Imperial Agent Intel

It seems that there is a leak somewhere in Imperial Intelligence, as today a whole lot of classified information on the Imperial Agent has been made public. (Okay, so it was really just BioWare doing their usual Friday update, but I thought that sounded more interesting). We got information on their Advanced Classes, on one of their companions, on one of the alien species they can be, on their spaceship and even a gameplay video. Here is the official news:

The Imperial Agent class delivers an experience unlike any other in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, and this week, we’re excited to share new details that highlight what makes the Agent so unique.

Learn about the Agent’s Advanced Classes and the combat tactics they rely on. Specialize as a Sniper and leverage distance and concealment to get an edge on your enemies, or master stealth, surprise, and combat medicine to become a versatile and deadly Operative.

In addition, check out the following updates for more intel on the Imperial Agent class:

• If you’re looking for a companion with attitude, visit the Biographies section to read about the Agent’s dangerously charming Rattataki companion, Kaliyo.
• Aliens are incredibly rare among the ranks of Imperial Intelligence, but if that sounds like your kind of character, be sure to inspect the new Chiss Inhabitants page for information on this enigmatic species.
• The Imperial Agent’s sleek starship is one of the most unique models in the galaxy. Check out the X-70B Phantom-Class Prototype in the starships section to get a tour.
• Last but not least, watch the new class gameplay video to get a look at the Agent in action!

I must say that I'm really liking the sound of the Imperial Agent class. It's definitely going to be my class if I play Empire. In fact, I'm considering switching my main to it (though the lure of the lightsaber is strong). I mean, I just love the sleek design of that ship, just look at it:

Additionally I've got some character design for an Imperial Agent that's more evolved at the moment than what I've got for my Jedi, so who knows. Maybe I'll just have two main characters and alternate between them. But yeah, quite enjoyed today's update.

Oh, and George Zoeller had a quite note on the forums about the Agent's healing ability compared to the Smuggler's:

Agents and smugglers are equally capable on the healing front.

And that's it. Have a happy Halloween.

Fan Friday and Biographies

Last Friday BioWare made another "Fan Friday" post and updated the HoloNet with three more Biographies.

The Fan Friday consist of the usual fan art, polls, new smilies and avatars for the forums and a few new wallpapers:


But as usual the most interesting bit is the Developer Corner where this time Senior Concept Artist Ryan Dening talks us through making a piece of concept art of Kaas City:

The purpose of this concept was to revisit Kaas City. A lot of the work had been done earlier on, and we felt there were things we could do to make it so much cooler.

We already had a view of the city since it had been built in-game, but we wanted to integrate it into the surrounding landscape better and give the Imperial city its own architectural style. Also, we wanted to establish a stronger mood and define the Citadel better (main central building). I started with screenshots from the game to make sure I wasn't moving anything important and to make sure I captured the player’s view.

For inspiration I looked to the sketches of Coruscant by Ralph McQuarrie. Some of them have a dark gothic feel and I wanted to portray that in the Sith Empire's capital city. Clint Young had done an earlier concept of the Citadel, and I wanted to re-incorporate some elements from his design. Our style for the Empire is very angular so I felt that should be reflected in their architecture, as well.


I went into the game and took screenshots of the view I wanted to capture looking out towards the Citadel.


I kept the front platform and the building to the left as I knew they were going to stay. I added in some perspective guides to help me keep everything in-line, and then I loosely blocked in some shapes and colors to get the overall composition.


In order to refine the shapes and designs, I began building up forms with highlights and shadows. I cut in some details for the foreground building on the left from an existing concept Clint had done, and started adding some finer details like windows for scale.


The finished concept. I filled out the lighting and continued to refine details. From here, individual elements can be broken out in more detail for the environment artists to build.

Get the entire Fan Friday update in the official post.

The second update this Friday was the addition of three new character to the HoloNet's Biographies section adding a renegade ex-Republic General, a disillusioned Republic diplomat, and a mysterious Imperial Spymaster. Here is the official news:

Meet more of the compelling characters you’ll interact with in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. New additions have been added to the Biographies section of the HoloNet!

