Thursday, June 28, 2012

Game Update 1.3: Allies patch notes

I know I missed it last night so here it is:



6/26/2012
Highlights
  • Group Finder is now available! Players can use this feature to find groups for Flashpoints and Operations!
  • New Legacy perks are now available! Perks offer bonuses for your character and can be purchased with credits after reaching specific Legacy levels.
  • The Alderaan Civil War Warzone can now be played by two teams of the same faction.
  • Players can now add augment slots to items at modification tables by using an augmentation kit and paying a credit cost.
  • Pre-Season One Team Ranked Warzones are now available! Teams of 8 level 50 players can now compete with other Warzone teams to earn Ranked Warzone Commendations and receive their Team Rating.
General
  • The game now notifies players when changes to preferences that might improve performance have been made. Players now have the option to reset graphics preferences to the recommended default upon logging in when new options or settings have been implemented.
  • Several performance optimizations for lower- and mid-spec processors and graphics cards have been implemented.
  • Improved the performance of the Galaxy Map on player starships.
  • Added a unique icon to the Legacy Window to better distinguish the Warzone Training Dummy from the Operations Training Dummy.
  • The Hutt Cartel has seized control of the Galactic Trade Network! All Galactic Trade Network kiosks now connect to the neutral GTN, allowing players to purchase items listed by players of the opposite faction.
Classes and Combat
General
  • Several major buffs and debuffs with the same effect no longer stack with one another. This system affects debuffs like armor reduction, healing reduction, and accuracy reduction (through abilities like Tracer Missile, Flourish Shot, and Diversion). Buffs, like armor increases, healing received increases, and damage dealt increases (through skills like Force Shelter, Kolto Residue, and Bloodtirst) are also affected. This system specifically causes only the highest of any given non-stacking buff or debuff to apply.
  • Some erroneous French and German ability tooltips have been corrected and now accurately describe ability functionality.
  • Some optimizations on ability visual effects have been implemented to improve client performance, particularly when many player ability effects are displayed simultaneously.
  • Group members that are defeated can no longer receive buffs.
  • Ground-targeted area of effect targeting reticules now appear green if they are friendly (and won't cause player damage) and red if the player will be damaged.
  • Tab targeting no longer cycles through Mini-pets.
  • Ground-targeted reticules no longer light up if a player receives a "Too Close" error.
  • If a player uses a damage over time ability on a target and then deselects that target (and has no target), the target is no longer automatically re-selected after the ability applies damage again.
  • The combat log now includes a unique ID for NPCs so it is possible to differentiate between NPCs with the same name.
  • Target cast bars no longer occasionally fail to display when the target is repeatedly activating abilities back-to-back.
  • An issue that could cause the global cooldown to incorrectly occur when rapidly attempting to use multiple abilities has been corrected.
  • An issue that could allow players to move through some objects while using Force Charge and similar abilities has been corrected.
  • The cost for purchasing the third through sixth skill point respecializations per week has been reduced. The third has been reduced by approximately 25%, the fourth by approximately 38%, the fifth by approximately 45%, and the sixth by approximately 50%. Actual values vary slightly by level.
  • An issue has been corrected that could allow triggered effects (such as the effect from Lightning Barrage) to affect the next two abilities used instead of only affecting the next one used.
  • Players now receive a confirmation dialog upon selecting their Advanced Class.
Jedi Knight
Sentinel
    • The tooltip for Cauterize now displays the correct damage amount. Functionality for this ability has not changed.
    • Corrected an issue that prevented Ataru Form's triggered attacks from displaying visual effects in some circumstances.
    • The responsiveness of Riposte and Precision Slash has been increased.
    • A Sentinel's Companion Character no longer remains invisible to other players when the Sentinel uses Force Camouflage.
Combat
    • Opportune Attack: This skill's tooltip now displays the correct chance for its effect to trigger (15%/30%). The skill's functionality has not changed.
    • Precision Slash: This ability now costs 1 Focus and is no longer limited by the global cooldown. Its damage has been reduced, and the duration of its armor penetration debuff has been reduced by 1.5 seconds to ensure the effective duration is the same.
Guardian
    • Due to changes to the Guardian skill trees, Guardians have had their skill points refunded.
    • The amount absorbed by Blade Barrier now scales properly based on character stats.
    • Soresu Form now generates 100% additional threat while active.
Vigilance
    • Single Saber Mastery now applies different effects based on your current Form. Shii-Cho Form now increases all Force damage dealt by 2% per point. Shien Form now increases all melee damage dealt by 2% per point. Soresu Form now increases melee and ranged defense by 1% per point and increases the threat generated by Force Sweep and Cyclone Slash by 10% per point.
Defense
    • Dust Storm: Cyclone Slash now additionally applies this accuracy debuff to affected targets.
    • Blade Barricade: Riposte now increases melee and ranged defense by 1% per point and lasts 12 seconds.
    • Profound Resolution has been replaced by Purifying Sweep, which causes Force Sweep to apply 2 stacks of armor reduction per point to all affected targets.
    • The damage dealt by Hilt Strike has been reduced, but this ability no longer costs Focus to activate.
    • Guardian Slash has been slightly altered. The ability still applies 3 stacks of armor reduction. Damage dealt by this ability has been reduced, but when the target is affected by 5 stacks of armor reduction, Guardian Slash now deals damage to up to 2 nearby enemies, spreading 3 stacks of armor reduction to those enemies and knocking down Standard and Weak targets. It does not deal damage to sleeping, lifted, or incapacitated enemies, and continues to generate a high amount of additional threat.
Sith Warrior
General
    • Rare instances where Unleash would not activate if the player wasn't facing the target have been corrected.
Marauder
    • The responsiveness of Retaliation and Gore has been increased.
    • A Marauder's Companion Character no longer remains invisible to other players when the Marauder uses Force Camouflage.
Carnage
    • Gore: This ability now costs 1 Rage and is no longer limited by the global cooldown. Its damage has been reduced, and the duration of its armor penetration debuff has been reduced by 1.5 seconds to ensure the effective duration is the same.
Juggernaut
    • Due to changes in the Juggernaut skill tree, Juggernauts have had their skill points refunded.
    • The amount absorbed by Sonic Barrier now scales properly based on character stats.
    • Soresu Form now generates 100% additional threat while active.
Vengeance
    • Single Saber Mastery now applies different effects based on your current Form. Shii-Cho Form now increases all Force damage dealt by 2% per point. Shien Form now increases all melee damage dealt by 2% per point. Soresu Form now increases melee and ranged defense by 1% per point and increases the threat generated by Smash and Sweeping Slash by 10% per point.
Immortal
    • Quake: Sweeping Slash now additionally applies this accuracy debuff to affected targets.
    • Blade Barricade: Retaliation now increases melee and ranged defense by 1% per point and lasts 12 seconds.
    • Unleashed has been replaced by Crushing Fist, which causes Smash to apply 2 stacks of armor reduction per point to all affected targets.
    • The damage dealt by Backhand has been reduced, but this ability no longer costs Rage to activate.
    • Crushing Blow has been slightly altered. The ability still applies 3 stacks of armor reduction. Damage dealt by this ability has been reduced, but when the target is affected by 5 stacks of armor reduction, Crushing Blow now deals damage to up to 2 nearby enemies, spreading 3 stacks of armor reduction to those enemies and knocking down Standard and Weak targets. It does not deal damage to sleeping, lifted, or incapacitated enemies, and continues to generate a high amount of additional threat.
Jedi Consular
General
    • Project has an updated visual effect and now deals its damage earlier to bring it in line with the Inquisitor's "Shock" ability.
Shadow
    • Shadow Strike now displays the correct error message if this ability is used while player is not behind the target.
    • Combat Technique now generates 100% additional threat while active. The healing generated by this ability has been reduced by approximately 50%. Its armor bonus has been reduced to 115% (down from 150%).
    • Force Breach (Combat Technique) now generates a high amount of threat.
    • Spinning Kick now costs 20 Force.
    • Battle Readiness now increases the damage and healing dealt by all Techniques by 100% for 15 seconds.
Kinetic Combat
    • Slow Time no longer damages a sleeping, lifted, or incapacitated enemy unless it is the primary target.
    • Harnessed Shadows: The healing generated by Telekinetic Throw has been reduced to 8% total (down from 12%).
