Darth Hater

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

  • Watercooler: New Playable Species

    In the April 27th Community Q&A, Daniel Erickson dropped this interesting tidbit:

    JimG
    Is there any sort of ETA on adding completely new playable species into the game such as Togruta, Mon Calamari, Nautolan, etc.?
    Daniel EricksonCan’t comment on what species you might see, but you can expect the roster of playable species to expand… this year.

    A dearth of playable species options is one of the criticisms often leveled by fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic, stretching as far back as the beta phases of the game. Most pronounced amongst Republic players, much of the negativity focuses on race selections being limited to “green human, red human, tattooed human, blindfolded human” and the like. For those of you bored to tears by the current lack of biodiversity however, there may be some hope on the horizon, and within the next six months. To get a feel for what to expect, we ambushed various members of the DarthHater staff while attempting to take coffee breaks and posed the question: "Which playable species would you like to see next, and do you think they're coming?" For the most complete watercooler dissection of this topic you're likely to find, read on past the jump, and then get involved in the comments section at the bottom of the post!

  • DevTracker Highlights For The Week of May 10, 2012

    This time around on DevTracker, Joveth Gonzalez talks improvements to the GTN, Amber Green seeks input on the UI changes ushered in with Update 1.2, Courtney Woods details the return of Fan Friday, David Bass gives his take on the changes to the Warzone Daily mission, Daniel Erickson mentions tweaks to instance portal restrictions, Eric Musco ushers in the first ever Star Wars: The Old Republic podcast and Allison Berryman sets her keyboard afire talking Reverse Engineering, forum hostilities, the "Allies expansion pack" and much, much more. Hit the jump to catch up on a week's worth of highlights.

  • 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.

  • Guide: Update 1.3 Primer

    With Game Update 1.3 looming on the horizon, players of Star Wars: The Old Republic can once again expect to see numerous changes and additions made to various game systems. Though it is not likely to be a content-heavy patch, there are many significant upgrades coming to Crew Skills, Augmentation functionality and much more. While the Group Finder tool is potentially the most anticipated feature of this patch, there are sure to be a lot of other changes to enjoy, including many quality-of-life improvements. For our complete coverage of what to expect from Update 1.3, read on past the jump.

    Note: Updates to this article will come as BioWare announces changes and additions to Update 1.3. This article only serves as a small glimpse of content coming in the patch.

  • 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.

  • DevTracker Highlights For The Week of April 19, 2012

    The secrets of the galaxy are out there, but you’ll find hints of them in this week’s DevTracker highlights. Lead Designer Daniel Erickson talks about Warzone rewards and the motivations behind today’s patch 1.2.0c. Principle Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller teases bits of knowledge about the magenta crystal and the Tauntaun mini-pet. Associate Online Community Manager Joveth Gonzalez posts when the Rakghoul Pandemic event will end. Senior Online Community Manager Stephen Reid discusses the difference between the new Black-Green crystal and the Razer Black-Green crystal. Systems Designer David White discloses why certain Social items disappeared with patch 1.2. Hit the jump to see all the highlights.

  • No Ranked Warzones in Update 1.2

    On the cusp of Game Update 1.2: Legacy hitting live servers tomorrow, Lead Game Designer Daniel Erickson announced somewhat disappointing news regarding Ranked Warzones – they will not be in the update.

    Daniel EricksonIt is with great reluctance that I have to announce Ranked Warzones are not going live with Game Update 1.2: Legacy. We had a fantastic run of testing on the Public Test Server and I can’t begin to thank the community enough for their tireless advocacy for this feature and the time people took to file bugs and voice their concerns.

    After careful consideration, it is clear that to make Ranked Warzones the feature we all want it to be is going to take a bit more time. I apologize for any disappointment this may cause and ask for your patience as we work to make sure the Ranked Warzone Preseason launch is polished and fun. With Legacy, the new Warzone, Operation, and Flashpoint, as well as many other amazing features of Game Update 1.2 ready to go, we're very excited for tomorrow's additions.

    In the future we'll be rolling the Ranked Warzone Preseason out in phases, listening carefully to player feedback and making adjustments as we go. The first phase will be full team, eight-player queuing only and from there we'll look at next steps as Preseason progresses. In the meantime we have provided an alternate purchase route for War Hero gear so you can start building your set while figuring out your teams.

    For the announcement in full, hit the official site.

    Update: For those wondering what impact this has on the War Hero gear.

    Allison BerrymanAs others have posted in the thread, you'll be able to trade Warzone Commendations for Ranked Warzone Commendations, so you will be able to begin purchasing War Hero gear before Ranked Warzones are implemented. We know many of you have been looking forward to Ranked Warzones, and apologize for the delay.

     Also, for players looking for answers on whether this impacts eight person groups, Stephen Reid has your answer.

