Kovani posted Mar 3, 12
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Author: Kovani, BioWare, companions, Datapad Notes, development, EA, Electronic Arts, family, friends, friendship, LARP, LucasArts, meetings, Mere-exposure effect, Propinquity, Propinquity Effect, Psychology, real life, relationships, role-play, Roleplay, roleplay partners, RP, secrets, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR
 First of all, after nearly two weeks spent without the internet, words can't describe how relieved I am to finally be posting again. I had the shakes, man. Real bad. They're subsiding, now that I have that glorious bandwidth rushing through my veins, filling up my mind, and making me whole. Funny how that happens, isn't it? We get addicted to the life we live online; the friends we make, the people we know, the relationships our characters have. When we're deprived of it, it's almost like part of our social life has been lost. You try explaining that to someone else, though; discussing how close your relationships can be with a person you only know via your monitor. Out in the real world—where I had to live for a short time, ew—it doesn't hold up. Are those close relationships you have with other people, your roleplay partners, legitimate? I believe they are, and in this Datapad Notes, I'm going to discuss precisely why. We're talking about the people you know in real life, who roleplay, be they your tabletop group, family, or partner. That person you roleplay with so much, you've added them to Facebook. That small community of characters who are close, and know everything about you. Tune in after the cut.
Ganden posted Nov 10, 11
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Achievements, Author: Ganden, Baraslan, BioWare, Companions, Coruscant, DarthHater, EA, Electronic Arts, Empire, Facebook, Fan Site Summit, Flashpoints, Fragworld, Gabe Amatangelo, Galactic Republic, Georg Zoeller, Hope, Hope Cinematic Trailer, Hoth, Ilum, Image Designer, James Ohlen, Jedi, Jolee Bindo, Knights of the Old Republic II, KOTOR II, LucasArts, Mantell Syndicate, MMO, Operations, Phasing, PvP, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Sith Empire, Social Points, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, Starships, SWG, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, TOROcast, Tython, Tziena, Vaanthe, Wampa, Warzones
Tziena and Vaanthe are back from the second Fan Site Summit, held with the developers from BioWare and the selected fan sites for The Old Republic at the BioWare base in Austin, Texas. Game Director and Lead Designer James Ohlen, Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller, and Lead End-Game and PvP Designer Gabe Amatangelo participated in interviews and Q&A sessions during the Summit. Want to know what they discussed? We've compiled the best bits in another wrap-up where you'll find information on achievements, chat bubbles, social points and some of the items you'll be able to purchase, as well as details for character's wishing to maintain some neutrality on the light and dark side scale. PvP is discussed, as are game metrics used by BioWare to monitor specific in-game activities. Continue reading to soak up the best bits from the Fan Site Summit Q&A with the developers.
Achievements have been popping up in both PC and console games of late, and The Old Republic won't be seeing any shortage of them. James Ohlen kicks off proceedings by touching on the achievements system which will be available at launch. It is a system that can be easily expanded upon, and we'll be seeing more achievement additions in future updates implemented by BioWare. Don't expect to find achievements at every corner of the game, as it is still in the works, as well as being a system that James Ohlen believes is used more often by players making use of end-game content.
Sebaya Keto posted Oct 20, 11
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Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, Companions, Gamespy, IGN, Impressions, Jedi, Jedi Consular, Massively, NDA, PvP, Republic, RP, Sci-fi, Smuggler, Star Trek Online, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, Trooper
Stephen Reid dropped a bomb on us last night. The press "embargo" on The Old Republic would be dropped today. While the NDA concerning beta testers is still in place, official media outlets given permission by BioWare can now freely print their stories of what they have seen in TOR's beta. If you haven't gotten a chance to play The Old Republic yet, the next few days of coverage should tell you just about everything you want to know about the game. It has only been about an hour since the embargo dropped, but several outlets already have put up their first impressions. We're going to give you some of the highlights of them.
IGN's Beta Hub already has a few articles on TOR ready. While they can only discuss their experiences on the Republic side, there is still a lot to be gained. They describe The Old Republic as a solid, yet safe MMO that sticks to the proven gameplay format, albeit with more interesting content. The Trooper article praises the class for being fun and managing to pack a punch in a world of saber wielders. Companions are given a rundown as well, with plenty of information on how they function in combat and with the crafting system. If PvP is more your thing, they also have a PvP article with detailed descriptions of the warzones TOR will have. Read on to see more impressions.
