developer-diary

“Star Wars: The Old Republic” Introduces ‘Date Night’ Feature for a Personal Touch in Galactic Romance

SWTOR Introduces 'Date Night': A New Way to Connect with Characters

“Star Wars: The Old Republic” (SWTOR) is set to revolutionize the MMO genre once again with its latest update, introducing a feature that has long been desired by fans: ‘Date Night.’ This unique addition allows players to explore their relationships with romanceable characters in a more intimate setting, stepping away from the galactic battles to focus on personal connections. Here’s a glimpse into what this article covers: This introduction sets the stage for a deeper dive into SWTOR’s ‘Date Night,’ a feature that promises to enrich the narrative experience and deepen player engagement in one of the most beloved MMOs in the Star Wars universe. A Closer Look at ‘Date Night’ Revealed during a livestream ahead of the game’s upcoming update, the SWTOR development team, including narrative director Ashley Ruhl and lead writer Caitlin Sullivan Kelly, expressed their excitement about introducing this novel feature. ‘Date Night’ emerges as a set…

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SWTOR: Message from Keith Kanneg – Game Producer

Game producer for Star Wars: The old Republic Keith Kanneg, took over the forum syesterday with an update on what to expect with te game in the future. Hey everyone, It has been a while since I put out a post so I figured I would stop into the forums and get an update out to everyone. I’ll provide you with a brief update about what’s coming soon, but first and foremost want to address the issues we’ve been experiencing with our Tulak Hord server this past week. It’s being very stubborn and every time we think we have it nailed, it decides to kick some players from various areas in the game and won’t let them back in for a while. Not a great experience for anyone and I apologize we haven’t fixed it already. We believe it’s an intermittent hardware issue, making it difficult to isolate, so we’re…

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Surface Details: The events of a boring and forgettable day.

BioWare posted a new of there famous diary entries. This entry was written by Charles Boyd himself, lead writer for the Trooper story. This entry is really well done. I almost wish bioware would release a shot story series of these “diary entries”. Give a great sense of backstory. Even though, those of us, who follow what have been datamined out of the Public test servers, knows where this story leads, I still love how they continue to give good quality writing to their new storyarchs. Brings me back to the days of “Blood of the Empire” and the “Holo Journals of Gnost Dural”. Check out out over at the official website, or read our copy paste below: 08.14.2014 Surface Details “Next.” Varko gave the hydro-dispenser on his desk a quick tap, then rubbed the fluids into the skin of his hands. He’d heard it could take a few weeks…

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Developer Update: Legions of Scum and Villainy

BioWare posted a new Developer update yesterday. From the title, I thought it was going to be a post about the official forums, but apparently it’s about the new Operation players can try out with game update 2.0: Rise of the Hutt Cartel.   Legions of Scum and Villiany will be for level 55 players and continues the story line from  the trail of the Dread Masters after Operation: Terror from Beyond. Both the Republic and the Empire have heard rumors of a gathering of mercenaries, arms traders, and war beast handlers on the remote desert planet of Darvannis. Intelligence points to the Hutt Cartel as the organization that is gathering an army for an unknown purpose. Both Republic and Empire forces know that the Hutt Cartel must be stopped. Read all about it at the official website.  Players arrive outside of a city built into a protective canyon, in the midst of…

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Friday Update: Building Flashpoints Dev Diary

In BioWare’s Friday update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, World Designer Jesse Sky talks about building “Flashpoints”. So, what is a flashpoint and why might one want to design one? A Flashpoint is a galactic crisis, something so threatening that even the most stalwart heroes must bring allies. The Death Star was a Flashpoint. Luke and Obi-wan spent a few minutes LFG in the Mos Eisley Cantina where they enlisted the aid of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Together, they infiltrated a moon-sized battle station to rescue Princess Leia. Things didn’t go quite as they expected; difficult choices were made along the way. That’s a Flashpoint in a nutshell. In game terms, a Flashpoint is a challenging, cooperative mission that takes place entirely within an instance, which only your group can enter. While adventuring, you’ll be alerted to a crisis developing somewhere in the galaxy. That’s when you know it’s…

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Friday Update: Closer Look at Crew Skills

Game Systems Designer Patrick Malott talks about the Crew Skill system and reveals another crafting skill (though the systems page hasn’t been updated yet): Armstech. Here’s the blog: Introduction I’m Patrick Malott. I’ve worked as a Game Systems Designer on various titles over the years, but what we’re working on here at BioWare Austin is my dream project: Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. In my current role, designing and building out the Crew Skills system is one of the biggest projects I’m involved in. As a passionate multiplayer online gamer myself, I know that crafting is a critical part of the experience for many of you, and I’m dedicated to making sure you enjoy the way it works in The Old Republic. In this blog, I want to shed some light on the design decisions we’re making with Crew Skills… and I might just drop a few new specifics on the Armstech crafting…

