each class will be able to get a total of 5 companions through out the game. Each companion will be able to do different types of damage or play different roles in a group. Each companion will also give different bonuses to your crew skills.
Star Wars is an expansive universe. You' will be playing the game, you will be fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Here we make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind Star Wars: the old republic
With more people playing SWTOR beta and game testing now, we are seeing more info coming out about it. While these players are still bound to the NDA, it is to be expected that some general knowledge will come out about the game.
If you will be playing SWTOR with a group of friends, it makes sense to form up your own guild so you can all play together and take advantage of any guild perks and benefits right from the start. Here is how to
Datacrons are part of the codex system in Star Wars The Old Republic. They are placed throughout the worlds for the players to find, usually in hard to reach places. As a reward for this exploration ingenuity, if a player successfully reachs and interacts with certain datacrons, one of the player's character stats will be increased -- permanently. Here is the complete list of Datacrons, rrdered by codex entry #
Recently there have been a lot of complaints about PVP in SWTOR and not all of them are just from hardcore PvPers who don’t like the way things are set up in SWTOR. In fact, there are many bugs and legitimate complaints that lead a gamer to ask, “Is PvP in SWTOR broken?”
MMO Crunch has a piece that asks “Where’s the PvP?” and brings up a pretty good question about the lacking world PvP in SWTOR. I have to agree with the author since I play on a PvP server and have yet to run into a PvP encounter in the open world once so far and I’ve been playing since pre-launch.
MMO Crunch says:
“The problem with the open PvP zones is there is absolutely no incentive for players, which is why they’re empty. Why bother in a open zone when you can queue up for a warzone and get all the rewards? While hardcore PvPers will say the reward is in the kill itself, that’s not enough incentive to get most players to participate, so there has to be some reward be it XP, Valor or something else.”
Again, good points. Even if you enjoy PvP just for the sake of killing other players, there should always be some type of reward, even if it is nothing more than a kill counter for the player. What’s the point if there is no way to track it, benefit from it or brag about it?
But that’s not the only problem with PvP in SWTOR. There are also loads of bugs and open room for exploitation- something that been talked about a lot the past week or so. One example of such exploitation that caused a stir recently is base trading. I’ve seen it happen in other games as well.
Basically, in certain PvP zones (like Ilum), there is more benefit to capping the bases and taking the zone rather than actual PvPing. So some gamers decide to take advantage of the situation to get more credits and benefit by using alts to trade the bases back and forth.
This is just the beginning of ways that PvP is “broken” in SWTOR and ways that gamers can exploit the system to their own gain. What bugs or exploits have you encountered?
While it’s not really a surprise to any of us here, we are happy to announce that Gamespy ranked SWTOR as Game of the Year: MMO Category. Released just before the end of the year after years of anticipation, the game is off to a fantastic start, breaking genre records across the board and drawing in tons of happy gamers.
In what many believe to be the first MMO to rival WoW, SWTOR has made an impressive launch into the industry and now only time will tell if BioWare can keep it up for the longterm.
“We're
still logging hours in a galaxy far, far away to bring you our full review, but
this award should give you an idea how we feel about BioWare's long-awaited
Star Wars MMO. From day one, the renowned RPG studio said it would set its game
apart from the competition with story, voice, and choice -- and we'll be a
scruffy nerf herder, BioWare has delivered.”
While they admit that the game has some flaws, just like any
game, they highlight the many great features that causes SWTOR to rise above
any other MMORPG this year.
So what do you think? Did SWTOR deserve this honor? What are
some reasons you think it deserves Game of the Year?
Gaming Age takes a look at SWTOR for the first time and it’s safe to say that overall, their reviewer was thoroughly impressed with the game. They’ve taken the time to write up a nearly 1,000-word pre-review to explain what they think of it. This is a great “early impressions” type piece that we wanted to share with you. And if any of you have friends that still have not bought SWTOR, this is a great preview/review to send to them.
The pre-review begins:
“Star Wars: The Old Republic is the first MMO that could legitimately take the top spot away from the long-running champ of MMO’s, World of Warcraft.”
And haven’t we heard this one before? While the haters and WoW fanboys may disagree, there are actually some really good reasons why this might be true. The reviewer at Gaming Age takes some time to tell us their opinions. The reviewer has a pretty good history with MMOs to back it up. He’s played Everquest, Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, DC Universe, Final Fantasy XI, and now Star Wars: The Old Republic.
He also explains how this is not a full review of the game and there is much more still to cover. But anyway, as far as a pre-review goes, this one is really thorough. Here’s another snippet:
Besides class variety, another thing SWTOR has going for it is the individual class stories. Bioware is no stranger to crafting a strong video game tale, but I’ve never seen an MMO so devoted to its narrative as this one. WoW certainly tries, and I know plenty of people that are obsessed with the lore in WoW, but SWTOR’s fully voiced questing certainly lends a bit more gravitas to the world than a bunch of text boxes. And the voice acting is extremely well done, with some notable similarities to voices found in other Bioware titles like Mass Effect.
Head on over and read the full pre-review and let us know what you think!
Belsavis was a planet in the Ninth Quadrant, which was a region of the Bozhnee sector. Ice-covered, its average temperature was in the -50s. It was located on the Belsavis Run
At some unknown point in the past, the planet became one of the many worlds that belonged to the Rakata Infinite Empire. During that time, the Rakata made use of the world as a prison colony where they placed many dangerous prisoners that remained trapped for the millennia. It entered an ice age around 5,000 BBY. Its inhabitants dwelt in three volcanic jungle rifts.
