Possible 1.2 release date / Window

• Early Friday, April 6th it was announced on the SWTOR site that Update 1.2 Legacy was going to the live servers on Tuesday, April 10th. Screen shot @ TorWars.com
• The front page announcement was removed within a few hours
• BioWare’s Joveth Gonzalez posted on the forums that this was just a typo.
  • ”Just to confirm, we are not going to be deploying Game Update 1.2 on Tuesday. This was a minor text error that has since been corrected. I’ll be closing this thread and redirecting you all to this main discussion that is currently underway. Rest assured, that you will know ahead of time when Game Update 1.2 is going to be released. Thanks” Original Post
• TorWars Article
• In Reality “PAX East: Day 1 MMORPG.com Panel With James Ohlen Audio”Audio Clip
  +Well, Star Wars: The Old Republic is already out so I won’t plug the gameplay because I am sure everyone already knows what that is. For 2012 we really want players to, going back to the subscription model, feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. So the scope of our game updates in 2012 is going to be unimaginable. You’re going to see so many changes and additions to the Star Wars Universe, it’s going to be impressive. We have our Update 1.2 coming in the next week and then after that it’s going to continue to roll out month after month. It’s exciting.
  • Stephen Reid Tweet indicates that that statement might be correct

PAX Information

• PAX East Meet and Greet
  • Date: Saturday, April 7th
  • Time: 8:00PM –11:00PM
  • Location: Room 105 in the Boston Exhibition & Convention Center (e.g. the BioWare Base)
  • DavidBass Forum Post
• Titles from TestServer Play
  • All titles will still be available to be gained from playing on PTS in the future.
  • ‘First Line of Defense’ : attaining Level 10 with any new character on PTS
  • ‘The Cutting Edge’ : finishing Chapter 1 with any new character on PTS
• Commendations
  • Centurion, Champion, and Battlemaster are getting deprecated in Game Update 1.2
  • Cap on Warzone Commendations is increasing
• Unassembled PvP Tokens will be deprecated and have no value in Game Update 1.2
• VIP areas on the fleets will be getting new items in the future, but they can’t give you an exact estimate on when just yet
• They will eventually allow the Guildmaster to set who can see the guild ledger via permissions – this will not make 1.2, but is definitely coming in a future update
• Augment schematics are not learned via the crafting trainers. They are acquired as Sliced Tech Part mission critical rewards through Slicing.
• Sniper rifles will no longer drop for Republic players, so what about Risha and Zenith?
  • Sniper rifles can still be crafted, purchased from vendors, and modded
  • In Game Update 1.2, weapons that drop more frequently on one side can always be mailed across from the other side with legacy characters

Live the Ship Droid Experience!

• New Feature for Game Update 1.2 !
• Announced on April 1, 2012
• A player’s starship is like home, companions are like family and the Ship Droid is the hero
• Live the Ship Droid Experience!
• Ship Droid the Mini-Game
• Finally ready with the necessary polish to release with this 1.2 update
• With the mini-game you can now participate in several exciting duties including calibrating ship food, clean the cockpit windows
• Mini-Game’s
• Storyline
• Your hero has a story, you can even enhance that through companion stories
• Now you will be able to have a meaningful impact on your story, which can change the climate aboard the starship
• Storyline
• Etiquette(Social) Points
• Playing your Ship-Droid you can earn Etiquette Points in conversations, even unlock romance options
• Etiquitte(Social) Points
• Add-on Mini-Game’s
• Among the items unlockable for the in-game droid vendor, are add-on mini-games
• Add-on Mini-Game’s
• Main Hero as a companion
• When you hit maximum etiquette points you can unlock the ability for your main hero to be your Droid-ship companion
• You class character can become the companion
• Article
• Live the Ship Droid Experience!
• Updates!
• Stephen Reid tweeted that it had to be cut
• Confirmation came through that the Ship Droid mini-dage was only a April Fool’s joke

Quick look at UI Customization

• A Quick Look at UI Customization
• Lead Interface Artist Michael Voigt(Vote) Hosts the overview
• The UI Updates were based on a large amount of Community Feedback
• The pre 1.2 Appearance is still available, but the user can be very creative
• Retro pre-made Layout specifically designed for players coming from other MMO’s
• Full layout Editor allows the user to adjust EVERYTHING
• Video’s
• YouTube Video A Quick Look at UI Customization
• Check Out the Video on the UI to get full details on the new UI

