BioWare posted some great news last night. From tomorrow, all active Subscribers will receive the first Digital Expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel free of charge as a newly added benefit to the Subscriber Rewards Program! This is awesome stuff, as it 1) encourages subs (because yay free expansion), it is an arguably considerable reward to those already subbed and don’t have the expansion. Still the butt hurt on the official forum is comical, all the early subscribers want coins too, but don’t realize they’ve gotten 5 months of expanded content and are not getting compensated because Bioware hasn’t developed time travel yet. Anyways. Check out the full story below: Beginning September 12, 2013, active Subscribers will receive the first Digital Expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel free of charge as a newly added benefit to the Subscriber Rewards Program! Rise of the Hutt Cartel offers the breathtaking planet of Makeb, five new levels…
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Interview: Baron Deathmark, Part 2
BioWare’s HoloNet News psoted the the conclusion of “an exclusive interview” with legendary Huttball host Baron Deathmark Yesterday. If you don’t know who Baron Deathmark is, he is the guy that commentates all the Huttball games. With the upcoming gameupdate 2.4, mr. Deathmark will become extra busy, as he will be announcing all Arena games. In part one posted a few weeks ago, Deathmark reflected on his storied career, hinted at future plans. In part two, Deathmark take a look at the new Warzone Arenas. Read it all here, or check out our snippet below. LAMALLA RANN: Baron, what can you tell me about the so-called “Arenas of Death”? What makes them stand out from Huttball? BARON DEATHMARK: I’m so glad you asked that, Lamalla! A lot of folks out there assume that all Giradda’s doing is taking the ball out of Huttball, and that just isn’t true. That would leave nothing but…
Matthew Bromberg New Head Of The BioWare Label
General Manager of BioWare Austin, Matthew Bromberg has been given a bit of what you might call a promotion and Bioware gets to fill a spot that has been empty since the doctors left. He has now been appointed the head of the BioWare label by Electronic Arts. VentureBeat explains more: The job has been open since the founders of BioWare, Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, left last year after decades of developing games. The post is an important one because BioWare has some of EA’s most successful game franchises — Mass Effect and Dragon Age — and also some of its biggest budget games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic. Bromberg will now be the group general manager of the BioWare label. He will retain leadership of the BioWare Austin division and extend his responsibilities to include BioWare Canada (Edmonton and Montreal), as well as the Victory studio…
EA is treating ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ like a new IP
It appears that Electronic Arts are treating their newly acquired Star Wars franchise as a new IP, along with 7 other titles. To combat criticism that the firm is not working on any more new games, they released a statement about these new IPs in the works. EA Games chief Patrick Soderlund told MCV that EA is working on new ideas that include Star Wars and Mirror’s Edge 2 as proof the firm is still willing to take risks on new ideas. As he says to MCV: “We are working on a new Mirror’s Edge game, and although that’s not a new IP, it is a revival done in a new way. We are developing Star Wars Battlefront, which to us is a new IP, even though it isn’t technically,” he said. “We have six to eight completely new IPs in the works. The day we stop making new IP…
BioWare Austin is Looking for Local Testers
One thing I love about living in/near Austin is the opportunities like this that come up. Once again, as happens often from time to time, Bioware has put out an ad that they are looking for local testers. I’ve also seen these ads before in comic shops, in the paper, on their website and of course, online job boards. I’ve yet to do one of them because I have a full time job of my own but I have some friends who have done it and it can be a lot of fun if you love the game.
Swtor-mined: Not-So Super Secret Space Project | Preview #2 Spoiler
This time swtor_miner has brought us some incredible data mined info but this is the kind of stuff Bioware staff really don’t want us to find. Before you read any further, be aware that this will contain major spoilers and some players just prefer not to know at all. If that’s you, then click away and don’t read what was found about the super secret space project coming up in SWTOR: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES POST ANY OF THIS INFORMATION TO THE OFFICIAL FORUMS. THE POSTS WILL BE REMOVED AND YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE BANNED. IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!! Previous: Preview #1 Today I spent several hours and rewriting my adapted modelviewer to work more easily with the new ship models. I cut down the time necessary to prepare models by at least 90%, if not more. Then I spent a few hours (see below)…
My SWTOR Authenticator Won’t Work
If you are a current or returning player of SWTOR and find your authenticator doesn’t work, your first though might be to panic. But don’t worry- there is a process you can go through to get your authenticator reset or replaced, if needed. You will be able to get back into your game once you prove who you are. Here are the basic steps to take when your authenticator will not work: Go to the official website. Select ‘Login’. Fill in your Display Name and Password. Leave the Security Key Field empty. Next, press [LogIn]. You will get an error screen. There will be a link that reads “Lost your security key?” Click that link and follow the instructions. You will then get an email that prompts you to reset your security key.