During the Great War, the Republic used Belsavis’ prison to confine dangerous Sith lords and war criminals.
68 - [Aim +4] X: 784; Y: 126 Z: -1929 (The Tomb ) Start at (-704, 141, -1897) in the western region of the Tomb area. From this point if you look directly west, you'll see that you're right next to an opening in some rock, with some large lava pool just beyond. Walking towards it you'll come to a small rock outcropping that extends 5-10 meters across the lava, and you'll be able to see the Datacron on an island on the other side of the lava pit.
From here you might want to zoom out, pan the around to view below you, if you can't see the outline of a small bridge, try looking east with the (and your character near the edge of the outcropping still) and then look down again, you'll eventually be able to see faint blue outlines of a very narrow nearly invisible bridge. Once you have a good view of it, you'll need to make a precision drop down to it, as well as a precision/straight run to the other side to the island. Grab the Datacron, and behind this part of the island is a rakata transport that takes you to another transport.
70 - [Presence +4] X: -315; Y-2173 Max Security - NW corener there is a giant bridge, before you go across it, hang a right and hug the wall he ading East until you find a gap in the rocks, hidden by a boulder. Follow the path.
71 - [Green Matrix Shard] X: -3484; Y-866 (inside the Cave Under Tree) The Tomb - Go to The Scar (it's the area covered in snow with a huge volcanic pit dividing the north and south ends) and look for little lootable items on the ground called Rataka Energy Cores. They look like little blue datacrons. Once you have 4 of them, go east to The Tomb area and near the middle of map, there is a giant tree (It's on the map) that sits on a plateau, with a cave running through the middle of it (path running through it also on the map.) In that cave there is an elevator, take it down, put the 4 energy cores into the machine.
First find the elevator to Cave Under Tree on the Tomb map, the location is (-547, -2172). Take the elevator down and travel straight through to the far end of the room. The glowing cube is there with a quest reticule above it. Before the Datacron is a machine that is powered by 4 Rakata Cubes. Rakata Cubes are found all over Belsavis. They spawn at random hidden locations. Two of the locations I made notes of are:
Minimum Security (-154, -45) up on top of small hill at the base of a tree.
High Security section (-2790, 955) on another hill near base of tree and beside giant orange beet.
You must place four cubes into the machine and then activate it in order to get inside the Datacron. The Rakata cubes are grey/white and are slightly smaller than Datacron cubes. Also, the Rakata cubes do not glow.
This Datacron is currently BUGGED and does not actually provide a shard. Upon first accessing it the animation says it will provide a Green shard, and then says you acquire a Yellow shard, but nothing is actually added to your inventory.
72 - [Willpower +4] X: -2072; Y:378 High Security - Near the middle of the map (slightly north) there is a large area that is raised an inaccessible. On the NW side of it, there is path that cuts across to the NE side (it's on the map.)
Ever gotten on a soapbox when it comes to talking about video games? You certainly wouldn’t be the first to do so. In fact, gamers are often so passionate about their video games that they find themselves on a soapbox quite often. Adam Harshberger of Pexielsordeath.com has a soapbox opportunity to tell us all why SWTOR matters.
It seems everyone who has played the game has a strong opinion one way or another about it. For some, SWTOR is just another MMO attempting to rival WoW that will probably wither and wane just like so many others. To some, it doesn’t matter at all. However, to others SWTOR matters and here is a glimpse into why.
Harshberger says:
“But, regardless, Bioware has succeeded in igniting my brain in ways that only single player games have previously – and, to frank with ya’ll, I can’t stop playing it.”
He says that most MMORPGs are boring and mindnumbing with the same go-get-this style quests to be done over and over again. However, he finds SWTOR to be different from the typical MMO and that it breaks the mould, captures his interest and brings him entertainment. So how is it different from other games in the market?
“How does SWTOR do it? The cut-scenes, really, are the culprit. They are fleshed out and well-written – and they work because the writers at Bioware are some of the best in the industry. The company’s promise of delivering ‘the fourth pillar’ (story) has been fulfilled. With these cut-scenes, my character is brought to life and given context in the world. It’s the end, not the means, that matter though – the cut-scenes aren’t the triumph; the fact that I have a character, not a husk, is.”
Read the full soapbox for yourself and let us know if you agree with his impressions of SWTOR.
Hoth was the sixth planet of the remote Hoth system. A desolate world covered with ice and snow, located in the Anoat sector, a rarely-traveled portion of the Outer Rim Territories, it became famous as the one-time location of the Alliance to Restore the Republic's Echo Base during the Galactic Civil War. It was discovered in 3 ABY by the Empire, causing the Battle of Hoth, a major engagement that destroyed the Rebels' base and gave them heavy casualties.
Hoth's existence was known throughout the galaxy as early as 4,000 BBY. The swamp wampas of Dromund Kaas were proven by scientists to be descended from the wampas of Hoth. It is possible that wampas were brought to Dromund Kaas during the Great Galactic War though the truth remains a mystery. Indeed the Republic suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Empire during that conflict. The two fleets included some of the most advanced warships available, and the Republic lost several valuable prototype vessels in the engagement. The battle showered the planet's surface with hundreds of shipwrecks, but neither side possessed the resources to recover them. By the time of the Cold War, pirates began efforts to salvage the wreckage, but their efforts were contested with the onset of competing efforts by the Republic and Empire.
