Paul S. Kemp’s new novel Deceived hit the store shelves today!  Delving into the story of the rise of Darth Malgus.  This is a story that to me, seems like it would be totally epic and I can not wait to dive right in!

From the official swtor site we get this description:

Over 3,500 years before the rise of Darth Vader, another Sith Lord’s name commanded fear and respect across the galaxy: Darth Malgus. The mysterious Sith Lord orchestrated the destruction of a prominent Jedi Temple, setting the stage for the tenuous peace of the Treaty of Coruscant.

In Deceived, you’ll learn the story of Darth Malgus and his rise to power. Delve into the dark secrets and history that shaped one of the most powerful Sith Lords the Old Republic would ever know…

Deceived is a novel set in the Old Republic and written by Paul S. Kemp with the cooperation and creative consultation of BioWare and LucasArts. You can preview the first chapter on our site, and view the second and third chapters on starwars.com!

The book will be available at retailers in the US on March 22nd, but you can pre-order your copy right now at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powell’s, IndieBound, Titan Books (UK), and other retailers.

The book will be available in Germany (Panini) Spring 2011 and in France (Fleuve Noir) Winter 2011.

Get yours today!

The Old Republic is a strange beast. It has more than 1 million registered forum accounts, more than 260.000 Facebook Likes and more than 25000 registered guilds and the game hasn’t even entered closed beta stage. There’s another oddity we are now seeing. There is a scam going around offering game testing access for money. Scam, for a game that is not out yet. That must be some kind of first.

All jokes aside, I can understand being eager to play the game, but giving money for something that you are not sure even exists should be a big no-no for everyone. If you receive an offer or and email telling you you can purchase access to the game testing program, know that your credit card info can be stolen, you can receive a non-legitimate game testing account and rest assured that even if the aforementioned plights do not strike Bioware will notice the account is now being played from another IP, town, state or country and will ban you for life. Let me spell that our for you F O R    L I F E. You don’t want that, now do you?

Here’s the official word on recognizing and avoiding this scam:

It has come to our attention that there are multiple individuals and sites claiming to sell testing accounts, “beta keys,” or other offers of access to our Game Testing Program. All of these offers are false. BioWare is not issuing invites to Game Testing via any method other than those we outline here on SWTOR.com.

We must caution you that these offers are often scams designed to steal your money, credit card information, or identity. While we understand that you are eager to participate in Game Testing, your security is extremely important, and attempting to participate in these offers could put you in very real danger.

Furthermore, the sale of accounts with access to the Game Testing Program is strictly prohibited by the Game Testing Agreement. We closely monitor the activities of all accounts involved in the Game Testing Program, and are quick to notice accounts that change hands. In the event that an account in the Game Testing Program does change ownership, we immediately take action to the fullest extent possible, including permanently banning the account from the Service.

You may also encounter e-mail scams that indicate you have been invited to the Game Testing Program. If you are invited to the real Game Testing Program, you will receive an e-mail with instructions from no-reply@bioware.swtor.com. Any other e-mail address claiming to offer an invitation is likely to be a scam. If you receive an e-mail and are in doubt or are concerned about its validity, please forward your concerns to bwacommunitysupport at bioware DOT com. If you do receive a genuine testing invitation from us, you will also be able to view the invitation and testing information at www.swtor.com/tester.

If you discover a scam pretending to offer access to the Game Testing Program, please forward all relevant information to us at bwacommunitysupport AT bioware DOT com. Your security and the security of your fellow community members is important to us, and we appreciate your help.

It was as I had foreseen,  for some unknown reason the power of the darkside has failed me.

As soon as the second game began I had to watch as my trusty sidekick Jango Fett (my son) has met his match.  On the third turn he was lining up his star craft to make a run at the GO and the prize money, unfortunately for him he rolled too big.  Back to the same Millennium Falcon hovering over Echo Base on Hoth  he has hit 3 times already!  With only 50 credits, and all of his properties mortgaged he is down for the count.

I tried to explain to him that the darkside was a fickle master, but he would have none of it.  He was convinced that there was a plot against us by the rebel scum.  4 turns later I am starting to believe him.  As I carefully work my way around the board I am starting to sense that the makings of a final blow are about to be dealt to me and my minions.

Through the giggling and the whispering, Han had somehow convinced Luke to trade him two yellow ones for one green one.  Conveniently that gave Luke possession of Endor and all of the green ones, while just around the corner Han had somehow gained access to my death star and has control of all the yellows and the Cloud City and the reds now!

As I line up my fury to make a run through the Endor region, I roll the dice and feel the power of the force from my *daughter Luke, beckon me to come to the surface in the Endor Forest to settle this once and for all.  I have finally realized that it’s a trap, and that the dark side has failed me.  To the Endor Forest to make my last stand Vader goes.

