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Hyperspace Beacon: Should you subscribe for SWTOR Galactic Starfighter?
If our comments are any judge, many gamers do not believe that Star Wars: The Old Republic lived up to its launch hype. These players have been wary about jumping back into the game despite the positive impressions of the latest expansion Galactic Starfighter. Is it worthwhile for them (or anyone else) to jump back in? BioWare launches its second expansion for SWTOR today. This addition to the game takes us into the thick of the centuries-long struggle between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Players take command of one of 12 different dog-fighting starships in two possible 12v12 skirmish maps. Far different than the on-rails shooter-minigames the MMO launched with, these maps are completely free-roaming and play more like a flight simulator than StarFox 64. Of course, that alone doesn't necessarily make the expansion worth it. Let's examine the features that could make this expansion worthy of your subscription.
Star Wars: The Old Republic launches Galactic Starfighter for subscribers
Subscribers to Star Wars: The Old Republic don't have to wait another day to start fighting across the stars. Galactic Starfighter early access is now live for subscribers, with Preferred players getting access on January 14th, 2014, and free players allowed in on February 4th, 2014. Yes, if you want to blow up other ships today, subscribing right now will still let you start blasting away, and you won't even have to hit a certain level to be eligible. The goal with Galactic Starfighter as explained in one of two new development blogs was to allow all players access to the content even if they're not as interested in the story. Progressing through the leveling game will unlock companions, though, and the other development blog details how your crew members can help your overall performance. There's also a new trailer just past the cut showing off how you can customize your ship, perfect if you're deciding whether you want to subscribe or if you prefer to wait to start playing.
Star Wars: The Old Republic explores the design of starfighting stages
It might seem as if designing a stage for Star Wars: The Old Republic's upcoming expansion is pretty easy. After all, Galactic Starfighter doesn't ask for much -- just throw some stuff in a field and let ships shoot at each other, right? According to a new development blog by designer Chris Schmidt, it's not nearly that easy, starting with the rather obvious assertion that just flying around in a blank arena would be boring. Stages need to replicate the feel of a pitched battle, and that means careful design. Schmidt explains that each level starts off with brainstorming about the environment, followed by a 2-D mockup to give a rough estimation of where various points of interest will be located on the final map. From there it's up to the art and modeling teams to fill in a rough layout with interesting visual elements and things to fly around for interesting gameplay. Take a look at the full blog for a deeper picture at what it takes to design these elaborate dogfighting arenas.
The Soapbox: Developers build MMOs backward
How many of you MMOs players have ever maxed out a character's combat level then stood around wondering, "What do I do now?" I would venture to guess that a vast majority of you at one time or another have done that, and I'd also guess that it's been recently. That's because developers have built your game backward. Far too many MMOs rely on the leveling process to be the primary content for the game, and everything after max level appears to be an afterthought tacked on to the game until the developers can come up with new stuff for you to do. I propose that if developers would start building a game's endgame first, we would be looking at a very different kind of game, a more enjoyable game. If a game is intended to be played for months, then developers should spend the most time on the content that players will spend the most time on. It's only logical to me. However, if you ask most developers they will likely tell you that the most expensive or time-consuming part of the game is the leveling process. Why is that?
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR Galactic Starfighter has crew skills, too
Last week, I gave you an overview of the next expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Galactic Starfighter. We learned that the 12v12 space battles work independently of the ground game and even eliminate any sort of level requirement in order to begin. Galactic Starfighter commendations are earned only through space battles and work to enhance only starfighter-related skills. In fact, the only tie to the ground game comes in the form of your companions. Companions play a pivotal and fun role in Galactic Starfighter, so much that picking the wrong companion can ruin your impression of the SWTOR expansion altogether. For each ship loadout, you may pick four companions to give you eight passive abilities and one active ability.The abilities are divided into four categories, as are the companions: defensive, offensive, engineering, and tactical. Your active ability is determined by which of the four companions you choose to be your copilot. It sounds simple enough, right? The complexity begins when choosing which abilities work best for your playstyle.
