The first official SWTOR GUild Summit officially kicks off today! As a special treat BioWare is going to be doing a livestream of today’s festivities starting at 10 am CST. Can’t catch the stream as it goes live? Don’t worry! We will be providing up to the minute details about the various reveals and facts announced by the developers as the day progresses.

 

Just check after the jump for all the reveals. This post will be updated all day long with all the facts, so keep checking back for more info! For a schedule of today’s events check out our previous post.

 

Update: The livestream is over. Thanks to everyone who joined us for the updates and a big thanks to BioWare for streaming today’s events for us!

 

 

-Re-Hashing some subscription info; over 2 million copies sold, average playtime is 5+ hours a day, over 38 million characters created

 

-Friends of Star Wars program starting tomorrow-You can invite up to 3 friends to play for free for a week

 

-There is a team dedicated to fixing the little bugs not important enough to get a weekly update fix. Expect some more polish on the little things when 1.2 drops.

 

Sneak Peek of 1.2:

-New Warzone name: Novare Coast

-New Operation name: Explosive Conflict

-New Flashpoint name: Lost Island

-Legacy Family tree unlocked

-Legacy abilities coming

-New ship options unlocked through legacy

-Character options unlocksble through legacy system (options seen include Chiss Smugglers and Sith Pureblood Jedi)

-UI customization

-Gear customization options

-Appearance texture updates

-New Corellia daily missions

-New mini-pets

-Warzone ranking coming

-New ranking gear tiers in warzones

-In-game events starting up with a whole team dedicated to making events that fit the star Wars world

-Guild banks coming with up to 7 tabs available (though unlocking all of the tabs will be quite expensive), Guild Leaders will also have a bunch of options dealing with the bank.

-No exact date for when this will go live, but should be coming to the PTS soon. Aiming for early April for 1.2 to be released live.

 

-Operations and Flashpoint discussion

-BioWare is aware of the bugs, particularly in EV, and they are high priority to be fixed.

-Looting System is changing. Players should soon be able to trade bound items for a few hours after receiving them.

-New Operation, Explosive Conflict, should be more difficult than previous Operations. Requiring more player coordination. Nightmare mode in particular will be a serious challenge.

-Main Galactic storyline will continue inside operations. Normal mode will be considered “Storyline Mode” giving more casul players a chance to continue experiencing the storyline.

-Operation Gear will be able to have mods removed and placed in Orange Gear, including set bonuses being transfered to the modable gear.

-Operations will have more Guild testing to help ensure a smoother experience.

-There are at least 2 more Operations in development.

-More info onscreen and boss animations to let players know what is going on.

-Lost Island flashpoint will finish up Kaon Under siege Flashpoint

-Group finder will be included in 1.2 to help find players on your server only!

-Repair costs will not see any major change in 1.2, but it is on the table.

-Reverse bolstering for high level players helping lower level players is something that should be coming at some point, but no major details on it now.

-Hard Mode and Nightmare mode will continue being on the same lockout.

-16-man operations have a higher drop rate of loot, but will continue to not drop different loot than 8-man operations.

-Achievements for killing bosses should be coming in the future, including timestamps to determine world first boss kills

-1 new tier of gear incoming for Operations and PvP

-Developers do want to have DPS meters, Threat meters, ect., included in game.In 1.2 you should be able to enable a simple output into the chat window about how killed you, what attack killed you last enemy ect. There is a more comprehensive program that players will be able to copy to disc, but these stats will not show up in-game.

-With the coordination difficulty increase Tanks will be much more necessary in new content.

-In future Operations there is a much greater chance you will need to split up your group to tackle different objectives at the same time. The Ancient Pylons fight in EV touched on this, but hopes are to make them more elaborate in future Operations.

-Flashpoints w/o Hard Modes will have them in the future, no word on when though.

-New Operations style open world bosses will be released in 1.2

 

-PvP Discussion

-New Warzone will include same faction vs same faction gameplay. It’s a majority control objective style warzone. 3 points available to control, but will need to control at least 2 points in order to deal damage.

-Ranked PvP coming in 1.2. Players can que up solo or in groups and get matched based on their rank. Wins get you higher level matches, losses get you lower level matches.

-18 new objective based medals will be introduced (catching the huttball, scoring, placing the bomb on a door, ect.).

-Medals for winning matches fast also to be introduced.

-Vote to kick inactive players coming, player will be replaced by someone in the que.

-Warzones will require minimum level of contribution before being rewarded certain medals.

-New level of PvP Gear is called War Hero.

-New Lightsaber colors coming, as well as Expertise crystals.

-Same faction vs same faction will be enabled for current Warzones. Date TBD.

-Cross server queing coming, preference will be given to players on the same server except in ranked warzones where preference will go to players of the closest rank regardless of server.

-Will be able to que with a full group of 8.

-Persisting groups after leaving a Warzone coming as well.

-Going back to the drawing board with Ilum. Redesigning it to be more engaging and fun. More details to be provided later in the year.

-Minor changes coming to Outlaws Den, including being able to get there faster.

-New Warzone Gear commendations will be obtained through ranked Warzone matches.

