OotiniCast - A Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) podcast | OotiniCast is a podcast for those interested in a little news and some interesting discussion about Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR).

Home - Page 42 << 1 2 … 40 41 42 43 44 … 56 57 >>

OotiniCast Episode 120

Posted on February 13, 2014 by teoFebruary 15, 2014

Subscribe: RSS

Not much news this week, but we do have our first Galactic Starfighter roundtable featuring the Gunship, with debut guests Dunedai and Dan joining us to share their knowledge!

1. Introduction

The following is a screenshot showing Red’s friend Jubbs achieving over 2000 Ship Requisition in a single GSF match:

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winners, Bea’Triss of The Shadowlands and our guildmate Carnz! Both will receive Taunfaun codes and a Starfighter Pack provided by Dunedai.

The site that Carnz provided can be found here.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Taunfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

Game Update 2.6a was deployed on Monday night, meaning there was no downtime on Tuesday.
Bounty Contract Week is back again. It’ll run for the usual week, finishing next Tuesday (4am CST, 10am GMT, 9pm AEDT).
In Galactic Starfighter, it seems that our active ability that breaks missile locks currently doesn’t work against missiles fired by bomber-deployed drones.
The next Community Cantina will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday 28 February.
BioWare is after your “My Starfighter” screenshots to feature on their official Facebook and Instagram pages. The competition runs until 23 February.
The Class Representative initiative is returning from its long hiatus, with Eric Musco contacting the previously-selected representatives and finding replacements if necessary. He also mentioned that more class changes are coming in Game Update 2.7 (including changes to Sorcs/Sages), that will be described in a series of posts on Thursday 13 February.
With every major game update going forward, BioWare intends to wipe all characters on the PTS, so that the only characters present are those that have been freshly copied from live. This will start with Game Update 2.7, which is scheduled to appear on the PTS on 24 February (with its deployment to live currently intended to be on 8 April).
If you are subscribed on 17 March (the last day of the double-XP weekend that commences on 14 March, and also by some strange coincidence is Saint Patrick’s Day), you’ll receive a Lucky-77 speeder as part of the Galactic Giving Promotion.

4. Community

In SWTOR Mechanics Basics: Understanding Critical Chance (posted on Dulfy’s site), Oofalong of Prophecy of the Five starts a series on game mechanics.

PvP specialist Jacob has written an article about Gamer Etiquette.

The latest in Jean Prior’s SWTOR Loading Screen column is the article A Latecomer’s Quest for HK-51 Part 1.

We’d like to introduce Heather’s blog, Pretty Little Sith. @Ben_b55 particularly recommends her two latests posts, 7 Reasons Why I Love My Sith Assassin and Girls with Gamer Boyfriends: Get Over It.

Finally, Kranitoko is back with another video where he opens the latest Hypercrate, this time containing Galactic Ace’s Starfighter Packs. It includes another awesome introduction!

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @BedouinBrennan, @TheMalgadar, @BillLentz, @Bewwan, Les (@foehammer75), Hru, @Dekarch, @dkalagian, @ben_b55, @Adam_Schumpert, Terg (@TheTurg), Vicock, Justin, Matt McDonald, Mike, @Span79X, Madmar (@Swtorfamily), @PatKasprik and JB (@O_JohnnyBravo_O).

Hru recommends we find out a little more about Jori Daragon, given some of us are wearing her loincloth.

Adam Schumpert suggests the track Dude, Where’s My AT-AT At? from the Ghosts of Nostalgia album by The Garthim-Master & DJ Extend.

The following charts show the participating in Ranked PvP, as determined by a longitudinal analysis of the Leaderboard data:

Solo (all servers)

Group (all servers)

Dunedai presents the screenshots to show that he too achieved over 2000 Ship Requisition in a single match. In fact, over 2100!

6. Sarlacc Digest

Dunedai and Dan take us through their recommended component loadout for the Gunship. They then talk offensive and defensive tactics.

7. Outro

Thanks to Dunedai (@DunedaiForel), Dan and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Radio4Gamers.

OotiniCast Episode 119

Posted on February 6, 2014 by teoJuly 24, 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Game Update 2.6: Galactic Starfighter is here, bringing with it bombers and the new Team Deathmatch mode. We also cover the Q&A at the Phoenix Community Cantina, and the producer’s letter laying out the first half of 2014 for SWTOR! Finally, Bill is back with some more credit-making tips.

