With the launch date for SWTOR scheduled for December 20, 2011, Star Wars/MMO fans are interested in learning more about this game. The excitement continues to grow with each passing day and if you’re like most players, you’re searching for all the inside information you can find which is why we want to bring you as many awesome SWTOR reviews as we can before the big day. MMO Champion has a very interesting review on their beta experience end game for level 50. A lot of testers were never able to get that far in the game so it’s pretty interesting, all in all. It talks about some of the things there are to do once you reach level 50 (max level). You can learn a little about the bosses in the game, operations, raiding and crafting. You’re going to get some facts and details with sprinkles of opinion from…
Swtor Extreme: Revan’s Saga & Fate (Spoilers)
Do you know who Revan is? Did you play Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2? Perhaps you have forgotten everything since you played it so long ago? Maybe you want to know the final fate of Revan and you can’t wait to play both Republic & Sith to 30+? Well no worries, I have an excellent series of videos which will help you on all of these fronts. Dalagrath from Swtor Extreme decided to start a series called “Know Your Saga”, where he details important characters which will appear in SWTOR. The first of those characters chosen was Revan. The character you play as during the Knights of the Old Republic RPG game. If you’d like to learn about who Revan is, and what happened to him during KOTOR 1/2, then head over to part 1 & 2 of the saga by clicking the video below: (Part 1…
May the schwartz be with you:The SITH that stole Christmas!
This just in from our pal One Minute Galactica, a great video to get you in the Star Wars holiday spirit. From the same guy who brought us What if Those Scanner Guys Were Not Such Wimps, The Worst Couple in the Universe and more, we have an especially fun, seasonal video. If you’d like to learn more about OMG (OneMinuteGalactica), check out this interview we did around this time last year. Now for The SITH that stole Christmas! He has all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile.
The Poll to End All Polls: What Class Will You Play?
If you missed it on the official forums, we have the “Poll to end all polls” ( Gone with the official forums now) which discusses class, species, role and alignment. This was a really popular user-created poll that brings up some important stats about the game and the people who will play it. The poll asks “What will your FIRST character be?” and has LOADS of responses. Take a look before the forums get wiped because this poll is the ultimate poll for SWTOR. About the Poll: It started back in April and as of today, it has over 11,000 votes and pages and pages of comments. It gives us some real insight into the playerbase and what you all want from the game. This will show you who you will likely be playing with and what kinds of stats we can expect in the game. To help you understand…
Friday Update: Sith Inquisitor Character Progression
Yesterdays Friday update brought us the last remaining character progression video, featuring the Sith Inquisitor. This is kind of a historic update, as it is the last update before early access begins. As you progress in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, your character will acquire new skills and abilities that complement their more powerful weapons and armor. Feared across the galaxy for both their mastery of the Dark Side of the Force™ and their ability to manipulate those around them, even those within the Empire know to watch themselves when in the presence of a Sith Inquisitor. Some acolytes who complete the trials use their newfound powers to channel the Force into devastating mental and lightning attacks. Others command the Force to deceive their enemies both in conversation and on the battlefield.
Actress Adrienne Wilkinson discusses working on SWTOR (and Force Unleashed!)
