As promised, Leo and Evan make a quick return to bring you the big news coming out of the Star Wars Game Experience: X-Wing wave 3! Before they break down what’s known and speculate on what’s not on the new ships, they address specific concerns over EA, SWTOR, and the future of Star Wars videogames.

Seriously, though, come visit the forums! Don’t see a thread you wanna comment on? Make one! Or just say hi and I guarantee you’ll get a warm welcome.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Voicing Concerns: EA and Star Wars
- SWTOR fan feedback!
- X-Wing Wave 3!
- Little bit of book news…

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

Following their adventure at C2E2, Leo and Evan return to share all the Star Wars gaming news of the past several weeks, and there was a LOT! EA gets Star Wars, the Hutt Cartel settles in, the Force Packs keep coming… Oh, yeah, and there are new X-Wing minis, too!

You know, the only way the forums will be busy is if YOU show up! And bring your friends!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Electronic Arts gets sole rights to publish Star Wars
- SWTOR continues to expand with Cathar
- In-depth look at the Search For Skywalker Force Pack
- Next Episode Tease: X-Wing Wave 3!

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

And what can this be?! Is this… possible?! Why, yes, it IS a new episode of MER! The guys make some excuses for their long absence, then continue to prattle on about SWTOR news, take a look at the first LCG Force Pack, and share some X-Wing Miniatures stories, including one who is a regional qualifier for the world championship!

Our forums may seem empty at the moment, but that’s only because you’re not there to liven things up! Come swing by and start a conversation!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- SWTOR Patch 2.0 Rise of the Hutt Cartel!
- The Living Card Game’s First Force Pack!
- Edge of the Empire… Delayed?!
- Good-bye, LucasArts, Your Time Has Come…
- X-Wing Minis Regionals: Conquered! Next: The World!

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

Another huge event in the continually evolving story of Episode VII! This was recorded just as the rumors had broken, but before the official announcement of J.J. Abrams (Alias, Fringe, Super 8) taking the helm for the first of the new trilogy of Star Wars sequels. But Leo and Evan still make time for Edge of the Empire, SWTOR, and some book news!

Share your thoughts on Episode VII, Rise of the Hutt Cartel, and anything else we talked about over at the Mos Eisley Radio forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- SWTOR Patch 1.7 “Return of the Gree”
- SWTOR PTS Finally Gets Character Copy
- Edge of the Empire Release Date!
- Good and Bad Book News
- J.J. Abrams Takes Command of Episode VII! Our thoughts

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

After a nice long holiday break, class is back in session! Yes, with the slow news week, we decided it was time for Ossus Academy to return and actually make its debut as a segment here on MER. Leo schools us on the various named pilots you’ll find in the X-Wing miniatures game, but we also get a little LCG talk in, too.

If you’re looking for a safe place to hang out and new people to talk to who will not flame you simply for stating your opinion, be sure to swing by the MER forums! There’s plenty to talk about and lots of cool people to talk about it with!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- A Quick Look At Star Wars: The Card Game
- Ossus Academy: Pilots of the X-Wing Minis Game
- Community Highlights

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

Happy Life Day! Sure we may have missed Christmas by a day, but if I’m not too mistaken Wookiee Life Day is December 26th! Yeah, I just made that up… To repay your patience, we have a great new MER for you, full of SWTOR news, some LCG news, and a whole lot of the X-Wing Kessel Run tournament!

Come celebrate the holidays with friends you didn’t know you had over at the official MER forums! RPG talk, X-Wing squad composition, card games; they’re all being talked about right this very second!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- New Legacy comics coming in 2013!
- Get Your Edge of the Empire Beginner Box Now!
- Edge of the Empire Free DLC!
- SWTOR’s Life Day Celebration
- Rise of the Hutt Cartel Announced!
- Kessel Run Tournament Recap

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

Now that copies of Star Wars: The Card Game have hit store shelves, it’s time for you to get ready to play your first game and, after that, start putting together your own custom decks to vie for galactic supremacy! Of course there are a lot of bits and bobs with this one, as with any Fantasy Flight game, but not nearly as many as X-Wing.

One of the first things you’ll notice when you open the box is that it suggests you check out the How-To-Play videos they have for your viewing pleasure either at their own site (found here) or over on good ol’ YouTube. Either way, these high quality videos will help you understand the flow of play from round to round. Leo has stated that certain aspects are not as immediately familiar to veteran CCG players as some others, but once you get those parts down, it gets very deep. Without further ado, take a look at these videos, go get a box, pop open the cards, tokens, and manual, grab a friend, and get playing!

After finally awakening from their turkey-induced comas, Leo and Evan return with all the gaming news and commentary you didn’t even realize you’d been missing! Of course, the biggest news since last episode was the launch of The Old Republic’s free-to-play model and the community’s reaction to it. Also, Leo will enthrall the listeners with his tale of attending the first X-Wing Miniatures World Championship weekend at the Fantasy Flight Event Center last month!

Editor’s note: Within the week following this recording, Evan has decided to give SWTOR another go with the good people of the TORWars Guild over on the Shadowlands server. His final judgement has yet to be decided, in case you were wondering.

Come join in the conversation over at the official Mos Eisley Radio forums! Don’t play SWTOR anymore? That’s alright; there’s plenty more to talk about!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Beta Updates For Edge of the Empire Have Ended
- Some Upcoming Releases From FFG
- Opinions on Free2Play & PTS Patch 1.6
- Leo’s X-Wing World Championship Weekend
- Dissecting The SW Living Card Game

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

At last Saturday’s first World Championship for X-Wing the four finalists were given one of the best prizes ever, they became the first four people in the entire world to own their very own Millennium Falcon! I was a participant at the tournament (but sadly not a finalist) and I was able to convince one of the winners to let me snap a few shots of the upgrade and pilot cards that will be coming with the Falcon, which is due to be released in February.

Chewie and the Falcon’s generic pilot

Lando and Han

I missed the point values in each of these shots, but the Weapon Engineer costs 3 points and each of the Modifications costs 4 points. Modifications will be able to be used on any ship, but each ship may have only one modification. The Falcon comes with two copies of each modification.

