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More Eternity Vault goodness at Gamescom

August 17, 2011 by

As you’re probably aware, the Bioware are at Gamescom in Germany giving the German public a taste of Star Wars: The Old Republic.  One of the videos I love best (with thanks to reader Chris) is this one. It shows the Eternity Vault Operation in more detail, played live by eight Sith players. There’s much more to see than previous reveals and like the previous info it looks rather impressive.

Have a gander for thyself:

So – do you like what you see? The highlight for me was seeing the 8 players unable to get past the first ‘boss’: it shows the challenge required and without that there’s nothing really.

Filed Under: Machinima, News Tagged With: ,

Love the lost Twi’lek!

August 14, 2011 by

This week we have a Fan Friday Update and Details about GamesCon 2011 from Star Wars: The Old Republic, as well as some very interesting posts on the Dev Tracker.

The Community Creations from this week’s update are stunning. A rendering of a Twi’lek lost on the moon of Endor is the first picture show and is amazing. The Rendering was done by community member “JenFX”. The second picture shown is of a Republic military propaganda poster aply named “Join Us”. The poster is also amazing and has the phrase “Healing is our daily job but destroying the enemy is our priority.” The stunning image was created by French community member “norzeele”. Inspired by Bioware’s Tatooine Developer Walkthrough, one of the forum members “Alliant” created an excellent painting of an environmental view of Tatooine’s barren landscape.  “Alliant” also created a series of iPhone and iPad wallpapers for both Jedi and Sith players.

Bioware also released a series of wallpapers based on the “Return” Intro Cinematic from E3. The first wallpaper depicts Malgus moments before he ends his Sith masters life, gaining the title of Sith Lord. The second wallpaper depicts Jedi Master Kao Cen Darach fighting off the Sith Lord Vindican. The last wallpaper is Malgus Smashing through debris mid-air jumping into his final duel with Kao Cen Darach.

Bioware finally released “Forum Phrases” that allows community members to post words and small phrases in the Star Wars universe’s basic written language, Aurebesh. “Use the Force” and “Great Update” are just two out of the twelve usable words and phrases. Members can use the Aurebesh phrases by clicking in the Smilies “More” section then scrolling down to the appropriate response.

Be sure to check out the entire update Here on Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Offical Site.

There was also an update on The Old Republic at GamesCon 2011. GamesCon is taking place on August 18th through August 21st in Cologne, Germany. GamesCon is one of the largest video game conventions in the world, and Bioware and Lucas Arts will be there in full force to allow European gamers the chance to get some hands on action with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Bioware and Lucas Arts will also be revealing new information about the game. Community members who signed up on the forums will get a chance to test out a PvP Warzone on the planet of Alderaan.  Bioware will be running a demonstration of small areas of the high level Operation or “Raid” Etenity Vault”. If you follow the link it will lead you to the trailer for Eternity Vault.

Be sure to check into the Community Forum throughout the week of GamesCon to keep up-to-date on the info, or wait till Friday and I’ll sum it up. 🙂

Filed Under: Community, News Tagged With: ,

Consular update: Force Quakes!

August 8, 2011 by

The Consular update is here! Bioware released the updated Consular page along with a new class video, a Companion, Mirialan race update, and the Corellian  Defender Consular ship.

The main part of the update is the Consular’s new class video. The video starts on Coruscant with the Consular meditating, when some Imperials try to get the jump on him. The first is killed with a lightsaber attack. The second Imperial is killed with an unknown move that looks like a single target nuke/knock back. The third Imperial is killed with a new single target nuke move. The Consular is then shown on a ship overlooking a planet when attacked by their Imperial troops and a Sith. The Consular uses an unknown AoE knock back/nuke.

In the next scene, the Consular is in a large gun fight on an unidentified planet, when what appears to be a NPC trooper goes down. The Consular uses a rez spell to revive the downed NPC.  The Consular then uses what appears to be a buff. The buff is followed by force quake, an AoE move that has a chance of knockdown.

