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Friday Update: Smuggler Character Progression Vide...

This week’s Star Wars: The Old Republic Friday Update is finally worthy of the label “Friday Update”.  First we have a progression video for the Smuggler, showing off a variety of skills and outfits for both the Scoundrel and Gunslinger Advanced Classes.  Then there is a developer blog from on The Old Republic’s expanded universe told in the pages of several books and comics. Lastly, a PAX highlights video is available with fan commentary and footage from the booth.

The new Developer Blog by Senior Writer Alexander Freed focuses on the expanded universe of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Freed has some key insights on what goes into developing these expanded stories from his first-hand experience of writing two tie-in comics (Blood of the Empire and The Lost Suns). He also shares what fans can expect from future adventures set in this era.

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18 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.. Part Deuce

Put on your tin foil hat folks – you’re in for a looooong ride!

<Begins to sing slurring>

18 bottles of beer on the wall.. 18 bottles of beer.. Take one down, pass it around.. 17 bottles of beer on the wall!

<Ends singing>

We are just over halfway through 2011 and we officially have 18 Friday’s left in the year for BioWare to release information on Star Wars: The Old Republic.  This is my “speculation” into what we may see in some of these Friday Updates and I don’t believe we will be using all 18…

September 2 - PAX Recap (Convention Video(s) of Fans & Booth, Huttball, Eternity Vault, Open World PvP, etc.) & Details on Beta Weekends
September 9 - Smuggler, Imperial Agent OR Sith Inquisitor Armor Progression Video (SR Already confirmed Jedi Consular was not next) (3 of 4 Remaining)
September 16 - Fan Friday | Studio Insider
September 23 - EUROGAMER EXPO Reveals (Smuggler, Imperial Agent, Jedi Consular OR Sith Inquisitor Armor Progression Video, EU Beta Weekends Start, Guild Phase 2 Begins*)  (2 of 4 Remaining)
September 30 - Fan Friday | US & EU Beta Weekends Restart
October 7 - Imperial Agent, Jedi Consular OR Sith Inquisitor Armor Progression Video  (2 of 4 Remaining)
October 14 - New York Comic Con Reveals (Release Date, Last HoloNet tab “Legacy System”**)
October 21 - Fan Friday | Studio Insider
October 28 - Smuggler, Imperial Agent, Jedi Consular OR Sith Inquisitor Armor Progression Video (Last Video), Early Access Details & Announcement of Beta Weekends Ending Oct. 30th
November 4 - Developers Blog/Dispatch: Advanced Class Tree’s, Website Update: Advanced Class Skill Tree “Calculators” & Guild Phase 3 Begins
Tuesday, November 8 - Early Access Begins!***
Tuesday, November 15- Star Wars: The Old Republic is Released!

Updated 09/23/2011:

• Moved  ”Website Update: Advanced Class Skill Tree “Calculators”" from Oct 21st to Nov 4th.
• Replaced Developers Blog on Sep. 30th with Fan Friday | US & EU Beta Weekends Restart.
• Moved Early Access Details from Oct 14th to Oct 28th.
• Moved “Guild Phase 3 Begins” from Oct. 28th to Nov. 4th.
• Moved “Announcement of Beta Weekends Ending Oct. 23rd” from Oct. 14th to Oct. 28th and changed the end date from the 23rd to 30th.

*Guild Phase 2 could likely happen the week before with the Fan Friday | Studio Insider OR on Wednesday (September 21) before the EUROGAMER EXPO. (Am I good or what!)
**The  ”rumored” Legacy system could likely be included in a content patch after the release of the software as hinted at the Sunday PAX Panel by Daniel Erickson when saying they were already working on the first content patch.
***A 7-day staggered release would allow for approximately 250K people per day for a total of 1.75m pre-orders.  If there are more than 2m pre-orders Early Access could be extended additional days +/- delaying the retail release to November 22. 

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Friday Update: (The Pit) Huttball Warzone Trailer ...

This week’s update Friday Update for Star Wars: The Old Republic unveils information about BioWare’s presence at this year’s PAX 2011 and a new trailer for Huttball the newest Warzone, The Pit. At PAX, BioWare will be holding a panel on August 28th in the Paramount Theater at 2pm, where they plan to have a Q&A session with develoeprs and show a live demonstration of the Eternity Vault. The new Huttball trailer has Director of Production Dallas Dickinson giving us an introduction to the spectator sport organized on Nar Shaddaa.

