The Old Republic chart shows you the path to 50, every planet and Flashpoint included
Today is a day of maps, apparently. OldRepublic.net just released an awesome galaxy guide that maps out the suggested path to progress through all of The Old Republic’s Flashpoints and planets.
It looks like I’ve already missed two Flashpoints on my new Sniper—whoops! Well, at least I shouldn’t have a problem beating them now that I’m 10 levels higher than the enemies there. I’ll be keeping this guide handy as I continue leveling up this weekend, and you can use it to avoid my same foolish mistakes.
Star Wars: The Old Republic data-mined updates hint at future features
The tireless chaps at TORhead have been pulling clues out of the Star Wars: The Old Republic files, and have found evidence of many of the features Bioware are planning to add over the course of the coming year. Their round-up contains features that we could see in patches 1.2 through to 1.5.
As a wise talking cabbage once said. “If spoilers you wish to avoid, click “Read and Comment” you must not.”
Star Wars: The Old Republic white lightsaber acquired through exploit, will be added officially in future
Yesterday we highlighted a big hunt in Star Wars: The Old Republic for a vaunted white crystal. One player had been showing off a silver saber, and dropping cryptic hints as to how it was acquired. It’s time to call off the search. Bioware have responded to say that the crystal was gained through a complex exploit, and isn’t yet officially part of the game.
“CatchDeathwalker did not obtain the white crystal through legitimate means in the game. Right now, we’re removing the crystal from his possession,” reads a post on the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums. A separate comment later in the thread elaborates. “This was not an ‘easy exploit’,” Bioware say “and not something the average player might ‘stumble upon’.”
Mass Effect 3 trailer introduces all-star voice cast
Freddy Prinze Jr will be playing new squadmate, Vega, in Mass Effect 3, triggering panic attacks among those who remember his role in the Wing Commander movie. It’s okay, he’s been in Frazier, Friends, Boston Legal and 24 since then. He joins second newcomer, Jessica Chobot, who plays reporter Diana Allers.
The voice cast video above is worth watching to see how closely the cast resemble their in-game counterparts. Vega is essentially Freddy Prinze’s face transpanted onto a hulking frame, Joker looks as close to Seth Green as ever and The Illusive Man is like a young, bionic Martin Sheen, or “Mr. President” to West Wing fans.
The cast will feature a few more familiar voices. Tricia Helfer returns as the Normandy’s AI, Yvonne Strahovski reprises her role as Miranda. Carrie-Anne Moss is Aria T’Loak and Lance Henriksen is Admiral Steve Hackett. See Mass Effect 3 characters old and new in the fresh batch of screenshots below.
Star Wars: The Old Republic players hunt for rumoured white lightsaber crystal
The magenta crystal was one of the most coveted items in Star Wars: The Old Republic, until now. One top level player has been spotted running around the TOR’s planets with a “whitesaber,” sparking a galaxy wide hunt for the white crystal.
The saber’s owner, Catch, posted his discovery on The Old Republic forums with pictures and item stats, and then livestreamed himself running around with the crystal to prove that it exists. So far, he’s kept the methods he used to obtain the crystal a closely guarded secret. The community has been poring over the few clues he’s given and, in some cases, been following him around to see if he’ll let slip any new info. There are several theories, some madder than others.
What do you want from your MMO’s holiday events?
DC Universe Online’s Creative Director, Jens Andersen, announced yesterday that they’re undertaking a large overhaul of DCUO’s holiday content. Thankfully, they’re cutting the uncomfortably weird Valentine’s Day event from last year, and building a new one from scratch. Their goal is to have four major events that each host open-world content, collections, and a boss encounter.
Most MMOs have at least a few holiday events, but BioWare has yet to reveal any of its plans for holiday content for The Old Republic. What’s the best holiday content you’ve ever played in a game, and what do you want to see from holiday events in TOR, DCUO, or any other MMOs you’re playing?
Mass Effect 3 trailer has grenade-throwing sentinals
I was just explaining this to our Production Ed, Tony. Basically, we’re just going to have to accept that in the far future things will be spelled and pronounced slightly differently. Sometimes, grenades will be “gernades.” Sentinels will not always be sentinels. Sometimes they will be “sentinals.” That’s just what happens and we should just accept it now. “NEVER!” Tony screamed, “NEVAAAARGH!” Then he beat his Mac to death with a dictionary.
