Why Story Matters (Video)

When it comes to SWTOR, we hear talk about story more than anything else about the game.

In this video, SWTOR: Listen, Learn and Explore we can discuss story and how much emphasis has been put on it for this game. It talks about why the story is so important and how the world can unfold in a great game with an excellent storyline.

This can truly change the game

BioWare storytelling takes it a step beyond your typical game story. It really implements decisions and choices. Everything is connected and everything has a reason and a purpose in the game, including the player.

Now BioWare is bringing this to the MMORPG scene like it has never been done before. Telling a story in multiplayer can be a real challenge but BioWare takes that challenge on here with SWTOR. This video explores that.

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Faction lore: Jedi Order

The Jedi Order was an ancient and noble monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force. The Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic, and became the most famous of the various groups that relied on the Force for their power. Led by a series of Jedi Councils, the Order grew over the millennia despite facing many trials, most often threats from the Sith, wielders of the dark side of the Force.

Origins and brief history of the Order
Since the beginning and most likely before the Galactic Republic, scientists had been studying the Force and its connection to midi-chlorians. This research was conducted most notably by the Paladins of the Chatos Academy, The Followers of Palawa and the Order of Dai Bendu, on planets like Ondos and Had Abbadon. The Jedi Order itself, however, began on Tython, where the brightest and best philosophers, priests, and warriors came together long ago to discuss their discoveries involving the enigmatic, mystical positive energy called the Ashla. Those who wanted to use the Bogan, the negative energy of the Force for their personal gain ignited a century long conflict called the Force Wars, from the ashes of which arose the Jedi Order. Some of these Jedi left Tython to defend the Galaxy, and became known as Jedi Knights.

The Force Wars of Tython.

Initially the Jedi were a contemplative order, but over time they began to take a more direct and active role in galactic affairs. The Jedi followed the "light" side of the Force, using their power for unselfish and beneficial acts. In the ensuing millennia, the history of the Jedi was intertwined with both the Republic they served and the Sith they fought.

The order suffered many Schisms—the first was the Great Schism, which produced Xendor's Legions of Lettow, but the most consequential was the subsequent Hundred-Year Darkness in 7,000 BBY, where the Dark Jedi, once again defeated, were banished from known space.



They arrived on Korriban, the home of the Sith people, a primitive but Force-sensitive species. The Dark Jedi impressed the Sith with displays of Force power, and became the rulers of the planet and formed the Sith Empire. Over time, the Dark Jedi intermarried with the Sith, and the two identities merged. The term ‘Sith’ would later come to refer not only to the Sith species but also to the Dark Jedi who followed the codes of these ancient Jedi.

In 5,000 BBY the Jedi and the Sith Empire clashed in the Great Hyperspace War. The Sith were defeated, but would return to haunt the Jedi in the Old Sith Wars and the New Sith Wars.

The Battle of Coruscant during the Great Hyperspace War.

Mandalorians during the Mandalorian Wars.

Sometime over the next one thousand years, the Republic granted the Jedi land over a Force nexus: a sacred mountain on Coruscant. The Jedi eventually centralized themselves here, founding the Jedi Temple in 4,019 BBY, which would stand for four thousand years.

Between the end of the Great Sith War in 3,996 BBY and the beginning of the Mandalorian Wars in 3,963 BBY, some Jedi traditions and organizational structures seem to have changed quite radically. Jedi of the period prior to the Great Sith War were openly allowed to marry and raise families. Each Jedi apprentice would be trained at a local Praxeum run by individual Jedi Masters, each of whom had a number of students. Governance of the Jedi Order was handled by a large-scale temporary gathering called a Jedi Convocation or Jedi Assembly.

After the Great Sith War, the Jedi seem to have adopted a stricter monastic code, forbidding marriage and other family attachments. The looser Jedi Convocation gave way to a permanent Jedi Council on Coruscant, made up of 12 respected Jedi Masters. Regional enclave councils, such as the one on Dantooine, handled day-to-day issues in more remote areas, and ultimately answered to the Jedi High Council on Coruscant. This is the earliest point at which the term Padawan is verified as having been in wide use, and more individualized one-on-one relationships between Masters and Padawans replaced the larger classes of the Praxeum system. It is also possible that this was the point at which the revised version of the Jedi Code as established by Master Odan-Urr began to be accepted as the canonical version.

Political organization
Eventually the Jedi formed a central political entity called the Jedi Council. The High Council was a gathering of great minds that acted as a governing body for the Order, as well as an advisory board for the Old Republic Senate. The Jedi Council could only have 12 members at a time.

Among other tasks, the Jedi eventually became responsible for law enforcement and peacekeeping in the Galactic Republic. Many Jedi held different opinions on peacekeeping; while some favored diplomacy at all costs, others advocated a more direct approach, such as issuing "aggressive negotiations," with the majority striking a balance between the two extremes.

The Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

The Jedi Council of 4,000 BBY refused to enter the Mandalorian Wars until they felt the "threat had been assessed", taking a more passive stance on the issue. Later, perhaps due to the Order's near extinction as a result of that decision, the Jedi that rebuilt took a slightly more aggressive stance, culminating in the New Sith Wars where they actively ruled the Republic as a quasi-military dictatorship. During the Clone Wars, in the twilight years of the Galactic Republic, the Jedi acted as Generals, soldiers and military advisors in the conflict.