Sith Inquisitor
General
    • The light being cast from the Inquisitor's Lightning Strike Ability now fades away when the visuals have stopped and no longer lingers for a few seconds.
    • Corrected an issue that caused Jolt to play its visual effects later than intended.
    • Rare instances where Unbreakable Will would not activate if the player wasn't facing the target have been corrected.
    • The audio for Spike now fades out correctly.
Assassin
    • Maul now displays the correct error message if this ability is used while the player is not behind the target.
    • Dark Charge now generates 100% additional threat while active. The healing generated from this ability has been reduced by approximately 50%. Its armor bonus has been reduced to 115% (down from 150%).
    • Discharge (Dark Charge) now generates a high amount of threat.
    • Spike now costs 20 Force.
    • Overcharge Saber now increases the damage and healing dealt by all Charges by 100% for 15 seconds.
Darkness
    • Wither no longer damages a sleeping, lifted, or incapacitated enemy unless it is the primary target.
    • Harnessed Darkness: The healing generated by Force Lightning has been reduced to 8% total (down from 12%).
Smuggler
Gunslinger
    • Due to changes in the Gunslinger skill trees, Gunslingers have had their skill points refunded.
    • The damage absorbed by Defense Screen now scales properly based on character stats.
    • Hunker Down's buff tooltip no longer incorrectly mentions damage reduction.
    • Illegal Mods now increases Accuracy by 30% and Armor Penetration by 15% instead of increasing Alacrity.
    • Charged Burst's visual effects now work correctly with color crystals. It now uses the correct visual effects when dual wielding.
    • An issue that prevented Leg Shot from displaying visual effects has been corrected.
    • The visual effect of Smuggler's Luck now lasts the full 20 seconds.
    • Quickdraw has a new sound and visual appearance.
Saboteur
    • Contingency Charges now lasts 20 seconds (up from 10). Contingency Charges can now be detonated once every second (down from once every 1.5 seconds).
    • Insurrection now provides 2 additional Contingency Charges (up from 1).
Sharpshooter
    • Rapid Fire and Burst Volley have swapped positions in the skill tree.
    • Rapid Fire is now a 3-point passive skill that reduces the cooldown of Aimed Shot and Speed Shot by 1 second per point.
    • Burst Volley now finishes the cooldown of Speed Shot and increases Alacrity by 10% and Energy regeneration by 50% for 10 seconds. It has a 45-second cooldown.
    • Trickshot has a new sound and visual appearance, including a color change based on the equipped color crystal.
Scoundrel
Scrapper
    • Survivor's Scars now increases healing received by 1% per point (down from 3% per point).
Imperial Agent
Sniper
    • Due to changes in the Sniper skill trees, Snipers have had their skill points refunded.
    • The amount absorbed by Shield Probe now scales properly based on character stats.
    • Entrench's buff tooltip no longer incorrectly mentions damage reduction.
    • Target Acquired now increases Accuracy by 30% and Armor Penetration by 15% instead of increasing Alacrity.
    • An issue that prevented Shatter Shot from displaying visual effects has been corrected.
    • Series of Shots' visual effects now fire 4 times over the 3-second activation. Its projectile now changes color based on the equipped color crystal.
    • Takedown has a new sound and visual appearance.
Marksmanship
    • Rapid Fire and Sniper Volley have swapped positions in the skill tree.
    • Rapid Fire is now a 3-point passive skill that reduces the cooldown of Ambush and Series of Shots by 1 second per point.
    • Sniper Volley now finishes the cooldown of Series of Shots and increases Alacrity by 10% and Energy regeneration by 50% for 10 seconds. It has a 45-second cooldown.
    • Followthrough has a new sound and visual appearance, including a color change based on the equipped color crystal.
Engineering
    • Cluster Bombs now lasts 20 seconds (up from 10). Cluster Bombs can now be detonated once every second (down from once every 1.5 seconds).
    • Imperial Methodology now provides 2 additional Cluster Bombs (up from 1).
Operative
Concealment
    • The animations for Laceration and Collateral Strike have been improved.
    • Survival Training now increases healing received by 1% per point (down from 3% per point).
Trooper
Vanguard
    • Pulse Generator now only affects Pulse Cannon, as described, and correctly applies its slow effect.
    • Ion Cell now generates 100% additional threat while active.
Shield Specialist
    • Supercharged Ion Cell now increases Ion Overload damage by 25%. While Ion Cell is active, High Impact Bolt triggers your Ion Cell on the target and up to 4 additional nearby targets. This damage does not affect sleeping, lifted, or incapacitated enemies. This generates a high amount of threat.
    • Static Shield: The critical chance bonus applied to Stockstrike and Explosive Surge has been reduced to 8% per point.
    • Static Surge now increases the damage dealt by Explosive Surge by 6% per point and causes Storm to grant 1 charge of Static Surge per point, which makes the next Explosive Surge free of cost. This skill now requires Storm instead of Static Shield.
Commando
Gunnery
    • Cell Charger has been redesigned. While Armor-Piercing Cell is active, there is a 50% chance per point to generate 1 Energy Cell every 6 seconds.
    • Charged Barrel and Gravity Surge have swapped positions in the Skill Tree. Charged Barrel now requires Grav Round and Gravity Surge now requires Charged Barrel.
    • Gravity Surge now additionally grants an extra stack of Charged Barrel and Charged Barrier, if applicable, with each Grav Round fired.
    • Heavy Trooper now increases healing received by 1% per point (down from 3%).
Assault Specialist (Commando)
    • Target Lock has been redesigned and now gives Full Auto and High Impact Bolt 10% of armor penetration per point.
Bounty Hunter
Powertech
    • Ion Gas Cylinder now generates 100% additional threat while active.
Shield Tech
    • Supercharged Ion Gas now increases Ion Overload damage by 25%. While Ion Gas Cylinder is active, Rail Shot triggers your Ion Gas Cylinder on the target and up to 4 additional nearby targets. This damage does not affect sleeping, lifted, or incapacitated enemies. This generates a high amount of threat.
    • Flame Shield: The critical chance bonus applied to Rocket Punch and Flame Sweep has been reduced to 8% per point.
    • Flame Surge now increases the damage dealt by Flame Sweep by 6% per point and causes Jet Charge to grant 1 charge of Flame Surge per point, which makes the next Flame Sweep free of cost. This skill now requires Jet Charge instead of Flame Shield.
Mercenary
Arsenal
    • Barrage now properly affects Unload while wielding a single blaster pistol.
    • Terminal Velocity has been redesigned. While High-Velocity Gas Cylinder is active, there is a 50% chance per point to vent 8 Heat every 6 seconds.
    • Tracer Lock and Light 'Em Up have swapped positions in the Skill Tree. Tracer Lock now requires Tracer Missile and Light 'Em Up now requires Tracer Lock.
    • Light 'Em Up now additionally grants an extra stack of Tracer Lock and Power Barrier, if applicable, with each Tracer Missile fired.
    • Custom Enviro Suit now increases healing received by 1% per point (down from 3%).
Pyrotech (Mercenary)
    • Advanced Targeting has been redesigned and now gives Unload and Rail Shot 10% of armor penetration per point.
Companion Characters
General
    • Companion Characters now remember if they were set to Passive when the player dismounts from a vehicle.
    • A message is now displayed when companions are dismissed as the player enters a PvP Objective Area.
    • Corrected an issue that would cause companions to appear as invisible when equipped with a Rakghoul Companion Kit.
Companions
Ashara Zavros
    • An issue that caused parts of this companion to become invisible when equipped with the dancer outfit has been corrected.
Bowdaar
    • Bowdaar's "Wookiee Roar" ability now properly scales from Strength.
Ensign Temple
    • Affection is no longer awarded inappropriately during the mission "Crew Relations."
Risha
    • Unlocking Risha's Legacy reward now properly grants its bonus.
Crew Skills
Crafting Skills
    • Players can now receive a critical success when crafting Relics, which results in the addition of an Augment slot to the crafted item.
    • New Custom (orange) waist, wrist, hand, and foot slot schematics have been added to Armormech and Synthweaving. These schematics can be obtained via Underworld Trading missions.
    • Several items that erroneously indicated that they could be reverse engineered have had their tooltips corrected.
Armstech
    • Elegant Modified Blaster Pistols now require 400 Armstech to learn and craft. Players who already learned this schematic but are below 400 Armstech retain the schematic, but will not be able to craft it until they reach 400 Armstech.
Biochem
    • Adrenals that were craftable by Biochemists before 1.3 can no longer be used in PvP Areas.
    • Biochemists can now craft a version of Warzone Adrenals. The grade 6 crafting PvP box provides enough materials to craft 20-40 of these adrenals.
    • Attack Adrenals now reduce healing done by 20% when active.
    • The damage penalty of Triage Adrenals has been reduced from 50% to 20%.
    • Level 48 Biochem consumables no longer require Grade 5 materials to craft.
    • Level 45-46 "Mind-bending" implants now require Parasitic Microorganisms instead of Red Goo to craft.
Gathering Skills