Towards the end of the video several clips are cut together, showing the Consular using several more unknown abilities. One ability shown is an AoE nuke that kills two Imperials but leaves the strongest, or mini boss, standing. The consular then uses a single target nuke to kill the remaining Imp. The last scene in the Consulars’ video is a duel between a Sith and the Jedi. The Consular is shown using a buff that looks very similar to the Knight’s Saber Ward ability. The Saber ward is followed by “Pebble Storm” that doesn’t seem to slow down the Sith, so the Consular throws out one more single target CC ability then finishes off the Sith. Be sure to watch the full video here.

The Consular’s new companion is Qyzen Fess, a Trandoshan hunter and tracker. He follows the traditional path to appease the scorekeeper, the Trandoshan goddess, by earning his jagganath points through killing savage beasts instead of being a gun-for-hire. His appearance is marked by his missing eye. This one-eyed killer has been traveling the galaxy for years and has had run-ins with all types making him very cautious, but once his loyalty is gained he will defend his friends to the death. Here is Qyzen Fess’s Holonet Page

The Consulars ship will be the same ship as the Jedi Knight’s, a Corellian Defender-Class Light Corvette. The Defender is a double-decker designed ship and has a very smooth layout. Check it out here on Star Wars: The Old Republic’s official site

The Miralian race was also added to the Holonet under the inhabitants tab:

Renowned in all corners of  the galaxy for their spirituality and strong connection to the Force, the Mirialan endure rigorous mental and physical training rituals to become both formidable warriors and skilled negotiators.- Holonet

The Mirialan are deeply spiritual and believe the actions of one do not just affect his fate but the fate of the race as a whole. The geometric tattoos covering the Mirialan’s face denotes their deeds and accomplishments, and upon death are used to determine the worth of that individual to the Mirialan race.  Be sure to take a look at their addition to the Holonet.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

Flash Point 13: Whiny Teen Darth Vaders and The Gonch

August 7, 2011 by

Another big episode with our confirmed third co-host and lots of discussion of everything SWTOR and more.

Points of discussion:

– Esseles Flashpoint walkthrough
– Consular update
– Pre-orders / ‘Red Zoners’ discussion
– SWTOR for the over 40’s
– Killing companions
– Loot containers
– Big Babies on YouTube
– Third-party info sites
– 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: 48:00 — 65.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Filed Under: News, Podcast Tagged With: , , ,

Diplomatic shenanigans: Esseles Flashpoint

July 30, 2011 by

This week’s update from Bioware is the release of a video from Comic-Con titled The Esseles Developer Walkthrough:

The Esseles, a Republic transport that carries some of the most high-profiled members of the Galactic Senate across the galaxy, has come under siege from the opportunistic Grand Moff Kilran. Dallas Dickinson guides you along as a group of Republic heroes must band together to repel the Imperial boarding parties and retake their ship in this Developer Walkthrough.     – Bioware

The walkthrough begins with Dallas Dickinson explaining the situation on The Esseles – it’s the lowest level flashpoint being “around level nine” so you’ll be entering this Flashpoint as you leave your starting planet. The Flashpoint starts when the group discovers the dead Captain laying on the floor  and a panicking first officer looking for a solution. The party is then contacted by Grand Moff Kilran hailing the ship to announce that his forces will be boarding to capture a Republic ambassador.

The party heads to the cargo bay to reinforce the ships crew and repel an invading force of droids and Mandalorian mercenaries. After the battle the ambassador shows herself announcing that the attack the party just repelled was a rouse. The real threat is a Mandalorian named Ironfist who along with his bodyguards have secured the bridge and taken the crew hostage.

The party fights its way to the engineering deck where it’s faced with a lightside/darkside option for opening the bridge lockdown. The lightside is to destroy conduits that are spread across the engineering deck to override the lockdown status. The darkside option is to reset the system, opening the air locks, killing the engineers. The party chooses the darkside option and moves onto the bridge. Ironfist greets them as any villain should, then the fight begins.

