Mice of the Old Republic: If Disney Purchased EA

The bulk of our Stories From The Outer Rim talk from Episode 14 was about the possibility of EA being purchased by a larger group in 2010, with Star Wars The Old Republic acting as a top selling point. While we touched on a lot of details around this topic, we felt it best to put together a definitive post from the fan’s perspective.

Are We Crazy?
The cornerstone of the discussion behind EA’s purchase stemmed from the Christmas wrap-up and prediction episode of the 4 Guys 1 Up Podcast. John Davison’s first prediction was that one of the major four game publishers would be purchased by a larger media conglomerate sometime within the next year. His best guess? EA, primarily due to a number of its properties that dovetail with a large media company, especially a group like Disney. What we neglected to mention on the show was that this theory actually has some wings.

Martin Peers of The Wall Street Journal (coverage from Kotaku) actually brought forth the idea that Disney should purchase EA back in 2008. At the time, the company had taken a huge dive in its market value, with its stock dropping about $45 dollars per share from the previous Christmas season. The WSJ article is still true today, as its stock has failed to make any real recovery. Between the ability to tie in properties and the vastly lower purchase price, Disney could stand to make a huge profit by providing EA with the financial stability it needs to bounce back.

Continue reading to see how it would work out…

MER Episode 15 Pre-Poll: Revisiting Planets…With A Twist!

The poll this week revisits the idea from episode 9 with a slightly different twist. With the recent annoucement of Taris and the newest developer video outlining the team’s approach to this destroyed planet, we want to know which, if any, of the planets from KOTOR you would love to see in the game.

Here’s the catch, we’re going to provide links to the Wookipedia entry for each planet to refresh your minds, and in the comments we want to hear your ideas for how Bioware can take a familiar landscape and craft a new and interesting story in it. Get creative! Have some crazy idea about a Wookie uprising on Kashyyyk? Want to rebuild pieces of the Star Forge floating around Rakata Prime? Sketch it out, and we’ll discuss your storylines on episode 15.

Podcast: Play in new window

 Loading ...

Brush up on each planet’s history…
-Dantooine
-Kashyyyk
-Manaan
-Rakata Prime
-Yavin System

MER Episode 14 – Crackpots of The Old Republic

With Con season right around the corner, the news from Bioware has just barely been trickling out. But that’s okay! With a month break from the show, we’ve had plenty of news pile up to talk about including a new Holonet entry, a Dev Blog on the Sith Inquisitor, and the newly announced playable planet, Taris! It’s not all news either, as we launch into an epic speculation rabbit hole about the nature of the Spring 2011 release announcement. You won’t want to miss it!

Also, we want to extend a huge thanks to JThompson6577, DEDMON5811 (who left a seriously hilarious review and has been active in the forums as well), and Peterisjustok for taking the time to leave us reviews on iTunes!

Podcast: Play in new window

	Direct Download
	iTunes Subscription
	RSS Subscription

News from the Galactic Republic
Holorecord Entry: Onslaught of the Sith Empire

Developer Blog: Composing the Sith Inquisitor
-For those of you who missed the Trooper dev blog (like us) you can find it here

Taris Added as Newest Playable Planet
-Background info from Wookiepedia
-Aurebesh translation from Holonet Project
-Originally speculated as a planet back in July by forum poster MFavila
-Lore Update from Darth Hater

Stories from the Outer Rim
What the 2011 Release Date Means for the Community and EA
-Original release target post is now over 200 pages
-Recent entitlement post with an official response from ErickAdams
-Zach’s crackpot idea of a large media company purchasing EA in the next year
-The negative effect the entitled minority can have on the greater community (The Ghostcrawler Incident)

Fansites from around the web
-Holonet Project: Dedicated to translating all of the Aurebesh found on the Holonet pages. http://www.holonetproject.net/
-Shock N Awesome: Sith Inquisitor class blog. http://shocknawesome.com/

Pre-Episode Poll
Are You Going to PAX East?
-Nope. (87%, 47 Votes)
-Yes! I’ll see you guys there. (13%, 7 Votes)

Jawa Thoughts: Editorial Content on Mos Eisley Radio

There was a period of time when Mos Eisley Radio was just starting out that, in addition to the podcast, we included a spattering of editorial content on the site as well. The goal was to interpret the official news from Bioware and LucasArts in a way that was both interesting and meaningful to the to the community. Unfortunately articles like the ones on the voiceover work in SWTOR, or how Bioware could implement player housing have gone by the wayside. We want to change that!

The developer team has a lot to show us about the game and its mechanics in the upcoming year (which we’re incredibly excited about), but we know they cannot release groundbreaking material every week. With that in mind, we want to bring back the editorial material on this site, hopefully leading to some great discussions, many of which will spill over into the podcast! Some of the ideas we’ve already got rolling around include looking at what features from Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 will be included in The Old Republic, how the vocal community is affecting the development process, and a few others that are still being fleshed out. Of course, we want to put out content that is interesting to all of you, so if there are any topics you would like to see us cover, be sure to leave us a message in the comments or send us an email.

We are really looking forward to bringing some new material to the site! Look for the new posts to start within the next week. Also, keep an eye out for an update on episode 14, which we plan on recording this weekend.

