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Did Doctors Leave BioWare over Mass Effect Fan Negativity?

It was big news for BioWare when the founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk announced they would both be leaving the company for good, and to pursue other avenues in life. However, as we said when we first brought you the story, it seemed like there may be more to it than that. David Lynch for Now Gamer writes about some reasons why the doctors may have actually left BioWare. After speaking with Ex-BioWare co-founder and Baldur’s Gate developer, Trent Oster they obtained some information that might indicate there is more behind the doctors’ departures. “The last time I met up with [Greg], I felt his exhaustion,” explained Oster. “Punch out, eject, get the hell out”, was my suggestions to him and it hit closer to the mark than I had realised. I also think the Mass Effect 3 fan reaction and the Old Republic fans negativity was just too…

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Known Issues: Game Update 1.4

If you’ve been playing SWTOR after 1.4, then you already know there are some bugs and issues. Well, BioWare staff are aware of them as well. This is to be expected any time a large new game update comes out but if you’re wondering whether or not you should report a problem or if it is already a known bug, they released a thread today to help you. Here are the known bugs and issues in Game update 1.4 from Amber Green: Hello everyone! We appreciate you joining us to play Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, and we hope you enjoy the game. As MMORPGs are large and complex projects, inevitably we do discover issues that may affect gameplay. We’re working constantly to fix anything that will affect the player experience, but for now this is our current list of high priority in-game known issues. Please note that this is not…

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Game Update 1.4: Terror From Beyond patch notes

The highly awaited Patch 1.4 Available for Download! Just opened your launcher and start downloading the patch. Seems to be around 850 mb.  Below are the patch notes: Highlights Terror from Beyond, a new Operation, is now available! Travel to the remote planet of Asation, where the Dread Masters have commandeered an ancient Gree Hypergate in order to unleash untold horrors upon the galaxy. Terror from Beyond features 5 powerful new boss encounters that can be challenged in 8- and 16- player Story or Hard Mode, offering some of the most challenging group content yet! A new set of PvE gear is available! Dread Guard gear is now the most powerful PvE equipment in the galaxy. It can be acquired from deep within Terror from Beyond (Hard Mode). Significant changes have been made to crowd control to address the amount of control a player can be subject to at once. See the…

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TOR TV: SWTOR Explained #9: Meetra Surik Part 2 (Jedi Exile and Kotor 2)

xZeroTolerence55x have uploaded the second part of the Meetra Surik  the Jedi Exile from Kotor 2. story. If you have no clue who Meetra Surik is, she was a charismatic female Human Jedi Master who, while still a Padawan, followed Revan and Malak to war against the Mandalorians, in defiance of the Jedi Council. Because of this she was exiled from the Jedi Order and came to be known as the Jedi Exile. Just prior to Revan and Malak’s fall to the dark side and the Jedi Civil War, Meetra Surik returned to Republic space to face trial with the Jedi Council and was stripped of her connection to the Force, exiled from the Order and spent several years wandering the galaxy. The near extermination of the Jedi Order at the hands of the Sith Triumvirate resulted in her reconnecting to the Force and leading a desperate fight to stop the Sith. During her mission to stop the Sith, she…

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BioWare pledges six-week content update schedule for Star Wars: The Old Republic

BioWare Austin General Manager Matt Bromberg recently spoke with AusGamers about Star Wars: The Old Republic’s free-to-play option and future content updates. PC Gamer has more on that story and what it means to us. With the free to play model coming soon, many existing players want to know what we can expect from future updates to the game. So PC Gamer asked about  the timelines for future updates to Warzones, Flashpoints and Operations. PC Gamer reports:  “We’re committed to a roughly six-week schedule for major updates — a new Warzone, Flashpoint, Operation, and event — on a regularly frequent cadence,” Bromberg said. Bromberg also reiterated planned incentives for recouping paid subscribers with closed accounts when The Old Republic’s new account system executes this fall, saying, “We announced that subscribers who have lapsed are already qualified to get Cartel Coins, which will be the in-game currency in the game once…

