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EA's quarterly net revenue is up, apparently in spite of SWTOR
Electronics Arts had a bit to say about Star Wars: The Old Republic in its November 4th quarterly report -- and none of it good. The publisher named the sci-fi MMO as one of the properties that had decreased in revenue over the period. While EA's net revenue is up $295 million across the board, "this increase was partially offset by a $181 million decrease in revenue primarily from the SimCity, Crysis and Dead Space franchises, and Star Wars: The Old Republic." It remains to be seen whether next month's Shadow of Revan expansion will give the MMO a healthy bump in revenue when it is released.
PSA: Dragon Age story bridge The Last Court now in session
The Last Court, a text adventure bridging the narrative gap between Dragon Age 2 and the upcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition, is now available to experience for free via your web browser. If you're ready to play the role of marquis, ruling over the small state of Serault, simply head over to the Dragon Age Keep and log in with your EA Origin account. In case you missed our previous post regarding The Last Court, the game charges you with overseeing a small fiefdom located in the country of Orlais. Major characters from the Dragon Age games will appear, and it's up to you to decide how to handle your populace and its problems. The BioWare Blog post announcing The Last Court's release states that each playthrough of the game takes an average of seven days to complete. Better hurry then, as Dragon Age: Inquisition is due for arrival just 10 days from now, on November 18. [Image: EA]
SWTOR's Vanguard, Powertech discipline changes detailed
Did you catch yesterday's Star Wars: The Old Republic dev blog about update 3.0's changes to Mercenaries/Commandos? Good, because now we're on to Vanguards and Powertechs. If you're just joining us, SWTOR's talent trees are going bye-bye in favor of disciplines when Shadow of Revan launches early next month. Click through the links below to learn what's becoming of your favorite class!
Next Mass Effect snags Halo 4's lead writer, gets concept art
The next Mass Effect game from BioWare is being written by Chris Schlerf, the lead writer of 343 Industries' Halo 4. BioWare revealed Schlerf's role for the game today in a blog that introduced a few members of the its development team. The lead writer for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, Mac Walters, is staying on for the next installment as the game's creative director. Schlerf joins the team as lead writer following the departure of the series' creator and executive producer back in August, Casey Hudson. In celebration of "N7 Day" today, BioWare hosted a developer roundtable via its Twitch channel to reveal pieces of concept art for the upcoming game and discuss the developer's visions and ambitions. Shying away from calling it "Mass Effect 4," the next game will emphasize space exploration and features the return of the series' much-maligned vehicle, the Mako. The team also noted that the game's protagonist will not start the adventure with "legendary status" like the previous hero, Commander Shepard. Check out our slideshow of the concept art shown during the livestream below, which certainly beats the teasers shown by BioWare last year. [Image: BioWare]
SWTOR's Commando, Mercenary 3.0 discipline changes detailed
Do you play a Commando or a Mercenary in Star Wars: The Old Republic? If so, you'll want to read BioWare's latest dev diary because it explains the discipline changes scheduled to hit your advanced class with the game's 3.0 update. There's a lot to digest, including the fact that the game's new discipline system will allow players to select utility skills that were previously tied to a particular skill tree under the old system. SWTOR's Shadow of Revan expansion launches on December 9th.
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.
Trial six hours of Dragon Age: Inquisition early via EA Access
Fetch the comfy chair! Then, place it in front of your TV on November 13 to take Dragon Age: Inquisition for an in-advance spin through EA Access. BioWare's RPG is coming to the Xbox One-exclusive service five days ahead of its November 18 release date in North America, meaning subscribers can trial the game for up to six hours. That includes the recently revealed four-player co-op, by the by. Also, don't forget the soft cushions.
BioWare delays Shadow Realms' alpha
The planned closed alpha test for Shadow Realms, the not-so-massive BioWare OARPG announced back in August, is being delayed, says a new producer letter on the official site. Senior Producer Dallas Dickinson says the devs just "need a bit more time" to gather and process player feedback: One of the most important things to us on Shadow Realms is listening to – and making changes based on – that player feedback. Having fans play the game at Gamescom and PAX Prime gave us incredible insight. [...] The thing is, feedback was so good it made us want to do more, to get a bit further down the road, before opening Shadow Realms up again. We got so many excellent questions about what the game will be, beyond just the multiplayer piece that we've revealed, and we'd like to be able to show you some answers rather than just telling you what the answers will one day be. But we need a bit more time. We've taken a deep look at the state of the game – what it is now, what we intend it to be, and most importantly what it could be – and realized this is an opportunity to take a great game and make it even better before bringing it back for more feedback from you. Dickinson promises regular producer letters in the coming months. Interested gamers can still sign up for alpha on the official site.
Dragon Age: Inquisition pre-loading now available on Xbox One
The Xbox One version of BioWare's action-RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition is available for pre-ordering and pre-downloading on the Xbox One starting this week, EA and Microsoft announced. Players who pre-purchase Inquisition on the Xbox One can download the game in full and have it primed to unlock immediately at launch. PlayStation 4 pre-order customers will automatically download the game in the days leading up to its release while the console is in standby mode, and PC pre-loading via Origin will likely be available soon. Digital versions of Dragon Age: Inquisition will unlock when the retail edition launches on November 18. [Image: EA]
SWTOR brings back the Rakghoul event
What's both the most terrifying and exhilerating thing that could happen this Halloween? For Star Wars: The Old Republic players, it might just be the return of the Rakghoul Resurgence. The event is currently live and will run for a week or so. There are a few tweaks to the popular event, such as two new housing decorations to purchase (because everyone wants a plague bulb in hers or his living room, right?) and a brand-new world boss to fight. Toxxun, the world boss, is located in Axial Park and drops a cute little plague pet.
