Posted by Cormeister | 7 Comments

Yellow Posts: Rez Me, Not Fishing, And #HANDIEGO

Most of the dev tracker posts (and the Friday Update) this week were related to BioWare’s planned events at the San Diego Comic Con next week. In addition to the regular showing of gameplay features and announcements, two Flashpoints will be playable for select fans so be sure to keep a look out for more information about that! Developers and fans will be posting updates from the SDCC under the hashtag #HANDIEGO on Twitter, so keep a lookout there for some juicy tidbits.

In other news, Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller, was up to his usual tricks in responding to poster Semajoja about his thread titled “Should there be fishing in this game?“. In this brilliantly snarky response, Mr. Zoeller lays out, planet-by-planet, why fishing is not a good idea in SW:TOR:

Hmm, let’s see:

Hutta – Poisonous swamp, all fish are horribly mutated creatures that would eat you on sight. Better not go fishing.

Ord Mantell – Wartorn world, full of Separatists and men of fortune. Overabundance of unexploded ordnance polluting landscape and the ocean. Better avoid fishing there.

Tython – Lush landscape, so peaceful, except for those Flesh Raider guys. Who look like Sharks (at least according to Tython chat on the test servers). Just think about it. Sharks that walk. Better don’t think what’s in that water. Avoid fishing!

Korriban – Barren desert world. Full of evil and Sith. Empty of water, though. The only fish died millions of years ago. Some say it’s because the Sith are allergic to water (another reason they never learned to swim apparently).

Coruscant – Are you kidding? Remember the trash thing in the Death Star? Think about an entire planet dumping their garbage down the various drains. Better not fish there!

Dromund Kaas – Nice jungle world. Healthy climate. Well, except for lightning strikes. Some natural, some clearly overly angry Sith raging at the resident weather. Fishing during lightning storms? That’s a no. Well, maybe if you’re a Sith Sorcerer, but then again, you’re probably allergic to water. Dromund Kaas is out.

Taris – Lush jungle world…. full OF A DESTROYED CIVILIZATION. What little water is there is infested by .. things. Probably fish … with Rakghoul plague. Too dangerous to fish.

Balmorra – Hmm, perhaps. If it wasn’t for those bug things. Nasty large bug things. With claws. Ah, and the fact that Empire and Republic are fighting. No relaxing fishing in a war zone. Better avoid that.

Nar Shaddaa – Ah yes, a techno moon. No water to fish there. If there was, it’d be full of drowned gambler corpses and hutts. Hutts don’t like being fished. Out.

Tatooine – The Dune Sea. Great place to fish … for most.. I hear you can fish for Sarlaccs there. But there are Jawas. With Rocket Launchers. Out.

…

As you can see, it’s clearly not very viable to fish in this galaxy. Maybe if you’d fly over to that Calamari planet. But then again, as soon as you’d deploy your fishing gear, all the fish would just go ‘It’s a trap’ and there is that.

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Posted by Momus | 1 Comment

Friday Update – Studio Insider and Community Q&A + Comic-Con Details

While many of us were simply expecting a Fan Friday, we got a look instead into the opening cinematics, including two shorts videos, in a Studio Insider by Brian Arndt, Senior Video Editor at BioWare!

Another glimpse into the inner workings at BioWare, as well as two interesting vignettes of our characters. The Smuggler’s intro, I think we can all agree, is a bit more exciting than the Sith Warrior’s intro, but it was nontheless exciting to see them.

In addition, we got a Q&A session with Senior Audio Artist Scott Morton.

Q: What percentage of the in-game music is original for The Old Republic and what percentage has already been used elsewhere (movies, other games, etc.)? – Nahte

A: We’ve written a huge amount of original music for the game. There are over six hours of original score that have been produced specifically for The Old Republic, plus an additional hour and a half of brand new cantina music. In addition to the original score, you’ll also hear the scores for both Knights of the Old Republic I and Knights of the Old Republic II. Lastly, the game just wouldn’t be complete without John Williams’ material from the Star Wars films.

Next time, BioWare wants to hear your PvP questions… so what are you waiting for? Get postin’!  You can do so on the forums or on Facebook.

Finally, and separately, we got an update of the Sand Diego Comic Con information pertinent to The Old Republic.

Head on over to the SW:TOR main site and check it out!

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Posted by Lethality | 5 Comments

SDCC 2011 Update: Flashpoint Hands-On Schedule – RSVP

As mentioned last Sunday, BioWare has been working overtime to secure some extra playtime for TOR fans who may be in San Diego, but do not have a badge to get into the convention. Better yet, this special play time will allow players to play either of the first Flashpoints in the game – The Esseles (Republic) or The Black Talon (Empire)!

