Friday Update: Fan Friday



Today's update is a Fan Friday, which of course brings with it a Studio Insider: an in-depth look at Concept Artist Diego Almazan's creation of a Sith Temple. The Fan Friday includes some new concept art scenes that look to include pieces from Alderaan, Taris, Voss, Nar Shaddaa, and Hutta; a selection of new emoticons, and some new creature avatars. Fan site Mos Eisley Radio got the spotlight shone on them, and the chance to answer some questions from BioWare.

The Community Q&A thread to go along with the Fan Friday is focused on Flashpoints, which should mean plenty of answers about TOR's answers to dungeons coming down the pipe in a few weeks. Head on over to the official thread and ask the devs some of those burning and insightful questions you have!

As usual for a Fan Friday, there's a couple of new polls up on the forums. The first is Where do you spend most of your time on the forums, and the second is Which Flashpoint are you most interested in so far?

As we mentioned on Tuesday, Gordon Walton, BioWare Austin's co-Studio General Manager, has left BioWare. Stephen Reid stepped in to the forums to talk about Walton's recent departure--or more accurately, to pass along Gordon's own words about his departure. Stephen reports that "Gordon's a great guy and left us on great terms, we thought we'd give him one last right of reply." His quote, along with lots of juicy tidbits from the Studio Insider, available after the jump. You can also find our Media Gallery of the update below.
Developer Posts


Stephen Reid

In every Studio Insider, we take you behind the scenes to give you an exclusive close look at the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic and answer your questions about the game. This week, Concept Artist Diego Almazan tells us how he created the concept for this imposing Sith burial ground.

Don't miss the Community Q&A! This month, ask us your questions on Facebook, Twitter, and on the forums.


Stephen Reid

As always, members of the Star Wars: The Old Republic community continually inspire us. We have so many talented community members, and we'll continue our tradition of highlighting some of our favorites in this week's article. Enjoy the excellent fan art!

We're excited to present our very first Fan Site Spotlight this month featuring Mos Eisley Radio, and we also have more details about The Old Republic at PAX East.

Read more...


Allison Berryman

The Old Republic community has a lot of questions and we want to answer as many as we can. In fact, we're starting this new discussion on our forums solely dedicated to finding out what you want to know. Each month we'll create a new thread for you to ask questions in. We'll be reading and reviewing all of your questions and featuring some of them in a future Community Q & A section of the Studio Insider!

This month, we want your questions about Flashpoints. Please feel free to ask us anything you want to know about them!

Some things to remember when posting:

  • Please keep questions courteous and respectful

  • Avoid asking questions that have already been asked this month

  • Ask only one question in the thread

  • Do not bump posts.


Keep in mind that there are some questions we're not able to answer right now, so please don't feel upset if we do not select your question, and please do feel free to ask it again in the future!

Thanks! We're looking forward to your reading your questions!

The Old Republic Team


Stephen Reid

Normally, we would not comment in threads like this. The decision to leave any company is entirely personal, and Gordon's reasons are his alone.

Then again, as Gordon's a great guy and left us on great terms, we thought we'd give him one last right of reply. So here's Gordon:

Thanks to all the well-wishers and even the haters. A few things I thought I'd mention.

1) SWTOR will be an awesome game!

2) Working at BioWare was my best experience in my 33 years in the games industry so far! It's not a good company, it's a GREAT company.

3) I wasn't working at SOE when the NGE came out, and frankly I was adamantly against doing it.

4) I don't hate the SWTOR space game or JtL, really! (Read the transcript of the talk or listen to the recording to find out what I actually said, versus what people say I said about space...)

5) Unfortunately, there is very little customer understanding of how the game development business actually works - but that is fine, as seeing how the sausage is made won't improve your appetite for the games!

Personally, I'll be buying and playing SWTOR the day it launches. It will be not only something different, but in my mind a more immersive experience than anything that I've seen on the market to date.

Best wishes to the potential customers here and all the great folks building SWTOR!

Gordon

Everyone here at BioWare wishes Gordon well in everything he does in the future!

Gallery: 2.18.10 Fan Friday Concept Art

Sith Temple Concept
Voss Concept
Taris Concept
Nar Shaddaa Concept

Comments

  • Spice Runner
    adipokerface's avatar
    • Posts: 181
    #41 adipokerface Posted 2/22/2011 6:15:52 PM
    "Is there a jump button?" ... That pretty much sums up the update quality.
    I like seeing how concept art develops and this weeks art was awesome but it all just feels a bit filler material-ish.
    Not expecting awesome stuff every week; that's impossible (well maybe not). But at least include INTERESTING Q&A questions. The Q&A has been really good before that and i thought it would only get better as they made more of a big deal of it thus more people asking better questions.. Apparently not haha.
  • DarkJack's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #39 DarkJack Posted 2/21/2011 3:42:16 PM
    This was a very disappointing Friday update. It did nothing for me, and actually cooled my interest in the game. I'm getting the feeling that we will soon be told the game has another year before release, and I don't think I can maintain my energy level to follow it in detail that long. Doesn't mean I'm not interested, just that it will fall off my radar for a while.

    I guess I either need to hear a planned release date (not reading the tea leaves from the financial statements) OR some really juicy class info or something new. It feels like the last time I was excited was the crafting reveal.

    Anyone else feeling this? Or do you think the current level of info reveal will sustain you for a while (Maybe I need more passion to drive my connection to the dark side...lol).

