Posted by Lethality | 13 Comments

EU Game Testing Update – New Game Build Incoming

European Community Manager Chris Collins gave a much-anticipated update on Game Testing to fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic who live in the European Union, although the news probably isn’t exactly what most of them wanted to hear:

After a lengthy discussion here at the BioWare offices, the decision has been made to postpone the proposed Game Testing invites for EU players for a number of reasons.

On the upside of Chris’ post, once invites do go out, everyone will be playing on a brand-spanking new major build of the game, and for EU players, for the first time in their localized languages:

Secondly, this new build will bring about the first localized versions of Star Wars: The Old Republic, which means those of you that speak French and German will have the chance to play the game in those languages, for the first time ever. We’re extremely excited to be able to offer this to our players and as such, we’re keen to get a lot of feedback from European testers in particular.

It sounds like the new build could be rolled out as early as this week, so that’s good news for everyone – either in testing, or about to be invited! Either way, we’ll be one build closer to launch :)

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Posted by Lethality | 30 Comments

Blue Milk & Cereal: How Should Beta Weekends Testers Be Chosen?

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!

Yesterday in Blue Milk & Cereal, we learned that most of us went invite-less this weekend, at least as far as TOR is concerned. This wasn’t unexpected though, as BioWare stated that the invite groups will start small and eventually get bigger each week.

But one trend we saw crop up in our comments, as well as on the official forums, was the feeling that the selection method for these Beta Weekends left something to be desired.

Original Game Testing invites were a random selection of players who were filtered based on their system specifications. But the system scan has since been removed from SWTOR.com, indicating this information is no longer being used as a filter for selection of testers.

So, given that there doesn’t appear to be a technical requirement for testers any longer, some fans felt that there should be some other way that Beta Weekend testers should be chosen, as opposed to randomly. Some felt they should be rewarded based on when they signed up for the forums, or if they pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition.

Of course, it’s easy to cast stones when you’re not part of the “chosen”, but perhaps there’s some merit to the thinking that it shouldn’t be random at this stage. Other games -past, present and future – have considered giving a nod to their dedicated fans when it comes to things like beta access.

So what do you think? What method do you think BioWare should be inviting testers for the beta weekends, or even general Game Testing, at this point?

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Posted by ReDDoT | 26 Comments

Blue Milk & Cereal: Will You Play Your Main Class In Testing?

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!

As most of our readers already know – the “expanded closed beta” of Star Wars: The Old Republic will begin September 2, which is this upcoming weekend. BioWare is telling us that a lot of people will have a shot at playing the game during the month of September and beyond, at least on the weekends. Needless to say, players are excited. In fact, according to various forums threads, many players are planning to use the beta to try out various classes and perhaps reaffirm their initial class choice. Still others are dead set on playing their main class, so they can start gaining knowledge about it, and get a “leg up” on the competition.

That’s not the whole picture though. Some players have decided to not play the beta at all, even if they get the invite, so they don’t risk spoiling any of the story for themselves. Another portion, perhaps the largest one, will play the opposite faction – to avoid spoiling any of the class and faction story arcs for the real deal.

Personally, I’m with the last group. I am not going to touch the Jedi Consular class and will instead roll an Empire character for the beta, if I’m lucky enough to get in. That’s not going to stop me from having fun and it will also give me a perspective on the opposite faction. However, things may change as the temptation to fall for the dark side is rather strong (also considering most of my friends are aiming for the Sith Empire)!

So the question is – if you get into Game Testing either for the weekends or otherwise, will you play your favorite class?

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Posted by Lethality | 15 Comments

PAX 2011: Beta Testing Weekends Begin September 2nd

If you’re reading this, there’s a chance you’ll be playing Star Wars: The Old Republic next weekend.

If you haven’t already heard, BioWare today revealed that the Beta Testing Weekends announced back in July are beginning on September 2nd. And in case that didn’t click for you – that’s this coming weekend!

Senior Live Producer Blaine Christine said they’re adding a brand new testing server and inviting a whole new group of people. He mentioned specifically if you don’t get in next weekend “you should be getting in very soon.”

This means that in order to get all of this weekend’s testers downloaded and patched up, they’re likely to begin that process during the week. So keep a close watch on your inbox!

And if for some reason you’re not actually signed up for the Game Testing program yet, waste no time, because you gotta be in it to win it!

Good luck everyone, looks like this thing is real after all!

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Posted by Lethality | 7 Comments

Guild Testing Details Posted

Senior Community Coordinator David Bass delivered on a promise to post the Guild Testing details tonight, and he has done just that right here!

How do I sign my guild up for Guild Testing?

All you need to do in order to have your guild considered for Guild Testing is to have an active guild with at least 10 members registered in our Guild Headquarters. We also recommend creating a recruitment thread on our forums, but please make sure you are following the Recruitment Guidelines we’ve set forward. Guilds that spam recruitment messages after multiple warnings, for example, will not be considered for Guild Testing.

It seems that no special action is required on the part of the guild or guild leaderrship to become eligible for selection. Simply meet the 10 member requirement, and hope for the best!

This is a huge milestone in the game’s development cycle, and no doubt many players are very excited at the opportunity to get their chance to test The Old Republic! Head over to the official forums to read David’s entire post, and then get busy with your guild!

 

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