Sad news from BioWare today as the leaders of BioWare, Greg and Ray, announced that some members of the SWTOR team have been laid off.

Details are still sketchy, there is no word on who has been let go or how many, but it is truly sad to see the departure of people who have worked so hard on the game. Fans and critics of the game are already putting their own spin on what this means for SWTOR’s future, but both Greg and Ray have stated that the team at BioWare is still strong and will continue to put out new content for the game for a long time and that the game will still be growing for years to come.

Below you will find the full post directly from BioWare. What do you think of this new development? Let us know in the comments below. Continue Reading »

BioWare had a nice full day of surprises in store for players yesterday, and this one may have been the most unexpected of them all. The Developers have decided to start their very own podcast, with developer interviews and news straight from BioWare.

The first episode launched yesterday and is focused around the combat changes players will be experiencing in 1.2. Combat designers Austin Peckenpaugh and Cameron Winston sat down with show hosts Eric Musco and Brooks Guthrie to talk class balance, the new Warzone Novare Coast, and even gave a little hint to a new Heroic World Boss we can expect to see on Voss, the Nightmare Pilgrim. One of the most interesting little tidbits of info out of the show was concerning forum posts, specifically what kind of posts get the most attention from the developers (here’s a hint: Whining about your individual assumptions and experience is less likely to get noticed. Instead offer expanations about the overall game experience that are affecting the community as a whole without making unproven assumptions.).

Head on over to the official site and check out the new podcast. This first episode clocks in at just under 20 minutes long, hopefully the shows length will be extended a bit in the future. in the mean time be sure to let us know what you think of the new show in our comments section below!

BioWare released a new video on Tuesday entitled “A Look At The Old Republic”. In it various SWTOR developers talk about their feelings on the day of launch and are even treated to a few clips of the crew as the opened the servers on the first day. We are also treated to the thoughts of a few players on what they think of the game so far, including a few in game experiences they have been a part of.

According to the video there have been over 2 million copies of the game sold, and over 14 million characters created by the players! Outside of that the video does not reveal much information, and most of it is old news to current players. It is still a nice little recap of the game from it’s launch to the present day, and a great video to show off to any of your friends who you are trying to convince to get in game with you.

Are you the leader of a guild in SWTOR? Well then you may get a chance to head to Austin, Texas in March to speak with BioWare developers. BioWare is inviting guild leaders (or a designated officer in the case the leader cannot attend) to join them in roundtable discussions, Q&A sessions, and give leaders a chance to see some upcoming game features.

The goal of the summit is to facilitate an open discussion between guild leaders and the game design team. This event will provide an opportunity for attendees to voice their feedback directly to the teams responsible for the design of Star Wars: The Old Republic, hear the team’s thoughts and reasons behind design decisions, and discuss the current direction of the game. Guild from all over the world are more than welcome to attend, though BioWare reminds everyone that the meeting will be in English.

There apparently have already been guild leaders invited but there are still some spots open for non-invited guild leaders to attend. all you need to do is head to this page and fill out an application. All those attending must be 21 or older and will be responsible for their own travel, food, and lodging expenses.  If you are interested in attending make sure to get your application in by midnight on February 10th (central standard time).

Stephen Reid has been spending some time responding to frustrations that players have been expressing with server maintenance and lack of communication from the development and community teams regarding the recent patch.

More after the jump. Continue Reading »

Just like the awesome community manager he is Stephen Reid has no sooner had his feet hit the dirt in Boston and he is already filling us in on what to expect from them at PAX.

In the dev tracker we get the following response on what panels the Bioware developers wil be speaking at during the conference.

Here is the list,  read on and if you are lucky enough to attend, have fun trying to make them all and still play the game!   I wish all the developers and the fans good luck and hope to see some great coverage coming our way soon!

(lucky bastards) 🙂

Stephen Reid:

Hello from Boston!

With PAX East 2011 just a day away – well, give or take about eight hours, given my late post – I’m very pleased to tell you about a few guest appearances BioWare staff members will be making on various panels over the weekend.

Please note, these are not official panels for Star Wars: The Old Republic. They are panels on various subjects that we were asked to provide speakers for. If you attend any of these panels, there is no guarantee that The Old Republic will even be spoken of… well alright, it’s pretty likely.

However, like I said, they’re not official panels for TOR and we’re not aiming to make huge announcements at any of them! In that vein, we will also not be providing ‘official’ coverage of them. However, I expect a few fansites might pop along. (And to them, I apologize for the late notification!)

They’ll all be very interesting panels to attend, and now we have all the details confirmed we wanted to give PAX attendees a chance to organize their schedules around them. So, without further ado, here are the details, in chronological order, as lifted from the official PAX East schedule:

PANEL: Video Game Comics: Lifting the Curse

LOCATION: Wyvern Theatre
TIME: Friday, 10:30am – 11:30am

DESCRIPTION: Comic books based on video games have not traditionally been very well received. While some have sold well, most are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to critics and direct market sales. How can the tide turn? What needs to be in a video game comic to make it worth reading? And could Video Game comics wind up being the savior of the comic book industry? Join representatives from across the comic book industry and moderator Lucas Siegel, Site Editor of Newsarama.com as they figure out how to remove the curse of the terrible video game comic.

Panelists include: Lucas Siegel [Site Editor, Newsarama] and Rob Chestney, [Creative Services Manager, BioWare Austin, and author of Star Wars: The Old Republic – Threat of Peace (Dark Horse Comics)]

PANEL: Interactive Drama: Dialogue as Gameplay

LOCATION: Cat Theatre
TIME: Friday, 2:00pm – 3:00pm

DESCRIPTION: Do narrative games provide dialogue choices that enhance gameplay? Is it important to develop relationships through interactive choices between player and non-player characters? How are interactive conversation choices designed and how important is the user interface? What does it mean to experience Interactive Drama in a gameplay mechanic of dialogue choices?