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Game Update 1.4 is now on PTS, here are the patch notes

BioWare have already hinted alot about the upcomming patch 1.4 with there dev blog the other day. Now we get to try out the patch on the public test servers.  Seems like a ton of great changes overall. Match to chest for companions, offhand modification, new gear level, addressing the pvp gear gap, return to where you were after a lfg queue… lots of stuff that they have listened to people asking for. Check  out the patch notes below: Highlights Terror from Beyond, a new Operation, is now available! Travel to the remote planet of Asation, where the Dread Masters have commandeered an ancient Gree Hypergate in order to unleash untold horrors upon the galaxy. Terror from Beyond features 5 powerful new boss encounters that can be challenged in 8- and 16- player Story or Hard Mode, offering some of the most challenging group content yet! A new set of PvE gear…

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Jeff Hickman Interview

With the news of SWTOR going free to play, there are many who want to learn as much as they can about the game or any changes being made in the upcoming updates to the game. Even those who are already fans are listening with eager ears to anything new. This interview with Jeff Hickman didn’t have any big secret reveals over the game but it did have some very interesting topics and some insight into the very experience Jeff Hickman and his work on SWTOR. RPG Site says: With a background rooted in Mythic Entertainment, Hickman has a long history with MMOs – first on Dark Age of Camelot and then on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We quizzed him not only on the future of The Old Republic, but of the MMO genre in general. Here’s what he said. They came prepared with some great questions and Hickman…

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Star Wars prequels 3D reissues set for back-to-back releases in Fall 2013

Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox are taking a page out of the successful 1997 re-release of the original “Star Wars” trilogy as they prepare for a 3-D launch of two more movies from the space saga next year. “”Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” and “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,” the fifth and sixth movies — but the second and third chronologically — will be released in 3-D on Sept. 20, 2013 and Oct. 11, 2013, respectively. Lucasfilm announced the news on its Facebook page Monday. Putting the two movies three weeks apart mirrors Fox and Lucasfilm’s strategy 15 years ago when the original “Star Wars,” “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” were re-released in three-week increments over the winter. The approach can help create the feeling of a major fan event lasting a month or more. It will also save marketing dollars, as Fox (which handles distribution and…

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TOR TV: Directive 7 Hard Solo

Youtube user NadaButH8 posted a video of him soloing Directive 7 on  Hard mode.  Pretty impressive stuff if you think of how good gear you have to optain for your self and your companion before doing this. Boss fights are played at normal speed, everything else is 2X (Bonus Boss was not attempted) Boss name–Time -Assassin Droids– 2:20 -Interrogator– 7:45 -Bulwark– 11:23 -Assembler– 16:52 -Mentor– 19:20

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Holocron Computer Case Mod

I love custom computer cases. I know most everyone thinks they are cool or could think of a custom case they would like to have but I have a real obsession with these. I am addicted to see what people can do with their computer cases and I have seen some of the most amazing cases you can imagine. There are those that are artistic, practical, water cooled, fish tank cases and more. But this one that we came across is one you’re probably going to love as much as me. This is a Holocron computer case mod. It’s really awesome looking and they photo-logged how they did it on Tumblr so you can see the whole 21 day process for yourself. Maxwell explains to Tumblr a little about what they were doing at the start of the project: After this coming weekend, we will have more exciting progress to…

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Schematics Leaving the End Game of SWTOR

Have you been wondering why there are no end game schematics for your crafting skills in SWTOR? You are not alone and other people have brought this question to the forums where Allison Berryman, Senior Community Coordinator for SWTOR, gives us a little insight into why this is. I talked to Systems Designer David Hunt about this, and (related to this question), he told me that content in the near future generally won’t have schematics as drops in endgame content, and that those high-end schematics will come from reverse engineering. So, for content in the near future, schematics for all crafting skills won’t generally be part of those end game loot tables. It makes sense, when you think about it. But some players feel like crafting is just not balanced right now and that more needs to be done to even out the crew skills. Do you think it will…