Timeline of major events in Jedi history

• 25,000 BBY — The Old Jedi Order is founded.
• (24,500 – 24,400 BBY) — The Great Schism
• 7,000 BBY — Hundred-Year Darkness
• 5,000 BBY — The Great Hyperspace War
• (4,015 – 3,951 BBY) — Old Sith Wars
• 3955 BBY – 3951 BBY — First Jedi Purge
• (2,000 – 1,000 BBY) — New Sith Wars
• 1,000 BBY — Ruusan Reformation strips the Jedi of their military titles.
• 32 BBY — The Sith resurface
• (22 – 19 BBY) — Clone Wars are fought, and many Jedi die or turn to the dark side.
• 19 BBY — the beginning of the Great Jedi Purge
• 19 BBY — the Sith gain control of the Galaxy by the establishment of Palpatine's Galactic Empire as the result of many years of scheming by Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious.
• 4 ABY — Luke Skywalker becomes the first of the new Jedi and manages to return his father Anakin Skywalker, known as the Sith Lord Darth Vader, to the light side. Anakin's last deed as a Jedi is to destroy Darth Sidious.
• 11 ABY — Luke builds his Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4.
• (25 – 30 ABY) — Yuuzhan Vong War.
• c. 130 ABY — Sith return to prominence

Sources
The New Essential Chronology
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Movie Scrapbook
Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary
Star Wars: The Power of Myth
Power of the Jedi Sourcebook
"The Prophecy"—Star Wars Adventure Journal 2

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Friday Update: “The Esseles” Developer Walkthrough

This weeks Friday update brings us a developer walk-through of “The Esseles”, one of the earlier flashpoints in the game. The flashpoint is Republic only and tasks players with protecting a diplomat from Sith boarding parties. Commentary is provided by Director of Production Dallas Dickinson.

The Esseles, a Republic transport that carries some of the most high-profiled members of the Galactic Senate across the galaxy, has come under siege from the opportunistic Grand Moff Kilran. Dallas Dickinson guides you along as a group of Republic heroes must band together to repel the Imperial boarding parties and retake their ship in this Developer Walkthrough.

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GameStar Exclusive interview with BioWare’s Gabe Amatangelo

German magazine GameStar.de scored an exclusive interview with Gabe Amatangelo of BioWare to discuss Operations which has fans across the globe excited. Operations are the SWTOR version of raiding and guilds and individuals alike are anxious to see any info they can about it. 

The September issue of this German magazine looks like a lead-up to gamescom, coming up in August in Cologne, Germany. This could mean more new reveals about SWTOR, possibly even about Operations but we’ll have to wait to know for sure. 

Forum user Cebo has a thread on the official forums about it with people jumping in to help translate. If you speak German, you can go straight to the original source and check it out for yourself. Cebo offers a partial translation that confirms some fun details about operations such as:

8-man and 16-man raid/Operation sizes

•  Badges to purchase items
•  Different difficulty settings based on the raid size
•  Loot proportionate to difficulty
•  Each player receives a “loot bag” from the boss
   Screenshots confirm Molten Core

All good stuff here. People seem pretty excited about the “loot bag” option. Those who have played WoW have seen a similar method, as well as the badges. It seems like BioWare is trying to give people as much opportunity to get loot as possible and more incentive to participate in the Operations. 

What do you think?

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Top 5 Questions and Answers from Comic Con

San Diego Comic Con gave us all one more glimpse into SWTOR and what we have to look forward to. There were interviews, panels and Q&A questions like never before as we hear the news of pre-orders opening and we grow closer and closer to an actual release date.

So what were the top five questions from Comic Con? What about the top five answers?

It seems like with every question that gets answered, three more questions open up. It’s exciting but frustrating at the same time as we near the eventual release date. The Tor Report brought us the top five questions and answers from SDCC and you can check out the full list for yourself.

Here are some highlights:

• Mass testing will begin in September.
• The appearance of companions will be customizable.
• Info on how the two factions will interact.

More questions:

• Will the pre-order digital item perks be available account-wide or just per one character?
• Will SWTOR have a legacy system?
• How many characters can you have per server? Account-wide?

What about you? Were your questions answers at SDCC? Do you have more questions? If you could speak to BioWare team yourself right now, what would your biggest question be about SWTOR?

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Facebook Image of The Week #22

For some reason BioWare updated there facebook page with a new screenshot late this week. But here it is:

A group of Republic heroes consults with the commanding officer of the Esseles after their ship comes under attack from an Imperial aggressor.

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Interesting screenshot: Modular Equipment

Fans not lucky enough to get into a beta or player trial of SWTOR are hanging onto every little piece of news they can get to tell them something more about the game before release. Screen shot leaks from beta are one way that some of us are getting a sneak peek into the game and what it might hold. While it’s important to remember that anything released early, especially from a beta, is subject to change. In fact, it probably will change- several times- before making it to the final version of the game.

However, sometimes there is a screenshot that really gets you excited or makes you think. We found one today that shows modular equipment and really brings the concept to life.

This screenie posted on Reddit shows what we have heard referred to a few times before. Remember when it was said that you could start with a lightsaber and literally level up with it as you go? Most of us speculated that there would be some sort of gemming system to allow that to happen but now we can see it for ourselves.

The modular equipment system allows upgrades, apparently from using a workshop or workbench, to upgrade the equipment and improve its stats. With the way it seems to work, it would allow you to keep the same piece of equipment, such as a lightsaber, with you throughout many levels and change and upgrade the modules as you go.

Some questions that are still unanswered, however, are how you get the gems and upgrades and how difficult they will be to get. Are they found? Are they made? Will there be rare ones that are more difficult than common upgrades to acquire?

There are obviously still a lot of questions but it looks pretty cool to me so far.

What do you think about it? Good system or no?

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Breaks EA Pre-order Record

As we reported with yesterday’s EA Q1 Earnings Conference Call, Electronic Arts is doing pretty good with SWTOR. But just how good is that? Well, apparently they have broken their record for pre-order sales for a game. According to EA's Q1 FY12 Financial Results they have the fastest pre-ordered title in the history of EA in just the first five days. 

EA’s previous pre-order record was set by Battlefield 3, while SWTOR far exceed BF3's pre-order sales, beating their expectations.

"We're well over 200,000 pre-orders in the first five or six days. From an EA perspective, that is significantly greater than any other EA title we've ever had in the first week," said the company's finance chief, Eric Brown.