How to trick out your fleet of SWTOR starships
You aren't going to make it very far in SWTOR's Galactic Starfighter unless you've got the know-how to trick out your starship. Fortunately for you, the devs have put together a new post regarding the expansion's starship requisition and upgrade systems so that you won't be puttering around star systems. Each starship has five major component (read: gear) slots for active combat abilities and four minor component slots for passive stat boosts. Components can be upgraded, with the highest tier offering a choice between types of upgrades. By mix-and-matching components, players can create unique loadouts that will be customized to their playstyle. Component unlocks and upgrades are paid for with requisition, which is given for battle participation and victory. BioWare promises that teamwork will never penalize your acquisition of requisition, which is a fun thing to say a few times in a row. There are two forms of requisition: ship, which is specific to the starship you're flying, and fleet, which can be used for any of your starships.
One Shots: Angmar, you're going down
It's a beautiful morning, so why not spoil it by going to Angmar? Oh Angmar, that blackhead on the face of Middle-earth, with your whining sky and your eyesores everywhere. Why can't evil ever be beautiful, can someone tell me? Perhaps reader Michael18, who took this particular photo, can: "To celebrate the release of the Helm's Deep expansion, I send you some of my screenshots. I tried to capture the beauty of the old zones of Lord of the Rings Online like Angmar. With all the Rohan pictures to be seen on the web over the next couple of weeks, this might be a nice diversion." That's it, Angmar; you're going down. I'm going to get some flowers and go plant them all over your fields. Take that!
SWTOR's Strike Fighter is kinda like an X-Wing
Ready for another dev blog on a Star Wars: The Old Republic starfighter? Well, good, because I'm going to summarize it for you right now. Today's entry is penned by BioWare's Brian Audette, who focuses on the Strike Fighter and calls it his "personal favorite ship role" from the game's Galactic Starfighter expansion. Audette compares SWTOR's Strike Fighters to the more familiar X-Wing from the original trilogy, saying that the former "are some of the most versatile and important ships to ever fly for either the Empire or the Republic." The ships are equally adept at dogfighting or hammering stationary targets, he continues, and Strike Fighter pilots can swap between two primary or secondary weapons.
EA holds onto Star Wars games license for 10 years, says SWTOR is 'profitable'
Electronic Arts' recent deal with Disney over the Star Wars video game license will extend for the next decade, meaning that any dreams of a non-EA Star Wars MMO are going to have to wait until 2023 or beyond. EA remains committed to the ongoing development of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and the publisher has given the go-head for a Battlefront reboot. Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen commented on SWTOR's rocky first year: "Yes the original expectations obviously were very, very large, and obviously the multiplayer MMO world has -- the popularly has come down over time and we tried to restructure the Star Wars business to better match the economics. It's a great business that's very repeatable. We brought the economics in line so it's a profitable business for us."
Hyperspace Beacon: Getting started with SWTOR Galactic Starfighter
For about a month now, I have been playing the new expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Galactic Starfighter. Granted, I haven't logged as many hours as some of those crazy people who have extensive guides on what each component does and how it compares to other similar components, but I have spent about 20 or so hours trying out different builds and testing my skills against other players. I certainly don't consider myself the best, but if I have the right equipment, I can hold my own. I've realized that not everyone jumping into SWTOR's new expansion will know what to do when getting started. I don't think I have to go over the basics like how to hop into your first match, but there are some things a person of average intelligence should know before tackling his first dog-fight. He should also set some goals for his first upgrades. I intend to help you out with that.
BioWare highlights SWTOR's Scout starfighters
Hey, Star Wars: The Old Republic fans, BioWare has released a Galactic Starfighter-themed dev diary that you might want to read. It's penned by designer Bret Hoffman and it features Scout Class Starfighters. Hoffman says that Scouts are designed for "speedy gameplay" and evoke "classic Star Wars ships like the A-Wing and TIE Interceptor." In SWTOR's PvP-themed space expansion, Scouts are the fastest ships and therefore are often first into battle. Superior maneuverability makes them effective dogfighters, but not all Scouts are the same. Some are built almost entirely for speed while others boast more powerful weaponry and defenses. Click through the links below to learn more.