63 - [Cunning +4 ]X:3144, Y::475 The entrance to the Star of Coruscant is in the southeast corner of the Starship Graveyard area at (2882, 448). First, when you get off the elevator to the second floor, go to your left. You will see the first moving crate going from left to right in the room. Climb up the crates on the left side of the room. Work your way towards the small wall to your right. Then jump over to a ledge on that wall. Walk around this ledge, and then jump down onto another large crate. Now wait for the first moving crate to arrive. When it does hop onto it, and ride it across the room. On the other side hop onto the large crates, and climb to the highest one. Then wait for the next moving crate to arrive, and hop onto it. Ride it half way across the room until it meets up with the crate that moves up and down in front of the Datacron. Hop onto it when it is even with the crate you are riding. Wait for it to rise up to the Datacron’s level, and hop off onto the Datacron’s ledge.
64 - [Endurance+4] X:2837, Y:´-376 First, go to (2610, -848) in the Jedi Encampment Heroic Area and start climbing the ice. Work your way towards the arch you went through when you entered the area. Go over the top of the arch and jump down onto the ice ledge below you. From there work your way towards the edge of the huge crashed ship. Run along the ledge on the ship you’ll have to jump down at the end to an ice ledge below you. Follow it around to another starship ledge. Follow that ledge, until it ends with ice. Follow the ice ledge around and up to the next level of the starship. At the end of the path you find the Datatcron.
65 - [Presence +4] X:1039, Y:´1242 Glacia Fissure - NE corner, go through the cave that dismounts you, hang a left up the hill, and hug the east wall. You can jump up on the ice sticking out of the wall, just follow it north and jump down onto the elevated area that you couldn't reach before. Run into the cave to the north.
66 - [Red Matrix Shard] X:-738, Y:1708 First, you will have to buy an item called "Hydro-Thinner" from the Aurek Base Cantina Vendor at (-3533, -1382). Go to the Datacron’s location a little bit left of the Highmount Bluff's entrance and use the Hydro-Thinner on it. It’s covered in ice and there is a large rock spike next to it to help with visibility.
67 - [Strength +4] X:-4015, Y:24 First, go to the area of (-4015, 24) in the western area of Clabburn Tundra, and search for the Ancient Probe (lvl 47 Champion) that is located in this area. Ancient Prob has a Prototype (Blue) quality item called "Depleted Datacron". Once you have this take it to the north entrance of the Star of Coruscant at (2991, -94), in the Starship Graveyard. There you need to use the Coupled Recharge Station to charge the Datacron, which will allow use of it.
We have heard talk for years now of how BioWare just might have the first MMO to rival the infamous World of Warcraft. However, it would not be the first game to make attempts to take down the Blizzard giant in the MMORPG scene. There were skeptics and there were supporters but no one could say for sure if SWTOR would measure up to the level of WoW until it happened.
Here were are just a few days past the official launch and SWTOR is breaking records right and left. It would appear now that they have also beaten WoW at their own game. Daily Mail reports on the stats:
Hits 1 million subscribers faster than any rival, including World of Warcraft
Gamers play for 5.5 million hours over Christmas
Three billion enemies are killed
Dark Side is narrowly ahead: 810,000 Jedi created, 850,000 Sith
While WoW boasts the title of the most popular online world ever created with more than 10 million gamers playing, SWTOR has now surpassed even WoW when it comes to subscribers. They are the fastest to ever get to 1 million and they are set to break more records as the game continues.
While SWTOR is showing massive success early on, there is also a lot of questioning regarding the business model. Some believe that the game was just too expensive to create to continue to maintain over time, overthrow a giant like WoW and still turn a decent profit.
Many MMOs have had to switch to a free-to-play model in order to keep fans interested and keep the game alive. Other games just had to shut down altogether. Will SWTOR be able to maintain? Only time will really say for sure but so far it seems they are on the right track to continue beating WoW on the MMORPG scene.
If there was any doubt that the MMO market is at an all-time high, SWTOR just took measures to highlight this for all of the industry to see. Kris Graft from Gamasutra gives us the lowdown on how SWTOR points to a healthy MMO market right now.
Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian said:
"We view the early success of Star Wars as an indication of a healthy MMO market. While there is likely some shifting of usage from Activision's World of Warcraft, we see a viable market for multiple million-user MMOs in the U.S. and Europe."
The Gamasutra article goes on to explain why the analyst says this about SWTOR and what it might mean for the MMO industry/genre as a whole. While the MMO market does have a wild history of bug launches that failed miserably, it’s safe to say that gamers in general are willing to try nearly anything.
There are more free to play (f2p) MMORPGs than ever before. Gamers also put loads of real-world cash down on MMOs like WoW, Aion, Age of Conan, EverQuest and many, many more. The loads people who have raced to pre-order and play SWTOR since the launch is a good indication of how far gamers are willing to go for a great MMORPG. The only real question now is whether or not SWTOR will flop like so many others have or if it will stick around and stand the test of time.
What will the future hold for BioWare and SWTOR?
"It's hard to say right now what we may or may not do as far as future projects," said BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk in a recent Gamasutra interview. "We're really busy working on future SWTOR content as well as continuing to improve the service. This will never end."
Discovered by the Galactic Republic during the Great Galactic War, Quesh's toxic atmosphere made the planet uninhabitable for many lifeforms, and was initially dismissed by the Republic. Years later, however, a young Republic chemist realized potential for some of the chemicals found on Quesh to be used for the Republic, as many of the compounds on the planet closely resembled venenit shadaaga, roughly translated as "Hutt Venom", a primary ingredient in very powerful adrenals.
