Darth Hater

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update focuses on Warzones - instanced PvP zones where teams of eight can square off against each other in combat. BioWare updated the Warzones page of the Game Systems section of the site with new information, screenshots and videos. BioWare also revealed the Voidstar Warzone, showing off the trailer from New York Comic Con.

Video embed and DevTracker post after the jump.

During day three of New York Comic Con 2011, TORSyndicate organized a community event called the Fan Site Faceoff. The event pitted some of the biggest names in the SWTOR Fan Site community including Corellian Run Radio, FragWorld, Jen'Jidai, Guild Umbra, NothingGaming, TORTalk, TORWars, Darth Hater, and more against each other in a heated Warzone PVP match on Alderaan. Luckily for us, we were there to record the win for the Republic and our community here.

Included in the photo gallery below are some images from the event. Lastly, we would like to thank BioWare for allowing us to take part in this.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday update is quite a huge one and can best be described as a four parter. The first two have us drooling over a new trailer named "Signs of War" and Operations Game Systems page.

In the Signs of War trailer, the Trooper that most prominently received a facelift from Malgus in the Hope trailer is seen for the first time in-game. The trailer, narrated by Satele Shan, features several locals from the game that players can expect to visit when they get their hands on the game. The new Operations Game Systems page contains information on all of the current Operations along with images and video. On a side note but almost just as important, originally first revealed during the main panel at New York Comic Con, the global launch date is now December 20. BioWare also reminds fans to attend Paris Games Week, which they will be in attendance of in full force.

Our dissection is now available in the media gallery below. As with all of our dissections, things mentioned in prior dissections will not be mentioned unless otherwise needed for context. Feel free to mention stuff that you see in the comments section of this post and we will credit you with the find.

Hit the jump for the Signs of War embed trailer and official DevTracker posts.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is a dual update consisting of the second portion of Senior Game Designer William Wallace's Companion Characters Developer Blog and a new video dubbed 'Choose Your Side' which features the Jedi Knight and Bounty Hunter character classes.

In the Developer Blog, William Wallace highlights companion artificial intelligence and their function in groups. While discussing companions and their strengths, William makes special note of the ease of which companions can be used if a situation requires it.

A common situation familiar to MMO players is the departure of a member halfway through a quest or instance (As a personal example: I once abandoned a group in the middle of an instance when my washing machine caught fire. These things happen!). This could potentially ruin the game experience for all involved parties, but with the ability to substitute a companion in this situation, an experienced group of players will often be able to mitigate the impact of this event and continue their adventure.

In addition, we now have a new video feature which will likely become a regular one fans can expect to see over the coming weeks. The 'Choose Your Side' video shows off the combat in The Old Republic with the intention of seeing the Jedi Knight and Bounty Hunter duking it out. Senior Writer Hall Hood, Writer Randy Begel, Senior Designer Austin Peckenpaugh, and Senior Designer Pete Warner discuss the motivations behind the character classes and the possible outcome should they ever meet on the battlefield.

Video embed and official DevTracker posts follow the jump.

Darth Hater filmed some Star Wars: The Old Republic's Alderaan Warzone PvP action from a Sith Sorcerer and Jedi Guardian point of view at PAX Prime. The video is embedded after the jump, and we'll add all the Alderaan PvP videos we get to this post. Enjoy.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Facebook Image of the Week is a new image of a Jedi Shadow on Alderaan after battle.

The Jedi Shadow stands alone after an intense battle inside an Imperial encampment.

For ease of reference, we compiled a Facebook Image of the Week Media Gallery containing all the images which you can view below. Make sure to check the Media Gallery for the fullsize image.

Darth Hater wraps up our coverage of San Diego Comic Con with our impressions of Star Wars: The Old Republic's Alderaan Warzone before we set our sights on Cologne, Germany for the annual Gamescom convention. We first encountered the Alderaan Warzone at the Fan Site Summit back in April. BioWare gave fans without access to San Diego Comic Con an opportunity to get in the thick of battle at BioWare Base, an offsite location within the Hilton Gaslamp, and we had Orionark, Mako, Infamous, and Misensus contribute their impressions of their PvP experiences.

The second issue of The Lost Suns, a five issue comic book mini-series based upon Star Wars: The Old Republic, was released last week. The story picks up where it left off in the first installment, with Theron Shan seeking out Jedi Master Ngani Zho, who has recently resurfaced after it was thought that he had been lost in the war.

Editor's Note: The following dissection includes several plot spoilers.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is the Battle for Alderaan Highlights Video. The video includes footage of a group of players taking on King Ulgo. Before this, a live stage demo from Gamespot featured the quest at E3 2011 along with many others. Up until now, the context of the event was muddy at best. However, we now have a greater understanding of Alderaan's story and more specifically, the self-proclaimed King Ulgo.

A working dissection of both of the videos is in the media gallery below. Make sure to check back for more. As with all of our dissections, items noted in prior dissections will not be mentioned here again unless otherwise important. Feel free to add your thoughts and items you noticed in the video. If we decide to use your find, we will credit you in the dissection.

The official DevTracker post and video embed follow the jump. Alternately, you can view the high-definition version of the video via our Youtube account.

Update: BioWare just moments ago released a new video from E3, this time highlighting commentary from the fans lucky enough to get a chance to play. Embed of the video is available after the jump.