1. Introduction

Bill’s new look for his Vanguard, which he calls “The Green Machine”:

Bill also discovered just what happens if you die while taking a speeder between travel points:

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Esiasch De Prap! His derived best combination of crew skills and classes can be found here.

Next week only, we’re after tips specific to Galactic Starfighter, in honour of the two Taunfaun codes supplied by Dunedai that will be given to the winner and runner-up. Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday.

3. Holofeed

Game Update 2.6: Galactic Starfighter was deployed on Tuesday during regular maintenance. It’s accompanied by its own launch trailer titled “Galaxy Under Fire” (also on YouTube) and press release. The new role-neutral, level-neutral Kuat Drive Yards Flashpoint is now available (Dulfy’s guide). Dulfy also has a preview of the Orbital Lifter speeder which can be obtained once Legend rank is achieved with the faction-specific reputations associated with Kuat Drive Yards. She also previews the content of the new Galactic Ace’s Starfighter Pack, available on 11 February.
Our guildmate Dunedai attended the Community Cantina in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday night, and wrote up the half-hour Q&A for us. Dulfy has published the pictures found on the usual thumbdrive given to attendees, along with some additional information from one-on-one conversations with the BioWare folks.
Bruce Maclean (Senior Producer) has published his Producer’s Road Map for 2014, giving details about content coming in Game Update 2.7 (8 April) and Game Update 2.8 (10 June). He also confirms that there will now be 3 weeks between minor game updates (up from 2 weeks), and 9 weeks between major game updates (up from 8 weeks).
BioWare has confirmed that Ranked PvP Season 1 will end with the release of Game Update 2.7 on 8 April. There will be a blog by the end of February about this, including details about the tiered rewards.

4. Community

The OSWguild from The Harbinger, which you can find on YouTube here (follow them on Twitter via @OSWguild) have videos summarising the Game Update 2.6 patch notes, and their reaction to the lack of new operations mentioned in the producer’s letter.

Moff Chong will be in Las Vegas on 22 February with Chill and our friends, guildmates and fellow raiders Mosq, Terg and Bill. They will welcome all and sundry who’d like to join them for some tasteful debauchery.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @TheMalgadar, Terg (@TheTurg), @Dekarch, @ForceChuckle, @JediKrackr, @DsanOB, @Enyonix (Xusin legacy), Graham “Awesome” Sellars (@GrahamMSellars), Cole, @PatKasprik, @Da_Dirty_Spoons and @DurtaDurta.

Here is @Enyonix’s shrine to Star Wars:

The following is the picture that Charles Boyd tweeted, showing him and a voice actor that we’re speculating is Brian Bloom (Trooper).

6. Sarlacc Digest

Bill returns to impart yet more credit-making advice. The two topics he covers are how to make credits from companion gifts, and is collusion to fix prices allowed and viable.

7. Outro

Thanks to Bill (@BillLentz) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

Community Cantina Q&A – Phoenix, Arizona

Posted on February 2, 2014 by teoFebruary 2, 2014

(Editor’s note: Our guildmate and extraordinary Gunship specialist Dunedai attended the Community Cantina held in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday 31 January 2014, and has summarised the half-hour Q&A for us. Thanks Dunedai!)

Q: Is the Desert of the Real in the western portion of the Dune Sea on Tatooine a reference to the Matrix?
A: They would never put a reference to another movie into Star Wars…

Q: Are there any plans to increase the Legacy cap beyond 50, or provide any incentives to attain that level, such as Legacy banks so that you don’t have to mail credits to your alts etc?
A: They’d love to do that at some point, but technically very challenging and unlikely to happen in the near future.

Q: Are there any concepts in the works to introduce a new character class across both factions?
A: There are no plans for this at this time, mostly due to the amount of content that each class and companion stories provide. It would take a lot of time and resources to ensure that the result is no less of an experience than the existing storylines.

Q: Has BioWare thought of a implementing a lifetime subscription?
A: They talked about it pre-launch, but decided against it. It’s unlikely.

Q: What happens to Revan?
A: … Keep playing to find out.

Q: What are the plans to improve guild functionality in game: guild email, capital ships etc?
A: Currently nothing is specifically planned. A lot of the features requested would be technically challenging.

Q: Is dual-spec/multi-spec coming soon?
A: It’s something they’d love to do, but it’s not going to happen in the short term.

Q: (inaudible)
A: The development team put together a list of things they think is most beneficial to players in the game. It’s not about making more money, but managing the resources they have. They prioritize the features that they think is best for the game overall.

