Bioware Announce Next SWTOR Expansion: Galactic Strongholds

Bioware have made an announcement of the details of the next digital expansion for Star Wars The Old Republic.

Titled Galactic Strongholds, it’s an interesting expansion in that it is solely about Player housing or guild ships. It’s slated for a release this August, exact date to be confirmed.

Player Housing

Called a stronghold, your personal space can be located on Nar Shadaa or Coruscant / Dromund Kaas depending on your faction – and you can have one in Nar Shadaa and your capital as well, via your Legacy.

Customisation is available and will be via crafted furniture and the ability to display rewards. Some decorations will also drop in Flashpoints etc as well. It’ll be interesting to see just how far customisation can go, because as we discussed on the last podcast, it could be a make or break for how successful the strongholds are. As far as how you get a stronghold in-game, the FAQ states:

You will be able to purchase ownership of Personal Strongholds with credits you earn in-game or with Cartel Coins in the Cartel Market. For a limited time, Subscribers as of May 11, 2014, receive a complimentary unlock of the luxurious Nar Shaddaa Stronghold plus THREE ADDITIONAL ROOMS ALREADY UNLOCKED (no purchase necessary – a value of 1,500,000 credits)! Subscribers as of June 24th gain a complimentary unlock of the Nar Shaddaa Stronghold (minus the additional rooms) through July 28th.

There’s also a ranking system for strongholds, based on a ‘Prestige Score’ each time you add a decoration. And last but not least – there’ll be an option for shared storage amongst your Legacy – that alone will have a lot of people cheering.

Guild Ships

Guild flagships are also on offer in this expansion, but the details on them are a little more limited at this stage. In fact, there’s no significant information beyond confirmation from BioWare that PvP will not be an option at this stage.

Access dates

For subscribers (active by May 11th if you want the three unlocked extra rooms), access to the Nar Shadaa Stronghold will be available from June 24th to July 28th, then Preferred players (former subscribers or those who have purchased items from the Cartel store) will have access from the 29th July until whatever date the expansion actually launches.

So over to you, how much of a bonus do you see the stronghold being? And what’s your predictions for the guild flagships? Oh – and don’t forget to check out the short announcement video here.