SWTOR developer Alex Modny responded to some questions regarding the upcoming season 4 PvP weapon rewards. Season 4 Weapon Rewards | 04.16.2015, 01:58 PM Originally Posted by Jinre_the_Jedi Two questions: 1)Will the weapons have particle effects like the S3 ones? 2) Will we get off hands too? Specifically vibroknives and generator/shields? 1) There aren’t any fire-esque visual effects on the Swashbuckling weapons but they do have visual effects that adjust to the color crystal attached. In the teaser blog you can see the circle/gears on the side of the blasters, those rotate and glow pretty fantastically. On the lightsabers the crystal glows at the base of the hilt and right above the guard. More extravagant visual effects are great and something we want to do more of for season rewards but creating ones that fit into the lore and aesthetic of the game is a delicate process. We would love to…
Author: Soeren Kamper
Changes to the Cartel Market — Tuesday April 14 – 21 2015
Here are the weekly cartel market items on sale for the week of April 14 – 21 2015. Price Change Old Price New Price Percent Change Normal Price Helpful links CORSEC ELECTROBATON 200 400 +100% 400 Information from TOR FASHION EMOTE: POSSESSED 90 400 +344% 400 Information from TOR FASHION CARBONITE CHAMBER 240 480 +100% 480 GALACTIC TRADE NETWORK (KIOSK) 120 90 –25% 120 CARGO BAY 115 87 –25% 115 5-PACK: MAJOR EXPERIENCE BOOST 360 270 –25% 315 DYE MODULE KIT 200 150 –25% 200 CZERKA CR-17 INCENDIA SPEEDER 1800 900 –50% 1800 Information from TOR FASHION SATELE SHAN’S DUALSABER 500 250 –50% 375
Pazaak’s Not-So-Distant Relative
While the subject hasn’t been touched in a number of months, it’s worth noting that we have written about the game of Pazaak in the past. And in doing so, we’ve mentioned briefly that it shares some common themes with one of the more popular card games played in our galaxy: blackjack. It’s true that there are several very similar concepts shared by the two, such as the fact that you never want to go over a certain amount—20 in Pazaak and 21 in blackjack—and that the stakes are often pretty high. It’s true that there are tales of games of Pazaak that don’t include some form of gambling, but they quickly walked into that more competitive territory as its popularity grew. That all being said, it’s actually another game in the Star Wars universe that has ties to both Pazaak and blackjack: Sabacc. Before diving into Sabacc and its…
Patch notes for 3.1.2a
Servers are back online after today’s Maintenance. Below are the patch notes: Classes + Combat Jedi Consular Shadow Low Slash is no longer repeatedly activated after its initial use. I think we all saw this one coming 😉
Community Event Pre-registration is now live!
BioWare is trying something new for this year’s Cantina Tours. Starting with the Anaheim Cantina Tour in April is a pre-registration program that allow those who registered to earn additional rewards if they attend the registered cantina tour. Community Event Pre-registration is now live! | 04.07.2015, 09:07 PM Hey folks, I wanted to tell you about our new Cantina pre-registration page! You can find the page and some more details on it here. However, let me give you the TLDR on the perks of pre-registering for our Cantinas: If you pre-register and attend the Cantina, you are eligible for a pre-registrant exclusive swag drawing! If you pre-register and then redeem that Cantina exclusive pack code, you will receive an additional in-game reward. Pre-registrants will get priority access to the Cantina (you get in first!) Note: RSVPing on Facebook does not count as pre-registering, you must do it through this new…
Changes to the Cartel Market — Tuesday April 7-14 2015
Here are the weekly cartel market items on sale for the week of Feb 24 – Mar 04 2015. New Items Price Helpful links THORN CONTAINMENT ARMOR SET 1440 INFECTED WOMP WEASEL 120 HYPERCRATE: SHIPMENT 2 CONTRABAND PACKS 5400 THORN SANITIZATION ARMOR SET 1440 Items No Longer Available Helpful links HYPERCRATE: SHIPMENT 1 CARTEL PACKS Price Change Old Price New Price Percent Change Normal Price Helpful links CORSEC ELECTROBATON 400 200 –50% 400 Information from TOR FASHION EMOTE: POSSESSED 400 90 –78% 400 Information from TOR FASHION UNLOCK: ADDITIONAL CARGO BAY 350 475 +35% 475 UNLOCK: INVENTORY MODULE 131 175 +33% 175 ADDITIONAL CHARACTER SLOT 300 600 +100% 600 SANCTIFIED CARETAKER ARMOR SET 720 1440 +100% 1440 APPEARANCE OPTION: PIGTAILS 240 100 –59% 240 APPEARANCE OPTION: DREADLOCKS 240 100 –59% 240 APPEARANCE OPTION: SHAGGY 240 100 –59% 240 APPEARANCE OPTION: AFRO 240 100 –59% 240 CARBONITE CHAMBER 480 240 –50%…
