Sebaya Keto posted Mar 8, 12
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Alderaan, Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, Crew Skills, Denova, EA, Electronic Arts, Explosive Content, Galactic Republic, Game Update 1.2, Ilum, LucasArts, Novare Coast, Operations, Operative, Panel, PvP, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Shinzar, Sith, Sith Empire, Sith Inquisitor, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars Galalxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, Story Mode, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, UI, Warzones, World of Warcraft
So this will be the first of two articles on the panels that was held at the recent BioWare Guild Summit, since there's so much I want to talk about from the roleplay panel, and questions I asked of developers. In this article, however, we'll be focusing on the new content that's coming for gameplay in The Old Republic, and new features for guilds to use. We have several things to cover, so I'm going to just dive right in—this article will cover the PvE, PvP, Economics, Crew Skills, and other panels. To start with, the GTN is now "80% less stupid" with a total overhaul, and many new features! Apparently the developers hated the current one as much as we do. Read through to the end, because I'm saving the best for last.
First up I'll cover the Economics panel, because it was surprisingly one of the more interesting. The official spread of players for instance across all servers is 57% Empire and 42% Republic, with a 1% margin of error. While this may seem unbalanced, it's actually better then most MMOs. Also, a whopping 70% of characters are male. Sith Inquisitors are by far the most popular class, with the Smuggler earning the dubious award of least-played class. Crew Skills are getting a major revamp to make all of them useful in the end-game—not just Biochem. We already know about crit-crafted oranges with augment slots, but classes besides Slicing will be able to make augments now as well, with Slicers supplying the materials. Keep reading, I'm not even close to done.
Sebaya Keto posted Feb 15, 12
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A New Hope, Alderaan, Amaranth, Author: Sebaya Keto, Azhandra Rycar, Balmorra, BioWare, Empire, Hyperewok1, Ilum, Knights of The Old Republic, Lord Adraas, MacButt, Mai Cash, Mishka Kalrook, Ord Mantell, Raath, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sony Online Entertainment, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, Taris, The Darker Side of Life, The Empire Strikes Back, The Old Republic, Tieran, TOR
Look at your watch, and now back to me. Now take out a piece of paper and write the date. It's the middle of February now so most people have stopped writing 2011 by accident and switched to 2012. This is real life and we know when we are. In fact, it's crucial to our very way of life. Log in to The Old Republic now and strike up some roleplay with another player. Chances are neither of you even know exactly what year it is. In a galaxy that is quickly spiraling towards all out war, don't you think it would be good to know if the war has started yet?
My regular readers know I come from Star Wars Galaxies; an entirely different beast of the MMO genre where players spent eight years in 1 ABY. That's one year after the first Death Star was destroyed in A New Hope, and before the Battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. Sony Online Entertainment kept the game world static, despite releasing a Battle of Hoth instance near the end. BioWare is taking a completely different approach. You may not have realized it but the timeline has already moved since launch with the release of Game Update 1.1. With the release of Game Update 1.2 in March, it will move ahead again, and continue to every major update. How do we work with that in roleplay?
There are a lot of people that want to RP in the cold war a while before jumping into the war. Other people think that since BioWare is moving the timeline, we should jump right to the end. How can we rectify that? After all, if a group is RPing years apart from you in character, how do you interact with them? Clearly we need a way to find out just when we all are. So read on and we'll discuss your thoughts about the issue in this week's The Darker Side of Life.
Sebaya Keto posted Feb 8, 12
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Author: Sebaya Keto, Balkito, Batty, BioWare, Black Talon, Bounty Hunter, Dromund Kaas, FreelanceWizard, Huttball, Iamillerg, Ilum, Imperial Agent, Imperial Fleet, Jedi, Jhantiir, Kaon, Korriban, Lord Adraas, Lord Zash, Mordecia, Nar Shaddaa, Niatara, Ord Mantell, Rakghoul, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Sith Empire, Sith Inquisitor, Smuggler, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, Taris, Tatooine, The Old Republic, Tisiphonie, TOR, Trooper
In this week's The Darker Side of Life, we're going to be going into a topic that many RPers struggle with and argue over. Just how much of the time can you be in-character? In the article on roleplaying BioWare's story, we touched on using the class stories in-character. This time we're going to dig deeper and include the rest of the game too. There is more to the game than just the stories. If you happen to be standing around the Galactc Trade Network on your faction's fleet base, are you still in-character? Some players refuse to use voice chat, not because it might give away that your busty Twi'lek waitress as some hairy guy, but because once you know what a player sounds like, their characters might start sounding like that in your head too, instead of whatever accent they may be trying to portray.
For those of us that have been around RP communities a long time, there are also the people we've run into that refuse to communicate OOCly with other players as well. All they do is roleplay; everything else is shunned. Is that the apex of heavy roleplay, or a dangerous lack of communication that will lead to unnecessary drama? The question at the heart of this week's column really might be how much of our community is OOC.
