Darth Hater

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.

This week's Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update starts out with new polls. First up is "What did you enjoy most from our E3 coverage?," and next is "What is your favorite piece of extended universe content relating to The Old Republic?" We've also got a Fan Friday, featuring a neat new selection of UI-themed icons, new concept art, and of course some great fan art. Fan site Ask A Jedi receives the light in this week's Fan Site Spotlight, and answers some questions from BioWare.

Coupled with the update was an article on the awards that Star Wars: The Old Republic won at this year's E3. Unfortunately, this year we were unable to don our elaborate post-it note Best Game at E3 award but that award still stands for this year's attendance.

Last but certainly not least, we hear from Ian Ryan, one of Star Wars: The Old Republic's writing team, about what the writing team is doing for this final stage of the game's development. The official DevTracker posts follow the jump. The media gallery below contains all of the images from this week's update.

Darth Hater once again sent a substantial team to E3 and experienced a new demonstration of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Several staffers share their personal impressions of various classes on Tatooine in the following pages, and you are welcome to ask them questions about their experiences at tonight's Q&A. Please note that even though Orionark and Emlaeh also attended, they both felt their time spent with the game was too limited comparatively to give substantial written impressions.

Individual Impresssions Pages

• Algiebba


• Infamous


• Mako


• Dover


• Sado

We are back from Los Angeles and E3 2011, but while we had some hands-on time with the game, BioWare was still hard at work posting on the official forums in this weeks DevTracker Highlights. Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert discusses leveling outside the game's story, inventory expansion, and the Jedi Knights lightsaber restrictions. Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller talks about players starting combat ready, the Trooper's energy cells, implementation of the medical probe ability, and hints at something coming for companions. Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi explains how certain lightsaber crystal colors are usable depending upon faction and character alignment. Hit the jump to see all the highlights.

Outside of the BioWare booth during E3 2011, we were able to capture some footage of some Sith Assassin gameplay. We cannot guarantee it is very exciting due to the tendencies of the players at E3 but we can at least say it is a bit of gameplay for those looking for new footage.

We did however manage to make a dissection of the video. The dissection includes information on an assortment of gear, new abilities, and 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.

Video is embedded after the break.

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.

Today's Friday update consists of several different updates on the SWTOR News Page. Star Wars: The Old Republic recapped the SWTOR E3 coverage and officially announced the SWTOR gaming peripherals from Razer.

Additionally, the E3 preview trailer Gameplay Features was added to the official site. Check out our dissection here.

Video and official forum posts are after the jump.

Last night at the Figueroa Hotel was a blast, as I'm sure everyone who attended can attest. There were drinks, mingly people, some obscene and probably inappropriate gestures, but surprisingly nobody fell in the pool (so I guess that means it was a pretty mellow night). I took my camera around and snapped some casual photos of everyone, and I figured those who couldn't attend would like to see the festivities. Look at these, and imagine yourself there, and maybe...just maybe, it could happen. If you're Peter Pan. You may find the gallery below, should you choose to look there.

When we found out we were interviewing Star Wars: The Old Republic's Daniel Erickson at this year's E3, we decided to switch up our typical interview format and instead perform a group interview with several members of the Darth Hater staff. Hit the jump for the video and the transcript.

During this years E3, BioWare is showcasing their upcoming games via BioWare TV, a video livestream direct from the show floor. They are showing exclusive interviews with developers, trailers, and live demos for both Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Today at 3PM PST, BioWare TV will have an all-access showing of Star Wars: The Old Republic, including a live demo of a boss fight. Be sure to tune in and see an advanced preview of an battle in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Update: Ended up being a very short demo of Tatooine showing off the quest we experienced at E3.

After debuting yesterday at E3, BioWare added the Eternity Vault trailer to the Star Wars: The Old Republic official site. For players that have yet to check the trailer out, it includes new footage on the recently announced Eternity Vault raid. For convenience for our users, an embed of the video is located below.

The Official DevTracker posts are contained after the jump. Our Working Dissection is available in the Media Gallery below. As with all dissections, content that received mention in prior dissection material will not appear again here. Feel free to jump in the comments below and tell us what you find. If we use one of your submissions, we will credit you with the find.

During E3 2011, the Hater team experienced the Tatooine Jundlands Waste at level 26 and there was plenty to talk about after the first run through. This post will receive frequent updates during the convention week so make sure to check back frequently for more. As the content filters in, we will send update notifications via Twitter. Check the jump for the everything we've learned so far at the convention.

Gametrailers.com interviewed Gabe Amatangelo on their livestream from E3, where they debuted the trailer for the first announced operation (raid) in Star Wars: The Old Republic - the Eternity Vault. Embed of the interview and trailer from Gametrailers.com below.

Hit the jump for notes on the trailer and interview.

Daniel Erickson hosted a live demo session of a level 26 Bounty Hunter questing on Tatooine from the E3 floor. While playing, Daniel fielded general questions (asked by community members to Stephen Reid via Cover It Live). You can watch the livestream here.

Hit the jump for a recap of the interesting tidbits learned.

The team spent the morning on planes, trains, and automobiles so we apologize if some of this is going up later than expected. There is a preview of Star Wars: The Old Republic's new CGI trailer exclusive to EA's new service, Origin. Although the EA press conference is available to watch on Spike TV and GameTrailers, we're still doing a bit of a live blog for those of you who are cubicle bound from our staff attending the press conference itself.