Panelists include: Jonathon Myers [Co-Founder, Writer, Reactive Games], Stephen Dinehart [Chief Wizard, NarrWare], Dan Tanguay [Design Specialist, Vicarious Visions], Emily Short [Interactive Fiction Author, Independent], Jeff Orkin [PhD Candidate, AI Researcher, MIT Media Lab], Martin VanVelsen [Senior Research Engineer, Carnegie Mellon University], Daniel Erickson [Writing Director, BioWare Austin]

PANEL: MMORPG.com: The Future of Online Gaming

LOCATION: Naga Theatre
TIME: Saturday, 5:00pm – 6:00pm

A panel of MMORPG experts gather to chat with fans on where the online game market is going. With games moving into the mobile space, free to play pricing models and five major launches in 2011 the online market is in for a major year. The panel will have speakers from some of the top upcoming games in the online space plus legends in the industry. Fan will be able to ask questions and get answers from top development studios about upcoming games as we hope to explore where online games will be going for the next decade.

Panelists include: Curt Schilling [38 Studios], Scott Hartsman [Trion], Colin Johanson [ArenaNet], Craig Alexander [Turbine], Garret Fuller [MMORPG.com] and James Ohlen [BioWare Austin]

 

If you make it to PAX, check out these panels, folks!

Despite being a Fan Friday, this Friday update also brought us another Q&A with the developers section. Along with that, the developers have been very active on the forums lately and they have been answering various questions from the fans. Here’s a compilation of the most interesting Q&A from all of these sources.

Q: I would like to see an option to merchant sell all gray loot items in your inventory at once. Going a step further, if there was a way to mark items in your bag as you loot them so that when you sell them off everything that was marked is sold.

A: In TOR, you indeed have the option to command your faithful (or scornful) companion to make a trip to the nearest market to lighten your backpack and fatten your wallet by selling objects of purely monetary value.
Answered by: Georg Zöller, Principal Lead Combat Designer
Source

Q: I really hope they give us access to on-ship storage. Our personal vault should be there rather than some imaginary bank system for items that we access from everywhere in the universe.

A: Your ship’s cargo hold is, indeed, your bank.
Answered by: Damion Schubert, Lead Combat Designer
Source

Q: I hope Bioware has a Beta test just for PvP, I’m worried about balance…

A: Have no doubt, we aim to ensure every Advanced Class has at least one spec that has its place in competitive PvP. The PvP team is already diligently tuning classes based on testing results and will continue to do so as new functions come online. By functions, I mean things like enabling Smugglers in cover to be immune to ‘charge’ and ‘pull’ abilities.
Answered by: Gabe Amatangelo, Lead PvP Designer
Source

Q: Will armor be HP based? wich means you can loose your armor due to wear and tear?

A: Armor takes damage during gameplay, but still offers full benefits until such time that it is completely broken. Armor can be repaired for credits. No, we are not looking at permanently destroying items.
Answered by: Damion Schubert, Lead Combat Designer
Source

Q: In this game, we know the reasons why the Jedi hate the Sith so much. And most of us recognize that the Jedi are a pretty “good” organization. But what hasn’t been talked about a huge amount is why the Sith hate the Jedi. How do the Sith view the Jedi? Why do they think they would make better rulers? Do the Sith actually think that the Sith themselves are “evil”? Do they believe that Force has two sides, a dark side and a light?

A: Sith are evil.

The Sith philosophy is evil and encourages evil in its participants. We can get into endless philosophical discussions about whether anything is actually evil or actually good but if we are speaking from our modern, western view on the concept of evil then the Sith clearly qualify. They are encouraged to put the personal over the group, power over compassion and to judge everything’s worthiness to survive on its ability to fight for that survival. Mercy, sympathy, generosity, these are seen as weaknesses. Anger and rage are seen as strengths. These are not people most of us want to work with or have as neighbors.

That does not mean, however, that the Sith see themselves as evil.
…
In the Star Wars universe, followers of the Sith philosophy genuinely believe that these things we deem evil, are actually in the best interests of a society. They look at the disorder, corruption and infighting of the Republic and they scoff. “What those people lack,” an Imperial thinks, “is strong leadership.”
…
It’s equally important to remember that you don’t have to believe in any of this to play on the Empire’s side in The Old Republic. You can be the exception to the rule. You are merely making a choice to be someone who was born on that side of the fence. Or, in the case of the Bounty Hunter, someone who tends to work in that part of space. The light side Sith who works tirelessly to make his Empire a better place is a deeply compelling character.
Answered by: Daniel Erickson, Master of the Universe
Source
Editor Note: I highly recommend you go and read all of Daniel’s answer because, as always, he was very detailed in his explanation.

You can read the full Q&A from last Friday update by following this link

The question I want to pose to you today is;

What will your worth be as a crafter in Star Wars The Old Republic MMO?

I think on this subject a lot because to me it is very important.  I derive great pleasure from being able to learn all the details about a crafting system in a massively multiplayer online game that I call home away from home.

I then achieve even more pleasure when I am able to take that knowledge and produce the finest items available to me as a master of that craft, in the most efficient manner.  Provided that the game system I am in will allow the crafters to produce top-tier items.  When I do however find a game that allows this, it is a joy to be a crafter because I know the fame that awaits the diligent, the methodical.

I have been called a “min-maxer” before and that’s ok.  To achieve greatness and fame in a crafting arena one must be efficient, and creative.  One must use a crafting and in-game economy to maximum effectiveness to be considered a true master.

Continue Reading »