Read on as we break down different activites and review community responses from The Darker Side of Life thread on how people feel about doing those activities in-character. Through this we'll attempt to find a line that can be used to guide people about what is IC and what is OOC. After all, once you've finished levelling, many players will find that their time is spent doing different activites like PvP warzones that don't lend themselves as well to roleplay as a Flashpoint might. How do we deal with it? Read on and we'll try to figure it out together.
Ganden posted Jan 23, 12
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Allison Berryman, Author: Ganden, BioWare, David Hunt, EA, Electronic Arts, Gabe Amatangelo, Game Update 1.1, Georg Zoeller, Ilum, Jedi Knight, Kira Carsen, Legacy System, LucasArts, PvP, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR, Weekly Dev Tracker
BioWare recently implemented Game Update 1.1 onto all of the live servers for The Old Republic, introducing a bunch of new features, as well as fixing some old, annoying bugs. Jedi Knights can finally get groovy with Kira Carsen with the recent fix of her companion affection story. However, the update was not the "be all and end all." Game bugs still exist, and there is still plenty of work to be done to appease the needs of the millions of players, including us roleplayers.
For those of you that missed it, BioWare spoke about some of the upcoming features to TOR. The elusive Legacy System is going to be revealed some day soon, and we can only hope that it assists roleplay rather than hinders it. Despite this controversial game feature, recent forum activity is focused on completely unrelated topics. PvP on Ilum and ability delay have been the most talked about topics earning the attention of the developers. Check out some of the latest developer forum posts in your SWTOR-RP Dev Tracker Report below.
Whilst we're on the topic of the official forums, please head on over and check out the official SWTOR-RP thread in the roleplay section. Feel free to show your support for the site by posting in that thread.
Sebaya Keto posted Jan 23, 12
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Author: Sebaya Keto, BioWare, Electronic Arts, Force Reflection, Ilum, LucasArts, MMO, PvP, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR
A lot has been asked of you about PvP and roleplay in the past, but what about just PvP for its own sake? The Old Republic has its own PvP systems and mechanics that may be very different from previous MMOs. Roleplayers aren't typically known for their aptitude in PvP; in fact the opposite is usually true, but has TOR's systems changed your opinion? I've talked to a lot of different people and some love it and others hate it.
Personally I've always loathed to do PvP other than when I absolutely had to. I've spent the past several years in Star Wars Galaxies, where open world PvP was effectively destroyed by years of terrible updates and warzones that came in late and were buggy. In TOR beta though I decided to give them a shot and fell in love. I enjoy how the warzones force players to work together or get slaughtered. Even on Ilum we hid behind a snow dune and ambushed a superior Republic force between points, catching them unaware and destroying them. So for today's Force Reflection, let us know what you think about PvP in The Old Republic. Has it won you over or turned you away? Do you do it for fun, or just as part of your roleplay? Let us know your favorite stories too! PvP has and will remain a large focus of BioWare's development team, so hopefully we can all find something to enjoy about it.
Ganden posted Jan 12, 12
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, EA, Electronic Arts, Flashpoints, Gabe Amatangelo, Ilum, LucasArts, Massively, Operations, PvP, Rakghouls, Rise of the Rakghouls, Roleplay, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Old Republic, TOR
Flashpoints and Operations in The Old Republic offers players some of the most awe-inspiring and epic quest stories and battles in the game's entirety. Playing the game solo by closing your chat window and only undertaking quests that you can complete as an individual can be fun, but you're going to be missing out on the mind-blowing events and encounters that take place in The Old Republic. For those of you who have played through the Maelstrom Flashpoint, you know what I'm talking about. Absolutely and utterly epic.
If you've already hit level cap and have taken on all the game has to offer in regards to Flashpoints and Operations, BioWare has a treat specially for you. Massively recently sat down with Gabe Amatangelo who revealed some of the content soon making its way to TOR in future updates. Flashpoints, Operations, and PvP was the focus. If any of those game systems floats your starship, you might want to continue reading.
We learn that the new Flashpoint coming to TOR is Rise of the Rakghouls – a level fifty Flashpoint that Gabe says is his personal favourite. The hallways are dark, and players must make use of their flashlights to illuminate the room. The Flashpoint is difficult, as enemies swarm you from all directions, yet it is only the opener to a two-part story. The second part of Rise of the Rakghouls will be added in a future update.
Also revealed in the one-on-one with BioWare's Lead PvP Designer are details of a boss fight with a Hutt, as well as changes to PvP on Ilum. Gabe described clashing swords with a Hutt as "fun and funny at the same time." A cinematic with the Hutt also provides players with some giggling candy – something we can all look forward to. And as for the changes to PvP on Ilum, a number of "improvements" will be made with the 1.1 patch. You can view the patch notes on the public test server post here.