After this discovery was made, it was swiftly reoccupied by the Republic who began to invest in its production. However, the Republic engineers were unable to master the process of turning these chemicals into adrenals, so they resorted to an unlikely ally, the Hutts. Three Hutt cartels lended their help in the exchange for a share of the profits. Within a decade, the Republic was fully invested in Quesh's adrenal industry. Despite efforts to keep Quesh a secret, the Sith Empire eventually became aware of the Republic's operation, and its Hutt allies. Branding the three Republic-aligned cartels as traitorous, the Hutts were forced to aid the Empire in an effort to take control of the planet from the Republic.
Check out the full datacron guide for Quesh below:
58 - [Cunning +4] X425; Y:140 First, enter the Republic Mining Camp and make a right after the area with water. You will then see a set of pipes. Jump onto the pipes then onto the wall above and the area off to the right. Then follow the metal fence to the right. Go all the way down and when you hit the grass area go left and you will see that the fence is broken. Go through and make a left. As soon as possible make the next right and go under the structure above. Go left around the next structure ahead of you and you will find the Datacron.
59 - [Endurance +4] X:207 Y:775 - REQUIRES 2 PEOPLE - First, enter the Yuna Crosscut entrance at (-9, 715). Follow the cave all the way down until you reach an opener doorway with a panel. Go inside the doorway and turn your camera, so that you can activate the panel from the inside. The door will close and gas will activate. Just be sure to have a healing companion with you or use healing abilities yourself if you have them. Close by you should see two pillars with activation consoles on them. Activate the one closest to the entrance you just came from first. After activating both panels you can enter the newly opened door to the south. The Datacron is at the end of the tunnel.
60 - [Strength +4] X:207 Y:77South of the Three Families War Camp, on the south-side of the big hill. There's a small path between 2 baracade walls to get up to it.
We were asked to do a review of an iPhone app by the moderators of swtorstrategies.com, and not being ones to disapoint our masters, we did so eagerly. The app is called Galaxy Link, and although it doesn't have any links to the game itself due to the fact that Bioware has yet to put out their API for The Old Republic, the app does try to push what usefulness it can with timers, a small social networking tool, and a small encyclopedia of basic information on datacrons.
The social networking tools are relatively bare bones, especially because it has no ability to tie into the game itself. It works by you entering the server and character you play, as well as answering some basic questions about them. After completing the short registration, you see a list of everyone else linked into the network, organized in multiple ways. As useful as it can be, I didn't like the fact that you could see everyone as soon as you finished registration, but the mechanics themselves are pretty solid. You'll like this if you love every form of social networking, but otherwise you'll most likely ignore this part. One other thing should be mentioned however, that it operates over data and not text from what I can tell, which can be useful if you're out of texts for the month.
With three, four, or five companions constantly working on different professions, traversing the galaxy to get you materials just for you to have to babysit timers, being able to set up those timers within the app itself could be pretty useful. Once again, however, the problem of no API and not being able to hook it up into the game itself to use the app to command your minions comes up. This hinderance makes the timers near worthless to me, especially in the mid range of companion jobs and the very short timers they've got, as it sometimes takes a third of the time a companion is out for a job just to set the timer up in the first place.
The final part of the app is the one I feel is actually pretty useful even without being linked into The Old Republic, and that's the datacron hub. It has decent catagorical information on where to find most of the datacrons, although some data is still missing, but that can easily be remedied in later versions. If you only have one screen then this will greatly reduce the time you spend just sitting around trying to alt tab back and forth from a browser trying to find that darned last cube you just can't find on Tatooine, only to find the balloon you need to ride to get to it just flew over your head.
Overall, the problem of not being able to tie it into the game itself comes up over and over again, and really holds this app back. It's well compiled and works smoothly, but without The Old Republic allowing apps to use the game itself there's not a lot to scream about here. The encyclopedia for datacrons is worth your time and money for this, but beyond that I wasn't a huge fan.
As soon as the app is released to the public, we'll post more on this topic. The Sith Inquisition appreciates being able to take the time to review this product, and we look forward to seeing more work from the community in the future.
For more information on our organization, The Sith Inquisition, follow our Youtube Here.
While no one actually asked them this time, the BioWare docs found reason to defend their subscription model once again, according to joystiq. In an interview with the BioWare figureheads, they spoke up with a defensive explanation of their subscription model for SWTOR, although the interviewer didn’t actually question them on it.
Perhaps they are just so used to be grilled over the subject, it’s like a canned response to interviews. Nonetheless, it was pretty fun and their answers/explanation was interesting.
"You look at the online space in general and it's fragmenting into all these different areas, but the core still works. The subscription model still works," Zeschuk said. "We know a lot of people say, 'Oh, everything's just going free-to-play.' But that's just one slice. There's one slice that's free-to-play, there's one slice that's social, there's traditional subscription still going."
He goes on to talk about the differences between free to play and sub-based models and how one is not necessarily better than the other because each has distinct differences. He doesn’t buy into the line that free to play MMOs will take over the industry.
Joystiq reports:
The idea that free-to-play will take over all other MMO business models, he said is, "from a business perspective, ridiculous."
For the time being, I have to say that I agree with him. While I like the idea of more games going free to play (more for me to enjoy without breaking the bank), I also think that subscription based games still have too much to offer right now and some gamers are ready and willing to pay to get those extra tidbits to a game.
For those players in particular, BioWare has you covered!
