Star Wars: The Old Republic

I've been covering Star Wars: The Old Republic for going on three years now. My first full-time MMO was Star Wars Galaxies, although I had played a bit of Ultima Online before that. I have also played nearly every major MMO after SWG's launch, ranging from World of Warcraft to Lord of the Rings Online to City of Heroes to DC Universe Online. Although all those games had aspects that I really enjoyed, I was not able to stick with any of those other MMOs for more than a month.

But when I first started playing SWTOR regularly during beta, it had me hooked. Sure, there were many aspects that I didn't like; some areas made me question the strength of the game as an MMO, but I continued to play. Some people would say that it's the lightsabers that have kept me there. I would agree the hiss and buzz of a laser sword is part of the appeal. I have played through many of the class stories to a high level, and I've also watched every class story multiple times on YouTube to catch all the endings. I have personally played through the Sith Warrior and the Sith Inquisitor story twice -- not just to level up but to watch the story again. Some of the dialogue is shaky, but in my opinion, there had never been this level of storytelling in an MMO before. And I will continue to play as long as there is still story to experience.

Today, BioWare launches the next chapter in the story of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. The majority of the story takes place on the Hutt-controlled world of Makeb, but we have also been given two major quest that take us all over the galaxy. Today, I would like to talk about one of those: the Shroud.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic's expansion is sending players into a three-way warzone between the Empire, the Republic, and the Hutt Cartel. Winning that war will require getting the right friends and eliminating the right enemies. Whether you're an early order getting to jump in tomorrow or a player waiting until the official launch, you can benefit from a crash course on some persons of interest on Makeb, courtesy of Imperial Intelligence.

Considering the focus on the Hutt Cartel, it's unsurprising that two of the most prominent figures are Hutts -- Szajin and Toborro. Szajin bucks the usual Hutt trend of self-serving greed, modeling himself as a partisan for his people across the galaxy without concern for profit. Toborro, meanwhile, sits at the top of all operations on Makeb, setting himself as a personal lord for the Hutts to rally behind as the Cartel expands its influence. Check out the full intel rundown for more details on the Hutts as well as other persons of note.

Players who pre-ordered Rise of the Hutt Cartel early enough are less than a week away from their first taste of Star Wars: The Old Republic's expansion content, and it's only 10 days for everyone else who purchased the expansion. That means it's time to start thinking about what conditions will be like on the surface of Makeb, something addressed in the latest development blog showing off the planet. Narrated by SIS agent Theron Shan, the entry outlines several landmarks and the environments to be expected there.

Several regions of the planet are already under the control of the Hutt Cartel, including a few spots that the Hutts have taken without having much use for at the moment. The capital city is especially fortified, prompting the use of small teams rather than a full strike force. But there are a few spots where the Republic can make an approach, spots players will doubtlessly be exploring as soon as the expansion launches and everyone can rush to the new planet.

Achievements aren't really a new addition to games any longer. Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't breaking the mold with their inclusion. What is different is the way that the game tracks achievements via your Legacy rather than individual characters, allowing all of your character accomplishments to work together. The latest development blog explains how the Legacy Achievements will work and what players can expect in terms of rewards for a life spent in the far reaches of the galaxy.

Progress on achievements is tracked across all of your characters, allowing you to complete part of the achievement on one character and the rest on another as needed. Veteran players will be happy to know that many of your existing accomplishments will be converted over to the new system, ensuring that you won't have to repeat your hard work. And the rewards for achievements include both titles and Cartel Coins, both of which should be quite enticing to players. For more details and a breakdown of the major categories, check out the full development blog.

Following Disney's acquisition of Star Wars and its related companies and properties, gaming fans have wondered what might happen to developer LucasArts. Out of all of the possible scenarios, the worst has happened: Disney has stopped development in the studio and laid off its employees.

From the official Disney statement:

"After evaluating our position in the games market, we've decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company's risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we've had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles."

Massively conveys its sympathies to those affected by the decision. There's no word yet how this might affect Star Wars: The Old Republic, if at all.

I don't work for BioWare, and I definitely don't believe that Star Wars: The Old Republic is the greatest, most ambitious project in videogame history. However, I do believe that SWTOR is a great game, and its expansion Rise of the Hutt Cartel only makes the game better. It's not because Makeb has waterfalls. (Sure, a concept artist said that, but did that really need to make it into the final promotional video?)

I think fans forget that Rise of the Hutt Cartel is not just Makeb. There are multiple additions to the core game, like new armor sets and questlines. Over the past month, I've had the opportunity to play through all of it. And for the first time in a long time, I can't wait to play through the single-player questline. Let me give you the highlights of my experience and what I believe are the best parts of RotHC.