Today, Senior Community Coordinator David Bass gave some details on the schedule, and more importantly, the procedure on how to RSVP and get your name on the list for this great opportunity:

Two sessions will be held each night, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (July 21-23), one at 7PM, and one at 8PM. Each session will accommodate several groups of players for each Flashpoint. If you’re going to be in San Diego next week, and you wish to RSVP for a chance to play, please follow the directions below exactly and in their entirety.

Photo ID will be required for entry. Please note that incomplete RSVP emails WILL NOT be considered for invites. We cannot guarantee your first choice of play time or Flashpoint.

1. Gather the following information:
– Full name (as shown on your ID)
– Preferred Night: Thursday, Friday, or Saturday
– Preferred Time: 7PM or 8PM- Preferred Flashpoint: Esseles (Republic) or Black Talon (Empire)

2. Email all of the above info to events@swtor.com with the subject line: “RSVP for Flashpoint Gameplay at Comic-Con” by 10AM CST on Wednesday, July 13th.

Please note that anyone who wishes to play must send their own RSVP, and invites are non-transferable. Feel free to ask any questions you have below, but do NOT RSVP in this thread!

Important! You must send your RSVP email by 10am CST July 13th. That’s TOMORROW!

So, if you’re going to be in San Diego, this is something you definitely want to be a part of! Head over to the thread for complete info.

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Posted by Lethality | 2 Comments

SDCC 2011 Update: More TOR Hands-On Opportunities

As far as Sundays go for TOR news, this is a pretty good one! And an even better one if you plan on being in San Diego for the upcoming Comic-Con.

BioWare Senior Community Manager David Bass made a post on the official SWTOR.com forums indicating that, in addition to playing the game inside Comic-Con, as well as outside the convention at the Hilton Gaslamp, there is now a 3rd, special opportunity for fans to get their hands on the game:

In addition to our playable demos at the Comic-Con show floor and at BioWare Base at the Hilton Gaslamp, we’re also excited to give some of you the opportunity for an extended play session on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night at the Hilton. We’ve got a limited number of sessions each night to allow for selected fans to play through the first hour of either the Esseles or Black Talon flashpoints. In order to do this in the most fair manner, we’re going to do a random selection from those who RSVP to this event. Here’s how it will work:

1. On Tuesday, July 12th, we’ll make a post on the forums with instructions for how to RSVP. You’ll have exactly 24 hours from that post-time to follow the instructions and email us if you’d like to be considered for an invite. Note that you must be in San Diego during Comic-Con in order to play, so please don’t RSVP if you can’t make it to San Diego.
2. On Wednesday, July 13th, we’ll close invites off, and over the next day we’ll randomly select players from those who RSVP’d. Those people will be contacted, and will have a day to confirm their date/time for a play session.
3. On Friday, July 15th, any remaining open spots will be randomly offered to the remaining pool of applicants.

This is an awesome opportunity for some after-hour TOR gameplay, in one of the first two Flashpoints in the game. The Esseles is for the Republic, and The Black Talon is for the Empire. Having played The Black Talon at the Fan Site Summit, I can tell you this is something you want to do. I promise :) So pay close attention to the schedule that David outlined to have your best chances!

I think I speak for most fans when I say thanks to BioWare for going above and beyond the call of duty battlefield to work out all of these gameplay opportunities!

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Posted by Lethality | 0 Comments

SDCC 2011 Update: Dark Horse And BioWare Panel Announced

As we get closer to San Diego Comic-Con, we’re slowly getting the full picture of what to expect, at least in terms of TOR-related goodness!

Just the other day, we learned that BioWare’s main panel on Star Wars: The Old Republic will be held Thursday, and we now have word that there’s a panel on Saturday with BioWare and Dark Horse, focusing on their collaborations in the comic world:

Dark Horse and BioWare: A Comic and Video Game Partnership— Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect are creations of one of the most distinguished developers in video games — BioWare! Join Star Wars: The Old Republic senior writer Alexander Freed, Mass Effect 3 lead writer Mac Walters, Mass Effect comics scripter John Jackson Miller, Dark Horse editor Dave Marshall, and a cast of celebrities, as BioWare and Dark Horse announce their next collaboration and reveal exclusive details about the games and comics they’re working on.

The panel will be held in room 23ABC on Saturday, July 23 from 4:00-5:00pm.

Personally, I’d like to see new TOR comics available via their digital channel. Let’s hope that’s in the cards!

The excitement builds, nd the countdown to Comic-Con continues!

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