Jun 8, 2011

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E3 2011 – Eternity Vault Preview At GameTrailers

Another great segment yesterday was GameTrailers interview with BioWare’s Gabe Amatangelo where he revealed footage of and talked about raids, known as Operations in The Old Republic, for the first time!

The preview shown of the Eternity Vault, the first Operation in TOR is nothing short of amazing, and any MMORPG raider should be in awe. The environments and the action appear to surpass the best of what other games have to offer.

We suspect we’ll see some of this on SWTOR.com soon, but for now, have a look on GameTrailers!

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Jun 8, 2011

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E3 2011 – Alderaan Content Preview At GameSpot

In case you missed it, GameSpot yesterday published a new interview with BioWare Writing Director Daniel Erickson where they take a look at group content on Alderaan.

This particular preview is great for players who fear that the open world may not contain any group situations or quests, and this illustrates that’s simply not the case.

BioWare has said that the Alderaan preview content will be available on SWTOR.com in the coming weeks, but for now, enjoy!

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Jun 7, 2011

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E3 2011 – Daniel Erickson Gameplay Demo + Q&A

Earlier today, BioWare conducted a very cool live gameplay demo and Q&A session to make sure that the TOR faithful at home could experience the same goodness that E3 attendees do.

During the session, Daniel Erickson piloted a level 26 Bounty Hunter (Powertech Advanced Class) through the deserts of Tattooine. This really helped show off just how big and just how open these worlds will be!

Stephen Reid helped to answer about 20 questions from the community during the demo, and there was quite a bit of interesting information contained in the answers! Here’s a quick bullet list of the topics discussed:

  • Tattooine level range 24-28 currently
  • Cannot level and play solely through PvP, since story would be a gate
  • Jawa companion for the Bounty Hunter named Blizz
  • No Ewoks confirmed!
  • Many kinds of speeders – some are faction specific, but you have a chance to obtain other factions vehicles
  • Mounts at level 25 currently
  • Different speed mounts will be available
  • No “autoloot”, but you can right click to take all
  • There is a Sarlaac you can visit – and yes, even throw people in!
  • No bag system, just one big inventory – separate tab for quest items
  • At least one more Warzone to announce (On Corellia perhaps?)
  • Special companions like Jaws have “sets” and appearances, but more human companions can use any armor
  • Droid companions get unique items and armor
  • Tattooine is and open world, all classes go there
  • Companion system going through at least one more iteration – stay tuned!
  • There are some Force using companions
  • You cannot sell your companion :)
  • There is a medical probe option to resurrect your character in-place instead of running back – puts you in stealth so you can go re-buff nearby
  • There is a respawn timer if you die in quick succession
  • There will be world bosses
  • Warp to bind point ability is available
  • Starships cannot be summoned anywhere.
  • Everything is the actual size it needed to be (i.e. ships designed outside to accommodate inside)
  • Companions can resurrect players and other companions

If you watched the stream, you know that the quality was turned down a bit both in the settings and bandwidth to assure good performance. But Stephen Reid remarked that there will be HD Tattooine footage on SWTOR.com later in the week.

You can find an archived recording of the event here.

 

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Jun 7, 2011

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E3 2011 – Tattooine Gameplay Video + Images

When the doors opened on E3 2011, the mad rush, as usual, was on! But the rush wasn’t nearly as mad thanks to the Electronic Arts booth, and the TOR queue line being right inside the front door! So, that made it easier to get some early gameplay screenshots and video you’re about to see!

The groups playing were level 25 and allowed to roam free on Tattooine, previously unseen beyond some screenshots. You can see them hopping on vehicles, interacting with the map and of course combat with Sand People! It also shows what appears to be a newer build, as it contains the recently revealed new User Interface.

The video is from the perspective of the Sith Warrior Marauder, and we’re currently processing the video and will have it posted Soon™ – But for now below are some pics.

Disclaimer: There was a 40 foot tall (literally) blinding HD screen of death right across from these very nice, but very glossy TOR monitors on the outside of the booth. This made it nearly impossible to get a head-on shot or video of the game without any reflection (I would have killed for normal glare, but this was like a mirror!)

With that out of the way…. Enjoy, and we’ll shout out when we have the video uploaded, and update this post!

Gameplay Video

Image Gallery

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Jun 7, 2011

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E3 2011 – Dr. Greg Zeschuk Interview – BioWare Pulse

BioWare Pulse – BioWare’s very own web-based video show – just released their second episode. In it, they spoke to BioWare Co-Founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk immediately following yesterday’s EA press conference where he presented the Choose trailer (a mashup of all 3 cinematic trailers – available to view on Origin.com).

In the interview, he touches on some of what we’ll see out of TOR here at E3, as well as his preference – Republic or Empire!  The SW:TOR section begins at about 3:45, which you can link directly to here.

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