Q: When do we get a pink and black dye?
A: Eventually. If there is a color combination that they can make to give the players as a dye, we’ll get it.

Q: Is there anything Bioware are excited about that they want to tell us?
A: Bruce is working on a blog post that covers the coming year in SWTOR, in the same vein as the Summer of SWTOR posts made previously. Because it’s for the year, it won’t be as detailed, but lays out the plan for the year ahead. The blog is scheduled to be posted on Monday 3 February.

Q: Are there any plans to make dark side/light side progression relevant at end game?
A: No, as this is intentional. Ever since launch, the goal was never to let light side/dark side options affect anything at endgame. Otherwise people may have been restricted from playing endgame because they weren’t the “correct” side of the Force.

Q: Can Bioware give players something to spend capped reputation tokens on?
A: Sell them to vendors for credits.

Q: With the new GSF gameplay modes coming out, is there anything involving an assault on an enemy capital ship, to take out specific objectives, e.g., turrets, shields?
A: No, not for 2.6, there will be more things coming for GSF in the future. No details at this time!

Q: Are there any plans to add joystick control for GSF?
A: It was underestimated how much interest there would be in joystick control, and the game isn’t built to be played with a joystick. Some of the controls would need to be changed functionally, to allow that to happen. It’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

Q: Has there been any discussion about interactive apps to send companions out on crew skills etc?
A: They’ve been talking about it a lot, and would love to do this. However there are technical challenges surrounding this that would impact server performance, thus alternate solutions would need to be found. It’s a question of time and resources again.

Q: Has there been any thought of having light and dark side alignments with companions?
A: It’s been thought about and was sort of implemented, but they don’t want to give any spoilers. (I assume this is a class/companion storyline.)

Q: Will we ever see walkers in the game that players can control? (Presumably like the AT-ATs used on Hoth from Empire)
A: No. You’re more likely to see walkers in the game than you are to actually drive them.

Q: Is the guild membership cap of 500 going to be raised?
A: At this time, no, due to technical difficulties that would decrease server performance.

Q: The technical difficulties that keep being referred to: are these in relation to the game engine?
A: Each time they give that response, it’s due to a different technical difficulty such as architecture or something else.

Q: (inaudible)
A: Lots of BioWare employees play the game on live servers with everyone, but play incognito. So you could have BioWare employees in your guild without even knowing it!

Q: What is the most popular content?
A: BioWare cannot disclose any information about metrics.

Q: When is the datacron relic going to be upgraded?
A: BioWare are unsure at this time.

Q: What is their favorite content?
A: (Courtney) The Imperial Agent storyline. (Ben) The Juggernaut storyline. (Musco) The Soa fight.

Q: Are there plans to add anything for those who want to remain neutrally aligned?
A: It’s been discussed, but it’s never made it onto their schedule.

Q: At the end of the Makeb and Oricon storylines, we see the Empire heading in a different direction. Are we going to see more of that and are we going to see the companion stories continued?
A: If you continue to play the game, and see the story as it unfolds, you’ll have a good time. As for companion stories… they most likely won’t be developed due to the time and resources it would take, where the average player would only get to see one or two of them. Starting in Game Update 2.7 is the beginning of a story arc that will go throughout the rest of this year. The conclusion of that story arc is going to be EPIC, and lead into a big announcement.

OotiniCast Episode 118

Posted on January 30, 2014 by teoJanuary 31, 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

After discussing the news (including more details of the new Flashpoint, Kuat Drive Yards), PvP specialist Jacob Hausman provides an analysis of the class changes coming in Game Update 2.6, then talks through his new ranked arena guide.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, LethalxBacon of The Bastion!

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

Charles Boyd (Lead Writer) tweeted that he is in Los Angeles working with voice actors who are recording for “upcoming SWTOR updates”.
In response to players wondering why the Rakghoul Vaccine does not persist through death, BioWare has confirmed that this is working as intended.
Jesse Sky (Senior Designer) has written a news article about the new Kuat Drive Yards Flashpoint being added in Game Update 2.6.
EA held their Q3 2014 earnings conference call on Tuesday 28 January.
MMOBomb.com (a site specialising in free-to-play online games) interviewed Jeff Hickman (General Manager of BioWare Austin) about Galactic Starfighter back on 15 November 2013.