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BioWare Blog: Designing the Advanced Classes System

To explain some of the choices in BioWare’s approach to the advanced classes system in The Old Republic, this Friday’s update gives us a BioWare blog post from Principal Lead Systems Designer, Georg Zoeller. Here’s an except: Example: The Smuggler Han Solo, Lando, Talon Karrde… There are plenty of different Smuggler personalities to be found in the Star Wars universe to choose from and this is reflected in the versatility of their available Advanced Classes: The Scoundrel The Scoundrel is not afraid of getting his hands dirty, as the ‘Scrapper’ skill-set has an off-hand Scatter Gun, a number of powerful (but not necessarily fair) melee moves and access to a Stealth Field Generator with various possible upgrades for a dramatic entrance … or exit. The ‘Sawbones’ skill-set on the other hand offers ways to dramatically improve the Smuggler’s healing and support-related abilities, including access to the powerful Emergency Medpack. And,…

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Dev Diary: Combat in STAR WARS: The Old Republic

We usually get our dose of Star Wars: The Old Republic news on Friday, but GameTrailers recently managed to get their hands on an exclusive developer diary featuring BioWare and LucasArt developers detailing combat in the game. What’s even better, there’s more in-game combat video. Ever wonder why anyone would want to play anything but a Sith or Jedi? Find out from the team creating the classes themselves. [UPDATE] And the official news is live: Whether you dream of beating the odds with just your luck and a blaster, or imagine restoring order to the galaxy with Force powers and a Lightsaber, you’ll have your chance in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. We’ve talked a lot about how The Old Republic is innovating on storytelling in MMOs, and now we want to share with you how combat in The Old Republic will deliver a new level of excitement for fans….

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DEVELOPER BLOG #10 : making the Jedi Consular

This weeks Friday Update features a Developer Blog by writer Joanna Berry as she brings to light some thoughts behind making the Jedi Consular. My favorite Star Wars™ film has always been The Empire Strikes Back™. But while the battle of Hoth will keep me glued to the screen for that second when the AT-ATs appear out of the snow, the film’s defining moments are on Dagobah, while Luke struggles and trains with Master Yoda. Before that, the Force was just a word that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader used, for a power whose glory days were long over. But on Dagobah, with Luke, we saw the Force differently; not as some simple trick that made Imperial Stormtroopers look the other way, but something greater. The Force™ is a living energy binding the galaxy as a whole. It is something that, in the hands of a master, could raise a…

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Developer Blog: The Imperial Agent

Since the BioWare Team is still on their well deserved holiday we did not get a large update this Friday. Still, everyone who is interested in the Imperial Agent may be quite pleased with the Developer Blog on this class. Senior Writer Alexander Freed explains the general concept behind the Agent before he delves into the specifics of this class. This unusual class doesn’t fit into an archetype of the Star Wars movies, so why did the developers choose the Imperial Agent then? Answers are given in the developer blog. We’re also promised some concrete information, but is actually appeared to have been censored. Instead of real character names we get some XX only: It all starts on Hutta, where XXX XXXXXX is trying to XXXX the XXXXXXXXXX of XXXXXX the Hutt. After XXX XXXXX XXXXXXX, the Imperial Agent XX XXXX XX XXXXXXXXXXX X XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX on behalf of Darth…

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Developer Dispatch 5: Designing the Dark Side

Inspired by notorious characters such as Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, the Sith Inquisitor and Sith Warrior take different approaches to their rise to power. The Sith Warrior achieves victory through pure aggression and might while the Sith Inquisitor excels by cunning ambition and Force manipulation. From storyline, to art style, to combat tactics, each design decision was made to support the dark side themes of power, domination, and destruction. Watch Developer Dispatch: Designing the Dark Side, and learn how Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ developers created this dominating force.

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senior writer talks about writing the Jedi Knight

Drew Karpyshyn is the senior writer for the Star Wars: The Old Republic team with plenty of experience writing characters from the dark side, but now he’s stepping out of his comfort zone to take a walk on the Jedi side. The fun he’s having writing the Jedi Knight class comes through clearly in Friday’s developer blog entry: “Nothing says Star Wars like a brown-robed figure brandishing a shimmering energy blade of righteous destruction. Exploring the Jedi Knight class meant delving the Jedi Code and how it works in theory vs. how it works in practice. What happens when you take that code and mix in a hefty dose of “what if?” is a recipe for all kinds of possibilities, and Karpyshyn is having a great time exploring them. His experience writing the dark side gives his version of “what if” a little edge, exploring thoughts of renegade Jedi Knights…

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