MER Episode 14 Pre-Poll: Are You Going to PAX East?

Flights booked. Reservations made….we’re going to PAX East! And we’re incredibly excited to be able to take in all the event will offer. So we want to know, are you going too? Vote in the poll below and let us know in the comments!

If you want to order your pass, or are just curious about what the conference is going to offer, be sure to head on over to the official PAX East Site. Tickets ARE going to sell out, so be sure to get them as soon as possible if you plan on attending.

Podcast: Play in new window

 Loading ...

MER Episode 13 – Dispensing Justice

Hear that sound? That’s the gentle sigh of relief from a community that finally knows when to expect The Old Republic to be released. A release date, we might add, that is going to mean more features, more content, and ample time to deal with bugs PRIOR to launch. Along with the new release target, we get caught up on the rest of SWTOR news with the Imperial Agent developer blog, the new Sith planet, Dromund Kaas, and more. We also respond to one of our best polls yet (thanks to you listeners!) and yield a few questions on everything from group roles to cross-faction conversation.

Thanks again to everyone who sent us a question, participated in the poll, or has left us reviews on iTunes and other places around the web…we truly appreciate it!!

Podcast: Play in new window

	Direct Download
	iTunes Subscription
	RSS Subscription

News from the Galactic Republic
Release Rumor Round 3: Bioware confirms Spring 2011 as the “release target”
-Confirmation on the official forums
-Original rumor from EA meeting on Darth Hater

Developer Blog – Top Secret Dossier on the Imperial Agent

Dromund Kaas added to the Holonet

Fan Friday Update features a new Developer Corner section

Pre-Episode Poll
How many hours a week do you game?
-Hardcore! (25+ hours) (38%)
-Moderate (15-25 hours) (38%)
-Casual (5-15 hours) (19%)
-Very Casual (0-5 hours) (5%)

Listener Questions
Do you think typical mmo players like having well defined group roles for their class, or do you think they will adapt well to being able to change their combat role through changing traits/talents or by summoning a companion?
-Reliant

With all the stun and sleep moves I just dont think the pvp is going to be very action packed more like everyone stun everyone. How do you guys think the pvp will work? Also do you think that all the classes should have a stun ability?
-Mitchal Whiting

- Audio Question from Slartibartfast (Axel)

MER Episode 12 – Jet Pack Rancors!

This week we’re joined by Darth Hater’s Sleeper, as well as Deacon, who guested previously in episode 6. The four of us get caught up on all the recent TOR news, including the two new planets added to the Holonet and the new Developer Dispatch video on creating the Dark Side. We also dive into a great discussion about what news from 2009 had us most excited about the game, and what we’re looking forward to most in the next year. Give it a listen for all the details!

Again, huge thanks to both Deacon and Sleeper for joining us this week. The two of us had a blast recording this one.

Podcast: Play in new window

	Direct Download
	iTunes Subscription
	RSS Subscription

News from the Galactic Republic
Two new planets added to the Holonet
Alderaan – http://swtor.com/info/holonet/planets/alderaan
Tatooine – http://swtor.com/info/holonet/planets/tatooine

Developer Dispatch – Designing the Dark Side
Video – http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/developer-dispatch-5
Dissection at Darth Hater – http://darthhater.com/2009/12/30/dissected-designing-the-dark-side-video/

Stories from the Outer Rim
Year End Review
-Favorite SWTOR announcement from the past year
-What we’re looking forward to most next year
-Game and movie of the year

Pre-Episode Poll
What playable races do you want to see in TOR?
Other – See Comment (25%, 26 Votes)
Twi’lek (24%, 24 Votes)
Rodian (22%, 22 Votes)
Wookie (15%, 15 Votes)
Mon Calamari (10%, 10 Votes)
Bothan (4%, 5 Votes)

Races from the comments:
Kel Dor – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kel_Dor
Ithorian – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ithorian
Twi’lek – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Twi%27lek
Wookie – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Wookie
Cerean – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cerean
Zabrak – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zabrak
Iridonian – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Iridonian
Gand – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gand
Nautolan – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Nautolan
Miraluka – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Miraluka
Togruta – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Togruta

MER Episode 12 Pre-Poll: What races do you want to see in TOR?

Now that we know all of the playable classes for The Old Republic, what kinds of playable species do you want to see? We chose five of the more common ones for you to choose from. If we missed your favorite species, leave us a note in the comment about which one you want to play!

We also want to remind everyone that episode 12 will come out just after Christmas. Zach and I are working on putting together a great year-end wrap up, hopefully joined by a couple of the Darth Hater guys, and maybe some other members of the community.

Podcast: Play in new window

 Loading ...

*P.S. …forgive me for whispering in the audio, I was hanging out in the lobby of a hotel and couldn’t speak very loud.

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 11 Pre-Poll: What’s Your Faction?

With the final two classes acknowledged by Bioware, we’re curious to know…which allegiance will you vow to defend once the game launches? Vote in the poll and leave us any comments you’d like! We’ll be discussing the results in episode 11, which should be out early next week.

Podcast: Play in new window

 Loading ...