4. Community

The OSWguild from The Harbinger, which you can find on YouTube here (follow them on Twitter via @OSWguild) have followed up their story mode version with a video guide to the hard mode version of The Eyeless, the event boss located in the Rakghoul Tunnels on Alderaan.

Moff Chong will be in Las Vegas on 22 February with Chill and our friend, guildmate and fellow raider Mosq. They will welcome all and sundry who’d like to join them for some tasteful debauchery.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from Brightstar (@tweetieowl), Dunedai (@dunedaiForel), Oxi-jin, Dan O’Brien (@DsanOB), @TheMalgadar, Moff Chong (@EmpireDivider), Peter Bartal (@Zeerid_), @JediKal, @GregCarter78, @Morriah, John Long (@Arveshet), @GrahamMSellars, Adam (@th3tr1ppster1), Spencer (@Da_Dirty_Spoons), Chaz Lobo (@Strongshocker), Slade (@DurtaDurta), Road (@ThatRoadGuy), Joe Foran (@joseph_foran), Terg (@TheTurg), @FerrousTerran, Snowy (@bytorsnowdog), Nathaniel Starr, Alex Masden and from BioWare: Amber Green (@K0h4ku) and Tait Watson (@PariahLoki).

An inspirational poster from Brightstar that certainly tickled our fancy:

Greg Carter and Kal showing an unexpected symptom of the Rakghoul plague…

Dunedai’s Star Wars-themed gift idea for kids:

The loadout of Teo’s Star Guard using Dulfy’s Build Calculator, and his crew using our Crew Calculator.

6. Sarlacc Digest

After a brief reminder of what’s coming in Game Update 2.6, our PvP specialist Jacob Hausman provides an in-depth analysis of the upcoming class changes. He then walks us through his new Arena Guide for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The guide is just one of the initial offerings that Jacob is planning to deliver to the SWTOR community via Deltia’s Gaming Blog. You can also see him live on his Twitch channel, twitch.tv/deltiasgaming.

7. Outro

Thanks to Jacob (@theRealHausman) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

OotiniCast Episode 117

Posted on January 23, 2014 by teoJuly 24, 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The main topic in the news is the Rakghoul Plague Outbreak hitting Alderaan. We walk through the event, with plenty of tips along the way. Then returning guest Bill provides more suggestions on how to maximise your in-game profits.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Kuze!

Snowy’s tip for solving graphical glitches, via BioWare’s customer support:

If characters or NPCs are missing graphics or body parts or if the game world is not rendering correctly, please delete the Bitraider folder in your installation folder, by default found here:

For 32 bit Operating Systems – C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\BioWare\Star Wars – The Old Republic\ BitRaider\

For 64 bit Operating Systems – C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\BioWare\Star Wars – The Old Republic\ BitRaider\

Kuze’s instructions on copying your customised UI settings so that they’re available on the PTS (if you don’t see the AppData folder, see our Moving SWTOR between computers guide):

The first thing you need to is signup and have a character copied to the test server. This will create the folder needed to copy your customized UI profile to.

You will find the customized UI profile that you currently use in-game in the AppData folder on your hard drive. The file path is as follows:

C:\Users\”profile name”\AppData\Local\SWTOR\swtor\settings\GUIProfiles

Once there you can copy all of your customized UIs and paste them in the publictest folder in the same location under GUIProfiles.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

Game Update 2.5.2a was deployed during maintenance on Tuesday. It adds an additional two premium Gunships (Redeemer for Republic, Mailoc for Empire) that are directly purchasable from the Cartel Market.
Game Update 2.6 on the PTS has been updated (you can find the full and updated patch notes here).
The combat team have provided their reasoning for the apparent nerf to Orbital Strike/XS Freighter Flyby.
When Bounty Contract Week ended just before maintenance, the Rakghoul Plague Outbreak commenced on Alderaan! The event will run for a week, finishing 2am PST (10am UTC) on Tuesday 28 January. Dulfy has prepared her usual thorough guide. There has also been a news article published: “EMERGENCY ALERT: Rakghoul Plague Outbreak on Alderaan – AVOID ALDERAAN!”.
SuperData (a provider of “market intelligence” on free-to-play and digital games) have published the top 10 money earners in the category of “worldwide free-to-play” over 2013. SWTOR apparently earned $139M in “additional revenues”, presumably in addition to income from subscriptions.

4. Community

The OSWguild from The Harbinger, which you can find on YouTube here (follow them on Twitter via @OSWguild) have created a video guide to the story mode version of The Eyeless, the event boss located in the Rakghoul Tunnels on Alderaan.

