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SWTOR's Spoils of War update offers casinos, tweaks group finder
In Star Wars: The Old Republic's most recent dev blog, designers Chris Schmidt, Alex Modny, and George Smith discuss the major game systems headed to servers with the 2.8 Spoils of War update -- specifically, the Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event, PvP tweaks, and the story mode ops group finder. Nar Shaddaa casinos will feature slot machines that award special buffs, weapons, armor, cosmetic abilities, and mounts -- like a ridable Rancor -- to lucky gamblers. Participants in Galactic Starfighter matches and Warzones will begin receiving double rewards, and two new ship variants, the Assault Bomber and Skirmisher Gunship, will become available. In an effort to reduce queue time, the group finder will utilize the 16-man story mode difficulty for operations and bolster gear rating for all players. Rewards will also be increased. Read the full dev blog at the official site.
SWTOR dares you to face the Legions of Scum and Villiany
Mos Eisley isn't the only place where ne'er-do-wells congregate. Star Wars: The Old Republic says that there's another desert planet, Darvannis, that's also under the thumb of the Hutt Cartel and needs a little player intervention to thwart a gathering army. An operation dealing with this story will take place in the upcoming Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion. Called Legions of Scum and Villiany, this operation will challenge level 55 players to infiltrate a Hutt town, smack down a few bosses, and figure out what's going on. A couple of interesting twists, including a stealth portion and a droid dealer, promise more angles than a straight-forward fight. The operation will come in both story and hard modes. BioWare Senior Operations & Flashpoints Designer George Smith gives an overview of Legions of Scum and Villiany in a new dev blog along with the team's philosophy behind the high-level content. When you're done checking that out, don't forget to read our recent hands-on with the expansion and a deeper look at this operation in Hyperspace Beacon.
Hyperspace Beacon: Six reasons to return for SWTOR update 1.4
I've been playing MMOs for many years, and in that time, I've realized that the big thing they all have in common is that they get better with age. Unlike most single-player games, MMOs are in a constant state of flux. Besides the social interaction, the fact that I can leave a game for a couple of months then come back to find things have changed makes this gaming genre more interesting to me than your average RPG or FPS. Oftentimes, it's fun to come back to a game that I liked but maybe wasn't sticky enough to play all the time just to see what has changed, and maybe I'd like it more the next time around. That's kind of what happened to me with Star Wars Galaxies. When the game launched, I thought it was great to explore the Star Wars universe I'd grown up with as a kid, but I couldn't latch on to the game because of the bugs and other minor issues. It wasn't until about six months after launch that I was actually able to grasp the game and play it long enough to find out why people were so smitten. Perhaps Star Wars: The Old Republic will be the same kind of game. When it launched nine months ago, there were bugs, though not as big as SWG's bugs, mind you. The content needed a little tweaking. And certain systems like the Galactic Trade Network did not function well. But now with update 1.4 coming tomorrow and free-to-play on the horizon, it might be a good time to invite your friends to come back or even come back yourself. Let's examine some of the reasons to do so.
SWTOR podcast discusses operations design philosophy
Switch on the old Victrola because the BioWare DJs are back with the second episode of the official Star Wars: The Old Republic podcast. The podcasters chat with the devs about their daily routine, operations design philosophy, nightmare mode, and legacy perks. Lead Flashpoints and Operations Designer Jesse Sky says that the design process of operations is organic and flows from a central idea: "Yeah we often just start with the theme, develop from there. One of the big things we try to do is differentiate the combat from the rest of the game. You're dealing with eight or 16 players at once; it's got a very different feel from most of the Star Wars-type combat in the game. You often fight humanoids in the rest of the game; we're often fighting big creatures and droids. And so a lot of the development centers around making that fun." It's a meaty podcast that can be enjoyed in several different ways, from reading the transcript to listening to it on YouTube. Give it a listen and see if you don't hear a few teasers for upcoming content!
