for kids to choose as their action player?” That title alone is offensive and does not show the tolerance that this same organization often preaches about. However, this is just the beginning of the ignorance and bigotry in this article. While I fully respect everyone’s opinion and right to those opinions, Florida Family are trying to petition and encourage others to boycott and petition something they know nothing about, based on what they presume to understand. I take many issues…
International Star Wars Fan Groups Now Accepting The Old Republic as Costume Canon
The Star Wars costuming organizations are very strict when it comes to the costumes they allow to represent them. A game isn’t really a Star Wars game until the fans accept it as an official costume. The announcement to let costumers submit designs based on the characters in the game, The Old Republic means SWTOR is officially being accepted by the community, even those who do not play the game. Kotaku.com says: “While it may seem like an insignificant development to the outsider, the fact that The Jedi Assembly and The Dark Empire are both accepting applications from costumers decked out in the latest The Old Republic gear is a huge step in legitimizing the game in the eyes of the more fervent fans. These are groups that are incredibly strict about the costumes they allow to represent their organizations (the Jedi more so than the Dark Side, appropriately enough).”…
1.2 Legacy Upgrade Screenshots
Here are some 1.2 Legacy Upgrade screenshots as of 3/23, likely to change some before 1.2 hits live. Still, it gives you a real good idea of what you can expect coming up. Will you be working towards Legacy upgrades? Have you already been saving up points and working on your legacy for when 1.2 gets here? Tell us what your favorite part of the upcoming Legacy features are so far!
Community Q&A: March 23rd 2012
It’s that time again- time of the week for the Community Q&A. Here are some updates on yesterday’s questions and the answers from BioWare Community. Mksaccount: Are there any plans on adjusting rage timers in hard mode Flashpoints? Gabe Amatangelo (Lead Endgame & PvP Designer): The team continues to tune Flashpoint bosses based on metrics and feedback. Bosses that are a ‘spike’ in the progression curve (e.g. when a second boss might be more difficult than the last) are being addressed in one way or another, be it increasing their enrage timer, decreasing their health, extending the cooldown of control abilities, etc. Bendog: Are there any plans to make the lower level planet commendations ‘Bind to Account’? It would be nice to hand them off to another character. Damion Schubert (Principal Lead Systems Designer): We’ve talked about it, sure. It’s something we considered as we added in the Legacy…
Legacy armor in 1.2 + High Res Renders: Are You Ready for Legacy?
The Legacy System and vendors are coming soon and thanks to Dulfy.net we have a better insight as to what we can expect when it gets here. In the article, you’ll find detailed information about how to find your faction’s legacy armor vendors once 1.2 drops for play regardless of whether you are in Dromund Kaas or Coruscant. The detailed high-resolution map shots are great and something you need to check out. It will make it a lot easier to find the vendors when they are available. Duffy tells us that all of the gear that you can get from the vendors will be Bind to Legacy (BTL). It goes on to say, “They each sell 2 sets of orange gear (including orange belts and bracers) that require legacy level 10/20 and also gear in the range of 14-16 and 29-33 that you can trade via tokens obtained as drops.”…
Developer Dispatch: The Legacy System
Are you as excited about the Legacy System as we are? I know we keep talking about it in my guild. A lot of players have a renewed interest in the game now that the improved Legacy System is coming with Game Update 1.2 and my guess is that’s really what BioWare wants. The Legacy System will be entwined in each and every aspect of the game. It really is the heart of SWTOR and the dev team was sad they had to launch without it. Since it’s coming soon, now is the time to prepare and to learn what you can about it. This just in from Official SWTOR News feed: “The Legacy System is coming in Game Update 1.2, and with it, a new dimension to The Old Republic™ experience. Like the Skywalkers, you’ll build your own family tree in the Star Wars™ galaxy, linking your characters on…
Crew Skills in Game Update 1.2
Game Update 1.2 is big- we know this. In fact, it’s huge! It’s quite possibly one of the largest free game updates in MMO history. Many are saying this is really the way SWTOR was supposed to be launched but that EA pushed the release date on BioWare and they were unable to finish everything properly in time. One important update in 1.2 will be to the Crew Skills. There have been lots of complaints about screw skills and while there are some good aspects to the program, it’s clearly “unfinished” and unbalanced when you compare the various crew skills to one another. This is one thing that Devs mentioned at the Guild Summit they would be updating. There is now an official SWTOR blog post to tell us what we can expect for Crew Skills in 1.2: “Since the launch of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, the Crew Skill…
Free SWTOR Trial Weekend… Again!