Our guildmate Izaak is hoping to start an Empire-side raid group on The Harbinger that will commence doing operations at the beginning of March. He’s looking at any night except Monday, starting anytime after 9pm Eastern (6pm Pacific). If you’re interested in joining, please respond to this thread on our forums.

Dulfy now has class guides for all Advanced Classes and their various specialisations, aside from Jedi Sentinel/Sith Marauder DPS, which we’re sure is coming (we highly recommend Njessi’s guide in any case).

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from Hru, @FerrousTerran, @EmpireDivider, @TheMalgadar, @swtorfamily (Madmar), @GregCarter78, @Darklighter159, Kuze, @kmadsen, @Strongshocker (Chaz Lobo), @grimrok, @bytorsnowdog (Snowy), Dunedai, @Casmas_, @CathgirlSWtOR, Graham “Awesome” Sellars, @TheTurg (Terg), Ilmarinen and Morphiuus.

Chong suggests that if you’re after some Star Wars-flavoured comedy, check out Cracked’s Adventures in Jedi School, premiering on 27 January.

6. Sarlacc Digest

Returning guest Bill provides more tips on how to make credits, building on what he explained in episode 115.

7. Outro

Thanks to Bill (@BillLentz) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

OotiniCast Episode 116

Posted on January 16, 2014 by teoJanuary 16, 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Game Update 2.5.2 is here, and Preferred players now join subscribers in Galactic Starfighter. We also have Game Update 2.6 on the PTS. Lots happening in that galaxy far, far away!

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Russ (a.k.a. @Manciferous)!

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

Game Update 2.5.2 was deployed during maintenance on Tuesday. We apologise for incorrectly referring to Preferred gaining access on 21 January, as BioWare did initially announce 14 January, and that’s when it arrived.
The Gunship role is now available to all subscribers and Preferred players. A trailer for the Gunship was released (also on YouTube). Premium versions of the Gunship (Strongarm and Demolisher) are not available for direct purchase on the Cartel Market, but instead are found in the newly-released Dogfighter’s packs.
Game Update 2.5.2 also includes a fix for the “GCD/Ability misfire” bug.
Two companions (Jaesa Willsaam and Lord Scourge), who aren’t currently universally available as Galactic Starfighter crew, will be unlockable as intended in Game Update 2.6.
Jason Attard (Senior Game Designer) provided an explanation of how sensors work in Galactic Starfighter.
The leaderboard data is flowing again! Outage was from Saturday 4 January through to Tuesday 14 January, during which time the leaderboards remained unchanged.
The Old Republic Insider video for January was released (also on YouTube), highlighting what’s coming up in the near future.
Game Update 2.6 did indeed appear on the PTS last week, with lots of details in the patch notes. It will include the Bomber role, which now has its own developer update by Jason Attard (Senior Game Designer).
At the request of Community Team member Tait Watson, the Combat team has provided an in-depth explanation of how Bolster works. He subsequently posted responses to questions raised in the ensuing discussion.
The actor who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, Peter Mayhew (@TheWookieeRoars), has tweeted a series of photos he apparently took during the filming of the movies. They’ve been aggregated here.

4. Community

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @Sanitehh (via @swtorfamily), @joseph_foran, @JoeCaramagna, @TheTurg (Terg), @ben_b55, @GregCarter78, @ForceChuckle, @kingkao666 (Master Kao), @GTeeg (Gaddock Teeg, JD of the Unnamed SWTOR Podcast), @ThePummeler and @fnord3125.

@Swtorfamily (Madmar) recommends we watch at least the introduction to this video on YouTube, as the host hears of the impending return of the Rakghouls and heads to Tatooine to investigate…

Here is the cat (or is it a Wookiee?) originally tweeted by @GeekDad248:

6. Outro

Thanks to Jacob (@theRealHausman) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

OotiniCast Episode 115

Posted on January 9, 2014 by teoJuly 24, 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

As 2014 gets going we have some news to cover, including some detail about what’s coming in Game Update 2.6. Then in our discussion, guest host Bill reveals some of his credit-making secrets!

1. Introduction

Redna demonstrates his prowess via two feats of strength!

41 kills in a single warzone

Victory in GSF with a final score of 1000 to 1

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Hash!