Increase in Old Republic friend trial invites

• Third Weekend Trial
• April 05 – April 09, 2012
• At the release of this episode a third Weekend pass will have come and gone
• Each Weekend Passes lets people who are interested or curious in the game a chance to try the game
• Number of Invites available
• Now you have 25 friend 7-day invites
• An invited individual has 14 days to begin the trial
• Used or unused the previous three invites do count towards the 25 invites
• What can you do with a trial
• The four Origin Worlds are explorable and the opening adventures for each class on all server types
• Can use local chat, group chat, guild chat, whisper and responses to whispers.
• Able to receive in-game mail during the trial.
• Any characters your friends create will not be deleted should they purchase the game, although abandoned trial account characters could be deleted
• Restrictions
• Level cap : 15
• Crew Skill cap : 40
• Limited to the the classes Origin world, Capital World, Fleet, Warzone, 1st Flashpoint
• Will not be able to use general chat, trade chat, or PvP chat.
• Send or reply to mail from other trial characters
• Use the Galactic Trade Network or trade with other players.
• Can’t gail Legacy XP
• For more information
• Star Wars : TOR, friends trial website
• Friends Trial FAQ

EA dismisses concerns of pro-family, anti-gay groups

• EA is standing up for same sex relationships in games despite outrage from some
• EA has supposedly been inundated in recent weeks with letters and emails protesting LGBT content in its video games, most notably Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
• EA confirmed that they have received some letters/email, and unsurprisingly, EA has no plans to censor any of its games.
• Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications “Every one of EA’s games includes ESRB content descriptors so it’s hard to believe anyone is surprised by the content. This isn’t about protecting children, it’s about political harassment,”
• The letters have been directed to EA’s executive team, creative heads, its board of directors and just about anyone at a high level. Many of them threaten to boycott EA’s titles if the publisher refuses to remove same-sex relationship content
• The letters also infer that EA was pressured by LGBT groups to include homosexual content in its games, and that this content is somehow forced upon children, exposing them to LGBT themes. This article’s Author says, “those of you reading this already know how ludicrous this is, The games are not for children, nor do they force LGBT content on a player – it’s merely an option for gamers who wish to replicate their real-life sexual orientation.”
• Some of the letters also complain that EA is deliberately deleting posts against LGBT issues on its official forum, which is true when the comments happen to violate discussion rules on hate speech.
• Various LGBT Groups such as Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, & Human Rights Campaign, Applaud EA and Bioware for their inclusive approach to their products
• Michael Cole-Schwartz, HRC quoted “EA’s progressive stance is a sign of the times and other publishers should take notice.”
• Articles
• EA dismisses concerns of pro-family, anti-gay groups @ GamesSpot.com(https://www.gamespot.com/news/ea-dismisses-concerns-of-pro-family-anti-gay-groups–6370109)
• EA stands up for same sex relationships in games despite outrage from some GameIndustry.biz
• Reported on by all major media (Forbes, MSNBC, Associated Press)

Sith Warrior

• Storyline Overview
• Sith Acolyte – arrive on Korriban to undergo training.
• Work your way up to being an apprentice.
• Operate as a weapon for your Darth in service to his political machinations in the Sith Empire.
• Fitting into the MMO Trinity
• Fitting into the MMO Trinity
  • Tank (Juggernaut properly spec’d)
  • DPS Either Advanced Class spec’d appropriately
• Advanced Class Variants
• Juggernaut
  • Tank / Damage
• Marauder
  • Damage Over Time or Burst Damage
• Hybrid
  • Juggernaut : spec’d with points in both the tanking tree and the damage tree(s) (mixing lightsaber forms) Soresu, Shien, Shii-Cho
  • Marauder spec’d with points in the DoT tree and Burst DPS tree (mixing lightsaber forms) Juyo, Ataru, Shii-Cho
• Complimentary Companions
• Vette – Ranged DPS (romance option male)
  • Cunning – acquired at the end of the Korriban story arc
• Malavai Quinn – Medic (romance option female)
  • Cunning – acquired upon finishing Balmorra
• Lieutenant Pierce – Ranged Tank (romance option female)
  • Aim – acquired upon finishing Taris
• Broonmark – Melee Tank (Don’t even try tappin that)
  • Strength which makes it easy to give him your hand-me-downs
  • acquired upon finishing Hoth
• Jaesa Wilsaam– Melee DPS (romance option male)
  • Willpower – acquired at the end of act 1
• Equipment / Stats Overview
• Strength
  • Primary Attribute for improving damage to all melee attacks and powers
• Endurance
  • Improving Health and should be the focus of Tank spec’d Juggernauts
• Iconic Moves
• Force Choke
• Saber Throw
• Juggernaut
  • Force Push
  • Soresu (Defensive Form) used by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the fight with General Grievous
• Marauder
  • Dual Wieldling lightsabers
  • Juyo and Ataru Lightsaber forms, Juyo used by Darth Maul and Ataru used by Obi-Wan Kenobi during their battle on Naboo

