I was super excited when my son (yes, my 6 year old) told me about LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles and when I looked it up to find out it was free in the Play store, I was excited. The LEGO Group has released more than a dozen Android titles already but their first tie-in game is LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles. This might give us our Star Wars fix with a break from Angry Birds. I was all about it!

So I went and I looked it up. “Free in the Play store” they sad… and yet, I couldn’t find it. So I dig a little deeper and I find out, it’s not compatible on my phone. So I try on my tablet. Nope, not compatible there either.

I looked it up online and many other reviewers are saying the same thing- that it’s only available on older Android devices. That’s a real bummer as it sounded like a fun little game and I like the LEGO series of games.

So I looked for a review to be able to give you more info and honestly, there were not many good ones to be found. Most people just said they were not able to play it on their device, like myself.

And for those who were able to play it, the verdict was not nice. IGN says to “Stay the Hoth away” from this game and here is the lead-in to their review:

I would’ve expected a Star Wars LEGO game to receive just as much TLC as the excellent iOS ports of Harry Potter and Batman, but LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles comes up far short. Instead of an adventure filled with family-friendly fun, we’ve got a bare-bones and lifeless attempt at what could best be described as an incredibly half-hearted strategy-action game.

Ouch!

You can read the full review here but be warned, they are harsh.

I really wish I could try it myself and see if it’s as bad as everyone says but since it’s not compatible with any of my devices, there isn’t much else to say.

Have you tried the game? If so, what do you think about it?

Eric Musco took on the forums today sharing some news on when players can expect to have character transfers go live.  At the same time he also shed some light on when Players get the chance to leave the APAC servers.

Game update 2.2 is expected release date is 6/11 so if you have any toons stuck on servers with no friends on, it’s time to moove them. No information on pricing or details on what will be transferred over  yet though, but I expect it will be on-par with other games, so probably around $25 per character. They want it to be accessible enough that people who really want to can do it, but expensive enough that it doesn’t impact server populations.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to give an update on paid character transfers as I know it is something that everyone has been chomping at the bit for. The reason for our silence on the issue is that we are still working through some issues with the transfer tool and so we didn’t want to set an expectation on timing and not meet it. Also, it was very important to us that we informed our APAC players of our plans first, since transfers related to their current issues as well.

With that said I wanted to let you know what our current plans are. As it stands today, our goal is to launch character transfers with Game Update 2.2. Now, as I noted above, we are still working through some things soplease note that this is just our goal and that it is entirely subject to change.

I will update you with more information as I get it, thanks!

-eric

Hey folks,

I know we have been a bit quiet about our plans for your consolidations and although I don’t have any concrete details yet today, I wanted to pass on what I know. Our current plan is that next week we will start to give you details surrounding your free transfers off of the APAC servers. Specifically, we want to try to give you an exact date of when those transfers will start. We are still working through some issues with transfers so this could still change but that is our plan as it stands right now.

To be specific as I can be without setting anything in stone, our goal is to have you folks able to start transferring before 2.2 goes live. Again I need to reiterate, this is still subject to change as we lock things down.

-eric

Doing last weekends Comic-Con in Dallas, BioWare took the opportunity and hold a a Community Cantina. If you haven’t read about the Comic-Con yet, Lisa had posted a few interesting reads about it. You can check them out here and here.  No one from swtorstrategies was at the  Community Cantina, but luckily Crafter over at ootinicast.com posted a lengthy write up of what was said by the developers.

Some of the most interesting news is:

• Guild Ships will come eventually  -  When they look awesome ( They are Damion Schubert’s baby)
• A big PvP patch is coming soon
•  Same-gender romance was not part of the original design team’s implementation, so it didn’t get included. Moving forward they will not make the same mistakes. Additionally more story content is coming, but no ETA
• We will probably never get flying mounts

Check out the full write up over at ootinicast.com

In an interview with Buzzfeed, the famed designer whose credits include Blade Runner, Star Trek (2009), and Fight Club says, “I’ve just learned I’ll be working on the new Star Wars movie, again with J.J. Everything just got formalized [last week], I haven’t even had the chance to talk to anyone about it all other than to be told ‘welcome aboard.’

