Darth Hater

Star Wars: The Old Republic News, Interviews, Media & Podcast

  • Community Q&A: 5/11/12

    This week's Q&A Session from BioWare is out and covers a broad range of topics including classes, mechanics and design decisions. This time around rather than centering on speculation over future plans, the Q&A was tailored to address current aspects of the game and explanations for why things were done as they were. So let's go behind the Emerald Curtain, to see what this week's Q&A offers.

    An important note - there will be no Q&A session next week in order to get as many questions as possible into the following post on May 25th. Head on over to the current Q&A Thread to submit any questions you may have for this month's final installment.

  • Community Q&A: 5/4/12

    The weekly Community Q&A session from BioWare has finally hit newsstands so for those of you battling the evening commute, you'll have something to look forward to alongside that TV dinner when you make it home. This week's installment touches on recent technical changes to the GTN, mass-email for guild leaders, upcoming changes to social gear (augmentation and auto-adjusting armor weights), loot table logic in dungeons, updates to Underworld Trading schematics in 1.3, ground effects for speeders (what?!) and a whole, whole lot more. Don't miss out on this one folks. You can find the entire lowdown after the jump, and of course get in on next week's discussion over on the official forum thread.

  • Community Q&A: 4/27/12

    Like always, BioWare’s Community Q&A came up late this Friday afternoon. This week, the team answers a wide range of questions from event planning, armor rating, dual spec, and more. For the full list of questions and answers from the developers, hit the jump.

    If you wish to participate in next week's Q&A, head on over to the thread on the official forum.

  • Community Q&A: 4/20/12

    BioWare’s dependable Friday Community Q&A is here. This week, the team answers a slew of questions ranging from intentions for planetary commendations, account storage, augment gear plans, and more. For the full list of questions and answers from the developers, hit the jump.

    If you wish to participate in next week's Q&A, head on over to the thread on the official forum.

  • Community Q&A: 4/6/12

    It’s Friday, which means its once again time for another Community Q&A. Following last week’s theme of 1.2 related questions, the BioWare team answers 14 questions this week, covering everything from class balance, to guild banks, PvP, crafting and everything in between. There is no official word yet on when 1.2 will be releasing however, beyond the tiny issue this morning.

    For the full Q&A, read after the jump.

  • Community Q&A: 3/30/12

    As promised, BioWare answered a series of questions from the community at large on 1.2 and made them available for your praise or ridicule. In this week's Q&A, the team focuses on 1.2 content and the changes players will see as the update makes its way to servers in early April. There is still no mention of a solid release date for 1.2 but rest assured that when they unveil it, we will bring it to you.

    For now though, the Community Q&A is available after the jump for your consumption. 

  • Community Q&A: 3/23/2012

    BioWare released this week's Community Q&A early this evening, featuring answers from the BioWare team on a variety of gameplay-related issues. Highlights include an in-depth analysis of healer balance changes and an explanation of the vote-kick system in warzones. Other topics of discussion included Interrupt abilities for Mercenaries and Commandos, and rage timers in hard mode Flashpoints.

  • Community Q&A: 3/16/12

    BioWare unveiled their weekly Community Q&A today with a look at features in patch 1.2 and discuss the fan reaction from the Guild Summit. If you'd like to ask a question for next week's Q&A session, visit the official thread. The thread will close on March 20 at 2pm CST (8pm GMT/9pm CET). Hit the jump to see this week's Q&A in full.

  • SWTOR Guild Summit Schedule and Community Q&A

    In anticipation next week's Guild Summit down in Austin, BioWare posted the schedule for the livestream of the event being held on March 5. The livestream can be viewed at the link here and will begin at 10am CST and conclude later that day at 6pm CST. You can check out the full schedule and what each discussion will be about below. You'll also be able to participate remotely as they take questions from the livestream chat. BioWare will be using the official Twitter hasttag #SWTORSummit, and created a special Guild Summit Forum specifically for this event.

    This week's Community Q&A also went up covering topics like achievements, neutral alignment items, and maintence windows. Next week's Community Q&A is postponed until March 16 due to Guild Summit, but the official thread to ask questions will open again on Tuesday. The full Q&A is just past the jump.

    • 10:00AM CST (4PM GMT) – Welcome and Introductions
    • 10:30AM CST (4:30PM GMT) – State of the Game and Game Update 1.2 Presentation
    • Break (Livestream offline from 11:00am to 2:00pm)
    • 2:00PM CST (8:00PM GMT) – Operations and Flashpoints Discussion
    • 2:45PM CST (8:45PM GMT) – Player vs. Player Discussion
    • 3:30PM CST (9:30PM GMT) – Legacy Presentation
    • 4:00PM CST (10:00PM GMT) – Economy and Crew Skills Discussion
    • 4:30PM CST (10:30PM GMT) – Roleplayer's Discussion
    • 5:00PM CST (11:00PM GMT) – Guild Features Discussion
    • 5:30PM CST (11:30PM GMT) – User Interface Presentation
    • 6:00PM CST (12:00AM GMT) - ...And The Rest

  • Community Q&A 2/24/2012

    BioWare released their weekly Community Q&A today with a look at some features coming in patch 1.2 and beyond. Questions range from big such as streamlining travel in game, to small such as adding new player emotes. If you'd like to ask a question for next week's Q&A session, visit the official thread here. The thread will close on February 28 at 2pm CST (8pm GMT/9pm CET). Hit the jump to see this week's Q&A in full.