-Mirror class imbalances getting more work in 1.2

-Even non-ranked Warzones try to create matches of group vs group, will become more prevalent once cross server queing is available.

-Diminishing returns on stats, such as expertise, are being recapped.

-Ilum will be changed back to being objective focused in future updates

-Developers want to include a bounty system for players in PvP

-Hoping to include more functionality for the Allies/Adversary system, not coming in the future

-Want to include the ability to issue PvP challenges between guilds (i.e Your 8 best vs our 8 best)

-Obtaining War Hero gear will be able to be obtained by purchase with commendations based on participation, not victory will not need to focus on winning matches to obtain gear. Doing persistently well in ranked Warzone will allow you to obtain uniquely colored gear.

-Larger than 8-man group PvP Warzones are coming, want to offer more content for larger PvP battles in the future.

-Valor will become more for identifying a how much you PvP as oposed to the tier of gear you recieve.

-Tab targeting will be improved in Warzones, as well as larger hit boxes for easier targeting.

-Craftable expertise items are coming, but in order to obtain best in slot option you will need to participate in ranked Warzones. Combining it with critical crafted gear with mod slots can make your gear even better.

-Tanks will still need to focus heavily on shield and absorb rating to stand up to the high level damage dealing classes (such as Sentinel/Sniper).

-All stats are getting a revamp in 1.2

-Focus on dailies for PvP is going away

-Want to implement rewards for killing players in PvP in open world (not necessarily just in Ilum or Smuggler’s Den)

 

-Legacy System Presentation

-Family Tree is automatically updated with all your characters, able to set relationships between characters

-Reach level 50 with a species in order to unlock it with all other characters.

-Reaching level 50 with a human character increases Presence stat with all characters.

-Reaching level 50 with a Cyborg unlocks all the different cybernetic implants for toons.

-Can unlock all classes buffs across all characters after finishing Chapter 2

-Can unlock Heroic moment across all characters after finishing Chapter 3, will still require a companion.

-Can Unlock Heroic Ability (i.e. Force Choke) among all other characters one you finish your story.

-Gaining a 100% affection for companion unlocks bonuses for that character type (healer, ranged tank, ect) such as shorter cooldown on Heroic moment, additional presence, unlock critical hit boost, ect.

-Bonuses for reaching Light V, Dark V

-Valor rank unlocks the ability to perform unarmed combat with special moves

-Social Rank unlocks such as new emotes/ability to dance with your companion

-Most rewards can be purchased as opposed to unlocked via normal means. Some things will not be able to be purchased when 1.2 first releases, but will be able to purchase down the road.

-Cooldown reduction for Emergency Fleet Pass and Quick Travel

-Sprint has been moved to level 1, short duration advanced sprint coming to replace it.

-Training dummies availible for ship, both an Operations dummy (takes damage like a boss) and a Warzone dummy (takes damage like a player)

-Repair droid on you ship, can repair gear, but old items, sell items to improve crafting abilities on ship droids.

-Mailboxes on the ship

-GTN terminals available on ships, very high up on the legacy system

-Able to get super high tier loot for low level character from drops in the world

-Can trade items between anyone in your legacy, including those in the opposite faction

-Able to purchase specific buffs for specific alts, such as PvP experience buffs or obtaining speeder licenses at a lower level.

-When character transfers come you will be able to move characters on different servers to the same server, characters will keep highest legacy level.

-Want to be able to share last name between characters, if not the legacy bonus.

-Plans in place to allow players to adjust cosmetics of their character

-Legacy bank is something on the table

-Currently no plans for adding more character slots

-You will have the chance to buy experience buffs for whatever you want to do in game, allowing you to only see the content you want to see and still level up effectively

-Multi-Spec system will be tied to Legacy system, not coming at beginning of 1.2 but it is on the way.

-Functionality to change character and legacy names will be coming, but will be gated by either time or money.

-Current Legacy level cap is 50, nothing is keeping that from being expanded in the future though.

-Possibility that Crafting bonuses that will be tied to Legacy system beyond just improving your Crafting Droid, (ie, using a BioChem only stim as a Cybertech) but have no plans to implement it anytime soon.

-Will be able to place vocal restraining bolt on your droid.

-Unable to place companions in family tree at the moment

-Cosmetic Ship upgrades are on the “to do list” but wont be coming anytime soon.

 

-Economy and Crew Skills Discussion

-Economy doing quite well overall, despite GTN issues.

-Most popular Crafting skill is Artifice, followed by BioChem.

-Over 84% of level 50 players have less than 1 million credits.

-57% Empire vs 43% Republic across all servers, PvP servers much more Empire heavy.

-70% toons are male 30% are female.

-Sith Inquisitor is the most popular class, Smuggler is the least popular.

-Incredibly smooth curve for time it takes to level up.

-Team of 30 devoted to instantly banning spammers as soon as they are discovered

-Reverse engineering rate for better items has been improved in 1.2

-Synthweaving, Armormech, and Cybertech will be able to craft augments, slicing will gather resources to craft augments.

-Getting tier 3 speeders and training will cost less, but vanity speeders will be quite expensive.

-Artifice will be the first crafting skill able to get schematics and materials just from PvP, others to come.

