Taking Full Advantage of Bonus XP Leveling

Now that my main character is level 50 and fairly well geared, I'm spending some more time exploring other classes and their class stories. The problem is that I have already done all of the side quests three times now! So although I am enjoying the main class story lines, which are fresh and new for each class, I'm finding myself not wanting to repeat the hundreds of side missions yet again. 

To avoid them I'm playing avatars at the same time and taking full advantage of rested XP. As you can see in the screenshot here, I have three quarters of a bar available in rested XP. The green outline indicates how much double experience I will get. The double experience applies to all NPC kills but does not include the actual experience you get from the quests or from space. With three quarters of a bar of rested experience I will be getting double XP for all my kills for up to three levels. This is allowing me to skip a lot of the side quests on most of the planets for all my alt avatars.

To get rested experience, all you need to do is log out in a cantina or on your ship. Rested experience will cap out at a full bar. 

Other things I'm doing to avoid side missions are the daily space missions, which are quick and profitable, and also PvP. Spending all my warzone commendations on gear for for my alt characters and their companions makes up for the loot that I missed out on getting by choosing to not do side missions.

That's Not a Leprechaun Waiting for a Pot of Gold!

This is a common sight on the planet Ilum. You've just battled your way through enemy forces in hopes of obtaining some sort of epic reward. But when you reach the end of the dark tunnel you find a level 11 character using a 3rd party program to "AFK" loot the security chest that spawns about every 5 minutes.

Inside these chests, players can usually find reward items which scale in level or value to the planet's difficulty. Armor pieces, weapons, stims, or sometimes just a good amount of credits can be found inside these chests.

Many players have voiced their displeasure with what is happening here. On Keller's Void, an East Coast US server, there are even stories circulating about a character who made it all the way to level 50 just by entering warzone PvP matches and going AFK in the corner until the match was completed, gaining all the experience the players who participated in the battle would recieve. Obviously this person pictured here rode the back of another player, perhaps even of their own creation, simply to "camp" the security chest, robbing anyone who actually fights their way to it of any riches it may have inside.

What can BioWare do to prevent this from happening? It is quite obvious that a 3rd party program is being employed here as the chest is opened and looted the very second it spawns into the world. Didn't BioWare state that they would not tolerate the use of 3rd party programs in this manner shortly before the game's release? These items are ending up on the Galactic Marketplace, making these "credit farmers" a fortune.

Here are suggestions from some of the players I have spoken to :

- Spawn a "boss" NPC along with the security chest every 5 minutes which would very easily dispatch any character not of the appropriate level in the vicinity. This boss could also hold the "key" to the box itself making it impossible to open unless the key is obtained from the NPC.

- Put a level requirement on the security chest, making it impossible to open unless the character is 5 levels above or below the items actually inside the chest itself.

- Put a level requirement on the entire planet, making it impossible to set foot into the areas where these chests spawn until a good portion of the character's class quest is completed.

Please feel free to comment and give your suggestions as well. Nothing is more frustrating than finding someone who is obviously away from keyboard taking away your opportunity to gain items which may help you accomplish your goals in Star Wars the Old Republic.

Defeat Bonethrasher!

This is not your average Rancor!

Bonethrasher is the first boss you will encounter in the Karagga's Palace Operation. Once you enter the operation you will need to clear your way through the guards and into the front door where you are met with a bit of "Hutt Hospitality". Karagga the Hutt will quickly pull the trap door out from underneath you (just like when Luke Skywalker confronted Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi). You will fall onto a platform surrounded by a pit of poisonous liquid which will kill your character off instantly if you fall into it or are knocked back. A set of four creatures await you at the onset of the fight. With crowd control and focused fire, they are really not much of a challenge.

Once the creatures are defeated, Bonethrasher will make his way into the arena. He's big, mean, and hungry! During the fight, unfortunate Gamorean Guards will be thrown into the pit to keep Bonethrasher "well fed", giving him an increased damage buff. Also unique to this boss is an ability that will not allow him to be taunted. His aggro will spread randomly to different members of the group and you will need to stay close to the center of the platform or he will simply swing at you, knocking you into the poison around the stage.

Your best bet is to keep behind him as best as you can. When he turns to face someone, you will then know where his interest has turned to. During the fight he will actually pound you into the floor, pretty much planting you in place and you will actually need to crawl out to keep battling.

This is a pretty entertaining fight but you will need quite a bit of DPS to take him down. The inability to taunt him makes it quite challenging, and having to constantly stay on the move really makes it hard to lay down alot of damage.

He has a 7 minute enrage timer so you will need to defeat him before then or become his next meal.

Security Key Vendor FTW!

Account security is a big concern on BioWare's part. I do not know how many times I have heard someone say "my WoW account got hacked."

By adding an extra layer of account security via security key, BioWare has insured themselves of alot less problems and having to retrieve accounts for players. Players also can rest assured knowing it will be that much harder to have their accounts hacked into.

The Security Key Generator itself is a small keychain sized device which generates a 7 digit security code required when logging into the SWTOR launcher. It is powered by a simple watch size battery which can be easily replaced by opening the actual key generator. There is also a smart phone application that can be used.

As incentive to use this extra layer of protection, BioWare has added in-game Security Key Vendors that can only be accessed if you have logged onto your account using a security key.

There is a unique Dancer's Uniform which can be modded, a collection of extra Companion Customizations, a Rythym Augmentation Droid, which will play music for you for 20 seconds after being summoned, and my personal favorite, Fleet Passes.

Fleet Passes can be purchased from the Security Key Vendor for 1,000 credits each and they stack in your inventory. They are bound to your character so they are exclusive to those using a security key to log in. They have only a one hour cooldown as opposed to the Emergency Fleet Pass ability which takes 16 hours. These make it much easier and quicker to get back to your respective faction's hub for quick access to flashpoints, storage, vendors, the Galactic Market, or even just a rest area to log out.

In my opinion, the Fleet Passes alone make it very worthwhile to use the security key option when logging into your account. I do also enjoy the Rythym Augmentation droid despite it's 55,000 credit price.