High fives all around between the girls, (Mom was secretly watching from the kitchen and had to get one as well.  It was evident at this point that there were plans against us!)  My master plot was for me and Jango to secretly team up to overthrow the Rebel scum.  How dare they have a master plan to counteract my master plan!

When Mom joined in on the high fives Darth Vader and Jango Fett caught each others eyes and at that moment, we both realized who was really in control of the plans.  Luke and Han were just pawns in *her elaborate scheme to see us fall.  This is most disturbing, I will have to contact my master and tell him of this new disturbance in the force.

As I make my escape I give one last moment to a snarky comment directed at her to let her know I am onto her and known her game, she replies with, “I got your force power right here you geek”

Oh noes,  it burns, she got me.  🙂

Fan Art by Redding

I don’t think anyone was expecting for this Friday update to outshine what we got in the past two updates that were leading up to, and covering PAX East info flood. It comes as no surprise then that we get a Fan Friday Update this week with TorWars.com having the spotlight on them through a Fan Site Q&A session. As Fan Fridays tend to provide, we also get some really cool fan art including the image above from forum user Redding. You can check out new Concept Art and official forum avatars if you read the official article here.

In addition to Fan Friday we get a Studio Insider article describing how cinematic in-game cut-scenes are made. To walk us through the inside work of the process we have Animator Andrew Lauretta. He describes how rough motion captured data is refined and tweaked and then how computer generated actors are added into the scene to give us what Bioware games are best known for – memorable cinematics.

Best for last is the community Q&A on flashpoints. World Designer Jesse Sky answers some of the questions posted in the official forums in the flashpoints Q&A thread. There are several interesting bits about companions and general flashpoint mechanic (and -wow- how Story comes into play). You can post questions about Classes in the new Q&A thread for this month.

I am a fan of Headstarts. Depending on the popularity of the game, launch is always a hectic time. Headstarts tend to “help” in that you start by getting some of those people who want to play your game in earlier than the general population. of course, Headstarts can sort of tend to not help, in the case of Rift, where almost everyone pre-ordered and got in early, which mad the Headstart a pain, just like a normal launch day.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a different approach to a headstart, if Swtor has one. First I wouldn’t mind seeing the Headstart broken down by pre-order, Collectors and normal. Normal pre-orders would get a headstart, but not as long as the Collectors. Collectors would get, say 3 extra days prior, to login and play the game. This way you have those, like myself, that are really dedicated to playing the game a chance to get in prior to the general population that just pre-orders to get in early.

Now, sure, this is about getting into the game before the mad rush, but it is also about a fun start to what is probably going to be the MMO a large population of the MMO world is waiting for. Launch day is rarely fun, in any MMO. I think a break down in headstart invitations might help alleviate the congestion that seems to plague the initial launch of almost every game that comes out. So what are your thoughts on how a headstart should be handled?

My question to you today is:

Based on your normal play style how do you see yourself acquiring the materials you need to craft in SWTOR?

Will you use the auction house mechanic relying on other players to provide the auctions for you to buy, or will you rely on yourself and your companions to gather what you need via the gathering mechanics and the missions?

Read on!

Continue Reading »

It played out just like always, I play Darth Vader or I don’t play.  Yeah I know sometimes I can bring the drama, but really, I play Vader.

My trusty sidekick my son, pronounced that he was going to be the bounty hunter, specifically Jango Fett, because he wanted to be aligned with me from the sith side. (I can always count on him to be at my side)

At the sound of this declaration the two girls sitting across from me made their intentions known (rebel scum, I should have known).  My oldest daughter decided upon Luke Skywalker, (she would have rather had a Anakin figure cause she thinks he is cute).  My middle eldest daughter chose to be Han Solo cause she said him and Luke were best friends.

So there we have it, a sith warrior and bounty hunter combo vrs smuggler and jedi knight, this ought to be interesting.  Based on what I think I know about SWTOR game mechanics, even though it seems balanced with some dps/dps-heal combo I am still betting heavily on the dark side at the start of this one, the force is strong with me after all.

We started the game and immediately my oldest daughter within 4 turns had all of the light blue properties.  This is not going well.  Vader and Jango were having a run of bad luck and between the docking tax, and letting the wookie win we were slowly loosing our chance at available property.

Of course on her next turn she immeditley put up 3 Millenium Falcons, rebel scum!  We proceeded for the next few turns where me and Jango began a viscious cycle of having to stay in them every time we went by, we are almost out of credits and we now own barely more than a few utilities and some random property that we cant make work between us. Things are getting dire for my command of this unit.

