MMOs, Console Games and anything else with buttons
Over on the official SWTOR forums, Allison Berryman has confirmed the third beta-testing weekend is coming this weekend. The target group are North American players, with the US East Coast servers being the focus for this one.
One step closer to launch….
I’m really pushing the envelope by reporting this as news, but I know some people at least will find it interesting.
Bioware’s Stephen Reid has tweeted a link to a picture of a SWTOR Collector’s Edition at Fan Site Summit #2.
So here it is:
I will again admit I wish I’d ordered this version rather than the boring normal version…
UPDATE: thanks to TOR-Wars – there’s now an unboxing video:
The second SWTOR Fansite Summit is underway in Austin Texas, and the zany duo from TOR Wars have posted some pics of the first evening.
Yes, we’d have loved to have been there but there was the issue of 13,000 plus kilometres and an understandable non-invite for that reason. Interestingly we’d missed the furore over who was invited or not invited over the weekend – some are saying there’s a schism in the SWTOR community over it – I don’t have anything sane to say on the issue as we’ve already got a persecution syndrome due to the Oceanic area missing out on being in the official launch territories ; -)
Anyway, go look at some photos or post in the comments what you’d do/say if you were there. Keep it clean please ; -)
It’s everything good Star Wars humour should be: short, sweet and actually funny!
Enjoy:
Now if only someone would make Iron Man vs Jar Jar Binks….
Bioware have just snuck out another announcement for those who have pre-ordered SWTOR, to confirm how early the promised early access to the game would be. The maximum head-start you’ll get will be five days, depending on how early you registered your pre-order code.
I have to say I’m disappointed, purely out of self-interest. I was relying on early game access to be the buffer that ensured my boxed copy arrived from the US prior to launch. It’s very unlikely to get here in five days though (particularly if the plane pictured is used).
It’s no-one’s fault as such – Australia isn’t part of the launch territories and for those people that are in the launch areas, five days is more than reasonable.
And I won’t get into the whole launch territories issue again I promise.
One important point to reinforce: it doesn’t matter if you purchased the Collector’s Edition or the normal box, you’re in the same queue for early access. I’ve confirmed this with Stephen Reid this morning via Twitter.
Over to you: are you now planning on December 15th as your launch date?
It’s progression video time – this time it’s the Imperial agent’s turn and what a video it is. It’s obvious the SWTOR machinamatographers (is that even a word?) have gotten into a real stride with their creations. Have a look for yourself then read some commentary after the fold:
Bioware have updated the TOR website with a post regarding phase 3 of guild deployment.
Last month they implemented Phase 2, where guilds could designate other guilds as allies or adversaries. Now TOR moves closer to launch, they have initiated the first part of Phase 3.
Phase 3: Deployment will see any guild that meets the pre-designated criteria be transferred into the game for launch. Before this process starts they are giving all guilds the opportunity to make sure your guild meets the following requirement for transfer:
Four members of your guild must have pre-ordered the game and redeemed their Pre-Order Code.
To help clear up any confusion as to whether or not your guild is ready for deployment, they have now added an indicator on each guild page. This indicator will show you the number of people in your guild who have pre-ordered the game, and will inform you whether or not your guild meets the criteria for deployment into the game.
With the recent milestone of our guild listing reaching more than 50 entries, we thought it time to start spotlighting some guilds.
If you’d like your guild spotlighted, just use our contact form to let us know. The only requirement is that you’re an active oceanic guild. Please be patient if you don’t hear back from us immediately – we will only be spotlighting a guild every week or so.
Anyway, first cab off the rank is The Red Zone. Enjoy!
Name of guild
The Red Zone (TRZ)
Guild website
http://www.theredzoneguild.com.au
History of your guild’s name
The Red Zone was formed during the period that followed the announcement (or lack thereof) that TOR would not be released in all areas of the globe come launch. Those that took to the forums to express their disappointment and ask questions found themselves herded into a single thread. There became a split in the community at this time, with those regions included at launch being termed the Green Zone, and those regions outside of the launch territories being termed the Red Zone. So when it came to naming a guild whose initial members stemmed from that thread and the community at that time, The Red Zone kinda fit.