Like modifications, each ship may only have one title and as you can see, the title is restricted by ship type. Adding the title makes the ship unique, thus you could play with two YT-1300s, but only one Falcon. The Luke card here is one of the new copilot cards that can be equipped to the Falcon to give it some new abilities. And look at those assault missiles! Those will be quite deadly to many of the Imperial squads I saw operating at the tournament, which drew their power from clustering up around ships like Vader and Howlrunner. Of course, it also has the potential for friendly fire as well.

Here are the other copilots. As you can see, they’re faction restricted. By the way, Chewbacca seems freaking nuts as a copilot.

Veteran Instincts is the last new card to come with the Falcon. Also included as an upgrade is one Concussion Missile card, but you’ve all seen those already.

Lastly, here’s a look at the maneuvers the Falcon can execute. You may have also noticed that with the Millennium Falcon title, the YT-1300 will also be able to execute the Boost action. What is the Boost action, you ask? Simply put, as your action you may take an extra move of distance 1. It can only be a straight or banking maneuver, however. No right turns. Also, you may not perform a Boost if it would cause you to overlap another ship or an obstacle. The idea of using Squad Leader to allow my Interceptors to first Barrel Roll and then also Boost in the same turn is getting me very excited for wave 2 of the ships.

I’d like to thank Ryan Krippendorf, one of the four finalists, for letting me dig around in his brand new Falcon and take these pictures. The Falcon, and all the ships in Wave 2 are due to be released this February.

Last week the MER crew assembled for an emergency session to discuss the dramatic events surrounding the acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. by the Disney Corporation. Evan will act as your moderator and referee as JD, Zach, and Leo go back and forth on the last thirty years, last week’s announcement, and the future of our beloved franchise.

Let your voice be heard over at the MER forums and tell us why you disagree with everything we have to say!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- The State of Lucasfilm Leading Up To Now
- The Marvel Parallel
- Goodbye, Dark Horse; We’ll Miss You
- Episode VII and Other Tales
- Our Wish Lists

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

The MER crew is finally back for more action this week and they definitely came back with plenty to talk about! Leo and Evan welcome back Scott, aka, Tassadar, to give us his thoughts on the recently released Terror From Beyond Operation. They also catch you up on the changes made in the last three weeks of Edge of the Empire updates. There’s more news as well as some great community discussion to be found in this exciting episode!

Come over to the MER forums, say hi to our podcasters, and talk all about the current and upcoming Star Wars games, including SWTOR, X-Wing minis, Edge of the Empire, and more!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Edge of the Empire Updates 6, 7, & 8
- SWTOR Patch 1.5 Up, Down, and Up on PTS
- The Cartel Market Hits the PTS
- Tassadar Talks: Terror From Beyond
- MERQ: Playing a different MMO? Will F2P bring you back?

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

We certainly hope you’re in the mood for a long nearly all-SWTOR episode, ’cause that’s what this 2-hour monster turned out to be! Leo and Evan welcome back JD for more of JD’s Crafting Corner and he brings us the nuts n’ bolts on how companion affection aids your crafting. Even with all the crafting talk, they still find time for news, including updates on X-Wing and Edge of the Empire errata.

JD’s Crafting Links:

dulfy’s guides: by far the best resource
esseles affection farming guide
buyer’s guide to the GTN

Let JD, Leo, and Evan know what you REALLY think over at the MER forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- The SWTOR Community Cantina Tour
- We Lose Another Dev
- Fantasy Flight Updates
- More Fun With JD’s Crafting Corner

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

First up is the Millennium Falcon. My first thought when I look at this picture is “Holy Crap!” Just look at all the detail included in this figure. It’ll definitely be worth the $30 that the two medium size ships will cost. Looking at the base you’ll notice that the pilot for this ship is Han Solo (other available pilots will be Chewie, Lando, and Nien Nunb) who has a Pilot Skill of nine. That’s as good as Wedge! Han can also perform the Focus or Target Lock actions. As for the stats of the actual ship, it’s Primary Weapon has a firepower of three which seems a bit low to me. I would think with dual quad lasers, the Falcon should put out a bit more damage than an X-Wing. Maybe it’s a balance issue? Also notice the new circular symbol with an arrow on the base? I can only assuming that this is to remind players that the Falcon’s weapons are mounted on turrets and can thus shoot 360 degrees. The cone of the forward firing arc will likely only be used for missile weapons.

Another stat that many people are finding equally odd is the Agility value of only one. However, this seems to fit with the ship to me. Remember in A New Hope when they are being attacked by the TIE Fighters as they are fleeing the Death Star? In that scene they are constantly being pounded by the TIEs and rather than dodge the fire, they instead rely on the heavy shields and armor to protect them while they brought their superior firepower to bear. And just look at those stats for Hull and Shields: eight hull and five shields. It’s going to take an enemy a long time to burn through all of that. But an un-upgraded ship will cost you somewhere in the forty point range to play, which will be nearly half your squad. You’ll have to decide which you want more: bigger guns, or more guns.

Along with the Falcon, the Rebels will also receive the RZ-1 A-Wing interceptor. This small and agile ship has an Agility of three, a Hull of two, two Shields, and it’s Primary Weapon fires for two damage dice. We can see on this base that it is being piloted by Tycho Celchu, who has an Ability of 8. The A-Wing will also come with two generic pilots and one other unique pilot. A-Wings, sadly will not be able to utilize any of the very powerful Astromech upgrades, but this offset by the addition of the new Boost action. While FFG has yet to release any details on what exactly the Boost action will do, it seems to allow the A-Wing (and the TIE Interceptor) to utilize it’s superior speed to make an additional move, which could tactically be even bigger than the Barrel Roll ability.

Interestingly enough, A-Wings appear to come with more stress tokens than any other ship and the official description even says that “Rebel aces like Tycho Celchu push this sleek starfighter to its limits as they seek to gain every advantage it can give them…” Perhaps the A-Wing will have several mechanics that revolve around performing very difficult, stressful maneuvers?

