We have have very little in the way of new info when it comes to TOR of late. Huttball is the only thing since the map update, which in itself was not well received by the TOR faithful.

 

 

 

 

Before that you would have to cast your mind back to the 10th of June when we got the  Game play Features news article. This is the last new info we had.

Though we can not forget the sneaky update on the crew skills that almost went unnoticed.

 

GamesCom did bring Huttball and for me one of the better features that TOR has to date, this was followed by a lack-luster PAX where we just had info that some may find new but these things have been said before.

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For this Friday’s update we were treated to a video from GamesCom of the play through of the Eternity Vault, operations raid, narrated by Dallas Dickenson. This raid or as Bioware likes to call them “Operation” looks like a blast. Groups of 8 or 16 players Republic and Empire alike will discover this mysterious location on the planet Belsavis and attempt to confront ancient force-wielders and other serious contained prisoners that who’s release could threaten the entire galaxy.

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Lets Meet and Greet!

If you are lucky enough to be present in the area at GamesCom this year in Europe you will have the opportunity to meet the Bioware developers at a “meet and greet” that they will be putting on.

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Hopefully your guild has one of these to guide you into SWTOR Beta!

In the latest podcast from TorSyndicate, David Bass and Stephen Reid talk about the possibility that we might soon see testing invites going out for guilds leading up to the September beta weekends plan.  When does this mean that they will go out?  While we are not sure of the actual date it does appear that it will be very soon.

Here is what David Bass had to say on the subject:

(1:12:00 into the podcast)    In addition to phase 2, we’re also going to be starting up a guild testing program. We’re obviously continuing to expand out invites for testing and we’re going to start including guilds in that list. So if anyone is interested, I don’t know if that is something people would be involved in or not. It’s more about trying to get an entire group of people who enjoy playing together into the game together. As we’ve said before, guild testing invites are random and so you get some people grouping up and playing together but it’s nice to have an entire guild there playing together so they can plan out…they can be more coordinated in-game which really helps us see how that is going to happen at launch when you have all of those guilds in the game, playing the game.

So hopefully you are already part of and in a established guild for SWTOR.  If so you might just be getting guild testing invites soon!

Watch those email boxes and pester your guild leaders cause it’s coming.

🙂

 

UPDATE:  Shortly after making this post “Doctordake” AKA David Bass had this to say on twitter,

doctordakeDavid Bass

We are very pleased to announce the start of Guild Testing for STAR WARS: The Old Republic! This program will allow guilds to be considered as a whole for inclusion in the Game Testing Program, allowing us to gather important data regarding how guilds play The Old Republic, as well as how organized groups deal with various mechanics and systems in the game. The program is already underway, as we’ve invited the first wave of guilds into testing, however we’ll be adding more over the coming weeks alongside the general Game Testing invites.

How do I sign my guild up for Guild Testing?

All you need to do in order to have your guild considered for Guild Testing is to have an active guild with at least 10 members registered in our Guild Headquarters. We also recommend creating a recruitment thread on our forums, but please make sure you are following the Recruitment Guidelines we’ve set forward. Guilds that spam recruitment messages after multiple warnings, for example, will not be considered for Guild Testing.

How are guilds selected for Guild Testing?

In general, guild testing is done randomly from all eligible guilds (that is, those with at least 10 registered members in the Guild Headquarters). Throughout the program, we will be looking to let in both large and small guilds, so as long as your guild meets the minimum requirement, you have an equal chance of being invited to testing. In addition, we may, at our discretion, choose a few select guilds that are active and helpful in the community, since we could use that sort of helpfulness in-game and on the Testing Forums. Note that this will be done in rare circumstances, in order to reward our dedicated community members. Please do not contact any BioWare staff requesting access to Guild Testing, or else your guild may be removed from consideration.

How do I know if my guild has been selected for Guild Testing?

Guild leaders will be contacted directly with detailed instructions when their guild gets selected for testing. It’ll be their job to pass the appropriate information to the rest of their guild in order for everyone to be sent testing invites.

What is involved in Guild Testing?

Guild Testing works the same way as Game Testing does, however by being invited as a guild, you gain the advantage of being in the same testing group and being on the same server, allowing for more coordination amongst the guild for testing group content. You’ll still be a part of the general Game Testing population as well, and will have access to the general testing forums as everyone else does.

Are European guilds eligible for Guild Testing?

European Guild Testing will begin at the same time the European Testing Program begins in the near future.

