Blood of the Empire #10

Friday again and BW has gone easy again after GamesCom.

Another web comic hits, and with the Pax around the corner, lets hope this will be 1 of the last times BW gives us scraps on a Friday.

Catch the latest issue here.

Fan Friday Update

I know this is a little later than I normally post this, but i've been beta testing, not SWTOR btw, something else :)

So no big surprise this week after all the info from the convention season, its back to fan Friday
.

I'm always amazed when it comes to the fans art, and I do not tend to spend a lot of time in the Community Creations forums. So its always nice that the fans get there time to shine in a Friday update.
Check out the rest of the art, new Avatars, concept art as well as 2 new polls here.

The 2nd part of this Fan Friday brings the 2 ship of the Jedi and Sith, to the section of the holonet. Although we have seen videos of both the Fury and the Defender starships(at E3), they have more info and screen for your enjoyment.

Adv Class Update

The following is the full list of adv names and a little about what spec they will have available.
You will find some of the names, not just stand out but screen in a very Darth Vader voice NOOOOOO!!!!!!




Trooper

Commando
* Heavy Blaster Cannon
* Grenades
* Ranged DPS

Vanguard
* Blaster Rifle
* Energy Shields and Defense
* Tank


Smuggler

Scoundrel
* Blaster ‘Shot Gun’
* Stealth / Medicine
* Burst ranged damage or Healing

Gunslinger
* Dual Pistols
* Quickdraw / Fast Attacks
* Ranged DPS


Jedi Knight

Jedi Sentinel
* Dual Wield Saber
* Saber fighting specialist
* Melee DPS

Jedi Guardian
* Single Saber / Heavy Armor
* Leadership / Party Buffs
* Tank


Jedi Consular

Jedi Shadow
* Double Bladed Saber
* Stealth
* Burst melee damage

Jedi Wizard
* Single Saber
* Powerful Telekinesis / Healing
* Ranged Control / Damage or Healing


Bounty Hunter

Powertech
* Flamethrower
* Defense / Energy Shields
* Tank

Mercenary
* Dual Wield Guns
* Missiles
* Ranged DPS


Sith Warrior

Sith Juggernaut
* Single Saber / Heavy Armor
* Fear and Darkside Auras
* Tank

Sith Marauder
* Dual Wield Sabers / Armor
* Saber fighting specialist
* Melee DPS


Imperial Agent

Operative
* Blaster Rifle / Energy Blade
* Stealth
* Burst Ranged damage

Sniper
* Sniper Rifle
* Cover, Ambush, Orbital Strikes
* Ranged DPS


Sith Inquisitor

Sith Sorcerer
* Single Saber
* Force Lightning / Force Drain
* Ranged DPS or Healer

Sith Assassin
* Double Bladed Saber
* Stealth
* Burst Melee DPS

45 Mins Of Game Footage From GamesCom

These videos are right up my street, as I plan to play republic and main class will be the Trooper.
These 5 videos cover both the Trooper and the Smuggler, and I have to say I do like the Smugglers type of play.
I find it quite compelling, the style reminds me some what of Thief- The Dark Project which is classed as a sneak-em-up (as apposed to beat-em-up) .
I was planning to make a Consular using the double-bladed light saber. But not I'm leaning more to the Smuggler, as 1 of his adv classes has the healing spec.

SWTOR gameplay at Gamescom booth

The guys over @ swtor life have posted some nice footage of TOR booth and a small glimpse of game footage.
All I want to know is how the heck do I get the TOR poster over to my house, from the back of the booth. That thing is so EPIC its unreal.

Daniel Erickson Interview On Space Combat

News From Gamescom

Well as always another convention and yet more news about the ever evolving world that is known as Tor, have come to light.

Concept Art

New Screens

The guys/Girls over at swtor Station this is what they found with there 15mins of game play.

• 36 people can play at the booth at the same time.
• The Jedi classes are not playable yet, but the remaining six classes are.
• Character creation could not be seen, there are predefined characters.
• We saw a Zabrak trooper. It looks like this species will also be available for this class to choose.
• There are thin and big characters. It looks like body weight is going to be adjustable.
• Voice.overs are completely in English at the booth.
• The characters start right at the beginning and you can go as far as you can in 15 minutes.
• If you open the map (via M) and continue walking the map becomes transparent so you can easily navigate to your next target
• There are bonus quests which start automatically. If you reach a certain point on the map, a quest appears in your log. For example you have to kill K'lor slugs in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban. Bonus quest give experience points once you finish them, you don't have to bring them to an npc.
• There are "Bind on Equip" items
• There's a system implemented, which allows you to bind you to a location to return quickly
• There are class trainers, who allow you to buy new skills once you gain a certain level

Also we have the final advanced classes revealed.

