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A World of Warcraft player’s primer to Star Wars: The Old Republic’s advanced classes, part 1

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s (SWTOR) is in full swing, and for many of you, that means a chance to hop into BioWare’s sprawling massively multiplayer masterpiece alongside fellow defenders of freedom and chokers of Imperial subordinates. However, for the ambivalent World of Warcraft (WoW) hero, taking the leap into a galaxy far, far away can be a daunting task.

Star Wars: The Old Republic review

Editor’s note: This review is based on our impressions from our first 85 hours in the game as an Imperial Agent who reached level 35. Some endgame elements were not ready to be evaluated at the time of this review, but as always, we will follow-up this review with constant and regular updates of our impressions as the game progresses here at www.pcgamer.com and in the magazine. — LD

30 minutes had passed since my insectoid ally had asked me. It was a simple question—did I intend to resist his claim to this land?—made complicated by the previous eight hours of politics, betrayal, espionage, and war. I didn’t know what to do. After consulting five different people (including my wife over the phone), I reluctantly made my choice on the familiar BioWare dialog wheel and betrayed my always-faithful insectoid allies in order to defend the man who’d just slain his own wife to prove his loyalty. I felt used.

Star Wars: The Old Republic hands-on

I’m a telepathic warrior-diplomat in a skirt, and my best friend is an eightfoot lizardman with a stick. Take away the big words, and the fantasy of inhabiting the Star Wars universe is an odd one: yet in my case it’s something that has survived nearly fifteen years of dodgy movies and hit-and-miss games. You could write three paragraphs of deeply personal insults and I wouldn’t mind as long as they flew past me in giant yellow letters accompanied by a horn section.

Star Wars: The Old Republic beta key reminder

Update – Keys are out, go here to register.

Hey you! Yes you with the face, did you enter our Old Republic beta key giveaway? You did? Then I suggest you check your emails, because you and thousands of others should find a key there waiting for you. Remember, you have to register it on the Old Republic site before midnight tonight, or it’ll expire! With that finished, you’ll be able to join the beta weekend on the 25th of November.

If you didn’t enter, it’s too late now, the giveaway is over. Sorry.

Play Star Wars: The Old Republic next weekend!

According to Rock Paper Shotgun, Bioware have confirmed the date for the massive Star Wars: The Old Republic stress test weekend, and it’s the 25-28th of November. The huge event will include anyone who has ever applied for the beta, plus anyone who picked up a key in giveaways.

Our own Old Republic beta key giveaway ends today, so you still have some time to grab one and secure your place. If you’ve already entered, your code will arrive as soon as the doors close, but be sure to register it before midnight tomorrow, or it’ll expire.

Last weekend beta testers put a million hours into The Old Republic. Given the amount of extra players invited, the next one looks set to smash that record.

Star Wars: The Old Republic beta weekend had a million hours of testing

Did you play The Old Republic last weekend? Well a lot of people did, and they managed to log over a million hours of play time in the space of a two day period. Bioware co-founders Dr Greg Zeschuk and Dr Ray Muzyka revealed the figure to Eurogamer saying: “It was a huge test, and there are even bigger ones coming. The key thing is for us to take those learnings, apply them and make the service really stable. We’re happy with the game.”

Star Wars: The Old Republic beta key giveaway

We’ve got 12,000 Star Wars: The Old Republic beta keys to give away. Yes, you read that right, twelve thousand keys to the beta of Bioware’s huge upcoming MMO. These will get you into the big stress test weekend that Bioware are holding. Sadly they haven’t confirmed when that weekend will be, but we’ll bring you that news as soon as we can.

Update - If you’ve already received an email telling you you’ll be invited to a test weekend ‘very soon’ you won’t need one of these keys, you’ll get your invitation in good time.

To enter, simply go to competition page and fill in your details, you’ll receive a code as soon as the giveaway ends. Pop that code into the Old Republic website before before Friday November 18 (when it expires) and wait. You’ll get an an invitation for the beta weekend as soon as it kicks off.

If you get into the beta, why not join the PC Gamer guild? Which class will you be? So far I’m liking the Imperial Agent and the Smuggler.

The Old Republic release date to be determined by beta. Bioware “still optimising the servers”

EA’s Frank Gibeau has recently told CVG that fan reaction to the beta will determine when the The Old Republic will be released. Gibeau said EA wanted a smooth, problem free launch for the MMO, echoing the sentiment displayed when we discussed Star Wars: The Old Republic pre-orders with Bioware’s Dr Greg Zeschuck at Gamescom.

“[The release date] is definitely tied to the beta test feedback that’s ongoing and so far, so good.” said Gibeau. “We feel good about the date that we’re heading towards but… you could have a Crazy Ivan show up in the September/October beta test and be like, ‘wow, I’ve got to fix that’.”

The Old Republic writer: “A Bioware writer is a games designer”

In an interview in PC Gamer UK issue 228, Bioware writing director Daniel Erickson gave some insight into the Bioware writing process and how it is at the forefront of their game design. “A BioWare writer is a game designer.” He said. “What I’ve learned though, and what the rest of the industry is still wrestling with, is: you can teach a writer to be a junior game designer. You cannot teach a junior game designer to be a writer. You need somebody who is a senior master level writer and then you teach them the basics of game design.”