SWTOR Info

[chaos5061]

Early Access Pt. 1

From Bioware:
Early Game Access* for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is only a few days away! Starting December 13, 2011, The Old Republic will begin emailing invitations to start your Early Game Access. Invitations will be sent throughout the Early Game Access period offering rolling access to the game in the order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code, so be sure to check your email inbox!

To ensure that players can get into the game as quickly as possible when their Early Game Access begins, we are now allowing everyone who has redeemed a Pre-Order Code at our Code Redemption Center to pre-load the game to their computer.

In order to download the game client before Early Game Access begins, you need have already logged into your account and redeemed your Pre-Order Code. Once you have done this, you can download the game client by clicking on “My Account” in the upper-right of the window and then click “Pre-Order.” On your Pre-Order page, click the large button that says “Download Game Client” to begin download of the game!

If you participated in our recent Beta Testing Weekend between November 25th and 28th and still have the game client installed, you will be able to patch this client instead of re-installing by simply launching your client, logging in and allowing the download to complete. If you did not participate in the November 25th – 28th Beta Weekend, first uninstall the Game Testing Client and then re-install to ensure your game client will function correctly during Early Game Access.

Learn more about how to get ready for Early Game Access!

If you haven’t pre-ordered Star Wars: The Old Republic yet, you still have time. Visit our Pre-Order Page, secure your copy of the game and redeem your Pre-Order Code at the Code Redemption Center to pre-load the client and qualify for Early Game Access.

If you have any issues installing or patching the game client for The Old Republic, check visit the Customer Service Support section for information and assistance.

*Customers who redeem their Pre-Order Code at the Code Redemption Center prior to launch will be able to pre-load the Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Client before the official Game launch. Pre-loading the Game does not grant you access to the Game. Pre-Ordering the Game only allows you access to the Early Game Access period and your Color Crystal. Early Game Access may be up to 7 days. The length of your Early Game Access depends on the date and order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code. In order to continue playing the Game after the Early Game Access period, you must redeem your official Game Product Registration Code at the Code Redemption Center.

[chaos5061]

Early Game Access Pt. 2

From Bioware:
All pre-launch guilds that are successfully imported to the Game will be notified of which server they have been placed on prior to Early Game Access. Once Early Game Access begins, the first character you create on the assigned server will be automatically invited to join your guild. You can choose to accept or decline the invite. If declined, you will be invited again each time you create a character on that server, unless you select the option to ignore future invites. Visit the Guilds FAQ for more details.

The Game officially launches on December 20th, 2011 at 12:01AM EST (Pacific: December 19th, 9:01PM PST; European: December 20th, 05:01AM GMT, 06:01AM CET). There will be no ‘grace period’ post launch in which those who are in Early Game Access will be able to continue to play the Game without completing the following required steps for launch:

1. Fill out your contact information
2. Set up minimum 3 - maximum 5 security questions to protect your SWTOR account
3. Redeem a Product Registration Code (This is different from your Pre-Order Code. Your Product Registration Code is the code tied to the official Game.)
4. Sign up for a recurring subscription or enter a Pre-Paid Game Time Code

You will have the option of completing these steps during the Early Game Access period so that you are ready to play upon the Game’s official launch.

Your download time will vary according to the speed of your internet service provider. Download speeds are not constant and vary by location. The size of the final Game Client is approximately 27GB when fully installed. You should ensure you have adequate free space on your hard disk before completing your download.

Early Game Access will begin on December 13th, 2011 , 7:00AM EST (Pacific: December 13th, 4:00AM PST; European: December 13th, 12:00PM GMT, 1:00PM CET), seven days prior to the official launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The length of your Early Game Access period will vary depending on the order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code. The speed of your download of the Game may also affect when you start playing.

Early Game Access will end shortly before Star Wars: The Old Republic officially launches on December 20th, 2011, at 12:01AM EST (Pacific: December 19th, 9:01PM PST; European: December 20th, 05:01AM GMT, 06:01AM CET). We will be bringing down all servers for a short period of time before the launch of the Game. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to launch.