All the while on the other side of the universe my youngest daughter now has control of all the yellow and is starting on the reds as well!  Who knew that Han Solo could keep his dealings so discreet and fly under the radar like that?

I am not even sure if they will be able to see the master plot unfold in front of them like I had planned.

They may have thwarted me before I even got started.  What started out as a secret plot between Lord Vader and Jango, to destroy Luke Skywalker once and for all and end *her reign of terror (she has won three games in a row) has turned into a what looks like a complete wipe for the forces of the Dark side.

As we start the game for the second night I now have 300 credits and my partner has about the same.   I am not sure that the forces of the darkside will prevail because as it stands now we can barely roll the dice on the board because of all the credits stuck under the rebel side.

I am starting to think about making my way to the escape pods, I will hold on for just a little bit longer…..

Read the continuation of this story in the second part entitled “Confessions of a Star Wars Dad, Vader’s last stand at Endor“.

With Pax now behind us, how did BioWare deliver ?

Well, they gave us exactly  what they said they would (not everything we wanted as fans). What they told us before Pax, they had the goods there. They had the early levels on the Sith classes, and what seemed to be a very respectable mid lvl instance. A great deal of interviews have come in, and I’m sure many more are on the way.

In respect to the game play, most every comment is positive, and from the footage we have seen, the instance does look like a highly engaging, and a somewhat challenging, fun packed run.

The only downside I would call out, is that of queues, that none could of foreseen. A 7 hour wait after 10 minutesof Pax opening, I’m sure you could have had four times the amount of games running, and demand would still outweigh the supply.

Continue Reading »

You need months of different flavors of beta testing before making a product generally available

Several major gaming news outlets have reported that EA’s CFO Eric Brown hinted during today’s Lazard Capital Markets Technology and Media Conference that Star Wars the Old Republic will not be releasing before July 1. Here’s the transcription of what he said that made people conclude this:

So we said it’s going to launch sometime in calendar, but not within Fiscal 11 … So that basically pens down between, you know, April 1st and December 31st of this calendar year.
…
It’s also reasonable to infer that it’s not in our Q1 guidance. We gave Q1 Fiscal 11, Fiscal 12 non-gap revenue guidance, minus 39 minus 44 cents and I think it’s not unreasonable to infer that it’s not included in that 90 day period.

Darth Hater has a full transcript of all the things said at the conference pertaining to the Old Republic and you can read it here.
The more important things to note are:

• You need months of different flavors of beta testing before making a product generally available (closed beta, semi-closed beta and open beta were mentioned)
• We’ll talk more about Star Wars at the coming E3 event
• Paraphrase: they want to cater to both experienced MMO player as well as newcomers to the genre (non-gamer Star Wars fans)
• We have nothing ruled out, in terms of intent or design future micro-transactions because some interesting opportunities is there. The key is you know, what to include in a base monthly fee versus what do you charge extra for? So that requires some pretty careful decisions making.
  but
  For now we’re focused on the more traditional monthly subscription model but

News was also reported by Massively and vg247 and it seems that TOR Legends were the first to report the story.

Although this should not come as a surprise to anyone we can’t think of a better comment to this than point you to this website here. Feel free to push the button several times.

Yeah, yeah I know, nice pun on words for the title, but that’s sort of how I see tanking in Swtor going, and that makes me excited. Now, it really isn’t taking from behind the group, it’s what Bioware is calling Ranged Tanking. This isn’t your standard fantasy MMO where the tank is wielding swords and shields and charging that massive dragon because, well you know, swords have a reach issue. Not blasters folks and once you go blasters, you never go back.

So let’s get this out of the way first. This is the Star Wars Universe. At no time in any movie do you see anyone beyond Jedi popping out any type of sword and going at it. Even when Luke whips out the Lightsaber and goes full tilt on some Stormtroopers, you don’t seem those Troopers pack up the blasters and whip out a vibroblade so they can melee like a Jedi.

Blasters are a part of the Universe in the game. so to have this type of game play in the Swtor MMO, it makes me excited, especially after seeing the videos from PAX weekend.

Now, not all melee is gone as you can see that the mobs can get up close, especially the Captains pet, and there is still that old school feel for the melee fights. The thing is, the tanks aren’t sword carriers unless they are Jedi.

The other aspect of the game that goes hand in hand with the Ranged Tanking is the aggro swap off I saw. I noticed a couple of instances where the Trooper would end up in melee range and pop aggro over to the Jedi, who since he carries a Lightsaber, would start the melee fight and let the Trooper get some range again. once this happened, the Trooper then took over as ranged tank again and the Jedi went back to DPS.

There are so many aspects of this game that are starting to come out that once everything becomes known to the players of the game, there may be more that excites us beyond what we know so far.