EA’s Annual Report in the form of its Form 10-K filed with the SEC this week talks a bit about SWTOR. Where does it stand now? Is it gaining more attention? swtoreconomics had some opinions to share on the matter and we think you’ll find it interesting too: “Star Wars: The Old Republic has received a lot of attention for its episodic story content cycle that began in October 2015 with the release of Knights of the Fallen Empire and opinions vary widely. There is little doubt that the financial success or failure of this content cycle will be the largest factor in determining the future path of the game. There is one paragraph that provides essentially all of the information in the entire 97 page report regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic specifically: For fiscal year 2016, service and other revenue was $1,899 million, primarily driven by FIFA Ultimate Team and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Service and other revenue for fiscal year 2016…
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SWTOR June Producer’s Livestream Coverage
Here is the rundown of the SWTOR June Producer’s Livestream: When: 1 pm Pacific, about 1 hr from this post. Where: https://www.twitch.tv/swtor What: Get an inside look into the current state of the galaxy and what’s coming in June! LIVESTREAM NOTES Agenda State of the Galaxy Chapter 14 Subscriber Rewards Dark side vs Light Side Event Chapter 15 Wrap Up State of the Galaxy Chapter 15 launch very smooth, no major bugs. SWTOR Cantina Tour 2016 – will be at the Star Wars celebration in July. Don’t need ticket for celebration to get in. Next cantina after is probably in New York with the comiccon but not fully confirmed. Eternal Championship contest participation was out of control, one guy did it 310 times. Starting with Chapter 15 pack, you will either get a Bronze item in the pack or a Grand Chance Cube. Will keep give you explanations for the…
Differences Between The Light and Dark Side of the Force
How much do you really know about the differences between the Light side and Dark side of the Force? We know that the Sith and the Jedi are two opposite ends of the spectrum and that it is important to keep balance within the Force. Still, how much do you really know about the two and the differences in the two? While there are small things like the colors of lightsabers, there are many more, deeper differences between the two sides. Also not surprisingly, there are similarities. After all, the Force is made up of both the Light and the Dark side. You can’t have the Force without both sides and this is a very important part of understanding the sides. The video is just under 8 minutes long so of course, it doesn’t mention every single thing that makes the Sith and Jedi different but it does hit on…
Has the Time Finally Come for a SW Themed Mobile Slot Machine?
As Lisa put it, games of chance have a major role to play in the Star Wars universe, even if they are not explicitly shown anywhere. Who knows, maybe Lucas – and now Disney – didn’t want to risk to be rated anything but G, or PG, which is almost the same. But we all know that Han Solo won the Millenium Falcon in a game of Corellian Spike, which is a variant of the universe’s most popular game of chance, sabacc. The only direct reference to gambling – betting, and a bit of dice – was in Episode I, when Qui-Gon won the cash needed for the parts, and the slave boy Anakin, in a bet on the pod races. And it was a major source of suspense, I must say. With gambling playing such an important part in the Star Wars universe, I wonder when the first SW-themed…
Disney: Make a Movie/Series about the 501st Legion
I love the 501st. Their enthusiasm and dedication to Star Wars is like nothing else. I’ve you’ve seen or met them in person, you know just what I mean. In fact, these days when I think of Star Wars, or Star Wars fans, the 501st definitely rank up there with things that come to mind. I know I’m not the only one to feel that way but a recent petition on Change.org shows us another fan has a great idea. What if Disney made a movie or series about the 501st? This petition explains it all: The 501st Legion is one of the most recognized military units in modern history, more so than the “Band of Brothers” 506th PIR, 101st Airborne of WW2, more so than the elite US Navy SEAL Team 6. The 501st has quite literally developed a near “cult following.” With costumes worn by both children and…
Weapon Tunings Q&A in SWTOR
Cartel Market Producer Dan Bunten has posted some Q&A in response to yesterday’s blog post on the new weapon tuning feature coming with Patch 4.4 Hey folks, We have seen a lot of questions come up about Weapon Tuning and I wanted to address some of the bigger ones we keep seeing. Is Weapon Tuning purely cosmetic? Yes, they do not affect the stats of the weapon in any way. Will we be able to modify existing weapons? Many of the existing weapons you have will support the Weapon Tuning slot, but not all. We will continue adding them to existing weapons over time and all new weapons introduced will have this slot. Are they exclusive to the Cartel Market? The Lightning Weapon Tuning is exclusive to the Cartel Market, but there may be future Tunings available from other sources. Are they affected by Color Crystals? Yes. Will Tuning effects stack…
