Hi Everyone -

Sean Dahlberg has recently left BioWare. We would like to thank Sean for doing a great job buildin...]]>

Hi Everyone -

Sean Dahlberg has recently left BioWare. We would like to thank Sean for doing a great job building the TOR Community and we wish him well in his future endeavors!

Best,

The Star Wars: The Old Republic Team

We want to sincerely thank Sean for the superb co-operation and wish him all the best for his future.

Source:	Official Forum
Forum:	Comments

]]> http://www.swtor-station.com/index.php?p=news&area=1&newsid=427&name=bioware-presentation-during-paxupdate2
Update: Another video of the presentation by AskAJedi.com online. It shows gameplay of the Republic classes. Meanwhile the 3rd part with gameplay of the Imperial c...]]>
Update: Another video of the presentation by AskAJedi.com online. It shows gameplay of the Republic classes. Meanwhile the 3rd part with gameplay of the Imperial classes and PvP is online, too.

Update2: TOROcast has now uploaded a 32-min video of the complete presentation! The only part that misses is the Q&A , but you can already find that under this text anyway (and the "Hope" trailer).

Source:	TOROcast - Complete show
Source:	Q&A - Part 1, Part 2
Source:	DarthHater.com
Source:	AskAJedi - Part 2, Part 3
Source:	Filefront - Complete Show
Forum:	Comments

]]> http://www.swtor-station.com/index.php?p=news&area=1&newsid=426&name=new-video-about-revan-from-pax-2010-update

The Jedi Civil War left many unanswered questions. In the difficult days following the showdown between Darth Revan and Darth Malak, the Jedi Order struggled to survive, leaving little time for investigations. Redeemed as a Jedi, Revan traveled into deep space in search of a mysterious evil. We now know that the source of thi...]]>

The Jedi Civil War left many unanswered questions. In the difficult days following the showdown between Darth Revan and Darth Malak, the Jedi Order struggled to survive, leaving little time for investigations. Redeemed as a Jedi, Revan traveled into deep space in search of a mysterious evil. We now know that the source of this evil was the reconstituted Sith Empire, but that solves only a portion of the mystery…

Watch the teaser video shown at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) for a glimpse at what may be revealed as you journey through Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

We have added the new video into our gameplay videos section.

Update - Quick analysis of the new trailer (We have uploaded 24 images from the video into our screencap gallery in the category "Yet Other Videos"):

	First of all we get to see many new armor sets for the classes shown. They appear to be higher level armor, judged only by their looks. Especially stroking is that, whenever the Sith Warrior talks, his voice seems to be altered somehow. Maybe this is a hint on voice modification when characters wear helmets or soemthing similar.
	On this image we can see the companions of the party members pretty good. The companion of the Sith Inquisitor is the Kaleesh Xalek und the companion of the Sith Warrior is the Twi'lek Vette. Both are known associates. The other characters do not seem to have companions at their sides.
	It seems that the quest the group solves could belong the Imperial Agent. For once the quest giver seems to look at him rather often and he seems to be the one shutting down the reactor.
	Here is the mask of Revan. Does the shadow have the form of Revan?
	At the very end of the video we can see this droid standing in the window behind HK-47. It is completely unclear who or what that is and why it stands there, but it is somehow interesting.

Source:	Official News
Link:	Gameplay-Videos
Forum:	Comments

]]> http://www.swtor-station.com/index.php?p=news&area=1&newsid=425&name=more-about-space-combat-in-tor

Blast your way through asteroid fields, enemy fighters, and a variety of other obstacles as you encounter fast-paced Space Combat missions in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. In these occurrences, you’ll fly your personal starship to vari...]]>

Blast your way through asteroid fields, enemy fighters, and a variety of other obstacles as you encounter fast-paced Space Combat missions in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. In these occurrences, you’ll fly your personal starship to various “hot spots” on the galaxy map and experience gameplay that will evoke memories of some of the great Star Wars™ space battles.

Watch the gameplay footage of Space Combat in the latest addition to the Game Systems section and learn more about the rewards players can unlock in Space Combat. Also check out the media section to see screenshots, concept art, and wallpapers portraying these heroic battles in space.

The already known video covering space combat can be found in our video section. The new screenshots und concept arts are in our gallery.