To start, you'll need the Red Crystal Artifact found on Corellia, the MGGS found on Alderaan, and a Blue Crystal that you can get right there in the Museum on the Republic Fleet (which is where the fun begins).
On to the guide!
To begin, you'll need to head to the Museum on the Gav Daragon within the Republic Fleet. You can do this by heading to the "Mission Departures" elevator on the main Republic Fleet ship and taking it to "Interfleet Transport." Take the taxi to the "Gav Daragon" and then take the only elevator you'll see to the "Gav Daragon Bridge." Once there, head to the right (on the map, you'll see an elevator-like circle, but no elevator icon) and take that elevator to the "Museum."
Museum Access
Once you are in the Museum, you need to jump up to the shuttle on top of the platform (you can mount up and use the gray panel on the wall to help you). Once there, go inside the shuttle and use the panel. This will blow open the door in front of the shuttle, giving you access to the Blue Crystal. Now that you have this (and the MGGS/Red Crystal), jump onto the other platform (the one with the statue) and use the only part of the statue you can right click. This will put your Red Crystal into the statue, giving you access to a small green button also located on it.
Now that you've used the button, the force field to your right (if you're facing the button) will disappear and you will gain access to the door behind it. Simply go through the door and follow the path. The path will split and to the left is the bridge (which you cannot go across yet). Straight ahead will be the bridge controls.
Bridge Access
BC1 and BC2 are Bridge Control 1 and Bridge Control 2. You'll notice there are 2 BC1s and 4 BC2s. The easiest way to do this is to have 3 people at the only bridge controls you'll have access to while one person waits at the bridge. Each person will use one of the bridge controls, all at the same time. This will lower the bridge and allow the fourth person to go across.
The person who crossed the bridge will head to their BC1 point while one of the original controllers goes to wait for the bridge. The other two will stay at the two BC2 points. The three non-bridge-waiters will use their bridge controls, allowing the bridge-waiter to cross.
The two people who are across will now go to their BC2 points while one person on the original side goes to his or her BC1 point and the other one becomes the bridge-waiter. The points are all used and then the three that are across use the three bridge controls on their side to let the last person across the bridge. Now, the fun begins.
Grappling Points, and Panels, and Datacrons! Oh My!
From now on GP = Grappling Point.
The Numbers on the map (you still have that open, right?) are the Grappling Points. The Letters on the map are the Panels. Each Panel activates a Grappling Point: A activates 1. B activates 2. C activates 3. D activates 4. E activates 5, but only with other panels still active (we made sure each and every panel was active, and we recommend you do the same).
Disclaimers
Now that you are all on the other side of the bridge, try not to die. I recommend only people with the Red Crystal try to access GP 1, because you will die. If you die, you have to use the statue to get back in. If you do not have a red crystal to use the statue, someone with a red crystal will have to kill themselves and you'll have to let two people across the bridge instead of just one.
If you go into space (yes, seriously), just type "/stuck" and you'll be sent back to the bridge control area.
GP 1 is hard to see in my screenshots and hard to see unless you know what you're looking for. Stand where my character is on the map, facing the same direction. Look up. You should see a beam to your right. Between that beam and the ceiling above you, you will (hopefully) see the GP. If you don't, try checking the video above to get a better feel for it (though I'm pretty sure that isn't much help either). It took us awhile to find it, don't give up.
Now What?
Send one person to Panel A. This person will stand there and just click the panel every 20-30 seconds to keep GP 1 active. Everyone else (if you have a crystal or are okay with taking risks!) are going to be trying to get to GP 1.
This is the hardest part of this Datacron by a long shot. The player icon on the map (still open, right?!) is right about where we were able to get to GP 1 consistently. When I say consistently, I mean 3 times out of well over 200 tries. Good luck.
Once someone is at GP 1, the rest is fairly simple. I recommend doing it multiple times to get a feel for the timing and the other GPs, that way you can feel confident in letting the person at GP 1 jump down to get the Datacron. If the person at GP 1 is not 50 or does not want the Datacron for whatever reason, let (read: make) him or her stay up there while you finish.
The Big Finale
Now that someone is at GP 1, send one person to Panel A, another to Panel B, and another is going to get into position to shoot themselves to GP 2 where Panel C is. Once everyone is ready, Panels A and B are activated, someone shoots to GP 2 and activates Panel C. Those three players type "/stuck" to get themselves back up to the bridge control area.
If GP 1 is coming with you, he or she should activate Panel D and also type "/stuck". Everyone now jumps down to the beams and shoots up to GP 3. At least one person needs to then grapple to GP 4 and activate Panel E. If you have one person that can do this reliably, then I would only send that person because this grapple can bug out (far less than GP 1) and kill you.
Once Panel E is activated, everyone grapples to GP 5. Now, just go through the door and follow the path to your +10 All Stats Datacron!
Final Thoughts
This is seriously frustrating and took us a few hours to complete. If GP 1 wasn't so obviously bugged, it would be very entertaining and awesome. But GP 1 is bugged, so it's just an exercise in patience.
I know this guide isn't the most clear guide of all time, but I haven't seen any other Republic guides. My video is probably even worse. With the video, this post, and me trying to explain it for 5 minutes while staring at a map, I really hope somehow it will all come together and make some sense. If it still doesn't, try getting across the bridge and looking for all the Panels/Grappling Points. If you see them all, try activating Panels individually to see which Grappling Points they activate. This should help clear up some of the confusion caused by this guide.
