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Star Wars: The Old Republic launches update 1.4 and takes aim at faster patches
The fourth major update for Star Wars: The Old Republic is live right now, but some players may find patch 1.4 a bit lighter than previous updates. According to a new development blog, this isn't by accident but by design. Creative director James Ohlen explains that the development team's previous strategy of launching a single big update every few months did result in big patches but at the cost of long stretches without anything new for players. Starting with 1.4 and moving onward, the team is moving to prioritize more frequent updates. Ohlen places a rough estimate of every six weeks but notes that it's only an estimate and a target rather than a firm schedule. He goes on to state that the team is planning on three more patches by the end of the year in addition to the free-to-play conversion, with more large-scale improvements and updates due in 2013. If you're mostly just interested in cutting through 1.4's new raid mode, of course, most of this is immaterial, but you can still check out the trailer for the patch just after the break.
Ether Saga Odyssey officially launches
Some updates are too big to just write the whole thing off as a patch. Ether Saga Odyssey has just launched today... and if the name looks more than passingly familiar, it's because up until very recently the game was Ether Saga Online. Perfect World Entertainment has re-branded the game with a new title to commemorate the groundswell of content added with this update, including new races, new starting areas, and a brand-new graphics engine for the game. But the launch festivities don't stop with the new title -- there are plenty of other events and rewards to kick off the rebranding. For starters, experience gained will be doubled for the weekend, which should help new players bring characters up to level 30 faster than ever. That's a good thing, as new characters who hit 30 will receive special rewards, as will players who stay logged in for an extended period of time. The promotions end on May 4th, so if you're itching to give the new Ether Saga Odyssey a try, now is the time.
