SWTOR Won’t have the Server Problems Battlefield 3 Had

There many good things to say about SWTOR but then again, there are skeptics, some with good reason to have concerns. One issue of importance was in regard to server problems but BioWare continues to reassure investors and players that this will not happen with SWTOR, set to launch 5 days before Christmas of this year.






The Old Republicordie tells us:

According to its game label head Frank Gibeau, while Battlefield 3 suffered technical difficulties specifically on EA servers’ inability to handle the amount of players trying to login with the game, “the same thing won’t happen” when SWTOR have its premiere launch this holiday.

This is precisely what many players were concerned with and what BioWare states they have been working hard to avoid at launch. It’s the reason they also said there would be a limited launch at start and why they have been working hard at other factors to ensure a smooth launch experience. 

So why won’t the same thing happen with SWTOR? Well, Gibeau says that both games have different configurations and since SWTOR is a PC-only MMO, they will have full control over its launch situation, as compared to BF3 which launched to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 simultaneously. 

Bioware CEO John Riccitello says: 

“So our pre-order campaign is tailored towards how we’re going to do that. And we’re looking at a rollout plan that is fairly ambitious. We don’t feel like we’re going to be leading too much demand behind at launch but we definitely are going to be very cautious and thoughtful about how many people we bring on and in what order. It’s a very interesting proposition from that standpoint because you have the Star Wars brand that draws in a lot of people. And that is a good thing because we think we can sustain the business over a very long time as we grow.”

So while they are promising us there will be no launch delays or difficulties, do you believe them? Do you think it will be smooth-sailing on December 20^th or will we run into problems with such an incredibly popular game?

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Jedi Knight Companions

Here is a short video showing stats and Abilities  for the Jedi Knight companions. We are aware that the video says jedi sentinal Companions, but there is no doubts that this is infarct the  Jedi Knight companions. Check out our companions guide for more info.

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The Guild Sphere: Sith’ari Council

First of all I would like to apologize we didn't have a guild column all last week, but we will try make it up to you this week. First off is the fellow Scandinavian guild Sith'ari from Finland who will be playing RP-PvP as soon as that will be possible.


Where did your guilds name come from?
Well the first name that we had in mind was Ikirouta, but since either Finnish or English version of the name was not getting through the Guild system, I stumbled to Sith'ari in Wookiepedia then added council in to it since founding members form the council with me.


Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild?
Were mature guild age going from from 22 to 35.
Were flexible and relaxed social Guild


How did your guild come about?
Group of people who know each other from other MMO / PnP games that all were interested in Star Wars MMO got together and did not want to level alone.


What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE, PvP, RP:
We try to focus on all areas which is of course hard, were moving to RP-PvP server as soon as it's an option in Guild management.


What is your guild set up? How do you run your guild?
We have a council of 6 officers who have their own responsibilities f.e Crafting and PvP officer, later on when we get to the raiding and end-game we shall have raiding management and DKP system running through certain officers. As my position I also have a vote in the council as Guild leader and I am attending issues across the Guild


How serious do you play and/or run the guild?
Considering playing we have so called HC players, but were still relaxed Guild which is not pressing on the 24/7 job mentality. I know that the Guild will be like a second job for me at least part time, and I am thanking my wifes patience with my hobbies.


Do you have ranks or a certain hierarchy in your guild?
Yes I don't know a Guild which does not have :)


Why did you choose the sith empire?
Dark side has better cookies.


Why do you run a guild?
Some one has to do it, nobody in this small council at the start stood up and said I do it. So I did it.


How do you approach Raid Planning?
We have the base of rules forming up closer to launch.


Are you always open for new recruits or do you want to keep a certain guild size?
We are open for new people, though people who apply do need to keep in mind that were RP/PvP Guild that will do PvE, Age Requirement?
18+ with possible exceptions

Guild size?
We are at the moment 11 strong – growing slowly.


What makes your guild stand out from everyone else? What makes your guild unique?
Combination of veteran PnP people and multinationality, some of us started playing PnP late -80's, and most of us have been playing MMO's in several RP or RP orientated Guilds / style.


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?
I am closely following the development and news of the game through forums and twitter, going through guild issues before the launch, also RL will keep me busy since I will be coming a father soon. All Coucil member do know each other one way or the other in real life.


What Other Games are you currently playing as a guild?
As a guild were not playing any MMO games at the moment, we do have small groups that are playing few online games together.


If somebody is interested now how and where can they apply for membership?
Guild forums  http://loriacommunity.net/viewforum.php?f=40


One last question, if there was one thing you could ask the Dev's to include, what would it be? 
Personally – less random Beta things, friend of mine got in to the Beta and then later on again ”random” invite to Beta while he still was in the beta on the first invite.

Information about the Guild is either on the forums:
http://loriacommunity.net/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=30
http://loriacommunity.net/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=33

Or from official forums:
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=518273
http://www.swtor.com/guilds/79760/sithari-council

We also have Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sithari-Council/229785043744728

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Newest Swtor Beta Patch Notes

Here are the latest patch notes [ Via alterswtor] . What struck me was that the cover system has been altered and that there has been multiple improvements to chat and UI, including dick-to-tell and item hyperlinks. Check it out below:


Welcome

• If you encounter any issues while using the patcher, please exit and restart it.
• For more information on the test, view the Test Details.
• To discuss this with other testers, access the Game Tester Forums.

Note that you may need to log into the website to view the above links properly.

If you encounter any issues that prevent you from playing the game, please e-mail testing&swtor.com and we will do our best to address your concern quickly and efficiently. May the Force be with you!


Latest News
SW:TOR, it is more important than ever to get your feedback on the game. A number of very significant changes have gone into the latest build of SW:TOR and we want to hear what you think.

Just a few of the key highlights include two new Flashpoints, a new PvP area on Tatooine, improvements to the chat and social systems, and continued iteration on controls and rewards for the Space Game. Additionally, we have taken the huge amount of feedback from the previous testing phase and continued the fine-tuning of all eight classes and their advanced classes. Data from previous tests continues to be instrumental in the overall balance of the game > you will likely notice positive changes to loot drops, crew skills, and overall economy. Thanks for your continued efforts to ensure that SW:TOR is not only a fantastic MMO, but also a fantastic BioWare game!



Build Notes

General
- Unique social abilities have been added to each playable species.
The Quick Travel ability now allows the player to travel to any previously unlocked bindpoint on the current
planet. • Characters corrupted by the dark side now have the option to represent that corruption visually. Dark side corruption becomes increasingly visible as the player achieves new dark side ranks.
Players are now able to visit other players’ personal starships and travel with them to other planets when grouped.

Select high-security areas are now protected with laser fences that guard against hidden intruders.
Significantly decreased the amount of time it takes to ride a full cycle of the balloon on Tatooine.
Added several new mailboxes and Banking Terminals.
Made visual and other improvements to Holoterminals and Ship Intercoms.
Personal starships now count as rest areas.
Multiple improvements to chat and UI, including dick-to-tell and item hyperlinks.

