Bioware's next game promises to create a compelling single-player story inside a multiplayer world. Anthem has lofty aspirations, but it's not the first time that Bioware has tried to combine these two very different ideas into a single game title. Star Wars: The Old Republic took the classic Bioware RPG format and tried to adapt it into an MMO, letting multiple people take part in what would normally be a single-player style campaign. While the idea had promise, it met with mixed results at best. This morning, during a press conference at PAX West, I asked Anthem lead designer Mike Gamble what lessons Bioware learned from The Old Republic that helped the studio improve these concepts for the upcoming game. He revealed that the previous effort helped the team decide what not to do with Anthem, specifically, don't let multiple people help dictate where the storyline goes. According to Gamble...

In Star Wars: The Old Republic quest lines would unfold in traditional Bioware structure, where you could make different dialogue choices that determine where the story goes and how characters interact with each other. However, since it was an MMO, you could go on these quests with multiple people and each of them would be able to make their own dialogue choice, with whichever choice that received the most votes becoming what was actually said. As such, you could see your storyline go off in directions you might not like because your friends, or complete strangers, all chose something other than what you wanted.

While Star Wars: The Old Republic has been able to continue on with a fairly strong player-base, it mostly found its footing only after abandoning the more MMO aspects of the game and focusing instead on single player stories like the Knights of the Old Republic games that inspired it.

Instead, Anthem is actually broken up into two parts. Fort Tarsis is your home base where you will meet characters, interact with them, and make decisions that influence how relationships will change over time. This area is a single player only experience, so you get to determine how things progress. When you go out on missions, the game becomes multiplayer and you can join your friends or strangers to complete objectives together. However, no decision making is made in this part of the game, so after the mission is over, all the players go back to their own version of Fort Tarsis and react to the results of the mission in their own way.

Essentially, in order to make the game feel like both a single-player and multiplayer game, the two parts have been divided cleanly in half. While this will certainly fix some of the problems that faced Bioware's MMO, one wonders if the game will really feel like it exists in the multiplayer world Bioware hopes to create. We'll find out when the game is released February 22, 2019.

Electronic Arts and BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic is still running strong, even after seven years of being active. That's a lifetime in the realm of MMORPGs. But, when you have a stable base of fans who love the product and can't get enough Star Wars, it's easy to see how a game like The Old Republic can run for as long as it has. The newest update definitely gives back to the fandom in the form of using in-universe lore to expand on the PvP front with some interesting new modes for those who like to prove their worth in the arena. You don't even have to wait for the update to go live, because it's already up and available for The Old Republic players.

Over on the official website, there are details rolled out for update 5.9.2, which introduces the Galactic Legend content, themed around the all new Arena of Death mode.

The update centers around Giradda the Hutt's new Arena of Death, Mandalorian Battle Ring. It's set on the planet of Rishi and features 4-vs-4 PvP options in a best three out of five deathmatch in order to win credits, fame and gear.

The update also adds an all new stronghold option, where you can level up your fame and acquire a Rishi Hideout for you and your friends, or as a stronghold in which you and your guild mates can plan your next big attack.

There's also the ability to host free-for-all and team-based battles in the new death arenas within your stronghold. It's a good way to settle the score with another rival guild in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

You'll be able to customize the stronghold and setup how it looks, giving it your own identity. You'll also be able to select where the battle arenas take place while hosting your stronghold events, including having fights in the cove, or on the skydeck of a patrol carrier. You can also choose to fight in one-on-one or 4-vs-4 battles with squads.

Of course, given how much of a focus the developers are putting into PvP modes that means, obviously, there are going to be some refinements to how PvP is handled in the game. For the season 9 rollout, BioWare has refined the PvP 8-vs-8 warzone modes, along with ensuring cross-faction support for the 12-vs-12 galactic battles.

The Old Republic fans will also get to experience these battles a lot more frequently thanks to the improved matchmaking that has been overhauled. In a lot of games PvP matchmaking can make or break the feature, because if you're matched up against people who are too high or too low in level, or with bad ping, it can easily ruin the PvP experience for a lot of players.

The PvP overhaul isn't without its rewards, though. The new Galactic Legend update also includes all new PvP-specific rewards, including a Battleworn Holo-Rancor, a Centurion Defender armor set, and all new accessories and other character customization items. Despite getting off to a rocky start, the game seems to have recovered over the years.

The update for Star Wars: The Old Republic is live right now.

One of the great entertainers of our time has passed. Carrie Fisher was a prolific writer, actress and producer, and not to mention one of the iconic symbols of the Star Wars brand. Well, dedicated gamers of Star Wars: The Old Republic banded together to do something special for Fisher.

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As reported by iTech Post, many players within BioWare and EA's Star Wars: The Old Republic came out in spades to gather in front of the house of Organa on Alderaan, the home planet of General Leia. Carrie Fisher played the character and received endless praise and adoration from the fans -- the character became the face of the rebellion who went from a princess attempting to fight for her home planet, to a general leading a galactic rebellion against the Empire.

As noted in the article, players met outside of the Organa Castle, where a special ceremony took place that involved fireworks and kneeling down from the players to pay their respects to Carrie Fisher, who just recently passed on December 27th. I know some people are wondering how a meeting can take place at the Organa Castle on Alderaan if the entire planet was blown up in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but you have to remember that Star Wars: The Old Republic takes place thousands of years before the events of the original trilogy, well before Alderaan was struck by the Death Star.

Nevertheless, the gathering wasn't just for those sided with the Republic, there were also Sith among them as well. Both sides came together to show a mutual and earnest respect for the film and literary icon.

Various players recorded the event or took snapshots as players stood at the entryway of the castle, with various memorial services taking place throughout the day for Fisher. In fact, multiple servers housing all sorts of players from around the globe have been putting together memorial services for Fisher within Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In one comment thread a user explained that well over a hundred people gathered at the service, where someone dressed like Princess Leia stood in the hall and everyone stood or knelt, crying for around four hours.

Fisher's death hit the entertainment, literary, and gaming world hard. It came shortly after Fisher suffered from a heart attack while on a plane and was quickly rushed to the hospital over the weekend. The news spread far and wide rapidly. However, shortly after reports surfaced about Fisher's untimely heart attack, the news began to spread that Fisher had passed away just a few days later.

Fisher is set to make an appearance in Star Wars: Episode VIII. For now, moviegoers, fans, and gamers alike are paying tribute to the film legend in the best ways that they know how and you can likely expect to see some continued support and ceremonies taking place in Star Wars: The Old Republic as fans gather to pay their respects.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is set to get a sizable batch of DLC in "Knights of the Eternal Throne" and, if this new trailer serves as an indicator, they're aiming to punch players right in the feels with this latest tale.

As far as trailers go, this latest offering for The Old Republic is certainly on the hefty side. Clocking in at just over six minutes, viewers are treated to a rather emotional story about a woman and her quest to save her child's life.

In the opening, we see the woman playing in a lovely park with the kiddo, who then demonstrates that she's got the Force coursing through her veins. It turns out the youngster is actually very powerful, something that doesn't typically prove to be a great thing for anybody in the Star Wars universe.

Once her powers turn dangerous, the mother sends her daughter in for training with what appear to be the Sith. A pretty trippy montage shows the young girl's transformation to badassary, at which point mommy goes on a quest to save her girl. At least I think that's what's going on. Outside of a bunch of shadowy figures, there's not a heck of a lot to build a background on here and I'm sure someone better in the know can correct me as to the finer points of the trailer's plot.

What matters is that there's a rad-as-hell fight sequence at the end of the clip that gives anything the Star Wars movies have to offer a run for their money.

But this is the Star Wars universe, remember, so we can't exactly end on a super happy note. Things go south with a quickness and, well, I'm not going to ruin it here. Let's just say that I'd pay good money to see this short story turned into a feature film.

Then again, I could also just play the tale, as this will presumably come into play in the Knights of the Eternal Throne DLC for The Old Republic. According to the announcement, players will be able to "face powerful factions, influence the galaxy for the light or dark side of the Force," as well as "decide who lives and dies" in this latest adventure from the Star Wars MMO.

This dramatic tale of betrayal is finally coming to The Old Republic in just a couple of months, with a launch date set for Dec. 2 of this year.

As for the game itself, are any of our readers big into The Old Republic? How's the game treating you these days? Looking forward to this latest expansion? Drop the details into the comments section below.

Starting February 11, EA and BioWare will release Star Wars: The Old Republic's next chapter in the ongoing Knights of the Fallen Empire saga. The newest chapter features a brand new companion along with some bonus rewards for subscribers.

Gamespot did a brief rundown of the upcoming chapter, detailing how players will be able to have the mercenary Firebrand join the team as she attempts to bring down the Eternal Emperor who leads the Fallen Empire. You can get a glimpse of her and some of the other missions in action with the teaser trailer below.

The trailer reveals a couple of missions that players will attempt to go on as well as their aim to further deal with the outer-realm knights.

This latest addition to the ongoing saga is called “Anarchy in Paradise”, and it will be followed by Chapter 11: Disavowed. There's no release date on Chapter 11, yet. But that's to be expected given that the latest chapter hasn't been released.

The Knights of the Fallen Empire saga is expected to run for another five chapters following Chapter 11. Things will wrap up with Chapter 16, presumably sometime at the end of this year.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is currently free-to-play but there's still an option to subscribe. They also included more rewards for those who do choose to subscribe, including getting a permanent HK-55 companion if you subscribe before January 11, and those who subscribe before February 1 will be able to receive an HK-55 jetpack mount. There's also an additional bonus for anyone who stays subscribed between January 11 and August 1, where they will be able to play as HK-55 in a bonus mission that's part of the Knights of the Fallen Empire saga.

The HK-55 companion will be available for those who complete chapters 1 through 9 and if they are above level 60. The Knights of the Fallen Empire is designed for higher-level players looking to expand their abilities and their play-time in The Old Republic.

It still amazes me that there are fans truly dedicated to the MMO as if it were a single-player game. In fact, it seems as if the game receives more praise for its storytelling than its social and multiplayer functionality. That's not a bad thing to have on the review cards.

Star Wars: The Old Republic's previous chapters within the Knights of the Fallen Empire story branch are currently available. You can look to get your hands on the “Anarchy in Paradise” starting February 11 next month. At least there won't be much of a wait time for the next installment to go live. The only drawback that some gamers had was that BioWare revealed who the companion was for this next chapter instead of leaving it a secret, otherwise they seem to be genuinely excited to see what happens next.

For more information on the subscriber bonuses and on the ongoing tale of the Knights of the Fallen Empire, be sure to visit the official website.

Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer on Mass Effect and co-lead writer on Mass Effect 2, is coming back to BioWare. He won't be working on Mass Effect: Andromeda, though.

Karpyshyn worked at BioWare for over a decade. He quit the studio in 2012 to work on his fantasy novel series Chaos Born. He announced his return to the company in a new blog post on his website:

I'd imagine many Mass Effect fans were hoping Karpyshyn was working on Mass Effect: Andromeda. After the widespread disappointment with Mass Effect 3's story, it would've been reassuring to know that the writer from the better days of the series was working on the fourth game.

To be fair, though, Karpyshyn's well-suited to writing Star Wars as well. He was senior writer on Knights of the Old Republic, the single-player RPG that eventually inspired the Old Republic MMO that he also worked on. He also wrote two Old Republic novels and three others starring Darth Bane, a Sith Lord that lived a 1,000 years before the Star Wars films. Bringing him back onto the SW:TOR development team makes a lot of sense.

