Welcome to the Mess Hall, where every other week we will lay bare a new topic to be discussed on the upcoming episode of Combat Chatter. This is the Mess Hall, so eat up, get loud and say what you have to say! There are no ranks here…

No matter how much fun a game company has conceptualizing, developing and maintaining a title, at the end of the day things keep running when the electricity is flowing and your employees are well-paid. The nature of an MMO means constant development even after launch in which players look for continual and inspired entertainment and developers scramble to give them those very things.

It’s been a little over two months since The Old Republic released, allowing the masses of millions who had been eagerly anticipating the title to finally sink their teeth in. Over the past couple months I’ve heard so many opinions on the game, running the full gamut from glorified praise to straight out denouncement. Like any game launch many players have a bit of fun, and then move on. This is expected in the MMO landscape. Still, I wonder how many are currently staying for the long haul, and will those who have left come back for what BioWare has in mind for the future of the game.

Tags: Bioware, EA, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, MMOs, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR

In last week’s Community Q&A on the official SWTOR site, BioWare writers, developers, and designers answered some direct questions from members of the TOR community. A variety of topics were covered including new in-game emotes, quick travel issues, mini-games, crew skills and more.

During the Q&A session Georg Zoeller, or as we like to call him – General Zoeller, hosted a question from community member “Chyp” in regards to combat animations. The General’s answer shed some light on the Trooper’s Mortar Volley and other combat animations we could expect to see in Patch 1.2.

Tags: Bioware, EA, Electronic Arts, Georg Zoeller, LucasArts, Mortar Volley, Patch 1.2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR, Trooper

A few weeks ago we launched RepublicTrooper.com’s Killer Caption Contest, in partnership with Killer Guides, where we asked you to beat our caption for a chance to win…and you did not disappoint!

We would like to thank everyone who participated (you all gave us some big laughs over here) and also thank Killer Guides for providing the schwag to the winners!

5 lucky winners have been selected by the RT staff for beating our caption on the screenshot below. Each of the five winners will be rewarded with a Star Wars: The Old Republic Strategy Guide, furnished by Killer Guides!

Tags: Bioware, Contest, EA, Electronic Arts, Killer Guides, LucasArts, Republic Trooper, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR

TOR Patch 1.1.4 released earlier this week and it brought a lot of miscellaneous fixes and improvements to the game overall. Most notably, the enhancements to the Global Cool Down settings. However many players were hoping that another small fix would make it into the game. A fix so obvious, many of us were shocked it wasn’t in the game at release. What am I talking about? Well…the tried and true /roll or /random feature. Players have been asking for this feature since TOR was still in beta, and today they have cause to celebrate!

Today Amber Green, Live Community Coordinator for BioWare, posted the preliminary patch notes for patch 1.1.5 on the official forums and it looks like our beloved /roll and /random feature will be added into the game when the patch goes live! Patch 1.1.5 also brings along some other good fixes including: fixes to Operations loot, Ilum PvP performance, new high level color crystals, temporarily reduced speeder costs and more! While we don’t know the exact date that patch 1.1.5 is coming to the live servers, we do know it’s currently being tested on the PTR’s, so we can expect it in the very near future.

Tags: Amber Green, Andy Muchmore, Bioware, EA, Electronic Arts, Ilum, LucasArts, Operations, Patch 1.1.5, PvP, speeders, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR

Welcome to the Mess Hall, where every other week we will lay bare a new topic to be discussed on the upcoming episode of Combat Chatter. This is the Mess Hall, so eat up, get loud and say what you have to say! There are no ranks here…

Crafting is an integral part of nearly every RPG these days, whether you slapped the letters “MMO” on the front of that or not. Trade skills allow a player to shape certain aspects of gameplay beyond the core for their character class and species, enabling them to fine-tune the way they approach the game.

In Star Wars: The Old Republic BioWare has enabled several refinements to a system that is very similar to players from games like World of Warcraft and RIFT. Though players are greeted with a familiar UI when they begin crafting, the evolution of the crafting system in TOR goes beyond those limits with the Crew Skill system. With TOR’s launch still being clearly visible in the rearview mirror, many players are already min-maxing on which Crew Skills give them the most bang-for-the-credit, while others are steadfastly sticking with the Crew Skill that they chose first.

What we’re wondering over here at RepublicTrooper is what Crew Skill have YOU focused on since the launch of the game. Did you pick one and remain steadfast and loyal? Or did you fall to the Dark Side of the crafting, giving in to the promises of “quicker, easier, more seductive” that Biochem whispered into the ears of so many players early on? Let us know below!

Tags: Armormech, Armstech, Artifice, Biochem, Bioware, Crew Skills, Cybertech, EA, Electronic Arts, Gathering Skills, LucasArts, Mission Skills, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, Synthweaving, TOR