An update on Republic Trooper and a massive thank you to all of our readers!

Written By: Andy Muchmore

This past week, July 2nd to be exact, Republic Trooper turned 1 – happy birthday RT! Although it is our birthday week, I felt it was appropriate to update all of you with the status of RT as a whole. Obviously over the past several months things have slowed to a crawl and I would like to personally address the situation.

Three years ago a very good friend of mine, Dave, approached me with the idea of RepublicTrooper.com. At the time I was neck deep in other projects and I was unavailable to help out, even though I was eagerly following the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Over the years I would get phone calls, emails, texts, and the like asking if and when I would be available to “make it happen.” Around May of last year I was finally in a place where I could offer my services to Dave and help build Republic Trooper from the ground up. After several months of planning and development RT saw its first public reader and we were off to the races!

Since that time RT has seen tremendous growth and acceptance within the overall Star Wars: The Old Republic community – and I have to say, all of us cannot thank you enough for being readers, listeners, fans, and for not only playing the Trooper class in game, but being believers in BioWare and SWTOR to begin with. When RT went live we were woefully late to the game, in terms of established fan sites, but we did this for the love of the game, the love of the class, and to be honest – the love of the company that made it all happen. As long time gamers we had faith that a company like BioWare would, without a doubt, blow our minds with their new MMO.

Tags: Andy Muchmore, Ask A Jedi, beta, Bioware, Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, community, David Bass, David Souza, EA, Early Game Access, Electronic Arts, fan fiction, LucasArts, Mike Kern, MMOs, Patch 1.1, Project Titan, R2-DB, Republic Trooper, Sith Empire, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Stephen Reid, SWTOR, Titan Everything, TOR, TOR Syndicate, TORWars, Trooper

Always in Motion is The Future is our column that deals with general news and information regarding The Old Republic based facts and finally spiced with the unique perspective of Republic Trooper.

The Legacy system was one of the core features which were highlighted by BioWare long before The Old Republic found its way onto millions of PCs spanning the globe. A system that builds upon each character’s achievements to pass down power, knowledge and items to later generations…

The Legacy system is a treasure trove for players who enjoy playing several different characters. There are some problems inherent with the system however. Most notably is the fact that nearly all of the features currently implemented with the Legacy system are tailored only for that single purpose of playing multiple characters, colloquially known as “alts” in the MMO-space.

In my opinion this accentuates an already common problem with The Old Republic, and that is the fact that players don’t feel particularly invested in any single character. Roleplaying games often build community around a player playing a particular character, and even when alting many players are still referred to by their “main” character’s name. Alting has become more and more common over the evolution of the MMO however, and The Old Republic seems to be the first title to take such a keen focus around the idea with the Legacy system.

Tags: AoE, Baldur's Gate, Bioware, David Souza, Dragon Age, EA, Electronic Arts, EverQuest, Fortification, Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Legacy System, LucasArts, Mass Effect, Millenium Falcon, MMOs, Slave-I, space combat, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR, Trooper

Always in Motion is The Future is our column that deals with general news and information regarding The Old Republic based facts and finally spiced with the unique perspective of Republic Trooper.

Whew! Talk about a controversial topic! The official Star Wars: The Old Republic forums are blowing up with this idea and both sides of the spectrum have something to say about it. Some people really want the ability to “re-spec” their advanced class, and other people are completely against it. I’ve dissected those threads and am prepared to lay out both sides of the argument so that you can make an informed judgment on this topic as well.

Tags: Advanced Class, Amanda Nelson, Ask A Jedi, Bioware, Combat, Comic Con, Commando, community, developers, DPS, dual spec, EA, Electronic Arts, Flashpoints, guild, healing, Heroics, Jedi Sage, Jedi Shadow, LucasArts, MMOs, Operations, PAX, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Stephen Reid, SWTOR, tank, TOR, TORWars, Vanguard

Always in Motion is The Future is our column that deals with general news and information regarding The Old Republic based facts and finally spiced with the unique perspective of Republic Trooper.

Full Auto and Mortar Volley are two of the Gunnery Commando’s bread and butter abilities. They are both received early in the leveling process (at level 3 and level 10, respectively) and not only do they help carry you to Level 50, they form a very important part of a Gunnery Commando’s DPS and utility at max-level.

Tags: ability delay, Adam Fitzgerald, Alliance, Bioware, Blizzard, Bounty Hunter, combat log, Commando, Death from Above, DPS, EA, Electronic Arts, Flashpoints, Full Auto, Galactic Republic, Georg Zoeller, Gunnery, Horde, LucasArts, Mortar Volley, Operations, pushback, PvP, Republic Trooper, Sith Empire, Stabilizers, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Steadied Aim, SWTOR, TOR, Trooper, Unload, Voidstar, Warzones, World of Warcraft

Always in Motion is The Future is our column that deals with general news and information regarding The Old Republic based facts and finally spiced with the unique perspective of Republic Trooper.

Interrupting your regularly scheduled transmission for this very important message: Get the Physical Security Key. It is one of the best tools available to keep your account safe and as you know, Troopers like to keep things secure. Beginning transmission…

Tags: Bioware, Collector's Edition, EA, Electronic Arts, Facebook, iPod, LucasArts, Mobile Security Key App, Security Key, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, Timothy De Block, TOR, Twitter, World of Warcraft, WoW