Sith Inquisitor

• Storyline Overview
• Former Slave – arrive on Korriban to undergo Sith training.
• Work your way up as the underdog to being an apprentice to a sith lord.
• You play Indiana Jones for your Master as she searches for ancient sith artifacts to gain power.
• Fitting into the MMO Trinity
  • Tank (Assassin properly spec’d)
  • Healer (Sorcerer)
  • DPS Either Advanced Class spec’d appropriately
• Advanced Class Variants
• Assassin
  • Tank / Damage
• Sorcerer
  • Healer / Damage Over Time Tree / Burst Damage
• Hybrid
• Sorcerer [Healer / Damage Over Time / Burst]
  • With points in healing and damage trees
• Assassin [Healer / Damage Over Time / Burst]
  • With points in tank and damage trees
  • With points in range and melee damage trees
• Complimentary Companions
• Andronikos Revel – Ranged DPS (romance option Female)
  • Cunning – acquired at the end of the Korriban story arc
• Talos Drelik – Medic
  • Cunning – acquired upon finishing Balmorra
• Xalek – Ranged Tank (Inquisitors Apprentice)
  • Aim – acquired upon finishing Taris
• Khem Val – Melee Tank
  • Strength which makes it easy to give him your hand-me-downs
• Ashara Zavros– Melee DPS (romance option male)
  • Willpower – acquired at the end of act 1
• Equipment / Stats Overview
• Light Armor
• Willpower
• Endurance
  • Improving Health and should be the focus of Tank spec’d Assassin’s
• Appropriately spec’d lightsaber/double-bladed saber
  +Focus in offhand/Shield for Tank spec’d Assassin
• Iconic Moves
• Force Lightning
• Seeth (Darth Maul style pacing)
• Sorcerer
  • Force Storm
  • Death Field
• Assassin
  • Stealth
  • Maul/Any Double-bladed Saber Action

Next Episode Teaser

• “A Heart Of Credits” – Smugglers and Bounty Hunters and Credits…OH MY!
• The 1.2 patch might be released to the live servers…fingers crossed!

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https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/11522/gamescom-2011-mmorgue-14/ Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:52:02 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=11522 This week focuses on the biggest MMO stories that filtered out of GamesCom 2011. We start with the most impressive showing, which came from Guild Wars 2!

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This week’s episode focuses on the biggest MMO stories that filtered out of GamesCom 2011.

The most impressive showing came from Guild Wars 2, which featured new playable demos showing off their dynamic event system, character customization, new playable races and classes, crafting, and PvP battlegrounds.

Besides GW2 however, also came Star Wars: The Old Republic, showing off a brand new twist on PvP battlegrounds, in the form of a bloodsport called Huttball.

Before we review either of those exciting new features however, we pull the lid off NCSoft and Carbine Studios’ newly announced MMORPG – Wildstar. We’ll tell you why this one is worth keeping an eye on, and why Carbine has a big job ahead of them to compete in the modern MMO market.

Direct Download Links: HD Video | Large Video | Mobile Video | MP3 Audio | YouTube

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HD Video iPad & Apple TV Video iPod Video MP3 Audio	HD Video RSS Large Video RSS Mobile Video RSS MP3 Audio RSS

Show Notes:

Welcome back to the MMOrgue!

Where we take gaming to the next… LEVEL… see what I did there?

