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SWTOR Guild Summit: User Interface

March 6, 2012 by

Damion Schubert on User Interface changes:

The details disclosed:

– changes playable from Level 1 once 1.2 hits the PTR
– can customise location of every bar/window
– can resize all windows jointly
– can move secondary windows where you want and have them open anywhere you want
– can save XML files of configurations and share them

Q&A

– click-to-cast: maybe in 1.4 update
– macros: “it’s on the list” – no ETA
– can rule out macros that affect combat
– being able to see buffs on party members in Ops more clearly: can’t resize buff display size in UI
– definitely interested in more graphical representation of Procs etc (1.2 has some improvements in that regard)
– streamlining of abilities to free bar space: something BW very aware of, have to do more exploration on that front – also adding another ability bar
– when multi-spec comes there will be spec-specific quick slots
– GUI changes to GTN: much better in 1.2, can’t disclose a lot more. “80% less stupid already”
– saving key profiles: on the roadmap but no ETA
– SWTOR API: still planning it, quite complicated to ensure fair and balanced. No ETA. “Enormous technical challenge”
– Stealth bar: did have a concept for that, decided not to go ahead with it. If increased demand will re-visit.
– removing own picture and class from UI: no plans
– colour-blind mode: document being developed to support this

Filed Under: News Tagged With:

SWTOR Guild Summit: Guild Features

March 6, 2012 by

Guild features with Damion Schubert:

The details disclosed:

– Guilds extremely important to BioWare
– Guild leader is a hard and thankless job that keeps people invested in the game
– Guild UI could use more features
– Guild banks in 1.2
– Up to 7 tabs can be bought
– Detailed control for guild leaders for every tab
– Can set some tabs to require authenticators reducing chances of a guild being screwed over
– guild ledger that filters out the repair transactions
– guild log with everything including hyperlink to item added or removed
– after 1.2: guild calendar, share events with non-guildies, drop a guild emblem onto armour, in-game guild advertising, guild progression is in the works (no timeline), guild capital ship design exists (but no timeline)

Q&A

– Guild mail: trying to implement something but has big back-in implications as far as storage, no ETA
– Guild interface improvements: will be able to invite people to a group from guild list, will be able to mouse-scroll down guild roster
– Checking crafting skills on guild roster: coming sometime after 1.2 but soonish
– Taxation system: just trying to figure out a way to do it now – no ETA
– Guild approval system from pre-launch being implemented (i.e. you don’t have to be online for GM to approve your membership): “maybe”
– Guild repairs and respecting from guild bank will subtract from allowance

–

Filed Under: From the internets!

SWTOR Guild Summit: Roleplaying

March 6, 2012 by

Daniel Erickson on Roleplaying. Meaning “Make your own fun tools”

The details disclosed:

– chat bubbles coming – have worked out technical issues from beta
– more orange gear with viability at end-game
– “wear what you want, when you want”
– server-wide limited time events coming
– improved spawning tech and better population of areas with NPCs
– more moving parts everywhere
– more chairs to sit in

Q&A

– different mounts: definitely on the list
– current limitations on wearing specific armour types: much more cosmetic gear on the way able to be worn by everyone
– player wants a male slave outfit: it’s coming (with lots of audience laughter)
– stricter naming policies: Star Wars canon has all sorts of ridiculous names so hard to police but hoping to implement more nameplate display customisations
– legacy family tree not restricted to family – can be allies / other toons of different species etc
– we want to attach other players to your legacy, but a lot of work to work out how to do it
– audio emotes taken from cinematics: yes more on the way that will contain lines
– companions in taxis and ability to name companions: original design did have companions in taxis but got too difficult with different companions. No answer on making companions.
– option to remove a companion from a story: debated a long time on this pre-launch but no. Mainly because killing companions was fun and the need for a companion through levelling make it a problem. “Not a route we’re going to go back down”
– bio / profile in character sheet to help with roleplaying:
– two seater mounts for co-op RP: “way down the road”

Filed Under: From the internets!

SWTOR Guild Summit: Crew Skills and Economy

March 6, 2012 by

Georg Zoeller on economy and crew skills:

The details disclosed:

A. Economy
– economy going well “in spite of GTN”
– annualised GDP in-game has surpassed that of Germany
– crew skill distribution: artifice most popular crafting, underworld most popular mission skill
– wealth distribution level 50’s: 80% or so have less than 400K credits
– less than 1% have more than 10 million credits (!)
– majority of credits spent in-game are on ability training, then things like container purchases etc take over after reaching Level 50
– credit sources: quest rewards dominate
– relative wealth: starting to see that people are able to save credits
– inflation rate in-game is 12%
– faction selection: 57% Empire / 43% Republic across all servers
– 70/30 male/female character gender selection
– Smuggler / Agent remain least popular classes, Inquisitor most popular (hard to see figures on charts on live stream sorry)
– levelling curve – extremely smooth, no large discrepancies in time spent per level etc
– 84% of level 50’s have less than 1 million credits
– understand repair costs are too high but can’t change immediately
– Ilum chest looting: fix coming in 1.2
– not seeing a lot of bots / credit farmers but they are around here and there
– credit spam in-game minimal, people banned immediately where needed