By adding these incentives to use the security key option, BioWare has probably saved themselves alot of headaches and have added a few very convenient items for players who will have exclusive rights to the Security Key Vendors. They can be found on your faction's Fleet Hub, and some of the orbital stations like the one found on Ilum.

Imperial / Republic Fleet Quickly Becoming Everyone's Hang Out.

It did not take long for players to start to congregate on Fleet for both factions. It is the place to be for Galactic Market buying and selling, along with a wide assortment of vendors, quest givers, Flashpoints, and trainers. Fleet has been a very lively place. So much in fact that you may need to turn off the option to display other player's nameplates to increase performance. The cantina band generates music which echoes throughout the hallways, giving an almost stadium like feel to the entire place. My guildies danced away on top of one of the bar counters as they waited for group members to ready for the next Flashpoint.

Was Ilum and SWTOR's Endgame PvP Content Rushed?

Since launch, the planet Ilum has caused much concern for BioWare and the players of Star Wars the Old Republic. From overall performance issues, loopholes in the daily PvP quests, to "bots" farming high end loot chests while away from keyboard, Ilum has raised alot of issues with the player base.

With yesterday's 1.1 patch, players are no longer able to "trade off" with the other faction in order to complete their PvP daily quests. They now HAVE to PvP to complete the PvP daily.

As a result, players from the Sith Empire have now found another loophole. It became apparent that they were farming Valor (PvP Rank) by simply completing quests while inside the actual Republic Base. Some players made it all the way to rank 60 in just one day by taking advantage of a mechanic that was not intended to exist. Sith players going inside of the Republic Base were to be killed almost instantly, but this was not the case, and the damage has been done. In turn, there was nothing similar for the Republic players to take advantage of.

Many Republic players are claiming that the gap has already been breached, and many of the Imperial players have literally cheated their way to the top by taking advantage of this exploit. They are now able to use alot of the top end gear, leaving the Republic players months behind.
Players have threatened to cancel their accounts, and some are demanding a roll-back to make the stage even once again.

Today, in response, BioWare is implementing an emergency patch which will eliminate Imperial players from being able to go inside of the Republic Base without immediate death. Whether they take action or not on those players who took advantage of this exploit remains to be seen. It is uncertain at this time if they will roll back Valor ranks on these players as well.

Has the damage been done? Will the players involved see their Valor ranks rolled back? Is it fair to leave it as is?

With any MMO it will always be a work in progress. Some are calling yesterday's 1.1 patch the worst patch in MMO history. While myself being a former Star Wars Galaxies player, I can definitely beg to differ. However, there are many players who are dedicated to PvP and are quite upset over what took place yesterday. Hopefully BioWare will take some sort of action to even out the scales and make the players happy.

With this being said, do you feel SWTOR's end game PvP content or even the planet Ilum as a whole were rushed to live? Would more beta time have revealed some of these problems before the player base got involved? Should the PvP on Ilum have been instanced like the warzones?

More to come as we see what BioWare has in store with the emergency patch going in right now at the time of this post.

New Content and Guild Banks to Come

Bioware today launched this new video which covers some up and coming features in SWTOR. This includes new warzones, interface changes and guild banks. Probably the coolest thing with the up and coming changes is that they are designed by the team that designed the original game which is different to many other games where one team designed the original and then separate teams designed add-ons.  I have experienced it many times when the feel of the original game gets lost in an expansion because of creative differences between design teams. Knowing that the up and coming editions have been in development for over a year is also exciting. With a guild of close to 100 members, I am really looking forward to the guild bank features.

Patch 1.1 Killed PvP

This was the view for most Republic players in Ilum today after 1.1 went live. These changes to the open world zone let players camp spawn zones and show the unbalance in faction population in its full glory.

The changes in 1.1 to Ilum are:
Ilum
The daily and weekly mission objectives in Ilum now require defeating enemy players and/or collecting armaments from the center objective.
Players now gain increased Valor from player kills in Ilum.
Players now gain increased bonus Valor for kills based on the number of objectives controlled by their faction.
Increased bonus Valor is now granted for player kills when defending an objective your faction owns.
A notification is now displayed when a player gains Valor.
Three new respawn points have been added for each faction.
Companions are now restricted from the PvP objective area on Ilum.
Notifications are now displayed when enemy players are close to an objective.

Adding the multiple spawn points proved absolutely pointless if the game announces where the players are. Even if you manage to get into the zone as a Republic payer and find an equal fight of one or two Imperials, before you have a chance to actually kill them you have several players ganking you. In most PvP scenarios it relies on players to communicate when they need assistance. The announcements are the first thing that need to be taken out of this zone. Due tot he massive faction imbalance, some sort of population cap for PvP zones may need to be implemented, in fact, maybe the whole battle zone needs to be scrapped and re-thought out. They might want to take some inspiration from the way that Blizzard designed Tol Barad which has scheduled PvP events and limited amounts of players that could be involved, ensuring a balanced and fun time for all. Bioware have already taken actions and disabled shuttle points in Ilum, pending a fix.

Kotaku have a video on what it is like to PvP in Ilum as a republic player. Thanks to Klintz for the link.

More Players Logging in to SWTOR than WoW in the US and EU

This is some interesting stuff I found around the net. What the numbers show us is that about 100,000 more people may have logged in to SWTOR over the last week or two than World of Warcraft.

Year on year stats from http://www.warcraftrealms.com/weeklyfactionactivity.php  show that World of Warcraft has a total of 266, 435 players per week on average, logged on during peak hours in the US and EU regions combined. ( Note: this is just peak numbers)


According to http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01...current-users/ SWTOR has 350, 000 peak concurrent users and BioWare have confirmed that there are now over 1 million accounts.

Now just keep in mind SWTOR is new, so people who might have played WoW are checking out SWTOR. The question is, will they stick around? Of the 80+ players in  my guild I know of 1 player who did not like SWTOR and has gone back to another game. He first played a Jedi Knight and told us all it was too hard, then he played a Trooper and told us all it was too easy ... the truth was it was just not the game for him.