President Frank Gibeau said, "In September, we will be in a position to call the ball and give you a hard ship date".

That means the rest of us will have to wait until after the September beta weekends to find out a release date for TOR but it will be coming in the somewhat-near future. Good stuff!

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Fatal Alliance vs. Deceived via Mark Pajor

The guys over at Corellian Run have some things to say about the characters of two SWTOR novels. Well actually, one guy in particular, Mark Pajor (@mpajor on Twitter) has an interesting write-up about the novels.

Mark admits to never reading a Star Wars novel before this but decides he should become familiar with all areas of the lore, as he hopes to be a writer for Bioware one day (wouldn’t we all, Mark?) so he takes up Fatal Alliance and Deceived. I have yet to read them either so I appreciate Mark taking the time to give us some info. 

He starts off:

“Fatal Alliance was my first Star Wars novel, and it confirmed all of my fears and reservations of reading one. Deceived, on the other hand, relieved my distaste quite a bit. Now, there’s a lot I could complain about writing-wise for both books. Instead, I’m going to concentrate on what’s most important to me in any creative medium: the characters.”

This review is spoiler-lite so if you haven’t’ read the books yet, you won’t completely ruin the story but there might be a couple of reveals in here so be forewarned. 

To Mark, a good story is all about the characters and good characters take time to develop. He feels like Fatal Alliance does not devote enough time to proper character development. He describes Fatal Alliance as not being about people but about events instead. 

Deceived, however, changes his outlook by delving more deeply into the characters. Mark explains:

“Enter Darth Malgus of Deceived. At his very core, he is Sith. He vehemently believes in the power of passion and conflict. This makes him the perfect figurehead for what the Sith are, but what makes him an interesting, dynamic character is something that may seem contradictory to his darkness: Love. Yes, Malgus, who leads the destruction of the Jedi Temple and the slaughter of all inside (and enjoys it), has feelings for another living being.”

Check out @mpajor's look at the characters in both #SWTOR novels

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Imperial Agent talent trees leaked- Medic/Operative

Someone leaked screenies of the Imperial Agent talent trees over at Alter SWTOR today. They are interesting to say the least, but have some people questioning whether or not they are legit. As with anything that is leaked during a closed beta, we can’t be 100% certain it’s real unless we have played the game ourselves. 

And even if it is real, there is the disclaimer that this is just beta and many things- talents and talent trees included- are subject to change by the time the game releases. So while it may be little more than speculation, let’s go ahead and entertain the idea that these leaks might be legit and take a look. 

We get a nice peak at the UI, the talents and what levels they will be available to the class. We also get some info on what each ability does, the cooldowns and the amount of energy they will cost. 

Whether you plan to play a healer or not, it’s always helpful to know how the healers will function in an MMORPG since it is very probable you will end up in a group with one at some point or another. The ideal flashpoint group makeup will include a healer and it can be beneficial to know how they work, no matter what class you play. 

Take a look at the screenies and let us know what you think? What do you like? What do you hope they change before the game goes live? 

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Ask a Jedi brings us ‘Blasters, Beggars & Credits: Schubert Says No Infinite Money’

Lots of interesting news is coming out this week about SWTOR, much of it from SDCC. When it comes to the latest TOR news, we have got you covered. However, every now and then there is a post that someone else has just already covered better or that is exclusive to another fansite or news source but we have to bring it to you here because it’s interesting. 

Today, Ask A Jedi had one such post. This one comes from Momus, long-time reader and first time author. He talks economics- something that makes the MMO world go ‘round and tells us about two interesting interviews with Damion Schubert, Lead Systems Designer for The Old Republic.

Important points made in the post:

• “Cost of sending companions on missions exceeds the vendor cost of materials returned
• Anticipating supply/demand economies (not a huge reveal there, I’m afraid)
• Won’t be able to just gather with all companions all the time; will run into money problems
• More economic to do it by hand (i.e., traditional farming)
• May or may not have a mission to gather it anyway
• HOWEVER, certain rare materials come only from companion gathering”

This is good info for anyone interested in TOR but especially for those who love playing MMORPGs for the economics. Playing, farming and earning currency is part of the fun for many players. You can bet there will be TOR players who are interested in the economy and how credits will work as well. For others, “gold-farming” and exploitation of the in-game economy is a concern. This all provides more info into that potential problem as well. 

Read the full write-up for yourself over at Ask A Jedi.

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TORWars Video: Interviewing Vette

 Being a gamer girl and Star Wars geek myself, I was excited to see this exclusive interview by TORWars with actress Catherine Taber. If you don’t know who she is by looking at her, you’re sure to know her voice. She played Mission Vao in KOTOR the voice of Numa in The Clone Wars, and she’s also the voice of Padme Amidala in The Clone Wars. 

Now she has a new role and it’s a pretty important one for upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic. Taber plays Vette, the blue skinned Twi’lek companion character that we have all seen in advertisements and videos for SWTOR. 

Taber was at SDCC and was kind enough to take the time to give TORWars an exlcusive interview which they have up for the rest of us to enjoy as well. They talk with Taber about the roles she’s played, her voice acting and what she loves about Star wars. She’s a lot of fun and the interview’s fun and it’s easy to see she is a legit Star Wars fan. 

It’s likely she will be popular with the guys as well. :p

Check out the video for yourself:

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Electronic Arts Q1 2012 Earnings Conference Call Live Blog

Today was the EA Q1 2012 Earnings Conference Call and we were interested in one thing- what they had to say about SWTOR. With this game being the pinnacle of the company at this time, you can guarantee they had a few things to say about it on the call. 

Here is an overview of the highlights of the call:

John Riccitiello says that there were strong preorders for The Old Republic. He goes on to say, “Origin will scale quickly with Battlefield 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic later this year.”

