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PAX 2010: Your questions answered by SWTOR's Blaine Christine
A little over a week ago, I asked you all what questions I should ask SWTOR developers at PAX. Well, wait no longer -- the answers are here! Blaine Christine, the Senior Producer for BioWare, took some time specifically to answer some of Massively's readers' questions. There were five main categories I wanted to hit on when approaching BioWare about the content of Star Wars: The Old Republic: playable species, classes, space combat, starting zones, and endgame. I did focus heavily on endgame in the interview -- including crafting -- but I did not neglect the other portions. Player species are not that complicated at this point. BioWare hasn't really announced anything new regarding species for a couple of weeks. However, if Zabrak is not a playable species for the trooper, then the devs will have to build the species out of the game I played this weekend, because the trooper I played was definitely a Zabrak! I will dig into starting zones a bit more in depth when I do my version of a hands-on for SWTOR. That will probably end up being next week's Hyperspace Beacon. Lastly, before I begin the interview, I did not ask Blaine Christine anything about space combat because the night before the interview, Daniel Erickson, the Lead Writer for BioWare, brought it up in the official presentation, saying: "You remember that part where Han Solo and Chewbacca are in the Millennium Falcon? Han's like, 'Hey, Chewie, let's go into space, and let's just dick around. Let's go off in that direction and see if there is anything interesting'? Remember how they went off and there was this asteroid, and they mined the asteroid? Yeah, we couldn't find that either. Two things happened when you went to space. One: You took off to space when you wanted to go somewhere. You took off into hyperspace -- BAM! -- and got there. Two: You wanted to go to a battle or you were trying to go somewhere and someone stopped you. Uh oh! Giant exciting combat! ... That is why we did space combat the way we did." After the break, your other questions are answered by Blaine Christine. What's in there? Only what you take with you.
BioWare loses its SWTOR community manager [updated]
Today on the TOROCast forum, it was rumored that Community Manager Sean Dahlberg had left BioWare. Members of the SWTOR community did believe it odd that he did not show up to PAX, which was supposed to be the biggest event of the year for SWTOR. He even tweeted to the Jedi Archive on Saturday: "Nope, I'm back in Austin but Brian is there! Granted, part of me wants to just drive there but I'd be late." That gave everyone the impression that he had a lot of work to do. However, today he updated his twitter page so that it no longer reflected his BioWare title nor a link to swtor.com. Although there has yet to be word from Dahlberg himself, Joanne Laroche, the Senior Community Coordinator, recently posted this on the official Old Republic website: "Sean Dahlberg has recently left BioWare. We would like to thank Sean for doing a great job building the TOR Community and we wish him well in his future endeavors!" This confirms that Dahlberg has left BioWare, but it still does not answer why this has happened. Massively will keep an eye on this story and on Dahlberg's personal site for new developments. Until then, we wish the best for Sean and for the game. [Nice catch, "fo diddy" at TOROcast!] Update: Sean posted on his personal blog and wanted to let everyone know that he did not fall off the end of the earth. As for what's next for Mr. Dahlberg, he had this to say, "What's in the next chapter in the life of Sean... well, that would be giving out information and we all know I don't do that. I'd say just kidding but I actually can't talk too much about that at this point. Soon™ but not yet."
Hyperspace Beacon: PAX holo-journal
You are reading your guide to Star Wars: The Old Republic and beyond! The scoop on EA-BioWare's next great MMORPG is brought to you here in the Hyperspace Beacon. As everyone should know at this point, Penny Arcade Expo exposed players to the latest video game experiences this past weekend in Seattle, Washington. Three representative from Massively attended this extraordinary event. Contributing editors Justin Olivetti, Rubi Bayer, and I braved the cross-country travel to the "sleepless" city. Although we were there to get interviews and impressions of all MMO games, we each had our own specific games that we wanted to see in action. Justin came to see Lord of the Rings Online. Turbine was demonstrating its free-to-play model. Rubi wanted to see DDO and, of course, Guild Wars 2. In fact, we could barely tear her away from GW2's booth for more than five minutes at a time. And I had one goal in mind for the weekend: play Star Wars: The Old Republic. Follow my daily adventures in SWTOR at PAX after the break.
