Posts Tagged ‘bioware’

Developers unable to prevent SWTOR hacks.

Recent additions to the popular gamer program Cheat Engine have enabled its usage throughout SWTOR, much to the dismay of the developers at bioware.

Cheat Engine allows players to speed up individual processes on their computer, in this case Star Wars The Old Republic. Doing so increases the speed at which ALL clientside computations are done, so characters move faster, abilities are cast more quickly, and you can power through boring encounters that once took all day.

As far as use in PvE environments goes, Speedhacks such as this are virtually harmless, a victimless crime some would say. It allows players to go through the (many) boring parts of the game without wasting time, and thereby move on to more exciting missions.

However, in PvP cheat engine and other equivalents provide a serious problem that the Bioware team for SWTOR must iron out as soon as possible. As of now, it is very simply for even computationally-illiterate players to enable these hacks, thereby making them much better than anyone else in a battleground. Imagine how much of an advantage being able to move five times as fast and use five times as many abilities would be.

Although the current cheatengine is undetectable by the game itself, GMs are now banning players that employ it on site. This has worked as a satisfactory deterrent to its use in PvP, as reports from disgruntled opponents are quickly answered. Although there is no current conceivable solution for players using these exploits in solo raids, many would argue it is not worth Bioware’s time to bother trying to prevent such events occurring. After all, shouldn’t it be the players choice where they spend their hours in game? At least the sped up gameplay can make boring missions quick, even if they are still not particularly entertaining.

The following short video details all steps in the process to using the cheatengine program, one of the many alternatives. Whilst doing so around other players will get you banned before long, using it to speed up boring raids and instances is virtually undetectable and will not result in any form of punishment.

Bookmark to:

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.

Bookmark to:

PvP To be fixed!

Great PVP Updates are Planned for SWTOR

Although there have recently been a plethora of complaints from players on the way developers have recently changed the PvP system, this is set to be (if Bioware can be believed) brought back into line with the next update.

Recently updates had the opposite affect when compared to Bioware’s noble goals for Star Wars The Old Republic a few months ago, as they saw things become more linear, unbalanced and in general ass backward.

Hopefully during the significant amount of Data analysis Bioware has done over the last month, which much to players dismay slowed down the game considerably, they will now have the information they require to fix exactly the problems that exist, no more, and no less.

This is often a problem with the MMORPG industry, so It is no surprise it has reared its ugly head in SWTOR. Quite often developers try to fix something, but over do it, meaning something else must then be adjusted. A popular example of this was basically every update in Star Wars Galaxies long 8 year history, as almost all involved some change to a profession that (until the next update) made it excessively powerful.

For the next few weeks no updates are planned, we assume this is because for this period Bioware will be working on cementing their current player base, in order to bring a plethora of new features with the public holidays in the later half of February.

For now, we can wait with open minds, as Bioware IS quite a reliable company, and Star Wars The Old Republic has been in good hands so far. The only worry is that if the constant updating of SWTOR gets out of control, we may see EA step in and do what has made them the bane of the gaming industry, but that is only a last resort!!

Bookmark to:

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.

Bookmark to:

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.

Bookmark to:

Pre Release Music

As noted in previous articles, the music of Star Wars The Old Republic is an incredibly important aspect of the game, perhaps more so than any MMORPG before. With more than six composers on their Payroll, Bioware has certanly acknowledged this, which should see a very immersing experience for fans.

Although the collectors Edition of the game comes with the official soundtrack and its 17 compositions, these only represent a small sample of the best the game has to offer.

Perhaps to the dismay of keen players that ordered the collectors edition of the game, effectively paying a premium for this CD, Bioware has begun releasing the game’s soundtrack, one track per day, up until the release date.

This has gotten quite a lot of attention from fans, with the videos gathering more than 20 thousand views each on the first day.

Since the composers on the job are well known and respected in the field of game compositions, many of them working on previous Star Wars Projects, a lot was expected of the team, so thankfully judging from the pieces released so far they have performed very well.

Although the writers have avoided typical Star Wars Riffs, such as those featured in the original Trilogy, this might turn out to be for the better, as it is sure to mean many more copies of the soundtrack will sell once the game is released, hopefully drawing in more potential players. The music is however, as expected, rather similar to the previous Bioware Star Wars Games, KOTOR I and II. This seems rather fitting as it is from the same (similar) Era, with the same forces battling for supremacy, with the same real life composers!

Following is perhaps the best track released so far, The Mandolorian Blockade, which has been worked on by a team of the composers. Sounds good!

Bookmark to:

Last Chance Guild Changes

Phase 3 of the SWTOR guilding program, now officially in full swing, has made its impact on player associations over the last few weeks felt near and far.

For months now players have had time to organise themselves and their friends into guilds pre-release, so that they are assured of being on the same servers, and being on the same servers as their enemies. This has meant we have seen a wild grab for players, a guilds try to judge who will be good months ahead of the game, with only reputation to go on.

Now that the final phase is in effect, this is all set to wrap up, with players being stuck where they stand and any enemies and allies being locked in for the long hall.