Do you believe in second chances? If you missed the free trial weekend of SWTOR, or if you didn’t get a lot of chance to play due to too many people on the servers, now you get a chance once again. The next Weekend Pass Free Trial period begins this Thursday, March 22nd, at 1:01 a.m EDT and ends on Monday, March 26th at 3:00 a.m. EDT. Over the last weekend, people had the opportunity to take part in the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Weekend Pass Free* Trial. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who took part. However, we also understand that not everyone has had the opportunity to play the game. To that end, we are excited to announce that individuals who did not take part in the first Weekend Pass Free Trial will have another opportunity to live out their very…
SWTOR was Built to Compete with WoW
Dallas Dickinson, director of production for Electronic Arts’ BioWare division had a lot to say about SWTOR at GDC recently. The initial plan with the creation of the game was always to become a leader in the genre. Well, anyone who plays MMOs or even knows a little about them knows that Blizzard’s World of Warcraft has had the top spot in the MMORPG scene for some time now. Many others have tried and failed to capture that spot and when SWTOR appeared closer to launch, many would speculate about whether or not it would steal the spotlight from WoW. Now that we are post-launch, has it succeeded? VentureBeat brings us the story: In fact, the public relations folks promoting the company’s Star Wars: The Old Republic game were told — only half jokingly — to announce the game onstage as, “Star Wars, MMO (massively multiplayer online), BioWare,” and then…
SWTOR Numbers Continue to Grow after Very Smooth Launch
Do we know if SWTOR had a smooth launch or not? While some will speculate and others will claim otherwise, you can see the evidence in the game forums, as well as by playing the game itself and you will learn if it had a smooth launch. The same can be said for any MMO, as Gamasutra reminds us. They spoke with Dallas Dickinson, production director at Star Wars: The Old Republic developer BioWare Austin at GDC earlier this month and learned a few more things about SWTOR launch and how the numbers continue to grow. “The launch went really, really well. I think sort of surprisingly smoothly,” Dickinson said, with hint of real actual surprise. But it’s true: the biggest MMO to launch in years might not be perfect, but it went off with no major hitches. “A smooth launch was one of our goals,” he added. “”We had…
SWTOR Strategies Gets a New Look!
In order to serve you, our readers, even better we have gotten a makeover. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make the site look better for you and to give you more of what you want- great SWTOR and Star Wars related content. We appreciate you, especially those of you who have been with us for years now and we hope to continue to be your source for news, guides, fun and more. As with any transition of this grand scale, there might be a few bugs here and there. Please be patient and know that we are working diligently to ensure the makeover is a huge success. If there are features you want to see here, stories you want us to cover or if you have general feedback, remember that we welcome your input and feel free to contact us. Thank you again for reading and welcome…
Patch 1.2 and Guild Summit
If your eager to know what is coming up in swtor, you should check this out! Includes a massive summary of the guild summit. The complete list of the video: We will dive into the patch 1.2 and we will point out a list gathered. and then we move over to the guild summit! So, here is a list of things we’ll see in patch 1.2, this is taken from various Bioware releases through media. PvE New Operation- Explosive Conflict will be the first “Tier 2” raid instance. New Flashpoint – Lost Island Continues where Kaon Under Siege left off. Orange gear will become more viable as end-game gear in the 1.2 update. New Corellia Dailies PvP New Warzone – Novare Coast Ranked Warzones. Will use ELO ranking system for both solo and group play in ranked Warzones Medal Rewards will be capped to try and prevent medal farming. Entry…
665 people worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic
Just how many people does it take to make a great MMORPG? BioWare has revealed the numbers on the team that helped make SWTOR a reality. Not counting the voice actors, 665 people worked on SWTOR. During a GDC panel, the company revealed the breakdown of the team members: 30 Production 75 Designers 80 Engineers 40 Platform 10 Localization 10 Audio 140 Artists (Both internal and outsourced) 280 QA (Both internal and outsourced) The game reportedly cost more than $200 million to make and BioWare says they are excited for what is on the horizon and still yet to come in the game. They have a dedicated team still hard at work making new content for the game. (I got to see this team in action myself at the tour of BioWare Austin this past Monday). It takes a full team of people, all working hard towards the same common…
Drew Karpyshyn Says Goodbye to BioWare
Drew Karpyshyn promised big news on his weekly blog updatetoday but we had no idea how big this news would be. He has now announced thathe will be leaving BioWare after 12 years of working together. He notes thatthe decision was 100% his and that he is leaving BioWare on good terms. Drew writes: Forthe past twelve years I’ve had the privilege to work at one of the bestcompanies in the video game industry, side by side with the most talented andincredible group of people I’ve ever had the good fortune to know. I’ve enjoyedmy time at BioWare immensely, but it’s time for me to move on. I’mleaving to focus more time and energy on my novels and other non-video gamerelated projects. But even though I’ll no longer be working on games forBioWare, I’m not going to be severing all ties with them. Many of my closestfriends still work at…
EA Claims SWTOR Did Better than WoW in First Month
In the quarterly earnings call for Electronic Arts, they announced they had 1.7 million active subscribers to SWTOR. These are some pretty huge numbers but just what do they mean? These figures count the number of players who have subscribed to the game past the first month free trial you get with purchase. This means that Star Wars: The Old Republic has gained more followers in the first month than Blizzard Entertainment’s immensely popular World Of Warcraft (WoW) did during the same period. (via Hexus) Of course, these are just early figures and in the SWTOR vs WoW arena, Blizzard has a 7-year head start. The true test of MMORPG brilliance will come when we see where SWTOR is in the long run. Where will they be after 6 months? What about a year from release? What about 7 years? The true test of success lies in whether or not…
SWTOR Patch 1.2 Content Leak Info
Are you looking forward to patch 1.2 coming soon to SWTOR? Are you wondering what future patches might hold for the game, when certain fixes will be enabled and what kind of level 50 content and dailies might be added? Good news for you because there is some content leak info available to help us learn more about the upcoming patch. We will see a new flashpoint called Lost Island, some fun new dailies and more. Torhead has some very interesting information about the next upcoming patch for SWTOR: We already know from interviews with BioWare Employees that we are getting a new flashpoint in 1.2, but what we have uncovered are missions relating to the flashpoint… along with new dailies on Corellia and an all-new Operation called Explosive Conflict! Dailies NPCs Commander Mericci General Konya Private Taia Sergeant Karloss Councillor Torvix Ensign Navrata Agent Carhart Corsec Officer Holonet Reporter…
EA Stock Surges after SWTOR Subscriber Numbers are Revealed
More good news for those holding stock in EA and more rebuttal for the nay-sayers that SWTOR is tanking and that it is causing EA stick to drop- EA stock reportedly surges after the recent Q3 2012 Fiscal Earnings Conference Call in which it was revealed that SWTOR now has over 1.7 million active users and growing. DualShockers brought us the story that quite honestly, was not a surprise to ushere at all. YesterdayEA stock closed at $18.44. Today, on the closure of the market a few minutesago, the shares of the publisher from Redwood were priced $19.565 showing avery solid 6.1% climb. By comparison the whole NASDAQ index gained only a 0.4%. Mostof the growth actually happened yesterday during the after hours tradingsession, that started as EA’s conference call was closing. Both in the afterhours trading session and this morning in the pre-market trading session EAstock was one of…
SWTOR is Growing- Now More Subscribers than Ever!