BW Austin is Doing Animation Work for SWTOR
This fun tweet from Paul Marino, Lead Narrative Designer at BioWare Austin lets us all know they are doing some new work for the game. This lines up with the voice acting tweets we saw not too long ago as well so we can be sure some new content is in the works. What exactly they are working on is still uncertain, although many fans have speculated. Animation team & I are off out to EA Burnaby/The Capture Lab to grab some mocap for #SWTOR! Canada here we come! — Paul Marino™ (@PaulMarino) March 16, 2016 And that’s not all. Charles Boyd, lead designer of SWTOR, also had a tweet to share: @SortaRevan @nikkoliferous Not confirming anything, but we just happened to have Saresh in the booth today, actually 🙂 — Charles Boyd (@Charles_Boyd) March 16, 2016 Could it be season 2, new OPS, new combat animations? New class skill animations?…
Star Wars Battlefront Discounted On All Platforms Over This Week
If you have been waiting to pick up your own copy of Star Wars Battlefront, this week is the perfect time because the game is getting price-slashed across all platforms this week. If you didn’t want to drop the full price on the game in the beginning but you have been wanting to check it out for yourself, now is a great time to snag a deal. If you have a friend or family member you want to bring in to play with you? This could be a great time to get a friend in on the fun. This would also make a good gift for a gamer friend if you want to surprise them and then invite them in to play with you. Check out the deals on each platform here: PlayStation 4 On sale until 2/10/2016, 4 AM Star Wars Battlefront 50 % 0ff – $ 29.99 Star…
Episode VII Stormtrooper in EA Battlefront Files?
Here’s a rumor (or possible hoax) for you regarding Star Wars Battlefront. Someone claims to have found game files that indicate there might be First Order Stormtroopers in the game. He created a video for it showing these models/files. AngryEchidna says, “In the workshop for SFM i noticed a file that had models from Starwars Battlefront (The third main one) and among the files uploaded is a highly detailed New Order Stormtrooper. I put some of the other models from Battlefront in the video so you can compare the level of detail for yourself.” See the video here: So what do you think? People are skeptical, and rightly so. So far, no one else has been able to replicate it so it’s really looking like it might just be a hoax. When you add in the fact that the video came out just after the game was launched, there’s a very…
4 Star Wars Tabletop Role-Playing Games You Should Try
If you like The Old Republic or Knights of the Old Republic, it’s probably because you enjoy getting immersed in the Star Wars universe in a way that other games like Battlefront and Bounty Hunter just don’t give you. If you want to really dive into the universe, though, tabletop role-playing games are the way to go. Not familiar with tabletop RPGs? If you’ve heard of Dungeons & Dragons, Fate, or Pathfinder, you’ve heard of tabletop RPGs—these are some of the biggest names in the business. They combine social interaction, storytelling, dice rolling, miniatures, and an immersive experience that’s tough to replicate. In addition to those big names, there are a number of cool Star Wars RPGs out there. Here are four that you should check out! Star Wars: Edge of the Empire One of my favorite game companies, Fantasy Flight Games, publishes Edge of the Empire, a game that immerses you in the world of smugglers, bounty hunters, thieves, and…
Upcoming Stream Plan for SWTOR
Bioware are planning to do two livestreams each month this year. One with a producer’s livestream and another one focusing on the story. Eric posted Upcoming Stream Plan | 01.07.2016, 08:12 PM Hey folks, One of the things we intend to do more regularly this year are livestreams. First off, our next livestream still be next week on Thursday, January 14th from 4 – 4:30 PM CST. This will be a Producer Livestream with Ben Irving to talk about what is going on in the game, and what is coming up. Later this month we will then do a story focused stream with Charles Boyd. This stream will occur on Thursday, January 28th from 4 – 4:30PM CST. This stream will talk about where the story of Fallen Empire is currently, and where it is going. Our plan for the next few months will follow this format. A Producer Livestream with…
Let C-3PO Be Your Copilot with the Latest Waze Update (Plus Movie Ticket Giveaway!)
