The Old Republic: Jedi Consular Beta Impressions on MMORPG:

The main story foundations are built while giving you area-specific problems to solve. So instead of random NPC quests almost all the quests you get advance the story in some way. You will run a bunch of quests which don't seem to tie in with the main story but at points the Jedi Masters will reference the outcome of those seemingly unrelated quests.

I had moments where I had to make hard decisions and live with my choices. I was able to run one of the heroic instances with three other players. When the group spoke to the mission NPCs, everyone spoke with the NPCs. When I say everyone I mean various players would appear and ask a question to advance the mission dialog. There was a social system for this decision making process but I was not able to determine how it worked (ED: It’s based on a dice roll). However the game maintained that movie feel where a group of people were working to solve a problem.

Overall this game does something not many MMOs do and that is make you feel you are the hero of the game.

Read on

The Old Republic: The Smuggler Impressions on MMORPG:

For my part in our Star Wars: The Old Republic bonanza today, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks playing The Smuggler. There are some pretty strict rules for this partial NDA lift for press outlets: we can only talk about the Republic side, we can’t talk about anything beyond first getting our ship (around level 15 or 16), and we can’t post screens or video of our own. All the exclusions aside, there’s still a whole lot of game crammed into the first 15 levels or so of any player’s life in SWTOR. Mike covered most of the ins and outs of the entire game (and what we’re allowed to talk about) in his overarching impressions earlier. I’ll try to give you a briefer, but still informative look at the life of a Smuggler in the early days of SWTOR. Read on

Full Beta Preview: The Gal with the Gun on MMORPG:

The Gal with the Gun from MMORPG:

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, let’s talk about the Trooper’s basic play style for a moment. On a basic level, the Trooper uses an ammo resource system where each ability uses a certain amount of ammunition (except for your first ability, which can be spammed) and you’ll have access to a wide gamut of blaster shots and ordnance, ranging from rifle-fired rockets to sticky bombs, to riddling your enemies in a barrage of fully automatic fire. Ammo can be reloaded in combat using a certain ability, but the ability is on a lengthy cooldown so it isn’t meant to be used willy-nilly. Otherwise, ammo regenerates in combat on its own.

Later, (as in level 10) the Trooper can choose between the Vanguard and Commando Advanced Classes, which open up entirely new avenues of gameplay options. Both Advanced Classes can specialize in damage-based roles, but between the two, only the Vanguard can fulfill the tank role and only the Commando can play the medic. In a DPS role, the Vanguard sticks to medium to close range (including melee) abilities and makes use of a blaster rifle. The Commando, on the other hand, walks around with a gigantic sort of blaster minigun. I’m personally interested in the Vanguard, but I took some inspiration from Brick of Reilly’s Rangers in Fallout 3 and thought the idea of a chick wielding a giant minigun sounded cool so I went with the Commando. Read on!

In space, no one can hear you gank. on IGN

Alderaan

Two massive ships hover over a snowy valley. Between them, in a parallel line on the ground, are three turret installations. A counter ticks down, and when it reaches zero, two teams of players board speeder bikes and fly through the map, quickly passing each turret before landing on the ground. The teams divide up and surge towards the turrets, where a battle ensues.

The goal of the Alderaan Warzone is to hold a majority of the turrets for a majority of the time. Capturing a turret is easy -- it's just a matter of clicking on the turret's controls and letting a counter tick down for a few seconds. Unfortunately, it's even easier to interrupt a turret capture. Any damage dealt to a player while they capture interrupts the capturing process, forcing them to start again. Read on

The Old Republic's Trooper is a Monster on IGN:

Depending on which advanced class you pick, more options are opened up. At level 10 you can branch your class one of two ways. The Trooper can become a defensive-minded Vanguard, or a damage-dealing Commando. I went Commando, mostly because it meant I could then use the obscenely oversized assault cannons, which when stood on end are about three quarters the size of my character model.