    • Players can now scavenge materials from corpses in combat. Taking damage will push back or cancel the action.
    • Companions can no longer harvest materials while in combat.
Flashpoints and Operations
General
    • The number of enemy encounters has been reduced in The False Emperor, Taral V, Boarding Party, and Directive 7 to bring them in line with other Flashpoints.
    • Loot rewards in level 50 Flashpoints have been improved significantly. Bosses now drop equipment that prepares players for Hard Mode Flashpoints.
    • Daily Commendations can now be acquired from some bosses in level 50 and Hard Mode Flashpoints.
    • Players now earn social points for defeating Flashpoint and Operation bosses of appropriate challenge. No social points are gained for defeating bosses more than three levels below the player.
    • Non-boss enemies that have already been killed no longer occasionally respawn if the Operation Group is defeated .
    • Flashpoint progress no longer resets in some circumstances when the group is completely defeated .
Flashpoints
    • Loot drops in many endgame Flashpoints have changed.
      • Affected bosses drop items directly instead of dropping tradable tokens. Every boss now has at least one valid item per gear role. Many bosses now drop a variety of items (instead of items for a single slot). Commendation and ingredient drops have also received minor updates.
      • Story Mode endgame Flashpoint loot has been upgraded across the board to contain a mixture of Artifact items. Artifact items include the head, chest, feet, hands, and leg pieces of sets that were previously only given out as waist and wrist pieces from Heroic World Bosses and Xenotech and Tionese pieces that do not contain a set bonus.
      • Hard Mode endgame Flashpoint loot has been upgraded to contain higher-quality Artifact items, including Tionese pieces with set bonuses and Columi pieces. Hard Mode final bosses are largely unaffected.
Boarding Party
    • Players no longer need to complete or have the mission "Call to Arms" in order to receive the Story or Hard Mode version of this Flashpoint.
    • Storm Squad's enrage timer has been increased to 5 minutes in Hard Mode.
    • Chief Engineer Kel's Reactor Pulse now respects immunity to knockback effects.
    • HXI-54 Juggernaut no longer targets players in cover with Electro Tether.
    • Commander Jorland fires his explosive round less often and now varies targets.
    • Medical Officer Alon has been moved closer to Chief Massey.
    • Sakan Do'nair no longer has an invulnerability aura, and his healers no longer get stuck in an invulnerable state.
    • Jedi Healers now have more health, and their healing abilities are now more effective.
    • Sakan now breaks his healers out of incapacitating effects throughout the encounter.
    • The number of non-boss encounters in this Flashpoint has been reduced.
Cademimu
    • General Ortol no longer fires rockets faster than once every 15 seconds.
Colicoid War Game
    • New tutorials now introduce players to plasma cannon mechanics.
    • Players on plasma cannons are now healed slightly over time.
    • Annihilator 6K-A2's health has been increased significantly. Its Missile Bombardment has improved visual effects, does less damage at once, and adds a fire debuff to affected players.
    • The patrolling droid in the hazard course now respawns less frequently.
    • The Simulation Mode effect can now be interrupted.
Directive 7
    • Bulwark's enrage timer has been increased to 5 minutes 30 seconds in Hard Mode. The difficulty of the Bulwark encounter has been decreased in Story and Hard Modes.
    • Mentor's Assassins now deal less damage in both difficulty modes.
    • Mentor's Turboblaster Capacitors are now uninterruptable while using Capacitor Blast, and they now alternate between Capacitor Blast and Super Charge.
    • Mentor's area of effect missiles now use a damage radius that more closely matches their visual effect.
    • Mentor's Automated Defense Turrets now deal less damage in Hard Mode.
    • A new checkpoint has been added to the Mentor Assassin encounter. Groups that are defeated will respawn much closer to the encounter.
    • Players no longer get stuck behind Interrogator if they skip the encounter.
    • A new checkpoint has been added after the encounter with Bulwark. Groups defeated by Replicator and Mentor will have a much shorter return time.
Hammer Station
    • The light bridge now continues to function after the Flashpoint has been completed.
    • Players can no longer engage Battlelord Kreshan from on top of his computer terminal.
    • Using the Fleet Pass now updates mission steps related to travelling to the Fleet for this Flashpoint's mission.
Kaon Under Siege
    • A tooltip has been added to the Festering Bite debuff inflicted by Rakghoul Supersoldiers.
Lost Island
    • Maps for this Flashpoint have been improved.
    • Corrected terrain issues that allowed players reach unintended areas in Dr. Lorrick's room.
    • The ice effect on The Vorantikus now displays properly.
Maelstrom Prison
    • Players no longer need to complete or have the mission "The Jedi Prisoner" in order to receive the Story or Hard Mode version of this Flashpoint.
    • Players no longer need to complete the Flashpoint "Taral V" to access this Flashpoint.
    • Colonel Daksh's enrage timer has been increased by 1 minute. His eye laser ability damage has been reduced in Hard and Story Mode, and the duration of the eye laser has been reduced by 10 seconds. A visible interrupt immunity for all abilities has been added.
Red Reaper
    • Lord Kherus no longer respawns after players reach the bridge of the ship.
    • Players can no longer access the area beneath the stairs during the encounter with Darth Ikoral.
Taral V
    • Players no longer need to complete or have the mission "The Jedi Prisoner" in order to receive the Story or Hard Mode version of this Flashpoint.
    • General Edikar's enrage timer has been increased to 5 minutes in Hard Mode.
    • General Edikar's Hail of Bolts is now avoidable as intended.
    • Analyze Weakness used by the Outpost Experimental Droid now increases damage taken by its target by a smaller amount.
    • Lord Hasper's Force Storm now deals less damage. He is also immune to interrupts, and takes longer to enrage.
    • Handler Gattan and his Trained Vine Cats now have less health.
    • Gattan's Trained Vine Cats are now more easily managed by the tank.
    • The number of non-boss encounters in this Flashpoint has been reduced.
The Battle of Ilum
    • Krel Thak now alerts players when proximity probe has been activated. Krel Thak now knocks players back before activating proximity probes.
    • Krel Thak's Allied Weequay Pirates now deal less damage in Hard Mode.
    • Proximity Probes now deal less damage.
    • Players now correctly earn social and light or dark side points for completing this Flashpoint.
The Black Talon
    • Yadira Ban's Cyclone Nova now respects immunity to knockback effects.
The Esseles
    • Collision has been added to the Hangar to prevent players from falling out of the area.
    • Ironfist's difficulty in Hard Mode has been reduced.
    • Increased the delay after the reticule appears before the lightning strike when fighting Vokk in Hard Mode.
The False Emperor
    • The Sith Entity's enrage timer has been increased to 5 minutes in Hard Mode.
    • HK-47 no longer re-enters stealth after using his Backhand ability and is now visible while channeling his stab attack.
    • HK-47's turrets no longer have shields.
    • The time that Darth Malgus is vulnerable to being knocked off the ledge after being hit by the first knockback effect has been increased.
    • A new mission step has been added to this Flashpoint after defeating Darth Malgus. Players who fall to their deaths now have time to recover and receive loot.
    • The number of non-boss encounters in this Flashpoint has been reduced.
    • Players now correctly earn social and light or dark side points for completing this Flashpoint.
The Foundry
    • Players no longer need to complete or have the mission "Call to Arms" in order to receive the Story or Hard Mode version of this Flashpoint.
    • Players no longer need to complete the Flashpoint "Boarding Party" to access this Flashpoint.
Operations
General
    • Story Mode Operations no longer automatically assign loot to individual participants.
Eternity Vault
    • Corrected an issue that could cause Gharj to occasionally knock players out of the world.
    • A message is now broadcast when the Infernal Disciples encounter is reset.
    • Soa's Ball Lightning and Mind Traps are now destroyed when Soa is defeated.
Explosive Conflict
    • Corrected an issue that caused players to be teleported out of the phase if they reached some remote areas of the minefield.
    • During the encounter with Firebrand and Stormcaller, the Shield Generators will no longer be susceptible to procs from Relics.
Group Finder
    • Group Finder is now available for all players! It can be accessed via the Group Finder button located next to the minimap once a character reaches level 10. Group Finder allows players to be automatically grouped with other players looking to participate in a combat balanced group for Flashpoints and Operations.
    • When searching for a group, players specify roles they wish to play (Tank, Healer, or Damage). They may only make a choice that is valid for their advanced class.
    • Players can receive bonus rewards for using Group Finder by keeping the default selections, which will result in a randomly selected Flashpoint or Operation. Players receive bonus rewards the first time each day they complete a random Flashpoint or Hard Mode Flashpoint, or complete a Story Mode Operation. Rewards are received upon completing the content.
