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Hyperspace Beacon: Top five SWTOR launch day secrets
It's official: The year's most highly anticipated MMO is no longer anticipated. As of today, Star Wars: The Old Republic has officially launched in both North America and Europe (and our Australian friends have had it shipped from the US). Despite some earlier issues about the time of delivery, everyone who pre-ordered can play on launch day thanks to the 48-hour grace period and the adjusted shipping date for most retailers. I guess that'll teach BioWare not to release so close to Christmas. Now that you have the game in your hands, what do you do? Of course, you enter in the code to your SWTOR account, but I mean, what do you do once you get into the game? First, if you have absolutely no clue which direction to go, you should read a couple of the class introductions in Massively's giant SWTOR pre-launch guide. Once you've decided on a class, hop past the break as I give you my top five things you must watch out for very early on in the game -- things that will make your launch day experience just a bit more interesting.
Hyperspace Beacon: The Lost Suns
This week, we are taking a break from studying the class powersets, although I do plan to return to them eventually. As I was contemplating what to write, it occurred to me that I really haven't covered any lore for quite some time. While my editors and I are talking about doing a specific series of lore-based articles leading up to the game's release, I definitely wanted to focus on more of the canon history behind the game. After all, this is Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it epitomizes the fourth pillar of MMO design: story. I finally got my hands on the latest comic book with direct ties to SWTOR this past week. It's called The Lost Suns, and while it's fresh on my mind, we should probably discuss some of the main points and characters in the story. BioWare writer Alexander Freed and comic book artist Dave Ross collaborated to bring us this first of a five-issue comic book series about Theron Shan. As Freed said on the official TOR forums, "I like to describe The Lost Suns as our 'ninth story' -- every class in The Old Republic tells its own Star Wars epic, and Theron's tale intersects with the other eight and pushes the greater game story forward, just as they do." Follow after the break to discover how this "ninth story" is starts out.
E3 2011: EA's Origin teases the SWTOR E3 trailer [Updated]
Everyone has been anticipating the next trailer from Blur Studio to finish out the Star Wars: The Old Republic's video trilogy. Thanks to Electronic Arts' new online store, Origin, we have a sneak peek into the content of the trailer! In the first few seconds of the teaser, you see Jedi Satele Shan and an another unnamed Jedi onboard a starship, then a battalion of Sith Star Destoryers (which we assume has Darth Malgus aboard). Then the battle for Korriban begins. Darth Malgus attempts to take back the Sith homeworld as Satele Shan (with the help of a Smuggler) flees the war-torn planet. Catch this full trailer after the break, and stay tuned for more E3 MMO news right here! [Thanks to BJ Brains for the tip!] [Updated: The full Blur trailer now follows the break, too.] Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 6-9, bringing you all the best news from E3 2011. Whether you're dying to know more about Star Wars: The Old Republic, RIFT, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!
Hyperspace Beacon: More hidden messages
A little over a month ago, I mentioned there were hidden messages within the Star Wars: The Old Republic website. Site designer Alyssa Gobelle had some fun and riddled all the pages with Aurebesh phrases. This gives the site not only an interesting aesthetic but also a direct tie to the story being told. Gobelle said to The Holonet Project in an interview, "[W]e planned to add some generic Aurebesh to start. But we also wanted to add some hidden teases and notes for you guys to devour and ponder upon and play with. Give some more fuel to the speculation festivities." For those who aren't aware what Aurebesh is, I will explain briefly. Obviously, since Star Wars happens a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the language is not going to be the same as ours. The accepted history of the "language" starts in 1993 when a graphic designer for West End Games, Stephan Crane, wanted to add some extra flavor to the Star Wars Miniatures Battles Companion. So based on symbols seen in Dark Forces and monitor readouts from Return of the Jedi, he created one corresponding Aurebesh letter for every English letter. And the name Aurebesh, like the English word alphabet, is derived from the first two letters: Aurek and Besh. (Alphabet is from the Greek letters Alpha and Beta.) This week we dive into the messages hidden within the Biography pages and into a bonus screenshot that may give us some insight into a PvP mechanic. Follow me after the break to help me unravel these mysteries.
Alderaan stands up to Darth Malgus in new E3 trailer for SWTOR
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/SWTOR_trailer_leaked_battle_of_Alderaan_shown'; Last year EA, Bioware, and Blur studios blew us away with a realistically rendered 3D cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic. And as predicted, they did it again! The trailer set to be released at E3 has been leaked all over YouTube. The tension starts over-looking a city on Alderaan as the Sith Imperial army starts its full assault. The city is devastated, but the Republic Trooper's Havoc Squad is waiting with a do-or-die surprise assault. Unfortunately, today it seems to be "die" until a Jedi, possibly Satele Shan, swoops in to save the day. With an incredible show of Force powers, this Jedi Consular fights back Darth Malgus' army and even faces off one-on-one with the Dark Lord. A lot of lore spoilers were given to the fans today in this trailer, and there will be more from E3 and Massively this week. But the trailer invites the question: What can a movie render say about the game itself? It has a very rich story and some very memorable characters. Bioware has been the king of storytelling for a long time, but I think a lot of fans are waiting to see how the gameplay comes together. Be sure to stay tuned into Massively for our interview tomorrow with staff of SWTOR and catch the full trailer after the break.