Frank Gibeau says, “SWTOR targeted to launch in Holiday 2011, is able to ship with a variety of launch dates.” He adds to expect higher revenue from subscriptions for The Old Republic.

John Riccitiello says, “We will launch SWTOR and battle to take a slice of the MMO market.”

The conference calls move into the question and answer portion:

Question on capacity management in SWTOR?

Frank Gibeau: We're in good shape to do that, we have the ability to scale for multiple millions of users. We're looking at stuff coming in as far as marketing and pre-order promotion. We have a lot of capacity to do that.

What do you view the size of the MMO market? Is this something we can look for after the fact in terms of modeling and how preorders have gone?

Frank Gibeau: On the next call we'll be briefing you in detail on how that has gone. As far as the first, it's a big opportunity for us in both the west and europe. It's a category that hasn't seen a lot of releases that has a lot of potential demand. Response on preorders indicated demand.

John Riccitiello: Our internal judgement shows in the double digit millions of subscribers. In order how to frame the business model, these are complex, you need information on lifetime of the users, churn rates, ect. We have framed this in prior discussions, half a million subs it breaks even, at a million it will make money but doesn't feel good on investment, anything north of a million starts to look like a great investment and makes our value judgement in the investment in the property through BioWare a very good one. We gave that same framework previously. Interested to see our games distributed anywhere and everywhere we are.

You said record preorders, could you elaborate on that? Also curious on the beta testers?

Frank Gibeau: Sure, not going to give actual numbers. They are ahead of expecations, largest number that we have done with EA, larger than Battlefield 3. We have about a thousand people in the beta right now, improving the quality on every release. Purchase intent through third-party research is some of the highest they've ever seen. In the summer we're ramping up our beta campaign and through September, then we'll be in a position to give our hard ship date.

John Riccitiello: Seeing good revenue flow through from Origin. Origin is being heavily adopted, seeing similar numbers to Steam. Our hope was to get through preorders for SWTOR without falling over and the team nailed the technology we needed for it.

Regarding the Star Wars launch date, some idea of range of impacts depending on the launch date of the game, will there be any contribution later?

John Riccitiello: Focus is strongly on Q3 but maintained the guidance range. We have high expectations for the potential for the product, we want to be able to, if there's an issue to change the ship date. We're focused on driving hard towards Q3, until something is certain we're not announcing it. 4-8 weeks before launch is typical for a hard ship date.

That’s pretty much everything interesting said about SWTOR for the duration of the call. Good news for fans and investors- it sounds like things are still on track for a holiday launch.

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Bringing Generations Together

I wrote yesterday about how SWTOR was set to be a game to span decades. It’s also a game that seems to bring generations together. I’ve actually met countless people when talking about SWTOR who say they will be playing with their children, parents, siblings and other friends and family. My mom is 50 and she’s a big Star Wars fan. She’s interested in the game because of the storyline. My 5-year-old plays Lego Star Wars on his DSi and is just as excited that mommy will be playing TOR. 

But we’re not the only ones who have seen that SWTOR can bring generations together. Hellsworn made a heartfelt and interesting post about it on the official forums recently. He says:

“So I am a older player. in my mid 40's. So Star Wars in near and dear to my heart as it brings back very fond memories of my childhood. Of course I am not the only one out there, but I had to share this short story that my wife and I experienced this Last Sunday.

My wife and I are both avid Garage Sell "Tourists" and this last sunday we came upon a large open lawn sell a few miles from our home. The gentlemen that was hosting the said sale, had to be in his late 60's to early 70's. His grandson, (approximately 10 years of age) was playing on a Laptop computer while he was welcoming people to his home. Ofcourse the Garage sell had lots of older items, antiques and such, but thats not what caught my eye. I believe we were at the tail end of the sale, cause the crowds were pretty much gone but my wife and I. In essence this is what I observed of the Grandfather and Grandson.

The 10 y/o was on the TOR website and was asking his Grandfather what Star Wars all about. So the Grandfather proceeded to tell his Grandson how he and the childs father went to see Star Wars (a new Hope) in the 1980's. He was telling in detail the Theatre they had gone to in San Francisco, and I could see the childs eyes lite up. It reminded me of my childhood, and the Thrill of Star Wars. Long story short, after a story to his Grandchild, the child turned to his Grandfather and showed him the website. After a few moments of staring at the laptop, the Grandfather turned to and asked what is was. The Grandson excitedly explained TOR was goging to be a new online game like his World of Warcraft. Curious, the Grandfather asked, "so I can play a Jedi on that computer thingy?" The Grandson replied Yes!

I saw the facial change in the Grandfather, as he realized he could play a Jedi online, and his face lite up like Christmas Tree. The Grandson, asked if he would play the game with him, and the Grandfather replied, "Sammy, that is one game I wouldnt miss for the world."

Ofcourse my wife teared up it was so cute. But what this experience did, is remind me that in 2011, Generations can come together and enjoy a game like this. So for that I thankyou Bioware.

Sorry for the sappy post, but it was just one fo those life moments I had to share.”

So it’s apparent that I am not the only one who has seen how this game can potentially bring generations together, bring back fond memories for older generations and incite new interest in Star Wars for younger generations. 

Do you have a similar story to share?

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Video Roundup - the international pre-order madness

FTWBroadcasting has released an in depth video about the international pre-order madness. It includes videos, articles, and answers to many of the key questions out there for the international community.

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Actual Confirmation - No Region IP block

When it comes to region blocks and no SWTOR on initial release to certain areas of the globe, there have been many, many questions. Allison Berryman, Senior Community Coordinator for SWTOR attempted to clear up some of the questions on the official SWTOR forums.

In a post from earlier, Berryman explains:

“Hello everyone. We know that you have questions about this topic, and we hope to have more clarification for you all very soon. For those who may not have seen Stephen Reid's tweets from this weekend regarding some of these subjects, I'd like to share that information here.