BioWare Austin is currently working on the Knights of the Fallen Empire, the fifth expansion pack ot the game. In Fallen Empire, the Empire of Zakuul is assaulting both the Sith and the Republic. Level 60 players will embark on a quest to stop them. There are eight different stories, each tailored to a different class. Players will be reunited with old companions and also enlist a few new ones. In their journey, they'll be asked to make a series of hard choices. With story such a key component of the expansion, it's good that BioWare has veterans like Karpyshyn on staff.

Mass Effect: Andromeda's writing team, meanwhile, is being headed up by newcomer Chris Schlerf. Schlerf came to BioWare from 343 Industries, where he wrote Halo 4. Mac Walters, who co-wrote Mass Effect 2 with Karpyshyn and lead the writing for ME3, is creative director on Andromeda.

Sometimes games have really awesome trailers and the gameplay matches exactly what you see, sort of like Vanquish or Bayonetta or Max Payne 3. Other times games have really awesome trailers and it turns out that the actual games are nothing like that.

With the above in mind, here at Gaming Blend we took it upon ourselves to find six of the most egregious instances where the trailers were really awesome and seemed to promise an equally awesome gameplay experience but the actual game turned out to be crap. So without further ado, here is a list of 6 trailers that were way better than the actual games.

The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic... this game with its massive budget had some of the coolest trailers around. The cinematic trailers for this game were always action packed, heartfelt and breathtaking... and the game itself was kind of just samey. It's hard to pick just one trailer from the many that were used to promote the game, but thankfully Gamer's Little Playground managed to compile all of the promotional cinematics into one video so you can see just how far removed the game is from the movie-quality cinematics that were used to promote the game. The biggest problem was that the cinematics are epic and the game itself was basically Knights of the Old Republic as an MMO with mediocre gameplay. Fans of the series still love the lore but the gameplay itself leaves a lot to be desired.

H.A.W.X. 2

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 is one of those games where the cinematics and the build-up were pretty slick but the actual game failed to deliver anything memorable. In fact, the gameplay is so forgettable that anytime someone sees the trailers for it they're reminded that the game was nothing like the trailers. In fact, you see that trailer above? Well the gameplay was a slow, ugly, boring mess compared to that. It came out during a time when Ace Combat ruled the skies but all it managed to do was make people want to forget the flight sim genre existed. H.A.W.X. 2 seemed to disappear rather quickly after gamers actually got a taste of the real gameplay.

RAGE

If you took the DNA of Borderlands, the post-apocalyptic setting of Fallout and the destructive vehicular combat of Mad Max you would get id Software's id Tech 5-powered RAGE. Sounds like a winning formula for success right? The mainstream introduction of mega-textures and giant open worlds to explore right? Well, that's how the game came across in the trailers, like the one above, but the actual gameplay was nothing like it. It was a mundane, mostly corridor-focused shooter with preset vehicle combat scenes and a limited cache of uninteresting weapons and gadgets. While the trailers may go down in history as being pretty cool, the game will not.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Featuring the unforgettable music of Oscar Araujo and compelling voice acting from Patrick Stewart and Robery Carlyle, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 had all the makings of being a great sequel to a great game about vampire lore. To this day the game still has some of the best trailers I've ever seen. Yet the reason this game failed so badly was because the first game was written magnificently and it had a great build up with perfectly suitable trailers, and the second one seemed to follow suit hinting at a mature and well written story... but then the game completely dropped the ball. Rat stealth and lazy level design. That's the best way to sum up Lords of Shadow 2. Thankfully you can always watch that epic trailer above and feel pretend that the lackluster game doesn't exist.

Elder Scrolls Online

This game suffered from the same problem as The Old Republic: super awesome cinematics butt he gameplay was very much on the “meh” side of the equation by comparison. The cinematic trailers gave the impression that this was like The Lord of the Rings on a gritty form of steroids. The cinematics for Elder Scrolls Online are moving and gripping, but sadly the game itself is kind of a standard fare MMO. It's not bad but compared to the trailers most people were probably expecting something dynamic and fast paced... sorry but you'll have to check out a game like Blade & Soul or TERA Online if you want that kind of experience.

Dead Island

You want a perfect example of an awesome trailer that really doesn't represent the game in anyway other than sharing the same name and being about zombies? Look no further than the awesomely constructed but wholly non-representative cinematic trailer for Techland's Dead Island. The game's cinematic trailer went viral the day it went live and everyone was talking about it. So what about the game? Well, other than the glitches and how mediocre an experience it was, there was no where near as much talk about the game as there was about the cinematic trailer. In fact, the trailer managed to get the attention of Hollywood producers who wanted the rights to the film only hours after the trailer went live. Crazy, right? Now if only the game was as poignant and emotional as Axis Animation and Audiomotion Studios' cinematic trailer... then some other game would have been on this list.

BioWare and Electronic Arts are prepping for the release of the newest expansion pack for Star Wars: The Old Republic called Knights of the Fallen Empire. The story follows the player-character as the “Outlander” of the Old Republic after being revived from carbonite sleep.

VG 24/7 spotted the latest trailer for the MMO coming out of E3's press conference during GamesCom 2015 in Cologne, Germany. You can check it out below.

The “Outlander” story saga can either be continued from a player's previously created character or it's possible to start a new character at level 60 to take on the new story adventures for the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion.

The YouTube comment section exploded with a lot of feverish fan feedback. Many gamers are absolutely ecstatic about the new update and the companions that are likely to join players along the way.

A lot of the discussion centers around a character known as Darth Marr potentially becoming a companion as players attempt to take down the Eternal Empire.

BioWare have been steadily expanding on the universe of Star Wars: The Old Republic after the game got off to a really rocky start back in 2011. Over time the game's subscription model was eventually dumped and it became a free-to-play MMO, which is kind of the path that many games take to compensate for low subscription numbers.

BioWare won back a lot of fans with high-quality expansions, and a focus on The Old Republic's single-player influenced story. Even though the game was criticized for being less like an MMO and more like a single-player RPG, it was also praised for the very same reason. Of course it's not possible to win over everyone, but for people who were looking for a Knights of the Old Republic sequel this is about as close as gamers are going to get to a legitimate, episodic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3.

Opposite of the previous single-player RPGs, though, is that Star Wars: The Old Republic allows you to become more than just a Jedi or a Sith. It's actually possible to be a smuggler or a bounty hunter as well. The options really open up the game for a lot of replayability.

Even though The Old Republic never quite became as big as World of Warcraft it appears BioWare and EA have carved out a dedicated following for the MMO and a lot of those followers are excited to get their hands on Knights of the Fallen Empire when it launches on October 27th this fall. You can learn more about the MMO as well as the new expansion pack that they have in store by paying a visit to the game's official website.

BioWare is greatly expanding the starship combat in Star Wars: The Old Republic with a new expansion pack. Galactic Starfighter will introduce PvP space battles to the MMORPG.

Currently, space battles are single-player, on-rails experiences. Players shoot up a bunch of A.I. enemies and receive some experience and money for their trouble. It's an interesting, alternate path for progression but the missions get a bit tedious after you beat them once or twice.

When Starfighter launches, though, players will be able to fight each other in 12v12 ship battles. BioWare is promising multiple maps and gameplay modes for this PvP. Players will be able to make their ship feel a bit less generic through upgrades and other customization options. The ships are split into different roles like Scout and Gunship to accommodate a wide range of playstyles.

"Our goal with Star Wars: The Old Republic has always been to immerse players into their own Star Wars adventure and huge space battles are a vital part of fulfilling that fantasy," said Jeff Hickman, General Manager of BioWare Austin, in the official announcement. "Galactic Starfighter will be a deep experience that will continue to grow over time. We can’t wait for both our current and new players to get their hands on it soon."

Galactic Starfighter will be released for free on February 4th. Preferred Status players - anyone who has purchased something from the in-game store or previously subscribed to SW:TOR - will get access on January 14th. They'll also get two pilot suits and a "Test Pilot" title. Current subscribers will get exclusive paint jobs, a Gunship unlock, a "First Galactic Starfighter" title and faster progression, in addition to the Preferred Status perks. Subscribers' access to the new content will start on December 3rd.

These PvP battles sound like a fun addition to the game and I hope players get a lot of mileage out of it. That being said: whose rancor do I have to suck around here to get a TIE Fighter remake? Seriously. Why is LucasArts - or what's left of it, anyway - allergic to nostalgic gamers that want to give them money? It's baffling that this expansion for SWTOR is the only option for Star Wars fans who want to hop in a TIE Fighter and shoot up some Republic scum.

July 15th will mark the 10th anniversary of single-player RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, one of BioWare's best games. BioWare will be celebrating this milestone with in-game events for Star Wars: The Old Republic, the MMO inspired by KOTOR.

On that day, BioWare will be giving out Cartel Coins through the official Old Republic Facebook page. Cartel Coins are a virtual currency that was introduced when the game went free-to-play late last year. They can be used to buy premium items and services. On July 15th, players will be able to buy a new title called "Revan's Heir" for 10 Cartel Coins. Revan, if you recall, was the Dark Lord of the Sith who was central to the plot of - ugh, I can't do this anymore.

Stop the music. Oh, are we not playing music? Fine, start playing some music and then stop it. Preferably on a record player so it'll make that loud scratching sound.

Old Republic celebrating KOTOR's 10th anniversary just doesn't feel right. In fact, it's just depressing. Old Republic is the whole reason that KOTOR doesn't exist as a series anymore.

When Old Republic was announced back in 2008, KOTOR fans sensed that that the series as they knew it was over. Instead of creating single-player sequels, BioWare was pushing all of its chips into developing an MMO based on the franchise. Not to worry, BioWare said. They likened Old Republic to a compilation of several KOTOR games.

"Our fans ask, 'Why aren't you doing Knights of the Old Republic 3?' What we're really doing is Knights of the Old Republic 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12-plus," designer James Ohlen said in 2008. "We have that much content and that many stories…We really get to do a lot of things we really wouldn't get to do in [a] KOTOR 3."

To an extent, Ohlen was right. Each character class in Old Republic has a well-written, distinct storyline. You could argue that each game is almost like its own KOTOR game. Not quite, though. In order to progress through the story, each class has to play through hours and hours of shared filler quests. That makes leveling up a second character exceptionally boring. Plus, once you've finished the story missions, you're left with the usual MMO grinds: daily quests, raids and player-versus-player. None of them are particularly unique or exciting in Old Republic.

Old Republic, therefore, is like several KOTOR games in one. However, these pieces of original story-telling are trapped in a very average MMO. Instead of simply creating more story content, BioWare has to put all of their effort into maintaining the MMO that ties them together. They need to make more Warzones for the PvP crowd, more Operations for the raiders, more cosmetic pets for...whoever the hell likes those. It's no wonder that so many players stopped paying for monthly subscriptions soon after launch; why keep paying for a game when most of your money is going toward content you don't actually want?

