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…

Legacy Patch 1.2 was The Old Republic’s first major content patch, and with it came a sizable amount of new things to do and see in BioWare’s seminal MMO. Now that the masses have had a month to consume, assess and digest all that new content people have varying opinions on the current state of TOR, and what Patch 1.2—and future patches—will mean to the livelihood of the game.

I know many people (myself included) have been playing more since 1.2 went live, but the dilution of the population on the servers is unmistakable. It has now been confirmed that The Old Republic has shed about 400,000 of its initial subscriber base which would account for a noticeable lack of active players in game. While early subscriber attrition is to be expected in any MMO the question remains…what will BioWare do about the future health of those of us who are still active in TOR?

So let us know, in broad terms, your thoughts about The Old Republic’s most recent patch and the needs for Patch 1.3. Fire away below!

Tags: Bioware, EA, Electronic Arts, Legacy System, LucasArts, MMOs, Patch 1.2, Patch 1.3, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR

Time slows.

Kat pitches forward. Blood splatters my face. I think I scream his name, cry out in horror and in panic. Shells explode all around me, their fragments tearing up the ground behind me, before me and to either side, yet nothing touches me here, in this haven of duracrete. Only Kat.

I rush to him, scrambling on hands and knees. There is so much blood and so it was a shell and not a sniper. Shrapnel has torn into Kat’s neck just below the hairline and above his shoulder blades. I ease him onto his side while I apply a kolto patch. He groans.

“Kat,” I say, desperate to believe him well, that this is nothing but a scratch that looks so much worse than it is. I want him to sit up and laugh and tell me its fine, not to worry. He does none of this.

Tags: Bioware, EA, Electronic Arts, Galactic Republic, Kat, LucasArts, Mike Kern, Shiod, Sith Empire, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, Thirty Six Hours, TOR, Vanmere

When the weekend rolls around it’s time to relax, grab a cold one, sit down with your squad, and catch up on some scuttlebutt. RT is here to provide you with some things that are worthy of talking about over a good pint with a few friends.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Content!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Content is King. I didn’t make that up and I wasn’t the first to say it in regards to MMOs, the guys who started EverQuest were. It’s an axiom that applies to all gaming but is especially important to MMOs, which aren’t supposed to last days, or weeks, or months but years. Everyone has criticisms about what they want in a product, and The Old Republic is no different. One thing that is clear though is that people need more to do in TOR, and Daniel Erickson stopped by over at RPS to talk about that and some other cool stuff.

Tags: Bioware, Daniel Erickson, David Souza, EA, Electronic Arts, EverQuest, F2P, Legacy System, LucasArts, MMORPG.com, MMOs, Rock Paper Shotgun, RPGs, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, TOR, TORWars

Combat Chatter is the official podcast of RepublicTrooper.com

Combat Chatter is back for another episode! This week Dave, Andy and Mike spoke about changes to the Combat Medic Advanced Class in patch 1.2, the new Explosive Conflict Operation, farming Hoth for mega credits, Legacy System system companion buffs, the Rakghoul Pandemic, as well as our most recent Mess Hall poll. You can listen to the show, download the file, check out the guests and view the topics of discussion below.

Tags: Advanced Class, Bioware, Combat Medic, Companions, Credits, Crew Skills, EA, Electronic Arts, Explosive Conflict, Hoth, Legacy System, LucasArts, Patch 1.2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWTOR, The Rakghoul Pandemic, TOR

Republic Trooper hosts Fan Fiction Mondays every week and recently we had the opportunity to sit down with a few other prominent Fan Fiction writers in the SWTOR community. We asked them to share their thoughts on writing and what brought them to a Time Long Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

This week we were priveleged to talk to Dimbo from Dimbo the Trooper. If you don’t already read about his exploits, you can do so here.

Republic Trooper: How did you get into writing? What was the earliest thing you can remember writing?

Dimbo the Trooper: I entered a writing contest from Mos Eisley Radio that involved writing a back story for your main character in SWTOR. After I posted mine I got several emails and comments asking when the next episode was. My initial response was ‘um never?’ It really kind of took off from there. I started to think about Dimbo adventuring through the Star Wars galaxy and it came so easily [that] I had to write it down.

Tags: Bioware, Bootleg media, community, Corellian Run Radio, Dimbo the Trooper, EA, Electronic Arts, fan fiction, Galactic Republic, Keyboard Heroes, LucasArts, Mandalorian Girl, Mike Kern, Mos Eisley Radio, Nothing Gaming, Republic Trooper, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Old Republic, SWATH radio, SWTOR, The Cantina Cast, TOR, TOR Syndicate, Trooper, Wookiepedia, Zotta