Fan Friday is Fan Game-Play Footage Friday

Really really interesting stuff today.  Not your usual marketing PR piece or a armor progression piece.  Or before someone complains again - the consular info everyone feels they deserve.  Today was a run through of a republic flashpoint.  We see republic troops trying to save their ship and a key diplomat (whom we assume has a deeper story) from that evil Empire.  

During the week of San Diego Comic-Con, a select number of people had the opportunity to play through ‘The Esseles,’ a Flashpoint that Republic heroes will be able to experience for themselves early in their hero’s journey. In the Flashpoint, players must group together to protect a high-ranking diplomat and fend off Imperial boarding parties.

Again we really enjoyed this one.  Getting to see actual game play footage is always a plus.  For the first time I did not think the characters looked stiff (from their PR pieces).  Game play looks fun and enjoyable.  I do have some concerns about characters getting a foot away from their target and just shooting.  Something I never enjoyed in other MMOs.

And in addition Greg Zoeller had even more information for inquiring minds on healing and Advanced Classes:

The Esseles is one of the two earliest Flashpoints in the game, players will be roughly between level 8 and 12 when playing it.
Healing abilities are introduced when you pick your Advanced Class, which in this video, the characters did not have. You can definitely get your Advanced Class before doing the Flashpoint (in fact, many players in testing make that choice), but it's not required.
That's the simple reason why there is no healing shown in the video. That doesn't mean we don't have content for those who want to heal; in fact when I overheard the team practicing for GamesCom/PAX demos I'm sure I heard the cry "MEDIC!" more than a few times.

So thats all for Fan Friday.  We're sorry we did not post something sooner.  It's been a long day for TalesFromTOR.

Thursday Image of the Week....

Woah ... wait!  Thursday!?  What happened to Wednesday.  Well given the schedule and demand on the marketing crew at BioWare you have to forgive them for sleeping through Wednesday after a crazy #SDCC. 



A group of Republic heroes consults with the commanding officer of the Esseles after their ship comes under attack from an Imperial aggressor.

Honestly though.... I don't see any crazy explosions.  Looks peaceful to us here at TalesFromTOR.  Thanks for the pic BioWare! 

Metal Gear Jedi

Solid Snake aka Jedi Knight, Old Republic.  That's right people! None other then David Hayter famed from his roles in the popular PlayStation series 'Metal Gear Solid' is the voice of the Jedi Knight in TOR. 

TOR Features over 900 different voice actors! Most of which can actually be found on their imbd site.

This tidbit of information was discovered from listening to DarthHater's latest podcast.  Huge thanks to the boys over at the Hater. 

Probing the Pods: The Republic - Episode 48

The Republic - One of our favorite shows covering the Old Republic released episode 48.  This weeks show was titled after the Fan Friday movie release - 'Join The Fight'.  The usual tag:

HUGE Comic Con update! Companion choices, Open World PvP, New Vehicles, and more!

This week they had the usual crew of Sado from DarthHater and everyone's favorite Star Wars SWG fan Larry Everett from Massively.  In addition Sleeper a member of the DarthHater crew who was on the ground at #SDCC was there to assist Sado and Larry.  And lets not forget the ever popular Gary Gannon who hosts the show.  


The cast dive deep into the events from San Diego.  They covered all of the major news items.  If you have yet to dive into any of the info from SDCC - watch this show!!!  


As always you can download the goods from the usual selection of itunes and those others sites.  Or watch from Justin.TV.  

More From SDCC and Other....

Basically we're trying to catch-up here at Tales.  We're very sorry for not being as active over the last few days.

Just in case you have missed out on all the major news from #SDCC (#HanDiego) here are some more tidbits to think about while you wait for that October - December release.

1. Companions can no longer die.  Or a better way to word it - you can no longer kill them.
2. Players will now be able (for a modest fee in credits) respec their Advanced-Class.
3. SWTOR is set to release in North America and some parts of Europe.  At this time the rest of the world will have to wait.  
4. SWTOR will have a new feature (unknown at this time) that will unlock other races/species.  Rodian anyone?

If you want to learn more you need to head over to Darth Hater and TORWars. We followed those two sites for the entire con and they provided a great deal of information.  Huge thanks!!!