Classes and Combat

General

• Overall enemy difficulty has increased through greater damage output and the addition of increasingly dangerous unique abilities.
• Many enemy NPCs related to Heroic Missions are more difficult and have more interesting combat abilities.

• Sprint now automatically deactivates while the player is in combat and reactivates when the player leaves combat.

• Many abilities now gain new ranks more frequently.

• The cost to reallocate points spent in skill trees has been reduced.
• Players are now able to rotate in place while immobilized.
• Polished and updated visual effects for several abilities.
• Ability training costs have been updated and adjusted to reflect the overall number of abilities available to a class.
• Fixed an issue that allowed some NPCs to be positioned such that they could be attacked but were unable to return fire.
• Large groups of enemies no longer evade when they should not.
• Large enemies no longer reposition themselves erratically during combat.

Jedi Knight

General

• New skills and abilities have been added, and existing skills throughout all trees may be located in new tiers or have been otherwise adjusted.

Sentinel

New Sentinel Abilities

• Rebuke: reduces damage taken and reflects damage back to attackers. It refreshes to its full duration when the player is attacked but cannot last more than 30 seconds in total.
• Crippling Throw: inflicts Trauma, reducing all healing received by the target.

Watchman

• Watchguard now additionally reduces the cooldown of Force Kick.

Combat

• Swift Blades now reduces the cooldown and focus cost of Blade Storm.
• Replaced Smoldering Winds with Jedi Crusader, which gives Rebuke a chance to generate focus when the player is attacked.

Guardian

• Enure’s cooldown is now three minutes.

Vigilance

• Replaced Zealous Kick with Commanding Awe, which reduces all damage taken and reduces the cooldown of Awe.

Defense

• Inner Peace no longer affects the cooldown of Enure.

Focus (Shared Tree)

• Agility Training has been changed to increase movement speed after using Zealous Leap.

Sith Warrior

General

• New skills and abilities have been added, and existing skills throughout all trees may be located in new tiers

Marauder
New Marauder Abilities

• Cloak of Pain: reduces damage taken and reflects damage back to attackers. It refreshes to its full duration when the player is attacked but cannot last more than 30 seconds in total.
• Wounding Throw: inflicts Trauma, reducing all healing received by the target.

Annihilation

• Subjugation now additionally reduces the cooldown of Disruption.

Carnage

• Rattling Voice now reduces the cooldown and rage cost of Force Scream.
• Replaced Spatter with Cloak of Carnage, which gives Cloak of Pain a chance to generate rage whenthe player is attacked

Juggernaut

• Enduring Pain now has a three-minute cooldown.

Vengeance

• Replaced Deafening Disruption with Deafening Defense, which reduces all damage taken and reduces the cooldown of Intimidating Roar.

Immortal

• Dark Blood no longer affects the cooldown of Endure Pain.

Rage (Shared Tree)

• Interceptor has been changed to increase movement speed after using Obliterate.

Jedi Consular

General

• Project, Telekinetic Throw, Mind Crush, Mind Snap, and Force Slow have had their maximum range adjusted to 10 meters.

Sage

• Kinetic Collapse has been moved to the Telekinetics skill tree.

Telekinetics

• Telekinetic Effusion now additionally reduces the cooldown of Force Speed.
• Tidal Force is now a single-point skill.

Shadow
• Force Breach has had its maximum range adjusted to 10 meters.

Kinetic Combat

• Harnessed Shadows has had its healing output increased significantly.
• Particle Acceleration now increases the critical hit damage of automatic critical hits dealt by uses of
• Project that consume a Force Potency charge.

Infiltration

• Subduing Techniques now increases the duration and reduces the cooldown of Force Slow.

Bug Fixes

• Jedi Shadow skill tree for Kinetic Combat is now properly marked as a Defense role.

General

• Shock, Force Lightning, Crushing Darkness, Jolt, and Force Slow have had their maximum range adjusted to 10 meters.

Sorcerer

Corruption

• Backlash has been moved to the Lightning skill tree.

Lightning

• Lightning Effusion now additionally reduces the cooldown of Force Speed.
• Lightning Storm is now a single-point skill.

Assassin

• 1 Discharge has had its maximum range adjusted to 10 meters.

Darkness

• Energize now increases the critical hit damage of automatic critical hits dealt by uses of Shock that consume a Recklessness charge. Harnessed Darkness has had its healing output increased significantly.

Deception

• Static Cling now increases the duration and reduces the cooldown of Force Slow.

Smuggler

General
Some abilities have been moved and are now trainable at new levels.
The Cover System has been altered. Smugglers now begin play with Crouch, allowing the player to take cover at any location. Defensive bonuses are determined by the characters position, and Show Cover is now on by default. Gunslingers receive an additional passive ability, Hold Position, that increases ranged defense and provides immunity to knockbacks and activation pushback while in cover.

Imperial Agent

General
Some abilities have been moved and are now trainable at new levels.
The Cover System has been altered. Imperial Agents now begin play with Crouch, allowing the player to take cover at any location. Defensive bonuses are determined by the characters position, and Show Cover is now on by default. Snipers receive an additional passive ability, Hold Position, that increases ranged defense and provides immunity to knockbacks and activation pushback while in cover.


Bounty Hunter

General

• New skills have been added, and existing skills throughout all trees may be located in new tiers or have been otherwise adjusted.
• Kolto Overload now heals for 15% of your maximum health over 10 seconds. Health gained from this ability is no longer temporary.

Mercenary

• High Velocity Gas Cylinder is now Mercenary-only and is available at level 20.
• Combat Support Cylinder, which causes Rapid Shots to charge blasters, increasing all damage and healing dealt and allowing Rapid Shots to heal friendly targets, has been added.

Arsenal

• Tracer Lock now causes Tracer Missile to grant a stacking buff that increases the damage dealt by the next Rail Shot.
• Riddle is no longer an active ability. It now increases the damage dealt by Unload. All skills that previously affected Riddle now affect Unload.

Bodyguard

• • Supercharged Gas has been added. This ability requires 30 stacks of Combat Support Cylinder charges, increases all healing and damage dealt by the player for a short duration, and dramatically improves the effects of several key abilities.

Powertech

• High Energy Gas Cylinder, which increases all internal and elemental damage dealt while active, has been added.

Shield Tech

• Ablative Upgrades no longer increases the duration of Kolto Overload.

Advanced Prototype

• Prototype Power Cycler has been renamed to Prototype Flame Thrower. Flame Sweep generates stacks that affect and are consumed by the next use of Flame Thrower.
• All skills which previously affected High Velocity Gas Cylinder now affect High Energy Gas Cylinder.
• Replaced Improved Grapple with Advanced Tools, which lowers the cooldown of Flame Thrower and Grapple.

Trooper
General

• New skills have been added, and existing skills throughout all trees may be located in new tiers or have been otherwise adjusted.
• Adrenaline Rush now heals for 15% of your maximum health over 10 seconds. Health gained from this ability is no longer temporary.