Ironfist jet packs to the smuggler delivering a brutal uppercut. The smuggler breaks the engagement and heads for cover killing a bodyguard on his way. The trooper begins pulling the attenetion of Ironfist like any tank should, so the others can focus on killing the boss. Ironfist uses a blastback move where he vents his jet pack knocking the players to the ground, a pretty good CC move for a boss. The Trooper uses a cryonade and freezes Ironfist allowing the team to dispatch him with ease.

Be sure to check out the full video of  The Essles Developer Walkthrough here on Star Wars: The Old Republics official site.

What are your thoughts? Does this Flashpoint look fun to you?

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,

Some Clarity Emerges: Bioware on Oceanic access

July 25, 2011 by

What a few days it has been. The threads continue unabated on the official forums on the staggered release issue. Until now the only response has come in intermittent tweets from Stephen Reid whilst wrangling the masses at Comic-Con.

Today, one of the other Senior Community Coordinators, Allison Berryman, has posted a response to the ongoing concerns. Although it only repeats the tweets from over the weekend, it at least puts a more official backbone behind them:

Hello everyone. We know that you have questions about this topic, and we hope to have more clarification for you all very soon. For those who may not have seen Stephen Reid’s tweets from this weekend regarding some of these subjects, I’d like to share that information here.

Regarding whether the game will block players from some regions by IP address: currently, there is no plan to block players from the game by regional IP blocking. Playing on servers physically distant from your location might mean you experience some issues with latency, but at this time we don’t plan on blocking players from a region by IP. On a similar note, anyone who pre-orders the game (and redeems their code) would receive the early access that is part of that pre-order.

We are continuing to investigate payment methods (specifically regarding credit cards billing addresses), and should have a definitive answer on the topic very soon.

I know you’ve probably seen this link a ton already, but please make sure to consult the pre-order FAQ if you have any questions related to pre-order (aside from these that we’re investigating). We really appreciate your patience as we get more information for you.

So there’s a little more clarity than 72 hours ago:

1. You can order the game from overseas.
2. You will get early access as per the conditions of the pre-order program.
3. There will be no IP blocking / regional blocking of those who order from overseas.
4. You’ll be able to pay your subscription via PayPal
5. Regional blocking of credit cards for payment remains an unknown but will be clarified in coming days.

It’s overall a small step toward setting some groundwork for the future. Hopefully the communication continues to improve – it’s hard for it to go a lot further backwards…

Over to you: what’s your thoughts?

UPDATE: Allison Berryman has clarified the credit card issue:

Hello everyone! We have some more information regarding subscription payment options.

Currently, any payment method supported by EA in a particular country will be accepted for subscription payments for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This includes major credit cards. We will provide further information as we approach launch. As we have mentioned previously, if you choose to play on a server that is physically distant from your location, you may experience latency issues that impact your gameplay experience.

Thanks again for your continued patience as we continue to answer your questions and provide clarification on these topics.

Filed Under: News, Opinion Tagged With: ,

Regionally locked out of SWTOR? Maybe not

July 24, 2011 by

Well it’s as close to ‘official’ as we’re likely to get over the weekend. Darth Hater posed a question to Stephen Reid at the San Diego Comic Con, on the pre-order shenanigans in the 50+% of the world not included. The question and answer:

Darth Hater: We know that publishers have a variety of problems when trying to launch a game overseas that range from regional politics, ratings boards, server infrastructure, localization, distribution, and more. Why did you choose not to launch in certain regions?

Stephen Reid: The answer is “none of the above.” We didn’t make that decision because of ratings board issues, localization or whatever else. What it ultimately comes down to is simple, but it is kind of a difficult concept to grasp: it is about quality of service. We know the level of demand for Star Wars: The Old Republic is pretty much unprecedented in MMO history. We know realistically the number of players we can deal with on launch day and the launch period. We made the difficult decision to say the player experience is paramount. We don’t want them to have a bad experience on launch day. And that led inevitably to certain decisions and one of them was reducing the number of territories we go into at launch.