    • Players can also choose to queue for specific Flashpoints or Operations they would like to find a group for. However, grouping in this fashion loses the associated random rewards.
    • When a group is formed for any Flashpoint or Operation, the players can choose to teleport directly to that destination.
    • Group Finder groups are slightly different than normal groups: the leader cannot kick players or change loot rules, but the group has access to the vote kick system. Players can elect to remove another player from the group.
    • In a Group Finder group, the group or operation frames display an icon indicating each member's chosen role (healing, tank, or damage).
Items
General
    • Mini-pets have been added to the PvP items vendor.
    • The Orokeet mini-pet is now sent via the mail if a player's inventory is full when it hatches.
    • Baradium Flux can now be traded between players.
    • The Collector's Edition Holocamera has been repositioned to properly fit the player's hand.
    • Some gear (Custom social gear, in most cases) has been flagged as "Adaptive." This gear determines its armor type based on the best armor the player or companion wearing it can equip. Tooltips for adaptive gear have been reworked to make it easier to compare armor values (given that it may have different armor values for you and your companion).
    • Many descriptions for Unassembled gear pieces have been updated to describe where players should go to redeem them.
    • PvP lockboxes are no longer unique and now have a required purchase level.
    • Rakata Enforcer's Gear no longer incorrectly indicates that there are 6 items in its set.
    • Three War Hero items (Field Tech's Belt, Field Tech's Bracers, Eliminator's Generator) now require an appropriate Battlemaster item as part of their purchase cost.
    • Premium PvP lockboxes have been reduced in price from 120 Warzone Commendations to 80 Warzone Commendations.
    • Voice processing for some head slot items has been corrected. It has been added to some items that lacked processing and removed from some items that should not have had it.
    • Additional spawn locations for the Orokeet Mini-pet egg have been added to Alderaan. Eggs can now also be found on Balmorra (Imperial) and Taris (Republic).
    • Three green color crystal schematics have been added to the Daily Commendation vendor.
    • War Hero Mender's MK-1 System has been added to the Smuggler and Imperial Agent War Hero PvP vendors.
    • The names of five schematics that grant the Exotech Weaponmaster's armor have been corrected. They were erroneously named "Exotech Battlemaster's.
    • Rakata Freeze Bombs can now be sold on the Galactic Trade Network.
    • The M3-O1 Matrix cube now grants 28 Strength and 14 Endurance (instead of 19 Strength and 24 Endurance).
    • The Party Instigator and Galactic Party Bomb now function correctly and are available on the appropriate Social vendors.
    • The passive stats on all top-level Matrix Cubes have been increased.
    • The "on use" abilities on relics have been altered. The magnitude of their stat buffs has been decreased, but the duration of the buff has been increased. This reduces burst damage, but sustained damage is unchanged.
    • The Rhythm Augmentation Droid now lasts for 5 minutes (up from 30 seconds).
    • Some headpieces that previously displayed severe graphical issues with Miralukan facemasks have been made invisible on Miralukan characters.
    • Modifications with four stats will now display properly when viewed from the Item Modification Table.
    • Relics can no longer provide extra damage or healing to a dead target.
    • Corrected an issue with relics that could allow for them to damage friendly and heal hostile enemies.
    • Level 50 Datacron relics are now Artifact quality. Existing relics will be automatically updated.
    • Players no longer occasionally receive the incorrect Datacron Matrix Cube when using the Matrix Cube Assembler.
    • Several high-level crafted items that were erroneously yielding low-level materials when reverse engineered have been corrected.
Augmentation Slots
    • Item Modification Tables in the game world now provide players with the ability to add augmentation slots to armor (head, chest, wrists, legs, feet, waist), earpieces, implants, relics, main and off hand items (knives, shotguns, generators, shields, foci), and droid armor (sensors, cores, motors, and parts).
    • To install or upgrade an augmentation slot, the following requirements must be met.
      • The target item must be Premium (green) in quality or better.
      • The player must have enough credits to cover the installation fee, which varies based on item level, quality, and equipment type.
      • The player must have an augmentation kit of the appropriate rank which will be consumed in the process.
    • Installing an augmentation slot binds the target item to the player.
    • Augmentation slots are tiered in rank, and can only accept augments up to their rank. Augmentation slots can be upgraded to a higher tier through the Item Modification Table.
    • Mod extraction costs have been reduced by 30%.
Itemization
    • A wider variety of item modifications are now available as loot drops. For grouped players, these modification drops are almost always tailored to party composition.
    • Loot drops on Origin Worlds, especially rare items, are now more appropriate for the classes that obtain them.
    • Players now see specialized class and role item drops throughout the game that are more appropriate for the player or their group.
    • Medpacs dropped throughout the course of playing on a planet are now more appropriate to that planet's level range.
    • Some heavy armor drops have been removed from Tython and Korriban to make loot more appropriate.
    • Many Prototype quality Barrels and Hilts have been added to random loot as rare drops.
    • Several level 56 items that had level 48 color crystals instead of level 56 have been corrected.
Vendors
    • A Republic Crew Skills vendor in the Dune Sea no longer appears on Imperial characters' maps.
Legacy
    • Character Perks are now available! These are bonuses that a player can purchase with credits upon reaching a minimum Legacy level that apply only to the character that purchased them. The Perks available in Game Update 1.3 include.
      • Increased experience from Flashpoints, Warzones, Space Missions, Class Missions, and Exploration.
      • Increased companion affection gains from gifts and conversations.
      • Increased chance for a companion to craft Exceptional gear.
      • Reduce the time it takes for a companion to sell junk items.
      • Summon a Droid in the field to repair gear and buy and sell items.
      • Reset your skill point specialization in the field.
      • Unlock the ability to use some speeders at lower levels.
      • Priority Transport Passes that allow for fast transit back to your capital world, the Outlaw's Den on Tatooine, the Black Hole on Corellia, and the Gav Daragon (Republic) or the Ziost Shadow (Imperial). And more!
    • The PvP Training Dummy unlocked via Legacy is now named "Warzone Training Dummy" to avoid confusion.
    • The Legacy abilities Heroic Orbital Strike, Lightning Storm, Dirty Kick, Sticky Grenade, Force Sweep, Project, and Force Choke now deal increased damage.
    • The "Show Legacy Bar" option in the UI preferences now properly saves whether it is toggled on or off.
    • Sith Purebloods and Cyborgs now display properly in the Family Tree.
    • Heroic Moment abilities no longer occasionally activate without triggering their cooldown .
Missions and NPCs
General
    • New weekly missions to defeat various Heroic World Bosses are now available on the Fleets.
    • Cinematics throughout the game have been polished. Many visual issues during cinematics have been corrected, and updates have been made to consistency (such as ensuring that characters killed in cinematics are no longer alive in the phase afterward). Some instances where audio and subtitles did not match have been corrected. .
    • Many minor changes and bug fixes have been made to missions. Examples include: several missing map notes have been added (and many erroneous map notes have been corrected), some mission usables that weren't appearing in the tracker now appear, and several conversations that would automatically start even after being canceled have been corrected. Not every minor fix has received an individual note.
    • Many instances where mission phases could be entered before passing through the phase gate have been corrected.
    • Corrected instances where mission indicators would appear over NPCs when not intended.
    • Players can now use shift-click in the mission log to create a chat hyperlink for a mission.
    • Interacting with the Armstech Trainer now completes the Imperial mission "Crafting Trainers.
    • Killing bosses in Nightmare Mode now gives credit for the [VEHICLE] Aratech Nightscythe and the [VEHICLE] Praxon Firaxa missions.
    • A very rare issue that could cause players who completed a mission and exceeded its goals by an extremely large amount (by continuing to kill the mission's targets, for instance) to be returned to character select has been addressed.
    • Mission completion experience is no longer displayed twice in the chat window.
    • Several instances of incorrect loading screen summaries being displayed have been corrected.
    • Duplicate characters no longer occasionally appear during cinematics.
