Misc

SWTOR becomes Free, cartel coins and future

It is now widely known and the rumors were indeed true that SWTOR is free. But how free is it really? Only the Game client itself remains free. You could say this is a freemium model but Free players on free package really get next to nothing.

Gametime or subscriptions are now optional and come in two flavors. Preferred Status and Subscription itself. A comparison of Preferred status and Subscription as wella s Free play is available here http://www.swtor.com/free/features The buy now on the right actually buys you the preferred status in the game which is a one-off item. This is also true for all those who purchased the original game.

To be honest those on Free 2 play have told me that it’s not worth it but it’s good to get a preview only. It’s nothing more than a trial as you constantly fight against limitations which were imposed as an after thought to changing the game model.

Cartel coins is the in-game currency (obviously) and what bothers me is that unlike other MMOs that include some coins in monthly subscription SWTOR chose not to. Does it really affect the gameplay or the ability to do better simply because you are paying more? Perhaps other fellow SWTOR mates can share their views.

Those who paid are not really left behind because all the items we got (useful or not) are actually add-ons that need additional payment.

If you are looking to subscribe I recommend the 60 Day subscription first and always. The cool part is you can get the price lower on Amazon almost always. See below.

You can expect to buy for 3$-10$ less than the regular SWTOR site listed price.

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SWTOR Now available in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong

Star Wars the Old Republic has already over a million players currently. The good news for those of you in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, or in the regions nearby, is that SWTOR is now finally available for Purchase and online play.

While several stores have copies and Regular Box editions are just fine, people are heading over to Amazon (see the right side of this page for the original copy link) to buy their copy. Since no shipping is really needed and you can download your copy all you need are the “Keys”. RIght, just select the link on the right of this page for SWTOR original copy, which takes you to Amazon page for the game. Sign up , purchase and download. You will be playing in 10 minutes.

I have considered the idea of collector’s edition but not only are the in-game stuff extra vague, from what I found out it’s just so-so. Again grab from Amazon for better deals and save yourself some cash for the game time cards.

Well I hope to see a lot of friends in SWTOR from Singapore and Australia for sure. Time to show off my Green light saber.

P.S. For those who can’t grab a copy from Amazon ask your friends in US to grab it for you.

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Family Tree of SWTOR

Family trees now possible in SWTOR!

With a puzzling new Video and Update, Bioware has announced their new Family Tree system, which has left players across the galaxy confused and perplexed.

As it looks at the moment, the Family Tree is something  of a reward for making ungodly numbers of characters, then clicking on linking options in game to create your own ‘family tree’. How a single human can ‘produce’ five chiss offspring is both perplexing and even, some would say, unrealistic, but this has not stopped Bioware from making it possible for yours truly.

Not only do you make this fictional family tree, but being part of a developed one grants each character buffs and special abilities. Things to make them stronger in combat, and able to earn more money, if early reports are to be believed.

Valid concerns have been raised on the official forums by players who have instantly seen through to the core of what these updates represent, and that being rewards for players that spend copious amounts of time grinding up character after character.

As far as we know here at SWTOR Republic, this is really the first time any MMORPG has awarded players credit for how many characters they have. At least in others things are kept blissfully separate. It doesn’t matter if you are a level 90 Elder Jedi on one character, when you are on a low level you are a low level (and that is it!).

Since the exact potency and details of what being a member of such a family tree might grant a player, we are only speculating at this point as to how much of an effect to the game at large it will have, but players across the boards are hoping that Bioware will not go overboard with this blatant encouragement for players to invest even more time to remain competative.

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Game Tasks, The New Way to Up your game.

GameTasks, New Online Service.

Recently released websites, such as GameTasks,  have introduced players to a new way to play online, offline, and even MMORPG games..

Although sites like this are still in their infancy, they provide very useful services which, before long might find the average gamer a lot of extra time to do the things they want to, and spend less time on the boring parts added to most games to slow players down.

Anyone can offer their services on such websites, as it doesn’t cost anything to register and they don’t ask you for personal information. For customers, there will always be someone get you past boring points in games, make you money, and help you level up, or just be there as a helping hand if you prefer to do things yourself.

For many people, finding a good group of players can be hard to do, perhaps they live in a different time zone, or can only play odd hours. This is where services like GameTasks come in. For as little as $2 per hour, you can Rent a Gaming Buddy, who can play just about any game at any time, to ensure someone has your back on long and hard quests. You can also get PVP training as well as get paid to train others. Gamers who are experts in their respective fields can offer their help for money, meaning the hired players are generally the cream of the crop, and customers are certain to get their moneys worth.