Regarding whether the game will block players from some regions by IP address: currently, there is no plan to block players from the game by regional IP blocking. Playing on servers physically distant from your location might mean you experience some issues with latency, but at this time we don't plan on blocking players from a region by IP. On a similar note, anyone who pre-orders the game (and redeems their code) would receive the early access that is part of that pre-order.

We are continuing to investigate payment methods (specifically regarding credit cards billing addresses), and should have a definitive answer on the topic very soon.

I know you've probably seen this link a ton already, but please make sure to consult the pre-order FAQ if you have any questions related to pre-order (aside from these that we're investigating). We really appreciate your patience as we get more information for you.”

But that’s not all well and good for some folks. Some people are looking for demanding answers that BioWare just isn’t giving out right now. For example, the story first leaked of this delay to certain areas about a month ago. (We covered it ourselves here.) So why didn’t BioWare issue an official statement on it at that time?

Some fans want an apology for the pre-orders being pushed to their region only to try to sign up and find out it was not available to them. Was there no way to filter the marketing so that it went only to people in regions that would have the game available to them at the time? 

Some fans don’t feel the actions of BioWare on this issue and leading up to this issue show good customer support and worry what this could indicate for the future. What do you think? Are you in an area affected by the launch delay? Were you targeted with a pre-order ad or email? How could BioWare have handled this whole issue better?

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Community Interview with James Ohlen

Of all the interesting interviews coming out this week and past weekend from SDCC, there was a great on one the SWTOR forums from community members GamewizX and Montybrython. If you’ve spent any time at all on the SWTOR, you probably know these two. Well, they were able to interview James Ohlen, Game Director of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and barrage him with questions directly from the community. 

You can find the entire lineup on the official forums and even post your own comments to the discussion. Here are some of the highlights:

XYondaimeX asks: Will there be a Guild "tabard" (not an EXACT guild tabard ala WoW, just something to display a guild symbol.) or some other way to dis play a guild emblem?

James Ohlen: Currently there is no sort of Tabard or emblem however it is something that is huge that we are missing.

Jooki asks: Will grouping with friends slow down my experience gain per kill? And if so, to what extent and would it depend on proximity of said friend? In other words, how will experience gains be handled while grouping?

James Ohlen: Grouping will be the fastest way to level. For example, if you are in a party with one other person you will gain 60% XP on mob kills each (this number is changing through testing and not definitive) even though it is 60% of normal XP gain you will be, in theory, killing mobs and completing quests twice as fast. Also, there are heroic quests and other group content that yield good XP that cannot be done solo and only in a group.

cosmasterkiller asks: Will Operations have cover points for each encounter? How will cover classes function on movement heavy encounters?

James Ohlen: All cover classes have a portable cover mechanic that they will use on fights. On high movement fights they are very effective outside of cover as well.

cosmaster killer asks: Can multiple players use the same Cover point? Is there a limit to how many players can use a Cover point? -In PvP can 8 players stack up on the same cover point?

James Ohlen: No, only one player per cover point. And that's why you need your portable cover as well, otherwise you'll have cover point griefing.

Many people are asking how many flashpoints do you aim for the launch of the game?

James Ohlen: Can't answer that.

Check out the full Q&A for yourself over on the forums and tell us what you think. Were your questions answered?

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BioWare Hopes to Expand Star Wars: The Old Republic into 2025

As reported by Darth Hater in a SDCC panel, BioWare hopes they will take MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic into many decades. What many are calling the first game to usurp World of Warcraft, it’s definitely possible if they pull it off. They hope to take SWTOR into 2025. 

Senior creative director, James Ohlen, explained at Comic Con that they the game has 19 major worlds.

"Then we have an indeterminate number of minor worlds. And our goal, obviously this being an online game, that we're hoping is going to last for decades, we're going to be, obviously, adding more to the galaxy map as the game progresses.” He said. 

Ohlen adds, "We want to add dozens of worlds. Hundreds of worlds eventually. In 2025, we'll hopefully have 500 worlds." 

That is an enormous game!

With each of the six classes promising 200 hours of gameplay, not counting things like raiding, crafting or other multiplayer aspects of the game, it’s easy to see how one could enjoy this game for years and years. This is the type of game parents will play to watch their children grow up and play as well. 

So what do you think? Is it still a lot of hype or do you think SWTOR just might be the MMORPG to span decades?

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The Guild Sphere: The Rakatan

The Rakatan Infinite Empire has chosen site. You guys are all fucked! But It seems like they are nice guys. Read on below.


Where did your guilds name come from?
The name ‘The Rakatan” comes from an exploration of Star Wars lore that pre-dates the age of KOTOR, SWTOR, and the classic Star Wars galaxy at large, yet the themes presented by the Rakatan legacy are inexorably intertwined with the fate of the galaxy as a whole. The Rakatan Infinite Empire, for those who aren’t particularly familiar with the lore, was the Galactic Empire that constructed the star forge that figures prominently in the first KOTOR game, is at the crux of the Jedi Civil War and is ever present in the Star Wars backstory. The Rakata themselves were a sort of “master race” that became affiliated with the dark side of the force, founded the first truly galactic empire, and existed as physical examples of the virulent potential of the Dark Side’s power. The Rakatan represents the first true synthesis of the dark side and thus correlated highly with our Sith Empire aligned guild. Our guild, however, is less affiliated with the RP elements of SWTOR, so in an attempt to incorporate some lore aspects we chose this name. It should also be noted that the Rakatan feature prominently in one of my favorite Star Wars novel series regarding the infamous Darth Bane!


Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild?
In short: The Rakatan is a family reunion of sorts, its members are made up of a scattered Worldof Warcraft guild and those scattered member’s friends. The guild was founded in an attempt to build a new legacy, in a new game with, with new members and an old base of players. We plan to start small and build ourselves up into a top tier raiding guild of experienced, intelligent and fun players as we had successfully done in World of Warcraft.