-Possibility of reducing the cost to remove the types mods you create from gear, not anytime soon though

-Chance, just a chance mind you, that PvP could see some repair costs in the future.

-Reusable BioChem items will be phased out in the future.

-The ability to create crafting contracts are on the Wall of Crazy

-Items shared between characters on different factions will look slightly different when equipped on the opposite factions.

-With the ability to remove mods from high end items crafting will lead to the highest tier items in the short term, but it will require considerable more work than usual.

-Tooltip will let you know if you can learn a new schematic from reverse engineered items, chances of receiving the same recipe twice will be reduced.

-Possibility for longer crew skill missions (i.e. 16 hours) to obtain higher number of rewards/epic gear.

-Will be limiting the instances of bind on pickup high end crafting items to make it easier to obtain them.

-As of 1.2 you will no longer be failing the very expensive/longer time crew skill missions.

 

-Roleplayer’s Discussion

-Chat bubbles coming soon

-Character re-customization possible coming

-Making all social items viable for all classes at end game. Wear what you want, when you want!

-Adding more ambient creatures and more moving parts to make it feel like a less static world.

-Adding more chairs to sit in

-Animal mounts on the list for things to be added

-Male slave outfits incoming

-Don’t expect naming police or stricter names policies. What is acceptable to you may not be acceptable to someone else. Possible that there will be more options to restrict what you see incoming.

-Characters in your legacy tree don’t necessarily have to be related, but they will all have the same legacy tag.

-More roleplay emotes coming with specific lines attached to them.

-Would like to have the ability to have companion characters ride along with you in taxis and mounts.

-Will be able to add comments to friends in 1.2, hopefully will be able to write up a character bio for all your toons

 

-Guild Features Discussion

-Have team dedicated towards expanding guild functionality

-Guild banks 100% confirmed to be in 1.2

-Guild leaders can control who can access specific tabs, including needed players to have authenticators in order to access specific tabs.

-Can set how many credits each rank can withdraw

-Can repair directly from the bank

-Ledger will allow players to see how much credits you are donating vs how much you are withdrawing

-In game guild calender coming, able to set events and show them to non guild members

-Ability to include a guild emblem on your armor

-Ability to set up guild advertising making it easier for players to locate a community they like

-Guild progression in the works, large project with no details released yet

-Guild ship designs do exist, again no timeline for the release of this project

-Guild mailing lists have been discussed, leaning more towards using the guild calender to communicate guild wide

-Will be able to invite players to your party straight from the guild list

-Will hopefully be able to see players crew skills from the guild list

-Tax system is also on the way

-Ability to get an auto-invite to a guild without tracking down an officer, much like when the game first launched, is possible for the future

-Repairing from the bank will take away from your weekly set allowance

 

-User Interface Presentation

-UI looks much cleaner

-“Retro option” availible, moves chat box to lower left corner, health bar to top left, ect.

-Able to move everything  around and adjust the size of everything

-Target of Target in 1.2, allows you to see your target’s target and your party member’s target

-Can flip map on vertical axis

-Can adjust depth of mission tracker

-Can have more than one secondary window open at once

-1.2 just the start of UI customization, more options will be included in 1.3

-Can save options and share them with other players

-Click to cast is on list to do, will not be in 1.2

-Health percentage will be able to be turned on as well

-Simple macros on the list, no eta for implementation

-Buff/Debuff icons are not re-sizable individually right now. They do re-size with the nameplates.

-More visual cues for procs (such as tactical advantage) incoming so we don’t need to stare at our character bars as often

-Want to be able to set it so you only see the buffs/debuffs/dots that you are concerned with

-Can set it so your companion bar will not open up over one of your quickslot bars

-GTN UI will be drastically improved as well

-API functionality incoming, but don’t expect it any time soon

-No stealth bar for now

-Cannot remove picture or nameplate from GUI

-Colorblind options incoming

 

-…And The Rest

-“Unify to Chest” option is back, any piece can be toggled on and off

-Color will not match exactly. If your chest is red the option will change your pants to something that “looks good” with red.

-Higher resolution characters incoming

-Dual/Multi spec coming in two parts/ Part one will let you switch through skill trees, part two will let you completely switch gear as well.

-More story coming this year

-Nightmare Mode will incorporate new mechanics as well as offer different rewards than Hard Mode

-Cross server/ cross faction communication possible down the line, no real details released yet

-At first only Guild leaders will be able to set Guild Bank permissions

-Mini-games are something the development teams is very interested in and their are designs in place, but right now they are on the back burner

-Cooler outfits coming for Republic faction, particularly at endgame.

-Legacy friend list, including tracking players from opposite factions, so you can track players progress even on different factions is possible but not coming any time soon.

-Same Gender Romance options coming with Story updates, should be coming sometime this year.

-Daily quest hubs will probably be added to early planets in the future

-Team dedicated  to just improving the game for low end machines, improvements also work on helping those having problems on higher end machines.

-Quests for epic weapons, armor, and other items coming. May even require having characters on both factions to unlock.

Tags: 1.2, Austin, crafting, Flashpoints, guild summit, operations, PvP