Posted by Lethality | 6 Comments
PAX: Day 1 – Quick Update
Taking a quick break from the very busy show floor, and just wanted to post a few updates, thoughts and pics for everyone!
First, as expected… the TOR booth is pretty crowded, as you can see below. But the system they have set up is pretty good… they have about 30 workstations set up, and have several helpful folks assuring that everyone gets about 15 minutes of hands-on time.
So far, we’ve had a chance to sit down for a Q&A session with Senior Producer Blaine Christine and Lead Writer Daniel Erickson. We’re going to work on getting those posted as soon as possible! There isn’t any new “reveals” in the interviews of course, but there might be a couple of points just juicy enough for some new speculation ;) We cover advanced classes, companions, “is it an MMO?” and more. Some highlights:
- They’ve definitely heard the “feedback” on the Jedi Wizard. My take is that there is more info coming in this regard.
- Companions aren’t going to make players gods above those who choose to play without them, but also players won’t necessarily be able to “spec” their character to make up for lost companion stats, if they choose to play without one.
- Advanced Class choice has been relegated to “still in development” – meaning, very much on the fence as if it will be permanent or not. But the Advanced Class choice you make seems to be the role are likely to be playing.
So I also finally was able to get my hands on the game for the first time. All of my hands-on impressions will be written up for here, and of course I’ll be discussing them on the forums, but my very first take was this (and its an important one): The game FEELS great.
Of the two classes I’ve played so far (Smuggler and Sith Inquisitor,) both of them felt visceral. I felt very connected to the character’s movement and abilities. There were no disconnected animations that were supposed to be connected to an ability I pressed 3 seconds ago, etc. There’s lots more to say, but I’ll leave you with that one for now. To me, this is probably the most important thing – that control “feels” right – considering the amount of time we tend to play these games.
So, that’s all for now… just wanted to give a quick update of the day so far. There is of course lots more to come, including the special presentation tomorrow at 5:00PM PST:
Star Wars Games – REVEALED!
LucasArts and BioWare unite on stage once again to give PAX attendees an exclusive in-depth look at Star Wars: The Old Republic! Don’t miss your chance to be the first to hear and see new details about the MMORPG that everyone is talking about. As an added bonus, attendees will also get an explosive look at a demo of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the sequel to 2008’s blockbuster best-seller. LucasArts will demonstrate now fugitive Starkiller’s devastating force powers in an exclusive look at this galaxy-altering game.
Stay tune for that one, because I have a feeling we’re going to get some news! Be sure to follow Ask A Jedi on Twitter for the up-to-the-minute tidbits – http://www.twitter.com/askajedi
Read MorePosted by Lethality | 3 Comments
Friday Update: Space Combat Holonet Update
Today, in the calm before the storm known as PAX, Joanne Laroche posted this Friday’s update:
Blast your way through asteroid fields, enemy fighters, and a variety of other obstacles as you encounter fast-paced Space Combat missions in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. In these occurrences, you’ll fly your personal starship to various “hot spots” on the galaxy map and experience gameplay that will evoke memories of some of the great Star Wars™ space battles.
Click here to visit the brand new Space Combat information page.
If you notice, the bottom of that page has room for 8 ships not 6. I think that means something ;)
Posted by Lethality | 4 Comments
Prelude to PAX!
Convention season is quickly coming to a close. But for all of us rabid fans of The Old Republic, this last one just might be the best one: PAX Prime! Why? Because PAX has always been a convention for the fans… for the gamers.
Last year at PAX 2009, BioWare and LucasArts were there with plenty of TOR goodness. The Trooper was revealed for the first time, we saw the reveal of Coruscant as a playable planet, and every attendee received a free copy of Knights of The Old Republic! You can actually catch the entire BioWare/LucasArts presentation courtesy of GameSpot right here.
So what can we expect this year?
Well, we know for sure that we will see the first US public consumer hands-on of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Everyone attending PAX will have the opportunity to play the game for the first time… that’s huge!
Also, BioWare and LucasArts have a special presentation on Saturday September 4th at 5:00pm PDT. What’s it about? Well, it’s safe to say that if there are any big reveals, they will probably come during this hour-long presentation.
We’re also hoping that just maybe, PAX will be the first time that the Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular classes will be playable… but that’s pure fanboy speculation on our part.
Needless to say, Ask A Jedi will be live from the PAX show floor every day, working to bring you breaking news as it happens, as well as deliver exclusive interviews, and of course lots of hands-on details of the game itself! Oh… and we’ll also be crashing all of the best parties, so don’t be shy in checking for after-hours updates as well ;)
We’ll be keeping this post updated with links to all of our PAX content, as well as all the good stuff we might find out in the rest of the TOR community. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for the absolute latest.
As we said… PAX is about the fans. BioWare and LucasArts know this, and we suspect they’ve got something great up their sleeve for all of us. Stay tuned, it’s gonna be a good week!
Related Stories:
PAX: Q&A w/ Blaine Christine and Daniel Erickson
The Cantina
Ask A Social Jedi
Friend Of The Jedi: TORWars