/T-Shirt:/ “Pwn Depot”
Available at
Glitch Gaming Apparel

Last week’s Best of MMO Music episode has been receiving some great responses so far. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, I like to think it’s worth a watch. Also be sure to check that episode’s show notes for so much more music!

GamesCom hit the industry like a massive tidal wave of awesome this past week. The convention itself saw record attendance of more than 275,000 gamers, and even exceeded the location’s maximum safety capacity at least once, causing the main entrances to be temporarily closed off. Rest assured that next year’s will be even bigger, but GamesCom organizers are already talking about finding a bigger/better location to hold it.

Now, let’s talk a little bit about the games that were shown off at the convention…

The Old Republic was, obviously, present at GamesCom, although their presence was underwhelming compared to their showing at ComicCon. Their big announcement came in the form of a new PvP gameplay experience known as Huttball, which I’ll spend some time discussing later in today’s episode.

As far as the MMO world is concerned, Guild Wars 2 has walked away as the big “winner” of the floor at this year’s GamesCom. The sheer volume of awesome videos, gameplay, feature walkthrus and other newsy bits that’ve come out of ArenaNet over the past week has been astounding, and I’ll be dedicating an entire segment of today’s show to some of those juicy tidbits.

Today’s topics are by no means going to make up the entirety of all of the incredible MMO news that filtered out of GamesCom over the past several days, but I simply don’t have enough time in this episode to cover everything that was shared with us, or announced. Check our show notes for a extra round-up of other newsworthy links and coverage, including:

• Release details for Secret World, TERA and Age of Empires Online
• More information and visuals from the SyFy/Trion team-up project, Defiance
• A new aerial assault game from the makers of World of Tanks
• Dust 514 microtransaction clarifications
• Torchlight II gameplay footage
• … and a new trailer and game explanation for End of Nations

The reveal that has garnered the most attention from MMO gamers over the past week seems to be WildStar – the new MMORPG from Carbine Studios that was recently teased in the “announcement of an announcement” by NCSoft that I spoke of a few episodes back. Although the game is still very much in its infancy, Carbine already had a complete gameplay experience ready to put into the hands of gamers, and we’ll be digging into some of those details a bit later on.

Wildstar

Carbine Studio’s new MMO offering landed on the scene in a big way, offering not just an announcement and trailer, but actual hands-on demo time for con-goers at GamesCom.
In light of the hype currently built around other upcoming titles like TOR and GW2, this was an absolute necessity in order to get any sort of coverage or attention right out of the gate.

As you may recall, Carbine’s original announcement of this game included the fact that this game is designed to “learn” from players’ choices, and adapt to how they want to play the game. In the demo offered at GamesCom, we began to see the first of what we’re told will be many layers, of just how this works. And it comes down to story.

The game is a blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements, showing off technology and magic living in harmony with one another, while the art style and animations are vaguely reminiscient of Titan AE and classic-era Disney, with touches of modern anime and stylistic flourishes everywhere. Despite being visually appealing, I have to admit that compared to other modern offerings like GW2 and Secret World, it looks dated. Not much better than the graphics offered by World of Warcraft or Forsaken World. That said, graphics aren’t everything, and this game’s devils are in the details.

When first introduced to Wildstar, you have crash-landed on a strange alien world. When creating your character, you get to not only choose your race and class from a selection that includes humans, rock monsters and bunny-people, but you are also asked why it is that you are on the planet to begin with. Were you exploring? Conquering? Studying? Colonizing? These choices will lead the game to offer a different advancement path and plotline, compared to the choices that another player may make, and successive choices are said to further specialize the game content as you continue to progress.

Already, folks are throwing around comparisons to Tabula Rasa, for a few obvious reasons. The most obvious comparison is the blend of tech and magic in the world, but perhaps more telling is that Carbine Studios’ developers are what many in the business would term a “dream team.” As some of you may recall, the same claim was made of the Tabula Rasa team back in the day, and turned out to be one of the major downfalls of that title’s development cycle. Too many “chefs” and not enough “cooks.” Carbine’s staff includes the former lead developer of WoW, the co-founder of Troika Games, and the co-founder of Turbine, as well as several other experienced and respected names in MMO gaming. This SOUNDS like it’s a very good thing for a game, but remember that Tabula Rasa (which was also under the direction of NCSoft, same as this title) ended up having to be redesigned from the ground-up several years into the development cycle because of creative disagreements among high-profile “rockstar” developers. Let’s hope that Wildstar doesn’t suffer from the same speed bumps.