    Stephen ReidUnfortunately, this is the case. You will be able to queue in an eight-man team when Ranked Warzones are implemented.

    Regarding the timing of this announcement, the decision was made late in our testing for Game Update 1.2, after the team had examined the data and done additional internal testing. There was no deliberate delay. As soon as the decision was made, we communicated that to you. We realize it's a late announcement, but we felt it was only fair to communicate the change before Game Update 1.2 was pushed live.

    Work on re-instating Ranked Warzones has already begun, and is the highest priority for the PvP team right now. They all want to bring the feature to you as soon as possible. However, we will not compromise on quality by rushing it to launch. As Daniel said, once we are satisfied Ranked Warzones work well and are fun for all who want to take part in them, we'll launch them.

  • 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. 

  • DevTracker Highlights For The Week of March 29, 2012

    More hints and insight into the changes of game update 1.2 come in this week’s DevTracker highlights. Principle Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller highlights additional changes coming to the test server, the downside of random number generation, and explains why Sith Warriors don’t have an assault cannon in their back pocket. Lead Designer Daniel Erickson sheds light on a recent bug that popped up on the test server from an old design of the light and dark system. Senior Game Designer William Wallace clears up the system for unlocking class buffs through Legacy and the benefit. Hit the jump to see all the highlights.

  • DevTracker Highlights For The Week of January 12, 2012

    The amount of yellow posts from BioWare are staggering, but this week’s DevTracker Highlights will give you a breakdown of the important parts, straight from the mouths of the developers themselves. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller covers the illusive magenta crystal, Galactic Trade Network kiosks, moddable end-game gear, and a bug with the Smuggler’s Accomplished Sawbones ability. European Community Manager Chris Collins address concerns that patches are happening too often. Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi updates the community about character responsiveness issues. Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert discusses mission discovery items, a looking for group system, and the economic concerns of slicing. Senior Community Coordinator David Bass seeks feedback about Star Wars: The Old Republic events through the year 2012. Lead Writer Daniel Erickson confirms that there is no HK companion currently available in the game. Hit the jump to dig in and see all the highlights.

  • Best Buy Developers Chat

    Several key members of the Star Wars: The Old Republic development team participated in a recent live chat event on the BestBuy.com website. Creative Director James Ohlen, Lead Writer Daniel Erickson and Lead Flashpoints/PvP and Operations Designer Gabe Amatangelo answered several questions from fans regarding general post-release plans, Operation lockout schedules, UI improvements, Ewok companions and Operation tiers.

    Best Buy ChatQuestion: Why are there no ewok companions? =[ I know they’re not supposed to be discovered for years…but seriously. Ewoks are totally worth a bit of lore-bending. Also, any chance that the original cantina song from episode 4 will make an appearance in one of the cantinas?

    James Ohlen: We have a lot of fans that think the Ewok’s are cute and would make a cuddly companion. We agree that they’re cuddly and cute, perhaps you’ll see them in the future.

    Question: What drove me away from all other MMOs was the constantly doing the same raid over and over with no options to switch things up. In SWtoR are there going to be multiple raids per tier or can we expect to be face-rolling them one at a time with months in between each new one releasing?

    Gabe Amatangelo: We currently have two different Operations in the same tier (Eternity Vault & Karagga’s Palace) and we will be expanding on this tier as well as releasing other tiers.

     A full transcript of the chat is available on the Best Buy site.

  • Daniel Erickson Reveals Voice Actors for Sith Inquisitor

    Star Wars: The Old Republic fan site The Sith Inquirer had the chance to interview BioWare's Lead Writer Daniel Erickson on the Sith Inquisitor. In the interview, Daniel discusses his inspirations in writing the Inquisitor's story, companions, and more.

    However, the most important point came when discussing the voice actors that will play the respective genders of the Sith Inquisitor.

    Our Sith Inquisitor male is played by Euan Morton and our Sith Inquisitor female is played by Xanthe Elbrick. Both brought interesting takes on the role that were unexpected. Xanthe, particularly, brought a subtle understanding of the character and an ability to convey a huge amount of meaning while saying something completely different.

    For the interview in full, visit The Sith Inquirer.

  • Facebook Q&A With Daniel Erickson Highlights



    In an impromptu Q&A started on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic Facebook page, Lead Writer Daniel Erickson answers the questions of fans unable to attend the Q&A Panel conducted on Friday. The Q&A is a rather lengthy one but instead of posting it in its entirety, we chose to select a few highlights from it and bring it to you here.

    Hit the jump for the highlights.

  • NYCC 2011: BioWare Meet & Greet



    BioWare hosted a Meet & Greet event for Star Wars: The Old Republic fans at District 36 in New York City. This event was the precursor to BioWare's presence at New York Comic Con. In attendance from the SWTOR team were Daniel Erickson, Stephen Reid, David Bass and several other BioWare Austin staff.