Hands-on with SWTOR's Galactic Starfighter
The objective is just on the horizon. We're a ragtag group of journalists -- no, starfighter pilots -- and we're hellbent on taking a key objective from the enemy. The problem isn't the defending turrets; it's the five red squares that have just popped on our HUDs: Sith fighters. In a few moments, we'll lose each other in a storm of blaster fire and exploding ships. The ship to my right engages the turbo on his engines, rocketing forward. One by one, we all follow into the fray. This is Galactic Starfighter, the new expansion coming to Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic. The new ships, their customization options, and the chaotic, free-flight-PvP space combat make it one of the largest feature upgrades since the game's launch. It won't put you in the Death Star's trenches, but it will get you close. Join me in the cockpit as I tell you about my experience in rail-less throes of space mayhem.
Hyperspace Beacon: Putting SWTOR PvP on the right track
This past weekend, a friend of mine came up from Texas. Not only did we talk about our families and such, but we also spent some time talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic PvP. We have both been following the game about the same amount of time, and we are now in the same guild. I argued that PvP in SWTOR is broken. A couple of Advanced Classes excel while the others are just filler or fodder. Even if there were balance in the classes, BioWare does little to encourage the competitive player. In July, I gave a mid-term report card for SWTOR based on Dr. Richard Bartle's assessment of the different types of MMO gamers. As you might guess, SWTOR failed miserably in the "killer" category. As I talked to my friend, we came to the conclusion that SWTOR is a PvE game with a side of PvP. However, given some of the additions coming later this year, I think our Star Wars MMO might raise itself above the F grade I gave it a few months ago. Today, marks the start of Season One PvP, and in less than a month Galactic Starfighter launches. Both of these additions mark significant changes to the perception of game through the eyes of a "killer."
One Shots: A flock of Beholders
Did anyone else watch that absolutely horrid Dungeons & Dragons movie from 2000 starring one of the more annoying Wayans? Just about the only redeeming part of that film was seeing a brief glimpse of a Beholder. I mean, there are few things more D&Dish than Beholders, unless you're going to pull a gelatinous cube out on me. Reader Don sent in today's featured screenshot that has not just one Beholder but a flock of them. "Here is a shot of me in the Delirium drinking contest on my new DDO Shadar-kai," he writes, "featuring the one and only Pumpkin Beholder from Xoriat." Pumpkin Beholder: Next Halloween, he comes for you! We've got this and plenty of other great eyecandy for you as you gorge on the leftovers from Halloween, so check 'em out in this week's One Shots.
Dev blog outlines SWTOR's inaugural PvP season
PvPers in Star Wars: The Old Republic who are looking forward to the first Ranked PvP season will be able to start blasting their way up the ranking ladder when Game Update 2.4.3 launches. To give players an idea of what to expect, Senior System Designer Rob Hinkle has drawn a roadmap of this inaugural season in a recent dev blog. When Season One begins, all pre-season rankings will be reset to default for a clean slate. Throughout the season, ratings will be available via web-based leaderboards. Although there is no definite date set for the end of this first season right now, BioWare is looking at a six-month run. Then near the end of the season, exclusive rewards for various tiers of ratings will be announced. And once the season ends, there will be a break before Season Two gets rolling.
First Star Wars game from Disney, Tiny Death Star, out now for free
That's no tiny moon – it's a Tiny Death Star, the first Star Wars game from Disney since it bought LucasArts in 2012, made in collaboration with Tiny Tower developer NimbleBit. Tiny Death Star is a pixelated Star Wars take on Tiny Tower, with players building their own Death Stars for the dark side of the Force. It's available now, free, for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Windows 8. Disney shut down LucasArts as a development studio in April, shifting it to the licensing business. NimbleBit has made its mark in mobile development in recent years, with more than 10 million downloads of Tiny Tower as of 2012. But no matter how you may feel about Disney, LucasArts, Star Wars or NimbleBit, it's clear that Tiny Death Star is pretty darn adorable.
