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SWTOR plans to tweak endgame PvP balance
In an interview with fansite TORWars released last night, Senior Designer Rob Hinkle explained that one of the ways BioWare will attempt to make endgame PvP more fun in Star Wars: The Old Republic is by making the PvP stat (Expertise) equal across all sets of PvP armor. Like many other MMOs with a focus on PvP, SWTOR has struggled with balancing the endgame PvP progression. Hinkle said in the interview that he frequently hears from players that they love level 10 to 49 PvP but are disappointed by their performance when they first log into endgame PvP. Hinkle described how the development team aims to make endgame PvP better by changing how Expertise will work in the "relatively" near future: "Instead of Expertise being a stat that you're chasing as you're getting better and better PvP gear, all the PvP gear no matter what tier it is will have the same Expertise level. It's just the normal stats that will be getting better as you getting higher in PvP gear." Although this change will not be fully implemented until after Update 1.6, Massively's latest Hyperspace Beacon has already scoped it out for your edification.
Hyperspace Beacon: Returning to SWTOR
With Update 1.5 and free-to-play looming on the Star Wars: The Old Republic horizon, many players are feeling the itch to come back to the game. Two and half years ago when I started the Hyperspace Beacon, I compared that itch to that of a freshly shaved Wookiee. Now it can probably be compared to a Gungan rash. But it's still there; you still have to scratch it. Unanswered questions remain. Has BioWare fixed the launch issues? Is there a compelling reason to play every day? And probably the biggest question of them all: Is free-to-play going to make SWTOR worth coming back to? Personally, I'd like to answer yes to all those questions, but I can truly speak only for myself. If you want a real answer, you're going to have to come back to try it. Hyperspace beacons in the Star Wars lore are stationary probes that navicomputers lock on to so that starships speeding through hyperspace don't crash into a star, planet, or other celestial object. Today, this column will be your guide through the reaches of internet-space so that you can find the information you need to get back into the Star Wars MMORPG. Angle the deflector shields as I boot up the navicomputer. We will make stops around the best fan sites for news, guides, and community building. If you've been away for a while, you'll notice that galaxy-scape has changed, but I will show you the new landmarks. If you're ready, punch it, Chewie!
Hyperspace Beacon: TORWars gets candid for its 100th episode
Before its release, Star Wars: The Old Republic had one of the largest crops of fan sites that a single MMO has ever seen. But after most MMOs release, their fan sites diminish. Obviously, the same happened with SWTOR. But one of the sites that has weathered the storm of hate and boredom that follows any MMO release is TORWars. TORWars stands out among its peers because of its fun, honest, and dare I say, professional atmosphere. Not only will you find some of the most enthusiastic SWTOR articles on TORWars, but those bits of news and editorial content are released daily by quality writers. I wanted to get in on the site's celebration of its 100th podcast, so I asked hosts Jeff Hollis, Deirdre Hollis, and Brian Waggoner for an interview, to which they agreed after I bribed them with alcohol. We spoke for over two hours about the ups and downs of running one of the most popular SWTOR fan sites. Unfortunately, that's too much text for a single column, but I have grabbed the highlights, wrapped them up in a bow, and presented them here for you to enjoy. (The bribing with alcohol bit may or may not be true.)
SWTOR's Damion Schubert pulls some ideas off the Wall of Crazy
Many of you have already heard Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert talk about the infamous Wall of Crazy. Schubert explains it as a wall full of sticky notes, each one with an idea someone somewhere would like to see implemented into Star Wars: The Old Republic. Most of these are extra game systems that have no direct impact on the core game, such as UI tweaks or minigames. At this point in development, the ideas on the Wall of Crazy have to stay on the Wall of Crazy until after launch. However, in a recent interview with TORWars, Schubert reveals that he was able to bump the priority of a couple of ideas so that we may actually see them at release: Of particular note, the dressing room made it in (alt-rightclick to preview an equipment piece's appearance on you or your companion). The ability for group leaders to mark targets with symbols his party members can see just went in. We also have a couple of minor features we're putting in designed to make it easier for players to find and form groups -- features I'm more willing to talk about once we've vetted them as improvements to the game in general. The obvious implications of marked targets should excite any raid leader, and perhaps the dressing room is the first step toward the fabled appearance tab. We will all find out for sure when the game launches -- when is that, again?