Hyperspace Beacon: Proper PAX preparation prevents poor PAX performance
Welcome once again to your guide through everything Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is soon to be released by EA-BioWare. Larry Everett presents the Hyperspace Beacon. Deborah Shin, the Marketing Manager for Star Wars: The Old Republic told TOROcast at E3 that PAX was going to be the game's biggest event of the year. When I heard that announcement about a month and a half ago, I decided that I would have to make it to this event. Prior to that I was willing to let others do the reporting while I snagged some stories at home. I want Massively to be your source of SWTOR news, so how could I not go to the biggest SWTOR bash of the year? This week's agenda is quite simple in scope, but a bit more complicated in execution. I hope to give you a very brief overview of what we know of our favorite game going into PAX, followed by a few directions I could go with information gathering. Ultimately, I want the fan's opinion. What information do you want to see come out of this fan-tastic exposition? Follow me after the jump, where I break down the possibilities.
Hyperspace Beacon: We hope this never makes it into SWTOR, but knowing our luck, it probably will, again
Tweet var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Hyperspace_Beacon_We_hope_this_never_makes_it_into_SWTOR'; Like a kowakian monkey-lizard in heat, Larry Everett is back again with another edition of your guide to EA-BioWare's yet-to-be-released game Star Wars: The Old Republic. Welcome to the Hyperspace Beacon. Every once in awhile, the Star Wars universe produces the strangest plot devices or game items. Some of these concoctions should never see the light of day, but unfortunately, they do. I like to highlight these malformed ideas in a segment of the Hyperspace Beacon called "We hope this never makes it into SWTOR, but, knowing our luck, it probably will" or WHTNMIISWTORBKOLIPW, for short. This week's column revolves around the prequels. Although there are many, many, many things wrong with the prequels, I would like to take a look at some of the highlights. To help those who may not know what is being discussed, I will give you a brief explanation of what each item is, then explain what is wrong with it, and follow that with a humorous explanation of how BioWare will ruin SWTOR by implementing it in our beloved game. Let's see what creative blunders we have in store this week.
The Old Republic clarifies advanced classes' roles, unveils first two combat ships
Whether you're a groundpounder or a space jockey, The Old Republic is gunning your way, big-time. Fans of either (or both!) aspects of the game have a little more to look forward to this week, as BioWare released additional information on the advanced classes and rolled out the first two starfighters for the public to see. In its recent Fan Friday, BioWare clarified the 16 class specializations by listing each of their top three attributes. For example, bounty hunter players have the choice between powertech or mercenary paths. Powertechs will assume more of a tank role, with flamethrowers and defense shields at the ready. Mercenaries, on the other hand, are to be the ranged DPS version of the class, dealing out the pain with dual guns and missiles. If the recently revealed space combat has you itching to jump into the cockpit, you can check out the first two starships (out of six) that will take pilots through the midst of adrenaline-pumping battles. The Fury is an Imperial interceptor (which looks like a predecessor of the TIE Interceptor), designed with speed and firepower in mind. Its counterpart, the Defender, is a standard Republic corvette that's been upgraded with turbolasers and shields for quick combat missions. Hopefully, we'll find out the remaining four fighters before too long!
Gamescom 2010: BioWare reveals 10 new advanced classes for TOR
We've known for a while now that Star Wars: The Old Republic is planning to offer players two different specializations for each class, but up until now we've only heard of a couple of them. Today at Gamescom, however, BioWare unloaded the names and loose descriptions of ten advanced classes. The best part? No Bothans died for this information. Darth Hater reports that imperial agent characters will have the choice between specializing as snipers (long-range DPS) or operatives (who use stealth and short-range weapons to get up close and personal). If a bounty hunter is more to your liking, then the choice between a powertech and a mercenary should get your imagination racing. Over on the Republic side, troopers will sign up for either commando or vanguard training. Commandos are the tanking line, although we don't know much about vanguards yet. SWTOR-Station spied a Zabrak trooper at the BioWare booth, indicating another possible race for the class. Force-users are also in store for powerful upgrades. The villainous Sith inquisitors choose their path between a more Force-happy sorcerer or the twin lightsaber-using assassin. Their counterpart, the Jedi consular, has a similar decision to make: that of a shadow, who can use double-bladed lightsabers, or a wizard, who uses a single lightsaber but can heal. Are Star Wars fans ready for wizards and sorcerers in their MMO? Somehow, we think so.