Both news items go against the original stated design by BioWare.  Which is very interesting indeed.  Does BioWare listens to the fan base or at least the kids the whine the most :)

Not from #SDCC but still news worthy none the less.  200,000 pre-orders have been placed for SWTOR.  AMAZING!  Setting a record for EA in regards to pre-orders.

Party for 4. Please

What makes the right party size?  A question asked by those with keen minds or just the usual interest in comparing SWTOR to other games that go WoW in the night.  Well Greg Zoeller has the answer for you:

Because we are Star Wars: The Old Republic, and we are our own game 

• Our game is designed from the ground up around the group size of four.

• We have a higher level of hybridization in all classes.

• We have companions that are capable of substituting a missing role in a flashpoint group.

• Everyone can revive other players, not just healers.

• We have a higher percentage of tanks in the overall population.

• All our classes can fill at least two roles.

• Most of our advanced classes can fill two roles.

• We're very gradually introducing roles in the game.

• We always have 4 members in a group, even if there are only two players (although I doubt most players would be able to do a flashpoint that way).

• There are 4 classes (on each side), which makes for a perfect iconic party.

• AT-ATs have 4 legs!

So, while everyone knows [insert 50 facts about a very different game], we know that 4 was the perfect number for our game and we didn't think much about 5.

I actually think this is a great decision.  With a lot of the classes being able to play similar roles.  healing, tanking, and 'DPS', there coule be less of a need on that one tank class in the game or the one healing class in the game.  In addition players don't have to worry about being a healer and not being able to kill targets with a companion at their side that can help.

The smaller the group the faster it will be to get it going.  This could be a great move by BioWare.  We just have to wait and see later in the year.

HanDiego Update - What Have We Learned So Far? The Republic

Revan was not the only news at SDCC...

Apparently Revan was the not only big name at SDCC this year.  Drew's new book was going up against TOR itself....

And thankfully for those of that could not attend #SDCC one of the more popular pods has stepped in for us. The Republic on Gamebreak.tv did a special #SDCC show.   The show runs about 2 hours long and covers a ton of great information. 

Quick summary for those that don't have the time (just the big stuff):

September Beta.  It's coming!
This September they will allow select users to test the game on the weekends in the month of September.

Game Launch

• Sharding intro areas.  Beginning areas only to help control population in the beginning. Basically an attempt to instance off the beginning areas of the game to reduce lag. 
• Reduced number of pre-orders.  BioWare/EA trying to control or phase the game into production.  Trying to avoid slamming the servers on Day 1.  PRE-ORDERs - PLUG IN YOUR CODE ASAP.  Not based on just having a code but when did you enter your code.
• Target Release is Holiday 2011

Game Details

• 900+ Voice Actors used to make the game
• Companions - Skin color can be changed.  Weapons, Armor, outfits. 
• Companions - AI Management.  The ability to manage how your companions function very similar to DA2.  (apparently the only good thing to come out of DA2).
• Vehicles - Adding speeder bikes, land speeders, and other
• 19 confirmed worlds.  However only 17 can bee see on the holocron
• It will take 30 minutes to walk across Tatoonie.

Overall a ton of information from the guys at The Republic.

Fan Friday Gets Class Happy - Join the Fight

In an epic display of awesome BioWare rolls out "Join the Fight" from San Diego:

The movie covers all 8 classes and offers up a plucky line from each one.  In addition you can see some different armor and faces we have not seen before.  This quickly became one of my favorite hype movies from BioWare.

Standard BioWare PR line that we all love:

The uneasy peace established by the Treaty of Coruscant is broken and both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire build their armies. As both sides prepare for open war, a new generation of heroes must rise up to meet the challenges of a volatile age, declaring their allegiances and fighting for what they believe in.

BioWare PreOrder Madness: It's Official And its Ugly

BioWare stepped up to the plate on the first major day of the San Diego Comic Con and hit a home run only to watch it come back .... sort of.

The big news that everyone knew ahead of time making it not so big but still epic in its own right was great.  BioWare showed its many different options to pre-order.  Everyone that ordered the CE or the Digital Deluxe would receive an early access code for well.... early access.  They even took the time to explain the differences.  If you had even more questions you could just hit their FAQ.