Commando

• Kolto Cell has been removed.
• Combat Support Cell, which causes Hammer Shot to charge the player’s blaster, increasing all damage and healing dealt and allowing Hammer Shot to heal friendly targets, has been added.

Gunnery

• Charged Barrel now causes Grav Round to grant a stacking buff that increases the damage dealt by your next High Impact Bolt.
• Rotary Cannon is no longer an active ability; it now increases the damage dealt by Full Auto. All skills that previously affected Rotary Cannon now affect Full Auto.

Combat Medic

• Supercharge Cells has been added. This ability increases all healing and damage dealt by the player for a short duration and dramatically improves the effects of several key abilities.

Vanguard

• High Energy Cell, which increases all internal and elemental damage dealt while active, has been added.

Shield Specialist

• Ceramic Plating no longer increases the duration of Adrenaline Rush.

Tactics

• Pulse Generator now causes the next Pulse Cannon to consume and be affected by stacks generated by Explosive Surge.
• All skills which previously affected Armor Piercing Cell now affect High Energy Cell.
• Replaced Improved Harpoon with Tactical Tools, which lowers the cooldown of Pulse Cannon and Harnnnn

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that would allow Troopers to mount vehicles while on their personal starship.

Companion Characters

General

• New abilities based on Companion Characters’ species or backgrounds have been added.
• New Companion Character customization packages are available.
• Companion Characters will now only heal players belonging to the group they are in.
• Changed the placement of some Companion Character dialogue.

Ashara

• Fixed a conversation with Ashara so that it properly takes place only on a player’s personal starship.

Azalie

• Added new affection options to several missions.

Xalek

• Added a unique tank stance called “Force Barrier” that raises armor rating while in tank mode.

Bug Fixes
Companion Character behavior has been improved; they no longer stand in front of the player as frequently. Fixed an issue where players could reset their Hangar phase while group members were still inside. Fixed an issue on Taris that allowed players to speak to their Companion Characters outside of Rest Zones. Companion Characters no longer teleport to enemies during combat.


Crew Skills

General

• Improved filtering capability in Crew Skills panel.
• Researching item modifications will now have more variation in yield.

Gathering

• Adjusted the number of credits obtained from Slicing nodes.
• Renamed Sliced Tech Parts to Scavenged Tech Parts and made Tech Parts collectable through Scavenging rather than Slicing.
• Moved Augments from Underworld Trading to Slicing.
• Schematics for personal starship upgrades can now be obtained through Slicing.

Crafting

• Adjusted training costs for crafting Crew Skills. Adjusted some of the item modification options for crafting skills. 
• Cybertech earpieces and Biochem implants can now yield research variations when they are reverse engineered. 
• Shield generator schematics are now available from the Cybertech and Artifice Crew Skill trainers.
• Research schematics are now available for crafted item modifications.
• It is now possible to research items learned at 400 crafting skill.
• All blaster barrels are now crafted through Armstech.
• Armstech can now craft a wider variety weapons, such as vibroblades and scatterguns.
• Artifice can now craft all enhancements and hilts.
• Color crystal schematics are now available in Artifice.
• Schematics for personal starship upgrades have been added.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused crafted Artifact-quality items to have the same stats as crafted Prototype-quality items. Fixed an issue that would allow items to be swapped in the middle of being reverse engineered.

Flashpoints

• Two new Flashpoints, Mandalorian Raiders and The Red Reaper, are now available for play!
• Many Flashpoints have had new loot added, and existing drops have been updated.
• The Flashpoint difficulty option has been moved from the Group submenu and is now under the Phase submenu.
• Made adjustments to enemy group composition in several Flashpoints.
• Bringing Down the Hammer: Added significant polish and new maps.

Directive 7

•  Extended aggro radius for the first boss, Detector.

Bug Fixes
Flashpoint difficulty no longer reverts to normal while inside a Flashpoint when the leader quits the group. The Tomb Opens: Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent players from completing the Flashpoint. Mission mapnotes now display correctly in Flashpoints.

Itemization

• Many more items now have modification slots, and more modifiable items are available from mission rewards and enemy drops.
• As players progress through the game, more types of modifiable items become available.
• The quality level of empty modifiable gear drops has been increased to at least Prototype.
• Weapon, armor, and other type-specific base item modifications have been reintroduced. Affected Crew Skills have been adjusted to reflect this.
• Companion Character gear has been substantially updated.
• The distribution of stat points on equipment has been adjusted for balance across equipment types.
• Random gear with modification slots has been removed. Increased overall visual variety of gear available on each planet.

Items

General

• Added space suit gear as a reward for Space Combat.
• Origin World chests now provide medpacs without a level requirement.
• Removed offhand-only lightsaber and blaster pistol random drops.
• A new line of random shield generators has been added.
• Renamed the Jungle Outfit to Survivalist Outfit for the Companion Character Corso Riggs.
• Created a line of light side and dark side relics.

Vendors

• Some PvP vendors now sell lockboxes that grant random items and PvP consumables.
• Items available from PvP vendors have been adjusted across all levels and ranks.
• Added more social gear to Social Vendors
• Weapons vendors now carry Polesabers.
• The Korriban stims vendor has moved to the cantina and now carries 
• Stims and cantina and jukebox items. 
• Removed the Companion Customization Kit vendor from Coruscant. 
• dded a Companion supply vendor to the Imperial Spaceport on Corellia.

Missions and NPCs

Missions

General

• Removed or replaced some bonus missions.
• Requirement for players to take the shuttle to Belsavis has been removed from all class missions (except Bounty Hunter).
• Adjusted the number and type of enemies required to complete several bonus missions.
• Players will now receive mail as a follow-up to some missions.
• Endcrawl missions have been added.
• Several conversation cinematics have received polish.

Empire

• A Family Matter: Fixed an issue that could allow players to kill necessary mission NPCs with their Companion Characters.
• A New Order: Fixed an issue that could cause the player to remain stuck in the Republic Crystal Refinery’s Green Crystal Room after deactivating the shield.
• A Question of Motivation: This mission now begins in Bugtown instead of the Markaran Plains. Bashun’s Bodyguards: Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent players from getting credit for killing Cathar Gunners.
• Breaking the Resistance: Adjusted the number of Security Hub Alpha and Security Hub Beta terminals to one. Carving a Path: Added missing Scanner mission item.
• Coronet Arms Massacre: Updated several artillery items.
• Digging His Own Grave: The conversation with Slam Streever will no longer end prematurely in some circumstances.
• Fatal Blow: Fixed an issue that would sometimes trigger the wrong cinematics.
• Found in Translation: Polished the Esh-kha weapons crates; they will now change appearance when looted.
• The Esh-kha weaponry’s item icon has been changed to better match the look of the Esh-kha weapons.
• Friends of the Republic: Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent this mission from being completed.
• General Frellka: Fixed an issue where players could not interact with alarm wall panels.
• Ghosts of the Desert: Players who leave the Palawa Cave phase durinq the step “Defeat the Infected
• Palawa / Infected Pernn or the subsequent step to Speak to the Palawa Leader will no longer find  themselves unable to re-enter the phase.
• Giant Killer: The Cyber Neutralizer now functions properly.
• Heist: Players are no longer unable to leave Megasecurity Ward 23.
• Jedi Spy: Updated cinematics and made several adjustments to the fight with Master Injaye.
• Key to the Vaults: The Esh-kha Keeper will now properly attack when approached.
• Like a Rancor in a Pottery Shop: Fixed an issue that caused the Aide Museum Curator’s conversation to incorrectly repeat.
• Lerantha Dam Underground: Fixed an issue that would cause the User Interface to remain after the mission is

PvP

General

• Resolve now decays over time.
• PvP consumables are available for use in the designated Open World PvP areas on Hum and Tatooine.

