Hyperspace Beacon: The 10 best places to find SWTOR content outside the game

Just this week, a long-running Star Wars: The Old Republic fan-made website mentioned that it was shutting down, one among many that have come and gone since the launch of SWTOR. I was just mentioning the other day to a friend how Darth Hater pretty much faded into nothing and how many of the old fan-shows and websites no longer exist. It seems to be a rare thing for creators to make content since the launch of the game, and it’s even rarer for them to have created it before the game launched.

And now SWTOR-RP is shutting down, one of the last sites to have been reporting on SWTOR for over seven years. I know this because I was one of the three founders, and now the three of us remaining have decided it’s time to move on and let the site go.

So where does a SWTOR fan get content now? Are there still fansites that report on the latest news coming from BioWare Austin? I can hear Massively OP readers now: “Larry, your content is great and all, but I need more than a thousand words in Hyperspace Beacon every week.” And I hear you; I need more than that, too. So that’s why I’ve compiled another list of 10 podcasts, YouTube channels, and websites where I get my SWTOR information.

Vulkk

The number one SWTOR content creator right now has to be Vulkk. I am uncertain if he has the most hits on his website, but he might. This gentleman from Bulgaria creates more content than some of the largest sites with a team of content creators, and the majority of his content is focused on Star Wars: The Old Republic. He always has the latest news about the game, and his videos — which consist of a mix of prerecorded and livestreamed content — are always filled with the most up-to-date information and opinions.

If you haven’t played SWTOR for years and are looking for the old feel of Darth Hater, Vulkk is the place you want to go. Originally, all of his content was video, but over the last year or so, he’s started putting together blog-style content as well. Vulkk does it all.

Dulfy

I don’t think that I have to mention Dulfy here because she’s been posting SWTOR content since release, and she’s still going strong. In fact, Dulfy is still the go-to place for any kind of guide. Although Vulkk does have guides, too, he doesn’t have guides on everything since the beginning. Dulfy quite literally has guides for all the SWTOR content, including class, flashpoint, and operation guides.

TORFashion

I’m a roleplayer and can’t tell you how many times I have used TOR Fashion. Exile, the owner of that site, stays up-to-date with all the latest armor sets and is able to keep her database fresh and full of very useful information about dressing your character just the way you like. She also has a database of all the stronghold decorations — all of them. It’s mind blowing. If you haven’t visited, you need to as soon as you can.

Jedipedia

Jedipedia and TOR Fashion are probably the most unusual sites that I have on this list. That’s not because they aren’t useful or that I don’t check them often, but they don’t have a regular podcast, nor do they have a blog about the latest SWTOR news. No, these two sites, which have no direct relationship to each other, just go about their business updating whenever there is new content to be added to their database.

Jedipedia is probably the ultimate database for all items in SWTOR. And when I say all items, I mean everything. NPCs, weapons, armor, pets, and mounts are all in this database. Anything in the client files can be found here. And that’s part of the problem: Don’t go digging around in this website unless you are willing to be spoiled on possible future content because its database does include many items that have not quite made it into the game yet.

Passionately Casual Podcast

The Passionately Casual Podcast is a little bit about the Unholy Alliance and Wookiee Mistake guilds, a little bit about news, a little bit about Star Wars in general, but a whole lot of community. The PC Podcast features segments that focus on what the community is doing as well as a segment on lore. I even do a segment on that podcast about roleplaying in SWTOR.

Bad Feeling Podcast

I’ve often thought about Bad Feeling Podcast, asking what is it about these guys that keeps me tuning it. They do report on the latest SWTOR news, but Vulkk and Dulfy usually get to that faster. I believe it has everything to do with personality. Brian and Chuck are the most honest and friendly people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. They are real and unlike other podcasters who are equally honest, they don’t travel down the negative spiral for very long. They keep things positive and are genuinely uplifting.

SWTORista

Of course, SWTORista does more than guides. She posts the regular pack-opening content, and she’s currently releasing a series where she’s telling the story of a character that she’s leveling. But by far the content that she’s known for is the Academy series of videos that cover the basics of SWTOR. If you want to know how to craft, use the GTN, sort out what legacy and character unlocks are, or grok the basics of gearing up, SWTORista has a thorough and informative Academy video about it.

SWTOR Central

Maybe it’s his accent or maybe it’s that he calls all the people who follow him plebs, but whatever it is, Sam aka SWTORCentral has a lot of fun in his videos. If you haven’t seen his beyond-the-wall series of videos, you should really check it out. It’s amazing the places you can go with a little bit of creative use of game mechanics.

The Council SWTOR

Some of you might remember when I used to do a show on Gambreaker about SWTOR. A panel of SWTOR players focused on different parts of the game would get together to discuss the latest news and rumors floating around about SWTOR. It was a simple four-panel livestream with a lot of opinions and some of the biggest stories stemming from the game. Well, the Council SWTOR has brought this kind of feeling back. Four players of the game, including Sechari from Passionately Casual Podcast and my friend and Star Wars superfan Redna. They have just started and have only a handful of episodes out, but I have high hopes for these guys.

Sechari

Although others on this list do record their content on Twitch to be broadcast at a later date on a different platform, Sechari is one of the few to just produce content for Twitch. He is a streamer in the classic sense with a community built around that stream.

As you might have noticed, I don’t have a lot of streamers on this list, but that’s because I tend not to absorb content that way. There are definitely other streamers out there that do a fantastic job, but I tend not to watch them. Vulkk and SWTORCentral, for example, both stream, but it’s secondary to their other YouTube content. Sechari, on the other hand, streams 100%, and that’s where he grows and cultivates his audience.

Replacing SWTOR-RP

Lastly, for those who are looking to replace SWTOR-RP, there isn’t a one-stop shop anymore, but there are a couple of places to go to get what you want for your lore and roleplay fix. If you used the forums that were there, the Progenitor roleplayers have made their own website now, and Ebon Hawk players can be found on the Ebon Hawk Enjin site as well as the Citadel Discord server. Of course, I talk about roleplay here quite a bit, and if you need something a little bit more regular, do check out my segment on the Passionately Casual Podcast.

As I said this isn’t exhaustive, and I know that I’ve missed some of your favorite sites. So let me know what those are by giving them a shout out in the comments below.