SWTOR will get a lot more players than the first 1 million and some people who play SWTOR will find it's just not what they wanted. I think it will be moths until we see what SWTOR can do. I feel it's way too early to call SWTOR a WoW killer yet, and besides I think it would be inaccurate to call any game can be a WoW killer; WoW has already surpassed what it needed to do to be successful. 

January 17th Patch 1.1: Postponed

Nooooooo Noooooo Patch tonight!

From AmberGreen:

Hello everyone! Because we care about ensuring that Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ provides you with a consistent and quality game play experience, we will be postponing weekly maintenance this week. Downtime was originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) to 10AM CST (8AM PST/11AM EST/4PM GMT/5PM CET) and will now occur at a later date due to issues requiring additional testing that have been discovered with the Game Update 1.1 content on the Public Test Server. 


These issues were primarily brought to our attention by the diligent players on the Public Test Server Forums. Your participation in testing helps to improve the game as a whole, and we appreciate your discussion and feedback. The bug reports you provide are a valuable part of the development process. Thank you!


We’re working hard to bring you Game Update 1.1: Rise of the Rakghouls and are working hard to ensure your overall experience with Star Wars: The Old Republic is spectacular! The maintenance window for Game Update 1.1 will be rescheduled for some time within the next few days, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. When there’s a definite time, we will post here on the forums as well as on the Community Blog. Please keep your eye out for updates, and we will provide information as soon as it’s available.

Analyzing SWTOR Game Update 1.1

I thought I'd have a closer look at what we should all expect with the patch 1.1 going live tonight. I'm actually really surprised that we've got a content update so early in the piece. On the first month anniversary, BioWare are ready to release new end game content. And what could be more fun than the Star Wars version of zombies, Rakghouls!

We're also getting a much needed fix to the farm-fest that is Ilum. The last couple of Tuesday nights have been a little bit like scenes from Brave Heart, with piles of Sith and Republic troops standing on opposite sides of each other, trading caps while also firing off the occassional pot-shot or insult at the oppossing faction. Too bad we don't have a /lift kilt!

The patch notes are below in gold, with my comments throughout.

General

Anti-aliasing is now available and can be enabled in the preferences menu.
First up, for anybody with a decent enough PC, you are now going to be able to turn on anti-aliasing. Keep in mind though that if you notice performance dropping a bit too much, trading off things like shadows might enable you to keep anti-aliasing on while keeping the performance level up.

Classes and Combat

General
Healers will rejoice at the reduction of threat. This will also make it easier for Gaurdians or Jedi tanks to keep threat on general mobs, tanking flashpoints has been an utter nightmare as a Jedi Knight Gaurdian. I have literally had to tab target to keep threat. I've also had a few healers curse me out. Thank you for this fix!
Healing caused by crowd control abilities no longer generates threat.
Tooltips for abilities modified by skill points now display correct damage values.


Guard
This ability now transfers to a new friendly target without requiring deactivation on the previous target.
Activating this ability while targeting a guarded or invalid target will still toggle the Guard ability off.
A distinct visual effect is now present on characters using Guard on another character, and another effect is now present on the guarded character if they leave Guard’s range.
This has been another issue I've had with my Jedi Gaurdian, especially in PvP. Trying to gaurd the dude who picked up the Hutt Ball was a right pain in the rear end. Hopefully this fixes that issue.

Taunt
A new visual effect has been added to the user and the target of the Taunt ability for the duration of its effect.


Jedi Consular
Project: This ability no longer shakes the screen of onlookers.
So all you Jedi Consulars shaking up the space station ... your fun has ended!

Shadow
Battle Readiness: Now allows Combat Technique to trigger once every 3 seconds.
Combat Technique: Healing received through Combat Technique has been increased, scales properly at higher levels, and can only be triggered once every 4.5 seconds.
Slow Time: This ability’s damage has been increased by 15% and it now slows the movement speed of all affected targets.


Jedi Knight
Force Leap: This ability no longer functions on Portable Holo Dancers.
But oh ... that was fun!

Sith Inquisitor

Assassin
Dark Charge: Healing received through Dark Charge has been increased, scales properly at higher levels, and can only be triggered once every 4.5 seconds.
Overcharge Saber: Now allows Dark Charge to trigger once every 3 seconds.
Wither: Damage has been increased by 15% and it now slows the movement speed of all affected targets.
These are nice little buffs for our Assassin buddies. You might have a chance of killing me now ... wait, do they need these fixes?


Sith Warrior
Intercede: This ability no longer functions on Portable Holo Dancers.
Shatter: this ability’s tooltip now correctly reflects its damage; damage from this ability has not been adjusted.

Imperial Agent

Bug Fixes
Corrected an issue where activating cover, using Explosive Probe, and then using Snipe could cause Snipe to be interrupted.


Bounty Hunter

General
Incendiary Missile: This ability is no longer misclassified as an Area of Effect ability.


Companion Characters

General
C2-N2 and 2V-R8 no longer vocalize crafting commentary during combat.
Oh, thank God! Now is there any way to stop them from jabbering on every time I walk around my ship?! Even C3-P0 had an off switch for when he got too annoying!
The Carbonized Stream companion ability no longer breaks prematurely.
This has been a major gimp on most healing companions. It will be interesting to see how effective Doc is now as his CC effect has been absolutely useless.Companions

Kira Carsen
Fixed an issue that caused players to be unable to progress in Kira’s affection conversations. Players previously affected by this issue can now speak to Kira and progress normally.
All I can say to all you evil Jedi that went to the Dark Side to get a bit of coitus with Kira, serve yourself right! You see us light Jedi that were good boys and didn't try to hit on her just after they killed somebody important to her, never had a problem. Call this bug karma.


Bug Fixes
Companions will now sell trash items when requested, regardless of group size.
Companion healing abilities no longer apply a permanent green effect on the character.
My dude has looked like a Christmas tree since beta. The fact that I'll be able to see my guy's armor again rather than the goofy green holonet over my entire body, is a major relief.
Fixed an issue that caused Companion Characters to sometimes have the incorrect appearance in cinematics.
What, no more naked companions?! I thought it was entertaining seeing Lore Scourge in his jocks right after killing a major Sith competitor (sorry no spoilers here).


Crew Skills

Bug Fixes
Corrected an issue that prevented recently completed Crew Skill missions from showing up in the next list of available missions.
Fixed a bug that could cause Crew Skills a character didn’t have to appear in the Crew Skills window.
Players can no longer loot harvesting nodes they do not have the appropriate Crew Skill for after a group member harvests (but does not loot) a node.


Flashpoints and Operations

General
A new level 50 Flashpoint, Kaon Under Siege, is now available for play in Normal and Hard Modes!
The Gav Daragon and the Ziost Shadow have been expanded to accommodate the Kaon Under Siege gateway.
The difficulty of some non-boss enemies in Flashpoints has been adjusted.
Enemies now drop credits more frequently in Flashpoints.
This is the big add-on provided in this patch. I'd recommend that players get a couple of runs at normal before going head-strong into hard mode.

Flashpoints

Cademimu
General Ortol’s rocket fire damage no longer occurs when the rocket is not active.
The Black Talon
Some enemies in this Flashpoint are no longer invisible.
The Foundry
Corrected an issue that could cause the final boss to become stuck at 10% health.
The Battle of Ilum
Krel Thak’s Allied Weequay Pirates have had their toughness reduced in Hard Mode.
The False Emperor
The Sith Entity’s affliction ability now properly deals damage in Hard Mode.
HK-47 now has the correct amount of health in Normal Mode.
Some fixes to some very frustrating bugs on that list!

Operations

Eternity Vault
Players are now able to successfully loot the chest after defeating the Infernal Council.
Perimeter Defense Cannons have been re-tuned and have improved targeting behaviors.
Soa’s Mind Trap and Force Throw abilities no longer target the same player multiple times; they now target every player in the group once.
Ball lightning enemies summoned by Soa deal damage in a smaller radius.
The Annihilation Droid’s rocket burst attack no longer deals double damage in 16-player Operations.
Soa now summons fewer ball lightning enemies during the final round in 16-player Operations.
Karagga’s Palace
Four new bosses can now be battled by players in Karagga’s Palace!
Players no longer get stuck attempting to exit the Karagga’s Palace phase.
Bug Fixes

Flashpoints
Corrected an issue that prevented some enemy NPCs from spawning in Flashpoints.
The correct error message now displays when a player attempts to enter a different Flashpoint than the rest of the group.
Flashpoint gateways no longer display as orange in incorrect circumstances.
Fixed an issue that prevented Flashpoint difficulty from being set properly.
Fixed an issue that caused mapnotes directing players to some Flashpoints to not appear correctly.
Corrected map issues that made locating mission objectives on the Gav Daragon difficult.
Fixed an issue preventing some players from opening a chest after a boss fight if the group was previously defeated by the boss.
Items

General
An Item Modification Table has been added to the Supplies areas of the Republic and Imperial Fleets.


PvP

Battlemaster Gear Tokens have been converted into Battlemaster Commendations, which can be used to purchase any Battlemaster gear. This allows players to purchase any piece of gear instead of requiring them to purchase the piece indicated by the token.
Battlemaster Bags now contain Battlemaster Commendations instead of Battlemaster Gear Tokens. They still also contain Champion Commendations.
Although I haven't had many issues with double of tokens, I can see how this could be an issue with some players. It's hard enough to get these tokens in the first place and as I need two separate sets, one DPS and one tank, this is a welcome change.


Missions and NPCs

General
All Bonus Series missions and their required missions can now be abandoned.
You mean I can get rid of that level 16 mission now?!. Thank the maker!
Certain Wampas on Hoth that were preying on lower-level characters have had their level reduced.
Oh come on; why change this? Wampas are meant to be feared. They took out Luke for Pete's sake.


Missions

Imperial
Pressure Points: The Lerantha Lurker no longer engages players in combat before completing its spawn sequence.
Geroya be Haran: Objectives related to this mission now glow when selected.
In Cold Blood: Enemies that use Armor Piercing Cell during this mission no longer each stack a debuff on the player.
Shadow Spawn: The Sith Spawn no longer knocks players down for longer than intended.
Thuggish Behavior: Corrected an issue that could cause the player to remain stuck in combat during this mission. The required kills to complete this mission have been reduced.
Republic
Climbing the Ladder: A conversation related to this mission no longer ends prematurely.
Droid Clean Up: Corrected an issue that caused the bonus mission to persist in the player’s mission log.
The Summit: The difficulty of the encounter with Sidone has been reduced.
Vivicar Awaits: Lowered the amount of enemies that attack the player during the step “Find a Way Past the Force Field.”


NPCs

Bug Fixes
Jilcoln Cadera’s abilities now correctly take into account whether a player is immune from knockbacks.
The “Primal Destroyer” World Boss on Belsavis is now “Overwhelming” as intended.
The World Boss “The First” on Dromund Kaas no longer inhibits Bounty Hunter’s Rapid Shots, and Imperial Agents will no longer be knocked out of cover during combat with it.PvP

General
The shuttle room in Dorn Base Command Center on Hoth is no longer considered contested territory.
Ka on Voss is now a PvP Sanctuary.


Warzones


Level 50 players now participate in their own Warzone bracket and will not be matched with lower-level players.
It's going to be interesting to see how this effects queue times. Although I find it frustrating to have multiple level 10s in my group, waiting half an hour for a match might be just as frustrating. The good thing is that I don't think I'll see as many AFK players trying to get experience in my level 50 groups.
Ilum
The daily and weekly mission objectives in Ilum now require defeating enemy players and/or collecting armaments from the center objective.
Players now gain increased Valor from player kills in Ilum.
Players now gain increased bonus Valor for kills based on the number of objectives controlled by their faction.
Increased bonus Valor is now granted for player kills when defending an objective your faction owns.
A notification is now displayed when a player gains Valor.
Three new respawn points have been added for each faction.
Companions are now restricted from the PvP objective area on Ilum.
Notifications are now displayed when enemy players are close to an objective.
I am curious to see how this effects the overall PvP experience in this zone. on the server I'm on it's pretty obvious that the Sith out-number the Republic. Will the Sith bother going to Ilum considering there will not be enough Republic players to compete, or will it be a massive onslaught every time I enter the zone?


