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Hyperspace Beacon: Examining SWTOR's producer letter
At the community cantina that Star Wars: The Old Republic held this past weekend at PAX South, community manager Eric Musco said that the community team was going to do something different in 2015 during the cantinas. He said that he wanted to reveal some tidbit at each and every event. And this cantina yielded us an early look at Producer Bruce Maclean's roadmap letter to the community. In the letter, he talks about where the SWTOR story will take us, what's on the horizon for flashpoints, personal stories, planets, and the outfit designer. But what is all this new stuff, and should it get people excited about the coming year? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer for that. If you play for similar reasons as I do, then there is plenty to be excited about. However, there are certain players, like PvPers, who might be a little frustrated by what they are seeing and not seeing in the letter.
PAX South 2015: SWTOR reveals its plans for this year
When Eric Musco, the Star Wars: The Old Republic community manager, took the stage at the Community cantina last night at PAX South, he revealed that in 2015 the team wants to do something a bit different with this and future cantina crawl events. In the past, it has been policy not to reveal anything at the cantinas; they were intended to be social events where players could get some face-time with the developers of the game that they both enjoyed. However, going forward, the community and development teams have decided that each cantina will reveal that had not been mentioned before. The reveal at this weekend's cantina came in the form of the yet-to-be-published producer's letter by Bruce Maclean. The completely made-up story is that it was stolen from his computer while he wasn't looking and printed out to share with us at the cantina. After the break, you'll find a copy of that letter as it was dictated to cantina goers. The caveat, of course, is that this is not the final version of the letter that will appear on the official site in two weeks, so everything is subject to change.
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR Shadow of Revan FAQ
With every expansion, there are questions -- a lot of questions. Star Wars: The Old Republic is no exception. Shadow of Revan changes a lot of game mechanics and expands the story of SWTOR. With all the interviews and Cantina Tour chatter, it's difficult to tell what is true and what isn't. So I thought it'd be best to make an FAQ to answer some of those ponderings. When does Shadow of Revan release? The official release date for Shadow of Revan is December 9th. However, if you preordered before November 3rd 2:59 a.m., then you will gain early access, which starts on December 2nd. Do I have to subscribe to play Shadow of Revan? No, Shadow of Revan is a paid expansion and can be accessed by a free-to-play player. However, to be eligible for the 12x XP bonus, you do have to be subscribed to the game.
BioWare on SWTOR's Revan expansion, upcoming species, and class stories
Star Wars fans are super excited about the next digital expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic releasing on December 9th. First off, it's Star Wars, and second, it deals with one of the most iconic Star Wars figures outside the movies: Revan. I recently talked to some key figures at BioWare to ask them about Shadow of Revan. On the phone call and livestream, Charles Boyd, the lead writer for the expansion, not only gave an overview of the story but played a bit live. Producer Bruce Maclean discusssed the production side of the game. And even Game Director James Ohlen popped onto the call to let us know how much this expansion means to him.
SWTOR dev spoilers from the NYC cantina tour
During this past weekend's New York City cantina tour, BioWare fielded shiploads of player questions about Star Wars: The Old Republic. MillionsKNives on the official forums has compiled a partial list; the devs say they're unhappy with PvP balance, will continue to monitor the difficulty of expanding guild ships, and plan to use the 3.0 patch as a "testing ground" for more class story, though we won't see "full storylines like pre-50 stuff." They also confirmed that while there will be no companion story in 3.0, there will be NPCs romanceable regardless of the player character's gender. BioWare Senior Producer Bruce Maclean spilled some wonderful spoilers to Gaddock Gaming as well. Of note, he says that Togrutas are coming as a playable race post-3.0, an appearance gear system is being discussed for 3.0 or beyond, the pod-racing prototype was abandoned in the testing stages due to lag, and faction-changing might be considered in the future. [Thanks to greatwildhunk for the tip!]
Full SWTOR expansion information coming this month
If you're like many other players of Star War: The Old Republic, then you've been wondering and waiting to hear what the fabled next expansion is supposed entail. Producer Bruce Maclean told forumgoers earlier this week that they will have to wait only until the end of the month, explaining that the team didn't want to give away any content spoilers. Now that the gurrcat is out of the bag with Update 2.10, information about 3.0 is right around the corner. Maclean wrote today, "We're letting folks have a little time with Rakata Prime and then spilling the beans on 3.0. Look for a teaser within a week, and then a full announce before the end of [the] month!" We're guessing the Rakata Prime flashpoint has more than a little to do with it...
