Wednesday 27 July 2011

TOR Coming September

Well almost.

Many of the TOR faithful will at last get there hands on the game by the way of weekend testing.

I loved to way rift did this weekend stuff. It was highly successful for the game and I'm sure TOR will try to emulate this too. Rift by this method had the smoothest launch of any mmo I have played, with every weekend being the same as launch day all over again. The more traditional way mmo's do open beta is hit and miss. Yet this weekend thing works really well, you can fix bugs tweak at will from 1 stage to the next without interrupting the flow of the game.

How quick the team reacts to bugs is very telling in these early stages and this will be a huge eyeopener to what is about to transpire when the game goes live.


But before then we still have a vast amount of info to swot up on, info that has yet to be revealed and/or finalized by BioWare, the NDA also may need to be dropped before the September open beta window begins. Even if BioWare do not relax the NDA on the current game testers September will bring a ton of info from those that will get the invites.

Crafting - We are still lacking much of the crafting skills that will appear in TOR. BioWare sure looks like they have worked and re-worked the crafting skills to death. They have said for quite some time now that crafting skills will be coming soon. Yet they still have not appeared.
This tells me they had to re-think remake and totally revamp most if not all the crafting TOR had in-place. Now this has to be good for the game, as they are trying to bring the best system to fit in with the Star Wars IP. But we still need this before a mass of new testers bounces on the game.

Legacy System And Race Ability's - I mentioned this in my blog on SWTOR-Life as my top anticipated reveals that would come from TOR.
The legacy system was confirmed to still be in the game at Comic Con, as well as pushing race ability's to be ready for launch.
Alone the legacy system can change the way many will play the game, depending on how it's implemented. BioWare gave a small hint about unlocking different race's. Now this is nothing huge but most of the game that use legacy do give the player that re-rolls a few benefits. What this would mean for TOR could mean anything, and if the races ability's do make launch this would change the face of the game.
You may start a class just to re-roll a better different class that has a bonus stat or race ability that can only be unlocked from you re-rolling. This will be a must have 2-3 months in if you intend to be competitive at the highest level.

Skill Tree's - Well good news on this topic as BioWare do intend to release these. This will let you go and plan your class before you play.

Of-course there are many more guild structures, customization, class races and so on. If everything goes as it should we will be in for a very interesting few weeks before the September deadline looms ever closer.

But as I wish the weeks ahead away, like many this latest round of reveals has me as hyped as ever and glued to every snip of info that will come from BioWare and SWTOR,.

Saturday 23 July 2011

Pre-Order Code Delays

I like many from the UK have encountered the problem of getting the pre-order early and not receiving the codes to get early access to the game. Although there is little info on how early you will gain beta access, on when you redeem your code in time scale.

Mine will arrive on the 28th  July over 1 week after I did my pre-order. Now I'm not alone here many others from the UK have see this same thing.

We had 3 outlets to buy the game. Origin, Amazon and Game which just happens to be the only UK based retailer to have pre-orders available.

Many other countries are finding real had just to get the CE or any pre-orders what so ever outside Origin and Amazon which both have seen there supply sell out very quickly.

Well my fellow UK followers and others from the rest of the world I like you will have to be pushed to the back of the queue.

Now I'm not saying this is BioWares fault, but they should of only let retailers sell the game if they were willing and able to release the codes the instant they placed your order.

But why should we settle for being pushed to the back of a growing list when we have placed the pre-order in a quick and timely manner. It the fault of the retailers that should be held accountable.

I hope Bioware looks into this matter and finds a good remedy for all party's concerned. Many followers have placed  pre-orders close to the announcement and not a week or 2 later when they get the darn codes entered.

Thursday 21 July 2011

Pre-orders Away



Great news for the followers of TOR. Today we get to get our pre-orders the game we have followed for so long, well some of us me being away on holiday i'll have to wait till I return to the UK.

My only hope is that there will be some slots left for the head-start. But for everyone else it's a good day to follow TOR :P

Most of you would have had your e-mail through already but for those that have not you can find the pre-order essentials here.

I'll be counting down the days till I get home and can at long last get my pre-order in and be in the happy place than many other TOR followers are now in. 

Saturday 16 July 2011

Friday Update - SWTOR Intro








Now although this has very little info on the game itself. As far a fluff updates go (none game mechanics) this is by far the best "fluff" to come out of BioWare. 

The first time I watched this short video I thought it was a little short, then I cast my mind back to SWG and the length the intro there was. Any shorter I would of been up in arms and if it went a little longer you tend to get sick of it real quick.

I thought it was great the first time through in SWG yet the next 2 times seeing the darn thing it really got on my nerves.

Another plus side is that by the looks of it every class will have its very own intro, who else other than BioWare would go to those lengths. Sure other mmo's do a race intro mostly of a flyover of the starting town but nothing like this. This just stands as a testament of the thought that BioWare has placed in creating a story based mmo where you the player matters.

This weeks update you can find here we also get a community Q&A also on the same page, and a little more info on Comic Con.

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Friday Update - Map Stuff

 

It's been a few weeks since we had real new info after the wake of E3. A Fan Friday another look at what was on display at E3 the next week, then an updated video of the bounty hunter we had way back. 
All in all I've been a little uninspired going over the same information again so I passed on the whole thing. Now we get maps.