This update includes profiles of some of the most enigmatic characters in The Old Republic Era: the renegade ex-Republic General, Bouris Ulgo; the disillusioned Republic diplomat, Diab Duin; and the mysterious Imperial Spymaster known only as “Keeper”.

If you haven’t visited the Biographies section in awhile, you’ll notice that a few companion characters have been added as well. There are still more to come, so check back regularly.

For those somewhat disappointed with the update Director of Marketing, Leo Olebe, made a post on the official forums:

Hi Folks!

I'm fairly sure that I'm the last person that you want to hear from, but I wanted to chime in and say that we love your enthusiasm for the game and ongoing support. I know that it can be frustrating when we don't reveal new, specific game system information. Remember, the story and lore of the game is very important, thus the steady stream of content that is focused on learning more about the galaxy that you will adventure in. As we've always said, when things are at a quality level where we are ready to reveal them, we will. We never want to promise something that we aren't ready to commit to.

I can tell you that we have some game system stuff coming up that I think you'll like. Yes that's a tease, but never fear - we "hear" you and want to provide you with lots of great info to chew on.

Leo

Can't wait to hear what game system stuff they've got coming up. Though I like reading about the backstory of the game as well.

Daniel Erickson on Sith Purebloods

Daniel Erickson made another post on the official forums, giving a bit more explanation on the meaning of "Pureblood" in "Sith Pureblood":

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawnk So... if the Sith species was extinct during the first KOTOR (or so says the loading screen that I just saw) then how are they justifying Sith Pureblood as a playable race in SWTOR?

Hey folks,

Happy to clarify.

In the time of KOTOR, the Republic believed all of the original Sith Empire had been destroyed. Those who had not been killed were chased far into deep space where nobody had ever returned from. Thus Revan's surprise when coming upon them and his dedication to going back to stop the threat when his memory returned.

That said, the Sith "Pureblood" in SWTOR are anything but pure Sith (from a species point of view). The name is a vanity. In the last 1000 years it has become clear that there is a direct correlation between those with enough of the old Sith blood in them to still be born with original Sith species traits (red skin, etc) and Force Sensitivity. While not any stronger in the Force than the more human Sith, it is extremely rare to find a "Pureblood" who is completely without Force Sensitivity. Thus those with the marks of the old Sith have come to call themselves "Purebloods" with the obvious insinuation that they are superior to those without. The more Sith species features (face tendrils, etc) one has, the more superior they can claim to be.

All of this is, of course, purely the realm of fashion and societal politics. While no non-Pureblood would stand up and say the entire claim was foolish (the Pureblood rate of Force Sensitivity is exponentially higher than those without and besides many of the Emperor's inner circle bear the red skin) the majority of the Dark Council are not Purebloods. Showing that, in the end, talent and a lightsaber win out over bloodlines and a haughty pedigree.

Hope that helps!

Sounds like a perfectly suitable explanation for the Sith to me.

Timeline 10: The Fall of Exar Kun

The tenth Timeline update, revealed by BioWare today, looks at the history of Exar Kun, his fall to the dark side and how he was defeated. Here's the official news:

The stories of Exar Kun’s fall to the dark side and his campaign of destruction against the Republic have been told as warnings to Jedi Padawans for generations. After witnessing the return of the Sith Empire, Master Gnost-Dural has realized a new relevance to Exar Kun’s role in history.

BTC 347 – Decades before the outbreak of the Mandalorian Wars, a promising Jedi named Exar Kun began exploring the secrets of the Force. Despite the warnings of his Masters, Kun didn’t hesitate to experiment with the dark powers of the ancient Sith. After being confronted by the spirit of the fallen Sith Lord Freedon Nadd, Exar Kun harnessed the power of the Sith Temples on Yavin 4 and embarked on a campaign to destroy the Republic and the Jedi Order. After aligning with the Krath Cult and fellow fallen Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma, Exar Kun’s armies managed to destroy the Jedi library on Ossus, but that was to be his final victory before being betrayed and defeated. Centuries later, the Jedi have learned that Exar Kun’s campaign took place even while the ancient Sith Empire remained in exile on Dromund Kaas. Jedi Master Gnost-Dural now asks, if Exar Kun’s rise to power was encouraged by the spirits of the ancient Sith, what might this suggest about their support for the resurrected Sith Empire?