How did your guild come about?
The guild came about after a series of conversations regarding a mutual interest in SWTOR coupled with a mutual interest that had been steadily growing in reestablishing a long deceased World of Warcraft raiding guild. The guild was thus formed recently in preparation of a hopeful imminent release.


What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE, PvP, RP:
We will be focusing most intensely on PvE, but will of course be dabbling in PvP (we will be rolling on a PvP server) – we find that RP is generally a more personal thing and we are not particularly involved with it; however, it will not be discouraged!

What is your guild set up? How do you run your guild?
The guild setup is rather generic, that being said, however, there’s an emphasis on centrality and subsequent ease of communication. There is of course a guild master, myself (Hadrax), with three supporting officers (we’re actually presently recruiting our third officer as two officers represent old friends and we would like the third to be representative of new applicants). As the guild expands we will be developing a recruitment and “PR” officer as a fourth pseudo-officer position, but as of right now that is one of the many hats of the management team. In addition to the guild executive management there will be standard guild members and trial members in an effort to keep things simple. Standard members make up those who the management team
have played with before and are proven “skilled” and mature players, trials will be composed of new recruits who must prove themselves prior to obtaining standard guild membership status. The ranking system and structure is of course subject to change as we learn how to effectively incorporate it into SWTOR, however, this simplified structure has served our group well in the past.

How serious do you play and/or run the guild?
There is no real answer to this question for The Rakatan. What I can say, however, is that the present plan is to approach the game casually, to learn it and enjoy it and then hopefully evolve that mindset into the more serious raiding mindset. It is the unwritten agreement among the guilds resent members that this is the inevitable course of events given our past experiences in MMOs!

Do you have ranks or a certain hierarchy in your guild?
(Keep in mind this is a very basic outline)

• Guild Master
• Officer A
• Officer B
• Officer C*
• Recruitment Officer**
• Standard Members
• Trial Members*

Guild hierarchy, as previously mentioned, is rather linear with ease of communication at the centrality of The Rakatan’s philosophy. Guild management is very experienced in both in game and real world management situations, thus allowing for a well-oiled machine to exist without a complicated structure. More information of course will be revealed to those interested in applying.

*Position(s) available to new recruits!
** Recruitment Officer position currently not needed, and will be filled later.

Why did you choose the Sith Empire?
This was actually the subject of much debate, as a particular officer and I are rather decadent Star Wars nerds and wanted to find something in Star Wars lore that we could relate to, and translate into a correlation with a SWTOR faction. Our readings on the Rakatan civilization led us to an Imperial allegiance coupled with a more potent interest in the Empire’s classes’ background stories.

Why do you run a guild?
If you were to speak with anyone who is presently a member of the Rakatan they would not have thought I would ever run a guild, and would probably scoff at the notion (hopefully that doesn’t discourage anyone from joining haha)! But the reality is a group of experienced MMO players and close friends needed a new game to rally around with the hopes that it would provide a genuine excuse to interact with each other on both a competitive and purely fun basis. In short I hoped to provide an environment that would foster a similar sense of camaraderie that we all used to feel as a guild with the added bonus of acquiring new members to share in our experiences, altogether paired with a game that we are all very excited for.

How do you approach Raid Planning?
Lots of Vodka errrr… When it comes to raid leading there are obviously many variables, most important of which is the game itself – it’s hard to approach SWTOR raiding without a genuine understanding of how SWTOR raiding will be presented to us - the players. Aside from that, when we begin raiding there will be a process through which the officers and I will nominate a raid leader from the guild (from any rank – not just
from guild management) for raid group A (as we hope to run multiple smaller raids initial unless membership levels allow for a larger raid group). The raid group will be centralized in a similar fashion as the guild proper. We hope that previous end game raid experience will allow for constructive and entertaining raid sessions. More details will be available on the raid planning process as we learn more about the game and as other
express interest in applying to The Rakatan.

Are you always open for new recruits or do you want to keep a certain guild size?
The reality is that we are open to recruits, however, our principal policy is quality over quantity – there is no reason for us to have 500 guild members if they’re all immature and disinterested in improving their MMO skills, while simultaneously helping the overall progress of the guild in all areas. Guild size will probably have a maximum limit that has yet to be agreed upon, but that tends to be less important than our initial efforts in
attracting fun and skilled players.

Age Requirement?
None. We don’t care how old you are as long as you’re mature and can deal with the mature themes that will undoubtedly be rampant in both guild game chat and voice chat. Acting adult when required, even for those who claim to be adults full time is indeed a necessity.

Guild size?`
Small-Moderately sized (less than 100); remember quality over quantity is highly important.

What makes your guild stand out from everyone else? What makes your guild unique?
The central community that this guild is based on is something that its members truly hold special, the experiences - both good and bad - of the past 4 plus years in and around our “World of Warcraft experience” have fostered a highly experienced, witty, intelligent(most of the time) and all around fun and close group of friends that are always seeking new comrades. We hope to offer not just a guild, but a community and a genuinely entertaining experience. In addition, one must remember that this game will be a learning experience for all those who chose to take part in it, and we are happy to share that experience with anyone who is interested in being a part of The Rakatan. Our, albeit aging and dwindling nucleus of friends, is looking forward to this game with bated breath – a last attempt, if you will, at a revitalization of a scattered raiding guild from World of Warcraft.

How do you spend your time until release? Do you know each other in real life or do you spend a lot of time on forums?
Some of us know each other in real life or are even related (my brother has the misfortune of having a relative as a guild master – good luck buddy), we spend our time researching the game, exploring fan sites, lore, forums, podcasts, and videos –as well as constantly refreshing SWTOR.com on Fridays… Present guild activity is at a minimum do to real life obligations, but once a release date is established we will be flooding
outward to full capacity.


