We just got a hold of the computer after the most exciting few hours ever! Advanced classes have been revealed! We got to play the game along with other members of the general public. We have gameplay videos. And we had a special treat. We met a lot of people from Bioware and even have an interview with mr. James Ohlen, Creative Director and Lead Designer of SWTOR . We are in SWTOR heaven!
The host just said that Bioware will have two big announcements during this conference. We’re watching the live stream and will keep you updated as things happen.
First look at space combat.
Video of space combat available at swtor.com
Trailer is available at
http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/space-combat
Although we are in the middle of packing for GamesCom and the excitement is almost palpable we wanted to bring you this week’s community news, at least the short version.
Star Wars Celebration V convention has ended and TOR was present with two panels. Darth Hater had the best coverage of the events and has exclusive interviews with writers Drew Karpyshyn (talked about the Jedi Knight) and Hall Hood (talked about the Smuggler) and concept artist Clint Young (talks about the artsy stuff).
Jedi Knight update was very exciting, especially with the cool trailer video that was released as well. Our friends at Jedi Archive Online did a very good dissection of the video, which you can find here.
Tor Syndicate, which we will be joining shortly, has their PodCast no.2 up and they yet again manage to provide loads of good information for anyone considering to make a SWTOR fansite or guild site. As if that wasn’t enough, they have an interview with ex SWTOR community manager Erick Adams. You can listen to “The Revenge of Darth Meow Meow” if you visit this page.
The sweetest thing as last. There is another SWTOR fan webcomic being created. Outer Rim stories just posted their first panel up and it is exactly the same idea I had for our comic when I heard about the details on space combat (including the Emo Darth Vader “Nooooooo”). Go, check them out here.
There is a live camera you can watch on Electronic Arts GamesCom dedicated website. It is broadcasting even now although it is well past midnight in Cologne. There are actually workers still building the Crysis 2 booth. The interesting thing is that you can see what SWTOR booth will look like. This, my friends, is where first people outside of the “inner circle” will get their hands on the game. People passing by will be able to witness the awesomeness of their game playing abilities.
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention? Gamescom will be the first event in the world where TOR will be available to the general public. The news was revealed by Sean Dahlberg a few days ago, but I was so excited that I forgot to post it on the site. Duh! In any case here’s the official announcement:
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
Comments Off on Live shots of the booth and some old news
“The Art and Writing of The Old Republic” panel was held during Star Wars Celebration V convention on Friday and Saturday. Drew Karpyshyn (Principal Writer, BioWare), Hall Hood (Senior Writer, BioWare), Arnie Jorgensen (Lead Concept Artist, BioWare) and Clint Young (Senior Concept Artist (Environments), BioWare) discussed what goes into creating the art and story in Star Wars: The Old Republic. There is a summary article on what was talked about at the panel at starwars.com. There are not that many new things revealed, but there is a great piece of art that was made during the panel by Clint and you can see that above (click on the thumbnail to make it bigger). Darth hater also covered both events with live blogging and you can read their Friday and Saturday coverage.
One very cool thing that happened at the convention, and not related to SWTOR, is the announcement of the original trilogy coming out on Blu Ray and it will include some of the deleted scenes. One such scene was showed during he announcement and its an epic one. It shows Luke Skywalker building his lightsaber while Darth Vader tries to push him to the dark side. True fans were ecstatic (and I am too I must admit). You can see the scene below:
This Friday’s update has provided us with details on the advanced class choice you can make as a Jedi Knight. As seen in the scanned PC Gamer footage the advanced specializations are the Sentinel (dual lightsaber wielding damage dealer) and the Guardian (tank and buffer). Official’s site Holonet Jedi Knight page has been update with the new information. It has also been revealed that the associate for Jedi Knights will be the Astromech T7-01 droid. He got his own Holonet page as well in the biographies section.
The awesome trailer of the Jedi Knight class, that has been released alongside this update, shows that Jedi Knights will start on Tython. They will have some sort of force jump ability to get them up close and personal with their enemies (sort of like a warrior charge in WoW). There seems to be some sort of a buff ability for troops around the Knight (in that trooper scene). Saber deflection of laser fire is probably higher if you are a Guardian. Saber throw is another skill seen in the video as well as some sort of Chuck Norris high kick! I also must note that the graphics are looking mighty sweet and things look a lot more polished. From the look of things this is the class I personally will be going for.
EA released a press statement about its upcoming GamesCom appearance that includes heavy Star Wars The Old Republic presence. Here’s the interesting part for SWTOR fans:
Five EA and EA Partner titles at gamescom have already received early recognition for their outstanding quality. The gamescom 2010 award nominations were announced today and include:
FIFA 11 — Best Console
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ — Best Online and Best of gamescom
Crysis(R) 2 — Best PC, Best of gamescom
The Sims(TM) 3 console — Best Mobile title
Rock Band(R) 3 instruments — Best Hardware
Another important thing to know is that there will be a Press Briefing on Tuesday, August 17th, at 4:00pm CET (that is 7am PST) held by Electronic Arts. A live stream of the press conference will be available at http://live-event.ea.com/gamescom/live/ . We’ll try and record it so you can view it at a more convenient time :).
Electronic Arts will be occupying a huge area at hall 6 with multiple games on display. There is a whole subsection reserved for Star Wars: The Old Republic. EA’s German site has a map of booth configurations as well as the schedule of events in the EA area. What I found interesting is that when you zoom in the SWTOR area you can clearly see 3 round tables with seats for 12 and computers all around. This looks like you will be able to get some hands-on experience with the game. Whether this will be the same demo people at E3 were able to play or we will be seeing new areas of the game (space combat perhaps?) remains to be seen.
Star Wars: The Old Republic show will be held each day at these times on the central EA stage:
Today marks the beginning of another convention dedicated entirely to Star Wars – Celebration V. It is being held in ‘Lando, Florida from August 12-15. There will be George Lucas and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Mark Hammil (Luke Skywalker) himself will be appearing as well. Darth Vader, on the other hand, seems to have been slain by the corporate forces and will not be permitted on the premises. The Old Republic, being Star Wars themed and all, will make its appearance as well. Darth Sean Dahlberg posted about it on the official forums and here’s the excerpt:
Check out The Art and Writing of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ panel on Friday, August 13th from 2PM to 3PM, and Saturday, August 14th from 4PM to 5PM at the Digital Stage (Valencia A). Drew Karpyshyn (Principal Writer, BioWare), Hall Hood (Senior Writer, BioWare), Arnie Jorgensen (Lead Concept Artist, BioWare) and Clint Young (Senior Concept Artist (Environments), BioWare) will be discussing what goes into creating the art and story in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the upcoming story-driven massively-multiplayer online role-playing game in development by BioWare and LucasArts.
As an added bonus, Clint and Arnie will be creating an entirely original piece of concept art live during the panel, giving attendees a rare and exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creative process. Don’t miss your chance to hear first-hand from the developers!
Also, to relax from all the craziness, we’re putting together a community event to celebrate our love of Star Wars with you. Meet The Old Republic developers Friday, August 13th and Saturday, August 14th from 5PM to 7PM at the Hoth Bar inside the convention center!
Friday 13th is the SWTOR panel day. Hope none of them are superstitious.
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