((The RP XP with MJ #15))

This is what some RPers do in beta before trying out a Flashpoint.

 
Veetha stood as she was commanded, in the rain and darkness of Dromund Kaas while her master went inside to report to a representative of the Dark Council.

The platform on which she waited was a circular speeder taxi pad a few hundred feet in the air above the rain washed streets of the Imperial Capitol. There were no guard rails, only the speeder taxi she and Lord Tagious brought here. Veetha stood soaked, in the middle of the pad, her shoulders hunched and her fists clenched. A squat maintenance droid and its human handler stood nearby, the droid buzzing and squawking as it worked over some inane droid task. The human leaned against a short stack of crates he had yet to move inside where it was dry. He stared at her from under the dripping bill of his cap.

Veetha felt his eyes upon her, felt his hatred of her alien presence, but also felt his lust at her female form made prominent by the rain pressing her robe down against her body. She didn’t look in his direction, didn’t acknowledge him. She only waited, still, her eyes locked on the distant door.

“Whatsa matter, Rattataki?” The human shouted to her through the downpour. Distant thunder echoed his question. “Afraid of a little rain?”
Continue Reading »

With the NDA lifted in TOR, I decided to take a big hit for the team and amassed around 70 hours of play time in the past week to get a good feel for the solo game-play.

First things first. Playing solo, or mostly solo, works very well. You will be faced with challenges that will need more than one player, yet these tend to be outside your story quest lines and, as such, can be bypassed.

Also, some content can only be completed solo when you gain your first companion at around  level 8 or 9. For those wishing to be companion-free and still play solo, you are going to have a real hard time at this game. Each companion is tailored for your class needs, and as such, will hit you hard if you try and play without them by your side.

I played solo on every class apart from the Imperial Agent. I had major concerns about the cover system on both the IA and on the Smuggler. After playing the smuggler, however, I have to admit I enjoyed it greatly. Its not all about sneaking up from behind cover. You have some good AOE skills early on that makes it play different from what I expected.

Continue Reading »

There was a great disturbance in the Force. It is as if hundreds of thousands gamers sighed in relief and clicked on the Login button!
 
The day has finaly come and EVERYONE that applied for the SWTOR beta will get to experience it. So far things are doing alright. There are a ton of servers available (as you can see from the image above). Please keep in mind that the purpose of this test is to STRESS Test the severs and not to provide you with an enjoyable gaming experience. I am starting this post in order to keep you updated about any issues that might arise and any possible solutions to these problems. Here’s a first couple:

• There is an official Launcher Troubleshooting Guide available on the official forums http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=65403
• If your play button is grayed out please double check your email, your start date and time is likely tomorrow and not today.
• We’re continuing to bring up more EU servers; another EN one going up soon.
• If you are unable to load characters from a previous Weekend Test we recommend you create a new character at this time. Thanks!
• Official SWTOR: We have now opened 3 more EU servers! We thank you as you continue to #TestSWTOR.
• Rockjaw: If you are unable to see a server list, you probably need to re-allow SWTOR via Windows Firewall. Known issue we’re fixing.
• Rockjaw: European folk: Yes there will be more EU servers, specifically English. Remember we’re trying to stress-test this weekend.
• Rockjaw: Anyone with questions about servers: these are not the final numbers or distribution.
• It takes a while for the game to load and start. Do not panic if you are “stuck” on a single screen or nothing is happening when you click the Login button on the launcher. However, waiting for more than 5-10 minutes probably means something is wrong
• Doctordake: This must be like what an Air Traffic Control center feels like. Or a newsroom command center. Or an MMO Live team.

In our last look at Crafting, we examined how Reverse Engineering adds a new layer of refinement to SWTOR’s crafting.  Today, we’re going to take a look at how the current skills interface with one another.  Even if you had a chance to play with an earlier revision, some changes have been introduced resulting in certain skill pairings that were not previously in place.  Fret not though, for we’re here to explain how things are implemented in the current build!

