Character Preview Update in Patch 1.5

Along with the launch of the Cartel Market, coming out in Patch 1.5, Bioware have introduced some new features to the character preview screen. The first change is the ability to turn your weapon on and off. Using the center button highlighted in the image below will enable your character preview interface to equip or unequip a weapon. (Note: There seems to be a brightness issue with the preview screens that are on the test server at the moment. I'm sure this will be fixed before Patch 1.5 is released.)

Using your mouse wheel while your preview screen is open will zoom in and out on your character, giving you a high res look at all your equipment.

If you're fussy like me, the look of your lightsaber hilt is important, and so this new feature will be a pleasant distraction of your first visit to SWTOR once the patch comes out (in the next couple of weeks).

SWTOR Companion QnA with Lead System Designer, Damion Schubert

BioWare's Lead System Designer, Damion Schubert, has been kind enough to answer a volley of questions that I threw at him about the future of our beloved SWTOR companions. The companions are a unique and popular part of the SWTOR game experience and as the game is tweaked and updated, many players are wondering how companions will change, myself included. Here's what he had to say:

Q: With the introduction of HK-51 will players have a choice of what crafting bonuses he has, similar to the way we get to choose our ship droids crafting bonuses?

A: He's been given a minor efficiency bonus to all mission skills, and a minor critical bonus to all crew skills.









Q: Will HK-51 have customization options? If so, how many?

A: We have several paint jobs planned for HK-51 in the works. When and how players will acquire them is unclear as of yet.






Q: Are there any plans to advance on current Companion story lines? Some of us have developed intimate relations with our Companions, and even married them and now they won't talk to us!

Legacy Perks. Get ready to get ripped off in patch 1.3

Bioware have just released a promo video for patch 1.3. The video tells us nothing really new but does provide some extra details about the new features. The video has received many dislikes and as I go over the details, you mind understand why. The changes are:

Legacy perks
Group Finder
Character transfer
Scaling social gear

First, have a quick watch of the video (bottom of this post). As you will see the Legacy perks are specific to each individual character, and they don't come cheap.

Looking at the warzone perks, the first one costs 20k and gives you a 2% XP perk to leveling in warzones. Another 30k will add an extra 2%, to the total of 4%. Each level seems to go up by 10k and add an extra 2%. So you'll be able to achieve a maximum of 10% bonus XP after spending approximately 200k. If you want to level another alt in PvP you'll have to spend another 200k. Please keep in mind that this is a guestimate as they only show us the costing of the first two.

Customer Service in SWTOR. What to Expect

About a week ago I had a very lovely pair of Champion Vindicator's Greaves disappear out of my bag. To be honest, I don't know if I sold them to a vendor or deleted them somehow, all I know is that when I went to equip them they were gone. BioWare allow up to three items every six months to be restored if you accidentally delete or sell them.

So I put an ingame service ticket in. In the ticket I included the date that I got the pants, how I got the pants, the fact that I purchased them using a token, which I had received from a PVP bag, and the last date that I saw them. To my surprise, I didn't get a response to my ticket for over five days.

Bots Farming SWTOR get Arms Ripped Off

... well they got their accounts disabled anyway! Farmers, and some players, thought it was a good idea to venture into high level zones and camp high level reward chests for hours on end. On some servers, it got to the stage where there were four or five level 15 toons camped around one level 50 reward spawn. The clever little farmers thought they had outsmarted BioWare by venturing into zones that were neutral to their faction; so Republic toons would go into the Sith Heroic area and stand and farm among all the Republic NPCs that would not attacked them. The perfect spot for the farmer was in a safe place away from aggressive mobs, but close enough to be able to collect the respawn of the high level chest or crystal.

BioWare have taken the Wookie approach and have figuratively ripped the appendages off these farmers by first suspending and then banning any accounts that have been involved in credit trading.

New Face Joins SWTORFace Say Hi To Natassia

I'm excited to join SWTORFace and can't wait to contribute to the site. I have been an avid gamer for the past 15 years, playing both PC and console games. I've played my share of MMOs starting with Legends of Kesmai and including but not limited to EQ, AoC, Anarchy Online, LOTRO, CoH, WOW and DCUO. A born Star Wars fan (early memories include Star Wars trivia during car rides with Dad), I'm stoked for SWTOR. What Star Wars fan wouldn't love a Bioware Star Wars MMO? I'm always up for good conversation so feel free to circle me on google + or email me at natassia@swtorface.com.

From John: I might need to get a female face now?

SWTOR Friday Update: Last One

For this week's Friday update, BioWare have given a link to their community blog. Essentially the blog will replace the Friday updates, now that the game is about to go live. You can find this new official SWTOR blog here. This will save you from having to filter through fifty sites all posting the same news every Friday. There have been a lot of fansites out there that have been replying on the Friday updates as their sole source of news; this new blog will force some of them to produce their own content or fade away.

