• Star Wars IP Influence on Potential New Players

    Star Wars, in all its geeky glory, is a mainstream icon in our culture. All six movies are in the pantheon of the Top 100 Highest Grossing films (adjusted for inflation, of course), and virtually every media outlet is up to its ears in Star Wars-related merchandise and content. Whether they like to admit it or not, a massive amount of people out there have seen at least one of the Star Wars movies, making it one of the most influential and significant media franchises of our generation. Why is this information important, or even related, to Star Wars: The Old Republic? Well, it is influential to the recruitment of new players to the game. Allow me to elaborate after the jump.

  • Lottery Boxes are the Devil

    With Game Update 1.5 and the F2P conversion upon us, many people have spent the last few weeks dissecting and analyzing all of BioWare’s decisions regarding how they have structured the conversion and the new Cartel Shop. Some have been received positively, others with disdain and dislike. However, there is one aspect that immediately gets my blood boiling -- Cartel Packs. Read on after the jump as I lay out just why I think these lottery boxes are possibly the worst thing to happen to The Old Republic, and MMOs in general.

  • Guild Dynamics: Legacy and Your Guild

    Welcome to Guild Dynamics, an editorial dedicated to exploring the topics and issues confronting guilds in Star Wars: The Old Republic. In this editorial, we focus on the Legacy system and its potential impact on a guild’s sense of community.

    Guild loyalty is a nebulous and often touchy subject, made all the more important for its unclear definition. Many guilds expect members to serve only in their guild and disallow player alts from joining other guilds. Overlooked in this requirement is a tacit sense of faction loyalty. After all, if player is expected to remain loyal to one guild, and that guild can only be populated by members drawn from one faction, then how can a player legitimately have an alt who is in league with “the enemy?"

    The Old Republic‘s Republic-Imperial divide adds a new twist to this old problem. BioWare’s statements and actions have made it clear that they intend players to “traverse the void” and play multiple cross-faction characters. The company has also provided limited support to cross-faction guilds, particularly in regards to their pre-launch “Allies and Adversaries” system.

    And yet, serious cross-faction guild support is nonexistent, and any guild who attempts to maintain both a Republic and an Imperial presence faces an uphill battle. With neither cross-faction tells nor shared chat channels, there exists no easy in-game way to coordinate what amounts to two completely separate guilds. Something that BioWare openly supports, is left in the hands of guilds to juggle and maintain. Some view it as something not worth the trouble.

    However, this need not be the end. Look below the jump for advice on how a guild can maintain a vibrant, cross-faction community.

  • A Look Back at Star Wars: Celebration VI

    Star Wars Celebration VI took place August 23-26 in sunny (and frightfully humid) Orlando, FL. Even though BioWare did not have an official presence at the convention, Darth Hater was still in attendance and found several outlets for Star Wars gaming. From simple web-based games to the next big release from LucasArts, Celebration VI showcased something for every level of gaming enthusiast. Click through for my gaming highlights from this weekend.

  • Examining Free-to-Play Restrictions and Bonuses

    With Free-to-Play on the horizon, players are curious about the restrictions coming with it. Yesterday, BioWare launched a new page outlining them in an effort to do just that. Some of the restrictions are not a surprise while others may be. I decided that it is a great time to dive into the points and give my own take on the matter. We would like to invite you all to add in your own voice to the mix in the comments section of this post. For now though, hit the jump to read more.

  • The Grand Acquisition Race Review

    I’m glad they finally released a follow up to the Rakghoul Outbreak World Event. The first event served as a nice distraction from the usual grind, especially since it came out before the Group Finder and Ranked Warzones. Of course, technically it was just another daily grind, but there were some nice rewards such as the Rakling Pets, the Companion Customization, and the Black-Green Color Crystals. The Grand Acquisition Race is the second World Event to hit The Old Republic, and I figured it’d be nice to go through the event and record my thoughts day by day, seeing whether or not I found it worthwhile.

  • Things I Hate About SWTOR

    Star Wars: The Old Republic is a frustrating game. At its core, it uses the same basic tenets and concepts that many other MMORPG’s use – holy trinity grouping, mailboxes, taxi points, a combat system that at times amounts to “stand next to each other and trade blows,” etc. BioWare has stated in the past that they didn’t set out to revolutionize the MMORPG genre, but at times, while playing, I got the feeling that the game was a boiler-plate MMO with a fresh coat of paint on it.

    Now that I’ve had a chance to play the game for several months, I’d like to look back and reflect on what parts of SWTOR turned me off and kept me from playing.

    Note: As with all of our editorials, they are the opinion of the writer themselves, not the entire staff here at Darth Hater. Keep that in mind and be respectful in the comments section.

  • Where in the Galaxy is World PvP?

    World PvPers such as myself might have noticed by now that there is a severe lack of organically spawned World PvP. When I leveled my first character to fifty, I came across three enemy players the entire time. My second character was a slight improvement at four enemies. How could this happen? I fight on a PvP server specifically to fight people in the open world. So why do I never find anyone to fight? Why don’t you join me as I dig deeper into the issue to find the cause after the jump.

  • Things I Love About SWTOR

    Star Wars: The Old Republic is a great game. At its core, it is the spiritual successor to one of the best story-driven games I’ve ever played – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Based on the quests and story lines that I’ve experienced in playing SWTOR, I can safely say that the writing team at BioWare has done an excellent job creating an engaging story with great character dialogue throughout. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed nearly every conversation that I’ve experienced in the game thus far.

    Now that I’ve had a chance to play the game for several months, I’d like to look back and reflect on what parts of SWTOR made it enjoyable and kept me playing.

  • It's Time to Talk 1.4

    It has been just over a month since Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 1.3: Allies went live. Server transfers are complete, and BioWare is in the process of moving the remaining players from origin servers to the twelve destination servers by way of automatic transfers. The looking for group system gives players a way to streamline the lengthy process of finding a group to tackle content. Both of these tools are great ways to help players come together and enjoy the already established Warzones, Flashpoints, and Operations. However, new content is the lifeblood of any massively multiplayer online game. For my thoughts on the future of SWTOR, hit the jump.