    -DJ
  • Gamorrean Thug
    darthuser2922's avatar
    • Posts: 40
    #40 darthuser2922 Posted 2/21/2011 10:46:21 PM
    Yeah I feel exactly the same. Well I was not expecting any juicy stuff this close to PAX anyways, and hopefully there will be a lot of videos to dissect!
  • Dark Lord
    Evel's avatar
    • Posts: 284
    #42 Evel Posted 2/23/2011 3:18:42 PM
    Oh I am definitely down on the updates as they all have been lackluster for the past few months. The Flashpoints was a nice tease, but it really didn't offer any additional insight except for the fact that majority of the Flashpoints are not "planet based". Everything else we already knew.

    As far as the Q&A it was an insult to anyone following the game. I don't care if you are new or old alike does it REALLY matter if jump is in the game? Is it really a game breaking feature that requires a spotlight in a Q&A session amongst so many more important questions yet to be answered about the game?

    BioWare is playing with fire by toying with the vibe of this game.
  • Spice Runner
    heybarn's avatar
    • Posts: 240
    #25 heybarn Posted 2/18/2011 9:26:43 PM
    Well, the Q&A left me feeling pretty... flat. Normally a lot better!? Felt like just a copy and paste from a FAQ page so very token. Nice design process though. Bah, back to real life then... :-/
  • Spice Runner
    Jecalips's avatar
    • Posts: 196
    #29 Jecalips Posted 2/19/2011 1:41:34 AM
    The temple images were interesting. Being designed to keep the spirits in was very interesting, not what I'd expect from a sith temple.

    The Q&A ... yeah ... oh well.
  • Nerf Herder
    TurelSunstrider's avatar
    • Posts: 14
    #34 TurelSunstrider Posted 2/20/2011 7:41:39 PM
    Makes perfect sense for them. Sith spirits are dangerous, and obviously the Emperor has had some issues with the ancient Sith spirits.
  • Spice Runner
    Jecalips's avatar
    • Posts: 196
    #35 Jecalips Posted 2/21/2011 2:27:02 AM
    Depends on who made the temple, if the emperor then yes that would work. I was thinking the temple was very old though, meaning the spirits trapped their were trapped a long time ago. Why would ancient sith trap a spirit in a temple, punishment for a defeated foe, a show of power for the people?!? He mentioned it was as much an ancient prison as a temple. It's a very interesting concept and not what I envisioned a sith temple to be myself but, in a way it makes sense sith wanting to show and exert their power and all. I'm curious who the prisoners are and why they are prisoners? What kind of a person would get a prison like this? You could be right, maybe this is a old prison the emperor made, to trap the spirits of "potential trouble makers" in. I'm curious what, why, and who?
  • Nerf Herder
    TurelSunstrider's avatar
    • Posts: 14
    #37 TurelSunstrider Posted 2/21/2011 4:21:09 AM
    Could be something special, or it could be almost... standard practices for Sith. I'm sure the Emperor is not the only Sith in history that has wanted to keep the previous generations in their tombs. Anyone in power, wouldn't be interested in having spirits come and muck about during their rule. I think this is an interesting insight into Sith culture in general, it almost explains WHY they bury them. Not just to honor their dead, but to make sure they stay there.
  • Spice Runner
    Jecalips's avatar
    • Posts: 196
    #38 Jecalips Posted 2/21/2011 4:35:20 AM
    " ... this is an interesting insight into Sith culture in general, ..." Yeah it is!
  • Dark Councilor
    RogueJedi86's avatar
    • Posts: 3,411
    #24 RogueJedi86 Posted 2/18/2011 9:23:44 PM
    Maybe coincidence, but in the "Gordon Walton leaves TOR" post's comments, I babbled about Rich Vogel never talking to the press despite his long history with both SWG and TOR, and then bam, today he answers the Q&A. I'm gonna pretend I'm the reason he did the Q&A this month. :)
  • Dark Councilor
    Jaramukhti's avatar
    • Posts: 795
    #26 Jaramukhti Posted 2/18/2011 9:46:18 PM
    So you're saying I should tp and egg YOUR house because of that?
  • Dark Lord
    DarthSerious's avatar
    • Posts: 355
    #30 DarthSerious Posted 2/19/2011 2:55:17 AM
    The Q&A was in the Sith temple section to trap your evil spirits when nerd raging. It's genius, if you ask me. ;)
  • Dark Councilor
    Jaramukhti's avatar
    • Posts: 795
    #33 Jaramukhti Posted 2/19/2011 3:43:25 PM
    That would be awesome if it could seal away my disappointment in the Q&A---but alas, I'm still here typing, disappointed.:(

    The rest of the update wasn't bad, at all. I enjoyed the concept artwork (especially the one of Nar Shaddaa), and the fan stuff was pretty good (Sullustan emotes, ftw). The update as a whole was far from terrible for me...It's just the Q&A that made my heart sink down into my stomach.

    Diego Almazan needs to go back to the drawing board; this tomb didn't contain my nerd kvetching.-_-;
  • Dark Lord
    DarthSerious's avatar
    • Posts: 355
    #36 DarthSerious Posted 2/21/2011 3:16:16 AM
    On a positive note, SWTOR rankings are going up on MMORPG.com despite the shemozzle over there. So maybe this was a good update after all.

    :)
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