  • Community Q&A: 2/17/2012

    BioWare released their second weekly Community Q&A, featuring answers from several BioWare developers on a variety of gameplay-related issues. Highlights include upcoming changes to Smuggler/Operative and Commando/Trooper healing, new warzone improvements, and set bonuses for moddable items. Also discussed were several cosmetic features, such as chat bubbles and the ability for force users to toggle their hoods up or down. Hit the jump to see the full Q&A session.

  • Community Q&A and New Changes to Cooldown UI

    Today, BioWare released the first of a weekly Community Q&A feature for the 10th of February, 2012. Highlights of the Q&A feature include info on the upcoming 1.2 patch, specifically Legacy system, a new Warzone, and the color matching feature, new guild related features, and the possibility of choosing which Warzones to queue up for. BioWare also released information on the upcoming changes for the global cooldown UI, enabling players to customize the look of their global cooldowns. For the full Q&A session and info on global cooldown UI changes, hit the jump.

  • Friday Update: Studio Insider, Eurogamer, Community Q&A

    Today's Friday Update features a Studio Insider on combat animation. Principal Lead Animator Mark How discusses the process of creating combat animations, from conception to finished product. He explains what it is like to recreate epic battles between Jedi and Sith, and how Smugglers and Imperial Agents utilize complex tactical attacks to hold their own against opponents from the safety of cover.

    Also featured in this week's update is the Community Q&A. This month, Lead PvP Designer Gabe Ametangelo answers questions about player versus player combat, with topics ranging from arena implementation to post-launch dual specializations.

    The topic for next month's Q&A is Socialization in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Production Coordinator Courtney Woods posted a new Community Q&A thread, where members of the community can sound off for a chance to have their questions answered in a future Studio Insider.

    Lastly, BioWare will attend EuroGamer Expo in London next weekend. You can read about their upcoming show here. Darth Hater will be there in full force so expect content coming from us straight from the event.

    Official DevTracker posts follow the jump.

  • Friday Update: Fan Friday, Studio Insider, and PAX East Announcement



    It's another Fan Friday this week for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Forum member Greighson's Sith-themed propaganda posters act as a throwback to World War II. User Crypticgrrl created portraits of several characters, including a Twi'lek dancing girl. Kharmis wrote a fan fiction about the Republic Troopers. Also, the forums added new smilies and avatars. For more interaction, participate in the two new polls: Whats your favorite part of being in a guild? and What Fan Site is your favorite to regularly visit? Also included in this week's update is a new Studio Insider with Senior Concept Artist Ryan Dening and Senior Environment Artist Christopher Reeves on Starship Creation and a Community Q&A with Senior Producer Blaine Christine.

    In addition, BioWare officially announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be present at PAX East in March.

    BioWare also released concept art of Dromund Kass, Tatooine, and Belsavis.


    UPDATE: Stephen Reid revealed in a conversation post the amount of classes in each faction that can fulfill a healing role increased from two to three:

    Stephen Reid
    BioWare Austin's policy on info release (which is not, in case you were wondering, a cast iron, legally binding, break-this-rule-and-you're-getting-fired sort of thing*) is to not talk about aspects of the game until we're ready to talk about them. Generally that means when they are, to some degree, finished - but, game development is a constant process and things change.

    For instance, until this week, like most of you, I understood that two Advanced Classes (for Republic and Empire) would be able to act as healers. Thanks to the Game Testing program and numerous other factors, Georg Zoeller and his team upped the number to three on each side. They did that because ultimately they felt it was better for the game.


    DevTracker posts continue after the jump.

  • Friday Update: Studio Insider & Fan Friday



    Star Wars: The Old Republic debuted a new Friday Update feature today titled Studio Insider and demonstrates systematic concept art creation from Diego Almazan of a Flesh Raider and a Community Q&A section. BioWare's Daniel Erickson answers questions about group questing mechanics, helmet toggle options, Advanced Class roles, and returning to origin planets. If you would like to ask the developers a question and possibly be featured in a future update, BioWare is soliciting participation from the community to post their questions in a thread dedicated to the function.

    The update also included this month's Fan Friday, and includes artwork by Yssta, lightsaber graphics from WovenKash, paintings from Xanfel, fan fiction, emoticons, wallpapers, costumes and avatars. Community members also showcased their Halloween costumes, and new polls are available.

    Read the Friday Update forum posts from Joanne Laroche after the jump.
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