However and this is the ugly part for those paying attention.  From what we have learned those that ordered from Best Buy or Gamestop online have not received their codes.  If you made the decision to order from EA Origin or Amazon online then you where in the clear.  As of 7pm Central both EA Origin and Amazon appeared to be sold out of the CE.

While this is a great day for BioWare its a struggle for a small portion of their fans. Fans that paid $160 or more with the hope of playing the game 6 days early as promised.  Now they can either sit there and stare at an empty inbox or watch the lovely 'Choose' trailer posted for all to see:

Hoth - Flavor Of the Week

I am generally not a fan of loading up Facebook.  But on Wednesday when the word gets out that BioWare has release their pic of the week i have to force myself over there. 

To my surprise - it was HOTH.  I love HOTH.  It's cold, its winter, and it comes with many memories. 

So for those that have not seen all the Hoth images release by BioWare here they are:

 Hopefully these can give you some kind of idea about BioWare's version of Hoth will be like when we play the game later in the year.  Can't wait!

HanDiego Predictions

With BioWare putting so much effort into this weeks San Diego Comic Con we figured we should take the time to knock out some predictions for the event. 

Thanks DoctorDrake!

What We Could See from #HanDiego

1.  The date for when they plan to announce the release date:

Based on comments from BioWare staff they would first announce when they would announce the release date.  So it makes sense to prepare the fans at #SDCC. 

2.  Some additional companion information:

I would imagine that any play through they do would show off more of the companions in the game.  I would even venture to say we would see them use the Smuggler or Imperial Agent in their walk thoughts. 

3.  The Collector's edition packaging:

Well its probably not going to be a big surprise now.  When we started on this article we figured retail package information would surface at either SDCC or PAX.  With all the leaks going on it seems more ripe for prime time. 

4.  The Standard - New World walk-through.  Maybe one of the origin words:

This is a given.  It may or may not be an origin world. But it just makes more sense to do another play through.  The fans seem to really enjoy these! 

What Will Not See From #handiego

1.  Consular info as part of the big reveal:

Probably not.  It feels to me like this will be saved for a Friday Fan update. 

2.  A New Race:

I think we have seen all the races they have for the initial release of the game.  It could happen, but it   just seems like something they would have told everyone in the last 2-3 years. 

3. The Official Release Date:

As indicated above I believe they're saving this for PAX the following month.  Which would probably indicate a October/November release. 

The Republic Episode 47: EPIC SCROLL!

If you hate to read tonight and want to catch up on SWTOR news.  Check out episode 47 of The Republic from GamBreaker.TV.  Always remember the show can be downloaded from itunes and other various media sources. 

This weeks episodes features the lead guy from DarthHater.com and of course everyone's favorite  Larry Everett from Massively.

For future reference you should watch the show live as they have started to do a wrap up section to cover questions that did not make the live viewing. 

CE Now Leaked - Play Early for $150

It's unofficial and disturbing at the same time. BioWare, LucasArts, and EA, seem to have a huge leak of news going on prior to the San Diego Comic Con. Both the Standard Box art and the CE box Art appear to have leaked onto the web early. However lets stress that none of this is OFFICIAL and has not been confirmed by EA, LucasArts, or the great team at BioWare.

While it's great to have this information we would have preferred it to come from BioWare officially - hopefully this week. In fact in our predictions piece for SDCC we had hoped to see this information come out. What's also interesting is that BioWare has not shut down the forum thread covering the leak of information.

So what do the rumors of the CE list as its contents:

*30-day subscription to the game
*Speeder (digital content, unique vehicle, available at level 25)
* Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue
* Star Wars: The Old Republic game discs in collectible metal case
* The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural annotated by Satele Shan
* Old Republic galaxy map
* Custom Security Authentication Key (i.e. Authenticator)
* Exclusive Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD
* High-Quality Collector's Edition Box
* DE will let you touch his abs

INCLUDES 7 ADDITIONAL DIGITAL ITEMS:
* Flare Gun: Fire flares into the air
* Training Droid: Hovers at your side for combat assistance
* HoloDancer: Project your own holographic dancer
* HoloCam: Keep visual records of in-game adventures
* STAP: Sleek and unique in-game vehicle
* Exclusive Mouse Droid: Spun-ky droid to join your adventures
* Exclusive Collector's Edition Store: Unique in-game vendor with a dynamic assortment of items


What's also interesting is the option to play the game before release:

*Standard Preorder: 3 day head start
*CE Preorder: 6 Day head start


Remember this is all rumor and speculation. However some tongue and cheek comments from Stephen Reid might indicate this information is indeed legit.

