Today was the 3.3 Dev Live stream previewing the soon to be playable Togruta race and upcoming Yavin Stronghold. We were also treated to Toby’s beard, a glorious and majestic beast. If you didn’t get a chance to watch it you can on Torcommunity. There is a summary of notes from Xam Xam and I, but I thought I’d also write down how I felt about everything that happened on the stream. Togruta Confirmed to be one of the most difficult to pronounce, spell, or pluralize races, Togruta has also been one of the most requested to make playable. We only got to see the female Togruta on stream, but Eric assured us they would unveil the male Togruta and other character appearance options as they were finished. I assume they’ll stick to the classic red, yellow, blue, and green coloring with different lekku and montral lengths and designs. WTF is a montral you ask? It’s the upper horns that Togruta have. Now go forth and impress your friends. I’ll probably make one and level it until 30 or so like most of my alts. It’s exciting though, and I’m glad this race is getting put in because it makes a more realistic and full Star Wars universe. Lots of different alien races are important as part of the uniqueness of Star Wars. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of Ahsokas, Ahsôkas, and Ahsökas on fleet. And who knows what Ebon Hawk is going to get up to. Yavin Stronghold Seeing the Togruta was cool, but she really was just the Vana White of the stream. The Yavin Stronghold was the real star, and let me just say...it is awesome. The ambiance, the layout, it’s perfect. When you enter your stronghold it is on a landing pad. A path winds between two trees to the front of the main building. Suddenly memories of the old Jedi Academy books hit me like a bantha and I GOD DAMN NEED THIS STRONGHOLD! You can really tell the Devs learned from previous strongholds and have listened to what players want. There are a lot of hooks and different placement variations including 16 centerpiece hooks and 2 starship hooks. The main temple has very high ceilings and there are hooks going all the way up them. There are hooks on the facade of the temple which Toby previewed the Temple Moss decoration on and even two waterfalls in the stronghold. The first is really charming and is inside the temple, and the other is outside as you enter the unlockable Temple Grounds. There might be a secret cave behind one of the waterfalls, Eric and Toby certainly hinted at it, so we shall hope so! Another cool feature of the stronghold is the temple roof. There are hooks here as well and from it you have an absolutely stunning Yavin vista to see. In order to access the roof there is an intractable Ancient Stone Tile which rocket jump-flips you up the the next level. The Other Shoe Both Togruta and the Yavin stronghold will be a part of patch 3.3. This patch will be accessible on the PTS tomorrow, June 4th, and is slated for a Live release on July 21st. Of course, tomorrow’s version of 3.3 on the PTS will only have the PvP and class changes that are on the Patch Notes and wont include Togruta or the Yavin Stronghold. There was also the usual clamoring in chat about PvP and PvE content. The PvP questions were redirected to the Bad Feeling Podcast interview and I kinda figured there wasn’t going to be any news on that front. I obviously made a few snarky NiM mode comments, but I wasn’t the only one. So where is the PvE content? Eric did answer this… well, they just released the World Breaker Monolith! Sigh. Do you hear me? SIGH. 6 months, 1 boss. They at least should cop up to the fact we aren’t getting Nightmare Mode and it’s going to be almost a year between operations...AGAIN. I’m not going to lie, Eric’s passing off of Monolith as content left yuck in my mouth after an otherwise really awesome stream. I do understand that most people enjoy different content than me, but I think 6 months (or longer for PvP) is long enough to wait for some light at the end of the tunnel. Worth It? So, will I buy this stronghold? Yes. I like how much nature there is and the floor plan of the temple. I wish they would have decorated a little more on the stream with lighting because it was dark, but otherwise the stronghold looked fantastic. The indoor waterfall is really a great feature and I can’t wait to decorate that area. If you want some ideas decorating the stronghold, SWTORStrongholds made a great guide on Yavin decorations and you can always browse all the Decorations over on TorCommunity. Are you going to be shelling out the credits for this stronghold? What are you looking forward to decorating. Been waiting to use the 1 item and now you finally can? Let me know in the comments below!
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Fun Loot Crate this month with the "Unite" theme. I was totally right when I guess it was going to be full of Avengers stuff! Favorite Item: Ice Cube Tray Most Likely To Use: Shoe Laces Crate Rating: 7 Worth It: Yes I was really excited for this month's box because I had an inkling that I'd be able to use a bunch of the stuff in it for work. You might have heard in the video, but the library's summer reading program is super hero themed this year. I've had a blast preparing for it (look for a blog when it starts!) and part of that is making sure the prizes for the kids are amazing. Obviously the prizes the budget allows are pretty generic, but I've been slowly hoarding treasures over the last six months to sweeten the pot! The shoe laces, decal, puzzle, and maybe pins will go to the prize box. I'll probably use the ice cube tray to make treats for the end of program party too! Chocolates, jello, we shall see my friends. This crate is Bisou approved. Blog Bonus pics!!
It's absolutely killing me that I couldn't go to Star Wars Celebration this year (stupid work conference), so I've been living vicariously through the Fanboys/girls I follow on Twitter and watching the live stream to stay up to date on what's happening down in Anaheim. It's been an amazing day; between the trailers, interviews, and pictures, and I'm as satisfied as Jabba after a whole bowl of Klatooine paddy frogs. And ohmygawd, did you see those Twitter emojis? Brilliant.
The Force awakens
Celebration really started off on the right foot with a big bang. Leading the festivities was the much anticipated Episode VII panel with JJ Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, and some classic and new cast members. There were some short character introductions and updates (no buns on Leia this time around), and the release of the film's second trailer.
No lies, I got misty eyed during my first viewing. "We're home", right in the feels. That was one badass trailer, no doubts about it. There was enough nostalgia to hit those sentimental highs, enough action to propel us to the next scene, and enough mystery to prod our curiosity.
Speaking of curiosity...we also found out, from the actors themselves, a little about the three main characters in The Force Awakens. (from the awesome @Amy_geek live tweets)
The BIG star of this presentation was really BB-8 though, the rolly polly ball droid of wonder. Everyone has been super hyped for this little guy, and he (or she?) has really become an iconic part of Episode VII already. Droids have always been a big part of Star Wars, and its nice to see that tradition carried over. BB-8 also exemplifies Abrams goals in using practical effects, something I think we're all going to appreciate a lot when December finally arrives.
Clone Wars Panel
There was also some really fantastic stuff coming out of the Clone Wars panel. I really miss this show and wish that Filoni and crew could have finished the series the way they wanted to in their hearts. There was some footage from episodes that are new for fans to see and some concept art from our wildest dreams! Ahsoka loyal troops?
With the recent reveal in the Fulcrum episode of Rebels, it's no wonder Ahsoka was a major topic of discussion at this panel. There were a few clips of unaired (albeit rough) footage and lots of discussion on her story.
Meet me in cloud city
With all the big Celebration news, you may have missed this diamond in the rough. We're getting a Lando Comic! That's right, the caped, smooth talking, scoundrel will have his own series released in July! You can read more about it here!
Celebration will be streamed every day on the Star Wars Youtube channel and you can check out the schedule every day on Starwars.com. It's not as good as being there, I know and feel your pain, but this way you can at least stay up to date on all the happenings. So, what are you most excited for from the first day of Celebration? What's the panel you would have waited in line for hours to see? Let me know!
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