Open World PvP

• Open World PvP on Hum has been updated and improved. Players who enter the Open World PvP zone now obtain a mission and rocket launcher, and must fight to control five points on the map.
• Added a new Open World Free-for-All PvP area on Tatooine where any non-group member can be attacked, regardless of faction.

Warzones

• The PvP matchmaking system now takes more factors into account to evenly match opposing teams. Grouped players are now distributed more evenly when starting a same-faction Warzone. Alderaan Civil War: The names for the maps in the Alderaan Civil War have been adjusted. Voidstar: The UI now shows active bomb timers for this Warzone.

Voidstar

• Interacting with the Datacore Console no longer causes a large spotlight to get stuck on players until they leave the Warzone.

Huttball

• Players can no longer throw the ball to themselves.
• Players are no longer able to score by throwing the ball and then immediately entering the scoring zone Baron Deathmark will no longer announce that the ball has been reset before the match starts. Fixed an issue where players could be killed by catching the ball

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Intergalctic Intel: Jedi Consular

“Republic or Empire?” I stared at my friend with a look that only a rage face could express.

“What shirt am I wearing?”

“Oh...Republic...” We stood in silence for a while. “What class?”

“Consular. Jedi Sage to be exact.”

Last week as many of you know the press NDA was lifted for levels 1-16 for The Old Republic testers. So this week we’ll be going over the Jedi Consular, and it’s advanced class the Jedi Sage. We’ll try and cover all of the classes before release, but there is a lot to do so let’s dive right in shall we?

Story:
The Jedi Consular’s story is rumored to be the best one in the game. The story starts you off by doing various padawon duties, until your master falls ill and you find yourself thrown into the status of Jedi and stumble upon something much greater than you had anticipated. I won’t give any spoilers, but it was rather hard to keep my focus on leveling with such an intreging story set down before me.

I decided to play the light side of the Jedi Consular story line which lead to me letting various people live, and losing out on a lot of credits. Though I felt this was the best way to play a consular, someone who searches for peace instead of looking for violence. As I decided to go down this route I felt like my decisions should be made similar to Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope.

The voice acting for all the characters in the Consular’s story line is phenomenal. I was rather pleased by my consular’s voice. It had a soft kindness that seemed to go with the jolly giant I had created.

Combat:
The combat with the consular is right up my alley. The early levels before picking your specialization has you combining force powers and attacks with your lightsaber to deal damage. Moves range from throwing giant rocks, to lifting people off the ground, and launching opponents away from you with force blasts. The Jedi Shadow continues down this path with combining force powers and attacks with your lightsaber, though you will eventually be using your lightsaber over your force powers.

The Consular only gets healing and supportive abilities after advancing into the Jedi Sage. The sage has an interesting healing style with a few twists and turns that most MMO veterans will enjoy. To deal damage as a sage you resort to various force powers, making them some of the deadliest ranged attackers in the game.

Both Sages and Shadows use force points as their resource. Force points slowly regen as combat goes on. Both classes can regain it faster by using various abilities. When using your force you have to be careful to not use it all at the beginning of a fight, and learn to manage it well since it takes a while to regenerate while in combat.


Companions:
Since I can only explain the first 1-16 levels of consular only one companion will be talked about, Qyzen Fess a Trandoshan hunter. You’ll get him on your first planet. He’s an interesting character. He is a devout follower of Trandoshan religion, and is following you to find more kills. This is to say he doesn’t like murdering everything and everyone, but he does enjoy fighting. He’s a rather big teddy bear...lizard...thing. He and I have had some very interesting conversations, mostly about why I chose to let bad guys who blew up an orphanage go. (this didn’t happen)

In combat Qyzen is supposed to be a tank, which he does pretty well. His limited skill lists made him good for various harder quests, but when flash points came around he was sitting back on the ship.

Overall:
Over all I enjoyed the Jedi consular, and will probably be playing that as my main when The Old Republic launches in December. There were a few issues that I did have with the class, mostly dealing with force powers and how un-uniformed the consular is compared to other classes, but there still is about two months until The Old republic launches and with a new build on the way maybe my few issues will be addressed.

Next week we’ll swap over to the Imperial Agent, and give my Republic propaganda a rest for a while. Until then may the force be with you.

Intergalactic Intel, information, opinions and guides from an experienced, and seasoned Gamer. Updated Saturdays.

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Electronic Arts 2Q FY12 Earnings Call Recap

Electronic Arts held its Q2 2012 earnings conference call today and here they discussed with their shareholders as well as industry analysts the predictions of potential revenue from SWTOR. Now that we have a definite release date for SWTOR of December 20, 2011, there is more to be talked about in the earnings call. Past earning calls were not able to pinpoint the exact launch date, leaving some things uncertain.

COO Peter Moore talks about the SWTOR launch and testing plans:

“This is inarguably the most anticipated game of the year, an epic MMO that makes each player the hero of their own Star Wars saga. The Old Republic is in Beta right now and players are blown away by the immersive story, dynamic combat and authentic Star Wars feel.”

In regards to testing he said:

“In the coming weeks we'll invite hundreds of thousands of players into our biggest Beta test to date.”

If you want to hear all of the details, the official EA investor site has the recorded webcast you can listen to or you can read the prepared comments document.

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SWTOR Impressions from IGN: Setting a Scene

IGN had another great SWTOR update for us today. It was all about “setting a scene” and “finding depth in the Star Wars universe”. So far, their impressions of the SWTOR game and story have been some of the most intricate we’ve found on any of the media sites since the embargo was lifted. While you might not always agree with the gamers/reviewers over at IGN, you still have to respect the way they present the facts- and in a way that gamers can understand and appreciate. Their impressions hold weight, even when you disagree with their opinions and that’s why we’re happy to bring you the most recent update from them.

The Old Republic: Setting a Scene- Nick Kolan begins with some basic info on Star Wars The Old Republic and the scene that BioWare is trying to set within the game. “. It's a place where entire planets are dominated by a single meteorological phenomenon, where a planet can be covered by a single continuous city or eternal drought,” he says as he takes us on a journey into SWTOR.