Be sure to head on over to Massively to view the full article. But before you swander off, check out the Rise of the Rakghouls trailer below. It is like a mild Star Wars horror scene. Enjoy!
Ganden posted Nov 22, 11
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, Count Dooku, Daniel Wallace, Darth Maul, EA, Electronic Arts, Galactic Republic, Ilum, Jedi, Jedi Consular, Jedi Initiate, Jedi Knight, Jedi Master, Jedi Order, Jedi Padawan, Jedi Service Corps, Lightsaber, LucasArts, Padawan, Republic, role-play, Roleplay, RP, Sith, Sith Inquisitor, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, The Jedi Path, The Old Republic, Togruta, TOR, Yoda
Welcome to the second edition of The Jedi Path: Teachings of the Jedi Order. In this article mini-series, we leech onto the knowledge and lore contained with Daniel Wallace's book, The Jedi Path. In Part I, we focused briefly on the Jedi Code, but we went into detail with some of the lore surrounding the teachings and day-to-day activities of a Jedi Initiate. In Part II, we take you through the lessons and requirements of a Jedi taken as a Padawan by a Jedi Knight or Jedi Master. The path is difficult, and it requires much patience. However, a successful apprenticeship will eventually take a Jedi Padawan to the Jedi Trials where the title of Jedi Knight could be had. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. Let's take a look at what being a Jedi Padawan is all about.
Most Jedi Initiates will be deemed ready for an apprenticeship at around the humanoid age of twelve to fourteen standard years. After passing the Initiate Trials which was outlined in Part I of the miniseries, Jedi Initiates can increase their chances of being chosen by a Jedi Knight or Jedi Master for an apprenticeship by participating in the Apprentice Tournament. The tournament consists of lightsaber contests which are viewed by the Knights and Masters of the Order as they scope out potential Padawan learners. At times, the tournament consists of free-for-all contests, as well as battles in a zero-g chamber.
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.
Ganden posted Jul 28, 11
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Alexander Freed, Ask A Jedi, Author: Ganden, BioWare, Bounty Hunter, Catherine Taber, Celebrity Deathmatch, Comic-Con, Corey Butler, Crew Skills, Dallas Dickinson, Darth Malgus, DarthHater, Deceived, Drew Karpyshyn, EA, Electronic Arts, Ewok, GameSpot, Gnost-Dural, God of War III, HK-47, HoloNet, Hope, Ilum, James Ohlen, Jawa, Jedi, Jedi Consular, Jedi Knight, Jennifer Hale, Join the Fight, Knights of The Old Republic, KOTOR, LucasArts, Miraluka, Mission Vao, Mon Calamari, Nautolan, Return, Richard Vogel, Roleplay, Shrek the Third, Sith, Sith Warrior, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars The Old Republic, Stephen Reid, SWG, SWTOR, SWTOR-RP, Tatooine, The Old Republic, TOR, Twi'lek, Vette
Gaming conventions are always an exciting time for those that closely follow highly anticipated titles. It is rare that fans are disappointed during these events, as gaming companies such as BioWare always deliver the goods. With Comic-Con 2011 at a conclusion, BioWare have once again kept anticipation levels for The Old Republic at a high, with a new trailer, a long panel event, as well as numerous updates about a game that we've been wanting to get our hands on since the year 2008. With all these updates going viral during the event, it can sometimes be a little labor-intensive to keep up to date. To make it easier for you, we're doing another convention wrap up, just like we did with E3. Here you'll find all the best bits in one place, saving you from scouring the corners of the world wide web. We've collated data from the official website for The Old Republic, DarthHater, GameSpot, and Ask A Jedi. Thanks go out to those sources for all their hard work.
Ganden posted Feb 6, 11
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Author: Ganden, BioWare, Ganden, Ilum, Star Wars, Star Wars The Old Republic, SWTOR, The Old Republic, TOR, Tython, Worlds of The Old Republic
Welcome to the third edition of Worlds of the Old Republic. In Part II, we ventured down the dark path as we looked at two worlds of the Sith -- Korriban and Dromund Kaas. Part III of the series of articles based on the worlds in The Old Republic focuses on the opposites of the two Sith worlds. We clap our hands twice, and the lights turn on as we bask ourselves in a luminous glow on the planets Tython and Ilum. Though both worlds were originally occupied by the Jedi at some point, events in The Old Republic add a slight twist. Followers of the updates posted by BioWare each Friday will know that Tython is under the control of the Jedi, chosen as their new sanctuary after the catastrophe dubbed the Sacking of Coruscant. Ilum on the other hand has not served a purpose of solitude but a place of conflict. With the crystal caves located on Ilum supplying Jedi with a vital material for the construction of their lightsabers, the Sith have gained interest in the planet and have begun excavations. The question is, "Is it the crystal caves that the Sith give pursuit to?" Or perhaps something else of far greater value?
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