Gaming Face

Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic Out November 16, 2011

As a big fan of Star Wars Art this is a must have for me! I should send the link to my wife as a hint for a Chrissy pressie ...

Publication Date: November 16, 2011

Star Wars fans the world over are buzzing in anticipation of what promises to be a defining moment in the history of multiplayer online gaming: the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The game follows the escalating war between the Jedi and the Sith thousands of years before the events of the Star Wars films, and its innovative design allows players to choose sides and help shape the history of the galaxy. This gorgeous, full-color volume features the detailed art behind this highly anticipated release from BioWare and LucasArts. With character sketches, interviews, and artwork featuring the game s new weapons, starships, and previously unexplored worlds, The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic is the ultimate chronicle of the newest Star Wars experience.

About the Authors

Frank Parisi , former editor at LucasFilm, Ltd., was the co-author of The Art of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, editor of Star Wars Insider magazine, project editor of The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and has contributed numerous articles to GamePro and ALARM magazines.

Daniel Erickson is writing director for BioWare’s Austin, Texas studio. He began his gaming career as an intern with Next Generation magazine and is currently lead writer for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Penny Arcade, equal parts comic and commentary, keeps its finger on the pulse of the game industry, prompting conversation and controversy alike from community members to industry experts. What started as a hobby in 1998 for Jerry “Tycho” Holkins and Mike “Gabe” Krahulik has grown into an online phenomenon serving millions of readers worldwide.

The TORrific Podcast Q&A

Site name: The TORrific Podcast
URL: thetorrific.com
Name: Casey Tigue (The WizFish)
Started: September 2011
Type: Podcast, blog

SWTOR Face: In your words, how would you describe your site? Do you have a particular focus or interest?

Casey: thetorrific.com is a community website dedicated first and foremost to the TORrific Podcast, bringing news about the show and episode postings, plus some additional articles that are written about swtor and/or happenings of the hosts etc.

SWTOR Face: How many people work on your blog/site (including writers, editors, webmaster, etc)?

Casey: I am the only one that updates the website and writes articles- this is subject to change of course, but for now, its just me that keeps the site functioning.

SWTOR Face: When did you start blogging (about any topic)?

Casey: I remember back in the xanga.com days, writing an "online journal" of sorts- not sure if this was considered blogging, but thats pretty much where I started. Since, however, I've operated websites that go hand in hand with my podcast network and the shows therein- examples include www.thetorrific.com andwww.playervsrift.com - more shows/sites are in the works as well.

SWTOR Face: When did you start blogging about SWTOR?

Casey: I started blogging about swtor when I started the podcast.

SWTOR Face: What, if any, MMOs have you played?

Casey: I started with World of Warcraft, like so many others- I didn't get the "full" MMO experience by starting with Ultima Online, or playing any of the previous games before WoW. Once RIFT came out, I jumped onto that, and I also have some experience with some free to play games such as LOTRO and CoH.

SWTOR Face: Are you attracted to SWTOR because of the gaming experience, Star Wars, or both?

Casey: First and foremost, it's all about Star Wars. I've always been a huge fan, and even if the game turns out to be "WoW with Lightsabers", I'm still in it for the long haul. Personally, I think that WoW is a great game, even today- trouble is, its stagnant and dated...with swtor, I get that change of scenery that I've been waiting for...and being a huge fan of BioWare, I highly doubt that I'll be disappointed in swtor.

SWTOR Face: What is your most memorable experience in gaming?

Casey: Probably when I met my wife on WoW- I know, sounds corny and strange, but it happens more than you might think. We're currently happily enjoying our life together, and for that reason, I feel like I owe MMO's, WoW in particular, a lot.

SWTOR Face: What was your first Star Wars experience?

Casey: My cousin Chris got me into Star Wars at a very young age- since I wasn't alive to enjoy the awesomeness when it first released in 1977, I did what I could, and became a die-hard fan anyway. I honestly can't remember the first time I heard of Star Wars...its a shame, because its really been a franchise that I've grown to love, and I would love to know when it all started. I must've been extremely young :).

SWTOR Face: Republic or Empire?