Also in this Friday update is the character progression video for the Sith Inquisitor. I got to play around with a Sith Inquisitor, up to around level 20, in Beta. The storyline is awesome. I chose Assassin as my Advanced class. Check out the progression video below:

Big Profit Expectations for The Old Republic

As December has gotten underway, we’ve already been lucky enough to enjoy a few beta testing sessions ahead of The Old Republic’s highly anticipated release on the 20th. With a number of positive reviews in thus far, there has still been a bit of objectivity levied from a few, including Activision’s president Bobby Kotick, who is said to believe that Electronic Arts won’t benefit much from the holiday release. This assessment has little basis on the game play and selling numbers that are expected, but it’s still a bit misguided. 

Just this past week, Eurogamer was lucky enough to speak with a few major industry analysts who see strong profits on the horizon for both LucasArts and Electronic Arts. One of the analysts spoke of an expected $300 million in revenue generation, which would result in an excellent take home for both Star Wars the Old Republic developers. 

Because Electronic Arts will be taking home about 30 percent of the total revenue for The Old Republic, they would stand to take in nearly $80 million if numbers came anywhere close to what some analysts are predicting, which would surely be a very good achievement. Subscriber totals are expected to be the driving force behind the possible revenue for both developers.

In SWTOR, Will The Force Influence You?

We've all seen the video demonstrations from Star Wars The Old Republic where the developers have talked about Light side and Dark side options in the SWTOR. When you set up a character, remember that you don't choose Light or Dark side at the same time that you choose the class, faction, race and look. You choose to act Light or Dark as you make decisions. A character is not simply either Light or Dark.

So in SWTOR will you choose the Light or Dark side for the sole purpose of achieving certain levels in Light or Dark that then open up your access to certain weapons and equipment (according to the developers)? Or will your decision be based on morals and the type of character you want to play? Would you, for example, take out a camp of children in order to get Dark reputation that might earn you an uber cloak?!

The SWTOR developers have also said that if you build up enough Dark Alignment your character can actually change appearance if you choose to enable that option.

From what they've shown so far in the videos, my concern is that your decisions are highlighted as either light or dark. So if you're having  conversation with an ingame character you might be given three possible responses to choose from. Sometimes they are actually tagged as either Light or Dark as we have seen in the Flashpoint videos. I just wonder if this takes away some of the fun of it. Not all decisions can be as obviously Dark as slaying children. In Dragon Age, when attempting to build reputation with your companions, you have to guess what they may or may not like. Having the Light and Dark decision outlined makes it less realistic (and yes I know it's just a game, but it's role-playing isn't it!?).

What do you think? Are the highlighted selections just there for players who want to space-skip through conversations maybe?

SWTOR Beta Testing Weekend EU testers Invites sent!

Gold Post!

General Game Testing Invites are now being sent to EU testers.

Sent Nov. 10: General Game Testing Invites
Who was invited: Testers from all European launch countries
What was sent: General Game Testing Invites
Server locations: EU servers
Invite status: Invites will continue to be sent during today. E-mails can take some time to be sent, so please check your www.swtor.com/tester page to be sure!

Did you get a golden ticket?

following countries:
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom

Advanced Class Breakdown: Imperial Agent

Agents are masters of stealth, seduction, and assassination.

Our Imperial Agent class page has now been updated with all the advanced class information (also presented to you below).

The Empire dominates scores of star systems across the galaxy, but not through the power of the dark side alone. Behind the scenes, the cunning Agents of Imperial Intelligence track down and eliminate the Empire’s enemies—from intractable Republic senators to traitorous Imperial Moffs to bloodthirsty rebels with Republic ties. Imperial Agents must master the arts of infiltration, seduction, and assassination to advance the Empire’s causes; they face the opposition of a terrified galaxy and the capriciousness of their own Sith overlords.

What's an advanced class you ask? Check out this post which explains further.

Advance Class: Operative
Whether ambushing enemies from stealth or using advanced medical technology to keep colleagues in the fight, the operative will do whatever it takes to advance the agenda of the Empire.



Tree: Concealment (Melee DPS)
Upgrades stealth and close-range attacks, allowing the Agent to strike without detection.

Waylay
Passive
Backstab no longer has an energy cost.

Slice
Passive
Sever Tendon has a 100% chance to root targets for 2 seconds.

Tree: Medic (Heal)
Advances the Agent's healing technologies, keeping his allies both alive and effective.

Advanced Toxin Removal
Passive
Toxin Scan now removes mental debuffs, and heals for a small amount.

