Sith suck balls and want to do your mom ... did we really want to hear it anyway?!

You know I understand why BioWare made the decision to separate global chat channels between factions. If you haven't heard, Georg Zoeller has clarified on the official forums that global chat will be separate between Sith and Republic but normal local chat will be able to be viewed by everybody and understood. By understood, in case you haven't played WoW before, Horde and Alliance and see each other saying stuff, but the text is scrambled. In a lot of other MMOs opposite factions do not get global or server wide communications. If they weren't separated we might see something like this:

From Georg Zoeller: “Guys, Let's back up for a minute and clarify what's going on here. Nothing has changed since San Diego Comic Con. As discussed at SDCC, the decision was made to separate the general chat channels by faction. However, this decision ONLY affects the planet-wide chat channels such as "General Chat." If you're standing next to another player (local chat), you can talk to them regardless of what faction you're part of. The only thing we removed, as already mentioned at Comic-Con, was the ability to communicate with the opposing faction across the entirety of a planet to avoid the issues (like griefing, abuse, and other factors which led to a very unpleasant experience) which we saw way too often in testing. We discussed the option of hiding the global chat and defaulting it off, but ultimately the ratio of negative incidents was too high to justify that. The reasoning here is simple: We really didn’t want to create a game option that essentially says "[x] Give me an 80% chance of having an infuriating and annoying chat experience," and putting the onus on the user ("you can just /ignore them") is not our idea of a quality game experience.Removing planet-wide cross-faction chat radically reduces the amount of reach a misbehaving player has before account action can be taken. We’ll likely add the ability to filter local cross faction chat as well. Hopefully that clears it up a bit.”

SWTOR FACE Class information

If your looking at playing Star Wars the Old Republic head on over to SWTOR Face to check out all the class information! What will you play? I'm still thinking of going Jedi Knight... but we will see!


I have just finished our class info pages  for all the classes in SWTOR. I will add information about all of the classes to this section as information is released.


If you know of any class specific blogs we are not listing please let us know and I'll add it to our class page

the pages cover all basic information on the class its companions and its ship with video's on the class and ship walk through's. Feel free to leave a comment or extra information in the class comments section.

Read on

SWTOR Full Class Information Online

I have just finished our class info pages  for all the classes in SWTOR. I will add information about all of the classes to this section as information is released.

If you know of any class specific blogs we are not listing please let us know and I'll add it to our class page

the pages cover all basic information on the class its companions and its ship with video's on the class and ship walk through's. Feel free to leave a comment or extra information in the class comments section.

Read on

SWTOR Class:Sith Inquisitor

Please go to our New Sith Inquisitor Page for the latest Information!  
SINISTER, DECEPTIVE, PRODIGY OF FORCE POWER

The history of the Sith Empire is fraught with scheming politics and dark secrets—the lifeblood of the Sith Inquisitor. Treachery hides around every corner in the Empire’s dark corridors, and survival depends on an individual’s natural cunning and the will to manipulate and defeat their enemies and allies alike. The Inquisitor experiments with forbidden powers to not only survive in this cutthroat environment, but to excel and seize authority.

Regardless of potential, few acolytes succeed in facing the rigorous trials to become Sith Inquisitors. Only the most determined acolytes attain such an achievement, but these Sith are often the ones to watch. Due to their manipulative genius, Inquisitors are skilled at exploiting both their enemies and their allies to further their own personal agendas. Channeling this Force energy, Inquisitors are capable of draining the life from their enemies and using it to feed themselves and their allies.

Though their skills are varied and many, Sith Inquisitors are most feared for their ability to channel the energy of the Force, making them a spectacle to behold on the battlefield. Seething sparks of lightning explode from the Inquisitors’ fingertips and wrap their enemies in tendrils of pure Force energy. Because Inquisitors can twist the Force into lightning to stun, subdue, or destroy their foes, it has become their signature. Those who have experienced the sensation of the Inquisitor’s Force Lightning and survived forever recoil from the crackling sound of electricity.

