Hands-on Preview: Star Wars: The Old Republic

In this article, Leo Stiles of Joe.ie tell us about his hands-on preview of SWTOR. Now that more and more players are getting access to the game, we are hearing a lot of different reviews and previews but it never hurts to get another opinion on the game. From the moment Leo chose his class as a Bounty Hunter, he got treated to a wonderful cut scene displaying some graphics he can only describe as “remarkable”. If the cartoon style graphics have you on the fence then you should really see them in action as everything flows perfectly together. According to Leo, the questing is so well done you won’t feel like your simply “gathering” materials or “counting kills” because they are minor parts to the larger story. Fulfilling the quests in the game are so in depth to the story line that they are entertaining and not a level…

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Sales Predicted To Hit 3 Million In Year 1

Now that we know a release date for SWTOR, we see more and more people talking about just how popular this game will be. Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz predicts that the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic will sell 3 million units in its first year. The numbers expected in the first year are at an incredible million with the following year bringing in about million. These numbers are astounding as before the release date the projected sales were considerably lower. The new numbers are based off of the projected pricing plan for the game. Star Wars: the Old Republic will be released in the US on Dec 20, 2011 and in the UK on Dec 22, 2011. The announcement of the release date brought many unseen Star Wars fans rushing to the stores to quickly preorder their copy of the game. This is what increased the number…

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Will Feature Achievements at Launch

Many MMOs that we have come to love feature achievements andStar Wars: The Old Republic will notbe any different. However, the type of achievements will be a little differentfrom what you may be used to, at least at first. These are not your typical WoW-typeachievements. At this time, Daniel Erickson, the lead writer of Biowarestated that “achievements” would appear in SWTOR when it launches. However, theones that appear with the launch will be detailed achievements for doing heroicthings such as fighting the bosses on each planet. Just what kind of achievements are we going to see on ship? Erickson explains to DarthHaterat Eurogamer Expo: They’renot going to be the achievements, the crazy achievements that you have to placeeverywhere, that are like, “Hey if you drink 6 beers and fart in acantina,” those are not going the achievements to go in. Version 1 of theachievement system which go in, which is…

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Stephen Reid Clarifies Misunderstanding of Shack News Article

With the news of an official release date for SWTOR out there, one huge milestone is now passed. Now we have many new questions erupting as players want to know exactly when they are going to get their own chance to play. A misunderstanding had many players worrying they would not get to play due to possible staggered releases. User Darhan posts in the official forums: It seems that not only are they preparing for stable servers by keeping pre-order numbers limited, but even for those of us who have pre-ordered: our access to the game may not be granted as fast as we had hoped. In the article, they discuss slowly granting access to the game over an undisclosed period of time to the point that some folks may barely recieve any early access to the game, if any at all. Of course, this is all for the sake…

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BioWare: ‘We have an aggressive post-launch plan’

SWTOR fans have been asking “When will the game finally launch?” and now that this massive question has finally been answered, we see new questions creeping up in the minds of players everywhere. One thing that players want to know is what is going to happen post-launch. We already know how much is being put into launching a fantastic game but is it going to last? What happens next? How many other MMOs have we seen launch successfully but fall short post-launch? In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, BioWare’s Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk discussed their plans for the future of SWTOR and they definitely have a post-launch plan. “””We have a really aggressive plan post launch to build content and take the feedback to heart that we’re getting from players and what they want for continued expansions, and use that feedback to build new content,” Muzyka promised. The…

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Is SWTOR the Avatar of Gaming?

A lot has been said about SWTOR already and it’d be a great understatement to say the game will be good. Just how good it will be is still up for debate. The Daily Mailsays it could be the video game version of James Cameron’s billion-dollar blockbuster, “Avatar”. Wow! That’s a pretty big claim but SWTOR just might be the game to be able to live up to such prophecies. The Daily Mail points out: The game is among the most expensive ever made – rumoured to have cost games giant Electronic Arts more than £100 million. But it could ‘earn billions’ say game industry insiders – dwarfing even the amounts earned by cinema blockbusters such as Avatar. World of Warcraft has had up to 11 million monthly subscribers, earning the company a reported $500 million a year in subscription fees – on top of disc prices for the game…

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BioWare Opens New Customer Service Center in Ireland

EA announced yesterday that they will be opening a new customer service center, this one in Ireland. EA Senior Vice President Ray Muzyka spoke at the inaugural event in Galway, Ireland said, “MMO launches are complex, and we are determined to set a new standard for a high quality, stable, smooth launch for our fans. Our new BioWare facility and team in Galway is critical to ensuring we deliver on that goal. We’ve got a solid base of people here already in Galway . . . we’re looking for more. From Ireland . . . from the rest of Europe to support our German and French customers . . . from all over the world. We want you to join us here at BioWare Ireland.” This will be a first for BioWare and it can mean big news for the company as well as for European gamers. This will be BioWare’s…

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Eurogamer Expo Gains Attention thanks to SWTOR

