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…
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…
1.3.2 Patch Notes 7/10/2012
Servers are back up after this weeks maintenance, and BioWare have deployed a new patch. The best news of all is that the refer-a-friend mount is in and retrospective. On top of that, I’ve just picked it up on my lv10 Marauder who has the first rank of legacy vehicles (i.e. can ride a rank 1 speeder at lv10) and not only can he use the Kurtob Alliance, it actually gives him 110% speed. So, 40k credits for an epic speeder if you can convince your friends to subscribe! Also remember that the Play free to level 15 starts today. Patch notes below the new refer-a-friend mount screenshot. 1.3.2 Patch Notes 7/9/2012 General The new free trial allows anyone to create a Star Wars: The Old Republic account and play up to level 15 free of charge with no time limit. Classes and Combat General Stat bonuses derived from buffs that increase attributes and ratings are now…
The LEGO SWTOR Sets are Now Available in the US
If you’re a fan of LEGO or Star Wars collectibles, you might already know about the Star Wars LEGO sets. We have several in our home and now, LEGO has released their newest two LEGO SWTOR and summer series sets. While Toys R Us is also carrying them, Amazon is the clear choice of where to get them because they have all the set in stock for retail price, no tax to most states and free shipping on orders above $25. My kids are huge LEGO fans and Star Wars fans so I’m thinking we’ll have to save up for sets for them and for us. These will make a fantastic collector’s piece. LEGO Star Wars 9500 Sith Fury-class Interceptor LEGO Star Wars 9497 Republic Striker-class Starfighter Amazon has both building sets and planet sets as follows in their summer collections. Building Sets: Desert Skiff (reg.$24.99) Saesee Tinn’s Starfighter (reg.$29.99) Republic…
EU now Allows the Sale and Purchase of SWTOR Accounts
Is it legal to sell your SWTOR account if you are no longer playing it? If you live in Europe, it will be. A European court has now deemed it legal to resale the rights to used software licenses, no matter how or where they were obtained. This includes video games like SWTOR. “A European court has ruled that it’s permissible to resell software licenses even if the package has been downloaded directly from the Internet. It sided with a German firm in its legal battle with US giant Oracle.” Basically this means that you can buy and sell your SWTOR account as you please in Europe. But what does this mean for items or credits? That we are not sure on yet. The article explains: “The ruling made it clear that trade in used software was permissible even if the software had not been shipped on a physical medium…
Is 1.3 Worth Returning to SWTOR For?
Some players have given up on SWTOR. Now will 1.3 be enough to relight their fires and bring them back to the game? Bioware certainly hopes so but what are the players saying? Well, the overall atmosphere is pretty positive. With server transfers solving the problem of no one to play with and all the other additions and updates, SWTOR is a new game. Some say it is finally the game it should have been at launch. Maybe BioWare was too rushed to launch it fully complete but whatever the reason, players are now saying they’re happy with the outcome of the game. Ranked warzones, new gear, looking for group finders and more mean the game is now more accessible than ever before. When you add to this that there will be more updates, more new content and free play up to 15 levels, you can see why the interest…
Commmunity Q&A June 12
This week’s Q&A went up yesterday, and includes interesting information regarding armor set development cycles, random loot tables, and more. Also an interesting piece of information is the fact we now get more character slots. Read the full thread at the official forums, or our Copy paste below: Posted by: Community Q&A: June 22nd, 2012rong> Pargon: I’m curious about the development cycle for something like an armor set. Could you elaborate on the process you guys go through when designing and implementing that equipment? Ryan Dening (Lead Concept Artist) and David Hunt (Systems Designer):This is a very good and timely question as we have recently been refining parts of our approach and inspiration in response to the feedback we have gotten from our players. The first thing we do when designing a new armor set is to look at which class it’s for and what level or tier it is going to be….