Advanced Class Breakdown: Sith Warrior

Next up in our advanced class breakdown in the mirror of the Jedi Knight Class, the Sith Warrior class. All four Republic classes have a mirror Sith class that each have the same play style and same type of options ... but with a darker feel!

This is a smart move by BioWare as it will bring a yin yang balance to the two factions. Balance is crucial in any game and besides, there must be balance in the Force!

So our Sith Warrior class page has now been updated with all the advanced class information (also presented to you below). Read up because if you intend to play SWTOR you'll need to understand the advanced class options available to you and other players. 

Once you turn to the Dark Side, forever will it dominate your destiny ...

Sith Warrior
Warriors channel anger and hatred to become brutal combatants.

Advanced Class:Juggernaut

Sith who train in the stalwart arts of the Juggernaut boast unrivaled stamina in battle. Through diligence and clarity, the Juggernaut shapes the Force to his will to become nearly invulnerable. Damage that would destroy others is shrugged off, and futility fills the Juggernaut's foes with doubt and despair. Protecting their allies and punishing their adversaries, they charge into the thick of any fray, and take the brunt of the assault and are even able to drain the energy of their enemies to further strengthen their resolve.

Tree: Vengeance (DPS)
The Juggernaut stops at nothing to crush enemies, obliterating them with heavy hits.

Advanced Class Breakdown: Jedi Knight

To give gamers a better understanding of how classes in SWTOR work, we will be breaking down the information for each individual class, into their advanced classes. Over time we'll separate the class pages even further into individual pages about specific specializations (Jedi Knight: Guardian; Jedi Knight: Sentinel; etc).

As you probably already know, there are eight main classes in SWTOR. For each of these eight there will be 2 advanced classes. At around level ten you will get the option to choose your destiny. Each character will have three trees of skills that they can build up. Two of these trees are unique to each advanced class. One of the trees is shared by the other advanced class of that class. Confused? An example would be that the class of Jedi Knight has two advanced classes: Jedi Knight: Guardian and Jedi Knight: Sentinel. Both of these advanced classes have the same tree of Focus. They each then have another two that are unique.

What this means for the gamer is that if you choose Jedi Guardian, you don't necessarily need to be a tank. If you spec into the Vigilance tree you'll be able to wield a lot of damage.

To make it clear, advanced classes are not just individual skill trees, like marksmen or beastmaster for hunters in WoW, they are classes of their own with their own unique options.

Drinking With Jedi, Talking About Combat Styles

After watching the combat video last week it got me thinking about sword fighting styles ingame. I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with the real Jedi from Episodes 2 and 3.

Left to right Adam Gill (friend), Kyle Rowling (Joclad Danva, General Grievous Actor not Voice and Count Dooku body and stunt double ), the sexy Sandi Finlay (Sly Moore), Matt Sloan (PLO KOON), Michael Byrne (Darth Sidious stunt double) and me John Gatt ( Jedi Wannabe).

Will we get a full set of styles to chose from like one hand and two hand dual sabers and duel blades? Will our specials reflect our weapon of choice?

Over a lot of beers Kyle made me appreciate the importance of stage fighting. The techniques are not just about blocking and swinging. You need fineness in the moves and I was reminded of it as I watched Episode 3 last week.

Kyle helped choreograph the final fight between Ben and Anakin and helped to come up with an amazing ending to the fight, but George wanted to keep the final blow simple. In one way, when I see that final blow where Anakin loses an arm and 2 legs I'm like WTF? Show me how he did that, and in another way I appreciative that it's quick and doesn't take away from the drama of Anakin's defection.

In all my gaming years I have seen a lot of sweet moves in games and some of the Jedi styles in SWG were some of the best (pre NGE as for some crazy reason a lot got removed). What I've seen so far from SWTOR is looking good and I hope BioWare have put as much time into special moves as they have in to things like voices.

An interview with Kyle here and an interview with Matt here.

Same Sex Romances in SWTOR

No idea how I missed this last week ... it's a whopper! First let's look at this post on STWOR.com forums by StephenReid:
Official statement follows: Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a post-launch feature. Because The Old Republic is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options.

So let's recap, there will be same sex romance allowed in STWOR, but not when it's first released, it will come out in an expansion. This raises a whole lot of questions, like what role will romance (same sex or opposite sex) play in the game? SWTOR is being released rated T for teens, but will this change with an upcoming expansion?

People got so mad about the decision to not include same gender romances until post-launch that BioWare had to delete/lock the first 300 posts. Now it's not just bi-sexual and gay people that are pissed off, it's anti-gay people and some parents and the religious conservatives who are getting mad that the content will ever be allowed in the game.