The process of putting a boxed product in any territory is difficult. The process of deciding whether or not we want to put regional services into an area is also difficult. So it is a combination of a lot of different factors, but ultimately it comes down to the two competing factors: one is demand for the game, and two is what we can supply at that level of service we really want to give. And this is the result. We understand many people want to play the game from all around the world, and we’re absolutely going to get to as many territories as we can over time, but we’re not ready to commit to a specific time frame on that yet.

There’s certainly no hint of a change of tack in regards to the issue, which isn’t a great surprise. Over on Twitter, Reid has also made a mention of the concern that credit cards from regions not able to pre-order locally would be blocked if they chose to pay a subscription that way after securing a copy of the game from overseas:

So to sum up: you can still try buying from an overseas retailer and it seems you’ll be able to play the game if you’re happy to pay your subs via PayPal or you are willing to wait on the above information.

As we discussed in detail on the podcast last night, it just seems really strange that these issues weren’t foreseen before the pre-order launch. We also discussed the fact that it’s understandable that Bioware want to create a good experience via a staggered release. Using geography as the filter is the cause of the majority of issues. A random allocation may have just worked a little better…

Over to you: do you feel there’s more certainty around the issue or not?

Filed Under: News Tagged With:

Oceanic release for SWTOR: the state of play 24 hours on

July 22, 2011 by

Wow, what a period of 24 hours it’s been. Since the launch of the SWTOR pre-order scheme, with it’s exclusion of Oceanic areas, Asia and South America (as well as parts of Europe), it’s fair to say the reaction has been…animated. The official forums have a rather large thread on the issue, and there’s no shortage of activity on Facebook (including a protest) and Twitter. It’s always difficult to summarise a situation as fluid as this, but here it goes:

1. You can order box copies of SWTOR from online retailers in the US or anywhere willing to sell them. Reports are that the Collector’s edition is sold out across most online retailers.

2. Although Bioware’s Stephen Reid gave some encouragement on the abilility to play the game if you get a copy, he’s put some disclaimers around it in the past 30 minutes:

3. Oceanic retailers who have listed pre-orders appear not to have any basis in fact for assuming deliveries of the game at this stage.

4. There is absolutely no information on when there would be local availability and when full access to the game would occur.

So there you have it – it seems there’ll be no further update until around 24 hours time i.e. after another day of Comic Con is done. We’re devoting tomorrow’s Flash Point podcast to the issue and we’re investigating a live stream so stay tuned.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,

Oceanic players: no local pre-orders

July 21, 2011 by

Well, pre-orders for Star Wars: The Old Republic are now up and running, and unfortunately for any Oceanic players, there’s no local options for us to take part. The pre-orders offer three options:

1. Collector’s Edition

As mentioned yesterday this is a mighty nice piece of gear. A whole bunch of US / UK and European options are given, but none for Asia, South America or Oceanic players.

2. Digital pre-order via EA’s Origin Service

This graphic says it all if you try this route as an Oceanic player:

3. ‘Normal’ boxed edition

See point 1.

Some key points

Aside from the obvious disappointment, there’s some key issues that need to be emphasised:

a. This does not mean we won’t be able to play the game: you can obviously order the game from overseas. I’ve asked Bioware to confirm that such orders are valid i.e. that there’ll be no regional / IP block on regions taking part in playing. The Oceanic server issue seems a little optimistic at this stage to say the least – we’ll let you know of any response on the stance with ordering from overseas.

b. It appears there will be a staggered release: according to the pre-order FAQ:

c. No-one particularly cares but us: there is the reality of being part of a ‘smaller’ region. There’s just no urgency around this for anyone but the people affected. That said, South America and all of Asia are in the same boat.