Watch the latest Timeline holorecord, The Exar Kun War narrated by actor Lance Henriksen.

You can also download a high resolution version of this video.

And here is the full text transcript:

THE INFAMOUS SITH LORD EXAR KUN HAD NO RELATIONS WITH THE TRUE SITH EMPIRE, BUT HIS FALL TO THE DARK SIDE SET THE STAGE FOR THE MANDALORIAN WARS AND THE EVENTUAL FALL OF REVAN AND MALAK.

AS A YOUNG JEDI KNIGHT, EXAR KUN EXHIBITED A STRONG CONNECTION TO THE FORCE. THROUGH LONG PRACTICE, HE ACHIEVED UNPARALLELED PROWESS IN LIGHT SABER COMBAT.

SEEKING TO EXPAND HIS KNOWLEDGE AS WELL, THE YOUNG JEDI DELVED DEEPER INTO HIS STUDIES OF THE FORCE AND IGNORED HIS MASTERS’ CAUTIONS, BELIEVING HIMSELF IMMUNE TO THE DRAW OF THE DARK SIDE.

THE JEDI COUNCIL GREW CONCERNED, OBSERVING THAT EXAR KUN’S THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE WAS STARTING TO RESEMBLE A THIRST FOR POWER.

BUT HE WAS ALREADY BEYOND THEIR REACH.

TRAVELING TO THE ONDERON SYSTEM, KUN ENCOUNTERED THE SPIRIT OF THE ANCIENT SITH LORD FREEDON NADD.

THE SPIRIT DIRECTED THE YOUNG JEDI TO WHERE HE MIGHT FIND THE POWERFUL SECRETS HE SOUGHT.

VENTURING INTO THE SITH MAUSOLEUMS ON KORRIBAN, KUN FACED TESTS FROM THE FALLEN SITH LORDS.

WHEN HE EMERGED, HE HAD PASSED THE POINT OF NO RETURN.

HIS FALL TO THE DARK SIDE WAS INEVITABLE.

TO COMPLETE HIS INDOCTRINATION, EXAR KUN JOURNEYED TO YAVIN-FOUR. THERE, LIKE OTHERS WHO CAME BEFORE AND AFTER, HE ENCOUNTERED THE FEARSOME MASSASSI WARRIORS CREATED BY NAGA SADOW.

THE MASSASSI CAPTURED EXAR KUN AND OFFERED HIM AS A SACRIFICE TO AN ANCIENT SITH WYRM.

FACING DEATH, KUN FULLY EMBRACED THE DARK SIDE, AND CHANNELED HIS HATRED TO KILL THE WYRM.

EMPOWERED, THE YOUNG SITH LORD THEN ENSLAVED THE MASSASSI AND RECOVERED AN ANCIENT SITH BATTLESHIP ABANDONED CENTURIES EARLIER BY NAGA SADOW.

HOWEVER, RULING YAVIN-FOUR WAS NOT ENOUGH.

SEEKING TO ESTABLISH HIMSELF AS THE UNDISPUTED DARK LORD OF THE SITH, EXAR KUN ATTACKED THE KRATH CULT OF THE EMPRESS TETA SYSTEM.

AMONG THE KRATH, EXAR KUN CAME FACE-TO-FACE WITH ANOTHER FALLEN JEDI WHOSE STRENGTH MATCHED HIS OWN—ULIC QEL–DROMA.

QEL-DROMA HAD FULLY EMBRACED THE DARK SIDE AFTER UNSUCCESSFULLY TRYING TO INFILTRATE THE KRATH AND DISMANTLE THEIR CULT FROM WITHIN.

AFTER A LONG BATTLE AND A LENGTHY DUEL, QEL-DROMA AND EXAR KUN JOINED FORCES: EXAR KUN AS THE UNDISPUTED DARK LORD OF THE SITH; QEL-DROMA AS HIS APPRENTICE.

AFTER A LONG AND LENGTHY DUEL, QEL-DROMA AND EXAR KUN JOINED FORCES: EXAR KUN AS THE UNDISPUTED DARK LORD OF THE SITH; QEL-DROMA AS HIS APPRENTICE.