What Other Games are you currently playing as a guild?
All members of the guild management team used to or still play World of Warcraft on Executus (US) server; other members either play World of Warcraft on other servers, or are playing Rift, other MMO’s, or experimenting with console games in anticipation of a SWTOR release. As for myself I’m replaying both KOTOR’s and frequent our Ventrilo servers.

If somebody is interested now how and where can they apply for membership?
Applications are currently informal and one may “apply” by expressing interest via email (miked1692@gmail.com for Guild Master Hadrax –Mike- or 4tgdarkops@4tgcommunity.com for Officer Xerberus/Chromehound -Scott-). Upon contacting us we will reply by setting up an “interview” in Ventrillo, one may also email a question prior to expressing interest in applying! Presently the guild website is under
construction so email remains the most reliable mode of contact; however, we also have a closed Facebook group for those who are accepted. In addition, one may contact me (Hadrax) via text message (443 718 8923) at work so I have an excuse to not well… work haha.

One last question, if there was one thing you could ask the Dev's to include, what would it be?
Something simple (or perhaps not!): Release the talent trees so we can spend endless hours theory crating prior to release, it would certainly silence the release date whiners for a bit.

Personal Statement:
Those without a sense of humor and a brain need not apply. We also hope that our past World of Warcraft… shall we say ‘affiliations’ don’t deter interest in the guild. The Rakatan is also an affiliate of 4tg Gaming Community; more information is available upon request.

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BioWare Base Q&A #3 Video: SDCC News and Updates

Gamespot talks to Cory Butler, Bioware Producer, at San Diego Comic Con in one more piece of their great coverage of SDCC so far. Butler gives some general information about the game, most of which we already know, but interesting anyway. 

While this video doesn’t say a whole lot that hard-core fans of SWTOR don’t already know, it’s a great video nonetheless and it’s also very helpful if you’re still trying to convince your significant other of why you dropped that $150 on the Collector’s Edition pre-order.

Check out the video here:

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Teasers Of Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns Issues #4 And #5

Dark Horse had good news for Star Wars comic fans recently. Not only will the Star Wars comics be available in digital format but they also released a small preview of each of the remaining two issues of Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns series, Issues #4 and #5.

They are available for pre-order but previous issues sold out super fast so don’t wait if you want to get your hands on these comics for yourself. 

Here is info from Dark Horse on each new issue:

Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns Issue #4
Captured by the evil Sith Empire, Republic spy Theron Shan is about to find out what secret sacrifice brought about the end of the great war. But once the Imperial’s covert activities are revealed, will he be able to act on his devastating discoveries?

Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns Issue #5
Republic spy Theron Shan puts all he has into surviving–and stopping–the Sith’s star-killing Sun Razer. This megaweapon must be destroyed and the Republic must be warned of the threat!

Are you following this comic series like us? Drop us a line and let us know what you think!

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No SWTOR for the Aussies- Maybe Someday but Not at Launch

We previously wrote about how (and potentially why) there was no pre-order available for SWTOR to Australia, or anyone outside of the US and Europe. While many were searching for answers and speculating on the reasoning behind this, Darth Hater set out to get us some answers at San Diego Comic Con this weekend. 

They posed the question to Stephen Reid as follows:

Darth Hater: We know that publishers have a variety of problems when trying to launch a game overseas that range from regional politics, ratings boards, server infrastructure, localization, distribution, and more. Why did you choose not to launch in certain regions?

Stephen Reid: The answer is “none of the above.” We didn’t make that decision because of ratings board issues, localization or whatever else. What it ultimately comes down to is simple, but it is kind of a difficult concept to grasp: it is about quality of service. We know the level of demand for Star Wars: The Old Republic is pretty much unprecedented in MMO history. We know realistically the number of players we can deal with on launch day and the launch period. We made the difficult decision to say the player experience is paramount. We don’t want them to have a bad experience on launch day. And that led inevitably to certain decisions and one of them was reducing the number of territories we go into at launch.

The process of putting a boxed product in any territory is difficult. The process of deciding whether or not we want to put regional services into an area is also difficult. So it is a combination of a lot of different factors, but ultimately it comes down to the two competing factors: one is demand for the game, and two is what we can supply at that level of service we really want to give. And this is the result. We understand many people want to play the game from all around the world, and we’re absolutely going to get to as many territories as we can over time, but we’re not ready to commit to a specific time frame on that yet.

So there you have it, folks. There is no real change on the matter at this time but it seems like BioWare is making the decision in the interest of creating a “smooth launch” for the game. If you’re looking for a work-around, be careful. 

Reid also tweeted about the concern that credit cards from regions not capable of pre-ordering would be blocked if they chose the pay their subscription that way after buying the game overseas. In simple terms, if you order your copy from the US and try to pay your subscription with your credit card at your local address, your subscription will be blocked. 

You can, however, still purchase your game overseas and use Paypal to pay your subscription. Or you’re going to have to wait for more information to be released regarding when SWTOR will launch in your area.

Ready for some fun on the topic? Check out these videos. 

Hitler finds out his Australian friends can't play swtor at launch

darth vader negotiates a monthly fee

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Dallas Dickinson Interviews from Comic Con

 There’s lots of cool stuff coming out of San Diego Comic Con this week, part of which are great interviews with Dallas Dickinson, Director of Production on Star Wars: The Old Republic. The first, with fansite TORWars, has a lot of great information. Here he discusses some of the reveals from SDCC such as the speeder bikes, the model they are based on and the fact that they are now tweaked so that the rider does not get knocked off so easily (although it is still possible to get knocked off). 

While he could not go into a lot of detail, he also talked about the customizable companions and teased about some new changes such as being able to interact with the companions and control them during combat scenes in the game. To what extent this will be, we do not know yet but he says it will be released more in the coming weeks. 

Check out the full interview here:

Another interview done by G4TV talks about the story, background and feel of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This is from the SWTOR Panel at SDCC and while much of it is info the hardcore fans already know, it also refers to the elusive and much-anticipated release date that everyone is super excited to hear about. This one’s worth a watch as well, and it’s a great one to pass along to your friends who may not yet know why you cannot shut up about SWTOR.