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

Last week there was a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack on Origin’s servers, which prevented at least some players from logging into SWTOR for several hours.
Eric Musco (Community Manager) is back from holidays to flesh out what to expect in Game Update 2.6, due on February 4th. This includes the official launch of Galactic Starfighter, making it available to all players (along with access to Gunships for those who don’t have it yet, and Bombers for all). There is also another round of class changes. He subsequently elaborated on the specific changes for DPS Scoundrels/Operatives.
Tait Watson has joined the Community Team, replacing Amber Green who has assumed the role of Live Producer.
Courtney Wood, who (among other things) is in charge of SWTOR’s blog content (including the Companions 101 series), is intending to bring more lore and story to us in 2014.
The next Community Cantina will be in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday, January 31st. February’s cantina will be in Atlanta, Georgia. Courtney went on to confirm that BioWare are intending to hold the cantinas at least once per month, and want to include cities that do not have major conventions.

4. Community

Chill and Teo were among those starring in a performance celebrating the return of the SWTOR Reforged podcast!

Laurie M (@Lawilc01) referred us to MOG Nation’s charity drive on behalf of Catherine Taber’s (@cattaber) charity Games 4 Soldiers. Find out how you can help on MOG Nation.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @TheMalgadar, @FerrousTerran, @foehammer75 (Les), Thross, Kuze, @Enyonix (Xusin legacy), @swtorfamily (Madmar), @EmpireDivider (Moff Chong), @thehatfield, Butch Wahala, @masterbearjedi (Raz), @TheTurg (Terg), @Lawilc01, @joseph_foran, Ian C and Nathaniel Starr.

Chong’s managed to screenshot a unicorn! Well, not really, but something just as rare: praise from a stranger for his performance in a warzone:

Chong also draws our attention to Slideshow Collectible’s Polar Vortex promotion, and wishes everyone to know that these items just happen to be on his wish list.

6. Sarlacc Digest

Our guildmate and fellow ops team member, Bill Lentz, discusses some strategies for making credits in SWTOR, focusing on tactics useful to someone just getting started in the game. Like Bill, you too can make over 100 million credits!

Special thanks to Gasguy, who has provided a wealth of topic ideas for future shows. This prompted us to create a specific forum for such suggestions; feel free to add your own!

Gasguy also allowed us to distribute a spreadsheet he’d created that tracks all Codex entries. It’s a great way of ensuring you’ve got them all!

7. Outro

Thanks to Bill (@BillLentz) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

OotiniCast Episode 114

Posted on January 2, 2014 by teoJanuary 5, 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

While there was no news at all this week, our two discussion topics are an analysis of how many players are doing Ranked PvP, and yet another solution to initiating more open world PvP by providing in-game tools for the community to organise it.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, K!

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Community

Congratulations to the Ootini Templars for a most successful year! See this forum thread for Kal’s report and a collection of screenshots from 2013.

A hearty round of applause for @ben_b55 (of the Despair guild on The Harbinger) for achieving a Prestige score of 19635! It appears he may have pulled slightly ahead of our own Redna (to our collective amazement).

Our Crew Calculator has received a minor update, providing a link that can be copied which stores your current selection of abilities. It’s a great way to share your crew composition with others, as well as for your own reference.

Thanks to @MaxTheGrey and @AIESema for mentioning the Crew Calculator in the latest SWTOR Escape Pod Cast (their predictions for 2014 are genius!).

4. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @TheMalgadar, @TheTurg (Terg), @masterbearjedi (Raz), @BillLentz, @bytorsnowdog (Snowy), Dunedai, Graham (Awesome) Sellars, @EmpireDivider, @AHlaenxna (Vis), Quin’obi, @FerrousTerran, @thehatfield (Charles Hatfield) and Brian Peters (@fnord3125).

A Star Wars fan’s idealised Christmas Tree:

Dunedai had a great idea for obtaining a pair of cost-effective yet extremely cool blasters for your Gunslinger:

Snowy sent us the scoreboard of an extremely close match of Galactic Starfighter:

Chong then recalled an even tighter match!

In his email about mechanical keyboards, Brian Peters referenced the Wikipedia article on Keyboard technology and The Mechanical Keyboard Guide on Overclock.net.

