MER Episode 19 – Known Associates

With the development team knee-deep in E3 prep, the news cycle for the past few weeks has slowed down just a bit, but not completely! In the episode we discuss the new info on Companions, the updates to the Sith Warrior, and what famed Galaxies developer Matt Boudreaux might bring to the SWTOR team. With E3 coming up next week, be sure to keep an eye out for our wrap-up episode at the end of the week. We’re extremely excited to see what Bioware has in store for us!

We want to offer a big thanks to Laryk and Bronzephisy for taking the time to leave us reviews on iTunes.

Music for this show was provided by General Fuzz. Check out more of his work at generalfuzz.net

Podcast: Play in new window

	Direct Download
	iTunes Subscription
	RSS Subscription

News from the Galactic Republic
(5/28) Companions Updated
-Dedicated page in the Game Systems section
-Original article w/ James Ohlen at IGN
-Vette added as first companion for the Sith Warrior. Vette in the Biographies section
-Vette’s Aurebesh hints of Lord Baras and the Star of Kala’uun

(5/28) Sith Warrior Updated on the HoloNet
-Epic new video set on Korriban
-New layout of the class page
-Preliminary video dissection at Darth Hater

Stories from the Outer Rim
(6/4) Star Wars Galaxies developer Matt Boudreaux, aka AdeptStrain, joins the SWTOR team
-Original article at Massively
-”Welcome” thread on the Official Forums

(5/26) Bioware opens new Customer Service office in Ireland
-Jobs listing page at Bioware.com

New Segment – We still need a name!
(6/1) Sony Online Entertainment announces Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
-Marketed by Sony as a “virtual world” moreso than an MMO
-Primarily mini-game based (space battles, tower defense, speeder bike racing, etc.)
-Includes things like pets and player housing
-Launches free in the fall, optional payment scheme for extra features
-Detailed post at Massively
-Interview with SOE at Massively

MER Episode 15 – Gee Dee Cee You At PAX East!

After taking a month off, we knew you guys would want a packed show…and we’ve delivered! Beyond catching up on all the recent news like Belsavis and the Consular developer blog, Darth Hater’s Emlaeh joined us to talk about her hands-on experience with the Trooper last week at LucasArts. We also get to the listener questions that have been sitting in the inbox for a while, and our pal JD joins us for an Old Republic class March Madness! Hope you all enjoy the long format, and we look forward to bringing you our experience at PAX East next week.

Also, we want to extend a huge thanks to Jaysen71581 for taking the time to leave us a review on iTunes!

Music for this show was provided by General Fuzz. Check out more of his work at generalfuzz.net

Podcast: Play in new window

	Direct Download
	iTunes Subscription
	RSS Subscription

News from the Galactic Republic
Fan Friday Update: Fan Site Kit, Trooper Animation, Rancor Render

Developer Video: Returning to Taris

Developer Blog: Finding Balance in the Force

New Webcomic with Dark Horse: Blood of the Empire

New Playable Planet: Belsavis
-Info from Wookiepedia

Stories from the Outer Rim
Trooper Gameplay @ Darth Hater

Be sure to check out the rest of the GDC coverage from Darth Hater!

Pre-Episode Poll
Which Unannounced KOTOR planet should be added to the game?
-Kashyyyk (36%, 24 Votes)
-Dantooine (27%, 18 Votes)
-Yavin System (19%, 13 Votes)
-Manaan (13%, 9 Votes)
-Rakata Prime (Lehon) (5%, 3 Votes)

“I’d love to see them explore Dantooine where it says “Buried beneath the deserted Enclave was a hidden facility in which the ancient Jedi Knights carried on mysterious cloning experiments.” in the wiki link. I love the idea of the serene planet surface, but beneath the surface are either jedi ghosts or decayed jedi walking around doing immoral experiments for warped and skewed reasons that were at one time good. And hell, if the Empire could somehow be behind this corruption… all the better.”
-Lazenca

“I’d like it to be a time when the wookiees are “free” from outside influence, and have fallen into a civil war.”
-Axe Faktor

Listener Questions
What are your opinions on flyable ships as opposed to the system in KOTOR where you were automatically taken to another planet?
-Sith Tyro Revan
Check out Gordon Walton’s thoughts on space combat

So I have played (and will play again) the Star Wars pencil and paper D20 RPG game. It plays really similarly to D&D and both KOTORs adapt a bunch of their play styles from it. The big difference between it and D&D is the weapon damage. You would have similar HP, but the weapons just shell out tons of damage, both for the heroes and mobs. Do you think this would be an appropriate play style for SWTOR? Having tons of damage dealt from you and to you, speeding up the game play. Or do you think it should be slowed down to match other MMORPG’s?
-Peter Corey

Hi guys great cast been listening for a few months now. Just wondered what you guys think the planet areas are going to be like and what you will be hoping for in respect to size and exploration. Obviously there will be a lot of instances within open areas for solo and different size groups/raids but what would you like from the open areas? You talked a little about exploration with regards to SWG and Krayt dragons and a little on easter eggs which will be cool to come across but what would you really like from the open areas with respect to size/ random spawns/ gated areas or not?/ random,scripted,GM events/ cool things/ crafting nodes and drops…….etc.
-Kojack

March Madness!!!!