THEIR ARMIES—KRATH AND MASSASSI—COMBINED TO FORM THE INFAMOUS ‘BROTHERHOOD OF THE SITH’.

THE BROTHERHOOD THEN WAGED A RUTHLESS WAR AGAINST THE REPUBLIC AND THE JEDI.

AFTER WINNING SEVERAL BATTLES, THE SITH ATTACKED THE JEDI LIBRARY ON OSSUS.

THERE, EXAR KUN SLEW HIS FORMER MASTER, AND QEL-DROMA STRUCK DOWN HIS OWN BROTHER.

OSSUS WAS DESTROYED IN THE BATTLE.

THE SITH WERE VICTORIOUS, BUT THEIR TRIUMPH WAS SHORT-LIVED.

REMORSEFUL FOR KILLING HIS BROTHER, QEL-DROMA ABANDONED THE DARK SIDE AND BETRAYED EXAR KUN.

THE REPUBLIC DROVE KUN BACK TO YAVIN-FOUR, WHERE THE DARK LORD ENACTED A RITUAL, SACRIFICING HIS ARMIES TO KEEP HIS SPIRIT ALIVE.

THOUGH UNABLE TO DEFEAT HIM ENTIRELY, THE JEDI WERE ABLE TO IMPRISON EXAR KUN’S SPIRIT IN THE TEMPLES ON YAVIN-FOUR.

FROM WHAT WE KNOW, IT REMAINS THERE TO THIS DAY.

WE CAN LEARN MUCH FROM EXAR KUN’S STORY. OF GREATEST INTEREST IS SIMPLY THE FACT THAT HE WAS NOT ALIGNED WITH THE SITH EMPEROR IN EXILE ON DROMUND KAAS.

THE FACT THAT THE SPIRITS OF THE ANCIENT SITH LORDS SUPPORTED EXAR KUN SUGGESTS THAT THEY DID NOT, AND PERHAPS DO NOT, SUPPORT THE SITH EMPEROR WE FACE TODAY.

WE HAVE VERY LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EMPEROR OR HIS EFFORTS TO REBUILD HIS EMPIRE IN EXILE.

I WILL REVIEW THE DETAILS WE DO HAVE IN MY NEXT REPORT.

Interesting thought from Master Gnost-Dural there that the spirits of the ancient Sith Lords might not support the Sith Emperor. He could be right. Or he could be wrong and the spirits were playing a long game that's much deeper than the Jedi master could see through. Or perhaps the Sith spirits don't really care who becomes Dark Lord of the Sith and are justas happy to back one as the other; as long as a Sith Lord ends up ruling.

What's also interesting is how often Yavin 4 has been mentioned now in various official SWTOR sources. At this point it would be really surprising if the planet is not included in SWTOR as a playable planet (perhaps one for high-level raid dungeons as it's sure stressed often enough how powerful and dangerous the various creatures on the moon are). After all, what's really the point of this update if it doesn't somehow come back in the game?

EA Louse Dishes Dirt On Warhammer

It's quickly making the rounds online, but it seems that a blogger styling him(or her)self as "EA Louse" (in a wordplay on "EA Spouse" made a rather condemning post towards EA and, particularly, BioWare Mythic.

The truthfulness can, of course, be very much put into question. There is absolutely zero evidence that this isn't all just some made-up hoax. Though similarly there's little evidence to say that it's all false.

Either way the poster seems to have made the post in a rather disgruntled state, claiming to have found out that he (or she) will soon be fired in another round of layoffs come this November apparently. The poster comes across as an artist (possibly an animator) who worked on Warhammer Online and is now airing a whole list of grievances towards how the development of that project went.

You can read it all at the blog (as well as several posts made in the comments by the blogger). But for us the most relevant bits are where the poster talks about Star Wars: The Old Republic. And, according to the poster, it isn't pretty:

And Bioware? Don’t make me laugh. They’ve spent more money making the Old Republic than James Cameron spent on Avatar. Shit you not. More than $ 300 million! Can you believe that?