These are without a doubt the best gaming typos made since … earlier today, when Capcom faced uncomfortable revelations regarding the release of their latest game, “Resident Evil: Revalaitons.” In other news, Mass Effect 3′s multiplayer mode actually looks quite punchy and exciting. Now I’m off to make some tee and write more wards for our wobsite.
Mass Effect texture mod makes massive improvements to main characters
A couple of us in the office are going back through Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 to prepare ourselves for the finale when the third game comes out in March. The first game is four and a bit years old now and the textures are starting to look a little runny. Thankfully, Duncan Harris presents a solution via the excellent Dead End Thrills with a link to a massive texture pack that adds masses of detail to all of the main characters of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.
Get Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age DLC cheap
Bioware points are going super cheap on one particular screen in the Bioware store. If you access the “add points” page through the Mass Effect 2 DLC section of the site, there’s an option to buy up 1200 points for £4.33. Buy three lots of this and you’ll have enough points to buy every single DLC episode, weapon pack and alternative skin pack available for Mass Effect 2. You’ll be able to use these points to buy DLC for the Dragon Age games, too.
Mass Effect 3 figures to come with multiplayer DLC
It looks like Mass Effect 3′s multiplayer mode will be getting extra DLC after launch, and Bioware will be offering a new way to get it. A series of toy store adverts spotted on Eurogamer show off a series of Mass Effect figures. Each one comes with a code that will unlock extra bits and pieces for Mass Effect 3′s new co-op mode.
The randomised codes “could include powerful new weapons and new characters,” according to a post on the Bioware store, or they could contain “character boosters, weapon modifications, and weapon upgrades to make your multi-player squad stronger.”
Star Wars: The Old Republic patch tweaks Ilum, new trailer highlights upcoming features
Bioware have patched Star Wars: The Old Republic to fix some of the PvP problems on Ilum caused by the recent 1.1 update. A bug would allow players on a team to invade the other team’s base and camp their spawn points, taking valour points for every enemy kill. According to a post on the TOR forums, that should no longer be possible.
The cheeky Ewoks who took full advantage of the exploit will have gained masses of valour. There’s no mention of any plans for stat-rollbacks prompting fears that the campers would get to retain all their ill-gotten rewards. Community manager Joveth Gonzalez says “we’re definitely aware of individuals who took extreme advantage of this situation and we will be carefully evaluating and taking action as necessary.”
Struggling to cancel your subscription to Star Wars: The Old Republic? You’re not alone
Star Wars: The Old Republic will be one month old tomorrow. If you’ve played enough Star Wars to last you a lifetime, now’s the time to cancel your subscription. Some people are finding it difficult to find the “unsubscribe” button, however.
According to this entry TOR’s help centre, the unsubscribe link should be accessible from your accounts page. Then you should be able to “click on the ‘Subscription’ button in the sidebar and choose the option to ‘Cancel my Subscription’ from your main subscription page.” Those of us in the office that tried to unsubscribe this way found ourselves at a screen asking us to set up a subscription plan, even though according to our accounts, we were already subscribed.
Mass Effect 3 system requirements released, render Reaper invasion on 2GB RAM
I was driving around in the first Mass Effect just last night and was reminded that a) the Mako is the bounciest vehicle in the universe and b) Mass Effect 2 actually looks a lot better than Mass Effect. Based on the screenshots and trailers released so far, it looks like we can expect a similar visual leap for the grand finale, which promises more than a few enormous set pieces.
But will your PC run it? The full system requirements have popped up on the Bioware forums. We slipped the Shadow Broker a few credits and he sent them over stapled to the forehead of a courier Volus. Here they are.
Mass Effect 3 demo date set for Valentine’s day
How many reporters has your significant other punched in their lifetime? How many potentially dangerous insect races have they saved? How many intergalactic councils have they cut off, mid-speech? NONE, exactly. That’s why you might want to spend Valentine’s Day this year having a fling with Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect 3 demo instead. Expect to gain lots of Renegade points if you do, though.
SWTOR patch 1.1 officially set to launch tomorrow
Not a very long, long time ago at all, BioWare put a damper on eager SWTOR players’ plans with a delay for patch 1.1. The Rakghouls, the RPG powerhouse said, would rise – as they are wont to do – “within the next few days.” Happily, that means tomorrow, as it turns out. The ceremonial eight hours of downtime – originally scheduled to occur this morning – have now light-speed jumped to tomorrow’s early/less early hours. More specifically, patch prep will run from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) until 10AM CST (8AM PST/11AM EST/4PM GMT/5PM CET). So it’s kind of like a SOPA protest, but with free presents at the end!