One thing the video doesn't really make clear is that all 5 magnetic stabilizer buttons have to be active in order to get to the final door. This means that the first two are clicked, allowing the other two players to hookshot to their buttons and push them, then everyone hookshots to the middle one, and one person hookshots to the final button. All this has to be done within about 30 seconds. Also, the hookshots are very unreliable -- you can be teleported back to your starting point or even fall to your death if you hookshot from a slightly wrong location. Generally speaking, you want to do it from as far back as possible so the angle is shallower.
Also, once you have gotten the datacron, your red and blue crystals are destroyed and it is impossible to pick them up again. This means you can't help anyone else get it, unless they open the museum door for you. The problem is if you die in the hookshot part you respawn at the medical droid, who is... in the museum. Meaning the whole group will have to start completely over to let you back in.
So lets start this off right.
First you need to head to the Ziost Shadow, and goto the Museum. (MAP)
Once you're there, you'll see a rather large room filled with objects and lore.
Look for the large republic medical support walker to your right. (IMAGE)
You can cheese killing yourself by jumping on the plaque at the front of the platform.
Go inside of the walker and use the panel to blow open the door. (BUTTONDESTROYED DOOR)
Now that you're inside follow the path to the back and you will see a door open it and you can take a Cormium Crystal Shard, which you will need later. (IMAGE)
All right, its time to goto Corellia at Axiel Park at these coords 688,34. (MAP)
Look inside the cargo and you will see a skull much like that at the Imperial Fleet with a Red Crystal. Loot it. (IMAGE)
Hop up the statue on the left from the back, and place the crystal in the socket. (IMAGE)
You should see a spark on a tiny panel right next to you, click it and it will break the shield that leads to the maintenance tunnels. (PLANELTUNNEL DOOR)
Now that you're in the tunnels you'll need this reference Map.
You'll need 4 players or more from here on out and everyone needs an MGGS - info on where to get it is in the comments.
In this large room there are a total of 6 Bridge Control Units (3 on each side), 3 need to be activated at a time to bring a player across.
Once you've done this you're now in the harder part. Searching for Toggles to activate the MGGS Hook Panels.
Follow the Sets 1 - 5 and you'll move across easily as the panels stay active for about 20 seconds.
/stuck is your friend; Once you've activated both Sets 1 & 2 in quick succession have everyone type /stuck to goto the bridge control and run up and Grapple to Set 3 allowing you to Grapple Set 4 so you can Toggle the last hook with ease.
AMA on Reddit with Stephen Reid @Rockjaw today was really exciting, lots of fun and brought us some fun and interesting stuff. My only complaint is that many of the questions were regarding issues that have already been publicly discussed. I would have preferred to see more personal stories, insider info and insights into the game and the making of the game. Anyway, it's still good info.
If you missed it happening live, that’s a-ok because I caught it all and we’re here to give you the highlights.
I'm not in charge of any design decisions on the game - if you are looking to get something changed, ask nicely on the official Forums :)
I'm not aware of every single bug in the game, or the status of their resolution - although I am happy to hear about them
I am British and likely to use dry humor (but note: I spell things American now)
I am going into a meeting titled " "THE AWESOME ATTACK OF RAINBOWS AND NARWHALS AND BACON THAT WE'RE GOING TO HIT THE BLOG WITH" right now, so I'll be 30 minutes or more late before I start answering stuff...
With nearly 1,000 comments and the promise of future events of this nature to come in the future, it was all very eventful. Many of the things discussed were issues we have just recently written about on the site.
Here are some examples from the Short Questions- Short Answers section:
Those of you who follow Reid (like I do regularly on Twitter) you know that he is often the sounding board for all complaints and issues with SWTOR. While it is what he is paid for, he had this to say about it.
“Being the bulwark (AKA 'Chief Whipping Boy' which is what I signed on a box at our launch event in Austin) is just part of the job. Some days it's fine, other days it gets to you. The latter days involve beer. ;) Nonetheless, it's an important part of the job, so we spend a considerable amount of time reading, noting, assessing and performing triage on bug or game issues. Unfortunately with all the development team power in the world we can't fix every bug instantly, or make every change everyone wants, so it's always got to be a matter of priorities. We try our best.”
Some other issues that were mentioned include world events, server forums, ambient dialogue, writing and class storylines, FPS issues, UI customization, PvP brackets, romancing companions and more. Hours of questioning condensed into short question and answer format is there for your perusal and it’s well worth the read or at very least, a scan over the posts to catch the ones of most interest to you.
I honestly cannot think of anything that wasn’t asked, although Reid couldn’t honestly answer every single question at this time. What do you think? Was there a question you wanted asked that you don’t see covered?
While every new game will have some bugs, there are bugs that are much more serious in game than others. Some, in fact, can be completely game breaking and this is frustrating for someone who enjoys the game but then gets caught by a bug like the ability delay that is slowing character responsiveness in SWTOR.
A thread on the official forums breaks down this very important issue that could make or break SWTOR.
The original poster explains the issue:
“The "Character Responsiveness" for lack of a better term, is how "smooth" the game plays from your avatars perspective. I have played SWG and EQ to a lesser degree as well as Warhammer Online and several other MMOs and I must honestly say that Bioware has gotten this all too important aspect much better than any previous MMO that I have experienced (with the obvious exception, to which we will get soon).”
This same poster has some important things to say about the game and character responsiveness.
It is the feeling of connection between the person behind the keyboard and the Avatar that is being controlled. Basically, the better the Character Responsiveness is, the smoother the Game Plays! You may HATE World of Warcraft and believe it is the worst abomination on the planet... that is fine. HOWEVER, you "must" objectively admit that it is the absolute, smoothest Character Responsiveness in a Western Available MMO ever.
