Star Wars: The Old Republic

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It’s been awhile since my last blog post, and by awhile I mean a few months. Rest assured though, that Iam not dead. In fact, I am not even slightly ill, though I did have a rough day with a BBQ pit, but that’s a story for another time.

So, where have I been, I like to imagine that you are asking your monitor right now, and in response I will answer.

You see, that last few months have been a gamers wet dream come true. Games have been popping up left and right, trying to get on the shelves, so that they can make it under your tree.

These aren’t small games either. These are big name titles! We are talking about powerhouses here! Games like Uncharted 3, Modern Warfare 3, payday, Battlefield 3 and Infamous: Festival of blood. Huge titles, that I have been looking forward to, and thus had to play.

The biggest release though has got to be Star Wars: The Old Republic! Chances are you have heard of this, even if you aren’t into Online gaming. It’s a highly anticipated chapter of the old republic game series, and if you aren’t familiar with that aspect of the star wars era, I strongly urge you to pick up Knights of the Old republic.

The game is made by Bioware, which also made the popular Knights of the Old Republic games, as well as Dragons Age and Mass Effect, and as such is similar in some aspects to all of them! The game has moral choices that Bioware is famous for, as well as easy to navigate conversation trees.

Bottom line: Is the game good? This is a dificult thing to answer. Do you like Star Wars? Do you like Bioware games? Do you like MMORPGs? If you answered yes, to any of those questions, then the answer is: Yes! The game rocks on so many levels!

However, like in all MMORPGs you get Trolls and basically childish dumbasses who come onto the general chat and become an annoyance. They tend to type in all caps, about how the game sucks and how much better the last game they played was.  They like to belittle anyone who plays the game differently from them. Not leveling fast enough? You are a N00B who doesn’t know how to play the game. Level too fast? You are a cheat or a haxx0r. Best case scenario, is you are rushing too fast through the game. They want to control your playtime! You don’t PvP, then you suck. You RP, then you suck. Luckily though, the game has an ignore feature, that doesn’t seem to have a limit to the ammount of names it can hold.

The trolls are a common occurance in any MMORPG though, and shouldn’t push you away from an exceptional game though!

Another thing I should mention is, that the game is very story driven, which for me is great! since I play a game to experience a story, not to rush through and see how fast I can level up and gather phat lewtz.

The game is also fully voice acted. Meaning, that every NPC you talk to will speak to you! Some don’t speak galactic english though, so you will need to read subtitles. However, this full on voice acting helps imerse you into the star wars universe like never before.

Personally, I think this is the best MMORPG on the market currently. Sure, there are other good ones, but this title has made me forget all about them. The player base leaves a lot to be desired though, however the server I ended up playing on, might have just attracted more dicks and douches than other servers. Maybe, that’s what I get for choosing a server simply because it had Darth in the name.

Am I surprised that I liked it? Honestly, I am! I thought I would detest this game! Simply because of my past experiences with Star Wars: Galaxies, which has got to be one of the worst games of all time! I was afraid The Old Republic was going to be similar to that. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

This is NOT a review, simply an endorsement. If this had been a review, I would have discussed the companions, the fact that you get your own ship, and I would have went on about how you can fly to iconic planets, Like Hoth and Tatooine. I however did not, because this is not a review. It’s just me, saying you really should try this game out. Even if you have a crappy older computer. One of the most amazing things about this game, is the fact that it will run on most machines. If you have a semi-modern computer, odds are you can run it. Maybe not at the highest setting, but you should still be able to run, and run it smoothly at the lowest setting.

Related articles

• Star Wars: the Old Republic Launches (games.slashdot.org)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic attracts crowds, server queues require Jedi patience (venturebeat.com)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic explodes with up to 1.5 million pre-release players (digitaltrends.com)

KOTOR Online official

Ok, as of today KOTOR Online is officially announced, even has it’s own spiffy web address. I am really STOKED about this game, and since it’s being brought out by BioWare, I have high expectations! It’s hard not to with classics like KOTOR, Jade Empire and Mass Effect. I mean, how can you NOT have faith in this game company.

Granted, this isn’t the first Star Wars MMO to come out. There was also Star Wars Galaxies, but come on…have you guys played this game? It sucks! It made me wish I had a light sabre so i could stab my eyes out. SOE did what I thought was the impossible, and completely DESTROYED the Star Wars mythos. It took the KOTOR series to restore my faith in the franchise.

I have been wanting to try out Warhammer Online, but instead…I think im going to hold off for the KOTOR online game, and stick with the games i have now.

Voice acting

When I was younger I wanted to be a mobster or a police officer….but then after I grew out of that, I decided I wanted to be an actor. I ended up taking drama classes and even TV broadcasting once I was in high school. I enjoyed both classes, they were fun and involved with what I so desperately wanted to do once I got out of school. I never pursued that however, mainly because the realisation was…I wasn’t an actor, I had no contacts in the field and I had no idea where to even start. So, I let that slip away.

That dream has sorta passed. However not totally, maybe I should say it’s “Evolved”? I still would kill to get into acting, but not in the conventional sense. I think it would be fantastic to be a voice actor, like for commercials or video games(Especially video games!). I would do anything for a chance like that.

You have to admire people who can do voice acting in a video game. I mean, they have to convey emotion strictly through words, they have to act without their visuals…I think that requires a lot more talent than someone in a movie or television. In fact, one of the GREATEST Voice Actors(Or Actors in general) is: Raphael Sbarge. He’s done voice acting in a buttload of Star Wars games(Though probablly most famous for doing the voice of Carth Onasi in the Knights of the Old Republic RPG). He’s also done voice work in Everquest II and more recently “Mass Effect”(Another kick ass Sci-Fi RP that might even rival Kotor, but that’s for another blog entry)..And that’s just to name a few. He’s also done a crapload of other voice works for commercials, Cartoons, promo stuff and documentary type stuff.

The guy basically is the best voice actor available and can project emotion through his voice like nobodies business. He also has a very unique voice that stands out, but not so much as to be “Wow, that voice is weird”. It was actually Raphael who originally made me want to get into voice acting when I played a game he did a voice in ages ago..I think it was Grim Flandango or something? Don’t quote me..was a while ago…but this guy has been doing voice work for so long..is it any wonder he’s so good at it?

KOTOR: Online?

Well, fans of the Knights of the Old Republic gaming franchise should be dancing a little jig..possibly. Apparently there’s a rumor traveling around the rumor mill that the next KOTOR game will actually be an MMORPG. Not sure if this will replace the talked about KOTOR III title, or will be produced alongside(Possibly using KOTOR III to set the stage for the events of KOTOR Online? One can only speculate.)

I am a huge KOTOR fan, and am hoping the rumors are true. I would love nothing more than to play KOTOR online. As for what the premise would be? Could be anything really, but most of the internet populace is hoping for a game set during the Mandalorian wars, and since that’s what the peoples are wanting..i’m thinking there is a fairly large chance the people will get it.

I’ll wrap this up with my speculation on what to expect. I believe KOTOR Online will be KOTOR 3 and will be the final one in the franchise(All good star wars sagas have three chapters, and what better finale than an online version? That’s been something people have been wanting since the first one was released). It will most likely be set during the Mandalorian wars. You will begin the game by waking up in a space ship without any memory of who you are.

No matter what, I am sure it will be good since it’s being released by BioWare.