Crafty Fake..... PC Art Box

We at TalesFromTOR hate talking about rumors.  So we want to approach the following out of respect and interest for BioWare.  The following is the latest art rumor for the box art for  TOR.  NOTE - ITS JUST A RUMOR.  No confirmation in anyway shape or form from EA, BioWare, and LucasArts.

But what's interesting about some of the art is that they appear to be images that have not been seen before.  The trooper has been seen before but facing in a different direction.  Darth Malgus in the background also appears to be from the 'Deceived' trailer'.   But the rest . . . 

The Jedi in the center Master is Ven Zallow also from 'Deceived' but in a different stance.  In the background we have the Grand Master Satele Shan from 'Hope' and 'Return' but holding her blade in a position not seen in those trailers.  

In conclusion this is an incredible fake until validated by BioWare.  We have to give the creator credit for this amazing art work.  

Fate Of the Galaxy.... etc etc etc

There has been a considerable amount of media put out about TOR.  Given its status in the gaming world thats expected.  Out of all the short movies released I have felt this one entry does a great job on its own to build up the hype for TOR. 


It blends music, graphics, and elements of a broad story between the Republic and the Sith into one very short movie. Personally I love it.

My oh my . . . Slave Leia Time.

When the TOR news gets slow we turn to Kaley Cuoco to save us!!  We here at TalesFromTOR love slave Leia just as much as the next fellow nerd. 

In an effort to stop the over population of Science Fictions most sacred fantasy Kaley Cuoco does her best to save it.

In this new Nerd PSA, actress Kaley Cuoco addresses an important issue affecting cosplay girls across the globe: Slave Leia fatigue. With so many choices available to women who cosplay, there's no reason everyone needs to be Slave Leia. By acting now, we can save Slave Leia for when we really need her. #freeslaveleia

Absolutely Not! No Way, No No No - OUT! Fishing that is . . .

The wordiest man on the forums from the BioWare staff is at it again.  None other then Greg Zoller.  We need a nickname for this man!

When the poll was presented in the official TOR forums "Should fishing be in The Old Republic?" It was Greg Zoller that stepped in for us and responded with his standard YELLOW wall of text.

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.

Thus proving that not even Yoda on Dagobah spent his lonely hours fishing.  This is just a sample listing of all the planets in the game. Maybe Greg's nick name should be the "Great Wall of Yellow"?

San Diego Comic Con - BioWare Working Their Tale Off

BioWare is going all out for the upcoming San Diego Comic Con.  They have everything from panels, demo's, signings, and the very popular meet and get drunk.  Just in case you plan on following the news out of San Diego this week here is the BioWare schedule:

We’re thrilled about meeting the Star Wars: The Old Republic community next week in San Diego. In addition to our presence at Comic-Con, details of which you’ll find here, we also have a number of great events planned for BioWare Base at the Hilton Gaslamp. Here’s the current schedule for next week at BioWare Base:
Thursday, July 21st 12PM – 7PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos 4:30PM: The Old Republic signing session 7PM – 8PM: The Old Republic Panel and Q&A
Friday, July 22nd 12PM – 7PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos 4PM-5PM: The Old Republic Panel, Q&A, and signing session
Saturday, July 23rd 12PM - 7PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos 4PM-5PM: The Old Republic signing session 7PM-8PM: The Old Republic Panel and Q&A 7PM-10:30PM: Community Meet & Greet
Sunday, July 24th 12PM – 5:30PM: Operating hours for The Old Republic demos 3PM-4PM: The Old Republic Panel and Q&A
This schedule is subject to change, and any updates will be posted here as we approach Comic-Con. I hope you guys are as excited as we are to be in San Diego next week! See you soon!

Our advice would be to pay close attention to some of the popular TOR sites like DarthHater and TORWars starting on the 20th.  We will do our best to get the news out.

We do expect BioWare to have one big reveal.  Our prediction is when they will announce the release date.  And if you happen to be in San Diego attending we would love to hear from you! Have fun.