Star Wars: The Old Republic team 'investigating' character cap
With accelerated class story leveling, it's pretty easy at this point to start and play a new character in Star Wars: The Old Republic. So easy, in fact, that players are starting to really run up against the game's hard cap of 22 characters per server. Community manager Eric Musco took to the forums to explain that the cap was implemented originally simply because that was the upper limit before it would impact performance. Does that mean there's no hope for the future? Not necessarily. Musco states that the team has heard the demand and is currently looking into what it would take to raise the global cap beyond 22; it all comes down to whether or not the cap can be increased while keeping performance stable. So while there's unlikely to be an increase within the next few days, there's possible good news on the horizon.
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.
Star Wars: The Old Republic gears up for Revan and new collections
Revan is kind of a big deal in Star Wars: The Old Republic. As in the past, the team behind the game has already started posting lore pieces about the upcoming expansion, Shadow of Revan, and those pieces are equally clear about what a big deal he is. The latest official entry is a look at the Revanites, a group that low-level Sith players likely remember dealing with extensively. There's more going on, and intelligence operations are taking note of far more ornate and subtle activity than the group had previously displayed. If the brief lore tease isn't enough, the game's latest patch has also teased out some new items that should soon be available in the game's store: decorative lightsaber hilts, rotating-barrel blasters, and a new vanity outfit. Check out the full preview to see just how you can prepare to take on Revan's machinations in style.
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR and the transparency dilemma
This past week on The Republic, I talked to prominent community members about transparency and broken promises in regard to Star Wars: The Old Republic. Both Heather from Corellian Run Radio and Redna from Ootinicast agreed that BioWare's community team has communicated too little and too infrequently with the players and has actually driven people away from the game because of that lack of dialogue. Also this past week, former Operative Class Representative Snave interviewed Community Manager Eric Musco, asking why the community team has been so quiet as of late and why it promised to deliver information by the end of September but it didn't. Snave also asked why there hasn't been more transparency from community team, especially when Musco specifically said that one of the things that he wanted from the community team was more transparency. Snave accused Musco of speaking out of both sides of his mouth when he said that he wanted more transparency but then wouldn't reveal what was going on with the announcement. Compounding recent events was a kerfuffle over the ongoing Cantina Tours. Players became upset when the Cantina Tour date for Las Vegas was moved from November 7th to November 15th, even though back in February, Community Coordinator Courtney Woods posted the planned dates of the Community Cantina Tour with the caveat that they were "subject to change." As a community, SWTOR players don't seem to be happy with or without transparency. The SWTOR community team cannot, as the saying goes, win for losing. What is the solution here? Let's discuss the details and maybe a solution or two.
SWTOR's experience boost enables altaholics, story-lovers
Eagle-eyed gamers probably noticed the "leveling boost" tucked in with Star Wars: The Old Republic's Shadow of Revan pre-order announcement, but just in case you missed it, BioWare wants to make absolutely sure you understand what it entails, and it entails story -- a whole bunch of stories in a short amount of time, in fact. In a new dev blog, the studio is calling the boost a "class leveling event" in which players are effectively "treated to an all-new epic BioWare roleplaying campaign, uninterrupted." The 12.32 multiplier to experience that players pick up by preordering the expansion and subbing up for a month is "enough to play through the game all the way to level 55 playing only epic story missions," meaning that you can play through the class stories with no quest grind in between. Skill training is free during the promotion too. But you'll have to move quickly; the promo ends on December 1st. I've already lost two writers and three guildies to the leveling frenzy. Jef thinks he'll be done leveling all eight of his characters in 10 more days. Who'll be next?!
Try out an early discipline builder for Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars: The Old Republic players will have to adjust to a new system of leveling and advancing when the Discipline system goes live with the expansion. But you can start preparing yourself, at least. A prototype Discipline Calculator is now available on Dulfy.net courtesy of swtor_miner; it utilizes data presented during livestreams as a starting point for building a reasonable picture of the trees. As of this writing, the only advanced class available to play with is the Sith Sorcerer, but clicking around on the calculator should at least clarify the structure if not the details for all of the various classes. The calculator will likely be expanded as more data become available; until then, you can play around with what's provided.
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!]
The Daily Grind: What little things in MMOs put a smile on your face?
I loaded up Star Wars: The Old Republic for the first time in a while this week, and it seemed like BioWare upgraded its planetary approach cutscenes since the last time I played. Maybe it's just the one on Tatooine, or maybe it's always been that spiffy and I just don't remember it. Either way, it's a nice touch that tickles my Star Wars fancy. What about you, Massively readers? What little things about the last MMO you played put a smile on your face? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Leaderboard: Warlords of Draenor vs. Shadow of Revan
Last time in Leaderboard we pitted this winter's Warlords of Draenor expansion against this fall's Nightmare Tide expansion. This week, let's see how the top dog fares against another highly anticipated MMO content dump, this one bolstered by the worldwide media juggernaut that is Star Wars. How about it, Massively readers? Warlords of Draenor or Shadow of Revan? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Galactic Starfighter's going to be less grindy after SWTOR's 3.0 update
Star Wars: The Old Republic continues to make headlines, this time as a result of some changes slated for Galactic Starfighter in the 3.0 patch. The game's space PvP component isn't getting any new maps or ships, but the requisition reward curve is "getting a permanent boost," according to BioWare designer Alex Modny. Modny says BioWare's going this route because of data that shows "new and moderate" GSF players having difficulty matching up against veteran pilots. You can read more about the changes on the SWTOR forums.