He tells us a bit about starter planets- Tython and Ord Mantell and then also talks about capital city of Coruscant and his impressions of each place. He doesn’t leave out any small detail so it’s very informative. There are no story spoilers but if you’re avoiding any and all game spoilers of any type, then this is a read best skipped for now.

"It's not wise to upset a Wookiee"

He then talks about something else that SWTOR gamers have been very curious about- Datacrons! It’s just a brief description but interesting, nonetheless and worth the read for this part of the article alone. Learn his impressions on Codexes and Datacrons and then read on to hear what Charles Onyett has to say.

He gives his own view of the worlds and the zones, the size of the zones and whether or not he experiences a “sense of awe”; something he considers important in a game. He tells us, “The dungeon areas are big too, accessible from the main public terminal via floating cars.” His impressions go on to talk about exploring the spaces, crafting and companions, flashpoints, goals and quest lines and more.

One thing that I appreciate the most about this article is that the two reviewers talk about how their experience in SWTOR made them feel. So much has been said already about what it looks like, or how it plays and even about the storyline but when it comes right now to it, part of what makes or breaks an MMORPG is how it makes the gamer feel when playing it. This is what determines whether or not you’re going to “get into it” and stick around after the hype has worn off.

While it is someone else’s opinion, this is a good SWTOR review/impressions article worth reading. So take some time and head on over for The Old Republic: Setting a Scene.

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EA Downplays Old Republic Shortage Fears: Will You Get Your Copy?

Don’t have your pre-order copy of SWTOR yet? Are you worried about not being able to get a copy due to the shortage fears that have been going around? Well, you might not need to worry so much after all. While it’s true that EA said they would be rationing/limiting the sale of the game, they have reassured gamers that they are set on a very ambitious launch.

“We're using our beta test to inform us of what scale that we can handle. Our pre-order campaign is tailored towards how we're going to do that.” EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau told investors.

“We're looking at a rollout plan that is fairly ambitious. We don't feel like we're going to be leading too much demand behind at launch but we definitely are going to be very cautious and thoughtful about how many people we bring on and in what order,” he added. 

Basically what BioWare/EA seem to be hinting at is that while they want to control the launch experience for loyal customers, they also plan for a substantial launch. They are not putting any numbers on just what they classify as “substantial” but are giving the impression to the rest of us that there will be plenty of SWTOR to go around for everyone. 

So what do you think- gonna take the chance and ask for SWTOR for Christmas or already pre-ordered yours now to make sure you don’t miss out?

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No New SWTOR Game Testing Build This Weekend

While those who had been game testing anxiously await news of when the servers will be back up with the new build, Senior Community Coordinator, Allison Berryman eased the anxiety and let the game testers know that they might as well find something else to do this weekend.

There will be no new build over the weekend (October 28th, 29th and 30th). So now that you know it’s official, you can stop refreshing the beta forums over and over and find something else to do. Why don’t we ponder for a bit on what this new build might entail?

How close do you think the new game testing build will be to the final version of the game that will launch in less than 60 days? You don’t have to be testing the game right now to join us in speculating what might be in the new build. These are the final days of polishing for BioWare. 

Will we see new flashpoints or will they wait until official launch to add those? Someone in my Twitter feed earlier today said he expects to see a new mini game by launch. Could that be in the new beta build?

Will old bugs be fixed? Will new worlds be added? What about new companions? Will the chat functions work better? Will the UI be changed at all? So many questions and yet no one really knows.

What are your best ideas for what they could (or should) be adding to the new game testing build?

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Friday Update: Voidstar Warzon

This weeks Friday Update is out and it brings with it a new systems page on the official SWTOR site. TheWarzone Systems page contains details on all three of the available PVP confrontations including a brief description and accompanying video.

Those Warzones are:
The Voidstar, an assault style Warzone set upon a derelict Imperial Battle Cruiser. One faction attempts to fight its way to access the ship’s data core, while the opposing faction defends the ship and attempts to prevent the other side from reaching the data core. The factions are then switched, with the attackers becoming the defenders.

 

Huttball, an highly tactical Warzone set in a pit-like arena. Teams battle for control of a ball which appears in the center of the arena. The team which collects the ball must run with it, pass it, or use whatever means necessary to carry it across the opposing team’s goal line, while simultaneously battling the enemy team and avoiding numerous hazards designed to quickly end a PC’s life. At the end of the match, the team with the most points wins. In this Warzone, teams from the same faction can face off against each other, meaning Empire vs Empire, Republic vs Republic and the traditional Republic vs Empire match-ups are all possible.

Alderaan, where the forces of the Republic and the Empire battle for control of laser turrets spread out across the battlefield. The more turrets your side possesses, the more damage you’ll unleash upon the enemy transport ship floating overhead. These transports are a source of constant PC reinforcements and destroying them will win you the match.

Check out the Warzone Systems Here.

Warzones in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ are specific areas outside of the main character story, where players face off against each other in exciting Player-vs-Player combat. In order to give you a more detailed look at each of the different Warzones, we’ve launched a new Warzones Game Systems page! This new page will allow you to learn about each of the different Warzones, and each Warzone breakdown is accompanied by a short video displaying how the Warzone looks in the game.

Be sure to check out the Warzones Game Systems page now, and keep checking back to StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com for more information on Warzones in the coming weeks!

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SWTOR Release 5 Days before Christmas- a Genius Idea?

Now that we finally have a release date for SWTOR, people are talking about the choice of that date. With December 20th, 5 days before Christmas set for launch, could BioWare be onto something special here? Why did BioWare choose this date anyway?

We know the launch date was of super importance when it comes to SWTOR but we almost never see blockbuster titles out so close to Christmas, or even in December at all. So what was EA thinking with this decision?

The guys over at Mad Tang have a theory on this topic. A snippet:

“It doesn’t matter when the game is released there will be a line out the door to pick up every copy. People are going to do whatever they have to to get a copy of this game. Nerds will fight other nerds during the last minute Christmas rush in epic battles to get the last copy on the store shelves. Star Wars is going to sell a bajillion copies and kids and adults on vacation and holiday are going to get to play til they drop dead.”

Right on, Mad Tang, that sounds about right. 

Head on over and read the full piece and let us know what you think. Are they right about why BioWare chose this release date? Do you think it was the right choice or that they should have waited until after Christmas and New Year’s to launch?

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Abbreviations and Acronyms for SWTOR: Do You Have Your SWTOR Dictionary Handy?

The much-anticipated launch of SWTOR is on the way in less than 2 months now- are you ready? If you don’t know all the lingo, then you might not be as ready as you thought you were.

Maybe you thought you already knew all there was to know about SWTOR but if you’re new to the game, there is one thing you will notice- the lingo is full of abbreviations and acronyms. This is pretty typical of an MMO or any video game for that matter, but if you want to know what’s going on and avoid looking like a SWTOR newb, then you need to crash course on what the big ones mean (unless you plan on pulling out the SWTOR dictionary each time you play).