All characters created during Early Game Access will continue to be available in the live Game. There will be no ‘grace period’ post launch in which those who are in Early Game Access will be able to continue to play the Game at launch without completing the following required steps for launch:

1. Fill out your contact information
2. Set up minimum 3 - maximum 5 security questions to protect your SWTOR account
3. Redeem a Product Registration Code (This is different from your Pre-Order Code. Your Product Registration Code is the code tied to the official Game.)
4.Sign up for a recurring subscription or enter a Pre-Paid Game Time Code

You will have the option of completing these steps during the Early Game Access period so that you are ready to play upon the Game’s official launch.

Starting December 13, 2011, 7:00AM EST (Pacific: December 13th, 4:00AM PST; European: December 13th, 12:00PM GMT, 1:00PM CET), The Old Republic will begin emailing invitations to start your Early Game Access. Invitations will be sent throughout the Early Game Access period offering rolling access to the Game in the order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code, so be sure to check your email inbox!

To see your Early Game Access status, log in to swtor.com and visit My Account >> Pre-Order.

The Game launcher supports English, French and German. You can change the language displayed by clicking the small icon on the lower-left of the launcher, and then selecting the language from a drop-down menu. This will change the language both in the launcher and in the Game.

Everyone who has pre-ordered Star Wars: The Old Republic and redeemed their Pre-Order Code on our Code Redemption Center will be able to access and use their Pre-Order Color Stone during Early Game Access. To get your Color Stone, visit a mailbox in-game and pick up your in-game mail. Digital items associated with the Digital Deluxe Edition and Collector’s Edition will be available once you have redeemed your official Game Product Registration Code, and will be sent to you via in-game mail.

Starting at Early Game Access, digital items associated with the Digital Deluxe Edition and Collector’s Edition will be available once you have redeemed your official Game Product Registration Code, and will be sent to you via in-game mail.

[chaos5061]

If you need to download the client you better do it now. The site is going under maintenance at 4AM and won't be back up till 11:30 AM CST.

[chaos5061]

From Gamebreaker.tv:
A little SWTOR and WoW Christmas Song. Warning don't drink anything while watching you'll choke on it:

[dudedafool]

Question, if I preorder the game from say a Gamestop, will I still be able to get into the early playtime, or, will I have to purchase it only from Origin?

[cabby]

You'll want to check with GameStop to be sure they have early access keys. The safe route is thru Origin. And with it being this close to the early access starting you might only get in with one or two days of early access. I did mine thru BestBuy since I could still pre-order the CE thru them but the early access key they had was bad so I had to spend about 15-20 minutes on the phone with them to get it straightened out and get a new key that was valid.

[dulak]

*clicks the like button for the video*

[chaos5061]

Also just saw this: http://store.payloadz.com/details/98...k-talkin-.html
It's a free download mp3 of the song in the Blizz Blues video that I posted.

[chaos5061]

12.15 MB patch is up for download.

[chaos5061]

WARNING If you haven't yet downloaded the client for Early Access this is you last chance before 4PM Saturday:
On Saturday 12/10, the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Forums and SWTOR.com will be undergoing extended maintenance.

At 5:00AM CST (11:00AM London, 12:00PM Paris/Berlin), SWTOR.com will be down. We expect the site to be back up at 4:00PM CST (10:00PM London, 11:00PM Paris/Berlin).

The Forums will be unavailable beginning at 12:00AM CST (6:00AM London, 7:00AM Paris/Berlin) and will remain down until Tuesday 12/13.

Thank you for your patience!

[chaos5061]

7.83 MB patch ready for your download.

[chaos5061]

UPDATE on website maintenance:
UPDATE 12/9 5:00PM CST (11:00PM London 12/10 12:00AM Paris/Berlin) - Tomorrow's maintenance has been delayed. SWTOR.com will be unavailable beginning at 8:00AM CST (2:00PM London, 3:00 PM Paris/Berlin), and we expect the site to be back up at 5:30PM CST (11:30PM London, 12/11 12:30AM Paris/Berlin).

[chaos5061]

What happened to 'unify color to chest piece', and what's next

From Bioware:
Few of our systems seem to have generated as much passion as our 'Unify Color to Chest Piece' system. So, I'd like to shed a bit of light onto exactly what this system is, what happened to it and what is in store for it in the future.