5. Sarlacc Digest

The following graphs were referenced during the first part of the discussion:

Ranked participation (solo, all servers)

Ranked participation (solo, The Harbinger)

Ranked participation (solo, The Bastion)

Ranked participation (solo, Tomb of Freedon Nadd)

Ranked participation (solo, Prophecy of the Five)

Ranked participation (group, all servers)

Ranked participation (group, The Harbinger)

Ranked participation (group, The Bastion)

Ranked participation (group, Tomb of Freedon Nadd)

Ranked participation (group, Prophecy of the Five)

6. Outro

Thanks to Chong (@EmpireDivider) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

OotiniCast Episode 113

Posted on December 26, 2013 by teoDecember 29, 2013

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Upon the occasion of SWTOR’s second anniversary, we discuss what changed in the game over the past year, starting from the launch of free-to-play. We conclude with some brief speculation on what’ll be next in 2014!

1. Introduction

Teo decided to demonstrate his joy in Life Day via his choice of headwear.

That’s not a Life Day hat…

THAT’s a Life Day hat!

2. Tip of the Week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Quin’obi!

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.Congratulations to this week’s winner, Quin’obi!

3. Holofeed

Patch 2.5.1a was deployed to resolve the issue that prevented players from receiving Ship Requisition for their Gunship in an extremely rare set of circumstances.
More traditional Jedi robes will be brought into the game in a future Game Update, including one set in a Cartel pack, and one for direct purchase from the Cartel Market.
The second anniversary of SWTOR occurred on 20 December. All players received an in-game mail with 25 fireworks and both Republic and Empire Scout paint jobs for Galactic Starfighter.
The SWTOR community team wrote an article about their own memories in celebration of the anniversary. Amber Green also announced that she was assuming the role of Live Producer. A new member would thus be joining the Community Team early next year.
Background information was provided for the new companions added to both Republic and Empire to form the default crew for each ship in Galactic Starfighter.

4. Community

Gaddock Teeg had a great conversation with Eric Musco on the latest Unnamed SWTOR Podcast.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @TheMalgadar, @kmadsen, @SWTORReforged, @ForceChuckle, @joseph_foran, @Loudshirt086, @ben_b55, @HamSammich509, @thehatfield, @JediKrackr, @JediAio, Oxi-jin, @MikeG_75, Tim (Gasguy), Thross, Morriah and RSKeogh96 (Ryan Keogh).

You can find @kmadsen’s forum post here. He references the following images:

Imp paint job on Imp Scout

Imp paint job previewed on Pub side

Teo obtained some further previews to show that it seems that the colour scheme is specific to the faction, rather than any kind of inconsistency.

Pub paint job previewed on Pub side

Pub paint job previewed on Imp side

Imp paint job previewed on Imp side

Here is where @ben_b55 ended up after hightailing it in CZ-198’s daily area:

The assault cannon that Ham is after, whose business end is reminiscent of a battle station from the distant future:

Somewhere, somehow, @JediKrackr discovered the Wonkavator, mysteriously retrieved from a Chocolate Factory far, far away in the distant future… on Tatooine!

6. Sarlacc Digest

We discuss the past, present and future of SWTOR, using the following content roadmap to structure our conversation:

Game Update 1.5: HK-51 Activated [15 Nov 2012]

launch of free-to-play

daily area: Section X

world boss: Dreadtooth

companion: HK-51

Explosive Conflict (nightmare)

Game Update 1.6: Ancient Hypergate [11 Dec 2012]

warzone: Ancient Hypergate

heroic space missions

Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree [12 February 2013]

recurring world event: Relics of the Gree

system: Galactic Reputation

Game Update 1.7.2 [12 March 2013]

reputation: Contraband Resale Corporation

Game Update 2.0: Scum and Villainy [9 April 2013]

operation: Scum and Villainy (8 encounters, story, hard)

system: achievements

hardmode flashpoint: Athiss

hardmode flashpoint: Cademimu

hardmode flashpoint: Mandalorian Raiders

hardmode flashpoint: Hammer Station

Rise of the Hutt Cartel

planet: Makeb

level cap raised from 50 to 55

system: Macrobinoculars

system: Seeker Droid

Game Update 2.1: Customization [14 May 2013]

system: Appearance Designer

system: Dye Modules

system: Collections

species: Cathar

Game Update 2.2: Operation Nightmare [11 June 2013]

mode: Terror From Beyond (nightmare)

system: paid character transfers

Game Update 2.2.2 [10 July 2013]

mode: Scum and Villainy (nightmare)

Game Update 2.3: Titans of Industry [6 August 2013]

daily area: CZ-198

flashpoint: Czerka Corporate Labs (3 encounters, story 55, hard)

flashpoint: Czerka Core Meltdown (3 encounters, story 55, hard)