SWTOR: Changes to Stronghold Titles Coming in 3.1.2
Stronghold Labels sold by the Warzone Decoration vendors will become BoP when patch 3.1.2 goes live today. This is to prevent players from trading them for warzone commendations between characters. PSA: Changes to Stronghold Titles Coming in 3.1.2 Tomorrow | 04.06.2015, 04:18 PM Hey PvPers, Heads up on a change that some of you spotted as being in Game Update 3.2 on PTS, it is actually a part of 3.1.2 which is coming tomorrow. The change is around three Stronghold titles, which some players are using to move around Warzone Commendations in a way we did not intend. Here are the changes: The following Stronghold Titles are now Bind on Pickup: Stronghold Label: Imperial Sanctuary Stronghold Label: Republic Sanctuary Stronghold Label: Starfighter’s Lounge If you have any of these titles unbound, they will bind to you as of tomorrow. Thanks! -eric
SWTOR Update on Sentinel and Marauders
Eric Musco posted an update on the official forums regarding Sentinels and Marauders for PvP: Update on Sentinel and Marauder | 04.06.2015, 03:00 PM Hey folks, I know that some of you have been waiting for a status update on Maras/Sents, especially for PvP. Here is some info from the Combat team. — Hello everyone, We would like to take this opportunity to discuss Marauders/Sentinels and their present state in the game. To do so, we wish to start by outlining the rotational design philosophies of the three Marauder/Sentinel rotations. Carnage/Combat: Low Rotation Difficulty, Moderate Burst and Moderate Sustained Damage Annihilation/Watchman: High Rotation Difficulty, High Sustained and Low Burst Damage Fury/Concentration: Moderate Rotation Difficulty, High Burst and Low Sustained Damage Marauder/Sentinel PvP Viability: As it presently stands, Carnage/Combat and Annihilation/Watchman are performing well in Solo Ranked and Group Ranked PvP, respectively. We target a 50% win rate for each Discipline in PvP, and…
Game Update 3.1.2 Patch Notes
Servers are going down in less then 24 hours. When they come back up, Game Update 3.1.2 will be applied. Below are the patch notes: Highlights Revel in the arrival of Star Wars™ Celebration with a Double XP Week! Get twice the experience from April 16th at 11:00 PDT/18:00 GMT to April 22nd at 00:01 PDT/07:00 GMT! Bounty Contract Week Returns! Hunt wanted criminals in this returning event! The event begins April 21st at 05:00 PDT/12:00 GMT and ends April 28th at 05:00 PST/12:00 GMT! General Frameworks from any Guild Bank tab can now be used to purchase Guild Flagship Room unlocks. Cartel Market Vehicles with the new “Flourish” functionality will be available in the Cartel Market soon! Bright Yellow and Vibrant Green Eyes are now available for Cyborgs. Short Wavy Hair no longer distorts on any body types. The Bright Blue Eyes appearance has been fixed and is now…
Server Maintenance 7 April 2015 : Update 3.1.2
BioWare will be taking down the servers on April 7 for maintenance and to apply game update 3.1.2. Below are the announcement: Hi everyone! All servers will be unavailable on April 7th while we apply Game Update 3.1.2. Date: Tuesday, 7 April 2015 Time: 5:00AM PDT (12:00 GMT) – 9:00AM PDT (16:00 GMT) Version: 3.1.2 During maintenance, all updates and additional information will be posted on our Twitter account. Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Timezone(s) Start Time End Time UTC Offset Australia/Sydney April 07, 2015 10:00 pm April 08, 2015 02:00 am +10:00 Australia/Adelaide April 07, 2015 09:30 pm April 08, 2015 01:30 am +09:30 Australia/Brisbane April 07, 2015 10:00 pm April 08, 2015 02:00 am +10:00 Tokyo April 07, 2015 09:00 pm April 08, 2015 01:00 am +09:00 Australia/Perth, Hong Kong April 07, 2015 08:00 pm April 08, 2015…
Developer Blogs: Regrets
BioWare posted a new story blog post leading up to next patch update. This one is titled Regrets: Jace Malcom pulled at the cuff of his sleeve. Living most of his life in uniform, he was used to things fitting a certain way. The leather jacket previously hiding in the back of his closet was tight around the shoulders and out of style, judging from the upturned noses of the restaurant’s other clientele. Despite his position as Supreme Commander, Jace generally didn’t frequent establishments in the Senate District, preferring a more casual atmosphere. However, Thranta’s Respite was known to serve an authentic roast gorak, a dish he’d grown fond of from his time on Alderaan. He hoped the food was better than the decor. The Killik-silk tablecloths and delicately carved oro wood menus were overshadowed by gaudy holographic vistas of the Alderaanian country-side. All pre-civil war of course. Jace exhaled and…