B. Crew Skills

– System overall well received – number two location of where credits go
– 1.2: legacy upgrades, C2-N2/RV-NQ crafting abilities, endgame mods from reverse engineering, every crew skill being given an endgame purpose, lowering cost of higher end speeder training, new schematics
– average crafter is richer and better geared

Q&A

– ‘maybe’ going to add repair costs to PvP gear but nothing formalised and definitely won’t be equipment damage on dying in PvP
– social impact or purpose of crew skills: crafters best source of custom appearances as of 1.2
– reusable content (stims) likely to be phased out – focus is on creating content not for one or tewo benefits linked to end-game
– crafter contract system: not an immediate concern but on the ‘wall of crazy’
– ‘we are in love with our crafting system,” and want to bring it up to the glory it deserves
– 1.2 will have tooltips to tell you if you can reverse engineer something
– longer crew-skill missions of 16 hours or more: “We like that idea,” would incentivise ‘popping’ into the game once a day
– two companions on one mission to reduce time” nothing planned as want to keep GUI simple (off-hand comment about an iPad SWTOR app “way in the future”)
– no failing of expensive missions bought on the GTN coming with 1.2

Filed Under: News

SWTOR Guild Summit: Legacy information

March 6, 2012 by

We’re pleased to throw Toby, our day-shift news droid into the fray to report some of the highlights from Day 1 of the Guild Summit. Thanks Toby! And damn you day jobs, damn you!

Hi, Toby here, reporting from the guild summit live stream. Here’s the key bits from the legacy panel:

The details disclosed:

– buffs unlocked for every companion quest line completed
– although not in 1.2, a ‘Grey’ alignment will have its rewards, just like ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ side alignment
– social rank unlocks: can dance with companion, ‘brawling abilities’ for unarmed duels
– RP packs to go along with new emotes
– most legacy unlocks can not only be earned but can also be purchased
– cooldown reductions for Fleet Passes
– new Sprint level (Bounty Hunters via their Rocket Pack, the rest via ‘rocket boots’
– training dummies – including Warzone and Operations dummies
– Repair Atsromech on your ship – will repair, buy and sell your items
– Neutral GTN terminal and mailbox on your ship! (The GTN terminal option is “VERY” high up the legacy system)
– Any legacy items can be mailed to your other toons, including cross-faction
– Unique Orange items only available via Legacy
– the future: customising your alt experience e.g. buy speeder license earlier than currently available

Q&A

– character transfers ‘not in immediate future’ but will be able to meld legacies
– no specific plan to allow sharing of legacies with other players but it’s on the list to do
– yes you will be able to use Force Choke on Republic side (via Legacy unlock)
– yes a WoW Barber shop equivalent is on the table but a ways off
– shared alt bank space (legacy bank) is on the timetable, so set date
– no plans for additional character slots, related to legacy or otherwise
– 1.3: can buy buffs for XP for things you like doing (see character customisation above)
– no present plans for bind to legacy gear dropping in PvP / Flashpoiints / Operations
– dual spec: ‘multi-spec’ is coming and likely to be tied to legacy system – well after 1.2 though
– spec being written to allow for both character and legacy name changes (likely to cost or have some other ‘gate’)
– maximum legacy level cap is 50 but definitely expandable
– C2-N2 will have a voice restraining bolt
– companions can’t go in legacy family tree at this stage
– cosmetic ship upgrades are in the future but not necessarily tied to legacy
– non-Force users can only use legacy unlocked Force buffs if there’s another Force user in the family

Filed Under: Events, Guilds, News Tagged With:

Patching 1.1.2: more server downtime tonight

February 9, 2012 by

The post 1.1.2 issues with Open World PvP in Ilum has lead to an unexpected extra patch tonight. Full post from BioWare below, but first the time conversions:

AEDT: 7pm – 11pm tonight, Thursday 9th February
AWST: 4pm – 8pm tonight
NZDT: 9pm – 1am tonight

Unfortunately for the AEDT time zone in particular, it knocks out the majority of the evening’s play. While away those hours by having a look through our recent posts, including a beauty from Simon on companions that includes an amazing spreadsheet with every companion’s stats.

We will be bringing down servers for four hours on February 9th, 2012 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) until 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET) in order to deploy a patch.

This patch will resolve the following:
Killing players on Ilum will now consistently grant Valor and mission credit as intended.

All servers will be offline during this period. This deployment is expected to take no more than four hours.

Upcoming Patch

Date: Thursday, February 9th, 2012

Time: 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) to 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET).

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

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

Filed Under: Maintenance and Downtime, News
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