I'm often left wondering what would have happened if Old Republic was never released. What if, instead of making an MMO, BioWare had released each of the eight class stories in Old Republic as individual, downloadable games. No padding, no multiplayer - just character-driven campaigns running a few hours long that take players from greenhorn mercenary to galaxy-renowned bounty hunters, from Padawns to Jedi Masters, and so on. How much money would BioWare have made if they stuck to making Knights of the Old Republic games instead of trying to fuse them to a samey MMO? How different would our opinion of the company be?

I don't want your "Revan's Heir" title and I don't want your free Cartel Coins. We ought to be getting Knights of the Old Republic 3, not some limp-dick vanity title in its misshapen, microtrasanction-driven successor.

Star Wars: The Old Republic's newest patch will introduce another NPC companion for players to recruit. Treek is a fierce mercenary who also happens to be a lovable, fuzzy Ewok.

Players will recruit Treek in fairly mundane fashion. You walk to the Cartel Bazaar at your faction's fleet headquarters and pay a droid one million credits. You can also pay in Cartel Coins, the currency that can be purchased for real-world money now that the game's free-to-play. You'll need to be Legacy Level 40 to purchase Treek's services as well, so she's not a companion for newbies. Her opening cutscene is below, courtesy of Dulfy.net:

Though Treek is expensive company, she sounds very useful. She has two stances called X’ekra and Fektur that allow her to become a very effective tank or healer, respectively. Her list of abilities is split between these two roles. As you'd expect from an Ewok, her abilities are all very cutesy. For example, her AoE stun attack involves her throwing a bee hive at a group of enemies. She heals a group of friends by tossing berries at them.

I don't play SW:TOR anymore but if I did, I'd probably pass on Treek. My main was a Bounty Hunter so my companion of choice was a bad-ass Jawa mercenary named Blizz. I could see Treek being a popular choice for classes that don't have access to Blizz, though. She certainly has an impressive skill-set.

Treek will be introduced in Patch 2.3 for Old Republic. Other content included in 2.3 includes a new area called CZ-198, a moon that belongs to the Czerka Corporation. The moon features new daily missions, along with two factions that offer new equipment. CZ-198 is also home to two Flashpoints for group play. The patch is currently on the Public Test Server and should go live soon.

BioWare has released a new developer diary for Rise of the Hutt Cartel, the upcoming expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic. In the video, lead writer Hall Hood and Ryan Dening provide an introduction to the new planet at the heart of this expansion.

Old Republic depicts a galaxy-wide conflict between the Republic and the Sith Empire. The war is depleting both sides' resources. Caught between the two sides is a resource-rich planet called Makeb. Makeb has remained neutral for centuries but is abruptly taken over by the Hutt Cartel, who plan to become a galactic power as well. Both the Empire and Republic send forces to the planet to stop the Hutts' stranglehold over it.

The players find themselves in the middle of this conflict. The new quests at Makeb will directly continue the class-specific storylines from the base game. Players will encounter new challenges and progress to the new level cap of 55.

Old Republic was always a gorgeous game and Makeb seems especially striking. The planet's cities are located on the top of giant rock pillars. These cities are connected to space stations via enormous elevators called gravity hooks. Hopefully the visuals aren't the only attention-grabbing part of this new setting.

Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be released digitally this spring.

Tomorrow BioWare will release the Game Update 1.7 for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This patch will introduce two big new features: Galactic Reputation and the Relics of the Gree event.

Galactic Reputation provides players with a new progression system. By performing quests, they can earn reputation with different in-game factions. As they advance through the six reputation ranks for each faction, they'll have access to progressively better rewards. Reputation is shared by all characters in a given Legacy, so you won't have to do the grind all over for each character.

The Relics of the Gree event sends players to Ilum to explore an ancient starship. Here, players will find highly advanced equipment. They'll also encounter a powerful new enemy at the center of the vessel. The event will run until February 26th, but BioWare says it will return periodically throughout the year.

To celebrate Update 1.7's impending release, BioWare sent out a new trailer. It shows off a minute-and-a-half of footage from the Gree event.

BioWare released a "first look" trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic's first expansion today. This preview of Rise of the Hutt Cartel centers on the new world of Makeb.

Makeb is a world now under the control of the Hutt Cartel. The Cartel is attempting to become a galactic power on par with the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic. How Makeb fits into their plans is currently unknown.

The planet contains new story-based quests for players to experience. The location is designed for level 50 characters. The quests will help them work toward the new level cap of 55 that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will institute.

Hutt Cartel will launch this spring. The expansion pack will cost $19.99 to download. Subscribers can purchase it for $9.99.

Star Wars: The Old Republic will soon allow gamers to pursue gay and lesbian romances. The new romance options will be included in the upcoming Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion pack for the MMORPG.

"First of all, I want to apologize that this is taking so long to get in the game," SW:TOR executive producer Jeff Hickman said in a State of the Game letter to players. "I realize that we promised SGR to you guys and that many of you believed that this would be with a companion character. Unfortunately, this will take a lot more work than we realized at the time and it (like some other pieces of content we talked about earlier in the year) has been delayed as we focused on the changes required to take the game Free-to-Play."

Although same-sex romances with companions might not happen for awhile, BioWare will be adding other gay and lesbian options. Hickman says that there will be new NPCs on Makeb that you can woo. Makeb is the new planet included in the expansion pack.

Rise of the Hutt Cartel introduces new story-based missions for high-level players. In the new missions, players must stop the Hutts from becoming a galactic superpower. In the process, they'll progress toward the new level cap of 55. The expansion is due this Spring and you can get early access by pre-ordering before January 7th.

Same gender romances and high-level content are two of four major goals mentioned by Hickman in his State of the Game letter. The other two goals are revamped World PvP and character copying to the public test server. The latter feature is expected to debut later this year. The new World PvP, however, won't be out this year because BioWare is focusing on Warzones and ranked PvP at the moment.

"We’re dedicated to giving you the game that YOU want to play and are making changes and improvements at a rapid pace to keep up with your desires," said Hickman. "Please keep posting and keep talking about The Old Republic. Together we will continue to care for and expand this fantastic game."

BioWare has announced the first expansion pack to their MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. Rise of the Hutt Cartel, starring everyone's favorite crime boss slugs, will debut in Spring 2013.

In the expansion, the Hutt Cartel plan to compete with the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire for control of the galaxy. In new story-based missions, players will uncover the Hutts' plot and ultimately put a stop to it. The quest will take players to the new planet of Makeb.

Hutt Cartel is designed for high-level players. It raises the level cap from 50 to 55. Players will unlock new abilities as they progress to the new cap. Expect plenty of new loot as well.

The expansion pack is priced at $19.99. However, if you pay the monthly subscription, you can pick it up for $9.99. Either way, pre-ordering the expansion by January 7th will give you five days of early access.

Old Republic went free-to-play in November due to dwindling subscriber numbers. The game still offers an optional monthly subscription, but players can opt to play without a monthly fee as well. F2P players have the optional of buying certain game content using Cartel Coins, a currency that can be bought with real-world money.

The top dogs of BioWare have officially vacated the premises. Joining Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk is the lead writer of BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic, Daniel Erickson. After seven years with the company, Erickson called it quits.

Joystiq's Massively was tipped off to the tweet from Erickson who kept it short and simple on his Twitter account, saying...

I guess Electronic Arts really does fit the motto of the Reapers, and instead of staying around and being assimilated, many of BioWare's important staff have taken flight.

Erickson joins Muzyka and Zeschuk who left BioWare back in August.

There were some stories spreading that the fan backlash caused the duo to depart, but Muzyka shot down journalists and praised gamers, claiming that it was the passionate fans who helped build their brand.

Many BioWare loyalists have been trying to rally together to get BioWare away from EA. It's entirely possible that with so many of the top talent departing from the company as it sinks into EA's death-grip that a few years down the road we could see them re-unite for a Kickstarter venture (or two) to revive the old-school BioWare games that us gamers fell in love with.

For now, best of luck to Daniel Erickson on his adventures away from BioWare. Most people are frowned upon for leaving a job behind in today's employment climate, but I'm glad Erickson is out from under EA and hopefully he can find a worthwhile place of employment soon enough. No sense tainting your soul for a few dollar bills.

Dr. Ray Muzyka, one of the former co-founders for BioWare, put out a simple Twitter message for fans who supported BioWare throughout the years. In that same message he also managed to blast gaming journalists for “ill-founded” rumors and “speculation”. Why? Because there were rumors circulating that Muzyka and fellow co-founder Greg Zeschuk left the gaming industry for good because of “whiny” and “entitled” fans.

For those that don't know, co-founders of BioWare Dr. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have left BioWare and the gaming industry for good. This spawned tons of speculation across the web about why the duo left and what could have prompted them to depart the company responsible for hits such as Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic.

Well, a few websites took a spin on that position, saying that the recent departure of Muzyka and Zeschuk from BioWare was in result of all the hate from those “entitled gamers”. Forbes gives a breakdown on how the whole thing spiraled out of control based on the piece from Now Gamer, which speculated that the blame was on gamers for Bioware's head honchos walking away from the business.

DSO Gaming picked up the tweet from Ray Muzkya which tells a different story, however, where Muzkya tweets...

“Clarity” and “credibility”? Well, they ain't us. However, what Muzyka opines does seem to fit a trend that gamers have been begging for out of the gaming journalism ring for some time: reporters who can spew facts, information and ask tough questions, not fanboys who suck up to publishers for freebies.

It's funny where the gaming industry has ended up. It's not funny because it's funny, it's funny because it's sad, depressing and desperate looking.

Hopefully Muzyka and Zeschuk will find green pastures away from the imperialist nation of EA and maybe one day they'll return to the industry to make one more blockbuster for those passionate fans who stuck by them through thick and thin. As the old saying goes, EA can buy a lot of things but they can't buy creativity.

BioWare is preparing to release Game Update 1.4 for their MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. This patch will add a new Operation dubbed "Terror from Beyond."

The new Operation takes place on the Gree Planet of Asation. An ancient piece of technology known as a "Hypergate" has activated and horrible monsters have begun to pour through it. Players must travel to Asation, close the portal, and kill whatever evil forces have spilled through it.

Operations are the Old Republic equivalent of raids. Groups of 8 to 16 players journey into these instanced encounters to face encounters requiring strategy and coordination. There are three difficulty levels to master, each with progressively better rewards.

Old Republic hasn't added a new Operation since Explosive Conflict back in April. I'm curious how many "hardcore" raiders are still playing the game. That side of the game seems like it's been neglected somewhat. Layoffs to the development team haven't helped.

Update 1.4 is currently live on the public test server. BioWare hasn't announced when the patch will be implemented on normal servers.

Star Wars: The Old Republic developer BioWare Austin is undergoing another major change. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare, has stepped down as General Manager for the studio.

BioWare parent EA told GamersGlobal that Zeschuk hasn't left the company. He has returned to Canada and is taking some time off to be with his family. In the meantime, he's pondering new projects.

Zeschuk co-founded BioWare in 1995 with Ray Muzyka. Electronic Arts purchased the company in 2007. BioWare has since grown into the RPG/MMO division of EA, with six studios: BioWare Edmonton, BioWare Austin, BioWare Mythic, BioWare Montreal, BioWare Ireland, and BioWare San Francisco. Zeschuk is the Group Creative Officer of the BioWare Group, a position which apparently hasn't changed with this week's shake-up.