Want to add some Star Wars flair your drive to work in the morning? Why not take C-3PO on as your copilot? 3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8 can now be a part of your drive with Waze, the social driving app. Your own personal protocol droid will give you directions, warn you of hazards, and occasionally surprise you with a hilarious line. For example, when I was driving this morning, Waze detected a hazard, and 3PO came on over my radio: “Hazard reported ahead. We’ll be destroyed for sure . . . this is madness!” I laughed out loud. In my car. By myself. When I got home, C-3PO gave me his opinion on my apartment complex in his signature British accent: “My . . . what a desolate place this is.” I had to smile at that one. But he doesn’t just talk when he has something to tell you. He’ll also give you…
The Darkside of Fairy Tales
Who doesn’t love Star Wars toys? I have loved them all my life, since as far back as I can remember. Even in my college years and post-college years; after eras of student/community organizing, after reporting in a war torn region, after starting my own business, after living with my lover, deep in the dark forest of adulthood, I still couldn’t resist going to the toy section of any department store chain, just to see what Star Wars was up to. And I wasn’t alone. We have all seen someone from generation X, standing there just to see the Star Wars toys with the occasional child also checking out the magic. In the mid 90’s and late 90’s I read disturbing accounts of Disney abusing overseas workers and even children to make their products. I never bought those products as presents for family members and friends in fear of supporting…
Google Invites You to Choose Your Side
The crew at Google are big fans of Star Wars just like the rest of us. VP of Product Management, Clay Bavor made a great post today on the Google Blog telling us his own personal story of becoming a Star Wars fan. He goes on to tell us a little about the Star Wars fans behind the scenes at Google offices, and then he tells us about something really cool from Google, teamed up with Lucasfilm and Disney. You can find it at google.com/starwars. It’s a place for fans, by fans, and starting today you can choose the light or the dark side, and then watch your favorite Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome and many more transform to reflect your path. Here’s a snippet from today’s blog: It probably isn’t a surprise that there are tons of Star Wars fans like me here at Google. You can…
New ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Photos in EW Exclusive
If you are just itching to see more of The Force Awakens while we await the actual release of the movie, you’re going to love this exclusive from Entertainment Weekly. While we’ve seen one or two of these in the trailers already, most of the imagery is new, giving us another little taste of what we can expect from the film. The Marketing for The Force Awakens is in full swing and from now until the big reveal day, we can expect to see many more little goodies released. In these exclusive images, we see some amazing scenes from the film. There’s a Resistance X-Wing flying overhead as two Stormtroopers are met with demise. “We had women in stormtrooper costumes in the movie,” Abrams says, so audiences will be seeing a mixed gender fighting force from The First Order whether they realize it or not. (The armor isn’t form-fitting, of course.) We see some amazing scenes…
‘Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company’ Review: The Story The Game Forgot
If you’re reading this review, then we are sure that you are impatiently waiting until you are able to play Star Wars: Battlefront on your console or PC. You might also be aware that while Battlefront looks like an online multiplayers dream, the game will not have much of a story. Instead of going the traditional route where creators weave a classic Star Wars story into an amazing game, Battlefront is happy enough with its multiplayer hook and no original plot or characters to speak of. Well that may not be entirely true, because Battlefront does have an actual story, it’s just actually playable. In the new book, Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company, the author, Alexander Freed, gives life to the war that is happening between the Empire and the Rebellion by focusing on the 61st Mobile Infantry unit, while it battles for freedom against Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, and Star…
Star Wars Battlefront: Practice Training Mission and Darth Vader is Playable Character
Star Wars Battlefront is on the way soon (finally) and it’s no surprise that people are looking to learn more about the game, what they can expect, and what to make of the rumors. With beta testing concluding, we now have a bigger picture of what to expect from the actual release of the game in less than a month. While critics still abound, there is no shortage of fans who have great things to say about the game, the beta, and the upcoming release. If you want to have some of your questions answered direct from the source, you might appreciate this. Viktor Lundberg, the Mission Scripter for Star Wars Battlefront has answered some of the questions regarding the Training Mission on their website. It’s worth the time to read it all for yourself but here’s a snippet: What do the Training Missions consist of? There are five different Training…
Knights of the Fallen Empire Feels More Like A Classic BioWare RPG, and that’s a good thing!
