Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: Star Wars Page 43 of 45

Biggs On: Disney’s Acquisition of LucasFilm [UPDATE]

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On October 31, 2012

In Biggs On, Movies, Star Wars

In 1977 the production budget for Star Wars Episode 4 was $11 million (which is approximately $45 million today). It made $460 million in the U.S. alone which, after adjusting for inflation, makes it the second highest grossing film in the U.S. and Canada. The amazing world that George Lucas created has permeated over three decades. What is a legacy like that worth?

Apparently $4.05 billion (that’s $4,050,000,000).

George Lucas has been under quite a bit of scrutiny over the past 10-15 years so whether his motivation was to create some separation from Star Wars completely, or he needed that extra $4 billion, the purchase by Disney has left me with mixed emotions. On one hand perhaps its time for a new perspective since most of the decisions Lucas has made since he announced Phantom Menace have been bombarded by scathing criticism by “fans” that “obviously know better then he does”. Disney, as a conglomerate, isn’t popular among many in today’s society, but as a film producer they are extremely successful and have made quite a few really great movies.

On the other hand it does feel a bit like he has now completely sold out. He has abandoned his legacy for some “extra cash”. Granted he will be kept around as a “creative consultant” but Disney producers will have the final say. It’s hard to predict what will happen to the franchise now. Disney has already said the 7th film will be out in 2015 and they intend to make 8 and 9 (Star Wars was originally intended to be 9 movies). The Star Wars movies and universe have been such a large part of my life and the core of what defines me as a geek.

What really makes this more strange and difficult is usually when I blog about these kinds of things (either under the Biggs On category or the Soapbox category) I always seem to reach a conclusion or some level of personal understanding with the topic. That simply isn’t the case here. I know, without even looking on the social media sites, that a line has been drawn in the sand. There will be the purist on one side nerd raging over this event and there will be the optimistic group (usually the ones I call the “true fans of Star Wars”) on the other side. I feel caught in the middle but leaning toward optimistic.

I don’t hate Disney, even Disney the Conglomerate, but I do fear that they could ruin the franchise, more then many have “claimed” Lucas has, if they don’t proceed carefully. I guess we will know in 2-3 years.

UPDATE:

Shortly after publishing this post I happened to be reading the recent post of The Queue over at WoW Insider and, coincidentally, someone asked a question about this very topic. Despite the fact that it wasn’t WoW related the author responded and there was a very excellent point.

The Avengers is probably one of this summer’s biggest blockbuster movies, and it is a Disney movie. In fact Disney owns Marvel Entertainment so every Marvel movie produced since 2009 is a Disney movie. That helps quell my fears because it does show that Disney does care about the fan perspective of cult classics and cult genres. Perhaps Star Wars is in better hands now. Perhaps it is something to be excited about.

/Cheers

SWTOR: Patch 1.2 Impressions

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On April 16, 2012

In Gaming, SWTOR

Greetings Force-fanatics! It has been nearly a week since Game Update 1.2 went live and, while it did spark a couple controversies, I’d say the general feeling is fairly positive. While I’m not a hard core PvP gamer, I know that many were disappointed to hear that the Ranked PvP was yanked out at the last minute from patch 1.2, but I’m sure Bioware had a very good reason for doing that. On that same note, I have not had an opportunity to try out the new Warzone so I can’t really offer a perspective on it – though I hope to give it a try in the near future.

I also won’t be able to provide any feedback on the new Operation, Explosive Conflict, as I do not have a toon that is ready for operations.

So lets talk about the things that I have actually taken the time to investigate and the two biggest components would be the UI Customization and the Legacy System changes.

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May the Force Be With You, George

By

On January 19, 2012

In Movies, Star Wars

The man that brought us our beloved Star Wars universe announced on January 18th, 2012 that he is retiring from the film making industry. While many so-called “fans” continue to belittle and berate the man, I wish him Happy Retirement and Thank You. Your stories will live on forever in the hearts of millions.

I honestly can’t stand all the negative press and despicable grief thousands have been giving him over the prequels and the minor (and I mean extremely minor) changes that he has done to the original trilogy. I don’t blame him for retiring for these reasons; some ungrateful “fans” we turned out to be! Unless you can cough up a few million bucks and purchase the rights to the Star Wars movies, I say leave it be and STFU. These are his movies, his stories, his intellectual property. He is entitled to make, change or remove anything he feels like and if you don’t like it, well … tough! Buck Up, Sally!!

If it weren’t for him in the beginning we wouldn’t even have a community. We would all be worshipping Klingons and wearing pointed ears, and who wants that?? (Just teasing Trekkies!) I’m just saying that just because you have been a fan since you were 10 years old doesn’t entitle you to dictate how the story should be told when it’s not your story to begin with. I admit that the prequels have their flaws, but a true fan, a dedicated fan, can learn to accept the flaws and embrace all of it, unequivocally.

Besides, in the end it isn’t about midichlorians, or who shot first, or what Vader should or should not have exclaimed. It’s about immersing ourselves in the lore and adventure of different worlds and different species. It’s about total strangers from all over the world, coming together under a single, unifying, albeit fictitious, universe. This is what George Lucas has done; that is his legacy.

Thank you, George! And May the Force Be With You!
Cheers!

SWTOR: Tips & Tricks Part II

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On January 9, 2012

In Gaming, MMORPG, SWTOR

I have put together another list of tips to share with everyone that is playing Star Wars The Old Republic. If you have made it all the way to 50 by now then these tips will probably be of no use to you. However, if you are just starting out, you might find these tips useful too.