MER Episode 11 – Now Begins the (Sith) Inquisition!

To say the last couple of weeks has media blitz of new TOR news would be the understatement of the century. We break down both of the new classes, get some new info about companions and class trees, and look at how Bioware is going to approach the MMO “Trinity”. There’s also a brand new release rumor, and some great listener questions.

Check it out and join us in the forums for discussion!

Podcast: Play in new window

	Direct Download
	iTunes Subscription
	RSS Subscription

News from the Galactic Republic
Final two classes revealed to be Force users
-Jedi Consular at the Holonet and Darth Hater
-Sith Inquisitor at Darth Hater
-Bioware’s choice to address “healing” as CC and damage-mitigation instead of outright “heals”

Smuggler Class Trees

Insight into Companion Characters

General Information Confirmed

Stories from the Outer Rim
Release Rumor Round 2: Could a compiling of the Threat of Peace and a new short story accompany a release of the game?
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=94823

Pre-Episode Poll
What faction will you be playing once TOR launches?
-Sith Empire (38%)
-Galactic Republic (35%)
-I plan to have characters on both sides (27%)

Listener Questions
Since the last two classes aren’t droid/pet classes, do you still think we’ll get to have customizable droid pets, or do you see them maybe offering a companion character like the dog in dragon age, which by the way I agree, that game is amazing. I hope they don’t just stick us with a single option like that. I’d like to be able to switch between my Strill and my Wampa, rather than being stuck with the same boring Kowakian monkey lizard from the beginning.
-Axe Faktor

Audio question from Sunny Ravencourt about the “Trinity”.

MER Episode 10 – Orbital Bombardment!

Wow, the Imperial Agent!! We knew the community was buzzing about the next class for the Sith Empire, but we certainly weren’t expecting an announcement this soon. The two of us cover the ins and outs of the new class, as well as Bioware’s approach to preventing gold farmers and botters from ruining our game experience before the game is even out! We also received some great listener questions about classes and how the Austin team is going to pull off all this story business!

Again, huge shoutout to the officers over at http://iugaming.com! They put on a fantastic LAN last weekend.

Podcast: Play in new window

	Direct Download
	iTunes Subscription
	RSS Subscription

News from the Galactic Republic
Imperial Agent announced as the third Sith Empire class
-Picked up first by Now Gamer, then Darth Hater, then the official forum post by Sean Dahlberg
-Added to the Holonet
-Inspiration for story / combat
-Darth Hater invited to LucasArts for a demo

Writing the Jedi Knight
http://swtor.com/news/blog/20091106_001

No native support for Mac
http://darthhater.com/2009/11/05/bad-news-mac/

Stories from the Outer Rim
Gold Sellers, Power Levelers Beware….Bioware knows you’re there!!
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=1889073#edit1889073

Listener Questions
How am I supposed to pick a class!!
http://twitter.com/Silv3r_Rav3n

We’ve heard it time and time again, Bioware is taking the story very serious in this MMO. Each character class is supposed to have it’s own quests with zero repetition when you roll another. This sounds really amazing on paper. But can they actually pull this thing off? Did they set the a bar a bit too high for themself?
-Llane

To Each His Own (Planet)

We spoke briefly on last week’s podcast about the concept of “starting planets”. As with most MMO’s, each class or race is given a specific area from which to start. For example, the Orcs and Trolls in World of Warcraft both start their journeys in Durotar, Kalimdor. Well, it would seem that our speculation holds some weight.

In a number of interviews and reviews, Bioware employees have roughly confirmed that each planet will play specific host to one (or possibly two) classes as they enter the galaxy. So far it appears as if the Trooper and Smuggler classes will start on Ord Mantell, while the Bounty Hunter class will begin on Hutta. These are all logical choices as to how each fits in with the overall lore of Star Wars. For example, its widely known that most Bounty Hunters have a very strong business relationship with the Hutt crime lords. And in the case of Ord Mantell, given the planet’s volatile political state, it makes sense that Troopers are needed to enforce the Galactic Republic’s rule, while the Smugglers do everything in their power to undermine them and move their goods.

This leaves an open slot on Hutta, and nothing for Korriban and Tython. Obviously, the most likely choices for the latter planets are going to be Sith Lord and Jedi Master, respectively. Yet since the other classes have yet to be announced, the options for Hutta are still wide open.

What do you think of having the classes separated so far from each other? Which planet are you looking forward to adventuring the most?