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Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's Dread War, part 1
When I freed the Dread Masters on the prison world of Belsavis, little did I know that a year and a half after the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I would not only be fighting against these amazing foes but trying to destroy them. As I mentioned the last couple of weeks, the Empire and the Republic found the secret base of the Dread Masters on the planet Oricon, where they have been hiding and experimenting on the local fauna while amassing their subjugated army. Eventually, a strike team will have to invade the Dread Master's fortress, and in the two new operations of Update 2.4: The Dread War, you will get to do just that. Although I'm still not sure where this falls on the fun scale when compared to other SWTOR operations, I can tell you that it is challenging and exciting. I'll break it down for you, and if you hadn't guessed already, there will be spoilers. That said, I will limit the story-related ones.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Update 2.4: The Dread War is here
While it accidentally patched up yesterday, Update 2.4 is now live for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The update is called The Dread War and is apparently the biggest update since the game launched its expansion. Update 2.4 has a lot of "new" to it: a new planet (well, moon), new missions, new operations, new PvP options, new gear sets, new warzone maps, and new mounts. The update title refers to the Dread Masters who have taken up residence on the moon or Oricon, where a story mission series will allow players to further delve into the histories behind these happy-go-lucky folks. At the end of all this are challenging level-55 operations called the Dread Fortress and the Dread Palance. Will you be a part of the team tackling "the galaxy's greatest threat?" If so, you'll probably want to bone up on the patch notes before diving into the fray!
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's Oricon daily adventures
If you missed last week's overview of the Oricon storyline and the history leading up to it, then check that out because today we are going to continue on that same theme. I have played through the content on the new daily area of Oricon set to release on October 1st, and I am surprisingly impressed with the storyline. The writing team for Star Wars: The Old Republic has yet to fall short. Despite the smaller production team and the number of people who claim that the game didn't live up to their expectations, BioWare continues to deliver a wonderful and compelling story. And if that is what you're looking for in your MMORPG, then SWTOR is still your game. However, many MMO gamers aren't looking for story, specifically. These gamers want to hear about the mechanics. I can appreciate that. Once the story becomes tired, the mechanics of a questline are going to be what holds a player to the game. How does the new questlines on Oricon stack up? That's a good question. I'd usually judge quests on the environment, challenge, flow, and overall immersion. But since these quests are supposed to be done on a regular basis (thus the name dailies), that means there has to be a repeatability factor. Let's examine these categories.
Hyperspace Beacon: Exploring Oricon in SWTOR (Exploricon?)
Star Wars: The Old Republic announced a few weeks back that Update 2.4: Dread War would introduce players to not only arena PvP but also two new operations and a daily quest area by way of the planet Oricon. The next update has been sitting on the public test server for a bit over a week now, but unfortunately thanks to lag issues, I've barely been able to spend any time there. But now most of the lag seems to have disappeared, and I can give you my take on the new daily area and the story that goes along with it. Warning: I will spoil a lot of the story that leads up to Oricon!