Hyperspace Beacon: Don't be surprised if your website is mentioned here
The Hyperspace Beacon is your guide through the various twists, turns, and barrel-roles of the yet-to-be-released game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is being produced by the super-duper developers at BioWare-EA. As we all wait anxiously for the open scroll of Star Wars: The Old Republic, more fansites are donning their Jedi robes and igniting their lightsabers. Some have have been around for a while now, and others are just getting off the ground, but all these holocrons of SWTOR lore are finding their true destiny in webspace. Some of these websites stand out as potential Jedi Masters, and I would like to take a moment to take note of them. A few months back, the first Hyperspace Beacon was launched. It recognized sites like Darth Hater and the Jedi Archive. Since then, more have proven to be beacons of light in the blackness of cyberspace. So, in an effort to keep the SWTOR community page up to date, I have explored the reaches hyperspace to find beacons of new hope. Set your navicomputer to follow me after the break. As Matt from TOROCast may say: Don't be surprised if your website is mentioned here.
SWTOR finds a companion for the Jedi knight
In SWTOR's Deceived trailer, there was an odd shot of the Jedi leader giving a signal to an astromech droid. Per usual, the writers at BioWare do not put anything into their trailers without a specific reason. This past Friday, that little droid was revealed to be a companion for the Jedi knight class, named T7-O1 (tee seven - oh one). This little bot calls back to both T3-M4 of Knights of the Old Republic and, of course, R2-D2 of the Star Wars movies. In fact, his attitude is very similar to R2-D2's. According to the companion page on SWTOR's official site, he considers his owners to be more like partners and less like masters. T7-O1 was activated over two centuries before the Treaty of Coruscant and has yet to be memory-wiped in that whole time. He remembers every organic he has ever worked with, from the petty smugglers, to Senator Oodora of Manaan, to Captain Nico Okarr, and to Jedi Master Ven Zallow, whom we witnessed being killed by Darth Malgus in the previously mentioned trailer. For your Jedi knight character, you can expect this droid to be an invaluable source of information. His surveillance, cartography, and data-slicing skills are unmatched. BioWare has not revealed where your Jedi knight will meet T7-O1, just like every other companion mentioned for this game, but rest assured, he's waiting for you somewhere in that galaxy far, far away.
Hyperspace Beacon: Forced species
The Hyperspace Beacon is a weekly guide and discussion by Larry Everett about the yet-to-be-released game Star Wars: The Old Republic. This week I was excited about the new species introduced to Star Wars: The Old Republic, and the lore-lover in me is still extremely elated despite what some of the commenters said on the announcement article. However, I've had time to think about a few things, and the seed of internal conflict sowed itself in my fanboy psyche. It did not break me, but I do question some of the decisions BioWare has made regarding species-to-class choices. I do not like to draw attention to negative posts because I believe arguments can be made without berating other people and defiling the English language. But one of the posts in the recent space-combat-on-rails article reflected some of the fans' sentiment towards the game when the poster said this about BioWare's developers: "They have their formula and every new game is just fresh paint." Although I don't think it is exactly that simple, there is a bit of truth in that statement. But that does not, by any means, destine this game for failure (right, Final Fantasy?). BioWare does have a formula, but when it sticks to this formula, it usually produces something very successful. BioWare's mantra is "story." The company has chanted this from the first day SWTOR was announced, yet for me something still seems a bit amiss. Upon examining past BioWare games, I am not quite sure the reasons for tying species to a specific class actually make sense -- at least not for the reasons the company offers. Perhaps when you follow me through the rest of this article you can help me resolve this inner conflict.
The Old Republic's space combat detailed in PC Gamer
Ever since we heard that Star Wars: The Old Republic was going to include space combat as one of its features, we've felt a bit like Red Squadron in A New Hope -- "standing by." It almost seemed too good to be true, especially since the rumor came out that the space portion of the game would be an on-rails shooter. It's with great glee, then, that we have received more news on TOR's space combat in the upcoming October issue of PC Gamer. The seven-page spread confirms that the space combat won't be a free-form flight simulator like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, but instead will be a "tunnel shooter" designed to create highly cinematic battle sequences for players to experience. Space combat hotspots will be unlocked as players progress through the game, and while they'll initially be solo instances only, eventually BioWare hopes to implement PvP and team combat in the future. In a tunnel shooter, players will be able to move ships up, down, left and right, although their overall course is locked in by the scenario in question. Ship collision, rotating quest objectives, customizable ship cosmetics, achievements, various difficulty levels and incentives to repeat missions also seem to be a go for this portion of the game. While a lot of the details are still hidden from our prying eyes, we're sure that BioWare will have a lot more to say on this in the near future.