PTS Update Notes – April 2nd, 2015
New PTS Patch is Available. It’s about 850 mb big. It includes lots of quality of life changes, and tons of other stuff. Below are the patch notes: PTS Update Notes – April 2nd, 2015 | 04.02.2015, 10:05 AM Hey everyone! We are working to get the newest PTS build open and available, and it should be up in an hour or two. Until then, here are the notes! -Tait General The cooldown on the Quick Travel ability has been reduced. For Subscribers and Preferred players the cooldown is now 6 minutes, and for Free-To-Play players the cooldown is now 26 minutes. The Legacy Travel I, II, and III unlocks now reduce the cooldown of the Quick Travel ability by 2 additional minutes each, down to 0. The cooldown on the Emergency Fleet Pass ability has been reduced. For Subscribers and Preffered players the cooldown is now 90 minutes, and…
Will Somebody Make a Star Wars Slot Machine Please?
Movie themed slots are nothing new in the online gaming industry. Software companies and casinos alike are constantly trying to innovate by making partnerships with famous movie / video game companies for exclusive rights to famous characters and brands. These partnerships are great for players as well since they will get to enjoy playing their favorite slots within a well defined and well beloved movie universe. Star Wars is definitely one of the largest and most beloved sci-fi properties out there and with a legacy that spends decades you would be hard pressed not to want to play a casino game which is using that setting and characters. The first to capitalize on the idea was IGT Slots – the largest slots provider in the US for land based casinos. They have been operating for a very long time and have a huge selection of available games with themes that range from your regular cherry /…
New Dev Post – 3.2 PTS Feedback Communiqué
System Designer John Jarynowski took on the forums to address some of the Patch 3.2 feedback regarding class balance. Fine members of the galactic community, Just wanted to pop up and thank you all for the continued feedback. We are testing many of your ideas presently. Even if some of these changes do not come around in this patch cycle, we are archiving community perspectives/ideas for future updates. To help curb some continued points of contention that I’ve seen, I’d like to address two particular areas: 1) Many of you are concerned about melee viability against bosses in various Flashpoints and Operations. We have all heard your cries, and I know that our Encounter Designers are actively assessing improvement strategies. That aside, I want to clarify that we, the Combat Team, will not reconfigure an entire class or Discipline around a single boss encounter. While we continually work to improve…
SWTOR PTS Update: Armor Weight Restrictions removed from Outfit Designer
Tait Watson posted an update from the public test servers. BioWare will be removing armor weight restrictions from the upcoming Outfit Designer. As we understand it, this will mean that light armor classes can now wear heavy armor etc in the outfit designer and heavy armor classes can wear light armor. Check it out: Outfit designer still obeys class/armor restrictions | 03.30.2015, 05:41 PM Hey everyone, We were able to get the change to armor weight restrictions implemented, and it will be available on the PTS with the bug fix build that is going live today. -Tait PTS Update – March 30th, 2015 | 03.30.2015, 05:43 PM Hey folks! We will be taking down the PTS shortly in order to apply a small bug fix patch. As we don’t note bug fixes on PTS builds, no notes will accompany this update. However, I do want to point out that the…
SWTOR Double XP this Weekend March 27-30
BioWare is launching a surprise double XP weekend right now until march 30.: FROM STORY MISSIONS TO PVP WARZONES, ADVANCE AT DOUBLE THE SPEED! Get Double XP from March 27 – 30 during the following times: • STARTS: Friday, March 27, 2015 11AM PDT / 6PM GMT • ENDS: Monday, March 30, 2015 12AM PDT / 7AM GMT Enjoy Double XP this weekend! Achieve even faster gains with XP Boosts, available in the Cartel market. Level 60 players can also earn double Legacy XP – jump in now!