I wrote yesterday about how some observers think SWTOR is sinking and that its subscribers are dying off. There are gloom and doom prophecies and even a haters Facebook group but no one really knew for sure how well the game was performing. However, the numbers are now out and it looks like SWTOR isnot doing so bad. In fact, they have more subscribers than ever before andboast 1.7 million active subscribers. DualShockers shared some insight on the story today. Electronic Arts had its Q3 2012 Fiscal Earnings Conference Call and CEO JohnRiccitello explained that SWTOR is actually doing quite well after all. He explains: “Star Wars: The OldRepublic is developing a committed community of players withmore than 1.7 million active subscribers and growing.” And the game also sold more than 2 million copies. This isbetter-than-expected results from the popular MMORPG, something that EA reallyneeded as skeptics feared their stock value would…
SWTOR White Saber Crystal Uncovered
At first, SWTOR coveted the magenta crystal but now there is a new favorite item in a galaxy far, far away. One high level character has been seen sporting around with a sparkling white lightsaber. The owner of this whitesaber, Catch Deathwalker, posted about it on the official forums: I would like to let everyone know that the live servers still do have the white crystals. It’s a server first for us on Prophecy of the Five… might be a game first after live? Edit: So you can see the stats. There was an instant buzz about the crystal as everyone wanted to know where Catch got it (of course) but later in the day, staff dropped in with some startling (or not-so-startling) news about Catch and his flashy lightsaber. This was released by BioWare staff: We’ve done some investigating and discovered that CatchDeathwalker did not obtain the white crystal…
BioWare Story is So Good in SWTOR- Could it Be Too Good?
Have you ever watched a great movie that moved you in some way but after it was over you felt a tad sad that it had ended? Sure, you’re glad you watched it and you’re thankful for the opportunity but you’re left with a slightly empty feeling of “what now?” Could this be a problem with SWTOR? IGN writer CharlesOnyett has some thoughts on this very topic. He talks about “fear of the finale”and how absorbed he is in the story- but that maybe this could be a bad thing. CouldBioWare have done too good of a job with the story in SWTOR? Onyett says: Mymain concern is what happens when the story ends. I’ll meet no new quest giverswho care what I do or fear what I say. I’ll run through the same corridors ofenemies time and time again for a percent chance to achieve a reward. I’ll playthe…
Operation & PVP Guide Videos
Are you having a hard time deciding between PVP specs for your Marauder? Perhaps your guild is wiping on bosses like Bonethrasher, G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator or Annihilation Droid XRR-3? Well then you’ll want to check out these video guides. Marauder PVP Guide (Rage spec): This guide covers the rage spec for the Marauder, be sure to check the annotation if you want to look at the Annihilation spec instead. Annihilation Droid XRR-3 Guide (Hardmode): This is the first boss in the Eternity Vault Operation. The guide covers both the normal and hardmode versions. Bonethrasher Guide: This is the first boss found in the Karragar’s Palace Operation. Since the video was made they have now fixed the bug where he attacks you as soon as you enter the room, which used to cause a lot of issues. His knock back has also been reduced a bit. I hope these…
EA Has Invested Half a BILLION Dollars in Star Wars
In a story at MarketWatch.com, we learn a bit of interesting news about SWTOR. It’s an article/interview about Electronic Arts’ CEO Riccitiello, 52, but contains a fun tidbit about the BioWare hit of the year- SWTOR. According to the source: In a Dec. 23 statement, EA boasted that “The Old Republic” had attracted more than 1 million registered subscribers in just three days on the market. Doug Creutz of Cowen & Co. says that Riccitiello’s tenure as CEO has featured misfires along with its successes but that “Star Wars” may represent his biggest bet of all, considering both the purchase price of BioWare/Pandemic and the development costs poured into the game since then. “I think it’s safe to say that the total all-in investment in ‘Star Wars’ is probably approaching half a billion dollars,” Creutz says. “EA has minimized its risks as much as it can on this bet, but…
SWTOR Has Neutral Plans to Come Soon
SWTOR’s alignment system is one thing that sets it apart from other games, gives it that added edge and makes it more exciting and more personalized for the player. The only thing that got in the way of the alignment system in SWTOR is the fact that there was gear designed specifically for Light Side (LS) and Dark Side (DS) points but nothing for neutral. I’ve found on my first character that when I just played the storyline the way I wanted, answering by instinct, I ended up more neutral than one side or the other. I guess that means I am a fairly balanced human in general, which is probably cool for my friends and others around me, but it’s no good in SWTOR when it means I cannot use any of the gear that I’m getting because I don’t have enough LS or DS points. Ok so it…