MMOs, Console Games and anything else with buttons
This probably isn’t news to some but we still see people ask regularly where to buy game time cards locally. Today I wandered into an EB Games store and spied some of the blighters in the wild:
$30 for 60-days is certainly within the expected price range, and if EB Games have them, then I expect other retailers do too, so post away in comments if you’ve spotted any!
Over on the SWTOR Gamers of Oceania Facebook page, David K. asked the question on whether people had noticed a migration of what can be loosely termed as ‘WoW Douchebaggery’ – incivility toward lower level players, slagging gear etc etc. I haven’t seen a lot of it myself on my server, but I’ve certainly had other people mention it.
So over to you: if you’ve played WoW or another MMO, how’s the social scene in SWTOR appearing to you so far? Is there just the odd idiot, a wider culture of poor behaviour or have you found it a bed of roses?
Also, anyone wanting to start lobbying for Douchebaggery to be included in the Oxford dictionary should feel free!
I’d argue that one of the biggest cult figures of SWTOR is the ever loving, cushion stuffing droid called C2-N2. Whether you love him or hate him, he’s hard to ignore, and BioWare’s Lead Combat Designer, Georg Zoeller, has joined the fun with this post:
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you in response to your complaint about our product, the C2-N2 droid. We regret that you are experiencing difficulties with this award winning, state of the art household droid.
Sadly, we have to inform you, that the C2-N2 droid, and its Imperial counterpart, the 2V-R8 autonomous ship maintenance unit, are not rated for combat at this time.
Several regrettable incidents, including the loss of a full squad of SIS operatives (apparently triggered by a malfunctioning speech unit voicing its congratulations to the undercover team during a deep cover infiltration mission), have lead the Republic Technical Support Corps to revoke the combat certification from these units and forced us to replace the ‘advanced weapon and martial training ROM’ from the programming of the unit.
These facts have been clearly disclosed to customers at time of sale, as well as in the programmatic introductory conversation program voiced upon owner transfer.
For this reason, we cannot take responsibility for your problems.
We are however pleased to announce that future updates to the unit’s artificial intelligence core will dramatically increase the efficiency of it’s emergency medical protocol features – and add some other, more questionable features.
The C2 Droid Corporation is also pleased to announce that we have started investigations into a new line of droid casings and cores, aimed at improving the efficiency of the unit’s assembly and construction features. No official release date for this line of top end equipment has been determined at this point.
We thank you for your interest in our product.
The Management
C2-N2 – The only thing that crits is his voice in your earchannel!
Questionable features eh? I’m intrigued, how about you? Feel free to suggest a new feature for C2-N2 in comments. Have a read through the full thread on the SWTOR forums as there’s a bucket of laughs in there.
If you’d like your guild spotlighted, just use our contact form to let us know. Or if you like, respond to the questions shown below and send them in – we love to profile guilds and the work they’re doing. The only requirement is that you’re an active oceanic guild. Please be patient if you don’t hear back from us immediately – we will only be spotlighting a guild every week or so.
Name of guild
Not Steamboat
Guild website
History of your guild’s name
NSB has been around since 2006 and was originally a WOW guild in which we became popular through multiple oceanic firsts and world top 20 kills in our prime.
SWTOR has become the chosen platform for NSB’s next chapter and many of our old school elite are back.
The name itself came about when a bunch of friends were going out for Chinese food. Upon entering the restaurant the waiter asked Yumchat (NSB founding member) if they would like steamboat or ala carte. Yumchat then replied with “Ahhhhhhh…… Not Steamboat”, to which we then laughed and decided to make a guild around it.
Cool story bro, but what does it mean? I’m not sure, maybe we wanted to be different; too many of today’s guilds base their guild names on some cool word or corny catch phrase which are generally quite boring and forgettable.
What sort of guild do you intend on being?
• Not a family guild
• Hardcore PvE focused (3-5 days a week)
• Players held to high standards in terms of skill, commitment and determination
• Operations run in a highly organized and time-efficient manner
• Small focused guild that focuses on quality over quantity
NSB is a hardcore PvE focused guild and our average member age is 25. We aim to be one of the stand-out guilds in oceanic progression..
We have high standards of all our members in terms of skill/commitment/gear and have a historically high member retention rate.
People who have been part of NSB hold the tag with honor as they know it wasn’t easy to earn. The road ahead is harsh but full of achievement. Bonds will form and you will soon notice the strong sense of camaraderie we have which gives us strength and presence.
Why did you choose to be a part of the Empire?
It suits the personality of most of our guild members. However we will most likely switch to republic for a change if the game allows it at some point as we would prefer the difficulties of an under represented faction.
You have one minute to convince someone they should be in your guild – what would you say to them?
Right now is probably the best time to join NSB. Once we fill our roster, openings in the guild will be scarce.