SWTOR Outfit Designer Restrictions
Tait Watson posted an update on the offocial forums regarding Outfit Designer restrictions. BioWaer is still mproving the Outfit Designer and will add in some of the requested features after 3.2 Outfit designer still obeys class/armor restrictions | 03.25.2015, 04:02 PM Hey everyone, We think having the Outfit Designer ignore armor weight restrictions is a great idea! We are actively exploring changing this now, and I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything else. I’ve also seen the mention of weapons and Companions being included in the Outfit Designer. Even though it may not seem like it, adding an Outfit Designer tab for Companions would effectively be creating a new system. Due to this we won’t be implementing one for 3.2, but will look into the option for a future release. Similarly, adding the ability to stamp weapons would require a lot of changes to the backend of…
New member of the Austin Community team: Nick Avola
Meet the newest member of the Bioware Austin Community team Nick Avola. He’s Holding a Thermal Detonator! Hey all! I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself as the newest member of the Bioware Austin Community team. My name is Nick Avola, and I have the daunting (yet exciting) task of playing third fiddle on a team directly involved in all areas of our games from player feedback, to design considerations, to promotions, to communications, you name it. Much of my time will be spent scouring the forums, blogisphere, and social media platforms to track community sentiment on a day-to-day basis. Ill be consolidating your comments and concerns into detailed reports, which will be disseminated regularly amongst the Community, Development, Leadership, and other key teams here at BioWare Austin. The sooner your feedback reaches the eyes and ears of senior staffers, the more accurately and effectively we can respond…
Changes to the Cartel Market — Tuesday March 24 -31 2015
Here are the weekly cartel market items on sale for the week of Feb 24 – Mar 04 2015. New Items Price Helpful links HYPERCRATE: MASTER’S SHADOW PACKS 5400 MASTER’S SHADOW PACK 250 Price Change Old Price New Price Percent Change Normal Price Helpful links 30-DAY STARFIGHTER PASS 360 720 +100% 720 VX-9 REDEEMER 1080 1800 +66% 1800 VX-9 MAILOC 1080 1800 +66% 1800 G-X1 ONSLAUGHT 1080 1800 +66% 1800 G-X1 FIREHAULER 1080 1800 +66% 1800 TZ-24 ENFORCER 1080 1800 +66% 1800 TZ-24 GLADIATOR 1080 1800 +66% 1800 LEGACY UNLOCK: RATTATAKI 600 300 –50% 450 LEGACY UNLOCK: MIRIALAN 600 300 –50% 450 CELEBRATION MISHAP 400 200 –50% 300 KICK BALL 400 200 –50% 300 UNDERWORLD ESSENTIALS BUNDLE 700 280 –60% 490 IMPERIAL ESSENTIALS BUNDLE 500 225 –55% 428 REPUBLIC ESSENTIALS BUNDLE 500 225 –55% 428
Game Update 3.2: Rise of the Emperor PTS Patch Notes
The public test servers have been updated. Here are the PTS patch notes for Game Update 3.2: Rise of the Emperor. All content and features on the Public Test Server are not final and are subject to change: Game Update 3.2: Rise of the Emperor Unleashed from hiding on Yavin 4, the former Sith Emperor has struck the Imperial world of Ziost. Using his immense power in the dark side of the Force, he has dominated the minds of the planet’s martial forces–as well as an elite cadre of militaristic Jedi–and has set them against the populace, engaging in a bloody slaughter. Lana Beniko of Sith Intelligence and SIS Agent Theron Shan are attempting to reach out to their Imperial and Republic allies, respectively, with details on the quickly escalating crisis in the heart of the Empire. Highlights New Planet: Ziost! The Imperial planet Ziost is the focal point of an escalating…
