New information tomorrow 9am PST

[Odjii]

“Tomorrow at 9 AM Pacific you can look forward to a pile of new content. Then starting Monday (the 24th) and lasting through to Friday (the 28th) we’ll be posting a brand new Old Republic article every. Single. Day. “ - IGN

Stephen Reid also confirmed the news via Twitter:

“As others have noted, we have a press embargo on #SWTOR dropping tomorrow. We’ve had press in for a while. Testers are still under NDA. That means if you’re in testing, you’re still bound by NDA. Only press who have been admitted will be sharing their impressions.”

If you've been following beta testing for a while the information may not be new to you. But if you've been away from a gogle search or two starting with "SWTOR Beta" then this should be news to you. The press write ups should contain a well documented amount of information about the state of beta testing and the game in general.

[Odjii]

My opinion on this:

BioWare's attitude towards the NDA is... odd, to say the least. I guess they're trying to prevent story spoilers or something but in effect it just shuts down the community; I know TOR-bloggers who've basically had the dilemma of having to stop posting because they got into beta. That's just backwards, and the corollary is that it actively turns the community against itself in an effort to "rat out" NDA violators (the more people who get kicked out of the beta for violations, the more chance the rest of us will get an invite in the churn).
Not to mention lack of any real information has turned the official forums into a cesspit of petty whining over dates and nitpicking half-drunk comments one of the devs made at the latest con. Meanwhile all the most vibrant -- and positive -- TOR communities are the ones that flagrantly and routinely ignore the NDA (under the cover of very careful anonymity).

And now BioWare is doing exclusive info-release deals with media outlets -- because they can control the content, I'd assume -- but it's just... yeah. It's not 1998 any more, guys. What gives?

Then again, BioWare's marketing department has always been their biggest weak point...

I love bioware don't get me wrong but I would prefer an end to the NDA the game comes out in 2 months.

[Idea.]

Looking forward to the articles! As a person not in beta i'm definitely excited to read new information when i find the time

[Markis. D Thatch]

Any new information is awesome to have!

[Taburz]

With all the leaked information I won't get my hopes up for "new" information, but as always I will be lined up with everyone else waiting for all the information I can get.

[Zoron Ror]

Personally I'm glad the NDA is still in effect because I don't want parts of the story being spoiled for me. But its good news that they are releasing articles every day (wow) because they can control what information comes out, I'm all for finding out info on everything about the game apart from the story.

[Atrayu Yung]

I've found that leak sites promote this game far better than Bioware ever will. I'm expecting these articles to be full of "new" information, like how this game will be fully voice acted. I guess I've become a little jaded with the lack of information that Bioware gives for their games.

[AstralProjection]

I can't think of a single beta test that lifted the NDA 2 months before release, I think that's an unfair expectation. Just because they have legions of people clamoring for more info doesn't mean they're going to start releasing incomplete info to appease everyone. Every other MMO kept their secrecy until their Open Betas, which is a stress test, mainly, nothing more. BioWare will do the same.

The whole point of the Beta NDA's are that everything is subject to change, so there's no point starting forum wars over things that are already being worked on, and features of the game they're still developing shouldn't be leaked to their competitors. If the information's posted in any public place on the internet it's going to get out eventually, and they don't want that.

These are exciting times friends, only two more months : ) Try to be patient; we've all waited years for this game, a decade in my case...those two months are going to go by in the blink of an eye for me.

Rest assured, it will be worth the wait.

[Odjii]

AstralProjection wrote:

I can't think of a single beta test that lifted the NDA 2 months before release, I think that's an unfair expectation. Just because they have legions of people clamoring for more info doesn't mean they're going to start releasing incomplete info to appease everyone. Every other MMO kept their secrecy until their Open Betas, which is a stress test, mainly, nothing more. BioWare will do the same. The whole point of the Beta NDA's are that everything is subject to change, so there's no point starting forum wars over things that are already being worked on, and features of the game they're still developing shouldn't be leaked to their competitors. If the information's posted in any public place on the internet it's going to get out eventually, and they don't want that. These are exciting times friends, only two more months : ) Try to be patient; we've all waited years for this game, a decade in my case...those two months are going to go by in the blink of an eye for me. Rest assured, it will be worth the wait.

No doubt the wait will be worth it, I've been following this game since October 2008 and I have been a Bioware fan ever since Neverwinter Knights. I believe in the brand. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter and although we may disagree, I respect your opinion on their marketing methodology.

[Taburz]

AstralProjection wrote:

I can't think of a single beta test that lifted the NDA 2 months before release, I think that's an unfair expectation. Just because they have legions of people clamoring for more info doesn't mean they're going to start releasing incomplete info to appease everyone. Every other MMO kept their secrecy until their Open Betas, which is a stress test, mainly, nothing more. BioWare will do the same. The whole point of the Beta NDA's are that everything is subject to change, so there's no point starting forum wars over things that are already being worked on, and features of the game they're still developing shouldn't be leaked to their competitors. If the information's posted in any public place on the internet it's going to get out eventually, and they don't want that. These are exciting times friends, only two more months : ) Try to be patient; we've all waited years for this game, a decade in my case...those two months are going to go by in the blink of an eye for me. Rest assured, it will be worth the wait.

I really agree with this. I remember being in the Warhammer beta and not too long before release they completely changed how Open RvR functioned, which as those who played or played DAoC understand that ORvR is the core of the game. I could only imagine how those on the outside would have reacted having open access to this information. Things are highly subject to change in beta and it is difficult enough without having to listen to how millions of people do not agree with their changes. Dropping the NDA before you are on a version you are positive is the launch version could actually do more harm than good. In the end, Bioware's approach to the NDA is not at all unusual. Whether or not one agrees with it is a different subject.

[Odjii]

Here you go guys, hope you enjoy

http://pc.ign.com/articles/121/1210147p1.html

[Taburz]

MMORPG (http://www.mmorpg.com/) has a bunch of articles up also for those interested. Atleast today is getting the blood pumping.

[UnbarringTomb]

I have to admit, theses articles are alrighty things we alrighty know,i was just hoping for a massive amount of game play videos.

[Sticx45]

Nothing very earth shattering for anyone who has been to a convention, knows anyone who has played the game, or is mildly interested in the game and willing to actually do a smidgen of research.

I find it funny that the MMORPG "FULL BETA PREVIEW" was pretty much totally worthless. But the MMORPG panel actually had some really nice info. Like the fact that they are rolling back the item mod changes to the more complicated but much more fun system that they had before.

[Damek Critou]

Odjii wrote:

Meanwhile all the most vibrant -- and positive -- TOR communities are the ones that flagrantly and routinely ignore the NDA (under the cover of very careful anonymity).

And the forum you're on is... :P