Posted by Shockum | 8 Comments

Blue Milk & Cereal: Are You A Star Wars Lore Nerd?

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!

I have a confession to make. I know very little in regards to the history of the Star Wars universe. My knowledge for the most part was limited nearly exclusively to the movies. I didn’t check out any books, comics, or anything of the like. So to me, it was like none of that existed.

Was I in for a rude pleasant awakening. Since I became focused on Star Wars: The Old Republic, I have put my self through a virtual crash course on Star Wars. Let’s just say, I’ve stepped my game up.

Notably, I’ve read books the recent books in the Star Wars: The Old Republic series like, “Decieved,” and “Fatal Alliance.” Additionally, I’ve had my hands on the Darth Bane trilogy, and now the Thrawn series. I’ll be adding “Revan,” to that list when it comes out in just a few weeks.

But, even with expanding my knowledge as I have, I feel I’m still behind the curve. If you move through the chaos that is the Official Forums, you’ll see there are people who know their stuff. Our very own Professor Walsh can hang with the best of them, having read every single Star Wars novel but two.

So why would I want to do something like this? Well, when it comes down to it, it turns out I’m a lore junkie. I like finding out the odds-and ends-on a particular subject. You never know it may come in hand, to fill in a blank. People have their own reasons why they do it, that’s just mine.

How about you? Would you call yourself a lore buff, or not? Is the backstory to the game world you’re playing in even important to you? Has following TOR made you more interested?

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Posted by Lethality | 4 Comments

Star Wars Books Now Available Electronically; Includes Fatal Alliance And Deceived

As you may have heard recently, the vast library of Star Wars books was slated to be released in digital format.

Well, yesterday was that day! As of June 28, 2011, you can now purchase all of these great novels, including those titles set in The Old Republic – Fatal Alliance and Deceived.

Border’s Online book store has a great page where you can browse and purchase every novel in eBook format, and it’s set up by era and in chronological order!

Currently absent from the list is the upcoming Old Republic novel Revan by Drew Karpyshyn, but can pre-order the hardcopy in the mean time.

If you haven’t caught up on Fatal Alliance or Deceived yet, now would be a great time to do so… you may have just enough time to read them before TOR is released ;)

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Posted by Lethality | 4 Comments

Fatal Alliance: Cross-Examination

The recently released Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance novel by Sean Williams is our first full-length glimpse into the Star Wars universe during the timeline of the game. It takes place some time after the Treaty of Coruscant, and seems to be setting up a good deal of backstory for the game.

Given BioWare’s penchant for filling their media, such as the Holonet timeline and the web comics, with all kinds of things that may foreshadow what we see in the game, Fatal Alliance represents a virtual jackpot of potential information!

If you haven’t read the book yet, be advised that this entire article will contain potential spoilers. We’ll keep it updated as we continue to work our way through the book, so please bookmark this page and check back often – and we encourage you to ask questions or post your opinions in our comments section below. And if you notice anything we missed, let us know!

Topics:  Characters | Abilities | Locations | Species | Ships | General

Characters

• Jet Nebula (Human male Smuggler)
• Shinqo – Rodian male – slimy partner of Jet Nebula
• Dao Stryver (Mandalorian male Bounty Hunter)
• Larin Moxla (Kiffar female Trooper) – Indicates Kiffar as playable race? Likely, as BioWare seems to be sticking to very human-esque species.
• Shigar Konshi (Kiffar male Jedi Knight (Padawan) – Kiffar again.
• Clunker – Jet Nebula’s droid – Droid companions for Smugglers?
• Black Sun Syndicate – gang on Coruscant
• Fa’athra the Hutt – seems to be a nemesis of Nem’ro that we’ve all heard about

Abilities

• Lightsaber ability to cut through Bounty Hunter nets – anti-crowd control?
• Flame Thrower, used by Bounty Hunter Dao Stryver against Shigar and Larin
• Darts, Bounty Hunter – deflected by Jedi
• Choke Hold, Bounty Hunter – pick up enemy by throat and throw them – melee/crowd control ability?
• Rocket Launch, Bounty Hunter – used to shoot the environment and use it against enemies
• Force Push, used by Shigar against Dao Stryver – incapacitates his jet-pack. Crowd control/stun?
• Mandolorians seem to use many melee weapons throughout – indication for Bounty Hunter progression path?