Pretty much from the start of the project, one of our goals was to solve the 'mismatched color' issue that exists in many MMORPGs. This initiative has actually been driven directly by James Ohlen, our Game Director, as this is an issue close to his heart.

Now, it is useful to understand that when artists create a new piece of armor, they always create it as part of a set. A certain pair of pants, for example, is thematically meant to go with a specific chest armor, gloves, boots, bracers and helmet. If the players always put on full sets, they would look very good indeed and the colors from the different pieces would complement each other. Of course, at any given level, players have access to many such sets and wear bits and pieces from multiple sources. Now, in Star Wars: The Old Republic, we have created sets that, in many cases, are quite compatible with each other. You'll notice that, for example, Jedi Knight outfits use a lot of earthy colors that work quite well together regardless of which set they come from. Unfortunately, this is not always true – the Trooper is a good example of a class that does not look its best with mismatched pieces.

To solve this we created an option called 'Unify color to chest piece', which we also called 'Color Match'. Once turned on, the option automatically matched the color of any equipped piece of armor to the color scheme of the chest piece. This option was very popular with our testers and did solve the color clash problem, but not without introducing some issues.

While we have a policy not to give details on a system in progress, I do want to talk a little about the worst design issue we encountered with this system. As implemented, Color Match had a subtle but ultimately perverse effect: from the moment it was turned on, the player would perceive far less diversity in their loot. In some cases, to be honest, there are only so many differences we can create between two pairs of boots apart from their color scheme. Take away their color differences - thanks to the Color Match system - and you are left with a game that feels a bit less rewarding; where, sometimes, putting on your exciting new gear barely changes the appearance of the character. Depending on your personal preferences and your play style, this may or may not seem like much... but an MMO is a complex system of challenges and rewards and, as designers, we must stay vigilant in that regard.

So, anyway, the good news is that we are not only committed to solving the color clashing problem, we want to actually improve on the Color Matching system players experienced during Game Testing.

The bad news is... well, this won't be in for launch. The system we are currently working on isn't quite done yet and has many dependencies. After taking a hard look, we decided it would be preferable to keep Color Matching turned off for launch rather than try to do a potentially messy post-launch conversion. If anything, the live changes we made during testing to other systems (like the cover system or the item modification system) have shown us how confusing switching things under people's noses can be.

This wasn't exactly an easy decision – we know how popular the feature is and how eager and vocal the community has been for its return. So, I humbly ask for your patience. The feature (or, to be exact, something I consider a better version of the feature) will return. The next time you find a particularly bad combination of armor pieces, take some screenshots - and hopefully in a few months (as always, no deadline is guaranteed), you’ll be able to tell new players "Back in my day, we had to wear those orange pants with purple boots! Uphill! Both ways! In the snow!"

As always, I’m very interested in hearing from you... I have (so far) managed to read every single post on the Item Modification system and will hopefully be able to post a follow up clarifying many of the concerns and questions that you have.

[chaos5061]

From Bioware:
In anticipation of the upcoming launch of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, we wanted to ensure we have a place to communicate the latest game status updates, community-focused news and developer thoughts as efficiently as possible to our fans. While our Forums are a great place to go for discussion and debate, this blog allows us to talk about things in greater detail, and to keep updates collected in one place.

Unlike our previous schedule of Friday Updates, this blog will be updated more frequently and at any time during the week, with updates being both big and small. Over time we plan to expand the blog to showcase the passion and excitement of our community, but we’ll start small and get bigger as we move forward. Initially, we’re going to use the blog to re-post a few recent (and important!) posts from our Forums, as the Forums are going offline for an overhaul before launch.

Don’t forget, being part of the community for The Old Republic isn’t limited to reading this blog or posting in our Forums – you’ll find us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube too, and there are hundreds of fan sites worldwide where you’ll find fans creating amazing content about the game.

With launch imminent, we’re getting strapped in before we make the jump to lightspeed. We hope you come along for the ride!

EDIT: For some reason the youtube page they linked takes you to this article that I just posted here.

[chaos5061]

From Bioware:
Your Guild Headquarters page will be updated with the server your Guild will be on Monday.