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 Charles Onyett 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. Could BioWare have done too good of a job with the story in SWTOR?

Onyett says:

My main concern is what happens when the story ends. I'll meet no new quest givers who care what I do or fear what I say. I'll run through the same corridors of enemies time and time again for a percent chance to achieve a reward. I'll play the same Warzones until I'm dressed in the same pointed hat or feathery armor as everyone other Sorcerer at the level cap. No longer will I be a Sith Lord. I'll be just another MMO player running on a galactic treadmill. The fantasy will be over, the mystique gone.

Read his full story and tell us what you think. Do you agree? Will the fantasy wear off when the story is over or will you roll another toon and start a new story? 

Read more at IGN.

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Family Research Council against Gay Relationships in SWTOR

You will remember that some time ago, some SWTOR players complained that the game did not give the option for same sex companion relationships. BioWare first defended this decision by explaining that homosexual relationships did not exist in the original Star Wars worlds, at least not that were known to us from the storyline.

However, it seems they have changed their tone to meet the demands of the fans as they have announced that they will be launching a same-sex romance component to the game in a future patch. This is completely optional and players will choose whether or not they want to romance companions of the same sex or not. Many gay fans are celebrating the news but of course the voices of those against it are just as loud (maybe louder?). 

The Family Research Council (FRC) is speaking out against the gay relationships in SWTOR and had this announcement recently:

Rebel Fleet Surrenders to Gay Empire

In a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists! Hello, I'm Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. In a galaxy not so far far away, Star Wars gamers have already gone to the dark side. The new video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, has added a special feature: gay relationships. Bioware, the company that developed the game, said it's launching a same-sex romance component to satisfy some complaints. That surprised a lot of gamers, since Bioware had made it clear in 2009 that "gay" and "lesbian" don't exist in the Star Wars universe. Since the announcement, homosexuals have been celebrating the news, but parents sure aren't. On the game's website, there are more than 300 pages of comments--a lot of them expressing anger that their kids will be exposed to this Star Warped way of thinking. You can join them by logging on and speaking up. It's time to show companies who the Force is really with!

So what do you think? Are you happy about the addition to the game or are you with the FRC? Do you really care either way? Personally, I don’t like to play romance in the game and I do not choose romantic relationships with my companions. It’s just not fun for me. But what do I care if someone else wants to? And on another note, not every person who wants to do a same-sex romance in the game may be homosexual in real life. Maybe they are just wanting to role play or goof around. 

Are we making too much out of what is essentially just a game?

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Kinect Star Wars Funny Duel with Darth Vader: Video

One reason I got a Kinect was for Star Wars, I admit. My son seconded that decision as the 5-year-old is a huge Star Wars fan. He has Lego Star Wars for his DSi and was thrilled when he found out about Kinect Star Wars. 

So anyway, for those of you who maybe don’t know what it is all about yet, there is a great video to show you what it’s all about.

Kinect Star Wars Funny Duel with Darth Vader is a great video for laughs and also to get people talking about the game. Remember, with Kinect Star Wars, YOU are the controller.

Check it out:

[VIA TORWARS]

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Maximizing Medals in PvP

I just wanted to share a few tips that I use in pvp to make grinding commendations and valour more efficient and making those losses not bad as they seem.

I'm a vanguard tactics spec trooper so other vanguards will find this pretty helpful as well as some other advanced classes.

Damage medals

There are a few in this category and they come at 75k and 300k damage done plus the 2.5k single shot. The 75k should be easy for dps classes and 2.5k in a single shot isn't unreasonable. Pick up a power up, use stim/adrenals if you're biochem and it is an easy medal. Obviously aim for low level players and use any cooldowns together with relics for extra attack. On my right bar I have my adrenal, relic and 25% crit ability. I just activate these at the same time and I can hit upwards of 4k. Every damage class can get these.

Killing blow

Self explanatory. Healing classes should at least try to get a shot off on a wounded target, when I run premades and I'm with a medic I let the person finish the target for the medal. We also let each other get an assassin medal while defending the node (no interfering in the fight) if it doesn't compromise the node.

Medic:

Anyone can get this one and it is especially easy for biochemists to do this one. I use the level 40 (may be 48) reusable medpac and pop it in combat whenever I need. It heals from 2.2-2.7k with trauma up so I never finish a WZ without this one. For those that don't have reusable med pacs, there is a daily that awards you with a few pvp specific healing items. I haven't tested those out myself, but from what I hear they can be used to get medic easily.