Even if you don’t know her by name, you’ve probably heard Adrienne Wilkinson in game. She has been doing vocal performances since 2003 in games like “Command and Conquer 3”, “Star Wars The Force Unleashed” and “Saints Row 2”. She’s done some amazing work in the past and continues to make quite an impression in the gaming world as she takes on the voice of several characters in SWTOR. Pop-Gamer brings us an awesome interview with Adrienne Wilkinson about her acting experience in SWTOR as well as Force Unleashed! Here’s a snippet: PG: It certainly showed! Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming out this month. How do you feel about being part of what many are saying is possibly the next World of Warcraft?’ AW: I’m thrilled to be part of the project. The enthusiasm the Star Wars fandom is already showing The Old Republic is quite prolific –…
Editorial: SWTOR Collector’s Edition Elitists
A reader wrote in to us recently with a pretty interesting thought about the types of gamers who have pre-ordered and will play SWTOR. He says, “People who pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition think they’re more important than everyone else.”” He even offers some evidence of why he believes this: 1- A signature bragging about the CE. 2- A post saying CE buyers are entitled to being better in-game. Honestly, I never thought a whole lot about it at first but it’s a good point now that it’s been brought up. Sure, this is a generalization and I’m sure not every single gamer to buy the CE acts this way (I don’t and I love buying CEs of my games) but at least a good portion of them do. I have seen this type of behavior in the game and its community so far, too. I’ve also seen it in other…
SWTOR Review and Cool Stuff from ZAM
Have you had enough SWTOR reviews yet? Now that the beta testing phase is over and we are counting down the days to the eventual launch of the game, it’s a great time to read over all the good reviews and previews we can find. We’re going to continue to bring you some of the best ones, as well as our own SWTOR guides and strategies to keep you informed and entertained before launch- and beyond. In yet another SWTOR review, we have this from ZAM.com. This is a very long 2-part series of a review/preview of SWTOR based on their beta experiences. Editor-in-Chief Chris Tom talks about what makes SWTOR unique and gives some final thoughts on his experiences. He says: “Yesterday, I went in-depth with SWTOR’s story and gameplay, as well as how it all fits with the MMORPG genre. Today, I’ll be talking about some of the…
Debate: Sith Or Republic- Which Side Will You Choose?
One of the first decisions you’ll make when playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, is whether to choose the Sith civilization or the Galactic Republic. Which one will you choose? Do you have a specific reason for choosing one side over the other? Nearly every player seems to have a preference of which they will play. Many players make a decision based on how each side is portrayed in the sense of good and evil. Some people prefer to be a part of the “good” side, while others prefer the “bad” side. Some people also base it on movie or lore preferences. In SWTOR, the Republic is portrayed as the “good” side while the Sith is portrayed as “evil” but not everyone agrees with this assessment. It’s really a matter of perception and when you take a closer look at both sides, you’ll see a few problems with that interpretation….
AC Comparisons to WoW Classes for the Current/ex WoW Player
A Reddit user named ThomJonson posted a very helpful class comparison about the correlation between Advanced SWTOR Classes and World of Warcraft classes. It might also serve as a good guide to any WoWheads you are trying to turn on to SWTOR. He says: “I did this as a response to someone asking for WoW comparisons in a prior thread located here. It appears a lot of people appreciated this so I figured I might as well show this to more people in the hopes of it proving useful to them or for their fellow gaming acquaintances.” He goes on to explain how he compared the classes to WoW because it’s the MMO he has the most experience with and also that he thinks will best help players understand what the SWTOR classes will be like. He invites anyone more familiar with another MMO who wants to copy/paste the style…
National Post Explores: Will SWTOR Dent WoW?
Ah, the classic debate continues as National Post writer. Daniel Kaszor explores the topic of SWTOR’s affect on WoW in Tuesday’s Download Code. As they as “Can EA’s Star Wars MMO make a dent in World of Warcraft?”, we see more evidence of just how serious the business of video games really is. Kaszor says: In an interview with Reuters last week, Activision-Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick had this to say about the upcoming Electronic Arts Inc. release of Star Wars: The Old Republic (a game similar to Blizzard’s blockbuster World of Warcraft, but obviously set inside the Star Wars universe). He then goes on to quote and discuss Kotick’s comments on whether or not EA could steal users from WoW and also questions whether or not rival EA would make any money off of the game at all since they have to share revenue with Lucas Arts. We recently…
No Grace Period for SWTOR (confirmed by FAQ & Stephen Reid)
There will be no grace period for those who have preordered the game and get Early Game Access to play the game unless they have completed the following steps as outlined in the FAQ. If you have not completed all of the steps, your game play time could be affected. It is not enough just to pre-order the game or even to pre-order and register. You need to thoroughly read the preorder FAQ in order to understand what you need to do. According to the Preorder FAQ: Q. If I pre-order Star Wars: The Old Republic but don’t purchase or obtain the full version of the Game, may I continue to play past the Early Game Access period? A. The Game officially launches on December 20th, 2011 at 12:01AM EST (Pacific: December 19th, 9:01PM PST; European: December 20th, 05:01AM GMT, 06:01AM CET). There will be no ‘grace period’ post launch…