What sort of guild so you intend on being?
We have a wealth of experience from our members. Some are raid leaders from other MMOs, some were into hard mode content, some are avid PVPers, and we have a few who have never played an MMO before. Given the broad range of skills, we are sure we can offer something for all players. Well, maybe not RP. RP’ers are weird đ
The terms Casual and Hardcore get bandied around quite a bit, with often little room for a middle ground. Sure, we want to progress through endgame raiding, but we won’t be raiding every single night. We’ll certainly try to play smart and maximise what time we have. Most our players are 25+, so we don’t expect our members to be able to play 8+ hours a day.
Why did you choose to be Republic / Sith?
Given the history of The Red Zone, choosing to play Sith Empire seemed a bit of a no-brainer. It’s fair to say that a number of us in Red Zone regions were a little angry to find that TOR wasn’t going to be released in our countries at launch (and at that stage we still weren’t sure whether we could play the games we were importing!) So with the exclusion and the rage and the coming together, Sith seemed a much better fit. Not to mention the whole red thing.
You have one minute to convince someone they should be in your guild – what would you say to them?
If you’re an Oceanic player (or you don’t mind time zone differences) and want to join a laid back guild with all the perks of being organised and dedicated, then you’ve found your new home. All we ask is that you respect other members/players of the TRZ/SWTOR community and, most importantly, enjoy yourself!
What are your predictions for the first 6 months of the guild’s existence post-launch?
It’s really hard to predict where we will be in 6 months. Given the game launches during the holiday period, we anticipate many members will start levelling very quickly. We’ll start gauging player strength and preferred roles, and start running Flashpoints with as many full guild groups as we can manage. We’ll organise times for PvP sessions, including World and Instanced PvP events. We want to do plenty of ‘fun’ guild things like this.
We anticipate losing some members along the way – as with any new MMO, some people won’t subscribe past the free 30 days, and some people might find that The Red Zone is not the best fit for them after all.
Apologies for the three week break, but we’re back with a fun discussion on Warzones, Solo with the Holo and Fapping to the STAP. All shall be explained if you listen.
Points of discussion:
– Warzones: Huttball, Voidstar and Alderaan
– Collectors Edition unboxing
– Fan Friday and fan fiction as the poor cousin (click here to check out the SWTOR Paint Adventures mentioned)
– Oceanic guild listings and daisy chains (PvE chain, PvP chain)
– Brief discussion on other games out there (you have to check out the PS3 vs PC Battlefield 3 comparison)
– Shout outs for our forums, Facebook page, Oceanic Guild listing, and Twitter account.
Listen via iTunes or right here:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:17 — 58.1MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Another weekend, another piece of juicy SWTOR information released by Bioware. This week it’s all about PvP combat. Warzones are the areas designated for PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic and Bioware had previously given out plenty of information on one of the Warzones, Huttball. They’ve now released information on a further two Warzones: Voidstar (a derelict Imperial Battle Cruiser) and Alderaan (that planet you might have heard about before).
There are video clips showcasing Voidstar, Alderaan and the previously announced Huttball here. Or check the Alderaan one out right now:
[Read more…]
Well⌠The Media Embargo is officially ended. IGN is saying that they will be offering regular updates of coverage on the game until the actual launch. Does this mean we are going to get more information? Do we really WANT more information?
Wait a sec… What the HECK am I saying? OF COURSE we want more information! The question is⌠Do we want more info, or do we want the game? And of course the answer is WE WANT THE GAME! NOW!  But as in all things that humans do, “you canât always get what you wantâ – according to the Rolling Stones anyway. So, we should be seeing a veritable blitzkrieg of information coming our way shortly. Some of it is already here, we are seeing more and more interviews, sit downs and talks with people showing up on the updates on SWTOR.com. With the launch date now less than sixty days away, we are likely to be seeing a whole lot more than we have before.