Secret Space Project Preview #1
SWTOR Miner is at it again. This time he has reassembled the individual pieces of the new ship models into something coherent. He managed to load complete models into Noesis, and view them. Right now it’s very time consuming to reassemble them, so expect more in the next coming weeks. You can check out the full preview album of the Republic Striker ship in the bottom of this post. He also managed to dig out all the Space Tutorial Graphic (Ship UI Graphics) Check that out as well. Here is what we know from the latest data mining: The space update will have Free flight gameplay with a a mixture of passive, active, and defensive combat abilities with several types of resource management: Below is a direct copy from his post: There will be Multiple Modes of Group vs Group Space PvP. It Looks like there will be several objective maps, and…
SWTOR 2.3.2a Patch Notes
Servers were down for a few hours today, so BioWare could add a new patch fixing some of the issues that came with patch 2.3.2. Apparently there is a bug regarding the cartel market. Check out the patch notes below: Cartel Market The in-game Cartel Coin purchasing feature has been fully disabled and the Cartel Market no longer contains a banner referencing it. Please note: Cartel Coins are still available for purchase via www.swtor.com/buy. Clicking the “Add Coins” button in the Cartel Market now properly directs players to www.swtor.com/buy. UI The Advanced Class Selection Window no longer displays incorrect text.
“Star Wars: The Old Republic – Revan” – Fan Film Project
If you’re a fan of Revan, you’re going to want to keep updated on this project. This is a fan film in the works and you can be a part of helping to make it happen. They have full permissions from BioWare and Lucas Arts to use storyline in the way that they will for their film so it’s completely legit and on the up. It’s existing to know that this sort of thing is possible and easier today than ever before and that you can help be a part of it when you donate. And of course, if you donate, there are different prizes based on how much you contribute. So you can get a little something to remember your contribution. So far it has 29 backers and counting and halfway to their goal of $5,000 minimum. Visit them on Kickstarter to learn more about this fan film project:…
PTS 2.4 Update 4 – Patch Notes and Known Issues [Updated: September 5th]
Here are the newest patch notes + known issues form the Public test servers. Personally I find the GTN upgrades to be very good. I have been missing these features. I am also glad to see the armor sets are just placeholders. They are boring and the same for all classes both side. Still hope to see some balance before release, tho. Game Update 2.4: The Dread War – PTS Update 4 Patch Notes – September 5th, 2013 The patch notes published for the Public Test Server are intended to guide testing. They are not final and are subject to change. The new Obroan and Dread Forged armor sets are currently using placeholder art that will be updated before the release to the Live Servers; the sets themselves are incomplete on the PTS and are subject to change. The Public Test Server Patch Notes will be provided in English. The…
Petco’s Star Wars Pet Fans Collection Released September 1st
PetCo and Star Wars fans will be extremely happy to see the Star Wars Pet Collection. Over the past week at select PetCo locations, they had several events to help celebrate this cool new pet collection.