    • Player portraits and conversation rolls appear once again during Multiplayer Conversations.
    • Implemented optimizations to reduce hitching noticeable when entering conversations.
    • In several missions, using a shuttle instead of a personal starship to travel to a mission step now updates the mission properly.
World Missions
Alderaan
    • A Woman Scorned: Rehanna Rist no longer becomes invisible.
Belsavis
    • The difficulty for some Heroic missions on Belsavis has been adjusted.
    • Removed quest pre-requisite for the Belsavis Daily Quests "Emergent Medicine" (Republic) and "Droid Malfunction" (Imperial).
    • Freeing the Fallen: The "Clear the Way" bonus objective now requires only 20 kills (down from 30).
    • Jungle Flight: This mission is now properly balanced for two players.
    • Non-lethal Negotiations: Players can no longer continue using the cryo grenade mission item after this bonus mission has been completed.
Corellia
    • The shuttle to and from the Black Hole area can now be used to transport players directly to their personal starships.
    • Bomb Disposal: The first bomb removed by the player no longer disappears from the player's mission inventory.
    • Supply Confiscation: Bounty Hunters and Imperial Agents are no longer addressed as Sith Lords during this mission.
Ilum
    • The Challenge of War: The encounter with two Kaleesh Supplymasters has been redesigned and is now less difficult.
Nar Shaddaa
    • Diversion: The behavior of NPCs related to this mission now matches the mission description.
    • The Exchange Enhancement Facility: The Incubator no longer respawns without the Ukabi Super Soldier floating in it.
Taris
    • Infectious Legacy: Players will now be properly directed to the correct turn in location in the Republic Resettlement Zone.
    • The Archive: Wintag's voiceover no longer has an inappropriate voice effect.
    • The Corpse Counters: Cera now uses the correct conversation lines in this mission.
Tatooine
    • Search and Rescue: Single prisoners no longer grant credit more than once for the objective "Rescue Prisoners.
Tython
    • Egg Smashing: Corrected an issue that could make it difficult for players to smash Horranth Eggs.
Voss
    • Fishing Façade: Corrected an issue where the subtitles for T5-BD were not displaying long enough.
    • Gormak Sabotage: The Gormak Tech Shaman is now balanced appropriately for solo players.
    • Let's See Some Aggression: This mission no longer fails if the player uses a stealth ability during Gormak Ambushes.
    • The First Commando's Call: NPCs associated with this mission no longer automatically attack the player.
    • Trial of the First: This mission is no longer automatically completed for all group members when one player turns it in.
Class Missions
General
    • Travel Passes granted at the end of Chapters no longer share a cooldown with the Emergency Fleet Pass.
Jedi Knight
    • Catching up with Watcher One: Removed a mission that erroneously appeared in the mission log after speaking to RE-M0.
    • Guided by the Force: The Sith Harrowers' "Enrage" ability now displays a buff description. The buff duration has been decreased to 30 seconds from 2 minutes.
    • New Intelligence: The "Ship Entrance" map note now displays on the Jedi Knight Airlock map as intended. Lieutenant Marcovic's spawn for the step "Defeat Lieutenant Macovic" is no longer delayed by several minutes.
    • Tactical Advantages: Players will now receive proper credit when groupmates defeat Imperial Conquest Droids.
Sith Warrior
    • General Faraire: The phase door for this mission has been moved to prevent players from leaving the phase accidentally, causing the mission to become blocked.
Jedi Consular
    • A Return Home: This mission now offers a lockbox reward of the appropriate level (the lockbox previously offered was lower level than intended).
    • Rajivari's Legacy: Rajivari no longer respawns.
Sith Inquisitor
    • Andronikos Revel: Players can no longer become stuck inside this mission's phase if they enter a Warzone while inside it.
    • In the Halls of the Elysium: Companions no longer become stuck or get damaged when the players uses the Halls of Elysium shuttle.
    • Legacy: The map now correctly leads the player back to the Inner Chamber if the player left during the boss fight.
Smuggler
    • Brotherhood: Players assisting a Smuggler on this mission can now exit the mission phase and will not become stuck.
    • Deals and Double Deals: The conversation for the step "Confront Gus Tuno" now begins correctly when the player enters the mission phase.
    • You Can't Spend Infamy: Using an Emergency Fleet Pass now correctly progresses this mission.
    • The Endless Abyss: Swapping the mission item "Torchy" with another weapon no longer causes items to be sent to the wrong inventory area.
Trooper
    • Justice: The Republic troopers standing near General Garza are now properly armed with their rifles.
    • Mannett Point: Corrected an issue that could cause NPCs associated with this mission to evade and exit combat.
    • Return to Duty: There will no longer be a duplicate intractable NPC during the step "Speak to Prellon Garn."
    • The Separatists' Stronghold: This mission no longer resets to its first step if the player is defeated on the "Talk to Commander Tavus" step.
Bounty Hunter
    • A Musty Trail: This mission's reward no longer asks the player to choose from rewards that list only one item.
    • Hostile Takeover: Players can now complete the conversation with General Krau if 2V-R8 is the current active companion.
    • Last One Standing: Coral's level now matches the level of this mission.
NPCs
    • Several World Boss abilities and attacks now have appropriate sound effects.
    • The Holowan Labs Security Overseer's level has been increased to provide an appropriate challenge.
    • Some Republic NPCs in Camp Talanis on Voss no longer appear friendly to Imperial players.
    • Removed one of two Mandalorian Equalizers that patrolled the same area in the Jungle Valley on Dromund Kaas.
    • Jace Malcom no longer wears armor with the Havoc Squad emblem.
    • Imperial Service Droids on Balmorra are now combat Droids instead of healing Droids.
    • Jedi Champions on Ilum can no longer see through the stealth granted by being revived by a medical probe.
    • PvP guards have been added to Aurek Base and Dorn Base on Hoth.
PvP
General
    • Players are no longer flagged for PvP if they use their class buff on a player that is flagged.
    • New introductory level 50 PvP missions that reward a choice of lockboxes that contain Recruit PvP gear have been added to the game. Players who already have Recruit gear can elect to receive a Recruit Credit Redemption Token, which can be sold for the purchase price of a set of Recruit gear.
    • Players are no longer removed from their current group when they join a Warzone. While a player is in a Warzone, all functions affect the Warzone group. Players that are not in the Warzone will see the original group normally, and when the Warzone is over, players in the Warzone will be able to interact with their original group.
    • Players who are stunned or immobilized no longer appear to teleport a short distance to a new location on other players' screens.
    • Medical probe revivals can no longer be called in PvP regions belonging to the opposing faction.
    • Relics that have effects activated "on hit" no longer cause players to remain in combat longer than expected during PvP.
    • The "on use" abilities on relics can no longer be used inside Warzones. PvP relics (such as the Recruit, Battlemaster, and War hero relics) now have passive boosts to the same stats that the "on use" ability affected.
    • New relics that offer "on hit" triggered abilities are now available from PvP vendors.
    • Warzone Expertise Adrenals have been renamed to Warzone Adrenals. The item now only provides PvP Damage Reduction and does not boost healing or damage.
    • Adrenals that were craftable by Biochemists before 1.3 can no longer be used in PvP areas. Biochemists can now craft a version of the Warzone Adrenal.
    • The duration of the Warzone Adrenal has been reduced to 15 seconds (down from 25) to match the duration of other Adrenals.
    • The daily PvP mission no longer auto-completes for all group members if the group leader turns it in.
Warzones
General
    • Players who receive an in-combat revival no longer receive healing scoreboard credit for the revival.
    • An issue that could prevent a team member from properly appearing as a member of the Warzone group has been corrected.
Pre-Season One Team Ranked Warzones
    • Pre-Season One Team Ranked Warzones are now available! Teams of 8 level 50 players can use the "Queue Team Ranked" button in the Warzone queue window to queue for a Ranked Warzone match.
    • Ranked Warzones reward Ranked Warzone Commendations.
    • Teams receive their Team Rating after participating in 10 Ranked Warzone matches. This rating is adjusted at the end of every Team Ranked Warzone match based on win or loss and the ratings of all other matched players.
    • Leaving a Ranked Warzone before it ends counts as a loss. Declining an invitation once a match is made counts as a loss.
    • Players in the queue for a Ranked Warzone can queue for a normal Warzone at the same time. Entering a normal Warzone does not remove players from the Ranked Warzone queue. If a Ranked Warzone match is found while a player is in a normal Warzone, the match is reserved until the player finishes the normal Warzone, and other players in the reserved match will not be asked to join normal Warzones.
Alderaan Civil War
