Well, folks, it looks like our little baby podcast is all grown up now. In fact, it’s beyond grown up, it’s downright middle aged. Yes, yes, our podcast is now 40. What does one do to celebrate their 40th podcast? Well here at TORWars, we talk about our favorite topic, Star Wars: The Old Republic. [...]

It’s a big galaxy our there, and Wild Space can be a dangerous place. Worry not, explorer – each week we’ll navigate you safely through the lost hyperspace routes of the Deep Core and track down the great articles and entertainment from around the SW:TOR fan community, all in less than 12 parsecs, of course!

For our inaugural week, we start with TORWars, the self-described Star Wars: The Old Republic Online Magazine. This site’s features are quite extensive including in-depth articles, exclusive video interviews, and a thoroughly entertaining podcast. However, what I specifically wanted to mention from this week are the photo galleries that the site posted from SDCC. Some of the photos are fun, some are nerdy, some are downright creepy (thanks for that, Jeff,) but all are worth a look. Head on over to the TORWars site to check them out.

Jeff and David from TORWars with their new friend.

Next up is the Darth Hater fan site. When you think about Darth Hater, only one word comes to mind: tenacious. They have made a name for themselves by doing “dissections” of all of the videos and screenshots that are released by BioWare. This means that they will poor over a video or screenshot and look for anything in the shot that we might not have seen before. It could be an ability animation, a new NPC character, new player customization options, or just a simple tooltip description, but in any case, very little seems to slip past Sado and the gang.

As usual, Orange text tells the tale.

On Friday, the Esseles gameplay developer walkthrough was released and Darth Hater wasted little time in compiling one of their trademark dissections. I would like to call your attention to images 8, 33, 34, and 35. These images detail boss fight mechanics that we haven’t seen in SW:TOR to this point. Even though these mechanics are fairly standard to the MMO realm (“Don’t stand in the fire!”, knockback, temporary immunity, and stun effects, respectively), it’s exciting to see that BioWare is including these mechanics at such an early level (9) which is sure to make the players feel all the more heroic. One other thought to consider: since BioWare is including these standard mechanics in the very first flashpoint your character will encounter, can you imagine what new tricks they will have up their sleeve once you hit the level cap? It is very possible that these flashpoints will get more and more complex and interesting as you get closer to level 50. I can’t wait to see for myself! Thanks to Darth Hater for their great work.

Finally, I’d like to take a second to talk about the fabulous podcast over on Corellian Run Radio. Led by the three femme fatales, Carla, Kathy, and Roxanne, this podcast offers a unique perspective on SW:TOR. Since they can do a better job of explaining their podcast than I can, here is an excerpt from their about page:

“[The hosts] keep things lively with their divergent points of views and rye humor.  In addition to the usual news recap,  Corellian Run Radio adds unique segments such as  “Sith or Jedi,” which measures the hosts Dark and Light side tendencies in real life, and “Fact or Fiction?” which tests the hosts’ ability to pick out truth from rumor.”

Carla (left) and Kathy (right) with the Conductor, Stephen Reid

The Sith or Jedi feature is my favorite part of the show, primarily because it leads to some truly hilarious conversation. The “puppy test” this week was particularly funny (for the record, I would go with option 1). This podcast is on my weekly “can’t miss” list and has been ever since I discovered it. Thanks to Corellian Run Radio for their awesome work!

Thanks to all the great fansites out there and until next week, take care!

For those of you who know me you may be wondering what I’m doing writing about PVP, being the self-professed PVE’er/Carebear/raider that I am. Well I’m not! Writing this article I mean. What I have for you here is an excerpt of Rigelhav’s The 13th Warrior, an extensive and very impressive recounting of his experiences at San Diego Comic [...]

Georg Zoeller, Star Wars: The Old Republic’s most-prolific developer forum poster has been speaking about companion characters and the removal of the permanent death system. In the past, players were able to kill off their companions for good. That extreme choice has now been removed from the game. BioWare has stated that, based on negative [...]

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Do you want to test Star Wars: The Old Republic?

On the surface, that seems like a silly question with an easy answer: YES! But, for many people, it isn’t quite so cut and dried.

As we know, Game Testing has been going on for some time, and the recent announcement of Beta Weekends in September (that’s NEXT MONTH folks!) means that even more fans will get a chance to play the game before they play the game. But there are things to consider before diving in.

The most obvious reason for wanting to play is of course to scratch that itch we’ve had for the last 33 months or so! Another reason is that you might want to explore the factions and the classes before launch day (or Early Game Access), so you can make your choice and hit the ground running when the game launches. Or perhaps your guild just wants to get a leg up on the competition.

On the other hand, there are some pretty valid reasons for not wanting to test the game. With BioWare’s focus on story, there’s a good chance you’d find out things you may not want to until they matter. And worse, you may experience bugs that would take some of the shine off of the experience altogether. Maybe your friends or significant other aren’t in testing, and you want to wait to experience it together.

There are a lot of good reasons on both sides of the argument… so we pose the question to you – do you want to test Star Wars: The Old Republic? And we’d love to hear your reasoning below!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

If you’re a regular visitor to the forums, you’ll rather frequently see threads pop up discussing the color of one’s Lightsaber blade. Judging from the responses these threads get, this is a pretty important topic to some people. There are comments on purple Lightsabers, pink Lightsabers, speculation about black Lightsabers, and all manner of other [...]

Redditor Bobojuice posted a few of his recent Stormtrooper armor, which you may notice isn’t exactly standard issue. In fact, if it reminds you a bit of a Roman Centurion, that was the intention. In his thread, Bobojuice briefly describes the process, and included a couple of closeups of the helm, which you’ll find below. [...]

This week I have another femme artist, Crypticgrrl, who’s dramatic close-ups were featured on a Fan Friday January 14, 2011 with this comment: Crypticgrrl’s detailed close-up portraits are quite evocative. We hope to see more great digital paintings from her! I’ve been eyeing her deviantART gallery for months now waiting to work up the courage to [...]