It's been a tumultous year for BioWare Austin. After a strong launch last December, The Old Republic has been steadily bleeding subscribers. In May, the developer was hit by layoffs. Last month, the company announced that they were switching the MMO to a free-to-play business model to keep it afloat. It was probably not a fun situation to preside over so I can't blame Zeschuk for deciding to move on to something else.

Matt Bromberg has taken over as general manager of BioWare Austin. Bromberg previously served as CEO of Major League Gaming and General Manager of online gaming at AOL.

EA has decided to switch Star Wars: The Old Republic to a free-to-play business model due to dwindling subscriber numbers. Some saw this as a sign that subscription-based MMOs are no longer feasible. However, the fact of the matter is that Old Republic simply wasn't going to work as a pay-per-month game.

What really sets Old Republic apart from competing MMOs is how story-driven it is. Each character class has a different main quest line that roughly runs from level 1 to 50 (the current cap). The player recruits a colorful cast of companions, faces equally memorable foes, and makes a series of difficult moral decisions. Ultimately they rise from humble beginnings to become, say, the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy or the most wanted bounty hunter. In other words, Old Republic is a quintessential BioWare RPG at its core. The company’s signature ability to craft a choice-laden, character-driven narrative is on full display here.

The problem is that this epic quest ends. The player has killed his main nemesis, saved the galaxy and…now what? An NPC tells them to do daily quests, engage in player-versus-player, or join with other players to do Operations (“raids” in other MMOs”) or Flashpoints (“dungeons). There are no more story missions to pursue. It’s like the player’s been unceremoniously dumped into an entirely different game.

This new game is a very average MMO. The Operations have some interesting boss fights but there’s not enough content to keep serious raiders busy; most of the learning curve for each fight is simply adapt to strange bugs. The Flashpoints are more challenging and fun than the Operations but there’s little reason to run them more than once because they give crappier gear than the latter. Furthermore, the Operations are tuned in such a way that you don’t need to farm up Flashpoints for gear before you start them. The daily quests take too long to reach so they feel like busy work rather than a fun part of your gaming routine. The player-versus-player Warzones, meanwhile, have the same flag-running and territory-capturing that you’ve seen in any other MMO with PvP.

A player who doesn’t like the end-game options for Old Republic could just roll a new character. There are eight different classes in the game so that’s eight different BioWare-caliber stories to play through. Unfortunately, though, there’s a lot of shared content between different classes. For every unique class quest you complete, there’s maybe three or four quests designed for all classes. While my Sith Assassin’s storyline was a nice change from my Bounty Hunter’s, the thought of slogging through Nar Shaddaa’s quests again removed all enthusiasm.

Still, let’s assume someone played through all eight class quests. What incentive do they have to keep paying a monthly fee? Keep in mind how many players came to Old Republic as fans of the single-player Knights of the Old Republic games or BioWare’s other RPGs. In their mind, they’ve finished the best part of the game. Why should they cough up subscription money so they can have access to the shakier, more pedestrian features? The main selling point of the game, the story-driven quests crafted by BioWare, are sadly the most finite part.

Could Old Republic have worked as a subscription MMO? Maybe, if the game was offering up a steady stream of new class quests for players to undertake. I don’t know if it would’ve been possible to create scripted, voice-acted content quickly enough to keep subscribers busy. Still, BioWare could’ve at least tried. They haven’t released a single additional class quest since the game’s launch.

As I mentioned in a rant last month, I think subscriptions can still work with MMOs. There is nothing inherently wrong with monthly fees for video games. The problem Old Republic faced was that it’s ultimately a single-player RPG at its heart, and no one’s going to pay a subscription for a game after they’ve beaten it.

August's first week comes to a close and with it a number of gaming goodies that might catch you by surprise. For those of you thoroughly enjoy co-op tales you'll be pleased to know that EA is reviving the Army of Two franchise with Devil's Cartel. Activision's quarterlies are in and World of Warcraft subscriptions are falling off fast, alongside EA's Star Wars: The Old Republic subs. And in no surprising twist of fate, Electronic Arts takes the ban-hammer hot and heavy to Zynga in a copyright infringement lawsuit. Bring the hammer down hard, EA...bring it down hard! These stories and more in this August 4th, 2012 edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Splinter Cell Blacklist Screenshots Get Dangerous In The Desert Sam is back and doing what he does best while also being slightly younger.

Blood Knights Screenshot get Involved With Some Bloody Battles The upcoming ARPG shows off a few of the battle sequences in the upcoming title.

APB Reloaded 1.9.0 Media Blow Goes To War Enforcers get ready for war in the latest patch for APB Reloaded.

Artistic Mass Effect 3 Scenes Created In Source Filmmaker A collection of nifty screenshots created in Valve's Filmmaker using Mass Effect 3 assets. It's definitely worth a gander.

Barack Obama Will Need Rescuing In Bad Dudes 2 They're not two crude dudes, but they are bad and they will need to save the Prez from a certain Ninja Master.

Minecraft Was Meant To Be Genderless Well, that was all kinds of fail, wasn't it?

Castle Story Hits Kickstarter Goal In Under 5 Hours Apparently gamers really want a bigger, better version of Minecraft.

Fist of the North Star 2 Release Date Set For December, Screenshots Unveiled A few more playable characters join the fray and a heck of a lot more flying body parts.

Monday

E3 To Remain In Los Angeles Through 2015 Good news for Los Angelians.

Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade Gets Wordy For Wii U The party-game compilation title could be one of the first shovelware titles for the Wii U.

Hybrid's Persistent World Wants Some Gaming Addicts So long as you keep playing the game will keep on trucking.

Borderlands 2 Smarter AI Means Fewer AI? It may not be a bad thing but there's definitely a trend here.

Jay Z Is NBA 2K13's Executive Producer Uh, well...right, of course. That makes perfect sense in Bizarro World.

Diablo 3 Forum Bans Continue To Make Headlines Blizzard is mum but they say they'll have something to add soon. How soon? Who knows.

Skyrim Update 1.7 Arrives For PC, DLC News Coming This Week A few extra fixes just in time for some news regarding the Dawnguard DLC.

Walking Dead Shambles Onto PlayStation Plus Try your hand at the latest episode of TellTale's highly lauded adventure-horror game.

Capcom Has Plenty of Material For Dragon Dogma's 2 And hopefully the sequel will be disc-locked content-free.

Ubisoft uPlay DRM Security Flaw Leaves Gamers Open To Hackers Who wants to have their rootkit exposed?

Holy Avatar Vs Maidens Of The Dead Due Out In September From the makers of Grotesque Tactics comes a brand new ARPG experience.

PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale Screenshots Introduce Arenas Check out a few of the whimsical arenas from the upcoming battle-arena game, exclusively for the PS3.

Tuesday

Book of Unwritten Tales Now Available On Steam A throwback to the age-old point and click adventure genre lands on Steam.

MapleStory Adds Parties And New Modes With Fight For Azwan Nexon keeps the updates rolling out for what's arguably their biggest MMO ever.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Video Has Gearbox Talking About Authenticity There's nothing like authentic aliens but they seem to be lacking in the game.

No Split-Screen Support For Borderlands 2 On PC; Community Makes Split-Screen Happen Anyway Even though the split-screen isn't officially supported, the community takes it upon themselves to provide the option for others.

Star Wars The Old Republic Going Free-To-Play BioWare said they wouldn't, but alas...they did.

Orcs Must Die! 2 Now Slaying On Steam The strategy action title adds multiplayer and plenty of new features to boot.

Would Bethesda Really Want S.T.A.L.K.E.R.? I don't know, it's like asking a CEO do they want more money...I mean, I really don't know.

Secret World Unleashed Update Is Live With Missions but No Nudity Looking for some boobies? Ah, well there's none in Secret World but there's always Far Cry 3.

Final Fantasy III Will Be A Launch Title On Ouya This is some interesting news and sets a nice precedent for the launch line-up of games for Ouya.

Transformers Fall of Cybertron Demo Hits Xbox 360, PS3 Get a taste of the upcoming game from High Moon with a free demo.

Wednesday

Borderlands 2 Is Take Two's Third Most Pre-ordered Game Behind GTA Take Two revels in the success with more than just Grand Theft Auto.

The War Z Website Launches With Lots of Community Excitement Gamers are excited about a possible alternative to DayZ but sometimes it's best to hold off the excitement until actual gameplay footage is revealed.

Cyberpunk Has More Freedom Than The Witcher

Oculus Rift 3D Headset Heads To Kickstarter, Gets Support From Epic, Valve, Unity The headset Carmack was touting all throughout E3 gets a prototype and aims to move out some dev kits for devs.

Borderlands 2 Will Launch Uncut Worldwide With Gore Filter Your country doesn't like gore? Slap a gore filter on it.

Darksiders 2 Armor Scythe Unlockable By Darksiders Players The sequel rewards players from the first game with some extra gear in the second game.

Otherland Five Isles Has Technology Battling Naturalism It's a little tough to put into words but just imagine Avatar and there you have it.

Resident Evil 6 Has Secret Ada Wong Campaign With Agent Hunt Mode An extra mode featuring everyone's favorite femme fatale in the red dress? Well, isn't that a not very big surprise. It's still welcome!

Battlefield 3 Premium Has 1.3 Million Subscribers Looks like anything Activision can do, EA can do better.

Thursday

Way of the Samurai 4 PS3 Release Date Set For August 21st The niche Japanese title finds a North American distribution outlet.

Kid Icarus AR Soon Available In U.S. Crank out some high-fives to your friends as you'll be able to get your hands on some AR cards sooner rather than later.

Rise of the Triad Brings The Holy Crap Back To FPS Gaming Remember in the old school of FPS gaming when foul grotesque content was the standard-fare? Well, Apogee wants to bring it back in full force and they're getting some help from Epic and Interceptor.

LittleBigPlanet Gets Crafty For PS Vita September 25th Start counting down the days, the Vita version of LBP is coming in just one under two months.

Painkiller Hell & Damnation Beta Incoming, Screenshots Released Grab a first-hand look at the new title for PC.

End of Nations 200 Beta Keys Up For Grabs Electronic Theatre is giving away a couple of beta keys for the MMORTS, if you're into that sort of thing.

God of War Ascension Elephantaur Is A Thinking Man's Minotaur We just don't get these kind of freaks of nature anymore. Where is the integrity? Well, the Elephantaur is bringing back to the sexy to the minotaur boss fight.

PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale Gets Fall beta Check the game out this fall with the beta, and test out the PlayStation's Smash Bros.

GTA IV San Andreas Mod Supports Steam After lots of speculation and inquiry into whether San Andreas mod for GTA IV would work for Steam, it becomes clear that the game does work with all versions of GTA IV for Steam.

Shadowrun Online Adds Linux Ouya Support Ouya picks up even more support, even for games that don't even have full funding just yet.

Assassin's Creed 3 AnvilNext Engine Touted In Impressive Video Ubisoft's engine that powers Assassin's Creed 3 is showcased in a new promo trailer.

Friday

Army of Two Devil's Cartel Announced EA revives the franchise of co-op buddies with the third game in the series.

Mass Effect 3 Wii U Screenshots Show Shepard in Action Doing what he (or she) does best. In this case it's mainly just a “he” doing what “he” does best.

U4iA Games To Support OUYA With Future Releases More indie devs come forward to announce their support for OUYA.

Blacklight Devs Giving Away $1,000 A Day For A Month This is good news for anyone who plays Blacklight regularly.