SWTOR announces green, red, blind, and horny Force species
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Star_Wars_The_Old_Republic_reveals_new_playable_species'; To the elation of fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic, the developers at BioWare announced that the Sith "pure blood" and Miraluka will be playable species for the Sith warrior and Jedi knight classes, respectively. On top of that, the Mirialan species will be available to Force push as Jedi consulars, and the Sith inquisitor can slash his dual-bladed lightsaber as an acrobatic Zabrak. In case these species names mean very little to you, here is a brief catch-up. The Sith species is a red-skinned race from the planet Korriban. They were made mention of in this Hyperspace Beacon a little while back. Miraluaka are blind humanoids who see via the Force. The KOTOR II character Visas Marr was Miraluka. Mirialan are a bit less familiar to the casual fan, but two of them are found in the Episodes II and III of the Star Wars movies, Luminara and Barriss. Finally, everyone should be familiar with the devilish face of Darth Maul, the Sith apprentice who killed Qui-Gon Jinn. He was the quintessential Zabrak. Perhaps this writer is the only one excited about this announcement, but it is doubtful. What are Massively reader's thoughts?
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's hidden messages
"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future," were Yoda's words from The Empire Strikes Back, but contrary to the Jedi Master's belief, most of the time there are clues to what our future holds. Like the smell right before a rain storm, or little ticks of involuntary action that give away when someone is bluffing in poker, or that face your mother used to give you which said you were in trouble, clues to what the future holds are everywhere. Star Wars: The Old Republic is no exception. Clues to what the game holds are hidden all over its website. Alyssa Gobelle is the web designer for SWTOR. She has done a beautiful job of constructing a site that is entertaining as well as interesting to look at. Although the busy lettering, Aurebesh, entices the eyes, it also gives away secrets to the game. In April, Gobelle was interviewed by the Holonet Project fan site, where she revealed that the messages are totally intentional: "When they first brought me on, our first major task was to design the HoloNet. We wanted the HoloNet's voice to be as much 'within the lore of the game' as possible so we 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." Continue after the break to find out what some of these "hidden teases" are. Perhaps you can help me figure out what the rest of them mean.
SWTOR's Sin City has been announced: Nar Shaddaa [updated]
What happens in Nar Shaddaa stays in Nar Shaddaa. How many unique locations can you fit in one one game? Well, according to the developers at BioWare, one more. Star Wars: The Old Republic is now up to 14 planets with the addition of this center for the criminal underworld: Nar Shaddaa. This city planet is the evil twin to Coruscant in that it is completely covered in city sprawl. Obi Wan called Mos Eisley a wretched hive of scum and villainy -- which is true -- but when compared to Nar Shaddaa, it is saintly. Besides being the apex destitute, this is neutral ground for the current war; the Republic and Empire are equally hated. The only war that matters on Nar Shaddaa is the one between the two mob-like corporate giants. On this moon of Hutta, the Hutt Cartel finds its greatest -- and possibly its only -- rival in all the galaxy: the Exchange. Where will you fit in this futuristic turf war? Maybe your place is on the side that pays the most credits. But whichever side you choose, neither can be trusted, so trust only in yourself. It's not just business as usual on Nar Shaddaa. When planning your Star Wars vacation, be sure to stop by the literal world of entertainment. [Update: Follow the after the break to see a short video of the city-world]
Hyperspace Beacon: The bald and the blue
As some of you may be aware, I love the whole idea of roleplaying and storytelling in an MMO setting. Also -- which should be more than evident -- I am a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise. As a roleplayer, I always like the idea of being able to do whatever I want in an MMO -- truly creating my own story. I like it when a developer gives me the blocks, and I stack them the way I want to. I build my castle the way I envision it. So you can imagine when I heard there were class restrictions on races in Star Wars: The Old Republic, I said (and I quote), "LOLOMGWTGDairyQueen-LOLOMGBBtheQ!™" I thought it was a really, really bad idea. How was I going to make my pink, cybernetic, Nightsister Wookiee? Then I realized that particular Wookiee would totally be unimmersing, which is exactly what I despise about a good chunk of MMOs. So after dealing with my temporary bout with insanity, I realized immersion was more important than my desire to play with blocks, but I still wanted to make these characters the best they could be. Now it was time to find out as much as I could about the species I will be able to play. Follow me after the break to see what I found. ™ LOLOMGWTGDairyQueen-LOLOMGBBtheQ! is the trademarked (not really) catch phrase of Morte of the Oxhorn Brand Machimina
SDCC 2010: A SWTOR Managing Editor who doesn't solve problems by killing all the kittens
We all know that know that story is the fourth pillar for The Old Republic. We also know BioWare has the reputation for having some of the most compelling stories in the gaming industry. In fact, story is written into its mission statement: "BioWare's vision is to deliver the best story-driven games in the world." So it is no surprise at all that when the team came to Comic-Con this past weekend, it consisted of mostly writers. Massively's Dan O'Halloran nabbed the Managing Editor on SWTOR, Alexander Freed, for a conversation. Freed has scribed much of the story and dialogue for this epic MMO, as well as been the writer for the exciting adventures of Teneb Kel in The Blood of the Empire webcomic. Continue on after the break to catch Alexander Freed's insight into what the different types of quests will be available in SWTOR, what compelling choices players have to make, and what it takes to write for a project of this magnitude.