Personally, I’m excited about the news. He’s a great costumer and I bet JJ had something to do with bringing him on board the new team. I’ll think he’ll do a great job with the role he’s been given and it makes me even more excited for the new movies.

If you like the interesting and stylish costumes from Star Trek, then you’re probably going to be equally excited to see what he comes up with for the new Star Wars films.

What do you think? Is this a good addition to the Star Wars VII crew?

Star Wars VII is due in cinemas summer 2015, with JJ Abrams as director and Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) as writer.

Youtube user Gabriel Deleon, made this  Jedi Consular Story Trailer This is pretty well done and make me seriously want to play Consular now. The music really took me back to being a kid and playing KotOR. It evokes alot of depth.

I really love some of the cutscenes in SWTOR. Now that I think of it, I wish the Jedi Knight had a slight touch of counselor added to the story. For instance you could find your own crystal as well, and not just get everything you needed… and all that jazz.

Rebel Intel Officer by The First Angel, DeviantArt

The animators of Star Wars: Clone Wars are back with a brand new project, Star Wars Rebels, to air Fall of 2014!!!

Like most of us, I was pretty upset about the Disney cancellation of the final 6^th season of Star Wars Clones Wars especially since I knew it was already in production wondering how many episodes were ready to be released but will never see the light of day. After all, it is the true ending of that story, which will now never be told. At the end of season 5, an anti-war element was being introduced into the story which excited me immensely being that I was a real life anti-war activist myself, not just a Star Wars fan and a fan of Joseph Campbell. From the moment Bush Jr dropped his first bombs, I was at the very first anti-war protest in New York City since the Vietnam War. I believe we were behind the very first student building take over against the wars. I couldn’t help but wonder if it got canned because of those more politicized story arcs, where Padme made two anti-war speeches; where Palpatine argued that war would achieve peace; where the difference between a popular revolution being blamed for terrorism against a tyranny and the tyranny’s own use of state sponsored terror to control the populous was explained; where we even saw the Genosian War Memorial Wall obviously inspired by the Vietnam War Memorial Wall; where the numerous diverse perspectives of politicians, civilians, law enforcement, soldiers, etc were all laid out for children and us grown up children to see, in a time where real life war is still ongoing.

Antiwar rally, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Season 5

I wondered if these were reasons for Disney to pull to the plug. I wondered why Disney would pull the plug on the show even if those were the reasons, especially since it was just nominated for seven daytime Emmy Awards!

The last 3 episodes put the protagonist in a situation that reminds us in some ways of Doner who was wanted for waging a war against Californian police officers. The stories almost followed each other though none of us can really relate Ahsoka with Doner, only that they were both fugitives around the same time. But more precisely intriguing is how Ahsoka’s story ended just a few months before the bounty for Assata Shakur was raised to 2 million US dollars and added to the most wanted list for a crime that may or may have not happened in 1979. Ahsoka was wanted for killing a Clone “Trooper” like Assata for a New Jersey “Trooper”. Both had to flee a “manhunt”. Assata is living in exile, in Cuba and I fear we will never know what happens to Ahsoka after Order 66. Will she die, or will she live – in “exile”?

On another note. Disney has also appeared to abandon Tron: Uprising. Another immensely awesome animated series about starting a “revolution” against an “occupation”.

Tron Uprising by Fang20, DeviantArt

Chances are you never heard of this animated series. I know I didn’t until recently. It got almost no publicity and it would air only on the Disney channel at midnight while children everywhere were sound asleep. The last episode aired on January of 2013, and they never showed a single rerun since! True story! It is entirely off the air and now only available on Netflix or illegally on torrent sites and online streaming sites (but in lower quality).