The advantage of this system is that it shall see people which know each other all put on the same server, but at the same time, this tells us just how Bioware plans to run the different game servers.

As it stands at the moment players will not be able to specifically choose which server they want to be on, it shall be chosen for them. This is very different to games such as Star Wars Galaxies and World of Warcraft where there was a comprehensive list of servers or realms which could be chosen when making a character.

The way that Bioware has chosen to do it does away with this system, which hopefully will not be to the detriment of the game. One thing is for sure, which is that it is vitally important to have everything in order before guilding closes off in a few days time. Otherwise, players will only be able to request a few of their friends, with only a small chance of getting into the server if it has heavy load or a far-off geographical location.

Bookmark to:

Collectors Edition Tempting Fans

With the finalised contents of the Star Wars The Old Republic Collectors Edition finally announced, we can see just why players have been so excited about its release.

Along side the special collectors version will be the Digital Deluxe version, which provides many of the collectors boons to budding players.

For the Deluxe edition, in addition to the SWTOR game disks and a free first month, players can expect all of the following:

Flare Gun Similar to the fireworks guns of Star Wars Galaxies, the Flare gun will be able to shoot (solely cosmetic) jets of flame into the sky.

Training Droid Although ineffective in combat, the training droid will serve as a combat target designator, highlighting primary targets on the battlefield. Seems somewhat similar to the familiars, again from SWG.

HoloDancer Again like Galaxies we will have HoloDancers, solely for our entertainment.

HoloCam This Intergalactic camera will let players participate in In-Game photography of The Old Republic, allowing them to record their favourite locations. Assumingly the images by the camera will be of a higher quality than game screenshots.

STAP Giving out a free vehicle for a special edition is a tremendously original idea, so of course we will see one in SWTOR.

Aside from the Digital Deluxe edition’s perks, the Collectors version will contain an additional two major boons:

Mouse Droid This mouse droid should function like our favourite familiars, following adventures across the galaxy and contributing their beeps wherever appropriate.

Collector’s Edition Store
The ultimate gift from the Developers to players with a little extra cash to give them, the collectors edition will feature many unique items (thankfully not useful in combat) and will even have regular updates to keep players coming back.

All in all the two new versions prevent such great items that there will surely be many players plenty keen enough to throw out the extra money to gleam these advantages over their friends and foe. Thankfully they currently offer no combat advantage, but when developers see just how much extra these editions earn for such little work, we can only hope they get no ideas to continue the trend.

Unboxing the SWTOR Collectors Edition

Bookmark to:

Hutt Ball

One new announcement for SWTOR that has created a lot of controversy recently has been that of Hutt Ball, which is set up as a PvP zone on Nar Shaddaa for higher level players.

The game of Hutt Ball is something akin to American Football in outer space, a floating ball spawns in the middle of a trap-ridden field, and each team has to try to take it to the opposing team’s end zone. Although there will be helmets and armour, unlike the NFL Hutt Ball will feature Lightsabers, lasers and the force. There are evidently no rules in this particularly barbaric sport, and as such the prime tactic seems to be just blast the enemy apart then stroll casually to a touchdown.

Aside from being something of an out of place mini-game, what has also caused a stir is the fact that it will create factional in-fighting, and perhaps even encourage it. Draws for games are entirely random, so it is very likely that same faction teams will come up against each other, and be after the scalps of allies they usually rally behind on the battlefield.

On the SWTOR forums there have been a lot of complaints of this particular instance being a joke, or not a serious addition to what is meant to be a canonical star wars game, but these complaints have generally been ignored by great effect by the developers.

Beta testers that have enjoyed the instance already have come away with glowingly positive reviews, which seems to have halted the cries of many critics, however with upcoming updates on the horizon there is still plenty of room for changes in the way this particular mini-game works.

That aside, so far Hutt Ball looks like a very entertaining endeavour for any keen player, and it should give the often grinding gears within factions to one up each other.

Bookmark to:

Eternity Vault

Recently released by the developer team at Bioware was a new theatrical video about one of the latest additions to Star Wars The Old Republic, the Eternity Vault instance.

This particular adventure will be aimed at players from the Sith Empire, and they will attempt to storm the Eternity vault in groups between four and twenty four.

The Eternity Vault is a hidden away portion of SWTOR’s own Jail planet, which was recently (within the timeline of the game that is) discovered by the Sith Empire’s scouts. Inside is said to be remnants of the Alien Civilisation that built the planet wide metropolis, and prototypes of many technologies they never got around to producing en mass.

However, seeing as it was built on a planet theoretically covered in criminals, the mysterious civilisation left it very well protected. So much so in fact, that the Vault’s defence system was easily a match for the first scouts, and activated a more serious defensive network to prevent further attacks.

Eternity Vault should be an entertaining PvE instance for high level Sith Players, and give them valuable experience and items. As has already been stated by the SWTOR developers, we will not have a return to the vanishingly small loot drops of games like WoW, with a more bountiful approach taken to all PvE encounters. This will mean players will not need to repeat raids such as Eternity Vault copious numbers of times, although it will certainly be a possibility for those keen enough.

Bookmark to: