BioWare recently released patch notes for update 1.1.2, which is currently live on the Public Test Server. It includes the usual plethora of ability, mission, and companion fixes as well as some tweeks to the Biochem skill.
Biochem users will now be able to give/sell Energized and Exotech stims and adrenals to other players as they are no longer bound to the user nor do they require skill in Biochem to use. There seem to be two big reasons why this change was made. First of all it removes the pressure on players to take Biochem in order to optimize their performance, particularly at endgame. Second it opens up more options for Biochem players to make credits by selling these stims and adrenals on the Global Trade Network. Biochem also will be getting another nerf as the effectiveness of Biochem exclusive Rakata stimpacks have been reduced to be equal to Energized stimpacks. In fact Bioware announced that they intend to reduce, over a series of patches, the effectiveness of situational consumables on endgame combat resolution. The end goal being to make the outcome of endgame combat be based more on player skill and less on what items they have on hand.
BioChem is just the first of the crafting skills to see tweaks in order to make all the skills more applicable to end game content. Major changes are currently on schedule for the next major content patch, such as extractable basemods (armoring, barrel, etc.) from purple items, critical crafting successes on orange outfits, more bind-on-equip schematic drops for artifice and other professions, increased relevance of augments, better reverse engineering chance, and other improvements. PvP is also going to see some changes in the future, with the power difference granted by PvP gear being reduced to make it easier for new level 50 players to compete in PvP.
You can read the developer post about the crafting changes here, and the full 1.1.2 patch notes after the jump. Continue Reading »
Since last Tuesday’s patch there have been a large amount of issues concerning hitching and freezing being reported by players. BioWare has decided to do an emergency update starting at 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) and report that it will last until 4AM CST (2AM PST/5AM EST/10AM GMT/11AMPM CET).
This is a server side only update so players will not have to download anything once the servers are back up. While the maintenance is expected to take no more than two hours there remains the possibly that the time frame will be adjusted if the need arises.
Are you the leader of a guild in SWTOR? Well then you may get a chance to head to Austin, Texas in March to speak with BioWare developers. BioWare is inviting guild leaders (or a designated officer in the case the leader cannot attend) to join them in roundtable discussions, Q&A sessions, and give leaders a chance to see some upcoming game features.
The goal of the summit is to facilitate an open discussion between guild leaders and the game design team. This event will provide an opportunity for attendees to voice their feedback directly to the teams responsible for the design of Star Wars: The Old Republic, hear the team’s thoughts and reasons behind design decisions, and discuss the current direction of the game. Guild from all over the world are more than welcome to attend, though BioWare reminds everyone that the meeting will be in English.
There apparently have already been guild leaders invited but there are still some spots open for non-invited guild leaders to attend. all you need to do is head to this page and fill out an application. All those attending must be 21 or older and will be responsible for their own travel, food, and lodging expenses. If you are interested in attending make sure to get your application in by midnight on February 10th (central standard time).
This week’s patch notes are a bit more substantial than last weeks, showing quite a bit more fixes and items than last weeks patch. You can read the full list below and, as always, you can check BioWare’s patch notes page to read up on all the patches that have occurred since launch. Continue Reading »
Rich Vogel, Executive Producer and member of the original development team, posted a lengthy blog post today entitled “Busting Bugs and Fixing Exploits”. As you can imagine the post is all about how the team at BioWare goes about fixing bugs in their system; what gets prioritized, how they attempt to discover them, and more. It is chock full of great information on how the team at BioWare works.
More after the jump. Continue Reading »
If you have been to the forums lately you just might have noticed a few threads that contain players complaining about performance issues. Developers and maintenance teams have been working hard with players to find and fix the source of many of the performance issues they are experiencing when running SWTOR including, but not limited to; error codes, lows FPS, client crashes, and system errors. Today Avi Mintz, Associate Project Manager for the client engineer team, released a guide that her team compiled to help players optimize their PCs performance when running the game.
But do not think that is the end of the issue. Avi encourages players to continue talking with the team about any issues that they are experiencing when they run the game so that her team may continue to add to their optimization guide so everyone can get the best SWTOR experience possible. She also gives big thank to players who have given constructive feedback on the problems so far.
If you are having any performance issues then head over to the optimization guide and see if there are any tips in there that will help you out.
Just a reminder to everyone but the weekly maintenance is still scheduled for 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) and is expected to last until 10AM CST (8AM PST/11AM EST/4PM GMT/5PM CET). The maintenance is expected to take no more than 8 hours but, as always, the time frame could be extended if the need arises.
We will keep you updated if the scheduled time for the server maintenance changes in any way.
Stephen Reid has been spending some time responding to frustrations that players have been expressing with server maintenance and lack of communication from the development and community teams regarding the recent patch.
More after the jump. Continue Reading »
David Murphy at pcmag.com recently posted an article discussing statements made by Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. In his statement, the FRC president is speaking out against BioWares decision to include same-sex relationships in future content, and calls for supporters to head to the official forums and make their voices heard. For those unfamiliar with the FRC they are a nonprofit organization that identifies themselves as the “the leading voice for family in our nation’s hall of power.” They can often be seen and heard on the front line against homosexuals, bisexuals, transgendered individuals, as well as fighting against pro-choice supporters across the nation.
The debate over whether or not to include same-sex relationships in SWTOR is nothing new to long time followers of the game. In 2009 community manager Sean Dahlberg stated that “Gay and Lesbian are terms do not exist in Star Wars” (despite the fact that Juhani, a companion character from BioWare’s Knights of the Old Republic, is widely believed to be the first homosexual character in the Star Wars universe) and the debate about the issue of same-sex relationships has burned on ever since. The latest news from BioWare is that a future patch will allow for same-sex relationships between the player and their companion characters, and the only reason it was not included in the game’s launch was a logistics issue.
For many players the debate is a non-issue. Sure there are some rather vocal members on both sides, but most have a “if it’s in it’s in, if it’s not it’s not” approach to the whole matter. Perhaps the FRC’s statements will begin to fuel the flames of the debate once more, but for now players should still expect to see same-sex relationships coming to TOR before long.
One last thing to add, the tweet by David Murphy promoting his article was one of the cleverest I have seen in a while, enjoy. “You can let the Wookiee win; you just can’t let him be gay”
You can read David’s article here, and the statement made by the FRC here.
If you head to the SWTOR forums today looking for an explanation as to why the servers were taken down for 5 and a half hours you will find only a single item in the patch notes.
Improved service to reduce the number of player disconnections to the player select screen.
Does this mean that was the only issue addressed? Not at all, but it is the only information revealed to us at this time. Players who have been suffered unexpected disconnects will be more than happy to see that single note however.