If you have any other questions about the program, feel free to post in this thread or email us at guilds@swtor.com. Again, please do not contact us asking for Guild Testing consideration or your guild may not be considered for testing.

 

 

 

 

Erika Christine from Bioware just announced on the BiowareCommunityChannel  a cosplay costume contest starting now to celebrate Bioware being at Gamescom 2011 this year! 

This video has all the details and it sounds like a real hoot!  I can not wait to see what the community comes up with for this.  If you remember the recent San Diego Comic Con you may have seen some of the footage of all the awesome cosplay costumes that came out in full force for this event. Hopefully this contest will bring out some of those along with new costumes never before seen.

The details of the contest include…..

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Over at Random House.com they have released the cover art and short synopsis of the authors plus, have given a sale date for us in the United States, thanks to Matthias I have recently learned that the German version is already for sale on sites such as Amazon.com.

The book “The Complete Vader”  is written by Ryder Windham and Peter Vilmur and is a book about the cultural impact Darth Vader has had on our society.  I for one look forward to reading this as the Anakin/Vader story is my favorite plot line of the whole Star Wars universe!

Synopsis

Star Wars: The Complete Vader is the definitive book on the history, myth, and cultural impact of Darth Vader. From his early development in the first Star Wars film by George Lucas, to the new legends created in comics, videogames, and novels, to his ongoing appearances on everything from television commercials to bedspreads, Vader presents a complete view in all his incarnations as the Dark Lord of the Sith. Going beyond the films to cover his further adventures in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the book combines new insight with exclusive interviews and photographs from the Lucasfilm Archives. Interactive reproductions of rare memorabilia fire the imagination, while pages packed with never-seen-before images explore the world’s endless fascination with the notorious Darth Vader.

It will be a hardback, have 192 pages and goes on sale for $60.00 on October the 18th in the USA.

Don’t forget to get yours, I know I will be getting mine.

🙂

 

Within the next few hours Penny Arcade Expo, one of the biggest gaming conventions in the North America is about to begin. It is a very big convention for all the Star Wars: The Old Republic fans because, traditionally, it is the place where big reveals happen. Last year we got some gameplay footage and all attendees of the SWTOR panel got a copy of Knights of the Old Republic game. This year we’ll be having the first hands on event in the North America and all the PAX visitors will get what is called the SWTOR virus that can only be cured by more “gameplaytimis”. Some gamers will be lucky enough to get the elusive “betainvitis”, but for all of you out there that lack any of these rare and expensive medicine, we bring you the last of our gameplay videos we shot at this year’s GamesCom. This is the longest video we have and it features gameplay from most of the classes. You can see some cool Inquisitor action where he one shots some enemies with force lightning (at around 1:50). Present are also cutscenes and some more combat.

We’ll continue to monitor all the information pouring in from PAX and we’ll keep you updated with the most important news and footage. For now I would like to draw your attention to Jedi Archive Online, that have their man Lordhammer, from Guild Umbra, on the spot. They have the first images from PAX available here. Also covering the event are Darth Hater and ToroCast.

GamesCom 2010 ended over the weekend and I can’t say that I won’t miss it. You get drawn in into the whole convention madness. Free swag, people doing crazy cosplay, meeting Darth Vader in person and games, games, games everywhere. If you are a gamer in heart (like me) you surely would appreciate the atmosphere. To share some of the atmosphere of the show we present you with a video of the crowds at the SWTOR booth (that is the place we hung out the most after all) and a gallery of images. We hope you enjoy them.

Our visit to this year’s GamesCom gaming convention has been crowned by a very special meeting that we didn’t even hope for. We had the pleasure and honor to sit down with Mr. James Ohlen, Creative Director and Lead Designer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and ask him a few questions. The short chat we had about the game was focused around space combat, player ships and advanced classes.

The spaceships are going to be used for a type of housing. They are a kind of a community feature. They are used for traveling and for space combat. There are many features incorporated into the player ships.

James Ohlen: That’s correct. We felt that in the movies, that is what you see them used as. It’s kind of a home base for some of the main characters, (especially the Millenium Falcon in the whole original trilogy), than it’s used, obviously, to travel from planet to planet (that is its main use), but also, you have space combats that are famous from the movies, like the one from the Return of the Jedi, or the asteroid one in the Empire Strikes Back.

You can read the rest of the interview if you follow this link

Released with the press kit are the following concept art images of the Space Combat feature of The Old Republic. Epic Star Wars feeling? I’d say so :).