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Star Wars Classic Movie Mash-Up Posters

More impressive poster based shenanigans have come to my attention from Design You Trust, who have posted (via artist Matt Ranzetta) three mash-up posters melding classic movies with a Star Wars flavour.

The posters, based on three of the most iconic films of modern cinematic history are each an accomplishment of simplicity and observation, and the artist deserves a hearty pat on the back for pulling them out of his clever head.

Ranzetta actually released the posters, including the two further additions I have included below back in 2010 to huge acclaim, and thanks to the response, actually released both prints and T-shirts based on all five designs. Do yourself a favour, try and get your hands on at least a couple.

As promised, here are the other two posters that make up the series...

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The SWTOR Forum Walkthrough Episode 2: Attack of the Dopes

A few weeks back I posted the first episode of RussellW218's SWTOR Forum walkthrough videos, which chronicled a mind-boggling real thread from the forums in which an obvious idiot aired his "opinions" on how to make SWTOR all sorts of awesome. Didn't really paint him in the best light, but then the guy clearly didnt understand the fundamental nature of MMORPG gaming.

Anyway, here's the second episode, animated in the same way using XtraNormal (despite the posters continued assertions that it sucks), in which a new forum user - Mrs. "Paylin" - shares some of her own suggestions for The Old Republic that she feels will be absolutely earth-shattering.

Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.

Greatest line... "Welcome to Star Wars, houses can now fly."

Seriously, these forum moderators need knighthoods, one for the shit they have to put up with from morons trying to suggest "improvements" or weasel a Beta invite out of them, and secondly for the brilliant commitment to sarcasm they show in their responses.

Hilarious.

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Star Wars Blu-Ray Boxset: Teasing The Deleted Scenes

For Star Wars fans, there's pretty much only one blu-ray release to pay any attention to at all this year, and the long-awaited high-definition treatment of George Lucas' galactic franchise epic will finally land on shelves on September 12th in the UK.

I'm in the lucky position where I'll probably get hold of a copy to review early on, but for everyone else the prospect of having to wait just a couple of months will seem a yawning chasm of time stretching before them. So it's with great pleasure we can bring you a teaser video of some of the Deleted Scenes to be included in the mammoth Complete Saga blu-ray release.

I still maintain that the cover should have been better thought-out, but the following teaser at least shows promise of the exciting content within...

Exciting times ahead what with SWTOR and this blu-ray about to land in the next couple of months, so best get saving to cover the near £70 cover price of the collection alone. I suggest prostitution.

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Comic-Con '11: player vehicles

5 new vehicles screenshots was shown at Comic-Con today. Gotter love nice wheels right?

And like Boba. We all need a nice wheels:



Via Swtor.dk and starwarsnorge.com

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New Trailer: ‘Join The Fight’

BioWare has used this Friday update to release a new Trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The video was also shown at yesterdays official SWTOR Comic-Con panel discussion. The trailer is made up of only in-game footage and looks really nice.

We are excited to present Join the Fight, an all-new in-game trailer for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ that premiered at San Diego Comic-Con 2011.

The uneasy peace established by the Treaty of Coruscant is broken and both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire build their armies. As both sides prepare for open war, a new generation of heroes must rise up to meet the challenges of a volatile age, declaring their allegiances and fighting for what they believe in.

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Joe Johnston Wants a Boba Fett Movie

Not content with bringing one iconic hero of American cinema, Captain America director Joe Johnston has his eye set on another, even more awesome figure for another upcoming project. Boba Fett. That's if he can convince George Lucas to get on board.

I'll let that sink in.

Boba Fett.

Just imagine for one minute the possibility of a spin-off of arguably the cult character of the entire franchise (alongside Darth Maul perhaps), playing out like a sort of Die Hard meets Dog The Bounty Hunter. And while I don't have great faith in Johnston's directorial abilities (aside from his early work on Jumanji and The Page Master) - he made The Wolfman remember - he does already have experience directing jet-packed superheroey type folk thanks to his time helming 1991's overlooked gem Rocketeer.

In conversation with ScreenRant, Johnston admitted his intentions:

"I’m trying to get George to make a feature based on Boba Fett... I would like to, it would be a lot of fun.”

Jesus.

And why isn't this claim just immediately dismissable? Well, there's the small matter that Johnston is actually credited as the co-creator of Fett, alongside the bearded Star Wars director, and the two have a very close relationship.

Personally I think there is far more chance of a game on the same lines appearing, but this fanboy tease is still sure to set a lot of chins wagging in the Star Wars fan community.

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RE-Live TV from BioWare Base at Comic-Con

Yesterday BioWare had a live Q&A with Stephen Reid, James Ohlen, Dallas Dickinson and Rich Vogel. unfortunately I was sleeping like a baby while it was on, but WeekendJedi and SoMuchMass has made sure the full Q&A is now on Youtube. Here are the highlights ( Thanks to Ask a Jedi):

• Collector’s Edition store is actually an exclusive location that only CE owners have access to!
• Items from this store however will not give people an advantage in power, though weapons and armor will be available
• Color Stone is gold in addition to adding effects
• Sharding may be used on launch day, only if absolutely necessary (the practice of creating multiple copies of the same area)
• Advanced Class change is in the game. 1st swap is cheap. After that it gets expensive
• Companion AI – off-limits for talking about! James Ohlen is in trouble.
• Companion customization is flexible, but you can’t swap their genders. You get customization kits to do this, and get more unlocked later
• Speeder bikes and land speeders in direct response to player and fan feedback
• No plans for a Mac version currently, Boot Camp suggested :(
• An unannounced feature may get you access to different species/class combos
• Ship interior customization – it’s in the design plan, but not in for launch
• Lots and lots of titles in the game

Check out the video below:

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