And you know what they’re most proud of? This is the kicker. They are most proud of the sound. No seriously. Something like a 20Gig installation, and most of it is voiceover work. That’s the best they have. The rest of the game is a joke. EA knows it and so does George Lucas,they’re panicking , and so most of Mythic has already been cannibalized to work in Austin on it because they can’t keep pushing back launch.

Old Republic will be one of the greatest failures in the history of MMOs from EA. Probably at the level of the Sims Online. We all know it too ……

Again, how much of it is true is anyone's guess at the moment. The poster could be telling the truth, the poster could be understating the truth, the poster could be making the whole thing up, heck the poster could quite possibly not work for EA at all and be some disturbed kid in a bid for fame.

If there is truth to it then there's a few things to remember. One, when people lose their job or are otherwise upset then things tend to look very grim and everything tends to look amplified in the negative direction. Secondly it's all a matter of perspective and the poster might be judging the thing completely wrong or completely misunderstanding the situation; the poster doesn't sound like someone very high up so can only guess at a lot of the motivations. And third, regarding SWTOR the poster probably doesn't have that much more inside knowledge than the rest of us (the poster isn't working on SWTOR directly and only gets things from hearsay and speculation within the company). It's certainly not unusual for game developers to move members from one team to another, particularly one that it very, very big and is very, very much in the spotlight. That doesn't mean that the project is in trouble. It's also quite possible that the poster is somewhat disgruntled over the MMO (s)he worked on not doing very well in the end and all attention now seeming to go to SWTOR; it might be some kind of vindication if SWTOR fails too ("see, it wasn't our fault but it was EA's fault").

Of coruse, all of that is speculation on my part. it's also possible that it's all true.

Well, at least apart from the part where he talks about how Sanya lost her job as she, in turn on her blog, points out that that wasn't quite how things went. Again, that could just be the difference of perception and speculation.

Either way, whether it is true or not, I am sure that this isn't the right way to air one's grievances however much people might be applauding the daring of making such a post now. I've got a feeling that EA's legal team isn't going to be happy regardless of whether it's true or not.

And regarding SWTOR nothing has really changed. The game could still be great, the game could still be terrible; we still won't know until the game is released and we're all playing it by the (potentially) millions. The only thing that has changed perhaps is that a few more people might be aware of the possibility that, despite all the marketing and hype around SWTOR, this game could actually be bad. But I could've told you that without such a blog post.

Take it how you wish. I'm labeling it as "rumor".


[link] to EA Louse's blog post.
[link] to Sanya's response to the blog post.

Ilum: Dark Plans for Power?

Today's official update is a planet reveal. And a surprising one (to me anyway) at that. After Hoth already having been revealed I'm surprised to see another ice planet. But regardless, BioWare revealed that they have included the ice planet Ilum in the game. Here is the official news:

With the final outcome of the war between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic still undecided, the icy planet Ilum sits squarely in the cross-hairs. The crystals that grow here in abundance are the source of incredible power and possibility. Jedi and Sith alike have long sought them for their Lightsabers, but the ramifications may go much deeper.

Recently the Empire launched a major assault against the Jedi on Ilum, destroyed the Order’s sanctuaries, and initiated an ambitious operation of unknown intent. With its forces already spread thin, the Republic has been unable to strike back in such a remote region, but what price might they pay for losing this valuable resource?

Access the HoloNet to learn more about Ilum. Check out this video to see images of the icy terrain, as well as the crystals themselves. Also, don’t forget to visit the media section for never-before-seen screenshots, concept art, and wallpapers showing the scene from every angle.

And as usual they also have a new wallpaper for the planet:

Learn more about the planet, as well as look at new screenshots and concept art, on the HoloNet page.

Daniel Erickson on Quest Content

On the official forums Daniel Erickson made a rather sizable post detailing the kind of quest content that you'll encounter in Star Wars: The Old Republic. This ranges from your class quests to world quests and beyond. Here's the entire post:

This one can get confusing as there is a great deal of content in the game, all geared for slightly different experiences. So let's get to it, yes?

--There is no repeated content across factions. Easy enough.

--Every Class has a completely unique storyline with their own companion characters and quests that takes them from the very first level through the very last and leads them naturally into the end game content. We call these Class Quests.