Cabal Online Heads To Arcane Trace This Fall A new update arrives for the long running MMO.

Rambo Video Game Debut Trailer, Screenshots Released The first images and trailer surface for the highly anticipated game based on one of the most popular action-oriented franchises ever.

EA Sues Zynga, Gamers Tell EA To Bury Zynga Now maybe we can get Valve to sue EA when they get finished with Zynga, and then both EA and Zynga will be out of business.

Death Rally Now Available For PC After making waves for mobile devices, the over-head death-rally racer comes to PC.

Saturday

Mass Effect 3 Leviathan Firefight DLC Showcased In New Screenshots The multi and single-player DLC for ME3 gets put on display with some brand new screenshots.

GTA III Rage Classic Mod Puts GTA III In GTA IV Complete with missions. You have to see it to believe it. Check out the latest promotional trailer for the mod after the jump.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Trophy Patch Coming In Early August This means that by the time you read this in the Monthly Recap the patch will already be out and available and you can rest easy knowing that the game is fixed.

Aassassin's Creed 3 Director: Games Can Be Too Long Some games do lose appeal if they don't know when to end. But a good game is never long enough.

Heroes of Ruin Co-op Review A review of the Nintendo 3DS hack-and-slash co-op title. Find out if it stands out above all the other standard-fare crap.

Dishonored Voice Cast Includes Suasn Sarandon, Carrie Fisher Princess Leia and the lesbian vampire join forces in Dishonored. Instant-playability right there.

Sony Wants You To Design DualShock 3 It's not everyday that a company asks gamers to help them design a new controller. Click the link to get all the details.

That wraps up this edition of the Gaming Blend Weekly Recap. The final trailer of the week is an absolute masterpiece of gaming goodness called “GTA IV: Hard Charger”. I'm not going to give anything away but it is a masterful bit of editing. Enjoy.

BioWare has decided to make Star Wars: The Old Republic subscriptions optional. They're going to convert the MMORPG to a free-to-play model this fall, less than a year after its launch.

"Players want flexibility and choice. The subscription-only model presented a major barrier for a lot of people who wanted to become part of The Old Republic universe," said Matthew Bromberg, BioWare Austin's general manager.

After buying a copy, players will be able to create characters using any of the eight character classes and rise to the max level of 50. There will be some restrictions on F2P users' access to new content and "advanced" features. Certain locked features will be opened up by purchasing Cartel Coins, a virtual currency purchased with real-world money. Cartel Coins will also allow players to buy custom gear and various conveniences.

If you were happy to pay a monthly subscription for SW:TOR up until this point, you're free to continuing doing so. Subscribers will have unfettered access to all of the game's content. Furthermore, you'll get a monthly allotment of Cartel Coins to spend as you wish. All in all, this is pretty much the same business model adopted by Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and several other formerly subscription-only MMORPGs.

BioWare says that they're going to release content updates more frequently as well. The next update is due in August. During that month, the game will go on sale for $14.99.

Old Republic launched in December of 2011 and accumulated over a million subscribers in its first three days. The peak subscriber base was around 1.7 million. However, since early 2012 the game has been slowly bleeding players. In May, EA reported that the roughly 400,000 players had quit. A switch to F2P has saved other MMO's, so perhaps it can help stop the bleeding for SW:TOR as well.

Soon Star Wars: The Old Republic will add a new recruitable companion for players. A new trailer that aired at Comic Con introduces us to the new addition, assassination droid HK-51.

An Imperial transport carrying an army of HK-51s crashed somewhere on Belsavis. The Sith Empire and Galactic Republic are both attempting to wrest control of them away from rogue Sith Lords who recovered them. Players will dive right into the middle of this clusterfuck and get their own HK-51 companion as a result.

The HK-51 is a new model from the same series as HK-47. HK-47, if you recall, was a boss enemy in two of Old Republic's Flashpoints. He was also a recruitable companion in the Knights of the Old Republic games. In addition to wielding an impressive arsenal of weapons, HK-47 had a very entertaining speech pattern (he called non-synthetic life "meatbags"). Presumably HK-51 will have similar personality quirks.

BioWare didn't mention when exactly this droid will be available. They promise that the update adding it will arrive in the "very near future," though.

BioWare wants your assistance in recruiting new players for Star Wars: The Old Republic. If you help out, you'll receive an exclusive in-game speeder for your troubles.

The Kurtob Alliance Speeder is a level 25, Artifact quality vehicle. It provides excellent protection from being knocked off, so you can ride through a pack of enemies with no worries. The speeder admittedly looks a lot better than the other vehicles already in the game, too. It reminds me a little of the pod racers from A Phantom Menace.

Active subscribers can send invites to up to 25 friends. Invited friends can play the first 15 levels of the game for as long as they want. They'll have access to all classes and all origin worlds.

Simply inviting a friend to play Old Republic isn't enough to earn the speeder, though. At least one of the people you invite must buy the game and then either pay for a monthly subscription or redeem a Game Time code.

Old Republic enjoyed a strong launch, racking up over a million subscribers within its opening days this past December. However, it was estimated in May that the player base had dropped from 1.7 million to 1.3 million. That's still a large amount of players but that sort of a drop this early in the game's life is no doubt worrisome to both EA and BioWare.

On a weekly basis, analyst Michael Pachter says something rash about the gaming industry, the Internet goes crazy and I try not to notice. It's hard to ignore him at times, though. For example, he just went on the record saying that subscription MMOs can only go downhill from here. That's just nonsense.

"[Star Wars: The Old Republic] was supposed to bring in all of these new people that had never played an MMO before, just because they loved the brand," Pachter said at the Evolve conference (via IncGamers). "We know that Rift just took players from other existing MMOs, and the same with Conan and Lords of the Rings. Now the same thing has happened with Star Wars."

I missed the part where we put electronic tags on every MMO player and then re-released them into the wild. How do we know that every player of a new MMO came from another game? While there's no doubt a lot of players switching games, the notion that those four games (three of which are based on long-running franchises) all failed to bring in new blood is ludicrous.

That's just a lazy generalization, though. Pachter's next claim was just flat-out wrong:

"It looks to me as though the MMO market is as big as it’s ever going to be – as far as subscription MMOs. People willing to play $15 a month.., there are six or seven million of them. Period."

WoW has about ten million players paying a monthly subscription. Let's be extremely conservative and assume that every other subscriber-based game (Rift, EVE Online, Old Republic, etc.) collectively has a million paying customers. That would mean that Pachter's underestimating the amount of players willing to pay $15 a month by half.

Also, we're just talking about eleven million people currently paying for an MMO subscription. The amount of people potentially willing to pay a subscription is even higher. Why aren't they paying? It could be that there's no game on the market that actually appeals to them. This brings me to Pachter's next statement:

"If Star Wars couldn’t expand it, when it’s made by BioWare, nothing can do it."

First, to reiterate, it probably did expand the market. Second, Old Republic' loss of subscribers is not simply due to subscription fees being undesirable - it's due to Old Republic being undesirable. People did not enjoy playing it anymore and they unsubscribed. There was nothing inevitable about this game's success. There have been plenty of Star Wars games that bombed in the past and BioWare never made an MMO before. As someone who played it from December to April, I can attest to the fact that there are non-financial reasons that someone would conceivably stop playing.

Saying "I don't want to keep paying $15 a month to keep playing Old Republic" doesn't mean that I don't want to pay $15 a month for anything ever. Subscriptions work for Netflix, Xbox Live, cable, and more - why shouldn't they work for MMOs? Oh right, they already fucking do: World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft. Players will pay $15 a month to play a game, but they need to be convinced that it's actually worth $15 a month.

Remember last year in an interview with GI.biz, BioWare's head honcho Ray Muzyka was saying that Star Wars: The Old Republic was different from other free-to-play MMOs and that the subscription model best suited its design structure? Well, scrap all that.

With The Old Republic's sub numbers dropping off faster than a flimsy dress malfunction on an attention-starved celebrity at a red carpet event, the lead designer of The Old Republic is talking about the consideration of a free-to-play model.

Talking with GamesTM lead designer on The Old Republic, Emmanuel Lusinchi, has changed the tune of BioWare from the confident mind-frame they had last year when discussing Star Wars: The Old Republic, saying...

I guess this is good news for people who didn't want to bother with the game because of the high price of admission: $60 to buy the initial game and then an extra $14.99 each month to play the actual game.

Originally, BioWare and EA thought that the game could sustain itself with the tried and not-so-true method of monthly subscription fees. Co-founder of BioWare, Greg Zeschuk originally made the bold claim to Industry Gamers, in regards to premium MMO services, that...

Looks like The Old Republic wasn't that fresh and that new if they're now considering a free-to-play approach. Gamers obviously didn't think that this newest Star Wars MMO was "new" or "fresh" enough.

Emmanuel Lusinchi lamented to PC Gamer that the MMO genre is a tough business and the scaling back of the BioWare staff at the Austin studio has been in result to the declining subscription numbers. Lusinchi further added that...

BioWare plans to make a few tweaks and additions to the game for accessibility purposes in the upcoming 1.3 patch, but don't expect any free-to-play shenanigans to drop anytime soon. The game was originally designed around a pay-to-play, subscription model so it will definitely take time to rework the system for free-to-play gamers.

I haven't played The Old Republic but my general impression was that EA tried to market a World of Warcraft clone as a Star Wars game in hopes of gaining massive subscription numbers and making money on an eight year old concept. I don't think it really panned out quite so well, especially with truly innovative titles on the horizon like FireFall, Hawken, C9 and Age of Wushu, all of which are also free-to-play.

BioWare has decided to trim the development team for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Today they confirmed that they're letting an unknown number of employees go as part of a "restructuring" effort.

"Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality," said BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk on the game's forum. "Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect."

Zeschuk adds that the development team is still "very substantial." They plan to continue adding content to the MMORPG, just as they have been since the game's launch. Some new features they plan to release in the coming months include server transfers and new species.

Old Republic debuted in December of last year. Thanks to BioWare's reputation and the Star Wars license, it attracted a huge number of players right off the bat. The subscriber total at one point was 1.7 million. However, in an earnings report from early May, EA announced that the subscriber base has shrunk by 400,000.

The development team of Old Republic, meanwhile, is massive. BioWare enlisted over 800 people to work on the MMO. Some trimming, especially in the wake of dwindling subscriber numbers, seems inevitable. This sort of news could nonetheless give players a sinking feeling.

It's been a rocky few years for BioWare, mostly ever since they were acquired by Electronic Arts. Gamers have been riding alongside the role-playing storytellers for years and have expressed a deep appreciation for their art and expertise in crafting masterful characters and colorful universes all their own.

I admit that these last few months have not been the best for BioWare. It probably seems like the whole gaming world is out to get them and that fans have turned favoritism into furor. Well, it's not all bad BioWare. We understand your position and guess what? We still love you.

All the vitriol over the Mass Effect 3 ending? Well it hasn't really died away and even though it caused gamers to protest, donate $80,000 to charity which ended in controversy, flame forum boards, create a new watchdog group, and have thousands of cupcakes sent your way, we still love you.

The reason gamers are forgiving is because we know your history, BioWare. We were there with you when you were competing against Activision's MechWarrior and Sierra's Starsiege series with your first ever game, Shattered Steel. We know you helped shape the revolution of RPGs alongside Jagged Alliance and Fallout with your unforgettable, highly replayable medieval-fantasy RPGs, Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.