This 1,000+ word post in the official forums goes on to break down and explain each reason why this is a problem/flaw in the game and what can possibly be done about it. this is a must-read forum post, if for no other reason other than to understand the problem and share your own opinion about it.
Star Wars: The Old Republic “fastest in history” MMO to 1 million subscribers – or so says Geek.com. I am not surprised in the slightest to hear of these statistics. Even if I wasn’t a personal fan of the game, it’s easy to follow the history of the game to date and see the great popularity of it thus far. It has the makings of an incredible, stat-breaking game or a failure of epic proportions if it lets the gamers down.
So far, it’s leaning towards the former. Sure there are gamers who just aren’t that impressed with SWTOR and that’s ok. To each his own, right? But still, there are millions who are into the game and appreciate it for what it is and what it might be.
Can you believe that SWTOR has 1 million subscribers already? This makes it the fastest MMO to reach this feat. Geek.com explains:
The “fastest growing” number is based on the game’s official launch on December 20th, which ignores the hundreds of thousands of pre-order players who ensured beta access as much as a week in advance of the street date. Still, 1 million players is a number most new MMOs fail to hit at any point in their growth. To BioWare’s credit, the launch has seen few problems. A few long server queues aside, there have been no major events like downtimes, server crashes, or any of the other issues that once plagued major MMO releases.
The fan response to SWTOR has been pretty amazing so far. So will BioWare continue to impress these fans over time? Will they be able to hold onto millions of subscribers as the weeks and months pass? Being the fastest to do something doesn’t always mean that you will be successful with it over time. This is something that BioWare has to persevere and overcome. Do they have what it takes?
“WHY DIDN’T YOU HEAL THE TANK!” I shook in fear. “WELL?” Caps locks usually didn’t frighten me, but since this was a new game it did. I had no reputation. I was just a nobody.
“Well, the druid was a higher level...and you weren’t going to stay up much lon-”
“-NO. YOU HEAL THE GOD DAMNED TANK. SCREW THE REST OF THE GROUP!” That’s when the druid stepped in.
“NO. We would have been just fine.”“So what you yell at the healer because he decided to do his best to prevent a wipe? Only two people died.”
“What are you his friend?” I had never met the druid before now. “Screw this I’m out of here. Go learn and heal you crappy priest.” The player who had been yelling at me quickly left group. I swallowed hard.
“Don’t worry. You did fine.” I looked in confusion. Though my character could not display my confusion it was felt through the game. “How about we finis this up, and I introduce you to a couple of my guild mates.”
“...Thanks.” That’s how I joined my first world of warcraft guild.
Welcome back to another installment of Intergalactic Intel! I hope everyone’s launch and holiday season has been phenomenal! The next Galactic transmission won’t be out until the new year, but luckily that’s only a few days away!
We’re talking about finding a guild. In previous articles I’ve talked a lot about guilds, but never how to find the right one. So this weeks article is all about finding the best one for you.
The first step is really deciding what you want in a guild. Do you want to PvP? Run flash points? Operations? Make mad credits? What kind of loot system? Does the guild dish out modifications? These are all things you need to know before you go out posting. Make sure when you’re looking at guilds your asking important questions that are meaningful to you.
The next step is one a lot of people overlook. Have a good application. A good application can make or break your entrance into a guild that fits your criterea. I was once told applications should be a bragging contest in which you don’t sound cocky. Sell yourself, but be honest. If you’re applying to a lot of guilds you may want to write up a mock application so you can copy and paste your answers with a few tweaks. If you wanna know what a good application looks like check it out here.
Don’t just spam general chat looking for a guild. Hopping from planet to planet is probably the worst thing you can do. Your best shot is to look at websites like /r/swtor/, sithwarrior.com, and of course the official forums. Most guilds will be posting there to find new recruits.
Talk to everyone who maybe a possible match, in your criteria. Never be afraid of rejection from a guild. Rejection is a natural part of life, so you will experience it online. Remember to keep trying until you find the guild that fits you.
If the guild doesn’t feel right leave. I’ve seen a lot of people stick in guilds they didn’t like. Test the guild out for two weeks. If you don’t like the way things are run, or the atmosphere you can always leave. Explain yourself before you leave, give them a little leeway before you do /gquit. Don’t settle for less. A good guild can make or break the game for you.
Well that’s it for this week! As always may the force be with you!
Alderaan was a Core Founder of the Galactic Republic in 25,053 BBY and one of the anchor-points for early hyperspace exploration. Alderaan was headquarters of Alderaan Royal Engineers, an early Republic shipwright. Alderaanian colonists settled Nim Drovis. During the Mandalorian Wars, the planet was threatened with invasion by the forces of Cassus Fett, but the entire invasion force was prematurely decimated, due to misuse of an ancient Sith artifact.
There is a Specialty Goods vendor that sells 2 items required to get 2 datacrons on this planet (and a couple others on other planets.) She is located in the Juran Mountains. There are a lot of dotted trails on map in the southern section, look for the one that is a counter-clockwise tilted "T". She's on the south route of that path. Buy the Red Detonite Actuator and the MGGS (14k credits total.)
43 - [Aim +10] X: 1106 ; Y:79The Datacron is on an island that is inaccessible from the ground. To get to it travel over a bridge to the "First Do Harm" group quest (1241, -106). Toward the southern tip of that group area you will find a wire leading down to the island and a "Damaged Lift" that moves up and down the wire at (1083, 0). Super Mario yourself onto the damaged lift and ride it to the Datacron.