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Peter Moore Gives BioWare Vote of Confidence

BioWare has had a challenging year of ups and downs. There has been a lot of criticism of BioWare after the launch of Star Wars: The old Republic. In fact, the last 18 months have been rocky for BioWare. First, there was the disappointing release of Dragon Age 2 and then SWTOR did not perform as well as predicted and finally, there was the drama over the ending of Mass Effect 3. So it’s safe to say this has been a challenging year to year and a half for BioWare. However, this doesn’t mean the company has sunk. They are still a leader in the industry and Peter Moore, EA COO, has a lot of confidence in the future of BioWare. Eurogamer reports: BioWare has called on player feedback as it creates Dragon Age 3, released free downloadable content to add context to the divisive Mass Effect 3 ending, and…

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Ancient Hypergates Gameplay

Are you excited about the new SWTOR Warzone, Ancient Hypergates? I was definitely interested in knowing more about this warzone, the objectives and what it would be like. I really enjoy PVP in SWTOR but doing the same warzones over and over can get boring. A new warzone will be a nice refreshing addition to the game. Anyway, some of the folks in Cologne, Germany at Gamescom were able to visit the SWTOR booth and get a good look at Ancient Hypergates for themselves. Here’s some info on it complete with a gameplay video so you can see for yourselves: The objective of the warzone is to activate the two pylons which then start a countdown before they explode. To save yourself from the explosion all players must go to the middle room where they fight it out until the explosion is over. All the while each kill brings you…

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The Grand Acquisition Ends Tuesday

Joveth Gonzalez | Online Community Manager stopped by the forums to let us know that the Grand Acquisition will be ending on Tuesday so now  is your chance to get in and complete the world event over the weekend. If you haven’t started yet, now is the time. The post reads: The Chevin Conglomerate has decreed that you will have until next Tuesday (August 21st) at 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8 AM BST/9AM CEST/5PM AEST) to finish up the Grand Acquisitions Race. They’ve also decreed that the Shady Dealer will remain for an additional week after the race ends, citing “feedback” as the primary reason. Good luck! So now you know how long the event is up and it’s time to get out there and get started (or finished) if you haven’t already.

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SWTOR New Operation Terror from Beyond

There’s a lot of great news coming out of Gamescom today, including exciting news from EA. SWTOR is getting some great new features, including a new operation called Terror from Beyond. In an EA press conference this morning, we learned about the new changes and additions to SWTOR. Matthew Bromberg, new head of BioWare Austin, confirmed a number of new changes for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Challenge of the Chevin, the new SWTOR live event, was launched today. But then there is more (coming next month): Terror from Beyond – a new Operation on Belsavis. Ancient Hypergate – a new PvP Warzone New Flying Missions – aimed at level 50 players There was also a sneak peek at a new live action trailer for the next phase in SWTOR as the Free to Play change draws nearer. It looks really exciting. Stay tuned as we will keep you updated on any new info coming out of Gamescom about…

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MMORPG Interview with Jeff Hickman and Matthew Bromberg

SWTOR is going free to play and it’s happening sooner than you think. We’re all excited about the news and here’s an interview from MMORPG.com’s William Murphy to give us more info about the game, the move to f2p and other questions you might have. It’s happening, and sooner than you might think. BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic is going F2P with a hybrid business model this fall.  Players have been wondering about it, journalists have been begging for it, and it seems that all this time BioWare’s been listening and reacting.  After being informed of the then embargoed announcement this morning, I had the rare opportunity to sit in on a call with  BioWare’s Jeff Hickman and Matthew Bromberg (who recently took over as GM of the Austin studio.    We talked about the timing, the reasons, and the way in which they believe SWTOR going F2P is just finally giving…

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SWTOR Free to Play and the Anonymous BioWare Employee