We were also there standing by you, basking in your glory when you broke ground on consoles with the Xbox exclusive, Knights of the Old Republic. The game set a whole new standard and bar for how console RPGs could be, and then you followed up with the gorgeous and beautifully made Jade Empire...a game that actually let us play Asian people who were fully fleshed out characters and who did more than just shoot fireballs in 2D planes or mimic Bruce Lee in one-on-one fighting competitions.

Then came the masterpiece that put you on the mainstream map of success...the game that changed the face of interactive galactic space-adventures forever: Mass Effect. This game helped shape a generation of profound character studies and story development within the interactive entertainment industry, it was later followed by the equally successful Dragon Age: Origins, which helped further cement your status as a mainstream triple-A ball player...and we loved you for it.

But then...then things started to change. No one wanted your relationship with EA to happen, but it did. And then Dragon Age II happened and we all seen the new relationship as a cancerous thing, like a young girl being wed to a con-artist who had been wed many times before. We knew it wasn't going to end well, but we supported you nonetheless. We knew things were going to get rough, like TORtanic rough, but we loved you just the same.

And then, well...then became now and now is not looking so pretty. "DLC" and "BioWare" in the same sentence now sends chills down our spines, and the name "Shepard" brings us pangs to our heart. We hear the phrase "video game ending..." and we immediately gasp, shake our heads and stare up to the heavens thinking about the ending that never was. We hear "Prothean" and think stripped content. Now, the words "Mass Effect" are bittersweet, like a last meal for a death row inmate...only, he was missing a piece of fried chicken before being sent to the chair. But it's okay, because we still love you.

And even though we know that you're honor-bound by your contract to keep your lips sealed about the horrors you witness under your imperial overlord, we don't hold it against you, we understand. Even when they send you out to do damage control for release dates that should have been pushed back, or content they could have let into the package without a separate price-tag, it's okay, we understand. You were just honoring the marriage, and we still love you.

Now when the time comes, and oh that time will come...when that rickety old con-artist goes to wed himself a new bride, and make him some new kids to turn over some new profits, we'll still be there, BioWare. When that coot sets you out to fry when the eggs are no longer golden, the fur is no longer shiny and the sales are no longer sparkling, we'll still be there BioWare. And when you decide to brush yourself off, clean off the pro-corporate filth, kick off those old marketing shackles and get back to what you loved best and what we loved you best for, we'll be there to support you.

So keep that head up high, because when you go knocking on that KickStarter door to make the game we've been waiting to play since the original Mass Effect, and you come asking real nice for a dime, a dollar, or two, you can bet your bottom bill that us core fans, us loyalists, us pure-bred gamers will be right there holding up our wallets waiting for your return. Because BioWare...we still love you.

Signed,

Your Loyal Fans

EA's fiscal results are in and they are unsurprising. The company made pretty much what they estimated they would, with total revenue reaching $4.14 billion dollars and a final quarter that seen them net a profit of $76 million. The real news, though, is that EA plans to dump $80 million into next-gen software, which should be interesting. However, as everyone has feared, The Old Republic subscription numbers are down.

First up, according to VG 24/7, they give a rundown of EA's financials and if you're curious how the company performed in each market, they basically lay out the details. But let's skip to the interesting bits, EA is investing $80 million into next-gen, but no word on if that means $80 million set aside for next-gen projects (e.g., $20 mil for this game and $40 mil for that game, and maybe $10 mil for two other projects) or if they're literally going to dump all $80 million into one next-gen game. It would seem silly to do the latter given that they could very well port over Battlefield 3 and just turn the graphics up to "Ultra" and call it "next-gen".The number might seem large to some gamers but given that EA's R&D throughout 2011 topped $1.1 billion, you could say that $80 million is throwaway cash for them.

Spending aside, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been plagued with bad news and rumors about losing subscribers. The rumors were true. Originally, the EA viral marketer mentioned that he had lost his job due to poor performance of The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3 (despite Mass Effect 3 racking in more than $200 million since its release), based purely on internal estimations at EA. Later, third-party server status reports indicated drop-offs of player populations on the many servers for The Old Republic. This very same thing was later reiterated by analysts who mentioned that based on their findings the subscription numbers were down for The Old Republic. BioWare and EA neither denied nor confirmed this.

As the reports from EA's fiscal results indicate, the subscriptions have dropped from 1.7 million down to a still respectable 1.3 million. In other words, Star Wars: The Old Republic is not the World of Warcraft killer many people thought it would be.

You can check out the rest of EA's stats over at VG 24/7.

Today, if you're not aware, is Star Wars Day. BioWare has decided to commemorate the occasion by offering a discount on their MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic for the weekend.

Old Republic takes place thousands of years before the Star Wars films. Players take part in a massive conflict between the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire. You can be a brave Jedi Knight or a grizzled bounty hunter, among other things. Each class has a personalized quest line with NPC companions and light/dark side choices. Find out more about it by reading our review.

BioWare has been adding to the game since its launch. Recently they released Patch 1.2, the second major content update to the MMO. It introduced new group PvE and PvP content, as well as a new hub for daily quests. In the coming months they plan to implementGroup Finder and server transfer features.

The weekend discount brings the Standard Edition of the game down from $59.99 to $34.44. The Collector's Edition is still $150, but the Digital Deluxe Edition has been marked down to $44.44 from $79.99. Here's what the Digital Deluxe version will give you in addition to the game:

• Flare Gun: Fires flares into the air.
• Training Droid: Hovers at your side for combat assistance.
• HoloDancer: Project your own holographic dancer.
• HoloCam: Keep visual records of in-game adventures.
• STAP (Single Trooper Aerial Platform): Sleek and unique in-game vehicle.

A new copy of SWTOR comes with 30 days of free access to the game. After that, you'll need to pay for a monthly subscription.

The Star Wars day discount will expire on May 6th. Also note that it's only being offered through the Origin Store.

In the latest question-and-answer session with the Star Wars: The Old Republic community, BioWare promised some big additions to the MMORPG. For starters, they plan to roll out server transfers in a few months.

"We will be rolling out our Character Transfer Service in early summer," said Dallas Dickinson, senior producer of live services. "First we’ll have some targeted free transfers from/to specific servers, but that will be followed with a broader system where you can either take advantage of free promotional transfers to specific servers or paid transfers to the server of your choice. We know everyone has more questions about character transfer, and we’ll reveal more details closer to the launch date."

The population of any MMO inevitably becomes a bit lopsided so the free transfers will probably one way that BioWare tries to correct it. They'll most likely allow players on the most crowded servers to transfer to the lower population servers for no charge. If nothing else, it will help off-set the reverse traffic: the players on desolate servers paying to move their characters to more active homes.

I'm wondering how transfers will interact with the Legacy system. The Legacy system is a way for players to tie all of their characters on a single server together. By earning experience on any of these characters, you unlock new perks for all of them. Will you have to transfer your entire Legacy "family"? If you're only transferring one character, will that affect the Legacy level of the other characters left behind?

Old Republic's next major update will be 1.3. No release window was provided for the update, but it sounds like the wait between 1.2 and 1.3 will be shorter than the wait between 1.1 and 1.2.

"Game Update 1.3 is being kept a bit leaner to get the Group Finder and the next stage of Legacy in the game as fast as possible," said lead game designer Daniel Erickson. "After that we’ll be returning to some bigger updates and we’re hoping [dual character specialization] makes it for the next one."

Erickson also hinted at more long-term plans. They have "big" changes in mind for the Achievements system. Furthermore, they plan to add new playable species to the game.

"Can’t comment on what species you might see, but you can expect the roster of playable species to expand... this year."

BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic has been experiencing a decrease in player activity. Due to its decline, the game servers could be merged.

In speaking with PC Gamer during an interview, the developer's Daniel Erickson stated the amount of concurrent subscribers for Star Wars: The Old Republic playing during peak times has decreased. That said, the quantity of subscribers apparently hasn't experienced a decrease yet.

MMO server population issues tend to snowball. If someone logs on and finds that there isn't anyone else around to do group activities, they might be prompted to play less too. Merging light population servers together to create more active player communities is a common fix for this. While Erickson says server mergers are a possibility, it's not currently a priority.

"Nothing is off the table when it comes to making sure our communities are strong and active on each server," said Erickson. He also said BioWare would carry out "anything and everything" to see the ensure players continue logging in.

One way they hope to make the player base more active is by adding more variety to the daily quests. Patch 1.2 introduced a new quest hub in Corellia. Additional dailies could be added in the future to encourage players to keep logging in.

Currently boasting around 1.7 million subscribers from an initial two million, an analyst believes Star Wars: The Old Republic may experience further decreases in its amount of subs.

There have been rumours circulating around that Star Wars: The Old Republic may not have been living up to the expectations of Electronic Arts' internal estimations. The game was pegged by many within the gaming as the World of Warcraft killer, and when Blizzard released their quarterly results it seemed like that could have been the case. However, analysts are back-pedalling on Star Wars: The Old Republic's potential World of Wacraft kill capacity.

Originally the former, alleged EA viral marketer claimed that EA was going to be scaling down their marketing workforce here in North America because Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3 did not meet internal sales/subscriber expectations. Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz seems to concur with the viral marketer.

In a brief article report from Ars Technica, Creutz points out that EA's estimate of 1.7 million subscribers could be a little further off from the actual amount as time goes on, pointing to calculated estimates and TOR Status as reason to believe that the subscriber base may be a couple of hundred thousand players shy of that 1.7 million mark.

According to the Ars Technica article, Creutz looks at a lot of anecdotal data from within the community (although, forums, chat rooms and community websites make up for a small and dedicated gaming minority for most games and MMOs) and continually sees the same problem arising of people talking about losing guilds, groups and raiding parties due to people dropping out and quitting.

If that seems a little flaky, though, Creutz also points to the aggressive marketing campaign EA recently put into hyper-drive offering all sorts of incentives and events for playing The Old Republic, such as the free game time and free pet, amongst other promotions.

Before this time there were claims that there were more servers than necessary and that said servers have been plagued with barrenness, as reported by Zo Knows Gaming. So Creutz isn't the only one who has come to this précis.

However, the report isn't all about doom and gloom, the Cowen and Company analyst believes that the numbers are more-so around the 1.25 million subscriber mark for the fiscal year. You can learn more about Star Wars: The Old Republic at the Official Website, and we'll continue to keep you posted on additional news regarding all things Electronic Arts.

For the first time, players in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be able to transfer to othewr servers. Unfortunately, they're only letting a small number of players take advantage of these features.

At the moment, transfers are limited to Asia Pacific gamers who bought the game before it actually launched in their region. The ideas is to let players who rolled on, say, an American server to move to a proper Asia Pacific server. It should help their latency quite a bit.

"To qualify for character transfer to an Asia Pacific server, players in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore must have purchased their game, redeemed a Game Product Registration Code and either have or have had entered valid billing information or a Pre-Paid Game Time Card prior to 5:01PM AEDT / 7:01PM NZDT / 2:01PM HKT / 2:01PM SGT on Tuesday, February 28, 2012," reads the fine print from BioWare. "Only characters created before this time qualify for transfers. You can check to see if you qualify by going to your 'My Account' screen on www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com and clicking the 'Asia Pacific Transfers' link on the right-side menu."

