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BioWare Releases Oceanic Launch Details, Includes Server Names & Types

Fearless Community Leader Stepehen Reid just took to the official forums with a post that should be of great interest to TOR players in the Oceanic region of the world… launch details and server names just for you! The biggest advantage here is of course that these servers are located regionally, and game performance should be markedly better.

BioWare had previously announced that they would be launching the game in Oceana on March 1st, and now we have details… and in fact, depending where you are, the launch of these servers might even be as soon as tomorrow!

Here’s our official launch timing. All servers will be online simultaneously at approx 5:01AM CST (Austin time), but with timezones straddling a date

New Zealand: 12:01am NZDT (March 1st)
Australia: 10:01pm EDT (February 29th)
Singapore: 7:01pm SGT (February 29th)
Hong Kong: 7:01pm HKT (February 29th)

Of further interest are the server names and types – crucial for MMO fans to rally their friends and all get on the same page:

We’ll be launching with three initial servers dedicated to these territories. As previously mentioned, these servers are physically located in Australia:

Dalborra (PvE)
Master Dar’Nala (PvP)
Gav Daragon (RP PvE)

Not covered yet is the clarity on character transfers for players that have already started them on North American or European realms. Reid mentions that an FAQ will be coming out tomorrow, and perhaps we’ll know more about it then.

In the mean time, head over and check out Mr. Reid’s entire post!

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Posted by Lethality | 4 Comments

Community Q&A February 24th – Improved Travel, Combat Animations & More

This week’s Community Q&A has just been posted and it’s got some interesting questions (and answers!) No doubt, some players will feel that there are too many “coming soon” answers, but it does give a snapshot into where BioWare is and their eye on the community.

You can read the entire Q&A here after the jump, and don’t forget to head over to the offical forum thread for next week’s Q&A and get your question in there!

Chyp: Can we expect to see any animation/damage timing consistency changes between factions?

Georg Zoeller (Principal Lead Combat Designer): Yes. The animation team has been working on a new set of animations for abilities like the Trooper’s Mortar Volley to provide closer matching of animation timings and improved combat responsiveness. We expect to roll these changes out with Game Update 1.2.

Zennis: Has there been any discussion to streamlining the Space Port process? Perhaps allowing speeders in the Space Ports besides the Fleet?

Brian Audette (Senior Designer): We’ve absolutely heard what the fans are saying and have been exploring options to address these issues. While we are still investigating allowing speeder use in Space Ports, we’ve also been looking for other ways to get people from point A to point B with greater haste. One such feature will specifically affect planets that have Orbital Stations instead of Space Ports such as: Tython, Korriban, Hoth, and Belsavis. We’ll be adding an option for players to go directly to their ships from the surface shuttles as opposed to having them run through the Orbital Station to their airlocks. This feature and some additional tweaks will start showing up in Game Update 1.2.

deusBAAL: Will you be providing a LFG tool? What will be its features? How will it be intended to work and when can we expect it to go live?

Daniel Erickson (Lead Writer): We are hard at work on a much more robust LFG functionality that will quickly help put groups together while still offering the flexibility to decide how you group and what sort of people you want to be grouped with. We’ll release more details as we get closer to release.

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Quick Start Guide: Maps & Navigation

This morning along with a fresh new patch, BioWare also brought the latest installment of their video Quick Start guide series. This time, the legendary Eric Musco walks players though using the powerful and extensive map system in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I have to say the map isn’t 100% user friendly to get into, but once you do, it’s a very powerful feature and a great addition (almost necessary) for a game like TOR.

You can check out other videos in the series, as well as hints at upcoming topics here. Enjoy!

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Posted by Lethality | 6 Comments

Video: A Look At Star Wars: The Old Republic

In a nice mid-week update, BioWare has released a brand new video entitled “A Look At The Old Republic.”

No MMO launch is ever perfect, but we are pleased to report that the launch of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ on December 20, 2011 was a tremendous success. More than two million copies of the game have been sold, and the servers are full of players logging in to experience their own personal Star Wars™ sagas and to play with friends through the hundreds of hours of massively-multiplayer content.

While it doesn’t contain any new information for veteran players of the game, it’s a neat recap of the game from launch to the present day. According to the video, over 2 million copies of the game have been sold, and over 14,000,000 characters have been created!

There are video vignettes of the live pit at the studio from launch day, and you can see the anticipation of everyone standing around waiting for the flood gates to open!

All in all, worth a watch and especially worth sending to a friend who might be on the fence about giving TOR a try.

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Posted by Lethality | 6 Comments

Trio Of Ex-TOR Developers Form New Game Studio

Hot on the heels of Senior Writer Drew Karpyshyn leaving BioWare and the video game business comes news that 3 more senior developers from BioWare, who have worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic for more than 5 years, have departed the company to pursue other opportunities.

Lead Concept Artist Arnie Jorgensen, whom we did an interview with last year at Star Wars Celebration, along with artist Alex Thomas and developer John Watson left BioWare to form their own game studio in Austin, Texas called Stoic. They are working on a game called The Banner Saga that will borrow heavily from their own individual experiences, as well as that of BioWare:

“It will include BioWare-style dialog, exploration of gorgeously painted landscapes, and turn-based strategic combat,” Watson said.

The Banner Saga will be released in 2 phases, the first of which will include multi-player combat. It has an interesting art style and might be something to watch! Head over to Indie Games Magazine for the full story.

And Arnie, if you and your team are reading this, good luck with your project – we will be following closely!

 

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J!NX Unleashes SW:TOR Swag!

If you’ve been dying to show your love for Star Wars: The Old Republic outside of Carrick Station, the fine folks at J!NX just gave you a whole bunch of ways to do it! The gaming-culture company probably best known for their World of Warcraft clothing has released a Hutt-load of TOR-themed t-shirts, in both men’s and women’s styles.

There are designs representing every single class, plus you can also fly the colors of your faction… and even reveal if you lean a little to the dark side ;)

We’ve posted a couple shots below, but head over to the J!NX site to check ’em all out and maybe even order one for yourself!

 

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