    • This Warzone can now be played by two teams of the same faction. Additionally, each objective marker now appears in a color relative to the player's team – green indicates objectives controlled by your team, and red indicates objectives controlled by the other team. These colors match the colors on the scorecard and map.
    • Corrected a terrain issue that allowed players to reach the middle objective from the other objectives faster than intended.
    • Players can no longer reach the top of the Eastern turret.
    • Corrected a region placement error that caused Imperial players to be instantly defeated in an unintended area near the Republic spawn area.
    • The Warzone Scorecard now properly displays the pre-match countdown.
    • Performance optimizations have been implemented to improve the framerate inside this Warzone.
    • Corrected an issue that could prevent tooltips from minimizing properly.
    • Players who take the speeders back to the East and West turrets directly now properly gain Defender Points.
Huttball
    • The acid trap debuff now expires correctly if a player is disconnected while in the acid trap.
    • The Voidstar Victory Speech will no longer play at the end of matches.
Novare Coast
    • The message that an enemy bunker is taking damage now plays less frequently.
    • The areas around each capture point that provide credit for defense have been adjusted and now include more area.
    • This Warzone's scorecard will now retain its position between matches.
Voidstar
    • The layout of the first room has been changed slightly to increase travel time between objectives.
    • Objective markers in this Warzone now appear in a color relative to the player's team. When the bomb is waiting to be armed, the attacking team will see a red marker and the defending team sees a green marker. This marker is green for the attacking team (and red for the defending team) when the bomb has been planted.
    • Players now receive notification when they receive defender points for guarding doors.
    • Voidstar scoring now factors in time spent both on offense and defense. This means a team that started on defense and prevented most of the objectives from being taken can get maximum score by making further progress in round 2 and winning early.
    • Corrected an issue that could prevent the bomb from displaying correctly when planted on doors.
    • A very rare case that could prevent a Voidstar match from ending early if the second attacking team exceeded the progress of the first attacking team has been corrected.
    • The Voidstar features new voiceover transmissions that support matches between players of the same faction.
    • Attacking characters that enter a room before their team has destroyed its door are now killed.
World PvP
The Outlaws' Den (Tatooine)
    • Companion Characters are no longer permitted within the Outlaw's Den.
Space Combat
    • Players can now receive additional Space Combat Missions after completing their first without having to leave and return to their personal starship.
    • An issue that prevented player ships from being visually destroyed upon mission failure has been corrected.
    • Using /stuck during a Space Combat Mission no longer kills the player.
    • Ship item tooltips now distinguish between bonuses that set your ship to a specific value and those that add the value to your total.
UI
General
    • Corrected an issue that could cause profession abilities to disappear from quickslots occasionally.
    • Vehicles now display unique buff icons that list the vehicles name, icon, and movement speed description.
    • Players no longer see mission loot beams on corpses that have a mission item for another group member.
    • Spending points in Skill Trees no longer causes players to be dismounted.
    • If players attempt to reverse engineer an item that is being modified, the Modify Item window will now close.
    • Added a tooltip to the untrain button (designated by "x") in the Crew Skills window. .
    • Added a tooltip to schematics when viewed in the Crew Skills trainer window.
    • Adding or removing item modifications will update the modification count appropriately in the modification window.
    • Dragging an item from the inventory to be deleted will no longer open the Workbench Menu if the item is released while hovering over a Workbench.
Galactic Trade Network
    • Droids now use "Droid Armor" instead of Heavy Armor. This change corrects issues with the Usable By filter on the Galactic Trade Network. This is a categorization change and has no impact on item use.
    • Text searches of the auction house now yeild complete results and should match or exceed category based searches for types (like "lightsaber").
Groups and Targeting
    • Tab targeting selection cycling now takes camera facing, camera center, player position, and target range into account.
    • Players can now choose to override the tab targeting cycling method so that it only factors in screen space from left to right.
    • Players can now choose to enable a predictive tab targeting indicator, which will display an icon next to the enemy next in line for tab targeting.
    • The predictive targeting indicator is now available even if the player has nameplates disabled.
Guild Banks
    • Guild members can now view their own ledger data, and the guildmaster's transactions now accurately appear in the log.
    • The ledger now defaults to show all members, and the guildmaster can disable ledger viewing based on rank.
    • The Guild Bank will now show players the correct error message if they try to deposit more credits than they currently have.
Maps
    • Many areas where the map would incorrectly change and show another area have been corrected.
Social
    • Font size can now be adjusted in detached chat windows.
    • The social emote /ironfist is now available for use. It cannot be used while in combat.
Tutorials
    • In-game tutorials have been polished significantly.
      • The tutorial window is larger, and all tutorials have more images and information available.
      • Players can browse through all tutorials via an index on the tutorial page. All tutorials can be accessed via the main menu.
      • Tutorials can now be turned off directly from the tutorial screen.
Miscellaneous Bug Fixes
    • Several text errors throughout the game have been corrected, including errors in French and German text.
    • Many errors in French and German voice overs have been corrected.
    • Several locations where players could become stuck in terrain throughout the game have been corrected.
    • Many minor art bugs have been addressed. Examples include visible terrain seams, incorrect collision, misplaced environmental assets, some pieces of gear that displayed incorrectly, and improper animations for NPCs. Not every minor art change has received an individual note.
    • Some minor audio bugs, such as missing lines of ambient dialogue and incorrect volume for some effects, have been corrected.
    • The emote /overthere now properly references the player's target in the chat window.
    • The female /taunt emote now animates properly while the player is moving.
    • Player weapons during looping emote animations are now stowed away more consistently.
    • Trails behind speeder bikes no longer stretch inappropriately when in first-person view.
    • An area of Nem'ro's Palace that was mistakenly flagged as a Rest XP area has been corrected.
    • The bind point at the Republic Wilderness Outpost on Belsavis no longer incorrectly binds players to Meltwater Outpost.
    • Corrected an extremely rare client freeze.
    • Custom chat channel commands (moderate, kick, and mute) now work more reliably.
    • The "success" chat message is no longer displayed before actually joining a custom chat channel.
    • A new "Very High" graphics options setting is now available, and existing settings (Very Low, Low, Medium, and High) have been re-factored to cover the wider spread of options.
    • Character eyes now appear brighter when using "Very Low" shader complexity.
    • Players that begin a taxi ride while in a jumping or falling animation no longer see visual errors or take falling damage.
    • The camera no longer zooms to a distance beyond the player's maximum camera distance while on taxis.
    • The Miraluka social ability, Sense Force Alignment, now properly reflects only the target's Force alignment.
    • If an item is equipped to an invalid slot, it is now moved to the player's inventory after logging in. This corrects some edge case issues with incorrectly categorized items.
    • The Chiss and Mirialan social abilities now correctly do not break on damage unless the player is in combat.
    • The correct message is now displayed when a player gains experience by discovering a new area.
    • Anti-Aliasing has been re-enabled for ATI 6900 series video cards.
    • Using Ctrl-A and Ctrl-M no longer reports to the chat window that ambient sounds or music has been toggled.
    • Players that are defeated in areas not controlled by their faction on Alderaan now respawn closer to the hostile area where they were defeated.
    • COD mail messages now expire after 3 days.
    • Corrected issues that could cause players to appear to be stuck dead.
    • Players no longer slide to the object they are interacting with in some cases.
    • Players now receive a more informative error if they are unable to connect due to character transfer.
    • Sounds from "loaned" speeders no longer persist after they have been dismounted.
    • An audio issue that caused elevators to play the incorrect sounds has been addressed.
    • Republic players will no longer be able to reach an area or Corellia intended only for Imperial players.