Eligible players have until 2:01PM AEST / 4:01PM NZST / 12:01PM HKT / 12:01PM SGT on April 24th to submit their request for a transfer. That's a pretty short window of time considering that they're just announcing this program today. BioWare will begin processing the transfers on that date.

Hopefully this is the precursor to a wider server transfer feature for SW:TOR. Even if a server transfer costs money, it's a nice option to have. It ensures that someone who's interested in, say, raiding can more easily find a guild that fits their needs.

[Update: EA denies that the situation is really bad and says they're always hiring and firing.]

Hey remember that article about the confessions of an EA viral marketer and how one of the most ridiculous things about the whole situation was how much EA literally blew on marketing? Well, that's come back to bite them in the butt hard as they have to lay off up to 1,000 employees due to over-spending in a number of areas, especially marketing.

Startup Grind has confirmed from internal sources at EA that layoffs are incoming and they were originally supposed to happen last Monday on April 9th but they have been postponed to the end of this week.

What's crazy is that everything, and I do mean everything that was mentioned in the viral marketing article is spot on true and that guy really was a former employee: EA's execs are disappointed with the overall sales and subscription numbers of Star Wars: The Old Republic (word is that the subs are slowly decreasing) as well as the sales of Mass Effect 3, which managed to sell about 1.1 million copies in North America.

According to Startup Grind they postulate that the expensive acquisition of PopCap and all the negative press surrounding being named "Worst Company in America" alongside all the beef with Mass Effect 3 has resulted in a very dire situation internally at the company, in which we can only hope that they restructure to be more consumer friendly. With their stock down to $16 as opposed to when it was $100 back in 2006, the company's slowly been driving their own business into the ground.

What's more, is that with nearly $1 billion spent in marketing last year (including more than $30 million in post-launch marketing for Battlefield 3, not including the $50 million they spent leading up to its release) Electronic Arts was bleeding as much money as they were making due to a lot of insensible business decisions.

The viral marketer mentioned that EA had about 560 marketers employed to "troll" and if I were a betting man I'd say everything that guy mentioned is spot on true and that these marketers are the ones getting the axe. In the article we mentioned that EA is currently looking to hire marketing managers in South-East Asia. The viral marketer confirmed that this is where his job was being out-sourced. It would make sense to layoff all the Stateside marketers and eventually outsource to Asia where they'll pay the workers a mere fraction of what they were paying people here in the States.

Also, let's not forget that one of the main selling points of the viral marketer was that EA was eyeing another firm to buyout in order to save face. It's hard to tell if that's actually still an agenda on the table given their current situation, however their 2012 outlook was forecasted at $4.2 billion according to Seeking Alpha, so they still have cash to burn but I'd imagine they're going to be a lot more vigilant about operating costs, which were just obscene in 2011 at a not-so-meager $2.4 billion dollars.

Hopefully the people who are out of work at the company can bounce back, but this crappy economy certainly won't help things.

In the end this is really telling that if you screw with gamers too much they'll screw with you when they Hold The Wallet. Also, it doesn't help when you make a lot of dumb decisions and over-spend with gratuitously grandiose marketing campaigns.

You can check out the rest of the story over at Startup Grind.

Earlier today, BioWare released Update 1.2 for Star Wars: The Old Republic. To celebrate the arrival of this major content patch, they're offering bonuses to both old and new players.

For starters, they're giving out a free Tauntaun Ram pet to everyone with an active account. If you've purchased the game and either signed up for a subscription or used a game time code by today, you'll get the Ram. New players will have until April 21st to sign up and receive the pet.

All players with an active subscription and a level 50 character as of today will also get 30 days of game time. This is meant as a reward to veterans of the game. The cynical side of me believes it helps inflate their subscriber numbers a bit, too.

If you stopped playing Old Republic, BioWare wants you to come back and try the new content in 1.2. Any former subscriber who wasn't banned from the game will be able to play for free from April 13th to 19th. If you reactive by April 21st, you'll be eligible for the Tauntaun pet as well.

Update 1.2 introduces a Legacy system with exclusive in-game rewards. It also adds a new Flashpoint, Warzone, and Operation. This is the second content patch for the game since it launched in December.

BioWare has released the latest content patch for their MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic today. Update 1.2 adds a slew of new content to the game and also makes several fixes.

The patch implements the Legacy system, which allows players to earn extras for all of their characters. For example, you can unlock extra character creation options or starship upgrades. You can also earn special abilities and buffs to make it easier to level alts.

Update 1.2 includes new challenges for all types of players. Ranked Warzones as well as a new Novare Coast Warzone should keep PvP-oriented players busy. Players focused on PvE, meanwhile, have a new Flashpoint and Operation to look forward to.

"The Trandoshan mercenary warlord Kephess has seized the planet Denova, a world rich in resources valuable to the war effort," BioWare says of the new Operation, Explosive Conflict. "Players must assault his war camp, situated atop a mountain in densely-wooded terrain, fighting Imperial defectors and heavy war machines along the way. 8- and 16-player Story and Hard Modes are currently available for this Operation."

The full patch notes for 1.2 can be found on the Old Republic forums. The trailer for Explosive Conflict is below.

Things has really escalated for Electronic Arts these past two months to the point where it almost borderlines on egomaniacal behavior. The company was recently voted as the "Worst Company In America" by the Consumerist including hundreds of thousands of votes gathered from across the web. The result instigated a fiery debate across websites about the veracity of the poll where-as gamers clamored and cheered that the public at large would finally get an idea of why EA is so reviled as a publisher, despite publishing some really great games.

Well, conveniently, just as the heat around EA's "Worst in America" was picking up things quickly diverted to another case involving EA and it had to deal with a supposed protest involving anti-gay communities trying to get EA to rid their games of same-sex relationships. Then another group came into the spotlight, a pro-gay website, Allout.org, trying to petition EA to stay the course and continue providing attention in their games with same-sex content. And then...Allout.org got spammed with a bunch of votes by spam-botters.

The whole thing sounds ridiculous and is quickly fading into obscurity, however, Forbes' Erik Kain has been vigilant in trying to get to the bottom of this convoluted PR mess.

According to the Forbes' article the Allout.org group had no contact with EA and is completely uninvolved with the video game publishing giant. Their petition for EA to stay away from the "Dark Side" has been temporarily halted, though. What's more is that Kain maintains the stance that there is no proof indicating that the whole thing was organized by EA to derail the bad PR from a number of issues happening right now in the industry.

While Kain may lend his view to skepticism of EA's orchestration in the whole matter, I don't think it's too far-fetched to link two and two together.

EA previously pulled a PR stunt by hiring (fake?) Christians to protest Dante's Inferno just to kick up a marketing storm to promote the game during the 2009 E3 event. Recently, it was revealed that even their charitable deeds aren't done entirely for the sake of giving, when they used Child's Play to promote Battlefield Heroes DLC without their permission or knowledge. Child's Play had to clarify the event after they were dragged into a nasty public debate regarding their policies.

A lot of gamers are questioning if Electronic Arts may have used the Allout.org and anti-gay protests to derail a lot of the attention garnered from the Mass Effect 3 ending and the Worst Company in America win. However, since this is EA we're talking about, they've covered their tracks well and in the same way that no one can actually prove that "From Ashes" was purposefully stripped from Mass Effect 3 I tend to doubt anyone will be able to prove that EA had a hand in the PR mess involving the gay protests.

However, for skeptics, just be sure to check out how much money EA actually spends on marketing and it may not sound like such a conspiracy theory in the end.

Image courtesy of Kotaku

BioWare will release the second major content patch for Star Wars: The Old Republic next week. Update 1.2 will go live after an extended maintenance period on Thursday morning.

The Old Republic servers will be taken down at 1 AM EST on April 12th. They're scheduled to go back online with the update at 9AM EST. Maintenance could be extended due to unforeseen issues, though.

"Game Update 1.2 – Legacy introduces new content and features for all Star Wars: The Old Republic players," says BioWare of the new patch. "Earn new rewards and build your family tree with the expanded Legacy System, explore Lost Island, a new Flashpoint, challenge the new Operation: Explosive Conflict, and face off against your foes (or your allies) in Novare Coast, a new Warzone. You can also experience new daily missions on Corellia, customize your User Interface, create a new Guild Bank for your guild, and more!"

The new content is accompanied by a huge amount of bug fixes. They've also rebalanced the character classes significantly. For example, Mercenary healing has been nerfed (fist shake). The two pages of patch notes can be found here.

One of the major gripes that players have about Star Wars: The Old Republic is that it doesn't allow for much customization of the user interface. The next major update to the game, Patch 1.2, will fix that, though. A new video from BioWare previews some of the options players will have for their UI.

Players will be able to choose from two preset UI's. The default is the standard SWTOR interface, with healthbars for your character and target at the bottom of the screen. The "retro UI" preset, meanwhile, moves the chat bar to the bottom left and moves the healthbars to the top left - should look familiar to anyone who played World of Warcraft.

You'll also have the option to do more detailed editing of the UI. You can move or resize every element of the interface. Each part of the UI has other unique options to edit as well. For example, you can specify how many rows and buttons your action bars will have.

Old Republic 1.2 is currently on the public test server. Its release is scheduled for mid-April.

Normally it would take a lot of time and effort to drop $6,000 on video game memorabilia. However, you can lose all that money in one fell swoop by purchasing a life-size statue of Star Wars: The Old Republic character Darth Malgus.

Malgus is one of the most prominent characters in Old Republic. He's a Sith Lord who helps command the forces of the Imperial Army. He's typically the character providing briefings for Sith characters before they embark on Flashpoints. Eventually players of both faction get to fight him as well.

"Capturing the vicious Sith Lord of The Old Republic in startlingly realistic 1:1 scale, the looming figure measures over 7 feet tall and more then 3 feet wide. Each piece is individually hand painted and finished to exacting standards, the trademark of a handcrafted Sideshow Collectibles product," says Sideshow. "Featuring a light up saber, LED light up components in the chest, collar, and wrist gauntlets, highly detailed armor, and a real fabric hooded cape; the Darth Malgus Life Size figure makes a spectacular addition to any collection."

The statues will ship in July. Sideshow requires you to put down a non-refundable deposit of $1,200 that will be charged within two days of your order. Fine details like this might be unnecessary because I doubt any of you will buy one. There you go, though.

Someone claiming to have worked with EA sprouted up on the 4Chan forums, of all places. While it would be easy to roll-eyes and click away, what the chap had to say was rather interesting, as he detailed how his job at EA was basically to "troll" forums and websites to create viral marketing effects and deflect bad press from the inner circles of gaming.

While the news originates from 4Chan the real details emerge on Reddit, where a thread talks about the elephant in the room: why would someone come clean about being an ex-employee of EA where they admit that their job is to professionally troll in order to deflect heat from a game or promote a product with subtlety and professionalism?

Moreover, what this guy had to say was intriguing whether he was actually a viral marketer or not, providing plenty of links and info to backup what he had to say, revealing that...

While that's nothing new and a blind, lipless, autistic man could have told the gaming community the very same thing about EA, the real trick is that this alleged former employee of EA says the company is in a bad place and that they're actually in panic mode because Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3 didn't quite perform to expectations (even though Mass Effect 3 shipped 3 million SKUs in under a week), hence why he was sacked as a viral marketer....

