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Friday Update – Game Testing is Under Way! + Comic-Con

Sean Dahlberg just posted the news we’ve all been waiting to hear: Game Testing is under way!

Game Testing for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is underway! Those selected to test will gain access to the game and be able to provide valuable feedback to help us tune particular areas of gameplay and begin the process of balancing and tweaking our content.

This confirms what many have been suspecting over the past few weeks amid some rumors. So if you haven’t already done so, run – not walk – over the the official TOR site to sign up to become eligible for Game Testing!

Sean also announced the official presence of Star Wars: The Old Republic at Comic-Con in San Diego later this month. They will have several booths at the show, and the developers will be hosting a panel entitled: “Beyond Solo: Crafting the Multiplayer Story.” Read the entire post here.

Ask A Jedi will be at the event to bring you all of the latest news and information of course!

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The Old Republic @ Comic-Con

Sean just posted an official announcement that Star Wars: The Old Republic will have a presence at this month’s Comic-Con International in San Diego!

It sounds like they’ll be taking part in a panel hosted by X-Play’s Morgan Webb where they’ll discuss the overarching galactic story, as opposed to individual class stories that they’ve been focusing on:

Comic-Con International is coming to San Diego, California! Meet up with The Old Republic team at the panel entitled “Beyond Solo: Crafting the Multiplayer Story in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™” on July 23rd from 1:00 to 2:00pm in Room 7AB. Morgan Webb (G4’s X-Play) moderates a discussion with James Ohlen (Studio Creative Director and Lead Designer, BioWare), Drew Karpyshyn  (Principal Writer, BioWare), and Alexander Freed (Managing Editor, BioWare) about the creation of the multiplayer, planet-spanning story in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

It sounds like this is going to be a great discussion!

There are also a few other events worth noting that will be taking place:

• Blood of the Empire signing by Alexander Freed at the Dark Horse booth
• “Hope” Cinematic Trailer displayed at the Star Wars™ booth

All in all, Comic-Con is looking promising. Convention season is in full swing and it’ll be Spring 2011 before you know it.

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Gamespot Hands-On Reveals New Info

Well, it appears the deluge has started!  Gamespot has posted a new, extensive hands-on with the game at about 8:30pm EDT. It’s unclear if they got an early-hands on this week, or if this took place a few weeks back at the EA London press event.

There do seem to be some story spoilers in the article though, so if you click through, be warned!

At any rate, here’s some of the highlights:

• “As we found, several classes are linked by their initial starting area and quest sets, though their differing powers and combat styles make playing each one a unique experience” – This seems to indicate as expected that certain classes are paired together on certain starting planets. But what’s interesting is that they seem to share at least some quests in these areas, which seems counter to what we’ve known so far.
• “Yes, the Twi’lek are playable” – species # 3 confirmed! Twi’lek.
• The Trooper resource system is “ammo” as opposed to previously seen action points. It’s unclear if that literally means you can run out of ammo, or if it’s just a metaphor for the resource system in place.
• “In the case of the Imperial agent, we played as a member of the Chiss race–a species of self-reliant, blue-skinned, red-eyed humanoids that aren’t normally prone to direct acts of war” – Playable species #4 confirmed! Chiss.
• Hunter’s Mark for the Imperial Agent – “From cover, the agent gains the snipe attack, which deals tons of damage, as well as the laze target skill, which marks a target and makes it much more vulnerable to damage–not unlike the Hunter’s mark skill from World of Warcraft.”
• There seems to be a “conversation bonus” to talking things out as opposed to just shooting.
• We finally see a Smuggler in the wide brim hat ;)

One thing’s for sure, this is just the beginning… I’d count on seeing more sources overnight and over the weekend revealing, or at least having their own take on these things, ahead of the official start of E3.

Even though it’s summer, it looks like Christmas for fans of The Old Republic!

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