Hyperspace Beacon: Podcast race
For a game that has yet to release, the number of people who closely follow Star Wars: The Old Republic astounds me still. If you follow the Twitter feed, you will practically see a new fan site pop up daily. Granted, a good chunk of these sites fizzle away as quickly they are built -- it's kind of the nature of the beast. Running a fansite takes a lot of work, and most people who set out to make a fan site are not ready to make that kind of commitment. Having run fan sites in the past, I can tell you that even when you think you're ready, you're not ready. Although it's not unique for a game to have a podcast revolving around it, Star Wars: The Old Republic is gifted with a very large audience, and with that an exorbitant number of fans willing to devote time to making a podcast. We have already mentioned the podcasts of Darth Hater, TOROcast, and Mos Eisley Radio in the past, but since then there has been slue of new podcast that are giving these other guys a run for their money. After the break, I will introduce you to some of the newer shows that I enjoy or maybe one of those those who I believe has really stepped up the game since the last time I've talked about them. Start up the holoprojector and follow me!
LucasArts releases an official statement to Star Wars Galaxies fans
For a majority of MMO players, the announcement that Star Wars Galaxies was shutting down came as no surprise. However, many SWG loyalists have been extremely upset by the turn of events, blaming everything from the hacks on Sony earlier this year to the impending release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. SOE CEO John Smedley stated in his interview with us that the security breach and SWG's shutdown were unrelated. Furthermore, Community Manager of SWTOR, Stephen Reid, stated emphatically on the TORWars podcast that there was no relationship between the date of SWG shutting down and the release of The Old Republic. Lastly, GamePro posted a statement directly from LucasArts about the efforts put into keeping the MMO alive: The decision to shut down the game has not been an easy one. SOE and LucasArts investigated every option to keep the game open, including taking it to a free to pay model. However, that model just isn't financially viable. Changing the business model for an experience like Star Wars Galaxies takes a major investment and overhauling of the existing infrastructure of the game. We're unfortunately at a point in our life cycle where a change of this magnitude is just not possible. The harsh reality is that we've reached a point where the game is no longer a sustainable business. None of us wanted to see this point, but we're extremely proud of the last eight years of the game and the community that has supported it. We have a lot planned between now and December and we want to make sure that from now until then, we send off Star Wars Galaxies in a style befitting such a great game. We'll be right there in the game with everyone else, counting down until the end, making sure we connect with all the friends we've made over the past eight years. It may be bittersweet, it may feel like it's happening before it should, but we have approximately five months remaining where we can all enjoy the game together. We sincerely hope the community will join us. Read the article on GamePro and check out Massively's full interview with Smedley for more information.
Hyperspace Beacon: Wonderful, we are now part of the tribe!
Last week, we mentioned that multiple fan sites took a trip to BioWare to tour the Austin studio, play Star Wars: The Old Republic, and interview the developers. It is a daunting task to sift through all that information to find the golden nuggets, but I've done my best to pull the most useful (or least-covered) quotes from different developers. This is by no means an exhaustive list! If you are someone who gobbles up every last bit of SWTOR news, then none of this will be new, but for everyone else: This is for you. Before I begin, let me send my thanks to great fans of the following sites for putting this incredible information together. I cannot wait to read and hear about your PvP experiences when you release them a bit later this week: Ask A Jedi, Corellian Run Radio, Darth Hater, Fureur, Gamona, InGame, Mos Eisley Radio, SWTOR.EU, SWTOR-FR, SWTOR Life, SWTOR-UK, TOROCast, TOR-Talk, TORSyndicate, and TORWars.