Casey: For once, this is going to be tricky for me. In WoW it was very easy for me to pick the Horde, and in RIFT, it was just as easy for me to pick Defiant...because I've always related to the bad guys, because the good guys were usually pretty lame. This time around with swtor, it's going to be very hard for me to pick a faction and devote all of my loyalty to them- In Star Wars, I've always loved the good guys, I rooted for them through out my childhood... I actually wanted the good guys to win... but at the same time, I loved the villains, and always enjoyed their stories as much as I liked the Hero stories. So, whats likely to happen, is I'll just be a pure altoholic- play one of everything, until I find the class that really clicks with me.

SWTOR Face: What excites you most about SWTOR?

Casey: I think the exciting part for me, is what everyone else seems to be dreading or complaining about- "WoW with lightsabers". I love WoW- but to have a game thats just as good as WoW, with similar gameplay and mechanics that I'm familiar with- AND have it set in the Star Wars galaxy...its just too much awesome for me to contain.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Halloween Photos at BioWare Austin 2011.

The guys and girls at BioWare got in to Halloween this year Star Wars style!

Finding the right SWTOR News for you!

Looking for the best SWTOR News?

At SWTOR Face, they not only want to focus on the game of SWTOR but also the gamers and the community in SWTOR. Even though the game hasn’t even started yet, the blogging and the fan sites certainly have! they want to provide readers with information about other SWTOR websites, blogs and guilds.

This section is going to grow faster than the Falcon on the Kessel run.

If you want your SWTOR site or blog featured here then contact SWTOR Face.

Site Profiles

(SWTOR Face Profile and Q&A)

(Greetings Meatbag Profile and Q&A)

(The exploits of Mandaloriangirl Q&A)

(Darth Hater Q&A)

(Star Wars MMO Q&A)

(TOROZ Q&A)

TOROZ Q&A

Site name: TOROZ (short for ‘The Old Republic – Australia / New Zealand’)
URL: http://toroz.com.au/
Name: David Holloway
Started: 2009
Type: News and opinions, blog, media, Podcast

SWTOR Face: In your words, how would you describe your site? Do you have a particular focus or interest?

David Holloway: TOROZ was very much set up as an Oceanic SWTOR site (Australia / New Zealand and areas close by) but it's got a surprising number of international readers as well who appreciate a different slant on things. Our focus more broadly is just SWTOR: news, opinion, lore etc

SWTOR Face: How many people work on your blog/site (including writers, editors, webmaster, etc)?

David Holloway:  We current have myself as writer/editor and three other writers plus a fourth about to commence.

SWTOR Face: When did you start blogging (about any topic)?

David Holloway:  My first blog as a personal one around 2001. I've regularly blogged on virtual worlds since 2006 (www.metaversejournal.com)

SWTOR Face: When did you start blogging about SWTOR?

David Holloway:  In 2009. It was natural extension of my virtual worlds blogging given I grew up and was massively influenced / inspired by the original three Star Wars movies.

SWTOR Face: What, if any, MMOs have you played?

David Holloway: World of Warcraft since 2007 - I'm a Level 85 (Arcane/Fire) Mage with a couple of alts as well ;) I also played MUDS and MOOS back in the early 90s.

SWTOR Face: Are you attracted to SWTOR because of the gaming experience, Star Wars, or both?

David Holloway: Definitely both - WoW has some great features and some serious limitations - I'm hopeful SWTOR will be a big evolutionary step in a genre.

SWTOR Face: What is your most memorable experience in gaming?

David Holloway: Winning the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza in WoW 18 months or so ago ;)

SWTOR Face: What was your first Star Wars experience?

David Holloway: Star Wars: A New Hope in a rural cinema in 1977.

SWTOR Face: Republic or Empire?

David Holloway: Republic initially but both eventually for the sake of balance ;)

SWTOR Face:What excites you most about SWTOR?

David Holloway: Like any MMO it's the community that makes a game, so that and the story.

SWTOR Ranged VS Melee "You'll die"

The Question was asked: Jedi Consular How will the sage fair against up close melee characters?

And GeorgZoeller replyed :

You'll die.

To elaborate on this: If you try to outdamage any of the melee DPS classes at close range. 2 lightsabers > 1 lightsaber; Heavy Armor > light armor; Tons of powerful melee moves > small number of melee moves.

Sure, most of your abilities will still work close range, but you have a distinct advantage when they are at range, so you're going to have to make sure these guys don't make it into melee range or, if they make it, don't make it with enough health or stay there long enough to get their really powerful attacks off.