Eurogamer Expo’s time has come, says Patrick Garratt and it is in part due to BioWare’s The Old Republic announcement yesterday. VG247 is a media partner of Eurogamer Expo, and is partially owned by Eurogamer Network. They had an interesting write-up on the Erogamer Expo and what SWTOR has done for it in recent days. Sometimes all it takes is one popular topic to put an event on the map. This is especially true when it comes to entertainment and media. In the video game world, people, including media, are often drawn to what they know. They won’t always go out of their way to visit or report on expos, conventions or events until they are made “big business”. Sometimes an event just needs that one thing to come along to put them on the map. And that’s exactly what SWTOR did for the Eurogamer Expo. As Patrick explains in…

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Craig Morrison on SWTOR Launch and Success

Craig Morrison (Game director of Age of Conan) talks about the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic on his blog and brings up some really good points about the potential success of SWTOR. His very thorough (long, but worth the full read) post brings up some very good points. He addresses different reasons why the game is showing early success, how it compares to the massive MMO hit from Blizzard and also, where it might go in the future. A snippet: The game will most likely sell extremely well out of the gate, almost certainly the most successful first month sales of any MMO ever, and probably by a wide margin…it will then possibly even retain over a million subscription customers (something it should be remembered no game other than World of Warcraft has managed)…truly massive numbers…unless the game somehow collapses it is going to post seriously impressive numbers…yet…you…

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Interview with Chris Collins

The guys over at www.swtor-europe.com did an  interview with Chris Collins  about European Community during Eurogamer Expo. It’s great to see some info other then the release date coming out of the Eurogamer Expo, but I guess Chris Collins don’t have much experience doing interviews, or he just weren’t allowed to give out any new information. With blessings from www.swtor-europe.com we are posting the full interview below, but joine the discussion on the article right here! Hi Chris, thanks for taking some time to talk to us, I know it’s very busy here today. No problem, good to hear from stwor-europe, I like the site. Now firstly I’d like to kick off with some questions that specifically concern the European fanbase, one of which is whether the Red Zone territories will have access to the game, or if they will be IP blocked. Any official word on this? So, if you check on the FAQ, anything official is held within that. I…

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Bioware: No Lifetime Subscription Option For Star Wars: The Old Republic

Now that we finally have a release date for SWTOR, many gamers are planning their playtime and devotion to the game. Some so much so that they are ready to pledge themselves to a lifetime subscription to the game or at least wondering if there will be an option to do so if they end up loving the game as much as they are predicting they will. I enjoy following Stephen Reid, SWTOR’s Senior Community Manager on Twitter because he is always a wealth of information in a hilarious package. His snarky responses when people try to get snippy with him can be pretty funny, too. Ultimately it’s a great source to get your quick-hit SWTOR questions answered and you can learn a lot from the answers he gives to others as well. On the topic of lifetime subscription options for SWTOR, Reid clarified that they do not have any…

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Did EA Capitalize On the Diablo III Delay by Announcing the Release Date of Star Wars: The Old Republic?

The guys over at DualShockers.com had a really interesting theory on the announcement of SWTOR coming after the Diablo III delay. The piece they wrote on the day after the SWTOR announcement describes a possible connection between the news about Diablo III and the release date announcement: “Yesterday Blizzard announced the delay of Diablo III to early 2012, today Electronic Arts announced the release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic for December the 20th, on a Saturday. Extremely convenient. Even a bit too convenient, maybe.” I’m not usually the conspiracy theory type but it’s a pretty good point they make here with the linkage of the two announcements. Did EA/Bioware see this as their ideal time to jump on the announcement of the official release date? Sounds like a good theory to me… The article gives some pretty compelling ideas about why this theory might be true: “Thirdly, by…

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Return of the Jedi STOLEN!

A blast from the past now, thanks to this clip from British TV news which details a shocking and frankly deplorable case of grand theft. One of the original copies of Return of the Jedi was snatched by cunning street urchin pirate types from a cinema in Hastings, despite ridiculously tight security measures. including having an old lady as the film’s security chief. Shocking. And people say piracy wasn’t rife until people could mass circulate/share pirated goodies on the internet! All moral issues aside, this clip throws up one glorious question: just think, someone somewhere might well be sitting on an original, unedited version of the film. And it might just be the last one in existence. Remember, kids, don’t be a Video Pirate, or you might have someone like Helen “Crazy Eyes” Ganz on your case. And no-one wants that.