The new 4.0 for Star Wars: The Old Republic has changed everything, while a fresh expansion to one of the craziest multiplayer games is changing things too. Last year, a writer at kotaku asked developers that were working on the game, what their plans for the future were. What they told him is a phrase that they told him was “a return to BioWare cinematic storytelling.” However, he didn’t believe them at all, but they actually did what they said they were going to do. BioWare was responsible for last year’s expansion, Shadow of Revan, and it gave many people no hope for the games future. The expansion was really just an odd mashup of BioWare RPG and massive multiplayer online game tropes, with much lower production values. The writer from kotaku recently started playing Knights of the Fallen Empire, and it officially came out for all Star Wars subscribers…
The average Star Wars: The Force Awakens fan will be 34-year-old male
The new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie has been predicted that it will be one of the highest grossing films ever, and some experts are suggesting that box-office revenues in excess of the current record, Avatar’s gross of $2.78 billon are within reach. Researchers have now showed us who exactly will be purchasing the tickets. According to cinema marketing data firm Movio Media, the average person to purchase a ticket in advance for Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be a United States 34 year old male. It’s predicted that 70% of ticket owners are men between the ages of 18 and 49. The average advance ticket purchaser is a typical movie theater goer and usually travels in order to see big-budget fantasies like Jurassic World or Avengers: Age of Ultron on opening night, according to Movio Media. Also, these in particular individuals spend 2.6 times more than the…
Darth Malgus is here to sell you some stuff.
Ever hear a voice so smooth, so sexy, so wonderful, you just want to do exactly what it says? Well, that’s Jamie Glover for you. The English actor is known for many roles, including his time on Waterloo Road but where you may know him best is as Darth Malgus. SWTOR isn’t the only video game he’s lent his voice to. Glover was also a voice actor in Soul Sacrifice, Dragon Age II, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, Star Wars: Empire at War, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Remus Lupin) (the video game) . So yeah… he’s no stranger to video games. You’ve probably heard him before and not even realized it was him. He also has a rich history of TV series, TV mini-series’, TV movies and…
NYCC 2015 Star Wars Aftermath Final Novels Revealed
If you are a fan of Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath series, you will be very excited about the news released at New York Comic Con this weekend. The final two novels in the series are revealed! Titled Star Wars Aftermath: Life Debt and Star Wars Aftermath: Empire’s End, the books will continue the story of Aftermath, which comes after Episode IV: Return of the Jedi and leads up to The Force Awakens. The books are from Del Rey and the titles and release dates were confirmed in a couple of tweets: Aftermath: Life Debt and Aftermath: Empire’s End the second and third books in the #Aftermath trilogy. Both written by @ChuckWendig — StarWarsBooks (@DelReyStarWars) October 10, 2015 More info. LIFE DEBT will be out Summer 16. EMPIRE’S END in 2017. More exact dates coming soon. #Aftermath — StarWarsBooks (@DelReyStarWars) October 10, 2015 If you are new to the series,…
Interesting Darth Revan Costume: A Review
Here is a great video review about Darth Revan armor and how you can get it for yourself. The roughly 30-minute video has an excellent intro depicting the Revan costume, info about custom-made armor, and pretty much everything you need to know to do this for yourself. If you’re a cosplayer, a Revan fan or want to get an awesome gift for a Revan fan in your life, this is a video you want to take some time to see. If you’ve purchased (or plan to purchase) this costume for yourself, don’t skip through the video. It contains some very, very helpful information and tips that will save you a lot of time and hassle when your costume arrives. He also tells where he got his lightsabers from so watch the full video if you want to know how to get the complete look. Note: Pants and boots do not…
Star Wars: Battlefront Alpha is Not the Full Game
There is a lot of talk about Star Wars: Battlefront and understandably so. With the date of launch easing ever so closer, fans will continue to look for every little piece of gameplay info they can find. In doing so, we want to take a moment to remind you that Alpha game footage and leaks can be deceiving. Alpha is not the full game. We repeat, Alpha is NOT the full game. For a variety of reasons, the Alpha is a barebones, stripped version of the real game. This makes it easier to show testers the basic gameplay and even graphics and more but without requiring them to download the full game and also without releasing the game in entirety during a testing phase. This is standard practice with video game launches and testing. So if you’re judging the full game based on the Alpha, keep this in mind. Folks…
Star Wars Battlefront Won’t “Feel Like or Play Like” Battlefield, Discusses Space Combat
Some Star Wars fans have been concerned that Star Wars: Battlefront will be no more than Battlefield with a Star Wars theme. According to DICE producer Jesper Nielsen, this is not the case at all. Mr. Nielsen goes by “TheBikingViking” on Reddit. Nielsen responded to Star Wars fans on Reddit about the concerns over similarities between games. He stated that they may share some similarities, but they will stand out alone from each other well. Nielsen addressed a concern from a gamer who felt he was “robbed” by purchasing Battlefield Hardline. “I simply don’t get the Battlefield re-skin comment; from what we’ve shown, in what way does it look like Battlefield? Are you seeing tanks, lots of destruction, etc? This will not feel like or play like Battlefield. That’s never been our intention. Its fine you’re disappointed. Ok, so from what you’ve heard and seen, the game is not what…