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Cantina Tour Arrives in New York
BioWare is still on tour. Next time the caravan arrives in New York. This will give attendees the chance to quiz the developers and share a drink or two. Check out the announcement below: We’re happy to announce that the next stop in the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Community Cantina Tour will be happening on Saturday, October 12th, in New York! This is your chance to join the Star Wars: The Old Republic community for a development team Q&A as well as complimentary drinks*, food, and giveaways. Every attendee will be receiving a highly coveted Tauntaun Fawn code. If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and hang out with us! Venue: Stitch Bar and Lounge Date: Saturday, October 12th, 2013 Time: 8-11PM EDT Address: 247 West 37th Street. New York, NY 10018 Space will be limited, so be sure to arrive early! You can RSVP on Facebook here (Facebook RSVP is not required for…
PTS Server Known Issues
Amber Green posted to the official PTS forums the current list of known issues on the public test server. If you currently have characters on the test realms or plan to in the future, you’ll benefit from giving this a read over or at least bookmarking it so that you know what the known issues are. This update came after problems with the servers that also caused the servers to be brought down for a time. There is no reason to continue to report these known issues but if you encounter any bugs or problems other that are not on this list while on PTS, then you should report those. Public Test Server Known IssuesThe following are those issues known to exist on the current 2.4 build on the PTS: Operations General Players are unable to join an Operations Group that is in progress if the group has defeated a…
Patch Notes – 2.3.2 – 9/4/2013
Here are todays patch notes. One of the most noticeable one is this: The base cooldown for the Fleet Pass ability is now 9 hours for subscribers. Legacy Fleet Pass I, II, and III now reduce the ability cooldown by 3 hours each. This means that being a sub and having all three levels would give no-cooldown on fleet passes! It’s also nice to see some Codex updates, though from what I can tell Loremaster and Beastmaster are still unobtainable if these are the only changes. Game Update 2.3.2 Patch Notes 9/4/2013 Highlights New Vehicle! The Desler Nomad is a new rare drop from the final boss of all level 55 Hard Mode Flashpoints. New Feature! Players can now purchase Cartel Coins in-game through the “Add Coins” interface within the Cartel Market. (details under Cartel Market) Vendor Update! Emergency Medical Table and Mood: Outraged have been added to the Bounty Supply Company…
EA Wants to Create Jaw Dropping Star Wars Games
According to recent stories, EA wants to refresh the Star Wars game license and create games that will make “your jaw drop”. For Star Wars game fans, this is good news but will they really pull off this hefty goal? One can only hope, right? “The most important thing for me is that we take the Star Wars license and come up with games where peoples’ jaws drop,” said Patrick Soderlund of EA games to Polygon. “We need to do with this what [Batman: Arkham Asylum] did for the Batman license.” The first game they are set to work with is Star Wars: Battlefront, a game that many fans have been waiting a very long time to see happen. Soderlund says the DICE team will have access to this work. While they could not tell Polygon much about the game, it’s still great news to know it is in development and…
Data Dump Patch 2.3.1
More good stuff from swtor_miner today and here’s a forewarning: It might contain spoilers. We have another Data Dump of details from Patch 2.3.1. As always, there is no guarantee that these things will end up in the live game. We also don’t know completely what all this data means when we see it. Well I wasn’t really expecting this, and I can’t separate some of the 2.4 stuff out of my stored files. But, I ran some straight dumps of 2.3 and 2.3.1 and compared them. This is what got changed or added: GOM Dump – Includes ids for items, abilities, phases, etc. Note the Rakghoul event entries. Item Name and Description Dump – If an existing item appears here, they added a new variant or applied a bugfix. And, all the Cartel stuff that they put on the PTS last week. Edit: I’ll see about doing a more complete teardown later…
Knights of the Old Republic 3 Was Being Worked On
Knights of the Old Republic could have had a part 3 and how excited would fans everywhere have been? We’ve been talking about a KOTOR 3 for some time now and it has been revealed that it was in pre-production. Creative director Chris Avellone says the 3rd installment of the popular series was in development at Obsidian and that it would have featured Revan a lot more than the second game did. Eurogamer tells us: Yes, a Knights of the Old Republic 3 game existed in pre-production at Obsidian Entertainment. To this day one decision still plagues Chris Avellone’s mind: should Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords have had more Revan in it? BioWare and LucasArts hadn’t forbidden it – instead, Obsidian had decided to focus on new characters to allow more creative breathing room. “”But I don’t know if that was the best decision,” Avellone ponders, speaking…
Top 50 Star Wars Games from What Culture
If you’re a fan, or even a regular reader of our blog, you know that there are MANY Star Wars games out there and even more new ones coming out regularly. So how do you know which ones are really worth your time to play? What Culture has a real treat for us with 50 Essential Star Wars Games You Must Play This lengthy piece lists the best of the best in Star Wars games and gives you a bit of info about each game and why it made the list. I’m seeing some of my favorites on there for sure. I’m going to let you head on over to What Culture and read it all for yourself but here’s the 50 games that made their list: 50. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) – Windows, PlayStation 49. Star Wars (1983) – Atari 2600 48. Star Wars: The…
Official Blog: A Letter from Special Executive Rasmus Blys
A BioWare corporation PR person was RP’ing a corporation PR person in yesterdays blog post. I guess that’s something they can write convincingly! They really nailed the sugarcoated corporate jargon at least, as Special Executive Rasmus Blys from the Czerka Corporation took on the official website yesterday. Check out the full “blog post ” over at the official site, our our copy paste below. Also remember to check our faction lore guide on Czerka Corporation if you are into the lore behind them. 07.08.2013 A Letter from Special Executive Rasmus Blys Greetings! My name is Rasmus Blys, and I have the great honor of serving as a Special Executive for the Czerka Corporation: the most dynamic business entity in the entirety of known space. Czerka’s history is a long and storied one; we have centuries of innovation and success to look back on, with entire worlds owing their economic and social development to our valuable…
The “That’s So SWTOR!” Screenshot Contest – 2400 Cartel Coin Card Giveaway!