Tauntaun mounts on Hoth

recurring world event: Bounty Contract Week

significant graphical upgrades (palette graphics upgrade)

companion: Treek

Game Update 2.4: The Dread War [1 October 2013]

daily area: Oricon

operation: Dread Fortress (5 encounters, story, hard)

operation: Dread Palace (5 encounters, story, hard)

warzone arenas (Orbital Station, Tatooine Canyon, Corellia Square)

Game Update 2.4.3 [12 November 2013]

Ranked PvP Season One and web-based leaderboards

character name renewal program

Game Update 2.5: Galactic Starfighter Early Access [3 December 2013]

Galactic Starfighter

2 “Domination” maps, Lost Shipyards and Kuat Mesas

Scout, Strike Fighter available to all subs (Gunship if subscribed before 20 Nov)

class changes

warzone arenas (Makeb Mesa)

Game Update 2.5.1 [17 December 2013] (+2 weeks)

recurring world event: Life Day

7. Outro

Thanks to Hyp (@hypknotoad) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. We are a proud member of the TOR Syndicate! You can subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune, and listen to us on Stitcher and Radio4Gamers.

OotiniCast Episode 112

Posted on December 19, 2013 by teoDecember 21, 2013

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Gree are back for the next two weeks, and it seems they brought the inaugural Life Day event with them!

1. Introduction

Red has captured photographic evidence of the existence of the very hard-to-find beastie from Taris, the Rakghoul Overlord:

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Ryan Keogh (RSKeogh)!

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

Patch 2.5b was deployed mid last week to fix the issue that had been introduced for some of those utilising AMD (ATI) video cards.
Game Update 2.5.1 was deployed during maintenance on Tuesday morning.
There was a somewhat obscure issue that means that if you have access to the Gunship (i.e., were subscribed before 20 November) but did not play Galactic Starfighter prior to the deployment of 2.5.1 on Tuesday, you will not earn Ship Requisition for that Gunship. This issue was subsequently resolved in patch 2.5.1a, deployed on Thursday morning.
The next batch of Cartel Packs will be here soon in Cartel Market Shipment Four; in preparation for this, its new reputation, Interplanetary Component Exchange (ICE), is shown in the reputation panel, but cannot yet be advanced.
Chris Schmidt, a Designer working on Galactic Starfighter, offered some clarifications on how missiles lock on, including how to break a lock, and assured us that lag shouldn’t affect the lock-on logic.
The Life Day items that reappeared on the Cartel Market will not come back next year. This is your last chance to get them for Cartel Coins!
For the next two weeks (ending 1 January 2014), two live events are active: the Gree are back in the Relics of the Gree Event, and we get to throw lots and lots of snowballs in the new Life Day Event. According to Imperial Edict GR-1NC4, the Empire is not pleased with Life Day. We recommend Dulfy’s excellent Life Day guide.

You will NOT find one of these in-game!

It was clarified why the Gree currency is bound to a player, rather than legacy-wide or tradeable.

4. Community

Kal sent us the following screenshot of the Ootini Templars operations team just “camping out in Dread Palace”:

Kuze is back with a new Kuze’s Korner, reviewing the MSE-6 ability tracker. We particularly recommend Kuze’s Platforming Guide, recently endorsed by Sema of the SWTOR Escape Pod Cast.

We have developed the Crew Calculator to help players choose the optimal crew for each of their Galactic Starfighters!

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from @TheMalgadar, @jeffyjaws (Jeff Brennan), @JRO_Mosqueito (Mosq), @BillLentz, @GregCarter78, @TheTurg, @O_JohnnyBravo_O, @Strongshocker, @joseph_foran, @Talionbot, @foehammer75 (Les), @rondowar (Rondo), @DaveO_NewWaveO, @PedroLopezJr and @JediKal, and emails and comments from Tegryn Bloodrunner, 01MAN, AmonRe, thetrippster, Tarkko/Praefecti and Dekarch.

For beginners wanting to learn more about PvP, there are old episodes of our show which focus on the mechanics of the various warzones, including episode 43 (Chong’s first appearance), episode 56 (PvP after Game Update 1.5) and episode 57 (mechanics of Ancient Hypergate). The New Player’s Guide to PvP on the official forums is also well worth reading.

Here is Mosq’s bizarre neo-3D experience:

Our guildmate and fellow raider Bill proves his financial mastery with the accumulation of over 100,000,000 credits:

6. Outro

Thanks to Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.