Ganden posted Oct 20, 11
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Apple, Author: Ganden, BioWare, Collector's Edition, Companions, Crew Skills, EA, Electronic Arts, Force Reflection, LucasArts, LucasFilm, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sony, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, THX, TOR
Business makes the world go round. The success of our economies are based on a number of contributing factors, including the success of the many businesses across the globe. Multi-national companies are probably the most likely to assist the economy, but every company, ranging from Apple, to Sony, to even the smallest of business consisting of the chicken shop on the corner of your street contribute to the global economy. The many companies associated with Star Wars, consisting of LucasFilm, THX, and LucasArts play their part as well. The basic rule in the matter is, without the many thriving businesses to whom we rely on for our products, we'd be on struggle street.
In The Old Republic, we can expect to see a number of shops and vendors across the many explorable worlds. For those of you that have pre-ordered the Collector's Edition, you will have access to an exclusive in-game Collector's Edition Store. However, we cannot survive on the products offered by the many non-player characters in the game. It has usually been the case that players can manufacture products far more superior than those spawned by the game itself. We will have the ability to manufacture items via the Crew Skills game system, making use of our companions to collect resources and make the best products possible.
Will you be running a business in The Old Republic, specifically one that consists of product manufacturing? That is today's Force Reflection. Tell us what your plans are for the game, and let us know if you've already created your business, consisting of any plans, perhaps even a business name. Pop your ideas and answers in the comments section.
Ganden posted Oct 17, 11
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Allison Berryman, Author: Ganden, BioWare, Charles Boyd, Companions, David Bass, EA, Electronic Arts, Georg Zoeller, Guilds, LucasArts, Roleplay, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, Weekly Dev Tracker
Welcome to another edition of SWTOR-RP's Weekly Dev Tracker Report. Compared to previous weeks, it has been reasonably quiet in the developer post department of late. There have been only a few posts of interest made by the team behind The Old Republic, with last week's focus mainly on companions and item modification. It seems that speculation has run high on the item modification game system. Though this feature is still in testing and details about it's specifics have been kept under wraps, members on the official forums have been discussing the game feature extensively, resulting in a number of posts by the developers to clarify a number of points. If you're after some exclusive information about item modification, you won't find it. We all know how BioWare work when it comes to unannounced features. You can view all of their responses below.
Ganden posted Oct 8, 11
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, Companion AI, Companions, EA, Electronic Arts, Friday Update, LucasArts, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, William Wallace
We all know that companions are going to play a pivotal part in our gaming experience in The Old Republic, whether as roleplayers we use them for roleplaying purposes, or if they're used merely in combat situations. We know that they'll interact with you, fight alongside you, and even go as far as crafting some of your best armour and weaponry. What we don't know as this stage is which companions we'll be able to choose from, as BioWare still haven't announced a full list of companions for each combat class. However, what has been announced in a Friday Update are the details as to how we'll be able to configure the AI of our companions in combat.
William Wallace, Senior Game Designer at BioWare, has posted an update detailing some of the ways we'll be able to control which abilities our companions use in combat. It isn't mandatory, as players have the freedom of choice as to whether or not they configure the companion AI, or leave the settings to their defaults. Here are some of the customisation options as detailed by William Wallace:
- Players may choose to disable some area-of-effect abilities when using crowd control or when fighting tough single enemies.
- Players may activate special modes or stances for their companion, causing them to focus more on damage or tanking, or on a single target versus groups of enemies.
- Players may want to manually activate buffs and powerful special abilities on long cooldowns, as opposed to letting the companion pick when to use their most powerful attacks.
For further information about the companion system in The Old Republic, be sure to check out William's latest companion update in the official Friday Update.
Ganden posted Oct 3, 11
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, Companions, Daniel Erickson, EA, Electronic Arts, Flashpoint, Force Push, Georg Zoeller, Imperial Agent, Jedi Consular, LucasArts, PvP-RP, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, Stephen Reid, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, Weekly Dev Tracker
Welcome to another edition of SWTOR-RP's Weekly Dev Tracker Report. It seems that whilst beta testing continues, we'll never see the end of questions and demands of the developers in relation to beta invites. However, we're going to skip over all that mumbo-jumbo and focus on the good stuff. Over the previous week, there have been a few goodies about in-game mechanics, as well as some news for roleplayers. Followers of our site will have seen a previous article covering the announcement of an PvP-RP server. You'll find some information about that below. Additionally, there is also some information about force pushing enemies in-game and how the environment can add some flavour to the ability, as well as details about male companions, flashpoints, and BioWare's timeline entries. Check out all the noteworthy developer responses below.