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Intergalactic Intel: PvP

“OH MY GAWD.” My ear drums were being destroyed by my team mate. “Dee, you need to stay calm and not panic we’ve go-” “HE’S CHARGING ME!” I was interrupted and drowned out. “GET IT OFF ME!” “DEE! Calm down!” “ARGGHHAHHHHE’SKILLINGMEAGHAAAHHHH!” “DANGLES SHUT UP!” The yelling ceased. “Interrupt his next cast and we’ll focus him. Dangles you’re fine I’m throwing heals on you the entire time.” Player versus player, or PVP, is a popular form of game play in video games today. I personally have spent my week playing Team Death Match in Gears of War 3. Shooting everything that moves and giggling crazily. I always get asked why PvP in MMO’s? It’s very interesting journey that has much to do with the progression of MMO’s in general and me as a player. When a player hits maximum level or very high level in MMO’s they begin something called, “End…

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Totalbiscuit interviews Daniel Erickson

TotalBiscuit interviews the Lead Writer of  Star Wars: The Old Republic and multitalented Bioware veteran Daniel Erickson on how to tell a story in an MMO as well as information on the morality system of The Old Republic. This is the first time we are seeing what biscuit looks like I believe. First I thought he was going to be the guy on the left before i played the video, but then I saw the tophat and I was like yep thats him. The ending made me laugh a bit when Daniel Erickson said that the first chapter would take longer to complete than KOTOR. And there’s 8 of them. Theres three chapters, eight trilogies Kind of misleading, but thats what he meant.

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20th December in US / 22nd December in Europe – How is that a simultaneous release?

With all the buzz surrounding the big SWTOR news today – a release date– you can bet that there would also be some questions. The biggest question was actually asked before but left mostly unanswered. Will Europe get it the same day or will there be delay between regions? Georg Zoeller explained today, Since I’ve seen some confusion about this:: The two day difference isn’t our idea. The problem is that the game industry works around retail dates and retailers in the US restock their shelves on Tuesdays while in the EU it’s Thursday. So sorry my European friends, I totally feel for you and still remember those problems from back when I still lived in Germany. So yes, Europe will have to wait almost 2 extra days for the release and this is still technically considered a simultaneous release. If you still have not preordered a copy, you will…

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SWTOR Release Date Is Here!

“This is no Jedi mind trick. The most heavily anticipated MMO to date will launch on 12.20.2011.” It’s official! The release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic has now been released. You may have gotten the email but if you didn’t, the news is spreading quickly all over the Internet and gaming communities. Stephen Reid hinted at it yesterday on Twitter, for those who caught it. When the Fan Republic asked, “Will Bioware be “Refining” the RD window as promised at CC?” Reid answered with, “I think we’ll go straight to a date.” We’re digging on that for sure! If you have already pre-ordered the game, you will probably also see the change on your preorder status already. You may have received the email stating that the status of your order has changed. If not, it’s coming soon. The new release date is 12/20/11 – that’s just in time…

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Learn More about SWTOR Companion Characters

Exciting news from the Developer Blog today- it’s time to learn more about companion characters. As we get closer and closer to the eventual launch of SWTOR, we learn more and more about different aspects of the game. Today’s update is all about the companion characters, something that many players have been asking questions about. This thorough blog post tells you just about everything you need to know about companion characters. Each character class unlocks unique companions throughout their storyline; companions that fight alongside players in battle against AI and other players in Open World PvP, aid in crafting and non-combat missions through Crew Skills, and provide commentary on environments and engage in conversations. The update goes on to tell us more about what we can expect from our companion characters. It’s the first of two blogs devoted to the topic and it’s pretty thorough covering info such as customization,…

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SWTOR will Have Two Panels At NYCC’11

Star Wars: The Old Republic is big news. Even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, a Bioware fan or anyone looking forward to the game’s release, chances are high that you have at least heard about it. If you want to learn more about SWTOR, the upcoming New York Comic Con might be the place to do it. SWTOR is popular enough that there will be two separate panels devoted to it at NYCC 2011. One is a main panel which can be seen here and the other is a Q&A panel with MMORPG.com which can be seen here but there is not currently a lot of info on what will be at these panels. Both will happen on Friday- main pane at 2:30pm and Q&A at 6:30pm. That’s about all the info we have so far but we will keep our eyes and ears open for any new…

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Investing In EA Could Be a Great Choice Right Now

There is good news for those who hold stock in EA and also for anyone considering investing in the company now. Many experts believe the benefits outweigh the risks to investing in Electronic Arts with big titles like SWTOR on the way.  Seeking Alpha reports: Electronic Arts (ERTS) is on the verge of releasing potentially one of the best selling games of the year and possibly the decade. While there is no official release date set, Electronic Arts through its BioWare division has stated during their Q1 2012 Conference Call that it’s targeting the 2011 holiday season to release its upcoming massively multiplayer online role playing game [MMORPG] Star Wars: The Old Republic. You don’t even have to like video games to realize that this is a big move and that the stakes and the payouts could be high for getting in with the company now. The reasons this article…

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Eurogamer Expo Opening Video, Screenshots and More

If you’re getting excited about the Eurogamer Expo, you arenot alone. More and more info is starting to be released as the weekend gets underway, including the opening video. BioWare’s Stephen Reid (@Rockjaw) hastweeted several Star Wars: The Old Republic-relatedpictures from day one of the Eurogamer Expo, which are some of the first picsto come out from the event. In typical Reid fashion, they are a lot of fun. Fan T-Shirt; not official BioWare shirt SWTOR Stand Playing Huttball Official Huttball score- with bonus hair (thanks Stephen!) Queue sign Razer mouse Rae and Darth Other side of the stand  Stay with us for more upcoming updates on important and fun news from the Eurotour!

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