Now the questions and ideas that can be harder to get your head around if you haven't yet been one of the few lucky ones to actually play the game.

--"Is all your faction specific content Class Quests?"

Absolutely not. It's a multiplayer game, built for multiplayer storytelling. Which means all classes in a faction will have access to all of the same content except the Class Quests.

--"What is the breakdown between Class Quests and multiplayer quests?"

On the Origin worlds it's about 60% Class Quests, dropping to about 40% on the Capital worlds and then even lower for the rest of the game. The whole idea is to get you into the game, teach you about your class and your story, then get you out there playing with other people. We need to meet Obi-Wan, get our lightsaber and learn about the rest of the galaxy, but then it's time to get the gang together and go to war. We're still going to take breaks and run off to Dagobah but that's now the minority of our story. So the game very purposefully starts with more single player content and then moves strongly towards content that can be played multiplayer.

--"What are all the different types of multiplayer quests?"

Whew, that one's a big list but I can hit the major stuff. 1) World Quests: One-offs or short chains built for easy pick up and play. Grab a PUG or your friends and have a short adventure together. 2) World Arcs: Epic quest arcs that go from four to ten quests or more and follow a storyline across an entire planet. Big decisions and branching questlines you may have to play multiple times (in different playthroughs, they're not repeatable) to see all the content. Built for long play sessions or a series of short sessions where you and your group want a huge adventure that may stretch over tens of hours. Also very PUGable as long as you're grabbing like minded folks. 3) Flashpoints: Instanced, heavily scripted major story and action pieces built for groups to go in and get the very best of BioWare's multiplayer storytelling. Built to be played in a single sitting.

Now here's the fun part. Our multiplayer content has lines, choices and content that is specific to each class and content that is only there if you're in a group. Did the Jedi Consular really just convince the Sith boss to stand down and not fight us? Did the Bounty Hunter really just shake down the Moff for more money? Did the Smuggler just leave the group with that attractive quest giver? Um...are they coming back? It's fun to replay the game and see all the different content but it's also a blast to play with friends and be completely surprised by what they say. Often you'll find yourself saying "Okay, that clearly was not one of my dialogue options!"

Hope that helps!

He later made another, smaller, follow-up post explaining about solo-ability of quests. Here is the second post:

Hehe. One more time!

Multiplayer quests can still be played solo! Though a few really challenging ones are really better with friends or you'll have to wait a few levels...

The vast majority of your Class content can still be done with friends! There may be a time you turn to your group and say "I need to talk to my crazy, world-destroying dad alone. Give us a minute?" but that's the exception to the rule.

Hope that helps!

Yes, Daniel, that certainly helps. I'm personally particularly glad to hear confirmed that multiplayer quests can be played solo. Particularly since the Class Quests apparently taper off after the origin world.

On a different note Darth Hater has some quotes from a Q&A with Damion Schubert. It's from a panel about 'grind' in MMOs held during GDC Online (which took place these last few days). There's nothing specific about The Old Republic in it, but might help to shed a bit of light on some general thinking. Anyway, here's an excerpt from Darth Hater's post:

Comment: Achievements in singleplayer games don't necessarily feel grindy but achievements in multiplayer games can feel grindy.

Damion Schubert: Possibly yes, I have actually found plenty of singleplayer game achievements that were incredibly stupidly grindy as well. Part of what you see a lot of these companies trying to do is they are actually trying to move the hardcore game play to the achievements in order to get the grindy, really hardcore stuff off of the main critical path. So everybody can hit max level and the hardcore why don't you try this stuff out here. Part of that is that there are a lot of players who won't log into these games unless they have something to do and the achievements offer a way for designers to create those things vaguely cheaply and make them very much with varying levels of difficulty and insanity to accomplish. So I think when you see that what you see is them to some degree trying to make content because otherwise, I know some people may disagree with me, but I know a whole bunch of players and I am the player type that's like "Oh, I don't have any quests or objectives to do." "Why am I here?" "Why am I not playing another game?"

That's it for the moment, though later today we should get another official Friday update.


[link] to Damion Schubert Q&A at Darth Hater.