The other major service offered by Game Tasks services is to just do traditional one on one teaching. You might want to learn how to duel as a Trooper in Star Wars The Old Republic, or how to beat the Death Star level of Star Wars The Force Unleashed (One of the predecessors of SWTOR). Even if you don’t see your particular task or mission listed on the site, you can request it in the shout box, and the helpful group will get to your request as soon as possible (which if early results are anything to go on, is pretty fast!). Also, If you have some special gaming skill, you can put a shout on the Game Tasks Quest Help section, and when a player comes along needing your specialized set of skills, you will be notified.

All in all, websites like GameTasks and others provide an interesting new corner to the gaming market, and as their rapid growth continues we will see their services become common place across the net. So what are you waiting for, it’s free to register, they don’t ask you for any more information than it takes to register to a forum, and they pay you via paypal.

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Momentum of SWTOR Surges Forward

Recent subscriber numbers for SWTOR show the current player base at well over one million, making it easily the second largest MMO by subscriber base on the market, and by quite a long way.

Also released were numbers relating to player activities, which revealed more than 9 billion non-player-characters had been defeated during the holiday season. This heinous loss of life, rather than humbling players, seems to only have forced them to be more violent with their future ambitions. In fact, we have seen in the game large packs of low-level players roaming the countryside in search of the most innocent and unassuming animals, only to assault them as viciously as possible, even though there is no reward what so ever.

EVE Online in dire straits.

Games like EvE online, long time leader of the science-fiction MMO market share have taken this news hard, as many of these players have been directly extracted from their own money-earning player base. Perhaps in the future games such as EVE will once again return to dominance, however with the current success of SWTOR, and the Bioware developer team which has at no point looked like faltering severely, this seems increasingly unlikely.

With  a lot to look forward to in the coming year, the one million players now devoting copious amounts of their lives to Star Wars The Old Republic will be on the lookout for many new updates, which should prevent them from losing interest in the short term.

However, there is still something of a problem with SWTOR’s end game content, as even only a couple of months into the live game, players are increasingly finding combat getting to be repetitive and bland. Many solutions have been presented on the official forums, however as of yet none look like being added in the short term. Let us hope Bioware comes up with something to plug the gap, and before too many of their players leak away.

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Rakghoul’s Rising

Not the prettiest Enemy found in SWTOR thus far.

The Latest flashpoint for Star Wars The Old Republic, Rakghoul’s Rising, recently hit selected live servers, and has proven to be one of the best ever yet made.

The mission introduces players to a host of new characters, both good and evil, as well as the Galaxies first ever Hutt Mobile.

This one technological advantage is a peculiar one, as it provides protection for the bloated beings entire body, except for the most essential part, the Head. Perhaps Galactic engineers might have a career after all if they can solve problem, but whether his opulence Is willing to part with his swish new ride remains to be seen.

With the flashpoint available to players of both factions, it has received a wealth of testing over a very short time, and any bugs present seem to have been ironed out quite early.

With updates planning to be brought in thick and heavy, it is no surprise that this is only a single flashpoint, and a dual-faction one at that. Some have predicted that we may rarely see any single-side battles again, which although disappointing, seems reasonable due to the amount of fury that would erupt from SWTOR devotees should bioware decide to give one side an update and not the other.

One possibility is that large updates may be planned, which might introduce large new explorable areas to the game, which would surely be very popular with more adventurous players.

We have yet to hear news of any PvP updates that might be coming out over the coming weeks and months, however, it is a safe bet that If SWTOR values the money of their dedicated gamers they will make these plentiful, less they lose interest and move elsewhere.

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Update Brings Fans news of Troubling SWTOR Trend.

With the latest Game Update (1.1) Bioware has brought in a wide variety of changes and upgrades for Star Wars The Old Republic, which has left some fans recoiling In horror, as they recall past MMO trials by fire of a similar variety.

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We are of course, talking about Star Wars Galaxies, and the swathe of updates which completely changed (in the players’ opinion for the worse) the way the game functioned on a fundamental level.
Although Bioware is far from implementing a Combat Upgrade for SWTOR, the precursors for an Upgrade, or New Game Enhancements as we saw in SWG are already in the works. With the latest update came a host of small changes, which have (although not entirely obviously) changed the state of player combat forever. This can be done by even the smallest changes, which may not be noticed in short fights. However, as time goes bye players will soon come to see the far reaching Implications of small upgrades and downgrades here and there, and begin pushing for different changes to be made.

