As more and more MMOs’ release, it is evident that World of Warcraft’s success has been an anomaly. Remember when SWTOR was strutted as the next “WoW killer?” But ultimately a large exodus occurred, and layoffs followed. Many have since begun questioning the success of any subscription based MMO to follow. If Bioware is struggling with a subscription model when they have the biggest IP you can attach to an MMO, what hope is there for any other MMO that follows the same model? Essentially, Bioware needs to convert to the Free-to-Play model if they want to increase their profit and player base.

BioWare likes to surprise us at times, and throw in random ways to get cool toys. The developers like to toss in semi-long quest chains and encourage us to stumble along cliff sides to grab stuff that isn’t always announced upon release. They also like to attach cool drops to bosses where they appear quite random, surprising players. This is rather cool, I think, because it rewards players for exploring, discovering, and sharing those discoverers with other players.

Vanity pets are one of the cool toys BioWare likes to add using this method. Vanity pets are good reward choices for random discoveries, because players of all levels and gear levels can benefit from them, and they’re a common item for serious collectors to drool over, yet even the most casual of players will admit to loving little critters following them around. I mean, really. Who doesn’t love little critters following them around?

Tatooine is free from the encroaching rakghoul plague, and players have had a lot to say about the event and how it all went down. Most players were pretty satisfied with Star Wars: The Old Republic’s first major in-game event, and many had some excellent feedback for James Ohlen. He asked for our player feedback on the official forums. Could aspects be improved for the next big in-game event? That answer’s easy: Of course.

The first thing to remember when looking at the event through an objective lens is the fact that, yes, this was BioWare’s first attempt at an in-game event. That doesn’t mean the developers were delving through unfamiliar territory, however. Similar events are popular in most MMORPGs currently, although each developer tends to take different routes when it comes to the details, approach, and overall style of in-game events.

Regardless of your opinion on the medal system, you need to know how it works. There have been a lot of changes lately and there are many more old guides than new ones floating around the web. We’re going to cover just the facts so you can get up to speed. I will be coming out with a separate article about the game design intentions and consequences of the medal system where we can discuss our opinions.

Medals are awarded for completing specific feats while in a war zone. All players must earn at least 1 medal during the match to receive rewards for completing the war zone. For each of the first 8 medals that a player does earn, they are awarded an extra 250 Valor and 5 Commendations. Any additional medals are purely for vanity. You can see how many medals you currently have earned by checking your debuffs.

No MMO is complete without mini games. SWTOR is no different. Many people were excited about BioWare’s April’s fool joke of playing virtual janitor. During the Guild Convention, they did confirm that mini games would be coming, but they have yet to announce any. While we wait, in no particular order, here are 4 mini game ideas: Swoop Racing, Gambling, Holochess and Companion PVP. More on mini games after the break. 

After only 4 months SWTOR has seen a staggering array of changes, both good and bad.  And while some events have sent fan boys raging, others have brought frustrated players back into the fold smiling.  So it’s time to take a look at those changes and how they have affected the game.

We’ll discuss everything, but you’re going to have to click Continue Reading to find out!

Daniel Erickson was recently interviewed by NOWGamer and the topic of server mergers and transfers came up. Here is a small clip of what they discussed. For the full article, follow the link below.

“One of the problems we’re running into right now is kind of a classic MMO problem, which is that our overall population of players has not changed, but our peak concurrent users has changed,” Erickson told NowGamer following last week’s 1.2 Legacy update.

“As the game goes on and people relax a little bit, not playing the game 7-8 hours a day, you see a lot less crowds especially in certain places. Right now we’ve got our character transfer stuff underway on this side. It hasn’t rolled out yet – it will soon, to allow people to move to servers that will be better to their liking, get communities together. Long term we actually have to look at servers as a whole. The nice part about it is we have doubled how many people we can put on each server since launch. The down side is that at launch, because people were upset at the long queues we aired on the side of opening up more space. What that has now done is separated our player-base into a larger group.”

Erickson said that current server merging would have resulted in large queues with the 1.2 update.

Source: SWTOR: BioWare Reponds To Criticism, Server Merges Still Possible

Did you download a new UI from a website?  Or maybe you already prepared your UI on the PTR just the way you like it?  But now you can’t figure out where the files or folders are?  Look no further!  Here is a quick tutorial video to guide you through the steps.

Twitter: @SkeletonJack_
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With the level of changes going into 1.2, Reverse Engineering (RE) is something you need to be on top of.  The best gear in the game will be crit crafted Orange custom gear with Augment slots.  

But how do you get that gear, the Augments, and the modifications to put into them?

Click Continue Reading to find out!

Previously you could send a companion out on a Mission Discovery (like Slicing), and then use the same Mission Discovery a second time to send a different companion out at the same time.  Things change.

In 1.2 this is no longer possible.  So if you banked up several duplicate Mission Discoveries for 1.2 intending to send your companions out while you were sleeping or at work, you’re going to be disappointed. 

Twitter: @SkeletonJack_
Twitch TV: /skeleton_jack