SWTOR Season 4 Ranked PvP Rewards
BioWare just announced the complete SWTOR season 4 ranked PvP rewards. Season 4 will end on April 28, 2015. The culmination of Season 4 is fast approaching so batten down the hatches! The end of Season 4 will come with Game Update 3.2 and your rating, when the servers come down for the update, will determine which tier you are in and what rewards you receive. The higher your tier the more booty you will plunder! Just like in previous seasons, the Highest Earned rating that determines the tier you are in – not Current – so no need to feel like you are risking Rating by going after the next tier up! To see your Highest Earned Rating, check the Warzone Rating and Stats page in the Warzone Queue GUI. Please note that the Rating displayed on the Leaderboards are the Current Ratings, not Highest Earned. Once Season 4 has…
Changes to the Cartel Market — Tuesday March 17 -24 2015
Here are the weekly cartel market items on sale for the week of Feb 24 – Mar 04 2015. Items No Longer Available Helpful links SOLUS SECANT Price Change Old Price New Price Percent Change Normal Price Helpful links WEEKLY PASS: OPERATIONS 180 240 +33% 240 WEEKLY PASS: WARZONES 180 240 +33% 240 APPEARANCE MODIFICATION STATION 55 110 +100% 110 APPEARANCE OPTIONS: HUMAN HAIRSTYLES 1 120 240 +100% 240 CYBER ASSAULT CANNON 360 600 +66% 600 UNLOCK: ADDITIONAL LEGACY STRONGHOLD STORAGE BAY 450 750 +66% 750 GALACTIC TRADE NETWORK (WALL) 90 120 +33% 120 30-DAY STARFIGHTER PASS 720 360 –50% 540 VX-9 REDEEMER 1800 1080 –40% 1440 VX-9 MAILOC 1800 1080 –40% 1440 G-X1 ONSLAUGHT 1800 1080 –40% 1440 G-X1 FIREHAULER 1800 1080 –40% 1440 TZ-24 ENFORCER 1800 1080 –40% 1440 TZ-24 GLADIATOR 1800 1080 –40% 1440 swtorcartel.com has changed since the last cartel market update: Rolled out new UI…
SWTOR Developer Livestream on March 20 on Patch 3.2
The SWTOR developers over at BioWare will be holding a livestream on March 20 to discuss the upcoming Patch 3.2 and Ziost. SWTOR Developer Live Stream – March 20th | 03.17.2015, 03:01 PM Hey folks! I wanted to give you the details of our next live stream: When: Friday, March 20th from 3PM-4PM CDT Where: www.twitch.tv/swtor Who: Bruce Maclean, Michael Backus, and myself What: We are going to to talk about the story coming to Ziost and what is coming in Game Update 3.2. (no spoilers!) I hope to see you there! -eric
Torhead is Closing due to Lack of Traffic
Amy Lanam, Content Manager of ZAM Network, just announced that TorHead will be closing down due to lack of traffic. This will be hard on fan sites, as most scroll over links you see actually came from torhead. It’s a shame that SWTOR don’t have a an open data system as in WOW, then this will not have happend. It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce we will be closing down Torhead. A recent analysis of our sites has shown that Torhead’s traffic doesn’t justify the work it needs to keep it a quality site. The closure is slated to happen sometime after March 19, 2015. Thank you for your support, your passion, your persistence, and your loyalty. I hope you’ll stick with ZAM as we continue to forge new tools for gamers.