On that note, it should be said that there is remarkably little beta footage available and most of what is available on the internet is fake. Most beta testers either donât want to face Lucasartsâ legal staff (I donât blame them one little tiny bit by the way), or they are so enamored with the game that they donât want to take the chance on not being able to play at launch. I am actually going to go for the second answer there. I have talked with a few people who are in the beta, including my colleague Mark. All of the ones I have talked to have been VERY careful about possible NDA violations. They really, REALLY want to play the full game when it comes out.
We have been raised, many of us, in a world where litigation is second nature. If someone bumps into you on the bus, you can sue them. You probably wonât win, the judge will likely laugh you right out of court, but you CAN sue. Itâs not taken for granted, but it isnât seen as serious. For those of us who have never been in a courtroom anyway (DONâT askâŚItâs too embarrassingâŚ) People see the NDA on a game, scroll down to the bottom and click âacceptâ generally never thinking about it. Itâs just not taken very seriously most of the time. Until now.
What is it about this game that is different?
It’s an MMO. There have been so many MMOs recently that few people can keep track of them all. Free to play, subscription, WoW clone, whatever. So many kinds of MMOs are out there now.
It is a Star Wars game. Well, there have been a bunch of those as well, some great, some not so good.
Itâs fully voiced. That is new for an MMO.
Itâs story-driven. That is not new, but the heights to which Bioware and Lucasarts seem to be taking it are.
All of this adds up to the fact that we have a new type of game coming. A massively multiplayer online role playing game that looks, sounds and plays like single player game. Will it work? I dunno. But I canât wait to roll a trooper and blast some Sith scum.
Okay, we are going to be seeing a LOT more media on the game now. Good. And we have seen more fan creation recognition as well. But – no mention of the fan fiction section of the forum. I guess people just donât have time to read all of the good stories that have been posted. It isnât intentional that the fan fiction writers (including myself) are treated like red headed step children. The community coordination people have only a certain amount of time to find, select and choose which works will be featured in the Fan Fridays. I know this. But it doesnât make me feel very good to be essentially shoved to the side, even by great artwork.
As was said in the podcast a while back, fan fiction is a lot of work. Admittedly, some of it is not very good. I include my own stuff in that. Many writers are trying out writing for the first time and selecting Star Wars because they like it, or find the framework that George Lucas has created to be easy to write in.  But reading things is time consuming. Even if it is an incredible work, it takes time to read something. Looking at a piece of art is easy. You look at it and say âItâs goodâ or âEeeewâŚâ. But reading some of the admittedly very good works on the fan fiction forum takes time. Even if it is not my own story arc, which is at 95 chapters and counting, many people simply donât have the time. I do think Bioware could at least MENTION the fan fiction forums, but then again, if they did that, would they have to spotlight one of the works every time? I donât know. I wonât pretend that it makes me feel good to be ignored, but I do understand about time constraints. Maybe with the raising of the embargo, more attention will be given to the great works that have been languishing in durance vile in the deepest darkest recesses of the fan fiction section.
Okay, okay⌠I know⌠I go off on tangents. So sue me. NO! It was a joke. A joke! No! Donât call…the…lawyers…*sigh*
Ah well⌠Maybe by the time the next story is due I will have made bail.
Mad Max beyond Thunderdome Masterblaster via image http://foothillsco.blogspot.com/
Extra Extra, Read all about it!
Or at least, you will be able to tomorrow at 9am PT when Bioware lift the embargo on the press, allowing more information on the game to be released. How specific that will be?, only time will tell however Stephen Reid has posted on twitter:
In the remaining weeks leading up to launch I can only guess more and more information about the game will become apparent and I think that the 24 hour down time on the site just days ago was most likely so Bioware could prepare the SWTOR website for the impeding deluge of information.
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