Source:	Official Forum
Link:	Gallery
Forum:	Comments

]]> http://www.swtor-station.com/index.php?p=news&area=1&newsid=424&name=commentarythe-demo-part-2 Bounty Hunter start scenario is probably familiar to many fans due to video presentations , so we skip ahead to talk about the combat skills of this class.
...]]> Bounty Hunter start scenario is probably familiar to many fans due to video presentations , so we skip ahead to talk about the combat skills of this class.

One thing just has to be said right away: the flame thrower is an amazing feature. Even though it sounds pretty bad, it's just plain fun to toast your enemies with a wave of fire. The Bounty Hunter's rockets and blaster shots shouldn't be underestimated either - so if you're in for a lot of variety you should go with the Bounty Hunter since he proved to be very useful in melee and distance combat in the starting zone. At the beginning, we did not need the "vent heat" ability as much as for example the recharge ability of the Trooper, seems like the Bounty Hunter cools down fast enough on his own.

The starting zone of Nal Hutta has a great atmosphere and really makes you go out and explore the world. Taking a look at the map it appeared to us as if this planet was larger than the other start plantes, we were able to see. Just as on Korriban and Ord Mantell looking at the sky is always worthwhile since there's always something to see - space ships or flying animals depending on the planet. We walked around Hutta and found some very interesting sceneries. For example there was a swampy area, where we met the Chemilizards we already knew from screenshots. There also was a cantina filled with different alien species and also a spaceport, which did not seem to work yet - still we took a picture of one of the space ships.

As we did some Bounty Hunter quests we experienced the dark-side/light-side system in action. We had to make a very drastic decision in one of the missions, which rewarded us with those alignment points. Right away the dialogue system and the story felt more intriguing. We are pretty sure the story will become more fascinating once we manage to progress a bit more and receive more of those quests than in the starting areas.

Talking about quests, not all of them are handed out by talking. For example, you were able to pick up a quest from a terminal dealing with bounties. It's quite useful that BioWare also distributes quests via objects, because otherwise you tend to get too passive if you have to accept several quests in a row and need to talk with everyone for quite some time. You wonder if the terminal is a hint at player bounties? We couldn't find any clues for this option.

The second class starting on Hutta is the Imperial Agent. Interestingly he's the only class, who does not receive it's first quest from an NPC standing in front of you, but via holo message. The Agent works on his mysterious image right from the start. He shares the starting zone with the Bounty Hunter and of course, you can also team up with each other there.

Playing in groups was without flaws in the demo. As in other online games you could easily invite friends (max. 4 members per group) and discover the world together. Once in a while there were minor difficulties when trying to get into the same story instance, if somebody wasn't unlocked for that kind of quest or it was a simply bug. Those small errors could easily be solved by getting out and entering the instance again - that's why we're sure that the developers will get those little bugs killed until release.

We also tested group conversations. This was one of the features that split our fansite team: Some of us enjoyed seeing what answers others were able to choose and didn't mind waiting, whereas others were annoyed if there answer hadn't been chosen and their choice had been "useless".

The loot was distributed in the typical MMO way in group combat (for example, you could switch to round robin). We couldn't see though if there are going to be need and greed buttons.

Just like the Smuggler the Agent makes use of the cover system, but still there are differences in play style. For example, the Agent has a heavy sniper attack, which takes a while to load, but is able to kill an enemy by a single shot. The Agent is no class for melee turmoil, he likes it more tactical. It seemed to us that the Agent could be a very powerful class, if used rightly.

In general we saw lots of different customizations in the pre-defined characters of the demo. We took a picture of one of the most distinguishable Bounty Hunter figure for you:

Let's talk about Korriban now, the home planet of the two Sith classes. Both stories actually make you feel Sith right from the beginning - you know where you are and what your role in the Sith community is - yet.

The Sith Warrior is a powerful melee fighter, even though he does not own a lightsaber right at the beginning - just like the Sith Inquisitor - and has to deal with a practice saber. I would describe him as a good class for newbies, since he can take some damage and works where the action is. It's important to remember to use your Force leap if enemies are out of range. This feature does not only look cool, but also regenerates Rage and causes damage.

We also managed to level up, which was pretty hard to do in such a short timeframe. Once you reach a new level a flying symbol of the Empire or the Republic hovers above your head. You definitely can't miss your rise of power this way.

The surroundings on Korriban also matched the overall athmosphere - the change between the warm sand of the Valley of the Dark Lords and the cool, dark tombs was marvellous. By the way, the tomb we visited had two levels, which gave the area a more authentic and "deep" feeling. We also encountered a speeder fast travelling system on Korriban, which did look pretty neat and was a good method to get to another location more quickly.