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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Secret World Preview: Will players jump ship from other MMOs?

Until a few weeks ago I hadn't even heard of Funcom's upcoming MMO, The Secret World. I have been too wrapped up with what has been happeing in Star Wars The Old Republic and Diablo 3. Maybe I had blinkers on, or maybe I had just missed the original hype when this game was announced. 

When I first saw the trailors I was intrigued. Here is an MMO that offers a variation to the leveling grind that most other MMOs force you into. Not only that, the setting is the very world we live in. You can be you, with super powers. That was enough to make me want to play this game. 

I'm not the type of gamer who creates characters they want to look at as they play (like guys creating sexy, skimpily clad Night Elfs). All my characters over the years have been avatars of myself, although in most cases, a little bit more buff! Here I am in The Secret World.


The Secret World gives you the choice of three different factions (Dragon, Illuminati and Templars) but all factions give you the same character creation options. So apart from the background setting of the character creation screen, the faction doesn't make any difference to the type of character you can create and how they look. 

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Game Update 1.3: June 26th, 2012

Gold Post: Game Update 1.3: June 26th, 2012


Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for four hours on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 from 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8 AM BST/9AM CEST/5PM AEST) until 6AM CDT (4AM PDT/7AM EDT/12PM BST/1PM CEST/9PM AEST). All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours, but could be extended.