Here we have the TIE Interceptor who, with the Evade, Boost, and Barrel Roll actions, is the most maneuverable ship on the battle field. The TIE/In will come with Baron Soontir Fel, the leader of the deadly 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, as it’s elite pilot and he has a Pilot Ability of nine. The ship itself possesses an Agility, Hull, and Primary Weapon all with the value of three, making it slightly more resilient than your standard TIE Fighter.

And last we have the Slave I. This Firespray-class ship is Imperial’s medium size ship to be included in wave two. The ship has a Weapons value of three, two agility, six hull, and four shields. So it is slightly more maneuverable than the Falcon, but less resilient. When Boba Fett pilots he has a Piloting Ability of eight. The most interesting part of the Slave I’s base is that you can see the second firing arc behind the ship. So while missiles will only fire forward, you’ll be able to fire your lasers at those pursuing you.

Like I said above, this and the Falcon are medium sized ships. The most common question people ask about the medium ships is, “How big are they compared to the regular fighters?” So below I made an attempt to show the scale differences by matching up the widths between the pegs on the bases. So, while this is not 100% accurate, it should be pretty close.

All four of these ships are slated to be released sometime during the fourth quarter of 2012.

The delay on getting this episode out really couldn’t be helped, but it is ironic to note that some obligations got in the way because Obligation is one of the most unique features of the new Fantasy Flight RPG Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. Leo and Evan take you on a walk-through of the beta book to help you get ready for when you’re able to get your hands on either it or the Beginner Game coming later this year. They have plenty of SWTOR talk for you, as always, and they also get excited reviewing the expansions for the X-Wing Miniatures Game.

Feel free to come discuss SWTOR, Edge of the Empire, X-Wing or anything else you might have on your mind over at the MER forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- The Doctors Retire
- Further SWTOR Server Consolidation
- X-Wing Box and Expansions Now Available!
- More On What to Expect with Patch 1.4
- Edge of the Empire Beta Book Walk-Through

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

With the release of Fantasy Flight Games’ X-Wing Miniatures Game, as they’ve done with many of their other titles, FFG has released a series of videos on how to get started playing the game. The videos can be viewed in multiple parts, each one focusing on a different aspect of the game, or all of them as one 12-minute video. The quality of the videos is, as with all things FFG, exceptionally high and they give you enough info to make you terribly excited! We’ve linked to the complete video on YouTube, but you can also find it, along with additional information at the official webpage for the game.

I highly encourage you to go out and, at least, get the core game. Once you and a friend (or two!) have played a few games, you’ll soon want to go out and get some expansions. Leo will have a review of the games he and I and Zach played the week following GenCon coming soon!

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to take an early look at the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game from Fantasy Flight Games. I sat down with Evan and Zach to put the core set and several of the expansion ships through their paces. Now that X-Wing is out in the wild, we’d like to give you our impressions from the first few games we played. Also, sorry for the poor quality on these pictures. The lighting in Evan’s dining room was not ideal.

The first thing you will notice when opening the box is just how beautiful the models look. FFG has managed to cram a whole lot of detail into these tiny ships. They previously stated that they were trying to make their ships as accurate as possible, even going so far as to visit Lucasfilm and examine the original models used in the films, and it really shows. If you played Wizards of the Coast’s old Starship Battles game, be prepared to be blown away by the quality of FFG’s ships when you compare them to your WotC ones. Even the quality of the (many, many, many) tokens and dials that come with the game are superior to many other games I own.

After an hour or so of admiring our new ships and going through all the pilots and upgrades to choose our squadrons we finally were able to play. And man, do you need a big table to play this game. The game only requires a 3′x3′ playing area to move your ships around in, but you still need plenty of room outside the play area to set all your pilots, upgrades, damage cards, the movement tracks, movement dials, dice, and all your action tokens. We ended up setting bar stools beside the table for each player to keep all their extra bits on because our table wasn’t quite large enough to hold everything.  But eventually we had all the Rebels lined up at one end of the table, and all the Imperials at the other and could start.

The first couple turns of any game are not going to be very exciting as it will take at least two moves for ships to get into firing range at the beginning of the game. Once you are in range, however, things get really fun really fast. The movement dials serve to insert uncertainty into every turn as you’re not sure what your opponent is going to do before you plan your move. Part of the fun comes from trying to get into your opponent’s head to guess what he’s going to do and plan accordingly while he is doing the same thing to you. It’s a bit like playing chess if both players moved every piece on the board at the exact same time.

Doing the actual movement is incredibly easy thanks to the movement tracks provided by the game. Well, at least until you get several ships bunched together in a big dogfight. Then, as you’re trying to move, every other ship in the game is in the way of your movement track. We ended up often marking the locations of ships and pulling them off the board to make room for another ship to move. Of course, you never manage to quite get those ships exactly in the same place they were at and in a game where turning just a few degrees one way or the other can mean the difference between having a shot and not, this is a very big deal. I would have liked to have seen the movement tracks made out of something a little more flexible than the rigid cardboard to make it easier to thread the tracks in between ships. Same thing with the range finder you use to measure attacking distance.

The dice you have when attacking are a heck of a lot like the custom dice used in the roleplaying game that FFG is also making. The attackers have dice with hits, crits, focuses, and blanks on them while the defenders dice have evades, focuses, and blanks. Evades cancel out hits and crits, and both players can convert their focuses into hits/evades provided they used the “Focus” action this turn. The amount of damage the defender takes is determined by how may hits and crits (if any) were not canceled out. Crits can have some really powerful effects that can badly cripple an enemy ship even if it’s the first point of damage they have taken. In one game we played, the Rebels lost purely because Luke got critted and wasn’t able to fire his weapons for a turn. And yet, there are also crits that are only useful in the right situation, such as one that forces you to discard your secondary weapons. Well, if you don’t have a secondary weapon on your ship then it is effectively just a normal hit.

As a whole, X-Wing provides a fun, fast paced dogfighting game that is my favorite miniature game to date. My biggest gripe with the game is a problem that every FFG game suffers from, and that’s copious amounts of tokens, dials, and other doodads. This means that whenever I want to go play somewhere, I’m carrying around more spare cardboard than I am actual minis. However, I do love the card system for pilot stats and upgrades. Much nicer and more efficient than a giant 400-some page rulebook like you get with games like Warhammer 40k.