    The BioWare team decorated the club with SWTOR concept art and posters. Fans were able to also use six computers set up for SWTOR origin world play - about 20 lucky individuals played for roughly 40 minutes each. For the majority of attendees who did not get to play, there was an open bar and open conversations with the BioWare staff. The crowd around Daniel Erickson was consistently large, as fans know by now he can tell a good story. There was also swag to be won from Ari Sapriel of BioWare in the form of t-shirts and posters for answering Star Wars or BioWare trivia questions.

    A media gallery with photos of the event is available below.

    Gallery: NYCC 2011: Meet & Greet Photo Gallery

    NYCC 2011: Meet & Greet Photo 5
    NYCC 2011: Meet & Greet Photo 4
    NYCC 2011: Meet & Greet Photo 3
    NYCC 2011: Meet & Greet Photo 2

  • DevTracker Highlights For The Week of September 29, 2011



    Did you know that Star Wars: The Old Republic has a release date? It's roughly three months from now, so in the meantime, here are this week's DevTracker Highlights. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller discusses meshing PvE and PvP specs, the strength of stealth, and damage-over-time abilities. Environment Artist Aaron Canaday reminisces about receiving games for birthdays and Christmas. Lead Writer Daniel Erickson reminds players that male companions are romance-capable too. European Community Manager Chris Collins shares news about EU Game Testing. Hit the jump to see all the highlights.

  • BioWare Hosts French Community Event

    In the wake of Eurogamer Expo, BioWare continues to court the European community. Star Wars: The Old Republic Lead Writer Daniel Erickson and Community Manager Antonio Moreno were on hand for a recent community event in Paris, France that featured a 16 computer setup for PvP. There's a full writeup of the event available at swtor-guide.fr (or check out the Google Translate version if you don't speak French). It sounds like a great time was had by all, despite the fact that the game version was not localized for French-speakers.

  • Eurogamer Expo 2011: Interview with Daniel Erickson



    Daniel Erickson, Lead Writer for BioWare on Star Wars: The Old Republic, was kind enough to grace us with a moment of his time for an interview. Along with stunning us with his striking personal appearance customization, the man of action gave us heaps details on writing for PvP, challenges when creating content around established characters, designing around story variables, and more.

    Story telling in computer games seems to have a number of possibilities that more traditional story telling doesn't, like letting the player dictate the action. What new constraints does it have, if any?

    Daniel Erickson: There are some constraints in an MMO specifically that we do not have in a single player RPG. The number one thing is I can't trap you. You might be off to play Hutt Ball or wanting to do the space game or whatever. I can't say, "Oh and now the evil Sith stuck you in prison, and until you figure out this puzzle, you can't go out." So you're like, "Oh yeah? Quick travel! Goodbye! Broke your game." So it actually challenges us a lot as writers to make sure that the content is appealing and players want to be going after it. And it makes us have to avoid some of the cheap outs we would use.

    Is it hard not having those outs?

    Sometimes when you're doing the sheer amount of content that we do. We had to do more Star Wars stories than basically all other BioWare stories put together. Sometimes, yeah, you'd like to just stick somebody in a jail cell. But no can do.

    Hit the jump to read the interview in full.

  • GameSpot Exclusive Pre-Friday Developer Dispatch Update on Companions with Q&A



    GameSpot posted an interview with Game Director James Ohlen about the role and function of companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Mr. Ohlen reveals that companions will function similar to other classes in the game, leveling up alongside the player and unlocking skills as they progress. Additionally, he talks about a new system that will allow players to set up companion behaviors in combat beforehand, managing which abilities they do and do not use.

    Along with the exclusive interview comes a second one in the form of a Developer Dispatch video on companions with the team from BioWare. Lead Writer Daniel Erickson talks about hitting the cornerstones of Star Wars with companions such as droids and aliens. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller shows how companions level-up and unlock new abilities just like players. These features along with their unique storyline makes them effectively more than just pets. Art Director Jeff Dobson explains how the team carefully crafted each companion to evoke some element of their story and how those stories can change. Those changes are based upon the affection system, where gifts can be given to companions opening up new conversations and quests.

    Dissection of the developer dispatch is in the media gallery below. As with all of our dissections, we do not note things mentioned in prior dissections. If you find something, feel free to let us know if the comments section below and if we decide to use it - we will credit you.

    Gallery: Developer Dispatch: Companions Dissection

    Developer Dispatch - Companions Dissection Image 23
    Developer Dispatch - Companions Dissection Image 16
    Developer Dispatch - Companions Dissection Image 17
    Developer Dispatch - Companions Dissection Image 18
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