Locations

• Coruscant
  • Gnawer’s Roost

Species

• Kiffar
• Bothan
• Rodian
• Human
• Twi’lek

Ships

• Auriga Fire – Jet Nebula’s Ship
• Cinzia – Independent Ship that self-desctructs

General

• Indication of trophies on display from various battles – in-game trophy system for display on player ships?
• Relations between the Mandalorians are strained to the point of broken
• Cross-faction romantic narrative – cross-faction interaction in game?

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Posted by Lethality | 61 Comments

Ask A Jedi – Fan Appreciation Giveaway!

While Ask A Jedi has been around only for a short time, everyone involved with producing the site has been following the game since even before the official announcement on October 21, 2008. In that time we’ve truly enjoyed getting to know many members of the community, and we wanted to give something back.

So, what are we giving away you ask? Well, although this may not be quite a large enough event to attach any sort of “palooza” moniker to, as TOR fans we hope you’ll find it exciting.

As you may be aware, next week is the release of the first novel set in the Star Wars: The Old Republic setting – Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams!  We have 5 copies of this much-anticipated hardcover book, and we’ll be giving away all 5 of them to members of the TOR community!

But wait, there’s more!

Last week during the Threat of Peace comic signing in Austin, Rob Chestney was nice enough to sign 2 sets of the books for us. The first set of course is being matted and framed to hang here at Ask A Jedi headquarters. As for the second set, we want to give them away to a member of the TOR community who couldn’t make it but would love to add them to their collection! The winner of this prize will be selected at random from the 5 Fatal Alliance winners.

To recap, that means we’re giving away 5 copies of Fatal Alliance – one to each of 5 different winners. And as a bonus prize, we’re also giving away signed copies (2 comic books, 1 of each cover – Republic and Empire) to one of the Fatal Alliance book winners (selected at random.)

So, how can you win these awesome prizes? It could’t be easier! There are three ways to do it:

1) Simply leave a comment on this article in the space below!
2) Follow us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ask-A-Jedi/102774669772184
3) Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/askajedi

And if you decide to do all three of those things, you actually triple your chances! The winners will be selected at random from the entire pool of people in those three places – Fans in Facebook, followers on Twitter, and commenters here on this blog article – as of 11:59pm EDT (3:59AM GMT) on July 23, 2010.

So to make sure you have a chance, simply do any or all of these things by July 23, 2010. The random drawing will be held the next day on July 24, 2010 and the winners will be notified the week of July 26, 2010.

Once again, thanks to everyone for visiting Ask A Jedi and being a part of a great community for what is sure to be and incredible game!

(Note that this giveaway is not endorsed nor sponsored by BioWare, LucasArts or any other 3rd parties.)

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Posted by Lethality | 0 Comments

Fatal Alliance – Audio Excerpt

Random House has just posted a short excerpt from the audio version of their upcoming book, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance.

You can listen to the full excerpt here: Click for audio.

The book, due both in audio form and printed form, is due out July 20, 2010. Here’s an overview from the publisher:

Tassaa Bareesh, a matriarch in the Hutt crime cartel, is holding an auction that’s drawing attention from across the galaxy. Representatives of both the Republic and the Sith Empire are present, along with a Jedi Padawan sent to investigate, a disenfranchised trooper drummed out of the Republic’s elite  Blackstar Squad, and a mysterious Mandalorian with a private agenda. But the Republic’s envoy is not what he seems, the Empire’s delegate is a ruthless Sith apprentice, the Jedi Padawan is determined to do the right thing and terrified that he can’t, the trooper hopes to redeem her reputation, and the Mandalorian is somehow managing to keep one step ahead of everyone.

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