We published a small walkthrough article on the Sith Inquisitor already. Since we don't want to repeat ourselves, we adivise you to read it, if you want to know more about this class.

All in all the 15 minutes always spin away much too fast. We never felt that we would like to leave the starting planets, since there was so much more to explore, we didn't have time to look at. If you think about the fact, that we were only able to see a tiny part of all the areas in-game, we are sure, that The Old Republic has enough variety to offer.

Source:	Gamescom 2010
Forums:	Comments

]]> http://www.swtor-station.com/index.php?p=news&area=1&newsid=423&name=commentarythe-demo-part-1
The entry of the Trooper really gets right into the action since the walker you're stationed in starts to catch fire. I felt very involved right from the start, but unfortunatel...]]>
The entry of the Trooper really gets right into the action since the walker you're stationed in starts to catch fire. I felt very involved right from the start, but unfortunately the room was too small to maneuver the camera correctly - you had to find a fire extinguisher, but since it was as grey as the walls around it, the extinguisher was pretty hard to find. Don't worry though, we are pretty sure that BioWare will come up with a solution for this problem due to Gamescom feedback and will improve the otherwise very good start of the Trooper.

Once you've managed the situation you find yourself in a hard-fought area on Ord Mantell, which is also the first venue for Smuggler players. You get enough quests right away and can test the combat system as much as you like. I have to admit that I thought the Trooper to be a typical tank class, but once you've played him, you will see that he's definitely more diverse and his gameplay is really a lot of fun. His heavy armor also makes him a good class for newbies, if you manage to adapt to the "no auto attack" system pretty quickly. Even though it's not that much of a difference to other MMOs, you will notice that you have to focus much more on which skills to use and when to attack - you can't just get up and brew some coffee, since you'd easily be defeated by then.

It's vital for the Trooper to constantly check his ammunition, otherwise his heavy armor isn't of much use. If you can find the right rythm of recharging and blasting, the Trooper is probably unstoppable. If enemies come up close, you simply knock them down with your large rifle.

The Smuggler is a more subtle kind of guy. The story introduction will probably make Smuggler hearts beat faster: although it starts of pretty "normal", you will quickly notice that there is at least one story surprise up ahead (which we won't spoiler, of course). If you chose a Smuggler you'll have to take care of getting acquainted with the cover system, otherwise you won't stand much of a chance. Even though the demo still had some lags and jerks rolling into cover behind all kind of objects looked pretty neat. Some of us even thought that the cover system was the best combat system innovation of TOR, other members of our team thought of it as annoying. It seems to be a matter of playstyle if the Smuggler is the right choice for you, but if you're a Smuggler at heart, you will love it. Roleplayers will definitely be happy about the more "realistic" style of combat.

By the way, in contrast to other MMOs your starting outfits are no reason to be ashamed for and already the first green items offered a very fitting look for all the classes.

As promised Smuggler and Trooper always had to face a superiority of enemies. It was almost impossible to pull a single enemy, most of the time you had to fight 2-4 foes at once. The Smuggler's flashbang was pretty useful in those cases. The starting area was very well balanced - you were able to die if you did not pay any attention at all or did not grasp the abilities, but usually the enemies were quite easy to kill although there were so many of them. If you died nevertheless you were able to get back to a medic center (no ghost running) or for demo purposes only, you could also ressurect yourself right at the spot.

We fought several kinds of Seperatists, a flying unknown creature and some battle droids on Ord Mantell. The combat system was action-packed and worked pretty smoothly, just once in a while we saw an enemy, which was still bugged and couldn't be attacked. The enemies also proved to be more intelligent than in other MMOs since they also sought cover or tried to get passed your own cover, so that you had to switch places once in a while.

The terrain was also diverse enough for a starting planet ranging from grassland to small towns and staging posts. Even though the quests in the mission log didn't promise anything new ("kill this, collect that"), the story integration really made a difference because you had a personal reason to do certain tasks. Still, we hope that we're going to see more diverse and adventurous quests later in the game. A nice feature of some quests was that you were able to accept or deliver them via holopad.

The second part of our commentary will deal with our impressions of Korriban, Hutta and will also talk about group gameplay and the Imperial classes. We're looking forward to discussing everything with you on our forums!

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