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A long time ago, I previewed Star Wars: The Old Republic. It was a beta build, and a limited press preview to boot, so it's fair to say that I didn't have the full measure of BioWare's latest Star Wars opus. Even so, it exceeded my expectations in some respects, and despite the reams of hate fan mail I received for being Massively's leering, anti-SWTOR Sith villain, the truth of the matter is that I love Star Wars and video games to such a degree that it's impossible to stay away from any product that marries them.

I own Super Bombad Racing, for funk's sake.

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If you've been following BioWare for any length of time, then you know James Ohlen. When I interviewed him a couple of years back at PAX East and again last year at the Star Wars: The Old Republic guild summit, I could feel his sincere passion for the game. Ohlen joined the SWTOR project at its inception and held the creative director position for well over half a decade. SWTOR is as much his game as anyone's.

As is common at the Game Developers Conference, developers speak candidly to other future game-creators about the inner workings of their studios' biggest projects. Sometimes those tales are cautionary; some are inspiring. This time, Ohlen's told the story of SWTOR, the game that currently holds the record as the second largest subscription MMO ever, and how free-to-play turned what could have been a tale of utter failure into a story of success.

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I vividly remember a conversation I had with my then-girlfriend's parents back in 1996 about the potential of this growing "internet" phenomenon. With my limited understanding, I made it sound downright noble, a Library of Congress available at the fingertips of the average Joe or Jane. What I really should have said that it would be a tool for the distribution of pornography, nerd rage, and cute animal pictures.

I have no idea how big the cute animal picture industry is, but there have got to be millions of aspiring photographers daily who prod little baby critters with encouragement sticks in the hopes of eliciting a few "awws" out of strangers. Even when the serious business of MMOs came a-calling, cuteness infested fantasy lands near and far.

Whenever I see something absurdly cute in an MMO, I always smile because I know that somewhere, some uber-elite, way-too-serious player is developing facial tics from being in the same game world as it. So twitch away, as here are 10 of the cutest critters as seen in-game!

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Fortunately, he answered our questions before we were forced to test the firepower of the Massively battlestation on his home planet of Alderaan. Now we can reveal his answers to the whole galaxy.

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Last week, I reported that the first three bosses were just the calm before the storm. That storm begins right away with the Operations Chief, thunders mightily with Olok, gusts onward with the Warlords, then reaches its pinnacle with Dreadmaster Styrak.

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Mos Eisley isn't the only place where ne'er-do-wells congregate. Star Wars: The Old Republic says that there's another desert planet, Darvannis, that's also under the thumb of the Hutt Cartel and needs a little player intervention to thwart a gathering army. An operation dealing with this story will take place in the upcoming Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion.

Called Legions of Scum and Villiany, this operation will challenge level 55 players to infiltrate a Hutt town, smack down a few bosses, and figure out what's going on. A couple of interesting twists, including a stealth portion and a droid dealer, promise more angles than a straight-forward fight. The operation will come in both story and hard modes.

BioWare Senior Operations & Flashpoints Designer George Smith gives an overview of Legions of Scum and Villiany in a new dev blog along with the team's philosophy behind the high-level content. When you're done checking that out, don't forget to read our recent hands-on with the expansion and a deeper look at this operation in Hyperspace Beacon.

BioWare is closing Asia-Pacific Star Wars: The Old Republic servers and relocating their residents to North American west coast shards.

In a post on the SWTOR boards, community manager Eric Musco explains. "We have evaluated all of the options and determined that the best solution, that will offer the best long-term play experience, is to merge the APAC servers with higher populated North American servers," he writes.

The transfers will be a multistep process which will eventually culminate in the following reassignments:

• Mastar Dar'Nala (PvP) players will transfer to The Bastion (PvP)
• Gav Daragon (RP-PvE) players will transfer to Begeren Colony (RP-PvE)
• Dalborra (PvE) players will transfer to The Harbinger (PvE)

[Thanks Matthew!]

Last week, BioWare invited a crew of gaming journalists to Austin to experience the latest content for Star Wars: The Old Republic. While I couldn't personally make the trip, BioWare invited me to listen in on the presentation given by Executive Producer Jeff Hickman. The journalists in Austin paired up and began their journey on the Hutt-controlled planet of Makeb, while I, having already been testing Rise of the Hutt Cartel for a few weeks, began writing my impressions of what I saw on that planet.

Before I begin my report, I would like to lay down a couple of disclaimers. In order for me to tell the story behind Makeb, I will have to give some spoilers about the main game. If you haven't completed it, and you don't want to know how it ends, then you will not want to read the first section after the break. Secondly, if you are looking for Rise of the Hutt Cartel to fix all the issues and emotional setbacks you had with SWTOR in the first place, then you might be a little disappointed. However, if you loved the storytelling and overall gameplay of vanilla TOR, then you will absolutely love this expansion.

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