I’ll be getting my own hands-on demo of Wildstar at PAX, so look for more to come on this potentially innovative gameplay experience.

Links:

• Formation of Carbine, ca. 2007
• The Big Reveal of WildStar
• Hands-on Demo Impressions
• Races and Classes Revealed
• Gameplay Video without UI

Old Republic: HUTTBALL

I get the impression that The Old Republic has reached critical mass. Over the past month or so, we’ve seen very little announced in the way of new features, and most of the gameplay now available around the web is starting to feel a bit same-ey in terms of visuals. That’s not say I don’t wanna get my grubby little hands all OVER this hot mess, just that there seems to be very little else that Bioware can release that’s going to get me even MORE excited.

At least, that’s how I felt until I saw Huttball.
Introducing… HUTTBALL

So, at it’s core, it’s really just a variant on Capture the Flag, with a little football thrown in the mix for good measure. As well as some acid pits and flaming death traps. All good fun until somebody loses a limb, and then it’s HILARIOUS.

They’ve told us already that the teams will not follow the strict Republic vs. Empire party lines, and if the announcer from the trailer makes it into the game, you can bet there will be as many laughs as frags on the Huttball courts.

The concept of a steady stream of repeatable sports games is much more palatable to me personally, than an endless stream of “battleground” PvP matches, in terms of overall game lore. I mean, how did running a flag back and forth across Warsong Gultch really help the Horde’s war efforts against the Night Elves? At least in Huttball, we’re seeing something that can actually fit into the environment of the game, and make sense to a larger narrative. Even if the sense it makes is that it can be completely ignored and discarded by anyone not wishing to participate.

As with any feature announcement, there’s been a small amount of hubbub raised on TOR’s internal forums about whether or not it suits the game world, and a not-tiny contingent of pro-Jedi gamers have voiced their concern about having their favorite neon-swinging zen masters participate in what amounts to a bloodsport.

To them, I’d like to say first – Maybe the Jedi are simply out to prevent the Sith from gaining a positive public image as sports celebrities? I mean, think of the impact such celebrity status could’ve had for Darth Maul. Commercials, Wheaties boxes, merchandising contracts. These could lead to impressionable minds being swayed to the Dark Side!

Secondly, and more importantly – lighten up a little, guys. It’s a game, and Huttball looks like a ridiculous amount of fun that is likely to get even stalwart non-fans of PvP like myself, involved in the bloody game of bashing in my fellow players’ heads in a whole new way.

Guild Wars 2

Character Customization:

What is currently in the game, I find underwhelming. Compared to other “next-gen” character customization, as seen in APB and Eve, the customization in GW2 is fairly lacking. For the most part, it consists of choosing from presets of existing choices, plus a few tweaks available for individual pieces.

Given the amount of focus that ArenaNet places on art assets and visual impressiveness, what we’ve seen so far of customization is sorely lacking. It doesn’t live up to their established reputation as makers of beautiful games, or makers of innovative games.

We’re quite a ways from launch, though. This could easily improve dramatically between now and then.

Crafting System:

It’s rare in the MMO industry for a crafting system to get me excited, but GW2 has a few unique things going for it that have me looking forward to staring at a crafting UI for hours on end…

2 at a time, but can max them all
Must be a cost for swapping, or no point in limiting to 2
When you swap, you are back at the level you left off at, with all your discoveries intact

Discovery system allows you to learn new recipes through experimentation (or reading them from a wiki online, you lazy gamer you.)
It looks as though discovering a recipe rewards you with more xp than crafting it alone, leading to crafters using this system on a regular basis (even after all recipes are discovered and catalogued on wiki sites).

The look of crafted items will generally be more distinct than the loot that drops in the world.

Skill gains are steady and xp-based, happen regardless of what you’re crafting. No guesswork in leveling up.

• Videos like crazy!
• Crafting Demo
• Guild vs. Guild PvP details?
• More info on GvG

Guild Wars Battle of Kyhlo

• https://www.arena.net/blog/making-the-battle-of-kyhlo
• https://www.arena.net/blog/the-battle-of-khylo-jonathan-sharp-on-pvp

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