Yavin-IV
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Hyperspace Beacon: Previewing SWTOR's Shadow of Revan
When I was first introduced to the expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, there were two things I wanted to see: the continuation of the class story and Yavin 4. And I'm happy to say that this expansion delivered both of those in a satisfying way. When I spoke to studio game director James Ohlen and lead writer Charles Boyd about the expansion a few weeks ago, they told me that Shadow of Revan would close one major chapter and open a new book for SWTOR. After seeing the expansion, I have to agree that Shadow of Revan does put a great cap on a class stories and opens the door for an exciting future for the game. I don't want to give you the impression that everything in the expansion is exactly what I wanted, though. There is a surprising lack of exploration, the amount of content fell short, and parts of the maps felt slapped together. The screenshots depict beautiful scenes, but sometimes form outweighs function. Before I continue, I feel obligated to tell you that there are spoilers of previous content in this piece, but the important parts of the new content will remain unspoiled.
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.
Hyperspace Beacon: Timeline
When I started the Holocron Files last week, it slipped my mind that I have been doing this column for a year and a half and that not everyone has been following every issue. When I wrote about the Pureblood Sith, it was really meant to be a refresher course, not a comprehensive chronicle. It's extremely difficult to capture the full history of a species in about a thousand words. That being said, I understand that not everyone has a perspective on the Star Wars timeline, especially the time leading up to Star Wars: The Old Republic. I don't think it's any secret that BioWare stories are extremely deep, and Lead Writer Daniel Erickson has a nerdgasm every time someone interviews him about Star Wars history. The established history leading up to TOR will play a major role in the story that unfolds in the game, otherwise the development team would not have had the wherewithal to create the timeline videos for the website. Following the break, I would like to set you up for future, more comprehensive articles about the Star Wars lore. Although this column is certainly not exclusively about lore, when I bring up another Holocron File, I want reader to have a decent understanding of when these events fall in Star Wars history. So rev up your time machine to 88 miles per hour! This Hyperspace Beacon is about to go back in time -- way back!
One Shots: Sunsetting
Yavin IV was always one of my favorite planets to visit in Star Wars Galaxies. Especially when you would hit just the right time of day to see the gigantic planet of Yavin hovering in the sky. I caught this screenshot as I was on my way to the Jedi Temple on the jungle world. With the news of the Galaxies shutting down, this screenshot has become a bit mournful for me now. It reminds me of a sunset. It you'd like to celebrate the sunset of SWG with me, I'll be on the Starsider server on Aerron in the evenings EDT. All this week, Massively writers are spotlighting some of our personal One Shots. What exciting stories revolve around our screenshots? Stay tuned to find out. Next week, after staff picks week, will be free-for-all week for you, our readers. Send any eye-catching, beautiful, scary, or generally epic screenshot to oneshots@massively.com, and we'll pick the best of the best for One Shots! %Gallery-112285%