44 - [Endurance +3]X:2721 ; Y:2496Go through the Syrush Estate (Group Area) to access this Datacron.
First go to the vendor directly south of Tarlarn Outpost and buy a Red Detonite Actuator. Next go to the above position which will lead into a cave called Ruur Killik Burrows (Group Area). Inside the cave travel directly east to (2685, 2487). At this position there is a cave-in. Look for a tiny flashing red light. The light is a demolition charge--use the item you bought to blow the obstructions away. Behind the rubble is your Datacron.
45 - [Presence +6] X:-86 ; Y-268Galarus Valley - There is a river that runs east to west in this zone. Look for a spire-like rock formation in the river. The datacron is visible from the north side of it. Go west from here, and look along the south side of the river for a flying creature you can click (he's a good distance away.)
46 - [Strength +4] X:2192, y:-2019First go to the vendor directly south of Tarlarn Outpost and buy the MGGS. Then, go to the Larantha Dam @ (2164, -1992). The cron is half-way down the front of the dam and visible as you approach on the road from the west. You can get to it from below using a slightly special technique: hookshot onto the clickable panel above the cron.
47 - [Willpower +3] X:2508, y:-427Enter Castle Panteer at (-2317, -417). In the SW corner of the main room is a smashed door with just enough of a gap to walk through @ (-2489, -370). Go up the stairs and follow the balcony to the right. Travel all the way around the balcony to the Datacron resting beside the fallen statue.
Tatooine (pronounced tætu'in) was a desert world in a binary star system in the Arkanis sector of the Outer Rim Territories. It was inhabited by poor locals who mostly farmed moisture for a living. Other activities included used equipment retailing and scrap dealing. The planet was on the 5709-DC Shipping Lane, a spur of the Triellus Trade Route, which itself connected to the Sisar Run. The planet was not far from the Corellian Run. It had its own navigation system. However, it would still play a role in galactic events, serving as the home of Anakin Skywalker. It was here that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn recognized Anakin's potential to become a Jedi and where he introduced him to Obi-Wan Kenobi, his future master and mentor. Tatooine was also the home of Anakin's son, Luke, where he lived until his early adulthood. The planet built up a very bad reputation, often being viewed as the cesspool of the galaxy due to the high-level of criminals who could be found onworld.
You can read much more about Tatooine here, and check out the Datacron locations below:
38 - [Aim +3] X-626 Y:-30 This Datacron is easy to obtain. Go to Mos Anek, and travel north until you find a large sand ramp to the west. Go up the ramp and to the back of the area, which is the Transport Ship Crash Site and follow the western edge until you see a cliff with what looks to be part of a broken ship. Look down and carefully jump to each ledge to retrieve the Datacron located on a metal platform.
39 - [Cunning +3] REPUBLIC X2139 Y:-3673 - inside of Anchorhead. First, to go to the northwest edge of Anchorhead and look for a sand dune that is almost at the top of the wall. Follow the wall all the way across, which will lead you to rooftops. Then go left(north) along the buildings. You will go across 3 different blue canvases. At the end of the third canvas look down and to your left where there is a dome shaped roof. The Datacron is located right next to it below you.
[Cunning +3] EMPIRE - X:721, Y:3132 Head to the rocky ledge at 444, 3091. Jump on to the large red caonpy and head to the north corner. Drop on to the building and head north-east and jump down to the lower roof. Head noth till you see a wall that runs east to the next building. Jump across that and head south once you are on the ledge of the dome. Jump on from the wall, to the exhaust port then the wall. Jump onto the scafolding, then to the pipe on the side of the cat walk, then the catwolk itself. Cross the catwalk and carefully jump on the railing/ledge to make the jump to the pipe on wall easier. Then jump to the other vent, then the scafolding. Cross the wall to the building, and go around (either way works) till you are on the south side mid-point. Look down and drop on the small wall section between the buildings. head south and you will find the datacron on the lower roof, opposite the Mos Ila Market
40 - [RED DATACRON AND BLUE MATRIX SHARD/ Strength +3] X: -2391, Y:-1381 These two Datacrons are located in the same area. First, in the southwest corner of The Dune Sea there is a Jawa Sandcrawler (at -2340,465). Get on top and wait for a balloon to appear. Ride this balloon for 60 minutes (make sure you do not go AFK during this time). Unconfirmed, but it shows up at the top of each hour at the sand crawler. You will eventually see a Sandcrawler with a glowing Blue Matrix Shard Datacron. Jump down onto the Sandcrawler to obtain the Datacron. NOTE! You must jump on the side with the data cron, if you wait too long you will miss your oportunity at the Blue Shard. The Balloon does not stop to let you off.
For the Red Datacron go to the edge of the Sandcrawler (the side closest to the Datacron) and carefully jump down to a small platform sticking out of it. There is a small compartment with the Datacron sitting inside.
41 - [+Strength] Directly below #40. You can actually get this by jumping below it and clicking, but this might change.
42 - [Willpower +3] X:2073, Y:-577 First, cross the bridge into the Eastern Wound area and go south west along the ridge along the valley. There will be some large rocks to your right, and a small nook (location 2047, 440). Look down, and see the large rock formation jutting out in the valley; it has a flag to signify the entrance. Note that you will take damage from this fall, so just replenish your health before going on. Jump down and enter the cave. Kill any Sand People in the way and just follow the cave all the way and you will see the Datacron.