Leo and Evan return to bring you the latest and greatest Star Wars book, TV, and gaming news, including the Living Card Game and updated info on the Edge of the Empire RPG beta! Also, they’re happy to bring you a new segment featuring another guest contributor from the MER forums: Scott, aka, Tassedar! He’ll be bringing us tips on how to prepare and survive SWTOR’s end-game Operations!

Come share your thoughts with Scott, Leo, and Evan over at the MER forums. Find new people to play with, talk about the latest nerfs that you can’t stand, and dissect the upcoming patch with other fans!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- News from SW Celebration VI
- New SW LCG Blog Post
- Edge of the Empire Errata Update No. 1
- Tales From the Outer Rim: Op Prep
- Community Discussion: Preemptive Thoughts on Terror From Beyond

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

First off, apologies to the listeners. This episode was recorded a week prior to publishing, but events prevented the editing from getting done. However, the conversation is great, the topics are timely, and we can almost guarantee you will enjoy this episode! If you’re excited for Fantasy Flight’s new tabletop Star Wars games, this ep is for you!

Evan and Leo were happy to be joined by a special guest, Zach Brown, MER founder and current host of the Board & Base podcast, which can be found over at www.boardandbase.com!

Share your thoughts and say hi to the rest of the community over at the official MER forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Post GenCon & Gamescom discussion
- X-Wing Miniatures Game
- Star Wars: The Card Game
- Edge of the Empire Role-Playing Game
- Community Discussion: Post-Con Good, Not-so-Good, and Weird Stuff

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

We are back with another great episode filled with enough news to fill a space freighter! Aside from the news, we’ve got a special new segment on the fine art of crafting in SWTOR, with lessons being given by long-time friend of the show JD. Leo, Evan, and JD then spend the rest of the time tackling your answers to the last MERQ: will Free-to-Play split the community.

Swing by the forums and tell us what you think about Free-to-Play or if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for JD’s Crafting Corner!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Celebration VI, X-Wing launches, and upcoming SWTOR content
- The latest changes from LucasArts & BioWare Austin
- JD’s Crafting Corner
- Community Discussion: Will Free-to-Play split the community?

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

There’s a finally some new footage for Star Wars: 1313. Take a look at this newest trailer, courtesy of IGN.

For the most part, this is just a minute and a half of footage that we’ve already seen, only re-cut. There are little bits of new footage interspersed throughout the video, most notably the wide shot of the actual level 1313 of Coruscant. I cannot wait to explore this place!

Still, this trailer really bothers me for the same reason that most Hollywood trailers annoy me these days. Too many jump-cuts, the “robot fart” sound effect that seems to be a prerequisite to all trailers these days, and the fade to black before a big action sequence. It’s like there’s only one guy in the world making every action/sci-fi movie trailer, and now he’s invaded the gaming world too.

We just received an email from Bioware that seems to be teasing the upcoming world event: The Grand Acquisitions Race. Watch the video below to see for yourself.

Welcome back everyone to the first mostly new, relatively different episode of MER! At first, Leo and Evan weren’t sure what big news to talk about, but BioWare certainly delivered. The hosts tackle the big elephant in the room that landed last Tuesday, but they also have the latest news from the rest of the Star Wars gaming (and literature) universe!

Please do come visit with Leo, Evan, and the rest of the Mos Eisley Radio community over at our forums. Drop us a line, tell us what you think, and throw us your ideas for future shows!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Upcoming Book & Comic News
- SWTOR Gets Nominated
- FREE-TO-PLAY
- MER-Q’s

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz

I wasn’t sure which season/series finale title would be most appropriate for this episode, but I think this one works.

As you may have heard or read by now, this episode marks the final Mos Eisley Radio episode to be hosted by the last remaining founder, Zach Brown. Also, the master of the MER guild and forums, Alan, is stepping away from his podcasting chair. They get a chance to not only say farewell, but also to sit down with us and share some great memories. In thanks for all they’ve done: /applause

Stick around, though, and you’ll get a short preview of the future of MER! Evan and Leo of the Ossus Academy podcast will be taking the helm and guiding the listeners through some uncharted territory. Don’t be scared, folks; we’re gonna take good care of your show.

Be sure to send your best to Zach and Alan on twitter or swing by our forums, say hi, and let us know what you’d like to hear about from MER in the future. Thanks, guys!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- The Big Goodbye
- Alan talks the future of MERC Guild
- Zach’s next (secret!) project
- The future! with Leo and Evan

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz and from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Leo and Evan hit you up with a whole lot of love in the first of their author spotlights, highlighting Michael A. Stackpole, author of half the X-Wing series, among many others. After the news, the guys will fill you in on some of his older works, his long-lasting contributions to Star Wars, and some books we didn’t get. Oh, and this is finally the episode in which the guys figure out a drinking game. Enjoy responsibly!

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Let us know… well, anything you feel like telling us whether it’s about this episode, any others, or some ideas for things you’d like to hear about in the future over at our forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Today Fantasy Flight Games posted a brand new preview of their upcoming Star Wars: X-Wing miniature space battle game. This sneak peek offers a very general look at what an average turn in a game might look like. Each turn consists of three phases: Planning, Activation, and Combat.

During the planning phase players will select from a number of maneuvers available to their fighters. Each maneuver has a speed (the distance your ship will travel), a bearing (what direction the ship will be facing when the maneuver is over), and a difficulty (more difficult maneuvers can cause stress to the ship preventing the pilot from taking an action during the Activation phase). Each ship has a dial which displays the maneuvers for each each ship and the varying speeds and difficulties; each ship has its own unique set of maneuvers. Each player sets their maneuvers in secret.

Maneuvers are then revealed during the Activation phase. Movement distance and angle is calculated using “maneuver tracks.” These are game pieces that you’ll place at the front of your ship’s original location and where the track ends is your ship’s new location. After each ship moves, its pilot can take an action. Actions can be anything from selecting an upgrade to focusing on the combat about to take place.