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SWTOR Class: Imperial Agent

Please go to our New Imperial Agent Page for the latest Information!  
ASSASSIN, SABOTEUR, THE EMPIRE’S SECRET WEAPON

The Empire dominates scores of star systems across the galaxy, but not through the power of the dark side alone. Behind the scenes, the cunning Agents of Imperial Intelligence track down and eliminate the Empire’s enemies—from intractable Republic senators to traitorous Imperial Moffs to bloodthirsty rebels with Republic ties. Imperial Agents must master the arts of infiltration, seduction, and assassination to advance the Empire’s causes; they face the opposition of a terrified galaxy and the capriciousness of their own Sith overlords.

Imperial Intelligence cultivates a notoriously vast and efficient network of informants, enabling the Agent to navigate the galaxy’s political landscape with effortless suave. Naturally, the Agent’s allegiance to the Empire is without question, but great latitude exists for those so closely attuned to the Empire’s secret agendas—Agents often harbor their own mysterious motivations as well. Having pierced countless layers of intrigue, these spies know of conspiracies within conspiracies. Even close contacts find it hard to predict what an Imperial Agent will do until it’s done.

The most elite operative within Imperial Intelligence is the ‘Cipher’ Agent—recruited and trained to carry out the most dangerous and sensitive assignments the Empire has to offer. Whether working undercover or carrying out assignments in broad daylight, the Cipher races along the razor’s edge of disaster, using carefully orchestrated tactics that leave little room for error—the smallest slip-up can be catastrophic. Each successful mission, however, shifts the galactic landscape in the Empire’s favor, and the Agent plays a supremely critical role in securing Imperial domination.

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SWTOR Class: Sith Warrior

Please go to our New Sith Warrior Page for the latest Information!  
CHAMPION OF THE DARK SIDE

An unstoppable force of darkness, the Sith Warrior is entrusted with the task of destroying the Empire’s enemies and enforcing Sith domination across the galaxy. The Warrior channels the destructive emotions of fear, anger, and hatred to purge weakness from body and mind and become a being of pure, brutal efficiency.

Destined to eradicate the incompetent chaos created by the Jedi, the Sith seek to rule the galaxy through power and intimidation. The armies of the Sith Empire are trained to accomplish this task, but they require the leadership of bold Sith Warriors—loyal and mighty overlords—who will drive them to conquest and victory.

These cold-blooded conquerors waste no time with cunning manipulations and carefully-crafted plans. Sith Warriors crush their opponents and stride toward their goals with dreadful determination, leaving ruin and annihilation in their wake. Emanating awe and terror at every step, they accept nothing but absolute obedience from their followers. In turn, Sith Warriors can serve as loyal subjects to their own dark masters, often surprising enemies and allies with their rigorous honor and perfect discipline.

Whether they align their ambitions with those of the Dark Council or become renegades in pursuit of their own goals, they are never far from the action. Their fierce hatred of the Jedi keeps Sith Warriors at the forefront of any conflict with the Republic. The passion to eradicate the Jedi Order fuels many of their actions, but that does not make them single-minded fools.

Ultimately, the destiny of any Sith Warrior is his own to choose… and woe to those who would stand in his way.

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SWTOR Class: Jedi Knight

Please go to our New Jedi Knight Page for the latest Information!  
  VALIANT, DETERMINED, GUARDIAN OF PEACE

A symbol of hope in dark times, the Jedi Knight stands for the legacy of the Jedi Order—more than twenty-thousand years of protecting the Republic and keeping the peace across the galaxy. Though Jedi Knights have served as generals, guerilla fighters, and warriors for generations, their legendary combat prowess faces its greatest test during this age.

Through years of disciplined training and meditation, the Jedi Knight hones body and mind into perfect harmony. Combining the foresight of the Force with unrivaled reflexes and practiced physical precision, the Knight turns combat into an art form, gracefully executing acrobatic feats in tandem with elegant lightsaber tactics.

A source of inspiration to allies and intimidation to adversaries, the Jedi Knight’s presence is welcome in any confrontation. The Order’s long history of fighting for justice has earned the trust of countless friends and the hate of innumerable enemies. Few, though, are foolish enough to challenge a seasoned Jedi Knight unless they have the skills and technology to even the odds.

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Choose your own adventure. The pitfalls of MMO

Recently I decided to give RIFT another go. I got an email stating that they made all these changes and added new content .. blah blah. So I thought, what the hell? My account is still active until October ... I'll give it another shot.