Stay tuned...!

12:34p PT: New CGI Trailer: Return

12:46p PT: Dr. Z takes the stage for SWTOR
12:47p PT: Showing preview CGI montage (same one viewable at Origin)

Other tidbits:

• New Game Setting section debuts on official site.


• Razer announces SWTOR-branded accessories (via IGN)

Stephen Reid's comments on E3 expectations after the jump. In short, no announcements of release date or pre-order details at E3. Instead, BioWare is focusing on demonstrating game features. A Dissection of the recently unveiled screenshots is now up in the Media Gallery below.

Head over to Gamespot for a preview of what we can expect to see reveals of at E3, as they have an in-game trailer (we're working on a dissection) and an exclusive interview with Lead Writer Daniel Erickson, Lead PvP Designer Gabe Amatangelo, and Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert. Some of the features BioWare will unveil at E3 include a new Blur-produced CG trailer, hands-on with the planet Tatooine, mounts, Warzones, and our first look at raids -- or what BioWare calls "Operations."

Gabe Amantangelo: What you'd know as raids in other MMOs, we're calling "operations" in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Operations will be epic, multi-group events with settings and immersive gameplay inspired by scenes in the Star Wars movies. For examples, players will have to navigate the environment as a powerful Force wielder brings down the room around them; they'll have to work together to solve a code and fend off enemies while they're cornered, and so on.

Additionally, players will be able to enjoy operations as soon as they hit level 50. There will be varying difficulty modes, much like what is found in other BioWare games. The challenge, mechanics, and rewards will vary with the modes. So both the casual and hardcore player will be able to enjoy epic content alongside multiple groups of friends.

Damion Schubert discusses the use of speeders and vehicles in game. He says they were originally torn between animal mounts and vehicles, but ultimately decided with vehicles as it fit better with the overall iconic feel of Star Wars. He also discusses the approach behind crafting and creating a system that either a casual or dedicated crafter can enjoy. Gabe Amatangelo talks about the open-world feel, and how players will be able to attack each other on sight on PvP servers, or on PvE servers if they toggled on their PvP flag.

The interview also touches on Crew Skills, space, boss fights, world story arcs, and more. This year looks to be the biggest yet for BioWare and Star Wars: The Old Republic, and we'll be there to cover it all.

Our Working Dissection is in the Media Gallery below. As with all dissections, we will not cover things seen in the past unless it is important. Feel free to join us in the comments section and let us know what you find. If you find something and we decide to use it, we will credit you. Make sure to keep checking back for more throughout the weekend.

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.

It is time once again for the Hater team to infiltrate the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California for all things Star Wars: The Old Republic beginning Monday, June 6 through Thursday, June 9. As we do with all events, the entire team will provide continuous coverage from the show floor and around the web within this post, so bookmark and keep checking this throughout the week.

Current Schedule

Monday

• EA Press Conference 12:30 PM PT / 3:30 PM ET (Live on Spike TV and EA.com)
• EA.com and SWTOR.com will have new content following the Press Conference.

Tuesday

• Booth #1601 Hours: 12:00PM - 6:00PM PT

• Gameplay Demo with Developer Q&A 2PM PT / 5PM ET

Wednesday

• Booth #1601 Hours: 10:00AM - 6:00PM PT

• Meet and Greet 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM PT

Thursday

• Booth #1601 Hours: 10:00AM - 6:00PM PT

DH E3 2011 Content

• Gameplay Impressions


• Sith Assassin Off-Screen Footage with Dissection


• Gamespot Live Stage Demo Dissection


• GameTrailers Demo Walkthrough Dissection


• Tatooine Developer Walkthrough


• BioWare Meet and Greet Photos


• Team Interview With Daniel Erickson


• Eternity Vault Trailer Dissection


• General Things Learned


• First Look at Razer SWTOR Peripherals


• E3 Day 1: Press Conference, Live Blog, and new content


• Gametrailers TV Teases The Old Republic E3 Booth


• WSJ Reports SWTOR Exclusive To New EA Download Service

As with every E3, floor plans are available via the official E3 website should you attend. Make sure to watch our Twitter feed for minute by minute updates as we add new content to the site.

During GameTrailers TV tonight on Spike, BioWare teased their booth for Star Wars: The Old Republic at E3 2011. The booth showed a line queuing area as well as massive poster adverts for The Old Republic. An image of the booth is contained below.

Screencap from GameTrailers TV

Be sure to watch Darth Hater as the team storms E3 to reveal its secrets starting June 6.

Details on Star Wars: The Old Republic's Community Meet & Greet at E3 are as follows:

SWTOR Facebook
Time: Wednesday, June 8 8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location: Figueroa Hotel (Veranda Bar) 939 South Figueroa St. in Los Angeles, California

Are you going to E3, or do you live in the Los Angeles area and wish you were? Join the STAR WARS: The Old Republic team for a night of casual conversation, frivolity and drinks! We'll be heading up to the Figueroa Hotel Veranda Bar after E3 on Wednesday night, and we'd love for you to join us. Stop by, grab a drink on us, and share your love and excitement for The Old Republic with the developers of the game!

Note: Game will not be playable at this event.

Members of Darth Hater's staff will be on hand, so don't forget to look for the shirts and say hello!