d. If preordering from overseas: there’s a few glitches in the links to pre-order retailers. Amazon US’ site lists SWTOR as being for Mac and Windows. Amazon UK says it’s not available at all. Find a retailer that suits you and go from there. I’ve done a pre-order but with the full awareness of the (small) risk that I may not be able to play it if there’s some sort of regional block on playing. I still can’t see that happening though. This Tweet from Stephen Reid puts paid to the idea:

As does this follow-up to an Aussie SWTOR player’s question:

e. It’s just a game: I’ve already seen a lot of aggro over this issue expressed on the forums, Twitter and via emails we’ve received already today. It’s understandable but at the end of the day it’s a game. Don’t do anything rash and don’t make threats – that’s a surefire way to alienate people from the get-go.

As I mentioned above we’ve submitted some questions to Bioware on the issue. Given they’re in the middle of San Diego Comic Con I can’t see a prompt response but you never know.

Over to you: what’s your take on the situation?

Update: Stephen Reid has started a new thread on the SWTOR forums with this post:

To all of our fans outside of North America and Europe:

Today we’ve announced the pre-order details for the initial launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and as you may now know, we’ve taken the difficult but necessary decision to limit our initial launch supply for the game. BioWare and LucasArts are completely focused on building an exceptional game and an exceptional game service to go with it. We decided to constrain our launch capacity to ensure we deliver a great experience to every player.

Part of the reason this decision was made was because of the overwhelming demand for The Old Republic, and we’re humbled by that level of excitement and anticipation. We fully intend to deliver to you an amazing game when we expand our service post-launch, but right now we cannot commit to any timeframe for when that may happen. As soon as we have more information about additional launches in more territories, we’ll let you know.

We are committed to delivering Star Wars: The Old Republic to BioWare and Star Wars fans around the world, and to growing a truly global community.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,

SWTOR box-shots and more ‘wait and see’

July 20, 2011 by

Lots of excitement overnight about some Spanish and Polish websites showing pre-order information and box shots of Star Wars: The Old Republic. One of the more fascinating ones (labeled as ‘work-in-progress art‘) is this shot of the Collector’s Edition pre-order:

For what it’s worth I love the look of the whole set and on first look it’s convinced me to fork out for the Collector’s Edition. Although it may only be a mock-up, for that it’s looking mighty nice. There’s also plenty of dicussion about some boxes already shipping and release dates coming up close. Here’s hoping, but I think both should be taken with an enormous grain of salt.

Bioware’s response to the pics has been a little more jovial than I expected. Senior Community Manager for SWTOR, Stephen Reid, posted this in response:

So it seems that San Diego Comic Con could be one interesting platform for announcements. We’ll be covering those in detail here and on this weekend’s Flash Point podcast.

Over to you: do you like what you see?

A big thanks to Darkflare on the forums for the initial heads-up: you can hear him as a guest on this week’s podcast as well.

Update: Kotaku amongst many others, have a run down of what they believe the collector’s edition contains:

Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue
Star Wars: The Old Republic game disks in collectible metal case
The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural annotated by Satele Shan
Old Republic galaxy map
Custom Security Authentication Key
Exclusive Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD
High-quality collector’s edition box

Includes 7 additional digital items:

Flare Gun: Fires flares into the air.
Training Droid: Hovers at your side for combat assistance.
HoloDancer: Project your own holographic dancer.
HoloCam: Keep visual records of in-game adventures.
STAP: Sleek and unique in-game vehicle.
Exclusive Mouse Droid: Spunky droid to join your adventures.
Exclusive Collector’s Edition Store: Unique in-game vendor with a dynamic assortment of items.

What’s not to like?

Filed Under: News, Opinion Tagged With: ,

You’re our only hope: 3D holograms are here!

July 18, 2011 by

Well not really, but this demonstration of an iPad, Microsoft Kinect and a sense of adventure, shows how it won’t be that long before we can record our own distress messages and save them to a droid.