Game Update 1.3: Allies introduces new features for all Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ players including a Group Finder tool, Legacy Perks, Ranked Warzones, and Adaptive Gear! Now you will be able to quickly find groups to take on Flashpoints, Operations, Warzones, and Planetary Heroic Missions. The Legacy System incorporates new bonuses including Advancement Perks which allows you to customize your leveling experience. With Adaptive Gear, social gear can now be used in combat, by fusing it with corresponding armor bonuses and creating slots for modifications. These are just a few of many exciting features of Allies! Learn more about Game Update 1.3 here!


After this maintenance is over, restart the game launcher to patch to Game Update 1.3.


Scheduled Maintenance


Date: Tuesday, June 26th, 2012


Time: 2AM CDT (12AM PDT/3AM EDT/8 AM BST/9AM CEST/5PM AEST) until 6AM CDT (4AM PDT/7AM EDT/12PM BST/1PM CEST/9PM AEST).


All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours.


Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.


Enjoy the game!


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Companion Page Revamp now on line!

I know I know it's about time right?


I finished the last one Jedi Knight last night and I love the way it all turned out. Our companion pages get thousands of hits a day and optimizing them has been a big job. I am still working on "the looks of" for all our lady companions and hope a new one this week.

check out our Many looks of guides here:


The Many Looks of Vette
The Many Looks of Mako
The Many Looks of Risha
The Many Looks of Kira Carsen
The Many Looks of Nadia Grell


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Friday, June 22, 2012

The Secret World: a new style of MMO


This will be my first beta weekend in The Secret World (TSW) and I must admit that I am really looking forward to it. I'm really hoping TSW will be a refreshing break from the classic leveling system found in so many MMOs and I'm not locked down to any one particular class from the get go. All players get to choose 7 passive and 7 active skills and you get to pick those 14 skills out of 500. The variety of skills cover everything from magic spells and shields, right down to a basic shotgun and ax use. The system actually kind of reminds me of what Star Wars Galaxies was like at the start. It allowed you to mix and match a variety of different abilities. The Secret World seems to take it to a completely different level, giving you unlimited access to all 55o skills and not locking you into any particular sets like the class system does. Imagine taking all your favorite skills from your WoW hunter and combining them with your favorite skills from your Druid and Warrior to make one uber cat tank with a pet. That's kind of the idea the developers have in The Secret World.



Read on

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Wallpapers for Star Wars fans

I love playing around with Adobe, and wanted some new backgrounds for my new PC, so I took a break from gaming and this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy them! One for my Rebel friends and two for you Sith scum! :)


Right click and open in new window to get the full size image.
1680x1050


1608x1050

1680x1050


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Friday, June 8, 2012

West Coast Customs' Darth Vader’s ride

Ryan from West Coast Customs reveals Darth Vader’s ride to the team at Industrial Light & Magic. This thing is Amazing! Check out the video for more on this car!


  Video:


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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Character Transfer, Server Populations and You

Gold post on Transfers This will help a lot of players and will fix the PVP on lots of servers.


06.06.2012
Character Transfer, Server Populations and You


In a previous Community Q&A we talked about character transfers, and announced that they were coming in early summer. Character transfers are a complex process, but we're almost ready to go. Starting next week on June 12th, 2012, we’re allowing character transfers to occur between selected servers in order to provide a better gameplay experience for our players by ensuring population balance across the service.


Game Update 1.3 is focused around group content, with the Group Finder designed to help you enjoy Flashpoints, Operations and Heroic Missions in groups. However, we know that a Group Finder can only work when there is a large pool of players to draw from on a server. That's why the new Character Transfer Service is important: it will improve the overall player experience by facilitating maximized server populations across the service.



How will it work?
Initially we considered allowing players to transfer to any server they wished, or to a variety of different servers. However, on a massive scale, this free-for-all approach causes potential problems. Players who are anxious to ensure they end up on a heavily populated server will naturally flock to what is perceived as the 'biggest' server, potentially over-populating that server. This eventually leads to the exact situation we're trying to move away from. Our aim is to maximize server population across the entire service and to enhance the gameplay experience for our players.



Therefore, we made the decision to strictly limit the initial phase of the Character Transfer Service to only allow transfers from selected groups of origin servers (where you're moving a character from) to selected individual destination servers (where you choose to move a character to) based on the player populations of the origin and destination servers. In some cases, a large number of origin servers will be eligible to move to a single destination server. In others, very few origin servers will be transferring to existing high population destination servers. Remember, the goal here is to push almost every destination server to an active population that's higher.






This process will be gradual and staged over time. Despite huge improvements being made to the Character Transfer Service by our server team, there are millions of characters to be moved and there is a limit to how many can be moved daily. We want your character to be transferred as quickly as possible, but we will need you to be patient as the process completes. Once your transfer starts we estimate it will complete in a few hours, but with the potential volume of transfers occurring, you may find your character is queued for transfer for a while as we deal with the high volume.


We're sure many of you are interested to learn which servers are eligible for outgoing transfers and which servers are eligible to receive transfers. However, because the process will be gradual, we cannot provide that information in advance. Depending on the number of characters transferred, the destination and origin servers eligible for transfer may be altered during the process. We don't want to promise a destination in case it may change. Listings will become available as servers become eligible for transfer. We can tell you that all server types and languages will be respected. You will not find your PvE characters transferred to a PvP server, or vice versa!


There are also some restrictions to this character transfer process , which will be more fully detailed in a forthcoming FAQ. For those who have unlocked Legacy abilities, your Legacy will be transferred to your new server and your unlocks will be available there too. If you have already unlocked your Legacy on your destination server, the higher level Legacy will take precedence. For guild members and masters, you will not be able to transfer your guild as a whole to your new server; instead you will need to reform it. If you have a guild bank, it will be re-granted to your new guild on your destination server by Customer Service. This is not an automatic process and you will have to contact Customer Service directly. If your transferred character’s name conflicts with an existing name on a destination server, you will be asked to rename your character. In the case of Legacy names, unless you have unlocked your Legacy on your destination server, you will need to rename your Legacy upon transfer (although you may pick the same Legacy name as on your origin server, if available).


The next step
We believe that by carefully allowing character transfer between select origin and destination servers, players will have a healthier gameplay experience. With the Group Finder available in Game Update 1.3, we intend for players to be able to easily assemble full groups for all sorts of content.




We understand that some of you may be looking to consolidate characters from a variety of origin servers onto one server, and others may be anxious to move to a specific server to be with friends. With the restrictions of this initial service, that may not be possible. We still believe that you will enjoy playing on a higher population server and hope you'll take advantage of the service, but you won't be forced to transfer. Future versions of the Character Transfer Service may allow more options in your choice of destination servers and may require a transfer fee. While we do not have a scheduled time frame for the launch of such a service, we are committed to making improvements to the Character Transfer Service over time to provide players with a great gameplay experience. Stay tuned to www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com for more details!


Summary
We've been working as fast as we can to create a viable Character Transfer Service and we appreciate your patience as we've worked to create it. The good news is that the wait is almost over. We're in the final stretch of testing the service, and our release is now June 12th, 2012. Game Update 1.3 will be along not too long afterwards. We hope that the character transfer and the Group Finder will help everyone experience the full array of content available in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.


The Star Wars: The Old Republic Community Team

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