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR Marauders will suck but Operatives will not
Update 2.5 for Star Wars: The Old Republic will release at the same time the Galactic Starfighter expansion will hit for subscribers. Perhaps this timing is meant to hide the awful mistakes BioWare is making with two of its best Advanced Classes. One will receive a thorough thrashing with a nerf bat, while the other will only get a stern talking-to -- not even a wag of the finger. Of course, I'm talking about the Marauder/Sentinel class and the Operative/Scoundrel class. Last week, the Inquisitor/Consular class took center stage because there is a chance that the Madness spec might actually become viable in PvP. But at the same time the Assassin/Shadow tank becomes viable in PvE, it'll become a wrecking ball in PvP. (Time to roll another character!) Unfortunately, two of my favorite classes aren't seeing the changes they need in the next SWTOR update. Because I'm so helpful to the SWTOR developers, I will sit in my armchair and tell them exactly what to do. But first, let's talk about the tweaks coming for these two enormously popular classes.
The Soapbox: No, 'we' don't hate the subscription model
If you're a casual reader of Massively and read a post or two from a few writers about business models, then you might get the impression that the Massively staff does not like the subscription model. While it's true that some of us praise some games for the choices their publishers have made regarding pricing models, others of us believe still other games have missed the mark. Lately, the subscription model has fallen under some hard scrutiny, but that doesn't mean that all of us dislike the subscription model completely, nor should a few writers' opinions be misconstrued as the opinion of the site as a whole, as if the site were some sentient thing to begin with. Economists have made extremely persuasive arguments in favor of the subscription model, citing its cost-effectiveness with hard numbers and statistics. We've also seen free-to-play and buy-to-play models allowing companies to revitalize their game, and most importantly for the people employed by the developer, doubling and sometimes tripling their revenue. So at what point does the subscription work?
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's changing combat in update 2.5
Let's talk about the combat changes coming in Star Wars: The Old Republic Update 2.5. We'll see pretty large sweeping changes to a couple of my favorite classes and some much-needed changes to others. Some of the changes make me question the thought processes of the designers, and some much-needed changes seem to be absent. I don't consider myself a combat design expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have played every class in SWTOR extensively with the exception of the Bounty Hunter and Trooper classes. But then those two classes aren't seeing any major changes in Update 2.5. Therefore, I don't have much to talk about with them anyway. My favorite class is the Marauder/Sentinel, so the nerfs and upgrades to that class are dear to me. But I also really enjoy the Operative/Scoundrel class as well. This class will see (and frankly, not see) some changes in the upcoming patch. But I believe the class that is affected the most is the Madness/Balance-specced Inquisitor/Consular. Let's start there.
Star Wars: The Old Republic frees up the names on unused free-to-play characters
There's nothing wrong with getting a desired character name because you were the first person to create a character with that name on a given server. But it does kind of smart if you're a Star Wars: The Old Republic subscriber with a burning desire to use the name "Xylophone" but can't, especially if that name was just snapped up by a free-to-play character who hasn't even made it off of Tython. It's with that in mind that the game is instituting a series of name releases for free-to-play and preferred status players. If you're a free-to-play or preferred status player, this does mean you're at some risk of losing your name. Characters below level 10 who haven't been played in 60 (free) or 90 (preferred) days will need to be renamed, as will characters below level 30 who haven't been played in 120 (free) or 180 (preferred) days. Characters 30 and above will be exempt across the board, as will all characters of subscribers. So you might be able to get your desired character name back! Or you'll find out that Xylophone is actually a level 31 Juggernaut, which is still kind of neat. [Source: BioWare press release]