The first thing I was asked to do was to change realms as the realm I was on had been allocated as a trial realm. This is a really good idea. This allows the developer to have trial accounts that don't get used by spammers, and real players with real accounts are guaranteed that they're dealing with and speaking to other real players with real accounts.

So I transferred over to the new oceanic servers. TRION, the developer of RIFT, created two new oceanic specific servers about a month ago. Although this might have been six months too late for a lot of oceanic players, I was surprised to see the server full, in the middle of the afternoon, on a weekday. Although TRION didn't listen to the community that begged and pleaded with them to create an oceanic server when the game began, they have eventually seen sense.

If you haven't tried RIFT yet, I do recommend that you give it a go. The levelling and the  storyline/quests are not bad ... but, where RIFT seems to be lacking is with a real in-depth story. I couldn't even tell you the name of the world I'm in, and I've played the game on and off for over two months ... let alone tell you anything substantial about the main characters. The lack of cut scenes and true story-telling really let this game down. The graphics, interface, classes, and general world are all pretty good. I'd be so bold to even say that those elements are better than WoW but WoW also had the story-telling, dramatic heroes and villains, and cut scenes. In WoW I built up a true relationship with my character that was maintained over several expansions. It wasn't until they tried to re-hash old content that I found it was time to move on. Even with the best interface, if an MMO doesn't have a compelling story that attaches a player to their character, players will not spend real time in a game.

Another perfect example of this is Star Wars Galaxies. When the game was first released it was classified as a sandbox game. It was a massive open world, with no real guides but it was a world created within the Star Wars universe. The majority of the gamers were there because they love Star Wars. It was a buzz just hanging out at Anchorhead cantina, or going to Jabba's palace for the first time. The story was engrossed in the game and the complex character development system suited it perfectly. It wasn't until Sony was put under the pump by Lucas Arts to show a massive improvement that Sony made a critical error. They stopped listening to their community. They tried to copy the WoW model and at that very time destroyed everything that was potentially unique about the game. The simplistic character levels that they implemented just didn't work with the complex world they created.

So, back to my point, it doesn't matter how simplistic or complicated the MMO world is, the story is king. If you can't make a gamer get attached to his character, develop fps instead! If you are looking for a general idea of what Star Wars the Old Republic may be like, I suggest you download and play Mass Effect II. This will give you a general idea on what is possible with real story development.

PC Perspective's John Carmack Interview: GPU Race, Intel Graphics, Ray Tracing and Voxels and more!

I just got a chance to sit through PC Perspective's John Carmack Interview: GPU Race, Intel Graphics, Ray Tracing and Voxels and more!

For anyone interested in gaming and the future of gaming technology this is a must see!!

"Now to things of recent debate – infinite detail engines. He first clarifies that voxel engines and infinite detail topics are not the same thing and should not be treated as such. Carmack then states he believes “procedurally generated detail is usually not what you want.” A discussion that has been around for over a decade, truly useful procedurally generated content has never materialized though the ability to easily and efficiently manage the real data that you do create HAS. My favorite line? “Proceduralism is just a truly crappy form of data compression.” He continues to state that infinite detail isn’t really what’s important to future game development and instead we should be focusing on the “broad strokes” of artistic visions and build on them. “If you take uninspired content and go look at it at the molecular level, it’s still uninspired content.”

Also head on over to PC Perspective for a full transcript! 
   

Death of the GPU as we Know It?? Re-post from March 19 2008

This is a re-post from March 19 2008 on my old site www.tkarena.com.

Unlimited Polygons A Reality?

Well actually that sub-title is a white lie to get your attention. But don’t be too angry. What this article is about is something even better than unlimited polygons, it’s about unlimited voxels.

The legendary games programmer John Carmack, in an interview on PC Perspective in mid-March 2008 , spoke of a new technology he is working on:


“It involves ray tracing into a sparse voxel octree which is essentially a geometric evolution of the mega-texture technologies that we’re doing today for uniquely texturing entire worlds. It’s clear that what we want to do in the following generation is have unique geometry down to the equivalent of the texel across everything.”