His mention of threads relates to "trolling" popular websites and forum boards and aiming to derail bad publicity and "negative" marketing from spreading. Sort of like those people who are on Amazon right now defending Capcom's inclusion of disc-locked content and trying to discredit the reviews who bring this poor business practice to light.

What's more is that when he reveals a former forum name, posters instantly recognize him as a guy who had been defending Mass Effect 3, Star Wars The Old Republic and Origin for several months, even using Origin to hand out free games during a brief marketing campaign, meaning he's either legit or one of the most dedicated trolls ever.

Anyways, EA actually spent more than $747 million on marketing last year. That's close to $1 billion marketing stuff by paying people to troll; advertising; press events, etc., etc. Can you believe that? consumers are footing bills for marketing campaigns that are just shy of $1 billion. Just imagine how many games could have been made with that money?

Also, he mentions the number one rule about the top misconceptions about the gaming industry, using PR tactics to deflect bad press or publicity from a game like Star Wars: The Old Republic during a phase where the game needed positive press spin. What's more is that just recently The Old Republic has come under fire for having under-populated servers, and possibly not being the World of Warcraft killer that everyone pegged it be, as reported by Zo Knows Gaming. Still, there's no reason to jump on the doom and gloom train, it just points in the direction of truth regarding what Mr. Anonymous says about SW: TOR not being as big as EA expected.

His claims about the company flailing as they begin to hit declines also rings true, which are shown in the links he provided on the forum thread, which you can view here. The company dipped from $100 per share back in 2006 down to $36 per share in 2011, although that's not to say that EA is hurting, they have a forecasted profit stream of $4.1 billion in 2012. But that's info any Joe Schmoe could have looked up. However Mr. Anonymous uses this data to explain the following...

It's true that EA is currently hosting a job drive for marketing managers and personnel in South East Asia, but when aren't big companies hiring PR and marketing agents?

The real meat and potatoes of his post however falls in line with the mention of an upcoming business acquisition. When asked what company it was he simply mentions that...

His mentioning of liquid assets is very interesting because as soon as Zynga went public, CEO Mark Pincus attempted to offload $227 million dollars worth of stock according to GameIndustry.biz, something privately owned companies wouldn't be able to achieve with such ease. This at least gives credence to this 4Chan member's understanding of the business side of the gaming market.

Still, this is coming from some chap on 4Chan who received tons of heat for even mentioning that he was a former marketer for EA and received even more heat when he basically admitted that his job was to professionally "troll" to save face for one of the most hated companies in the gaming industry right now.

However, given the BioWare fiasco, waning momentum for Battlefield 3 and a lot of general heat over all things Origin, is it really hard to imagine that EA may aim to pick up another beloved development studio to try to repair their image and save face with the community? Well, I wouldn't put it past them. Remember they initially did the same thing with Visceral Games, BioWare and Pandemic back in 2008 and recently purchased indie company PopCap Games as an attemp to rebrand the company. But we'll definitely keep our eyes and ears peeled if this acquisition happens to be true. Until then, keep that bag of salt handy.

Star Wars: The Old Republic shipped with an underdeveloped feature called the Legacy system. In Patch 1.2, they'll finally flesh it out. A new developer dispatch reveals what you can expect from this system.

The Legacy system allows you to connect all of your characters on a server together. Previously players were able to set a common surname for all of them. Starting in 1.2, though, you can actually set their relationships in a family tree interface.

There's actually a point to all of this besides story value. By playing the game and earning Legacy levels, you'll be able to unlock access to new abilities that will make leveling new characters easier. For example, the trailer showed a character using hover boots to move around quicker. Other unlockables include social emotes and convenience items. New armor that can be traded between your characters will also start dropping throughout the world.

"The Legacy system is something we're going to support for years," said creative director James Ohlen. "We have a team that's entirely focused on continuing to add abilities, new perks, and some other secret stuff I can't really give details on right now."

Update 1.2, which also adds new PvP and PvE content to the game, is now in public testing. It's expected to go live on public servers in April.

BioWare has released Update 1.2 of Star Wars: The Old Republic on the public test server. The update, called Legacy, is the second major infusion of content for the MMO since its launch in December.

"The biggest change with Game Update 1.2 is the evolution of the Legacy system," said BioWare. "As we first highlighted back in January, players will be able to tie their different characters together in their Legacy family tree. Characters that are placed within a Legacy family tree will then be able to unlock special Legacy emotes and abilities. Players will also be able to unlock different species for any character class in their Legacy."

Update 1.2 also introduces a new Warzone, Operation, and Flashpoint. Other features in the patch include UI customization, PvP rankings, and guild banks. Expect a lot of bug fixes and other tweaks as well.

BioWare expects to release 1.2 onto the live servers in April. The exact release date will depend on how the testing goes, though.

BioWare is opening up Star Wars: The Old Republic to visitors this weekend. They're hosting a free play period so that folks who have never tried the MMORPG before can finally do so.

The free weekend for SW:TOR will begin on Thursday, March 15 at 12:01AM CST. It'll end on Monday, March 19 at 2:00AM CT. Doesn't look like they'll be giving you the option of pre-loading the files beforehand; that's a shame because it's a pretty huge game.

As with any free trial, there are a few in-game restrictions:

• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character cannot exceed level 15. The player will be notified via in-game notifications and chat message once they have hit the maximum level for the trial experience.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will only be able to play on their Origin World, Capital World, the Fleet, all Warzones, and in their first Flashpoint. A message box will appear if a character attempts to go outside of these areas.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to use general chat, trade chat, or PvP chat. The character will only be able to use local chat, group chat, guild chat, and reply to whispers.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to send or reply to mail by other trial characters. However, your character will be able to receive in-game mail during the trial.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to use the Galactic Trade Network or trade with other players.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will only be able to level their Crew Skills ranking to around 40.
• A Weekend Pass Free Trial character will not be able to earn Legacy XP.

After the free weekend concludes, you'll need to pay to keep playing. BioWare doesn't plan to delete characters on trial accounts. Thus, if you decide to subscribe, you'll be able to pick up right where you left off.

BioWare also recently instituted a Friend Trials feature in SW:TOR. A current subscriber can give a week of free game time to a new player.

Yesterday BioWare announced details on Update 1.2 for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Today they provided a trailer that provides a glimpse at all of the changes and new content that will be included in this patch.

The main draw of 1.2 is going to be the new content. The update brings a new Flashpoint, Warzone, and Operation for players to tackle. Players will also have a fresh set of daily missions to tackle on Corellia. The game will offer up new items, pets and more for your hard work.

Update 1.2 also implements the Legacy system. Legacy points are sort of like experience points that are shared between all of a player's characters. Players have been able to earn Legacy points since launch but with 1.2, they'll actually have rewards to unlock. Convenience items, abilities, and character creation options are a few examples of the rewards they can earn.

The patch will also bring Old Republic in line with many other MMOs in terms of other game features. User interface customization, guild banks, and ranked PvP matches will all be introduced in 1.2.

BioWare hopes that 1.2 will go live in April. In the mean time, they've implemented friend trials so you can invite other players to try out the game.

Today BioWare announced the first details on Update 1.2 of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The update, dubbed Legacy, adds a wealth of a new content to the game. The company also revealed that they're implementing free trials for the game.

Starting tomorrow, current SW:TOR subscribers can invite friends to play the MMO. The Friends Trial program gives new players a week of free access to the game. They can play all eight classes up to level 15. Trial members will also be able to buy a digital version of the game at a discounted price.

Update 1.2 will implement the long-teased Legacy system. The Legacy experience you've been earning across all your characters will now be put to good use. Players will be able to unlock different species, as well as convenience items like a mailbox and Galactic Trade Network terminal for their ship. Your companions' affection and moral alignment will benefit from your Legacy level as well.

The update adds a Warzone, Operation, and Flashpoint as well. Here are the details on each:

• Flashpoint: Lost Island continues the Kaon Under Siege Flashpoint from Game Update 1.1 – Rise of the Rakghouls. Players must survive a menacing island of mystery on Ord Mantell as they hunt for clues to the Rakghoul virus outbreak that ravaged the Tion Hegemony. But the answers to this riddle may prove fatal!
• Operation: Explosive Conflict sends groups of eight or sixteen Imperial or Republic players to a new zone on the planet of Denova, where traitors and mercenaries are selling the rare explosive mineral baradium to the highest bidder. Players will battle through hordes of Droids, mercenaries and deadly creatures all fighting for control of the planet and its valuable resources.
• Warzone: Novare Coast pits two teams in an epic battle to control multiple mortar locations and use them to bombard vulnerable enemy bases. Like the Huttball Warzone, Novare Coast can be played Republic vs. Empire or with players of the same faction fighting each other in a thrilling contest of wills to determine each side’s greatest champions.

The new content will be accompanied by a number of other oft-requested features like UI customization and Guild Banks. All in all, it sounds like a pretty huge update. Unfortunately, it won't be out this month as was originally planned. BioWare now anticipates an April release.

There is a way to experience Update 1.2 early, though. Last week BioWare asked for guilds to play-test the content. Space in the test is limited but they're still looking for bodies.

BioWare wants to make it easier for players to tackle group content in Star Wars: The Old Republic. They confirmed this weekend that they're developing a "looking for group" (LFG) feature to help players find each other.

"We are hard at work on a much more robust LFG functionality that will quickly help put groups together while still offering the flexibility to decide how you group and what sort of people you want to be grouped with," said lead writer Daniel Erickson in a community Q&A. "We’ll release more details as we get closer to release."

Right now the primary way to find a group in SW:TOR is by advertising in chat channels. You can also punch in /who and fire off random whispers to anyone of the desired class/level. Both solutions are very awkward and take away from your actual gameplay time.

The Looking for Group tool seen in World of Warcraft and Rift, in contrast, automatically matches you up with other interested players. In both games the LFG tool can even group you with people from other servers to make the wait shorter. Even with cross-server functionality, this matchmaking can take awhile but the point is, you can do something else while you're waiting.

There's no indication from Erickson's quote that they're planning to follow the Rift/WoW model for LFG. Still, any way that they can make the process of finding groups more convenient would be welcome.

A game can really sell an engine. If you didn't already know that when Epic used the original Gears of War to sell the Unreal Engine 3 to a bunch of studios, or Crytek using Crysis to sell the CryEngine to a bunch of studios, then you know now.

Idea Fabrik's HeroEngine was mildly talked about as the next big thing in MMO gaming early in the lifecycle of this generation of gaming, but now it's literally becoming the next big thing in the MMO circle now that more than 5,000 developers have licensed the engine thanks to EA and BioWare's massively successful Star Wars: The Old Republic.

According to GameIndustry.biz, COO Neil Harris explained that...

Star Wars: The Old Republic has been one of the largest MMO projects ever, costing EA more than $80 million in marketing and development costs but easily raked in more than one million players before it was even out for more than a month.

Of course, just because you license the HeroEngine for your MMO doesn't mean that you're going to instantly enrapture a million gamers and your MMO will become a shining beacon of success amongst the turds and failures. It just means you'll have a really snazzy ground-base to work from and you're less likely to see your game crash under various measures of server stress.

For the most part the HeroEngine is receiving positive feedback as a good structure in which to build MMOs and if you're interested in learning more feel free to do so by paying a visit to the Official Website.