'Summer of SWTOR' plans updated
BioWare Senior Producer Bruce Maclean took to the forums today to give an updated plan for the "Summer of SWTOR" that's coming to an MMO near you and to a galaxy far, far away. The updated schedule for the next few months of the game are as follows: June 10th: Game Update 2.8 arrives with a playable Nar Shaddaa Casino, double PvP currency events, a double Starfighter currency event, an overhaul to groupfinder operations, a nightmare mode for Dread Palace, an update to the nightmare mode for Dread Fortress, two new starfighters, and various tweaks. June through August: BioWare will cycle through all of its major in-game events, one after another, between the launch of 2.8 and the arrival of 2.9. August 19th: Game Update 2.9, also known as the Galactic Strongholds expansion, will unlock for subscribers. This will include the Forged Alliances storyline. Maclean also teased that his team has "a lot of folks working on something very big for later this year that [he has] yet to give details on."
SWTOR's Galactic Strongholds early access delayed for more features
Star Wars: The Old Republic senior producer Bruce Maclean has penned a new producer's letter focused on the upcoming Galactic Strongholds expansion. He states that for GS to truly feel like an expansion, "it needs to include the full set of features including those originally coming later in the year." As such, BioWare is delaying the start of subscriber early access from June 24th to August 19th. Maclean says the additional time will allow the devs to add conquest events, expanded guild flagship functionality, the Tatooine Homestead stronghold, and the ability to place vehicles, mounts, pets, and companions as player housing decorations. BioWare has also moved the deadline date for subscribers who are looking to get early access rewards. It's now July 15th instead of May 11th, meaning that you'll need to sub up by the former date if you want the Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace with three additional rooms and the other promised goodies. After the August 19th subscriber early access period, preferred early access and the official launch will follow in September and October. [Thanks ninjonxb!]
Hyperspace Beacon: The 2014 spring roadmap for Star Wars: The Old Republic
Late is better than never. The producers of Star Wars: The Old Republic have finally let players know what their plans are for the next couple of months. Senior Producer Bruce Maclean jumped onto the producer's blog and dropped some tidbits just before Update 2.6 launched. Although it would have been nice to have this info last month when everyone was making new year's resolutions, Maclean did give us some really nice items to look forward to. Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether it's enough to change my resolution to play less of SWTOR. I recently started a series of articles about roleplaying a Sith, and I promise that I will get back to that, but this producer's letter gave us too much timely news to pass up. The biggest piece, of course, was buried at the bottom in a paragraph that would likely be skipped if a person just skimmed the article. "We are moving to a 9 week cadence for the major content updates," Maclean says. He explains that this cadence will be more beneficial to the game because it gives the team more time to squash the bugs, but I suspect it's more that his team just cannot produce what it wants to this year without a bit of extra time. With SWTOR earning $139 million last year, you'd think that EA could toss in an extra developer or two to help keep up the current six-to-eight-week cadence. Where is that six weeks or more of extra time going this year? For that, we turn back to Maclean's roadmap.
SWTOR lays out 2014 roadmap including two digital expansions
Star Wars: The Old Republic Senior Producer Bruce Maclean delivered a roadmap today for 2014 in the game including a promise of two more digital expansions before the year is out. "Expect to see two digital expansions in 2014 just like you did last year," Maclean said, "with one similar to Galactic Starfighter in scope and one more closely resembling Rise of the Hutt Cartel." Maclean also gave out a few specific dates for the near future. Tomorrow, February 4th, Galactic Starfighter will open up to the free-to-play crowd with additional content for all. Game Update 2.7 is scheduled for April 8th and includes two new flashpoints, a nightmare mode Dread Fortress operation, a Quesh Huttball warzone, and an additional space battle zone. Then on June 10th Game Update 2.8 will arrive with a nightmare mode Dread Palace operation and more ships for the Galactic Starfighter battles. One thing to note is that the team will be moving to a nine-week cycle between major content releases to allow for more minor patches and bug fixes.
BioWare teases SWTOR's 2.4 PvE and PvP content
BioWare senior producer Bruce Maclean has posted a lengthy update on the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums. What's the occasion? Why, it seems as if the company is keen on keeping fans abreast of its Summer of SWTOR initiative. There's some hemming and hawing about the return of the Gree event (July 23rd), and there's also a mention of August 6th's 2.3 update and August 13th's Bounty Contract Week. Most interestingly, though, is the info toward the bottom of the post concerning update 2.4. BioWare is tentatively targeting October 1st for the patch, which will introduce a new short story arc (The Planet Oricon), two new operations, new 4-on-4 warzone arenas, and new "elder game PvE and PvP gear." Hit the links below for full details. [Thanks Jose!]