Have a look for yourself:

[via Gizmodo Australia]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,

Class intros and Q&A goodness

July 17, 2011 by

Comic-Con, Class intros, and  Community Q&A are all on the menu for this week’s update. Comic-Con kicks off Wednesday July 20th for a three hour preview night, then on Thursday the real fun begins.

 At 3:30PM on Thursday, July 21st our panel for Star Wars: The Old Republic will be held inside room #6BCF

– Bioware

 

Bioware will also be taking over the Hilton Gaslamp Quarter Hotel, having plenty of hands on with SWTOR and also holding a Q&A session. Bioware will be holding hands on sessions on four different days, Thursday through Saturday 12:00pm to 7:00pm. On Sunday they shut it down at 5:30.

Senior Video Editor Bryan Arndt takes us through this week’s studio insider on creating the class intro videos. The design team sat down and watched all six intros to the Star Wars saga, analyzing every second. After reviewing all six they decided to go with Empire Strikes Back as the template for the crawl in the intro videos. Arndt says the hardest part was getting the angle of the crawl right, among the complexities of the crawl dealing with exacting the color of text to the speed and margin used. After the crawl was designed they started work on the cinematic aspects of each class and go into detail about the Sith Warrior and Republic Smuggler. The Sith’s intro is a simplistic styled view very reminiscent of the movies with a larger destroyer cruising into the top of the screen. As the Destroyer comes into view a lone shuttle descends from the destroyer and blasts towards Korriban.

The Smuggler”s intro is much more intricate, involving the Smuggler breaking through a Sith blockade around Ord Mantell to get supplies to the Republics troops. The intro has the Smuggler pulling off fancy maneuvers while out-flying a Sith fighter, very cool cinematic start for the Smuggler.

As usual the Q&A is just too long for me to cover all of it so be sure to read the entire Article here on SWTOR’s official site. Here’s a taste:

Q: Will the NPCs have monologues or dialogues with each other that players can hear while walking nearby? – mmZero

A: Yes, they will. As in other BioWare games, ambient conversation is a part of the world and will help the player tune into the general goings-on of his or her surrounding area. Companions will sometimes voice their thoughts and opinions as well, as you travel the different worlds in The Old Republic.

I really enjoyed this in… well, every Bioware game, especially Dragon Age and Mass Effect. It really adds to the immersion and lore of the game – glad to see it made the cut.

Q: How many voice actors voiced this game? – DigitalMaster

A: We are working with a very large number of voice actors… possibly more than any other game made so far. Recent counts put the number at over nine hundred actors across all three languages, and that number is still growing.

Over 900…. Wow.

Q: Does The Old Republic use any of Ben Burrt’s original sound effects from the films? – MorgonKara

A: We’re definitely tapping into some of Ben Burtt’s classic material and integrating it into the game in different ways, sometimes as a layering approach and sometimes processing it to make something new. You’ll definitely hear some of his original material from the films too (it wouldn’t be Star Wars without it)!

Q: What percentage of the in-game music is original for The Old Republic and what percentage has already been used elsewhere (movies, other games, etc.)? – Nahte

A: We’ve written a huge amount of original music for the game. There are over six hours of original score that have been produced specifically for The Old Republic, plus an additional hour and a half of brand new cantina music. In addition to the original score, you’ll also hear the scores for both Knights of the Old Republic I and Knights of the Old Republic II. Lastly, the game just wouldn’t be complete without John Williams’ material from the Star Wars films.

Now these two questions are hand in hand for me. John Williams makes Star Wars what it is, his music drives the emotions that run so deep in the films. The lesser known Ben Burrt had just as much impact on the movies – his sounds are so iconic that SWTOR would be missing out on not using/sampling from them.

 

Alec “Dekin” Bailey signing out. For the Republic!

 

Filed Under: News, Opinion Tagged With: , ,
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