• Imperial Agent - Operative /Sniper
• Sith Inquisitor - Sorcerer/Assassin
• Bounty Hunter - Powertech/Mercenary
• Jedi Consular - Shadow/Wizard
• Trooper - Commando/Vanguard

Space Combat Brake Down

Fury(Sith) and Vanguard (Jedi

These 2 ships have already been revealed over at SWTOR. These are the ships in the video reveal from E3. Where they had the walk around and they are massive, and the interior is just breath taking.

New Ship #1

I'm going to speculate on these ships, on what we have already seen in the SW Lore, drawing heavily on in most part the movies.

The 1st of the ships looks to be that of the Bounty Hunter. You could see this ship evolving in to the classic bounty hunter ship (Slave I) of Jango Fett.

Ship #2

If you can not see the inspiration of this ship then your in the wrong place. This is really close to that of the Naboo Royal Starship, most likely to be the ship of the Imperial Agent.

Ship #3

Even though this ship looks very like the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium, everything about this just screams Trooper. It just looks like a no thrills, basic powerhouse.

Ship #4

Again this 1 is a no brainer, its an early looking YT-1300 Transport (Millennium Falcon) and who else would use such a ship, than none other than the Smuggler.

Ship Damage

Here we see a ship that has taken heavy damage, as was noted in PC gamer collisions would be deadly. This looks like its 1 graze away from the breakers yard.

Mission Objectives, And Targets

Theres so much going on in this screen.

• Top Center - What looks like you main target (note health bar)

This may or may not be the center of your mission, it could well be a task that would have to be completed, to progress to to another stage, or more likely could be 1 of the many side quests, that you gain when on the instanced space missions.

• Center - Capital Ship, has what appears to be secondary gun turrets. (seems like auto targeting system)
  

I'm not expecting these to be vital to you mission on a hole, I assume there more of an overall % kill rate. Where to get a higher reward for the mission you would have to get say 50% kill ratio. Getting a better kill rate would give you more loot/credits and theres the prospect of unlocking harder mods and missions.


My thoughts so far..... Well it does look nice, also seems to be a welcome side step off what will be the normal ground combat. That being said, its still a single player Tunnel shooter.
I'm sure BW has plans to edge in PvP and multi-player missions that don't follow this format, and also add to the quests they already have in place.

If they can make a JTL expansion like that of SWG, and still add these mini games TOR will a valid contender as the greatest MMO EVER!!!! (Take That WOW Fans)

Space Combat Viedo

This is the latest video from BW and SWTOR. This time we get a glimpse of space combat.

1st thing you will notice is the art style, which is in keeping with the rest of the game. It looks fast like its going along at a far rate. As for a for what I expected when PC Gamer announced that it was a tunnel shooter, this is what I thought it would look like.

The combat does not seem to be too challenging at 1st sight, tho to get all targets would take some time as they come from all over, and some from within cloud cover also.

We get the 1st looks at the rest of the ships, all 6 are here (thats is Sith Warrior/Counselor and there Jedi counter parts, do in fact share ships).

EA LIVE GAMESCOM 2010

EA PRESS CONFERENCE AT GAMESCOM 2010, COLOGNE.

You can find the link here see you there.

New Concept Art From SWCV

A final snip of information coming from Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, is what appears to be Malachor V a green lava planet. Thanks to Darth Hater for the heads up, as this planet had me stumped :)

The Events page has been updated!

GAMESCOM, AUGUST 18 - 22, 2010

Touting 245,000 attendees last year, GamesCom is known as the world’s largest gaming convention. We’re excited to be presenting The Old Republic at this year’s GamesCom in Cologne, Germany for our first worldwide consumer hands-on event! It’s going to be incredible – Don’t miss it!

Visit the Star Wars: The Old Republic booth in Hall 6.1 at Booth B066 to get another look at “Hope” on the big screen, and to see all the exciting things we’re showing off. The trailer will also be shown multiple times per day at the EA booth, so be sure to stop by!

The Old Republic Booth Schedule – Hall6.1, Booth B066

• Wednesday, August 18th, 9AM – 7PM CET (Press Only)
• Thursday, August 19th, 10AM – 8PM CET
• Friday, August 20th, 10AM – 8PM CET
• Saturday, August 21st, 9AM – 8PM CET
• Sunday, August 22nd, 9AM – 6PM CET

PENNY ARCADE EXPO, SEPTEMBER 3 - 5, 2010

LucasArts and BioWare unite on stage once again at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA. We’re giving 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 this MMORPG on the main stage in the Benaroya Hall Main Theater on Saturday, September 4th from 5:00PM to 6:15PM.