Bug Fixes

General
The scoreboard value for “Highest Protection Per Single Life” now functions correctly.
Players who have left a Warzone can no longer receive an MVP vote from teammates.
Your PvP status will now be toggled automatically upon leaving a PvP region.
Additional feedback is now provided when a player attempts to toggle their PvP flag.
The Bolster tooltip now more accurately represents the buff’s effects.
Huttball
Corrected a rare issue that could cause the Frogdogs to be declared the winner in a 0-0 match even if the Rotworms held the ball last.
Ilum
Mountable turrets in Ilum no longer deal damage to targets behind them or outside their range.
Turrets no longer immediately dismount the player after use.
UI

Maps
Fixed a bug that prevented the minimap title from displaying when loading into the game or refreshing the UI.
Corrected an issue that caused some mapnotes to disappear from the minimap when other mapnotes were updated.


Items
Item hyperlinks now display stats for crafted research items properly.
Item hyperlinks no longer display erroneous additional information relating to schematics when examined.
Attempting to place a non-mission item into the mission inventory now displays an error message.
Dragging equipment onto the character paper doll no longer prompts an item deletion notice. Items dragged to the paper doll are now equipped if possible.
Item set bonuses now appear on the tooltip when viewing an item on a vendor.
Items that can be modified now display with the correct loot color in the loot roll window.
Comparative tooltips now correctly display stat differences when mousing over items in the Crew Skills window.


Bug Fixes
Fixed the tooltip display for ability cooldowns over one hour in length.
The interface for splitting stacks of items now displays correctly.
Servers that are online now always display on top of servers that are offline in the Server Select screen.
Corrected a typographical error in the “Additional Commands” context menu option.
Players nearby a player who achieves a new Legacy level no longer receive the Legacy level-up notification.
Legacy name display preferences now persist when travelling between planets.
A new confirmation dialogue now appears when submitting spam reports in game.
Sorting now works correctly in the Guilds tab.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

The owner of a holocall conversation is no longer shown in the last frame of the cinematic.
The spacebar button is now recognized when a player presses it to progress after a loading screen even if the spacebar button has been re-bound.
Additional issues that could impact performance on Taris have been addressed.
Vanity pets can no longer be considered targets for any abilities.
Corrected an issue that could cause some preferences to reset to defaults upon area transitions.
An Aim Datacron on Ilum is now accessible and no longer repeats its initial cinematic once used.
A Datacron on Coruscant is no longer blocked by unintentional collision.


There are lot of other useful bug fixes and I'm sure players will still have new bugs to report or old ones that aren't fixed int he patch. I for one truly hope the red error text messages get a toggle on and off switch in the options. I even find the text notification that pops up in the middle of space missions, to be extremely annoying. The text notifications in the center of the screen take away some of the immersion for me, but Like all other patches, the patch will include changes that are not documented publicly.

No Level Restrictions on Companions

I'm constantly getting asked to include a level indicator for companions. People want to know approximately what level they will get their companions at. As an experiment I got together with a friend who was already level 50 while I played my level 15 Smuggler and we thought we'd try and get my 2nd companion, Bowdaar while I was still at level 15. Bowdaar ordinarily joins you at approximately level 21, or at least 21 is the level you need to be to complete the mission solo. But, we wondered, what happens if you have a level 50 drag you through all your class missions? To do this you will need to get your own spaceship first. Now, of course, you can get somebody to drag you through class missions to get your ship as well, but I already had mine. After that ...

The first hurdle was actually getting to my class missions while I was at such a low level. As you can see in the above screenshot, the mobs in the areas leading up to my missions were 7 levels higher than I was. This makes it impossible to solo. You can't hit opponents that are that much higher than your level. Every shot was a miss. But I had a level 50 gladiator dragging me along, so one-shotting these level 22 mobs was no issue.

Then obviously the missions themselves involved fighting elite level 21 mobs. If you're level 15 and alone then this in itself is absolutely impossible. Even if you work out a way to get to the mission, whether it be via stealthing or clone zerging, you'll have no chance to kill the level 21 elite at level 15. But there is nothing stopping you from bringing a friend. Rammy, my gaurdian, got one or two shots off; before this bounty hunter had a chance to blink he was dead.

I levelled from 15 to 16 in just a couple of missions, so our experiment to see if I could get Bowdaar at level 15 became moot anyway.

To complete all my class missions on Nar Shaddaa it took the two of us working together about 45 minutes. I leveled from 15-16 and Bowdaar became my companion at the end of the quest line on that planet. I was also pleased to see that Bowdaar's equipment was rated much higher than any standard level 16 equipment; in fact the mods in his weapon are level 21, even though he is only level 16. 

I have since gone back and completed all the missions on Corellia and Taris (both of which I had skipped for the experiment of teaming up with a level 50) and having an over-equipped tank has made the missions extremely easy.

There is absolutely nothing stopping you from powering through your class missions with the assistance of other players, even if your class missions are on space stations or space ships. Your group members can land and join you on those stations and ships to assist you in any fight. 

Obviously, as you complete your class missions, you not only get the benefit of higher level companions joining you, but you also get access to higher level equipment that is a class reward and usually has no level restriction. 

Although I don't recommend you do this for your first or even your second experience in SWTOR, once you have a few alts leveled up, this could be a quick and easy way to level an extra alt for crafting or different experiences.

SWTOR: It's All About the Look

A real important part of any MMO is how you can customize your character. SWTOR does a great job of providing a variety of different outfits, to allow your character to have a very unique look. The only issue at this stage is the PvP gear. Unfortunately the PvP gear is the best stuff you can get for most players, but it forces you to have a certain look. You can only take two of the three mods out and equip them in other orange items. For me though, I actually really do like the look of the Jedi Knight PvP armor. 

There's a long thread in the forums with massive complaints about the look of this armor. Now, although I have to agree that the helmet is absolutely dreadful, the rest of the armor, in my eyes, looks really good. Unfortunately the image linked in the thread is of very low quality and you really can't tell what it looks like. The images below are high quality of the Jedi Knight PvP armor in the silver and brown combo and the gold variety.