Game Over by EurukaTT, DeviantArt

The abandoned show had an outstanding cast from Pee Wee Herman to Elijah Woods. Pee Wee plays a second in command military officer who laughs maniacally as he massacres civilians and prisoners. It was well animated, well written and well produced, just as good as Clone Wars. Five months later, Disney is still acting like this show never happened. I assumed it was because the words “revolution” and “occupation” were repeated many times throughout the series. I believed it’s because these topics are too edgy for Disney. Heck a generation of kids inspired by revolutionary concepts completely threatens Disney in the future – just saying. Can you imagine one day, future generations of North Americans built up by their childhood adventures of fighting injustice and empires, inspired by South Americans, somehow end up voting in a popular president and congress concluding in the nationalization of Disney? Our world today is on edge, who knows what will happen in the future. Disney sure is not immune to massive-wide social change. Disney is not immune to the nature of human social evolution.

30 something year old “Mando Ahsoka” by Raikoh Illust, DeviantArt

So here we are May 20^th of 2013, and it was just announced that there will be a new animated series based on the rise of the rebellion in Star Wars, between Episodes III and IV. So seeing what has happened to similar topics under Disney, I really wonder how this new Star Wars Rebels will play out. I am both excited and anxious.

I know there was supposed to be a live action show about this era, which never came to be, but George himself wrote endless scripts for it. I’m guessing these stories will now be told through the animation, but it’s under Disney. So I wonder how much of the original story will get out and how much will Disney interference alter.

I remember how skillfully Dark Horse Comics shared these stories to the world. I remember when Princess Leia gave her first revolutionary/guerrilla orders against the Empire.  I remember reading how confident and orderly the imperial military was, and how that confidence was broken when indigenous revolutionaries started to rise against them throughout the galaxy. I remember reading about the last of the Jedi being hunted down. My heart is beating ferociously at the idea of being able to see these stories resurface, in a really cool animated series done by the very same people who did Clone Wars. I have both a good feeling and a bad feeling about this.

What are your thoughts?

Here is a new leveling build from swtorsavior.com. This build is a Jedi Consular Sage Leveling Build and focus on talents and abilities with potential for burst and utility and/or talents that augment Focus preservation to limit downtime. These talent builds are designed to boost instant and channeled abilities.

Don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic

Check out the build below:

• 2/2 Jedi Resistance
• 2/2 Will of the Jedi
• 3/3 Empowered Throw
• 2/2 Focused Insight
• 3/3 Drain Thoughts
• 2/2 Critical Kinesis
• 1/1 Force in Balance
• 2/2 Mind Ward
• 1/1 Telekinetic Balance
• 1/1 Presence Of Mind
• 3/3 Psychic Barrier
• 1/1 Force Suppression
• 2/2 Mind Warp
• 2/2 Rippling Force
• 3/3 Mental Scarring
• 2/2 Psychic Absorption
• 2/2 Telekinetic Focal Point
• 1/2 Mental Defence
• 1/1 Sever Force
• 3/3 Inner Strength
• 2/2 Mental Longevity
• 2/2 Clamouring Force
• 3/3 Penetrating Light

Stat Priority:

Willpower >= Accuracy (110%) > Power > Surge (75%) > Crit (30%) > Alacrity

Single Target Rotation:

Mind Crush > Weaken Mind > Sever Force > Force In Balance > Telekinetic Throw > Project

Try and maintain Weaken Mind and Sever Force DoT’s.

Use Force In Balance to get maintain the debuff from Force Suppression.

If all else fails use Project.

Multiple Target:

Force In Balance
Forcequake
Weaken Mind

Survival Options:

Force Of Will
Cloud Mind
Force Mend
Force Barrier

As always I I will recommend you to get the guide to get the full advantage of all swtorsavior.com amazing features. It is available right here. Also don’t forget to check out constantly growing list of guides for Star Wars: The old republic

Damion Schubert:

“Hey, guys, let me give a little background on this decision and how it came to be.

During development of the Collections system, a couple of problems became apparent in terms of how things are architected on the back end of SWTOR. The short form is that making all items in a collection separate items had a lot of nasty side effects. It increased the amount of data storage per character considerably, it increased login times to handle versioning up your character, and it also quintupled the number of things in the collections GUI, making that GUI an unreadable mess. The team working on this feature looked at these problems and decided that the best possible solution to these issues was to consolidate these items into sets.