Protection:

This is the interesting medal that is often overlooked. I don't know how many classes have access to taunts, but those who do can easily add another 2 medals per warzone with one extra keybind.

Taunt in pvp has the effect of reducing an enemy's damage when they are not attacking the taunting target. The damaged negated by this effect is measured and you recieve medals based on how much damage is mitigated. From what I've managed to achieve, there is one medal awarded for 2k damage protected without dying (taunt a target attacking an ally, by the time the fight is over you likely will have this medal). 5k protected is also another medal but this one doesn't seem to have to be in a single life. They are easy to get, all you have to do is spam taunt every so often. It only benefits the team and will give you extra points.

A lot of the above is common knowledge to those more experienced in warzones, but hopefully this helps a few who want to make their time worth more during their games. Below is a complete list for all the PvP Warzone medals you can earn.

Medals Accumulated Earn 50 Valor and 5 Warzone commendations each

Medal Ranking:

• The Gold ranking is awarded for earning 6 or more medals during a match
• The Silver ranking is awarded for 3-5 medals
• The Bronze ranking is awarded for 1-2 medals

Announcements (thanks Ayestes):

• Unbeatable announcement is unlocked if you earn 4 medals without dying.
• Invincible announcement is unlocked if you earn 7 medals without dying.
• Immortal announcement is unlocked if you earn 9 medals without dying.

Medals:

1. Medic – 2.5k healing from a single heal
2. Demolisher – 2.5k damage from a single attack
3. Trauma Surgeon – 5k healing from a single heal
4. Anihilator - 5K damage from a single attack
5. Quick Draw – Getting a killing blow on one player
6. Combatant – Dealing 75k damage
7. Destroyer - Dealing 300K damage
8. Healer - Healing 75K
9. Savior - Healing 300K
10. Defender – Earning 1k Defender Points
11. Warden - Earning 3k Defender Points
12. Assassin – Killing a player in a one-on-one fight
13. Shield – 5k Protection
14. Protector - 50K Protection (thanks meatballz/adlarn)
15. Guardian – 2k Protection since last death
16. Paladin – 10k Protection since last death
17. Commando – Killing 10 enemy players
18. Soldier – Killing 25 enemy players

Valor Titles: Every 10 ranks in valor will give you a new title -
Note: Valor Rank 60 is required to open Battlemaster Bags

1. Skirmisher – Valor Rank 10
2. Duelist – Valor Rank 20
3. Gladiator – Valor Rank 30
4. Centurion – Valor Rank 40
5. Champion – Valor Rank 50
6. Battlemaster – Valor Rank 60
7. War Hero – Valor Rank 70
8. Conqueror – Valor Rank 80
9. Warlord – Valor Rank 90
10. Elite Warlord – Valor Rank 100

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TOR TV: What Do Smugglers Do?

Youtube user Zadenk made this little gem of machinima. Vidoes like this mame me realize that most Jedi dialog is pretty boring, compared with the stuff you get away with as a non-Force user.

I also love the fact that people are being super creative on top of BioWare's creativity. I mean it's a win, win. Great game and cool videos from people.



Interested in SWTOR Movies? We have new movies most weekdays here on swtorstrategies! Have suggestions for movie we ought to feature? Get in contact with us here

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Dualshockers Interview: BioWare’s Cory Butler and the Future of SWTOR

You know how we love bringing you great SWTOR news and interviews so here’s a good one from DualShockers with BioWare’s Cory Butler. In this 2,000 word interview with Butler, we learn a lot about the future of SWTOR.

Here’s a snippet:

Giuseppe: As you may have seen from my review, I really like the game, and so do many others. I gather that the launch was a definite success, but what are your personal impressions about this first month of The Old Republic? 

Cory: It’s gone really really well. We’ve been preparing for this for a lot of time, running fire drills, planning for the worst and working for the best. We were pleasantly surprised with the server stability and just how smooth the launch went, knock on wood. 

G: Star Wars: The Old Republic is a direct sequel to Knights of The Old Republic, but it’s obviously an entirely different game and an entirely different challenge to develop. What determined the choice to go the MMORPG route? Is there any chance, in the future, to see another single player Knights of The Old Republic game? 

C: I don’t know about that. Star Wars: The Old Republic is actually multiple sequels to the original Knights of the Old Republic. It’s really not something we’ve talked about here at BioWare Austin, but you know, I certainly learned to never say never.