SWTOR Early Access Starts December 13
“Early Game Access* for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is only a few days away! Starting December 13, 2011, The Old Republic will begin emailing invitations to start your Early Game Access.” This just in from the official website news section- are you ready to play? The announcement adds: “To ensure that players can get into the game as quickly as possible when their Early Game Access begins, we are now allowing everyone who has redeemed a Pre-Order Code at our Code Redemption Center to pre-load the game to their computer”. Bioware’s Courtney Woods announced that the game is available for pre-load to anyone who has already redeemed their pre-order codes. Stephen Reid also clarified the announcement on Twitter, and notified the community that the Early Access section of the Preorder FAQ had changed. You can now preload the game if you pre-ordered by visiting the SWTOR official website and…
SWTOR Game Cards Now for Sale
The time has come and we know the release of SWTOR is imminent when we see that now game cards are available for purchase! Electronic Arts is offering Star Wars: The Old Republic 60-Day Pre-paid Time Cards on Amazon and other retailers for $29.99. If you haven’t already written your letter to Santa this year or given family stocker-stuffer ideas, then now is the time to ask for some extra game time cards. As of now, we can’t find evidence of any 30-day cards, 90-day cards or longer but there has been hinting that other denominations will come later. If you don’t have a credit card or don’t want to use a credit card to put your game subscription time on, then SWTOR game cards are perfect for you. So what’s your plan? Are you going to stock up on a few cards, buy some for friends or family or…
The Guild Sphere: vindicatum
Welcome back to another edition of the Guild Sphere. This time vindicatum took the time to answer our questions. Vindication is Is a guild with high ambitions supporting the republic. Check it out: Where did your guilds name come from? Vindicatum was an amazing guild back on my guild’s old World of Warcraft server (Icecrown, I believe) and they stood for something that we really wanted to emulate: Success. They were one of the best guilds in America, and tore apart any competition on our server. We also believe that Vindication is something that really stood strong in the Jedi and Republic ideals; so that’s something that we really wanted to reflect into Star Wars: The Old Republic. Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild? We’re just a group of guys that want to be known. At this point, we’re all focused on leveling and…
12 Days of Smack Talkin’
The lads over at Gamebreakers has released an epic WoW vs SWTOR machinima throwdown, Christmas carol style: As you know, of course, Darnell is the most-excellent PvPer extraordinaire. In fact, last week, Blizzard itself made a commercial featuring his awesome awesomeness. However, few people know that our famous World of Warcraft machinima phenom is actually an accomplished singer. That’s right, you may remember his smash hit “It’s So Hard To Say Good-bye to SWG” and “Imma Bunny,” both currently holding steady on the Orgrimmar Top 40. Now, Darnell is ready to top the charts again with the Twelve Days of Christmas. Wait. What was that? Someone jumped in on Darnell’s recording session? Can’t we just re-record it? Oh, not in the budget… OK… Well, Darnell likes duets, and we know you do, too. Darnell graciously invited Mr. Darth Inquisitor from Star Wars: The Old Republic to accompany his melodic undead…
The Sith Inquisition: What Makes Us Sith
Good afternoon Sithizens, In these days between the end of the beta and the beginning of a glorious dawn for the Sith Empire, we have time to sit back and look at what makes us Imperials greater than our weak light side brethren. Why consider us better, why do we even embrace the Dark Side in the first place? As strange as it is for good Sith such as ourselves to think on these things, it’s not unreasonable to want greater knowledge on our existence and what makes us stronger, then use that knowledge to again reinforce our place at the top. Is it our unyielding focus on strength that allows us to trump the Jedi, or is it the idea that we don’t fear reaching into ancient and dark knowledge for greater untold power? Does our constant desire to prove ourselves over our superiors make the next generation all…
Secrets of the Mind Part 1 and 2
Our good friends over at RepublicTrooper.com, has something really interesting to keep you entertained – least part of the time that you are waiting on that December 20th launch date. Mike Kern brings us Secrets of the Mind part 1 and 2 for your enjoyment. Here’s a snippet of Part 1: Marik watched his sister float in bacta, unchanged for weeks. After the disaster on Balmorra, he had gone for more intensive combat training while she underwent surgery after surgery. Despite all the efforts of a dozen surgeons, Kira had lapsed into a coma. Leaving her side was the hardest thing he’d ever done and the six weeks spent on Ord Mantell had felt like six months. Returning to Coruscant was all he wanted and now that he was here, he felt helpless and useless. “I-S-One Thorne.” Marik stiffened and snapped to attention as he whirled on his heel. The voice…
Facebook Image of the Week #41
You know it’s wednesday when BioWare updates the official Star wars the old republic Facebook page with a new screenshot. This time we get to see some Rancore action. Remember we also got our own Facebook page, and we would love to see you there. Anyways. Here is today’s FB pic: On Belsavis, a group of Imperial forces defend one of their strongholds from a deadly rancor.