Remember not so long ago when we brought you the story of the anonymous BioWare employee who left the comments about free to play on an article? He claimed he worked for BioWare and couldn’t reveal his name and said that the fans were to blame for the current state of the game. He also predicted a free to play model was on the way. While some people believed he might be right, most others assumed it was a troll- some SWTOR hater trying to spread a rumor about the game being a flop or something or other… But very shortly after – perhaps too shortly- we get the news that the game is, in fact, going free to play. So could this anonymous poster have actually been a BioWare employee? Well, it certainly looks that way but then again, how hard was it to predict the free to play…

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Leveling Guide 1 through 400 for Artifice

The patterns in this leveling guide for Artifice crafts are only available from an Artifice Trainer and they’re for the Force users. The Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Sith Warrior and Sith Inquisitor are the classes that can use Artifice gear and mods. The primary gathering skill used in Artifice is Archaeology using artifact fragments and power crystals. The secondary mission skill needed is Treasure Hunting with Gemstones. After you complete a step, train for the next level by visiting the Artifice Crew Skill Trainer. You can cut back on some of the materials needed for crafting Artifice if you use reverse engineering for everything you craft. However, this process produces random materials so it’s impossible to calculate a precise number for players to use. For this reasons, this leveling guide is based on the materials needed when reverse engineering for Artifice is not used. Here are the materials needed for…

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SWTOR Character Sheets

Have you ever wanted to be able to share your SWTOR characters with everyone outside of the game? Want to be able to post them on your blog, SWTOR website, guild site or elsewhere on the Internet and show off your toon? Well, now it’s possible and this is a pretty nifty tool. Here’s how it came to be Spread the SWTOR looooove! A fan (Miallen) stopped in our forums with a design idea for small embeddable character sheets. Then Scorpiux and Genshen over at Cali Killed Nox (CKN) picked up the project and used Mr. Robot’s API to make these a reality. They can be embedded on any site, including Enjin guild sites, wordpress blogs, you name it. It’s one of our favorite uses of the API, along with the SimulationCraft project that imports characters. Very cool! You can go to their site right now and check it out and then make your own. Here’s…

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Individual Server Forums Coming soon(tm)

With the reduction of servers, it seems inevitable that server forums is incomming. To day we got a confirmation from Allison Berryman who posted the following on the official forums:  Allison BerrymanIndividual server forums will be implemented later this summer once we have completed automatic transfers! So there you have it. A much sort after service is now coming to a galaxy far far away. Just a heads up though. If you can’t wait, you can use the subreddits already created for each server in Star Wars: The old republic

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SWTOR Course of the Force Machinima Made by Bioware

Remember when we told you about Course of the Force the other day? “Course of the Force concludes at The Balboa Theatre in San Diego as Chris Hardwick, Ashley Eckstein, Alison Haislip and Alex Albrecht live stream the lightsaber making its way to it’s final resting spot.” BioWare has a great fun lightsaber relay race where they have taken characters in the game of SWTOR and programmed them to run the relay. We see Satele Shan a shifty Smuggler, Darth Malgus and more. But that’s not all… the video also checks in with Matt and Johan from the Nerdist podcast. Ever wonder what they’d be up to in game Then Alison Haislip and Alex Albrecht talk about the Jawa Pleasurebarge, the King of Fast, and more. And of course, there is a highlight reel for those of you who were not there who want to catch up on everything that happened at Course…

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Community Q&A: 7/13/12

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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SWTOR: New mount reveal and continuous free trial

As we told you yesterday, BioWare made some big announcements yesterday. Announcements to show that they are serious about bringing new subscribers to the game and also keeping current SWTOR players happy. The first of the great news is that their Free Trial program no longer has a time limit. It will be a continuous free trial so you can download and play up to level 15 for free for as long as you want. You can play all of the game’s eight classes up to level 15 for free to see what you think of them. This is similar to the perpetual free trials other MMOs offer. Also like other games, there are some restrictions on these free accounts: access to the Galactic Market ability to use in-game chat can’t send and receive mail from players However, they will receive in-game mail such as the messages and rewards sent by…

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