Oct 4, 2011

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Blue Milk & Cereal: What Kind Of Raider Will You Be?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Raiding is a staple of the MMO genre. Over time, it has evolved to become the premiere form of end-game content, where players can band together to take on the greatest foes a particular game has to offer. With Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare seems to be looking to add more to end-game, but raiding is still present in the form of Operations, the first of which is the Eternity Vault.

The multi-player component of MMOs is important, and raiding serves to bring players together in a big way. Not only is it a catalyst for joining a guild, but there is almost a “meta-community” that has formed around this aspect of gameplay. There are “rock star” guilds and players, and sites dedicated to tracking guild progression as well as assisting players in optimizing for this style of gameplay. It’s only a matter of time before these elements emerge in the TOR community as well.

The notion of raiding has always brought with it the perception that large chunks of time were required to progress and be successful, because mostly it’s true. Blizzard has achieved some success in making raiding more accessible by introducing smaller groups and harder challenges for those with more skill and time. It’s yet to be seen how BioWare will handle this, but it’s safe to assume they’ll work hard on accessibility as well.

So the question today is – are you a raider, and if so, how would you classify yourself? Let us know!

What kind of raider would you classify yourself as?

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Sep 30, 2011

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Blue Milk & Cereal: What Are Your Launch Day Plans Or Traditions?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Launch day for an MMO is special. It’s always an exciting time for both the player and the company that created the game. It’s when the fun finally gets rolling for players, but also when the work truly begins for the company.

For those of us who have experienced the joys (and sometimes frustrations) that come with the launch of an MMO, we sometimes also have traditions for this jubilant day. Stocking up on food, changing our sleeping schedule, or just clearing a few days off from school or work so we can put full attention on the game, as much as possible. Maybe it’s a midnight launch and you decide to play through the night, not stopping until you reach a designated level!

For me, I try to keep it rather simple. I’ll stock up on Mountain Dew and some food. I’ve always had a routine of at least playing through the first night then falling asleep later in the day.

This is another one that’s tough to fit into a poll, even though we’ll give it a whirl! So tell us about YOUR launch day plans or traditions in the comments below!

What are your launch day plans? Check all that apply!

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Sep 29, 2011

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Blue Milk & Cereal: Would You Mind Micro-transactions In The Old Republic?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Gear. Mounts. Titles. These have always been items of notoriety in MMORPGs which players would typically spend hours working towards acquiring through in-game questing. Then, Blizzard changed it all.

Although there had certainly been micro-transactions prior to World of Warcraft, when the market leader steps in it was immediately validated in a way it wasn’t before. With the introduction of the Blizzard Store, they allowed players to purchase non-combat pets and eventually mounts for their game account – for a real-world fee.

In addition, to much controversy, Blizzard’s upcoming Diablo 3 (although not an MMO) will allow you to use real money on the auction house to purchase in-game goods. The success, or failure, of this will most likely change the face of micro-transactions across the entire gaming landscape.

So far, BioWare has only revealed traditional a monthly subscription model for the game, and there are no signs of micro-transactions anywhere.

As for me, I’m staying away from these kind real-money transactions, should they be an option. EA is already getting $150 from me, plus an additional $14.99 per month. The only way they’ll get more from me will be through expansions. I think… :)

What about you? Do you care if certain micro-transactions are available for The Old Republic? If you do, what would you want to be able to buy? Or not be able to buy?

How you feel about micro-transactions?

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Sep 28, 2011

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Blue Milk & Cereal: How Will You Spend Free Time Until Launch?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re rounding the corner into the home stretch. There are so many cliches and one-liners that you can use… let’s just say Star Wars: The Old Republic is nearly ours!

Indeed, December 20-22 isn’t that far away. But how are you going to spend your free time until that day of jubilance?

There are so many gaming options out there, either right now or on their way. You’ve got games on the horizon like Skyrim, or you might be picking a side between Call of Duty or Battlefield 3. Perhaps you’re in the recently launched Diablo III beta. Or heck, for that matter maybe you’re one of the lucky few in the coveted Star Wars: The Old Republic beta!

But there are other options as well. Maybe you’re working on getting a new computer together for The Old Republic. Maybe your job, or school, have your full attention now. Perhaps you just need a break from gaming!

For me, I’m spending more time with my Xbox 360 now that my calendar is a little clearer. Games like Madden ’12, and FIFA ’12 are currently in rotation in my console. Soon enough, I’ll be adding Battlefield 3 to the mix.

But what about you? What is occupying your time until the 20th or 22nd of December? Be sure to vote, and comment below!

How will you spend your free time until TOR launches?

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Sep 24, 2011

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Blue Milk & Cereal: Will You Save Multiple Character Names?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

We all have names we hold special to ourselves. You know, the name your gaming friends know you as or a set of names you’ve used for characters over the years.

For me, the name Shockum has been a name I’ve had for over 5 years now. Sure, back in my early gaming days, I had an extended name here or another namem there. But, Shockum has stuck with me the longest. If I went with something else, I’d get to hear this line a lot, “Who’s this guy?” You can ask my guildmates in Reign, about it; I tried it once, and wish I never had. It’s a headache to repeatedly say who you are to friends who already know you!

So, that brings me to the question, are you planning to save names or namebank?

Simply, “namebanking” refers to the practice of quickly creating multiple characters to reserve your preferred name for a character you will create later, precenting someone else from taking it in the mean time. How heartbreaking is it to create a character with a name you love, only to see it’s taken or unavailable? Trust me, I’ve been there and it’s a pain to add another letter change the spelling to use it.

I, for one, only have the one name to reserve and make sure it’s mine. There might be a couple for alts that I want to use but they’re of little or no importance to me. All I care about is one name, and I’ll do what it takes to get it.

How about you? Do you have a name(s) that you are planning to lock down with multiple level one characters? Maybe you have someone planning to hold it for you, just in case something happens? Let us know (but I’d advise posting those names here in the comments section ;)

Edit: And now that we know the release date, there is plenty of time to conjur up those names!

Will you create characters ahead of time just to save names?

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