SWTOR Level 50 Gear (Screenshots)
Not everyone got far enough into the beta testing/ game testing of SWTOR to be able to see level 50 gear. You may not have ever even seen a level 50, much less achieved the level cap for yourself. Here are some screenshots of the different classes with level 50 gear so you can see what it all looks like. The poster says: “High settings but with no AA forced on. Male human body type 2.Keep in mind this is just the gear available at vendors in the fleet, there’s still tons of other gear styles out there such as boss loot, quest rewards and crafting. So if you’re thinking oh man thats ugly, never fear, there shall be alternatives. Also: mod system!Apologies for no Republic stuff” So here you go! Have a look and let us know what you think. Bounty Hunter Sith Inquisitor Imperial Agent Sith Warrior…
SWTOR to Arrive in Australia?
The Australian Government Classification website has listed a new PC game titled “Paper, Scissors, Stone” that has some interesting similarities to what one might see under a SWTOR classification. Does this mean that the game might finally be headed down under? This mystery game is classified “M” and consumer advice says “Science fiction themes, violence and drug references; Online content variable”. The author is listed as BioWare & “Lucas,” and the publisher is listed as Electronic Arts. Based on this info, it seems pretty likely that SWTOR will be coming out in Australia. It’s great news for the Aussies but is it really such a surprise that the game would eventually be released there? It was bound to happen eventually and with us growing closer to launch, I’m not too surprised to see this news. The only downside is that this really only confirms the possibility that EA/Bioware may have…
Official SWTOR Forums to be Wiped on December 10th
As we continue to count down the days to SWTOR launch, we will see different changes in the community. The beta testing period is over and the official forums will be getting a new facelift. This is reported to be more than just a makeover and in fact, a total overhaul that will wi pe all the current posts and private messages.Allison Berryman has announced the changes coming to the SWTOR official forums, including the data wipe. The changes will also include a new community blog. She explains: Another new feature we’re implementing is our Community blog, which will appear at the top of www.SWTOR.com/community. We’ll use this blog for important community announcements, updates, and to post articles of interest to our community members, so make sure to check it out frequently! Sounds interesting for sure and we can’t wait to see it. But what about all the current data…
MTSBWY: Cello Wars (Star Wars Parody) Lightsaber Duel – Steven Sharp Nelson
Long ago in a galaxy far, far away… Cello Wars (a Star Wars Parody) Lightsaber Duel was held. It was an epic battle, Vader plays the accordion and Chewy dances. It’s not a meeting you will soon forget. We love that these guys pulled off this very fun video and of course, had to share it with you. This is what they have to say about their feat: “We announced CELLO WARS on September 19, 2011 thinking we’d be able to deliver on our promise within a few weeks. We had NO IDEA. 70 days later, more than 7,000 frames, 72 audio tracks, 24 hours of filming through the night in front of a green screen, the most props and costumes we’ve ever used, several broken bows and strings, and over 1,000 hours of editing and rendering — we felt like we had taken on the entire EMPIRE!” It’ pretty…
Lusinchi brings Some Clarity to Item Modification Issues
Associate Lead Designer, Emmanuel Lusinchi posted a very long revision today on the official SWTOR forums about the modification system patch notes. He says his patch notes were poorly written and that he wanted to make the post to clarify any confusion. It was a bit of wall of text, however, and I honestly don’t see how the modification system changes were so confusing in the first place. Lusinchi says: To start with, we’ve introduced a new color and item type: the Custom items. Those are shown with an orange border and are fully moddable. This change is purely cosmetic. What we have done is take all fully moddable Prototype items (blue) and simply changed their icon color. This helps us create a better and more unique identity for fully moddable gear. Ok, we’re with you so far. He then describes the main issues with the old modding system: The…