This is a particularly interesting interview because they asked some fun, great questions. For example, they ask if George Lucas got to actually try the game himself. They also talk about the content that is coming to SWTOR that we won’t see until 2013 or later. They also talk about secrets in the game such as the pink lightsaber crystals.

It’s definitely a fun interview and it’s chock full of great info.

Read more over at DualShockers.

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Georg Zoeller Answers Player Asking for Ship Droid Weapons

If you’ve played SWTOR long enough to get your ship then you have met your ship companion. These lovable droids live to please their master but C2-N2 (and 2V-R8) do not have weapons and they tell you when you meet them that they are not armed for combat.

One player asked a question in the forums:

I have got alot of weapons and cant see a weapon I can equip for C2N2.
I tried looking on the web but no answers could someone help me plz.
Thanks

And while other players attempted to explain that C2-N2 is a non-combat companion best suited to going on missions for you, the real fun began when Georg Zoeller came in with an official explanation.

The official response:

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you in response to your complaint about our product, the C2-N2 droid. We regret that you are experiencing difficulties with this award winning, state of the art household droid.

Sadly, we have to inform you, that the C2-N2 droid, and its Imperial counterpart, the 2V-R8 autonomous ship maintenance unit, are not rated for combat at this time.

Several regrettable incidents, including the loss of a full squad of SIS operatives (apparently triggered by a malfunctioning speech unit voicing its congratulations to the undercover team during a deep cover infiltration mission), have lead the Republic Technical Support Corps to revoke the combat certification from these units and forced us to replace the 'advanced weapon and martial training ROM' from the programming of the unit.

These facts have been clearly disclosed to customers at time of sale, as well as in the programmatic introductory conversation program voiced upon owner transfer.

For this reason, we cannot take responsibility for your problems.

We are however pleased to announce that future updates to the unit's artificial intelligence core will dramatically increase the efficiency of it's emergency medical protocol features - and add some other, more questionable features.

The C2 Droid Corporation is also pleased to announce that we have started investigations into a new line of droid casings and cores, aimed at improving the efficiency of the unit's assembly and construction features. No official release date for this line of top end equipment has been determined at this point.

We thank you for your interest in our product.

The Management

C2-N2 - The only thing that crits is his voice in your earchannel!

So there you have it! Ship droids won’t have weapons and this is why. Funny stuff.

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TOR TV: Star Fleet Dental kill some guy over and over

Star Fleet Dental has uploaded a new movie. This time it's all about killing, grieving and corpse camping.
You might wan't to check this forum thread before this video make any sense.

Members of Starfleet Dental were given the extraordinary chance to test their skills against the self-declared top player of Veela and SWTOR forum loudmouth "Territo".

A hard fought battle that ultimately ended in sadness as sweet, sweet Arus foolishly challenged Territo to a duel.

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The Guild Sphere: Martial Cadence

League of Legends anyone? 

Today I had the chance to speak with Eroth from Martial Cadence. The guild is currently recruiting people on Darth Bandon and raid primarily on Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:30p.m. est (7:30 central). they are a guild formed by real life friends and currently the most progressed that they know of on the server, Republic side. They have all but Hard Mode Soa down, and they are looking for skilled players to fill some slots. They are currently looking for ranged DPS especially, and if enough interest is had they will start looking into 16 man. Check out the interview below:

Where did your guilds name come from?
When we were getting ready for the game to release, we had to deliberate on what the guild was going to be called. After getting some of them shot down that were my favorites, (Serious Business was my favorite of the candidates) I took a name from a League of Legends character. It's actually the passive on Jarvan IV; after googling what it meant I suggested it to the guild and they accepted it.

Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild?
We're a guild made up of real life friends and friends we've made while leveling up in Star Wars. We do raids, PVP, and try to keep it friendly by helping out.

How did your guild come about?
When Bioware set up the ability to start the guilds before launch many months ago, we all got together and made it. After launch we got a lot of our people from talking to the other people leveling and wanting to raid at 50, and we actually did a few cooperative raids before we had enough to field our own raid.

What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE, PvP, RP:
We're mostly a PvE guild, but many in guild enjoy the PvP in the game, so you'll find them doing PvP often. We're pushing to get all of the Hard Ops killed, but not exceptionally hard for it.


What is your guild set up? How do you run your guild?
Right now the guild is mainly a casual set up, we don't have a lot of authoritarian control needed for decisions because we can come to a decision amongst ourselves.