One thing I'm personally very vain about is the look of my lightsaber. I've been running through lower level flash points in search of the look I want and I've found two lightsaber hilts (shown in the image above) that I believe suit my character's style perfectly. At level 50 there are a variety of different flash points you can solo. I've found this to be a really great way to find unique orange items for yourself and your companions too. Although the mods in the orange items you pick up might be too low, they are easily upgraded with mods from the Galactic Kiosk or even through tokens and vendors on places like Corellia.

More images of the controversial Jedi Knight PvP armor.

Eworks Evolved from Ilum! Proof Found! (and PvP fixes in patch 1.1)

I've been having a lot of fun in PvP over the last couple of weeks, but yesterday was a doozy! I ended up in about twelve warzones in a row, with either no other, or only one other, level 50. Entire groups were made up of low level characters who didn't even have their faster run speed yet. This made for a very frustrating Sunday afternoon as I attempted to finish my daily. Although I was able to get eight or nine medals for most warzones, what I needed was some wins.

Everybody knows that level 50 characters have a distinct advantage over lower level characters and when you're fully decked out in PvP gear this advantage increases dramatically. I have no problems handling two and sometimes even three low level characters in a warzone. The problem is that the system isn't balancing matches by player level, players are chosen randomly. At this stage, on my server, we seem to have more level 50 Sith doing PvP than we do Republic.

The other issue is Ilum. Over the last week I've been able to do my daily missions and even complete my weeklyrelatively easily. I've engaged in PVP a couple of times, and even had my rear end handed to me by trying to capture a point in the battlefield, but last night I discovered the true issue with the Ilum missions. As I approached one of the control points I noticed two Republic players attempting to capture the point and a third player under attack from a Sith. The player was about the die, so I knew I had to do something. Without thinking twice, I jumped in and attacked. I was able to kill the fully PvP-geared Sith Warrior, although he did try and make a run for it to his companions on the other side of the battlefield; but I wasn't going to let him go. To my shock and amazement, after I had killed him, I got a series of abusive whispers from the Rebels who were capturing the spawn point, telling me off for killing the Imperial who had been flipping the spot for them.

For one, he was doing nothing to flip an objective. Two, he was attacking a Republic player. Three, the Imperials that were flipping the point had already done so and were gone. Four, it's a battlefield PvP zone so I was only doing what is surely expected.


The Republic players referred to me as a moron for engaging in PvP in a PvP zone! This guild of players will surely devolve into Ewoks within the next three thousand years. I've never seen so many Care Bears in a PvP zone!

Obviously I don't expect players to do stupid things in PvP zones like trying to attack five Sith when you're by yourself. Nobody likes a trip to the cloner, but open world PvP zones are designed for PvP. If you think that you have the right to go in there and not be attacked, you're kidding yourself. If you think you deserve the right to farm daily missions in a PvP zone and not be attacked, you are truly trying to exploit the system. I have been able to complete all my dailies and weeklies and also engage in PvP. Yes, I have run from large groups of Imperials, but I have no problems taking on two Sith by myself, because I like a challenge!

Should these players and guilds be allowed in these PvP zones? Am I wrong by saying that red = dead?

Thankfully, BioWare are taking moves in patch 1.1 to stop this Care Bear farming. They will also be introducing level 50-only warzones. Guilds like Kyro might need to find new ways to get their gear.


PvP changes in patch 1.1:

Battlemaster Gear Tokens have been converted into Battlemaster Commendations, which can be used to purchase any Battlemaster gear. This allows players to purchase any piece of gear instead of requiring them to purchase the piece indicated by the token.


Battlemaster Bags now contain Battlemaster Commendations instead of Battlemaster Gear Tokens. They still also contain Champion Commendations.

General
The shuttle room in Dorn Base Command Center on Hoth is no longer considered contested territory.
Ka on Voss is now a PvP Sanctuary.

Warzones
Level 50 players now participate in their own Warzone bracket and will not be matched with lower-level players.

Ilum
The daily and weekly mission objectives in Ilum now require defeating enemy players and/or collecting armaments from the center objective.
Players now gain increased Valor from player kills in Ilum.
Players now gain increased bonus Valor for kills based on the number of objectives controlled by their faction.
Increased bonus Valor is now granted for player kills when defending an objective your faction owns.
A notification is now displayed when a player gains Valor.
Three new respawn points have been added for each faction.
Companions are now restricted from the PvP objective area on Ilum.
Notifications are now displayed when enemy players are close to an objective.

PVP Medal Rundown. What the Hell are Medals For?

There is more to PVP than just experience. You also get valor, commendations and credits. There are ways to maximize how much you get in any PVP match, regardless of your spec. There are lots of achievements you can get that will boost your valor. Your valor will allow you to unlock higher end purchases on PVP items. Your PVP commendations will allow you to purchase said PVP items from vendors and your XP, or experience, will obviously increase your character's level ... and if you don't know what credits are then go watch Star Wars IV and listen to Han, he explains it properly!

Players participating and achieving goals within a PVP warzone are rewarded with medals. Every medal you get will increase your valor by 50 and also give you +5 warzone commendations. Knowing what gives you medals is extremely important to maximizing what you get out of a warzone. At this stage, this is what we've worked out, with thanks to the guys in the forums who have filled in lots of gaps. As you can see from the image below, when you know what you have to achieve, it's easy to get a lot out of PVP, really fast.

I'm having a blast with my Jedi Gaurdian, Jean, in warzones and I'd like to apologize to all of the players that I killed multiple times ... nah, not really!

Medals Accumulated Earn 50 Valor and 5 Warzone commendations each.

Medal Ranking:

• The Gold ranking is awarded for earning 6 or more medals during a match
• The Silver ranking is awarded for 3-5 medals
• The Bronze ranking is awarded for 1-2 medals

Announcements (thanks Ayestes):

• Unbeatable announcement is unlocked if you earn 4 medals without dying.
• Invincible announcement is unlocked if you earn 7 medals without dying.
• Immortal announcement is unlocked if you earn 9 medals without dying.

