It’s been a busy month for me starting my MCSE and all so I’ve had a little trouble getting the posts out each Friday and for that I apologise. Back to news, we’ve had an eventful two weeks with some great new information and some mediocre updates. Some of these updates have sparked a new thread that’s already 2 parts about BioWares communication (or lack of) to the community.
Here’s whats after the jump:
- Friday update from two weeks ago, The Fall of Exar Kun
- Friday update from the 22nd, Fan Friday, New Biographies and SWTOR Awards.
- Daniel E. clarifications on the Sith Pureblood race
- The communication discussion and Lee Olebe’s response.
See you next week!
The Fall of Exar Kun (October 15th)
The stories of Exar Kun’s fall to the dark side and his campaign of destruction against the Republic have been told as warnings to Jedi Padawans for generations. After witnessing the return of the Sith Empire, Master Gnost-Dural has realized a new relevance to Exar Kun’s role in history.
Watch the latest Timeline holorecord, The Exar Kun War narrated by actor Lance Henriksen. You can also download ahigh resolution version of this video.
Sith Pureblood clarifications (Source)
“So… if the Sith species was extinct during the first KOTOR (or so says the loading screen that I just saw) then how are they justifying Sith Pureblood as a playable race in SWTOR?” – Hawnk
“Hey folks,
Happy to clarify.
In the time of KOTOR, the Republic believed all of the original Sith Empire had been destroyed. Those who had not been killed were chased far into deep space where nobody had ever returned from. Thus Revan’s surprise when coming upon them and his dedication to going back to stop the threat when his memory returned.
That said, the Sith “Pureblood” in SWTOR are anything but pure Sith (from a species point of view). The name is a vanity. In the last 1000 years it has become clear that there is a direct correlation between those with enough of the old Sith blood in them to still be born with original Sith species traits (red skin, etc) and Force Sensitivity. While not any stronger in the Force than the more human Sith, it is extremely rare to find a “Pureblood” who is completely without Force Sensitivity. Thus those with the marks of the old Sith have come to call themselves “Purebloods” with the obvious insinuation that they are superior to those without. The more Sith species features (face tendrils, etc) one has, the more superior they can claim to be.
All of this is, of course, purely the realm of fashion and societal politics. While no non-Pureblood would stand up and say the entire claim was foolish (the Pureblood rate of Force Sensitivity is exponentially higher than those without and besides many of the Emperor’s inner circle bear the red skin) the majority of the Dark Council are not Purebloods. Showing that, in the end, talent and a lightsaber win out over bloodlines and a haughty pedigree.
Hope that helps!” – Daniel E.
Last Fridays Updates
Awards for the Old Republic - “We are honored by the many awards Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ has earned from the press and media, and we’re committed to continuing to push for the highest quality gaming experience. We want to thank our fans and the media for their support and recognition. Your partnership is critical to making this project a success.
Creating a game that people enjoy is important to us, so we’re putting up the Star Wars: The Old Republic Awards page to share with everyone all the great attention the game has received!”
Fan Friday - “Welcome to another exciting Fan Friday where we shine the spotlight on creative accomplishments from The Old Republic™ community, as well as share a behind-the-scenes look in the Developer Corner. We also have new avatars and smilies, and don’t forget to vote in the polls we posted up!
New Biographies - “Meet more of the compelling characters you’ll interact with in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. New additions have been added to the Biographies section of the HoloNet! This update includes profiles of some of the most enigmatic characters in The Old Republic Era: the renegade ex-Republic General, Bouris Ulgo; the disillusioned Republic diplomat, Diab Duin; and the mysterious Imperial Spymaster known only as “Keeper“.
If you haven’t visited the Biographies section in awhile, you’ll notice that a few companion characters have been added as well. There are still more to come, so check back regularly.”
Bioware, I’m rooting for you, but you’re shooting yourself in the foot – Calosea (Source)
Hey everyone,
A lot of people on these forums have expressed frustration with the lack of concrete information coming from the developers. There still seems to be a lot of information to go over before their projected release date, including class videos/ACs, playable species, pvp info, end game info, crafting info, starship info, planet info, companion info, and more. In addition to this, there is story info to release including timelines, biographies, etc. Given all this information that needs to be released, and with the relatively constrained timeframe ahead of us, people have had good reason to expect more than they’ve seen. Not out of some sort of weird bioware-customer ethical obligation, but simply because, well, how could they not be ready to talk about this stuff?
And we’ve heard the theories. They’re waiting for Cataclysm to release the information for marketing reasons, they’re pushing back the release date, and more. But really this is a lot of community speculation, and as a consequence, people are becoming SINCERELY disappointed with bioware. Now Bioware sees these threads, they know the community is largely upset. But they haven’t even attempted to address the issues.
Bioware: It’s not that I expect all the information now, but I do expect communication. Completely ignoring legitimate frustrations is bad business and is not in your best interest.
You had a good idea with a lot of value, but you lost control of the discussion. By choosing to not communicate with the community, you are responsible for all of the forum chaos.
I urge you, take back control of this discussion.
Quell the flame wars. You can do so, and it the process you can improve PR for the game and build up a dedicated and loyal player base. Refusing to acknowledge the community and their rational frustrations is hurting both of us.
So please, Bioware, as a fan, I want you to stop shooting yourself in the foot. At this stage in development, it is absolutely insane of you to consistently “update” information for multiple weeks in a row without actually revealing anything, and then to not comment at all on future plans or engage in the community. What other response did you expect? Particularly on the 2 year anniversary?
Best,
Calosea
Edit: Anyone claiming that this is a “rawrmoreinfoNAO” post has not properly understood what I’m saying. I’m saying that Bioware’s strategy is hurting itself. So far all negative responses to this post have ignored what I’m actually saying. I know they’ll release info when they want to. Doesn’t mean it’s a healthy choice for them.
Leo Olebe’s response: “Hi Folks!
I’m fairly sure that I’m the last person that you want to hear from, but I wanted to chime in and say that we love your enthusiasm for the game and ongoing support. I know that it can be frustrating when we don’t reveal new, specific game system information. Remember, the story and lore of the game is very important, thus the steady stream of content that is focused on learning more about the galaxy that you will adventure in. As we’ve always said, when things are at a quality level where we are ready to reveal them, we will. We never want to promise something that we aren’t ready to commit to.
I can tell you that we have some game system stuff coming up that I think you’ll like. Yes that’s a tease, but never fear – we “hear” you and want to provide you with lots of great info to chew on.
Leo”