How serious do you play and/or run the guild?
I'm leveling an alt right now because we are severely lacking ranged DPS, and we need it for fights. I'm not rushing to 50 with it but I'm trying to get it done as quick as possible with my schedule.

Do you have ranks or a certain hierarchy in your guild?
We do have ranks, but they really don't mean anything at the moment. They're mostly there so people can invite who have been around and are good judges of how well someone does.

Why did you choose the Republic
It was pretty much a 50/50, I can't remember the decision making but it was close for both.

Why do you run a guild?
We're currently the farthest progressed guild on this somewhat tiny server, so when it comes to raiding we might as well keep running the guild to try to push.

How do you approach Raid Planning?
We ask our raiders (8 of them) what time is best, and the general consensus and scheduling fits with 8:30 eastern and on. We usually go for the normals first, then go for the Hard Ops.

Are you always open for new recruits or do you want to keep a certain guild size?
We are open for new recruits, we have around 12 raiders in our roster and we're thinking of doing either 16 man or 2 8 mans.

Age Requirement?
We currently have none, but try to be mature.

Guild size?
We're not trying to go for the largest guild, we're just trying to go for an amount of people that isn't overwhelming.

What makes your guild stand out from everyone else? What makes your guild unique?
We have raiders who have experience from other MMOs with hardcore raiding. While the guild wasn't made specifically for hardcore raiding, we are trying to push forward in progress.

What do you think of the game so far?
It's a good game, it needs polish for the endgame for some pretty glaring bugs (Bonethrasher only able to be done on 1 difficulty this week, Soa randomly despawns, Pylon boss just not working sometimes), and the PvP isn't balanced for competitive play. Other than that, the leveling was great and the flashpoints were well done, just some mechanics need work.

What Other Games are you currently playing as a guild?
There are some of us who play League of Legends, Tribes, Dungeon Defenders. Not too many as a guild outside of those.

If somebody is interested now how and where can they apply for membership?
If someone's interested they can send an ingame mail to Eroth or Skedar, or they can contact me through e-mail at eroth.t@gmail.com

One last question, if there was one thing you could ask the Dev's to include, what would it be?
The ability for the Empire to defect to the Republic as a one time thing. I think it might help for some population balance, but it probably would break even more things. Who knows.

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Gabe Amantangelo Interview

Totalbiscuit aka The Cynical Brit got an Interview with Gabe Amantangelo up at his youtube channel.

Topics Covered

• Flashpoints (2:00)
• Questing/Immersion (5:00)
• Balancing skills PvP/PvE (10:00)
• PvP Level Brackets (13:00)
• Faction Imbalance/Ilum issues (14:30)
• UI Customization (17:30)
• Crafting Professions (21:15)
• Endgame Character Development (23:00)

All of the right questions were asked, nothing new or concrete was given in return. Due to this, TotalBiscuit has mentioned  that he might not do any more BioWare interviews, as it is impossible to get any interesting   answers our of the company  employees.

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Is SWTOR Too Big for its Britches?

There’s been a lot of talk about SWTOR, its cost, its expectations and whether or not it is actually too big for its britches in the gaming scene. LA Times recently covered a piece which questions whether or not SWTOR could be the “costliest game of all time.”

LA Times says:

With a price tag approaching $200 million, Star Wars: The Old Republic is likely to be the most expensive game of all time to produce -- and a colossal gamble for the game's publisher, Electronic Arts Inc.

And they go on with:

BioWare, the EA studio responsible for the online game, had spent close to six years on the title, hiring hundreds of programmers, writers and artists, as well as a legion of contract workers. The hope is that The Old Republic will attract millions of players, each willing to spend $60 to buy the game and $15 or so a month to play out their fantasies of being Jedi knights or Sith warriors.

Many will agree that they have set a high standard for themselves with such a huge budget on a game. Will they be able to live up to the hype and the investment?

In still another LA Times post, they discuss the game that BioWare is taking with such a large project. They explain:

The narrative is so huge that writers created a 1,000-page “bible” to keep the details straight, and the director recently asked a colleague not to spoil moments he hadn’t yet seen.

It’s not a movie or a TV series. It’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, the most expensive, ambitious and riskiest video game ever produced.

The Times writers might be on to something here- there is definitely a big risk involved in this game and honestly, many who have tried SWTOR just don’t feel it’s lived up to the expectations and hype. But then again, you cannot please everyone and there are loads who are still happy to pay their $15/month to keep playing in the galaxies far, far away. 