Medals:

1. Medic – 2.5k healing from a single heal
2. Demolisher – 2.5k damage from a single attack
3. Trauma Surgeon – 5k healing from a single heal
4. Anihilator - 5K damage from a single attack
5. Quick Draw – Getting a killing blow on one player
6. Combatant – Dealing 75k damage
7. Destroyer - Dealing 300K damage
8. Healer - Healing 75K
9. Savior - Healing 300K
10. Defender – Earning 1k Defender Points
11. Warden - Earning 3k Defender Points
12. Assassin – Killing a player in a one-on-one fight
13. Shield – 5k Protection
14. Protector - 50K Protection (thanks meatballz/adlarn)
15. Guardian – 2k Protection since last death
16. Paladin – 10k Protection since last death
17. Commando – Killing 10 enemy players
18. Soldier – Killing 25 enemy players

Valor Titles: Every 10 ranks in valor will give you a new title -

Note: Valor Rank 60 is required to open Battlemaster Bags

1. Skirmisher – Valor Rank 10
2. Duelist – Valor Rank 20
3. Gladiator – Valor Rank 30
4. Centurion – Valor Rank 40
5. Champion – Valor Rank 50
6. Battlemaster – Valor Rank 60
7. War Hero – Valor Rank 70
8. Conqueror – Valor Rank 80
9. Warlord – Valor Rank 90
10. Elite Warlord – Valor Rank 100

SWTOR 1.0.2 Now Live Patch Notes Farmers Fracking Players Again

Thank you credit farmers!

"- Removed some high-level harvesting nodes from Tatooine, Corellia, and Ilum."

To all you ass hats thinking your cool by camping a node and saying well its in game so I will take all I can have fracked it for the rest of us. This is why you suck balls your actions take from all players. I'm not pissed  at BioWare for this it was the farmers that forced them to do it.

lot's of nice bug fixes and some odd ones too... It's good to see patched getting rolled out so fast.

General

- Guilds that are currently leaderless will have an Officer chosen and promoted to Guild Leader.

Classes and Combat

Sith Inquisitor

General

- The Darth title is now properly granted to Sith Inquisitors.

Bug Fixes

- Corrected an issue that could prevent players from taking cover when targeting large NPCs.

- Fixed a bug that caused some abilities with activation times to be interrupted when used from cover.

Crew Skills

Gathering

- Removed some high-level harvesting nodes from Tatooine, Corellia, and Ilum.

Flashpoints and Operations

Cademimu

- General Ortol can no longer be pulled out of his room.

Maelstrom Prison

- Corrected an issue that could cause Kilran to behave incorrectly when defeated in cover.

Taral V

- General Edikar now has the correct loot in Hard Mode and no longer enrages in Normal Mode.

Operations

Eternity Vault

- Gharj can no longer be pulled out of his encounter room.

Bug Fixes

- Fixed an issue that could cause choosing Nightmare Mode to not set enemies to Nightmare difficulty.

Items

General

- PvP lockboxes now cost 70 commendations, contain more consumables, and always contain an item.

Bug Fixes

- Corrected several PvP items that were Bind on Equip. They are now Bind on Pickup.

- PvP vendors on Capital Planets now offer the correct PvP items.

- Commendations received via in-game mail are now correctly added to the Currency tab.

Missions and NPCs

Missions

Imperial

- Number One with a Bullet: Players who choose dark side options now correctly receive the mission First Strike after completing this mission.

- First Strike: Players who did not receive this mission will now receive it upon entering their personal starships.

Republic

- Death Cloud: Players can now complete the “Toxic Waste” bonus objective regardless of how quickly they complete this mission.

Bug Fixes

- Corrected mission steps on several planets that could cause client instability.

- Fixed issues with some missions that could prevent pending rewards from being accepted.

Space Combat

Bug Fixes

- Fixed an issue that caused a client crash if a space station was destroyed in Space Combat.

UI

Maps

- Group members no longer appear on all planets on the Galaxy Map.

- Corrected an issue that could cause map notes to disappear after logging out and back into the game.

- Corrected some map notes that referenced the incorrect map.

- Updated map notes for “travel to planet” steps in class missions on Nar Shaddaa, Hoth, and Belsavis to indicate the planet’s space station.

Bug Fixes

- Group members outside of a player’s phase are no longer prompted to roll on items.

- The In-Game Customer Service Portal no longer appears to hang while the “updating” message is displayed.

- The Guild interface now properly displays the guild member list when it is sorted.

- The “Show Sith Corruption” option no longer toggles off when transitioning between areas.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

- Taxi rides are no longer occasionally interrupted, causing the player to be dropped from the taxi.

- Using the /dismiss command now correctly dismisses a vanity pet.

- Corrected some issues that could cause players to become stuck on the loading screen when logging into a character.

- Players can now use emotes while riding a vehicle.

- Fixed a bug that prevented some text-only mail messages from being received.

- Graphics preferences in settings files are now consistent with actual settings in use.

- Being in Do Not Disturb mode no longer prevents characters from being logged out for being away.

- Corrected an issue that caused poor performance on some machines in indoor areas with shadows enabled.

- Fixed an issue that could prevent players from being logged out for inactivity.

Customer Service in SWTOR. What to Expect

About a week ago I had a very lovely pair of Champion Vindicator's Greaves disappear out of my bag. To be honest, I don't know if I sold them to a vendor or deleted them somehow, all I know is that when I went to equip them they were gone. BioWare allow up to three items every six months to be restored if you accidentally delete or sell them.

So I put an ingame service ticket in. In the ticket I included the date that I got the pants, how I got the pants, the fact that I purchased them using a token, which I had received from a PVP bag, and the last date that I saw them. To my surprise, I didn't get a response to my ticket for over five days.


After five days, with no response, I added a little bit more information, with the exact name of the Greaves and the name of the vendor I got them from. I also posted a message in the customer service section of the forums. I was very polite, asking if it was normal for a wait of five days on getting a response to a ticket. Lo and behold, within five minutes, I had a gamemaster contact me. It started off with the quirky role-playing droid introduction, but within half an hour, I was able to logout and then log back in and find my lost item in my mailbox.