BioWare Dev blog by William Wallace : Legacy Perks in Game Update 1.3
Senior Game Designer William Wallace posted a developer blog post regarding Legacy Perks in Game Update 1.3. Basically he breaks down own the Character Perks into four types of unlocks including Advancement Perks, Travel Perks, Companion Perks and Convenience Perks Legacy Perks in Game Update 1.3 Hi, I’m Senior Game Designer William Wallace. In Game Update 1.2, we introduced Legacy Unlocks, a system in which characters across your Legacy could unlock special rewards for reaching different milestones. Since Game Update 1.2 went live, your Smuggler may have learned a new skill from their Sith Inquisitor father, or you might have unlocked new species options for your classes. No matter your personal choices, you have now started to build your very own Star Wars™ legacy. With Game Update 1.3, we are continuing to expand the Legacy system by introducing the new Character Perks system. Character Perks allow you to customize each character in your Legacy,…
1.3 coming this Tuesday
We have waited and waited and waited, and finally it is here – Game Update 1.3: Allies will live this coming tuesday! Some people call this the “Jesus patch” as – together with the server merges, it should resurrect the game with it’s Aguement updates, ranked warzones and group finder! Let’s party! The patch is out same day as ME3 Extended Cut, so expect a lot of downloading that day. Posted by: CourtneyWoods Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing Scheduled Maintenance for four hours on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 from 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8 AM BST/9AM CEST/5PM AEST) until 6AM CDT (4AM PDT/7AM EDT/12PM BST/1PM CEST/9PM AEST). All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours, but could be extended. Game Update 1.3: Allies introduces new features for all Star Wars™: The Old Republic™…
Fans Fix Up Luke Skywalker’s Home
A group of very dedicated Star Wars fans took it upon themselves to recreate and build the “Lars Homestead,” which was featured as hero Luke Skywalker’s home in the first-released installment of the series, “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,” in 1977, again in the 2002 release of “Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones,” and finally in the last movie theatrically released, 2005’s “Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith.”” The igloo-shaped home, was a venture that fan Mark Dermul of Belgium began dating back to April 2001, noted on the fan’s official website, where he traveled to the African nation of Tunisia to locate where filming for the “Star Wars” series was done. Dermul and a group of other “Star Wars” fans from around the world ventured back to the Tunisian desert over the years, as part of their “Tatooine Reunion,” noted the website, and…
TOR TV: The Sith Code
Here is an older fanfilm made before SWTOR became mainstream. This video was made by DuduFilm, and uses material from the three cinimatic trailers combined with material from “force unleashed” and material from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Add to that the music from X-Men Origins (Magneto’s theme I believe? ), and you have a pretty decent way to present the Sith code: Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me
Interview with Lead Operations & Flashpoint Designer – Jesse Sky
It has been a while since we last heard from Lead Operations & Flashpoint Designer Jesse Sky. Last time Lat time we posted any word from him was back in match, but now he have news from him again. The guild Methodica recently had the chance to meet with Jesse Sky, and gained some great insight into the details and thought-process that goes into designing the content that raiders enjoy so much. Here is a snippet We generally balance bosses to be progressively more difficult over the course of a single Operation. However, our balance sheets are not always the best indicator of difficulty, especially as we increase our focus on mechanics. Some bosses require strict coordination checks, and that may pose a greater challenge to certain players than gear checks. We were surprised, for example, at how long it took players to down Toth and Zorn on PTS. That said, we do want the…
TOR TV: Dubstep and Dancing
It has been a while since we last posted a community created SWTOR movies, there for in honor of it’s Friday we give you not one, but two videos. The first movie is made by Youtube user antemb and is called “why I play the Old Republic”. The movie is a classic dancing video as enjoyable as the can get. The second movie is made by Edvard Huseby, and represent the cinematic E3 trailers cut together in a dubstep mix. Check it out: Why I play The Old Republic. Star Wars: The Old Republic – DUBSTEP
SWTOR Patch 1.3 Preview – What’s Coming Soon?
Patch 1.3 is definitely going to be one of the most influential game updates to SWTOR and any MMORPG free update. It packs a big punch with loads of new features that players have been waiting on for a very long time. Here are some of the main features coming with Game Update 1.3 and what you need to know about each. Patch 1.3 Preview -SWTOR Group Finder The long awaited group finder is finally coming. Some players have even stated previously that the lack of a group finder was a deal breaker for the end-game. It made it too difficult to find other players to do a Flashpoint or Operation with. You could spend hours (literally) sitting around spamming chat channels and begging someone to join a group with you. Then if you do get a group, there is no guarantee that any one in it really knows what…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 Trailer
Entertainment Weekly has posted the first trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 5 which was first unveiled at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Star Wars Weekends. The show’s supervising director Dave Filoni says, “There’s a lot of payoff coming. I think people are going to see ways The Clone Wars ties together more and more with A New Hope. We’re setting up elements that eventually become the Empire.” The fifth season will premiere in the US on Cartoon Network this September.
E3 Blaine Christine interview
Lucas Siegel from Newsarama.com goes in-depth with senior live producer Blaine Christine about SWTOR. They cover new features in the latest Star Wars – The Old Republic update including companion characters, social hubs and the future plans for SWTOR.
Intergalactic Intel: How to be a raid leader part 2
“You’re a what now?” Explaining things to your mother is never easy. Especially when it comes to video games. “A raid leader. I’m like the boss.” “What are you killing people’s homes and towns?” “No. What? Why would you ask that?” “You said raid leader. So you’re leading a raid.” I wanted to bury my face into my hands. Welcome back to another article of intergalactic intel. We’re continuing our in depth look at raiding with part two of raid leading. Last time we talked about tips on raid leading as well as qualifications of a good raid leader. Today we’re gonna talk about what responsibilities a raid leader has. As we all know operation encounters can be very confusing and chaotic. It’s the raid leader’s job to make heads and tails of what’s going on in the fight. . A raid leader is like a conductor in an orchestra….