During the combat phase the ships all get to fire at each other. Starting with whichever pilot has the highest skill, they can each target any ship within range. The attacker rolls a number of special attack dice (determined by the ship’s attack value and modified by range) which will come with the core set while the defender will roll a similar number of defensive dice (determined by the ship’s agility value). Damage is determined by the number of damage symbols that turn up on attack dice minus the number of evasion symbols on the defensive dice that were rolled. If ships have shields, those are depleted first and the hull damage is kept track of by damage cards. each ship has a number of cards equal to its hull strength. However, should a critical hit symbol appear on the attack die and the defender is unable to evade it, when the ship receives a damage card, it will be flipped over with an extra effect revealed. These extra effects include things such as a pilot losing consciousness or equipment on the fighter becoming damaged, making maneuvering or combat more difficult.

Fantasy Flight promises to have more previews such as this one in the future featuring various ships and pilots from the Core set and new ships to be released in the expansion packs. Star Wars: X-Wing does not have an exact release date beyond sometime this Fall; however if you happen to be attending GenCon in August, you’ll be able to test out the game have a chance to participate in the first ever X-Wing tournament.

Of all the things Old Republic fans asked for during development but didn’t get, the ability to play as a droid was number one on the list. Having said that, it’s pretty obvious that Star Wars fans love the droids, even the annoying ones. Since there is an absolute slew of droids out there besides the R2′s and the 3PO’s, on today’s episode, Leo and Evan will help you navigate the sea of robot buddies and share some of their inner workings.

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Even if these aren’t the droids you’re looking for, I’d suggest taking a look in our forums over at our website, MosEisleyRadio.com!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

As you may have noticed, things have been a little quiet around here recently. We’ve had a lot going on, but, more than anything else, we’ve been looking to make some changes to Mos Eisley Radio. We are most certainly not leaving the podcasting space, nor are we abandoning the Old Republic community. Far from it!

Before we say anything else though, we have to give a multitude of thank you’s to all those who have continued to not only listen to our shows, but also contribute to our great community both on our forums and in SWTOR itself. Without you folks, there wouldn’t be much reason for us to talk for two hours every week.

I’m not going to go into too much detail just yet, but what I can tell you is that within the next couple weeks you’ll see some some big changes made to the site and the flagship show. We have a lot in store for you, a lot that is going to be a bit unexpected, but, I think, a lot of fun, very informative, and will give our community even more to talk about. We know patience may sometimes be in short supply here on the interwebs, but if you stick with us, I think you’ll find it’ll be worth it!

Keep checking back here for updates and follow our twitter feed, @moseisleyradio. Follow our SWTOR guild leader Alan on twitter, @AlanShotFirst, as well as the official MERC guild feed, @MERCGuild, and also the hosts of MER and Ossus Academy, Zach, @zachbrown83, Evan, @epgelion, and Leo, @crackerbox42.

Thanks, guys! We’ll keep you posted! – Evan

Leo and Evan are back from taking a little break after the big two-part essential reading list and timeline, and they are happy to tell you about some of the starships you’ll fly as well as blow up in SWTOR! They have a lot to cover, but, as always, they have some interesting and amusing news bits, more suggested reading, and a lot of great questions from the class this time around.

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Stop over at our own wretched hive, our forums, and although you won’t find much scum or villainy, you’ll definitely find some great people to chat and play games with!

As promised, here are the links to some of Leo’s news items:

http://www.swtor.com/blog/new-star-wars-old-republic-novel-cover-revealed
http://www.hansoloadventures.com/

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

What happens when Zach and Evan are both invited to join Galactic Public Radio‘s Brian and Andy for Talk of the Galaxy? Pure awesome. The panel tackles all the big news, both good and bad, including server pop, mergers, transfers, and the best way for BioWare to handle the current and future SWTOR population. They also throw out their thoughts for what Game Update 1.3 could realistically do to keep players and bring back those who have fallen to the dark side.

Hop on over to their site to directly download this great episode or search for them on iTunes. Be sure to drop them a line and stay tuned to MER to hear Brian and Andy invade our radio space in the near future!

Sometimes its fun to take a look back at what you were like a year ago and say, “Man. My hair was awesome.” Well, maybe that’s not quite as applicable here, but we sure had a lot of fun with the doggy bag about what we thought a year ago when prediciting where the game would be now. That’s a tough sentence to write.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Zach and Evan take a break from news and pontification, and are joined by JD and Sunny to have some fun. A long time ago, Zach and Brooks had an episode in which our heroes re-casted the entire Star Wars saga. It was another one of those episodes that had listeners yelling at their iPods about how right or wrong they were, but it was all in good fun. On this episode, our panel casts the major, minor, and cameo roles for a what-if Old Republic movie! They also share their long-overdue thoughts on this year’s SWTOR-MER character tournament!

Share your thoughts on these and other topics including the news, guilds, and all the other MER-Network shows over at our forums, the home of the Mos Eisley Radio Community.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Companion Madness Aftermath
- SWTOR Hollywood Casting Call

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

If you thought Session 8 was an ear-full, you have more on the way! In Session 9, Leo and Evan put the finishing touches on the essential Star Wars reading list, take a look at the three epic storylines that have been at the forefront of the books since 1999, and they also get to answer lots of questions from the class. Do the guys like to talk? Yeah, but remember, you asked for this!

Please do take the time after you’re done listening to come visit them over at the MER forums, the home for the Mos Eisley Radio Community!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Now that we’re past that most “wonderful” part of the school year, the crew is back and ready to give their two credits on the hottest topics. Of course, the biggest news right now is the population drop. Does it matter? What does it mean for the future? Will some servers be sacrificed?! This episode gets really deep really quickly, but there’s always fun to be had when team MER gets back together!

Come join the show hosts along with the rest of the Mos Eisley Radio community over at the forums, let your voice be heard, and find new people to play with in one of our official guilds!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Stories: It’s Been A While!
- News: The Great Population Crisis of 2012
- Community: Discussion In Committee

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

It’s time for another long lesson, folks. After many requests, Leo and Evan have collaborated to bring you their own personal complete reading list. This is their take on what Star Wars books you should spend your time and money reading, so if you hear books you might not expect and don’t hear some you thought should be on there, it’s just two guys’ opinions. We like to think they’re pretty, good, though.