Luckily, someone has already done all the hard work for you and compiled a full list of SWTOR and MMORPG abbreviations and acronyms for you on the official SWTOR forums. It’s even alphabetized and organized to be your go-to guide for SWTOR lingo.

Abbreviations and Acronyms for SWTOR  and we also got one here at our own forum:

Special Note: Any item highlighted in Blue* is an important abbreviation or acronym relating directly to the game SW:TOR. Although the other acronyms may be found in SW:TOR, they are generally seen in many types of online games.

Here is a snippet from the letter A:

Add: Additional Mobs
AC: Advanced Class* or Asheron’s Call (http://ac.turbine.com/)
AE: Area Effect (See AoE)
AFK: Away From Keyboard
Aggro: To gain attention of a mob or the amount of attention.
AH: Auction House (an ingame place to buy and sell)
AI: Artificial Intelligence, relating to the difficulty of a mob
AKA: Also known as
Alt: A players additional avatar or character. Usually secondary characters.
AoE: Area of Effect (See AE)
AoC: Age of Conan (http://www.ageofconan.com/)
APB: All Points Bulletin (http://www.apb.com/)
ATC: After the Treaty of Coruscant*
ATK: At the Keyboard
Attribute: Major statistic(s) for a character which reflect directly on a character's capabilities.
Attunement: Gaining access for locked doors or content such as an Instance (see Keyed)
Avatar: A players controlled Toon or Character

‘Highcommander’ even added bonus emoticons for your enjoyment and amusement. See the full list on the official forums. Then you can say you are truly prepared for SWTOR launch. (Bookmark it in case you come across something in-game or chat that you don’t remember/recognize.)

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SWTOR Guild Ranking and Progressions

Is your guild registered for SWTOR? Do you know what you will be playing? What type of server will you be on? Will servers be faction balanced? These are all great questions for anyone looking to play SWTOR. With less than 2 months to launch, we can expect to learn a lot of the data that is out now and how that will change once release comes.

A lot of people are still decided on what they are going to play so the hopes are that the sides and the classes will balance themselves out more post-launch. However, early figures we have seen from multiple sources are showing a clear imbalance on sides and there is a website set up that shows this perfectly.

There are some interesting statistics found on SWTOR Progress about guilds and who will be playing what.

World stats show 39,370 people as “Undecided Empire” and the total Empire numbers are 121,548 with the total Republic numbers 73,269. Charts and graphs show the breakdown for this as well as US West, US East, Europe, World RP, World PVE, World PVP, US West RP, US East RP, Europe RP, and so on. 

The charts make it easy to track the data and there is a comment section set up allowing for dialogue.

It’s pretty interesting for sure and with so many still ranking as undecided, we know that these numbers can change considerably between now and launch and of course, after launch as well.

What do you make of these numbers? How will it affect the game?

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SWTOR Game Testing Forums to Merge to One Forum

While SWTOR game testers wait around for the servers to be back up once again, they check the forums regularly for any updates. Some, I’m sure, are obsessively refreshing their browsers, awaiting the news that the newest game client will be ready and they can once again resume playing their favorite game before official launch.

Today, there was news in the beta forums but it wasn’t about the servers being back up. Instead, Allison Berryman, Senior Community Coordinator, had news about the SWTOR game testing forums and upcoming changes.

She made this post, explaining that while the new build is not here yet, there will be changes to the testing forum structure. From the time the new build is available (which it isn’t yet), all testers will share the same testing forums. This means all players will see English, French and German testing forums. This might actually be good news for those who are multi-lingual as then you will be able to get the full experience of the forums and others who are using it.

For those who don’t speak other languages, it might just mean more junk to overlook if you’re not able to read what others are posting. While it’s not quite the update most game testers were looking for, it’s a sign that they are getting closer to the new build being ready.

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Random House Releases Revan Novel Excerpt

Good news for Revan fans today! Random House posted an excerpt of Chapter One from Revan, Drew Karpyshyn's upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic novel. This is an add-on from the synopsis we previously reported this week.

The book, which goes on sale November 15, 2011, is a must-read for SWTOR lore fans or anyone who follows Star Wars story or Karpyshyn's work.

Here in the excerpt, you can learn more about the environment and the people of Dromund Kass, and learn more about Lord Scourge.

The novel synopsis is also available here, along with a bio of the author if you’re not familiar with his work. Check it out for a sneak peek at Chapter One and let us know what you think.



Visit the Random House site to read the full excerpt.

More from us about Revan:
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan
Revan Mini Excerpts
Drew Karpyshyn on the "Revan" and "Exile" story lines
Star Wars: Revan Novel Spoilers- an Unofficial Review
‘Revan’ Cover Art Revealed

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A New SWTOR Flashpoint – The Hammer - Has Been Released

More big news about SWTOR from IGN; a new flashpoint has been released and they are here to tell us something about it. IGN writes today about The Hammer, SWTOR’s newest flashpoint and what we can all expect from it:

“The Hammer, a separate Flashpoint set on an Empire-controlled superweapon, is more focused on the cooperative aspects of group play. The Flashpoint is set on a massive weapon designed to fire gigantic asteroids indiscriminately at planets, and you have to shut it down.”

If you want to learn more about The Hammer and dungeon runs in SWTOR in general, you will love this 1,000+ word write-up from IGN. They give us a complete, honest walk-through of The Hammer. If you’ve had an opportunity to play a flashpoint already, we’re curious what you think about the potential of the newly announced The Hammer, as well.

Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to know certain information about the bosses or the dungeon, then you may not want to read this preview.

IGN concludes:

“The Hammer provided a good amount of difficulty and while the story elements weren't as prominent here as they were in the Esseles, the ability to have a different experience based on which trade skills are present still made for an interesting dungeon run.”

Interesting indeed! Cannot wait to play it myself and if you want to hear all the details of this player’s experience, head over to IGN and read the full preview of The Hammer flashpoint.

For more about flashpoints in SWTOR, check out this thread on the official forums.

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‘Oh Lisa’ Interviews Cory Butler at NYCC

Here is a slightly different view from some of the other stuff we covered on NYCC and if you have not seen it yet, it’s worth the four minutes to watch it.

‘Oh Lisa’ Interviews Cory Butler at NYCC

Lisa Oh! Actor, host and voiceover artist brings us a fun interview with Cory Butler (Bioware producer) from NYCC and in addition, some interesting and fun feedback on her website about her experience at NYCC and her dive into the world of MMOs with SWTOR.

Cute girl- first MMO – fun interview- and apparently she's going to blog/vlog her path from "MMO Newb to Competent Gamer", sounds good to me!

Lisa says she’s never played an MMORPG before and that she’s excited SWTOR will be her first. She writes:

“As part of my jedi training, I went to New York Comic Con to play the beta version of TOR, listen to the panel discussions & meet up with the amazing Bioware Team.”