Intergalactic Intel: How to be a raid leader part 1
“I could do a better job than you ever did!” I couldn’t believe I was arguing with an ex-raider on facebook. I was even more disturbed that I was being attacked by someone I considered a friend. “Trust me, you couldn’t. It was complex.” “There’s nothing complex about it!” I decided to step away from the situation at this point. I have known for quite some time, raid leading is not for everyone. Welcome back to another exciting issue of Intergalactic Intel! I’m currently explaining the finer points of raiding in detail. Last week we looked at how to analyze a fight, from strategy to team make up. This week we’re looking at one of the hardest duties in a raid being the raid leader. I’m going to split this particular one into two parts, what you need to be a raid leader and tips that I was never told…
1.2.5 Patch Notes – 5/30/2012
BioWare have taken the servers down for scheduled maintenance. The servers are still not up, and the maintenance have been extended a few times already. Do I smell patch 1.3 coming up on the public test servers? General Optimizations have been implemented that decrease instances of crashing to desktop. Any players required to change a character’s name due to Customer Support request must now make all name changes before logging in with any characters on a server. Classes and Combat General “”Heroic Moment” abilities no longer persist after players log out or transition areas. Companion Characters General Corrected an issue that could cause Companion Characters to appear without a head when wearing certain headgear. Flashpoints and Operations General Boss encounters no longer drop rewards until the entire encounter has been cleared of enemies. Flashpoints Corrected an issue that could prevent Flashpoint mission steps from updating properly if players were disconnected…
MCM Expo features SWTOR Presentation
This Star Wars: The Old Republic presentation took place recently in London at the MCM Expo. There was a Q&A session to provide more info about the game and upcoming updates and patches as well as new features we can expect to see soon. The discussion had the following topics: General Presentation of the Game Previous Updates Game Update 1.2 Legacy Presentation The Old Republic said this: This information was gathered from the available livestream provided by Gamespot and it summarizes the topics discussed in that hour, along with the Q&A. Keep in mind that at the Q&A the answers capture the essence of what was spoken. The host of this presentation was Emanuel Lusinchi, Technical Design Director for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The discussion included Game Update 1.3 Allies Presentation which tells us more about what we can expect from this update, including: Group Finder: • Bonus…
Happy Birthday, “STAR WARS”! When did you first see it?
We got so caught up in all of the Mega server news and BioWare Layoffs, that I almost forgot that last Friday was the 35th anniversary of the premiere of Star Wars. On May 25, 1977, George Lucas premiered “Episode IV: A New Hope” and changed the lives of kids like me (I don’t think I saw the movie until later in the summer, when word spread about how good the movie was). In fact, the anniversary has spawned another “holiday”, known as “Geek Pride Day.” Here’s one of my favorite scenes from the film, the attack on the Death Star (aka the “trench run”). I still get chills watching this: The effects of Star Wars on the world are too numerous to list here on this blog post. From movie-making techniques to the explosion of science-fiction in books, movies and TV and even YouTube, to video games and beyond,…
Intergalactic Intel: Making change
“Do you ever visit the official forums?” I laughed at my guild mate’s naiveté . “Why on earth would I visit the official forums?” “Well there are a lot of good ideas on it.” “And a bunch of whining babies…” “Well, how else do you get Bioware to pay attention to you?” Welcome back to another installment of Intergalactic Intel! Our topic this week is something that isn’t just limited to The Old Republic, but games in general. Being a veteran gamer I’ve seen games change, different communities evolve and adapt. I’ve also seen companies literally go to war with their customers sowing seeds of distrust and discontent. So this week we’re going to go over ways gamers can work with developers to create a better product. Step 1: Think before you post Before you start with a forum post raging about how they nerfed your class, or a fight…
Q &A for Friday May 28- Ranked Warzones is on track for 1.3!
This week’s Q&A is a special edition because we have great info on the upcoming 1.3 game update. One thing that many players are very excited about is the inclusion of ranked warzones. But that’s not all that we should expect for game update 1.3. Let’s see more of this special edition Q&A to find out. Here’s a snippet: >llesna: Can you please tell us why the upcoming Legacy additions for Game Update 1.3 are character-specific rather than Legacy-wide? Daniel Erickson (Lead Game Designer): Legacy Perks have a different purpose than global unlocks and are specifically designed to enable players to customize each individual character. Since you may not care about Space XP or running the Bonus Series missions on one character it is important that you’re not paying a premium that is calculated at the expense of 8 or more characters all gaining this benefit. This also means the…