Hyperspace Beacon: The summer of SWTOR
Every time I listen to the BioWare developers talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic, I am impressed with how passionate they are about the game. When Producer Bruce Maclean, Executive Producer Jeff Hickman, and Community Manager Eric Musco spoke to us yesterday, they sat on the edge of their seats because of how excited they were about telling us about the next updates coming to their game. Despite the game being a year and a half old, these three appeared to be riding the same hype-train the game launched with. Although these three BioWare employees suggested that the majority of the conversation on the livestream would feature discussion about Game Update 2.2, they ended up highlighting features and events taking place beyond the next patch. The questions they answered, filtered from the forum, Twitter, Facebook and the chatroom, jumped all over the place, but I believe they can be narrowed down to three major categories of concern: events, PvP changes, and the valued subscriber.
Lots of new content coming to SWTOR this summer
Star Wars: The Old Republic senior producer Bruce Maclean has posted a summer development roadmap on BioWare's official game forums. The update outlines the 2.2 and 2.3 patches, with the former tentatively scheduled for June 11th and the latter penciled in for August 6th. The first patch will feature additional guild XP bonuses based on membership numbers (up to a maximum 10% boost), the ability for crafters to make underworld gear, and Nightmare Mode for Terror From Beyond (along with new gear drops). The second patch will feature "significant graphical upgrades," a new daily area, a new recurring event, and new flashpoints.
Warhammer Online gets a new producer's letter
Hot on the heels of the 1.3.4 patch, we've received another letter from Warhammer Online's producer discussing the state of the game and its immediate future. Carrie Gouskos, who has apparently inherited the position formerly held by Bruce MacLean and Jeff Skalski, has taken the opportunity to share information of the coming updates to the game. It's also a chance for a new outline of how the team wishes to improve upon community relations, with the promise of more frequent news and updates along with early player involvement in the testing process. In addition for soliciting players for loading screen tips, the letter talks about what can be expected with the next two small patches for the game, 1.3.5 and 1.3.6. The former is slated to shift the core experience of cities and city sieges to an RvR experience, emphasizing PvP combat and with encounters balanced to shift based on population sizes. On the other hand, the latter is going to examine armor sets closely and try to provide a redesign for maximum player benefit. Warhammer Online fans can look forward to more about these features in the coming months, with any luck.
New producer's letter for Warhammer Online
As we approach the end of the year, which has been a pretty tumultuous one for Warhammer Online, it's not surprising to see a new letter from the producer. But this letter is also a letter from a new producer -- Bruce Maclean, who is apparently now taking on the duties as producer. There's no word on Jeff Skalski except that he is still "working hard" on the game. But we may as well focus on the positives, as the letter itself doesn't speak about the problems the game has had, instead focusing on the improvements that have come into Warhammer Online over the past year. The patch 1.3.3 graphical improvements are cited as a notable improvement, as are the many updates the game has seen over the course of the year and the launch of the Macintosh client for the game. There's also a brief discussion of what might be expected in the near future, which include useful weapons earned via RvR gameplay and a new scenario structure. How far in the future isn't mentioned, but they're hinted to be close, which could be excellent news for a game that's seen its fair share of ups and downs. As the letter says, however, now is the time to drink and relax and enjoy the game so far. Good advice, that.
Bruce Maclean's WAR dev diary is crazy but awesome
The latest Warhammer Online developer diary is up on the official site, and we've got to say, Bruce Maclean's eccentricity is infectious. The subject of this dev diary is an explanation of Mythic's patching schedule, which could well have been a very boring topic, but if you visit the page you'll soon see that Bruce is just brimming with AWESOME! HOT! FIXES! and SEXY! COOL! NEW! FEATURES! that he simply must share with the WAR-playing world.It sounds like Community Coordinator Missy Hatch had a hard time getting Bruce to cough up his input to the dev diary series -- she'd been chasing it up for the better part of two months -- and perhaps it is because he and his team were working non-stop to bring that sexy content out, improving WAR for current and future subscribers. He mentioned that, without including smaller things like server maintenance, there have been ten proper patches since the game's launch, which really wasn't that long ago. We've got no idea how Bruce got so zany, but if this is one of the secrets behind Mythic's patching schedule then we hope that he stays that way.