The recording came out much longer than anticipated, so you can expect part two of the lesson to arrive in just one week’s time! As always, thanks for listening!

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

After you’re done yelling at the your iPod because you disagree so whole-heartedly with our evaluations of these books, head on over to the forums and tell us what you think should have been on there!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

You say it’s your birthday,
bah bah bah bah bah bah bah bahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
It’s my birthday too yeah…….
etc.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Because it was requested of us at Ossus Academy many times, we’ve put together a timeline of Star Wars novels and comics for all of you. Now, this isn’t an exhaustive list of every book or comic ever published. Instead, it’s our list of things that we feel are essential for fans to read. The following pieces of literature listed are either very important lore-wise, or we felt that they were really awesome and people should definitely read them.

Note: Dates are listed as either BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) or ABY (After).

Hey guys. Over the past few years I have got to know a lot of you in our MER community and I discovered there is a large number of us that enjoy League of Legends. I wanted to let everyone in on a little project I am starting dedicated to LoL, called Wits End Radio. This is a podcast that is similar to Mos Eisley Radio but discuss the latest news, startigies and more about our favorite MOBA game. If you guys are interested check it out.

Right now we are giving away Sivir with her Pax skin. For more information head over to our website www.witsendradio.com . You can follow us on twitter as well for more information. (which you will need to know for the contest ) We hope you enjoy it.

Rad comes back from vacation and I go all darkside on him with serious questions. You’ll see.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

On this special episode, Zach sits down for a post-1.2 chat with BioWar Austin’s former Lead Writer and now Lead Game Designer, Daniel Erickson. Zach had the chance to dig a little deeper into the elements of Game Update 1.2 along with the design philosophy behind the Legacy system and what we can look forward to with new and upcoming end-game content. Daniel also gives us a very big reveal about a contentious topic (hint: it’s the GTN!).

Let the MER community know what you think of 1.2, what you like, what you’d like to see, and how your tree of alts is looking over at our forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- A Talk with Daniel Erickson
- Game Update 1.2 Post-release
- The Legacy System in Detail

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

Leo and Evan return for another infotaining session of lore talk from Star Wars: The Old Republic. This lesson features not one, not two, but three species briefings. Among the topics: Asajj Ventriss gets a free species change. Also, google-search the literary phrase “Mary Sue.” You might find it useful.

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Once you’re done listening, or at the same time, if you’re the multitasking sort, come over to the official Mos Eisley Radio forums and let us know how our driving is, er, how you liked the show and what you’d like to hear on future sessions!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

What a crazy week it has been! Are you as excited about Game Update 1.2 as I am?! This week I ask: What new species and class combo are you looking forward to the most? Join the conversation! Link below.

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep47

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

After a little break, the team is back in action and the boys are graced by the presence of Corellian Run Radio’s own Carla! The panel spends plenty of time on the big topics coming out of PAX East, including the much-tweeted release date of Game Update 1.2. They also share some Stories from the Outer Rim, answer some MER-Q’s, and Alan gives a MERC guild update.

Stop by the MER forums and say hi to Alan, Evan, Zach, and the rest of the MER staff and MERC guild members! Drop us your two cents, find new people to play with, or just see what everyone else is saying about SWTOR.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Stories From the Outer Rim: Epic Moments & PvP
- News From the Galactic Republic: PAX East and the elusive 1.2
- Community Discussion: What do you want?!
- MERC Update

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

Since everyone’s looking forward to having new species/class combinations with the Legacy game update, we thought a look at the hottest Imperial species would be in order. Of course, we mean the Chiss, the mysterious species from the Outer Rim, made famous by Grand Admiral Thrawn from author Timothy Zahn’s groundbreaking trilogy. Don’t worry; we go over all that information in painful detail.

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Please feel free to wander around the library, but do share your thoughts with our friends at our forums to discuss this episode and more!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

I’m back after a short break! You ready to dive into one of the most controversial topics from the Guild Summit? Will the new legacy system pull people across the faction line and tear guilds apart? You tell me in the forums! Link below.

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep46

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

Welcome to the third annual March Madness tournament for Star Wars: The Old Republic! If you’re new to MER, you should feel free to go back and listen to the last two years’ editions of this special event, wherein the hosts matched up classic Star Wars characters to each of SWTOR’s Classes and debated the age-old question: in a straight-up fight, who’s gonna win?

The first year, we didn’t know any of the advanced classes so we only had eight spots to fill. Year two we knew all the AC’s and had to plumb the depths of the Expanded Universe to fill out the brackets. This year, now that the game is actually out and we’ve been playing for several months, we are switching things up and drafting the brackets with each classes’ first two companions! Why the first two only? It’s the least biased and most spoiler-free way to do this and still have fun. Also, we won’t be the ones picking the winners. We will be leaving that up to you! This won’t be a one night brawl either. Each day, we will post a new match-up which you can cast your vote for in our forums. The person with the highest amount of votes at the end of the day will win and move on to the next round. We will continue to do this throughout the entire bracket until we reach the end. -

So, get your office brackets set, start your betting pools, and since the fate of your favorite companion depends on votes, get your friends in on it and rally others to your cause!

Championship Round: Elara vs Vette

Discuss Here

Doesn’t “Casual Bass” sound like a fish in a tank top. Like some cartoon fish on a chaise lounge with sunglasses on, drinking a pina colada? Anyways, Bioware Senior Community Coordinator David Bass joined us for a tasty meal and some discussion on casual gaming. And to troll me, which you’ll find out. Rad, of course, thought this was hilarious. I’m replacing him with the line-cook droid next week.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

The other title of this ep was going to be “The AlanOssusDinerRadio-Cast” because we have a jam-packed episode of fun with Sunny Ravencourt, Guild Master Alan, Evan of Ossus, and fearless leader Zach. The gang hits everything from what they’ve been up to in game, more videos on the upcoming Legacy Patch 1.2, and spend plenty of time breaking down what each of them wants from future PvP content.