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Now remember, this is exactly how most games in the past have floundered. After the fact, players are universally disgusted by major game changing updates, but before the fact records show that a vast majority were in fact wishing for something of the sort. Everyone has some form of allegiance to their play style, so when they feel hard done by there is no shortage of letters to developers and forum moderators asking for changes that will return them to dominance.

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As we see this beginning with a vengeance on the SWTOR official forums, many are hoping that other calming voices will be able to keep the team behind Star Wars The Old Republic level headed, so there is no chance of future game updates getting out of hand.

SWG players were less than impressed with their updates.

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SWTOR Hitting pubescent Boys where it hurts.

With its release TV-spot, SWTOR has taken a new marketing stance. That is, to reel in pubescent boys from all across the globe with their one true weakness. Forget bullets, it is of course nothing other than Women.

After a gloriously impartial campaign until now it was perhaps only a matter of time before we saw all interested parties put their morals aside and go for glory, that being to squeeze out whatever cash possible from what has traditionally been one of the simplest audiences to please, the teenager.

The New TV spot, only 30 seconds long, spends at least 10 of these focused on alluring females. First the Bounty Hunter (with a very feminine whisper of Vengance) and then the Jedi Consular. Both are clearly far from combat ready or capable, perhaps they were just lost in the woods of Alderaan when fighting between Sith and Jedi forces broke out. Or perhaps there is a future class planned, something of a battle-beautician, ready at hand to apply makeup whenever the darlings need it.

Either way, with the sights set on this big money making subscriber base, more mature players can kiss their chances of peace good bye when the new army of 14 year olds storms the game over the next few weeks. Perhaps this is not such a bad thing, because we do know Simple things please Simple minds, so we might just find that this creates a very steady subscriber base, which will stick with Bioware through Thick and Thin!

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Gifting of SWTOR to continue post-christmas

2012's newest weapon of mass destruction.

With the Christmas cheer (Or Holiday Spirit for you mindless Politically Correct buffoons) truly done and dusted, it seems there has been no let up in the volume of SWTOR discs given as gifts between friends and confidants.

Recent research by the Harvard School of Psychology into negative gifting, i.e. giving gifts you expected and intend to have some detrimental affect on the receiver, may be able to shed some light on this and just why things are still rolling along so quickly at Bioware.

For years it has been recognised that (for reasonably competitive people) you can either have a) A subscription to an Online Game or b) Far reaching Achievements in life. Perhaps then this is why so many copies have walked out the door, because as shown by the Brown et Al research from the aforementioned Harvard school of Psychology, giving a game such as SWTOR to a budding enemy, or just non-cared-for acquaintance may be the ideal way to ensure he/she never again interferes with your life!

Professional rivalry? No problem. Romantic Rivalry? Not any more. The list of possible feuds that can be fixed by gluing your opponent to a computer is endless, so after all why should the end of the festive season be any reason not to make that last ditch effort to triumph over evil, once and for all?

Popular news services have commented on this as well over the last week, with quotes such as:

• “Avoid the rush and buy for the Sith Lord or Jedi Master on your extended holiday shopping list.” – CNN
• “I can recommend it for both Star Wars fans, online gamers and anyone with an addictive personality.” – New York Times
• “Perfect for the recovering PC Gamer on your list.” – Complex.com

So it would seem there is little potential buyers can do, SWTOR is your number one entertainment venue or weapon for 2012!

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SWTOR Off to Flying Start

SWTOR Off to Good Start

So only ten days after release, the initial numbers are in for the current standing of the game.

And so far, the result is GREAT!

With more than a Million accounts being used since the early opening of the game, SWTOR has instantly rocketed to second place in the MMO world, behind the ever present World of Warcraft.

New sales records have been set right around the globe, after the most rapid subscriber increase the Industry has ever seen taking place just after Christmas.
This has been helped by the overwhelmingly positive ratings the game has received, with few if any giving any less than 9/10. With reviewers so quick to find the faults of just about any hyped product in the online market, after magnificent let-downs such as Age of Conan, SWTOR has held up amazingly well under fire.

However, some of these have raised suspicions, such as the game being awarded the 2010 Game Critics award for best PC game. Funny, seeing as not even testing had begun until 2011.

We are currently seeing the first large batch of players reach max level, which will put the second major test to the Developers, that being is there enough content to sustain a continued interest like we see in other Major MMORPGs. This has often been the failing point of other games, where players reach the maximum development of their character they realise there is nothing left to do. Usually this is countered by PvP Systems, which are thankfully present, but other end-game features such as trading and exploring found in the previous Star Wars game Galaxies are no where in sight.

In fact, without these added time-sinks, and companion characters doing simple tasks that occupy players in other games, we may find the gaming elite becoming positively bored in short order.

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