Sean Dahlberg moves on to Faxion Online development

Sean Dahlberg has been, for nearly two years, the Community Manager for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Then about a month ago news came that he had left BioWare.

We now know where he went to as Massively reports that he's working on design for the free-to-play PvP MMO Faxion now. Here's Massively's news:

For some of our readers, the idea of managing the community for Star Wars: The Old Republic would be a dream job. (How well this lines up with understanding what community managers actually have to do is debatable.) Sean Dahlberg, however, has apparently decided that he's had quite enough of that scene, so he's packed up and moved on to UTV True Games and Faxion Online. It's a bit of an odd move, and Dahlberg has put up a short entry on his personal blog explaining why he's moved on and what he's moving on to do.

Faxion Online is a free-to-play game focused on the war between Heaven and Hell, with what Dahlberg describes as a sense of humor resembling that of the inimitable Dungeon Keeper franchise. He explains that while he enjoyed working with communities, he wanted to get back into designing fun systems for an actual game, and he felt that he could make a larger contribution by shifting focus to his current occupation of Senior Game Systems Designer for Faxion. For more details and a few more tidbits about what's planned for the free-to-play title, take a look at his full entry.

As the news mentions Sean posted some details about the move on his blog.

Having never heard of Faxion before it came as quite a happy coincidence that MMORPG.com has a chance to check the game out at GDC Online (which is going on in Austin as I write this). Here's an excerpt:

True Games, recently acquired by UTV, has several online games in their development stable. They include Warrior Epic, Mytheon, Sky Legends and Faxion (Fac-shun) Online. Faxion is their first completely internal project and Creative Director Mike Madden was on hand to show off the game. Mike’s game credits include stints at Ubisoft, Wolfpack Studios and Stray Bullet. With MMO Shadowbane under his belt, he is no stranger to PvP focused MMOs which is what Faxion Online is all about.

You are a lost soul, finding yourself in Limbo. You can redeem yourself… or not. In Purgatory City, you make your choice. Will you fight for Heaven or for Hell? Will you gain your horns and demon wings or will you gain your halo and angel wings? Who will command the seven deadly sins? Heaven, or Hell?

I'm not sure if it's my kind of game, but I can understand wanting to work on developing a game rather than managing a game's community. And perhaps I'll give the game a shot when it's out (though somehow I doubt it; PvP isn't my thing). Either way, the best of luck to Sean and the team at UTV True Games.


[link] to news at Massively.
[link] to Sean Dahlberg's blog post.
[link] to Faxion impressions article at MMORPG.

BioWare Blog: Designing the Advanced Classes System

To explain some of the choices in BioWare's approach to the advanced classes system in The Old Republic, this Friday's update gives us a BioWare blog post from Principal Lead Systems Designer, Georg Zoeller. Here's an except:

Example: The Smuggler

Han Solo, Lando, Talon Karrde… There are plenty of different Smuggler personalities to be found in the Star Wars universe to choose from and this is reflected in the versatility of their available Advanced Classes:

The Scoundrel

The Scoundrel is not afraid of getting his hands dirty, as the ‘Scrapper’ skill-set has an off-hand Scatter Gun, a number of powerful (but not necessarily fair) melee moves and access to a Stealth Field Generator with various possible upgrades for a dramatic entrance … or exit.

The ‘Sawbones’ skill-set on the other hand offers ways to dramatically improve the Smuggler’s healing and support-related abilities, including access to the powerful Emergency Medpack.

And, if all else fails, the Scoundrel seems to have the uncanny ability to Shoot First, a very useful skill to have for sure.

To be honest I had completely forgotten about the skill sets. That gives me some hope that I wouldn't have to play a Consular as a healer (as I can't stand the double-bladed lightsaber). I tend to just stick to one skill tree (for the most part) anyway.

Other points of note in the article include that you choose an advanced class when you get to the Advanced Class trainer on your faction's capitol world (which I'm assuming is right after you leave the 'tutorial' world such as Tython) and that this choice is mandatory (you have to pick an advanced class).

It was also noted, again, that all names related to classes that you see on the site are subject to change. Hopefully that's a hint towards a possible name change for the Wizard.

Anyway, read the entire blog post at the official site.