Surprise surprise, I was rewarded with yet more area of effect attack options. The Hail of Bolts ability can blankets an area with blaster fire for a sustained period of time. Used directly after the Mortar Volley, it was incredibly effective at knocking out weak enemies. A Plasma Grenade was eventually made available, that detonates and spreads fire to additional targets to burn them over time for even more damage. By the time I stopped playing the beta, I felt confident going into any encounters, and was impressed with how much more powerful I felt at level 18 than I did even at level 10. read on

The Old Republic: Companions and Crafting on IGN

Crafting in BioWare's upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic is an interesting process. It takes elements of standard MMO harvesting and crafting, adds in a few random elements, and allows you to perform it wherever, whenever. But before we get down to the nitty-gritty of the crafting in The Old Republic, I have to talk about the Companions, as they're intimately connected.

Companions are a core element of The Old Republic. They're not simply pets that obey your bidding the way a Warlock's Imp would in World of Warcraft, and they're not just a body to spout dialogue during conversations or while you're slaying crime lords in the city-world of Coruscant to spice things up. The companions are a Swiss Army knife of sorts, capable of both of those things and much, much more.

In combat they come equipped with a handful of skills that can drastically change each encounter for better or worse. As a Jedi Knight, I obtained an R2D2-style droid equipped with a long-ranged taunting ability that would grab an enemy's attention, and a grappling-hook ability that would pull an enemy towards him. Because I was playing a melee-fighter who would eventually become a tough-as-nails tank, the droid's taunt came in handy at early levels. It would keep heavy-hitters busy for a few precious seconds as I wiped out weaker enemies. Read on

SWTOR BETA. A certain point of view ...

Wow. Just got done reading some SWTOR limited Beta reviews and I cannot believe how bad they are. Why in God’s name would you get a review written but someone who hates that type of gameplay! I don't want to link to them as I think it’s just a ploy to get more hits from being nasty, no matter how misleading it is. Real MMO and SWTOR fan sites will be get game access soon you might want to wait for their opinions, and if you do read what’s out there, take it with a grain of salt!

If you need to read something read Lifting the beta curtain: Larry's hands-on. It's limited as he wants to spread out the content he has (not what BioWare wanted I'm sure) but it's a start. The other review on that site is not worth the memory it's saved in.

What I will do is give you some new screen-shots.

SWTOR Beta Weekend over for Aussies

Now that they have let Oceania players test the game will we see Oceanic servers? Only time will tell but Aussies are putting up a fight to ensure they get players in their time zone on their server. TOROZ have a list of Oceanic guilds on there site and you can also find a full list of Oceanic guilds and alliances over on the official forums. If you want to play in an Oceanic time zone and still don't have a guild, feel free to join ours. We will be on an Oceanic server if it's an option.

Dragon Age: Redemption - Tallis (Episode 1)

If you are a Dragon Age fan or a Felicia Day fan or just like good entertainment then you must check this out!

Dragon Age: Redemption is a six-part web series set in the world of the EA/Bioware RPG Dragon Age. The series tells the story of Tallis, an Elvish assassin, who gets a last chance at redemption when she's sent to capture a rogue Qunari mage intent on wreaking havoc in the world.

Dragon Age II DLC Mark of the Assassin offers Tallis as a playable character. Check out more info here

Good News for Aussies Playing SWTOR

from the official forums: here

Oct. 11: California Data Center Test

This test is a small, limited-time test including testers from New Zealand and Australia. Data from this test will be used to inform decisions about the launch of the game in Oceanic regions. We currently have no updates regarding the launch of the game in these or other territories, but will provide information as it becomes available.

Who was invited: Testers from the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia
What was sent: California Data Center testing invites
Server locations: West Coast USA
Invite status: All invites in this batch are now sent

It will be a long weekend for Aussies and I hope it works out. I have seen guilds fall apart when games open Oceanic servers months after the games come out. Playing Rift on Aussie times was sad.. By the time they made Oceanic servers it was too late a lot of the players from  Australia had Quit..