Gamespot scored a live stage demo at E3 2011 of Star Wars: The Old Republic with Lead Writer Daniel Erickson as the narrator of the action on screen. In the demo, a Republic group on Alderaan attempts to make Bouris Ulgo answer for his crimes. Fortunately for us, the demo contains several tidbits such as epic set piece loot, rested experience system, tiered alignment system, and much more. As with all of our dissections, items noted in prior dissections will not be mentioned here again unless otherwise important. Feel free to add your thoughts and items you noticed in the video. If we decide to use your find, we will credit you in the dissection. See the Media Gallery below for the dissection.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is E3 Details, new Advanced Classes Page, and on The Lost Suns with an interview Alexander Freed. As BioWare Austin's Community Manager Stephen Reid hinted at this morning, there are three updates today about SWTOR. This is all in preparation for the Electronic Entertainment Expo that starts June 6 and expectations are massive on the news coming out of the event. Stated in the E3 details post is a tidbit about what fans can expect from E3:

• More to share regarding the stories from the CG trailers


• Belsavis raid content


• Alderaan political intrigue


• Tatooine -- sandpeople and something unknown

As part of this week's Friday Update, MMORPG.com interviewed Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller about the Advanced Classes we will see in Star Wars: The Old Republic. He covers abilities from almost every class including the Jedi Knight's Force Leap, the different stances of the Sith Warrior, the Bounty Hunter's helpful Kolto Missile, and the Smuggler's explosive Shrapnel Bomb.

The Old Republic: The Lost Suns previewed earlier this week on StarWars.com, and today an interview with Senior Writer and Managing Editor Alexander Freed. He covers a brief overview of the comic that follows Theron Shan, a Republic spy set out to discover what the Sith Empire's plans are for the planets newly acquired in the Treaty of Coruscant. The comic canonically at the start of the game, about 10 years after Threat of Peace and 40 years after Blood of the Empire.

Included a bit after the rest of the updates went up was a new Advanced Classes page. The page is a newly redesigned page to fit the place of the older updates. It contains new information about the trees and abilities of the Advanced Classes.

Official Dev Tracker posts follow the jump. Images from today's Friday Update are contained in the Media Gallery below. If higher resolution versions of the images become available, we will update them. Aurebesh Working translation follows the jump as well as in the Media Gallery.

During the Fan Summit, I was able to get my first taste of PVP in Star Wars: The Old Republic. After running through the Imperial Agent origin stories and crushing Black Talon, it was wonderful to get my hands on a brand new game system. Read on to see my personal thoughts on our first hands-on time with PVP in The Old Republic.

Many improvements and changes made their way into various PvP systems since we last spoke to Star Wars: The Old Republic's Gabe Amatangelo. Last month's Fan Site Summit provided an opportunity to catch up with BioWare's Lead PvP Designer to discuss Warzone reward systems, what we can expect if we choose to use PvP as our leveling method of choice, the favorite topic of crowd control in PvP, and much more after a small skirmish with the third rail of interview topics:

Gabe Amatangelo: I want to touch on open world PvP. We're going to have PvP servers, and on the PvE servers there will be designated PvP areas. On a PvE server, you aren't going to flag unless you want to flag yourself, or unless you go into a designated PvP area that is going to be completely isolated from quests and story lines and that kind of stuff. Now, we're not talking about the goals inside those areas today, but we are saying that it is there. People can go and fight each other there.

Are these Open World PvP areas guild- or faction-based?

We're not talking about the goals of those areas. I know Darth Hater and all the people who follow you are really group conscious. You guys are guilds. We want to do everything we can to accommodate that type of game play.

Today we're focusing on a few systems that we haven't talked about before. The focus of them is promoting a good, healthy PvP community and allowing players to play the role they want in PvP. There are a number of systems that roll into those two points.

Hit the jump for more interview PvP.

Following the tradition of being on the lookout for new tidbits in the game, we now have PvP Information Learned. During the Fan Site Summit, we were able to pull out a few items of interest for fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Since this is the first time we could PvP at a hands-on event, many of the concepts and mechanics are new to us on the battlefield. Join us by hitting the jump to learn more on the PvP in The Old Republic.

While in Austin for BioWare's Fan Site Summit, the developers treated us to several question and answer sessions. With the second embargo now over, we are able to unveil the last session in the series featuring Lead PvP Designer Gabe Amatangelo.

Hit the jump for the audio embed as well as the full transcription of the session.

This week's Facebook Image of the Week is a new screenshot of Alderaan.

High among towering mountain peaks on Alderaan, this settlement shows no obvious signs of the growing political unrest that plagues the planet.

For ease of reference, we compiled a Facebook Image of the Week Media Gallery containing all the images which you can view below.

BioWare winds down from PAX East 2011 in this week's DevTracker Highlights. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller discusses the color of blaster shots, the Taral V Developer Walkthrough video, day and night cycles, the extent of companion use, and the goal of heroic combat. Senior Writer Alexander Freed explains the evolution of Satele Shan in different Star Wars media. Lead Writer Daniel Erickson expands the classes that the Miraluka species can play as. Community Manager Stephen Reid talks pre-orders and Master Otegs voice according to LucasFilm. Hit the jump for the highlights.

The last time we spoke to James Ohlen, Star Wars: The Old Republic Creative Director, it was back at last summer's Gamescom in Germany. He granted us an opportunity to catch up with him at PAX East, and we discussed a bunch of topics ranging from Game Testing and Space Combat to Advanced Classes... and blowing up Alderaan.

Hit the jump for more.

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.

The planets and moons of Star Wars: The Old Republic are designed to offer players unique environments and stories. To better understand each location, we strive to learn what we can about the history and lore that already exists. While working on our comprehensive planet overview, we realized some of the earlier announced planets are missing comprehensive lore articles. We decided to start filling in those gaps, so hit the jump for a closer look at Alderaan.