One thing to bear in mind is that, while certain Crew Skills benefit each other greatly (e.g., self-sufficient Armormech crafters would likely take Scavenging to provide their own materials), there is nothing that forces you to do so.  On the contrary, if one were so inclined, they could take 3 Gathering skills, or 3 Mission Skills.  The only limit to the system is that you can only take one Crafting Skill.  Other than that, it’s completely up to you.

Continue Reading »

Like in other games, once you hit a certain level of crafting in SWTOR, you’ll go to your nearest Crew Skill Trainer and learn a number of new recipes.  In this regard, crafting in SWTOR hasn’t broken any new ground, but BioWare has an ace up their sleeve in this department.  Crafting has undergone a number of iterations throughout Beta, but one aspect that has crafters excited is the ability to reverse engineer our goods. There have been changes made to this mechanic as well, to expand its role in how crafters will approach their trades.

Do we have your attention yet?  Excellent.  Now here comes the fun part.

Continue Reading »

((The RP XP with MJ – SPECIAL REPORT))

Behold, my very first RP in SWTOR. Thank you, Tyliana, whoever you were.

I’m a dedicated heavy RolePlayer. So, what do you think I wanted to test first upon setting foot in the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic?

Yup. Crafting.

Nah, just kidding. It’s RP! I was curious to check out the chat system, emotes, and the areas that could serve as backdrops for RP scenarios. I also wanted to see if it was possible to engage in RP-related PVP and how well RP adapted into the flash points or the scores of missions. Let’s take a look….

Continue Reading »

Return Flight from Fan Summit #2

Quietly the embargo for the Fan Summit #2 dropped today. When I say quiet, I mean that we didn’t get an announcement about incoming media blitz. What we have gotten is a volume of posts that are making me try to prioritize for myself. Not only do we have the North American sites, we also have the European sites. Continue Reading »

 
Hundreds of thousands of beta keys for Star Wars: The Old Republic have been handed out through various web sites over the past couple of days. It was near impossible to get into the beta just a couple of weeks ago and now everybody seems to be given a chance to preview the game before official release. We now know when this Big Beta Weekend will commence. It was announced over twitter official SWTOR account that they are targeting to start on Friday November 25 and close on Monday November 28. You should expect your invitation emails on/or around Tuesday (these will contain a link to client download).
 
While we are on the subject of beta, it has been reported that during the previous beta weekend testers spent more than a million hours on the game. I hope they found all the bugs and will make the game launch that much smoother. Great news for all those that tested during that beta weekend is that their characters will be carried over to the upcoming beta testing weekend and they will be able to continue leveling their characters.
 

While you wait for next week, bask in the glory of this week’s Facebook image featuring Eternity Vault.
 

In preparation for their Big Beta Weekend (I will not be using the acronym of that any time soon), Bioware is handing out tens of thousands of beta keys through various websites. Currently there are promotions running on mmorpg.com (20.000 keys being handed out – ~18.000 left at the time of writing).
 
Curse.com is also giving out keys and their giveaway is separated into North American and EU sections.
 
Massively is giving out keys on this page. I don’t know how many are left, but I appreciate the Eternity Vault screenshots :).
 
You should be following #TestSWTOR search on Twitter for the latest announcements about sites that are giving out keys.
 
Please keep in mind is that if you applied for testing on swtor.com before 11-11-11 you will be invited to the upcoming Big Beta Weekend no matter what and you will not need the keys from the sites above. The keys from the sites above are for those that are just now getting curious about SWTOR and have not had a swtor.com account before.
 

Today we have beta invitations going out again. This will be the third beta weekend, but it looks to be a limited invite. The servers located in US East Coast are the ones participating.

Today , 12:37 PM
Invitations are being sent for a weekend test this weekend! Sent Nov. 8: Beta Testing Weekend #3 Invites Who was invited: Testers from North America What was sent: Beta Weekend #3 Invites Server locations: US East Coast Invite status: We are currently in the process of sending these invites, and will continue throughout this evening.

All of the invites will be sent out through-out the day and finished by this evening and you should have them in your mailbox. If not, check your spam folder or check your beta testing status on www.swtor.com/tester.

Edit:

Some addition information has come out via Stephen Reid a bit ago.

Continue Reading »