Let the MER staff and the rest of the community know what’s on YOUR mind over at the official forums. If you’re a visitor, feel free to introduce yourself and get to know the other members of our guild MERC!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Tales From the Outer Rim: Who’s 50, Who’s Not
- News From the Galactic Republic: New Legacy Video
- Community Discussion: The Future of PvP

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

First off, we apologize for the sound quality. It was rather harrowing getting this episode accomplished at all, but it’s a double-sized episode and we thought it was worth putting out.

After we received a question from the class regarding the lore found in past Star Wars video games, we decided it needed its own episode as opposed to a short answer at the end of a show. This extra thick episode was made possible only by Leo dedicating time to intense research and making sure we hit all the important bases (like he minded all the “work.”)

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Drop your comments, questions, and requests over at the official MER forums! While you’re visiting campus, stop by and say hello to the rest of the staff and hang out with the rest of the cool kids from MERC guild!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

And congrats to our big VIP winner Nynaeve for somehow climbing to the TOP of the base on Illum. Boggling.

Thats right. I’m taking a very uncasual stance on this. I will not have my bretheren lie down to be killed in Illum to give the Empire valor under the promise that they do the same. Are we taking crazy pills here people? You’re going to have to take my valor from my cold dead smuggler hands.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Welcome to another episode of MER and we have quite the special one for you this week. Alan joins us fresh off his trip from Austin where he attended the most recent Bioware Guild Summit. We are also once again joined by friend of the show JD as we recap on all the latest information and speculate on where the game might be going next. You don’t want to miss out on this one.

Feel free to head over to our forums to talk about anything we might have discussed (or forgot to bring-up) on the show.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Guild Summit
- Where are all the SWTOR players going?

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

Come tag along as I show you some behind the scenes footage of the SWTOR Guild Summit!

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep45

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

Do you like SWTOR? Do you like PVP? Do you like Sunny’s Diner and Darth Hater? If you said yes to any combination of the three you will enjoy this episode. Sunny of Sunny’s Diner and Justin of Darth Hater join us in this episode as we discuss what we love and loath of the PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic. We talk about what we want out of world PvP and Illum. We also discuss the current state of warzones and where ranked PvP needs to go.

As always, join in on the discuss in the MER forums.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- World PvP
- Warzone Pvp

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

Your humble professors Leo and Evan are back, and on-schedule, for once, to bring you an historical primer on the Jedi Order. Last class featured the Sith and now they look at the other side of the coin with the Light Side of the Force. Also, the suggested reading list continues to grow and more great listener questions get answered before the final bell rings.

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Weigh-in on this show’s topics and many other subjects over at our forums, the official home of our SWTOR guild, MERC!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Just contemplating the meaning of life while I sit in the backyard one morning…oh and talking about the upcoming Guild Summit in Austin! Give the video a look and let me know what you expect.

Guild Summit Press Release: Press Release

MERCguild twitter feed: MERCguild

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep44

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

There comes a time in a person’s life where the person feels the need to make bold and sweeping statement, however ill-advised they may be. Today is such a day. And so begins; Sunny’s Proclamation.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

It’s a full house on this episode as Alan and Leo join Zach and Evan to wrangle all the past week’s SWTOR info. Another Q&A session from BioWare delivers confirmation on some highly requested additions, the crew shares game stories from the last week of play, then tackle more listener questions. Also, MER wants to give a shout-out of thanks and good luck to Drew Karpyshyn, long-standing writer for BioWare and the man largely responsible for Darth Revan, who is leaving the company to explore other opportunities.

For more Alan, find Alan Shot First here at moseisleyradio.com in the Watch section and for more Leo, click Listen to find the Ossus Academy at the website or at iTunes and Zune Marketplace.

Join in lively debate, tell us what you wanna hear, and share your own stories over at our official forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Stories From The Outer Rim
- Drew Karpyshyn Departs BioWare
- BioWare Austin’s First Guild Summit
- SWTOR Lands In Asia Pacific Region
- Community Q&A
- Your MER-Q’s

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

The following journal entries are those of Stormtrooper TK-726, a struggling, low-level attorney stationed on the first Death Star. They largely depict his trials and tribulations as a last-resort Imperial attorney. Found floating in space by a band of smugglers, Mos Eisley Radio acquired the journals and has set to work on translating and documenting the content. Though his fate is still shrouded in mystery, at this point, one thing is strikingly unclear: Who knows why TK-726 even bothered to record his these things?

TK-726 IN
Journal Entry 11-82-21

A pretty angry trooper came stomping into my office earlier today. He was all irate about something, but I was finishing a brief so I told him to just have a seat. When he went to sit down, instead of turning around, he backed up while facing me and then shuffled laterally. It was very bizarre and it immediately caught my attention.

“OK, take your helmet off and tell me what’s on your back that you don’t want me to see?” I asked, putting my brief away.

He had his full stormtrooper gear on. I like to have people take their helmet off so I can read their eyes. I, of course, keep mine on because I don’t want them to see my eyes, and it looks cool with my suit.

He looked mad and sheepish at the same time, which is quite the expression. When he turned around I didn’t see anything particularly interesting about the back of his armor. Then he pointed at his ass-plate.

Somebody had branded a perfect visage of Vader’s helmet on the left cheek of his pearly white backside armor.

It was spectacular.

“I gotta say, somebody is an artist. Where do you even get a brand capable of doing that on the Star?” I asked. It was truly impressive work, and to acquire or build a brand like that was amazing. The trooper didn’t share my appreciation.

“I want to sue someone.”
“Hold on. Why don’t you just get a new plate?”
“The guys at Equipment and Maintenance think it’s funny, they said they’re out of plates until Friday.”
“I assume it’s the talented SOB that branded your armor that you’re looking to sue here, and not the clowns at Equipment. Who was it?”
“I’m not sure.”

I paused. This, believe it or not, is not an uncommon situation. “Well, that’s going to be a bit of a problem.”

“I think it’s TK-1037. He accused me of cheating when I beat him in sabaac a few weeks ago.”

Now this type of thing happens quite a bit. Some angry person comes storming in wanting vengence. The problem is that the law isn’t always the best avenue for this. Sometimes you just have to be a little more creative.