“The real test is whether they can retain subscribers in the long run,” said analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen & Co.

That’s really what it all comes down to, isn’t it? 

Read more:

Star Wars: The Old Republic- the story behind a galactic gamble

Star Wars: The Old Republic- the costliest game of all time?

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Is the SWTOR Launcher Issue Keeping you from Playing?

An irritating launcher issue is affecting some SWTOR players and they are unable to play the game at all. Due to a problem in the recent 1.1 update, they are unable to launch the game

Complaints on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forum explain the problem and BioWare staff do try to offer a solution until a more permanent fix can be found.

"We are recommending anyone who is encountering problems with installing main assets to use the 'repair' option in the launcher," said a BioWare spokesperson. 

"I know some of you have mentioned that you have tried it and a similar error occurs but it can sometimes take multiple passes for the repair to fix the problem files.

"When you run the repair option it will appear that it is going to download the full 12gb assets. This is not the case. The repair function will scan through all of the asset files and will repair any file that has been corrupted. If after running the repair it gives an error saying it needs to repair again it just means you need to run it again as it missed a file that was causing a problem. 

"Some of you have said that this works, so I'd ask for the rest of you to try it as well and let us know how it goes."

BioWare said they are in the process of looking into the problem and trying to fix it, which in all honesty, they have been doing a pretty good job of with other similar bugs in the game.

Read more at Videogamer.com

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BioWare Bans Old Republic Player for Using Internet Meme

"I'm 12 and what is this".
Is BioWare meme-ignorant or was this an awesome case of self-owning? Here’s an interesting story of a recent SWTOR ban. Apparently, this user/gamer was banned for using an Internet meme:

"I'm 12 and what is this".

According to the reports (Kotaku and Reddit), this player posted the popular meme in a forum post and was then “permanently suspended” for age violation, as the game requires you to be 13 or older to play.  (The writer in me loves that Kotaku pointed out that a "Permanent suspension" is a bit of an oxymoron.)

Here is an image of the Community Support message regarding the alleged ban:

While many readers are calling this outrageous, we have to be realistic about it. How is BioWare to know that the user was, in fact, using an Internet meme and not actually 12 years old and violating their terms? 

Even if the person is of age, by saying in the forums that they were not, they compromised their account. What do you think about it? Is BioWare wrong for the banning? Should they reinstate the account if the person explains it was a joke and proves they are over 13 years old? 

Some are saying BioWare is going too far in their restrictions and bans in SWTOR. Do you agree or do you think this guy got just what he deserves?

And just in case you don't believe the story is true, he made a video to prove it to us:

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SWTOR Ability Delay Fixed after January 24th Patch

This is the fix a great number of people have been waiting on and it’s finally here and confirmed by players. The ability delay bug is reportedly fixed, according to players. What a relief!

Of all the players happy to see this fix, snipers seem to be the happiest as it greatly affected their class play.

While I am not surprised at all that they fixed it, I am impressed that they fixed it so quickly. 

As Massively reports:

Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller announced today that the infamous ability delay should be clearing up nicely, thanks to an overnight 1.1.0b patch. He says BioWare didn't want to wait until the next big patch to roll it out, opting to instead deliver it as quickly to players as possible.

However, Zoeller also notes that the team "is not done improving combat responsiveness" and has several other tweaks and fixes in the work for patch 1.1.1. Other areas of improvement that BioWare is investigating include UI clarity, making cast bars more accurate, and rectifying timing differences for specific abilities and animations.

Read more player opinions on Reddit and in the Official Forums.

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1.1.0b Patch Notes - 1/24/2012

BioWare used todays maintenence to patch a few issiues. The most important this time was fix that should help out on the ability delay that has been hevely debated. Check out the patch notes below:

 

1.1.0b Patch Notes – 1/24/2012

General

• Implemented optimizations to improve performance on Republic and Imperial Fleets.

Classes and Combat

• Significantly improved the delay when activating player abilities, particularly when in lower framerate situations. This allows for improved ability responsiveness in hectic combat situations.

Operations

 

General

• Operations will no longer allow more than 16 Operations Group members to enter concurrently.

Karagga’s Palace

• Operations Groups will no longer be forced to reset the Operation if the group wipes when attempting to defeat G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator.
• Fixed an exploit that would allow players to repeatedly loot the chest after defeating Jarg and Sorno.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that could cause graphical inconsistencies, which most often manifested as random screen “flickering.”

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