This week’s Friday Update for Star Wars: The Old Republic unveils a new trailer for the latest PvP Warzone “The Pit” also known as Huttball and information about BioWare’s presence at PAX 2011.   At PAX, BioWare will be holding a panel on August 28th in the Paramount Theater at 2pm, where they plan to have a Q&A session with develoeprs and show a live demonstration of the Eternity Vault. The new Huttball trailer has Director of Production Dallas Dickinson giving us an introduction to the spectator sport organized on the neutral planet of Nar Shaddaa.

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27 Bottles of Beer on the wall….

Put on your tin foil hat folks – you’re in for a looooong ride!

<Begins to sing slurring>

27 bottles of beer on the wall.. 27 bottles of beer.. Take one down, pass it around.. 26 bottles of beer on the wall!

<Ends singing>

We are just over halfway through 2011 and we officially have 27 Friday’s left in the year for BioWare to release information on Star Wars: The Old Republic.  This is my “speculation” into what we may see in some of these Friday Updates and I don’t believe we will be using all 27…

Update 07/01/11: After reviewing all of the past trailers we are actually missing quite a few “Armor” Progression Trailers and of course the Jedi Consular class trailer.  I have updated my list below to compensate for these missing trailers.

July 1 - Jedi Consular Class Update (Actual: Bounty Hunter Character (Armor) Progression)
July 8 –  Developers Blog (A Path to Success: Maps, and their Making) ✔
July 15 – Fan Friday | Studio Insider (w/ Audio Q/A) ✔
July 22 – San Diego Comic Con Reveals (Reveals: Jedi Consular Class Update/Trailer, (Remaining) Crew Skills, War Zone – VoidStar, (Low) Pre-Order, Box & Collector’s Edition details)
July 29 – San Diego Comic Con Recap & Jedi Consular Armor Progression
August 5 – Developers Blog
August 12 – Fan Friday | Studio Insider
August 19 – GamesCon Reveals (Reveals: “Train Horn” AKA Countdown to release date announcement for PAX, Last HoloNet Tab Revealed (speculated Legacy system) & Guild HQ Phase 2)
August 26 – PAX Reveals (Major Reveals: Release Date, Sith Inquisitor Armor Progression)
September 2 – GamesCon & PAX Recap | Expanded Game Testing Details Revealed via Pre-Orders
September 9 - Developers Blog (Character Creation) | Removal of the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for Game Testers
September 16 - Fan Friday | Studio Insider (Guild HQ Phase 3*)
September 23 – EUROGAMER EXPO Reveals (Reveals: Imperial Agent Armor Progression, Smuggler Armor Progression, Head Start Details**, Server Lists & Website Update: Advanced Class Skill Tree “Calculators”)
Tuesday, September 27 – Star Wars: The Old Republic is Released!

*Guild Phase 3 could likely happen the Wednesday (September 21) before the EUROGAMER EXPO.
**Depending on the number of days they will be offering a Head Start the details could come earlier in the week

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Tin Foil: Release Date Speculation

Revised: June 23, 2011

The million dollar (or 80 million dollar) question looming over Star Wars: The Old Republic is – What is the Release Date?

BioWare announced last year that Spring 2011 was their “target time frame” for the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. I firmly believe this was not the first “target time frame”, but it definitely was the first announced by BioWare. During the first quarter of this year BioWare changed their target time frame to 2011 and then during the most recent Electronic Arts 4Q Earnings (Source: Darthhater.com) call they (and BioWare) announced that the new target was Q2 FY12 or Q3 FY12 with a slight chance that it could slip into CY 2012. That is the official information as it stands now. Star Wars: The Old Republic will release sometime between July 1 and December 31, 2011.

Now it is time to put on your Tin Foil Hat!

BioWare recently updated their Events page on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website with the conventions they will be attending this year which include major shows such as Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), San Diego Comic Con, GamesCon and Penny Arcade Expo (PAX).  There are several other smaller conventions they will be attending as well that can be seen on the Events page.  Using the powers of the Tin Foil Hat I anticipate an official release date of September 27, 2011. Find out how I come to this conclusion…