What do you see when you first think of SWTOR? What if you had a chance to win 2400 Cartel Coins by sharing a screenshot that makes you think “That’s so SWTOR!” You can learn more from the Community post here on Reddit: Community Post | The “That’s So SWTOR!” Screenshot Contest – 2400 Cartel Coin Card Giveaway! | 7/5/13 Howdy guys! As mentioned last Friday, I’m starting a contest today to find the single most SWTOR screenshot. What does that mean? Well, it means that I want to see what SWTOR means to you! What screenshot have you taken that really remind you of everything that SWTOR is to you. Here are the rules: You can submit up to 3 pictures, but please only make one post. You can vote on submissions, but I will be choosing the winner, so don’t bother trying to downvote other peoples’ submissions. I…
DICE Working on Battlefront Almost Didn’t Happen
We’re excited about DICE working on Star Wars: Battlefront, as we wrote about recently but can you believe it almost didn’t happen? While they seem like the perfect choice for this project, it’s a deal that almost didn’t happen. We’re glad to see DICE on the job because they are meticulous and great at what they do. We definitely have high hopes they will do very well with Battlefront. In Computer and Video Games, we have a great interview with EA’s Patrick Sderlund. Here is the really interesting part: So one of your big surprises was DICE working on the new Star Wars: Battlefront. As you said, that’s pretty much a match made in heaven for fans… but those sorts of dream collaborations don’t happen often. I’m glad you say that because it was almost not happening. It was just something as boring as resources and availability. The DICE guys…
2.2.1 Datamined Info SWTOR
Alright, here we go again. You know we’re waiting on more details from 2.2.1 so if you’re looking for the scoop, this data mine might help you out. As always, take what you read here with a grain of salt. We don’t work for Bioware and even if we did, there’s a good chance we wouldn’t even know what’s going to make it into a final version of the game update. But it’s sure fun to speculate. WARNING: May contain spoilers. swtor_miner has some more data mined info for us. I don’t have a whole lot of free time right now, so this isn’t going to be a full exposé. I see that Werit already datamined the new abilities. But he didn’t really datamine the items. Vehicles: Aratech Verdant Aratech Ghost Aratech Red Spirit Aratech Techno Red Sphere Emotes: Emote: Stylish Dance – Use this item to learn the /Style…
Al Pacino In ‘Star Wars’ As Han Solo? It Almost Happened
Al Pacino In ‘Star Wars’ As Han Solo? Well, that sure would have made for an interesting movie, no? Before you get all excited, it’s not happening but Al Pacino says it almost did. According to Al, Al Pacino almost played Han Solo in “Star Wars.” “”It was mine for the taking but I didn’t understand the script,” Pacino said in London over the weekend during an event called “An Evening With Al Pacino.” Harrison Ford apparently did understand the script; he, of course, played Solo in three “Star Wars” films and is expected to reprise his role in the 2015 sequel directed by J.J. Abrams. And apparently he’s not the only one who was offered the role but has turned it down before Harrison Ford was picked up. And there were other women in line to play Princess Leia back then too. Sissy Spacek, Jodie Foster, Cindy Williams and Amy Irving…