Due to game limitations (no server transfers or faction transfers) we are recruiting from a restricted player base which means we are currently happy to take on less experienced players and build them up to an NSB level if they show potential in their application.
Additional RL skills such as web design, programming and mod-design are also a bonus.
• We push each other forward
• We drive one another to perfection
• The only excuse for failure is “I f****d up”
• We strictly follow a ‘no drama’ policy, any form of sabotage to the guild or operation is an instant gkick.
• We laugh and life-grip one another off cliffs.
• Raid times are currently 8pm-12am, Wed/Thurs and Sun/Mon.
If your mindset is similar to ours, I encourage you to send in an application for an opportunity to play amongst some of the best players in the oceanic community.
What are your predictions for the first 6 months of the guild’s existence post-launch?
We have been going through a lot of selection and recruitment and optimizing our roster over the last month or so. This has involved kicking players, recruiting players and getting some of our established members to re-roll classes. While all this has been going on we have been doing some ad-hoc 8 man raiding and have just recently started 16-mans on the 19th of January. Our primary focus will be 16-mans as there is and always will be more prestige in completing the larger raids. Currently we are just taking it easy and gearing up.
We will hopefully see a patch (In March I hope) which will have challenging end-game content that isn’t instantly farmable.
TOROZ Reader Kuuzon has given us a heads-up on a nice little piece of Star Wars remixing. Star Wars – Duel Of The Fates (The Noisy Freaks & Dead C∆T Bounce remix) takes a hefty step away from the classical orientation of John Williams’ music and it works pretty damn well.
Have a listen for yourself:
So what do you think? Can you see this in your raiding music arsenal?
Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most ambitious undertakings in video game history. When the game launched in December, it was the fruition of six years of work by as many as 800 developers and an investment of an estimated $200 million.
One of the secrets behind the successful development of the game was the HeroEngine, a development platform for building online games that was created by Maryland-based Idea Fabrik.The goal of the engine is to break down the barriers to good online game development by creating a free-to-use solution that lets creators take over and push the technology to the background.
The Star Wars game is the first gigantic title to use Idea Fabrik’s HeroEngine, which was designed to enable designers of huge multiplayer games, or massively multiplayer online games, to quickly add content or update existing features on a continuous basis. While the Star Wars game required a huge number of developers, the HeroEngine tools helped streamline the process so that those developers could work more efficiently and so BioWare, owned by Electronic Arts, didn’t have to hire an even larger army of game makers. With the HeroEngine’s technology, developers log into the HeroBlade client, where they can code, drop in art assets and build the entire game.
Via venturebeat.com
The folks over at AbleGamers have given SWTOR a massive thumbs up, naming it their 2011 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year Award. Their bouquets are numerous:
This game performed strongly against most of our accessibility tests while still maintaining a fun environment for those who enjoy solo or group play. Perhaps one of the most unintentionally accessibility features turned out to be the addition of companions. These NPC characters which accompany the player through most of the game provide support to those who need it without forcing them to request help from other players. Companions are an integral part of the crafting game as all crafting and some resource gathering is actually done by the companions themselves allowing those who wish to be more social and less lethal to still participate in this cutting into game.
Some good points there, but there’s even more aspects given the nod of approval:
SWTOR also features many accessibility options such as full subtitles, queue-able actions, multiple action bars, area looting, auto looting, and built-in mouse sensitivity. Other built-in features such as automatically turning to face the monster you are killing, mini map colors being colorblind friendly, full subtitles, and the ability to control the entire game from the keyboard or with the mouse, only increase the reasons to herald this game as a success for game accessibility.
It’s not all champagne and roses, with AbleGamers giving some tips for further improvement, including close captioning and adding the ability to modify the UI or the size of text displayed. Overall though, they’re mightily impressed and Bioware should be feeling pretty proud of the wraps their getting from a sometimes overlooked quarter.
We’d love to hear from any disabled gamers playing SWTOR on their thoughts of the game – are you finding it a superior experience accessibility-wise compared to other games?
Now that I have reviewed all three Tank specs, I’ll be pitting them against each other to decide what Tank is the “best” for certain situations. I have played all three tank classes to 25. From my experience I would have to say for any situation, the best all-round Tank is going to be the Vanguard.
The Vanguard has very good mitigation and is very versatile – I love its ability to go from ranged to melee in its Tanking. Even though most of its hard tanking mechanics are up close (about 4-10 metres) it still has a wide array of damage abilities that can be used from afar. One such ability is Mortar – it is devastating to trash mobs and is a great opener (before you get Storm as a distance closer) to generate some decent threat on a harder mob. I use Mortar for clearing the way of those trash mobs that like to block paths to quest objectives.