Sebaya Keto posted Sep 24, 11
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Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, Bliz, Companion Customization, Companions, E3, EA, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, Mako, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, William Wallace
This week, BioWare's Senior Game Designer William Wallace gives us a tour of companion characters appearances and classes. For all of you hoping to be able to use your companion in roleplay, this is big news. The Old Republic intends to feature a wide variety of companion customization. The last time we heard about this at E3, many were disappointed that the non-humanoid companions such as the Jawa Bliz would only feature very limited choices, or none at all. BioWare has made good on their promise to increase customization and the results look quite stunning.
In addition to a wide selection of special armors and colors for our non-human companions, we will be able to change the very appearance of our humanoid companions as well. Skin and hair choices on the fly are a huge part of making our companions unique, so not everyone has the same person following them around. The ability to change our companion's appearance also bodes well for the inclusion of a barber-like service to change our own character, something that has not yet been confirmed by BioWare.
In addition, there are also a few videos in the article, as well as a discussion of companion classes and combat abilities. With two companion updates in one week, it seems like they want to really get us excited about our new friends, and I for one am looking forward to it. We're going to have to revisit the entire companions in RP discussion!
Ganden posted Sep 23, 11
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Astromech Driod, Author: Ganden, BioWare, Bowdaar, Companions, Coruscant, Crew Skills, Developer Dispatch, EA, Electronic Arts, GameSpot, James Ohlen, Jawa, LucasArts, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, T7-01, T7-O1, Tatooine, The Old Republic, TOR
Ever thought of what life would be like without a companion? They take many forms, so majority of people would have one, whether it be a pet animal, a best friend, or family member. We confide in them, laugh with them, and have them run errands for us in times of need, much like that of companions in The Old Republic. Whether you take to the streets of Coruscant with your astromech droid, or storm the deserts of Tatooine with your little Jawa friend, they're there for you to do your bidding.
GameSpot recently sat down with Game Director, James Ohlen, to have a little chat about the companions we'll be interacting with in The Old Republic. We know only so little about them at the moment, and only a limited number of them have been announced. We know that their appearance is customisable, they partake in crew skills, their AI can be configured, they're capable of romance, and they'll be fighting alongside you through thick and thin. What we didn't know was the extent of how their AI can be customised. James Ohlen mentions that as we progress through the game and gain levels, so do our companions, earning new abilities along the way. We can then decide on which abilities our companions can use, and which they should ignore. Supposedly, Bowdaar gains the ability to toss his enemies about with his bare hands. Pretty cool, huh?
We keep saying that the game is not far from release, but is that really the case? GameSpot does a fine job of sucking out as much information from James Ohlen as possible. Want to know where the game is at now? Check out the quote below:
"We're getting really close. You can play the game from start to finish. You can play the end game content, including flashpoints and operations. All the core game systems are in. Right now, we're making some balance changes to the space game, to the itemization progression, and to the leveling curve. We're improving enemy AI across the game. We're polishing late-game quests. But mostly we're focused on bugs."
The main spectacle for this article is the Developer Dispatch video. Enjoy it below, courtesy of GameSpot and BioWare.
Sebaya Keto posted Sep 21, 11
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Aldai, AstralEcho, Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, BuzzFeed, cgmjr, Companions, Dragon Age, Farorei, Gratulor, Homosexuality, Mass Effect, Mishka Kalrook, Robot Chicken, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sean Dahlberg, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Darker Side of Life, The Old Republic, TOR, Vi.sualize.us
Well here it is. I finally found a topic that can get you debating furiously. It certainly took long enough. In this week's Darker Side of Life, we look back on the recent announcement by BioWare that homosexual companions will be included in The Old Republic after launch. In the past, BioWare ex-community manager Sean Dahlberg argued on the official forums that homosexuality did not exist in the Star Wars universe. For months, staff and fans had argued furiously until the surprise forum post, which marked a drastic reversal in policy for The Old Republic.
Whether or not you agree with them, BioWare have decided to open the floodgates. Along with homosexual companions, all fears or arguments that homosexual RP should not be permitted have also been quashed. A large percentage of the gaming population identifies themselves somewhere in the LGTBQA community. It stands to reason that many of those players might also want to roleplay homosexual, bisexual, transgender, etc characters. Agree with it or not, homosexuality now firmly exists within The Old Republic's universe.
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