If you use twitter use the following searches for even faster information: #Handiego #SDCC

Miss Star Wars

While the story has been done. It's not been done by us . . . Many blogs and fansites have already talked about the amazing Miss Alyssa Campanella. So it fell to Tales From TOR to add our own coverage.  Even if our write-up is cheesy.  What an amazing tale.

Dear Force Almighty... (Photo Credit: Fadil Berisha)

Give Alyssa's new status in American society and even the history of this country it has to be said that she is a fellow nerd. And probably considered the most attrative nerd out there by a long shot. Alyssa's apparant mastery of Star Wars nerd questions from the original movies is incredible. But that would only be one small part of why America loves her.

Alyssa's knowledge goes beyond the simple question to more rare unusual questions like the droid that Owen picked in the 4th movie -R5.  Apparently Alyssa was raised by a father that loved Star Wars. Now how perfect is that...?

You can read the original Star Wars blog coverage here which contains links to her Star Wars interviews. Thank you Alyssa!! Thank you Star Wars Blog for covering!

Impressive

Most Impressive

Fan Friday is Class Intro Friday!!

NOOOO! Scratch that!  Fan Friday is Fan GOOSE BUMP Friday!!!  Are you kidding my BioWare!! Did you just do that to us!!!  UNREAL!!! 
In what starts off as an interesting Friday update with the usual fair....

Hi, my name is Brian Arndt and I'm Senior Video Editor here at BioWare. I've been a huge fan ofStar Wars™ since I was a little kid...

Yeah Brian we know and we love you for it.  But then you hit us with this...

No big.  Figured it was going to show up sooner or later. 

As a part of the BioWare Creative Services team, we get to spend all our time in The Old Republic filming and editing gameplay walkthroughs, character progression videos, taking screenshots and even creating the Timeline video series. We work around the clock to deliver these Friday updates for the community (and even read your forum posts to see what people are looking forward to seeing and try and get them in there!).

These guys have an insane but challenging job.  And honestly you start to feel for them until they go and drop this in front of you:

It's that moment . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . BANG! Star Wars.  It's intense, it's unreal, it's your childhood.  And it's right there in front of you.  The sound, the text, the drop down through the stars . . . Star Wars.  All is good with the world for the next 2 minutes and 3 seconds. 

Even though some of you might have no interest in playing a Sith, the intro is Star Wars.  It's a universe a lot of us can't wait to explore again.  And we're really happy BioWare is at the helm:

Even when something is “final” at BioWare, it’s often not—not if it can be improved. Once we dropped the opening cinematics into the game, we opened a thread on the Game Testing forums to get feedback and suggestions. While the feedback was really positive overall, the testers had some interesting suggestions. 


The second half of the article is also a must read.  Community Q&A:

Today, Senior Audio Artist Scott Morton answers a few of your questions about sound design in The Old Republic.

Thank you BioWare.  Can't wait!!!

Player vs Player, Empire vs Republic, Jedi vs Sith, You vs Me

Allison Berryman, Senior Community Coordinator has posted the next month long topic for SWTOR fans.

Community Q&A: PvP

So basically this is your chance to dive into the many questions you have built up over the last few years about The Old Republic's PvP system.  Please don't ask if you can gank someone on their own ship.

The Old Republic™ community has a lot of questions and we want to answer as many as we can. In fact, we’re starting this new discussion on our forums solely dedicated to finding out what you want to know. Each month we’ll create a new thread for you to ask questions in. We’ll be reading and reviewing all of your questions and featuring some of them to be answered in a future Community Q&A section of the Studio Insider! 

This month, we want questions focused on PVP in The Old Republic. Please feel free to ask us anything you want to know about it!

So ask away.  Get if off your chest.  Can a Sith Pure Blood take on three republic Jedi?  We all know Jedi are less powerful!  Can a Trooper shoot down the Bounty Hunter with a rocket launcher?  Does the trooper even get a rocket launcher?  When a Smuggler goes into stealth mode can he use daggers like a rogue?  Are only blue-skinned Imperial Agents good at PvP?

Just get those questions out there....

Keep in mind that there are some questions we’re not able to answer right now, so please don't feel upset if we do not select your question, and please do feel free to ask it again in the future!