Also, be sure to visit the LucasArts booth (Booth #152) to get your hands on The Old Republic!

The Old Republic Booth Schedule – Booth #152

• Friday, September 3rd, 10AM – 7PM PDT
• Saturday, September 4th, 10AM – 6PM PDT
• Sunday, September 5th, 10AM – 6PM PDT

New Screens

BW over at SWTOR media section have posted a few very nice screens.

Miraluka, The near human race that lacked eyes, instead bearing only vestigial eye sockets, and perceived the environment around them through Force Sight





Jedi Knight (Sentinel) The Sentinel you duel welding powerhouse. This adv spec is your Jedi DPS.





Jedi Knight (Guardian) Jedi adv spec Tank, using only 1 saber they focus the battle on themselves, protecting those around them.

Jedi Knight HoloNet Update!

At last we have the update for the Jedi knights. With advanced classes, holo update and your 1st companion.

Although we have seen this in PC Gamer, its nice to have BW give us the holo update and video also.

Blood of the Empire #9!

The latest installment of the web comic hits issue #9

TOR Tunnel Shooter And You

If you are following TOR at all, its hard to miss the debate that is going on in the swtor forums, about the latest update on space combat.

So you may ask yourself how does this type of space combat update affect you and everything around you.
Well let get to the basics here with what a tunnel shooter is.

A tunnel shooter is where you get zipped along a given route.
This is a predetermined path and you have very little control over your direction and speed. The only thing you can do is move around some objects that are placed in your way and shoot targets as they arrive.
PC Gamer released some info on the combat, not a lot mind you, but you do get a small understanding of where space is heading.

Quests will take from 2-20 min's. So they are described as snacks, and alternative game play feature. They are depicted are fast paced mini games in space.
Quests update on the fly (is you wish) these type of small quest lines will attract the casual gamer who does not spend hours at a time playing in the MMO world.
Missions are atm single player only, with speculation on adding multi player missions and PvP at a later date.

The reasoning behind this approach goes back to JTL from SWG update, and how drastically different it was to the rest of the game. So instead of having a more free play experience, they opted for a scripted more controlled gaming system.
Though no matter what you did in space you can not get the same feeling as you would trough your ground combat. Unless that was just to jump from 1 ship to another and fight hand to hand like you would on 1 of the many given worlds.

Many avid followers of TOR have voiced there outrage to this style of game-play. The way many see it you cant PvP on a rail, you need to have free roaming, be-able to control your speed direction and play with others.
Racing round a track in space is not a good formula for good space PvP.


One major question that many have passed by is, will it be fun ? I'm sure it will be. But this is an

MMO and TOR having a tag of being a single player MMO, this type of single player mission ain't helping BW rep in any way shape or form. Its more of a duck shoot than a fight sim, which what a lot of followers expected when space was announced.

The fastest trigger wins on this type of play, very little in the way of tactics will be taken into account.

Time will tell on this 1, i'm not holding much hope that a full go anywhere multi player space experience will come around anytime soon.

Like many others around the forums, I think this game just took 1 massive step backwards, in terms of the that all important Star Wars multi player experience, that we were all looking to live in for many years to come.

Railed space Combat ?

In the PC Action 09/10 it has been claimed that space combat will be railed. Below are a few quotes from PC Action, and sadly space combat looks like an after thought. BW seems to have just chucked it in, out of necessity.
Like many I was looking forward to a nice get away from normal ground combat. Now it seems that space is has come about just to have space. Not a well flushed out alternative combat system.

Will I still play ? Sure I will though a good space experience would of been the icing on the cake.

Lets hope BW can pull this off, as leaving as it is or looks like, it will let the rest of the game down.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for a better fleshed out crafting system, I hope that BW is not just planning that the story will make future players forget all the after thought stuff like combat, crafting, PvP and raids.

Story is good but it does not make a game, and it wont hold an mmo together for any length of time. A good mmo has to have every thing working together, a few small failings along the way will make players lease in droves.

"The space combat is similar at first glance appeared the 1993 Rebel Assault. You fly from a predefined path and slams from opponents. This way of playing is called tunnel-shooter."

"Spaceship combat is not the core of the game, but a quick snack. Players who have no interest, must play it either."

"A complexity as in X-Wing or TIE Fighter is not available, the space combat is more for casual players."

Space content coming on 11th

News coming from swtor-station they have come up with news that the space content due out in PC Gamer on the 19th Aug, is in fact getting released in Germany on the 11th Aug.