“Let me break this down for you. You want to sue TK-1037 because he stamped Vader’s face on your ass, which by the way is truly impressive work. So you’re going to sue this guy and guess what? You’re going to be famous by the end of the day. Every officer on this whole space station is going to know that you’re sitting on Vader’s mug, and sooner or later so will the big guy himself, and then it’s chokey-chokey time. And for what? You think you’re going to get “paid” for this? What are your damages? Embarrassment and future infamy? Good luck with that, buddy.”

I motioned him closer.

“Here’s what you do, kid. You take whatever money you wanted to pay me and go down to Equipment. You give it to my buddy TK-481 and tell him that I sent you. Explain that this guy got you good and you’re looking for some payback. Tell him to hide all the codpieces for 48 hours. Then you go back up to joker’s room when he’s working out and superglue a whole bunch of your hair in strategic places to his. Oh, and get yourself a new assplate before you get yourself killed.”

Who says lawyers aren’t creative?

TK-726 OUT

I am a one game man. I don’t two time my MMOs with other games, genres or hobbies. Perhaps you do because you believe variety is the spice of life! Jump into the convo and let us know what other games you are playing besides SWTOR.

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep43

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

Class is back in session and your humble professors are only too happy to spend some time with you today. In this lesson, Leo and Evan break-down one of the most requested topics: the Sith. In the movies, we always have two. Now, in The Old Republic, we have thousands! What gives? Fear not! We have the answers you’re looking for. The duo also answer a couple questions that came in and give a little preview of the next session.

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Join your comrades-in-arms over at the MER forums and be sure to leave us a note letting us know what topics you’d like covered in future episodes!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

At long last, the MER crew has re-assembled and they certainly have a lot to talk about. They start with personal stories from the game, cover some recent tweeks, dissect the BioWare Q&A session from last weekend, and wrap up with a new segment. Also, the crew tackles some interesting listener questions. As always, thank you for all your questions, comments, and suggestions!

Learn how to find friends, terrorize companions, and comment on our snafus over at the forum!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Stories From The Outer Rim
- UI Changes
- Patch 1.2 Q&A Session
- Your Emails!
- New Segment! Beginner Tips: Gear

Music on this show has been provided to us by General Fuzz.

The opinions surrounding Star Wars and the movies that are the basis for George Lucas’ success are as abundant as the grains of sand on the beach. In this week’s episode we explore the cinematic journey of Mr. Lucas and how we love and hate him for it.

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep42

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

MER is back and we have a unique episode in store for you. Zach is joined once again by one of his best friends JD (last appeared in episode 15). JD recently started playing SWTOR and this is his first MMO experience. They sit down and talk about what its like to play the game from the perspective of someone who just started playing MMOs. They also take time in respond to a few #MERQs.

As always, head over to our forums to discuss the latest episode.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Discuss what SWTOR is like from the perspective of a new MMO player
- Random life stories related to Star Wars

Podcast Art Provided by Joel

Enjoy the meal and send us your VIP shots.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

A tough topic to discuss this week. Love them or hate them, companions are here to stay in SWTOR. What do you think of companions as a whole? Useful or useless?

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep41

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

In this episode of MER, we are excited to introduce a special guest joining us from sunny California for a time of Q&A. The wonderful & talented Catherine Taber was kind enough to come on our show & explain what it was like to be a part of the recording process of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Catherine, who is the voice behind the Sith Warrior companion Vette, is most know for her role on the Clone Wars animated series as the actress who plays Padme.

In this episode she gives us an idea of her experiences with such a massive video game project & shares a little insight on how things work behind the scenes. She also takes time to tell us about founding Games for Soldiers, which we highly encourage MER listeners to check out. Don’t forget to thank her via Twitter for coming onto our show!

As always, feel free to head over to the forums for the latest MER discussion!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Catherine Taber Interview

SWTOR has been out for about a month and a half. Simple topic for the week: What’s missing? I want to hear from YOU! Join in on the conversation!

Link to this conversation thread in the MER forums: ASF ep40

To see previous episodes, head over to: alanshotfirst.com

Music courtesy of El Ten Eleven
Song Title: My Only Swerving

I’m sorry, but I just don’t like Corso Riggs. And for some reason, he’s supposed to be my Sunny’s love interest? No thank you. I’d rather kiss a wookie. And I think I can arrange that.

Join our VIP contest and win a Razer mouse dongle. Email us a screenshot of your character to sunnysdinerpodcast@gmail.com

Enjoy the meal.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

In this episode Zach is joined by Carla of Corellian Run Radio, Larry of Massively and Dover of Darth Hater. The four of us look at SWTOR in it’s current state and discuss what we like and dislike about it.

Want to give us your thoughts? Jump over to our forums and join in on the discussion.

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Discuss the current state of SWTOR

This week brought a massive new update to The Old Republic and it was full to the brim with nasty, disgusting Rakghouls! In order to better ensure your survival during this viral outbreak, Leo and Evan return with another lesson in Star Wars lore, this time focusing on the history and various appearances of these Sith-created space zombies. The Ossus professors also tackle some listener questions and give you their first suggested reading list. There may be a pop quiz next episode, so don’t fall asleep during class.

Music for this episode comes from selections of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Original Soundtrack. These are just some of the free tracks BioWare made available on Facebook. Big thank you to them and the whole musical team over there!

Join in the conversation on this episode and many more topics over at our forums!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Don’t worry, all you Jedi Knights and Consulars: the Troopers won’t attack you, but that does not make this episode any less exciting! SWTOR gets its first major content update with patch 1.1, “Rise of the Rakghouls.” Alan, Evan, and Zach tackle all the tweaks and changes the game will see once the patch hits and also look at some previews of future possible changes. The crew dives into MER-Q’s and then welcome back MMO Loser, now with SWTOR losers!

Put in your two creds at the forums and find some new squadmates while you’re at it!

Direct DownloadiTunes SubscriptionRSS Subscription

Discussion Topics
- Patch 1.1 “Rise of the Rakghouls”
- Future Changes Previewed
- Razer Peripherals Delayed
- Your MER-Q’s
- MMO Loser