I've been gaming for a long time and I can guarantee you that insulting an employee's grammar, getting angry at them, or giving them a hard time, will not get you better service. I've read other people's posts in the SWTOR forums doing these things and seriously guys .... who is that going to help?  Even if you find that you've been let down by the service procedure, always stay calm and remember, this person probably has a lot on their plate and they're all just getting used to new jobs. You can't expect them to be a game expert yet. Help them to help you. Give them as much information as possible when putting in a ticket.

Rammy's Quick Look at Huttball PVP Battles in SWTOR

Firstly, I would just like to say the terminology used for this PVP warzone will be from the Republic side. Any abilities used can be directly related to the Imperial side, with the relevant skill.

Huttball is for all intents and purposes a very easy warzone to interpret. And if BOTH sides are capable it involves an extreme amount of fun.

Huttball teams can be made up of Sith vs Republic, Sith vs Sith, or Republic vs Republic.

The goal of Huttball is simply to grab the small metal ball in the middle and get to your opposing team's end and over the line to score. The opposing side is marked with hexagon purple lights.

The methods and tactics for getting this done require teamwork.  These can be varied by using class skills such as the (charge/leap) abilities by Jedi Knights or Troopers, or the (rescue) abilities by Jedi Consulars and Jedi Guardians.


We strongly advise anybody with leap or intercept abilities to utilize them to get around the flame pits which block your path on the way to the goal.

Another method which is vitally important is an understanding on how to pass the ball to another team member. This can be done by clicking on an ability which is automatically loaded onto your toolbar when you enter Huttball.  Simply click the button and a large luminescent area will highlight on the ground and click again with the highlighted area placed over a team mate. Be very careful though ... an inaccurate throw can go to the other team !!

Communication with your other team members is crucial and if you aren't communicating properly then prepare to get beaten.

There are more advanced tactics that can be taken advantage of but I suggest you get in there and try it.

Good Luck and May the Force be with you.

Bots Farming SWTOR get Arms Ripped Off

... well they got their accounts disabled anyway! Farmers, and some players, thought it was a good idea to venture into high level zones and camp high level reward chests for hours on end. On some servers, it got to the stage where there were four or five level 15 toons camped around one level 50 reward spawn. The clever little farmers thought they had outsmarted BioWare by venturing into zones that were neutral to their faction; so Republic toons would go into the Sith Heroic area and stand and farm among all the Republic NPCs that would not attacked them. The perfect spot for the farmer was in a safe place away from aggressive mobs, but close enough to be able to collect the respawn of the high level chest or crystal.

BioWare have taken the Wookie approach and have figuratively ripped the appendages off these farmers by first suspending and then banning any accounts that have been involved in credit trading.


To be honest, I am surprised at how little spam I'm getting in the game. I think I have had just two whispers offering me credits over the last three weeks. Unless the farmers find another loop hole that's hard for BioWare to track, it looks like BioWare have gotten it under control pretty quickly.

Some players have kicked up a fuss on Reddit and other social networking sites, complaining that they should be allowed to stand there all day and farm the chests, because the game allows them to and they're just collecting credits for their own use. What these players don't realize is that BioWare are not just cracking down on this because of farmers, they are also protecting the economy balance in the game. Anybody who believes their account has been unjustly banned can submit a petition to BioWare. Stephen Reid has replied, in detail, in the forums about this issue (see below).

If something in the game seems too good to be true, for example, being able to farm a level 50 chest every 10 minutes for 4000-5000 credits a pop, when you are only a level 14 character, I would suggest that you just don't do it, or you might get your arms ripped off ... ask any bot who has played against a Wookie :)




Stephen Reid said:

Our Terms of Service team recently took action against some accounts playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, and we wanted to give you some insight into what happened and why.


First, action was taken against a number of accounts for what's commonly known as 'gold farming' - or in our case, credit farming. These accounts were found to be exploiting the game in a variety of ways to maximize their credits in order to sell them to other players. Our Terms of Service team took action against these accounts and removed them permanently from the game.


Second, a smaller number of accounts were warned or temporarily suspended for exploiting loot containers on Ilum. To be completely clear, while players may choose to travel to Ilum earlier than the recommended level (40+) and may loot containers if they can get to them, in the cases of those customers that were warned or temporarily suspended, they were systematically and repeatedly looting containers in very high numbers resulting in the game economy becoming unbalanced. 


None of these accounts were banned for their actions and no accounts have been banned for travelling to Ilum while still relatively low level. By comparison, the number of accounts that were warned or temporarily suspended was considerably lower than the number of accounts banned for 'credit farming'.


It's important to remember that our Terms of Service team is extremely careful and thorough in their investigation of any potential exploit or unusual activity in-game. Working closely with the development team and using extensive metrics based on player activity, they are able to determine what is normal player activity, what is unusual and what is exploiting. Our goal is always to ensure a fair game experience for all players while also protecting the rights of individuals, and if people are disrupting the play experience for others action will be taken.


While we will not discuss the details of any individual action, whenever we take action against an account we believe they have clearly broken our Terms of Service. Any action taken against an account can be appealed and in some cases actions have been rescinded. 


While we understand people's concern about actions taken against accounts, please remember the Terms of Service team exists to help ensure a balanced and fair game experience for all. When you see reports of actions taken against someone's account, remember they are choosing to tell their version of the story - and there are two sides to every story.


In summary, our Terms of Service team took action against a number of accounts that were 'credit farming' to remove them permanently from the game. They also warned and temporarily suspended - but did not ban - a smaller number of accounts for activities on Ilum that were decided to be game exploits.


Some adjustments will be made to Ilum in the near future to discourage future exploits. However, the planet is still open to anyone who wishes to travel there.


The goal of the Star Wars: The Old Republic team is to maintain a service for our customers that is fun to play and equitable for everyone. Critical to this goal is making sure that gameplay is fair and reasonable and we are constantly on the lookout for anything that would prove to be a detriment to your gameplay experiences.


Thanks for reading, and we hope this gave you some insights.