Sounds good to me as any range you have to kite... But Emperor Palpatine thinks GeorgZoeller is wrong...

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Star Wars MMO Q&A

Site name: Star Wars MMO
URL: http://swmmo.blogspot.com/
Name: Dave Seager
Started: April 2011
Type: News and opinions, blog, media

SWTOR Face: In your words, how would you describe your site? Do you have a particular focus or interest?

Dave Seager: The site is really a fan blog about SWTOR. The focus at the moment is just SWTOR news, although I do have an interest in trade skills, making credits and the various classes I am most enamoured with. I try to comment upon what is happening with the news, and give my own views on things. The site also has a bias toward Europe, given that is where I am from, specifically the UK, so I am keenly interested in any news about EU or UK testing.

After release I intend to skew the site more towards the classes I play in SWTOR, and professions and credits-making.

SWTOR Face: How many people work on your blog/site (including writers, editors, webmaster, etc)?

Dave Seager: Just myself and those fine people behind blogger.com.

SWTOR Face: When did you start blogging (about any topic)?

Dave Seager: I started blogging in September 2007 on a blog I never publicized. I started blogging in May 2008 on flameshock.blogspot.com, which was a WoW Shaman blog which got linked a few times here and there, and had various guides and tales of my exploits.
SWTOR Face: When did you start blogging about SWTOR?

Dave Seager: I started Swmmo in April 2011 after getting seriously interested in The Old Republic, and reading a lot of info on sites like Darth Hater. I thought I might want to blog about the game post launch, like I had been doing for WoW, and so thought why wait.

SWTOR Face: What, if any, MMOs have you played?

Dave Seager: The very first MMO I played was Everquest after it had been going for a while. I remember being amazed that I was in this fantasy world, playing with other people all around me. Oh, and that I had fallen down a hole into a high-level area and couldn't get to my corpse to get my stuff back any more. After EQ I played Dark Ages of Camelot a fair bit until I got bored of the grinding, then Star Wars Galaxies where I turned my hand to making profits in the speeder vehicle market. I left SWG before all the changes. Finally I picked up World of Warcraft when it released, and have been playing ever since. I've dabbled in open betas of a lot of games such as Star Trek Online, City of Villains, Lord of the Rings Online, Lego Universe, etc.

SWTOR Face: Are you attracted to SWTOR because of the gaming experience, Star Wars, or both?

Dave Seager: Mostly because SWTOR promises to be Knights Of The Old Republic but in an MMO. KOTOR is probably my favourite game of all time, and was totally amazing when I played it back in 2003. The promise of an MMO with the sort of story telling and quality that KOTOR had was very enticing.
I have now also played Mass Effect and Dragon Age Origins, and I have to say, if TOR is any where near as good as those titles, we're in for a treat.

SWTOR Face: What is your most memorable experience in gaming?

Dave Seager: Probably when it was revealed that you were Revan, in KOTOR. I was not expecting that at all and the twist was awesome.
SWTOR Face: What was your first Star Wars experience?

Dave Seager: Watching the original trilogy on TV over Christmas. In the UK in the 1980s, the TV channels seemed to show one or all of the Star Wars films every single Christmas, so I just had to watch. We also taped them on VHS, so I would watch them during the year too. I don't think I ever had it revealed to me that Darth Vader was Luke's father, I just sort-of knew from years of exposure to ESB.

SWTOR Face: Republic or Empire?

Dave Seager: Empire. I like playing the bad guy, and the Sith in TOR look like they are truly bad(ass). Plus the prequel trilogy is a lot about Palpatine manipulating the Republic so he can form the Empire while the Jedi stand by clueless, he is the man. Training someone who is prophesied to bring balance to the force when you have thousands of light-side force users and only a handful of dark-side force users shouldn't sound appealing to the light-side users, but those Jedi went with it anyway, and look what happened.
SWTOR Face: What excites you most about SWTOR?

Dave Seager: For me, SWTOR is another crack at playing a Star Wars MMO, but a theme park one with Bioware polish rather than the sand box style of SWG. I think Bioware's RPGs are probably the best RPGs I've played, so I have really high hopes for SWTOR.

Cheers,

Dave Seager.