She plans to cover her impressions in the world of SWTOR and since she’s new to MMORPGs altogether, her view might be an interesting change from the other impressions we are getting from around the globe. She’s never played WoW or Aion or AoC or any of the other big names that we keep seeing compared to SWTOR. She comes into it an MMO virgin, free of any preconceived notions about the game or what it should be like. I’m curious what she will think of it and what she will share with readers so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on her site to see if there is anything good to pass along to you guys.

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Clever SWTOR Guild Names

Do you think your guild has the coolest name for SWTOR? Is your guild name clever, a play on words, a Star Wars pun or something else you deem awesome?
Anexxia over at Inquisitor’s Roadhouse says:

“Every so often, as you are traveling about in a game world, you come upon a guild name that makes you giggle, or even laugh out loud. Inevitably, if I am able to quickly stop and do so, I tweet out the cool guild name and then go about my business.”

To this, I wholeheartedly agree but just like Anexxia, I also agree that Tweets get lost in time and it’s a much better idea to have all of your great SWTOR guild names in one list in one location so you can see, gloat, laugh and admire them all at once.

And that is exactly what Anexxia has done in this blog post. It’s really a fun read and can give you some ideas if you’re still thinking of your own guild name.

Some samples of SWTOR guild names from the list:

Republic

• Blue Shirt Mafia
• Corellian Coalition
• Curb Your Imperialism

Empire

• Accurate Sand People
• Boba Fetish
• Dead Rebel Society
• Dukes of Durasteel

You have to check out the post to see the rest and they are inviting you to add your own clever SWTOR guild names to the list via the comments. What do you think? What are your favorites? Have any you want to add?

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Species of Starwars: Jawa

Jawas are diminutive humanoids from the rim world of Tatooine, often described as "rodent-like", and speaking in a randomly variable language that is very difficult for outsiders to decipher, when they want it to be so.

Little is known of their physiology, but they are believed to be natives of Tatooine, along with the larger "Sand People" (also known as Tusken Raiders). Some xenologists have theorized that Jawas have human origins. The normal body temperature of a Jawa is 116 degrees, and the only feature usually seen of a Jawa is a pair of glowing amber eyes peeking out from under its cowl.

They are best known as scavengers of the desert, traveling in huge, lumbering machines known as sand crawlers, legacies of an earlier era when Tatooine was home to massive mining operations -- When the corporate mining operations closed, the tracked mining/processing vehicles were left behind, and claimed by the local scavengers.

Jawa sand crawler

Now, the sand-crawlers have become an integral part of Jawa culture, as entire clans live within the machines, which have been converted over into mobile living quarters, workshops, and storage for supplies and interesting things they find in the desert -- often courtesy of crashed spaceships, or ancient refuse. The sand-crawlers provide some protection against the violent Tusken Raiders, the massive Krayt Dragons, and the elements.

Although Jawa culture may have been entirely different, once upon a time, they now mostly make their living scavenging discarded items of technology (such as droids), repairing them (to varying degrees of success), and then selling them to Tatooine's inhabitants. Traditional Jawas do not bathe (water, after all, is in scant supply, and requires energy to recycle) and tend to be seen as pests or a "necessary evil" to those who do any dealings with them.

Personality: The stereotypical Jawa is one part scavenger, one part tinker, and one part used droid salesman. Within a given clan, any given Jawa will tend toward his or her own particular specialties, but to outsiders, it's hard to tell any of them apart. Jawas are not especially aggressive, and given their small stature compared to many species, they tend to be fairly eager to avoid physical confrontation. Given their tendency toward scavenging, many are not above outright theft, so long as it does not bring retribution upon one's clan.



Physical Description: Short humanoid with glowing amber eyes, invariably attired in a dark brown hooded robe of coarse material, boots or leg-wraps, gloves, and facial wrapping akin to that of the Tusken Raiders. What lies beneath a Jawa's wrappings, no one knows (and no one has been particularly inclined to find out). A Jawa adult stands between 1.0 to 1.3 meters tall.

Jawa Homeworld: Tatooine.

Language: Jawan and Basic. It is common for Jawas to learn other languages, but as is a common conceit among many species, even if they understand Basic, they prefer to speak in their own tongue, assuming that the listener understands Jawa, or there is an interpreter present.

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SWTOR Impressions from a Veteran MMORPG Player

I’ve mentioned before that I have played a lot of MMORPGs. We’re talking years of games- free to play, subscription based, betas and more. I’ve tried every MMORPG I can get my hands on and surprisingly, really enjoyed some of the oddball ones that my friends had never heard of.

Since we’re coming up on SWTOR release soon, I thought it was a good time for a write-up on SWTOR compared to other MMORPGs. A lot of my friends and guidlies keep asking me what I think so here we go.

The sci-fi genre of MMORPGs takes up a very small piece of the pie compared to your typical medieval genre. This fact alone sets SWTOR apart from the sea of other games out there today. So what other aspects set it apart and in what ways is it similar to other MMORPGs?

TOR is not so far different from other MMOs that you’ll not be able to pick it up and learn the mechanics within a few minutes. Your typical controls will be in place, like camera movement, keyboard commands and shortcut keys. This feature makes SWTOR very friendly to your seasoned vet of MMORPGs.

While the physical feel of the game is familiar to gamers, the look of it is not. The maps, the UI and the interaction with NPCs are much different than what many gamers are used to. The conversations your characters have with NPCs will be a completely new experience to some people. Your choices make a difference and can even affect the types of missions you receive so there is more thought that goes into the gameplay.

When you set out on your missions, you’ll want to grab a taxi service to get closer to your destination. This is like any other transport system in other games, except with Star Wars speeders (mounts). Finding your objective is not going to be as easy as running up to an area and killing a bunch of mobs and being done.

Many of the missions you do will give you a general reference on where to find the items but with no exact locations. Players will have to do a little digging to find what they’re after.

Another thing that TOR offers is personal ships. These serve as your personal transport, space killing machine and houses your glow stick or blasters. While your ship offers you many things, customization is not one of them. Unlike other MMOs SWTOR does not offer you personal space that is customizable (like EQ housing). The space combat is also nothing like EVE and is track-based and more of a “mini-game”.

Many of the features in SWTOR will be familiar to most gamers who play MMOs. The voice acting and storyline will only be familiar to those who have played Bioware games such as Mass Effect or Dragon Age before. Right now one of the only things that sets SWTOR apart from other MMOs is it’s deep rooted storyline.

Do you think that SWTOR’s storyline is what revolutionizes the MMORPG industry?

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Ultimate SWTOR Trailer Remix by Awall, ft. Atlas Plug

Today we have a special treat for your visual and audio senses. A great SWTOR trailer remix from Awall- excellent for SWTOR fans. It’s 5 minutes of awesomeness you’re going to want to play again and again. 

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Facebook Image of the Week #35

It's wednesday again and BioWare have added a new screenshot to the official Star Wars the old republic Facebook page. This time it's a really interesting screenshot as we get to see how the jedi temple looks like ( from the out side) after the Sith had fun with it - remember the first cinematic trailer from back in 2009?