  • Show Me The Credits! – Training and Crafting Missions get expensive. You will be forking over 3-3.5k per ability by the time you get into the early 20s. Also, speeder training will cost you 40 Gs at 25 (and a speeder bike will cost you an additional 8k). So make credits fast!
  • Focus But Don’t Hurry – When you are questing focus on completing your class quests. You unlock ships and companions as you progress through your story. However, don’t skip the other quests; the story and rewards are worth the time.
  • Make Them Happy – Your companion will complete crafting and mission quests faster the more you build up affection. I know its difficult to resist punishing Vette, but there is a greater output to getting her to like you sooner.
  • You Don’t Have to Tank/Heal – Regardless of which advanced class you roll, you can always DPS. All the advanced classes have a DPS tree; how you spend your talent points ultimately determines your role.
  • Crafting Conundrum – Sometimes its terribly difficult to pick the right profession. The Codex is your friend. Visit all the profession trainers to gather all the codex entries and use the information to help you decide.

That is all I have to share. I don’t think I am going to share many more tips. I think its important that you find some things out for yourself. I will be doing a post soon where I break down all the classes, which I hope people find useful as well. Enjoy Star Wars The Old Republic!

Bioware Has Blizzard Scared

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On October 23, 2011

In Gaming, SWTOR, World of Warcraft

So I have been watching Blizzcon to see all the new things Blizzard is introducing with their various gaming franchises. I think the biggest news from Blizzcon this year is the concept of the World of Warcraft Annual Pass where anyone who commits to keeping WoW for a year will receive Diablo 3 for free and a guaranteed entry into the Mists of Pandaria beta.

I thought that was a pretty bold move by Blizzard and then it occurred to me, I think this is a tactic to combat the release of Star Wars. I think Blizzard is actually scared about losing players to Star Wars. So much so that they want players to commit to playing their game for a year, and if you do, they will let you play their other game for free. I know that quite a few of the Blizzard employees are Star Wars fans, they have made many comments during other Blizzcons and there is the various Star Wars references in the game (ex: an NPC named Landoo). So I know they have been following the development of SWTOR just as much as the rest of us have been following (obsessively?) it.

I don’t know if any of you watched the in-depth coverage of Mists of Pandaria but some of the Monk abilities seem to have a Star Wars influence. The Monks have a Holy Power-like resource called Dark/Light Force and the Death Knights are getting a new ability called Asphyxiate. Asphyxiate is a new silence ability where the Death Knight chokes the target while lifting them in the air … seems blatantly obvious.

Perhaps Blizzard is trying to increase the Star Wars influence in the game to keep players from going to SWTOR. I’m sure that’s just wild conjecture but its hard to deny suspicion when some of these mechanics are “lovingly” ripped off from Star Wars.

Despite their best efforts, World of Warcraft will never be Star Wars. I’m sorry Bilzzard but no matter how close a Gamorrean is to an Orc, the two will never be the same. If Star Wars fans want to play SWTOR, they will play SWTOR regardless of the fact that a Death Knight can do a Force Choke.

Cheers!

SWTOR: Don’t Think I’m a Clone Now

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On October 20, 2011

In Gaming, SWTOR

I have been following along all the reviews of SWTOR as it makes its circuit to all of the gaming and geek conventions. Knowing what I know from being in the beta it’s fun to see what speculation and theories people craft from the morsels of details they glean from short demos and time boxed test drives.

I really don’t get some of these impressions and comments that are suppose to be taken in the context of “negative reviews”. Some are claiming the story is poor. How can one make that assertion from a short test drive. I have been playing the beta since April. I have tried nearly every class and a couple classes I have played through their starting zone a couple of times. I can tell you that the story is NOT weak! Don’t believe these half wit neophytes that know nothing about the lore. The character stories for all the classes are rich and engaging. All the quests and the dialog is extremely well written. Granted there are some dull quests, but the dulls ones are the ones not linked to the story, they are just XP fodder.

Don’t believe the critics that say the story is weak, it’s simply not true!

Ok, now that I have that out of my system, let’s talk about the thing I keep seeing more and more as a negative mark against SWTOR. Some critics are calling it a WoW clone.

Now I’m not saying it is a WoW clone, but for the sake of argument let’s say they’re right … But why is that a bad thing?? WoW is six years old and still has over 10 million subscribers. If you are going to model yourself off of something, why not pick the one with the best results? I understand wanting to differentiate yourself but that may now always guarantee great success. I mean, look at all the other MMOs released recently where that approach has worked …

So here is my reason why it’s not a WoW clone. Yes, you start at 1 and level, chronologically, up to 50 by picking up a quest and completing a quest. Yes, you get talent trees and you have gathering and crafting professions. That’s about all they have in common and in my opinion (with the possible exception of talent trees) those similarities exist because they are basic MMO mechanics. By the way, the fact that you have class specific quests throughout the leveling experience differentiates this game enough from the questing mechanic in WoW.

Professions barely qualifies because the process of crafting is very different in SWTOR. The work is done while you are questing. You don’t have to stand at a forge for 15 minutes with 25 cloth bracers queued up. You put your companion to the task and you go out and quest some more. Also, I think the third type of profession, mission, is quite interesting and can be very useful for leveling and increasing your dark/light side points.

Ok, so time to end this rant. SWTOR is not a clone of WoW. It shares a few basic mechanics but it has plenty of its own “special modifications” to make it unique.

Cheers!

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