Below is the mag cover and the extract from swtor-station (as I don't speak German) :)

It looks like we will know more about space combat sooner than expected: the German magazine PC Gamer will feature a TOR special dealing with space combat and class details this Wednesday.

The editors of PC Action visited BioWare and brought some interesting details with them. The following is to expect this Wednesday, 11th August, according to the magazine's official website:

The RPG Gods BioWare make Blizzard's MMO throne tremble with Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2011. Will they succeed with their coup? We visited the developers in their Canadian home and brought along some impressions from the galaxy and some in-depth information on space combat. For sure, you will be informed all-encompassingly by our epic 10 page special: planets, cultures, character classes - if BioWare ever forgets about a detail, they'll take a look at those pages!

We're excited if the announcement stays true to its promises. You can be sure that we will try to get hands on the issue as early as possible on Wednesday morning and translate the most important details into English.

So expect to see the space content sooner than the 19th as again, Germany is way ahead or the rest of the world on TOR updates.

The Mandalorian Wars

Its always nice having a Time Line update, as i've not played KOTOR, it give me a back ground of were TOR is coming from, and most importantly where the game is heading.

New Playable Species!

Not 1 but 4 new playable species, swtor screeen found here

So far we’ve only dropped hints about the range of playable species in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. You may have heard about the Rattataki Bounty Hunter, Chiss Imperial Agent, or the Twi’lek Smuggler, but we can tell you now that all classes will include optional non-human species.

Among the most exciting character types you’ll be able to choose from is the Sith Pureblood. For the first time ever in a video game, Players can choose to be a member of the original Sith Race, the red-skinned descendants of such notorious Sith Lords as Naga Sadow and Marka Ragnos. The rage of these fallen ancestors of the Sith Pureblood lives on in the Sith Warriors who dominate the battlefield with their intimidating presence and aggressive tactics.

A near-human species with unrivaled strength in the Force, Miraluka can become powerful Jedi Knights. Hailing from a homeworld with no visible light waves, the Miraluka evolved to see their surroundings entirely through the Force. To cover their vestigial eye sockets, they wear veils and blindfolds that range from colorful to austere. Miraluka Jedi Knights charge into battle with the Force guiding the graceful attacks of their Lightsabers to always hit home.

As one of the most wise and mystical species in the galaxy, the green-skinned Mirialans can become powerful Jedi Consulars. Mirialans are known for their symbolic facial tattoos and natural agility. They are also respected for their patience and insight. Mirialan Jedi Consulars lead Republic Forces into battle with assurance and harness powerful Force energies to defeat their enemies.

Among the slaves serving the Sith Empire, there are many aliens with Force potential, but few species have the grit to join the ranks of the Sith. A proud species from an inhospitable world, Zabraks are among the few with the determination and ferocity to become Sith Inquisitors. Sporting horns and facial tattoos, these fierce aliens are self-reliant and aggressive. Zabrak Sith Inquisitors intimidate both their enemies and their colleagues with their fighting prowess and ruthless command of the Force.

As excited for these playable species as we hope you are, the list is not yet complete. We look forward to announcing further options in the coming months. We will also have additional details on the species above, so check the Inhabitants section regularly to make sure you get the latest information available.

Nar Shaddaa

Circling the planet Hutta is its largest moon – Nar Shaddaa, the ultimate corrupt city. Dominated by underworld concerns and owned by the Hutts, this sprawling mass of skyscrapers is considered one of the most dangerous and exciting places in the galaxy, where anything can be had for the right price.

Nar Shaddaa the latest planet to be revealed in TOR. I have to say planets are 1 of my favorite updates that I look forward to. After all it give you a small glimpse of what you can exspect to see when TOR goes live. I'm sure we can expect a lot of shady dealing going on here, and may be some power struggles along the way.

Threat of Peace in Print!

Issue One of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Threat of Peace from Dark Horse Comics is available in print!

"Threat of Peace" unveils a galaxy on the brink of destruction three hundred years after the events of Star Wars™: Knights of the Old Republic™!

For decades, the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire have been at war-the Sith have gained control of the Outer Rim, but their efforts to penetrate the Core Worlds have so far been thwarted. Now, representatives from both sides attempt to negotiate a peace treaty-but deception by the Sith puts the Jedi in an unfortunate position…

Blood of the Empire #8!

So like I said getting up to date with TOR.

Web comic number 8 can be found here

Back at last

Well just got back from my holiday this Friday, and have 3 weeks of updates to add. So if anyone is wondering why this blog has not been updated, its because I've been having too much fun :)
I will ind-ever to catch up tomorrow (Sat 7) Until then...