Once home to the Jedi Archives, the Jedi Temple on Coruscant now lays in ruin years after the Sith’s sacking of Coruscant.

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SWTOR Strategies Turns 3 Years Old

Will you be around to celebrate with us on November 3rd? We’re having a birthday here soon as the site turns three years old!

This is our very first post ever on the site- have you read it yet? Back then, we were talking about the announcement of SWTOR.

Details were still coming in and we didn’t know a lot about it yet. All we knew was the title and obviously, the theme and that it would be an MMORPG. After what many people considered to be the failure of Star Wars Galaxies, gamers were super pumped about SWTOR.

Do you remember when you first heard about SWTOR? Where did you hear about it? What did you think?
My first thought was “I’m so excited!” and my second thought was “I hope they don’t screw it up!”

Three years later, we are nearly there to launch date and so far, I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve seen. A video game is rarely exactly what we picture in our head but SWTOR is coming pretty close.

Since that first post 3 years ago, we have now brought your more than 1400 SWTOR related posts, Star Wars news and updates, videos, fun stories and more. We’re happy you’re here with us and we hope you stick around post-launch where we want to be your source for everything SWTOR.

Stay tuned with us between now and next week as we celebrate our birthday and count down the days to SWTOR launch with reviews, previews, analysis and more. We may even have a few birthday related surprises for our fans, too…

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What will you be playing to level 50 first?

Most everyone planning to play SWTOR is asking the question, “What will you play?” I know I get asked pretty regularly on my Twitter and Facebook and by real-life friends and buddies from other games. The big question is “Are you playing SWTOR?” followed up with “What are you going to play to 50 first?”

A poll on the official forums asked this question and some of the results are not that surprising. Is this because gamers are just that predictable or are certain classes more appealing than others?

Let’s take a look at what classes took the top slots for votes. Is it what you would think?

Taking the top of the poll is Sith Sorcerer with nearly 14% of the votes. Next in line is Sith Juggernaut with 10.01%. 

Next is Sith Assassin with Jedi Guardian right behind.

At the bottom with the least votes were Gunslinger and Jedi Shadow.



Take a look to see where the others rank up and let us know. Does this poll reflect what you would think about the game and the class makeup?

Who will you play to level 50 first? What influences your decision?

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Star Wars: TOR: Revan Mini-Excerpt part 2

A few weeks ago, we reported that Star Wars Books on Facebook presents their a mini-excerpt from Drew Karpyshyn's upcoming Darth Revan novel. Now Star Wars Books on Facebook presents their second mini-excerpt from the book:

“It’s not enough to secure your silence through threats and blackmail. When we finally move against the Emperor, I want you on our side.”
“And how do you intend to convince me?”
... “Have you ever heard tales of the Emperor’s childhood?”
Scourge shook his head. “I don’t even know what planet he’s from.”
“Few people do. He’s hidden his past, because if the truth came to light none would follow him.”

The book is scheduled to be released on November 15th, 2011 from Del Rey Books. No official reviews are up from the book yet, but we will keep you informed as they show up.

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Jedi Shadow PvP Footage

Russian MMORPG website innrey.ru just released some fresh Jedi Shadow PvP Footage. The video is 20 min long and shoves quite a few interesting find I personally didn't know yet. Stuff like a Marauder can use a viborblade:

Anyways. Enjoy this Solid footage of the shadow/assassin class. Personally this is seriously making me consider rolling one of these for PvP purposes.

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Here's That Phantom Menace 3D Trailer You Haven't Been Waiting For

Lucasfilm apparently snuck a trailer for their 3D rerelease of Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace into theaters this past weekend, where it played in front of such not-screened-for-critics fare as The Three Musketeers 3D. (Sadly, I missed Musketeers because I was at Paranormal Activity 3 instead, thinking not so much about that movie but rather about the lady who had brought an incessantly screaming infant to a movie made up of little more than cheap jump-scares.) Here is is:



It's a weird trailer, but if you'll allow me to get even geekier than usual for a second, it's interesting to see how it takes a very different approach from Episode I's original trailer (which I still think is pretty impressive, and which I still have fond memories of watching over and over in a friend's dorm room on her slow-ass computer, looking at every goddamn frame for evidence of how amazingly awesome Phantom Menace was going to be). Like the poster, this trailer hypes the experience of seeing Star Wars—any Star Wars—on the big screen, and it also includes roughly 8,000 percent less Jar Jar and 400 percent less crappy puppet Yoda. You work with what you've got, I guess, but I'll be curious if later trailers for the other all-but-inevitable Star Wars 3D rereleases will focus more on the story elements and less on the desperate sentiment that equates to IT'S BASICALLY STAR TOURS BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO DISNEYLAND ANYMORE. PODRACING!

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Hall Hood and Chris Collins interview

Swedish website bobafett.se had the chance to talk to  Hall Hood and Chris Collins, when the guys was in Stockholm for the Nordic Immersion Day Event a few weeks ago. The website is in Swedish but the interview is in English, so it's definitely worth checking out.

Here is a snip:

I have to ask about the story itself, what is your favourite story ingame?Hall Hood: I cant choose. I know all the stories and they are great. The reality is our game is such that every class has it’s own unique story. It fulfills its own different fantasy of the Star Wars setting and fills a different niche. So a lot for me depends on what mood I am in on any given day what story I want to play through. That said, I am a smuggler guy. so that is what I want, that is what I enjoy. If push comes to shove I want to be the wisecracking guy with blaster, the ship and the wookies. 

Chris Collins: For me it was quite a journey when I first started playing the game because one of the thing was that I wanted to save the one story to last. Save the one I wanted to play, the one to get the most involved in for launch. But I started of playing Jedi Knight to start of with because I knew I was gonna play the full other end as dark as I could. I played it for a while and then moved on to some of the empire classes, especially when I knew I was gonna be at these events and having to coach people. I am sure you have seen some of the stuff Stephen and I have to do live when it comes pvp stuff at these events. I started playing Sith Marauder, really enjoying that and then touched on the agent since I heard great things about it. It is actually so that even though I just reached out to scratch the surface, I got really really drawn in very very quickly because you learn an element of the imperial story that none of the other lore touch on. That is kind of the subterfuge, the sort of back handedness. All the nitty gritty. The veins of the empire. It is a really interesting story, one that is kind of creepy for you to be honest. Definitively one I am saving for launch. 

So we have one Empire guy here and one Republic, does this create any conflict for you at work?  Hall Hood: Haha we all play against each other all the times, so yes we have many long standing grudge matches. They will never be resolved and we will just keep playing.

A question regarding that, we have heard a lot about battlegrounds and I am sure you are all battling it out against each other. How is it with the world pvp, is that wide open?Hall Hood: On a pvp server, sure. When you are playing on a pvp-server there are planets that are contested territories between republic and imperial forces. It is fair game and you are gonna have to watch yourself everywhere you go.

Check out the whole interview here, and remember to check out the other interview from  Nordic Immersion Day Event here.

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