Crafting for reals, I am serious!
Finally SWTOR is released and operating, the NDA is not a problem anymore, and I have had time to experience and digest the crafting system in SWTOR. It has been a long drawn out time of waiting for this game and to find out if I will be pleased or not based on what they have created as their crafting system and dubbed “crew skills”.
((The RP XP with MJ #21))
Aaaahh! What happened to my RP XP? Where’s the witty picture? Where’s the ongoing fiction about the smuggler who stole the rock? They’ll be back, my friends. But this week I thought I’d address an aspect of the game few RPers even consider.
This edition of the RP XP is all about in-game preferences for RolePlayers. Early last month, swtor-life’s own Mr. Warlock gave some great advice for preference settings to make your life easier in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The first of his two-part series can be found here. While those prefs were awesome suggestions for gaming, they don’t necessarily meet the oddball needs of those of us who fly the crazy RPer’s banner.
Twi’leks are one of the most well known alien species in the Star Wars universe, with their tentacles swinging from their heads and their varied skin colors making them easy to recognize among the denizens of the galaxy. Their species has been seen in almost every role in the galaxy, from Jedi to Sith, from senator to slave. They also happen to be, in my opinion, the least humanoid looking species a player can play in The Old Republic, making them popular among those players who are trying to make their character as unique as possible. Today we will take a look at the cultural and physiological aspects unique to this species. Continue Reading »
So, I have been trying PvP in pretty much all its formats since launch. I have to say that I am happy with it overall. Continue Reading »
((The RP XP with MJ #20))
The ruddy-skinned Twi’lek looked up at the Jedi temple and squinted against the bright sunlight. When she looked back down she noticed she was the center of attention.
The young Jedi Zabrak with her said, “There’s a Twi’lek village near here, but we don’t get many your color, Yulel.”
Yulel ignored him and started down the steps toward the taxi launch.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
“I’m not staying here, Tarik. I hate you guys.”
Hot off the presses comes word on one thing that has crossed my mind while I have been playing the game so far since launch and that is the question of whether or not Bioware is going to be as aggressive as other companies have been in getting control of their in game economy via banning or suspension. As my inbox fills with spam, power leveling advertisements, offers to sell me credits and such, I have been wondering this for sure.
On average as it is now I get about two whispers a day and a in game email, I report them all and ignore them but they do not stop. While this does not seem like an insane amount I have to wonder when factored in among all the players of the game just how big of a problem this is. I have seen in the past in a MMO just how bad things like this can become and just how much damage they can do to a in game economy. That is why I was very glad to see them address this issue as to some of the steps they have been taking to fight things like exploiting a in game mechanic to farm credits.
Recently, in this forum post on the official forums, Stephen Reid had this to say about steps they have recently taken to try to combat this situation:
GameSpy.com powered by IGN has released it’s video games of the year awards and SWTOR has been chosen by them as “MMO of the year for 2011”.
While this is no surprise to us the fans that have followed SWTOR since it’s initial announcement over three years ago, there really was no question for us. SWTOR was always our “game of the year” and has been for the last three years!
Still, it is nice to see Bioware recognized by the big sites in the gaming community and given their due for a truly awesome game and a stellar launch. So far in my experience SWTOR has had an amazing launch and has done very well and based on the performance of so many other MMO’s in the last few years it looks like SWTOR is here to stay.
Here is part of what GameSpy.com had to say about SWTOR you can see the full article here.
We’re still logging hours in a galaxy far, far away to bring you our full review, but this award should give you an idea how we feel about BioWare’s long-awaited Star Wars MMO. From day one, the renowned RPG studio said it would set its game apart from the competition with story, voice, and choice — and we’ll be a scruffy nerf herder, BioWare has delivered.
Whether playing as a member of the Republic or the Empire, as a Jedi, Sith, or any of the other classes, our staff was sucked into SWTOR by its well-written storylines — storylines we likely would have glossed over if they weren’t delivered with a staggering amount of recorded dialogue. Add in BioWare’s signature dialogue trees and the element of choice, and we’ve become fully immersed in SWTOR unlike any MMO before it.
So what do you think at this time of reflection, when you look back on the last year you spent with SWTOR? Is it your game of the year? Was the time you spent following, reading about and playing it worthwhile?
((The RP XP with MJ #19))
Sergeant Wex folded his arms over his armored chest as he squinted against the bright Tythonian sky toward the Jedi temple.
“Sir, how long do we have to wait here?” asked the corporal who joined him from the temporary Republic base a few clicks away.
Wex shrugged. “Jedi are a patient bunch. I’m expecting this to take forever.”
“What are they doing in there?”
“Meditating,” the sergeant shrugged, “Debating? Who knows.”
The corporal sighed under the weight of the rifle on his back and removed his helmet. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a gloved hand. “Oh, I wasn’t prepared for this.”
Wex couldn’t help but chuckle. “For what? Waiting?”
“Yeah,” the young trooper huffed. “This is a load, sarge! We should be back on Ord Mantell or sieging an Imp carrier or somethin’!”
“Think so?”
The kid nodded and grudgingly screwed the helmet back onto his head.
“Well, be careful what you wish for.” Wex shouldered his rifle and moved toward the steps of the temple. “I have the feeling it’s going to be a busy year.”
Continue Reading »
The first maintenance update has come and gone since SWTOR has released. Even though there was a lot of QQ-ing about the length of the update and that it went beyond the planned downtime schedule, I still see it as a success. There were a lot of things they addressed in this first update that had been giving players fits in game and it shows us that they indeed are listening to the feedback they are receiving via the forums and I am assuming through their in game ticket system.
You can find the posting of the patch notes on the swtor.com site here, now lets look at these and see from a player’s perspective some of the changes they have made and how they affect us.
On December 20th Star Wars: The Old Republic finally officially went live. To make sure players experience as few queue times as possible they rolled out a bunch of new servers on launch day. Keeping with the tradition of the two previous articles you can find the lore explantion of all these new servers listed below.