New Halo novels to continue Ghosts of Onyx story
Tor Books has announced that a new series of Halo novels are on the way. Not to be confused with the upcoming trilogy by Greg Bear, these will be penned by Karen Traviss, author of the Gears of War novels as well as the short story "Human Weakness" from the 2009 Halo Evolutions collection. The first new novel to be penned by Traviss will serve as a sequel to Ghosts of Onyx, and will reveal the fate of its team of Spartans. The series promises to "explore the Halo Universe in the wake of the final events of Halo 3." Presumably, the novels will also contain a heavy does of alien murder. We've contacted Tor in hopes of pinning down a release window for the new novels. Meanwhile, Bear's trilogy is set to debut this year. Find the press release after the break.
Space combat has been confirmed for SWTOR! [Updated]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Space_combat_has_been_comfirmed_for_SWTOR'; While at Comic-Con, the fan site Mos Eisley Radio tweeted a rumor that there will be space combat in SWTOR. Space combat has been strongly suspected since the announcement of player ships at E3, but there was nothing to confirm our suspicions. According to the folks at Mos Eisley Radio, James Ohlen said that each ship will be customizable, and, of course, that the player will be able to use this ship in space combat. Not moments later, this rumor was completely confirmed by SWTOR's community manager, Sean Dahlberg, on the official forum. He confesses in his announcement, "While we didn't quite make the numbers [of Facebook and Twitter followers], we definitely saw how excited the community is about this and how everyone came together. After all of that, there's no way we could hold back with our special reveal at Comic-Con!" So it seems the devs did not punish the fans for not reaching the social media goal after all. He reveals that further details will be available in the October edition of PC Gamer. [Thank you, Mos Eisley Radio, for keeping your ears open!] [Editor's Note: Brooks from Mos Eisley Radio just mailed us to say that all of his information is coming from Darth Hater's liveblog, so props to Darth Hater, and thanks for letting us know, Brooks! ~Sera]
Cats invade Star Wars: The Old Republic in this week's Fan Friday
The community of Star Wars: The Old Republic did not quite make the Twitter and Facebook goals, so the developers decided to punish us by announcing another species that we will not be able to play. (Just kidding, it wasn't punishment.) In addition to spotlighting fan art and video, this week's Fan Friday column mentions Cathar as being another species players of SWTOR will bump into on their travels across the galaxy. The feline species from the planet bearing the same name was first mentioned by name in Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith, but gamers are probably more familiar with it from the other BioWare game, Knights of the Old Republic. Although the devs did not say where or how the players will run into this highly anticipated species, fans are hoping for a Cathar companion character. As mentioned above, the social media goal was not reached. Even so, the community team did give the fans some gifts. The Fan Site Kit has been updated with more digital goodies. New avatars, screenshots, and biographical images can now grace your SWTOR fan site. Not to mention, the team has included six new desktop wallpaper images straight from the exciting "Hope" trailer. Be sure to check out all of this and the amazing new fan art on the official SWTOR site.
The Daily Grind: Want realism with that?
Recently, a buddy and I were discussing the merits of MMORPG realism while waiting in the ironically named fast food drive-thru line. I'm all about the "realistic" social and economic possibilities inherent in old-school Ultima Online, while he digs the accessibility and pick-up-and-play nature of more recent titles such as World of Warcraft and, presumably, The Old Republic. About the only thing we could agree on is that there's room for both in the massive genre. Realism is highly subjective. For example, a fantasy title full of wizard fire, dragons, and goblins (Ultima Online) is, in my mind, more realistic than a non-combat sandbox based on "real life" like A Tale in the Desert. What say you, Massively readers? Would you like some realism with your MMORPGs, and if so, what exactly do you mean by that?