But on the flip side, what if there was no inter-species romance? Would people get as upset? I know a lot of guys in real life that have gone nuts when they see girls dressed up as Twi'Lek's for example. So are we all that desperate that we must have Twi'Lek romance in the release and not patched at a later date?!  

BioWare have gone to great lengths to include romance in RPG games in the past and I even stumbled into a gay love scene in Dragon Age II  that kinda threw me because it was so unexpected!

In case you haven't played Dragon Age II and are not familiar with what I am talking about, let me explain. In Dragon Age II, to unlock certain abilities with your companions, you need to establish relations with them. You do this in the form of conversations. You have choices in what you say to them when you talk about choices and personal issues. Choices you make during quests effect the way your companions feel about your character. The more the companion likes your character and its choices, the more abilities are unlocked, making your companions more effective during gameplay.

During my gameplay in Dragon Age II I was attempting to build up my male warrior's relationship with Anders, who is a male companion character. Anders was my main healer and I thought he was a pretty cool dude. But in my attempts to build up a rapport between the two, Anders took it the wrong way and before I knew it there was a lengthy kissing scene between the two (male) characters. In Dragon Age II the same end result can happen between opposite sex characters as well. In another scenario, my character was talking to a male elf in a brothel while I was following a quest line and before I knew it, they were in bed together ... not what I had intended. My two female companions were very upset!

Surely there should me more control over whether your character pursues a hetero or a gay relationship? In Dragon Age II, which is a BioWare game, the plot line leading to a romance encounter was a bit unpredictable. What would Chewie do if Han took his big hugs the wrong way?

Would he rip his head off ? If Han went for the grab?

Is this same sex romance option not in SWTOR on release due to time constraints or is LucasArts blocking it? Are BioWare just holding off until the game is out and has 5 million players before telling George sorry ... we are putting it in, you can't stop us now! 

But my final question is, will this be an epic Star Wars adventure or a cliche romance novel?

and will my smuggler have that same sex appeal as Han solo?

Ready set hutt ... hutt ... hutt!

The idea of science fiction football has been around for years and I must say i am very excited about this arena style football game in Star Wars The Old Republic and it's not just Sith vs Republic, it's Sith vs Sith or Republic vs Republic. The Hutts really don't care who kills who. Imagine going to a football match where they gave all the jocks lightsabers and said get the football to the end of the field, any way possible!

"A new event has captured the hearts and minds of the citizens on the Smuggler’s Moon of Nar Shaddaa. Known as “Huttball,” two teams clash for the amusement of the masses and to win favor with the famed Giradda the Hutt in this new video that highlights just one of the Player-vs-Player (PvP) Warzones in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™!"


Check out the Video Now!

Eternity Vault Live Operation Video

This is the swtor part of the gamescom 2011 press conference from EA showing the 8 Player operation Eternity Vault. If you have ever played end game content in any MMO this will give you a good idea what your in for in SWTOR. Eternity Vault is a level 50 operation (Raid for the WoW players) and my got it looks good! Its nice to see the first boss is not a walk in the park as you will see in the video. Thanks to TOROZ for the heads up!

Sith suck balls and want to do your mom ... did we really want to hear it anyway?!

You know I understand why BioWare made the decision to separate global chat channels between factions. If you haven't heard, Georg Zoeller has clarified on the official forums that global chat will be separate between Sith and Republic but normal local chat will be able to be viewed by everybody and understood. In case if you haven't played WoW before, Horde and Alliance can see each other saying stuff, but the text is scrambled. In a lot of other MMOs opposite factions do not get global or server wide communications. If they weren't separated we might see something like this:

From Georg Zoeller: “Guys, Let's back up for a minute and clarify what's going on here. Nothing has changed since San Diego Comic Con. As discussed at SDCC, the decision was made to separate the general chat channels by faction. However, this decision ONLY affects the planet-wide chat channels such as "General Chat." If you're standing next to another player (local chat), you can talk to them regardless of what faction you're part of. The only thing we removed, as already mentioned at Comic-Con, was the ability to communicate with the opposing faction across the entirety of a planet to avoid the issues (like griefing, abuse, and other factors which led to a very unpleasant experience) which we saw way too often in testing. We discussed the option of hiding the global chat and defaulting it off, but ultimately the ratio of negative incidents was too high to justify that. The reasoning here is simple: We really didn’t want to create a game option that essentially says "[x] Give me an 80% chance of having an infuriating and annoying chat experience," and putting the onus on the user ("you can just /ignore them") is not our idea of a quality game experience.Removing planet-wide cross-faction chat radically reduces the amount of reach a misbehaving player has before account action can be taken. We’ll likely add the ability to filter local cross faction chat as well. Hopefully that clears it up a bit.”