The Vanguard does have some pitfalls – I’m not a huge fan of the “Ammo” pacing mechanic. I find it’s much easier to run out of Ammo than it is to run out of Focus on my Guardian. The other thing that the Vanguard is missing is an early-level closing ability. By closing ability I’m referring to an ability that closes the distance between you and your target – it could also be called an opener.
Some people might think I’m contradicting myself because a bit higher in this article I spoke of how the Vanguard was great at range, well he is, but when your group is needing a Tank like a Wookiee needs a comb, the Vanguard has to be up close and personal.
The Shadow has my vote for second best tank on the grounds that it’s probably the most versatile tank I’ve ever got to play, not to mention it’s up there in the fun factor. Having stealth on a tank doesn’t seem like a big deal, other than when you don’t feel like fighting a bunch of trash mobs on your way to an objective. Stealth in PvP is an entirely different beast altogether. On the Alderaan Warzone it’s very useful for stealthing and capping the turrets. On HuttBall your force sprint is great. In Voidstar it’s a decent ability to pop off when playing offense to plant the bomb, if your team can distract the opposing force on the other side.
The cons on the Shadow are few but pretty big from my point of view. Being another mitigation Tank, they have substantially lower armor than the Guardian and Vanguard. The Shadow doesn’t have a distance closer other than Force Speed which only gets you close – it adds no hate or damage. Project isn’t bad but it’s no Mortar or Force leap.
The Guardian is your standard melee tank. Good mitigation and threat on a single target, and has probably the best opener of the three: Force Leap. Once you obtain Force Push, the combo of the two is extremely effective in both PvE and PvP. Another great attribute of the Guardian is that they can go from Tank to DPS with the click of a button. Switching stances can take you from a tank to an off-Tank DPS . The Guardian is also the class I recommend for any beginner Tanks, for the simple fact that it’s your most traditional tank, doesn’t involve all the focus and involvement that a Shadow does, and its ability to be a damage dealer with relative ease compared to the Vanguard. Riposte is a really big part of Guardian tanking after you start in the Tank tree of the Guardian Advanced Class, as it gives you a defensive buff that helps a lot.
One big thing about Tanking in SWTOR that you’ll have to learn (or if you’ve played other MMO’s, forget) is that DPS players are responsible for the adds and trash mobs. Your focus is the big guys. Hold their hate and keep their focus. As long as your team knows that the DPS players should be picking up the adds and burning them down, you’ll stay alive and be able to keep your team alive. In PvP, make sure you have Guard on the Huttball runner, and Guard on any healer you can talk into healing you during the Warzone.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – 1.1.1 Patch NotesClasses and Combat
General
- Fixed a bug that could cause the Global Cooldown to appear as if it has been cancelled when it is actually still in effect, resulting in a feeling of unresponsiveness to input.
- Corrected an issue that could cause an ability icon to appear usable but be unresponsive to clicks or keypresses for several seconds.
- Players revived by other players, including by in-combat revival abilities, now revive with 25% of maximum health.
Jedi Knight
Guardian
- Freezing Force: Now correctly lasts 9 seconds (up from 6 seconds).
Jedi Consular
Sage
- Mental Alacrity: Now correctly costs no Force to activate.
- Salvation: No longer heals targets twice on application. It now correctly heals all affected targets once when applied.
Smuggler
Scoundrel
- Flechette Round: Now provides 30% armor penetration while active.
- K.O.: This ability now knocks the target down for 1.5 seconds.
- Shoot First: The damage output of this ability has been decreased by approximately 20% to control burst damage and because it was enabling significantly faster than intended kills in PvP.
Imperial Agent
Operative
- Acid Blade: Now provides 30% armor penetration while active.
- Jarring Strike: This ability now knocks the target down for 1.5 seconds.
- Hidden Strike: The damage output of this ability has been decreased by approximately 20% to control burst damage and because it was enabling significantly faster than intended kills in PvP.
Bounty Hunter
Mercenary
- Sweeping Blasters can now be made free with Thermal Sensor Override.
Powertech
- Oil Slick now correctly costs no heat to activate.
Flashpoints and Operations
Flashpoints
Directive 7
- Bulwark’s Area of Effect cone abilities now properly fire in the direction Bulwark is facing.
- Some of Bulwark’s abilities were incorrectly susceptible to interruption. Bulwark is now immune to interrupts.
The False Emperor
- Fixed a conversation that could cause the cinematic with Arkis Wode to function incorrectly.
The Foundry
- Fixed an issue that could prevent the final fight in this Flashpoint from beginning after the cinematic.
- The final boss can no longer become stuck in an invulnerable state; there was still a small window where this could occur.
The Red Reaper
- Lord Kherus now grants less experience.
- Some of Lord Kherus’s abilities have had their damage values adjusted to be more in line with the level of the Flashpoint.
- Players now enter into melee range with Lord Kherus in order to stop him from throwing crates.