So, yeah, that’s on the design team. I swear, not because we’re evil jerk designers, we just kinda failed to fully realize how the feature would end up playing out . We now have a better grasp of the ramifications of this decision, and we’re aware of the unhappiness it caused.

We’re also aware that using Revan’s Mask as an example was a pretty poor call on our part.

We’re in the process of evaluating other options that would allow us to give players the functionality that they want, while at the same time address the very real technical and GUI concerns that we faced with our initial architecture of the system. Unfortunately, no option that we come up with is likely to be doable very quickly — on top of solving the technical problems, we also need to now deal with ensuring anyone who purchases the collected items with the current system end up being correctly credited if we convert something over. As such, I have no ETA for when we will address this.”

TL;DR: We made a mistake; we’re working on it.

Well, at least they did own up to the mistake and they didn’t make any promises of it being done right away. It’s better than promising something they know they cannot deliver.

“Meeting Ernie Hudson, myself in the middle front, Kelly McDaniels on the left and Stephen Smithers on the right” Credit- David Gillaspy

Dallas Comic Con was this weekend and despite storms and tornados that ravished the area, many managed to have a great deal of fun at the event. One of those somebodies was a friend of a good friend of mine, named David Gillaspy who was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the event.

And he even shared some awesome photos with me! I’m so jealous because I really wish I could have been there but thanks to David, I get to share a little piece of it with you.

Here’s a short interview I did with him, along with some of his photos:

What was your favorite costume/cosplay?

I would have to say it was the guy who came in the working Warmachine armor from Iron Man 2.

Did you get any cool autographs?

Yes, Ernie Hudson was the first guy we met when we got there absolutly a great guy, then picked up Adam Balwin’s autograph on my copy of Firefly and the last one was from Kristanna Loken.

Were there any unique exhibits that stood out to you?

As a Doctor Who fan I would have to say it was the full size T.A.R.D.I.S display.

Is this your first Comic Con?

This was my first time to Comic-Con, we have attended a couple of smaller Cons in our area and a larger Steampunk Con.

What did you enjoy most about the entire event overall?

“The Avengers..Sadly I was not able to get names to tag them but their costumes were awesome” – Photo Credit: David Gillaspy

It was getting to meet a lot of great actors and cosplayers, I can’t say enough good about Adam and Ernie they are both down to earth and appreciate their fans.

You can see more pictures of David’s from Dallas Comic Con on his Facebook.

Star Wars was featured at Dallas Comic Con this weekend and local members of the 501st Legion—“The world’s definitive imperial costuming organization,”—set up with a very surprising mission: to do good.

Star Wars was featured at Dallas Comic Con this weekend and local members of the 501^st Legion—“The world’s definitive imperial costuming organization,”—set up with a very surprising mission: to do good.

As shocking as it might be considering they’re … well… Stormtroopers, the 501^st are actually some pretty cool guys and gals. We had the pleasure of meeting some of them last year and my son has a collectible trading card as a souvenir.  But they had a very specific mission at Dallas Comic Con Saturday.

Led by the Star Garrison, which covers three states, and the North Texas Squad, they sponsored “Blast-a-Stormtrooper for Charity.”

It was all in honor of Kari Giles, in treatment for stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, who would receive all the proceeds from the event. For a price, you would get a chance to shoot at Stormtroopers in full gear with Nerf guns!

“Our main focus isn’t just to wear costumes that are extremely screen accurate,” North Texas Squad Leader David Petty said. “Our goal really is to raise money for charities, do hospital visits.”

Screen-accurate they are (I’ve seen them up close) but what they do to give back to the communities is really spectacular.

Comic Con continued throughout today (Sunday) with tickets being sold at the door as supplies lasted at $30 for adults, $5 for kids and free for kids under 4.

Were YOU at Dallas Comic Con and did you get the chance to blast a Stormtrooper?

Stormtroopers were not the only ones at Dallas Comic Con. Check out this video from the local news on the events:

“Captain Kirk, The Joker and Daleks, Oh My!”