Operations
Eternity Vault
- Players no longer randomly die in this Operation after being in Gharj’s lava.
Karagga’s Palace
- Foreman Crusher’s enrage now includes a movement speed increase, allowing him to catch players who attempt to run.
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Materials Disposal Unit’s main control station from becoming useable again after the Operation Group is defeated by the G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator on 16-man Hard Mode.
- Fixed an issue that prevented the G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator from deploying the correct number of Proximity Pulse Mines and Security Stun Drones during combat.
- Karagga no longer snaps up above portions of the walls during combat.
Bug Fixes
General
- Fixed an issue that prevented some players in Operations Groups from receiving credit for the missions “[WEEKLY] Deadly Operations,” “[WEEKLY] Galactic Operations,” and “Journey to the Belsavis Depths.” The entire Operations Group now receives credit when the objective is completed.
Items
Bug Fixes
- Comparative tooltips for researched items no longer have their stats reversed.
Missions and NPCs
MissionsImperial
- Number One with a Bullet: Corrected an issue that prevented Bounty Hunters from leaving The Founder.
- The Eagle’s Nest: The Assassin’s Fortress mission is now correctly a prerequisite for this mission.
- The Mandalorian Killer: Thendys Noori no longer continues to heal Kellian Jarro after she has surrendered.
Republic
- Death Spiral: Fixed an issue that prevented Jedi Knights who completed the Commander Rayfel encounter from using the shuttle back to Belsavis Orbital Station.
PvP
Warzones
- Fixed an issue that could prevent players from receiving mission rewards for completing Warzones.
Space Combat
General
- Added two daily mission commendations to the high-level space dailies Operation Ascendant Pride (Imperial) and Operation New Eclipse (Republic).
UI
General
- Attempting to loot an item in a group when the Master Looter is off-planet now generates an error message.
Bug Fixes
- The leader of an Operations Group will no longer receive an incorrect message informing them that their companion has been dismissed.
Miscellaneous Bug Fixes
- Special items related to different editions of the game have been re
- sent if they were deleted by the mail system prior to being claimed.
I love weekends because all the news flows in on guild clears. This weekend is no exception. Last night I had Khaotikk from the guild Chaos Theory drop me a line:
Hey Guys,
Wanted to drop you a line and let you know Chaos Theory (Empire Swiftsure) have just cleared Hard Mode Karagga’s Palace. As far as we’re aware this makes us the first Oceanic guild to down Karagga’s in hard mode.
Then I heard from Fenix at Redemption:
As I messaged you last night, we cleared Nightmare Karagga’s Palace for (I believe) an oceanic first. We just killed Soa on Nightmare mode also, which I believe makes us Oceanic first for all Nightmare content 🙂
Here’s a pic of Karagga The Unyielding, as downed by Redemption in Nightmare mode (full sized version):
Congrats to both guilds and I’ll let you fight it out on who did what first 😉
UPDATE: local online game store Dungeon Crawler has SWTOR on sale for $71.50.
Just a quick heads up for anyone still looking to buy a copy of SWTOR. Retail chain Game are now selling imported copies of The Old Republic at the price of $78.00.
So if you are still looking for a copy head to your nearest store or shop online here.
See you all in-game!
Georg Zoeller, Principal Lead Combat Designer for SWTOR at BioWare, has posted an update addressing the issue of ability delay i.e. bashing one’s keys but not seeing one’s toon do anything. According to Georg, a fix for at least some of the issues will be hitting the public test server next update:
Hi everyone; I wanted to give you all an update on the ability delay situation.
Thanks to constructive feedback from the community, including some great videos, we were able to identify an issue that could cause abilities on global cooldown to appear available to the player, resulting in unresponsive/ignored player input. A fix for the issue is currently scheduled to go to the public test server with our next update.
Additionally, we have located an issue that would cause player input for certain instant abilities to fail in frantic combat situations, resulting in unpredictable and frustrating gameplay issues for the affected player. A fix for the issue is currently scheduled to go to the public test server with our next update.
Finally, our engineers have identified an issue introducing a significant delay between player input and ability execution in certain game situations, most notably (but not limited to) fast paced PvP. The magnitude of the delay varies with a number of factors, including processor hardware, but can, especially on dual core CPUs, result in a very perceivable reduction in game responsiveness. We are in the later stages of testing a fix for the problem and hope to be able to roll it out to the servers very soon.
We’re still investigating a number of additional issues, along with some usability and quality of life improvements for responsiveness regarding player input, but the above mentioned developments should provide a very measurable improvement in combat responsiveness.
Thanks again for your patience and support and we hope to see you on the public test server to help us validate these improvements before pushing them to the live servers.
In the meantime, think of the pointless key bashing as exercise that sets you up to fight any rampaging Rakghouls in real life. Well that’s my rationale and I’m sticking to it!
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